For those of you about to rock...

Another week in the books. Let's break it down, shall we?

Saturday, January 14th - I get off work around 4 in the morning (I work overnights for those of you who didn't know) and head home to try and get some sleep before the Minnesota van leaves for Des Moines, Iowa. That was merely a pipedream as my sleeping schedule didn't set me as being tired until around 7 and I had to be up around 9:30 in order to be ready to go at the proper time. So, needless to say I didn't get much sleep and would spend most of the day dragging ass. Anyhoo, the Minnesota Clan of Wayne "The Photoguy" McCarty, "The Anarchist" Arik Cannon, AnnThraxx, Benjamin Sailor, Nate Bash, Darin Corbin and myself all head down for 3XW wrestling. Good times had on the ride down. On to the show...

I'm set to be in a six-man tag with my partners being Take-O and Vin Cross and we're set to take on Benjamin Sailor, Nate Bash and Crow. Good match, I was very pleased with it and had a lot of fun doing it. The crowd was so receptive to everything, but they were all pretty goofy looking. Must be something they put in the water in Iowa or something. I didn't like them much and in return, they didn't like me very much either. Unfortunately, my team came up on the short end of the stick when Crow pinned Take-O after hitting him with a frogsplash. Then in a tremendous display of unsportsmanlike conduct, Sailr, Bash and Crow all proceed to deliver a chop to my precious chest nearly ripping my nipples off and not to mention Sailor spitting on me when I'm laying on the floor. Where was the rest of my "team" to help me out? Some team...

After the show we all head to Bennigan's for food and drinks of choice. Interesting events occurred, none of which I care to share because I'm still at a loss of words. After goodbyes were said it was back to Minnesota. Long drive, too damn long.

Sunday, January 15th - My Neo Pro debut as Darin and I challenge The Suntan Superheroes, Cody and Cory, the brothers O'Neill. Lots of chops, forearms and moves that'll make me ache a lot in the morning. In the end though, Darin and I failed to gain the tag titles as Cody hit me with the Spanish Fly and covered me. I don't like the Neo Pro fans much either...probably because they live so close to Iowa.

Anyways, that's all for me this time. NIW next weekend in Forest Lake so if you're in the area next Sunday night around 6, come check it out! It's gonna be good times for sure!

Can't think of a quote at the moment so I'll try to hit you up with a double dose next time around.

Pay no attention to the title of this entry because it doesn't make any sense, and neither do I for that matter but that's neither here nor there. On with the update...

Sunday, January 8th - First show of 2006 baby! NIW returns to Amery, Wisconsin. Damn was this a fun show. It was so crazy how hot the fans stayed all through out this show, but particularly for my match (cause that's the one I care the most about...duh!) so many props to them. It gave me such an odd feeling because this show had the same feeling to me as the many MPW saturday shows, first time a show has felt like that to me since MPW closed it's doors.

*FLASHBACK* Last time we were here though, Darin and I had a bit of miscommunication as I inadvertantly hit him with my Arachnid Kick right to his mush. It took some time but I finally got it through to Darin that it was a complete accident and everything was all well and good.

As for the match, Darin and I were set to defend our tag titles against Trent Jones (who?) and Dano Tep. What a match! Every person in this match brought their "A" game on this night and I was so impressed with Trent and Dano. Early in the match I hit my Superman Dive onto Trent and Dano and man was that fun. The crowd went nuts for it as they chanted "Holy Shit! Holy Shit! Holy Shit!" Always a good feeling to hear that for something you do. Towards the end of the match though, Darin and I hit Dano with one of our various tag maneuvers and I made the cover on Dano with the thought that we had he and Trent beat. Out of nowhere though Darin falls right on me breaking up the pin. I got up to see what the hell was going on but Darin kept saying it was an accident. By this time Trent snuck up from behind me and hit me with a Full Nelson Bomb. Darin broke up the pin attempt following with "Shin City" but his pin attempt was broke up by Dano. Dano had Darin for what I was assuming was going to be his pattented piledriver and I knew I couldn't let that happen because Darin's and my tag titles were hanging in the balance. Darin fought it like a champ so I took advantage of the opening and nailed Dano with the Arachnid Kick and Darin rolled him up with the pin. Tag titles successfully defended.

Now I didn't see what happened nor have I had a chance to review the tape but Darin, Referee Rob Page and the crowd all said that Darin falling on me was an accident. I shook it off and trusted Darin because let's face it, he and I are in this together and if we're not on the same page then the tag titles that we hold so dear are going to be lost at the drop of a hat.

After the show it was shinanigans at the Forest Lake Perkins where I kept talking to our waitress like we were on MTV's "Next." Funny shit I tell ya. Anyhoo, January is looking to be a busy month for me as far as wrestling goes but I'll keep you all informed as it unfolds. Lata!

(Me) "I'll have a piece of apple pie a la mode please."
(Waitress) "Do you want that heated up?"
(Me) "Yes please, just the pie though. Not the 'a la mode' part or I'm afraid I'll have to next you."

Well kids, another year has come and gone. I can't believe how fast 2005 flew by, what a ride though huh? Probably one of the worst and best years in recent memory. I'll try and relive it for you the best that I can but I do get hit in the head a lot and my memory isn't all that great to begin with. I thought about doing a month by month breakdown, but I think I'm just gonna follow what others are doin' and simply give high and low points of the year cause I have the tendency to get a little wordy... ;-)

The Highs
- being named MPW co-rookie of the year with Darin Corbin
- 3 team cage match victory
- Chikara guys coming to Minnesota and getting to wrestle Chris Hero, Claudio Castagnoli and "Lightning" Mike Quackenbush
- Mall of America madness with the Chikara crew
- 3 east coast trips out to Chikara; wrestling in the tag world gran prix and wrestling in the ECW Arena
- IWA-MS debut
- IWA No-Limits (formerly NWA No-Limits) debut
- Many, many roadtrips
- winning the NIW tag titles
- Tag Team TLC match with New Generation
- Wednesdays with Kaos
- Poker nights
- DDR and Old Spaghetti Factory with Ang
- Outdoor shows, even Duk Duk Daze in the unbearable humidity....kick-stunner bitches!
- Final MPW show; the best and worst show I've been a part of
- new tattoo
- Finding a new home after MPW's closing at NIW and all the great people I've met there
- Nights at Denny's in Rogers after a night of training at MPW
- Amery Shows
- wearing the Anarchist's killer snakeskin pleather pants
- various parties
- moving to my new apartment
- sirius satellite radio
- Kid Krazy's diarhea mouth
- Robbie Robert THE Rob Page...'nuff said
- Having fans know when my birthday is and buying presents for me, kinda creepy but also really cool at the same time
- Getting an IPod Nano
- My performance speech class at school, best class I've ever had
- Disturbed Concerts and getting to meet the whole band
- The rest of the shinanigans that go on with us wrestler folk...

The Lows
- Pretty much the only one was the closing of MPW. It's been just over six months and I can't believe how much I still miss it. I know I've gone over this before but MPW was my home away from home and nothing will ever replace that. I was one of the guys that took the closing the hardest, well showed it anyways. I couldn't handle it. But there's always the good with the bad because I've become really good friends with a lot of the MPW guys since the closing. It all brought us so much closer together.


I know I've forgotten a ton of stuff and to all those that those memories are with, I truly am sorry but this year is just such a blur to me right now...I best take better notes as this year goes on! Anyhoo, if you have anything that I should've remembered, remind me or just bitch me out...you're call. ;-)

Yeah that's right!! The long awaited update that has been two months in the making is finally here!! So both of you sit down be get be prepared to be almost enterained...

I don't really remember what's been going on since I last updated...pretty much the ususal of school, work and wrestling I guess. This past week was fantastic as far as wrestling goes. It was my third trip put east to wrestle with the Chikara clan and lemme tell ya, it was such a blast. I wish I was still there. This was the biggest Minnesota crew that I've been a part of that made the 20 hour trek out to Pennsylvania. Our group consisted of "The Anarchist" Arik Cannon, Darin Corbin, The Prophet, The Punsher, Casanova and myself...talk about trouble huh? We'll just say that this group had "adventure" written all over it and we certainly did not disappoint.

Wednesday, November 17th: We all piled in the van de Corbin and left around 1 or so in the a.m. We drive all night and all day thursday which works like this...drive....drive...and more drive...get it? All I can say is thank God for Red Bull, it's simply magic. The drive was going well and all until we hit the Inidana area where we got stuck in bumper to bumper traffic for nearly 3 hours. It sucked hardcore, but what can you do ya know? Anyhoo, the drive continued and we arrived at Casa De Hero around 1 a.m. friday morning and we settled in for some much needed rest.

Friday, November 19th: Chikara in Reading, PA. Even though Chikara has run in this building the previous times I was there, I wasn't on the card the particular nights they were in this building, but tonight I was and I was really excited about that. I was in an eight man tag teaming with Angel De Fuego, Equinox and Darin Corbin and our opponets were Rorschach, Crossbones, Hallowicked and Ultramantis Black. The match was filled with all kinds of racka-maroo including a couple of fly swatters...only in Chikara I tell ya. It never ceases to amaze me how much I love being out there every time I get the opportunity to be there. It's just awesome. Back to the match which saw my team claiming victory after Darin and I hit our super electric chair drop known as "Cruz Control" on Ultramantis for the pinfall victory! Yay us!

After the show it was to Dempsey's for after-show racka-maroo. On a side note, I was unaware that Sumi Sakai was going to be at Chikara as well and I just say that she is super awesome. From going head to head in a coffee creamer and sugar packet war with Hero at the dinner table to her getting a whole bunch of the boys at the circle game, she's got my vote in the awesome category. After din din it was back to Hero's for tape watching and sleep.

Saturday, November 20th: PENN STATE!!! Talk about being excited out of my mind! I've been looking forward to this show for such a long time and it was awesome. On the way to the show I had the distinct pleasure of riding with "Lightning" Mike Quackenbush for the 2 hour trip to the Penn State campus and all I can say is that this is one of the rare times that I wish it took longer to get there because listening to Quack tell stories and share information about wrestling is something I could listen to all day. Fun times I tell ya. So we get to campus and I want to transfer schools! Penn State is awesome!! The town is basically the campus and they even have a pro-wrestling club on campus which is actually the reason that we were there...so how about that? I had a little bit of a chance to walk around campus to check some things out and it really is an awesome campus. Anyhoo, on with the show. On this night it was Darin and I against the team of Rorschach and Crossbones. The match was back and forth with both teams trying to get a handle on guys that they weren't really familiar with. Things were looking pretty grim for Darin and I as Crossbones and Rorschach were having their way with me while keeping Darin out of the ring. Luckily though I was able to make the tag to Darin and he came in like a ball of fire. Things got back to a back and forth mode with each wrestler hitting some pretty big moves until Darin hit Crossbones with "Shin City" and then we followed it up with "Cruz Control" and victory was ours. Two matches, two wins...I like it when it goes down like that. As Darin and I are celebrating our win, Mr. Chikarason comes out and invites Darin and I to compete in the 2006 Tag World Grand Prix and what else could we do but accept?!? Of course we'll accept the chance to once again compete in the biggest tag tournament out there!

After the show I was going to the van with all the Minnesota crew when I decided to try something that Quack had mentioned on the car ride to campus. He talked about how at the Penn State football games the crowd on opposite ends of the stadium will do a call and response thing in which one side yells "We are" and the other side yes "Penn State." Quack also mentioned that if you yell the first part anywhere near Penn State students that you should get a response. So I decided to try it while we were on the second level of a parking ramp. I lean over the edge and I yell "WE ARE" and people below yell back "PENN STATE!" and I yell "WE ARE" and they yell back "PENN STATE!". Talk about a look of astonishment on the faces of the rest of the MN crew. They had looks on their faces like I had just parted the red sea or something...it was so funny. So anyhoo, after my magic-working it was time for food and where else is there to go besides to HOOTERS!!! Damn they have hot...wings there! ;) All I can say is that the shinanigans at Hooters were TREMENDOUS! If you want the full story you'll have to ask me in person because it'd just take too long to type it out and as you can see, this is already a fairly long entry. It was so much fun and I wish it didn't have to end but the road was calling so it was back to Minnesota after a short, but very very fun visit. The all too soon goodbyes were said and we packed up the van and made our way back to Minnesota.

Talk about some fast driving...we made it back to Minnesota in 16 hours! I don't know how we did it but we were back in Minnesota by 3pm on Sunday and we were all under the impression that it was going to be more like 8 or 9. But we made some calls and were able to get ourselves are the card for the NIW show in Forest Lake, MN (everyone accept for Casanova who had to make it home). The remaining five of us were put into an impact carnival match along with Bret O'Brien with the winner getting the number one contendership honor for the NIW championship. Unfortunately my winning streak did not continue as The Prophet walked away the victor after hitting "The Message" on The Punisher. So hats off to him. After the show it was back home for much needed rest.

Hola peeps! It's been awhile since I've put anything down on this thing. It's been a busy past week so forgive me please. I'll try to remember as best as I can but knowing me, I'll mess it all up. Here we go...

Saturday, August 27th - This is the start of a kick ass four days. It's the day before my birthday and how do I treat myself the day before my birthday??? By treating myself to a Disturbed concert of course!! I cannot begin to put into words how much this concert ruled. I was there fairly early and was one of the first people in line. I met a few cool people that I chatted with until doors opened. I quickly got through security and made my way to the front fence right in center stage!! It was so rad, concerts just aren't fun for me unless I'm in the very front. Opening for Disturbed was 10 Years and Ill Nino. I'd only heard 10 Years first single "Wasteland" a couple of times but they are really good. They made me a fan for sure. After them was Ill Nino. I their first album but it doesn't even show how awesome they are. They are a band that MUST be seen live. Their energy and intensity were phenomenal. Then came Disturbed...these guys are my absolute heroes. Their music just speaks to me and I can't get enough of it. I was dead center for their entire set which was so awesome. I sang along...err...yelled along with every song (let's face it folks, I can't sing worth a lick), even their new stuff that just came out. The first of two awesome parts of Disturbed's set was when their bassist John Moyer was playing right in front of where I was just as "Believe" ended and he my way and tossed out his pick and yep, yer damn right! I caught it! And if that wasn't enough, as Disturbed was playing their new single titled "Stricken", I was screaming the words and was the only one around doing so. David was belting out the last verse when he looked my way and saw that I was going with him word for word. He pointed at me with a suprised look on his face that could only have meant that he was suprised to see some who knew the words already. Yep, that's me...a friggin' mark for Disturbed. Now I understand the whole pointing deal may not mean much to some but it was such a cool moment. Anyhoo, after the concert it was to the merchandise table for a shirt and then home to shower and to get some sleep.

Sunday, August 28th - My 21st birthday!!! But don't worry kids, none of that drunky power hour business with me. Straightedge rules still apply here! Not too much to this day but then again anything would've paled in comparison to the day before. Drove to down to the cities to see the rellies and collect the presents. I got some really cool stuff like Target gift cards, Old Navy gift cards and a Pizazz Pizza Oven. Also, Molly got me a present I didn't even expect but it was super cool and I'm really excited about it. She got me a scrap book and a whole bunch of material for it to use for all of my wrestling pictures that I have that are just sitting around collecting dust. It was early to bed because tomorrow would be the state fair!

Monday, August 29th - To the state fair I go! This is my 21st straight year attending the fair, and I'm 21 years old....what a coincidence that is. All kinds of food is eaten, stuff is bought and much walking is done. You see, my family and I do the state fair right. We get there around 10am every year and we don't leave until 11'ish at night. Yeah, we do it right. I have a bunch of things I must hit every year too. I gotta walk through the grandstand cause there's usually some pretty cool stuff in their. I got a bracelet that Molly bought me from one of the vendors and I treated myself to a Batman Begins 2006 calendar. That movie was way cool and I dig Batman anyway so why not? Molly and I also got our annual caracature done by Jason Anhorn. This guy is way cool and does ours every year. Look for him at next year's fair if you want you caracature done right! Also, I hit up Sweet Martha's Cookies and made my way over the the milk vendor cause chocolate chip cookies just aren't right without some ice cold milk to dip them in. Played some games, and poorly I may add. I dunno why I play them every year cause they always frustrate me. Damn them carnies. I see some familiar faces there too like Vinny Devine of NIW fame then later on I see Ang and Kamikazee Klecker also of NIW fame. After all could be taken of the fair, back to the pillow and bed for much needed rest.

Tuesday, August 30th - The family went back home but I stayed on cause I had me a bit of an appointment to get myself a new tattoo. Ang offered to come along and keep me company which was way cool cause her and I haven't had much of a chance to hang out like we did durning last school year. I got my tat done at The Ink Tailor by a guy named Adam Chiodo. You can check out his stuff at www.inktailor.com. Adam is super cool and does really fantastic work. He's a stand up guy and really treats his work as if he were putting it on his own body. I've had one previous tattoo done before by a different guy and he pales in comparison to how awesome Adam is. I'm very pleased with it and he has my business for whenever I decide to get my next ink done. After the tat was on Ang was so kind as to treat me to The Old Spaghetti Factory as a birthday gift. It was way cool of her for sure cause I love me some spaghetti. I swear though, they staff must've thought we were high off of our asses cause for one we got there before the place was even open and second, we were laughing so much during the meal, and pretty loud too. But it was definitely a great time. After din din it was to First Ave to was some MPW Wrestling. Yep, that's right...MPW. Moving on...the show was good, good times were had and after the show it was back home.

Saturday, September 3 - NIW show and on this night it would be Darin and I defending for the first time, our NIW tag team titles. Against who you say? None other than the previous champions, The INvasion. The crooked Boss though tried to swing things in their favor when he declared himself the referee for the match and told assigned ref Rob Page to take a hike. So now it's basically a handicap match for us. Things were looking pretty grim for awhile too as The INvasion was really givin' it to Darin. Darin though, be the scrappy cat that he is, made and opening for himself and got to me and made the tag. I came in and cleared house. As Darin and I got Bobby out of the ring I started to run my mouth and forgot about Al B.C. He attacked us both from behind and hit Darin with the bareback. I came after him and he hit me with a diamond cutter. Luckily though he couldn't make a cover right away so when he got to me to actually make the cover I was able to kick out before Boss counted to three. As I got up, I turned around to see that the Boss was going to hit me with one of the tag belts but I told him that be should stop and turn around to find Referee Rob Page standing there. Rob ripped the belt out of Boss's hands and clocked him with it busting him wide open. I then saw my opportunity and hit Al with Boom Shaka Laka and got the pinfall to retain the tag titles. Much love goes out to Rob Page for the help and best of luck to ya on the 1st in your match with The Boss. After the show it was to Bees for food and fun. Then back to the homestead for rest.

Present - I'm fully moved into my new apartment and getting set for school. Not too excited for the school but I'm glad to be back in town and a part of civilization again. The apartment is sure roomier than a dorm, that's for sure. If you're in the area, stop on by! Until next time, lata!!

Quote of the Week
"You are such a gunt!" - Ang at The Old Spaghetti Factory

Da Boss tagged me so I gotta do it...


List seven songs you are into right now. No matter the genre, whether they
have words or even if they're any good but they must be songs you're really
enjoying right now. Post these instructions, the artist and the song in your
LiveJournal along with your seven songs. Then tag seven other people to see
what they're listening to (if you don't know how to make these fancy fuckin' tags/are too lazy to do it, just name off people you want to do it).

1. Disturbed "Stricken"
2. Disturbed "Ten Thousand Fists"
3. Disturbed "Guarded"
4. Genesis "Land of Confusion
5. Default "Count On Me"
6. Breaking Benjamin "Polyamorous (Acoustic)"
7. A.F.I. Days of the Phoenix

I tag: Ang, Cannon, Pun, Gator, Page, Sarah and Colleen

Friday, August 19th - AnnThraxx, Benjamin Sailer, Rain, "The Anarchist" Arik Cannon, Darin Corbin and I all pile into Van de Corbin for the trek to Indiana for some IWA Midsouth action. We head out around 3:30 in the a.m. and arrive at Trik Davis' place in Chicago around 10:30 a.m. and grab a few winks. We head for Midlothian, Indiana around 4'ish, get to the building around 6, say our hellos and get ready for the show. On this night I wrestle Darin Corbin which is pretty cool cause we've wrestled many times before so it makes for a fun match for me. In the end of this one it was I who came out with the "W" after hitting Darin with the Boom-Shaka-Laka. It was a pretty cool sight because a good portion of the crowd stood up after the match and applauded our effort. It was really cool to see and I would most definitely put this up as one of my better matches that I've had. After the show it was to IHOP for some dinner. This was my first time at an IHOP and it was pretty good. We then made our way back to the hotel for showers and sleep.

Saturday, August 20th - We got a late check out so that ruled. We left the hotel shortly after 1 p.m. and made our way to Lafayette, Indiana for night 2 of IWA Midsouth's double shot weekend. Again I was paired up against Darin Corbin on this night so I was pretty confident going into this match after scoring the win over him on the previous night. It was a pretty good match-up that once again saw me coming up with victory. He hit me with "Shin City" and went for a pinfall right away. The referree saw though, that Darin had his feet on the ropes for leverage and called for a break. Darin though thought he won and began to argue with the ref, I crawled behind Darin and rolled him up for an out of nowhere pinfall. So I'm 2 and 0 at this point on the weekend so things are going good. After the show we head to another IHOP, have some dinner, say our goodbyes and make our way home.

Sunday, August 21st - We get home around 11:30 a.m. so we pretty much head straight to the 10:29 bar for Buddha's annual outdoor show. The funny thing about this show was that I was teamed up with Darin Corbin, the very guy that I had wrestled the two previous nights. We're set to face "Genuine Article" Chris Jordan and "Playboy" Pete Huge, a.k.a. The Junk Squad. It was a pretty intense match that saw both teams getting chances for victory. But it was the Junk Squad who came up with the win after Huge low blowed Darin and hit him with "The G-Spot" or "X-Factor" for the victory. After the show it was back home for much needed rest.

Muchas gracias to Kim for the early birthday presents. They're awesome and greatly appreciated. I don't have any wrestling this upcoming weekend as I'll be attending a Disturbed concert on Saturday, my birthday is on Sunday, Monday I'm going to the State Fair, and Tuesday I'm getting a new tattoo. The next show I'm going to be on will be NIW's September 3rd show at the Cottage Grove Armory so if you're in the area, come check it out. Not only will I be there ;) but so will IWA Midsouth Heavyweight Champion Jimmy Jacobs so you know it'll be a good show.

Another weekend of wrestling antics and here's the inside scoop on it.

Saturday, August 13th - Darin, Lindsey, Molly and I head out to "Cowboy" Gator MaGraw's wedding. Due to some heavy traffic cause by an accident we ended up being about 10 minutes late for the ceremony which sucked but we made it so I guess that's all that matters. The wedding was really nice and it was cool to be there for Gator's big day because I know he's been looking forward to it so much. After the ceremony it was to the local Days Inn for dinner and party antics. Dinner was good but the dance was tremendous. From Dolan being pretty wasted to Krazy and Nova belting out some their sweet jam, it was pretty awesome. We took off around 10'ish cause we still had a little driving time ahead of us. We arrive to our destination around midnight and sleep was had.

Sunday, August 14th - Up and at'em around 10:30. The crew was ready to go around 11:30 so we took off for lunch at Romano's Macaroni Grill which is just awesome and I highly recommend it. After lunch we made our way to the Mall of America for some shopping. I got a couple of shirts at Old Navy but my awesome purchase of the day was a Batman Begins belt buckle...for anyone that has seen Batman Begins it is designed like the throwing stars that he designs. It rules I tell ya and it's cool to have because Batman is my favorite super hero of all time. But I think the buy of the day overall goes to Darin and the belt that he bought...its a digital belt that you can have a moving message move across it...it resembles the stock exchange board that you'd see in Times Square in New York City. It's just awesome. Anyways, after the shopping we made our way to the Cottage Grove Armory for NIW's Strive to Survie. On this night it was an invitational 8 team tag tournament that included the current champs, The INvasion who would be defending the belts throughout the tournament. Darin's and my first match was against our longtime rivals, The New Generation. The match was pretty intense with each team doing what they do best. Back and forth and back and forth the match went until things got a little mixed up for the NG boys. The hit the Generation Gap on Darin and then Cody came to keep me from breaking up the pin. We hit eachother with simultaneous forearms and both fell back but Cody landed on Aaron who was making the cover. Aaron stood up, not knowing what was going on so I shook away the stars, threw him out of the ring and then Darin and I hit Cody with a double berkilator to get the win and advance. So Darin and I advanced to the second round where we were scheduled to face Joey Envy and The Prophet. Things got a little crazier though as Frosty made a decision that since two teams from the first round were both eliminated from the same match via a double countout and therefor giving The INvasion no second round opponent he threw them into the match making it a three-way tag match for the NIW Tag Team titles. So that made things a bit more interesting and certainly more difficult to win. So the match gets underway and right away things aren't looking good for Darin and I as a beatdown ensues on Darin. Things get heated between The INvasion and Prophet/Envy though as they battle over whose going to beat on Darin the most. Then they turn on eachother and Darin's able to make the tag to me...and I come in with a dive on everyone from the top rope and proceed to clean house. I hit Al B.C. with BoomShakaLaka but the pin is broken up by Prophet and Joey. Things get out of hand and just a couple minutes later its just Bobby Mafia of The INvasion, Darin and myself in the ring. Bobby runs at me in the corner but I get both boots up and he stumbles backwards. Darin and I then hit him with a spinkick/sweep combo known as Total Elimination of Eliminators' fame and then hit our slingshot splah now called Cruz Control and get the 1-2-3!! New NIW Tag Team Champs baby!! Post match celebration ensues! Good times for sure!! After the show it was a 4 hour trip home. We arrived back at the homestead around 2:30 and I had to work at 8...so that sucked. But it was all in good fun. Special thanks to the NIW crew at it's always a good time with you guys. Definitely a promotion that's fun to be a part of and is operated really well. So thank you for the chance to be a part of it!

Well I think that's all the details...well that I can remember anyways. This weekend is IWA-MS in Midlothian on Friday and Lafayette on Saturday. Then back for the 1029 show on Sunday so three shows in three days. Good times ahead for sure.

Quote of the Week
"Oh, not this way..." - Rob Page after nearly knocking over a locker in the lockerroom at NIW's Strive to Survive show.

I think it's been about 2 weeks or a little over since the last time I updated this thing, but I just got a fire lit under my ass and decided to do so.

Friday, August 5th - Darin, Cannon and myself hop in the Corbin family van and make our way down to Rensselaer, Indiana for some IWA Midsouth wrestling. The trip was long as most of them are but we got there and to Darin's and my excitement we were put on the show. I was to face Chandler McClure. I've been in one match previous with him but we didn't really interact in the match so it was a bit of venturing into the unexpected. It was a pretty good match, back and forth with each of us having the upper hand at different points but it was Chandler who scored the win when he hit me with his finisher that he calls "touchdown." After the show it was back to Trik Davis' for some rest.

Saturday, August 6th - Up and at'em for day 2 of the IWA-MS weekend. This time it was to Hammond, Indiana for a night of the IWA-MS Lethal Lottery. The thing that was different about this show was that I didn't know who my opponent was in advance because the fans would pick the wrestlers at random. Fans received a raffle ticket upon entering and before a match was to take place, they drew a raffle number, that fan pick a number out of a hat with the number corresponding to a wrestler and that's how the matches were determined. It was absolutely crazy but one of the most fun shows that I've been a part of. I was in the final five wrestlers left in the back that hadn't been picked when it came down to the final two matches of the evening. It was myself, Delerious, Ian Rotten, Arik Cannon and Chad Collyer left with a three-way match and a singles match left to be determined by the fans. Needless to say that when I looked around at the other 4 and what they all brought to a match, I was very, very nervous. The second to last match, the three way, ended up being Arik Cannon, Chad Collyer and myself. It was a pretty good match, not so great of a showing for me I don't think but I was very nervous. I know that's an excuse but that's the way it was for me that night. After the show it was back to Chicago for some Taco Burrito King and then on home.

Sunday, August 7th - We arrived back around 10am, just enough time to watch a few wrestling tapes and then on to the Minnesota Twins versus the Boston Red Sox. The Twins had a poor showing and ended up losing 11-7, or something close to that. Anyhoo, poor showing Twins...tisk tisk. After the game it was home to get prepared for the long week of work ahead.

I must admit that wrestling is really weird to me right now. Professional wrestling is at such a low right now that I'm nervous and almost scared for wrestling in the midwest. There's currently the potential for IWA-MS to shut down and that's a really crappy thing because I've just started out there and I love it there. All the guys are awesome and fun to be around. I'm afraid that MPW shutting down won't be the last one to...Sorry, just had to get that off my mind but we'll move on.

This weekend is NIW's Strive To Survive show at the Cottage Grove Armory so if you're in the area, stop by cause it's looking to be a really good show. Myself and Darin are in the Tag Team Invitation with the opportunity to get the NIW Tag Titles that we should've won last time we wrestled at NIW. Other than that my birthday is coming up in 17 days so why haven't you been out shopping for me yet??? Yeah, you better get on that. Something else I'm really excited about is that I have a ticket to see my favorite band Disturbed in concert the day before my birthday. It's sort of a gift to myself to see (in my opinion) the greatest band ever!! That's all for now so until next time...lata!

My second east coast trip is in the books and lemme tell ya...it was awesome!!

Tuesday, July 19th & Wednesday, July 20th - Darin Corbin, The Prophet, "The Anarchist" Arik Cannon and myself all pack into car de Darin and make our lengthy trip out east to the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania area. Twenty hours it takes but all in all, it went by pretty fast. We arrive at Chris Hero's house around 12:30 a.m. thursday morning, watched some tapes and went to sleep.

Thursday, July 21st - The whole trip in general was something I had been looking forward too all summer long but this day was super special to me though. It was so special because I achieved one of my goals that I had set for myself as a professional wrestler and honestly, I thought this was the goal that may never be reached but I'm very, very fortunate. I had the opportunity to wrestle in the ECW Arena, and it was so awesome. I walked into the arena and it was very cool. The history of that place is something special and to get to wrestle around all that history was pretty intense. Anyhoo, on to the match. I was in a 10-man tag match with my partners, "Lightning" Mike Quackenbush, Lance Steel, Shane Storm and The Prophet, and our opponents were Niles Young, Icarus, Gran Acuma, J.C. Ryder and "Sweet and Sour" Larry Sweeney. The match went very well and in the end it was Shane Storm getting the pin on Larry Sweeney after hitting "That Japanese Move". So my first time in the ECW Arena ends on a good note with a victory. After the show well all went out for some dinner and shinanigans which is always a good time with the Chikara crew. Unfortunately for us though we were able to find one of the worst Denny's ever. Classic moment was when our waitress was bringing out some of the drinks for out table and as the lady was handing me my coca-cola, she got a little excited and proceeded to spill about 6 drinks all over Darin Corbin's back! It was fricken hilarious! And the terrible thing about it was that they didn't give him a free meal...or a free anything for that matter. What the crap is that all about?!? Terrible I tell ya. Anyways, it was back to Hero's for more tape watching followed by some sleep.

Friday, July 22nd - Night 1 of Chikara's Young Lion's Cup Tournament started this show in Reading, PA. Darin and I had the show off but got to watch The Prophet and Cannon in their respective YLC matches. They both did awesome but unfortunately were both elimiated from the tournament on this night. Prophet was defeated by Icarus in the first round and Cannon was eliminated by Sabian in a 6-way match by Sabian in the second round. After the show it was to the Wyomissing Restaurant for food and laughs. The line of the night goes to Josh Abercombie when he said, "Hey, is that liquor? Mmm, tastes like mommies kisses." Absolutely classic, it had everyone within earshot rolling with laughter. Anyways, after the din din it was to "Lightning" Mike Quackenbush's place for some sleep.

Saturday, July 23rd - Chikara's Young Lion's Cup continued in Hellertown, PA. On this night I was in an 8 person tag team match. My partners were Darin Corbin, Trik Davis and Mickie Knuckles and our opponents were "The Anarchist" Arik Cannon, Chris Hero, Gran Acuma and Icarus. The match was going pretty well but towards the end of the match it was either team's match. It came down to who was going to capatalize on the other team's mistake first. Unfortunately for us it was Hero's team that capatalized and walked away with the victory when Mickie tapped out to Hero's hangman's clutch submission. After the show it was to Dempsey's Restaurant for food and fun. Both food and fun were had in great quantities and then it was back to Quack's for rest.

Sunday, July 24th - To The Staircase in Pittston, PA for the final night of the Young Lion's Cup tournament which featured Shane Storm and Icarus in the finals. They tore down the house with a great match which ended with Storm coming out with the victory. It was awesome to see him win this because he's worked really hard and had improved tremendously. No matter what some may say about his gimmick or whatever, he's deserving and I'm proud to say that I was there to see it. As for my match on this night, Darin and I were in a four-corners elimination tag match against, Hallowicked and Blind Rage (Dark Breed), Shane Hagedorn and Davey Andrews, and Retail Dragon and The Tiger. This was a really fun match with something for everyone. First eliminated was Dragon and The Tiger when Andrews made The Tiger tap out with the stretch plum. Then Hagedorn and Andrews were eliminated when I pinned Hagedorn with a roll up out of the corner. Then it came down to Darin and myself against Hallowicked and Blind Rage. Things were moving so quickly that I found myself on the outside as Darin was getting double teamed. I was about to come in for the save but Blind Rage cut me off and kept me on the outside as Hallowicked hit a second rope fisherman's buster for the victory. Even though Darin and I came up on the short end of the stick in this match, I'm still very proud of it as a whole. After the show it was to Perkins for dinner. This dinner was a lot of fun in that there were clapping chants galore and just awesome comradery. After dinner, some final goodbyes were said. It sucked to say goodbye to all the guys because I absolutely love the Chikara clan. It reminds me so much of the MPW lockerroom in that the Chikara group is as much of a family unit as the MPW group was and to be invited into that group is definitely something special. We made our way back to Hero's to pick up some belongings, said the rest of our goodbyes and made our way back to Minnesota.

Monday, July 25th - Most of this day consisted of driving but we stopped in Tomah, Wisconsin for some dinner and a ton of laughs. I swear, the other people in the restaurant must've thought that we were high because we had a serious case of the giggles. Everything was funny. There's too much to talk about so if you want the full scoop just ask and I'll give ya the story. We arrived back in Minnesota around midnightish and made our way to Mr. Cannon's for some sleep.

Tuesday, July 26th - First Avenue show on this night and I wrestled Nate Bash. This was my first time wrestling him in a one-on-one match. We've been in various other matches against eachother but this was the first time just him and I and it was a fun, fast-paced match. For the third match in a row I was to come up on the short end of the stick as Bash knocked me good in the noggin' with a spin kick for the victory. After the show it was on the road back home. Got home around 3:30 a.m., did the email thing and went to bed.

Much gratitude and respect goes out to each and every one of the Chikara group. Thank you all for your support and hospitality for us Minnesota people. I've got this weekend off from wrestling, but it's down to IWA-MS on August 5th and 6th. Until next time, live it up peeps!

Quote of the Week (one of many, many quotes)
"STEAMER!!!" - Darin Corbin