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| At the conclusion of Sunday's fundraiser, Lord Zoltan/Ken Jugan (center) stood proud with his friends, including (l to r) Cody Michaels, Dominic DeNucci, Preston Steele and refereeing son Adam Jugan. Photo by David Fedor. |
by Thomas and Taylor Leturgey
It was a royal gathering of professional wrestling talent
that got together on a hot, humid Sunday afternoon to help the man who helped
promote friendship through the sport for more than 42 years. It was the benefit
for Ken Jugan/Lord Zoltan at the Syria Shriners Pavilion in Cheswick.
Many of the biggest, most recognizable and even notorious
names in Western Pennsylvania and beyond converged for a series of matches that
ultimately ended in the king of Lumberjack contests.
Lou Martin and Shawn Blanchard w/Count Grog Vs
Double A
Anthony Alexander and Kris Kash w/ Bobby O
Kash starts off against Shawn Blanchard. Blanchard gets the
wrist lock on Kash but Blanchard reverses it. Kash is able to gain control and
whips Blanchard into the VIPs corner. Blanchard tags in Martin who immediately
points that he wants Alexander. The Prime-Time Player is more than happy to
represent. The two go for a “Test of Strength.” That doesn’t work well for
Martin, who gets shot into a corner and stomped on by Alexander. There’s a
bulldog by Alexander on Martin. Alexander tosses Martin across the ring and
onto the concrete floor below. Blanchard helps Martin back in and the same
thing happens as Alexander tosses Martin across to the other side. Then a third
time, this one at the feet of Bobby O. Martin is tossed back in and Alexander
tags Kash. Kash whips Martin into a corner and follows with a clothesline. It
doesn’t take long for the veteran Martin to tag Blanchard back in. Blanchard
gets the offense on Kash and chokes him with wrist tape. At one point, Count
Grog chokes Kash on the apron. The VIPs back elbow Kash down in the center of
the ring and its’ all Martin and Grog as they choke Kash with the middle rope.
Blanchard whips Kash into the ropes and lands him in a sleeper hold. Kash is
forced to a seated position and he fights back with some elbows, but Blanchard
hits him with a huge spine buster. Blanchard digs at Kash’s face and the
referee admonishes him. Count Grog says “that’s legal in North Carolina.”
Martin is tagged back in and he whips Kash into a corner, where he springs out
and onto Martin. Both men are in and they tag their partners. Alexander cleans
house. Kash dives onto Martin on the outside and Alexander waits on the inside
for Blanchard to get up. Alexander hits the The Prime-Time Cancellation out of
nowhere. 9:44.
Jake Garret Vs Justin Sane w/Yo Yo Goose
Justin Sane grabs Garrett’s arm and drapes it over the top
rope. Garrett is distracted by Yo Yo Goose (a new manager who looked
suspiciously like "Pac Man" or maybe even a free-faced Jason Friday,
but who knows) on the outside. Garrett gets Sane down in a seated position and
shouts insults. Sane fights to get to his feet and he does. He nearly gets out
of the hold that Garrett has on him before Jake goes low. Justin is in a seated
position again and Jake scoops him up and lands an elbow. Justin gets up, lands
a boot and then a leg-drop. Justin goes to the top rope and prepares for a frog
splash. On the outside, Yo Yo Goose trips Justin up or bashes him with a toy yo
yo and he goes down hard onto the mat. Ever an eager opportunist, Garrett makes
the cover and scores the win. 4:22
Trapper Tom gets to the ring and introduces Cody Michaels,
Dominic DeNucci and Preston Steele. Preston Thanks the fans for coming and
supporting his friend. Just like that, Mayor Mystery comes out with Bubba the
Bull Dog, hijacking the show. Steele Challenges the Highjack and starts a
Zoltan Chant. Steele Challenges Bubba to a Lumberjack match, including Dominic
DeNucci and Cody Michaels as lumberjacks. Bubba Accepts the challenge. But
before he goes, Bubba, with Mayor Mystery's cane, hits Steele with a cheap shot
in the leg.
Robert Parker Williams w/ BC Steele vs King Kaluha w/TC
Reynolds
The referee for this match is Shawn Patrick. Reynolds was
originally supposed to wrestle here, but he wasn't physically able to compete
and RPW was given the opportunity. King Kaluha gets out of the ring and
commandeers the house microphone to cut down his opponents. The bell rings and
RPW tries to get crowd support. That doesn’t go well when King Kaluha drops him
from behind. It’s all King Kaluha in the opening moments of the contest. Kaluha
gets RPW in a headlock and the two end-up running the ropes in an attempt to
gain control. King Kaluha drops Williams with a hip toss and that makes him
revert to a corner. Kaluha brings RPW in the hard way and monkey flips him down
for a two-count. There’s a sudden dance-off with RPW and BC Steele. Once that
ends, Kaluha wants to dance but he is ambushed by Williams. Kaluha is in the
middle ropes for an assault by Steele on the outside. Williams puts the boots
to Kaluha in the corner. TC Reynolds on the outside wants to know what’s going
on. Williams missed with a double leg drop from the top. He's really feeling
that miscue. There’s an atomic drop and another that keeps Williams grounded.
There’s a running face-first face plant and BC gets on the apron. That angers
Kaluha who chases him around. Williams pounces once Kaluha is back in. Reynolds
chases BC. BC tries to wallop Kaluha buts hits RPW in the mush instead. He goes
down in a heap for the pin. 8:11.
Triple Threat Match: Tanner Reynolds vs Beastman Vs Chris LeRusso
Beastman, who is larger and more intense than ever, chases Tanner
in his introduction. The “Heir Apparent,” Chris LeRusso takes a more calculated
way to the ring. LeRusso asks that referee Chris Wood get the Beastman’s enormous
thigh bone out of his face. Beastman, all 411 pounds of fury, chases both of
his opponents. They go after him together but that doesn’t mean anything to the
burly brute. The Beastman goes to work on both men with clotheslines and big
punches. Tanner Reverses a slam attempt by beast man, Both Chris and tanner
kick beast in the corner. Both Reynolds and LeRusso double team Beastman,
however, that gets him nowhere until the big guy is tied up in the ropes. Reynolds
levels the big guy with a knee to the guy. The position him for and land a
double DDT. There’s a two count. LeRusso and Reynolds argue about each other’s
haircuts and go to blows. Beastman gets to his feet and double noggin knocks
his opponents together. With Reynolds on his back, Beastman kicks LeRusso down
and drops “Pittsburgh’s Most Hated” down. Beastman catches both men and tosses
them across the ring. Beastman rolls into both men in the corner and gets a two
count on both. Beastman gets on the top rope and fights off both men before
they combine their efforts and drop him down. Reynolds drives LeRusso from the
ring and gets ready for offense. Beastman drops Reynolds instead and gets the
win. 6:49
Shirley Doe vs T-Rantula
Both men have wrestled in Western Pennsylvania for more than
two dozen years, however, they have never faced off one-on-one before this. Doe
tries to use psychology against T in the ring. The two long-time veterans have
never battled one-on-one before. Doe gets the advantage and drives T into the
corner. Doe whips him across the ring and into a corner for a splash. T is in
an unfamiliar position as Doe is clearly in charge. There’s a pin attempt that
sees T launch Doe across the ring. Now T gets Doe in the corner for a big chop
on the chest. Then another. Doe is woozy as T asks the crowd if he should do it
again. He does and that drops Doe down into the corner on all fours. T hits Doe
with a cup of soda and gets the duke. 7:48
Women’s Match: Laura Loveless v. Honey Badger
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| "The Siren" Laura Loveless. Photo by Ken Burch. |
Before the match even began, Angie Minelli was introduced as
being in the house for this contest. Badger chases Laura around the ring and
then grabs her by the leg. Badger gets her in a head lock and then reverses
that to the into an arm bar. Laura is able to recover and gets Badger down with
an arm bar. Badger hip tosses Laura but Loveless kicks Badger square in the
mush. Badger is in the ropes and Laura chokes her with the rope. Laura drop
kicks Badger square in the back as she is posted on the middle rope. There’s a
two count on the Feral Feline of the Serengeti. Loveless chops Badger in the
chest and the angry one reverses those chops and drives Loveless into the
corner for a series of shoulder blocks. Badger gets a near pinfall on Loveless
but can’t believe Laura got her shoulder up. Loveless drives Badger down to the
mat. Loveless hooks her into a front face lock but Badger recovers and drives
her down. Both women are down. The count from referee Jimmy James is on. Both
are up at six. Badger clotheslines Loveless and then kicks her in the gut.
Loveless clotheslines Badger down. There’s a drive face first into the mat. Two-count
on Badger. Loveless is frustrated. She says, “That’s it” and goes to the top.
Badger gets out of the way. Badger kicks her in the gut and lands a stunner
finish for the win. 7:31.
Dennis Gregory w/Bubba the Bulldog and Mayor Mystery v.
Dynamite Dean
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| Dennis Gregory. Photo by Ken Burch. |
Referee Shawn Patrick checks both men, even though Bubba
shouted that he had already checked Gregory. The bell rings and the athletes
get ready in different ways. Gregory goes to one ring post to mostly boos.
Dynamite Dean goes to the corner to a vast amount of cheers. They lock up with
Gregory breaking the hold and yelling “Is that all you got?” He admonishes Dean
for smiling and says that he’s going to “knock his teeth down his throat.” The
two wrestlers circle the ring and Gregory once again yells at his opponent.
Dean shoulder blocks him down, leap frogs and tosses him over the top rope onto
the floor. Dennis snookers Dean and gets him down on the mat for a series of
dead-on punches to the knee. Mayor Mystery then pokes away at his knee. At one
point, Mayor Mystery chops at Dean high while Dennis punches away at the upper
half. At the other side of the ring, Gregory once again uses illegal tactics to
attack Dean’s knee. Dean fights back and collides with Dennis in the ropes.
Dennis rolls him up for a pin attempt but only gets two. Dennis then locks in
an ankle lock. Dean break out of it. Dean has Dennis down for a submission
move. Dean chases Mayor Mystery on the outside and wallops him down. Dean grabs
the Mayor’s cane and hits Dennis with it. Gregory then gets the cane and wallops
Dean with it for the win. 7:14
Tag Team Match: The Mercenaries w/Benjamin C. Steel vs
Lou
Marconi and Frank Stalletto w/Norm Connors
Referee Chris Wood checks on the combatants. Norm Connors,
Lou Marconi and Frank Stalletto strut across the ring to start things off.
Benjamin C. Steele confab with his team of the Mercenaries on the outside. The
bell rings and Stalletto locks up with Sniper. They break the hold and Stalletto
starts a chant of “Sniper Sucks.” Stalletto locks Sniper up with an arm bar and
tags in Marconi, who continues the assault on the Mercenary from South Africa.
After some offense the tag is made back to Stalletto who continues to work on
Sniper’s left arm. Nasty Nick is tagged in and he goes to work on Stalletto.
Steele works on Stalletto from the outside. Norm breaks it up. Nasty Nick puts
the boot to Staletto’s throat. Sniper puts the boots to Stalletto’s and then
his fists. Wood breaks it up and counts Sniper to his corner, where he tags in
Nick. Stalletto goes after Crane and then Crane goes after Stalletto. Stalletto
cross body blocks Crane. Crane gets out of it and gets to sniper. Marconi is
tagged back in and he goes after both Mercenaries. There’s a clothesline and
pin attempt on Crane. The Mercenaries rebound. Marconi tries to sunset flip
Sniper. Stalletto races in and sunset flips Crane. The winners at 6:13, Marconi
and Stalletto.
Main Event: Lumber Jack Match Bubba the Bulldog w/Mayor
Mystery v. Preston Steele
Referees James, Wood and Jugan on the outside, and Shawn
Patrick is on the inside. Both Wrestlers in the ring, Bubba asks for his lumberjacks
to come out and Gregory is accompanied by the Mercenaries who quickly decide
against helping Bubba. Steele asks for his lumberjacks and the entirety of the
locker room come out to support Steele and Zoltan. Bubba starts with a cheap
shot and the bell rings. Mayor Mystery is still in the ring. Steele reverses
the cheap shot and knocks both mystery and bubba out of the ring. Immediately
met with force, Bubba is forced back into the ring and frantically looks for a
safe way out of the wring. Steele knocks him down by the head. Bubba starts screaming
his hair was pulled on his cleanly shaven head. Steele Repeats the head-lock and
met with the same reaction. Steele knocks out Bubba once again, who is promptly
returned to the ring. Steele initiates an arm bar, which gets reverses round
table. Both screaming appropriate “Yes” and “No’s” with the fans. Bubba gets
the upper-hand and starts working the left thigh of Steele. Steele is pushed
out of the ring, where the surrounding wrestlers brace him with love and let
him take a brief break before rolling him back into the ring where Bubba
continues to work the left thigh. Steele gets a burst of energy and reverses
the control, knocking Bubba down getting a two-count, with a kick-out. Steele
with a sore leg is unable to get back up. Bubba gets Steele into a leg lock.
Wrestlers outside and fans pump up Steele, who is able to reverse on bubba.
Bubba attempts to work Steele more, where Steele gains control with a flip over
his back. Steele gets Bubba down for a pin, when Mayor Mystery distracts the
refs from an easy pin fall after a body slam. Another Body slam and easy pin
fall distracted by Mayor Mystery. DeNucci and Michaels get in the ring and
works on Bubba. Steele finishes him off and there’s a pin for the win in 9:33.
Lord Zoltan gets called into the ring at the conclusion of
the event and thanks the crowd. He receives a standing ovation.
