LWA Localizes Big Name Talent

LWA localizes big name talent

By Kari Williams
Fans file in to the sports complex, VFW Hall or any other venue where a Lethal Wrestling Alliance (LWA) show will take place, anxiously waiting for the 7:30 bell time. One LWA Superfan and wrestling enthusiast that can be found at the shows is Mike Marnin.

A fan since the age of 10, Marnin has been attending LWA shows for well over a year and has witnessed the presence of mulitple Ring of Honor (ROH) and Total Non-stop Action wrestling (TNA) stars.

“I was at the super card with Alex Shelley, Mike Quackenbush and Davey Richards. I was also there when Austin Aries and Lacey were there. Delirious, MsChif and Daizee Haze. And the show with the Motor City Machine Guns,” Marnin said.

LWA wrestler Pierre Abernathy gives insight on how such stars are booked on an LWA card.

“We just deal with the stars. Through TNA we deal with a guy, but that’s it. All the Ring of Honor guys we’ve brought in, we just deal with them personally,” Abernathy said.

However, much more thought goes into the process of choosing that individual star. Abernathy looks to see who “would be a good fit for [the] product.”

“Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin are really good tag team wrestlers and we had the Submission Squad here who are a really good tag team, so those guys would gel together in the ring. Then you’ve got a bruiser like Samoa Joe wrestling a young, rich guy like Dorian [Victor] who’s in there to beat him up. It’s just more like who is going to fit in really well,” Abernathy said.

The first star to be on an LWA card was Alex Shelley. He appeared on March 17 and waged war against Nick Tyson.

Having wrestled on shows with wrestlers from the ‘big time,’ K.C. Karrington understands the significance of their presence.

“You only get to see them on the internet, youtube [and] all that, or just TV, and actually getting to see them come and work with guys that work in your area…I think it’s great. I mean, it brings the two different worlds together almost,” Karrington said.

After having been in the business for five years, the 20-year-old Karrington feels that any knowledge he can gain from the TNA and ROH wrestlers is time well wasted.

“It gives us as workers a chance to pick their brains, get them to watch what we’re doing in the ring, and get any pointers, just the littlest thing you can get from a big name guy—a guy that’s actually been out on the road, been to the big time, just the smallest thing to a guy that’s working the indies, that’s more important than just about anything you can learn from anybody,” Karrington said.

Fellow LWA wrestler Gary the Barn Owl, who has been wrestling for almost four years, recognizes the importance of the TNA and ROH talent as well.

“Just about everybody we’ve brought in or that come in we learn something from. There’s always a different aspect that we don’t think of because we’re inside the box, and they’re more outside the box,” Gary said.

On the May 3 Mike Johnson Benefit show in House Springs, Mo., Abernathy had the opportunity to face ROH star Delirious.

“He was amazing to wrestle. He teaches you little things you don’t even think about, that he points out, and it makes sense. As far as the company, it just helps elevate the company. He’s just one more guy we’ve brought in who made an impact on a national level that has helped out our company,” Abernathy said.

Karrington has similar thoughts.

“Having actual big names coming in, it brings in the people that you wouldn’t normally see at a show. It introduces them to independent wrestling, and then we get more people supporting the Indies,” Karrington said.

Since attending Yuletide Terror 2006, where Gary defeated Adam Raw to claim his first LWA Championship, Marnin’s favorite big name match was naturally the triple threat, which pitted Evan Gelistico, Mike Quackenbush and Gary against each other, because Quackenbush is his “favorite wrestler of all time.”

Gary can testify to the quality of that match.

“I’d probably say Alex Shelley is probably the most known one. Davey Richards is a really solid worker. I worked Evan [Gelistico] and Mike Quackenbush in a three way, and I thought it was great. Overall, I think the fans accept it. They like it. They like seeing new people come in,” Gary said.

Personally, Marnin would like to see stars like “Bryan Danielson, Christopher Daniels, Claudio Castagnoli and Chris Hero. All of these guys are phenomenal wrestlers and would be great against some of the LWA talent.” However, his first choice would be A.J. Styles.

“He may be a heel but he is one of the best wrestlers in the world,” Marnin said.

Showing his love for the sport, and the LWA specifically, Marnin said, “If there is anyone out there who loves wrestling LWA is the place to be!”

Wrestling Hooks Fans In An Elusive Chokehold

Wrestling Hooks Fans in an Elusive Chokehold

By Kari Williams
It floats in the air, mixing with the smoke that just lifted from the cigarette being held by the elderly man sitting two rows in front of me. As I look around, watching wrestlers walk back and forth, talking to fans and acquaintances, it hovers above them, below them and around them. It even consumes them—both the fans and the wrestlers.

But what is, it?

It is a feeling, an emotion, that one moment in time when you feel that you are a part of something special. That is what wrestling is all about anyway, isn’t it?

When Shawn Michaels retired Ric Flair, you knew there was something special about that moment, but you couldn’t quite put your finger on it could you? But you had to be there. You had to be a part of it?

But what is, it?

It is the drive to succeed, to overcome the evil hell hounds that have been nipping at your heels. That single moment in time in which your whole life flashes before your eyes. You see yourself growing up, chasing it and doing your best to capture it. That is what wrestling is all about anyway, isn’t it?

When Eddie Guerrero defeated Brock Lesnar at No Way Out 2003 to win his first Heavyweight Title you cheered for him, didn’t you? You knew that his whole life culminated at the exact moment he raised that belt above his head for the very first time. He felt it.

But what is, it?

Honestly, I do not think there is an answer to that question. Asking what that intangible entity is that keeps fans coming back to wrestling time and again is like asking how to find the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. You do not know if there is a pot of gold, you just live your life searching for it — even if is turns out to be an illusive trick.

Something compels you to watch wrestlers sacrifice their bodies and souls. May 17 in East Carondelet, Jeff Hawkins, Phil E. Blunt, Steve Montana and Jeremy Lightfoot went at each other in a Hardcore Match. A Mick Foley-like 2 X 4 wrapped in barbed-wire, a staple gun and a steel chair, among other inanimate objects that were used as weapons to smother and utterly destroy the competitors.

But why did they do it? Why did they go to that length, put themselves through that brutal of a match, only to leave that night with bumps and bruises and multiple staple holes in their body?

For the same reason that Shawn Michaels retired Ric Flair, the same reason that Eddie Guerrero won the Heavyweight Title — they knew what it was, even if it did not enter their conscience at the time.