|
Fund-raising taken to a new level
Published on February 16, 2005
Jaba King, aka Henry Thomas Jr., (right) folds his opponent Vomit (center) into a painful modified Boston crab hold during ETWA wrestling action in Irasburg on Saturday night. The event raised $430 toward the dialysis unit at North Country Hospital.
IRASBURG — There are hundreds of ways to fund-raise — from concerts to selling candy, from bake sales to chicken pie suppers. One of the least frequently used fund-raising tricks involves kicking someone in the face — hard. And yet, that is exactly the idea that Henry Thomas Jr. of Orleans suggested to his boss, Don Myers.
“He said, yeah, that’d be great and here we are,” said Mr. Thomas, who fights under the ring name Jaba King.
The Wrestling for Dialysis event at the Irasburg Town Hall on Saturday night, sponsored by the wrestlers of the Eastern Townships Wrestling Association (ETWA), was an event unlike any other. Bodies flew through the air, and figures collided at high speed in and out of the wrestling ring. Chairs were broken, blood was spilled, and the event raised $430 for the dialysis unit at North Country Hospital.
“I’m pretty happy with the turnout we got,” said Victor Adams, a wrestler known for his high-flying antics. “We’ve got a good crowd and a great show. Everything’s perfect.”
Victor Adams has another name, a persona he uses outside of the ring. That alter ego has a personal cause to want a dialysis unit brought to town. Bradley Davis’ sister Christina Davis travels three times a week for dialysis.
“This is definitely personal,” said Mr. Davis. “But it’s not just for my sister, we’re doing it for everybody that needs dialysis in this area.”
Mr. Thomas has a close connection to dialysis as well. His grandmother Elizabeth Blair of Orleans is a diabetic amputee who relies on visits to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health Center in Lebanon, New Hampshire, to get her blood cleaned through dialysis.
“We’re a community-based company, and doing charity shows like this is how we made our name,” said Mr. Thomas. “There are 20 or 30 other people in our area who really need this and we want to help by doing what we do best — wrestling.”
Nancy Davis recoils every time Simon Starr delivers another bone-crunching blow to Victor Adams. Mr. Starr and Mr. Adams might be enemies in the ring but have been friends since childhood, she said.
“I know it’s all part of the show, but I’m always a little bit afraid he might get hurt,” she said. “I am a mother, you know. I’m also his biggest fan.”
Mrs. Davis watches as Mr. Starr twists her son into a pretzel, squeezing him like a packet of ketchup.
Victor Adams, aka Bradley Davis, (airborne center) delivers a stunning Hurricanrana flying-spin-kick to a stunned Simon Starr (seated center). Though Adams emerged victorious in his match, the true winners were people like his sister Christina Davis, who travels three times a week to receive dialysis in Burlington. Photos by Richard Creaser
“Looking at him in the ring, you’d never know he was a diabetic,” she said. “He loves his sister, and wrestling is his life. I’m so proud of what the boys are doing here tonight.”
Mr. Thomas and Mr. Davis might be the wrestlers with the closest ties to dialysis on this night, but the spirit of generosity has infected the entire wrestling troupe. Better known for eye gouging and biting, Snakebite also has a soft side.
“I’ve been doing this for nine years,” said Snakebite. “When I was younger, I was always fighting and getting into trouble. Don Myers helped show me a better way to use my energy, and now I’m helping the community, not hurting it.”
Buzzard as a wrestling persona is a crazed, spastic fiend willing to do whatever it takes to win a match. Buzzard out of the ring is a well-spoken and thoughtful fellow who well understands the position wrestlers of the ETWA are in.
“We could be doing it for the money because we put on that kind of a show,” he said. “But that’s not why we do it. We do it because we love wrestling and our fans, not money.”
Bringing an end to pain for those in need of dialysis was indeed the night’s noble goal. The vehicle of delivery, however, is best exemplified by the motto on the back of Jaba King’s wrestling jersey: “Pain is Pleasure.”
The night’s entertainment kicked into high gear after Shaun Steele pulled the rug out from under Rhino’s feet, revealing that Rhino was not the ETWA’s number one heavyweight contender.
Instead, Steele pitted himself against relative newcomer Sack. The Titanic slugfest was decided late in the match when Steele executed a perfect shoulder block tackle that put Sack down for the count.
The next matchup featured a growing rivalry between one-time tag-team partners Simon Starr and Victor Adams. Adams found himself in trouble early and resorted to an eye gouge to escape a strangle hold.
“Always, always, always an excellent move,” said ringside commentator Eclypse of Adams’ dirty fighting technique.
In spite of being on the receiving end of a crucifix powerbomb, Adams recaptured his cruiserweight title with a devilish ankle-lock bulldog.
Ring veterans Eric the Wrestler and Snakebite took on Scorpion and Dougie Fresh in the night’s tag-team title match. Eric and Snakebite dug deep into their bag of dirty tricks but could not prevail against the young but talented duo. Dougie and Scorpion walked away as the new ETWA tag-team champs.
The next matchup featured the return of fan favorite Spud McKenzie against Josh Knight. The two combatants were evenly paired, trading blow for blow until Knight managed to outmaneuver McKenzie and took the victory.
Suffering to end suffering, Scorpion endures a scissored arm bar from Snakebite in ETWA Wrestling for Dialysis action. Scorpion and his partner, Dougie Fresh, would eventually upset Snakebite and fellow ring veteran Eric the Wrestler to capture the tag-team title.
The sixth match of the evening was one of two specialty matches on the night. The Boss Don Myers hooked Eclypse and Aaron Fire to opposite ends of a broad canvas strap. With no pin falls and no submissions, the wrestlers would have to go “Around the World,” touching every corner post in sequence, for the win.
As might be expected, the strap was as much a player in the no-holds-barred contest as the two fighters themselves, being used alternately to whip and strangle the combatants. Aaron Fire took the win in impressive style, carting the unconscious form of Eclypse on his shoulders as he visited the four corners of the ring.
The evening’s main event was a triple-threat contest pitting fan favorite The American Psycho against perennial contender Buzzard and the ETWA’s super-villain, the Separatist. A triple-threat match is exciting enough, but add in a ladder and a plethora of weapons, and suddenly you have all of the ingredients for an old-fashioned donnybrook.
In a ladder match, the winner must subdue his opponents and then use the ladder to climb up in the center of the ring and retrieve the title belt from where it hangs on the ceiling. In this case, the three-ring warriors competed for the newly unveiled ETWA Intercontinental Championship belt.
As might be expected with three such fearsome wrestlers, the action was fast and furious. A heavy gauge baker’s sheet, a road sign, two folding chairs, a kendo stick, and the ladder itself became deadly weapons.
In the end, bleeding profusely from a head wound sustained by a blow from the metal handicap sign, Buzzard ascended to lofty heights and captured the intercontinental title.
Befitting such an energetic and entertaining show, the night ended with a 20-man melee or battle royal. The contest is a frenzied last-man-standing competition where contenders are eliminated by being thrown over the top rope.
The final four contestants surviving the brawl were Aaron Fire, American Psycho, Buzzard, and
A bloody Buzzard holds up his intercontinental championship belt to his adoring fans at the conclusion of his brutal triple-threat ladder match. Bleeding from a head wound sustained during the match, Buzzard said he was willing to accept any amount of pain if it meant bringing a dialysis unit to Orleans County to help out those in need.
The ETWA has signed an agreement to continue to use the Irasburg Town Hall as a base for future shows. Wrestling events are scheduled for the first Saturday of each month, said Mr. Davis. He did not rule out a future dialysis benefit event.
“I know I would like to see another one, but that’s up to the boss and the other guys,” he said. “I think there’s a good chance of another one.”
|
