Without question,
I truly had one of the most wonderful and most blessed weekends in my life!
It all took place on Friday,January 22nd
and on Saturday,January 23rd
as my never ending,tireless wrestling travels
had taken me to the cities of Graysville,AL
and to Pell City,AL.....
which by the way both of those cities
were up in the nearby Birmingham,AL area.....
as I went to check out the back-to-back squared circle spectacular
that was
GLOBAL CHAMPIONSHIP WRESTLING
(GCW).
In the past,
I have gone to see a couple of Global Championship Wrestling shows
and to me,
each of the shows that I have witnessed were nothing short of phenomenal.
The 1st GCW show that I went to was back on December 13th,2008
in Palmerdale,AL
On that night,
I met for the very first time
former WWE superstar
BULL BUCHANAN.
former TNA superstar
DAVID YOUNG,
female independent wrestler
GENNI RIGHT
and two other female independent wrestling personalities
that have been turning heads along the independent wrestling circuit
IN MORE WAYS THAN ONE......
"The Voluptuous Vixen"
VERONICA FAIRCHILD
and a female whom that I saw earlier in the year
at a Thunder Wrestling Federation (TWF) show in Jacksonville,FL
that I eventually became very good friends with,
FANTASY.
I also saw some good friends of mine that I had worked with
during my tenure as a ring announcer
for the Gulf Coast based independent wrestling promotion XW-2000;
whom at the time were the defending GCW Tag Team Champions
"The Samoan Soldiers"
JONATHAN FATU and JOSHUA FATU.
Some people in the wrestling business do not realize this,
but.....
it was actually ME who gave these guys
their tag team name of "The Samoan Soldiers".....
LEGIT!!!
due to them coming to the ring having and wearing
a 'camoflague'/combat-like gimmick.
Some people whom follow Gulf Coast independent wrestling
do not even realize that at times,
I am an idealistic,creative visionary consultant as well.......
LOL!!!
Also that night,
surprisingly enough I saw another very good friend of mine
that I've known for a long,long time
whom at the time was on the mend
recuperating from injuries that he sustained
while wrestling for World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)
and that friend of mine
was none other than
Edward "Eki/Eckmo" Fatu,
a.k.a.
"The Samoan Bulldozer"
UMAGA.
That night,
little did I realize that this was the very last time
that I would ever speak to him
because sadly......
he passed away just slightly a little over,
in fact almost exactly
one year later.
R.I.P.
I also went to two other Global Championship Wrestling shows
in Calera,AL on July 24th of 2009
and at the memorable,unforgettabnle
"Southern Legends Fan Fest" show
in Pell City,AL
on October 10th,2009
where I saw the likes of
"Action"
MIKE JACKSON,
former NWA/WCW/WWE referee
NICK PATRICK,
his legendary father
and one of the most notorious 'heel' wrestlers of all-time,
JODY HAMILTON
a.k.a.
THE ASSASSIN/THE FLAME
"Gorgeous"
JIMMY GOLDEN
a.k.a.
BUNKHOUSE BUCK
from WCW fame
"The Universal Heart Throb"
AUSTIN IDOL,
one of the greatest wrestling tag teams of all-time,
"The Midnight Express"
"Loverboy" DENNIS CONDREY
and
"Beautiful" BOBBY EATON
"The Voluptuous Vixen"
VERONICA FAIRCHILD
and her sister
GEORGIA MAE
and last,but not least
the father/son combo of
"The Bullet"
BOB ARMSTRONG
and
former NWA/WWE/WCW superstar
STEVE ARMSTRONG
Prior to my going to the GCW show on the first night in Graysville,AL,
I purchased myself a room at the Motel 6 in Birmingham,AL.
After all,it wouldn't make any sense whatsoever for me to drive from my
humble abode in Moss Point,Mississippi to Graysville,AL;
then from Graysville,AL back to Moss Point,MS,
then the next day from Moss Point,MS up to Pell City,AL
and from Pell City,AL back to Moss Point,MS.
Simply put,
too many miles put on my vehicle,
too much gasoline money to be spent and to be put into my car's gas tank,
too many hours on the road
and not enough sleep in the process.
Nevertheless (SHAMELESS PLUG!),
for those of you who are on a very tight budget
especially given the fact of the state of the nation's economy these days
and for those of you who want to get an affordable room
for a one-night hotel's stay
solely for that reason alone,
Motel 6 is the one for you!
Like the witty and humorous spokesman for many of those Motel 6 TV/radio advertisements through the years Tom Bodette always says,
"Motel 6 has the lowest price of any national chain."
If you don't believe me,
check and compare their price against any and all of the other prices of any other hotel/motel and see for yourself.
Oh and by the way.....
"They will leave the light on for you!".....LOL!
ANYWAY.....
After getting settled in at my room at the Motel 6,
I drove straight from there
onto the Maurice C. West Community Center
in Graysville,AL
to see the 1st night
of some Global Championship Wrestling action!
That night,
I saw the likes of
1/2 of
"The (Original) Midnight Express"
"Loverboy"
DENNIS CONDREY,
"Action"
MIKE JACKSON
BRAD ARMSTRONG
Former TNA referee
RUDY CHARLES
"Gorgeous"
JIMMY GOLDEN
female independent wrestling personality
SU YUNG
female independent wrestling personality
"The Voluptuous Vixen"
VERONICA FAIRCHILD
and last but not least,
WWE Hall Of Famer,
the one and only
JERRY
"The King"
LAWLER!
One of the concerns that some wrestling fans and even I myself had
when arriving to the GCW show in Graysville,AL
was the actions and the attitude
that Jerry "The King" Lawler
would have towards the wrestling fans.
In recent years,I have read stories and I have even heard stories from very reliable sources that "The King" has acted like a jerk and a prick.
I for one can tell you in all sincere,earnest honesty
that Jerry "The King" Lawler was anything but any of those afforementioned disparaging,observational comparisons that night.
He was very cordial,approachable,friendly,respectful
and he acted and he conducted himself
as both a true gentleman and a professional
towards myself and the many,many fans that came to the GCW Graysville,AL show.
During intermission that night,
I had asked "The King" about his thoughts of the NFL football team
the Cleveland Browns about them getting former NFL head coach Mike Holmgren
as their team President
and the decision of Holmgren keeping
head coach Eric Mangini
and Mangini's entire coaching staff
following the team's atrocious 2009-2010 season
where they had 5 wins and 11 losses;
of which that Lawler replied that the hiring of Holmgren was a major positive step
in the right direction in the team's organization.
Lawler is a lifelong,diehard fan
of both
the Cleveland Browns
as well as the city's major league baseball franchise,
the Cleveland Indians.
Though he has spent most of his life in Memphis,Tennessee,
Lawler did spend a part of his childhood in Ohio
after his father was transferred to a job in the state.
Though this stay was brief,
it would have an influence on Lawler throughout his life thereafter.
People can say and think whatever the hell they want about
Jerry "The King" Lawler as a person
and/or Jerry "The King" Lawler as a ringside color commentator,
but his illustrious,stellar of a wrestling career before that as a professional wrestler speaks for itself as well as being noteworthy of a legendary Hall Of Famer
with an astonishing,accomplishing,mpressive resume'
of winning more than 140 championships,
including defeating the late,great Curt Hennig
for the American Wrestling Association (AWA)
World Heavyweight Championship
on May 9th,1988
in the hometown of "The King",
Memphis,TN.
Earlier in the evening,
I personally presented
to GCW's bombastic 'Blonde Bombshell' of a wrestling diva
Veronica Fairchild
her 2009 November Indy Diva Of The Month award
that she was won being unanimously voted and chosen in the monthly poll
from my immensely popular independent women's wrestling YAHOO! group site
INDY DIVAS.
As you could only possibly imagine,
Veronica was undoubtedly ecstatic when she received her award;
her 1st time ever winning a prestigious wrestling award of this magnitude
on this her very 1st time ever being nominated as a nominee
on my INDY DIVAS YAHOO! group site!
BTW.....
for those of you who would like to check out and join
my INDY DIVAS YAHOO! group site,
please click on this link below:
style="border: 0px;"alt="Click to join indydivas"/>
Click to join indydivas
ALSO......
sometime in the year of 2010,
expect to see a photo album
featuring
"The Voluptuous Vixen"
Veronica Fairchild
on my INDY DIVAS YAHOO! group site!
MIGHT AS WELL,HUH?
Overall in MY own personal assessed opinion,
the matches that I witnessed from the Global Championship Wrestling show in Graysville,AL were very good.
Who could ever imagine at the youthful age of 60 that "Action" Mike Jackson
still got it in bestowing the skills of a junior heavyweight who is around 25?
Even though he openly admitted that he has lost a step or two;
and granted that is to be expected due to Father Time,
you absolutely and obviously couldn't tell by that of his own personal testimony
if you were there witnessing him defending his Alabama Junior Heavyweight Championship in a Triple Threat Match that evening.
Although he was taken to the limit by both of his opposing,challenging adversaries;
those being Assassin #2 and Antonio Garza,
Jackson stood his ground and he certainly held his own
as he emerged victorious.
The one-on-one Women's match between
Su Yung
vs.
Veronica Fairchild
well,I really did not expect all that much from their match
with all due respect to both of these ladies
being so extremely and so extraordinarily beautiful as they are;
which is certainly NOT a knock to either one of them
as far as their wrestling abilities and capabilities are concerned.
But,considering the fact that both of these females
have wrestled throughout most of the United States
for the last couple of years or so,
to me it was really nothing more than a 'huge pop from the crowd' type of match
with two beautiful,buxom,babelicious fit females
going back and forth
roughing up one another and pushing each other.....
and rolling around the canvas catfighting......
NOT THAT I REALLY AM COMPLAINING ABOUT IT!
LOL!!!
However I will admit by saying that both ladies during this match
played their roles to the "T";
Su Yung portraying the role of the classic "heel"
bailing out of the ring when momentum was about to swing in the favor
of the "babyface"
then capitalizing on underhanded chicanery
due to illegal means whenever the opportunities presented themselves
while on the other hand
Veronica Fairchild played the role of the dreaded "face in peril" at times,
then in heroine-esque style
battled her way back into the match
with a sudden surge of momentum and adrenaline
coming out from nowhere.
Veronica Fairchild took Su Yung by surprise scoring the 1-2-3 win.
Like the old monological sports attage by the late,great
legendary ABC sportscaster Jim McKay,
Veronica Fairchild celebrated in 'the thrill of victory'
while Su Yung suffered 'the agony of defeat'.....
by going into a whining,child-like fit of a conniption.
During the 2nd intermission prior to the main event,
Veronica Fairchild and Su Yung were about to go at each other once again.
Both ladies were on the brink of tearing each other apart limb from limb,
but they had to be separated by members of GCW security
and also by former TNA referee Rudy Charles
as he desperately tried to maintain some semblance of order while keeping the peace.
From my own personal perspective,
both of these ladies have great expectations
and also have tremendous loads of potential.
Give them just a couple more years of wrestling experience
to hone in on their respective crafts and skills,
then afterwards that,
the sky's the limit and the possibilities for each of them
would be so astronomically endless!
The semi main event match was Brad Armstrong vs. "Gorgeous" Jimmy Golden.
This particular match was a rekindling of a feud of those glorious Southeastern/Continental Championship Wrestling days gone by
between "The Tennessee Stud's Stable" vs. The Armstrong family;
Gulf Coast Wrestling's answer to
'The Hatfields and The McCoys'.
As the match was about to commence,
I could not hardly help myself from fondly reminiscing
of those wonderful,nostalgic days and timeless memories
watching Southeastern/Continental Championship Wrestling
on television back during my much younger days;
way back when into that simple place and time
when professional wrestling was just exactly that......
PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING!!!
It pretty much goes without saying that the one-on-one Golden/Armstrong encounter was everything that I expected the match to be......
Near the end of the match,
Brad Armstrong took a hard spill out onto the floor outside the ring
thanks to a deceptive Jimmy Golden.
As Brad Armstrong made it back to his feet
Jimmy Golden met him up on the ring apron.
However,
Brad Armstrong somehow managed to score the 1-2-3 pin over Jimmy Golden
with a sunset flip.
Alas,
onto the main event of the evening from the GCW show in Graysville,AL
whereas the combatants whom that were about to do battle were
former NWA/AWA superstar
and 1/2 of
"The Original Midnight Express"
"Loverboy"
Dennis Condrey
vs.
former AWA World Heavyweight Champion
and WWE Hall Of Famer
Jerry "The King" Lawler.
From the getgo and long before the bell had even rung,
tempers between these two legendary wrestling stalwarts
were already starting to boil.
In the days of Memphis Wrestling yore,
Jerry "The King" Lawler feuded with "Loverboy" Dennis Condrey
when Condrey teamed alongside
with "Beautiful" Bobby Eaton
(left)
as well as with Phil Hickerson (right)
when he and Condrey formed a successful tag team back in the early 1970s.
I along with several other GCW wrestling fans got a huge laugh
during the back and forth verbal diatribe between
"Loverboy" Dennis Condrey and Jerry "The King" Lawler
when on the microphone "The King" amusingly said to Condrey......
"The last time when I saw something that ugly as you,
I flushed it down my toilet.".
Shortly thereafter,their match commenced.
Throughout most of the majority of the match,
Condrey used an illegal foreign object frequently and often upon "The King".
Each and every time when GCW referee Birney Kawanawitz tried to check Condrey if he had any illegal objects on him when he did use them,
Condrey used sleight of hand putting it in another hiding place where neither the referee nor Lawler could find it
and then pulled it out again.
During the latter stages of the match,
both Jerry "The King" Lawler
and Global Championship Wrestling Senior Official Birney Kawanawitz
were knocked down unconscious
after when "Loverboy" Dennis Condrey deliberately threw Jerry "The King" Lawler into the GCW referee.
Condrey once again attempted to use his illegal foreign object
on Jerry "The King" Lawler,
but Lawler moved out of the way
and got his hands on the illegal object in question
and he was about to get some justified retribution.
Referee Kawanawitz caught Lawler with the foreign object in his hand
and he was about to award the match to Condrey via disqualification.
However,
Lawler told the referee that Condrey used the foreign object illegally on him first.
Even the Global Championship Wrestling crowd of Graysville,AL that was in attendance was in agreement with Lawler and persuaded the referee that Lawler was telling the truth.
A short while later,
GCW Senior Official Birney Kawanawitz
reversed his original decision
and he awarded the match
to Jerry "The King" Lawler
via disqualification.
"Loverboy" Dennis Condrey tried to plead his case
to GCW referee Birney Kawanawitz,
but it was to no avail.
as Jerry "The King" Lawler stood inside the squared circle
a conquering tyrant and a triumphant winner!
Jerry "The King" Lawler vowed revenge against "Loverboy" Dennis Condrey
and that he will get his come-uppance on him
at the next Global Championship Wrestling event the following night
in Pell City,AL......
......WHICH IS WHERE I WILL PICK UP ON EVERYTHING IN MY NEXT BLOG!!!
On a personal final thought,
I must say that at the end of the Global Championship Wrestling show as the theme music of Jerry "The King" Lawler was playing throuhgout on the public address system,
as all of the Global Championship Wrestling fans that were in attendance were heading towards the exits
and as I was absorbing and taking in everything recollecting on all of the wonderful moments the blessed,great night that I had at the show,
I started to get a little bit teary eyed.
The reason being for that was because I was extremely proud of myself for doing what I love to do as far as my being involved in the wrestling business is concerned
as a corresponding contributing writing journalist,
as a photographer extraordinaire
and being appreciative and grateful
to be at the GCW show in Graysville,AL
getting the opportunity for me to witness wrestling history
to see and to witness firsthand some of my wrestling heroes of yesteryear in action that I grew up watching on television from way back in the day.
Being the longtime,devoted wrestling fan that I am and that I have been
and for those of us who are in this beguiled and uncultivated wrestling business that we are in,
sometimes some of the nitpicking naysayers and some of the idiotic trolls of 'smarks' take for granted and cannot ever seem to fully understand nor can ever fully comprehend
as to why we are in this wrestling business
and why we do what we love to do
regardless as to what capacity it might be;
be it a wrestler,a manager/valet,a referee,a security guard,a ringside photographer,a videographer,a sound guy or a ring announcer for that matter.
LET'S FACE IT!
No matter who we are in the wrestling business,
at one point in our lives
we all started off as being wrestling fans watching faithfully and religiously
the hundreds of wrestling shows that came on television
every Saturday morning,every Saturday afternoon and every Saturday evening
as well as going with Mom,Dad,Grandma,Grandpa and the rest of our families and friends at live professional wrestling events when they came to town
in our local respective areas.
The reason why we do what we love to do is
for the hundreds of thousands of millions of the many men and women
before us who had sacrificed their lives,their health and their bodies
who paved the way for us,
those who had inspired us,
those whom we have admired and whom we have idolized
in order for us to make our mark in the business today.
Not so much for the fortune nor the fame or the accolades,
but only for the love,the admiration and the passion
of the sport of professional wrestling
and if anything else,
for the love of the wrestling business.....
PERIOD!!!
This concludes the first part of my blog of my personal accounts of events
that occurred of my wild weekend wrestling blast
from the January 22nd,2010
Global Championship Wrestling spectacular from Graysville,AL.
Part 2 of my personal account and experiences from the phenomenal
January 23rd,2010 Global Championship Wrestling event
in Pell City,AL
will be coming your way soon!
UNTIL NEXT TIME,EVERYBODY......
"B-Smoove!
