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On Friday night 2/10, throngs of wrestling fans wearing “American Nightmare,” “Bullet Club,” and “Feed Me More,” t-shirts braved the cold and piled into the legendary Starland Ballroom in Sayreville, New Jersey to watch live Independent professional wrestling. While this isn’t the first time professional wrestling had taken place inside the venue known in local folklore as the place where Jon Bon Jovi met Richie Sambora back in the 1980s, it was, however, a first for Pat Buck’s WrestlePro. Inside its walls, professional wrestlers from all over came together on one card for one night of action. And like all debuts should, it didn’t disappointment, thanks to numerous surprises and unexpected guests.
In the final match of the night, as Cody Rhodes stood in the ring, waiting for his match to begin, “Thank You Dusty” chants, in honor of his late father, echoed all around him, making this big, bad wrestler grin like a child. Moments later, as his match against Ring of Honor star Lio Rush and local hero Mario Bokara for the What Culture Pro Wrestling Internet Title left all these competitors downed, including Rhodes’ wife, Brandi (who was knocked out cold by Rhodes himself with The Crossroads) and with an all to fitting fine mist of baby powder floating throughout the venue, Joey Ryan, the Lucha Underground star, came sauntering out for a second time that night, that infamous lollipop in his mouth, and after posing in the center of the ring for the crowd, baby oil included, kidnapped an unconscious Brandi Rhodes.
Thankfully, Mrs. Rhodes would reappear just seconds after Rhodes was able to duck under another cheap attack by Bokara, this time with the title left in the ring by Ryan (because a handful of baby powder to the face wasn't enough to keep Rhodes down), causing Rush to take the hit and allowing Rhodes to land his finisher and score the pinfall on Bokara. Mr. Rhodes questioned his wife about her whereabouts during the match, but she had no answers, only a blue Charm pop to show him. The lollipop, however, gives fans and Rhodes alike a clue to the where she had gone and who she was with, that man being the same one Rhodes had chased away from ringside earlier in the match.
The unexpected but not unwelcome appearance and interference of Joey Ryan during the main event, along with the sucker that would be put in Bokara’s mouth by Rhodes at the end of things, wasn’t the only surprise WrestlePro had in store for those in attendance, hardly the case.
For the price of a ticket, roughly twenty dollars for standing room general admission, fans didn’t just get a good view, something to do on a Friday night, and the possibility to meet and have their photo taken with well-known competitors like Bullet Club member Cody Rhodes, WWE Hall of Famer Rikishi, former WWE big man, Ryback, independent star Lio Rush, local talent Joey Janela, and Lunch Underground’s Brian Cage, they also got a lot more than advertised, including an unscheduled match.
During the first half of the show, Dirty and Durable, the pairing of Michael Blake and Shawn Donavan, and not scheduled for the event, came out to the ring to address the crowd and complain about their mistreatment by those very same fans. That's when more unannounced guests would appear, this time with Sonjay Dutt, former TNA star and current Ring of Honor number one contender, interrupting Dirty and Durable to the relief of the fans. Blake and Donavan didn’t take kindly to this and attacked Dutt. Fallah Bahh, another unexpected arrival, charged in to save the day and the two men, partners and brothers in arms, would clear Dirty and Durable out of the ring. Dutt, in a show of confidence and aggression, called for an unscheduled but sanctioned match and just like that, fans got themselves a free tag team match. Bahh would use his size to his advantage and Dutt would hold his own against the cheating Dirty and Durable but it wasn't enough as a rope assisted pinfall would give Dirty and Durable the win.
This sudden addition only built upon the already quality tag team action stacked on the card. The Amazing Graysons delighted with their high flying acrobatics, quick pace, and nearly perfect timing, hitting moves together in tandem against the big and bad Apple Corps. These youngsters from Gotham City may have lost but they put on a show and clearly had fun doing it. Whether it was the Grayson’s dropkicks or their top rope splashes on the Apple Corps done in unison, they lit up the ring.
Joey Ryan, Bahh, and Dutt weren’t the only unexpected guests to show up. This time, though, it was at least planned. In another tag team bout, Kevin Matthews and Pat Buck were scheduled to take on Dan Maff and an unannounced partner of his choosing. One would assume that knowing Maff, he would choose his long-time partner and the other half of Da Hit Squad, Monster Mack. However, we all know what they say about assumptions and in this case, it’s completely correct. Homicide, a local legend, would be his partner for the night.
As it happens with competitors like Homicide and Maff, the match quickly moved to the outside, chairs came out, and competitors were tossed into railings and the ring steps. “Holy sh**",”“ECW”, and “We Want Tables” chants exploded, bringing back the days of old school wrestling where wrestlers were truly hardcore. As the match moved back into the ring, yet another unexpected visitor made his way to the ring, this time out of the crowd. The masked and hooded man helped to distract Matthews and allowed Maff to hit the Burning Hammer and secure the three count. With the match over, the masked man revealed himself. It was none other than Monster Mack.
Monster Mack, Danny Maff, and Homicide went on to hand Matthews and Buck a brutal beatdown that included Maff’s classic cannonball and Mack’s Splash. Once satisfied, Da Hit Squad and Homicide made their exit. Matthews, down but not out, wasn’t done, however, and had no problems verbally berating his attackers and announced a match for the next show in Rahway - Da Hit Squad and Homicide will face Pat Buck, Kevin Matthews, and a partner of their choosing in a three-man tag match.
The surprises didn’t just come in the form of impromptu matches and surprise guests but in the matches themselves. In the second contest of the night, Habib took on CPA in the third of their best of five series that had been tied at one a apiece. While the match had its own inherent value, it rested on the character and charisma of the two competitors, a sometimes overlooked side of wrestling, rather than on more serious spots and big moves. Habib comes from the car wash, carrying the tools of his trade on his way to the ring, and wears his official work uniform. CPA, a certified public accountant, hails from Wall Street and remains professional at all times, keeping his tie and suspenders straight during the whole match. The match, while mainly uneventful and limited in its power moves, was still entertaining and yes, surprising, all thanks to the charisma and sell of the men involved.
These two competitors exemplify the old style of wrestling from the 80s, 90s, and occasionally the early 00s, where wrestlers had strong, and sometimes absurd gimmicks, harking back to wrestlers like The Goon, Repo Man, and, yes, Max Moon. It reminds the fan that this sport doesn’t always need to be taken so seriously and that, after all, it’s two (or more) men in tights beating each other for no real purpose other than to entertain a crowd. That’s exactly what Habib and CPA did, entertain. And that’s what this entire show did, actually, entertain.
From there, it was a triple threat match between Alex Reynolds, Matt Macintosh, and making his WrestlePro debut, Joey Janela. Two surprises came out of this match: the talent within the competitors and Joey Janela’s female manager, ‘The Bad Girl’ Penelope Ford, a capable competitor in her own right. In an example of the profound change occurring within wrestling as of late, the introduction of more acrobatic, fast moving moves a la the luchadores, Macintosh showed off some gymnastics skills and performed an off the ropes back handspring stunner on Janela. In an attempt to turn the tide for her boyfriend, Janela, Ms. Ford jumped into the fray, as managers do, and did more than hold her own - she stood out amongst the three men. Rather easily and seamlessly, she worked her way out of a jam with a handstand headscissors that allowed Janela to land a superkick and then channeled the late, great Chyna with a handspring cartwheel elbow on a cornered Macintosh. In the end, however, her efforts were not enough, creating the second standout moment of the match. After some wrangling and position changes between Reynolds and Janela, Alex Reynolds drove Janela head first into the midsection of Macintosh to walked away the winner. All three men and the one woman were impressive and left everything they had in the ring for the fans.
The piledriver was not the most impressive spot of the night, though. Ryback, the fan favorite, took on Brian Cage in what was touted as a dream match and it was - for those that love muscular men and power moves that rattle the entire venue. And, it goes without saying, these guys were powerful. So much so, that at one point in the match, the Big Guy was whipped into the corner so hard by Cage that the entire ring moved with a loud metallic clank and scrape. Both men were surprising for their size, showing that big guys can be agile, quick, and somewhat acrobatic. Cage and Ryback each took the top turnbuckle at points in the match and went for planchas to the outside in others. Brian Cage performed a flawless 619 and Ryback hit a standing frog splash. Even with all that, neither man would succumb to the other’s moves and the battle took to the outside.
After a double countout that resulted in a no-contest, both men moved into the crowd, traveling to the upper level seating area and continued to fight within inches of fans (including the author of this piece) until they climbed down the side of the stage seating and disappeared into the back. It turned into a endless war between these two big men with an incredible amount of stamina, strength, and talent.
Even for all that, and the ability to actually do damage the ring (men were called to check on the safety of the ring before the main event), the most dramatic move of the night came in the main event, from the quick and daring Lio Rush. With Cody Rhodes and Mario Bokara battling on the outside, Rush climbed up the elevated stage, balanced himself along its thin edge, took off running, and leapt, taking down his opponents with plancha type move in the middle of the seating area. While Rhodes won and retained his title, the entire match as a whole was a winner, each man standing out in his own way - Rush’s acrobatics, Rhode’s starpower, and Bokara’s dirty tactics. With the match concluded, Rhodes’ addressed the crowd and in no uncertain terms, made it clear that he was happy and took a quick shot at NXT, which was holding a show that very same night about thirty minutes away, saying that WrestlePro had put on a much better show than NXT had in Asbury Park.
One couldn’t easily disagree with the WCPW Champion, not with all those surprises, quality wrestling, fearlessness in its matches, and not with Rikishi bringing all the Attitude Era fans in the room back to their childhood. The Beach Bums, who are skilled to the point they can balance themselves on the backs of their opponents as if they were surfing, and Rikishi, who doesn’t appear to have aged a day and still knows what pleases, defeated Johnny Clash, Massage NV, and Mark Stirling in a four-man tag match, with Rikishi landing a Butt Drop and taking the pin. Things couldn’t end without a rightful close, however, and Rikishi put a bare bottomed Stink Face on Mark Stirling and then lead everyone in a dance party like those performed during his tenure with WWE and Too Cool, with each member of The Beach Bums dancing the signature moves. The WWE Hall of Famer also made sure to thank the fans of Independent wrestling and remind them of the Samoan Heritage that runs throughout wrestling, dropping names from Jimmy Snuka, The Rock, and Roman Reigns, who was unabashedly booed by the crowd. It would be the one and only time the crowd would genuinely boo and boo as loudly as they did.
There wasn’t any other reason to boo, expect perhaps, the venue itself, which has a problem with a lack of security in some places and over security in others, seating issues, and high processing fees on their tickets, driving prices up to close to eighty dollars for ringside seats (though still cheaper than a midlevel seat at a WWE event) and seven dollars for parking that can quickly eat into the budget of a small-time fan. Then again, Independent wrestling fans are accustomed to attending shows in high school gyms and local VFWs so wait service and moderately priced beer is something special and might be worth the price.
All that aside, the competitors that came out to Sayreville gave the fans a show worth twice the price of their ticket, fees or no fees. Pat Buck put together a phenomenal show full of unexpected delights and offered something to every kind of wrestling fan during its debut at a beautiful venue in the heart of its home state. After one year of business, WrestlePro continues growing, attracting worldwide and local talent alike, and looks to keep going strong in its second year. It has become one of the leading wrestling promotions in New Jersey, quickly overshadowing the now hibernating Pro Wrestling Syndicate (the promotion that Buck once co-promoted) and is giving Jersey All Pro a run for its money. If this show is any indication of things to come, then by all accounts, their upcoming show in March is sure to be something worth attending.
For more on WrestlePro, visit www.WrestleProOnline.com.
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