By Trey Cobb
Big Time Pro Wrestling “Lords of the Ring” shook the Jewel City on March 4th with hard hitting action from Madman Pondo, Riley Matthews, and newly crowned Big Time Wrestling Champion, the fighting machine known as Omega.
The first match of the evening featured Riley Matthews and Rachel Armstrong, who finished Matthews with a textbook 450 splash, ending on a high note as the two showed respect for one another by shaking hands.
While the night opened with a technical showing for the Big Time Wrestling Women’s Championship, the match that followed was a bloodbath, sans blood (since we were in a church recreational center).
The vibe shifted from technical to hardcore as Madman Pondo and Mickie Knuckles dominated the night’s sole tag team match, working mostly outside the ring. Madman Pondo and Mickie Knuckles are an intergender tag team, two thirds of Team No Respect, who batter their opponents with street signs and saw blades.
While classifying Pondo as a “Hardcore Wrestler” is perhaps unfair, he certainly excels in a no DQ atmosphere, attacking his opponents with a chain — “chain” wrestling as described by Pondo himself. He is also the only wrestler I’ve ever seen use a straight up knife in a wrestling match.
Promoter Freddie Cornell set us up to interview Madman Pondo after the brutal tag team affair.
This is what he had to say to HNN:
Trey Cobb: What happened out there tonight?
Madman Pondo: Me and Mickie Knuckles, we just do what we do man. They wanted us to fight in the ring…we don’t do that, we like fighting outside the ring. But when the second rope broke, we thought…why do anything in the ring? Let’s go out.
TC: How did Team No Respect come about?
MMP: There’s a third member named Duke the Nuke. We decided for a third member that we needed somebody mean, and vicious, and evil…and we couldn’t find anyone so we got Mickie Knuckles.
TC: What’s in the world for Madman Pondo?
MMP: I wrote a book! If you want an autographed copy you can get it at eatsleepwrestle.com, or if you’re looking for a Madman Pondo T-Shirt you can get one at d deathmatchworldwide.com…any deathmatch worker that’s a deathmatch worker has a t-shirt on there right now.
Team No Respect earned a hard fought victory in the “No-Middle Rope Huntington Street Fight”, picking up the victory after a stop sign to the head/senton combo. The beat down didn’t stop after the bell however; not even outside interference could stop Mickie Knuckles from dragging a saw blade across her opponent. Finally Pondo and Knuckles exited, raising their hands in victory as the carnage was brought back to order.
One of the brightest rising stars promoted by Big Time Wrestling is AJ Vest out of Columbus, Ohio. Lacking no confidence, AJ kicked his feet up on the top rope, resting in the corner as his opponent Jack Phoenix entered.
We were fortunate enough to catch AJ after the match for a quick interview. Here’s the transcript of our chat with the self proclaimed “Vest thing to happen to professional wrestling”:
Trey Cobb: Could you tell us who you are?
AJ Vest: I am genetically superior. I am an incredible athlete and I am up and coming in the professional wrestling business…I am the “Vest” thing to ever happen to professional wrestling. I’ll tell you that right now.
TC: How long have you been in the business?
AJ: I’ve been in the business for about two years now…I debuted actually in a match almost exactly one year and 11 months ago, I’d say. So pretty new.
TC: Where are you from?
AJ: Cincinnati, Ohio, but my real home is Shady Spring, West Virginia. That’s where I was born. I love this state and coming to wrestle here is really enjoyable for me. Means a lot.
TC: What’s the craziest experience you’ve had so far in wrestling?
AJ: One time when I was only a few weeks into the business, I had a match and my tag team partner and I bumped heads in the match and his tooth got caught in my gear…I didn’t find out that it was still in my gear until about a week later. I still have that tooth actually to this day.
TC: (Laughing) That’s a nice surprise though.
AJ: (Smiles) It is a nice little surprise. It’s means we’re tag team partners for life.
TC: What’s in the works for AJ Vest?
AJ: I’ve actually started making my name down in Ohio Valley Wrestling. Of course everyone knows that’s where a lot of the big names in this business were at some point or another. Brock Lesner, John Cena, those kind of guys. Then of course I’m still wrestling in the Northern Wrestling Federation almost every single week. I’m down here a lot, so hopefully I’ll get a (prowrestlingtees.com) store here in a few weeks. You can follow me on all social medias @ajvestknows.
Though Phoenix won the match — taking the arrogant Vest down a peg — the bout was not one-sided. AJ’s willingness to bend the rules worked quite well in his favor, though not as well as Jack Phoenix’s German suplex.
Phoenix exited the arena, celebrating his victory with BTW fans while AJ Vest thrashed about the ring in a tantrum over losing the match — how sportsmen like!
Big Time Wrestling “Lords of the Ring” boasted an attendance number of over 200 people and featured way too much action to fit into just one story.
If you want to know more about Big Time Wrestling, or if you’d like to see the spectacle in person, the stars of BTW are headed to to the Fort Gay Community Center on March 17th, and the Wayne High School Gymnasium March 18th.
For more information visit https://www.facebook.com/BIGTIMEPROWRESTLING?mibextid=LQQJ4d
