This blog that I am writing that I am sharing with all of you is a once-in-a lifetime experience for me as I took a long traveling journey to
the Dothan Civic Center in Dothan,Alabama
on Friday,May 29th,2009
as I drove all the way from my home
in Moss Point,MS;
a 4 hour drive to be exact,
to be one of many witnesses to wrestling history
as I checked out the Gulf Coast/Southeastern/Continental Championship Wrestling Reunion show called
"The Old Time Rock N' Roll Farewell To Legends Tour 2009".
This wrestling reunion show had
like a Who's Who of wrestling legends
from the good ol' days of professional wrestling that I absolutely enjoyed
while watching on television religiously
every single Saturday morning,
Saturday afternoon into late Saturday evening
as a wrestling fan on the Mobile,AL based television station/CBS-TV affiliate
WKRG Channel 5
when I was growing up as a young kid;
moreover as a young wrestling fan watching Southeastern/Continental Championship Wrestling.
It was a very special period in my life as a fan of professional wrestling that held and will always hold a very special,significant place in my heart!
Please allow me a moment or two as I wipe away the tears of emotion that are rolling down my face.....
This show also featured a few of today's wrestling superstars,not to mention a couple of friends of mine from along the Gulf Coast independent wrestling circuit that I saw and/or that were a part of the show in many,several different ways.
One of the 1st legends whom I met and also had conversed at great length with was a man whom I totally thoroughly loathed and despised back in the day as a "heel" wrestler;
but at the same time one whom I respected the very utmost,
former AWA World Heavyweight Champion and a former WWE/NWA/WCW/TNA superstar,
"The (self proclaimed) Living Legend"-ALTHOUGH MANY WRESTLING FANS ESPECIALLY BRUNO SAMMARTINO WILL MORE THAN LIKELY DISAGREE (LOL!)-
LARRY ZBYSZKO.
Back in the day,
Larry Zbyszko portrayed himself-
at least from a wrestling character standpoint-
as an irascible,self-centered,obnoxious,vociferous,egotistical,highly opinionated jerk of a human being
and he was also one of the most notorious
and villainous of "heel" wrestlers
from the mid 1970s until the early 1990s.
Mr. Zbyszko even told me of the countless times during his wrestling career when he was nearly stabbed to death by wrestling fans in the audience as he left back to the locker room after almost every match when he wrestled against a popular "babyface" wrestler.
What most wrestling fans today do not realize
that those were some really crazy times back during those days of professional wrestling
when you had that riveting,serious "realism"
aspect of the sport where some "heel' wrestlers
got underneath of skin of wrestling fans
so much,
situations for some of them almost became
near-death experiences.
How in the world that some of those "heel" wrestlers even made it out of wrestling arenas alive back then during those days is beyond me!
BUT ANYWAY......
The very 1st time when I saw Larry Zbyszko wrestle live was at a Mid-South Wrestling show at the Mississippi Gulf Coast Coliseum when I was 11 years old back in the late summer of 1983.
It was an inter-promotional match for the Atlanta,GA based
NWA's World Championship Wrestling and Zbyszko squared off against one of my personal all-time favorite wrestlers and a wrestler whom I was an extremely huge fan of;
the master of "The Million Dollar Knee Lift",
MR. WRESTLING II.
During that period of time,
Larry Zbyszko was the National Heavyweight Champion and he was involved
in a very heated feud with Mr. Wrestling II
for that very belt,
a belt that Zbyszko won in a tournament final
over Mr. Wrestling II back in June of 1983.
I vividly remembered that particular match
like as it if were yesterday-as I told Mr. Zbyszko duing the conversation that we had with one another.
In that (non-title) match,
Zbyszko tried to defeat II by underhanded means
by putting both of his feet on the middle ring ropes to steal a win,
but the referee caught him
during the middle of his dastardly act,
thus the match resumed.
Zbyszko Irish Whipped Mr. Wrestling II
into a corner and as he rushed towards II,
II KOd him colder than a wet mackerel
with his knee lift.
Back in the day;
if and whenever Mr. Wrestling II
hit an adversary with that particular move,
it was basically lights out,all she wrote and "Goodnight Irene"
if you know what I mean.
As Mr. Wrestling II pinned Zbyszko,
he did the same thing to Zbyszko that Zbyszko attempted to do by defeating II.
Only his time,
the referee did not see Mr. Wrestling II's feet
on the middle ring rope
and II pretty much "stole"
a win over Zbyszko in retaliation.
Larry Zbyszko was even taken aback by surprise when I mentioned the term "spudhead" to him.
He got a big kick and a good laugh over that-LOL!
When Larry Zbyszko wrestled in the AWA when it aired on TV on ESPN back in the mid to late 1980s,he referred to all of the wrestling fans in the arena as "spudheads".
You will have to watch some old matches of AWA Championship Wrestling weeknights on ESPN Classic or perhaps maybe on YouTube.com to find out and to understand what I am talking about.....
It was such a great honor to meet him!
I also had the thrill of a lifetime when I had the opportunity,the pleasure,the honor to meet and converse with one of professional wrestling's all-time greats,
former 8 Time NWA World Heavyweight Champion and a 2004 inductee into the WWE Hall Of Fame,
the one and only
HARLEY RACE!
Of course....
and this pretty much is going without saying
unto that which I would be very remissed if I did not mention it.....
another main reason why I went to this wrestling show......
THE WOMEN!!!
One of them who I was very much looking forward in seeing was a female wrestler who got recently signed by TNA wrestling;
a former ECW and former WCW superstar,
"The Original Scream Queen"
DAFFNEY.
I saw Daffney at a live 'WCW Monday Nitro' telecast at the Mississippi Gulf Coast Coliseum in Biloxi,MS back on May 15th,2000 when she was with David Flair
and Crowbar.
About a year or so later after when WCW folded,I saw her once again and I got the chance to meet her at a "Babes Of Wrestling" show at the defunct Broadwater Hotel which was directly across from where the President Casino used to be in Biloxi,MS....
which by the way,she remembered me from way back then when I brought that up.
What a tremendous,great feeling
it was for me to see her
once again!
Also,I met a dynamic duo of very beautiful,buxom,physically fit female wrestling personalities that evening.
They were KRISSY VAINE and AMBER O' NEAL;
a.k.a.
the tantalizing,terrific and talented tag team tandem known as
"Team Blondage 2.0"
These two extremely beautiful,bombastic blonde bombshells made their debut as a tag team back in the latter part of 2004;
wrestling primarily in the North Carolina wrestling circuit and they have appeared in several independent wrestling organizations all over the United States including SHIMMER and Women's Extreme Wrestling (WEW).
In late spring of 2004,
Amber O'Neal began tryouts
with the WWE
under the help and guidance
by one her mentors and idols,
former WWE Women's Champion
MOLLY HOLLY (Nora Greenwald).
As a matter of fact,
Krissy Vaine was under
a developmental contract
with the WWE
and on the September 28th,2007 edition of SmackDown!,
she made her WWE debut as a heel by attacking Torrie Wilson after Wilson lost a match to Victoria.
However sadly on October 10th of 2007,both her and her boyfriend Ryan O'Reilly;
who himself was under a WWE Developmental contract,
left the WWE as the rigorous schedule proved to be too much for them.
You could not even begin to imagine the intense heat and scrutiny the both of them received when they left the WWE from several media reports upon several diffrent wrestling circles that I read following their departure,
unto that which the negative criticism that both received were unflattering,unprofessional and in MY opinion,totally uncalled for.
I would not even want to wish a situation like that to happen to my own worst enemy,even furthermore to the point which to be scrutinized in such a callous,defaming manner as they were.
After a long term hiatus prior leaving WWE and the wrestling business for over a year,Krissy Vaine decided to return to the wrestling industry-THANK GOODNESS!-and reunite with her "Team Blondage" partner,Amber O' Neal and the both of them pretty much picked up from where they left off.
Daffney
and
"Team Blondage 2.0"
wrestled each other in a solid,highly impressive awesome Women's Triple Threat Match at the May 29th Gulf Coast/Southeastern/Continental Championship Wrestling Reunion show in Dothan,AL.
The timing of everything that all 3 ladies did in the ring during most of the majority of their phenomenal match was directly spot on.
In the end,
it was Daffney who emerged victorious
as she rammed the heads of "Team Blondage 2.0" together with a double noggin knocker
and shortly afterwards,
Daffney finished off Amber O' Neal
with a swinging cradle suplex
scoring the 1-2-3 pinfall.
During intermission,
myself along with a great friend of mine
Louis Wright;
one of the moderators of the independent women's wrestling website G.L.O.R.Y. Wrestling,
http://www.glorywrestling.com
got the opportunity to catch up with all 3 ladies.
Louis and I were actually the VERY FIRST honorees to be "BLOND-DAZZLED" by both Krissy Vaine and Amber O' Neal-LOL!
From inside information that both Louis and I ascertained personally by "Team Blondage 2.0",
this is a gimmick that the tantalizing tag team tandem is going to be using for each and every match that they will be competing when they defeat their opponents as they will be placing a silver sticker upon their opponent's forehead,
moreover a symbolic signification somewhat of a "kiss of death" to their future
would-be opponents if you will.
It truly was an honor to be in the presence of 3 very hardworking,3 very talented and 3 very beautiful female wrestling personalities.
WITHOUT QUESTION,situational get-togethers of an immense,important magnitude such as this which would make any man's night or any wrestling fan's night as far as I'm concerned.
Truly one of the personal highlights of the night's show was the in-ring final farewell tribute ceremony to two outstanding legends of the Southeastern/Continental Championship Wrestling era,
"The Bullet" BOB ARMSTRONG and JERRY STUBBS.
Armstrong and Stubbs
came out to the ring for a final tribute.
Other wrestling legends and wrestlers from both the Gulf Coast independent wrestling circuit as well as from the mainstream level including The Bullet’s son Steve, joined them in the ring and gathered outside the ring also.
Fans including myself crowded around ringside taking photos.
In fact,there was even a photographer who flew all the way from Japan to cover this memorable wrestling event!!!
A United States Marine in dress uniform
was on hand to honor Bob Armstrong
for his years of dedicated,honorable service
to his country.
8 time former NWA World Heavyweight Champion
and WWE Hall Of Famer Harley Race
came out.
Race called Armstrong
one of the greatest of all-time.
Armstrong brought up the fact of Race
being an 8 time NWA World Champion.
"I had so many matches with him,
and I still feel my jaw from that left."
Armstrong said.
"Coming from you,I appreciate it and I love you to death,brother."
Gulf Coast wrestling legend
"Cowboy" Bob Kelly was also there on hand
at ringside there to honor
Armstrong and Stubbs,
but without the fans,none of them would be there.
"I think we’re honoring y’all (the wrestling fans) tonight,too."
said Kelly
Needless to say,
the entire,overall spontenaeity
and the essential ambiance
of the in-ring tribute
to both Jerry Stubbs
and to "The Bullet" Bob Armstrong
was nothing short
of both extraordinary and emotional.
A fitting,highly esteemed and a proper,cordial wrestling tribute befitting the caliber and the upstanding squared circle competitors
such as both of those men.
I thought personally
that the Main Event Match between
"Gorgeous"
JIMMY GOLDEN
and
"The (self proclaimed) Living Legend"
LARRY ZBYSZKO
with
ROBERT FULLER
at ringside
completely dressed in his
'Colonel Robert Parker' attire
from back in his days in WCW
versus
SCOTT ARMSTRONG
and
"The Bullet"
BOB ARMSTRONG
was a very good,riveting
back and forth donnybrook.
Can you believe that after 35 years,
the Hatfield/McCoy-like wrestling feud
between the Fuller family
and the Armstrong family
STILL has yet to be resolved?
LOL!!!
Even though I was a little bit disappointed wishing that the outcome of the match would have been different having the winners of the tag team encounter be determined by either a pinfall or a submission rather than a disqualification,
"The Road Dogg"
B.G./JESSE JAMES
made up for my lamenting disheartenment
with the way he made a mad dash into the ring,cleaning house
and clearing the ring
to aid his father and his brother.
The ending of the match
with all 3 Armstrongs being inside the ring simultaneously
and especially for Steve Armstrong
and B.G./Jesse James
expressing their sincere,deepest love,undying respect and admiration
for the extremely proud patriarch
of the Armstrong clan,
"The Bullet" Bob Armstrong;
suffice to say,
not even a movie studio in Hollywood nor an composing author to a suspenseful,dramatic novel
of a book could not have written a more better,appropriate,heart warming script/climax.
The rest of the matches overall
("Exotic" Adrian Street w/Miss Linda vs. "Marvelous" Marcel Pringle w/Ricky The Rocket" Roberts & The Original NightMare & Boris Zhukov vs. Johnny "Crash" Rich and Davey Rich)
were very good.
All in all,
my going and witnessing the May 29th Gulf Coast/Southeastern/Continetntal Championship Wrestling "Old Time Rock N' Roll Farewell To Legends Tour 2009" Reunion show from the Dothan Civic Cnter in Dothan,AL was truly was one of the most blessed and certainly one of the most happiest experiences that I ever had either as a wrestling fan or myself for that matter being a part of the wrestling business.
Throughout the entire day and evening,
I had the blessed opportunity to meet,to talk to,
to get autographs and take pictures of the many heroes;
quite frankly to those whom I consider to be
some of my heroes,
that I have admired,respected and have loved
while I was growing up as a kid
watching them on television,
including the following:
-"The Road Dogg"
B.G./JESSE JAMES-
-STEVE ARMSTRONG-
-JOHNNY
"Crash"
RICH-
-DAVEY RICH-
-"Exotic"
ADRIAN STREET
and
MISS LINDA-
-"Rotten" RON STARR-you should have seen the way he and Ronnie Garvin went at it back in the days of Georgia/World Championship Wrestling......purely classic "SMASHMOUTH" wrestling at it finest!-
The longtime host/wrestling commentator of Southeastern/Continental Championship Wrestling,
-CHARLIE PLATT-
-JERRY STUBBS-
-ROBERT FULLER-
-JIMMY GOLDEN-
and last;
but definitely not least,
-"The Bullet"
BOB ARMSTRONG-!!!
I also got the opportunity to meet and talk to
DON FARGO
and
KEN LUCAS
as well.
In their own way each of these wrestling legends;
as I had told all of them specifically to a certain extent face to face,
have inspired me to pursue my dreams and my goals to enter into the world of professional wrestling and I sincerely thanked each and every single one of them for their distinct,awespiring inspiration!
For those who probably may not know,
I once had dreams and aspirations
to one day become a professional wrestler.
However,due to physical restraints and disablities that I have had with diabetes since I was 6 years old and moreover having both a very successful kidney transplant and a pancreas transplant
back in April of 2005,
I was unable to fulfill that part of my dream.
However,I always knew deep down within my heart
and my soul that I could contribute or could be a part of the wrestling business somehow.
Everything all started with me
being an immensely passionate,supportive diehard wrestling fan,watching it on television;
going to live professional wrestling shows when it came nearby over to my neck of the woods.
After when I turned 21,
I went to several local Gulf Coast independent wrestling shows as a boisterous,enthusiastic fan sitting at ringside.
In the years that followed,things for me in wrestling transcended from me being a ringside fan to a ringside photographer,from a corresponding writing journalist to a YAHOO! group site group owner.
3 years ago and pretty much
off an on throughout the last 8 years or so,
I became a ring announcer working at several Gulf Coast independent wrestling promotions.
Even over at XTREME IMPACT WRESTLING in Pascagoula,MS,
I am a General Manager!!!
In many ways through the several,countless hundreds of my wrestling heroes whom I have admired,respected and have looked up to throughout these last 3 decades,
I am living and I am fulfilling my dream today!
I am so very proud to do the several many,different things that I am doing today in the wrestling business and I take a lot of tremendous pride in doing it.......
simply because of the devotion and the passion that I have for professional wrestling and for what I put forth in everything I do for the sport of professional wrestling and for the countless millions of wrestlers and wrestling personalities from the past to the current present whom have literally paved the way for me to do what I am doing.
It was such a thrill for me meeting and talking with some other wrestling fans that went to the reunion show in Dothan,AL who felt the same,identical way as much as I did;referring to the passion and devotion for professional wrestling.
I was kind of heartbroken and a little bit disappointed though
wishing and hoping beyond hope that
NORVELL AUSTIN
as well as
BRAD ARMSTRONG
could have been there!
Whether professional wrestling or wrestling fans wants to admit or not;
much less wishes to acknowledge it or not,
Norvell Austin was one of the trailblazing pioneers and one of the most influential figures in the wrestling business.
Norvell Austin was to professional wrestling just as much as Jackie Robinson was to major league basbeball in reference to breaking the racial barriers and color lines.
Like mostly every other wrestling fan
along the Gulf Coast area,
I LOVE,ADMIRE AND RESPECT THE ARMSTRONGS TO DEATH!!!
Each of them are very unique,very special and very different in their own ways.
Out of all of them-
AND THIS IS CERTAINLY NOT A PERSONAL KNOCK TOWARDS ANY OF THE ARMSTRONGS WHATSOEVER-
I always felt that Brad Armstrong overall was the absolute best as far as speed,quickness,agility,skills and God-gifted,all around natural ability and talent was concerned.
But as I have long since known as both a wrestling fan as well as being involved in the wrestling business for as long as I have,
the one thing that holds constant whenever you go to wrestling show is what is stated in the fine print on the bottom of a wrestling card or on a wrestling poster for that matter:
CARD SUBJECT TO CHANGE.
Nonetheless to sum everything all up in a nutshell,
I was so blessed and I was so elated to go to the Gulf Coast/Southeastern/Continental Championship Wrestling Reunion show at the Dothan Civic Center in Dothan,AL on Friday,May 29th,2009.
The reunion show was truly an unforgettable,memorable wrestling event that I was extremely proud to have gone to.
It was everything that myself or for any wrestling fan could ever ask for,that could ever hope for or that could ever want.....and then some!
In my heart of hearts,I only wished for those of you who were unable to attend this show could only have experienced what I experienced firsthand all throughout that entire,historic evening.
It was a once-in-a-lifetime wrestling experience that I will NEVER,EVER soon forget!
