2015 Reading Challenge Book 064 King of the Ring the Harley Race Story

TITLE-King of the Ring The Harley Race Story
AUTHOR-Harley Race and Gary Tritz
FORMAT-Hardcover
FIRST TIME READING-Yes
PRICE-$5

Until the mid to late 90s I had seen more of Harley's work in WWF than his NWA stuff. I knew of his legacy. But just hadn't seen lots of his classic matches.

Now after reading this fairly short book,I think it was around 300 pages,I have started tracking down as much of Mr Race's pre-WWF work.

The book follows the standard biography path that Jericho,Foley and yes even Chyna have done before this book.Starting off with Harley being a child. And moving forward.The tales of him working the carnival circuit are my favorites.

What I do wonder is how entertaining would this be for someone that knows next to nothing about Harley and what all he did in pro wrestling? Might end up trying to get my uncle to read this and see what his thoughts are.

King of the Ring The Harley Race Story gets a 4.00 outta 5.

2015 Reading Challenge Book 062 Brody the triumph and tragedy of wrestling's rebel

TITLE-Brody the triumph and tragedy of wrestling's rebel
AUTHOR-Larry Matysik and Barbara Goodish
FORMAT-oversized trade paperback
FIRST TIME READING-Yes
PRICE-$5

Grabbed this off the gimmick table at the last Powerslam Productions show I was at. Growing up I heard about Brody for years. Mostly thru all the Apter mags. But I rarely got to see him wrestle. Once I got into tape trading the first things I looked for was comps of Brody.

The book takes an interesting way of telling the story. Every other chapter is written by Brody's wife. And honestly the chapters she writes aren't that good. The first few from her are about her life before meeting Brody,and really I had no interest in this part of her life. The later chapters are a bit better. They focus more on Brody outside wrestling.

The chapters written by Larry are great. And gives lots of insight into Brody.Like why he was the way he was. And why he had developed the rep of being a pain in the ass for promoters.

I would have liked more info on his final run in Puerto Rico. And his death. But what little is in the book is stuff I already knew.

The book has made me want to see more Brody matches. So I guess it has accomplished what it should. But I feel with some changes this could have been a much better book.

Brody the triumph and tragedy of wrestling's rebel gets a 3.37 outta 5.

2015 Reading Challenge Book 061 It's good to be the King.. Sometimes

TITLE-It's good to be the King... Sometimes
AUTHOR-Jerry Lawler with Doug Asheville
FORMAT-Paperback
FIRST TIME READING-No
PRICE-$5

Growing up in the Deep South,I have been a fan of Jerry The King Lawler since as far back as I can remember. So when I heard he was writing an biography I knew I had to read it. I can't remember why I didn't grab it the day it came out. But IIRC the paperback came out right around my birthday. And the lady I was seeing at the time got it for me as a birthday gift.

Jerry Lawler grew up for most of his life in Tennessee. And from a young age was a fan of the local Memphis wrestling. He would watch the weekly Saturday morning show. And because he had lots of artistic talent,he would draw pictures of the various wrestlers. His father talked him into sending some of them into the studio where the weekly wrestling show was filmed. The next week his art got shown on the show. And a young Lawler got invited to be on the show the next week.

This helped fuel Lawler's passion. He now knew he wanted to be a wrestler.But back then it was hard to get into the wrestling business. It isn't like it is now. Where there are wrestling schools all over. Back then you either had to be related to a wrestler or get lucky and find one that was willing to train you.

Jerry got a job working for a tiny radio station. And a "outlaw" wrestling group,Outlaw groups were groups that ran in the same area as the bigger better known groups,got Jerry to start talking up their shows on his radio show. This caused some of the Memphis wrestlers to come talk to Jerry. And they offered to train him if he would stop promoting the outlaw group.

And from that one of the best known and most loved wrestlers sprung.Within a few years Jerry was the most popular and best known wrestlers in the Memphis circuit.

I really enjoyed all the info Jerry give on his infamous feud with Andy Kaufmann.Back in the early 80s Kaufmann was going around having matches with women. And this morphed into a long lasting feud between Lawler and Kaufmann. And it was so big it was known all over the USA. Hell they even appeared on the old David Letterman show on NBC. Where Kaufmann attacked Lawler. For years now Lawler has said that this attack was not planned out in advance. But since ,with release of the Kaufmann bio pic Man on the moon,Lawler felt it was time to tell the full story.

While the stories about Jerry's early days are very entertaining. To me the best stuff in the book is all his stories from his teen years. Where he is trying everything he can to impress various women. Lawler doesn't hide the fact that he is as he says "addicted to sex". He doesn't smoke,drink or do drugs. "My only addictions are Coca Cola and Sex." And as the wrestling fans reading this know,drug abuse is rampart in the wrestling industry. So Lawler being able to avoid the traps of hard drug abuse is another reason why I have always loved the King.

The last 5th of the book is all about how he met ,as of this writing,his last wife. Stacy Carter aka The Kat,who Lawler met when she was in her late teens. And at first it looked like they were very happy. Then he finds out she wants to leave him.

Now I have heard that part of the divorce settlement between Lawler and Carter was he wasn't suppose to talk about what caused they to get divorced. And since he goes into details about it in this book he supposedly got sued.If all this is true I must assume that if this book ever gets reprinted lots of the last few chapters will be re-written or just removed from the book.

Now with some wrestling books they will appeal to people who are not into wrestling.This isn't one of those. But if you grew up watching Memphis wrestling or have an interest in 70s and 80s Memphis this book will be an enjoyable read.

It's good to be the King....Sometimes gets a 3.11 outta 5.

3 toys from the Junk Box 05/25/2015

Sorry it has been a bit since I  have done one of these. I was wanting to wait until I got 3 toys in. But looks like that will be at least a few more weeks. So since I can't sleep I wrote the following.

Got this Oliver Queen Green Arrow in a three pack. Along with Hal Jordan Green Lantern and Black Canary.I have always preferred the Mike Grell Arrow costume. Which is one reason why I wanted this figure. The bow he comes with looks really good. And the paint job is well done. The articulation is pretty good. Plus I couldn't pass up 3 figures for $8 IIRC.Just a few years ago most people that saw this figure had no idea who he was. Hell most of them thought he was Robin Hood. Now thanks to the CW hit Arrow people do seem to know who he is. Even if he looks nothing like the Arrow on the show.

A few years back I went to this great thrift store with my cousin. She was looking for cheap work clothes for her husband. I of course looked thru the books and then toys. Found a bag of random Happy Meal toys. I saw this figure and a stuffed Triple H toy. With the bag priced at 50 cents I grabbed it.I first saw the Disney animated film Robin Hood when I was 4. And it became my favorite Disney movie. Because my father is a bowhunter,I have always liked heroes that use bows.The paint on this is a bit scuffed up.Only articulation is his shoulders and neck. I love how they made his tail out of fur.

I got lucky and found this WWE Super Strikers Slam and Launch ring at Dirt Cheap. Normally this ring is 40 to 50 bucks. But thanks to Dirt Cheap I got it for around $8.The two corners with the silver posts are launch pads. You put your figure in front of the post. Slam your fist down on the silver button and they are launched way up in the air. The shit above the ring has a chair on it. If you hit the WWE symbol the chair is dropped into the ring. I do like how the shit above the ring can be removed easily.Now I just need to get some wrestling figures the right size for this ring.

As always no idea when the next of these will appear. But I hope yall enjoyed another post about toys from the junk box.

Three Toys from a box of junk 03/31/2015

For close to 15 years I collected toys. Mostly action figures,but there was a decent amount of non-action figure toys in my collection. When I moved back to Mississippi close to 10 years ago I sold off a huge amount of my toy collection.What I did keep mostly got put up in boxes.

I was never one to keep my toys mint in package. With action figures it was much much easier to display them when they were loose. Plus I get to pose them and place the various accessories where I want them.

I have been slowly moving stuff out of my closet. And dividing the junk I am finding into two piles. One of course is stuff I want to keep. The other is stuff I am getting rid of. I doubt I can sell much of what I want to get rid of. So if you see a toy on this blog that I say I want to get rid of. Contact me,I am more than happy to trade them for whatever.

Now I am stealing this idea from Matt at Dinosaur Dracula.Go check out his site,it is a great read. Click to goto Dinosaur Dracula website.But every few weeks Matt will pick 5 random action figures from his humongous collection.Take some pictures of them and talk about them. I really enjoy reading them. So I stole the idea. But I am changing it up slightly. Matt does 5 Action Figures. I am doing 3 toys. No clue how often I will be doing one of these.

3 Toys from the Box 03/31/2015

Up first is the oldest of the three toys I picked out for today. Oldest as in the one I have owned for the longest.

A few years after LJN lost the WWF license it was picked up by Hasbro.The LJN figures we bigger,but had no articulation. Which is kind of dumb for a wrestling action figure.The Hasbro figures were much smaller but did have a few points of articulation. Plus each of them had an action feature.

I am pretty sure Hasbro made 2 Brutus Beefcake figures.And this is the first one. Brutus IIRC came with a pair of shears,so he could cut the heel wrestler's hair.There is only 3 points of articulation. The shoulders and neck. And the action feature is super lame. You press down on his head and release it and he jumps. Well most of the time he just falls over.

This is the second one of this Brutus Beefcake Hasbro figure I have owned.I got my first one back in the mid 90s. The local America's Thrift had got in what I must assume was some kid's wrestling figure collection. There was at least 30 of these Hasbro WWF figures. They were priced at 50 cents each. And I grabbed almost all of them.Something happened to that figure when I moved in the late 90s. The one in the picture I got in a trade with a fellow collector. He was just getting into VHS collecting.And one of my neighbors called me and told me their kids had just gave them "A wholea bunch of VCR videotapes." As a thank you for helping the husband stack firewood the previous fall I was told to come over and get any of the vhs tapes I wanted.

This is one of the toys in my collection I want to get rid of. Loose it has almost no monetary value. Anyone reading this that wants it leave a comment below and we can work a trade out.

This is the newest out of the three toys.Either late 2012 or early 2013 I found it in a three pack at Fred's.I rarely look at the toys in Fred's cause like Walgreens and other drug stores,they price the figures a few bucks higher.Fred's at least puts stuff on clearance,and then the price is usually really good.

Mattel had been making this sized DC superhero action figures for a number of years. Most of the time the figures had good paint jobs,good sculpting and decent articulation.Cause of the size of them they remind me a bit of the Kenner Super Powers line from the mid 80s. Unlike the Super Powers figures this line from Mattel has no action feature.To make up for this they have much more articulation.

As far back as I can remember I have been a fan of Hal Jordan as Green Lantern.I think it is for 2 reasons. The first is my favorite color is green. The other is I love Green Lantern's power ring. Such a great power. And what kid wouldn't want a ring like that.

Oh maybe you are wondering who else was in the three pack with old Hal here. The pack was called "The Hard Traveling Heroes" set. For the comic geeks out there that should be enough of a hint to figure out who the other two are.To be nice I will go ahead and tell you :P The other two figures are Oliver Queen the Green Arrow,and Dinah Lance the Black Canary.Back in the 70s DC merged Green Lantern and Green Arrow's comic books. And those 2 along with Black Canary traveled around the world fighting off social injustices.

I doubt I ever would want to get rid of this figure.With my action figure display areas being very limited,smaller figures like this are much easier to display. And for such a small figure it looks amazing.My only complaint,and it is more of me being an ass than anything,is that the Super Powers Green Lantern figure came with a Green Lantern Power Battery accessory. This figure didn't.I am sure I could check Ebay and buy one and add it to this figure.

While this is the oldest of the three toys,it came out about a year or two before Brutus Beefcake,I didn't get it until summer of 2012.I can't remember if I got in in the same trade as the Brutus Beefcake or if I was in another trade with the same guy.

In the late 80s or maybe it was very early 1990 Mattel started a new line of He Man action figures.The Masters of the Universe line had been dead for a year or so and they wanted to revamp it some.Gone was the exaggerated muscles of the old line. Replaced by a somewhat more realistic look. Also this line had more of a science fiction feel.I don't remember seeing this toy line in stores. And only saw the cartoon maybe 4 times.

I was a huge Masters of the Universe fan. I clearly remember saving up my dollar a week allowance up so I could buy my first MotU figure,which was Man-At-Arms.So when I saw this figure on my buddy's trade list I had to have it.

Compared to the MotU line,the New Adventures of He-man line looks kind of crappy. The action figures aren't nearly as inventive.The sculpting while more realistic isn't as good.The paint jobs are not as good. I have no idea about the accessories,since this one didn't have any when I got it.

If someone made me a good offer I would get rid of this toy. It isn't that I don't like it. It just isn't impressive enough to hold onto when I am very limited in space.

Well I hope someone read and enjoyed this.I am gonna have to figure out how to take better pictures of the figures. But I am working with an cheap camera and it isn't like I have much of a clue as to what I am doing :P

Powerslam Productions Spring Bash 03/09/2013

After a 2 months with no shows Powerslam Pro is back. Thanks to a screw up on my part I thought the doors didn't open till 6:30pm. So Blake and I left a little later than we should have. But as always thanks to Reggie Matthews we had floor seats waiting on us. We got to the McComb High School at about 6:15pm. Ran into Jon-Paul,who remembered us from the Last Rites show in Brookhaven back in August of last year. Talked with him for a few before Reggie came over. Bullshitted with him for about 10 minutes and then went off to go get us some seats. Since I knew I had at least 2 friends coming up from NOLA we were trying to find 4 seats next to each other. While looking for seats ran into Stephen and his two sons. Turns out they had went to WWE Elimination Chamber. Sounds like they had fun.

Cause we got there so late,all the front row seats were full. So we grabbed a couple in the second row. Well I kept calling my buddy to let him know I had grabbed his ticket. He finally answered his cell and told me he will be here in 10 minutes. So we got someone to save our seats and walked outside to meet him.

Collin and his buddy Damen show up about 10 minutes before bell time. We head inside and ended up sitting in the next to last row of the floor seats. The show starts off with Brent and the Commissioner in the ring and they do a nice tribute to Percy Pringle III/Paul Bearer. Talking about how much  Percy did for the wrestling business. Then there was a moment of silence for Percy. Was a nice tribute to one of the best managers ever.

Then it was time for the first match. Kool Jay Steele is out first. This will be the first time I have seen him wrestle live. But he did do a run in and attacked Reggie at the last Powerslam Pro show.

Jay walks around ringside and the crowd boos the hell out of him. All four of us are wondering who is opponent is gonna be. Then "Eye of the Tiger" hits the speakers and we go wild.

 Stud Matthews comes out.

Stud hits the ring takes of his headband and puts it on the ref. The crowd goes nuts for Stud. I love his 80s era Hulk Hogan gimmick. It is mega over and even though it seems most of this crowd has never been to a Powerslam Pro show before they love Stud.

Really fun back and forth match. With Stud doing all the Hogan mannerisms and moves. I marked the hell out when he did an Ax Bomber. Stud goes for the legdrop of doom,and after 2 attempts he manages to pin Jay. Great match to start the show off. It got the crowd hyped up and set the pace and mood for the rest of the show. After winning Stud went out into the crowd and thumb wrestled some of the kids. It is little touches like that that make Stud and Powerslam Pro stand out.

Match 2 Lukas Frost managed by Hardbody Harper vs Purple Haze Davey Hendrix

Frost and Harper are out first. Seems Lukas has cut his hair and it really changes his look.

Now Purple Haze I had never heard of ,but Collin and his buddy had seen him at some shows in NOLA. This ended up being a great high flying match. With both Frost and Haze working their asses off. As always Harper is outside the ring cheating and jawjacking with the fans. After a nicely paced match Frost ends up winning. But Purple Haze had a great match and the crowd seems to have loved him. I really hope he comes back to the next Powerslam Pro show.

Match 3 Blake Stevens vs Ling Pham

Blake comes out first,and he is another guy who I have never seen before. I make a joke about how he looks like my buddy Collin. Then Sensasian Ling Pham comes out. Having seen him back in December I know how good he is. And the crowd seems to really like Ling.

They lock up and we get a fast paced match. Ling is pretty damn good. Reminds me in some ways of a young Ultimo Dragon.

After a really well done match Ling gets the pin.

Match 4 The Outlaw Matt Lincie vs Sgt Sorroco

Outlaw comes out first and the crowds hates him so much. I notice he has a new singlet. Which has no purple on it. So that means we can't make Purple Cowboy jokes. Oh well. Then Sgt Sorroco comes out and all the fans love him. I love the part where Outlaw drops both the straps on his singlet. I keep waiting for him to do a Lawler style fistdrop. Both guys put on a fun match. With lots of action from both of them.

Sadly Sgt ends up getting pinned by the Outlaw. But  it was still a fun match.

Well Brent comes to the ring and tells us it is time for a new edition of the Champagne Lounge with Shane Champagne. Shane comes out to the ring.

Shane gets in the ring and tells us he has a special guest for the Champagne Lounge tonight. All the way from North Korea is The Great Mystic.

After a few minutes of Shane and Mystic talking in what I believe to be fake Korean and us trying to start a "Where's your NUKES?" chant,music hits the speakers. And out comes Reggie Matthews and Wes Adams. They are wearing New Orleans Saints Jerseys and green pants.

Shane and Mystic leave the ring. Shane grabs the mic and says they will only get back in if Reggie and Wes take off the Saint's jerseys. Which they do to reveal they have on McComb High  School jerseys on under them. The crowd goes nuts. That is when I realize that McComb's colors are green and yellow. The bell is rung and Mystic takes off his gi. And I turn to Collin and tell him "Look The Gigolo showed up!"

 Yeah I know most people reading this won't get the joke. But sometimes you have to throw in some inside humor.

It turns out to be a great tag match. With Mystic doing most of the work for his team.

 The highlights are Wes yanking off Shane's wig. Mystic catching Reggie with a super stiff kick and busting his nose open. And then Reggie and Wes going outside the ring. Reggie puts on Shane's wig and Wes puts on Mystic's hood.

After a hard fought match Reggie and Wes win.

Brent comes out and tells us it is time for intermission. Collin and his buddy head outside for a bit. Blake and I go talk to Sgt Sorroco.

Then we walk over and talk to Reggie some. We get Reggie to sign the covers of the Powerslam Pro DVDs we bought at the last show.All the face wrestlers are out and signing autographs. And they are swamped with kids. Seems most of the kids at the show have bought the kid's replica belts and the paper Rey Jr masks. I see Wes and talk to him for a minute. He tells me to come meet him at the gimmick table. We go over to it and he autographs the dvd covers for us. This is another thing I love about indy wrestling,how the guys interact with the crowds. You don't see say John Cena coming out at intermission and talking to the fans. But at every Powerslam Pro show I have been too it happens.

Well intermission ends and Brent hits the ring. So it is time for the 6th match.

Match 6 Hotshot Blake Wilder vs Vordel Walker

Wilder comes out first. I am slightly disappointed he didn't were his gold and white boots. Mainly cause those boots made him look like a Power Ranger. Vordel comes out and the crowd cheers the hell out of him. This will be the first time I have seen Vordel live. But I have seen lots of his matches on DVD or Youtube. Both guys lock up and go back and forth.

Vordel has control of the match. But then Wilder hits a nice stiff looking kick.

Wilder ends up cheating to win. And Vordel is pissed.

Match 7 Calvin Rose vs Luke Hawx for the Powerslam Pro title

Calvin won a chance to face Luke at December Double Shot part 2. Calvin and Hardbody Harper are out first. Then Luke comes out. He does a great bit where he wheels a fan in a wheelchair to ringside and pretends like the fan is holding him back.

Luke finally gets in the ring and it is obvious he is a huge crowd favorite.

The match ends up being a wild brawl that goes all over the gym.

Rose throws Hawx over the side and Luke hits the wooden bleachers really hard.

They end up brawling all around the ring. And in one of the highlights of the night a guy in the front row stands up and punches Calvin right in the back.  Finally they get back into the ring and we get some stiff ass punches and moves. Calvin goes for a pin and Harper holds down Luke's leg. So the ref makes the 3 count and Calvin is the new Powerslam Pro Champ. Luke gets up and starts yelling about how he was cheated out of the title. The Commissioner comes out and tells Luke he didn't see it and the ref's word is final. Luke is obviously pissed.

Luke says he wants to punch the ref. The Commissioner tells Luke if he lays a hand on the ref Luke will be suspended for one show. Luke ask the crowd if he should hit the ref. The crowd shouts YES!!!!! So Luke slaps the ref hard. Well we all think this is the end of the show and lots of the crowd is getting up and getting ready to leave. But the Commissioner gets on the mic and tells us "There is no way we can end the show like that. So how about a Battle Royal?" The crowd gets very excited.

Match 8 Battle Royal with Ling Pham,Blake Stevens,Sgy Sorroco,Kool Jay Steele,Purple Haze,Outlaw Matt Lincie,Studd Matthews,Lukas Frost ,Rumble O'Reily,The Great Mystic and Shane Champagne

Now sadly my batteries in my camera died right after the Battle Royale started.

The highlights are the Outlaw eliminating at least 5 people. And then the last 3 people in the ring are Frost,Outlaw and Stud. Stud starts getting double teamed by the two heels. But he "Studs UP!" and makes a great comeback. Stud gets Outlaw out onto the ringmat. And Frost messes up and eliminates Outlaw. Then Stud throws Frost over the top rope. The crowd explodes with cheers. It seems Stud is mega over with the crowd and really it makes sense. He has one of the best gimmicks I have seen in an indy in years. After the match,most of the wrestlers come out and we go around talking to some of them and get pictures.

I see Hardbody Harper and walk over to talk to him. And get a great picture with him.

We see Stud at ringside surrounded by kids. After all the kids get autographs and pictures ,Collin,Blake and I go to get a picture with Stud.

Stud points out that we are all  pointing but him. So he says "Ok we gotta take another picture.

I jokingly dub us the "Studamaniacs!" Well I walk over and go thank Reggie for the great show and he tells me to wait around for a bit he wants to talk to me.

We head out into the lobby and are just bullshitting. When all of the sudden someone puts me into a full nelson. Reggie had snuck up behind me. He tells us about the next two shows. Next months is in Hattisburg and then the May show will be in Liberty. Then Reggie tells us about getting his nose busted open and a great story about a guy at another show getting busted way open at a show he worked years ago.

We walk outside and Jon-Paul comes out and we stand out there talking to him for over an hour. With lots of great stories told. Finally we all head out to get something to eat. Hit up Arby's and spent over an hour just eating and bullshitting wrestling,movies and strangely Robert E Howard Conan the Barbarian stories.

As always Powerslam Pro puts on great shows for a great price. They are family friendly. If they are running a show anywhere near you please go. You will get a great show and all the talent is super friendly. Thanks again to everyone at Powerslam Pro and the McComb High School for a great night of wrestling action.

Hulk Hogan vs The Outlaw Memphis

Buddy Rose/Curt Hennig vs Dynamite Kid/Assassin Portland 11/12/83

Stan Hansen/Dan Spivey VS Dr Death/Terry Gordy 4/19/90 All Japan

CWA Memphis Jerry Lawler VS Curt Hennig

Last Rites Championship Wrestling Brookhaven 08/17/2012

I leave the house at about 4:40pm to go pick up my neighbor. We arrive at the civic center around 5:30pm. There is 4 ladies standing around outside the civic center. Turns out one of them is Paul Riot's sister. She tells us that they will be opening the doors soon so we can get our tickets. I mention I had just friended Paul on Facebook and she seems him inside and tells him to come outside. I talk to him for a few minutes. Then we are let inside. We buy our tickets and go over to the doors to the main part of the civic center. At 6pm they are suppose to start letting people in. With the show starting at 7pm. Well we end up talking to four nice ladies that have come down from Magee for the show. They tell us about NWA Battlezone. A few minutes after 6 we are let in and quickly get ringside seats in the dead middle. I notice that the announcer is set up on the stage I sat in front of for the XOW show 2 years ago. Plus there is 3 big screens hanging on the walls. There is lots of kids in the audience. Which means this show will be fun. I have learned that in  the deep south,at indie shows the crowd is as fun as the matches. Plus kids at shows in the deep south get so into the matches.

I end up talking to the man who is sitting on my left. He is there with his two young sons. So I mentally make a note to try not to cuss too much since their is lots of kids at the show. About 10 minutes to 7 the announcer lets us know the show is gonna start a little late. No biggie I am use to indie shows always starting late. I look around and don't see a gimmick table. But unlike the last show at the civic center two years ago,this time they have refreshments. Around 7:30pm the show starts. A group of four guys and two ladies come out and get in the ring. Chris Black gets the mic and starts going off on the town."This town is so deep in the woods you have to drive to town to go hunting." Not a bad line,cause Brookhaven is a backwoods town. The other 3 guys are Superkick Frankie Williamson,Cale Conners and Tommy 2 Guns Morrow. And the ladies are Ms Britney and some other lady who I never caught her name. Outta this group of six,two of them stand out to me. First is Cale Conners.

  He came out in what looked to be priest robes.And he is wearing a robotic looking mask with light up eyes. Then there is Ms Britney,who is a very tiny,very cute young lady. I am betting she is under 5 foot tall.

  After a few more minutes of Black and his gang going off on the crowd,some music hits the speakers. A video showing lots of lightning is playing on the screens and then Damien Storm comes out. He talks about how he has come to Last Rites Championship Wrestling,which from now on I will just call LCW, to take on Black's group of thugs. "But I am not alone" Storm says. And one by one he introduces Paul Riot,who the ladies to the right of me go wild over. Then up next is Jesse Dalton. I saw him 2 years ago at the XOW show at the Factory Furniture Outlet. And finally is The Faroh of Phunk and his valet Tiffany. The kids in the crowd pop loud for the Faroh. He just oozes charisma. Black tells Storm's group to come in the ring and shut them up. So Storm's group hits the ring.

 We get a short brawl.

 

  And Black's group quickly bails from the ring and heads back to the locker room. The Faroh gets on the mic. "BROOKHAVEN MISSISSIPPI ARE YOU READY TO GET FUNKY?"

 And the crowd goes wild. I remember that I saw the Faroh also at the XOW show two years ago. I got a picture with him and he commented on how much taller than him I am. Storm's group leaves the ring. While outside the ring Jesse Dalton challenges Tommy 2 Gun Morrows,who Dalton calls 2 thumbs,to a bull rope match.

  Morrows accepts. Then Storm,Dalton,Riot,the Faroh and Tiffany head to the back.

The announcer tells us that the first match is gonna be a battle royal. It will start with two men in the ring and every two minutes another guy will come out. And at the end the last two men in the ring will be in the main event. Where they will face off for the LCW Heavyweight title. Now since battle royals are so hard to review I will mainly just list who entered at what number and what order they got eliminated. Plus some of the highlights. First man in the ring is Aiden Scott.

 Who's entrance video is full of footage from the anime Bleach. Kind of surprising to me. I didn't expect to see anime at a deep south wrestling show. The second man to hit the ring is Max Maverick. As he comes out it is obvious he is a heel. So while he is posing on the top rope I heckle him.

 He tells me "Shut up dumb ass!" Which of course just makes me heckle him more.The third man out is Sean O'Riley who,at least to me,looks somewhat like Sami Callihan. Max is the first person eliminated.So I yell at him "Who's the dumb ass now!" 4th man in the ring is Dangerous Danny Daniels.He is also the 2nd person to go over the top rope. 5th is Frankie Williamson. Frankie is smart after a few minutes he rolls out under the bottom rope and spends the rest of the match crouching down and hiding beside the ring.O'Riley is 3rd person out. 5th man to hit the ring is the Faroh of Phunk and the crowd goes insane.Somewhere around this time Aiden Scott gets eliminated.6th man in the ring is Chris Black. And Ms Britney comes out with him. She spends her time helping make sure Black isn't eliminated and arguing with Faroh's valet Tiffany.Damien Storm is the 7th man in the ring and he gets almost as loud a reaction as Faroh.8th man is Paul Riot and the ladies to my right again got nuts. 9th is Fuse,who is quickly thrown out and is the 5th elimination.10th man is Cale Conners. He goes around clubbering people.Matt Harvard and Jesse Dalton are numbers 11 and 12. Unlucky 13th man in the ring is Tommy 2 Guns Morrow. Him and Dalton are quickly eliminated. And they start brawling to the right of me. Dalton Irish whips Morrow into the chairs and they go flying. I look back at the ring and and 8th and 9th people going over the top are Storm and Conners. Finally ,even though his valet tries her best,Chris Black is 10th man out. Nathan Lawler is next and the 14th man to enter.Then the final man,number 15,is Jeremy Awesome. When Awesome comes through the curtain he spits water into the air like HHH. He is also pretty jacked up and wearing arm tassles like Ultimate Warrior. So I tell the friend that came with me "I guess he is Ultimate H."  Lawler is eliminated. So Awesome and Faroh think they are the last two left. But Frankie Williamson re-enters the ring and throws Awesome over the top rope. So the main event will be The Faroh of Phunk vs Superkick Frankie Williamson for the LCW heavyweight title. This one one of the best indie show battle royals I have seen.

There is a short break while the ring crew fixes the canvas. All during the battle royal the canvas kept slipping. The second match is a three way dance for the LCW Extreme championship. Out first is Max Maverick. Who I of course heckle again. Next in the ring is Danny Daniels. And last man out is Aiden Scott. Scott and Daniels do lots of double teaming on Maverick. After awhile Max bails outside the ring. He grabs the table that is under the ring. He gets back into the ring sets the table up longways in the corner.

 Then throws Scott into it. I notice that the table isn't the normal thin table you usually see in wrestling matches. This one looks about twice as thick. Fun match with lots of fast action. Max manages to set the table up near the middle of the ring then puts Daniels on it. Maverick climbs to the top rope.

  And goes for what I think was a leg drop. But Danny rolls off the table and Maverick breaks the table in two with his ass. You can tell this hurt him pretty badly. He rolls into the corner and gets out of the ring. Scott and Danny go back and forth. Trading punches and other moves. Max comes back and he has the LCW extreme belt with him. He waits till Aiden has Daniels out in the corner. Aiden goes to the opposite corner and is running towards Daniels,when Max Maverick nails him hard in the head with the belt. Max pins Scott and gets the win.

  Very well paced match. And Max Maverick did great at working the crowd. Something about him just screams BOOO ME!

Match 3 is for the LCW Women's title. First out is Haley Harris. Who judging from the reactions of the ladies sitting on my right is a heel. Then out comes Britney Black. They lock up and go back and forth.

  Then Britney takes Harris to the mat and goes for a few different submission holds.

   But Harris manages to break out of everyone of them. Harris starts beating on Black. And then hooks her in a modified Boston crab.

  Black manages to get out of it and puts Haley into some kind of leg/ankle lock.

  I wonder if both Haley and Britney have been watching some joshi matches? Haley puts Black into a bear hug.

 Then rams her into the turnbuckle.

  After a few more minutes Haley get's slipped some kind of foreign object by Ms Britney.She hits Black with it and knocks her silly. This allows Harris to get the pin. Good match. I liked all the various submission holds.

Cale Conners comes out next. When he gets in the ring I make a comment about how fat he is. He says "Come on say something!" So I respond with "You look like Kane and Playboy Buddy Rose had a kid!" His reply is "Oh look a smart mark!"

  It was all I could do to not laugh. I am betting besides the wrestlers,maybe 5 people at the show have any idea who Buddy Rose is. Paul Riot comes out,and the announcer refers to him as "Brookhaven's own Paul Riot!" Which of course makes the crowd pop loudly. I am amazed at how agile and how fast Conners moves for being such a big guy. Riot mainly works a cruiser-weight style.

 

 Riot is doing good till Chris Black comes out and places a piece of plywood that was under the ring into the corner. Then Cale Conners powerbombs Riot through the plywood. The ref calls for the bell and Riot wins by DQ. Damien Storm comes out. And him and Paul Riot challenge Conners and Black to a tag team match. The match will be fore the LCW tag team titles. Nice match that was a great blend of two styles of wrestling. Plus Conners calling me a smart mark made my night.

Match 5 is a three way dance for the LCW light heavyweight title. First out is Fuse. Next is Sean O'Riley,then last is Matt Harvard. From the crowds reactions I must assume Harvard is a face and the other two guys are heels.

  Fuse and O'Riley double team the shit outta Harvard.

  Harvard tries his best but can't over come the odds.

  Fuse finally pins him while using the ropes. Decent match,but was a little short.

Time for intermission. Which is great cause by this time I have to piss really bad. I am heading to the bathroom and run into Paul Riot. I talk to him for a few minutes. Go and piss and run into Aiden Scott in the bathroom. He is already out of his wrestling gear. And I thank him for the matches. I go over to the guy that has been taking pictures and ask him who I need to talk to about buying a dvd of the show. He tells me to talk to the lady with the video camera. Then he gives me his Facebook info,so I can check out his pictures from the show.  I goto the refreshment counter and get two sodas. When I get back the camera guy,Jon-Paul Leblanc comes over and we talk about Mid South. Then Max Maverick comes out and tells me I am the most annoying fan he has seen at a show. But he is smiling when he says this. Then Jon-Paul gets a bunch of us together to get a picture with the Max the LCW Extreme champ.

Nathan Lawler comes out and is announced as being from Memphis. So I assume this means he might be working a Jerry Lawler's love child gimmick. He is chubby so the kids in the crowd start ragging him about this. One of the kids to my right starts calling him "COWBUTT!" Which causes me to start laughing. Then Jeremy Awesome comes out with his valet,sadly I never caught her name. Awesome has Mardi Gras beads with him. Which he proceeds to toss to the kids in the crowd. What surprises me about this match is how fast and agile Lawler is. He is a big chubby guy but moves more like a 80s era high flyer. Awesome works more of a 80s WWF big man style.

 

  This match was the biggest surprise of the evening to me. I wasn't expecting a fast paced semi high flying match outta these two guys. But that is what I got. And I am glad. It was fun and helped pick the crowds energy level up. Cause by the time the match started it was after 10pm and you could tell lots of the younger kids were getting sleepy.

Now it is time for the bull rope match. Tommy Morrow comes out first and refuses to let the ref attach the bull rope to his arm. Jesse Dalton comes out,and the announcer tells us that Dalton has never lost a bull rope match. After some stalling Morrow gets the bull rope attached to his arm and the match starts.Tommy quickly takes the cowbell off the rope and it gets throw almost out of the ring.

 

 

  Morrow knocks Dalton down a few times. But he never manages to touch more than 2 of the 4 corners. Then they go outside the ring. Dalton knocks 2 Guns to the floor and uses the rope to drag him all over the floor. They head back towards the ring and Morrow knocks Dalton to the floor. He then grabs the cowbell and starts bashing Jesse in the forehead with it. Dalton is busted open and starts profusely bleeding.

 Finally Jesse gets the upper hand. He takes Morrow over to the stage and slams his head into the stage. They climb up onto the stage.

 Jesse grabs the hammer that has been being used to ring the bell. And using the claw end digs deeply into Tommy's forehead. Now both guys are wearing the crimson mask. They make their way back to the ring. Dalton knocks Tommy on his ass. Jesse manages to touch 3 corners before 2 Guns stops him. Dalton low blows Tommy with the rope,puts Morrow up on his shoulder in a modified fireman's carry.Jesse then carries him around as he manages to touch all 4 corners and wins the match. Dalton drops Tommy in the middle of the ring and has his back turned on him. Tommy pulls out some brass knuckles and when Dalton turns around he gets nailed in the head. Damien Storm and Paul Riot come out to help Dalton back to the locker room.

Match 8 is a tag team match for the LCW tag team titles. Chris Black and Cale Conners are the first team out. Then Damien Storm and Paul Riot come out. Black and Cale are great at keeping Paul from tagging out.

  They also manage to distract the ref a bunch. Finally Storm gets the hot tag and cleans house. He nails Black in the balls at least 4 times. One of them is a testicle claw. Which gets a big reaction out of the crowd. Finally the team of Storm and Riot knock Cale to the mat. Then Damien holds down Black's legs. Riot climbs to the top rope and gets some great air doing a frog splash. 1,2,3 and Damien Storm and Paul Riot are now the LCW tag team champs.

  Now it is the main event. Frankie Williamson and Ms Britney come out first.

  Williamson jaw jacks with various people in the crowd for a few minutes. His best line is "I am not afraid to slap a 7 year old!"

  Which got a big laugh outta me. Then the Faroh comes out.

 And all the kids rush over to dance with him. Frankie gets on the mic and says unless people stops dancing he is gonna leave. The crowd tells him to leave. Finally after about 7 minutes the Faroh gets into the ring and they lock up. This is a really well worked match and in some ways reminds me of the various Eddy Guerrero/Dean Malenko matches from ECW. Lots of fast paced hard hitting moves. But at the end the Faroh gets the pin and celebrates at ringside with all the kids from the crowd. Frankie gets a mic,that keeps working then not working,and says Faroh cheated and when he pinned him he had a handful of tights. Faroh gets a mic,which works perfectly, and challenges Frankie to a Lincoln County Street fight for the next show in Brookhaven.

  Which is suppose to happen in September. The crowd starts heading out. And when I pass by the ring I heckle Frankie. He tells me to come into the ring. And I respond with "Nah I don't fight old men!" I head to the bathroom and see Cale Conners in the hallway. I thank him for the matches and tell him the "Smart mark" comment made my night. He shakes my hand. After pissing I am heading back out and see the locker room door is open. So I pop my head in and quickly thank all the guys for the show.

Overall the show was great. More than worth the $5 admission price. We got a show that was about 4 hours and none of the matches sucked. I really hope that Last Rites Championship Wrestling keeps coming to town every month. I know if they do I will be at every show. So to all the wrestlers and all the people behind the  scenes a huge thank you for bring a great night of affordable entertainment to Brookhaven.