UCW invades the OC and my heart.

This weekend, Bratch and I attended an event, an event we have not attended in close to 20 years. We attended some real live professional wrestling. A few weeks back, we went to SC to visit Merlin and French Toast and the Little Rascals and I found out that there was going to be professional wrestling at the local high school that same weekend. I joked about how we should have postpone the trip so we could attend the event, but I was only really half joking. This event was going to have former WWE stars Test and Billy Gunn and current TNA stars on the card and it has been many years since “real” wrestlers have been in the county. To top everything off, the legendary “Superstar” Bill Dundee was going to be there.

As a child living in BD we were exposed the WWF wrestling and wrestling out of the Memphis area that we called “Channel 7 Wrestling” because of the channel it came on. This wrestling was much better than WWF and actually in later years supplied the WWF with its major stars. We are talking Randy Savage, Ric Rude, The Undertaker, anyone who was anyone wrestled in Memphis. My personal top 5 wrestlers in Memphis all time are:
1. Jerry Lawler
2. Bill Dundee
3. Randy Savage
4. The Fabulous Ones
5. P Y Chu Hi (not really, I just liked the name)

As you can see by my ranking I loves me some Bill Dundee. I thought that weekend would be the last to see the “Superstar” someone I would much rather see than Merlin, let’s be honest. Thank the stars I got a second chance this past Saturday. The UCW group was having another show at the OC fair grounds and Dundee was scheduled to appear. Also scheduled were a couple of brothers with the last name of Maddox, Merlin I am sure knows the brothers I am referring to. Apparently they have become real deal professional wrestlers, at least as real deal as you can be wrestling in the OC.

At first I wondered if I really did want to go, but Bratch would not be denied. He was going come hell or high water, so I decided to take him. We arrive about 30 minutes before the first match. We get out of the truck and begin the journey to Building #2 in which the matches will take place. I noticed a car had just pulled in and parked and the trunk opened up. I saw one of those metal suitcases and surmised this to be a wrestler’s car and I was right. Out of the car stepped the “Superstar” himself. I froze and just kept walking. I couldn’t believe that I couldn’t say anything to a 55 year old wrestler whose best days are well behind him, I am a geek.

We made it to the front door and as soon as I opened the door I realized this might not be great idea. There were about 20 people in there, most belonging to the White Trash classification of the species. Bratch’s and my IQ dropped 70 points; I guess that is why I paid for our admission. We see our friend, Roach, ringside and we go and sit down. The whole time I was there waiting for the show to start I couldn’t believe I had not gotten up and ran from the building. Finally around 50 to 60 people arrive and half appear to not realize that pro wrestling is scripted and the other half are drunk and/or high on crank.

The show began and wrestlers I had never heard of kept coming out and after a bit, I realized that this wasn’t so bad. Even Bratch was having a good time. I must explain that when I watch wrestling, I do not necessarily cheer and yell, at least not for the “good guys.” I always enjoy it when the “bad guys” win and I am just looking for some entertainment. I like to sit back and watch the fans that seem to suspend too much belief get into the matches by cussing the wrestlers and threatening to beat them up after the show.

I got my first good dose of entertainment in the second match. The entertainment was Ryan Dookie who did not have the look but had the charisma of a wrestler. Another named Eric Young was so good I actually went home that night to see him on Spike TV because he is a part of TNA wrestling. Young did a running commentary throughout his match, and because there were only 50 or 60 people in attendance you could hear him the whole time. He made the whole night worthwhile.

There was an intermission and Bratch and I went outside to debate as to whether or not to return and we met some drunken dude who inquired if he could relieve himself behind Bratch’s truck. Bratch told him to go for it and the whole time this jackass was taking a leak he was talking about how he was going to jump the “bad guy” wrestlers after the show. He would make sure they would never come back to the OC again. He was probably right because they would have murdered this a-hole and would be imprisoned. We decide to go back in and we find out our judge executive is taking part in the show. It turns out he is the wrestling fan’s candidate.

The intermission ends and the main event begins. The “Superstar” came out with the younger Maddox brother to wrestle against Mike Samples (the Maddox’s trainer) and a masked wrestler taking the place of a wrestler who no showed. We all began trying to guess the masked wrestler's name, we thought about the Invader, Mr. Wrestling, Bratch even came up with a member of the great Memphis tag team, Rough and Ready. We were all wrong the man in the mask was…The Phantom, dun, dun, duuuuuun. The match was pretty good, the Maddox boy got beat pillar to post and Bill Dundee got the crowd into the match, but he probably had some help from Budweiser and crank, nevertheless. The match ended with Dundee rolling up Samples for the pin and the show ended.

As I look back on this night I guess we had a pretty good time but I am left with a few questions. Who did I feel the most embarrassment for? The wrestlers who appear on Spike TV every week because they had to come to the OC to wrestle in front of 50 rednecks? The judge executive for appearing at the show? For us being seen by the judge executive at the show? Whatever the case, I feel like I will be going back to embarrass myself again and I know Bratch will drag me there no matter what.