Now, before anyone calls the health department, let me say that there was no actual blood at Buffalo Wild Wings. To my knowledge, there weren't any brawls either, which would make this story a lot more interesting. So far, this blog has been primarily about the ridiculousness of independent wrestling and depending on your prospective, there could be better things to do than do commentary while people pretend to fight each other. However, this post will be slightly different, as I will tell you about a road trip that was worth the time and the effort to see the show.
Originally becoming famous in Japan, a "Deathmatch" tournament involves barbed wire, light tubes, and many other dangerous objects that no sane person would want to be near, let alone be in a match. While you wonder how insane the participants are, I guess you would also have to ask how insane the people that watch the violence are too. Light tubes are actually banned in pro wrestling matches in the state of Pennsylvania so you won't see a death match tournament in PA and there are not tournaments too often on the independent circuit because of the injuries that occur. That being said, on November 7, 2009 a road trip was set for West Virginia to see the IWA East Coast Masters of Pain tournament. Four of us decided to make the trip and Johanson was also supposed to go to the show, but was probably smart than any of us and stayed home to study for tests in a few classes.
The trip there was okay, but when we stopped at a gas station in the middle of no where, it looked like the set of Deliverance and it was the stereotypical West Virginia. We arrived to the show around 7 PM but there was still stuff being built for the show so while we waited outside, we talked to a few other fans and everyone was cool.
The show started and to review all the blood, barbed wire, and insanity would take too much time. That and anyone actually reading this wouldn't read it all anyway. Just to mention a few things, Yuko Miyamoto, the Big Japan Deathmatch Champion was in the tournament. I've watched Big Japan for years on boot leg tapes and downloading matches so it was awesome to get to see one of the stars from Japan live at a show. Mad Man Pondo was in the tournament too and he is also the promoter of IWA East Coast. He is really cool and while he doesn't promote too often now, he really tries to give the fans their money's worth, which is something not many promoters will do on the independent circuit. Drake Younger was in the tournament as well and he is one of the best deathmatch wrestlers in the world in my view so it was cool to get to see him in a death match tournament. Almost every participant in the tournament was good and it set up for a great show. The one word to describe it was insane. Light tubes, moon saults from a scaffold, and barbed wire were all used in the tournament. Miyamoto won the tournament, defeating Drake Younger in the finals. After the show concluded, I got a picture with Miyamoto and then Drake, which was awesome. After that, it was mentioned that there would be a post show gathering at a Buffalo Wild Wings that was less than a mile from the building.
Buffalo Wild Wings has some good food and it was close so we stopped to get some food before traveling back. The restaurant was almost completely empty and a few minutes after we arrived, the participants from the tournament arrived at the restaurant. Devon Moore and Whacks, two of the wrestlers that were hitting their opponents with light tubes just an hour before were now sitting at the table with us as the rest of the competitors were at the table next to us. It was slightly comical seeing people that were swinging dangerous objects at each other during the show now sitting there eating dinner. When the winner, Miyamoto entered, everyone applauded for him and all the wrestlers were really cool.
When we were ready to leave, we said goodbye to the wrestlers and thanked them for putting on a good show. Miyamoto doesn't speak english and I wanted to let him know it was a good show so I said "Miyamoto Ichibon." Ichibon means number one in Japanese and he seemed grateful as we both bowed. Pondo thanked us for coming to the show and we traveled another four and a half hours back. It was a crazy show, but it was a lot of fun.
Here is a clip of the show
Monday, February 14, 2011
Hey, Look Who's Under The Ring?
If there weren't fans then there would be no reason to have a show, but some fans get a little too rowdy and this story is a prime example of it. It was the Warriors debut show in January 2010 at the Ches-A-Rena in Cheswick, PA and the building was really cool with a stage. The lighting added to it and the show was good, but some of the building staff were too busy watching the show instead of doing their job. To increase the probability that there would be no problems with the crowd, there was a $15 all you can eat and drink, including beer, for the fans. Yeah, that was a good idea...
I was doing commentary with Jon Burton at ring side with the table set up next to the ring and in the front row, there was a group of fans that appeared to have paid the $15 for the all you can eat and drink at the building. About half way through the show, one of the fans walked up and sat down at the commentary table. JB and I were broadcasting for the DVD release and aside from the safety concerns, the fan being at the table could disrupt the broadcast. I told the fan it was a broadcast and that he would have to return to his seat. The fan did not return to his seat and it took JB going to look for security for the fan to go back to his seat. Problem solved right? Would this story be a blog post if that was the end of the story?
A few matches later, while the lights were down for an entrance, I look over and see the same fan crawling under the ring. A ring is made of metal and wood so it's extremely dangerous for a fan to be under the ring. I tried to tell JB, who was in the ring waiting to introduce the next match, but with the music, he didn't hear me and after that the fan crawled back from underneath the ring. The building staff should have been there to handle the situation, but since they were too busy watching the show, they didn't do anything. The fan didn't do anything else, other than look like an idiot for the rest of the show. Thankfully, there was no other fan incidents at the other Warriors shows.
I was doing commentary with Jon Burton at ring side with the table set up next to the ring and in the front row, there was a group of fans that appeared to have paid the $15 for the all you can eat and drink at the building. About half way through the show, one of the fans walked up and sat down at the commentary table. JB and I were broadcasting for the DVD release and aside from the safety concerns, the fan being at the table could disrupt the broadcast. I told the fan it was a broadcast and that he would have to return to his seat. The fan did not return to his seat and it took JB going to look for security for the fan to go back to his seat. Problem solved right? Would this story be a blog post if that was the end of the story?
A few matches later, while the lights were down for an entrance, I look over and see the same fan crawling under the ring. A ring is made of metal and wood so it's extremely dangerous for a fan to be under the ring. I tried to tell JB, who was in the ring waiting to introduce the next match, but with the music, he didn't hear me and after that the fan crawled back from underneath the ring. The building staff should have been there to handle the situation, but since they were too busy watching the show, they didn't do anything. The fan didn't do anything else, other than look like an idiot for the rest of the show. Thankfully, there was no other fan incidents at the other Warriors shows.
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