Greetings from jet-lagged Wilmington, North Carolina! I’ve spent a busy, activity filled weekend up in New Jersey; Old Bethpage, NY and New York City visiting my friends in and out of wrestling and going to the UXW Chris Candido Memorial Show to support my close Chris’ memory, my close friend Tammy Sytch and Chris’ brother, Johnny. Therefore, I’ve only seen bits and pieces of wrestling other than the show on Saturday night that raised money for Tammy and the Chris Candido Scholarship Fund.
I want to give a pop to everyone involved with UXW who made me feel welcomed and at home. Anthony and Brian were class acts to me personally and the talent who came did a great job. UXW does put on a very long show, this ran around 4 hours, with 12 matches on the card. The crowd wasn’t always hot but everyone was attentive and usually popped hard for anything ECW related. The show kicked off with a 10 bell salute with everyone surrounding the ring with Tammy and Johnny inside the ring as everyone bowed their heads. I felt emotional and my heart was heavy all night as we all took time to remember CC. Tammy then draped one of the Chris Candido t-shirts around someone in the ring was emotional – as everyone clapped and stomped for Chris. I’ve never experienced anything like that before in personâ€â€ÂI feel Chris’ energy was present.
There was a Chris Candido Memorial Match which was a really strange royal rumble which really was just a way for time to burn so it could come down between Johnny Candido and Balls Mahooney into a impromptu singles match. Some good spots were done, and Tammy did a turn on Balls to hit him with a chain and when that didn’t work, Justin Credible came out to help give Johnny the victory with a pile driver on Balls. After the match, as Johnny celebrated, Balls broke down in the ring and they all embraced and celebrated Chris.
Another highlight was Billy Gunn versus Justin Credible. I’ve seen both men wrestle before and I had no idea how good Billy was as a singles wrestle and also extremely humorous. The crowd was hot for Billy except a small section who yelled at him and had a “We Want Bart” chant which Billy gave him a thumbs up sign among other gestures. Billy kept toying with the ref to burn some time about feeling him up and then the wrestling began. Billy got the win with a Fameasser on the chair and the local comical and gay Christopher Street Connection came out to flirt with Billy and remind him of his old WWE gay gimmick with Chuck. This led to Billy announcing Road Dogg would be his partner against them at a upcoming UXW show on September 24th.
A very extreme match took place with Axl Rotten versus Corporal Robinson with the use of baseball bats with thumbtacks, a cheese grater tossed by the fans in front of me and I can’t remember what else besides a ton of blood everywhere. I’ve been to a ECW house show before and I don’t remember ever seeing anything quite like that up close. I have much respect for both men and anyone who can do that on a weekly/nightly basis.
The next match was chosen by Tammy Sytch to decide who would hold the UXW United States Title last held by Chris Candido; so it was both of Chris’ protégés: Mike Kruel versus Andy Douglas of the Naturals for the UXW United States Title last held by Chris. I really enjoyed this match because it was more technical wrestling than I had seen all night. I don’t know if I was just one of the few people that got it but I clapped the entire time Kruel lifted Andy for Chris’ standing suplex which Kruel looked up and said “that was for you Chris.” Kruel won with some assistance from the ropes but both men showed their respective championships and embraced each other for another classic moment. It’s to be noted that Douglas held up Chris towel and it was at the corner post for everyone to see as they wrestled. I would have liked to have seen a clean finish to determine a winner but that wasn’t meant to be. I know Chris would have been honored by the match’s quality and efforts of both men in his honor.
A Women’s Match occurred with Alere Little Feather versus Simply Luscious for no apparent reason but it wasn’t a bad effort by both in this short match. It’s strange to get a Women’s Match without a storyline and I don’t know if Simply Luscious normally comes out to Fabulous Moolah’s theme music but that was distracting. I think both could get more match time if a proper storyline was built around them. I also think the ALF gimmick is too funny and should be used in a comical way. I think if Alere is a regular on the UXW circuit to have the heel take her ALF doll and use it on her in the match.
A strange match took place with The Masked Maniac and Sharkboy (who got a good response) beating The Christopher Street Connection (who almost had a conflict with a fan in clown makeup). First time I’ve seen a hot dog in a non hardcore match, so that was compelling in what felt like a really long match – but it’s hard to say because the even itself is so long. I wouldn’t have booked TMM and Sharkboy over the hot CSC, especially with them being booked against Billy Gunn and Road Dogg, but the match is far enough in the future that it won’t kill the suspense for it.
CM Punk came out to a Johnny Cash tune and defeated Ian Rotten in a really incredible, non-blood pouring match which seemed to shock a lot of people in the crowd. The spot of the night was CM Punk doing the CC mooning spot where his ass was shown to the entire crowd for at least five minutes; for which the crowd popped when Ian pulled his trunks back up – very humorous. I want to note that Ian gave a really great speech about Chris, saying he was in Europe and told the crowds about Chris and what he’s contributed to the business and the sport – one of my favorite speeches on Chris ever.
UXW Tag Team Championship I didn’t even see (sorry guys), this was the time I spent with Johnny and Tammy, so I’ll have to watch the DVD to see what I missed. Balls Mahoney defeated D-Lo Brown for UXW Heavyweight Championship in a great effort, my favorite spot being the suplex off the second rope on both sides of the ring and of course their trademark moves with more memories of Chris told by his close friend Balls.
The main event was originally supposed to be a cage match but was now a Raven’ Rules match, Sandman versus Raven with special guest referee Mick Foley after first referee Sean Hanson said he’d keep the match clean and was taken out by Sandman. The crowd was hot for this entire match for the ECW style and it was one of the funniest matches I’ve ever seen. It was the first time ever I’ve seen Mr. Socko get canned and bleeding, later on Mick said in his promo it was the only time he’d ever admit to using ketchup for blood in a match for which everyone popped hard for. Another humorous part of the match was the Mr. Evil Socko! I think it was the first time I’ve ever seen a black sock in a match involving Mick Foley. Raven tried to execute it on Foley for which he counted and bit Raven’s fingers. Sandman got the victory after being punished by Raven as Foley made the three with the bloody Socko in a memorable classic.
The closing of the show was Mick Foley and Tammy talking about Chris and sharing their love for Chris and his love for wrestling with the crowd for a great moment and another chant for Candido as Back in Black played as we raised our hands, cheered and popped for Candido once more.
I’m very honored to have been there and thanks to everyone involved who took time out of their busy lives to celebrate and remember Chris and raise money for Tammy and the Chris Candido Scholarship Fund at the UXW show. For more information on UXW you can visit their website at http://usaprowrestling.net/ which also provides more information on how to order the video through three different outlets (RF Video, UXW and TC Tapes). Special thanks and love for Tammy and Johnny – thank you for taking time out for me – I wish we could have seen each other on better circumstances but all the traveling, exhaustion and chaos was worth being there with you and I know Chris was there smiling on us and that’s putting it in perspective. I welcome your comments at Bam@4sternstaging.com – thanks for reading and always wear comfortable shoes.
