Exciting card in Hartford on May 31

By Jay Felsberg

Correspondent

The American Wrestling Federation put on an exciting card of wrestling at the Johnny Hughes Community Center in Hartford on May 31. Highlights included three young newcomers who put on a great display of aerial prowess, the arrival of a well-known area wrestler, and a title defense by Ceazar against Forsaken.

Kris Korrupt and Sinn (with Hellkat) led off the card, and while KK used everything in his arsenal, he was “wrestling” both Sinn and Hellkat, with the latter distracting the referee several times. Sinn eventually took the match by rolling up KK while using the ropes for leverage. Korrupt vowed that he is “coming at you again”.

Backdraft and Street Bandit went at it in a dog collar match. The tough firefighter has been successful in past dog collar matches, but it was Street Bandit who took it to Backdraft for much of the match. Action flowed in and out of the ring, with Backdraft split open and looking like he was in serious danger of losing the match. However, “the man from Ground Zero” fought off a Boston Crab by Street Bandit and put on the Flashover for the win.

A triple-threat match featured three young wrestlers who delighted the fans with their high-flying action. Masked wrestlers Lost Avenger, Daredevil and Kid USA flew over, around and across the ring. Signs and other objects were fair game. The highlight of the match had to be a triple suplex off the top turnbuckle, with Kid USA getting a very hard earned win.

While the fans were applauding the three youngsters for their tremendous effort, notorious manager Dandy Jack came to the ring. Jack did not share the crowd’s enthusiasm for the match, and he told the boys to “get out and let a real match happen”. This led to Jack getting double slammed by Daredevil and Lost Avenger before the maniacal and increasingly unpredictable Curtis LeRoy came out to save his manager and beat down the three youngsters.

Hartford knows Mr. Fantasy very well, and the fans greeted him with boos and catcall as the well-known heel arrived with his loyal valet, Sexy Samantha. It is a mystery why Samantha is so loyal to Mr. Fantasy, as he treated the lovely valet pretty much like dirt for the entire match. Mr. Fantasy is the same sparkling personality he ever was, dissing the fans and Hartford, and letting everyone know that, as always, that “I’M NOT THE WHOLE SHOW, I’M NOT THE BIG SHOW, BUT I’M THE BEST DAMN PART OF THE SHOW”!

Despite the ill treatment, Samantha did everything she could to help Mr. Fantasy in his match against the rugged Assassin. Neither Mr. Fantasy nor the big masked man backed off one bit in their contest, which ended in a double disqualification

Curtis LeRoy (with Dandy Jack) met Jason Hero (with Amber the American Beauty) in a wild brawl, which ended in a no contest. The reason was the interference of Lost Avenger, Daredevil and Kid USA, who jumped into the ring to go after LeRoy as Hero was getting the upper hand. The unpredictable one and Hero both cleared the ring, but when Hero offered LeRoy his hand, LeRoy jumped the popular Hero and helped Dandy Jack “pin” JH. The result – a table match June 7 in Chipley, where the first one thrown through a table loses the match.

Former AWF Heavyweight Champion, The Man, The Myth, The Legend, Blake Richards, met Confederate Kid in a great lead-in to the main event. Richards was his usual arrogant self, but the former champion needed everything he had to match the popular Kid’s great determination. It took a missed Southern Star from the top turnbuckle by the Kid and a scissors kick by Richards to give MML the pinfall.

The main event looked like a bit of a mismatch on paper, but paper sometimes lies. As the greatest wrestling announcer in history, the late Gordon Solie said more than once, “it’s not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog that matters”. Truer words were never spoken, and Solie’s words perfectly described the match between AWF Heavyweight Champion, Ceazar, and Forsaken (accompanied by Hellkat).

Ceazar knew he had a battle on his hands with one-half of the former AWF tag-team champions, Freakshows of Faith, despite a considerable size difference, and that concern proved to be justified as Forsaken took the match to Ceazar more than once. The smaller wrestler used clotheslines and high-flying moves to counter Ceazar’s power, and it looked like Forsaken might pull off a great upset before the Hartford fans. No such luck, however, as Ceazar stormed back from near disaster to finish Forsaken off with the Wishmaker and retain his belt.

Action begins at 8 p.m. this Saturday, June 7, at Roulhac Community Center in Chipley.

Ozark benefit June 14

If you like great professional wrestling, then you need to be in Ozark on June 14, with the opening match at 8 p.m. The American Wrestling Federation will be in action at the Ozark Civic Center to benefit Army Relief (Ft. Rucker).

Among those on the card will be former WWE tag-team champion and present NWA-TNA superstar, the Road Dogg Jesse James. Road Dogg will team with popular AWF star Jason Hero (accompanied by Amber the American Beauty) as Coalition-X to take part in a four-corners match for the AWF Tag-Team Championship. Others involved will be defending champions Chief Little Bear and Raine Quapone; former champions Sinn and Forsaken, the Freakshows of Faith; and the rugged team of Backdraft and The Confederate Kid. Tables, ladders and chairs rules will apply.

AWF Heavyweight Champion Ceazar will settle the score once and for all with the former champion, The Man, The Myth, The Legend, Blake Richards (accompanied by Trysten).

Another score to be settled will be that between dynamic Mercury McCloud and the maniacal and increasingly unpredictable Curtis Leroy (managed by Dandy Jack). This will be a no-disqualification match, and falls will count anywhere in the Civic Center! The AWF Junior Heavyweight Title tournament finals will also be held, and there will be plenty of other wrestling action.

Tickets are available at Liverpool Records in Dothan, ITR-FT. Rucker, at all AWF matches, and at the door on June 14. Tickets will be $7 ringside, $6 reserved and $5 general admission. For information, call 850-638-7183.

AWF on television

Look for AWF wrestling on WDHN Channel 18 every Saturday night beginning June 7 at 11:30 p.m. The AWF will be on the Ann Varnum Show on June 6.