On Saturday,October 10th,I will be making another one of my weekly,long,extensive wrestling journeys whereas my destinational travels will be taking me to Pell City,AL (east of Birmingham,AL-approximately a 5 hour drive for me from my home state of Mississippi) to catch Global Championship Wrestling (GCW) in action
to witness their historical and spectacular event called
"Southern Legends Fan Fest"!
This wrestling event will be featuring some of the legendary superstars from the Southeastern/Continental Championship Wrestling era!!!
I am for certain that coming to this GCW show in Pell City,AL will be just as equally as thrilling,as exciting and as memorable for me just like it was when I went to the timeless,unforgettable Gulf Coast/Southeastern/Continental Championship Wrestling "Old Time Rock N' Roll Farewell To Legends Tour" event which took place at the Civic Center in Dothan,AL back in May of this year
(2009).
From a wrestling purist's perspective,
I am very much looking forward to this particular GCW wrestling event in Pell City,AL;
especially the Meet And Greet get-together session that will be occurring just hours prior to the event.
Some of the people whom I have had the pleasure to meet and to see in action that night in Dothan,AL were
JIMMY GOLDEN
Of course.....and this is pretty much going without saying....it is ALWAYS a pleasure to see and to be in the presence of
"The Bullet"
BOB ARMSTRONG
and his son
STEVE ARMSTRONG.
One of the legendary superstars from the Southeastern/Continental Championship Wrestling era that will be there will be none other than the highly flamboyant,charismatic,popular wrestler,
"The Universal Heart Throb"
AUSTIN IDOL.
As bold,as swaggerous and as very an exuberantly confident,more than capable wrestler like he was,
Austin Idol...
who back in the day called himself
"The women's pet and the men's regret".....
was one of those wrestlers back in the day who could 'walk the walk' and 'back up the talk' no matter whom his opposing adversary was and irregardless what adverse challenges that he faced.
Idol was a 2-time former Alabama Heavyweight Champion as well as a 4-time former Southeastern Heavyweight Champion.
Idol who currently resides in Tampa,FL,announced earlier this year his intentions to run for mayor of Tampa in the 2011 elections.
I was both very blessed and fortunate to have met Austin Idol twice in the late
1980s when he came to Pascagoula,MS at the local Wal-Mart to sell autographed pictures in an effort to raise money for the Cripple Chirdren's Association.
In fact,he was actually the VERY 1ST WRESTLER whom that I have ever met in person!!!
At both of his visits to the Wal-Mart in Pascagoula,MS,
I purchased a couple of 8x10 color pictures of him and he personally autographed both of them.
Both of those Austin Idol photos I still have hung up on my wall in my room in my house even to this day nearly 2 decades later!
Without question,I am very much looking forward to meeting as well as seeing the one and only "Universal Heart Throb" Austin Idol once again!
BELIEVE IT OR NOT.....
another legendary wrestler whom I am looking forward upon meeting at the GCW "Southern Legends Fan Fest" is Jody Hamilton!
There might be some of you out there whom that are scratching your heads probably asking yourself this question.....
WHO IN THE HELL IS JODY HAMILTON??!!??
You probably may not know him by name,
but some of you who have followed professional wrestling through the years for as long as I have may probably know him better not only as one of the most villainous,most notorious heel wrestlers to ever don a wrestling mask,
but quite arguably one of THE most villainous,one of the most despicable and one of the most notorious heel wrestlers in professional wrestling history.....
PERIOD!!!
You may have known him either as
THE ASSASSIN
or in the mid 1980s in Continental Championship Wrestling as
THE FLAME.
Whether he was either The Assassin or The Flame,
no doubt about it Jody Hamilton was
a ruthless,cutthroat scoundrel who did anything and everything in his power to win a match either by loading an illegal object inside his mask to KO his opponent or by nearly burning his opponent alive by hurling a fireball towards them.
Nonetheless,he was also a very formidable,double tough wrestler.
Back in the day,he had such notable,legendary feuds with the likes of "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes as well as "The Bullet" Bob Armstrong,Bobby Shane,Mario Galento,Louis Tillet,Eddie Graham and others.
Hamilton headed the defunct,heralded World Championship Wrestling Power Plant in Atlanta,GA where it produced wrestling talent the likes of Kevin Nash,The Big Show & Diamond Dallas Page.
He also founded the former WWE developmental territory
Deep South Wrestling.
As notorious and as villainous a heel wrestler that he was,
there is certainly no dispute whatsoever that The Assassin/The Flame was indeed very succesful when it came to attaining championship gold when he was wrestling in Southeastern/Continental Championship Wrestling.....
-a former Alabama Heavyweight Champion-
-a former Southeastern Heavyweight Champion-
-a former Southeastern Tag Team Champion (w/Don Carson)-
and
-a former 4-time Continetal Heavyweight Champion-
What even took me aback was discovering the fact that his son is none other than former NWA/WCW/WWE referee
NICK PATRICK.
At the beginning of his wrestling career,Nick Patrick wanted to follow in his father's footsteps as a professional wrestler-he even had stints as both a referee and a wrestler during his tenure at Southeastern/Continental Championship Wrestling-until a knee injury dashed all of his pursuing personal hopes and dreams of becoming a professional wrestler.
However,due to the immense love and passion that he had for professional wrestling,Patrick continued his career in as a referee.
Patrick became infamously known for being a 'hip pocketed' referee in WCW during the late 1990s for the infamous wrestling faction the New World Order (nWo).
During matches that he officiated that involved nWo members,he pretty much let them get away with murder by giving them several opportunities to cheat to attain many,undue underhanded advantages showing absolute bias without remorse against the top babyfaces at WCW in order for them (the nWo) to get tawdry victories.
Patrick was primarily the former Senior Official for the WWE SmackDown! brand,
but in August of 2008 the WWE released him after several months of inactivity due to a chronic,nagging back injury.
In April of 2009,Patrick became the television show director for the Georgia based independent wrestling promotion Rampage Pro Wrestling (RPW) replacing his father Jody Hamilton after the promotion released Hamilton due to financial cutbacks.
The promotion re-hired Hamilton later in the year in October.
Patrick is now the company's legitimate general manager replacing the fired Nigel Sherrod.
Also,he and Hamilton now assist booker Rob Adonis with the booking of the company's weekly television show.
He also occasionally referees certain grudge matches.
I had the pleasure and the opportunity to meet Nick Patrick back in December of 1999 outside the Civic Center in Mobile,AL when WCW came to town as they did a live television taping for their "Thunder" show.
To make a long story short,I am looking forward to meeting and seeing him again at the GCW "Southern Legends Fan Fest" in Pell City,AL.
Another one of the legends that I am very much looking forward to in seeing is
"Wildfire"
TOMMY RICH.
Along with "The Fabulous Freebirds (Michael Hayes,Terry Gordy & Buddy Roberts)",
"Mr. U.S.A." Tony Atlas,"The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes,
Mr. Wrestling II and The Junk Yard Dog back in the late 1970s through the mid 1980s,
Tommy "Wildfire" Rich was one of the wrestlers whom I've always admired and whom I've ALWAYS looked forward to seeing religiously each and every Saturday on the 'boob tube (television)';
moreover and especially during the infancy of the cable television boom which made him one of the most 'over' guys and one of the most popular 'babyface' wrestlers during that time.
On April 27th,1981 in Augusta,GA,
Rich;who was age 24 at the time,
became the third youngest NWA World Heavyweight Champion in pro wrestling history by defeating Harley Race.
Rich dropped the belt back to former champion Harley Race four days later in Marietta,GA.
Many who followed wrestling back then couldn't understand the logic in the short title reign,
although it was believed to give Rich a rub as a title challenger while at the same time leading the fans to believe that a world title might change hands at any given time on any given night.
Race stated in a shoot interview with RF Video that the title switch was to ensure a power struggle in the Georgia territory ended with promoter Jim Barnett victorious (Barnett was a minority holder in Georgia and the booker of the NWA title and the title switch with the fan interest and boosted live gates shored up his position).
However,in the "Territories" episode of WWE 24/7's Legends series,
"Fabulous Freebird" Michael "P.S." Hayes stated that the title change was nothing more than a double crossing "screwjob",
i.e. the match between Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels for the WWE Heavyweight Championship on November 9th,1997 in Montreal Quebec,Canada.
According to what Hayes said,
under promoter Barnett's orders the referee (Ronnie West) made a fast count to give Rich the title without the permission of Race or the NWA.
Whatever the case might have been and whatever story or stories that you wish to believe or to not believe what is factually true/untrue,accurate or inaccurate,
the fact of the matter is that the name of "Wildfire" Tommy Rich is recognized in the history books as a former NWA World Heavyweight Champion.
In Continental Championship Wrestling,
"Wildfire" held the Continental Heavyweight Championship as well as being a 3-time co-holder of the Southeastern Tag Team Championship with 3 different partners ("Superstar" Bill Dundee,cousin Johnny "Crash" Rich and
Steve Armstrong).
Throughout his entire wrestling career,numerous rumors and innuendoes have been said and have spread about "Wildfire" Tommy Rich through stories from various wrestling circulations;
about his overall,physical in-ring stature,
his ofttimes obese physique to keep his weight down
and his 'roller coaster' of a wrestling career following his short NWA World Heavyweight Championship title reign
and the excessive lifestyle that he led outside of the ring.
A lot of great,wonderful things have been said about Tommy Rich through the years and many bad,disparaging things have been said about him also.
But the one thing that I can adamantly say for sure about him is this.....
.....at least he has survived through hundreds of those trials and tribulations in his life and he is STILL living to tell about it unlike other several,notable countless wrestlers whom have passed on before him whom had barely hardly have lived past the age of 30 and/or before even reaching the age of 50 due to their own personal demons that had totally spun out of control going completely beyond the point of no return.
Last but not least,
a tag team that I am very much looking forward to seeing is a team that I had the chance to see wrestle live when they wrestled at a live Mid-South Wrestling event in Biloxi,MS nearly 2 and 1/2 decades ago,
"The Midnight Express"
"Beautiful" BOBBY EATON
and
"Loverboy" DENNIS CONDREY.
More than likely,the debate will continue to rage on and as time rolls on unto the next millenium,
the topic will be discussed even more further as to which version of
"The Midnight Express" was the absolute best.
-The original version that featured Dennis Condrey's cousin
RANDY ROSE-pictured on the left (along with Norvell Austin-not pictured)?
-The 2nd version with "Beautiful" BOBBY EATON and "Loverboy" DENNIS CONDREY managed by JIM CORNETTE?-
-The 3rd version with "Sweet" STAN LANE and "Beautiful" BOBBY EATON managed by JIM CORNETTE?-
-The 4th-which more or less is basically back to the the original first version-with "Loverboy" DENNIS CONDREY and "Ravishing" RANDY ROSE managed by
PAUL E. DANGEROUSLY?-
-and finally,the 5th and my least favorite version of the 'MX',
"Bodacious" BOB HOLLY and "Bombastic" BART GUNN (managed by Jim Cornette)?-
I thoroughly hated the 5th version......
SOLELY FOR THE REASON THAT THIS WAS VINCE McMAHON'S DUMB IDEA IN HIS FEEBLE ATTEMPT TO TRY TO REVIVE AND TO RECREATE A CRAPPY RENDITION TO A VERSION OF A GREAT TAG TEAM THAT HAD ALREADY BEEN ESTABLISHED AND SUCCESSFUL!!!
Under no circumstances whatsoever am I implying to defame or to demean the capabilites and talents of two very good wrestlers in either Bart Gunn nor Bobby Holly.....
only that this was a horrible idea on Vince's part with HIS own foolish belief trying to put two guys together to convince diehard wrestling purists and wrestling fans like me in a shallow,callous manner of sacrilege calling them as
"The Midnight Express".
To put it in the plain venacular,
VINCE's LOUSY IDEA ABSOLUTELY SUCKED.....AND IT SUCKED BAD!!!
Furthermore,it was an utter disgrace and an abyssmal embarassment of the heralded,glorified name of 'The Midnight Express'.
No matter what variation of the team members that it consisted.....
WELL AT LEAST THE FIRST 3 VERSIONS ANYWAY.....
"The Midnight Express" is UNDOUBTEDLY one of the most successful and one of the greatest tag teams of all-time bar none!!!
Dennis Condrey,Randy Rose and Norvell Austin.....
whom during their tenure in Southeastern Championship Wrestling.....
instituted their version of 'The Freebird Rule';
where any 2 of the 3 members that consisted in a tag team wrestling faction at any match at any time of their own choosing could defend a tag team championship......
held the Southeastern Tag Team Championship an unprecedented 10 times from 1981 through 1983.
Being managed by Jim Cornette,"The Midnight Express" that had "Beautiful" Bobby Eaton and "Loverboy" Dennis Condrey held the Mid-South Tag Team Championship on 2 occasions,
the World Class Championship Wrestling American Tag Team Championship
and the NWA World Tag Team Championship.
Condrey and Rose,managed by Paul E. Dangerously held the AWA World Tag Team Championship from October 30th,1987 until December 27th,1987.
"Sweet" Stan Lane and "Beautiful" Bobby Eaton held the NWA United States Tag Team Championship and held the NWA World Tag Team Championship.
As a matter of fact,"Sweet" Stan and "Beautiful" Bobby were the only team in NWA history to both hold the NWA U.S. Tag Team Championship and the NWA World Tag Team Championship simultaneously!!!
For me personally,
my favorite version of "The Midnight Express" was.....
UMMMMM.....WELLLLL.....
it's a toss-up between the version that had "Loverboy" Dennis and "Beautiful" Bobby Eaton and the one that had "Beautiful" Bobby Eaton and "Sweet" Stan Lane.
Both teams were very creative and very innovative.
Both teams possessed great teamwork performing sensational double team moves.
However in MY opinion,if I had to choose between those two versions of
"The Midnight Express",
I would have to give a VERY,VERY SLIGHT edge to the version that had "Beautiful" Bobby Eaton & "Sweet" Stan Lane.
Like I stated earlier in my blog,
the debate as to which version of "The Midnight Express" was the absolute best will probably continue onward unto the next millenium....LOL!!!
But nonetheless,I am very much looking forward to see and to meet the 2nd version of "The Midnight Express"
"Loverboy" Dennis Condrey and one of the true,best high flyers in professional wrestling history,
the one and only "Beautiful" Bobby Eaton.
Last but not least,let us not forget these two other legends from the Southeaastern/Continental Championship Wrestling era,
"Action"
MIKE JACKSON
and
LORD HUMONGOUS.
Mike Jackson was a former and current Alabama Junior Heavyweight Champion,
an 8-time former United States Junior Heavyweight Champion and a former ring announcer for Continental Championship Wrestling.
Mike Jackson runs a lot of small shows in the Jasper/Birmingham,AL area and he carries the Alabama Junior Heavyweight Championship belt everywhere.
I primarily remember Mike Jackson as both a ring announcer in Continental Championship Wrestling and as a wrestler in his attempts to pursue Denny Brown for his then-NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship.
But I also remember Mike Jackson mostly for "jobbing" out to such wrestling greats like Terry "Bamm Bamm" Gordy,"Nature Boy" Ric Flair and "The Enforcer" Arn Anderson during the days of Georgia,Southeastern and World Championship Wrestling.
From 1983 until the present day,there have been at least 8 men.....
AND EVEN ONE THAT I PERSONALLY KNOW.....
who have wrestled under the name of Lord Humongous.
The Lord Humongous gimmick was taken from the 1982 movie
"Mad Max II:The Road Warrior" that starred Mel Gibson.
The one that wrestled in Southeastern/Continetal Championship Wrestling,
the 'Jeff Van Camp' version of "Lord Humongous' was a former Alabama Heavyweight Champion and a former Continental Heavyweight Champion.
The 'Sid Vicious' version of "Lord Humongous' held the Southeastern Heavyweight Championship and the Continental Tag Team Championship with Shane Douglas.
I really cannot honestly say for sure as to which version of The Lord Humongous will be showing up at the GCW "Southern Legends Fan Fest" in Pell City,AL on Saturday,October 10th,
but as long as whomever that wears the hockey mask does not embarrass himself nor tarnish the integrity or the legacy of the menacing intensity and the ferocious,impervious,unstoppable brute force that the gimmick character of Lord Humongous possessed back in the day.
I have attended two Global Championship Wrestling shows;
one back on December 15th,2008 in Palmerdale,AL
and one on July 24th,2009 in Calera,AL.
In the past,GCW has featured such wrestling superstars as
former TNA superstar
DAVID YOUNG,
former WWE superstar
BULL BUCHANAN
and
former WWE Developmental Talent
MICAH TAYLOR.
My previous two experiences going to Global Championship Wrestling shows have been very good and I was thoroughly impressed by the whole production of the show as well as the wrestling action that endured during those two shows;
something more to the effect of that "old school" vibe and feel
that most wrestling fans love and expect to see when going to local independent wrestling shows.
For those of you who love that "old school" type of wrestling style,
then I very strongly encourage you to make the drive to Pell City,AL on Saturday,October 10th to not only witness some great Global Championship Wrestling action,
but to also be on hand to witness wrestling history to see some blasts from the past;
the legendary superstars from the Southeastern/Continental Championship Wrestling era!!!
UNTIL NEXT TIME.....
B-Smoove!
