FIGHTS: ACW Peace, Love, and balcony throws with Anarchy, 2012

by Bowie Ibarra

What a day to have a birthday.  It's the monthly Anarchy Championship Wrestling event, and it was a blast as usual.  Here are some pics from the event.

I make it to the arena in time for MOJO BRAVADO (JoJo Bravo/Jordan Jenson) vs. PIERRE ABERNATHY and DAVEY VEGA.  I know the above picture looks like JoJo and Vega were auditioning for 'Human Centipede 3", but it was Vega keeping JoJo out of the ring for the Abernathy submission on Jensen.

Pierre-Mania was running wild.  Or should I say 'Ierre-Mania'?

Yeah.  I guess it's 'Ierre-Mania'.

JC BRAVO and CHINGO took on each other in a serious grudge match.

ChrisTrew.tumblr.us.biz returned just in time to tear the 'Chris Trew sucks' sign of DESTINY, the girlfriend of noted internet wrestling pundit BRANDON STROUD, as Stroud looks on, having had a vegan pizza delivered courtesy of Hoboken Pizza.

ACW SuperFan Shannel had a question for Chris Trew.

King of the Underground Scot "Best in Texas" Summers was on hand to team with Darin Childs and the 'Springwood Slasher' Christopher Wolfenstein.  The last time Chris Trew was at ACW, Scot Summers destroyed the pro-wrestling manager with a spear when Trew tried to force an acquisition to his stable on Summers.

As you might imagine, Summers was the first to give Trew a hard time, assaulting the hobo manager and smashing his glasses.

But Killah Ka$h had something for Summers.  And that 'something' was a steel spike that you can see in his right hand.

After Kash took Summer's eye, he then called Trew to the ring.

Money changed hands, and it was clear Trew put out a bounty on Summers.

Just like Sean Payton, New Orleans seems to bread some dirty players in the game.

At least now he can't read signs.  Not that he could read before that anyway.  And it's a good thing, too.

Blind mother f**ker.

With Summers out, Jerry Lynn was on hand to take his place for his team against Ka$h and SILVER/DeLaCRIMOSA.

Jerry Lynn took a moment and respectfully called out ACW standout, Davey Vega back to the ring for a match.  

Vega answered the call.  And it was a great scientific matchup...

... even SuperFan Shannel was torn...

... as the two locked up.  It was a great match until...

... until Vega's Submission Squad friends came out and forced the Vega victory by interfering in the match.

There's GELISTICO with a taunt of support.

RACHEL SUMMERLYNN took on MATTHEW PALMER in a Hardocre Title Match that got absolutely wild.  Here's Palmer giving Summerlynn a Figure Four in the ropes.

The madness eventually made its way to Mohawk's new balcony, which they both took advantage and initiated.  First with Palmer...

Then a duet...

Here's a video, courtesy Brandon Stroud of Best and Worst of Raw.

LADY POISON took on Illinois competitor SERENITY in a rough matchup.

After Poison took the win, Summerlynn showed up and challenged Poison.

MACHIKO tried to help to no avail.

ANGEL BLUE, clad in a Ric Flair-style robe, made her way to the ring to defend her Joshi Title against BARBIE HAYDEN.

After taking the victory, Blue talked trash on the mic.  

She said there was no competition until the Canadian Mexican, Portia Perez, answered the challenge. 

Blue then ate a Perez SuperKick.  It's Game on!

JAYKUS PLYSKIN upped his douchebag level a few notches this weekend by giving ACW Champ ACH a hard time all night, even before their match that also featured GARY JAY and SHAWN VEXXXX. 

I want the idiot ref to notice that there are also weapons on Plyskin's shorts.  Those studs are not legal and I'm going to let the Texas State Athletic Commission know.

Vexx Flies!

So does ACH.

Then after the match, there was another standoff.

Plyskin even called ACH the 'n' word.  I don't think I've ever heard that word used in a pro-wrestling show in a long time, and it lit a fire under ACH and the fans.

Then, he called him an "RCW Reject".  What?

As a blogger, I've tried to stay out of this shit.  But since this keeps coming up over and over with this douchebag, let's talk about it.

So, again, out of nowhere, Plyskin randomly continued his bizzare rant against San Antonio promotion, River City Wrestling.  I don't know what beef he has with them, and I don't care.  I know other wrestlers have beef as well, but don't bring it up at shows every chance they get.  As a fan, I just show up for great pro-wrestling and a good time, wherever I can find it.  As much as I'm familiar with some of the politics in the organizations around here and the chisme about the wrestlers, I don't claim to be an expert about the gossip.  I'm not out to be the Texas indy TMZ.  I'm certainly not going to blog about the wild rumors.

All I know is RCW puts on shows I enjoy and have fun at.  ACW puts on shows I enjoy and have fun at.  Plyskin gives RCW free press every time he brings them up, and I don't know why he needed to call ACH an 'RCW reject'.  I imagine no one else in the arena knew why, either.  So why bring it up?  

Whatever that sewing circle gossip Plyskin is talking about and whether it's true or not, other facts remain for all to see.  Absolute Intense Wrestling thought ACH was alright.  Beyond Wrestling thought ACH was pretty good, advancing to the finals of the "Tournament for Tomorrow".  Combat Zone Wrestling thought ACH was good enough to compete in the Best of the Best 2012 as well.  And ACH is STILL the ACW champ.  ACH is a fantastic representative for the glory and good of this Texas Wrestling renaissance that seems to be occurring right now.  I never thought a tough guy like Plyskin was the jealous type.

 And Plyskin acts like he's never worked at RCW before.  Truth is, he accepted RCW money to wrestle there years ago and I have the match on DVD (RCW Texas Explosion: Texas vs. Japan) in which he competed.  So I don't know what his problem is.  As a fan, Plyskin better concentrate on ACH on his ACW home turf, because that guy is one of the best in the sport right now.  And ACH will beat him up if he's not on his best game and preoccupied with dumb shit.

You know what?  Since he keeps bringing it up, if Plyskin has that big of a problem with RCW, then Hernandez has been talking this same kind of weird trash as well.  I have not wanted to address it here because this kind of politicking upsets me as a fan, even when Hernandez seems to take potshots at one of ACW's own and one of my favorites.  Maybe Plyskin and Hernendez need to stop talking their shit at shows and on videos representing their promotion and lock it up in the ring.  As a fan, I'd pay to see that.  Hell, I already pay good money at least once a month to watch ANYONE kick Plyskin and The Takeover's asses!

At any rate, ACH then punked out Plyskin by pointing out the facts.  One of those being that he IS stupid for talking trash about RCW because a majority of the ACW fans don't attend RCW shows and don't care about his issues with them.  The ACW faithful of Austin love their ACW, as I do as well.  And ACH also got in Plyskin's face for being the giant douchebag that he is.

That's about the time that Vexxx decided he needed to assault ACH as well.  Why Vexxxx is doing the heavy lifting for Plyskin is beyond me.  But this rivalry between these three athletes is turning into a blood feud quick.  I think I speak for a lot of the ACW fans when I say I look forward to watching this feud play out.

Again, another great ACW show, and another great time with the ACW fans, friends, and wrestlers.  Thanks again!  I look forward to next month!

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Bowie Ibarra is the author of the 'Down the Road' zombie horror series from Permuted Press and Simon and Schuster.  His latest upcoming book, "Pit Fighters: Baptism by Fire", is a combat-sports themed book featuring as one of the fighters a Mexican luchador who crosses over into MMA.  It will be available in paperback, Kindle, and other e-reader versions.

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FIGHTS: RETROSPECTIVE: 'War Games-The Match Beyond' and the Four Horsemen, WWE HoF '12

by Bowie Ibarra

As Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, Tully Blanchard, Barry Windham, and manager James J. Dillon walk to their induction into the WWE Hall of Fame 2012 on April 1, 2012, I think it's very important to take a look back at one of the biggest matches in pro-wrestling history that defined the cruelty of the Four Horsemen and the kind of fight that their rivals had to face.  Especially if they faced them in this signature match, created to destroy The Horsemen:  War Games-The Match Beyond.

Though the Horsemen are known for many things and accomplished many great feats during the first incarnation of the stable, it is this match that stands out to me as one of their best, and a legacy to the team.  I think its important for the current WWE Universe to watch and understand how true rivalries were settled back in the classic 80s era of wrestling.

The match was held in a steel cage that was placed over two adjacent wrestling rings.  The cages were lined up right against the rings, with no outside area like in a 'Hell in a Cell', so there was nowhere to run.  There was also no referee in the ring, so anything could happen on the inside.  Very dangerous.

The match consisted of 8 periods.  The first period was five minutes, with one guy from each team starting the fight.  Then a ref conducted a coin toss to determine who would go in next, giving that team an advantage throughout the periods until 'The Match Beyond'.  During the periods where competitors entered, there were no pinfalls or submissions, 'it was just a fight'.  It was until the final competitor entered the ring that 'The Match Beyond' began, in which the winner was determined by one of the competitors quitting, submitting, or getting knocked out.

The first match set the bar for every other War Games match, and was the progenitor of such matches as 'Hell in a Cell' and especially 'Elimination Chamber'.

This particular team of the Four Horsemen, composed of Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, Tully Blanchard, Lex Luger, and J.J. Dillon.

The team lead by Dusty Rhodes was Dusty, Hawk and Animal of the Road Warriors, Nikita Koloff, and Paul Ellering, who was the manager of the Road Warriors and former wrestler.

The first competitors ever in a War Games match were legends Dusty Rhodes and Arn Anderson, who mixed it up for five minutes.  They threw rounds at each other, with Rhodes even popping Anderson in the nuts with a punch.  Dream took control, planting Arn with a DDT and aggravating a head laceration by raking Arn's injured head against the cage.

It was also here we got the traditional 'throw the man face first into the cage' bit, which is mandatory for cage matches.  Dusty did it here before slapping on his vaunted Figure Four.  Since there was no submission yet, Rhodes broke the hold to see who would win the coin toss.  It turned out to be the Horsemen winning the coin toss, bringing Anderson's Texan tag partner, Tully Blanchard, into the ring to double team Dusty.  And boy did they go at it.  Blanchard slapped on a Figure Four on Rhodes before having to break the hold getting ready for the odds to be even by the next member of Dusty's team.

And boy did the odds get even.  Animal of the 'Road Warriors was brought into the ring, who proceeded to pendulum swing Blanchard into the fence and give Dusty a chance to attack Arn.  Animal gave Blanchard the fence treatment before Dusty came in to add more abuse to Blanchard.

Before long, however, the next Horseman made his way into the ring, and Dillon sent in Ric Flair, who went after Animal with Arn.  Animal got the fence face toss as the Horsement took control and did it again.

It was back and forth before the teams were even again when Nikita Koloff jumped in to wreck shop.  Flair tried to gouge his eyes to stop his progress, only to make the big Ruskie mad.  And there were Russian sickles to go around.  Animal even press slammed Flair.  With the odds even, Rhodes team was tearing it up.

But the Horsemen regained the advantage with Lex Luger entering the cage, going after Koloff and Animal.  After being punched in the nads by Flair, Koloff was hit with two spiked pile drivers from Flair and Blanchard.

It's important to understand that the pile driver was not your average move.  It was considered very devastating back in the day.  A spiked pile driver was enough to end your career.

Koloff took two.

Then Hawk came in to even the odds and went right to work against all of the Horsemen, giving his friends a chance to regroup and counterattack.

But after attacking the genitals of two Rhodes teammates, Flair slapped on the figure four on Rhodes before the Horsemen were to take the advantage.

Next in was J.J. Dillon.  Like an idiot, Dillon went right on the attack against Hawk, the freshest dude in the fight.  That didn't sit well with Hawk, who returned fire on Dillon.  With Dillon a liability, the Horsemen still had to fight to keep the advantage.

Finally, Paul Ellering entered the ring, thus initiating 'The Match Beyond', submission or surrender.  It was now at this point that the match could be won by one of the teams.

Ellering was wise and went right to work against Dillon.  At this point, with the Horsemen occupied, Paul Ellering was using a spiked wristband against Dillon, splitting him open.  It was then that the Road Warriors double teamed Dillon.

You had to know Dillon and Ellering were the weakest links on each of the teams.  Why the Horsemen didn't go on the offensive against Ellering like the Road Warriors did against Dillon is beyond me.  The Road Warriors set up Dillon with a variation of their 'Doomsday Device' and planted him into the mat.  Hurt, they forced him against the cage and stomped him until cageside ref Teddy Long (yes, that Teddy Long), heard Dillon surrender, ending the match.

There was another match in this same wrestling year with a similar result.  And though the match seemed to run the same way, it is this match that will be remembered as the first and the best ever.

More 'War Games' matches were to follow.  Many matched the brutality of this one.  But like Shawn Micheals/Undertaker in 'Hell in a Cell', this one set the standard for the ones to come.

ZombieBloodFights.com would like to say congratulations to the members of The Four Horsemen who will be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame 2012.

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Bowie Ibarra is the author of the 'Down the Road' zombie horror series from Permuted Press and Simon and Schuster.  His combat sport themed books, "Pit Fighters: Baptism by Fire", and "Pit Fighters: Double Cross" feature a Mexican luchador who crosses over into MMA.

Agree?  Disagree?  Please feel free to leave a comment below.

Follow ZombieBloodFights.com on Twitter @wingback26

Join the official ZombieBloodFights.com Facebook group.

Subscribe to the official ZombieBloodFights.com YouTube page for book trailers and other mischief.

You can network with Bowie and learn about all of his Tex-Mexploitation books at his personal website, ZombieBloodFights.com.