8 Stupid Questions with Benjamin Sailer

Name: Benjamin Sailer
Years Pro: 6
Height: 5'10"
Weight: 210lbs
Home Town: Bismarck, ND

1. Who taught you how to wrestle pro style? I am a product of the MPW camp. Thanks Shifty and Sheriff!(Sailer Vs Shifty 7/6/2003 MPW)
2. Have you seen any good wrestling movies latly? I watched Wrestlemaniac the other day..other than that no. (Sailer with special referee's Mick Foley and Terry Funk 11/15/2008 HOW)
3. Do you have any hidden talents? Nope. (Sailer with 3XW tag & cruiser weight belts 12/2/2006)
4. You’ve been cast on the new reality game show Survivor: Okishima. The other contestants on Okishima are Pete Huge, George W. Bush, Casanova, Danny Daniels, Angel Armoni, Arik Cannon, Udo, Delerious, Allison Wonderland, Thoruf Marius, Andrew Scalze, Terry Funk and Rob Page. You need to do three things: give someone an immunity belt, vote someone off and pick someone else to make an allince with only to stab them in the back when the time is right. Who are the three people you pick?I would form an alliance with George W by giving him immunity. We would declare party law and vote off everbody whose first and last names start with the same letter. Then I would push George W down into some mud. (Sailer Vs Angel Armoni WWA 8/12/2005)
5. Back in the summer of 2003 you won the MPW Quest for the Cup. That must have been pretty cool, eh?Yeah it was. And it is still the highlight of my career. (Sailer with his cup that he went on a quest for 7/27/2003)
6. Have you ever considered yourself a hulkamaniac, jericoholic, little stinger, little warrior or a laniac?I am a recovering Jericoholic. I just got my four year pin. ( Sailer VS MIW heavy weight champion Brody Hoofer 11/29/2008)
7. Which is best on line social networking site, Face book or MySpace?Facebook (Sailer Vs Nate Bash ECHO Pro 1/16/2009)

8. What is your favorite match of yours that can be viewed on YouTube? Has to be the mixed tag with Portia Perez because it has the most views. (Sailer Vs Ryan Cruz 3XW 10/27/2007)

F1rst Wrestling's up coming card

I don't usually use this blog to promote up coming cards but I decided to with this F1rst Wrestling show because promoter Arik Cannon made 3 different posters where all but 2 (The Iron Sheik and Arik Cannon) of the photos were taken by me. Also, I had nothing else to post this week. Seeing as how Cannon took the time to make 3 posters maybe you could leave a comment letting him know which one you like the best.
The main event for this card is an 'Anarchy Rules' match between Mr. 6% Body fat Rob James and Horace the Psychopath. These two have been tag team partners but recently split up. Horace started his split from James when he teamed up with fan favorite O.D.B. on the 08/08/08 card. Then on last months card James tried to get Horace to not wrestle Sandman.
In a special challenge match "Playboy" Pete Huge will take on two roller derby all stars. At the last F1rst Wrestling show at First Ave Tiki Torture & Jaw Breaker got into the ring to promote an upcoming roller derby match. Huge came out and told the roller girls to leave his ring. Jaw Breaker had a hand in Huge & Chris Jordan loosing their match to Midwest Ground & Air so Huge challenged both girls to a match.
Before the first bell there will be an autograph/photo session with WWE Hall of Famer Iron Sheik. If you've seen any of this guys shoot interviews then you will not want to miss this chance to meet him in person. This special attraction is being presented by Heavy On Wrestling.

AWF Elk River, MN 2/7/2009

The American Wrestling Federation held February Free For All III this past Saturday night at the Elk River high school. This event was a fund raiser for the Elk River football team.
In the opening contest "Live Wire" Johnny Parks defeated Angel Armoni.
Thoruf Marius defeated Chris Jordan. Marius got the pin on Jordan with a little help from his manager Sheik Adnan El Kassie.
Cory O'Neill & Joey Envy defeated Aaron Corbin & Brody Hoofer. I think that Hoofer was too distracted by the shampoo bottle mascot that was in the crowd for one of the sponsers. Acording to the poster for this card this was too be the O'Neill Twins last tag team match but Cory's brother Cody was once unable to make it as was the case back in December.
In the battle between to local wrestlers who recently appeared on WWE Lenny Lane defeated Sammy Savard. Lane appeared on ECW back in September loosing to Jack Swagger while Savard lost to the Boogieman on ECW a few weeks ago. At least Savard didn't have to eat worms after his loss on this night. The end came when ref Rob Page disqualified Savard when he thought that Savard used a chair on Lane. I've probably wrote this before but I hate that finish. Why is that finish the only time the ref calls something that he doesn't see?
Mitch Paradise defeated Scotty Too Hotty in the simi main event. There was a really funny spot in this match when ref Jay Soltice tried to kick Paradise's hand off the rope. Paradise pulled his arm away so Soltice's kick missed and he fell on his ass. Paradise got the win which dissappointed the crowd of over 700 who really wanted to see STH do the Worm. Paradise kept attacking STH after the match. STH got the upper hand then made the crowd happy when he did the worm. STH then got some kids from the crowd into the ring for a worm contest.
In the main event Tony DeNucci defeated Chris Black in a hard core match. I've recently watched DeNucci's AWA debut match on ESPN Classic. That match took place around 1990.(Edited to correct the year of DeNucci's debut)

Two former pro wrestlers going extreme for charity

On January 31, 2009 Nora Greenwald will jump into the icy cold waters of White Bear Lake in White Bear Lake, MN. Greenwald will be 'freezin for a reason' as she is doing it to raise money for Special Olympics Minnesota. To donate to Greenwalds cause you can go to the web site and click on 'find a plunger'. The forecast for that day is sunny and 20 above 0. I'm guessing that Greenwald will not be wearing a bikini when she takes the plunge.

http://presspubs.com/articles/2009/01/08/vadnais_heights_press/news/doc4964cc5df197c860148075.txt

Former MN indy wrestler BJ Van Beusekom, aka Drej, will be running a marathon, a 24 hour marathon that is. Van Beusekom will start this marathon on February 2, 2009 at Athletic Performance Inc in Brooklyn Center, MN. While doing this he is tiring to raise money for the American Lung Association. (Drej Vs Bigg Mac 6/28/2003 West St. Paul, MN PWA)

http://www.startribune.com/local/north/38239339.html

Good luck to both Greenwald and Van Beusekom.

8 Stupid Questions with Lacey

Name: Lacey

Years Pro: 8 1/2
Height: 5'6"

Weight: 130 lbs

Home Town: Minneapolis, MN

1. Was it hard to train for pro wrestling as a female? Extremely! I think it's hard to go through for anyone, but there are definitely extra challenges going through as a minority in this male-dominated environment. Women aren't exactly looked upon with the utmost respect in the wrestling industry, and there are definitely some women around that absolutely don't help our cause in gaining that respect. It's unfortunate! But, on the bright side, its really helped me to grow into a strong and independent person. ( Lacey Vs Pete Huge 4/11/2004 Promociones Renegado Lucha )
2. The battle lines have been drawn, you must pick a side. Are you with team Aniston or team Jolie?Eh, I'm neutral. Don't really know much or care about either, but Jolie does seem to do a ton of charity work and is a good will ambassador and all that so I suppose I'll pick her. ( Lacey Vs Josie 12/6/2003 FLWA)
3. Have you ever been injured in the ring? I've had a few concussions, been busted open a few times, black eyes, stuff like that. Also jacked up my knee pretty badly a few years ago by dislocating the knee cap and slightly tearing some tendons and ligaments. Luckily, surgery was not needed. ( Lacey with Jimmy Jacobs Vs Roderick Strong 6/24/2006 ROH)
4. What’s the weirdest thing you ever received from a fan? Customized booty shorts. WEIRD. (Lacey Vs Rain 4/11/2004 Promociones Renegado Lucha)

5. Who is the greatest female wrestler from Minnesota, Nora Greenwald or Madusa? I love them both!!! I really looked up to and admired both of them when I was younger. They both definitely played a role in my desire to start training. (Lacey Vs Allison Danger 4/27/2007)
6. So ah…what do you think about the war in Iraq? I think its pointless, horrible, awful, terrible, disgusting, a gigantic waste of money and resources, a gigantic waste of lives, an incomprehensible injustice to all of humanity...etc. etc. etc (Lacey at F1rst Wrestling 4/22/2007)
7. You were an announcer on Mtv’s very short lived Wrestling Society X. If you could get cast on another Mtv show what would it be?Absolutely NONE of them. Well, unless my role on the show was to fuck everybody up Grand Theft Auto style. I can't even comprehend the shows on Mtv (well, most tv) these days. It's sick these people exist to populate these reality shows and its sick there's such a market for it! ( Lacey with Arik Cannon 1/21/2004 Downtown Championship Wrestling)
8. So are you still wrestling or what? For now...I've got more important things to focus on. Also, really, no creepy wrestling fans deserve to see me in the ring! (The Minnesota Home Wrecking Crew 4/27/2007 ROH)

ECHO Pro St. Cloud, MN 1/16/2009

There is a new promotion in Minnesota called ECHO Pro and they held their first event this past Friday night at the St. Cloud National Guard Armory. Former WCW/WWE wrestler Shannon Moore was the advertised headline but he was mixed up on which night his match with Pete Huge was so he did not make it for the premier of ECHO Pro. Near the wrestlers entrance there was a large screen set up with a projector. The projector was hooked up to the ring side camera. I think the screen and projector would have been better used if they had some pre recorded promos/interviews to play on the screen so the fans could get to know the wrestlers.

Ann Brookstone & Brody Hoofer defeated Allison Wonderland & Pete Huge in the opening contest. As mentioned above Huge was scheduled to face Shannon Moore in the main event for the ECHO Pro championship. With Moore not there ECHO Pro owner John Black put Huge in a mixed tag match with his valet Wonderland.
Tag team partners wrestled against each other on this card as Nate Bash defeated Benjamin Sailer in this exhibition match. The match went to a 10 minute time limit draw but the fans demanded 5 more minutes. Bash got the win with a roll up.
"Lightning" Toryn Cross and Josh Calisto ended their match with a double count out. Cross used to wrestle under the name Red Lightning.
"The Anarchist" Arik Cannon defeated "Genuine Article" Chris Jordan. Connon got the pin after an exploder suplex and then a glimmering warlock.
Joey Envy defeated Kamikaze Klecker, "6% Body Fat" Rob James and Ryan Cruz in a 4 way falls count anywhere elemination match. Cruz was eliminated first by James. Then Envy eliminated James with a super kick. Being that it was a falls count anywhere in the city of St. Cloud the final two wresters decided to take the match out side. The tempeture on this night was 4 above 0 and there was snow on the ground. After another super kick Envy got the 3 count on Klecker in the snow. Ref Rob Page borrowed a jacket when he went outside. The wrestler should have done the same.
In the main event Darin Corbin defeated Lenny Lane. Ref Rob Page was knocked down when Lane brougth a chair in to the ring.When Page got up Lane was on the mat and Corbin was holding the chair so Page disqualified Corbin. Black came out and informed let Page know that Corbin did not use the chair so Page restarted the match. Corbin then got the pin after a lungblower.

F1rst Wrestling Minneapolis, MN 1/9/2009

After a four months F1rst Wrestling returned to First Ave in downtown Minneapolis this past Friday night with a card titled 'Enter Sandman'. With a name like that it can mean only one thing, an appearance by former ECW champion Sandman.
In the first match of the card the New Generation defeated the Northstar Express. These two teams have had many matches in the past as they have fueded since 2004. After Aaron Corbin and Cody O'Neill hit the move in this photo O'Neill pinned Ryan Cruz.
Venom pinned Udo after a muscle buster like move.

Rob James challeneged 'any fat slob in the building'. Instead of some fat slob some skinny farmer guy answered James' challenge. SFG didn't stand much of a chance against James as James got the 3 count on him in just a few minutes.
After beating SFG Rob James called for another challenger. Kamikaze Klecker came out to accept that challenge. Klecker got the win over James after a moonsault.
Midwest Ground & Air defeated The Junk Squad. Right before this match Jaw Braker and Tiki Torture, two members of the Minnesota Roller Girls, came to the ring to promote there up coming event. The Junk Squad came to the ring and Pete Huge got on the mic and told the Roller Girls to get out of the ring. Nate Bash & Benjamin Sailer then came out to start the match. As Sailer and Chris Jordan fought out side the ring Huge hit Bash with a low blow. It looked like the Midwest Ground & Air MN undefeated streak would end on this night. Rollergirl Jaw Breaker got in the ring and gave Huge a low blow. Bash rolled Huge up and got the 3 count.
Arik Cannon pinned Jerry Lynn after a glimmering warlock.
Brody Hoofer defeated Thoruf Marius in another battle of the big men. Hoofer got a cut near his eye when the two butted heads early in the match.
In the main event Horace the Psycopath defeated Sandman. The match before this one had more blood.

F1rst Wrestling returns to the West St. Paul Armory on January 30th.

MIW Chanhassen, MN 1/3/2009

My first card of 2009 was this past Saturday at the Chanhassen American Legion where Minnesota Independent Wrestling returned to action. This card featured the regular MIW wrestlers pulse 4 Canadian wrestlers making their MIW debut. This was my first time seeing 3 of the 4 Canadians. Snow was falling on this night but about 100 fans came out to see the MIW wrestlers in action.

In the opening match Corporal Julio Julio defeated Rick Mathews by submission.
Benjamin Sailer defeated Danny Duggan by DQ when Pete Huge ran out and attacked Sailer. Nate Bash came to his Midwest Ground & Air partner to set up a tag match later in the card.
Mark Barker & El Bano defeated Daryl Hall & Jeremy Biggs.

MIW heavy weight champion Brody Hoofer retained his belt by pinning The Black Stallion.
Nate Bash & Benjamin Sailer kept their MN win steak alive by beating Pete Huge & Danny Duggan.
Mitch Paradise defeated AJ Sanchez. There was a stipulation made before the first match of the night that Paradise had to beat Sanchez in less then 10 minutes. The time expired just before Sanchez almost got the 3 count on Paradise. Seeing as how Paradise did not get the win in the 10 minutes I thought that Sanchez would then be the winner but the match was restarted because Sanchez asked for 5 more minutes. After the restart The Black Stallion hit Sanchez with a chair on the out side of the ring and Paradise got the win.

Editors note: I once again for got make a new copy right brush with the new year. All these photos were taken 2009.

8 Stupid Questions with JB Trask

Name: JB Trask
Years Pro: 23
Height: 6'
Weight: 220 lbs
Home town: Bloomington, MN
1. When and how did you get started in pro wrestling? I started training in my early teens with my uncle Kenny Jay. My camp was held in Kennys backyard, no ring or mats just the ground. Once in a while Kenny took me over to Verne Gagnes where he had a ring set up and I was able to work out in a ring. Around 1984 I got one of Vernes old rings and had it set up at my brothers where I trained with guys like Road Warrior Animal, The Warlord, Brady Boone Etc. Then in 1985 I sold the ring to Eddie Sharkey and went to his camp. That's when I actually started wrestling on shows. (Trask Vs Ken Anderson 2/18/04 First Ave)
2. Have you ever worked as a bartender? Yes. I went to the Minnesota School of Bartending and bartended at a couple different places.(Trask Vs Jaysin Vaine 10/12/03 MIW)
3. What advice would you give to someone who wanted to get into pro wrestling? I would say if they are really serious about a career in pro wrestling hit the gym and go to a legitimate wrestling school. Make sure the trainers have been around for a while and have actually worked with some of the big companies. If someone is just looking to work indy shows to impress their family and friends, Don't get into pro wrestling. ( Trask Vs Lenny Lane dog collar match from First Ave 6/23/04)
4. Do you remember that match you had with Jerry Lynn when you gave him a pile driver on a chair then a ddt that same chair and tried to break his knee with that same chair? To be honest I have wrestled Jerry so many times I'm pretty sure I did that more than once. (Trask Vs Jerry Lynn sometime around 1993. I didn't keep good notes back then.) Editors note-Trask will be wrestling Jerry Lynn once again on January 10th at the Northeast Armory for NLW.
5. You used to run your own promotion, NPW, what did you like most about being a promoter and what did you not like about it? Also, can I have one of your old NPW t-shirts? First off, yes I will get you an NPW T-shirt. What I liked best about being a promoter was giving the fans great shows that are still remembered today. I've been told by a few people that NPW is the reason they became involved in the business whether it was wrestling, refereeing, or promoting, etc. I still get asked to bring back NPW, I guess never say never. There wasn't really anything I didn't like about promoting, I did however have to deal with this other promoter that spent more time tearing down my posters and calling my venues rather than trying to put on better shows than me. (Trask Vs Nate Bash, Joey Envy and Kamikaze Klecker NPW 9/16/06)
6. What’s the difference between a wrist lock and a wristwatch? Hmmmm, I will have to think about this one more.(Trask with what maybe a wrist lock on Red Lightning 9/19/04)
7. Do you have any new year’s resolutions? No resolutions here. (Trask vs Estaban Molina 8/10/07 NPW)
8.Were you the WWE’s first choice for that carny guy? I wish, at least it would have been done right. (Trask as 'Last of the Great Carny's'12/08/07)