Post by ipwgreg on Sept 23, 2010 17:23:10 GMT -5
Taking the time to really examine my life in Wrestling I have come to a key point where it all started for me.
April of 96. My then Girlfriend Brandi and I were celebrating my 23rd. Birthday. ( We would break up a few months later which really gave me time for Wrestling) and after a very nice yet expensive dinner we were looking for something to do. I wasn’t really in the mood for a movie, and I remembered that I had met a guy at a video store in Southport ( J.T. Branham actually) who it turned out was the father of a kid in a firefighters explorers program that Brandi was in at the time. Yes, I was 23 and she was 18, don’t judge me, we dated for 5 years. Anyway, I had learned from Steve that there was Indy Wrestling every week at almost Downtown Indy. So feeling adventurous, we went looking for the building. Finding it wasn’t easy. It was an old Tin building that looked on the verge of being condemned ( Now refurbished it is the headquarters of The Peanut King ) and we walked in during Intermission. Looking around, we really weren’t impressed, and some guy doing a really bad military gimmick ( Now Roger Blade) called the Sarge was calling anyone out from the back to face him. At first I wasn’t very excited, here I was a REAL wrestling fan who collected magazines and tapes from the old NWA and such… but then out runs SABU …. That’s right SAB’FnU !!! He kills this guy and I was instantly hooked. I then saw Flash Flanagan do things that guys in the big leagues wouldn’t even think to do. Not to mention the violent match involving Mike Samples and Vic the Bruiser ( then billed as thingys Bastard son, with his black skin and blond afro)
It wasn’t long before I was going every week when they relocated to the Fountain Sq. theater and soon I was exploiting my friendship with Steve and Matt to get in with the booker of the show Bob Kindred who was Flash father. Soon I was staying late to help put away chairs and tear down the ring. I also saw the late great Mike Awesome wrestle in something called the Tournament of the world…. Which never actually had a winner , or brackets, or any other matches that I knew of. But with stars like Shawn Venom, Vic the Bruiser, Jack Slayer ( Trailer park Trash) Flash Flanagan and Mike Samples, man they were cool…. And they were on Television. Channel 53, which I did not get. The shows ran for a few years, but I came in at the tail end, and watched as they closed down. Just as I was really committed to start wrestling training. Circle City Wrestling had closed down….
About a year later, I get word from Steve that Insane Wrestling Alliance had opened up. I was living in Franklin again, and working a third shift job, so going to the shows wasn’t going to happen yet. But when I switched jobs, they had moved from the east side to Raymond and Sherman. They were running weekly shows, and it didn’t take long for me to work my way in as security. Soon becoming the main guy for security.( for some reason, a guy named Tony , who rarely did security went around telling everyone that he was head of their security a few years later) I would coordinate with the four or five guys who would show up, and point them each at a different corner of the building, and it seems after a while that some goofy lookin guy with a bad fade on his hair cut started sitting in my section with his hockey buddies. I would talk to him, ask him what he thought of the shows. He was a bit arrogant and standoffish. But I was trying to see what the fans thought of the shows so I could go back to Judas and Booker Bob and let them know what the fans thought. Not that they ever listened to me, but what the hell. About this time, I started going to some of the training classes that Judas was running…. Oh I never felt such pain. I went a few times, but then took a promotion from my job, and had to stop with the training. But I did keep working for the promotion. I even made it one night during a blizzard. How cool am I ? This is where I first met Chris Hero, wrestling as Wife Beater. He was so talented even then. The first guy I ever saw do a Swanton bomb. Chuckie Smooth was there, as well as Judo Master and of course P.T. Hustla who was known at the time as Prime Time. He would come out to the ring barking like Rick Steiner, it was funny. Chris Hero was slated to win the championship from I believe P.T. but the show closed down. Running weekly shows that didn’t always draw was just too much and Judas was in debt bad. I did get to meet Abdullah the Butcher and King of Pain ( Abyss who I really can’t stand) and saw some awesome wrestling. Not to mention I got to throw out Brandon Prophet from many shows as he was the most annoying 15 year old I have ever met. I still had it bad though. I loved wrestling and now rarely watched WWF or WCW.
Now I find a new friend in Kelly ( The Diva) and we spend a lot of time together on Non Dates. A nice way of saying we were going on dates, but she kept me as a friend. Ughhh…. We won’t even go there. We spent a lot of time together, going to concerts and movies and yada yada yada. You have all heard the story before. Bob Kindred had decided to run a show, The Mac Daddy Follies… I wish I had footage of that show. It was wonderfully bad. At the time, Kelly did not feel comfortable in the locker room with the guys, and she was set up as this heel manager. She asked me to be part of it with her in a Bodyguard role. I did that happily. Going out and being introduced as her Body Guard, but Bob had one of his own, bringing out Hillbilly Jed newly named as “ The Bodyguard” This would be our first angle together as we were both her bodyguards to protect her from Major Mindy. Hubba Hubba. Somewhere at the end of the show, Body Guard and I attacked Roger Blade and Spazz and then were sent packing by Dallas James. I got to get in the ring, and throw some awesome forearms to the back of Spazz ( Awesome= incredibly weak and non effective) until being thrown on I disagree out of the ring. I was more hooked than ever… and get this !! After being in the locker room with Chris Hero, Nick Dinsmore, Flash Flanagan and a host of other amazing wrestlers, I GOT PAID!!!! $10.00 !!!! I was on top of the world. I even tried to give Bob the envelope back, because he lost his ass on that show.
Soon to come CCW 2000 !!!
April of 96. My then Girlfriend Brandi and I were celebrating my 23rd. Birthday. ( We would break up a few months later which really gave me time for Wrestling) and after a very nice yet expensive dinner we were looking for something to do. I wasn’t really in the mood for a movie, and I remembered that I had met a guy at a video store in Southport ( J.T. Branham actually) who it turned out was the father of a kid in a firefighters explorers program that Brandi was in at the time. Yes, I was 23 and she was 18, don’t judge me, we dated for 5 years. Anyway, I had learned from Steve that there was Indy Wrestling every week at almost Downtown Indy. So feeling adventurous, we went looking for the building. Finding it wasn’t easy. It was an old Tin building that looked on the verge of being condemned ( Now refurbished it is the headquarters of The Peanut King ) and we walked in during Intermission. Looking around, we really weren’t impressed, and some guy doing a really bad military gimmick ( Now Roger Blade) called the Sarge was calling anyone out from the back to face him. At first I wasn’t very excited, here I was a REAL wrestling fan who collected magazines and tapes from the old NWA and such… but then out runs SABU …. That’s right SAB’FnU !!! He kills this guy and I was instantly hooked. I then saw Flash Flanagan do things that guys in the big leagues wouldn’t even think to do. Not to mention the violent match involving Mike Samples and Vic the Bruiser ( then billed as thingys Bastard son, with his black skin and blond afro)
It wasn’t long before I was going every week when they relocated to the Fountain Sq. theater and soon I was exploiting my friendship with Steve and Matt to get in with the booker of the show Bob Kindred who was Flash father. Soon I was staying late to help put away chairs and tear down the ring. I also saw the late great Mike Awesome wrestle in something called the Tournament of the world…. Which never actually had a winner , or brackets, or any other matches that I knew of. But with stars like Shawn Venom, Vic the Bruiser, Jack Slayer ( Trailer park Trash) Flash Flanagan and Mike Samples, man they were cool…. And they were on Television. Channel 53, which I did not get. The shows ran for a few years, but I came in at the tail end, and watched as they closed down. Just as I was really committed to start wrestling training. Circle City Wrestling had closed down….
About a year later, I get word from Steve that Insane Wrestling Alliance had opened up. I was living in Franklin again, and working a third shift job, so going to the shows wasn’t going to happen yet. But when I switched jobs, they had moved from the east side to Raymond and Sherman. They were running weekly shows, and it didn’t take long for me to work my way in as security. Soon becoming the main guy for security.( for some reason, a guy named Tony , who rarely did security went around telling everyone that he was head of their security a few years later) I would coordinate with the four or five guys who would show up, and point them each at a different corner of the building, and it seems after a while that some goofy lookin guy with a bad fade on his hair cut started sitting in my section with his hockey buddies. I would talk to him, ask him what he thought of the shows. He was a bit arrogant and standoffish. But I was trying to see what the fans thought of the shows so I could go back to Judas and Booker Bob and let them know what the fans thought. Not that they ever listened to me, but what the hell. About this time, I started going to some of the training classes that Judas was running…. Oh I never felt such pain. I went a few times, but then took a promotion from my job, and had to stop with the training. But I did keep working for the promotion. I even made it one night during a blizzard. How cool am I ? This is where I first met Chris Hero, wrestling as Wife Beater. He was so talented even then. The first guy I ever saw do a Swanton bomb. Chuckie Smooth was there, as well as Judo Master and of course P.T. Hustla who was known at the time as Prime Time. He would come out to the ring barking like Rick Steiner, it was funny. Chris Hero was slated to win the championship from I believe P.T. but the show closed down. Running weekly shows that didn’t always draw was just too much and Judas was in debt bad. I did get to meet Abdullah the Butcher and King of Pain ( Abyss who I really can’t stand) and saw some awesome wrestling. Not to mention I got to throw out Brandon Prophet from many shows as he was the most annoying 15 year old I have ever met. I still had it bad though. I loved wrestling and now rarely watched WWF or WCW.
Now I find a new friend in Kelly ( The Diva) and we spend a lot of time together on Non Dates. A nice way of saying we were going on dates, but she kept me as a friend. Ughhh…. We won’t even go there. We spent a lot of time together, going to concerts and movies and yada yada yada. You have all heard the story before. Bob Kindred had decided to run a show, The Mac Daddy Follies… I wish I had footage of that show. It was wonderfully bad. At the time, Kelly did not feel comfortable in the locker room with the guys, and she was set up as this heel manager. She asked me to be part of it with her in a Bodyguard role. I did that happily. Going out and being introduced as her Body Guard, but Bob had one of his own, bringing out Hillbilly Jed newly named as “ The Bodyguard” This would be our first angle together as we were both her bodyguards to protect her from Major Mindy. Hubba Hubba. Somewhere at the end of the show, Body Guard and I attacked Roger Blade and Spazz and then were sent packing by Dallas James. I got to get in the ring, and throw some awesome forearms to the back of Spazz ( Awesome= incredibly weak and non effective) until being thrown on I disagree out of the ring. I was more hooked than ever… and get this !! After being in the locker room with Chris Hero, Nick Dinsmore, Flash Flanagan and a host of other amazing wrestlers, I GOT PAID!!!! $10.00 !!!! I was on top of the world. I even tried to give Bob the envelope back, because he lost his ass on that show.
Soon to come CCW 2000 !!!
