New Year started off with a bang last weekend! Two shows with Megaslam wrestling. No time to ease back into it as we had a crowd of 500 on the Saturday evening and over 300 on the Sunday afternoon.
This weekend, I was back to being my Russian alter ego, whose name is now changed permanently to Boris Koslov. Easier to remember for people and Boris is actually a real name! I found out last year Radik is not even a proper name in Russia - damn you Fifa 2003 (the game I originally took my Russian name from).
A Mexican in Halifax
The first night was in Halifax and I would be against Ligero in the main event. The show kicked off with a promo (that's me talking for those who don't know), as I came out and shouted in my broken English about how I am the best etc etc. A luke warm start, but I felt I got my point across as much as a mad shouting Russian can in a Halifax leisure centre. One huge positive - now it is freezing January, I am grateful for my Russian hat and coat entrance gear!
I was pleased with the match. It can sometimes be hard in leisure centres to obtain a good atmosphere, but I felt we had the crowd with us at the end. So much so that children were bombarding ringside trying to steal my flag to save their favourite Mexican! The swines! Well unfortunately for them I still got my hit in, but unfortunately for me I was soon on my back getting flattened by a flying Ligero!
This match did also feature my rendition (butchering) of the Russian National Anthem during the match itself (usually I do this pre-match). A cocky move! Apparently attempting to sing my opponent into submission is not a good tactic!
An American in Altrincham
Sunday afternoon I would be against Sam Adonis. Sam is the current champion at All Star wrestling and has wrestled all over the world including a brief stint in WWE. It was great to be in there with someone with that experience and I learnt a lot from it.
However, I almost didn't make it through the entrances! As I cowardly tried to escape the ring as my opponent entered, I tripped over the ropes and almost broke my own neck as I fell to the outside. People watching assumed it was part of the show. It wasn't.... just me being clumsy. As an aside this is the third random fall I have taken recently. Once during a 5k race, once during paintball and now this. I seem to struggle to stay on my own two feet nowadays. Thank God I can still sing!
Despite the fall (which I think actually added to the match quite nicely), the match went without a hitch. Like with Ligero, I could tell I was in there with a real pro and it was good to wrestle two people with such experience in my first two matches back.
Grapple Update
This weekend also saw the opening of the new school for Grapple. Marty Jones headed up a huge class of 31 at our brand new training centre at Fight Science in Leeds. A great start to the year and a positive sign of things to come.
The upcoming show this weekend in York is shaping up nicely and pre-sales are looking good. It is great to see all the trainees banding together and help out with promotion. That is also the case for various fund raising schemes we have going to purchase a new ring. Thanks to Marty for pushing the raffle ideas and Mark Rolls for starting a Rumble Sweepstake too. Plenty of other ideas too, which I'm sure I will be telling you about in upcoming weeks.
Final Thoughts
Thanks once again to Megaslam for using me this weekend and all the other bookings I have lined up. I am incredibly excited about where this year will take me. A great couple of shows and opponents. I look forward to the upcoming weekend.
Thanks for reading!
JCT