ACME Championship Wrestling (ACW) held Friday Night Fights at the Lincoln Elementary School in Roselawn, IN at 7:00pm CST on Friday March 10, 2017.  This event was a fundraiser for the 6th grade trip to Camp Tecumseh.

In the opening match, Kyle Kaylor was unable to win the ACW Intercontinental title from Xavier Black.

The second match featured tag team action, with Macho El Silver (?) and Billy the Kid vs. Cliff Caviar and T K Zero.  (I don’t know if I got those names exactly right, I was not familiar with them and could not hear the intros clearly. EDIT: The name TJ Zero was corrected to T K Zero by the man himself!  As repayment for getting a letter wrong, here is a link to his Facebook page!)  The crowd was definitely behind the odd pairing of the lucha-masked Macho and the cowboy Billy the Kid.  I wonder if Billy the Kid got suspended for making gun motions and bang-bang noises in a zero-tolerance school zone!  The good guys won this one.

Next, Jared Kripke and Crimson Dynamo fought over Dynamo’s Tough Man Title.  In this match, anything goes, but pinfalls and submissions must take place in the ring.  Kripke got his hands on a steel chair and prepared to clobber Dynamo, who was on the ropes.  But, Dynamo moved out of the way, and Kripke’s swinging chair bounced off the top rope and back into his own head.  Dynamo got the pin after that.  Oops!

Drex O’Dell has been overcoming obstacles in his way towards a shot at Austin Fury’s ACW Heavyweight Title.  Tonight’s obstacle put in the way by GM Michael Allen is a best-of-three-falls against Rick Raid.  This was a high impact match, and I swear the entire ring bounced off the floor a couple of times after bodyslams by Raid on O’Dell.  But, in a violation of every wrestling law in the known universe, O’Dell picked up both of the first two falls!

At the start of the match between Rockstar Jonny Nigh and Flawless Dave Allen, Allen came to the ring wearing a Spinal Tap blonde wig and carrying a bass guitar, to show us he was the *true* Rockstar; he even sang us a song which managed to insult his opponent, the crowd, and the school hosting the venue.  A true artist at work.   Later in the match when he had the chance due to a ref bump (I think?) Allen hit Nigh in the midsection with the bass guitar and got the pin.

In a match pitting the apparent fan favorite of the night (judging by the sound of screaming kids) against the most hated man of the night, Austin Fury successfully defended his ACW Heavyweight Title against The Product Christopher Kent.

The main event of the night had The Fighting Teacher Jimmy Holmes against Sadistic Slade in a hardcore match.  You see, Mr. Holmes did not want to go on the 6th grade camping trip and be away from air conditioning and microwave ovens, especially when surrounded by 6th graders he sees all the time anyway.  So the stipulation was that if he won this match, he did not have to go on the camping trip.  Well, after a shocking display of violence and brutality best not put into words, Holmes eventually pinned Slade amongst the remains of the wanton destruction in the ring.  So he did not have to go camping, and he got on the mic to gloat about it.  But wait!  Out came a cluster of other teachers from the school, who challenged Holmes to a second fall, and if he lost, he would not only have to go to camp, he would have to do all the dishes!  To his folly, Holmes allowed the second fall to commence, and after unspeakable deeds done to Holmes with a garbage can and a badminton racquet that will go down in the annals of Lincoln Elementary lore, Holmes was pinned and now has to go to camp.  Much loud screaming on the part of the school kids followed, as they rejoiced in his misfortune.

The next ACW show will be a school fundraiser at Franklin Elementary School in Hammond, IN on Friday April 21.

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If you’re so inclined, check out the Northwest Indiana Wrestling Action Program (NWIWrap) broadcast Sundays at 9:30pm, right after Mostly Metal, which runs Sundays from 8-9:30pm, on WVLP 103.1FM in Valparaiso, IN.  If you’re not in Valpo, catch it streaming on http://www.wvlp.org and the Tune In Radio app.  Rebroadcasts happen Wednesdays 10pm – midnight, and NWIWrap is archived on YouTube, just search for NWIWrap.  You can find @NWIWrap on Twitter.  And you can subscribe to the nwiwrap@gmail.com Google calendar, where I try to keep up to date calendar postings of shows in and around the NWI region.  Because WRESTLING! 

ARWPRO held a fundraiser event at Edison Junior- Senior High School in Lake Station, IN at 7:30pm CST on Saturday, March 11, 2017.

In the opening match, Dante DVS took on “The Masked Cubbie“.  In previous events, the team of Los Supervillianos (Dante DVS and Superbad Santana Starks) imploded, leading to a “loser leaves ARWPRO” match between the two – which Dante DVS won.  He complained that clearly The Masked Cubbie was Starks in disguise; new ARWPRO owner King Bishop told Dante is was up to him to prove it.  He could not, though, as The Masked Cubbie came away with the victory.

In their second meeting, this time with Prodidy’s Indiana State Championship on the line, Rockstar Jonny Nigh faced Dakota Prodigy.  Prodigy was accompanied to the ring by Moxie Molly, and Nigh was accompanied by his manager Michael Allen.  Allen made it known that he did not like being in the building and near the ARWPRO crowd; Nigh took the higher road by greeting audience members.  Allen was not happy with Nigh catering to the audience like that.  Late in the match, Allen slipped Nigh a steel chain to use on Prodigy, but after considering it for a moment, Nigh declined and threw the chain back to Allen, who then left in disgust.  Then the match ended in a 10 minute time limit draw, much like the previous match between Nigh and Prodigy.

The third match pitted Punisher 747 and BOW against The Family: Mike Anthony & Ivan Manson.  Of course, Charlie, Joey Rak, and Old School Manson (OSM) accompanied them at ringside.  The Family handled Punisher 747 for quite a while in the ring; as the match degenerated into the usual Family chaos, OSM got into the ring to interfere, but was knocked down and covered by BOW; the ref counted the pinfall, not seeing (or seeing, but being tired of The Family’s shenanigans) that someone not in the match was being pinned.

Fresh off being pinned in the previous match and still knocked silly, Old School Manson fell to Willie Richardson. He’s 0 for 2 on the night!

Next up was a 6-man tag match between the team of Theo Storm & Kevin Storm & Spike Davis (ex-Dashing Dick Davis, I guess) and the team of The Picture Show & Kevin Graves.  As the match went on, Chazz Moretti approached the ring area and walked around observing the participants, as if scouting someone.  But who?   Things started going downhill for the Storm Brothers, and so Theo stomped off to get their tag team belts, so they could just get out of there and abandon their teammate Spike Davis.  Moretti took advantage of the break to hop up on the ring apron, where Graves and The Picture Show had Davis cornered.  Moretti displayed a Roman Emperor-like thumbs up into thumbs down signal – and Kevin Graves low blowed both his partners and joined Davis in a beat down of The Picture Show!  The Storm brothers joined back in on the fun, too.  After everything calmed down, Moretti introduced his newest acquisition,the tag team Fatal Attraction – Kevin Graves and Spike Davis!

Max Holiday took on Ruff Crossing in my favorite match of the night.  Max Holiday made sure to get on Ruff’s nerves with his grunts of “Hoo!  Hoo!” For the first couple of minutes, it was fun to watch Ruff Crossing get aggravated by this.  After a few more minutes, I almost started rooting for Ruff Crossing to make him stop. Heh. After a nice match full of high impact moves and several teases of finishing moves (Crossing’s lariat and Holiday’s boot to the face), Officer Rod Street and Lt. Eva Lonis approached ringside, probably to discuss a recent traffic ticket or something with Holiday.  While Lonis, who must have received her regular ring attire back from the cleaners after last week’s RCW show, discussed law enforcement with the ref, Street gave an assist to Ruff Crossing on Max Holiday, leading to Crossing clobbering Holiday with his cowbell (what good cowboy wrestler doesn’t have a cowbell, after all), and Holiday got pinned.  Street would soon regret this move, though!

In the last “full” match of the night, Officer Rod Street faced Mr. 3% Jon Hudson for Hudson’s ARWPRO Title.  Street was again accompanied by Lonis, but no other SWAT members.  Eventually, Lonis distracted the ref while Street maced Hudson in the eyes, allowing Street to get the surprise roll up pin, ending Hudson’s reign as champion at a record 499 days!  As Street celebrated, though, Max Holiday came out.  He was sporting a head bandage from his encounter with a cowbell, but more importantly, he was sporting his ARWPRO Golden Ticket, allowing him to challenge for any title at any time.  And so Max Holiday got his revenge on Street for interfering in the previous match by winning the ARWPRO Title and ending Street’s quite short reign as champion.  For the record books, Hudson’s tenure as champ lasted 499 days.  Street’s – 499 seconds?  Actually less!

The event ended with a brand new ARWPRO World Title holder – Max Holiday.  At the next ARWPRO event, Saturday April 8 at the American Legion in Lake Station, wrestlers Grin and The Machine make their returns!

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If you’re so inclined, check out the Northwest Indiana Wrestling Action Program (NWIWrap) broadcast Sundays at 9:30pm, right after Mostly Metal, which runs Sundays from 8-9:30pm, on WVLP 103.1FM in Valparaiso, IN.  If you’re not in Valpo, catch it streaming on http://www.wvlp.org and the Tune In Radio app.  Rebroadcasts happen Wednesdays 10pm – midnight, and NWIWrap is archived on YouTube, just search for NWIWrap.  You can find @NWIWrap on Twitter.  And you can subscribe to the nwiwrap@gmail.com Google calendar, where I try to keep up to date calendar postings of shows in and around the NWI region.  Because WRESTLING! 

Revolution Championship Wrestling (RCW) held Born to Rise at the O’Brien Recreation Center in South Bend, IN at 7:00pm EST on Saturday, March 04, 2017.

I had planned to tweet results as they happened on the @nwiwrap Twitter account (hint hint) but I could not get cell reception in the venue (which was a nice gym, but in the basement of the main building).  What I lost in cell phone reception was made up for by the wonderful smell of hot dogs being cooked at the concession stand.  Yum yum.  (Not to be confused with Cutler Yum.)

The fun began with a pre-show match featuring The Slobberknockers (Hardcore Harry & BD Smooth) vs Jayden Quick and Jymmy W.  I’d like to report the winners, but apparently my recall has been affected by my defense mechanisms kicking in to block any memory of seeing The Slobberknockers without shirts on.  To the crowd’s good fortune, their ring entrance for this match did not involve body oil, like the last one I saw at FWF Rampage.  I think the Slobberknockers won, but who knows.  [update: Editor in Chief Ryan Anderson corrected me that Jayden and Jymmy won.  See what the powers of the Slobberknockers do??] I mean, look at this, it’s just wrong on so many levels!

The opening bout of the main show was Tank vs Officer Rod Street.  The winner of this match will get to pick the stipulation added to the match for the tag team titles between The Police Department (champs) and the Midwest Monsters on April 7 at RCW Seven at The Roosevelt Center in Elkhart, IN.  Rod Street was accompanied by SWAT member number 40-whatever and Lt Eva Lonis, whose ring attire clearly shrunk a lot in the wash.  Tank came out the winner, but was attacked afterwards by Street’s cohort; Brutus Dylan, Tank’s partner, came out to chase them away.  He and Tank conferred and decided the tag team title match at RCW Seven will be a cage match, to even the numbers game.

In a triple threat match, Mance Warner defeated JC Bunyan and Keith (Kef?) Sweat (at first, I did not catch that third name; I asked Tiffany Tilli – who knows everyone! – and she said it sounded like his name was announced as Keith Sweat.  The only Keith Sweat I can find on Google is the R&B singer, but Ring Announcer Ryan Anderson came to the rescue on Facebook, saying that he was introduced as “Keith Sweat”, but also goes as “Kef” pronounced “Keef” so “Keef Sweat / Keith Sweat”).  Whatever he goes by, he had a few sweet moves, and I definitely want to see him again.  But the power of Lariats and Lite Beer overcame the power of Timber and whatever phrase Kef has!

Shady Chris Xion had an open challenge for anyone in the back.  Out came Roger Lanier!  Chris Xion started regretting his decision and tried to claim that Lanier wasn’t cleared to wrestle, but no luck.  The match started and it didn’t take very long for Lanier to dispense with Chris Xion.

Kevin Storm took on Noah Walker and Theo Storm in a handicap match for Kevin Storm’s RCW US Title.  This match started before it even got to the ring as Walker and T-Storm jumped Kevin Storm as he approached.  This was the first match to have an edge of serious intensity to it.  The numbers were too much for Kevin Storm, and Noah Walker got the pin.  He is now your RCW US Champion.

During intermission I said Hi to Eric King, who [cheap plug alert!  skip past the italics if you don’t care] will be my guest on the Northwest Indiana Wrestling Action Program on WVLP at 9:30pm CST Sunday March 5. You can listen at 103.1FM in Valparaiso, or streaming on http://www.wvlp.org and the Tune In Radio app.  This half hour segment is part of the 2 hour show Mostly Metal 8-10pm.  If you miss the broadcast, it repeats on Wednesday night at 10pm, and will also be archived on the NWIWrap  Youtube channel. [end cheap plug] I also bought 4 wrestling action figures from Ox Baker, Jr, who was having way too much fun playing with his inventory while I was browsing :-).  Did you know that you can buy a battery operated vibrating Kevin Nash doll from him?  Ladies, check it out at the next show.

By the way, while I’m typing this, I’m watching the DVD set “Greatest Cage Matches of All Time” by WWE, which my dad bought me (thanks Dad!)  A WCW cage match between Lex Luger and Ric Flair is on, and Flair is wearing the proverbial “crimson mask”.  This is interesting timing because of the next match listed here…

The Iron Demon Shane Mercer defeated Luke Lawson.  This was my favorite match of the night.  Mercer and Lawson took the fight into the bleachers, and Mercer hit Lawson with two of the loudest Flair-whooo chest chops that I think I’ve ever heard.  Mercer’s finisher is great.  I don’t know what it’s called, but it’s like a fallaway slam from the second rope in the corner; but instead of both men landing on their backs, Mercer flips around 180-degrees during the fall so that he lands belly down on top of his opponent.   Just before the end of the match, Jason Saint from Horrorshow came out to try to distract Mercer.  And then Adam Bueller snuck out to attack Mercer.  Mercer tossed Saint over the top rope into Bueller, and they crashed into chairs in the first row.  Adam Bueller wins the “Most Efficient Use Of a Wound Award” as he got more blood out of a horrible looking forehead would he suffered the night before in a death match in West Virginia (he went from WV on Friday to NWI on Saturday, dude’s a road warrior).  I think we’ll be seeing more of Horrorshow vs Shane Mercer.

Team Legend-Dairy (Matt O’Hare and Alexander S Kirk, with Synnamon) defeated The Maltese Tiger and The Great Akuma.  This was the first time I’d seen the Great Akuma.  He has a, well, a Great look but he didn’t get to do a whole lot here.  I’m curious to see what he can do if he’s really let loose.  BTW, my spelling of “Synnamon” is just a guess, Matt O’Hare made a point to yell at the crowd that it was with a capital S!

In the RCW Heavyweight Title match between champ Jack Thriller, Nick Cutler, and Anthony Toatele, Thriller got help from Toatele in retaining the title.  No, don’t worry, it wasn’t intentional! Rather, Toatele had the upper hand and gave Cutler what should have been a finishing move for the win, but Thriller took advantage and tossed Toatele out of the ring right after Toatele had put Cutler down; this allowed Thriller to get the pin on Cutler.  During the match, Thriller dared to put his hands on Kenzi, hopefully Anthony Toatele will not let that stand!

In the final match, Super Diva wrestled for his last time, against Brutus Dylan.  Three Divas in training came out first to dance around the crowd (Chet Urblanski, Hardcore Harry, and a third I don’t know).  Then the real Super Diva came out and spent a lot of time going through the crowd on his way to the ring, so much so that Eric King, at the sound table, had to repeat his full intro song at least 2 or 3 times.  But it was all good fun!  This was a no DQ match and some of the action came out to the crowd – most notably, when Diva put Dylan in a chair and then took a running body press at him, which took both of them violently to the floor.  Back in the ring, Brutus Dylan’s sympathy for Diva almost cost him; he “owed” Diva a chair shot from a previous match, but as he raised the chair twice, each time his gentle conscience got the better of him.  Diva and his back up force (can we call them The Pinkertons?)  took advantage with a DDT of Dylan on the chair.  But as all of them tried to pin Dylan together, he tossed them off (phrasing!) and eventually went on to get the pin.  After the match was a nice tribute to Super Diva with lots of the performers representing outside around the ring.

The next RCW-related events are

• XSE / RCW Saint Patrick’s Day Brawl, Friday March 17 2017 at 7:00pm EST at the Battell Center in Mishawaka, IN
• RCW Seven: Friday April 7 2017 at 7:00pm EST at the Roosevelt Center in Elkhart, IN, featuring Kelly Klein, Matt Striker, and Colt Cabana.

Funkdafied Wrestling Federation FWF held Rampage at the Kosciusco County Fairgrounds in Warsaw, IN at 7:30pm on Friday, February 10 2017.

• To start the night, Steven Drochner comes out to yell about last year something something contract something, and there was going to be a murder tonight!  (As someone who had no idea what the story was about going into the night, I still don’t).  But anyway, his opponent Jorge Bravo came out, and as you would expect when someone threatens murder, it didn’t go so well, and Drochner took the pin.
• The Slobberknockers (BD Smooth and Hardcore Harry) came out for their match and assaulted the audience with visions of their unclothed upper halves.  Yeesh.  There was even body oil involved, and not necessarily each applying it to just themselves. Thankfully Cletus Farmer and Lil Hellion came out to get the match started.  Poor Lil Hellion, who is so skinny he disappears when he turns sideways, spent a lot of time getting tossed around, but eventually Cletus and Hellion came away with the win.
• JC Bunyan defeated Deputy Dave.  After the match, Deputy Dave decided to take out his frustrations on Bunyan, but out to make the save come …. the Midwest Monsters??  Brutus offers to let bygones be bygones because the Midwest Monsters hate the Police Department as much as Bunyan!  Tank offers his hand and Bunyan takes it, although perhaps somewhat cautiously?  Let’s see how this plays out!
• In a surprise match, Kongo Kong defeated Noah Walker.  Kong remains the FWF Heavyweight Champion.
• Ames took on Nick Cutler.  Ames tried to set his attentions on several members of the audience, but no one was interested.  This was the longest match of the night and my favorite.  There was a lot of good offense and many near falls.  Eventually Nick Cutler gets the win.
• JD Smooth took on Fireball next.  Fireball had quite a large cheering section, and JD Smooth had an even larger booing section.  A while into the match, Smooth took out a small chain and clobbered Fireball while the ref wasn’t looking, to get the win.  Happy the Dog, the walking Aaron’s advertisement – who had been dealt a kick to the gut by Smooth before the match – got the ref to see the chain, which had fallen from Smooth’s grip after the pinfall.  Well, it was either Happy the Dog or the lady sitting in the row in front of me who was about to burst several blood vessels yelling at the ref that Smooth had used a chain, but either way, the ref caught on.  The ref restarted the match, and Fireball got the pin shortly thereafter.
• The Midwest Monsters defeated the Storm Brothers, Kevin and Theo.  During the match, Kevin was dismayed at Theo playing a bit to the audience, and also continuing to give it his all even though they’d “already been paid!”  Post match, Kevin let his temper get the best of him; he decked Theo and walked out on him.
•  Lightning Bolt Johnson and Drax O’Brien traded offense for a while until a ref bump took him out of commission.  Drax goes outside to get a chair, but drops it as the ref starts coming around. LBJ picks up the chair and clearly has an internal debate with himself on the pros and cons of using the chair.  The lady in front of me who has finally recovered from Fireball’s match comes close to needing paramedics while screaming at LBJ to drop the chair.  If only Darth Vader has someone urging him away from the dark side so vocally!  But, sad to say, LBJ’s impulses get the best of him and he delivers a wicked chair shot to Drax’s head, drawing the DQ.  So he lost the match, but it probably felt pretty damn good.  O’Brien had it coming anyway.
• In the main event, it was Alexander S Kirk vs Matt O’Hare vs Jacob Brawn in a triple threat match.  There’s probably a story behind the match, but hell if I know what it was.  I had not seen Brawn before, and he’s now one of my favorites.  Action went out of the ring a few times, and there was almost a 4th entrant as Overalls Guy from the front row had words for Matt O’Hare.  It was good fun, but you could tell the crowd was starting to get a bit tired by the time of this 9th match.  Alexander S Kirk got the victory.
• The biggest question for me after this card is:  Are BD Smooth and JD Smooth related?  Might we see the Smooths against the Storms?  Maybe the Storms could call in Corey Storm from the New Blood event, held the past weekend in South Bend?  NWIWRAP will investigate!

Fire Pro Wrestling held FPW 130 at Impact Christian Church in Merrillville, IN at 6:30pm on Saturday, January 21 2017.

• In the first match, Nicco Antonelli, fresh off his day job poling the gondolas down the canals in Venice, Italy, taps out to Kevin Graves.
• Next up, The Roach and Logan Williams try to get the FPW Tag Team titles away from Team Black, Mustafa and Drex O’Dell.  No such luck, as Mustafa puts Williams away with a sidewalk slam.
• After talking to the audience a while, The Product Christopher Kent turns his attention to, and defeats, Roland Young.
• Stone Hands Slater Wallace wins over Greg Glover in a match for the FPW Intercontinental Championship, when Glover exits the ring and refuses to get back before the end of the 10 count.  While Wallace wins, Glover retains the title.  Kenny Courageous, acting commissioner of FPW for the evening, has had enough of Glover’s nonsense and sets up a rematch at next month’s show, Revelations.
• In possibly the greatest clash of entrance music ever, Adam Bueller (entering to death metal) takes on Flash Harris (entering to groovy funk).  After making sure to stoke the fires of election heat, Bueller wins – but not totally on his own merits; Christopher Kent came out and distracted Harris, letting Bueller get the upper hand.
• After the match,  Kent lays into Harris with a kendo stick.  Someone in the audience who may have been Harris’s mom was ready to take a steel chair to Kent!  You go, Mom!  Anyway, this leads to Kenny Courageous setting up of a No DQ match between these two at Revelations.
• Dashing Dick Davis loses to Austin Fury after Kevin Graves runs in while the ref was down and delivers a kick to Davis’s face. Usually it’s the heels ganging up on the faces, but let’s go with it.  After the match, Davis and Graves rehash their long history together as tag team partners and friends, leading to a No Holds Barred match between the two at Revelations.
• (Also at Revelations, because of their individual victories, it will be Adam Bueller vs. Austin Fury for the new Impact Championship.  I’m really sad I won’t be there because I’ll be at Reggie’s Rock Club in Chicago to see the godly Pain of Salvation; I feel like I need to see every Adam Bueller match for the foreseeable future because I want to be there when his trusty shorts finally give up and fall to pieces … Every time I see him, they are a bit more ripped and torn, and I think they are held together by bubble gum at this point!)
• In the main event, Johnny Motley and Jeremy Hadley go down to Flawless Dave Allen and Mike Horning when Allen gets Hadley to tap out to an ankle lock type of thing.  This was an all over tag match, in and out of the ring, with lots of action and bumping.  The hardest worker may have been the ref, who was constantly in motion and yelling for people to break holds, get back in the corners, get off the hair, quit cheating!, and so on.  Good work, ref!

So anyway, check out Fire Pro Wrestling Revelations on Saturday February 18, 2017!

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If you’re so inclined, check out the Northwest Indiana Wrestling Action Program (NWIWrap) broadcast the 2nd and 4th Sundays of the month at 9:30pm, as part of the program Mostly Metal, which runs Sundays from 8-10pm, on WVLP 103.1FM in Valparaiso, IN.  If you’re not in Valpo, catch it streaming on http://www.wvlp.org and the Tune In Radio app.  Rebroadcasts happen Wednesdays 10pm – midnight, and NWIWrap is archived on YouTube, just search for NWIWrap.  You can find @NWIWrap on Twitter.  And you can subscribe to the nwiwrap@gmail.com Google calendar, where I try to keep up to date calendar postings of shows in and around the NWI region.  Because WRESTLING! 

ARW PRO held A Cold Day in … at the American Legion in Lake Station, IN on Saturday January 14, 2017, at 7:30pm.

• Before the first match, Joey Boom Boom (guest ring announcer in a spiffy suit!) says that due to some questionable financial management involving taxes and Mr. White, someone has snuck in and purchased ARW PRO.  It’s King Bishop!  KB says he’s trying a new attitude on things, and retains Joey Boom Boom as the ARW PRO commissioner.

• Dashing Dick Davis defeats Johnny Swashbuckle in the opening bout.

• King Bishop is out with Superbad Santana Starks, who was supposed to face Dante DVS, after their tag team Los Supervillianos had a falling out.  But King Bishop says Dante has been forced to cancel, with implications it has something to do with iron bars and 3 square meals a day. In his place, out comes Charlie Jr, who offers Rancid Joey Rak as a sacrifice, or rather, opponent for Santana Starks.  Starks handles Rak with some devastating moves.  Charlie Jr is not impressed with Rak’s contributions to The Family and berates him all the way back through the curtain.  Will Joey Rak stop putting up with Charlie’s abuse someday?  Who knows!

• Kevin Graves gets Angel Armani to tap out to an ankle lock.  Kevin Graves is good at getting the crowd pumped up, and Angel Armani is good at getting the crowd riled up with his mouth – good stuff!

• B.O.W. Brutus Owen Wesker and Punisher 747 get a win over The Family (Ivan Manson and Mike Anthony) after a match chock full of outside interference, ref distraction, and Family antics – ultimately ending with Anthony drawing the DQ for hitting the ref.  I really would have liked to get a total poundage count of all the people in and around the ring for this match!  Lots of large and intimidating people there.

• Mad Max Holiday faces Colin Cambridge for the Indiana State Championship.  Holiday wins by DQ after a low blow from Cambridge, so he does not get the title … but new owner King Bishop comes out and awards the ARW Golden Ticket to Holiday for being the winner of the match; Holiday can now challenge for any title.

• The Picture Show retains the ARW Tag Team Titles over the new team of The Storm Brothers, Kevin Storm and Theo Storm.  Theo displays a new attitude and does not wish to cater to the fans.

• Mr. 3% Jon Hudson retains the ARW Championship over Marcello Spade after a superb match that saw action in and out of the ring, many high impact moves, and even a Styles Clash delivered by Hudson to Spade.  I imagine that in December, this could be on someone’s list of “Top ARW PRO matches of the year”.  After the match, Jon Hudson gives praise to Spade as being a future superstar, and he also gives a touching tribute to his friend Wesley Fultz who recently passed away from cancer.

Closing:  hey, check out the program “The Morning After” (Facebook Cast? Podcast?) done by Mad Max Holiday and Rion Skillz (any relation to Dru?),

https://www.facebook.com/holidayspecial/videos/10210635080147213/

The next ARW PRO show will be Saturday February 11, 2017 at Morton High School in Hammond, IN, and it’s a fundraiser for the high school band department.  Doors open at 6:30pm, be there!

If you’re so inclined, check out the Northwest Indiana Wrestling Action Program (NWIWrap) broadcast the 2nd and 4th Sundays of the month at 9:30pm, as part of the program Mostly Metal, which runs Sundays from 8-10pm, on WVLP 103.1FM in Valparaiso, IN.  If you’re not in Valpo, catch it streaming on http://www.wvlp.org and the Tune In Radio app.  Rebroadcasts happen Wednesdays 10pm – midnight, and NWIWrap is archived on YouTube, just search for NWIWrap.  You can find @NWIWrap on Twitter.  And you can subscribe to the nwiwrap@gmail.com Google calendar, where I try to keep up to date calendar postings of shows in and around the NWI region.  Because WRESTLING! 

To celebrate the end of 2016 (finally! And man, the hell with 2016, seriously!), here is a run down of current title holders at the end of the year in several wrestling promotions active in the Northwest / Northern Indiana area. Feel free to let me know what I’ve screwed up. I’ve attached as many links as I can to Youtube videos featuring these performers; the videos are likely not from the wrestling promotions listed, but they are there for folks to put faces to names. After the list of title holders is a list of some upcoming events in early 2017, and some guests or matches announced for them.

Year End Title Holders

Adrenaline Ringside Wrestling (ARW Pro)  

Lionheart Division Champion – Dakota Prodigy
Tag Team Champions: The Picture Show (Marcus Portrait and Johnny Showtime)
Indiana State Champion – Colin Cambridge
ARW Champion – Mr 3% Jon Hudson

Fire Pro Wrestling (FPW)

Tag Team Champions: Blackout (Mustafa, Drex O’Dell)
FPW Intercontinental Champion: Greg Glover
FPW Heavyweight Champion: Jeremy Hadley

Funkdafied Wrestling (FWF)

FWF Tag Team Champions: Jack Thriller and Chase Matthews
FWF Cruiserweight Champion: Roger Lanier
FWF World Heavyweight Champion: Kongo Kong

Pro Wrestling King (PWK)

Tag Team Champions: Spirit of Detroit (Cassidy and Jon’Tae Kieth)
Michiana On-Line Champion: Tony Thunder
PWK Kingdom Heavyweight Champion: Ames

Revolution Championship Wrestling (RCW)

RCW Tag Team Champions: The Police Department
RCW US Champion: Kevin Storm
RCW Heavyweight Champion: Jack Thriller

Smashmouth Pro Wrestling (SPW)

SPW Tag Team Champions: Marshe Rockett and Acid Jaz (Da Soul Touchaz)
SPW North American Champion: Anthony Toatele
SPW World Champion: Dru Skillz

Strong Style Wrestling (SSW)

SSW World Champion: Kongo Kong

Also at the end of the year, SSW had fan voting with the following results:

Most Hated Wrestler of the Year: The Police Department
Female Wrestler of the Year: Heidi Lovelace
Most Popular Tag Team of the Year: Horror Show
Most Popular Wrestler of the Year: Shane Mercer
Wrestler of the Year: Kongo Kong

Big Shows Coming Up in the New Year

Strong Style Wrestling’s Third Birthday Bash – Saturday Jan 7th, Century Center, South Bend, IN

• Shane Douglas
• Sugar Dunkerton
• Roscoe Eat Lisa vs Guns and Aggression
• Brother Reed vs Zachary Wentz (CZW)
• Brutus Dylan vs Dru Skillz

FWF New Year’s Funk III – Sat Jan 14th, Kosciusco County Fairgrounds, Warsaw IN

• Kongo Kong vs. Ross Jones vs. Shane Mercer for FWF Heavyweight Championship
• Jack Thriller / Chase Matthews vs Police Dept, Tag Team Championship match
• Roger Lanier vs. JD Smooth – Cruiserweight Championship Match

SSW / RCW / PWK When Worlds Collide III – Saturday Feb 4th, Century Center, South Bend

• Special General Manager Teddy Long
• Jack Thriller vs. Swoggle (RCW World Title match)
• Full Blooded Italians vs. Spirit of Detroit (PWK Tag Team titles)
• Matt Cross vs Davey Richards
• Angeline Love
• Rikishi
• Joey Ryan
• Mascarita Sagrada
• Brian Christopher

SPW Smashfest – Saturday April 8, Inman’s Recreation Center, Valparaiso, IN

• Tyson Dux vs Anthony Toatele (SPW NA Title Match)
• Adam Rose vs Jon Hudson
• Mordecai vs Lightning Bolt Johnson
• Decay vs Midwest Monsters (Monsters Ball Match)
• Chase Stevens vs Colin Cambridge
• Ryan Howe vs The Mexicutioner
• Dru Skillz vs. Sugar Dunkerton vs. Troy Miller vs. DJ Zema vs. Will Huckaby (SPW Heavyweight Title Match)
• Colin Delaney vs. Eric Wayne
• Trevor Murdoch & Ames vs. JC Bunyan & Cody Deaner
• Davey Richards vs Tony Kozina
• Kongo Kong & Abdullah the Butcher vs The Bambino Family
• Da Soul Touchaz vs Legion (SPW Tag Team Title Match)
• Rosemary vs. Shawna Reed vs Angelina Love vs Jazz
• The crowning of a new 24/7 hardcore champ

ARW PRO held Black & Blue Wednesday at the American Legion in Lake Station, IN on Wed November 23, 2016.  This was a fundraiser for the Daniel Chavez Memorial Fund, which helps provide assistance to a selected student for college expenses.

Dakota Prodigy defeated Kevin Storm, Theo Storm, and Rancid Joey Rak, in a four-way dance that was the Lionheart Division Finals.  Prodigy was a late entrant; he did not win his qualifying round match, but Joey Boom Boom and Slick were so impressed with a previous win of his they added him to the match anyway.  After many near falls, last second saves,  and flying through the ropes among all four, Dakota Prodigy came out the winner.  Kevin Storm complained about the injustice of Prodigy not even qualifying, and he may have a point!  But Mr. White came out and told both Kevin and Theo Storm not to worry about Lionheart Division business, because he has big plans for them in the tag team division in 2017.

Diamond Steel (Ryan Howe) defeated Dashing Dick Davis.  Davis appeared sporting a magnificent new Tom Selleck-worthy moustache, and Steel appeared sporting an electric guitar.  At some point, Davis got a bloody nose, and that soiled his perfect ‘stache; he was rightly upset by that.   Clearly his distress hampered his ability to focus, and Steel got the win.

Colin Cambridge defeated Officer Rod Street and Kevin Graves to retain the ARW Indiana State Championship.   Lt. Eva Lonis tried to interfere on behalf of Rod Street, but it backfired.  Injustice!

Madd Maxx was the survivor in a 6-man tag team elimination match, pitting Maxx, Willie Richardson, and The Beast against Los Supervillianos (Superbad Santana Starks and Dante DVS, with King Bishop) and Mojo McQueen.  After about three hours of introductions, pre-match banter, and the room clearing from McQueen’s smelly green voodoo smoke, the action began.  During the match, some leftover animosity between Starks and Dante DVS spilled over, and the two of them were tagging each other in an out violently.  The Beast was eliminated first after he got tossed outside the ring.  Then Willie Richardson was next to go, leaving Maxx alone on his team.  But meanwhile, Santana Starks decided he’d had enough of Dante DVS and his tomfoolery, and he stepped away and was counted out.  (Prior to stepping out, he had tagged in Dante DVS one more time with a slap, so Starks was no longer the legal man and I’m not sure why the ref  needed to count him out, but oh well, it served the story.)  During all the distractions, Maxx got the upper hand on Dante DVS and Dante was eliminated.  That left Mojo McQueen with Maxx and eventually Maxx got the win.  I had not seen Mojo McQueen  before; I enjoyed his intensity and movement in the ring and hope to see him again!

After intermission, The Picture Show (Marcus Portrait and Johnny Showtime) retained the ARW Tag Team titles via DQ over Old School Manson and Dylan Manson.  During the match, Showtime got slammed onto a pair of steel chairs set up facing each other, hard enough for one of the chairs to get bent.  The DQ happened when the Family knocked down the ref twice in a row.  Once you can forgive, but twice? … DQ!  After the DQ, the Family dished out an old school beat down involving more chairs and a chain.

Mr 3% Jon Hudson defeated Greg Glover in a Chicago Street Fight for the ARW Championship.  Nick Cutler served as special referee.  Hats are off to these gentlemen, who totally brought it to this match.  The action went in and out of the ring and involved chairs.  It also involved some thin, floppy aluminum foil pans that were not exactly … well, the less said about those things, the better!  Some of the spots showed how thin a line there is between success and injury.  One spot had Hudson use a chair set up in the middle of the ring as a springboard for a flying elbow to Glover in the corner, twice in a row.  On the third try, Glover caught Hudson with one of his awesome spears right after Hudson leapt off / over the chair; the chair tipped sideways and landed with its thin edge facing up, and during the spear, Hudson’s head hit the edge of the chair.  Yowch!  Eventually Cutler gave up being impartial and could no longer see his friend put in jeopardy, so he gave Hudson a low blow.  Diamond Steel (Ryan Howe) came out to try to even things up; he never really got involved, his mere rock star presence served to get the match back on track long enough for Hudson to get the win.

Joey Boom Boom defeated Ivan Manson in the main event grudge match.  Trouble had been brewing between the Family and Joey Boom Boom for quite a while.  During the match, action spilled to the outside and Joey managed to shove Manson into the ring post.  When Manson finally got up and returned to the ring, he was bleeding from the forehead.  He was dazed enough that even though he got in a bit of offence, Joey Boom Boom was able to get the pinfall after delivering a stunner to Manson.  Post match, there was a show of respect both ways between Manson and Boom Boom.  Is their hostility finally put to rest for good?  Show up for the next ARW PRO show at the American Legion on January 14, 2017 to find out!

Smashmouth Pro Wrestling held Smashfunk 8 at Inman’s Bowling and Recreation Center, Valparaiso IN, at 3pm on Sunday November 20, 2016.  The show was the second of a two-day pair, the first half being FWF Smashfunk 7 the previous night in Warsaw. IN.  Props to all involved for pulling double duty and performing twice in 24 hours, and also for putting in the mileage.

Brutus Dylan defeated Fireball. This was a fairly one-sided match, although Fireball did get a bit of offense in.  From my front row chair, the highlight of the match was this:  Dylan dropped Fireball down, and he ended up in the upright seated position in the middle of the ring; Dylan ran the ropes from one side to another to build momentum for a basement clothesline to the seated Fireball.  This seems like a high impact move, and the clenched-teeth look of “Oh shit” on Fireball’s face as he braced himself to receive the hit was great.

Mr. 3% Jon Hudson defeated Kyle Kaylor.  Hudson was originally supposed to face Shane Mercer, who is out with a concussion.  Hudson got on the mic and ran down Mercer for letting a little thing like a concussion keep him out of the ring to fulfill his obligations.  Well, anyway, apparently Mercer has been replaced by the novice Kyle Kaylor (I’m guessing this was one of his first matches) who was so skinny that he would vanish when he turned sideways.  It turned out to be a really fun match; being a totally uninformed outsider, I may be wrong about this, but I thought it was really cool to see the experienced Hudson lead the young guy through it.  After one time when Hudson slammed Kaylor from overhead really hard (I was sure the kid’s clock got cleaned there), he then picked him up and did it again three times in a row.  I don’t know how Kaylor got up from it, but he almost seemed energized by being nearly murdered and brought a fun match the rest of the way!

Dakota Prodigy defeated Shady Chris Xion.  Lots of energy from both and good banter with the crowd by Xion.  Either of these guys is fun to watch, together it was one of my favorites of the night.  Everyone should go to Dakota’s Facebook page to see what his ankle looked like afterwards!  The link looks awful, but it works: https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fdakota.boyer.75%2Fposts%2F1359352354109897&width=500

The Bambino Family defeated Kenny Courageous, Devon Fury, and Rex Hart.   I am a bad correspondent and actually do not remember who won this match now; I forgot to change my “vs” to “def” or “lost” in between the teams on my cell phone notes.  Dang it.  I guess there is history here, and the last time the Bambino family appeared at a Smashmouth Pro Wrestling event, there was something about an award to Rex Hart but Hart wasn’t able to be there, and I was confused then and I’m confused now.  It seems like I should know something about the storyline here that I’m missing.  Courageous, Fury, and Hart were a very popular team, and it seemed like some people in the crowd were there to see them.  At one point, one of the Bambinos got hit so hard he lost his Italian accent when complaining to the ref about something.  EDIT:  Thanks to Jeremy Seabolt for providing more info on the match: it was Kenny Courageous’s last active match, and Hart and Fury came out of retirement to work it with him.  That’s awesome.

After intermission, Tank defeated Jorge Bravo. Poor Jorge brought his best, but you know … it’s Tank.

In a gauntlet match for the SPW Tag Team Titles, The Legion took on a carousel of other teams.  Travis Titan and the Maltese Tiger were out first and dispatched very quickly.  Thanks for coming.  Then Gabe “The Brave” Juarez and Ray Orndorff (it’s not Smashmouth without a Ray Orndorff appearance!) gave it a good try, but Orndorff was pinned.  Next, Team Legend-Dairy (Alexander S Kirk and Matt O’Hare, with Cinnamon) was announced, but before they could hit the ring, the Midwest Monsters appeared and taunted Legion, luring them out of the ring on a chase.  To Team Legend-Dairy’s credit, they worked hard to allow the ref to count to 10, eliminating Legion.  Legend-Dairy started to graciously celebrate being new champions, until they were informed there was one more team remaining:  Marshe Rockett & Acid Jaz (Da Soul Touchaz)!  Damn, Marshe Rockett is stacked.  Rockett and Jaz spoiled Legend-Dairy’s celebration and beat them – we have new SPW Tag Team champs!

Anthony Toatele (w/ Kenzi) defeated Ames and Colin Combridge to retain SPW North American Championship in a triple threat match.  Ames was stunning in his leopard outfit, but Kenzi was not swayed by his charms, so he left without either of the title or the gal.

Abyss and Lightning Bolt Johnson defeated Dru Skillz and Officer Rod Street (w/ Sgt Eva Lonis).  Dru Skillz is the SPW World Champion.   Highlight:  LBJ getting hit on the head with a stop sign by Eva Lonis.  Also, Street, Lonis, and Skillz all bunched up around Abyss trying to handcuff him to the ropes, only to have Abyss escape with Eva handcuffed to the ropes instead.  Janice made an appearance; she did not get to pierce any flesh, but she did get stuck to the cloth wrap of a turnbuckle after Abyss missed Skillz with a swing.  After the match, the Midwest Monsters ran to the ring to attack Abyss and LBJ, showing who are the real monsters around here!  Abyss recovered and declared a Monsters Ball Tag Team Match vs. the Midwest Monsters at Smashfest on April 8, 2017:  the Midwest Monsters vs … Decay!  Decay!  Decaaaaaay!

Pro Wrestling King held Mind Games at LaVille Junior – Senior High School, Lakeville IN, at 7pm on Saturday November 12, 2016.  The show was a fundraiser for the functional skills class at the school.  That’s cool.  I hope my purchase of a slice of pizza and hot dog helped! Apologies for any mis-spelling or flat out mangling of anyone’s name. (Thanks to Eric King’s Facebook page for helping me out with the team City Escape.)

Team Legend-Dairy (Alexander S Kirk and Matt O’Hare, w/ Cinnamon) defeated The Convikt Nick Dallas and The Product Christopher Kent.  Like RCW last weekend, the Superman and Batman bath robes were in effect for Legend-Dairy.  Last week we booed them, this week we were cheering them.  Go figure.

The Coach (from the school) comes out to speak to the crowd and start talking about Steven Drochner; apparently the two had issues the last time PWK ran a show here. Drochner comes out with his back-up, Jordan Quick and Tez.  Drochner starts to say mean things to The Coach; The Coach says he is not afraid because he’s not outnumbered, and here come Fighting Irish, Tony Thunder, and Drevin Storie (with Mr. Tiddlywinks the teddy bear manager, and Drocher is much more afraid of the bear than he should be).  A 3 on 3 match is set up for later tonight.

Theo Storm comes out to issue an open challenge to anyone in the back who wants to come out.  The lights go down, then there is Kevin Storm – who was not supposed to be on the card tonight, so Theo is surprised.  Kevin gets in the ring and the good high impact match goes along really well until it’s interrupted by Tank and Idol Heinze.  Apparently Theo intervened after Tank and Idol’s steel cage match a few weeks ago, and this was payback.  Theo is incapacitated and taken to the back.  To add insult to injury, it seems Theo perhaps was to be Ames tag team partner against Tank and Idol later tonight, but Tank and Idol call for the match to start at this point, and brave Ames comes running out to take on Tank and Idol on his own.  I should point out that Ring Announcer Ryan Anderson has had quite an easy night of it so far, since the last time he had to do anything was introduce The Coach a while back!  After Ames is tossed around by the two larger men to their satisfaction, Theo Storm returns from the back clutching his ribs and makes a tag to relieve Ames, but he can’t overcome his injury to do any damage.  Tank and Idol come away victorious.   After the win, Tank and Idol have a bit of a tug-of-war over Ames’ championship belt and who should be in line for the next shot at it.  After they leave and Ames is being helped to the back, Theo Storm channels the young boy who gave Mean Joe Greene his Coke with a “Champ … you forgot this” before handing Ames his belt.  Awwww.

The Spirit of Detroit, Cassidy and Jon’tae Kieth, on the one year anniversary of winning the PWK Tag Team Titles at this very venue, come out and issue an open challenge for those tag team titles. Their call is answered by … well, they are Manion and Beardslee, a.k.a. City Escape. Spirit of Detroit are much fun to watch and listen to as the match goes on.  The highlight was when Tae did a nice senton over the top rope to the outside onto Manion and Beardsley, and Cassidy followed by a graceful Nestea Plunge from the apron onto the other three.  Spirit of Detroit retain their tag team titles.  Spirit of Detroit use for their music a song that is must be heavily edited for family friendly environments because it cuts out at least once during just about every phrase of lyrics – it’s sort of like they enter to musical swiss cheese.  I’d love to see the uncensored lyrics!

After intermission, Brutus Dylan defeated Fireball.  Fireball was plucky and had spirit but could not overcome the size and F’N brutality of Dylan.  After the match, Dylan pounded Fireball a few times with his chain.  You know, just because.

Next, The Violent Gentleman Adam Bueller defeated Jayden Quick after a particularly nasty kick to the face of Quick while he was tangled butt-up-head-down in the corner ropes, followed by a Coup de Grace to Quick’s back.  After the match, Quick was quite perturbed and loopy as he was guided to the back by the intimidating force of PWK security.

The final match was Fighting Irish, Drevin Storie, and Tony Thunder (accompanied by The Coach and Mr. Tiddlywinks the teddy bear manager) took on Steven Drochner, Jordan Quick, and Tez.  The first thing Drochner did was insist the bear not be allowed in the ring.  Smart man.  After a lot of crazy action the ref could not keep up with, the team backing The Coach won.  I have to make an editorial comment on this match, though.  I have seen a lot of crazy matches and moves in wrestling, but they took it over the line in this match.  At one point, Drochner was outside the ring and helpless, and with the encouragement of Tony Thunder, Mr. Tiddlywinks attempted a tope suicida onto Drochner.  There is no place for that kind of violence in family friendly entertainment, someone could have been seriously hurt.  I implore all those involved to never take such risks again.