Here is the press release:
On March 17th, 2007, the National Wrestling Alliance's Midwest branch
will welcome its newest member into the fold, as Fight Sports Midwest
will present its debut event in Portage, Indiana! The Camelot
Sportsplex, located at 5201 U.S. Highway 6, just 40 minutes outside of
Chicago, will be home to the birth of Fight Sports Midwest, beginning at
7:00 PM that night.
FSM isn't around to make ridiculous claims about "taking over any
scenes" or "changing the foundation of wrestling". All we promise to
you, the wrestling fan, is to bring you professional wrestling shows
that will not insult your intelligence while bringing you your
hard-earned money's worth in hard-hitting competition and entertainment.
We do thank NWA Midwest, all of its members, and its COO,
Ed Chuman, for allowing us to come into the fold and hopefully
we can do all of the members, Mr. Chuman, and the entire National
Wrestling Alliance proud with the competition and battles bred in the
ring of Fight Sports Midwest.
As of right now, we have announced five matches for the inaugural event
on March 17th, including what should be a ridiculously hard-hitting main
event, as TNA Superstar and the longest-reigning Ring of Honor World
Champion of all-time, Samoa Joe, will face former Combat Zone Wrestling
Heavyweight Champion, "The Last of a Dying Breed" Eddie Kingston for the
first time ever!
Samoa Joe made a quick name for himself on the West Coast independent
scene soon after debuting, tearing through everyone who came through his
path. Before even leaving his home state of California, he became the
longest-reigning Ultimate Pro Wrestling Champion of all-time, defeating
a man who would become a future in-ring enemy of his in Christopher
Daniels, as well as scoring a victory over current ECW Extremist Tommy
Dreamer. He made his mark on the East Coast wrestling scene soon
thereafter, fighting Low Ki in what was considered to be, at the time,
one of the hardest-hitting bouts to ever take place in the fledgling
Ring of Honor promotion, a Fight Without Honor at ROH's first Glory By
Honor event in October of 2002. Joe won the ROH World Title from Xavier
in March 2003 and proceeded to hold that belt longer than any other man
since, going through grapplers such as Jay Briscoe, Homicide, AJ Styles,
Colt Cabana, "American Dragon" Bryan Danielson, and CM Punk to help
legitimize that belt as one of the top titles in pro wrestling today.
From there, Joe went on to take TNA by storm, going undefeated for over
sixteen months and winning their X-Division Title in the same calendar
year that he debuted. Samoa Joe is one of the most respected and feared
competitors to grace a professional wrestling ring in quite some time.
His opponent, Eddie Kingston, took a much different path to this
contest. While Joe came up through some of the best gyms and dojos in
the country, Kingston made due on the streets in "The Home of the
Brave", The Bronx, New York. He eventually ending up in the Chikara
Wrestle Factory, where he was trained by "Lightning" Mike Quackenbush
and Reckless Youth. Kingston started off his career as an exclusive tag
team wrestler, teaming with long-time friend "Black" Jack Marciano. The
two formed one of the most successful teams in promotion history, The
Wildcards. At one point, the two held the IWA Mid-South Tag Team
Championship, defeating both Tank & Iceberg and the then-champions, Brad
Bradley & Ryan Boz, in a three-way bout at the 2004 Ted Petty
Invitiational weekend. Unfortunately, Marciano suffered a career-ending
knee injury, ending the Wildcards' reign of success on the independents.
Kingston went on to join Blackout in Combat Zone Wrestling, alongside
Sabian, Ruckus, Joker, and manager "Primo" Robby Mireno, to which he is
a member to this day. As a member of Blackout, he both won the CZW Tag
Team Titles with Joker, as well as defeated a man whose path has crossed
with Kingston's way too many times for comfort, in Chris Hero, to win
the CZW Heavyweight Title on a memorial show for the late Chris Cash in
September 2006. Outside of CZW, Kingston overcame some of the
hardest-hitting competitors on the independent pro wrestling scene to
win three matches in a row and the 2006 IWA Mid-South Revolution Strong
Style Tournament. Kingston also just concluded one of the most violent
feuds in the history of Chikara, as he battled "Sweet 'n' Sour" Larry
Sweeney all over the state of Pennsylvania, concluding with a
Yellowbelly Strap Match as Chikara's year-end event, "Talent Borrows,
Genius Steals".
Though these two share very different paths to the successes they've
achieved in professional wrestling, they share a common tendency to be
dangerous strikers in the squared circle. The accolades and
championships held between the two men would practically fill a book! On
March 17th in Portage, these two bulls of very different woods will
collide to determine the dominance of one in the world of pro wrestling!
You can check out a preview video we've made for this massive battle
here:
(We hope to get a
director's account in the next few days, in which case the video will
also be loaded on there).
ALSO ON THE CARD...
Getting his start in the Midwest, Austin Aries rose through the
independent scene like a bullet in 2004, going for relative obscurity to
becoming a finalist in the prestigious East Coast Wrestling
Association's Super Eight Tournament, then gaining a regular roster spot
with Ring of Honor as a member of Generation Next before capping off his
break-out year by becoming the only man in almost two years to defeat
Samoa Joe, gaining his first ROH World Title. Since then he, along with
his partner Roderick Strong, became the longest-reigning ROH World Tag
Team Champions as well as becoming a featured player on Spike TV's TNA
Impact program on Thursday nights.
One young man whose career currently looks to be modelling the beginning
of Aries' meteoric rise is Josh Abercrombie, who much like Aries did,
has been burning up in the Midwestern independent scene for the past two
years, first exclusively in the Michigan independents and then going on
to become the longest-reigning IWA Mid-South Light Heavyweight Champion,
a belt that Aries challenged for at one point, but could not obtain.
Abercrombie has torn through almost any light heavyweight who's come in
his way, such as Jamie Noble (Gibson), Delirious, Matt Sydal, Jerry
Lynn, Tyler Black, and Ruckus. Rarely in the past year has Josh met his
match in the squared circle.
On March 17th, 2007, in Portage, IN at the Camelot Sportsplex, these two
dominant junior heavyweights will collide! Josh Abercrombie will face
Austin Aries!
Here's a preview video that's been made for this upcoming bout:
PLUS...
The independent wrestling world has been a-buzz since this past Saturday
night, as the word has leaked that Claudio Castagnoli's negotiations
with World Wrestling Entertainment had hit a snag, and at least for the
time being, he wouldn't be signing. Castagnoli has exploded in every
promotion he's set foot in since his return to America in Fall 2004, as
fans, wrestlers, and promoters alike can't help but see the immense
wrestling ability that Claudio possesses. That ability has also led
Claudio to becoming one-half of the first Independent Triple Crown Tag
Team Champions, as for a period of time this fall, he and ex-partner
Chris Hero held the Combat Zone Wrestling Tag Team Championship, Ring of
Honor Tag Team Championship, and the Chikara Campeons de Parajas
simultaniously, a feat many teams can only dream of. On March 17th,
Claudio comes into Fight Sports Midwest alone, with a massive test
standing in front of him...
His opponent has dominated the tag team scene in the Southeastern region
of America for the better part of five years now, holding Wildside tag
team gold on five different occasions with three different partners,
then becoming NWA Anarchy Tag Team Champions with fellow Devil's Reject
"The Sleeper Cell" Shaun Tempers. He and long-time tag team partner
Iceberg are also consistantly in the tag title hunt in Alabama-based
promotion IWA Deep South. That's not to say he hasn't been a prominent
singles competitor, as he burst onto the deathmatch scene at the 2004
IWA Mid-South King of the Deathmatches in Oolitic, Indiana, following
that up with strong showings in the next two KOTDM's, as well as winning
IWA Deep South's Carnage Cup in 2005. He's also proven himself as a
worthy grappler, putting in excellent performances in singles bouts with
competitors such as Ian Rotten, Ryan Boz, and Brad Bradley, all
sanctioned under National Wrestling Alliance rules.
On March 17th, Reverend Dan Wilson will lead his monster into
competition, as it will be "The Strong Style Psycho" Tank going
head-to-head with "Double C" Claudio Castagnoli!
JUST SIGNED...
Since the fall of 2003, "The Anarchist" Arik Cannon has been a staple of
the Midwestern independent scene, competing in four consecutive Ted
Petty Invitationals, including winning the IWA Mid-South Heavyweight
Championship from Petey Williams in the 2004 tournament, and being a
finalist in the 2006 competition. Cannon was sidelined with a collarbone
injury during the fall of 2004, right after winning the IWA Title, but
came back and won the belt once again, this time from Jimmy Jacobs, in
January 2006.
The success he's garnered has led to MTV's new wrestling promotion
Wrestling Society X recruiting him as one of the stars of their program.
During his travels to Los Angeles, he's had to deal with one of WSX's
top tag teams, Do It For Her, consisting of the previously-mentioned
Jimmy Jacobs and a man whose path had never previously crossed with
Cannon's directly, in Tyler Black.
Black exploded very early in his career, winning the IWA Mid-South Light
Heavyweight Championship just months after his debut match. His feud
with Josh Abercrombie for that belt, which included a brutal TLC match
and a 30-Minute Iron Man Tables match that saw Tyler dive off of a
basketball goal at one point, is one of the more talked-about rivalries
in recent IWA history. Ever since that feud, Tyler's been touted by many
fans and experts as being a can't-miss future star in professional
wrestling, as he has great size for a junior heavyweight, has proven to
be skilled beyond his years, and can adapt to any style, as proven by
the vicious battle he had with former partner Marek Brave in a
barbed-wire match at All-American Wrestling's "Windy City Classic II"
event in November.
Though Tyler and Cannon had shared a locker room many times before in
the Midwest, tempers really flared at Wrestling Society X, where there
was more of an on-screen emphasis on the cultural lifestyles of the
competitors. The heat really esculated when Cannon, a devout follower of
the punk rock sub-culture, privately aired his distaste with Tyler's
preference for emo music, which he sees as a less-masculine bastard
child of the music that he loves. Of course, Black didn't take kindly to
those words, and a rivalry of bickering has taken place, although due to
not being around one another much due to physical location, they haven't
gotten to air these grievances face-to-face.
Both Cannon and Black have asked for the match, and on March 17th at
Fight Sports Midwest's debut event, "The Anarchist" Arik Cannon will
face Tyler Black!
On top of all of that, we at Fight Sports Midwest have noticed a
resurgeance in tag team wrestling over the past year, an aspect of this
great sport that sadly was almost lost at one point. Thanks to fine
promotions such as Pro Wrestling Guerrilla in California and Ring of
Honor, tag team wrestling is climbing its way back into the professional
wrestling limelight. FSM is not about to be left behind this trend, as
one of our goals is to bring some of the best teams in the country and
give Midwestern wrestling fans a tag team division of their own to be
proud of!
To launch the division, at our first event, we will be holding a
five-team gauntlet bout where two teams will start and after one teams
loses, another team will replace them until all five teams have entered.
The winner of the last fall will be proclaimed the winner of the entire
match. The news of this division forming spread amongst some of the
competitors over the past couple of weeks, and there's already been
talks with both current tag teams and brand new teams, as some singles
wrestlers are looking at this as a hot commodity that they need to hop
on. Over the weeks leading up to this event, more teams will be
announced as they're confirmed. As of now, we can announce the first
team, as they've officially signed their names on the dotted line.
The first team in the gauntlet will be "The All Star" Chuck Taylor, one
of the hottest stars on the indy scene today and the current IWA
Mid-South Heavyweight Champion, and Truth Martini, one of the most
prominent wrestlers to come out of Michigan in years and the man who
trained such stars as Jimmy Jacobs, Alex Shelley, and Zach Gowen. Truth
sees Chuck as having nothing but the utmost potential, but needs
guidance in which Truth feels he can provide to help mold the youngster
into a complete professional wrestler.
On March 17th, Truth & Chuck will join a field of five to determine
preliminary tag team supremacy in Fight Sports Midwest!
As of right now, here's the official card for Fight Sports Midwest on
March 17th in Portage!
***MAIN EVENT***
"The Samoan Submission Machine" SAMOA JOE vs "The Last of a Dying Breed"
EDDIE KINGSTON
***FIRST TIME EVER IN PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING***
"The Wrestling Machine" AUSTIN ARIES vs "The Trendsetter" JOSH
ABERCROMBIE
***HEAVYWEIGHT SHOWDOWN***
"Double C" CLAUDIO CASTAGNOLI vs "The Strong Style Psycho" TANK (w/ Rev.
Dan Wilson)
"The Anarchist" ARIK CANNON vs TYLER BLACK
***TAG TEAM GAUNTLET***
Featuring CHUCK TAYLOR & TRUTH MARTINI, plus FOUR MORE TEAMS!
ALSO FEATURING...
TRIK DAVIS
"Pure Dynamite" BILLY ROC
"Sweet 'n' Sour" LARRY SWEENEY
BRANDON THOMASELLI
"The Psycho Shooter" DRAKE YOUNGER
"Iron Saints" VITO & SAL THOMASELLI
ANN BROOKSTONE (formerly ANN THRAXX)
"The Old Timer" JEFF KING
HYDRA
AND MORE!
***SMART MARK VIDEO FILMING ON MARCH 17TH!***
For those of you who are unable to attend our inaugural event, the fine
folks at Smart Mark Video will be filming this for DVD release, with
expert commentary and analysis from Dave Prazak & Joey Eastman. You can
check out Smart Mark Video on the web for almost all of your independent
wrestling video needs at
www.smartmarkvideo.com!
***SAMOA JOE WRESTLING SEMINAR***
We are thrilled to announce that from 2-4 PM on the afternoon of our
debut event, Samoa Joe will be offering a seminar to trained
professional wrestlers to help better their in-ring skills. This is an
opportunity to get hands-on advice from one of the best wrestlers on the
planet and a great opportunity to improve your game. The seminar will
cost $50, and spots are limited. Please contact
fightsportsmidwest@gmail.com for more information.
***FIGHT SPORTS MIDWEST ON THE WEB!***
Come check us out on MySpace at
www.myspace.com/fightsportsmidwest,
where you can get exclusive information on ticket sales, new matches,
and everything FSM! Also, for exclusive interviews from Fight Sports
Midwest competitors, you can go to
www.youtube.com/fightsportsmidwest.
Currently up are taped comments from Eddie Kingston discussing his
injury and the main event on 3/17, and new comments from many other FSM
combatants will be up on there soon.
Keep an eye on the FSM MySpace, as we will be releasing the info to
order your tickets to this event in the near-future!
FIGHT SPORTS MIDWEST
SATURDAY, March 17, 2007
DOORS OPEN: 6:00 PM
EVENT BEGINS: 7:00 PM
Camelot Sportsplex
5201 U.S. Highway 6
Portage, Indiana
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