VPW Full Throttle #1 Report
By: Alan Wojcik
When local celebrity Fat Vinnie D announced the formation of Vintage Pro Wrestling, I was excited. As a lifelong wrestling fan with over 20 years in the business as a freelance wrestling journalist, I was intrigued by Vinnie and Nick Major's mission to bring tradition back to the Tampa area, an area steeped in wrestling tradition.
Living in New Port Richey, which is 30 minutes outside of Tampa, I had never heard of Stroker's Billiards and when I showed up, I understood why. Hidden in the corner of a sparsely filled shopping center in a seedy part of Tampa, I made sure to lock my doors to my car. Being a father of two young girls who are also wrestling fans, I have my reservations about bringing them to this dump.
As I was walking into the "venue" I was greeted by
Ryan Holland, who was there to be the Head Referee. Holland has a ton of experience, so it does appear that VPW is shelling out some money to at least make this seem legit.
After some portly woman, who smelled faintly of cabbage took my 5$, I walked into Stroker's where I was hit with the stench of cigarettes and stale beer. I noticed that
Mac Smith and
Jim Lou Freebush were setting up an antiquated announce booth, another good sign that VPW is trying to be seen as a legit promotion.
There were roughly 20 people that actually were there to watch the show, the rest of Stroker's patrons seemed perplexed and slightly annoyed that a wrestling show was taking place.
A twenty-something looking kid was walking around with a handheld camera. I guess he is there camera guy. I did notice that he kept going to the bathroom before the show, and in between matches, coming out rubbing his nose.
The show started promptly at 8, with what VPW called a "Fan Appreciation Match"
Fan Appreciation Match: The Hot Taggs (Kalder and Wolfie) vs Charlie Corner and Hammer Hadley
The Hot Taggs are a brother tandem from Montana consisting of Wolie, 21 and Kalder, 19. The opposition are the 6'6 18 year old Charlie Corner, who trained at the WWA in California and the 21 year old hard hitting Hammer Hadley from Tampa. In a fairly exciting match that last just under 10 minutes, the brother tandem picked up the win after they connected with a High-Low on Charlie Corner.
The show started with VPW Commissioner Fat Vinnie D welcoming us to the show and explaining that tonight we will be seeing the first round tournament matches that will eventually crown the first ever VPW Heavyweight Champion. This brought out Buzz Reid and Herb Staley. Herb said that Fat Vinnie D should just hand the belt over to Buzz Reid because it's a foregone conclusion that Reid will be VPW Champion. Staley then ran down the fans in attendance calling them all drunken hicks. This set up....
First Round Match: Happy Elwood vs Buzz Reid w/ Herb Staley
Elwood did a marvelous job getting the few children in attendance to start chanting. Five minutes into the match, Herb Staley jumped on the ring apron as Happy was about to connect with the Go Luck Yourself, distracting the happy one. Elwood decked Staley, who fell hard to the floor of Stroker's. However, Elwood turned into a Terminator Slam and Buzz Reid was declared the victor.
The next match was the Bar Room Brawl, which featured Stroker's favorite redneck, Cockroach Carter. The regular barfly's at Stroker's seemed really into the Confederate Flag wearing Carter, which doesn't surprise me, given the area that the matches took place.
Bar Room Brawl: "The Red Neck Rebel" Cockroach Carter vs Pepper Pelton vs Bret Kyle
Pepper Pelton took control of the match early, letting his natural athleticism dominate. After a series of football tackles to both Carter and Kyle, Pepper slid out of the ring and begin arguing with some bikers because Pepper grabbed a pool stick out of one of their hands. This allowed Bret Kyle to hit a Suicide Dive onto Pelton. Cockroach Carter threatened to attempt a Suicide Dive of his own, but slid out of the ring at the last second and slammed Kyle through a table. After a few minutes of action that you would expect from a Bar Room Brawl, the ending came when Pepper Pelton connected with a Death Valley Driver to Bret Kyle, but when he stood up, he turned into Cockroach Carter slamming a bottle of Jack Daniels onto Pepper's head, shattering the bottle. After the match was over, Cockroach Carter invited one of the local bikers into the ring and they both began to slurp some of the blood and broken glass infused whiskey off the mat.
Sky High (Drop Kix and G-Force) w/ Black Diamond vs Death Row (Shady K and Knuckles) w/ Cat Jenson
In a wild 10 minute match, both teams captured the fans attention with a series of tag team maneuvers. Death Row showed their collective experience in the match by leading the two relative newcomers to a action packed match. The fans really got behind Sky High and their manager Black Diamond, who found herself brawling with Cat Jenson on the outside of the ring. The ending came when Drop Kix climbed to the top turnbuckle to attempt a Missile Drop Kick, but Knuckles pushed the ref into the ropes, causing Kix to crotch himself on the turnbuckle, allowing Death Row to connect with a Death Sentence onto Kix
After the match Death Row began to beatdown Sky High, but The Hot Taggs ran out from the back for the save. Death Row began mocking The Taggs as they made their way to the back.
First Round Match: "Old School" Buck Graham vs Justice Jolson
After a high paced match, VPW slowed the night night with the old school veteran Buck Graham and the bodybuilder Justice Jolson. Graham gained the early advantage, working over Justice's leg, but after Buck missed a splash attempt into the turnbuckle, Jolson took over with a series of rest holds, as the crowd grew restless. Justice finally ended the match with a victory after hitting his Death Row Powerslam, advancing in the tournament.
First Round Match: "The Native American" Ace Youngblood vs Mercy Michaels
In the match of the night, Youngblood and Michaels delivered a hard hitting, high impact match that got even the most jaded in attendance to react to the action. After a series of reversals and near falls, the ending came around the 15 minute mark. After connecting with a Yakuza Kick, Mercy attempted a Senton Bomb from the top rope. However, Youngblood moved out of the way and connected with a Flying Tomahawk Chop for the win.
After the match, Herb Staley walked out from the back to run down Youngblood. This allowed Buzz Reid to attack Youngblood from behind, and connect with a Terminator Slam on Youngblood. Security ran Buzz Reid and Staley off, as Fat Vinnie D checked on the fallen Ace Youngblood.
Main Event: First Round Match: Air Attack Weasel vs Quentin Queen
In a match that disappointed this writer, both men tried to delivery but something just didn't click. The match lasted roughly 10 minutes, and ended in typical old school fashion. After Ryan Holland got accidently struck with an errant Weasel kick, Quentin Queen nailed Weasel with brass knuckles as Air Attack was checking on the fallen ref. Queen covered Weasel, but Weasel managed to kick out at the last second. This caused Queen to lay into Holland, and when he turned back to Weasel, he was nailed with a superkick, and then Weasel connected with a Pop Goes The Weasel for the win
QUICK RESULTS:
The Hot Taggs d Charlie Corner and Hammer Hadley
Buzz Reid d Happy Elwood
Cockroach Carter d Pepper Pelton and Bret Kyle
Death Row d Sky High
Justice Jolson d Buck Graham
Ace Youngblood d Mercy Michaels
Air Attack Weasel d Quentin Queen
Final Thoughts:
For a debut show, VPW did deliver what was expected with a solid blend of familiar names and some good looking prospects. I am not a fan of the venue, as Stroker's Billiards is a little rough around the edges, but it serves its purpose for a "Bar Show". I think VPW needs to do more to promote their product, as it looked like on 20 people were there to see the show, and half of those were friends and family of the performers. Speaking of promoting, the camera guy, whose name I later found out was Hank, was filming interviews and vignettes with various workers and Jim Lou Freebush for a Youtube Show called After Shock, so that should be interesting. Overall, I was entertained for the 5 dollar price point, and will be coming back next Friday to see the next show,
10-18-2020, 01:55 PM
