Before WWE and Target Center there was F1RST Wrestling & First Ave

On Monday night the WWE was at Target Center in Minneapolis for a RAW broadcast. The main event that night was The Shield & John Cena VS The Wyatt Family. Before Erick Rowan was part of a main event at the Target Center he used to wrestle across the street at First Ave for F1RST Wrestling.

Erick Rowan, then know as Thoruf Marius,  VS Rasche Brown in 2008.

Another wrestler on RAW this Monday at Target Center was Seth Rollins. Back in 2007 he was across the street at F1RST Wrestling's first event.

 

On the third F1RST Wrestling event Seth Rollins, then known as Tyler Black, was in the main event against Kid Krazy.

This Saturday night F1RST Wrestling and Pabst Blue Ribbon present Wrestlepalooza IV at First Ave. This event features Arik Cannon, Horace the Psychopath, Ariya Daivari, Colt Cabana, Wild Cat, Yellow Dog, The North Star Express, Rob James and many more. Besides the pro wrestling there will also be music from punk band Banner Pilot and burlesque by Queenie Von Curves & Sweetpea.

This cool poster for Wrestlepalooza IV was done by David Witt. I last wrote about Witt back in August 2009 when I went to a wrestling art show in St. Paul, MN.

IPW Waterloo, IA 7/9/2010

This past weekend I drove down to Waterloo, Iowa for the George Tragos/Lou Thesz 2010 Hall of Fame inductions at the Dan Gable International Wrestling Institute and Museum. On Friday night Impact Pro Wrestling presented a card at the Five Sullivan Brothers Convention Center as part of the HoF weekend festivities. Before the card there was a Q & A with Mick Foley and Terry Funk and then a Fan Fest with many of the HoF members and award winners. This was my first time at an IPW event so there were many wrestlers who I had not seen before.
In the opening match James Jefferies defeated Sparrow w/Kiandra. Jefferies got the win while holding on to the ropes but ref Billy J was out of position to see the rule braking. Sparrow attacked Jefferies after the match.

IPW tag team champions Justin Decent & Ugly defeated Marshall Scott & Montoya X to retain their belts.

ROH champion Tyler Black defeated AJ Smooth.

Harley Jackson pinned Anthony Drake in less then 2 minutes. Drake looked a little like Beautiful Bobby from the Half Pint Brawlers TV show on Spike. Drake sure looked like a midget compared to the much larger Jackson.

IPW heavyweight champion Tony Sly defeated Matty Star to retain the belt.Sly got the pin after his manager hit Star with the title belt.

Nicky Free pinned former 2 time ROH champion Austin Aries.

The main event for the night was a 20 man over the top rope battle royal with the winner recieving $5,00 and a shot at the heavyweight title. Matty Star won the match when he eliminated Tony Sly.

F1rst Wrestling Minneapolis, MN 8/8/2008

F1rst Wrestling presented 'This ain't Beijing' this last Friday night at First Ave night club. This card featured the return of TNA knockout O.D.B. and a tag team match between the Junk Squad and Arik Cannon/Cody O'Neill.

In the opening match Midwest Ground & Air defeated the Northstar Express when Benjamin Sailer pinned Ryan Cruz.
Shane Hollister defeated Kamikazie Klecker in the second match of the card.

Thoruf Marius pinned Brody Hoofer. After the match Hoofer offered to shake Marius's hand. Marius shook Hoofers hand but then attacked him.

In a mixed tag team match O.D.B. & Horace the Psycopath defeated Arya Daivari & Ann Brookstone. O.D.B. pinned Daivari after she used his carpet for her own magic carpet ride. I believe that a few years ago O.D.B. beat Arya's brother Shawn for the MPW cruiser weight title.

"The King of Throw Down"Venom defeated "6% Body Fat" Rob James. These two have wrestled against each other many times.
ROH tag team champion Tyler Black defeated Joey Envy.
The Junk Squad beat Arik Cannon & Cody O'Neill when Pete Huge pinned Cannon. After the match O'Neill attacked Cannon and called out his old partner Aaron Corbin.

No date set yet for the next F1rst Wrestling card.

F1RST Wrestling Minneapolis, MN 2/24/2008

F1RST Wrestling returned to First Ave night club in downtown Minneapolis on a Sunday night. The name for this card was No Love Lost.

In the opening match "The Professional" Benjamin Sailer pinned Kamikaze Klecker with his 'hand gernade pin' suplex. You might have to have Sailer explain it to you.
Arya Daivari beat Nate Bash, Venom and The Prophet in a 4 corners match. Both Daivari and Bash got pins at the same time as Daivari hit his magic carpet ride and Bash hit his 450 splash. They went for 5 more minutes in hopes to have one winner.
"6% Body Fat" Rob James pinned Shane Hollister.
Brody Hoofer beat Joey Envy and Pete Huge w/Allison Wonderland in a 3 way match. After Hoofer got the pin on Envy he challenged Huge to a dog coller match next month.
Tyler Black defeated Jaysin Strife.

SkullKrusher Rasche pinned Thoruf Marius. After these two did a superplex from the top rope I could almost hear Bobby Heanan yelling 'the ring just moved 10 feet!!!!'.
The Northstar Express defeated Arik Cannon & Cody O'Neill in what was billed a sudent vs teacher match. After Cruz got the pin on Cannon all four were attacked by Aaron Corbin, Daivari, James and Envy. The locker room cleared out and every wrestler was in the ring, except for Marius and Rasche.

AAW Berwyn, IL 9/29/2007

All American Wrestling presented 'Rise of the Machine Guns' on September 29th, 2007 in Berwyn, Ill, at the Eagles Club.

The night started off with a 10 man tag dark match. A lot of the guys in this match I had never seen before.
Jimmy Jacobs defeated Dan Lawrence.
"Skullkrusher" Rasche Brown beat Brandon Blaze.
Michigan Invasion beat Absolute Answer, Tyme Paige & Charlie Manson Jr and DP Associates in a 4 corner tag match.
Krotch beat Silas Young.
AAW tag team champions The Murder City Machine Guns beat Christian York and Joey Mercury to retain the titles.
Arik Cannon beat Danny Daniels.
Eric Priest & Matt Cross beat the Northstar Express.

Tyler Black defeated Austin Aries.
Adrenaline Overdose defeated The Phoenix Twins w/ Joey Eastman in a TLC match. This was a bloody match as Bryce Benjamin had a 'crimson mask by the end of the match.

F1RST Wrestling, Minneapolis, MN 6/17/2007

The third F1RST Wrestling card took place this last Sunday at the historic First Ave night club in downtown Minneapolis. This card was titled 'The Return' and many fans may have thought the return was that of Kid Krazy who had moved to California but the big return was that of a MN vetren wrestler who had been away from the ring for a while. More on that after the first match.

The first match of the night was scheduled to be Cody O'Neill VS '6% body fat' Rob James but James decided to take the night off and he got M-Dogg 20 Matt Cross to take his place. O'Neill was able to get the 3 count on Cross but he was attacked after the match by James and the returning Horace the Psycopath.

'Playboy' Pete Huge won a 4 way match against The Prophet, Bret O'Brian and Kleck Micheals.

Joey Envy beat John Johnson.

Jaysin Strife beat Arik Cannon. After the match Cannon got on the mic and put Strife over.

The Northstar Express beat Joey Ryan & Josh Abercrombie, 'That '70's Team' from MTV's Wrestling Society X. This was a fun match as the team of Ryan & Abercrombie made tags by switching off with a buddy band wrist braclet.

Kid Krazy made his return to MN and defeated Tyler Black.

F1rst Wrestling Minneapolis, MN 4/22/2007

Pro Wrestling returned to First Ave night club in Minneapolis, MN this last Sunday night as F1rst Wrestling debuted in the building.

The card started out with a 4 corner match between The Prophet, Cody O'Neill, Nate Bash and Rob James. This match had some great cruiser weight action. In the end both O'Neill and James had pinned Bash and Prophet to win the match.

The second match of the night was Rain Vs Lacey. These two have wrestled against each other many times in the past and they have also teamed together to form the Minnesota Home Wrecking Crew. On this night Lacey got the win with a hand full of Rains tights.

101 Proof (Bret O'Brian & Venom) beat the I Guys(Marek Brave & Shane Hollister). This was the MN debut for the I Guys.

In his 3rd to last indy wrestling match before heading to the WWE Colt Cabana pinned Aaron Corbin after a frog splash. Lot's of comedy in this match.

What started out as a singles match turned in to a tag team title match for the 3XW tag team titles. Ryan Cruz started against Chris Jordan but Jordans Junk Squad partner Pete Huge got involved which brought out Cruz's Northstar Express partner Darin Corbin. NSE made the challenge for their 3XW belts and the Junk Squad accepted. Cruz got the pin on Huge after Jordan hit Huge with a top rope elbow drop. After the match Huge and Jordan got into an argument and seem to have parted ways.

Brody Hoofer beat Joey Envy. It's nice to see Hoofer drop the 'Big Daddy' name.

In the main event Arik Cannon beat Tyler Black. This was billed as 'MTV Wrestling Society X stars