Follow my blog with Bloglovin The headline is true. Two former WWE pay per view guests will be doing battle this Saturday night at Stride Pro Wrestling. In 2012 Jay (Heath) Hatton and Aaron Relic (Ace Hawkins) teamed up and took on Ryback at Extreme Rules. The duo didn't fare well, but having known both men from their time in All American Pro Wrestling, I couldn't have been prouder.
Hatton & Hawkins team with Jay Spade
Courtesy: Steve Belcher
Fast forward to present day, the '2 is Greater than 1' duo is part of Stride Pro Wrestling. Hawkins' appearances have been more sporadic, but he's always a welcomed guest here as the fans in southern Illinois have grown to love his work in the ring. Hatton, of course, has been a staple in Stride and a former heavyweight and Legacy champion. The two have teamed up here and have similar foes. However, the two are about to find themselves on opposite sides of the ring.
That's right, Hatton and Hawkins are signed for the opening round of the Stride Cup Tournament. Eight men are battling for the first-ever Stride Cup. In addition to the abovementioned stars, you'll also see Ax Allwardt, JD Wilk, El Magnifico, Brian Richards, Shane Lauder and a yet to be announced wrestler in the tournament.
Hawkins and Hatton wrestling overseas
Hatton and Hawkins have a wealth of experience in the ring. Not only have they torn things up on the indy scene here in the Midwest, they've also had big opportunities to wrestle overseas. Those experiences in Europe along with the short time with WWE peppered with their years on the indies, it's going to be an exciting match and will likely steal the show. Come check out the Stride Cup opening round and all the other action this Saturday night. Bell time is 6:30 p.m. at the Illinois Star Centre Mall in Marion. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for kids.
I
have been a professional wrestler for over 5 years, and I love everything about
it: the fans, the locker room, the stories, the moves, the bonding, and the
history.It’s not just wrestling
to me; its so much more. It’s who
I am. With that being said, this blog is about a question myself and every other professional wrestler is asked hundreds of times: “Where can I train to
be a wrestler?” It's not really an annoying question nor is it one that I hate to answer like the famous “Is wrestling fake?” question that I despise.
However, the
answer that I give never seems to be the answer the person wants to
hear.I will confess that
sometimes I will be lazy and send them the name of a few wrestling schools or
other contacts I know about just to blow them off.That’s why I am writing this blog. My hope is to explain why
I tend to ignore the question and why I don’t always show excitement in helping
people who want to become a “professional wrestler.”
The brotherhood of wrestling
People who want to wrestle need to understand professional wrestling is not WWE. Yes,
we all love WWE and want to get there, but what we do on a weekly basis is not
WWE. It is not fancy or glamorous, and it doesn’t have jumbotrons with entrance
music and videos, story lines, tour busses, fancy locker rooms, 4 star hotels,
huge crowds, big pay days, t-shirts, and it’s definitely not going to make you
famous.Chances are you will never
even set foot in a WWE ring or become a famous star.
Catching a chair
Ask yourself these questions, "What would
I be training for, and why do it?" If you can’t answer, then you
probably shouldn’t even start. Wrestling isn’t just “indy wrestling,” it's not just WWE, it's not just “strong style,” and it’s not just “hardcore style.” Those are just names.Wrestling is
a bond between brothers, an art form, and it’s something that I love and hold
close to my heart. Wrestling is only 30 fans in a hot gym on a Friday night, it is
driving 3 hours to a show and possibly making only $30, it is sitting at a
wrestling venue for 6 hours on a Saturday, it is setting up a ring and chairs,
it is little tiny dressing room where there isn’t enough room to sit down, it’s
not being able to walk on Monday, and it’s literally putting your life in the
hands of someone else.
Flying high
I would never discourage anybody who loves wrestling to not give it a
shot. Being a professional wrestler is one of the best things I have ever done
in my life. I loved it growing up, and I love it now. I’m sure you love it as
well. I just want you to know exactly what it is you love. Do you love the
story lines, the surprise cash-ins, the surprise appearances, the back stage
segments or do you love the matches? Do you get excited for the 20-minute mid-card
TV matches that are just golden? Do you get excited to see the mid-card tag
match or pre-main squash match?
It’s
simple, my neighbor is a great guy who loves wrestling. We talked about Undertaker vs.
Shawn Michaels the other day. That doesn’t mean he would make a great wrestler.
He has never heard nor seen any of ROH, Evolve, OVW, SICW, USA Championship
Wrestling or basically anything other than WWE.Have you heard of those? Have you sat and watched anything
other than WWE? Have you searched Youtube for matches from an Indy show in
Tennessee?
Wrestling hurts
If not, that’s ok. What do you do? You go find a place that is
running a show and ask them if you can come help set up the ring and work
security. You will know in the first hour of a show if you want to be in this
business.That’s my advice; that’s
my long answer. Don’t get in this business and disrespect it by not loving
it. Professional wrestling is one big family, and our family doesn’t take kindly to guys
disrespecting what we do. So if you just want to hit a bunch of finishing moves
you saw on TV this is not the thing for you.But if you want to learn an art and respect the history of
that art then jump in with both feet to the best business in the world.
Editor's note: Heath Hatton has wrestled for several independent companies around the midwest. He also had a handicap match as "Jay Hatton" with "Aaron Relic" against Ryback at the WWE pay-per-view Extreme Rules in 2012.
Since it's Star Wars Day (May the 4th Be With You), I decided let my inner geek out even more so than usual. So I'm booking wrestling stars from the present against some of my favorite Star Wars characters. Keep in mind though, that most of my knowledge is with episodes four, five, and six.
Here's my Star Wars Wrestling Federation card:
Commentators for the night: Yoda & Jim Ross
Skywalker vs. Cena
Luke Skywalker vs. John Cena: Both seem to use "the force" to battle the odds and come from behind for the victory. Like him or not, Cena is still the company's biggest baby face in my opinion, so it only makes sense to put him in there with the original trilogy's ultimate good guy.
Darth Vader vs. The Undertaker: I was originally going to go with Vader vs. Vader here, but I decided to tweak my own rules and go with today's wrestling stars. Undertaker makes sense here as he's been such a dominate force for two decades. Although he's been a face for the vast majority of his career, when he was Big Evil, he reminded me of Lord Vader, getting into the minds and souls of his followers.
Solo vs. Punk
Han Solo vs. CM Punk: Two smart asses who are on a quest to show they're the best in the world. Both guys could also be "the top dog" if only they could step out of their counterparts shadow in Skywalker and Cena. I wonder how Punk would look in carbonite?
Princess Leia vs. Beth Phoenix: Two strong, independent women who know what they want. They have both kicked butt and taken names along the way. How could you go wrong?
Chewbacca vs. The Big Show: Two big guys who spend a lot of time playing second fiddle to the ones they're around. Both are strong and would by no means put on a technical showcase, but I think there would be a lot of fun had in a match between these two behemoths. Obi-Wan Kenobi vs. Ric Flair: Two legends go toe to toe. One of these guys knew when to hang it up though... Anakin Skywalker vs. Daniel Bryan: Yes, yes, yes! I'm aware that Anakin and Darth Vader are the same person, but for the sake of this blog they are two separate characters in the movies. Both started off (at least Bryan in the WWE/NXT) as baby faces and have since turned to the dark side.
C3PO vs. Jericho
C3PO vs. Chris Jericho: Stay with me on this one. The Droid who is fluent in over six million forms of communication against the wrestler who once claimed to be the man of 1004 holds. Plus, C3PO has his colorful, flashy droid buddy R2-D2, and Jericho has that awesomely flashy jacket. I smell instant classic. The Emperor vs. Hulk Hogan: Both seem to have a choke hold on their respective industries and refuse to let go. At least someone finally broke the Emperor's amazing grip. Anakin Solo vs. Randy Orton: This is set up to be a battle between two third generation stars. Solo has the Force on his side, Orton has the Cowboy. Padme Amidala vs. Natalya Neidhart: While I feel like Natalya is one of the best Divas on the roster, I think the WWE will finally recognize that too and she'll be a queen of the ring in the company's eyes. Both women have a lineage in their respective fields.
Lando Calrissian vs. Cody Rhodes: Lando was the coolest guy in the galaxy far, far away and in my opinion Cody is the coolest guy on SmackDown. It's the battle of two prima donnas in my view. Boba Fett vs. Dolph Ziggler: Both of these heels seem to be over with fans and have a cult following.
Jabba vs. Hawkins & Hatton
Jabba the Hut vs. Heath (Jay) Hatton & Ace Hawkins (Aaron Relic): Because 2 is greater than 1, duh.
Darth Maul vs. Sheamus: Darth Maul is a badass. So is Sheamus. And they're both red heads. (Sorry, I don't have much more here) Jar-Jar Binks vs. Kharma: Only booking this so we can watch Kharma destroy Jar-Jar and squash him with the Implant Buster.
Bail Organa & Mace Windu vs. Kofi Kingston & RTruth: I'll be honest, I'm not sure what kind of alliance Bail and Mace had, but let's face it, this is a WWE tag team title match, so The Max Rebo Band vs. The Batiri: If you're not a Chikara fan you won't get this reference. I'd suggest looking up them up. This could be an entertaining matchup to say the least.
Three Storm Troopers vs. The Colony: Another Chikara inspired match. The Colony is an army of ants, they'd fight hard to defend the honor of wrestling against Lord Vader's team of stooges. Wicket W. Warrick vs. Hornswoggle: This would be a feature match for the kids. Who doesn't love a cuddly little Ewok in their with a cuddly little Leprechuen?
Who would you put on your Star Wars wrestling card? Post here or on our Facebook wall. Don't forget to like us. May the Force Be with You!
For the last few weeks the artist formerly known as Skip Sheffield has been mowing down the competition in the ring. Ryback has been competing against "local talent" on SmackDown! and on Sunday night at Extreme Rules, his opponents including two wrestlers I personally know.
Billed as Aaron Relic and Jay Hatton on the WWE pay per view, All American Pro Wrestling fans know them better as Ace Hawkins and Heath Hatton. Readers of My 1-2-3 Cents may remember Heath being included in my Stars of 2012 post earlier this year.
Ace vs. Ryback (WWE)
Even though their prematch promo lasted about as long as the match, it was great to see a couple of our guys in the WWE spotlight. They may have been demolished by the "terminator" but I can't tell you how proud I am of Ace and Heath. These two guys have worked hard on the indy scene for the last few years. It's great to see them getting a little time in the national spotlight.
This may very well be the tip of the iceberg for both Ace and Heath. I want to again congratulate them and let them know how proud I am of their accomplishments and what they did Sunday at Extreme Rules. Way to go guys. I wonder if we can get Heath's "2 is greater than 1" trending.
You can catch both Ace and Heath at the May 19 Collision TV in Marion, IL. Go to AAPW's website for more details or to watch the two in action.
