Tim Tuten“Let’s get ready to rumble!”
That infamous catchphrase we all grew up hearing sitting cross-legged with our eyeballs glued to the television every Monday or Thursday Night. It’s still used to this day, even though younger generations may not know that ring announcer Michael Buffer coined the phrase. The words revebrated through my mind as I stepped in to The Dils Center for the West Virginia Wrestling Entertainment event last Saturday evening. I was greeted with a friendly smile as I entered with ticket and notepad in hand and a camera on my side.
Metal chairs filled the room as fanatic children bounced about in the prepared wrestling ring. Merchandise tables were filled with memorabilia of past and present professional wrestling. Parents and fans as well as three generations of fans were in attendance conversing with one another as if it were one big family reunion. The event had a family reunion feel as fans from every generation gathered to watch.
Ring announcer, Gentlemen Jim Dandee, and WVWE Commissioner, Steve Thomas, as well the wrestlers themselves, made their rounds to interact with fans before the main event. The locally owned and operated professional wrestling company is located in Vienna, W.Va., but got its upstart 22 years ago in Clarksburg, W.Va. The WVWE strives to achieve good ole fashioned clean family fun for everyone to enjoy.
To start the knockout, drag out fun of the evening, WVWE personalities Michael McMoney and Big Country amped up the crowd to for the madness that ensued. If there is one thing that WVWE brings to the table for the people, it’s that they are all about the entertainment.
The first match of the evening was the WVWE debut of the ginormous seven-footer, Paxton Calloway. He was brought out by Michael McMoney to challenge the tag team group – The Hell Hounds: Ryan Jennings and Nate Steel. At the end of the enduring match, Calloway towered in victory. To continue the family affair, Big Country introduced the tag team duo of La Familia. The current tag team champions, Prodigy and Geno, had championship belts in hand to sing a nine-year-old old fan a very happy birthday.
In the professional wrestling world, you’ve got to have style, swagger and the biggest of personalities. Every member of the WVWE checks the list from the hero type all the way down to the the villain. The first singles match of the evening was absolutely a good guy versus bad guy bout.
Crowd favorite Robert “Taxi Man” Winters, took on the villainous Human Nightmare. Taxi Man – with his signature chant of “Beep Beep” – combined with Human Nightmare’s taunting to rile up the crowd. Like a story book ending, the hero defeated the villain and was met with roaring applause. Continuing the hype, Wildcat (the current heavyweight champion) strutted his stuff while his manager (Tyler the Chess Master) interacted with the crowd.
Of course, the WVWE brought the theatrics as well as the championship titles were put on the line during the course of the night. Benji Star became the new WVWE West Virginia Mountain State champ with his stunning defeat over the cowboy boot wearing Mustang Matty. In between the challenges of championship titles, Big Country took on not so popular “Braggin” Brian Fury, The Bad Influence and the accompanying Mr. All’s. If you are wondering, there were metal chairs involved.
Before we get to the tag team championship match of La Familia and the I.R.A (Irish Royal Alliance), Aaron James and his manager pursued JC Grundge to “get the band back together” and break ties with Josh Jade of the I.R.A to reform the infamous wrestling organization of “The Syndicate.” This lead to JC pleading his loyalty to Josh Jade after the pre-match debacle. During the hard-fought match, La Familia defended their belts and exited. Josh Jade, who was distraught that his partner JC would betray him, showed JC that he would be breaking the group up and stood tall as he exited.
Now, on to the main event of this exciting evening of wrestling entertainment. The WVWE Commissioner forced The Wildcat to put his heavyweight title on the line and challenge the up and coming Aaron James. This absolutely took the cake as far as getting the crowd involved and wrestlers themselves coming out to see this match. After an intense battle, when the smoke cleared, Aaron James upset Wildcat to take the heavyweight title and join Benji Star as new reigning champions of the WVWE. But it didn’t end there. Wildcat proclaimed Aaron James didn’t win the match fairly and wants a rematch on October 20. Aaron accepted to defend his newly acquired title.
To those in the local community, WVWE provides quality wrestling entertainment for those who don’t have the opportunity to go to Wrestlemania or Monday Night Raw. They are a great organization who seek to bring family fun wrestling to the Mid-Ohio Valley and bring the big personalities to life.
Ladies and Gentleman, bring the family and come on out to the Dils Center, October 20, for the WVWE will return for a special Halloween event and the wrestlers will pass out candy for young costumed fans before “The Nightmare on Market Street.”
For more information, contact the Dils Center or visit the WVWE Facebook page.