By Classy Chris Nelson

Hello to all,

Sorry Father because I have sinned. It’s been almost 4 weeks since my last article. I have been really busy at work and trying to be a “Normal Person”. It gets easier and easier to get away from wrestling since I don’t do it much anymore. So when the invitation came down to go to an ASW show in TRAMPA, I couldn’t turn it down. I have heard and ready some many different things about the promotion and the shows that I wanted to check it out for myself. I am not one of those guys who will list every match and write about what they liked or didn’t like. I can’t remember what I ate for lunch today let alone a wrestling show that I attended 4 or 5 days ago. The thing you have to remember about this business is that everyone has their own opinions and usually will share them, good or bad.

I started out my evening by checking in to my room at the Days Inn off of Busch Blvd, (For those of you who know about Trampa). I was with my cousin Kelly, Biff Slater and Simon Sez and they had another show to do earlier that afternoon. While they were gone I took advantage of a 60 degree motel room and ESPN. I’m all about going to wrestling shows but 2 in one day, when I’m not working….Never! After a 2 hour snooze I headed out to dinner with Ryze and Bryan Kelly (Or Byron Saxton as the Fed calls him). I did not eat because I had just had Taco Bell 2 hours before that. I did, however, munch on some of the grub that my friends left behind ( I did the same thing at Kahloon’s in Boston). After dinner Ryze and I went to the show. I was greeted at the door by a friendly woman named Colleen. She let me right in the door and I didn’t even have to buy a ticket (National Wrestling Alliance Southwest). I actually ended up giving Colleen ticket money for a friend of mine that was coming. I also never want to cheat the boys and girls out of a bigger payday just to let me in the door. I saw Neil, Rachel and Jordan Bomse and I sat down with them for the entire show. I love those folks! by then it was 8:00pm or so and they were ready to rock, so here we went!

I thought that the show had a great pace to it overall. There was no stalling with bullshit promos or enterances that take 10 minutes (Like the NHB’s do). You got what you paid to get, wrestling. When I looked at most of the roster I saw something in their eyes that was refreshing to see, hunger to put on a great show and have a great match. Ric Flair always wanted to have the best matches on the card and usually did. I also wanted to be someone who the fans remembered and came back to see the next time. I was in the parking lot after a show in 1995 and i heard some fans talking about the show. The one fat dude said right off, “Did you see what that damn Chris Nelson did tonight?” I thought that was cool as hell. I was usually on cards with excellent workers and did not usually have the best technical match, but I did something that mad my match memorable to the fans. That is important to do, unless you like to wrestle in front of 8 people every night. Alot of these guys and girls had that same desire in their eyes, to be the best and to be remembered. I don’t remember every match that was wrestled that night, but the characters were larger than life for sure. ASW gave you a little bit of everything, which was refreshing and nice. I had a few workers ask me to watch their matches, which I did. I love it when guys want to get feedback. That is necessary to improve your skills and your interaction with the fans. Believe me, the fans were in to the matches because the workers involved their emotions and got them in to the matches. A+ on the aspect. They were very respectful of each other and seemed like they were having fun! Wrestling is supposed to be fun. If you’re not having fun you probably need to get out of the business. You get paid to wear spandex, piss people off (Or have them cheer for you), and put on a show. At the end of the day we are performers, right? To me, ASW is on the right path. It is hard to draw a consistent crowd running on a Friday night during High School football season and to run weekly at that. I am sure that their crowds will pick up after football season ends, as long as they keep putting on good shows like the one I saw Friday night.

All in all, it was a great night. I got to see some old friends and had a great time at the show! My thanks to ASW for the great welcome and I am looking forward to seeing you guys again real soon.

Until next time,

CCN

Chris Tipton (Nelson)