Mt. Rushmore: Wrestlers I've Met

By Kevin Hunsperger @kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter Listen to the podcast  Follow my blog with Bloglovin

After a delay, the My 1-2-3 Cents Mt. Rushmore is back. The last blog I wrote on the subject was the bucket list of wrestlers I'd like to meet. This time, it's about the top four wrestlers I've met. I have had the good fortune of meeting many wrestlers through the years, so I am narrowing this down a bit by only naming wrestlers that I've had conversations with and not just a meet-and-greet experience. 

Bobby "The Brain" Heenan is one of my all-time favorite personalities in wrestling and, without a doubt, the greatest manager of all time. In 1998, when I was a young reporter (two months of experience), I was able to get access to a WCW Thunder in Huntsville, Alabama. While there, I interviewed Goldberg (just into the streak), Ray Traylor, Buff Bagwell, and Bobby Heenan. It was a great come true. Our interaction was probably about five minutes or so, but it meant the world to me. I never in my wildest dreams imagined such an opportunity would present itself to me. 

When TNA Wrestling came to southern Illinois for a BaseBrawl event, I reached out to get a wrestler on the morning newscast I co-anchored. I was excited to learn that D'Lo Brown would be filling that role. We chatted before his appearance and after as well. D'Lo even gave me his number. We've actually texted a few times, which to me is surreal. But what really impressed me was when I was in Las Vegas back in 2018 and trying out for a gig with Impact Wrestling, D'Lo was there and remembered me by name. A great guy and one of the most underrated wrestlers of all time. 

Jeff Jarrett and I first met in 2011 at that above-mentioned BaseBrawl event. However, it was a brief encounter, and a few years later, Double J returned to southern Illinois to promote another wrestling event at the ballpark, but this time with Global Force Wrestling. Jeff and I chatted before our interview and after and also indulged me with a selfie. He also bestowed me with the privilege of announcing one of the matches the night GFW came to town. Listening to the My World Podcast that he hosts often reminds me of how laid-back he met. A class act all the way. 

Of course, I can't have this list without adding PAC to it. I've told the story many times, but here's the short version. We met for the first time at an AAPW event called Main Event in January 2012. Then crossed paths at WrestleMania Axxess in 2014 and at an autograph signing in 2016 (he remembered me by name both times). He's a great guy, and I wish him nothing but continued success in the ring. 

Chasing a dream

The group

By Kevin Hunsperger

@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter

Listen to the podcast

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More than 35 years ago I became a fan of professional wrestling. I never aspired to be in the ring as I knew at an early age my lack of athleticism would keep me from having a career between the ropes. As I got older though, I put serious consideration into becoming a manager. I looked up to the likes of Bobby "The Brain" Heenan, Jimmy Hart and Jim Cornette. It was always a 'dream job' in the back of my head and when I started a career in TV news, I changed that goal to commentator or announcer.

I won't bore you with all the details again, but there have been opportunities since 2005 for me to pursue all of those choices (even wrestling). All the work has come the way of small, independent promotions here in Illinois. However, in August I saw an ad for a  seminar and tryout by Future Stars of Wrestling in Las Vegas. The group was holding the event for Impact Wrestling (formerly TNA). After weeks of contemplating and the encouragement of my wife and a handful of friends, I signed up to audition to be a ring announcer.

My ring cards

My wife and I flew out to Vegas on Friday morning. After a day and evening on the Strip, I got a good night's sleep and eagerly walked into the FSW building. I was ready to impress Sonjay Dutt, Scott D'Amore, D'Lo Brown and the other professional wrestlers on hand. There were dozens of athletes there for the tryout, nine referees and three announcers. The other two announcers did a great job. I feel like I did too and had some custom made ring cards with the Impact logo on them which contained my announcing notes.

There were 28 matches that afternoon as everyone who signed up for the tryout got a chance to impress. I announced nine matches and throughout the course, I chatted with friends back home about the talented guys I was up against. Even without seeing my competition they were sure I was better. Their words made me feel good about what I was doing.  

That's me...

The tryout came to an end and it was announced that a few of the men on hand would be asked to come to the tapings Sunday night. I was not asked, but I wanted to have a chance to thank the organizers for having me. I shook Sonjay's hand and he told me how much he liked the cards. I wasn't picked for this set of tapings but I feel like I made an impression and hope to work with Impact for a future taping. (By the way, none of the announcer candidates made the cut, at least I don't think so).

Scott D'Amore told everyone at the end, "Congratulations for investing in yourself. It took courage to do this." I don't remember if that's his exact quote but it's what I remember from his farewell to us. My wife was waiting for me outside and told me she was proud for putting myself out there. I don't typically step outside my comfort zone but I couldn't let this chance pass me. I would have more regret by not doing it than having tried and not making it.

Outside the Bellagio 

Plus we got to spend three days in Vegas and hang out a couple of days with my buddy Chad. We've never been to Vegas before and I don't know how soon we would have made the trip. So if there's something you're dreaming of, take a chance on yourself. The only failing involved is in not trying. Thanks again to everyone for the love and support. I got a ton of message from so many friends and family afterward. It means the world. (Tyler, Tom, Garrett, Barry, Dan and Jamie to name a few)

Buy the Centmas Vacation shirt here

My 1-2-3 Cents is All In (kinda)

By Kevin Hunsperger

@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter

Listen to the podcast

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Labor Weekend 2018 will be a game changer in the world of professional wrestling. And as much as I'd love to personally be a part of All In and Starrcast it simply wasn't meant to be. But I'm excited that My 1-2-3 Cents the brand will be a small part of the excitement.

A longtime friend of the blog and podcast, Jeff Holtke, is going to be the official correspondent for the My 1-2-3 Cents Twitter page (@my123cents). Earlier this year Jeff live tweeted for My 1-2-3 Cents during Raw 25. I'm thankful he has volunteered to step up and do this again for All In and Starrcast. He showed me his schedule and he's planning to meet 25 wrestlers and take in a lot of discussions and of course matches on Saturday night. 

D'Lo Brown & me

As they say in the wrestling biz, I'd like to put Jeff over for something else too. As I mentioned he's a longtime friend and supporter of the My 1-2-3 Cents brand. I first met Jeff in 2011 when TNA was in southern Illinois for a Basebrawl event at Rent One Park in Marion, Illinois. At that time Jeff was working for the team, the Southern Illinois Miners. He hooked me up with an interview with D'Lo Brown prior to that event.

Jeff supporting CxE

His willingness to tweet for me and him hooking me up with D'Lo are awesome. But that's not all. Jeff is a HUGE supporter (the number one supporter I might add) of my store on COLLARxELBOW (use promo code MY123CENTS like Jeff does and save 10 percent on your order). He and his daughter were even featured on CxE's Instagram page. Jeff also donated to the Ugly Christmas Suit fundraiser last December. He won the Christmas ornament raffle as a result too. 

Graphic by Jeff Holtke
Photo by Caleb Hale

Jeff has also helped me with some graphics, including resizing the monkey at one point and creating me in the All In poster. Oh how I wish that was happening, but there's always next year, right? Anyway if you don't already, follow @my123cents on Twitter and get some insight into what's happened at Starrcast and All In this weekend. Thank you, everyone, especially Jeff for the support over the last several years. 

Promo code: MY123CENTS

Wrestling Hangover

"Jessie" and "Vince"

By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter

Obviously I'm a wrestling fan. None of us would be here if I wasn't. My wrestling hangover adventure started on March 29. That was the debut of the From the Rafters Radio. It's a weekly collaborative show with Chad and my other wrestling brethren, Adam Testa of the Baltimore Sun Ring Posts blog, Chris Hagstrom who is Executive Producer for All American Pro Wrestling, and "the Wrestling Roommate" Aaron Heller.

Following the debut show, I packed my bags for my weekend getaway to Miami, site of Wrestlemania 28 and a lot of other wrestling activities.

PAC vs. Lo Ki at Dragon Gate USA

Chad and I opted to go to the Dragon Gate USA show. It was a $65 cab ride, so you know we mean business. This was my first experience with DGUSA, but I was familiar with some of the talent. The show was really good I thought, particularly the PAC vs. Lo Ki match. I'm partial to PAC these days, after meeting him at AAPW Main Event earlier this year. The set up was great and there were random wrestlers walking around the hotel lobby (which was the venue). I got a chance to talk briefly with another guest of Main Event, the one and only Colt Cabana. I like that about Indy shows too. The talent is able to talk with the fans.

Ready for the Hall of Fame

Saturday saw a bit of downtime for us until the evening. We suited up (or shirt and tied it up) for the WWE Hall of Fame. It's always a highlight of the weekend. I love hearing from legends as they receive one last shout out for their accomplishments. Seeing the Four Horsemen go in was a highlight, but I think ALL of this year's inductees were worthy. Another note, JBL gave the best induction speech of the night. (He inducted Ron Simmons)  The stories told by the inductors and the legends gives us a glimpse behind the curtain so to speak.  It allows us to see another layer and learn that these men and women are human too, but have defied the odds and made something extraordinary out of themselves.  This year I think there were less cat calls, which made the experience more enjoyable.

Sunday of course was the big day.  We got up bright and early to head over to WrestleReunion.  Chad and I had VIP tickets, which meant we got to met and get photos with about dozen superstars from the past (and one who's still on the rise, Harry Smith)  We ran into D'Lo Brown, who I interviewed on the morning show that I anchor last summer.  We've kept in touch and I was pleasantly surprised that he remembered me.  We chatted for a few minutes and headed around the rest of the room.  Vader, Lex Luger, and the Honky Tonk Man were just a few of the legends we met.  It was surreal and awesome, especially considering we were dressed like Jessie the Body Ventura and Vince McMahon circa 1986.

Keeping them apart

From there we hit Axxess and did most of the activities there.  We posed in between the Rock and John Cena (or at least a couple of replicas), with the Money in the Bank briefcase (a new addition this year) and hung out in the Undertaker's graveyard.  I even attempted to rap Cena's entrance music.  Look for that video later.  We were also able to meet more wrestlers and legends and pose for pictures.  Once WWE gets them upload, I'll share those as well.

One of the other fun aspects of Axxess and even the hours before Mania outside the stadium is meeting up with other fans.  Because Chad and I always go in costume, folks come up and talk to us and ask for photos.  This makes for a good opportunity to promote My 1-2-3 Cents.  Hopefully some of you met us Sunday and are reading this for the first time.  If so, thanks so much, please come back.

I don't plan on getting into a big review of the show.  Some people hated it.  Some people loved it.  I'd say I was in the middle.  My biggest pet peeves though were the 18 second (although I think it seemed even shorter) world title match, the concert like intros for Rock and Cena, and Funkasaurus dancing.  Don't get me wrong, I love Brodus and have since the start of this gimmick, I feel like that took valuable time from the World title match though.  Check out our review below.  We forgot to mention Punk and Jericho, which I thought was a pretty solid match.  Glad to see Punk come out on top.

Don't forget to subscribe to the YouTube channel, like us on Facebook, and check out From the Rafters Radio.  Thanks for reading, watching, and listening.

Black History Month All Links

By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger

February is Black History Month, and we here at My 1-2-3 Cents are paying tribute with blogs on some of our favorite black wrestlers.

Many of the stories written are based on memories from my childhood, but I've also recruited help from other fans to share their thoughts too.  You'll also hear about several up and coming stars on the independent scene.  Check back daily, as I'll link all of our tributes to this page.

Thanks for reading My 1-2-3 Cents.  Be sure to like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, and subscribe to the YouTube channel.

Junkyard Dog
Tony Atlas
Rocky Johnson
Sugar Dunkerton
Ron Simmons
Kharma
D'Lo Brown
Iceman King Parsons
Edmund "Livewire" McGuire
Booker T 
The Money Makin' Jam Boys
Kamala
Butch Reed
Slick
Mark Henry
The Rock
MVP
R-Truth
Shelton Benjamin
Kofi Kingston
Teddy Long
Koko B. Ware
Bad News Brown
Virgil
Jacqueline
SD Jones
Jazz
Men on a Mission/Viscera
Jay Lethal
Ernie Ladd

Black History Month: D'Lo Brown

D'Lo on the news!

By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger

D'Lo Brown is without a doubt one of the coolest wrestlers I've ever had the chance to meet.  He was in town last summer promoting the TNA Basebrawl event and appeared on the morning show I co-anchor (he's an agent for TNA now).  We talked briefly before the show and then of course during the course of the interview.  We talked again at the show (as I was the guest manager for Velvet Sky) and he gave me his number.  I've texted him since then and he's always responded.  I appreciate that.

I first took notice of D'Lo when he was with the Gangstas in Smoky Mountain Wrestling.  We didn't get SMW where I lived, but I read about it in magazines like Pro Wrestling Illustrated.  Based on what I read, I had the vibe that D'Lo was the newbie of the group, sort of the flunky if you will.

It wasn't long after that though that D'Lo would go national and join the WWF as a member of the Nation of Domination.  As the group got over with the fans, D'Lo would develop his trademark head swivel.  I still do it from time to time when his theme music pops up on my iPod.

Champ (from WWE)

While in the WWF, D'Lo won the now defunct European title four times.  He was also the Intercontinental champion at one point during the Attitude Era.  In fact at one point he held both belts at the same time.  If memory serves me correctly, he gave up one of the belts to Mark Henry, didn't he?

After dropping the belts and the disbandment of the Nation, he went on to form a team with Chaz (formerly of the Headbangers and Beaver Cleavage).  That duo was managed by Tiger Ali Singh.  The team didn't last long as two thirds of its members got released.  Brown stuck around and worked the mid card until finally leaving the WWE in 2003.

He bounced around to Japan and TNA, ROH, Chikara,  and even had another stint with the WWE in 2009.  Unfortunately it didn't work out and he's back in TNA/Impact Wrestling.  His style and look were different from the typical cookie cutter image the WWE has been churning out for the last several years.  It was nice to see someone who was different.

Flyin' high

I recently contacted D'Lo to find out if he's doing anymore wrestling on indy shows and he informed me that he is now retired.  It's too bad, as I would have loved to seen one more run from him.  I think the fans would dig it too, as the crowd at the 2011 Survivor Series started a "D'Lo Brown!" chant.  You better recognize!

My Wrestling Year in Review

By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger on Twitter

This is more of a personal year in review.  I'm going to talk about some of the highlights of 2011 for me in terms of wrestling, and quite honestly there are so many.  I'd have to say this was the best year for me terms of wrestling.  It was the first full year that this blog has been up and running and as of this entry, we're at more than 104,000 page views since September 2010.  The My 1-2-3 Cents YouTube channel is also picking up steam, something that I'm proud of and vow to work harder on in 2012.

The most popular aspect of the YouTube channel is all the One on One Wrestling interviews I have posted.  In 2011 alone, I've interviewed Mickie James, D'Lo Brown, Lex Luger, Nikita Koloff, and Hacksaw Jim Duggan.  All of them were awesome to talk with.  There's no way to pick just one specific highlight from doing these interviews, so collectively I would say having the opportunity to sit down with all of them throughout the year has been an amazing experience.  I will say that my interviews with Lex and Nikita (they were at a local church together) went more than 20 minutes.  Much longer than I had anticipated because I knew they were both busy, but I thank all these legends who took the time to talk with me.

Another highlight of 2011 was getting the chance to serve as a "manager" to Impact Wrestling Knockout Velvet Sky.  It was part of the summer Basebrawl event at our local ballpark.  I won a contest on ESPN Radio.  She wrestled Angelina Love that night, who had Winter in her corner.  I basically wondered around outside the ring and prevent Winter from interfering.  It's something I never imagined I'd get the chance to do, and while I didn't look like Bobby Heenan or Jimmy Hart out there it was a great time.

The My 1-2-3 Cents Posse

Attending my fifth Wrestlemania was a lot of fun this year too. Chad and I were joined in Atlanta by our fellow My 1-2-3 Center Travis.  Travis and I flew down together and ran into Mean Gene Okerlund at the airport.  He agreed to let us get a picture with him.  Very cool considering it was a busy airport and he probably had other places to be.  Of course the posse dressed the part of Wrestlemania as well.  We went as the Heenan family, I was the Brain.  Chad played the Red Rooster and Travis dressed as the Brooklyn Brawler.  One thing that sticks out to me about that day wasn't so much Mania, but earlier in the day we attended the WrestleReunion event a few blocks away and Terri Runnels spotted me in the crowd and asked to have a picture taken.  That was plain awesome.  Travis and Chad had moved ahead in the room, but when she got a glimpse of them, we posed for another shot.

The Ryder Revolution really took off this year too with Zack Ryder creating a YouTube channel in an effort to get over with the fans.  Clearly it worked, as he is now the reigning U.S. Champion.  As he was rising to the top, he asked viewers to submit videos to become the esteemed "Broski of the Week."  I'm proud to say that I'm Episode 22's BOTW.  Woo, woo, woo! You know it!  While there's no cash prize involved, it's one of those things that just makes you feel good.

Me and my broadcast colleague Chris Hagstrom

While all those events were awesome this year, I'd have to say the biggest highlight was being asked to be the color commentator for All American Pro Wrestling.  I've talked about it a lot on this blog, but having the opportunity to be a part of a local independent wrestling show is something I've dreamed about for years.  Now I'm living that dream.  AAPW Collision is going strong and showcasing the talents of a lot of local wrestlers.

Yep, I'm wrestling on January 14

Something else I'll be doing in the new year, which will likely be a highlight for the 2012 blog is wrestling in my first match.  The Masterpiece Mike Masters has challenged me, and I've relunctalently accepted.  I'll be sharing more details about that in the coming days, but I can tell you if you live within a driving distance of Marion, Illinois, it'll worth the drive.  Besides the hard working stars of AAPW, internationally known wrestlers PAC, El Generico, and Colt Cabana will be coming to town.  It's Saturday, January 14.  Click here for ticket info!

Of course without you readers, this blog wouldn't even exist, so once again, I thank you for your readership and look forward to writing more stories in 2012.  Your feedback (good and bad) is always welcome too.  Don't forget, like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

Boo: Open Casket

Dusty Rhodes vs. Ivan Koloff: the first casket match

By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger on Twitter

With the birth of the Undertaker in WWF in 1990, it was only a matter of time before we'd see this type of match.  Although in researching the topic (yes, I do research these blogs, but many of them are based on memory) I found that Dusty Rhodes and Ivan Koloff actually had the first casket match.  Back then they called it a coffin match.  You can watch it here.

This match is from the 1970's and was a Texas Death Match, with a casket in the middle of the ring. It all came about because Ivan Koloff said he was going to bury all American wrestlers.  Of course, the American Dream wouldn't take those words lightly.  There were several falls in the match, with a 30 second rest period between.  Rhodes ended up knocking Ivan into the coffin and got the win.  There was no lid to shut him in, he just had to land into the box.  Then he was carried away from the ring in the coffin.  I'm not sure why they counted pins in this match.  But hey, it was the 70's, right.

Nailing the Kamala coffin shut

The casket match was given new life in 1992 at the Survivor Series.  The Undertaker, now wrestling as a face, had had some trouble with Kamala.  I believe 'Taker beat the Ugandan Giant by disqualification at Summer Slam, but that wasn't enough.  As as Survivor Series approached, Paul Bearer and Undertaker were seen constructing a special casket.  This was indeed custom built for Kamala as it has the two stars and half moon, just like the big man's body paint.  Taker won the match after cracking the urn across Kamala's head and rolling him into the casket.  If I remember correctly, the storyline was that the experience changed Kamala and that lead to his face turn and pairing with Reverend Slick.

Taker gets an early advantage

The next casket match wasn't such a good experience for the Undertaker.  He lost to Yokozuna at the Royal Rumble when a group of heels attacked him.  I think there was a camera or something inside the coffin and some weird camera affects made it look like the Undertaker had "gone to the other side."  They sold the angle well, as it was done to give 'Taker some much need time off.  He would return with a vengeance at Survivor Series '94 and beat Yoko.  This was another huge casket, as you might imagine.

There were several more casket matches down the road, I actually saw one live at a Raw/Superstars/Colosseum Home Video taping in St. Louis.  Undertaker won again, this time rolling Kama (aka The Godfather & Papa Shango) into the coffin.  Taker seemed to be on a roll with these matches, until Goldust beat him during an Intercontinental title defense at an In Your House PPV.  Mankind had been hiding inside and popped out to help Goldie get the win.  Despite the fact that I was  a big Goldust mark at the time, I remember being shocked Undertaker lost, and in a casket match no less.

Up in flames

Another big casket match loss for the Undertaker came against Shawn Michaels at the 1998 Royal Rumble.  After he was placed into the coffin, Kane set it on fire.  It was finally the turning point in their feud and lead to the Undertaker beating his baby brother at Wrestlemania 14.

As one might expect, most of the casket matches done in the WWE have involved the Undertaker.  In fact, I could only find two that he did not participate in.  But his cohorts in the Ministry of Darkness (Mideon and Viscera) defeated Triple H in a casket match in 1999.  Then three years later, Kane beat Triple H in one on Raw.

A TNA casket match, D'Lo flies high

I could only find one non-WWE casket match.  It was a TNA show back in 2003.  Sonny Siaki defeated D'Lo Brown.  That match was much like the original one with Rhodes and Koloff.  The casket was inside the ring, and not ringside.  That allowed Siaki and Brown to use the casket as a weapon.  They threw each other into it denting the top of the coffin before finally ending the contest.  At one point D'Lo dropped Siaki on the casket and hit him with the Low Down.  But things turned bad for D'Lo when Jamal arrived and helped Siaki win the match. Despite the fact that Siaki was in the casket first, D'Lo hadn't shut the lid.  

It's a bit dusty.

Chad and I saw the Undertaker's casket match win over Mark Henry at Wrestlemania 22.  We also got to see some of his old caskets on display at Axxess.  It's part of the Undertaker's Graveyard set up.  The famous golden casket could be seen, as well as the one Undertaker used to beat the Big Show at Survivor Series 2008.

From what I can tell, the last casket matches happened in 2009 with a series between Taker and CM Punk.  Many of these matches happened overseas.  Now that the Undertaker is wrestling a lot less, I wonder if the casket match will become a thing of the past.

*Update:  A reader pointed out that I failed to mention the Abyss-Pope casket match from TNA's Final Resolution in 2010.  My bad.  It was an oversight.  Abyss won that contest after choke slamming the Pope into the open casket and closing the lid.

In This Corner...

Escorting Velvet Sky to the ring (photo from SI Miners)

By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter

For as long as I can remember, I wanted to be a wrestling manager.  I knew that I would never be able to cut it as a wrestler.  I don't have the athleticism or physique to get in the ring and perform.

I've had a couple of opportunities in recent years to ring announce, ref, and even do some color commentary.  On June 10, I got the ultimate opportunity.  I was in the corner of TNA Impact Wrestling Knockout Velvet Sky.  Although it was a brief experience, it's one I'll never forget.

Let me start from the beginning.  A couple of months ago, TNA announced plans to hold a Basebrawl event at Rent One Park (home of the Southern Illinois Miners, in the Frontier baseball league)  As soon as the show was announced, I made contact with the folks at Rent One about getting a TNA star on the morning show I anchor.  In the past I've interviewed Billy Gunn live on the air, as well as Sid Vicious and Jerry Lawler on the phone.

D'Lo Brown in the house!

It wasn't until Wednesday that I found out who would be coming in.  It was D'Lo Brown, a former star in both TNA and the WWE.  Now he is an agent for TNA.  I've got to tell you, D'Lo was absolutely awesome.  We spoke briefly before the show and he was really cool.  I think sometimes wrestlers are leery about doing media interviews, but they are pleasantly surprised to learn the guy doing the interview is a die hard wrestling fan.

I know the product, and I think that helps make them comfortable.  Plus, I'm not going to ask silly questions or act like a mark.  At least I try not to!  D'Lo did great and told me to look him up at the stadium that night.   I had won a local radio contest to get the shot at being a manager.  D'Lo let me pick who I would manage, and I went with his suggestion of Velvet.

I made a video for the contest to get the chance to be a manager for the night.  My Facebook friends wanted me to head to the ring as Professor Wrestlestein.  But once I got to the show, I was asked not to dress up.  They didn't want me taking any attention away from Velvet, Angelina Love or Winter.  I was cool with that, but somewhat disappointed.  But it was their show, I was just there as a guest.

Our match was the second, and I waited in the "backstage" area on the field before the show started.  Cookie, Robbie E., and Eric Young kicked off the event.  I got to meet Dave (or Earl) Hebner as I waited for the ladies to show up.  D'Lo arrived with them on a golf cart and introduced me to Velvet.  He explained to her that I was a local news anchor and she started to tell me what I needed to do out there.  D'Lo interrupted and told Velvet I was a big time wrestling fan.  I think that put Velvet a bit more at ease too.  But honestly, my heart was pumping and I was so nervous.  I just didn't want to look like a tool in front of a crowd that big.  It's different than looking like a tool on the news, because those people aren't there yelling at me in person.

Hello!

We ran through the inflatable dome together and I walked around the ring as Velvet did her provocative entrance.  The fans ate it up.  And I'm not bragging here, but there were some loud "Kevin Hunsperger" chants from the front row.  Of course it was a group of guys from the AAPW group here in southern Illinois.  Other viewers of our morning show were also calling my name.  That was a great feeling, despite the fact that I felt I looked very lame out there.

This was the write up from the PW Insider on the match: ‎"Velvet Sky w/ Kevin Hunsperger defeated Angelina Love w/ Winter. Kevin won the "Be a Manager" contest from ESPN Radio. He's an anchor for WSIL TV. The ringside fans seemed more interested in chanting for Kevin, as he's a well known personality, at least in the section I was at. I believe the ending saw a failed interference attempt form Winter, which led to Velvet rolling Angelina up for the win."

Keeping Winter at bay (photo by Jim Olsen)

Basically all I did was go after Winter when she attacked Velvet.  Of course there was no contact made, as I was the baby face and baby face guys don't hit women.  I also played the role of cheer leader, pounding on the mat and starting a "Let's Go Velvet!" chant when my gal was down.  After she picked up the win, we went back stage and did an interview with the local ESPN station.  Again, it was surreal experience, and something I have always dreamed of.

I went back to my seat with the rest of the My 1-2-3 Cents posse.  My friends crack me up as they were taunting and yelling at the guys in the ring.  They even had a "We Hate Kevin" chant.  Gotta love friends.  Chad and I had a chance to go back stage again and meet several stars and get pictures taken.  Other than managing Velvet, my other highlight was getting in the ring after the show with Kurt Angle and having a picture taken.

Representin' the 3 I's...

I know in the past we've taken shots at TNA and the management of the company.  I will say this about Friday's show.  They make the evening as fan friendly as possible.  Considering this was a house show, they had a lot of meet and greets and chances for fans to get up close and personal with the stars.  The only time I've seen anything like that with the WWE was at Wrestlemania Axxess, which costs a heck of a lot more than the TNA event.

This is the tip of the iceberg, I'll do a video response a bit later.  Thanks for reading.  Check out all the photos from Friday night on My 1-2-3 Cents on Facebook.  Follow us on Twitter.  And subscribe to the YouTube channel.