Celina, Ohio Part Two

I had gone to Celina, a small community in western central Ohio, with Rob Bauer and Dave Drason Burzynski. They are two good friends that I have traveled with before.

Following a wonderful buffet meal and get together of most of the inductees on the roster later that evening, I had the chance to talk to a lot of the guys that would be wrestling that night.

Austin Meddler and I spoke for nearly an hour before two of his command arrived in their "Paddy Wagon." If you have never had the chance or opportunity to see the team of Psycho Sam Cody and Roughhouse Roger Ruffin, you have really missed a treat. These two go out of their way to try and eliminate every tag team they have ever faced. They are the current MCW tag team champions.

From deep in the lower floor dressing rooms, Big Jim Lancaster called out to the two dressing rooms to open their doors and join him in a pre-bout prayer. Both dressing rooms opened, and the heads bowed in unison as Jim asked for a safe journey to their next towns. He also asked that nobody be hurt in the ring, so as not to be able to go forth and make a living for their families. The prayer ended with a loud AMEN!, and then Psycho Sam slammed their door and began to rant and rave about not having a ground floor dressing room with a window in it.

From the ring came the announcement of the beginning of the Hall of Fame inductions for Midwest Championship Wrestling. A 10-bell salute was given to remember the fallen warriors that had gone to that big ring in the sky since the last card in the area that was promoted by MCW.

The first award was a posthumous honor for Jim "Hangman" Grabmire, who had wrestled in the area since the 50's. It was accepted by wrestling historian Rob Bauer. Ricky Cortez, who wrestled as the Crusher from the mid 50's in the Great Lakes area, was next, and I accepted for Ricky. I was given a great round of applause coming to the ring. Roughhouse Roger Ruffin accepted for Bob Harman, who wrestled in the old WWWF as Beautiful Bobby. Bob had many battles with Bruno Sammartino in MSG and was managed by The Grand Wizard.

Kimmy Kozak and manager Dave Drason Burzynski were next to be honored in the ring. MCW TV announcer Dave Ross was next and followed by Outlaw Ox Morgan. Woody Lee and Dave St. Onge pulled one of the biggest pranks on the crowd following their inductions. The ring announcer had called for the Nightmares to come forward twice before turning to see the team of St. Onge and Lee with their masks on. They had gone into retirement as an undefeated team and never lost their masks in competition.

Big Jim Lancaster came forward as president of MCW and gave the final award to a die-hard fan named Dale Sprague from St. Mary's, Ohio. Dale suffers from Palsy and cannot speak, but he has a smile that will make you envious of him. He never let his personal problems stop him from writing to MCW and letting them know how he felt about the wrestlers and the promotion. He had kept in constant communication over the past decade.

His attitude of caring and sharing with others made him an easy pick for MCW to honor him as the first fan ever inducted into the hall of fame. EVERY FAN in the audience stood and applauded this young man. Some had tears running down their faces as Dale made his way into the ring aided by Roger Ruffin and a few other wrestlers.

Dale stood in the middle as flashbulbs went off for nearly five minutes. There was a non-stop smile on his face, and, every once in a while, you could tell that emotions were taking over his body. I helped Dale out of the ring, and we went to the rear of the arena to sign autographs.

The first match of the card was next as the American Eagle burst out of the holding area near the stairs to the dressing room and got the crowd really fired up. He faced Christopher Michael Lotus from California, accompanied by manager Austin Meddler. For nearly 15 minutes, these two gladiators fought back and forth and even had Meddler involved in the match. The American Eagle won the opener with a brilliant display of airborne moves.

High I.Q. Quinten Lee from New York was assisted by Austin Meddler as he faced local Tri-State champion Mike Thobe. For nearly 20 minutes, these young lions fought back and forth, and Mike won, much to the approval of the crowd.

The third match featured locals again as Jeff Garman and Tim Cox faced the Kansas Outlaws managed by ..... you guessed it ..... Austin Meddler, who was handcuffed to a huge man named Dave Ross. Dave never gave Austin a chance to get near the ring to upset the team of Garman and Cox. In an upset of the evening, The Outlaws were defeated by disqualification, and they went home with the short end of the money.

A 10-man Battle Royal brought more excitement to the arena as many of the earlier men were brought back to the ring to try and win $1000. As it turned out, the last two people in the ring were Mike Thobe and Austin Meddler. Thobe won the event in a little over 20 minutes and told promoter Jim Lancaster to donate the check to his favorite charity.

The main event featured the Tri-State tag team champs, Jay Donaldson and Ryan Stone, against Magnificent Matt Parks and Too Bad Chad Allegra. The Lions (Donaldson and Stone), as they are called, were too much for the bad boys from the Deep South. The fans went home happy, and the tag champs will defend their belts elsewhere.

In all, I had a wonderful day, and the rush it gave me of being a part of the day will bring many good memories to my thoughts in the months to come. I applaud Jim Lancaster and his family for bringing this type of wholesome matches to central Ohio. In the many years that MCW has been around, not one family has ever had to look at obscene moves or gestures or listen to language unbecoming a professional athlete. I look forward to joining Jim on many more cards in his area of Ohio.

The long drive back to northern Ohio for me and the longer drive back to the Detroit area for Rob and Dave went smoothly. I had the pleasure of calling many of the old timers we were associated with in the business with on my cell phone. We all had a chance to speak to some of the greats like Sputnik Monroe, Lord Littlebrook and Terry Funk. How small the world had gotten with all the technology we have at our fingertips.

Percival A. Friend, Retired
The Epitome of Wrestling Managers
2004 CAC Honoree