After seeing the now infamous video with Douglas James and several untrained (or not trained enough) wrestlers I was a little surprised. The way it was described to me before the video was posted made it seem crazier. You can see in the video that Douglas James did nothing reckless and nothing that would seriously hurt any of those guys (aside from their pride, but then again if they had real pride they get trained before pretending to be something they aren’t). He wasn’t dropping them on their heads or anything like that. The Cubanitos (Rocky Romero and Ricky Reyes) had a match at MPW where they destroyed The Beautiful People (Johnny & Jason Riggs) that I remember being worse than that.
Over the years there have been a few instances with issues between wrestlers and fans as well. A fan once thought it was a good idea to get into the ring with “Iceman” John Black, who like Douglas James had a MMA background. Iceman did not wait for any security and obliterated that fan then tossed him from the ring and cut a promo.
Maybe one of the crazier instances reportedly happened in February 1973 at the Grand Olympic. Kayfabe was alive and well in those days, so I have no way of verifying the story, but on a show headlined by Terry Funk challenging Victor Rivera for the Americas title, a lumberjack match was scheduled between Freddie Blassie and the Destroyer.
This was a grudge match between these two wrestlers that had been building for some time. Freddie Blassie was the fan favorite and the face in the feud and he was even presented with a sombrero by a fan before the match that he wore to the ring. The match was setup as a lumberjack match to stop the Destroyer from escaping. Freddie Blassie had hid a baseball bat near the ring, which he pulled out at the start of the match and chased the Destroyer with it. Eventually the baseball bat was out of play and Blassie and the Destroyer had what was described as a violent brawl, with the Destroyer taking most of the punishment. His white mask was covered in blood.
At one point in the match the Destroyer was on the outside of the ring and Victor Rivera was attacking him with Kenji Shibuya and Kim Duk nearby. Victor Rivera slams the Destroyer into the seats, and a nearby fan decides to join in on the action and takes some swings at the Destroyer too. Unfortunately for that fan the baseball bat was within reach of Kenji Shibuya who delivered what was told to me as a home run swing to the fan’s head sending the fan back three rows. The unconscious and bloody fan was carried from the building and the match continued, though some neighboring fans complained about getting blood on them. The Destroyer actually took the victory in the match through underhanded means and other wrestlers had to hold an enraged Freddie Blassie back.
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There are a lot of moves in pro-wrestling that would seem laughable in a real fight. After watching the Douglas James video, I wouldn’t put drop kicks in that category.
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UIPW reportedly is going to be having a show on September 3rd. With that date being only a little more than 2 weeks away, they might want to start promoting it if that date is correct. That date is already up against Battle of Los Angeles, giving people more than a two week notice isn’t asking too much.
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Anthony Idol’s title reign as EWF American Champion came to an end on a private show last weekend, losing the title to Jorel Nelson. Idol’s 345 day reign as champion was actually the second longest in the title’s over 17 year history, just behind Richie Slade’s 355 day reign.
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If you are going to August 20th’s SoCal Pro show in Oceanside, Ju Dizz is running a back to school supplies drive to help underprivileged kids. He is encouraging people to bring school supplies to donate such as folders, notebooks, pencils, etc. Everyone who brings something will get a discount on any of his merchandise or a free gift.
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Just a quick note on the Freddie Blassie and Destroyer match in the interest of full disclosure. The incident was told to me by Kenji Shibuya who I had the honor of meeting in 2003 or 2004. The match took place on February 9, 1973.
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Be sure to check out our upcoming events page for information on upcoming shows throughout Southern California.
