Let's Get Ready to Rumble!!

Well, my pictures are back from our second annual wrestling tourney. It's our biggest fundraiser for that county's literacy program, and this year we more than doubled our profit on it. I think this can only go up. The wrestlers who come are from a regional group, and they generally fall into one of a few categories: 1) too old to be on TV 2) got cut for being bad (drugs, etc.) 3) got let go because they were no longer needed 4) up-and-comers who *might* make it to the big leagues, if they're very, very lucky 5) people who love to do it but have no shot in hell at being successful on a grander scale because they're, say, 5'7" and the current system prefers you to be at least 6'4". That's pretty much the range of our wrestlers for this event.

I think it's hysterical to go, if only for the people watching factor, which some of my crew engaged in with great delight. One woman was so worked up that the referee wasn't paying enough attention to the cheating bad guy that she ran up to the ring and started beating on it. Security (in the form of a pot bellied man with a black t-shirt) came flying over. Another woman's tween got so excited she had an asthma attack. The wrestlers who come out are usually incredibly hokey and their moves are usually incredibly scripted. They just aren't the kind of gymnasts it takes to make wrestling "moves" look less than planned. Which is even funnier.

This was the first year that Dante got to go to the event. Last year he was in Kentucky. This year he drove up with El Hijo and the crew, and I reserved him a front row seat. As you can see from the outfit below, he came in his luchador mask and a staff "Got Read" shirt (because he figured he could get better access to the wrestlers if they thought he was staff). The wrestlers actually did notice his outfit and were good about asking him "Are you sure you're not part of the show?" Which of course he ate up. Here's some pictures from the event:



His outfit also attracted the local newspaper people, and he made the papers, making him a minor celebrity at school. He got to meet most of the wrestlers, and took pictures with them.


Even though Dante sort of went together with the Masked Assassin, given his luchador mask and decision to also wear red, I have no problems mentioning that this guy was a complete asshole to the kids. Enough to make me say something along the lines of "Come on, honey, he's either had too much or not enough steroids today." Jerk.


This guy, on the other hand, was great. He's "The Lumberjack" and he came into the ring with an axe, which freaked Dante out. He was a hit with the ladies. Dante spent most of the event hoping and dreading that a wrestler would make personal contact with him during the match. When the Maestro's handler grabbed the sign the boy next to him was waving and tore it up, I thought he would piss himself he was so excited and scared. But by the end of the event, he was brave enough to yell "You're a meatball!" at the Maestro. Speaking of said 'Stro, he is a rather...friendly guy. Anything you need, anything at all, just contact him. Here's his card. Seriously. Anything he can help you with at all. You can even call. Anything you want. He hugged me at least six times before and after the event. JP and Batmite! were quite merciless with their teasing about it. When he came out in character during his last match, he walked by me (Dante and I were both on the front row) and winked at me. "Some people have a lot of nerve!" Dante yelled. I thought that was the funniest and most mature thing I've heard him say to date. Here's some pictures of the Stro.



And his sparkley cape:


But the main event of the night was this guy:


He wrestled as "Eugene", a "slow" wrestler who goes berserk if he gets hit in the head too many times. He was recently released from WWE for reasons I'm not sure about. But we got soooo lucky to get him--I believe he was the reason we made as much money as we did. The kids were incredibly excited to see him. He was really popular on TV, and his popularity certainly came through at our event. Some of the others also hopped in the ring with Eugene:


Har. JP, if you want the picture for your own blog, let me know and I'll give it to you. Here's Batmite! and girl-buddy who also reads this blog, but never comments. (Why??):


All in all, it was a great time. For those people like Dante and the adults who still wanted to get into it like Dante, they had a blast. One of those said adults leaned over about halfway through the event and said rather nostalgically, "Man, it's just like being 8 years old again." ???? For the rest of us who would be disturbed highly by that thought, we enjoyed the event itself for the people watching and the fakeness of it all. It was great.

-- Virgil