Bumper edition here, covering both June and July’s activities, such as they were…
June was fairly quiet, with just the one bit of wrestling-based action, and a return to Wrestling.IE, in Northern Ireland. I hadn’t wrestled for the promotion for almost a year and, though it wasn’t a show in the traditional sense, it was nice to be back wrestling in Northern Ireland.
The show was more of an exhibition, with four matches being put on display during a “sports day” in Portadown. Across the town, various clubs and associations were doing displays and demonstrations for their particular sport, and we ended up doing our wrestling exhibition alongside the surface car park of the High Street Mall (after marching in the parade, of course, which was pretty mortifying.) It was me, Shawn Maxer (who I travelled with) and Dunkan Disorderly in a round robin—everyone faces everyone—and then finishing off with a triple threat match.
I opened with Dunkan, and enjoyed the match quite a bit in spite of the shit crowd, who were reserved throughout, and weren’t a wrestling audience. Despite the poor atmosphere, we put on a good match, and I was happy with what we did. It’s quite tough wrestling outdoors, though, I have to say, particularly during the summer. It may sound like a ridiculously obvious statement, but if you’re wrestling indoors and it’s warm, once you’ve finished, you can at least go outside, and get some fresh air, and try to cool down. If you’re outdoors already, though, it becomes just that little more difficult to get your breath back, and wind down. (We didn’t have anywhere to go inside, incidentally. We got changed in the back of the ring van, and stayed there between matches. We also made our entrances from the back of the van, like a low budget ‘A-Team.’)
The humidity notwithstanding, we- at the very least- avoided the rain that day, which was lucky. Having been lashed on whilst doing an outdoor show for Irish Whip in 2007, I can assure you that that’s no fun! Especially when the canvas and mats get absolutely soaked through (as illustrated below), and you have another show later that day..
Steve the promoter was well prepared, though, and had bought a new vinyl canvas just in case it rained. As someone who doesn’t wear elbowpads- but probably should, since my right elbow’s nicely puffed up with fluid!- I much prefer wrestling on a vinyl mat, rather than canvas; less mat burns that way…
Maxer and I went on third, finishing off the singles matches. (There were just three of us, by the way. Three wrestlers, I should say, and the ref Anto Wylie.) I, again, need to stress how bad the crowd was, and could probably, comfortably say (without hyperbole) that they were possibly the worst crowd I’ve ever worked in front of. We did a nice, fast-paced opening spot that was pretty much spot-on, from a technical point of view, and got nothing from the audience. Not a clap, not a golf clap, not even that finger-clicking thing beatniks do at poetry readings. Nothing. Nada. Zip. Bubkis. It was soul-destroying!
Soul-destroying would’ve been far more preferable to neck-destroying, though, which is what I came close to, once the top rope snapped early into the match. I was, thankfully, only running the ropes ¾ speed; if I’d been hitting them at full speed, it would’ve been game over. (A former IWW trainee of mine- currently wrestling in MSW as ‘Big Bad Hynesie’- suffered a rope snap in training a few years ago, and was very lucky to have landed on the judo mats around the ring.) Aside from that, the match went well, and was enjoyable. The finish had to be improvised due to the rope snap, but it had no major adverse effects.
After a short break, Dunkan, Maxer and I returned to finish off the day’s events with a triple threat. Like the matches that preceded it, the action was good, and the work solid, but the crowd just sat there, despite attempts to ‘rouse them from their apathy. The only notable outburst was from some gobshite smart-ass in the crowd, who thought he was clever, pointing out that I “landed on [Maxer’s] shin-pads” when he gave me a fireman’s carry gutbuster manoeuvre. I took a quick moment from selling the move to growl at him to “shut the fuck up”, and Maxer did likewise, though far more vociferously. The guy kept quiet for the remainder, surprisingly. (Usually, something like that would only egg idiots like that on.)
A few weeks later, I had another impromptu show for Wrestling.IE in Enniskillen, making the trip up after work on Friday afternoon/evening with Joe Cabray, Johnny Notaro, and Kazza Glennon; the latter two, trainees with Dublin-based outfit Main Stage Wrestling, and very sound individuals. Despite unsettled weather—and the ridiculousness of encountering two toll booths on the way up—the trip was grand, and we arrived in good time for the show. I faced Niall Rice in a solid singles match. We’d faced off in a tag match at PWU last December, but this was our first singles, and it went well. After the interval, a big 8 person tag took place. It was messy- quite messy- but such is the nature of those types of matches. Loading the ring back up, after the show, in the lashing rain was about as much fun as it sounds, but it abated by the time we got back on the road to Dublin, ourselves. The crowd for the show was fairly lively, despite the relatively low, but respectable, turnout.
The next weekend, I was back for DCW in Dublin, as they had a double-header. My previous show for them in Artane (May) was disappointing. Overbooked, chaotically-organised, and badly-run, it was disastrous, to be completely frank. Three hours after opening bell, Vic Viper and I were only going out to begin our main event match. The crowd were tired, we were tired, and it was rather aggravating to be starting our match at 10:30pm, especially with a fuckload of post-match shenanigans planned as well, dropped on us a few minutes before we were due to go out. It was a frustrating experience. The difference between that show and the weekend of shows in July, though, was like night and day. Both shows—Ballyfermot and Balbriggan—were organised very well backstage, and ran to a much leaner time. Good progress for the place. I was familiar with both venues, having wrestled there with IWW a few years back.
I’d wrestled twice in Ballyfermot before, having a very well-received singles match with El Ligero in 2008, and another very enjoyable entry in my series with Vic Viper there, in 2009. On this Saturday in July- an absolute scorcher, weather-wise- I teamed up with Anthony Idol to face LA Warren and Andy Phoenix. The lads were very easy to plan with and get on with, and it was a fun match; a lot of fun, actually. This was my first match, incidentally, being accompanied by my new second, Barry. (My evil chimp roommate, who I’d introduced in a previous promo.) Seemed to go down fairly well with the audience.
A former Irish Whip trainee, ‘The Kid’ Keith Connolly- who I had a number of very enjoyable matches with in 2008- also worked the show, and it was cool to see him again, with him rockin’ a radical new haircut. I got home at a reasonable hour, and watched some Curb Your Enthusiasm (which I’m loving at the moment; I was a big Seinfeld fan, and love Curb, as well. Superb stuff.)
The tag was fairly gentle on me, bumps-wise, so I was, thankfully, heading into Balbriggan the next day pretty fresh. The Ballymun Bruiser, Irish Dragon and Danny Deans had a brutal three-way the previous evening, though, so were quite banged-up going into the show. That Sunday was another absolute scorcher of a day, reaching highs of 23’C at times; almost unheard-of, for Irish weather! The trip to Balbriggan was short and sweet—only about 30 mins down the M1—and I was glad to return. Balbriggan is one of my favourite venues. I’ve had some really, really enjoyable matches there, with the likes of Pac, Bam Katraz, Red Vinny, Vic Viper, The Hornet, Kid Fite, and Brother Skelly, amongst others; superstitious, perhaps, but some venues just bring a bit of luck with them, and Balbriggan’s been lucky for me.
I worked a singles match with Andy Phoenix, and it was really good. Everything went to plan, additional stuff added in worked nicely, and the crowd were into it. Couldn’t ask for more. I was very happy with it- very happy indeed- and Andy was great to work with. My happiness was amplified when I managed to sell a nice bit of merch during the interval, and make some cash money. (Jeah!) Along with that, I managed to procure myself a 99 (an ice cream cone with a Cadbury’s Flake stuffed into it) after the match, not exactly typifying my 26 years of age! It was a great cone, though, for the warm day that was in it.
Bam Katraz made his return later on the show in a great match with Pierre Marceau. Bam took his time with the return (from a 2-3 year absence), putting in a lot of effort training since the start of this year. He was a frequent training partner for me and Seán South, and it’s a credit to him that he takes enough pride in his work that he spent time going back through everything before getting back in the ring. Definitely commendable. The match was a reflection of that, and he and Pierre had a very entertaining bout.
That was that for July. A very enjoyable weekend, I have to say, and a pair of great matches. I’m back for DCW next month, in a rematch with Andy Phoenix; looking forward to trying to top the last match!
That’s that for the moment. Two minor things before I wrap this up. One for my Formspring page. If you have anything you wanna know (within reason), post your question (anonymously if you wish) here: http://www.formspring.me/BingoBallance. Secondly, please feel free to recommend this page to anyone you know. Not too far away from the ol’ 300 likes yet, so that’s the next milestone! Thanks, guys.
‘Til next time.
Ballance
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