Indy INC: MaskedMania Success In Philly, Female Grappler Scores Big Upset, JCW Title, More
Weeks after MaskedMania's raucous April 27 show at the former ECW Arena in Philadelphia, rave reviews for the promotion's efforts continue to circulate throughout cyberspace and beyond. The event featured a healthy roster of high-fliers and hard hitters such as wrestling legend Sabu, who joined forces with Beastia and Damian to defeat Homicide, BLK JEEZ and Ruckus. Christina von Erie bested Sumie Sakai in a wicked women's bout and in the main event, IWL champion Dr. Wagner Jr. defeated longtime rival LA PARK.
MaskedMania co-promoter Kevin Kleinrock spoke to WrestlingINC.com regarding the success of the Philadelphia event, expressing special appreciation for Philadelphia fans as well as the men and women who performed at the show.
"We have been blown away by the positive reaction to the show," Kleinrock commented. "I mean, we booked the card and anticipated positive reaction, but you have been covering wrestling long enough to know that it is rare for an event to get universally praised. Our goal was to create an event that would bring authentic lucha libre to fans of it and to give an authentic lucha card to traditional pro wrestling fans as well. And honestly, we seemed to have nailed it. Hearing things like "That was my favorite indy show ever!" or "I never really was into lucha but this event made me want to see more" are great things to hear. Hispani fans who came out for LA PARK, Dr. Wagner Jr. and the other lucha stars discovered guys like Latin Dragon, Ultimo Panda, Papadon and the half-dozen Chikara guys on the show and these people loved what they saw, too. Honestly, in 20 years of promoting and producing pro wrestling, this was probably my most universally praised event."
Kleinrock was especially passionate about the show's venue, explaining, "Working in the 2300 Arena?a.k.a the ECW Arena?was tremendous. It was something very special to bring Philadelphia it's very first-ever authentic lucha libre card and then do it in the building that has been the city's most important venue in wrestling history. All of our local marketing was targeted to the Spanish-speaking population of the city and all of our online efforts were focused on the indy wrestling fan base. In the end, it yielded a great crowd that many of the websites and news outlets that covered the event seem to have noticed. There is just so much great history in the building, including the fact that Paul Heyman and Konnan sent Rey Misterio Jr. and Psicosis to "wow" the ECW fan base about 20 years before our event and that match would lead to many traditional pro wrestling fans' eyes being opened to the exciting lucha libre style. While AAA had been selling out the L.A. Sports Arena on the West Coast and turning thousands of fans away, those fans were primarily Hispanic. ECW Arena was responsible for opening more eyes to lucha, which is exactly what we sought out to do again two decades later."
Discussing the importance of the Wagner Jr./LA PARK main event, Kleinrock commented on the star power that both men bring to the squared circle. "We knew we had bring a Mexican megastar main event, and we did! LA PARK is probably the most requested luchador for non-lucha shows in the U.S. and he is one of the best box office draws for lucha as well. Along with PARK, Wagner is one of the five most popular luchadors in Mexico, I would say, and he rarely, rarely comes to the U.S. The feud between the two has gone throughout Mexico?CMLL, AAA, independents?and it's been featured everywhere over the past few years and fans still clamor for it. So it was very cool to be able to bring that match to Philly. The fact that the two have been feuding over the IWL championship in Mexico just added to it and when they wanted to make it a title match, we were more than happy to oblige."
Female titan Melanie Cruise was a long way from her home in the "Windy City" of Chicago as she locked up with Lil Bit at Ultimate Combat Wrestling's May 10 show in Union City, Tennessee. Cruise made an appearance at the UCW show as an entrant in an ongoing tournament to crown a new women's champion but her bout with Lil Bit quickly devolved into a nasty personal feud. Although Cruise held noticeable advantages with respect to experience, size and power, Lil Bit shocked fans with a surprise victory by way of an adapted sunset flip.
Talking with Wrestling INC.com, Lil Bit reflected on her noteworthy upset of a veteran opponent. "Melanie Cruise isn't someone I usually stand face to face with," Lil Bit remarked. "Actually, I had to stand on the ref's back to stand face to face with her. She is indeed a force to be reckoned with, but you know what they say about dynamite in small packages and I'm sure you've heard about David and Goliath. In this business it's step up, or step out, and I for one will never step out. I used not only my strength but my mind and outsmarted her for the '1, 2, 3.' If someone asked me to do it all over again, I'd say 'absolutely!'"
Lil Bit advances in the women's title tournament along with Athena Reese and Hardcore Heather.
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JCW's May 11 "Road to the Gathering" show in Joliet, Illinois saw the end of a three-year tag title reign as The Ring Rydaz (a.k.a. Irish Airborne) lost the JCW tag belts to The Hooligans. The match began as a 3 on 3 tag with both the JCW tag and heavyweight titles up for grabs . JCW heavyweight champ 2 Tuff Tony and The Ring Rydaz squared off against The Hooligans and The Viking in a unique elimination match for both titles. Although Ring Rydaz lost their titles, 2 Tuff Tony defeated The Viking to retain the heavyweight title.
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At the GOUGE show on May 3 in Stern, North Carolina, Jimmy Jack Funk Jr. beat Otto Schwanz by pinfall in the night's main event. The match between Seymour Snott and Gluteus Maximus ended in a double count-out. Possible names for a special guest referee in their next meeting include the likes of Seymour Butts, I.P. Freely and Wilma Fingerdoo.
Mike Bessler is a Contributing Writer for Pro Wrestling Illustrated. Thomas Rude, Derrick O'Dell and Sebastian Oulrey contributed to this article.
Dr. Wagner Jr. photo by Thomas Rude.
Melanie Cruise/Lil Bit photo by Derrick O'Dell for Wrestling News Center.