3/4/06 Part Two

In my last column, I told you about going to the Legends wrestling matches in Corunna, Michigan. It is a unique town some 20 miles west of Flint, my hometown. The drive from Flint passes some of the finest farm country along M-21 in Shiawassee County.

Corunna also was the home to many outstanding people that have made their mark in society. One in particular was author James Oliver Curwood. He left his imprint by building a castle near McCurdy Park (See below).

As 5 p.m. neared, I pulled into the special parking area reserved for the staff and wrestlers. I was met by Steve Rau and wrestling historian Mark Bujan. I got a V.I.P. tour of the facility before going to a wonderful meal at a local diner frequented by most of the town folk.

Arriving back at the community center, I began to feel the excitement growing in the building. The ring crew was making final adjustments to the 20-foot ring that would be home to the participants that would be in combat later that night. I noticed that part of the 300 ringside seats were tagged with signs saying “reserved.” I wondered who would be in those seats tonight.

At 6:45, right on the nose, they opened the arena doors, and the crowd began to fill the arena. It was apparent to both Steve and Mark that more seats would be needed. A few minutes later, the ushers were bringing up another 200 chairs from the rear of the building.

At 7:30, the crowd was ready for action, as there were loud chants of “Let's Go!” coming from almost everybody in the building. Jerome “Do It” Pruit faced Steve Amani in a battle that had fans ready to climb into the ring. The ringside was on fire, and all the pent-up emotion of wrestling was coming out of the fans. At roughly the 20-minute mark, Jerome finally used an airplane spin and dropkicks to subdue his opponent and get the three-count.

The Perfect Connection made quick work of Desmond Dukes and Brian Andrews. The antics of Dukes and Andrews were a little more than what the fans could accept, and they voiced their disapproval of the pair very loudly.

The third match had Bull Wheeler from Bay City, Michigan facing a very crafty young man by the name of Todd Ordway, from Grand Rapids, Michigan. Bull, as I stated last week, reminds me of Bam Bam Bigelow, only without all the tattoos. His strength and size will be a very difficult thing for opponents to overcome. It was that night.

Next on the card was a heavily built young man named Sabbath, from Owosso, Michigan, just five miles away. He faced a crafty young Oriental by the name of Kamacyde. The match went longer than I had thought, as I had underestimated the ability of the much smaller Oriental athlete. Even with the help of his Kendo stick, after the referee had been knocked out accidentally, Sabbath came back in a burst of energy to win the match with giant power slams and a body press.

Following a short intermission, Anarchy came out and defeated J.T. Zorin by disqualification. It was evident to me that these two men had faced each other before, as they hit the ring with blood in their eyes for each other. I hope they get matched up again in a future match.

Jeff King and Gameboy beat Jack Thriller and Chance Laredo. Most of these guys were in the cruiserweight division of the Legends Wrestling Association. The action was fast and furious and sometimes emptied out onto the floor under the watchful eyes of security.

A Triple Threat match was the semi-main event and had the attention of most of the dressing room watching in awe. Josh Abercrombie defeated Unr8ted and “So Fine” Frank Stein. I am certainly glad that three-ways were not around when I was involved in wrestling.

To have guys flying at you in pairs and then turning on each other to prevent a loss in the match. There were a few times in the match I nearly got involved when the action spilled out on the floor of the arena and right into ringsiders seated about four feet away. Fans were very much involved in the matches all night long, and a few times, I thought for sure that the security would be throwing someone out into the cold evening air.

The Main Event featured the LWA Heavyweight Champ, Rastakhan, against Johnny Dynamo. The flamboyant Dynamo came to the ring in a beautiful yellow and black outfit and began to berate his opponent and most of the fans in the building. He shouted that he was the greatest thing since sliced bread and just as popular.

After about five minutes of screaming and carrying on, he finally was in the ring. Rastakhan came out in a blaze of colored spinning lights and a smoke screen, kind of like a motion picture entrance. After going around the ring and tapping hands and signing a few autographs, he hit the ring. Dynamo did not come to shake hands or be a nice guy to fans.

He was there with one thing in mind, and that was to win the LWA title and send the champ packing. They fought in the ring. They fought on the floor. Dynamo tore up signs that the fans had brought to show their support of the champ. Rastakhan slammed Johnny into the stairs leading to the upper stage area and then spun him back into the ring and pinned him for the win.

It took four heavily muscled security personnel to get Dynamo back to the dressing room. He went home with the short end of the money for the evening. Rastakhan stayed out and signed autographs, along with a lot of other wrestlers that had come upstairs to watch the last couple of bouts.

This was my first visit to Legends wrestling matches, and I am very impressed with the quality of superb athletes that kept the fans in the palm of their hands all night long. I never heard any derogatory sounds from the near-sold out crowd.

I never saw any obscene gestures or heard any foul language from the wrestlers toward the fans. It was truly a family-oriented fun night for each and everybody in attendance.

The next card is set for April 22 and is already ¼ sold out in advance. That shows me a true sign of professionalism. I encourage anyone that is close to Flint to come and enjoy the next exciting night of Legend's wrestling … Live!!!

Please visit their website www.lwasuperstars.com for more information.

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