Ted Petty Invitational!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Dang, I’m behind in updating this again…
Friday, Sept. 23: The trip to IWA-Mid South consists of Becca, Ann Thraxx, Nate Bash and myself. This was just a really fun road trip, and the conversation flowed nicely. Unfortunately, we didn’t leave Eau Claire until around noon, which meant…
TRAFFIC JAM in Chicago. UGH. I have done the Friday afternoon traffic thing way too often this summer in Chi-town. It took us nearly two hours to make a trek that takes about 45 minutes at night, when the road is clear.
We make it to Hammond, Ind., and I had a blast. Night one had some off matches - Puma vs. Skayde should have been better, Bradley-Tank and Steen-Webb were too short - but it was a good night of wrestling. I was really, REALLY upset that A.J. Styles was not on the show! I question why Styles and Homicide missed this weekend of wrestling, but nonetheless, a great weekend of wrestling.
After the show, we hit a restaurant, and considering it was 2 a.m., I thought the food was good. Good chats with Hero, American Dragon, Cabana, Joey Ryan, El Generico, Delirious and Matt Sydal. Most of the wrestlers are upbeat, because they knew it was a good show, even without Styles, etc.
Back to the hotel at 2:30 a.m.! We all sneak into one room…. My group, plus Wayne, Darin Corbin, Ryan Cruz and Arik Cannon. Sure, the eight of us packed into one room, but it worked. Unfortunately, Nate Bash had the most uncomfortable-looking spot on the floor… and I don’t know how he slept at all!
The next three hours is perhaps one of the best road trip memories I’ll ever have. We talked, with the lights out, until 6 a.m. Lots of laughing and joking. Becca - who is usually so reserved - cut down Cannon so hard that everyone in the room laughed loudly. Funny stuff. Darin Corbin’s impersonations are absolutely classic.
Saturday, Sept. 24: The next morning, well afternoon anyway, the eight of us reconvened at Baker’s Square for a late breakfast, and shortly after that, it was off to night two of the Ted Petty Invitational. Congrats to Matt Sydal, who deserved it. At Baker’s Square, I predicted Sydal would be in the finals, and might win it.
Night 2 was AMAZING. When Cannon defeated Delirious to reach the semifinals, I wondered if he would face Sabin or Sydal… he’s never had a singles match with Sabin, and he only recently faced Sydal in Iowa. I honestly didn’t believe that IWA-MS would go right back to Cannon-Hero! And this was their best match yet, as they traded some hot offense, some thudding headbutts, and dropped each other on their necks. Cannon’s win was a true mark-out moment.
WOW, the show ends, and it is 12:05 a.m., yes this show went six hours! What is more amazing to me is that the whole crowd stayed. Everyone knew this show would be a marathon, and they were prepared to stick around for the whole thing!
We hit the road, and I’m tired, and we hit some construction leaving Hammond, and I was in a bad mood, but once we got moving, I woke up a bit and my spirits picked up. We checked into our hotel in Janesville, Wis., once again, all eight of us packed into one hotel room.
Sunday, Sept. 25: The next morning, we make our stop at the Harley-Davidson shop so Becca can get her must-have Harley shirt! Then, it’s on the road to Wausau! Now… there was nothing to see from Madison, north, to Wausau. Nothing!
Somehow, this was the best part of the trip! We started making signs, and hanging them on the window for Wayne’s car to see. They started making signs back at us. Some of these signs were vulgar, most were inappropriate, but they were all laugh-out-loud funny! I’d like to think we had the quicker wit in our car, but Darin’s signs were hilarious drawings!
Nonetheless, this trip was two and a half hours, and it felt like it took forever, without anything to see around us but trees.
So, we arrive in Wausau. Backing up… I called Cannon out of frustration a few days earlier, because I had so much difficulty finding this bar. Its name had changed three times in the past year! The address on his website was incorrect! If I hadn’t found the original name of the bar (Shaun’s Bases Loaded) through a Google search, I don’t know how I would have gotten us there.
Well, that was a bad omen. Because the paid crowd at “Kelly O’Shanes” was 7 or 8. Seriously. Even though the show featured Cannon, Silas Young and Dysfunction, and they brought in Sterling James Keenan from Pittsburgh… the crowd was 7 or 8. The bar was a dive, too, with a leaking ceiling and no working bathrooms.
The show was passable. Bash-Ann Thraxx was the most memorable match of the show. My first time seeing Lynch in a year. He was polite, and there were no problems there. The show started more than an hour late, which was ridiculous.
We finally head home! We stop once for gas & food, and I berate my passengers for eating that fast-food burger garbage! I get home at 9:30 p.m., so that meant my passengers weren’t getting home until 11:30 p.m.! The whole trip was great. I make sure to tell Bash he is always welcome to join me on future road trips. Ann Thraxx was in good spirits, too… I think she had a lot more fun than our last road trip.
Monday, Sept. 26: Work stuff… I went to the city of Cameron, north of Chippewa Falls, because a girl fell out of the back of a pickup truck during homecoming parade, broke her neck and died. She was 17. God, I hate my job sometimes; this is not the type of article I want to do - go to a school and talk to people about a beautiful young girl dying in a terrible accident. The Cameron Police Chief met me in the parking lot and plainly told me that if I attempted to chat with students, he would escort me off the grounds. Combative situation: they didn’t want me there, and I really didn’t want to be there either…
Jump forward through the week to…
Saturday, Oct. 1: I went to the Live concert in White Bear Lake, at the new Myth night club. I’ve never seen Live before, and it was a blast. The show started at 7, so it really wasn’t surprising when it was done just after 10 p.m. I decided to shoot down to Cottage Grove and chat with the wrestlers who were at the NIW show. Food at Applebees, and I wound up not leaving until almost 1 a.m.
Sunday, Oct. 2: Two concerts in two days! This time, it was the Foo Fighters. Unfortunately, Weezer opened for them. Sorry Weezer fans, these guys are terrible.
Well, it’s now Wed. Oct. 5, and I work this weekend, so no wrestling this weekend, either. I might have a few week sabbatical from wrestling all of a sudden…
Friday, Sept. 23: The trip to IWA-Mid South consists of Becca, Ann Thraxx, Nate Bash and myself. This was just a really fun road trip, and the conversation flowed nicely. Unfortunately, we didn’t leave Eau Claire until around noon, which meant…
TRAFFIC JAM in Chicago. UGH. I have done the Friday afternoon traffic thing way too often this summer in Chi-town. It took us nearly two hours to make a trek that takes about 45 minutes at night, when the road is clear.
We make it to Hammond, Ind., and I had a blast. Night one had some off matches - Puma vs. Skayde should have been better, Bradley-Tank and Steen-Webb were too short - but it was a good night of wrestling. I was really, REALLY upset that A.J. Styles was not on the show! I question why Styles and Homicide missed this weekend of wrestling, but nonetheless, a great weekend of wrestling.
After the show, we hit a restaurant, and considering it was 2 a.m., I thought the food was good. Good chats with Hero, American Dragon, Cabana, Joey Ryan, El Generico, Delirious and Matt Sydal. Most of the wrestlers are upbeat, because they knew it was a good show, even without Styles, etc.
Back to the hotel at 2:30 a.m.! We all sneak into one room…. My group, plus Wayne, Darin Corbin, Ryan Cruz and Arik Cannon. Sure, the eight of us packed into one room, but it worked. Unfortunately, Nate Bash had the most uncomfortable-looking spot on the floor… and I don’t know how he slept at all!
The next three hours is perhaps one of the best road trip memories I’ll ever have. We talked, with the lights out, until 6 a.m. Lots of laughing and joking. Becca - who is usually so reserved - cut down Cannon so hard that everyone in the room laughed loudly. Funny stuff. Darin Corbin’s impersonations are absolutely classic.
Saturday, Sept. 24: The next morning, well afternoon anyway, the eight of us reconvened at Baker’s Square for a late breakfast, and shortly after that, it was off to night two of the Ted Petty Invitational. Congrats to Matt Sydal, who deserved it. At Baker’s Square, I predicted Sydal would be in the finals, and might win it.
Night 2 was AMAZING. When Cannon defeated Delirious to reach the semifinals, I wondered if he would face Sabin or Sydal… he’s never had a singles match with Sabin, and he only recently faced Sydal in Iowa. I honestly didn’t believe that IWA-MS would go right back to Cannon-Hero! And this was their best match yet, as they traded some hot offense, some thudding headbutts, and dropped each other on their necks. Cannon’s win was a true mark-out moment.
WOW, the show ends, and it is 12:05 a.m., yes this show went six hours! What is more amazing to me is that the whole crowd stayed. Everyone knew this show would be a marathon, and they were prepared to stick around for the whole thing!
We hit the road, and I’m tired, and we hit some construction leaving Hammond, and I was in a bad mood, but once we got moving, I woke up a bit and my spirits picked up. We checked into our hotel in Janesville, Wis., once again, all eight of us packed into one hotel room.
Sunday, Sept. 25: The next morning, we make our stop at the Harley-Davidson shop so Becca can get her must-have Harley shirt! Then, it’s on the road to Wausau! Now… there was nothing to see from Madison, north, to Wausau. Nothing!
Somehow, this was the best part of the trip! We started making signs, and hanging them on the window for Wayne’s car to see. They started making signs back at us. Some of these signs were vulgar, most were inappropriate, but they were all laugh-out-loud funny! I’d like to think we had the quicker wit in our car, but Darin’s signs were hilarious drawings!
Nonetheless, this trip was two and a half hours, and it felt like it took forever, without anything to see around us but trees.
So, we arrive in Wausau. Backing up… I called Cannon out of frustration a few days earlier, because I had so much difficulty finding this bar. Its name had changed three times in the past year! The address on his website was incorrect! If I hadn’t found the original name of the bar (Shaun’s Bases Loaded) through a Google search, I don’t know how I would have gotten us there.
Well, that was a bad omen. Because the paid crowd at “Kelly O’Shanes” was 7 or 8. Seriously. Even though the show featured Cannon, Silas Young and Dysfunction, and they brought in Sterling James Keenan from Pittsburgh… the crowd was 7 or 8. The bar was a dive, too, with a leaking ceiling and no working bathrooms.
The show was passable. Bash-Ann Thraxx was the most memorable match of the show. My first time seeing Lynch in a year. He was polite, and there were no problems there. The show started more than an hour late, which was ridiculous.
We finally head home! We stop once for gas & food, and I berate my passengers for eating that fast-food burger garbage! I get home at 9:30 p.m., so that meant my passengers weren’t getting home until 11:30 p.m.! The whole trip was great. I make sure to tell Bash he is always welcome to join me on future road trips. Ann Thraxx was in good spirits, too… I think she had a lot more fun than our last road trip.
Monday, Sept. 26: Work stuff… I went to the city of Cameron, north of Chippewa Falls, because a girl fell out of the back of a pickup truck during homecoming parade, broke her neck and died. She was 17. God, I hate my job sometimes; this is not the type of article I want to do - go to a school and talk to people about a beautiful young girl dying in a terrible accident. The Cameron Police Chief met me in the parking lot and plainly told me that if I attempted to chat with students, he would escort me off the grounds. Combative situation: they didn’t want me there, and I really didn’t want to be there either…
Jump forward through the week to…
Saturday, Oct. 1: I went to the Live concert in White Bear Lake, at the new Myth night club. I’ve never seen Live before, and it was a blast. The show started at 7, so it really wasn’t surprising when it was done just after 10 p.m. I decided to shoot down to Cottage Grove and chat with the wrestlers who were at the NIW show. Food at Applebees, and I wound up not leaving until almost 1 a.m.
Sunday, Oct. 2: Two concerts in two days! This time, it was the Foo Fighters. Unfortunately, Weezer opened for them. Sorry Weezer fans, these guys are terrible.
Well, it’s now Wed. Oct. 5, and I work this weekend, so no wrestling this weekend, either. I might have a few week sabbatical from wrestling all of a sudden…