FTW show in town Saturday

In the first live wrestling show here since the Jake’s Auction days, the guys and girls from FTW are fired up about doing a show here given the hot crowds McMinnville is famous for. I’ve seen this group on several occasions up in Cookeville and let me tell you they put on a show you don’t want to miss, a show my son and I generally drive an hour once a month to see even at these gas prices. Now it’s in our backyard, and at $8 a ticket, you can’t hardly beat it for your entertainment dollar.

For those who are wrestling fans but haven’t seen a small town show, it’s a totally different animal. First off, there’s an interaction with the audience and the wrestlers as there’s constant chatter going back and forth between the fans and wrestlers.

The bumps these guys take are harder than what you generally see on WWE and TNA as the FTW bases their ring style on the strong Japanese style, which means the wrestlers generally wake up black and blue the following morning. As their promoter says, ‘we beat the (fool) out of each other in the ring and apologize for going to far later.’ This is the same guy who still bears the scar on his forehead from the railroad spike his partner used on him two weeks ago. I guess that’s former partner now.

For those of you who plan to go, here’s a rundown of some of the performers you are likely to see.

First off you have Extinction Level Event (ELE) which is made of Mike (the Destroyer) Promo and Lord Frost (a local resident) managed by Mr. Evil himself, Sabbath. The chant ‘Promo’s going to kill you’ basically tells you the philosophy ELE takes in the ring as you will cringe at their hard hitting style. That’s not to mention the 450 pound Lord Frost’s walking the top rope given the fact there’s no padding outside the ring. And, if the fire marshal permits, you will even see this behemoth breathing fire as he comes to the ring.

Their victims, I mean, their opponents will be Cult of Personality, that being the Next Level Ryan Jefferies and Billy Merciless along with their big-mouthed manager Ace. These guys are so into themselves that they make me look like I have self confidence problems. All I have to say to them is get out of the way if you see the near half ton Frosty coming at you.

As for tag team action, we have the newly crowned FTW tag champs of Standard Wrestling Guy and A.C. Frost, always fan favorites for reasons that will be obvious, defending their tag team titles for the first time since winning them in a multi-team tourney two weeks ago. They will defend against a team all you Jake’s Auction fans will remember, Bad Company Incorporated (BCI), a team which leaves no fan at ringside un-insulted. A while back while in Crossville BCI handed out ‘treat’ bags to some lucky fans, saying they contained items they had never seen before. When they opened them the fans found toothpaste and soap. Ouch.

You also have your FTW Champion, Rock Dogg, who used to be a member of BCI. This hard hitting ring veteran will be defending against Ronin, a guy who I can best describe as reminding me of Rey Mysterio. This guy can fly, the risks he takes flying out of the ring and off the top rope enough to keep you on the edge of your seats.

Then you have Mary Kelly. This is a girl who wrestles men. No divas, no knockouts, she swaps licks with the guys for fun on Saturday nights. If you dare guys, bring your girlfriends but don’t be surprised if they start going upside your head after the show.

We also have another local wrestler, Adam Strange with his strange looking manager Torture King (right out of Kiss circa 1977) going up against Noah Richards in a grudge match to settle the score for the beating Noah took after his match at the tag tourney at the hands of Strange two weeks ago.

This is just part of the roster as there will be several more performing. Bell time is 6 p.m. and there are special rates for kids 6-12 plus 5 and under is free. Come out and support this group and encourage them to do more shows here in the future. And for goodness sake, be loud.