13 Years of Blood, Sweat, & Tears: 2005

On May 15th Northeast Championship Wrestling presented its Thirteen Year REUNION from the Elks Lodge in West Warwick, RI. Beginning in 1997 a group of friends banded together to create their own brand of professional wrestling, and a unique, one of a kind experience would follow. In this special retrospective one of NCW’s founding fathers John C. Howard looks back at the history of NCW from his own eyes. The following opinions are his own however, and do not reflect the views of Northeast Championship Wrestling in any way.

A Reunion in the making…

Having left everything on the proverbial table, coming back to wrestling after so long seemed like a daunting task. Could I recreate the magic we once had? Would I be able to bring back the stable of wrestlers I once coveted? Would we be able to survive in the new landscape of New England wrestling? These were all questions running through my head, but the fear and trepidation I had only made it more exciting for the impending return. Wrestling was exciting again!

The first step in NCW’s comeback tour was finding a venue. Natick had an aborted wrestling fiasco and raised their rent. Bristol had become over saturated and died a slow death, and Seekonk was NOT an option as far as I was concerned. Kilgore suggested checking out a building in West Warwick, an Elks Lodge we attempted to get three years earlier. To my surprise, the building was willing to play ball and without hesitation I booked the date immediately. February 19th, 2005 would be NCW’s first event since 2002, and what I envisioned to be the hardest part of the job ended up being the easiest. The tough part was getting the band back together.

As I eluded to in the previous article the wrestling landscape had changed dramatically since NCW’s hiatus, and there was a brand new crop of talent waiting to break out and dominate. While I was interested in bringing a new crop of characters into the fold, I couldn’t ignore the guys that brought us to the dance so to speak.

Ruy was obviously back in, considering he was still recognized as the Heavyweight Champion, while the usual suspects like Triplelicious, Kilgore, MTE, and Venom followed shortly thereafter. Knowing that Emerald Fuzion had split, I contacted each member of Fuzion separately. Blade was ascending to the top of the PWF mountain, becoming one of the biggest fan favorites in the company and a shoe in to become the next PWF Heavyweight Champion. Being the class act that he was, he signed on to return to NCW at REUNION while my next call was more bittersweet than anything. Not realizing how much time had passed since I spoke to him last, I called Mike Paiva to find out the man had retired from active competition along with his girlfriend Mercedez. Keeping a promise he made to me a year earlier, Paiva agreed to return to the ring in West Warwick, if for only one night.

Next up on my wish list I found another tough pill to swallow, as The Elements of Suicide found themselves on the verge of retirement, preparing for their final match at PWF’s Genesis event weeks before REUNION. It was tough to see two of my favorite wrestlers leave, and was even tougher realizing they’d never compete in NCW again either. Trying to keep a semblance of “old” NCW, I brought former Tag Team Champion Moco back for REUNION, as well as TJ Richter. Looking to reinvent and expand on what came before, big plans were put in place for former 69 Degree member and referee Paul Hudson who would also return that night.

Considering NCW never had “TV” to begin with, a Unification Match was set up for REUNION when the Television Champion “Bad Boy” Billy Black would face the New England Champion Michael Sain, with the winner walking out the unified New England Champion.

Thanks to Kilgore and Venom, we recruited a group of Slamtech students to make their debut, notably some kid in a skirt named Doug Summers, Rocco Abruzzi, Paul Lombardi, and the NCW superfan who used to cheer on Ruy Batello, Timothy Pittman.

Our Main Event was announced weeks in advance that Batello would defend his NCW Championship against “Revolution” Chris Venom, as Venom had just spent the better part of a year as the top dog in NECW and looked to keep his momentum by dethroning “The Portuguese Sensation” at NCW’s REUNION.

Before I continue I will preface what’s to come by saying that five years later I hold no ill will towards anyone, and that the past is the past for a reason. Writing this has been a cathartic experience and has made me appreciate things as much as its made my blood boil. Indy Wrestling is Indy Wrestling, and at the end of the day we all go home to our ‘real lives’. I respect Matt Storm for everything he’s done for me, and everything he taught me about the New England wrestling world. Kyle Storm I have never known well enough to form a true opinion, but based on history I’d say he looks out for his own  and is very protective of his ‘wrestling family’. I can get on board with that, though I don’t necessarily agree with how he goes about it. “Bad Boy” Billy Black is a piece of shit, a backstabber, and a fake. The years I spent working with Rob I thought I learned a lot about him, and vice verse.  Upon NCW’s imminent return, I spoke with “Bad Boy” at least twice a week and felt he would be an integral part of the new NCW puzzle, a veteran to help lead the locker room. That didn’t happen (as you’ll read), and it pissed me off. Maybe if he ever has the nerves to talk with me and clear the air my opinion will change, but that’s for another day.

Game. Set. Match.

With only a couple weeks until the big event a group of us went down to PWF MayheM’s Genesis (during NCW’s sabbatical Mad Dog’s former hardcore promotion MayheM invaded PWF, creating a chaotic nWo like atmosphere for the promotion. Eventually the two companies would become ‘one’) to witness Jason Blade winning the PWF Heavyweight Championship while EOS competed in their final battle against PRIDE (the former Score).  It was overall a great show, but my gut began to tell me that there was a level of animosity growing between PWF and myself.

Days before REUNION, I found out that my Main Event was ruined. Chris Venom, who was in California on vacation was not going to make it back into Rhode Island in time for the show, essentially putting the kibosh on my Heavyweight Title Match. With my back up against the wall and nowhere left to turn, the best idea I could come up with was bringing Jason Blade in to challenge Ruy for the NCW Championship. The idea was thrown around originally when we began planning the show, and had been toying with the idea of bringing back Sean Gorman to manage a cocky and overconfident Blade. The plan was dropped once we found out Blade was winning the PWF Championship, but the idea of smarmy, heelish Blade was too awesome to pass up. When we pitched the idea Blade seemed hesitant (understandably considering his Superman push was in full effect), but was willing to work Batello nonetheless.

Once word began trickling down that I was booking Batello vs. Blade the floodgates began to open. Was I trying to bury the PWF Champion? No. Was I trying to give paying fans the best match they possible could get? Si. The day of the event I got a call from Blade. After talking over things with Mad Dog, Blade wanted to let me know there was no way he could lose to Ruy in West Warwick. Oh man. It’s like I’m in Montreal without the french assholes  or mayo on my burger.

The stress of everything was getting to me, and a couple of times I questioned whether coming back was the right move. Thankfully the energy of situation also helped me persevere and continue with  my attempts to bring the magic back. REUNION came, and went off without a hitch.

While I did everything to keep the old guard in place, I saw the new blood thrive in their new environment, proving that the future was brighter with them at the helm rather than focus on the past. The brightest part of the show was the emergence of Doug Summers as a main player within the promotion.

When I first met Doug he was leading “The Doug Summers Experience” in Ringside Wrestling, utilizing the services of Rocco Abruzzi and “Make-A-Wish” Scotty Vegas (who?) to become an ultra sarcastic rulebreaker. Looking beyond the skirt and the attitude, all I could see was charisma. Oodles and oodles of charisma. With the kind of presence he showed in the ring, all I could picture was how he’d take NCW by storm. I wasn’t wrong.

Another bright spot from the newbies was “The Powerhouse” himself, Timothy Pittman.  I was enamored with the idea of a legit NCW fan growing up to become a wrestler IN NCW. I will never ever take credit for anything Tim Pittman’s done in his wrestling career, since it’s always been him. I would however like to think that what we did back then inspired someone to think “Hey, maybe I could do that”, and they did. Tim teamed up with “The Full Effect” Mike Paiva & Derik Destiny (w/ Mercedez) taking on Tim Kilgore, Triplelicious & MTE (w/ Me) and sparking a spirited rivalry between MTE and Pittman in the process. If by spirited I mean Pittman beating MTE mercilessly.

In the Title Unification Match, “Bad Boy” Billy Black was victorious over Michael Sain in what many may consider ‘bowling shoe ugly’ (thanks Jim Ross). Michael Sain has always been one of my favorite big men, and is incredibly talented, and Billy Black was a very intense individual that could brawl with the best of them. Unfortunately the two didn’t click well with each other, and the match continued along until Black unified the Television Title into the New England belt. Despite this big push, Black was still an overall douchebag in the locker room.

Throughout the night Black kept trying to instigate things between the NCW crew and Jason Blade. At one point “Bad Boy” kept threatening to untie his boots and leave the building, taking the PWF Champion with him. “HEY ALLEN!” has become a staple in our locker room will make me laugh until the end of time, so for that I do say thank you Mr. Black.

Before the Main Event, Sean Gorman came out to help welcome back NCW and set up the Heavyweight Title Match. In the years that have followed Gorman has become a pretty big deal in the New England indy scene. Regularly appearing in NECW, Chaotic, and Top Rope Gorman has created a great niche for himself and love to see him doing so well. “The Mouthpiece of the East” was out there to tease an eventual pairing between him and Blade, but alas that was never to be. Batello and Blade ended up having a great match, and showed that when motivated Ruy could still go with the best of them. In the end both men wrestled each other to a double countout, an ending that definitely deflated the West Warwick crowd. It was a necessary evil, and one we couldn’t avoid with Venom unable to make the match.

All in all REUNION was a mixed bag. It was great to have the gang back together, and it was an interesting experience to sprinkle the new guys in with them. The biggest issue was the overall lack of focus, and no direction for the promotion itself. No one knew for sure if this would be a one night return, or a full fledged comeback. No one except for me.

Big City Nights

With REUNION behind us, I decided that we would return to the West Warwick Elks Lodge in April for the 2005 Big City Rumble. While our anniversary show was an evening of highs and lows, Kilgore and Venom convinced me that the best way to move forward was to keep the new generation initiative going.

As I began coordinating the Big City Rumble, a silly “war” seemed to be brewing between NCW and PWF MayheM. With the PWF Training Center being housed out of a small building in North Providence, RI the promotion held monthly events right from their own facility, bringing a lively atmosphere to the energetic crowd. One night before a show, someone had put an NCW Flyer on the front of the building for all to see. I will tell you right now that no one from NCW put that flyer there, and was done to purposely stir the shit between us and them. Kilgore and I went to many events at the PWF Center, enjoying ourselves thoroughly. If we were going to blow things out of proportion, we wouldn’t attend their events. Things began to escalate from there, as PWF then posted a notice on the front of their door stating they reserved the right to refuse admittance to whomever they saw fit.

A couple of weeks before the Rumble, I received a letter in the mail from the alleged Athletic Commission of Rhode Island, threatening to shut our show down. For the uninitiated, the RI State Athletic Commission was an archaic relic of the 1960’s, when professional wrestling was tied to pro boxing and the ‘rules’ were enforced with an iron fist. I put rules in quotations because most of them were inspired by the carnival aspect of old wrestling, and were quite ridiculous. Many of these State laws prompted Vince McMahon Jr. to establish his promotion as Sports Entertainment in the 80’s to avoid the insane legislation.

There was always mystery surrounding the RI Commission, and no one knew for sure if they even still existed. Guy Mederios has been one of the only people to actually converse with someone from the offices, while Matt & Kyle also supposedly spoke to people from within the hallowed halls. The discrepancy’s over what was real and what wasn’t was becoming too much to bear, and when I got this letter in the mail stating that because the Elks Lodge was selling alcohol at the facility during the NCW event, it was breaching protocol and we would be shut down while the Elks would have their liquor license taken away also. Now I’m no lawyer, but with no telephone number to contact “The Commission”, and no way to contact my alleged government officials I couldn’t figure out how this was legitimate. I became more suspicious when upon further investigation the header and “official seal” of the letter seemed to have been taken directly from the website, and pasted into MS Word. I called shenanigans, and decided to forge ahead with the event regardless of the idle threats.

The 2005 Big City Rumble would feature more new talent than ever, as Kilgore and I brought in a variety of competitors to spearhead our NCW Uprising. “The Pinnacle” Paul Lombardi, who was on the verge of breaking out big in New England would challenge Ruy Batello for the NCW Championship, while New England Champion “Bad Boy” Billy Black was set to defend his NE Title against “Hot Stuff” Paul Hudson. In addition to those who debuted at REUNION, The Rumble would also mark the debuts of Afterburn (Ray Diamond & PC Cruz), The Wisconsin Badger, The Highlanders (Zack Static & Kristian Frost), Osirus, The Wisconsin Beaver, Nocturne, Rob Impact, The Wisconsin Beatbox, Cenobite, Lil’ Davey Loomis, Joey Grunge (!), Timmy Wright (who?), “Buttery” Bert Williams, and some kid named Jon Thornhill (w/ Amber!). Not all moved on beyond this show, but it was an interesting experience to have the varied talent for the event nonetheless.

The night before the Big City Rumble, PWF MayheM was running one of their events in North Providence with our esteemed New England Champion “Bad Boy” Billy Black talking shit throughout the night, spewing rumors that our show was being shut down, etc. I had about twelve different people call me asking if the event was still happening after the PWF show concluded, with Black being the main instigator. Despite the BS I promised that if our show was being shut down by The Powers That Be I was going to put up a fight. There was talk of spoofing the Commission the night of the Rumble, bringing out a “representative” and getting his ass kicked by Ruy Batello, but after realizing it was too close to parody (Right To Censor anyone?) we opted against it.

When “Bad Boy” failed to appear for his scheduled Title Match against “Hot Stuff” (big shocker there) the referee counted him out, forfeiting the match and awarding the New England Title to Hudson. Hudson then took the challenge of Jon Thornhill, a kid I figured I’d never see again. Thornhill was working a character in PWF as a ‘wrestling hybrid’, which didn’t make much sense to me at the time. He ended up wrestling a great match against Hudson however, making me believe there was more to offer from the high flyer.

MTE and Timothy Pittman continued their intense rivalry, as “The Superfan” disposed of Tootsie in short order. Young Rob Impact did his best to make an impact at the expense of Michael Sain, but eventually fell prey to the vicious monster. Though “Dynamite” Doug came up short in his efforts at REUNION against Hudson, he picked up a big victory against Nocturne while holding his own in the Rumble Match as well.  NCW Champion “The Portuguese Sensation” Ruy Batello successfully defended his Title against Lombardi, but it seemed the reigning Champion lost a step since his last match and seemed visibly fatigued following the match. In the 2005 Rumble itself “Revolution” Chris Venom picked up the victory, earning the Title Match he couldn’t have at REUNION.

The event was another mixed bag, with some highs and many lows. Without a definitive direction for the promotion we were just treading water while trying to gain some footing. “Bad Boy’s” prophecy did not come true, and the show went down as planned. Some of the new talent began to click, while others just weren’t fitting in to NCW overall. Needing to regroup and plan our future, we decided to hold off our next event until October.

There is no future but what we make it

Looking ahead, I had to take a hard look at what was working and what wasn’t.

What was working: Doug Summers rise to fan favorite prominence… Tim Kilgore & MTE, The Fighting Tootsies, using their weird chemistry to form a united front… “Hot Stuff” Paul Hudson, becoming a go-to guy when we needed him the most. Paul had grown leaps and bounds during NCW’s sabbatical, and turned into one of the most well rounded competitors in the area… Tim Pittman, establishing himself as more than a fan right out of the gate and showcasing his undeniable personality… The prospects of Davey Loomis, Rob Impact, and Cenobite. Though they were all greener than grass at this point, all three guys showed unlimited potential to what they could accomplish with the right guidance and structure.

What wasn’t working: Though Ruy Batello was a great source of inspiration for the NCW locker room, you could tell the Champ was run down and not as motivated as he used to be… The lack of tag team wrestling in the promotion. Being one of the biggest tag team marks alive, it was disheartening when Emerald Fuzion split up and vacated the Tag Team Championship. One of the biggest things the NCW revival needed was a tag team division, and finding the right teams to put together… Joey Grunge. Hell, I don’t even know how he showed up in NCW. Oh yeah, now I remember. Thanks Zac.

Looking to branch out of Rhode Island, we were able to secure the Jacob Jones VFW Post in Dedham, MA for the October event. The VFW was initially hesitant to hold wrestling since The Painter (currently known as Moondog Maximus) allegedly stiffed the building on a payday when his wrestling event didn’t draw anymore than Jon Thornhill’s family.

Heading into NO FEAR (our answer for not backing down against any adversity) we began piecing together the future of our company. Though I was sick for most of the night, I’ll never forget the atmosphere with our first appearance at the Jacob Jones Post. The city of Dedham immediately connected with NCW, and a new home was made that night without a doubt. We got a front page color article in the Daily Times, and the kids were just buzzing all night long.

In the Main Event NCW New England Champion “Hot Stuff” Paul Hudson defended his Title against Doug Summers, in a match that cemented Doug’s status as an NCW powerhouse. Despite having a 102 degree fever, Hudson went into the Match giving 110% and giving Summers the match of his young career until Doug was able to hit his ‘beautiful disaster’ knee crusher for the upset victory. His first singles Title, my faith in Summers proved to be a good bet for both of us, as he helped establish the new generation of NCW.

Speaking of Generations, NO FEAR marked a very special moment in NCW history when Timothy Pittman teamed up with Jon Thornhill (w/ Amber!) to form Generation SLAM, winning the vacant Tag Team Championship in the first Tag Team Invitational in front of the Dedham fanatics. Despite a promo earlier in the night that nearly killed the crowd (thank you MTE and Slim Whitman), the four way Invitational struck a cord with our new audience, providing us with a classic encounter and the birth of a new tag team rivalry between Gen SLAM and The Maine State Posse 2.0. There’s a saying you’re only as good as the one you’re working, and part of Generation SLAM’s initial success has to be attributed to Scotty “By GOD” Vegas and Alex Chamberlin, two friends from Maine who immediately made an impact as a tandem unit.

Ruy Batello was set to defend his Championship against Derik Destiny, a beloved fan favorite who had turned to the dark side while embracing his old school roots. While Destiny was extremely talented, I always felt he was wasted in the role of “Schoolboy” Derik Destiny. Giving him an open microphone and the resources he needed, Destiny created The Original Kings of Old School [TOKOOS] with “Textbook” Dean Porteau. Who was “Textbook”? That would be the former Beast, reformed and brought back into society with his old friend Destiny. Dean ran in during the Championship Match, helping Destiny destroy the Champion. Paul Lombardi also jumped into the fray, looking for payback following his loss at the Big City Rumble.

In an attempt to establish the credentials of amateur wrestling sensation Davey Loomis, former NCW Champion Richard Pacifico returned for one night only to challenge the NCW rookie. Pacifico hadn’t been seen in NCW since 2001, and was going through some medical issues during NCW’s sabbatical. His triumphant return was short lived however, as Loomis made short work of Pacifico while stretching him out in his ‘banana split’ finisher. Rob Impact, still trying to find his footing in the promotion went up against Rocco Abruzzi, putting up a great fight in the process.

With NO FEAR behind us, I started to feel confident in NCW’s direction. With a solid mix of old & new, the era of good feelings began in Northeast Championship Wrestling for the first time in a long while. While ending the year on a high note, 2006 would be another roadblock with building NCW’s future…

But that’s a story for another time.

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