AS I SEE IT
Bob Magee
Pro Wrestling: Between the Sheets
PWBTS.com
I’ve been to lots of unique locations for independent wrestling shows.
I’ve been to converted K-Marts and saw Chris Candido debut. I’ve been in a converted TV studio and saw American Kickboxer and Tarik The Great putting on a match 10 years ahead of its time.
I’ve been to elementary schools, junior high schools and high schools and watched a generation of stars including Sabu, Terry Funk, Kevin Sullivan, New Jack, Al Snow, Balls Mahoney, Chris Jericho, Lance Storm, Chris Candido, Bob Armstrong, Brian Gerard James (aka B.G. James/The Road Dogg), D’Lo Brown, Tracy Smothers, Devon Storm, Eddie Gilbert, Dirty White Boy, and Jerry Lawler…to name just a few.
I’ve been in National Guard Armories galore, including an IWA/SportsChannel TV taping that went to 1:00 am.
I’ve been in a parking lot with the my chair sinking into asphalt literally melting in the summer heat to watch Ian Rotten work a death match for Dennis Coraluzzo’s NWA.
I’ve been in the backroom of a strip bar and watched Tatanka (he was wrestling, folks, wrestling). I’ve been in an old Fieldhouse and saw Sabu breaking a beer bottle over Cactus Jack head.
I’ve been to countless bars where independent wrestling shows ran, including the earliest days of ECW. So have most of you reading this.
I’ve even been in a certain Bingo Hall you may have heard of.
But now I’m adding another unique place to see a wrestling show: a farmer’s field.
Yup, a farmer’s field.
On Saturday, June 6, Combat Zone Wrestling will presents Tournament of Death VIII (with a scheduled 2:30 pm belltime) in the “Ultraviolent Underground”, 179 Ebenezer Church Road, Townsend, DE.
The location can be found via Google Maps at this link. As you can see, it’s a farm field surrounded by woods.
To reach the “Ultraviolent Underground”, fans have to take Exit 136 off of Delaware Route 1 to Middleton/Odessa Road, which becomes East Main Street, then West Main Street. Take a left onto Delaware Route 15/Route 299/US Route 301 for about a mile then take a left onto Delaware Route 15 (also named Levels Road), continue on Delaware Route 15 (which later becomes Dogtown Road and Blackbird Station Road). After crossing Caldwell Corner Road, continue on for about a 1/2 mile and veer right onto Ebenezer Church Road.
Translation, folks…..this is really out in a rural area. Given the matches CZW will come up with for Tournament of Death, that may be just as well. No neighbors to complain, no police or town fathers to complain to, no one getting a free look at the show…and the wrestlers will be able to do their hardcore tournament in peace.
Comedians on the CZWfans message board have already made cracks about it being a “wrestling Woodstock” and “a vision of Winnebagos, Camper buses and endless columns of people converging into New Castle County for 3 days of peace, love and Ultraviolence”.
Rrrrrright… “Deathstock”.
For those who don’t remember, Woodstock also had unending traffic jams (then again, that kind of sounds like Delaware Route 1, traveling down to CZW Tournament of Death shows in the past, actually) and torrential rains. I could do without those.
On the other hand, somehow the thought of a bloody Drake Younger and Thumbtack Jack singing along arm in arm after the main event to “I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin’-To-Die Rag” seems weirdly appropriate. Dunno about the “Fish” cheer, though.
In any event, here are the first round matchups:
Nick Gage vs. Deranged
Matches with stipulations to be announced:
For tickets, go to this link. Front row/reserved sold out. General Admission tickets are available for $20.
Speaking of CZW, a note from CZW’s Sabine Kernaghan on their efforts to raise funds at the 2009 Walk Now for Autism Research. Sabine works professionally in special education and has worked on behalf of autistic children for some time.
On June 13 (yes, just before Best of The Best) Shawn, Kylie, the rest of Noah’s Ark and I will be walking in South Jersey for Autism. If you can’t make it to the show and wish to donate I will paste the Noah’s Ark team page team website here for online donations.
As always, I need to leave you with some facts about autism:
Until next time…
If you have comments/questions/event announcements/results, if you’d like to add the AS I SEE IT column to your website, or if you’d like to add advertising on PWBTS.com (the flagship website of this column), e-mail me at the address above. Advertising consists of banner ads, available for $400 for one year. These ads would appear on each newspage appearing on the newsboard. Cube ads are also available for $200 for one year, which would be placed on the main newsboard page.