Fun Fact Friday: Jake Capone

Jake Capone
Courtesy: Steve Belcher

By Kevin Hunsperger

@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter

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I first met Jake Capone in 2011 as I was working on some Halloween Havoc blogs for My 1-2-3 Cents. This was before WWE Network and I had put out a call for anyone who had a copy of the first event. Jake did and we met on the SIU campus and made the exchange. A few months later Jake ended up on the All-American Pro Wrestling roster as Justice.

Years later, Justice turned bad and changed his name to "The Hitman" Jake Capone. He was a founding father of the Midwest Mafia. Together he and Red Daniels (RIP) held the Stride Pro Wrestling tag team titles. But another opportunity took Jake and his family out of state, but I've kept in touch and wanted to spotlight him on Fun Fact Friday.

1. Jake is a huge movie buff and has a large collection of movies, including some lesser known films. (As I mentioned he had Halloween Havoc '89 ready to loan out.)

2. Besides wrestling, Jake works as an artist too. He dabbles in several mediums including photography, music and film production. Jake also enjoys writing. You can check out his artwork on the TeePublic website too. I've recently picked up a shirt there. Here's the link.

3. Jake is a huge Elvis fan and credits his dad for knowing all the King's songs by heart. 

You can learn more about Jake on episode 155 of My 1-2-3 Cents the podcast.

Foreign Object Friday: The chairmen of wrestling

Chairmen of the ring
Photos courtesy: Red Daniels (L) & Wilkey Photography (R)

By Kevin Hunsperger

@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter

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All week I'll be writing blogs to countdown to the upcoming Stride Pro Wrestling show "Brave the Storm." It's a benefit (Saturday, May 6) to raise money for families in southern Illinois who recently lost their homes or suffered damage during the February 28 tornado.

Red vs. Spade
Courtesy: Red Daniels Facebook

Over the last few months, quite a rivalry has developed between Red Daniels and Jay Spade. Each man has been a co-holder of the Stride Pro Wrestling Tag Team Championships. Daniels and his now former partner Jake Capone beat Spade and Joey O'Riley for the belts a few months ago. That night, in particular, a chair came into play.

Laid out
Courtesy: Red Daniels Facebook

The action spilled to the floor of as Spade and Daniels brawled through the crowd. In a callous move, the 300 pound Daniels scooped up Spade (who is half that weight) and slammed him into a metal folding chair. While all this was going on outside the ring, Capone gained the upper hand on O'Riley and pinned him for the championship victory.

I'm about to get whacked
Courtesy: Wilkey Photography

But is famous for a chair wielding incident too. This one was in All American Pro Wrestling and involved yours truly. It was during my match at Main Event against Mike Masters. He had brought a chair in and planned to assault me with it but stopped to taunt me a little more instead. With the referee's back turned, Spade hit the ring, grabbed the chair and whacked Masters in the head so hard he split open like a watermelon and needed six staples to fix the wound.

Spade to the rescue
Courtesy: Wilkey Photography

I know that sounds just as devious as Daniels' actions, but I'll defend it saying Spade and I are both smaller than Masters and had been victim to his bullying and abuse. Fans cheered because the bad guy finally got his comeuppance. 

Spade has proven he can swing a chair and be effective with it. He may need an equalizer against the much larger Daniels this Saturday night. The two will meet one on one at Community Consolidated 204 in Pinckneyville. See you there.

Tag Team Turmoil to top Stride's upcoming event

By Kevin Hunsperger

@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter

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I've always been a fan of tag team wrestling. I could go on and on listing my favorite teams from back in the day, but I won't waste your time. Stride Pro Wrestling is developing a lot of fantastic tag teams right now. This Saturday night Tag Team Turmoil will be the main event, with the newly crowned champions The Midwest Mafia defending against three other teams.

 

Team Triple X in action
Courtesy: Steve Belcher

Red Daniels and "The Hitman" Jake Capone will certainly have their work cut out for them. The other three contenders for the belts include former tag team championships Team Triple X. Joey O'Riley and Jay Spade may not be the biggest or strongest team in this match, but their heart and determination can't be denied. I've had the pleasure of watching these two develop and become two of the best on the indy scene.

Maximum Overdrive
Courtesy: Steve Belcher

Also in the fray, Maximum Overdrive, that's former Stride Pro Wrestling Champion Ax Allwardt and Scott Phoenix. This duo has been around for a little while and isn't above bending or even breaking the rules to win. Don't forget their manager, J. Wellington Beauregard is one of the most ruthless managers in the game today. 

Farmer Billy Hills & Sarah Summers

Farmer Billy Hills and Sarah Summers have teamed before in intergender action against Tony and Alexxa Flood. This will be the first time the duo has faced all male competition in Stride Pro Wrestling. They've worked well together for years and that longtime relationship should factor well. Plus, Farmer has been hungry for gold since the very first Stride show. 

The champs, Midwest Mafia
Courtesy: Steve Belcher

The action will be intense as four teams all with one thing on their minds clash. The Stride Pro Wrestling tag team titles are what it's all about. Be sure to catch Tag Team Turmoil this Saturday night (April 8). Bell time is 6:30 p.m. at the CMA Dojo at the Illinois Star Centre Mall in Marion.

Midwest Mafia mugs Team Triple X

New champs
Courtesy: Tara Dawn

By Kevin Hunsperger

@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter

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For months, “The Hitman” Jake Capone and Red Daniels have said they were going to take the Stride Pro Wrestling tag team titles away from Jay Spade and Joey O’Riley. And on Saturday night, the Midwest Mafia followed up on that promise. The duo dominated Team Triple X on Stride shows leading up to February’s “No Love Lost” event.

That's gonna hurt

Even though they were outweighed by about 300 pounds, Spade and O’Riley put up a helluva fight to retain their titles. The size and strength of Capone and Daniels proved to be too much for Triple X to overcome. The victory is even more special for Daniels, who started his training one year and one day from the title match.

Roger Matheus is ready
Courtesy: Steve Belcher

But the Mafia didn’t just win big as a tag team. Roger Matheus beat Chris Hargas and Ax Allwardt in a triple threat match to name the number one contender to the Stride Pro Wrestling championship. This was a hard hitting brawl among three of the best Stride has to offer. I hope to have Roger on the podcast prior to his title shot. But I can tell you he is the most intimidating member of the Stride roster.

Champion Heath Hatton has a tough road ahead of him. We’ll document that more once the match is signed and ready to go. Be sure to come out to the Stride Pro Wrestling anniversary show on Saturday, March 4 at the CMA Dojo in the Illinois Star Centre Mall in Marion.

Will there be a hoedown after this showdown?

By Kevin Hunsperger

@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter

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Stride Pro Wrestling returns this Saturday night, January 7 with several great matches. The Stride Pro Wrestling Heavyweight Champion Heath Hatton steps into the ring against "Farmer" Billy Hills. Both men are two of the most popular wrestlers in Stride so this contest will be very interesting, to say the least.

Hatton wins the gold

Hatton won the title in November and had a successful defense against "Big" Roger Matheus, Joey O'Riley and former champ Ax Allwardt in December. Hatton's record speaks for itself. He's had some great matches against all comers from former NWA World Champion Adam Pearce to Daniel Eads to a shot on WWE Extreme Rules against Ryback. 

Farmer Billy Hills
Courtesy: Steve Belcher

But don't underestimate the man from Mudlick, Kentucky. Farmer is one of the toughest competitors I've seen in indy wrestling. He's battled the likes of Allwardt, Tony Flood and "The Hitman" Jake Capone. Farmer hasn't tasted gold yet in Stride, but he's come close, making it to the semi-finals of the Legacy Championship tournament. Farmer is very deserving of the opportunity he's receiving. He will not take this moment lightly and will be ready to go against Hatton. But as you might expect, Hatton has the heart of a champion and shouldn't be taken lightly by any opponent. 

Once the dust settles will Farmer being celebrating the showdown against Hatton with a hoedown? Find out Saturday night. Bell time is at 6:30 at the CMA Dojo at the Illinois Star Centre Mall in Marion.

Two Stride wrestlers attacked, changes coming Saturday

Hargas leaving the gym

By Kevin Hunsperger

@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter
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Some late-breaking news out of the Stride Pro Wrestling front office. General manager Sam Hunter texted me earlier today and asked me to cover what has happened. Two of Stride Pro Wrestling's best and brightest performers have been attacked in two separate incidents and will not be in action Saturday night at Hostile Holiday.

The attacker

Chris Hargas was set to be a part of the main event fatal four way Stride Pro Wrestling championship match. Earlier this week I wrote about that, Heath Hatton defends against Ax Allwardt and Roger Matheus as well. Hargas was jumped by a man in a hood Thursday night leaving the gym. We have a few surveillance photos posted on the Stride Pro Wrestling Facebook page. It's hard to tell, but the arrow is pointing at the suspect. We're told Chris' injuries are not career threatening, but he has been pulled from the match per doctor's orders.

Jay Spade in action

Jay Spade was also attacked in a separate incident. Spade and Joey O'Riley are the Stride Pro Wrestling tag team champions and have been feuding with The Midwest Mafia, Jake Capone and Red Daniels. We're still getting updates on Spade's condition, but it appears he will not be a part of the Hostile Holiday event either. 

Now for my 1-2-3 cents on these situations. I have no idea who is behind the attacks. But looking at the big picture, who has more to gain from Hargas and Spade being out of action? Members of Midwest Mafia, which also include Matheus now as well as Damage Inc. I'm not blaming any of the men involved in those factions, but it's very convenient that this has happened less than 48 hours before the big event. 

My thoughts are with Hargas and Spade as they recover. GM Hunter will address the situation Saturday night at the CMA Dojo at the Illinois Star Centre Mall in Marion. Bell time is 6:30. If there are any new updates, I'll be sure to let you all know. Hope to see you Saturday.

Red Daniels is blinded by gold

Red sees gold

By Kevin Hunsperger

@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter
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If you haven't checked out Stride Pro Wrestling in southern Illinois yet, I highly recommend it. Yes I am biased as I am the ring announcer for the company. But the action each month is top notch. 

The graduates

Heath Hatton is training a new crop of indy wrestlers several times a week at the Stride Pro Wrestling School and over the weekend two of his students graduated. Congratulations to both Frank Edwards and Red Daniels. 

Less than an hour after receiving his diploma and soaking in the cheers of his hometown fans, Red snapped. He joined former rival "The Hitman" Jake Capone in beating down the Stride Pro Wrestling tag team champions Jay Spade and Joey O'Riley. The popular duo known as Team Triple X was blindsided after Red appeared to be helping the team. O'Riley and Spade have overcome many challenges through the years. But Red's hunger for fame and fortune may lead to the demise of champs.

The Midwest Mafia has arrived
 

There's no doubt Red's "good guy" persona was a front, I just don't know for how long. Not only were the champs blindsided, but so were the fans (myself included). Moments after the beatdown, Capone shared a new Midwest Mafia t-shirt with Red. The two celebrated their heinous actions by holding the tag team titles proudly over the nearly unconscious champs. A night filled with celebrating the accomplishments of the last seven months came to a screeching halt as Red turned his back on those who have supported him longest.

Despite being outweighed by nearly 300 pounds, don't count out Team Triple X. Spade and O'Riley will be ready for a fight. Will it be enough to overcome the hunger (some might say greed) of Daniels and Capone? Stay tuned to the Stride Pro Wrestling Facebook page for updates.