As reported by Tommy Tsunami, Photos by KRZR
Tommy Tsunami, showing the world why is is the Host with the Most that is
in demand from Coast to Coast
North American Wrestling’s Selma Slamm II was held at the Pioneer Village
in Selma, just south of Fresno. The show was in conjunction with a festival
style promotion called “Man Fest II” sponsored by local radio station KRZR
(sorry, I don’t recall their “call numbers”). The Man Fest was advertised
as being “Bands, Beer, and Babes”, essentially it included activities marketed
toward a male audience (although there were plenty of women there). The NAW
show was one of the first things that people would encounter upon entrance
into the Pioneer Village. I spoke with one of the radio station’s representatives
prior to the event, and he told me that they anticipated 5000 attendees to
this year’s Man Fest. NAW put on a great show, with several hundred people
witnessing each match.
I was without my regular tag team partner, Sir Samurai, for this show.
It was a great opportunity for me to fly solo, something I don’t regularly
get to do, especially considering that Samurai will be absent the next SPW
show (something about a parole board hearing). A renewed appreciation I received
for Samurai, as I had to do the work that he normally does (i.e. getting
wrestlers’ info, spending time with bookers and workers, actually knowing
what is going on, etc.) It doesn’t take much effort to trip on a ring rope
and act like an idiot for a few hours. At this NAW show, I had a greater amount
of responsibility than I normally do, including writing the show recap.
Match 1 – “Lost Boy” Billy Blade defeated Devius
Billy Blade did a good job getting the crowd into this match. These two
guys work very well together. I don’t have a lot of details about this match
as I was still going back and forth from ringside to the locker room to
get some final details for the show. I do remember it being constant action,
and the finish saw Blade defeat Devius with an Impaler DDT. This was the first
match of two for the day between these guys. Later in the evening, Billy
Blade and Devius would wrestle one another again in Manteca for Big Time
Wrestling. With a kayfabe wink, I do think they both took different cars.
Match 2 – The Aztec Warrior defeated Professor Poindexter
I’m glad “Poiny” is back, as I have always gotten a kick out of the character.
Aztec Warrior was a good-sized guy from a promotion in Las Vegas. Poiny
had some moments of hilarity during the match, and a good match it was.
The Aztec Warrior won by pin fall.
Aztec Warrior teaches the Prof. a new lesson in Pain
The Prof. Flies but the landing strip has moved!
Match 3 – “Trendstetter” Adam Thornstowe and Hard Corey Dayton defeated
“Bulldog” Brian Raymond and Luster the Legend
The Selma crowd hated, I mean HATED, Thornstowe and Dayton. The crowd
gave a good reaction to Luster and close to hometown boy, Bulldog. The crowd
HATED Thornstowe and Dayton. Throughout the match, Thornstowe and Dayton
distracted the referee and double-teamed Bulldog. Did I mention the crowd’s
HATRED of Thornstowe and Dayton? Good solid match, which saw Dayton (or was
it Thornstowe? One of those HATED guys) pin Bulldog while the other (Thornstowe
or Dayton) help his partner with a little extra weight on the pin attempt
which wasn’t seen by the official.
Match 4 – Gauntlet Challenge Match for the NAW Light Heavyweight Title (The
winner of the match would get a match against NAW Light Heavyweight Champ,
The Sacred Dragon.)
Sacred Dragon awaits the victor in the Guntlet mach!
Talk about heat, talk about HATRED. In two and half years of being involved
with indy wrestling, I’ve seen this a few times but never, NEVER, to this
degree. Dragon came out first to witness the outcome of this match for a
shot at his title. Then, El Flaco Loco came out to a very warm reception.
Flaco took the microphone and cut a promo on the people, town, and bands of
Selma. One thing that I remember him saying was that if he took dump in
a bucket and left it in the sun for a few days, people would start calling
it “Selma”. Some guy at ringside started popping off to Flaco, which is something
that a person in their right mind shouldn’t do. You will not win a war of
words with Flaco. You won’t. Flaco ripped into him, and the guy make some
sort of sexual remark, at which Flaco responded with a comment about the guy’s
mother. The guy started to jump the barricade to get at Flaco. Dragon quickly
went toward the guy and pushed him back and the locker room emptied and was
on stand by for an ass beating of this guy. If you combined angry, pissed
off, miffed, ticked, and peeved, it still would not be enough to describe
the way this guy was feeling. Dragon kept him at bay, and saved the guy from
an ass beating from guys like Ugly and Handsome Jack who were a couple of
the first guys out of the tent. DANTE was the next participant introduced
DANTE defeated Flaco by pin fall.
I wish I had seen more of this portion of the gauntlet match. Unfortunately,
I was doing damage control, trying to reason with this guy that what he
just experienced was a part of wrestling. Dragon and I were trying to logically
explain that his mere attendance at a wrestling show was an invitation to
verbal insults from wrestlers. We tried to explain it was give and take,
that if he’s going to open his month, he better be ready and receptive to
what kind of verbal barrage will come in return. The funniest thing I heard
today was the guy’s response, which was, “If he’s says another thing about
my mom, I’m jumping into the ring.” We then educated him to the fact that
there were 20 wrestlers in the back that would see to it that he never makes
it to the ring. The guy’s response, “I can have 50 skinheads here in 10 minutes.”
So there you have it, Flaco had 50 skinheads on orange high alert status.
Marce defeated DANTE by pin fall.
In the second installment, if you will, of this gauntlet match, one of
NAW’s newest graduates, Marce (pronounced Mar-SAY) was victorious with the
help of “Ridiculous” Mike Rayne. Watch for this kid, he’s a dandy. Marce is
very small in size and stature, but very agile and athletic, almost catlike.
He and DANTE work very well together, and I’d love to see them go 15 minutes
or so at a future show.
Mike Rayne defeated Marce by pin fall.
After Marce defeated DANTE, he and Mike Rayne celebrated in the ring until
I announced that Rayne was the next participant. Good match.
Rayne pulled out all the stops to beat the newcomer, Marce
Mike Rayne defeated “Smooth Criminal” Ollie Anderson by pin fall.
It was great to see Ollie again, as he is now, and has been, enlisted
in the United States military. Not sure what his current assignment is or
where he might be going, but he was on a short leave and was able to participate
in NAW’s show.
Rayne and Anderson show off their mat technique.
Battle of the Chairs!
Mike Rayne defeated Super Dave Drexler by pin fall.
Sorry about the lack of details on the last few segments of this match,
but all of them were very solid. Rayne’s mouth got busted open somewhere
along the way, but he was able to hold out and hold on and ran the gauntlet.
Sacred Dragon defeated “Ridiculous” Mike Rayne to retain the NAW Light
Heavyweight Title. Special Guest Referee KRZR's Cebral Paul
Again, another good match, yet I don’t have much in terms of details as
I was needed backstage for booking details.
Paul's ready to count
Rayne tries to reverse the pin
Match 5 – Maxi Minx defeated Payton by pin fall.
I hope I got the correct result of this match. Somebody correct me if
Tommy Tsunami is wrong. I was busy finding the bottom of a box of kleenex
during this match, if you know what I saying. I haven’t seen Maxi in a while,
and she looked better than ever. Pyton was a darling and another NAW student
making her professional debut. Goood match. Payton did well, she has a good
look and displayed some solid in ring ability. Being in the ring with Maxi,
I’m sure helped. The fans hated Maxi, and consequently, got behind Payton
(oh, wouldn’t I love to get behind Payton. Sorry about that. I love my wife.
I love my wife. I love my wife.) Unfortunately, the fans’ support wasn’t
enough as Maxi got the win.
Payton puts the spankin' on Maxi Minx
Match 6 – The “209” Wicked and Jesus “The Brownsnake” Kruze defeated Steel
and Rage by pin fall.
Steel and Rage were two other NAW students making their professional
debuts. Both guys were big and equally impressive. Steel was about 6’5-ish
and fairly agile for his size, while Rage probably tipped the scales at
300 lbs. Both guys had a good look to themselves. In the end though, it
wasn’t enough as the #1 contenders for the NAW/SPW tag team titles were
victorious. Out of frustration, Rage attacked Steel following the finish
of the match. I hope they can settle their differences as this looks to
be a tag team that can contend in the future for championship gold in northern
California.
Match 7 – The Beautiful People retained the NAW/SPW Tag Team Titles by
defeating Hunk Golden and Xcel by pin fall.
Xcel is SPW’s latest training camp student to make his professional debut.
Look for good things from this kid in the future as he is incredibly athletic
and talented in the ring. He and Hunk made for a good team and I’d dig on
seeing them together again in the future. Solid wrestling by all four men.
Handsome Jack gave Xcel a series of three neckbreaker variations at one point
in the match. “The Golden One” and “Feature Presentation” Clint Douglas are
always a good match up. In the end, Jack and Clint finished off Xcel with
the “Sex Bomb”.
Match 8 – Chase defeated the Big Ugly J.D. Bishop and Salvatore Stallone
by pin fall.
Making her pro debut, SPW student Chase outsmarted Ugly and Stallone
(emphasis on the “E” at the end, not like that Rocky movie guy). Since it
was a single pin fall match, Ugly and Stallone’s alliance broke up during
the course of the match as neither man would allow the other to pin Chase.
This eventually became too much of a distraction as Ugly was on the second
rope with Stallone on his shoulders for what looked like some type of back
drop. Chase snuck underneath and caused both men to fall into a double power
bomb. With Stallone knocked out, Chase covered the Big Ugly for the win.
Great debut for the young talent from the SPW Academy. Watch out for this
guy Stallone, I’m telling you. The latest PWI Tetsu Academy Fighter, Stallone
has a good build for not being a huge guy, charisma, and definite talent
in the ring. He’s cocky and arrogant, and for good reason, he’s good. If
the WWE wants the Full Blooded Italians to get over, they need to fire Chuck
Palumbo and get this guy to fill his spot. I would love to see Stallone
join Hook Bomberry and Apollo Kahn at an SPW show and take on a guy like
DANTE, Sacramento Dragon, or Adam Thornstowe.
Match 9 – Man Fest Hardcore Rules Battle Royal
This match features Ollie Anderson, Ashleigh, Chase, DANTE, Handsome Jack,
Kruze, Marce, Maxi Minx, Payton, Rage, Rayne, Stallone, Steel, Ugly, and
Xcel (sorry, if I missed anyone). The action was everyone. Locks of cane
and chair shots. High light of the match was Handsome Jack giving the Selma
crowd a thumbs up after a Maxi Minx administered bronco buster. In the end,
it was the four ladies, and NAW student Ashleigh was victorious after Chase,
Maxi, and Payton were eliminated. Ashleigh also accompanied either Ollie
or Super Dave to the ring during their match, sorry for not including that.
Air Marce Takes off
Ashleigh attacks Maxi at Ringside
Ashleigh gets the better of Maxi
Maxi comes back and makes Ashleigh pay dearly
Ashleigh wins the Battle Royal
(L-R) Steele, Rage, Payton, Ashleigh, KRZR rep,
Cebral Paul, Dante, Brownsnake & Marce
(L-R) Payton, Chase, Ashleigh, Tommy, Maxi