#Wrestlemania32

Wrestlemania 32 Week Part II: Wrestlecon + Shimmer #80 & more

Wrestlemania had finally come to Dallas. The 32nd installment of the annual spectacle, that has become a week-long celebration that includes community outreach events, a Fan Fest, a Hall of Fame induction ceremony & much more.
Orbiting that is the entire wrestling community – having the global wrestling audience literally all in one place, it’s the perfect destination for anyone currently or ever associated with wrestling to book appearances or their own events, creating a packed schedule that hemmorages the host city for fans to gorge on for almost an entire week.

So now on to Part II of our Wrestlemania 32 week adventure – If you haven’t had the chance to check out Part 1 for the unforgettable IHWE/NWA Parade of Champions event you can do so here –

Wrestlecon – April 3rd – Hyatt Regency Reunion Tower – Dallas, TX

So we started the day at the non-WWE fanfest called Wrestlecon – I saw non-WWE as while their were many former WWE alumni and current ambassadors & even a few Hall of Famers, the WWE endorsed fan convention Axxess was happening across the street at the Convention Center with the same production value and presentation of it’s television and PPV programs.
Here at Wrestlecon was a much more humble affair – Those that are no longer (or never have been) under contract with the WWE. It would be easy to be dismissive of the event and comparisons to that scene in the Wrestler where the main character finds himself at some old armory peddling his wares of yesteryear wouldn’t be too far off the mark. However, the vibe of the event couldn’t be more pleasant – The performers for the most part seemed to be happy to be there meeting with the fans and the fans couldn’t have been more thrilled to be there.
It was kind of surreal scene – it was like being backstage at an event just like 25 years later –

Just walking through you’d see legends from all sides (how many do you recognize in one shot in the picture above?)
This is a decidedly non-press event so we were not there as media but my nephew came down for the big show and his favorite wrestler is Rey Mysterio Jr so I brought him here in hopes to get him so face time with Rey.
We arrived at a strategic time as the Ring of Honor show was in full swing upstairs so we thought the lines would be minimal and we were correct, everyone that is except for Mysterio’s (sad face).
But their was still plenty to see:

Taeler Hendrix (left)
& Torrie Wilson (right)

Velvet Sky, Barbie Blank (Kelly Kelly in WWE)
Tracey Adams & Melina

Jasmine St. Claire (right)

 

 

 

Panel: Lance Storm. Missy Hyatt & more

Just as we were about to leave as Mysterio’s line showed zero sign of thinning we saw that a panel was about to begin featuring a couple of familiar faces.
For me namely, one Missy Hyatt, former female personality from my favorite territory, Mid-South wrestling.
My excitement level was albeit muted as following Missy on Twitter has been a sobering (for me) unpleasant experience to say the least.
At first it was fascinating as she would live tweet entire Mid-South episodes (presumably watching from the WWE Network) with invaluable insight.
It would always threaten to unravel to Batshit Crazy Land until it did & then when she started a series of unwarranted attacks on my friend Lynda Newton who performed as Dark Journey, that was the final straw.

My apologies for the bad film quality but if you look closely Hyatt is proudly (without irony) displaying her support for Donald Trump with pro-Trump campaign shirt.
No need to digress and she has sunk as low as she’s going to.

Rey Mysterio Jr.

That’s about as close as we got to Mysterio but I was able to introduce my nephew to Billy Gunn, who was super intense but ultimately very cool and welcoming.

Jake (nephew) & I (left)
Jake with Billy Gunn (right)

 

 

 

Shimmer Womens Athletes #80 Championship Tournament – April 2nd – Eddie Deen’s Ranch – Dallas, TX

This was a long time coming – I’m a huge fan of Women’s Wrestling, in fact, the female competitors are my favorites and I’ve wanted to attend a Shimmer event for a long time that features an all-female roster showcasing some of the best independent female talent in the world.
Today was that day, after leaving Wrestlecon we walked literally across the street to Eddie Deen’s Ranch – Only in Texas could you hold no less than three major wrestling events daily all weekend inside a BBQ restaurant, that just happens to be located in the heart of a downtown metropolis.
We were here, I was excited and as I’m checking in & getting my press credentials, the person I’m handing my I.D. to is none other than the extremely talented & unfathomably gorgeous Laura “Cherry Bomb” Dennis – The one wrestler I was hoping to see perform most at this event.

 

 

 

No idea why she was behind the ticket desk (& she wasn’t for long as soon she was in her gear and wrestling) but she got me all squared away as we headed to our seats. Taking advantage of this being a reputable BBQ joint, my nephew & I loaded up on the goods.
Sitting practically ringside, giant BBQ sandwich in one hand & a beer in the other about to finally get to see some of my favorites for the first time finally, all was right with the world.

This entire event was one big tournament to crown the first Heart of Shimmer champion, which was totally cool as that meant hopefully we’d get to see some of our favorites more than once.

1st Round: Cheerleader Melissa defeated Leva Bates 

Excited that this was the opening contest as I’ve wanted to see both of these performers compete forever. Leva Bates has really been making the rounds lately with appearances on TNA as well as on WWE programming at NXT under the name Blue Pants.
Cheerleader Melissa is legend in the indie-ranks – both wrestlers kicked major ass.

Heart of Shimmer 1st Round: Candice LaRae defeated Cherry Bomb 

So excited to finally see Cherry Bomb wrestle and sadly she got beat in the first round by another great performer Candice Larae.

Thankfully that wasn’t the last we’d see her however as she came out for an assist to her tag team partner in the next bout.

1st Round: Kimber Lee (SHIMMER Tag Team Champion) defeated Jessicka Havok 

Your seeing two world class athletes in Kimber Lee & Jessica Havok, both have wrestled all over the world & on American television.

..but my girl Cherry Bomb returns to save the day to get Kimber the win to advance in the tournament.

1st Round: Heidi Lovelace defeated Veda Scott 

Though I saw Veda Scott serve as special guest referee a few days before at the IHWE/NWA Parade of Champions event this would be my first time seeing her compete.

1st Round: Nicole Savoy won LuFisto 

Nicole Savoy, whom I wasn’t familiar with prior to the event (though obviously I should have been) dominated throughout.
After beating Lufisto in the first round she ran through Kimber Lee and Heidi Lovelace in the Semi-Finals

Intermission – 

During a brief intermission as I was getting another beer and using the facilities I noticed NXT star Bayley sitting in the back checking out the action in an obvious gesture of solidarity towards her fellow female competitors (& maybe even scouting out some of her future competition).
I spotted another NXT wrestler Sami Zayn in the back row on our side.

Semifinals: Candice LaRae defeated Cheerleader Melissa   

Heart of Shimmer Finals: Nicole Savoy beat Heidi Lovelace and Candice LaRae new champion to be crowned.

In the end Savoy took them all down after a great final battle against LaRae to be crowned the Heart of Shimmer.

Great, awesome & super fun event that I was very pleased I finally got to see in person. Another great perk of living in a Wrestlemania host city.
The entire event can be viewed here at –

Photos – 

Roy Turner

Wrestlemania 32 Week Part 1: IHWE & NWA Parade of Champions

Wrestlemania had finally come to Dallas. The 32nd installment of the annual spectacle, that has become a week-long celebration that includes community outreach events, a Fan Fest, a Hall of Fame induction ceremony & much more.
Orbiting that is the entire wrestling community – having the global wrestling audience literally all in one place, it’s the perfect destination for anyone currently or ever associated with wrestling to book appearances or their own events, creating a packed schedule that hemmorages the host city for fans to gorge on for almost an entire week.

NWA/IHWE Parade of Champions – March 31st – Ridglea Theatre – Fort Worth, TX

Starting things off was a local promotion IHWE – Partnering with the NWA in it’s current incarnation to put on the first (& one of the best) events all weekend long.
Designed as a continuation of a tradition in tribute to (pre-Wrestlemania 32) the largest & most notorious wrestling event in Texas history – the Parade of Champions in 1984 to honor the late David Von Erich who had just passed earlier that year to honor the eldest brother of the Von Erichs, the most famous wrestling family in Texas wrestling history.
This would be my third IHWE event as I found something of a kindred spirit in promoter David Fuller as we share the same grassroots upbringing & passion for 80’s style wrestling & nostalgia. Listeners of our TrickyKid Radio Podcast will tell you that we’ve been hyping/supporting this event for weeks leading up to it.

What got me to my first IHWE event a few years ago was an appearance from the legendary Jim Cornette – One of the most unforgettable characters & outspoken managers ever to do it. Leading the Midnight Express during their classic feud with my favorite tag-team of all time the Rock N Roll Express, perfectly frames my favorite time in pre-Wrestlemania wrestling history & the time of my childhood I’m most nostalgic for.
So I was very excited to learn that Cornette was returning to start the program with a 2-hr No-Holds-Barred Q&A.

Jim Cornette

Fearless in his opinion and notorious for his full disclosure, Cornette wove irresistable tales filled with insider information the older fans crave.
It was laced with too much profanity for my taste as I will always equate Cornette with my 9 yr old self and like to keep it that way haha.
At times it devolved into more complaining and he seemed bitter and came off the rails a bit of “Adults arguing over a “fake” sport” but it was consistently entertaining & at times downright fascninating.

Making it all the more special was that the Q&A was moderated by legendary journalist & wrestling historian Bill Apter, who also conducted some of the backstage promos and was honored himself later in the show as he was (rightfully & deservedly) inducted into the Southern Wrestling Hall of Fame.

Bill Apter (left w/ Bobby Fulton)
& (right w/ Steve Anthony)

Apter’s contributions to Professional Wrestling can’t be overstated and I couldn’t even begin to exagerate the influence Inside Wrestling, The Wrestler & the flagship Pro Wrestling Illustrated had on me as a young person. I used to pour over them memorizing entire issues. Since the local paper didn’t recognize wrestling as a legitimate sport they didn’t report on it and this being pre-internet, the ONLY WAY to follow along was through the magazines. This was during the territory days of the 1980s and if you lived outside the territory it was the only way to know what was happening in other parts of the country. They were essential to the wrestling experience and hunting down new issues and agonizing over them for hours are some of my favorite memories ever as a child.
Apter just released a book Is Wrestling Fixed? – I didn’t know it was Broken detailing his unparalleled career documenting pro wrestling.
I was gifted a copy last month by my mother for my birthday that Bill took great care to personalize for me and wish me a Happy Birthday.
One of the secrets to Apter’s success is he is as kind as he is generous with his time. We hope to soon have Mr. Apter as a guest on TrickyKid Radio – stay tuned.

Ok,so on to the matches – this card was stacked and easily the best produced event this promotion as undertook to date.
Held in the perfect choice of venue the historic Ridglea Theatre where I’ve seen literally dozens of concerts.
It was perfect fit for the action that just had magic in the air from start to finish.

Americos challenging Ashton Jacobs for the IHWE Championship

Battle Royal to determine No. 1 Contender for NWA National Title

NWA Women’s Champion Amber O’Neal defending her title vs. Jessica James (w/ Special Guest referee Veda Scott)

The Woman’s Title event mirrored Wrestlemania as it was one of, if not THE best match of the night. Both competitors put on an amazing bout and added with the star power of Ring of Honor & Shimmer sensation Veda Scott put it totally over the top.

INTERMISSION

One of the things I love most about these local independent shows is that they take an intermission like when I was a kid.
During that time they have a mini-fanfest with tables setup in the back for the performers to sell their merch and for the fans to meet the wrestlers.

Jim Cornette

He may be outspoken and ornery as hell but it would be difficult to find a nicer and more welcoming personality than Cornette especially with the fans.
Gracious with his time and always grateful for the support and the attention.

Current IHWE Ring Announcer Travis Baxter w/ the voice of World Class Championship Wrestling Mark Lowrance (left)
& me fanboying out with Bill Apter blessing my mother’s birthday gift with a personalized note (right)

Women’s Wrestling – 

As I mentioned above, Women’s Wrestling was proudly represented at this event with some great talent. As any reader of this site knows that for the most part Women’s Wrestling thanks to the unbelievable talent uprising of the last 5 years has become my favorite aspect of the sport. If I were to list who I believe are the best wrestlers in the world currently, regardless of gender, more than half would be women.

Veda Scott (left)
& April Hunter (right)

Merica Strong (left)
& Hannah Michelle (right)

Merica Strong made quite the impact and was one of the most talked about performers of the event.
In the very first bout of the evening she turned heads & dropped jaws with a powerful presence casting a tall imposing shadow reminisecnt of Chyna (RIP).

Getting some advice from Ricky Morton (one half of the aforementioned Rock N Roll Express, my all-time fave tag team – left)
& Though she was only accompanying a tag-team to the ring, all eyes were on her (right)
She has all the tools & the perfect look for longevity in this industry, we hope to have her as guest on TrickyKid Radio soon – stay tuned.

The Main Event – NWA World Heavyweight Title Bout

Jax Dane (w/ Black Bart) defends against Charlie Haas (w/ Jim Cornette)

A great match loaded with star power to cap off an already incredible card filled with immense talent that kept that special vibe that it was all coming together.
Jim Cornette returned with NWA Champion Jax Dane to defend his title against former WWE Superstar Charlie Haas.

Dane had wrestling legend Black Bart in his corner that gave the match & show that great traditional feel it was going for.
Even Rick “The Sign Guy” Achberger was in the house (in the front row as per usual).

Only in wrestling could a fan get over as big as the performers. Opposite Achberger was another fan, Masanori Horie, who readers of Mick Foley’s books might remember. I didn’t know who he was till I saw him backstage later and got him & his girl a cab back to their hotel. I saw them come in & get ushered to ringside seats like royalty & I’m thinking this some Japanese wrestling legend only to find out that he’s more infamous than famous.
No disrespect but only in wrestling would that happen and that’s part of it’s charms.

Haas playing a great heel was once one half of “The World’s Greatest Tag Team” under the tutelage of Kurt Angle in the WWE.
He is often taunted that the other half of the team, Shelton Benjamin was much better as an on going gag.
Fed up with these taunts, Haas decides to bail on the match…..

….when as he is now being forced to walk back through the curtain (backwards) we see that’s it’s unthinkably Shelton Benjamin that’s forcing him back to the ring in that amazing old school 80’s wrestling that gave the fan the notion that literally anything could happen.
It sent shock waves through the entire building who responded with the preferred wrestling exclamation chant – “HOLY SHIT!”
Freaking glorious and just put the event that much over the top.
Congratulations to David Fuller & IHWE along with the NWA for putting on such a great event to start Wrestlemania weekend.

Epilogue:

After the show I went backstage to thank David Fuller and got sidetracked getting a cab for Horrie (see above) you could hear Cornette a mile away going off on one of his notorious rants. I turned the corner to see literally the contents of the entire locker room cramming in to get an earful.
I had no idea what or whom he was going on about but it was such a great moment, thinking like a photographer I wanted to capture it.

Shelton Benjamin (left)
& when Jim Cornette speaks – EVERYONE listens (right)

With my SLR camera’s battery long dead from shooting for over 10 hrs I just simply took out my cell phone that was almost just as dead & snapped off a couple of quick shots, determined not to ruin, compromise of interrupt this great moment. When Benjamin sees my cell phone & as I’m putting it back in my pocket, he begins to demand I delete it. Confused, I stalled to get clarity when he starts yelling at me to delete it.
Again, being naive I had no idea that he thought I was one of those parasites that records celebrity conversations when they find themselves dining next to them or some shit. Ironically, Cornette grabs me and shouts “Nooo, don’t delete it, I want the whole world to know what I just said!”.

I explained to them both that:
A) I didn’t record anything as that would be freaking creepy.
B) I had no idea about literally ANYTHING they were talking about

Shelton was cool after that but it was a tense moment. Good times.

Don’t miss IHWE’s next big event on May 29th in Crowley, TX

Photos –

Roy Turner
Andy Landauno