A wild night in Dundalk
It’s been a while – too long, actually – since I have been to an independent wrestling show, but I saw a good one last night, as Maryland Championship Wrestling had an event at North Point Plaza in Dundalk.
TNA stars James Storm and ODB were there, as was Joey Matthews (formerly Joey Mercury in WWE). Balls Mahoney – who was released by WWE a week ago – made an unadvertised appearance.
I videotaped interviews with Storm and ODB, which I will post later this week. I also caught up with – as “Mean” Gene Okerlund would say – my longtime, close, personal friend Axl Rotten, and I will post my videotaped interview with him as well.
The main event was a wild, falls-count-anywhere eight-man tag match in which Mahoney, Corporal Punishment (MCW owner Dan McDevitt), Danny Doring and Adam Flash defeated Matthews, MCW heavyweight champion Christian York, The Bruiser and Zachary Shane. The guys brawled all over the building, and if you weren’t paying attention, you just might have had Balls Mahoney landing in your lap.
During that match, heel wrestling announcer Joel Oresky, who is listed at 5 feet 6 and 165 pounds, took a wicked chair shot to the head from Mahoney. I don’t think taking such a blow is the smartest thing to do, but I give Oresky a lot of credit for suffering for his art. I caught a glimpse of him backstage after the show and he was legitimately woozy and had a nice knot on his forehead.
Everybody on the show worked hard, and I can’t overstate how much respect I have for the guys on the independent scene who are willing to put their bodies on the line for little pay in front of a few hundred fans simply because they love the business. If you ever get a chance to catch an MCW show, I definitely recommend it. MCW is one of the best-run independent promotions around, and that comes straight from several wrestlers who have worked on its shows.
It was announced last night that MCW’s Shamrock Cup will be held July 18-19 at The New Green Room in Dundalk. Among those scheduled to appear are Tammy “Sunny” Sytch, The Iron Sheik and Devon Storm (aka Crowbar) – another longtime, close, personal friend. The Iron Sheik is advertised to be doing a Q&A on the second day, and that alone should be worth the price of admission. For more information, go to marylandwrestling.com.
Other thoughts on last night’s show:
Storm, who worked as a babyface, put on an entertaining performance and seemed to be having a lot of fun in his victory over Champ Champaign. Storm interacted with fans during the match, including taking his opponent outside the ring and holding his arms so that kids in the audience could chop him in the chest. “The Tennessee Cowboy” allowed Champaign to get in a lot of offense before beating him. …
ODB’s victory was a little more one-sided, as she defeated Kylie Pierce in under five minutes. Pierce got a bloody nose in the bout. …
It’s not often that a ring announcer really stands out, but Larry Kennedy Phillips was just tremendous. This guy has more charisma than Tony Chimel, David Penzer and Justin Roberts combined. He started off the night with a spiel about the matches being “sanctioned and supervised by the state athletic commission,” which took me back to my youth when I watched WWWF ring announcers Gary Michael Capetta and Joe McCue give similar speeches on television on Saturday afternoons.
Phillips also did his routine in which he enthusiastically points out the fire exits – he even had his own “fire exits” T-shirts for sale. Who knew learning where the fire exits are could be so entertaining? Later, during the eight-man tag-team main event, Phillips got physically involved and delivered a Rock Bottom to Shane. …
Kelly Bell showed a lot of talent on the microphone when he hosted an interview segment with a new tag team called Team Stranglehold. Bell definitely is a charismatic heel with a quick wit. He also was sporting one of his new T-shirts, which are fantastic in a politically incorrect way. …
One of the best matches of the night saw Josh Daniels and Ruckus defeat The Best Around. Daniels and Ruckus executed some nice moves, and The Best Around, an effeminate tag team in pink tights, were good at getting heat from the crowd. …
Finally, I want to offer my condolences to Patrick Brick and Kimberly McDevitt. This past week, Brink – who wrestled in MCW before moving to Florida to train with Team 3D – lost his younger sister, and McDevitt – an MCW female personality – lost her father.
Comments
Enough about wrestling , what about the wild night in Dundalk hun' ? Seriously nice report Kev . It was a breath of fresh air to read about someone other than the mainstream . Nice.
Posted by: jack in hebron | May 5, 2008 5:41 AM
Kevin, with all the problems related to concussions, I don't think any of us should be giving anyone credit for suffering for their art. If you fail to properly protect yourself, or worse, the chair swinger fails to protect you as much as possible, it's amateurish. I though the "art" of pro wrestling was to make it look like it hurt. Any idiot can actually hit someone or allow himself to get hit. A few more shots like that and he probably won't have any eggs left to scramble. Chairshots mean absolutely nothing anymore. What used to be an automatic end to a match by DQ or KO is now no better then a chinlock. The risk far outweighs the reward anymore.
RESPONSE FROM KEVIIN ECK: I agree with you. As I said, I am against unprotected chair shots to the head. I guess what I was trying to say is that the guy has a lot of guts -- or some might say stupidity -- to do something like that, especially on an independent show in front to a few hundred peope, just because he loves the business, misguided as that may be.
Posted by: Mike | May 5, 2008 8:44 AM
Kevin, man that was a show. Did you hear when Storm said "I can't pretend he's the Wildcat, he's not on TV anymore."? Line of the night had to go to one of the guys by the entrance ramp who said to Champ(or Lenny Kravitz in giftwrap tights) "Did you lose your virginity to alcohol?"
Also, I'm the guy who yelled "We don't need no stinkin music" to Tim Donst(the guy with the CHIKARA shirt on and the head gear). I thought I saw you there, but I wasn't sure. I thought I saw Gillberg too, but I might be mistaken.
Posted by: Jack H(Seat 178 last night) | May 5, 2008 11:48 AM
How many people were there?
RESPONSE FROM KEVIN ECK: I'm really bad at estimating crowds, but I would guess a few hundred.
Posted by: John | May 5, 2008 3:58 PM
Sounds like the atmosphere was like the early Ring of Honor shows. Those were great times.
Posted by: Chris | May 5, 2008 10:34 PM
Indeed Kevin, there were roughly 300 to 400 people there, at least by my skills at seat counting(aka I went the wrong way looking for 178)
Posted by: Jack H | May 6, 2008 1:07 AM
I like MCW, but it's crazy to put heat on your ring announcer. Who pays to see the ring announcer? How often do ring announcers wrestle? I think it is only natural to put your hands up to protect yourself from a chairshot. To not put your hands up makes about as much sense as not catching your opponent on a dive outside the ring.
Posted by: Old-Time Rasslin' Fan | May 9, 2008 12:10 AM
what state does maryland wrestling wrestle out of? If it's that good I might buy it.
Posted by: vince mcmchan | May 13, 2008 5:55 AM
How this. I am not reading this It is in my warped memory
welcome to allstar wrestling. These matches are sanctioned and supervised by the state athletic commision. Howard McCall Chairman,Bob Patterson secratery. The deputy commisioner in charge is Nick Sntoro, the Dr. in attendance at ring side, Dr Jerry Allison. The timekeeper at the bell . Mike Mittman, and your referees for this hour of wrestling, Dick Weurlhe, Wee Willie Webber , Mario Savaldi and my name is Jooooooeee Mccue.The opening contest is scheduled for one fall with a10 min. time limit, introducind, first the mgr. The hollywood fasion plate of wrestling.....Fred... I can continue to the commercial in content if you want.
Posted by: andrew roth | July 5, 2008 3:47 PM