Legends Wrestling 3/4/06

This past Saturday night, I was the guest of Steve Rau and Mark Bujan at the inaugural night of wrestling brought to the mat wars by the Legends Wrestling Association. Their website at www.lwasuperstars.com is an exciting website that will be updated greatly in the next few weeks to come about the new wave of superstars coming to the Great Lakes area.

Corunna Community Center is a building that has history in it. Starting as a casino in the early part of its life, it has become a vital part of the citizens of Shiawassee County. It became a focal point of McCurdy Park, which sits not far from the river that divides the town site.

Corunna is located in eastern Shiawassee County. It became the county seat in 1840 and eventually incorporated as a village in 1869. This town was originally settled in the early 1840’s by a group of businessmen called the Shiawassee County Seat Company. Andrew Mack, a member of the group, named this town after Corunna, Spain, after traveling there to purchase sheep. Located on the Shiawassee River, this picturesque village contains many historic turn-of-the-century houses and an elegantly styled courthouse (which is definitely worth a walk-thru if you like Victorian architecture). There is also a scenic city park on the Shiawassee River that includes a reconstructed "village" of historic buildings that have been moved there from other locations for the purpose of preservation. Economically, Corunna has a diverse range of small businesses and is also tied in to the commerce of the greater Owosso area and other surrounding cities. Shiawassee County is named for its principal river the Shiawassee River. Shiawassee is thought to be an Indian word meaning "river that twists about."

A fur trader named Henry Bolieu set up a trading post on the Shiawassee River around 1816. A few years later, an Indian reservation was created in Shiawassee County. A great influx of immigrants came in 1836, with settlement beginning on the Shiawassee River and gradually spreading throughout the county.

Today, Shiawassee County is a prominent agricultural county with over 2,000 farms producing soybeans, beans, oats, winter wheat, corn, hay, peppermint, dairy herds and poultry. Manufacturing concerns are diversified, including a vitrified tile plant at Corunna, one of a few in the state.

Shiawassee County is the home of several famous people: author James Oliver Curwood, whose stories about the Yukon and Northwest Territories have been made into movies (his "castle" can be visited in the park by the Shiawassee River), designer of the Jefferson nickel, Felix Schlag, and Thomas E. Dewey, Governor of New York and Republican presidential candidate.

I had arrived at around 5 p.m. after spending a wonderful morning and afternoon with Darlene Friend, my last remaining aunt on my father’s side of our family. The two-hour drive from my home was very easy for me, as most of the travel is by expressway.

We spoke about my late uncle Bob, her husband, and many other subjects while I tinkered with her computer, giving it a much-needed tune up. I am always excited to return to Flint, Michigan, as it was the place that I grew up in.

I left her home and proceeded west on M-21 towards Owosso, another favorite town that gave me some of my early excitement in the wrestling business. I wrestled on cards promoted by Lee Campione, who was a boxer from the area. He also owned a sports bar that many of the locals frequented.

The 20 or so miles seemed to just drift by so easily as I sped along in the car. I caught myself daydreaming about the evening ahead and seeing old friends and meeting with new ones as well. Suddenly, it was time to turn and head south into the city of Corunna and go to the community center where the matches would be held.

As I walked into the rear of the arena, area I noticed a few of the guys in the lower area beginning to get warmed up by doing exercises. I silently waved, and a few of them that were paying attention waved back at me. I met with Steve and Mark, and, after a grand tour of the facility, I was asked to go and have a light brunch with them.

The small cafe on M-21 had a poster that caught my eye as I went inside. It was advertising a gospel event coming later in the month to Owosso featuring the Blackwoods. I had done a column on the late James Blackwood and the Blackwood Brothers just a few weeks back. Mark asked me if I knew who they were, and I said, "I knew the founding people of the group that bears the same name." I made a mental note to look the information up on the Blackwood website when I got back to the arena.

Returning to the arena after a great meal, I was amazed to find a group of fans lining up in front of the door to get their tickets. As it was first come first served, they wanted to get the best possible seats for the evening. At 6:45, the doors opened, and a rush of fans charged to the front three rows of seats and had them filled within a few minutes.

As I watched the fans come in, it was not just new young fans that came to watch the matches. There were older fans that remembered some of the pioneer performers that fought in the dimly lit, smoke filled arenas in the earlier youth of Great Lakes wrestling. There was talk of such people as Ricky Cortez, Leaping Larry Chene, The Sheik, and Bull Curry and his son Fred.

Every once in a while, you would hear the fans getting stirred up waiting for the action to begin. Some would be shouting “WOOOOOOOOO,” and the fans on the other side of the arena would try and outshout them. Everyone was in anticipation of a great evening of action and excitement.

At 7:30, right on the nose, Steve Rau took the microphone and proclaimed the start of the evening by introducing the first match. Jerome [Do It] Pruit went against Steve Amani, and, for nearly 20 minutes of non-stop movement, they set a pattern for the others to follow. Jerome won the match with some very highflying moves the cruiserweights use. Fans were very receptive and cheered for their favorite and let their feelings be known about the not so favorite.

A tag team bout was next with the Perfect Connection, Noah Lott & Dollar, who made quick work of Desmond Dukes & Brian Andrews. The latter pair nearly had fans climbing in the ring because of their antics and roughhouse style of wrestling.

Bull Wheeler, a young athlete that reminds me a lot of Bam Bam Bigelow, took on Todd Ordway, who was almost 60 pounds lighter. Todd showed the fans that it isn't always the size of the dog in the fight, it's the way they bite you when they get going. Even though he used a lot of skilled moves and aerial onslaughts, Bull showed why he was the best man in this fight. Bull left the building and returned to Bay City, home of Rick and Scott Steiner, a much richer man.

Next, the crowd was thrilled with a local man called Sabbath that reminds me a lot of the Ultimate Warrior. He has been wrestling just a short time but has the talent to go very far in this business. His opponent was a young Oriental by the name of Kamacyde. His actions reminded me of another great in my memory banks by the name of the Great Kabuki. He was small in stature but made up for his size with his knowledge of the arts of Karate and other defensive moves.

To be continued…

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