A 'lil HooHaa

Messing with the blogging world since 2005

professional wrestling

If all goes well, Gentlemania shall take over pro wrestling

Jervis Cottonbelly enters the ring at a Wrestling Is Awesome show in Troy.

In professional wrestling, there are gimmicks.

And then there are the really good gimmicks.

As a fan of independent professional wrestling, I’ve seen so many gimmicks, I can’t remember them all. There are the overused ones — such as the “hardcore” guys who wrestle in jeans or bright plastic-like outfits and copy different things — such as drinking beer, swearing, shaving their heads (well, some need to do this!) or stealing catch phrases, such as Ric Flair’s “Woooooo!”

But good gimmicks are worth their weight in gold.

Such as Gentlemania.

Before I dive into this further, realize not all wrestlers need a gimmick. But gimmicks not only help a wrestler, they help make a show fun, entertaining and something to remember.

As a baseball fan, I truly enjoyed the Dasher Hatfield gimmick.

One company a few of us often watch is 2CW. There are many good gimmicks in the federation at all levels of the card. One is Pete D. Order, who is a “cop.” But it’s not just the cop angle — it’s carrying donuts to the ring and handing them to fans. It’s a lot of stereotypical stuff, which makes it fun.

A month or so back, I traveled to the Albany area to watch a new federation — Wrestling is Awesome. Some of the wrestlers are Chikara wrestlers, or those styled after Chikara, which is a federation that has a lot of masked wrestlers and some fun gimmicks.

A few stuck out to me, such as Dasher Hatfield, whose mask looks like a baseball. There’s Latvian Proud Oak, who is, well, some sort of a tree.

Then there’s “Gentleman” Jervis Cottonbelly. And he’s bringing Gentlemania to the masses.

I don’t know what it is about this gimmick, but it’s one of the best I’ve ever seen. His outfit is classic — including, yes, a cotton belly. The mask is great, he has his English accent and he’s, well, a gentleman. Handshakes and good sportsmanship.

Pip, pip, cheerio, sir.

Awesome.

To make it better? He comes out to the theme song from Mr. Belvedere. That’s worth major points.

Mike Quackenbush and Jervis Cottonbelly shake hands following their excellent show of grappling.

His match was against the “Man of 1,000 holds” Mike Quackenbush, a wrestler I’ve wanted to see for a long time. The action was good, they countered, they grappled and it was full of sportsmanship. The match was excellent and was worth the price of admission on its own.

Sportsmanship … in professional wrestling? Who’d a thunk it?

But Jervis is a gentleman. A top o’ the morning sort of fella. I’m sure there’s tea, crumpets and many handshakes. Talk about a nice guy. Besides Quackenbush and a couple of others on the card I had seen before, Jervis was a main reason for me going to this event.

This video of Jervis sold it to me:

How awesome is that?

Remember, independent wrestlers don’t make an awful lot of money, so to see things like this is absolutely awesome.

Professional wrestling at the highest level (WWE) may be a multi-million dollar industry, but getting to watch it at the lower levels really shows you how great this can be in regard to entertainment. This day was full of laughs, good action and an entertaining card. In the end, the wrestlers, Jervis included, lined up and shook hands with fans as they left. That’s class. That’s gentleman like. Maybe Gentlemania really is taking over?

This same company is supposed to be back in the area during the first weekend in March. I look forward to hopefully watching again and, if all is right, there will be a gentleman grappling that evening.

Allow me to leave you with an entrance video somebody put together for Jervis.

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook!

Looking back at 2012: Finding the good in an awful year

No matter how bad things are, sometimes you have to sit back, realize it’s a blessing to be alive and smile.

This post definitely will have its ups and downs.

Last year when I did a look back at the year, I was in the same situation I am now — unemployed. But I still was optimistic. I had taken advantage of the year by being able to see things as I did my job search.

But as those months continued into 2012, it got worse.

I didn’t go see things as much. I canceled — understandably so — a trip to GeoWoodstock X (to be fair, it sounds like canning the trip wasn’t the worst thing. I hope to get back to GeoWoodstock some time in the future). I also didn’t do several things I had hoped to do, such as do a repeat trip to my Aunt’s house on the Jersey Shore.

Still, I’ve tried to remain as upbeat and as positive as I can. Despite knowing the end is near (or done if nothing has happened) to unemployment benefits, I realize I’m not even close to many others. I have a roof over my head, food to eat and family and friends who care enough about me to try and help or get my mind off things, if even just getting together for a slice of pizza or a beer.

That doesn’t take away from the negative thoughts I have in my head. I look at others who are successful and happy in life and wonder if I’ll reach that. I realize I chose a bad career path — or at least it seems — and I need to figure out something to do.

Hopefully, 2013 will be that year.

That being said, 2012 wasn’t a total wash. The reality is, I try and do whatever I can to try keep an upbeat attitude, if even just for a day or two. The lack of finances has made me look for more affordable things to do, especially in the local area. From photography to community events, I’ve seen a lot more of the area, which is a positive thing.

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One of the biggest — and brightest spots of my year was Rattling Chains, a blog I created to cover the sport of disc golf. This was done as a hobby during my spare time as I wanted to see if a niche blog like that could work. Disc golf is an extremely fast growing sport, so maybe something like this could take off.

And, compared to my hopes, it did.

I had a fun year in disc golf, but would have liked to played more!

Since launching the blog in early March, the site has received more than 115,000 views. That’s not shabby for a small crew (there are 3-5 of us who write on a regular basis) and with no financial backing or gain. We’ve put out some quality content and that’s been something I’ve really been proud of.

At times, it’s been hard to continue. And there’s no guarantee we’ll make it. Who knows what life brings. But for now, we’re doing well and have a loyal group following us.

In other parts of disc golf, I didn’t play as much as I would have liked this year. Unfortunately the drive to get a local course failed, so that made it harder for me to play. Driving 1 1/2 hours to play a round isn’t smart in regard to time or finances.

That meant I also only played in five tournaments this year — two PDGA-sanctioned tournaments (I reached my goal of hitting 700 as a rating), two doubles tournaments (we cashed in one!) and one Ace Race.

I’ve also played a bunch of casual rounds — including one with 2010 world champion Eric McCabe. So, in the end, I think I improved quite a bit, which is something I wanted to do.

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During this year, besides seeking a job, I was also seeking something else — peace.

The reality is, I have a lot of hate when it comes to some things in my life. I’m coming to terms with much of it and, I think, by the end of this job hunt, I’ll have come to total peace.

In fact, I really think I’ll face it head-to-head when I know my life is taking a better turn.

In the meantime, as I tried to shake it — I wanted to find some sort of peace. Kind of finding that place where I knew I could get away and just relax and not worry about anything else.

For those of you who know one of my closest friends Darren, you know he’s got his hands into so many things. That usually means when I get the chance to hang out with him, there’s going to be something different.

Finding kayaking was an important part of my year.

Kayaking was one of them.

Though I had always wanted to learn to kayak, I had never done it until this year. The first couple of times I went was with Darren. I used one of his kayaks and we paddled the local river. However, the kayak wasn’t truly good for me.

The next several times I went, I rented at a local kayak place. The owner was extremely helpful every time I went, helping me find the right kayak and showing me what I needed to do. The first time or two I went, I had to get the feel of it. From then on out, I got the “feel” of it within the first five minutes and I was all over it.

I still can’t do like others — have the legs out while chilling — but I’m sure that will come in time. I also need to figure out how to kayak for a couple of hours without back pain!

The one thing I truly found with kayaking?

Peace.

There is something to be said about being on the water with not many around and just coast, soak up some sun and listen to nature. It’s peaceful. You can get into a great place when out there.

I also held our area’s first water-based geocaching event. We had more than 30 people come out on a warm fall day, paddle a mile and a half to the event and enjoy everything.

Way too cool.

I don’t set resolutions or anything like that, but I’m really hoping to be able to afford a kayak and a roof rack this year. I can definitely see me going kayaking a whole heap more, especially if I don’t have to rent every time I go.

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Speaking of geocaching, I had a decent year with that hobby.

According to my statistics, I found 539 caches this year, which is my highest total since finding 1,030 in 2009. Since then, I’ve founf 491 (2010) and 396 (2011).

I finished a monumental challenge in completing the New York State DeLorme Challenge, which is something I’ve worked on for several years. Two big one-day road trips helped me get to the final point, which was awesome. I was excited to share the moment with some friends and it was nice to know I completed the challenge.

It’s been fun finding caches and doing some DeLorme road trips this year.

The challenge final was also my 3,000th find.

I’ve also completed the New York County Challenge, but I have yet to go find the final.

During the year, I had the chance to hit up 13 events, including the first New England mega event, which was held in Massachusetts  We made it a one-day trip (it was only a few hours from me) and had a good time, despite the crazy heat.

Including the seven events I hosted this year, I have launched 16 new caches in 2012. One of those was also my 50th hide (I now have 59). I think I’m most proudest of that, because it’s always nice to put out new caches.

It hasn’t been all great, though. We had a geocache attack this year, stealing upward of 10 ammo cans. A good bulk of them were mine or one other persons. I wondered if it was somebody local or somebody coming through the area and stealing them. The worst part was when my golden ammo can was replaced (it was done by someone else), it was stolen a second time — and one of her caches that was nearby was also close. I don’t know if it’s somebody local, but I won’t lie when I say I think it has to be someone with some sort of a vendetta. Since then, however, it seems to have ceased. So we can hope, anyway.

In the end, it was a good year for caching. I had the chance to go on some really fun caching days and got to meet new people. Though I had to cancel two trips to mega events I wanted to hit for financial reasons, I still enjoyed the year of caching. In the end, it did what it normally does — gave me an out to forget things for a while and took me to some places I likely never would have found without the game.

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This has been an interesting year when it comes to photography, which is why I’ll be breaking that down into more than one category.

First, professional wrestling. I’ve blogged about this before, but when it comes to photography, I’ve really found a lot of fun in shooting wrestling. Especially independent federations. First, it’s cheap entertainment (usually, tickets are $10-$15 for about three hours of action). Second, you can get some great images, be it action, close-ups or even the fans.

One of my favorite images this year in regard to wrestling — Brodie Lee. He’s since been signed by WWE and is wrestling under the name Luke Harper.

I have to say, I’m kind of shocked at how many events I went to this year. I took photos at 16 wrestling events and attended at least one other where I didn’t take any images. That’s quite a few. But I’ve loved the images I’ve taken. I also had the chance to tag along with a couple of indy wrestlers to a training seminar.

You get quite the variety of quality, too. Some is bad, some is good, some is awesome.

Either way, it’s a slice of variety that makes it fun to take photos.

I’ve also had the chance to get to know some of the personalities and am working on some writing projects with a few of them. In the end, I hope to talk to several others and make this one massive project — possibly a book.

After all, the photos only tell half the stories.

Though many people look own upon this sport, these guys (and gals) who do this really have some interesting stories to tell. Some are wild, some are good and some are bad. Some are downright tragic.

I am happy I’ve been able to shoot this sport. I’ve grown up a wrestling fan, so being able to capture these images has been awesome. That being said, one thing the training session taught me is being able to take photos at ringside is way better than being back in the crowd. Maybe in 2013, I’ll get that chance to get up close and personal to shoot the sport in a different light. I’ll look to rent a lens beforehand if that opportunity comes.

I didn’t use my favorite wrestling shot of the year in this post because it’s graphic and I want people to make their own choice if they want to see it. Note it’s bloody. If you want to see it, click here.

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This year hasn’t always been the best for photography.

I started out the year with a bang being involved in the second year of the HooHaa 52 and taking part in the 366 Project.

Some of you may remember I completed the 365 Project in 2010. The project is where you take a photo every day for a full year. I finished in in 2010 and swore I’d never do it again.

My Feb. 28 shot for the failed 366 Project.

However, 2012 was a leap year, so …

Needless to say, I didn’t make it. I sputtered throughout the summer and forced myself to keep going. Once the fall hit, I really hit a wall. No job equaled fewer opportunities to travel around and taking photos in my immediate area was becoming a bore.

So, after about 250 days, I called it quits.

I realize I only had three months or so remaining, but I knew I wasn’t going to make it. So I had two decisions — push as long as I could, or end it there. I decided to end it there, knowing I’d really get mad if I made it to December or something and then slipped.

Also, I think knowing I had completed this project in 2010 made it easier for me to call it quite.

The HooHaa 52 was also a failure. I was about 10 weeks shy of finishing. The reason there is the majority of people who joined this challenge had faltered. And others were using older photos or logging too many in a row. So I got frustrated and gave up.

That being said, Year 3 of the HooHaa 52 is starting this week and I’m more excited than I have been in the past for this challenge. I think we have a good group of people and have tweaked the rules to make it easier. Hopefully by this time next year, I’ll be telling you all about how I finished the project and how proud I am of the group and everything that got done.

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Travel this year was limited. I hit up the Lancaster area early in the year for a couple days of disc golf. Same with a short weekend trip to Philly in November, where I also got to stay with relatives and see some relatives I hadn’t seen in a while.

The Cooperstown Winter Festival was one of the local events I checked out this year.

There were also the two days of 22-plus hours of travel and caching to fill the DeLorme squares. And I ventured a few places to play disc golf, usually day trips.

But things I had hoped to do this year — a couple of geocaching trips, a trip to the Vibram Open — it just wasn’t in the cards this year.

And I’m OK with that. I realize my time needed to be spent (and still does) applying and searching for employment. It’s part of this crazy part of my life I’m in. Throwing money out for big trips just isn’t justifiable, when I’m trying to keep my head above water with bills.

That being said…

What this year taught me was to find more things locally. Things such as area fairs or festivals that are low cost (or free) and things put on for the community. I had the chance to see different things in a different light.

I also explored more of the local area, through geocaching and photography, to try and get out and visit local parks and such. There are a few I missed and I look forward to checking in 2013. There are also many awesome state parks within a couple hours from here. They offer many things and after receiving an Empire Pass for Christmas this year, I plan on trying to visit as many as possible this year.

I got involved with helping people looking for photos of headstones via Find A Grave and did some personal photography challenges. I worked on geocaching things in the local area. There really are so many things in people’s local areas they don’t know about. It’s unfortunate it took me this long to realize it. I look forward to looking at things like this in the future though.

It truly is amazing how you look at things differently when you have to find more cheap and inexpensive means of entertainment.

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In the end, the year featured more than I can put in this post.

It definitely had its ups and downs. Though a lot of the downs outweighed some things, the reality is I still am here on Earth, have good family and friends and am better off than so many others.

I also do believe things happen for a reason.

What the reason is that I’m going through all of this right now? No idea. But hopefully it will show its face in 2013.

Thanks to everyone who has visited the site through this year and I hope to have many more things to post about in the upcoming year!

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog@gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook!

Bumps and tosses: Training for pro-wrestling isn’t easy

Chuck Szili demonstrates a hip toss to an aspiring professional wrestler at a training seminar led by Szili and tag-team partner Sean Carr.

For those who watch pro wrestling beyond WWE, you know it can be a zany world.

From large crowds at smaller venues or smaller crowds at the same venue — sometimes being fewer than 100 in the crowd — the life of a wrestler on the independent circuit can be hard.

In recent weeks and months I’ve talked to several independent wrestlers and personalities with the hope of working on a series for the blog. The idea is to tell the stories of these wrestlers, the life on the road and the good and the bad.

The great thing about wrestlers? They all have a story to tell and, usually, it’s a different story. My hope is to take these stories and add on and have longer versions and turn those into an e-Book, but the series and/or book won’t be finished for at least a few months as I’m just starting to get into it.

It’s a crazy life these wrestlers live. This series of stories should even be compelling to non-wrestling fans because  there are things you’ll read that will make you wonder why any sane person would get involved with this profession.

Chuck Szili locks up with a wrestling student as tag-team partner Sean Carr (bottom left) and other trainees look on in this long-exposure shot.

I know what many people will say — “Come on, wrestling’s fake…”

When describing professional wrestling, one thing I despise is the word “fake.”

You want fake? Ask indy wrestler Charade if it’s fake. Check out this YouTube video. Be warned — this is kind of crazy and I firmly believe Charade should feel lucky he’s alive today. There’s no blood in this video, but what happens will make most people cringe. Note that the wrestler did live and apparently is better off than many might be in this situation.

So, the word “fake” is the wrong one to use.

Maybe planned? Choreographed? Worked? It’s entertainment. This isn’t the 50s or 70s or something like that anymore where the public didn’t — or acted like they didn’t — know what was going on.

These guys, after all, are still athletes and do some insanely crazy things.

When watching, you just hope they are trained correctly, can put on a good show and don’t get seriously maimed doing it.

This past Saturday, I had a really cool opportunity to join Binghamton-area wrestlers Sean Carr and Chuck Szili, who competes as Kage in the wrestling world, on a road trip to the Scranton area and see a training seminar. Carr, an acrobatic wrestler, is a relative newcomer to the sport, competing for about four or five years. Szili is the veteran, entering his 13th year. He’s traveled throughout the world to wrestle, even getting a proverbial cup of coffee with the WWE, wrestling on the Smackdown show a few years ago.

The two also form the tag team “CK,” and compete in 2CW (Squared Circle Wrestling), a top-level independent federation based out of Syracuse. Like many indy wrestlers, they also compete in other federations throughout the Northeast, but 2CW is their main spot.

Over the past few months, I’ve had to chat with these two at cards and such and have really been impressed with them. Not just as athletes, but how they look at this profession, realistically. They see it more than doing 15 high-risk moves and not doing anything beyond it. They think about telling a story, saving the big spots for when needed and being able to connect with the crowd.

Sean Carr slaps a headlock on a trainee at the Back Breaker Training Center.

That’s refreshing.

As a fan, I appreciate that. When I go to a wrestling event — whether it be the best of the best or the worst of the worst — I just want to believe for a few hours. I still enjoy heroes and villains, cheering and booing and going along with being part of the show. After all, the crowd is a major part of wrestling. But if a wrestler is poorly trained, it becomes less believable.

In the dozen or so 2CW cards I’ve seen, the believability is there. The villains are villains. The heroes are heroes. Does that line sometime get skewed? Sure. But for the most part, the good vs. bad is present.

Many federations don’t seem to be able to do this well — thus taking away believability. I once went to a card where one of the guys yelled to the crowd “we’re supposed to be the good guys.”

Here’s a bit of advice — if you are having to tell people if you are the villain or the hero? You haven’t done your job.

Beyond that, the action has to be believable. I want to watch a show, be entertained and know the people put everything into it. Federations like 2CW are like that. Others are the complete opposite. It might be about being “hardcore” or doing a ton of crazy things that could send one to the hospital.

It’s not worth it when you are getting $20 or $30 a night — if you are lucky.

Saturday’s trip took Szili and Carr to Back Breakers Training Center. Szili had trained there some 10 years ago and has a good relationship with the head of the school, Justyn Glory.

What followed was an impressive 3 1/2 hour session full of hip tosses, slams, running of the ropes, stories and advice.

I walked away with a new appreciation of what these guys do.

Here’s a bit of history. When I was in high school, one of my dreams was to be a professional wrestler. I’ll touch more on this when I run the full series of these stories, but I dreamed of one day being the (then) WWF champion. I actually researched wrestling schools and was pretty close to attempting it.

I’m not sure what stopped me (money, most likely), but watching this training session made me realize I likely never would have made it to mid-card status on an independent show, let alone the WWF champion.

Chuck Szili — Kage — discusses techniques during a training seminar.

Wrestling is a lot different than when I was in high school, too.

Back then, there was a fine line between giving away “secrets.” Wrestling was still “real.” These days, the majority of wrestling fans realize what it is — entertainment. These are highly athletic people who put on one hell of a show. Whether it’s a 50-minute endurance match or a 5-minute quickie, they entertain.

If what they did was fully real, there’d be many more injuries and, likely, deaths.

Still, when you step foot into these rings, you have to know what you are doing. From taking a bump to delivering basic moves, you are not only working to keep yourself safe, but to also keep your opponent safe. You are also telling a story to the fans in the crowd and giving them the chance to forget the real world for a few hours, taking them on a journey of believability.

Alas, this isn’t a backyard wrestling thing — just like anything else, you have to train to become a professional wrestler.

The harsh reality is probably 99 percent of all these guys who train to wrestle or wrestle on the independent scene won’t ever make it to the WWE, or even TNA. That’s not to say that there’s not a lot of places an indy wrestler could do well — such as Ring of Honor, Chikara or a place like 2CW.

Students work during a training seminar headed by Chuck Szili and Sean Carr.

It depends on what one is looking for.

One of the people at the training session even noted to Carr and Szili that he doesn’t have the goal of getting to the WWE. To that, Szili made sure to point out to give everyone one has at whatever level they are on.

The two made some great points to the students — from noting to have fun to making sure the youngsters stay out of politics and drama.

The best part was watching everything unfold. The students who attended were really focused. They listened and asked questions. They seemed to hang on the words of Carr and Kage. During the workout, they took additional bumps to better techniques. They listened. One guy even took his first hip tosses. Pretty cool to watch.

They told stories of the road — about how promoters can swindle you out of the small payday. Or how some promoters will treat you like gold, no matter who you are. There are the stories on the road — such as Carr missing the birth of his child because he got into an accident on the way home from a show.

The life isn’t glamorous — and it’s something Carr and Szili made sure to show these new wrestlers.

One thing I really saw was how good Szili was with these students. I have no doubt that one day in the future, when the days of in-ring work are over, Szili could have a calling as a trainer. His experience as well as his demeanor in the ring worked really well in this environment.

Partners Kage (orange) and Sean Carr demonstrate the art of pro wrestling to aspiring students at the Back Breakers Training Center in Scranton.

For those who only watch wrestling on television, it’s usually a polished product. The independent scene is anything but. Though you’ll have the chance to see some amazing people, there’s a reason not everybody makes it to the “big leagues.”

That’s what makes it so wonderful, though. It’s not perfect.

And not many people get the opportunity I got with Szili and Carr — having the chance to watch a training session up-close and personal.

The business has changed over the years, that’s for sure. There will always be good and bad people in the business. There will always be good and bad workers, promoters and anything else.

In the end, the business continues. At the lowest levels and at the highest levels. The dreams will always be there, too. To be the next big thing or whatever else. But with wresting — as it is with nearly everything else in life — one needs to be grounded and realistic to truly succeed.

With the way Carr and Szili carried themselves this weekend, it shows why they have been successful in their careers. Hopefully, that will rub off on these newer wrestlers, allowing them to also find success in their careers.

You can see all the photos from this day at this Flickr set.

Submitting as part of Dude Write’s weekly challenge. 

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook!

For better or worse, old-school pro wrestling is still around

ECPW at an old roller rink in Sidney — felt like the 50s!

If you are a fan of independent professional wrestling — no matter the skill level — this area of Central New York is pretty spoiled.

There’s the best — 2CW (Squared Circle Wrestling, based in Syracuse), a group voted by readers of PWInsider.com as the top independent wrestling federation in the country. Several of us watch this as often as we can because it’s always an incredible form of entertainment. And never seems to disappoint.

Then you have some promotions that are not quite to that level — 3DW (which, apparently, has undergone some restructuring and is coming back in March with a card that looks quite solid). There’s also ECPW, a New Jersey-based federation that holds cards in New York and appears to use more localish workers for the bulk of the card.

When you deal with lower federations — such as the ECPW — you really get an interesting look at the world of professional wrestling.

I’ve seen ECPW twice — this is from the first and was one of the best matches of the night.

I’m a fan of pro wrestling, overall. I like really good shows and I like the bad ones. It’s two different worlds, but inside the zany world of the wrestling ring, there are so many story lines, either between wrestlers or federations or promoters or whatever else.

I’ve had the chance recently to watch ECPW twice. The cards were very different from one another, but enough the make you realize that this level of pro wrestling is quite different.

And interesting.

Being out of full “reporter” mode at this point, I forgot a pen both times and a forgot a notebook a second time. Thankfully, I had the phone and took notes that way — so I could accurately describe some of the things I witnessed.

Again — the two shows were night and day — so keep that in mind.

The first show was at a Legion hall in Binghamton. It’s a place where all these federations seem to use. But this was different. The back door was left open so people could go in and out to smoke. That got annoying after a while because nobody seemed to care. People came in later in the night who hadn’t been in there all night.

The ring is old school. It’s definitely a wood-based ring and really has a great sound. The turnbuckles that looked like they were towels (with electric tape) gave the feel of some old-school wrestling. The sag in the middle also gives that low-level independent feel. The odd part was the four gallon-sized water jugs hanging in each corner. But that was probably for the advertised flaming tables (which, apparently, is a bit illegal in New York. More on that later).

I love this stuff. I really do. It’s old school. It’s entertainment. But, there’s something I need when I pay to watch professional wrestling. I need a level of belief. Not that it’s not “scripted” or however you want to refer to it, but I need to be able to believe the stories being told. I need to believe in the performers.

The eliminated would later become a referee!

This wasn’t the most successful card at doing that.

Referees were out of place, had no idea what was going on and were all dressed different (outside of the striped shirts). One had wind pants on. Another had black jeans. They had regular sneakers, and not even black. The one ref, 10 minutes into the first match, was sweating more than the wrestlers and was having problems getting to the mat to count a pin. By the time he got to the mat to make the count, it had already been a five count. Even the crowd was making their distaste known.

And it seemed like they didn’t know what they were supposed to do.

That makes the pace of the match work slower. Close kickouts don’t have the same “feel” as they should.

Take this video I shot for an example — does this ref seem to know what’s going on? (Let me set this up, the heel [bad guy — smaller guy] set up the chair in the opposite corner and then walks into the picture.) This is what unfolds.

See what I am saying?

And the part that tweaked me was in the middle of matches, referees (and some wrestlers) were out talking to their friends and such. It’s hard to believe in the product when they aren’t “selling” it to the fans.

I realize wrestling, too, isn’t necessarily cheap to do. The reality is some of these guys might not even get paid to perform (though I don’t know with this fed… it happens that way in some places). Talking to people who have promoted, some of these smaller federations actually have a certain thing where performers have to sell a certain amount of tickets or “pay to wrestle” sort of thing. I don’t know if that’s true here, but I imagine it’s possible.

Former ECW champion Justin Credible made a surprise appearance at the second show.

Some of these guys just used normal sneakers to wrestle in. Ripped sweats. Maybe that’s the “persona” they play, but it doesn’t always show.

Then it’s just silly things.

A no disqualification match that ends in a countout. The video guy standing in front of the crowd and acting as clueless as can be (and he was using one of those plug and play recorders) when he never moves and people in the front rows try to ask him to move around and not always block the same people. The ring announcer never stood still and announced someone from somewhere in New Jersey (I can’t remember if it was Charlotte or something like that, where it was evident it was supposed to be North Carolina) and mis-pronounced things. The best of that, though? At the end of intermission when he announced for all wrestlers to report to the locker room.

It felt more like a high school wrestling tournament.

Then you had a lumberjack match with six lumberjacks and only two of them were wrestlers.

The thing that easily irked me more than anything? The swearing. Kids were there. There’s no need for an in-ring promo to have F-bombs flying all over. One wrestler was spitting beer in the crowd — again filled with kids. And in the end, all of this helped create a couple skirmishes with the crowd, which is never a good thing.

Seriously, if you can’t get over in a promo without swearing, you’re not going to get over anyway. Now, if it’s an adult-only crowd and there’s swearing, so be it. But this ECPW, on its website, note it’s a family friendly form of entertainment. A low-level bit of swearing (ass, damn etc.) I can deal. But if it’s F-bomb after F-bomb, it’s a total turnoff.

And one thing I got a kick of is when a wrestler called out the state athletic commission guy who stopped them from setting a table — in the ring — on fire. Now, that could have made for cool photos. Especially because I was near a fire exit. But I can’t see calling out the state commission when the guy was doing his job and you were preparing to do something you weren’t supposed to do. Especially IN THE RING. (I would have seen the issue if it was in a safe spot with some fire extinguishers and people nearby — then hey, it’s part of the show. But in the ring with only the wrestlers and some gallon bottles of water? No way!)

Now, it wasn’t all bad.

It’s just that the bad things are easier to point out and stand out in my mind more.

Some of the matches were pretty solid. There were some good workers. I wasn’t upset that I paid the money — remember, I am a fan of any level of this because it is always entertaining — but I would have liked to have seen a little more work on making the product crisp and not look like a backyard wrestling federation. Make me believe, even if just for a few hours (or charge me less money). Tell a story without profanity-laced promos and things like that. The best about the top independent promotions is they can tell a story in the ring by doing their thing, not acting as if people understand everything going on. Remember that this isn’t on TV every week and people “outside” the circle have no clue what has been going on elsewhere.

The same group was then coming to Sidney. A short drive for me. And at a roller rink. So a small place, dark — 50s style wrestling. My kind of show.

To quote Harry from Dumb and Dumber…

“Just when I thought you couldn’t possibly be any dumber, you go and do something like this… and totally redeem yourself!”

The second card was much better… and worked out well.

Not that this show was perfect. It wasn’t close to 2CW quality. But oh what an improvement. (It probably helped that the big cheese of the federation was here and on the card).

The matches were stronger.

The swearing was much less. In fact the one person I expected to have many, only had a few F-bombs (which I still think weren’t needed) and the whole card was pretty solid.

Don’t get me wrong, there were still some things that made us laugh. Such as…

  • The announcer proclaiming a fatal four-way match… and then only giving three people.
  • An advertised 20-man battle royal becomes a nine-man battle royal.
  • Silent chest chops.
  • A little over-selling on some missed moves.
  • Someone who participated in the battle royal who then reffed a match.
  • A punch to the shoulder was the finisher in a match between two big guys.

Overall, however, it was a better show. And an unannounced appearance by a “bigger name” in the world of pro wrestling (Justin Credible) was nice, too. He was booked late for the show, hence no advertising. But still cool to see him.

And, as I said, overall the show was much better.

So yes, I’d go see this crew again. I’m not sure how far I’d travel to do so, but I would see them again for sure. It’s a throwback to the old dusty halls and such from an era no longer seen in professional wrestling.

In the end, I can’t complain.

The prices were decent. The crowds were fun to watch (this really is the best with independent pro wrestling… fans can get wicked crazy), and, despite some of the things I pointed out earlier, it was some good entertainment. What I liked the most about it was that when you go to a pro wrestling show, you never know what you’ll get. You have an idea, but you never know.

Hit up something like 2CW and know you’ll see amazing action, a crisp show, a few “big names” and some stars who could easily be on your television with the big guns in a few years.

See something lower than that — such as an ECPW — and never know what you’ll see. Some good, some bad, some wacky and some crazy. All mixed into one show.

In the end, it all depends on what you are seeking.

For me? I like zany. And I like good. I’ll choose 2CW over anything for the most part.

But if nothing else is going on and I’m looking for some entertainment? I’d gladly return to watch federations such as this. As I said, we’re a bit spoiled around here when it comes to wrestling. That’s not a bad thing, though. And it makes for some excellent photos!

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook by clicking the button on the right side of the page!

Notes from my Noodle: December 20 edition

There's nothing like a trip to the city during the holidays.

First, my apologies for a lack of a blog post the past couple of days. But it seems like, all of a sudden, I’m packed up with everything. I’m back, however, with some notes and such from recent things.

On Monday, I took my annual trip down to the city to New York City. I like to try and get down there during the Christmas season because it’s quite the place to be. From the lights to the decorations to everything else, it’s really quite magical.

For avid readers of the blog, you’ll remember I went out to Chicago earlier this year to see a friend, Brendan, graduate from the Navy’s basic training. He’s been in the Chicago area ever since, working through his schooling and such. He got liberty for a couple of weeks, however, and is home. So I took him with me to the city and met one of the finest guides one will ever have for the city — fellow geocacher Heather.

Brendan with his new buddy, Elmo!

Despite a delay in the train leaving Harriman, it was a fun day. A little colder than it was supposed to be, but still a fine day. We got to see a bunch of good things (including Rockefeller Center, as seen above). We had a couple of solid meals, saw some interesting things and I, of course, got a dirty dog on the street.

Why wouldn’t I, right?

With this season in full bloom, there were a lot of characters wandering around, looking to earn a few extra bucks by posing with people. It was quite funny to see. And, being it was Brendan’s first trip to the city in this time of year, he had to take advantage of this, no?

The hustle and bustle of the city was definitely there. That comes with people who still don’t have the thought of slowing down and peeking at things. But, I wouldn’t expect anything different.

We stopped and saw the building of the new skyscraper at Ground Zero and went inside and checked out the 9/11 memorial building. We were going to try and check out the new fountains and garden, but ended up having to look at it just from afar and above as the lines to get in were quite long and daylight was dwindling as we were thinking about that. I’ll hope to visit in the spring and see it closer.

We did, however, get to find a geocache this day. A regular-sized cache in the middle of the city, which was awesome.

Heather with Cirque du Cache.

Heather (and her husband, Jim, who met us later for dinner) are mega fans of Cirque du Soleil, mentioned a new cache. Of course, it has a Cirque theme — called Cirque du Cache.

This was a fun cache to do and it’s always nice to snag a cache in the city.

What was really cool about this cache was that once you opened the cache, you signed the log and all, but there was also this piece of fabric. And you could draw something on it. Very neat stuff and very well thought out. The best part is that it was in a high-traffic area, so it was pretty fun to retrieve the cache, walk away a little bit to check things out and then put it back. Fun times.

In all, it was a lot of fun to head down to the city and see things. I got to also see a former co-worker and catch up a little bit and it’s really nice to see things all lit up.

I even got one of the thickest hot chocolates I’ve ever had (thankfully it was small, because it was rich!) while we hung out a little bit at Bryant Park.

Bryant Park is a great little spot in the city.

***

Speaking of geocaching, two of us worked to organize and run an annual ornament exchange event. It was quite the success, too, which is always nice. Having halfway decent weather recently probably didn’t hurt us, either!

A large turnout at our holiday event.

We had about 55 people to the event, by far one the largest since this annual event started four years ago, and also one of the largest turnouts of any of event in our small area.

I co-planned the event with Beth, who had a successful game she created for the event. But, more than that, was her Toy Drive idea. It seemed that most people brought unwrapped toys and filled the large box her and her brother and sister-in-law brought. They then delivered the toys to the local Salvation Army, making sure that the toys would remain in our area.

So as fun as the event was (the spot we held it was excellent as well), it’s even better to know that our geocaching community was good enough to give back to the community during this holiday season and thought about others in need.

As this week continues, if you have the chance to give to an area Toys for Tots or something else, try and remember that there are people out there that have it worse than many of us. So if you can give at all, try and do so this holiday season.

***

Eddie Edwards vs. Sami Callihan delivered on a recent 2CW card.

For the final part of this Notes From My Noodle, I want to turn to 2CW, an independent wrestling federation out of the Syracuse area. Several of us have gone to a bunch of their events, but basically in Binghamton. We took the trek to Syracuse on Friday to see one of their biggest events of the year and to see a match that indy fans have wanted to see — Eddie Edwards vs. Sami Callihan.

Each time we’ve gone to watch 2CW, I thought the federation has delivered some great entertainment, good matches and a well-planned event. But this event was really solid (seeing matches such as Brodie Lee vs. Jay Freddie was outstanding and many other matches were excellent). And it was capped by Edwards vs. Callihan, a match that made me really want to drive to Syracuse.

I have seen Eddie Edwards many times. He’s athletic and works stiff — in other words, believable beyond belief to the point where some of the things he does really make you wonder how these guys do it.

Callihan, well known among the independent fans, is also a top-notch talent.

A five-star match was predicted. And these two delivered. It was a high-paced match, full of athleticism and character. Say what you will about professional wrestling — no matter if the outcome is determined or whatever — you have to be athletic and be able to tell a story inside that ring. These two did it.

The card, overall, was excellent. I would make the trip to Syracuse to see these guys again.

A funny afterthought. We stopped at a convenience store down the road from Syracuse to grab something to drink and something to snack on. While there, Sami Callihan came in. I noted that we had traveled a couple of hours to see that match because everyone was talking about it.

He asked me if it was worth it?

I told him they delivered and it was worth it. We chatted with him for a few moments and he shook hands a couple of times and thanked us for coming. I’ve talked to a few of these others and they, too, are very friendly with fans. That’s a good thing. Independent wrestling survives on smaller fanbases and these guys have the hope to, one day, make it big. Being friendly and outgoing will hopefully help them in their quest to reach the top.

Until then, it’s my hope they keep working local promotions so, when I can get away and go, I get the chance to see this top-notch and affordable entertainment.

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook by clicking the button on the right side of the page!