A little background, I grew up in North Texas and had been exposed to wrasslin (its Texas, we call it wrasslin) at a young age but things had really picked up in middle school when I made friends with Chris and Tony. After class on Mondays we would all race over to Chris's house because he had cable and two VCRs so we could watch both RAW and Nitro without having to flip channels. He also had a big couch and a mom that wasn't home all the time.
This meant that we could move the coffee table out of the way, put the cushions on the ground and have our own wrasslin matches before the show started. It wasn't long before we broke one of the couches (Sorry Ms. G) and were told NO MORE WRASSLING IN THE HOUSE!
Things progressed to where we had 2 king size mattresses out in the backyard on a tarp and would wrassle 3 to 5 times a week after school. This continued all through highschool when the local community college was holding a Pro Wrasslin event as a fundraiser.
We were stoked! I reached out to the promoter/political science professor and he said if we helped promote the show we could get in free and help set up ect. During the talk it was mentioned that we were enthusiastic yet UNTRAINED backyard wrasslers, showed him some tape of our matches and said and would be willing to participate in the show even if it was just something small. We really just wanted to get in a real ring and get up close with some REAL wrasslers but much to our suprise he booked us in our own Hardcore match at the next show about 3 weeks away
Pro Wrestling is a secret club, they don't just let anyone in and before the three of us ever set foot in the venue (it was a roller rink in Princeton Tx), we had a target on our backs because the promoter had let ALL the boys know he got some "new kids, they aren't trained but put on a good show" and being untrained is BAD but we didn't know. we were just happy to be at the show.
But we did it our first REAL match "The Epicenter" Chris Richter Vs Tony "Big Don" Bruni, Fugetaboutit (no disrespect, pro mafia here) and Me going by the name FLAME
We planned a few spots out but mostly were going to improvise and just hit each other with assorted objects. A ladder, wet floor signs and plastic lunch trays we had stolen from high highschool. I must state again we had NO TRAINING. We did not know how to run the ropes or take a bump, we had only ever done what we thought were the correct moves to each other on mattresses. Heck, we didn't even have GEAR I was wearing black denim shorts and a cut up orange T-shirt
This is the equivalent of someone who is good at RockBand getting to open at Ozzfest or something
Unbeknownst to us , word had gotten to the back that the 3 greenhorns were doing a HARDCORE MATCH
The match started as planned. We all make our entrances, hauling out trash cans full of plunder getting ready to wallop each other for the entertainment of the 50 (maybe?) folks in folding chairs sitting in this hot roller rink. These fans were told it was going to be EXTREME and we hoped to give them their money's worth. Little did we know just how extreme it was going to be.
If you recall in the movie The Wrestler, there is a gentleman featured in the film who has a ragged beard and staples dollar bills to himself. This man is The Necro Butcher. He has a reputation for being one of the most violent men to ever step inside the squared circle, a quick google will show you his bloody accomplishments. The Necro Butcher was watching us. Three untrained goobers disrespecting his concussionistic artform. This would not stand and The Necro Butcher decided to do something about it.
In the ring things were going as well as could be expected. We got a little crowd reaction when Epicenter clocked me in the head with a blue lunch tray and hit me with a suplex, but as i'm on the mat i hear someone from the crowd say to his buddy "HERE COMES NECRO!" and look to the entrance curtain to NecroButcher with a folding char and his tag partner HELLHAMMER running to the ring
Chris and Tony are trying to do their moves and are not paying attention when Necro hits the ring, but not me. I knew exactly what was about to happen so i cheese'd it out of there only to meet up with Hellhammer on the outside. He had a look that said "i'm not here to help you" as he raised the trashcan over his head and began to chase me around the outside of the ring
So now Chris and Tony are in the ring with Necro and before his presence registers Chris is BLASTED in the face with a heavy elbow shot and down he goes. The Butcher places a wet floor sign on his head and STOMPS it 3 or 4 times then grabs a folding chair and sets his eyes on Tony.
a word about chair shots, there are no fake chairs and there are not safe head shots. You can swing a chair safely and you can take all the precautions in the world but it's still metal against head. We had acquired a few chairs in our backyard wrasslin days and Tony was no stranger to a bonk on the noggin but that's not what this was.
Necro Butcher raised the chair with both hands over his head and drilled Tony with it. This was less sports entertainment and more aggravated assault. Tony made no attempt to block this shot and because of Necro Butcher's force and follow through the backrest portion of the chair lacerated his scalp and torrent of blood issued forth.
All this happened seconds after I met up with Hellhammer and began running, by this time I was on the other side of the ring and made the decision that getting away from Hellhammer and his trashcan was the best course of action. regrettably that decision put me back in the ring with The Necro Butcher. A stiff forearm shiver to the face and he spins me around grabbing both arms behind my back. As Hellhammer enters the ring, closes the distance chair in hand, Necro Butcher says to me in my ear "Take one for the team, brother" and I close my eyes and wait for death. I received a very dinky chairshot from Hellhammer 100's of times softer than the blow that struck Tony
All three of us are now dazed and beaten and terrified. Chris quickly makes a lazy cover on Tony for the pin and it's over. Now the reality of the situation has set in for Tony, he has a 5 to 6 inch long, quarter inch wide GASH in his scalp. Bloodbath is an understatement. The ref calls for a medic as he and Tony exit the ring and run to the back. Tony's white shirt now a crimson shroud
Oh may i also mention Tony's MOM is in attendance for her baby boys first wrasslin match? My dad and little brother along with Chris's mom too!
Downright confused, scared and concerned for my friend i stumble from the ring to go to the back when who should run back out to inflict more carnage? That's right THE NECRO BUTCHER! he tags me with another forearm and once again im down, but this time on the polished roller rink floor and someone in the crowd shouts "POWERBOMB 'EM" as he grabs a fist full of my neon orange hair (that's why i was called Flame) and at this point stop trying to "be a wrassler" and just start begging with this man to stop hurting me and as cool as a murderous cucumber he says only me "Chill out, this won't hurt" and gave me a kind and gentle body slam on the roller rink floor. Necro turned to the crowd once more raised his fist in the air and then grabbed my foot as he walked past and dragged me into the dressing room
I for sure thought that we were going to again get the shit kicked out of us by all the "real" wrasslers in the back and that my wrasslin career was over before it started but they were not really concerned with us after what just happened. as im sitting there in the back trying to peice my world back together some one gives me a lil tap on the shoulder, its Necro again but this time hes got a big goofy grin on his face and he says to me "I bet you wont do a hardcore match again huh?" and just LAUGHS
Tony was ok, he got 12 staples but decided maybe wrestling wasn't for him and became a referee
Me and Chris stuck it out, got trained and I continued to wrassle for 3 more years till I was forced out by injury. Chris has continued to wrestle on and off since then all over Texas
This wasn't my last show with The Necro Butcher but it was the ONLY time i was ever in the ring with him.
Thanks for reading!
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