Wow! Thank you to everyone who reached out to us and told us how much they loved our first ever podcast. The response was so huge in fact that we’ve been able to schedule several more guests over the next few weeks. This week our guest is Tri-State Wrestling’s favorite clown, Johnnie Watts who stopped in to share his experience in wrestling and his faith with us. Be sure to check out his newest endeavor – his clown ministry. Click the link below.

JW Clown Ministry

We also want to say a huge thank you to Rollek, a local band here in Knox County that allowed us to use their music for our podcast. Our new opening theme is their song Snorkelling into Oblovion. Check them out on Facebook and also go download their newest album – It’s a free download!

Without Further Ado – Here’s Episode 2 of the 10 Count Podcast.

So, I’m calling this match of the week, but let’s be honest here – I’m probably not going to have the opportunity to update this every week. So, it’s probably more like “Match of the time period between now and the last time I did this” but that’s just not as catchy.

Anyway…….

Keeping with my recent theme of local promotions, specifically Tri-State Wrestling, I wanted to highlight just an awesome match from the March 19 Proving Grounds between Zach Hogan and Will Bray for the TSW World Title.

In order to really set this match up, we have to go back to Februray’s Proving Groundds event. The main event was a title match between Hogan (in the main picture in the black gear) and Teddy King. This was a crazy match – you can tell that both of them are veterans in the ring and they put on a good 20 minute match that featured some high-flying, suplexes on the floor (Without padding, might I add), and one of the best finishing maneuvers I’ve ever seen.

Hogan is the incumbent champ and he’s nasty – think Kevin Owens style. He’s aligned with the evil owner of the company, and they’re not above cheating to win – however in this particular scenario, the match ended clean as Hogan hit the challenger, King, with a Canadian Destroyer that incidentally gave him a concussion. It’s a wicked finisher – check it out here. Hogan wins 1-2-3, then as they’re carrying King out, Hogan hits him with another destroyer for good measure.

Which brings us to March 19. The show opens with a promo asking ring announcer Jason Adams to apologize for an altercation with the heel owner, Barry, at February’s show. This sets up the heels clearly feeling cocky after Hogan’s latest title defense and flexing their muscle.

After that Hogan cuts a promo of his own talking about how he’s defeated all challengers and that there’s no one left in the locker room for him to beat. Very reminiscent of The Rock’s promo the night that Goldberg made his WWE debut.

Coach Powers – who serves as a manager for many of the faces at TSW and also as the “Director of Operations – comes out and takes the mic from Hogan and tells him “oh no, we have a challenger for you.

They hit the music for Will Bray – a guy who’s style I would say is a mix of CM Punk, Seth Rollins and Daniel Bryan. He’s the guy in gold in the main picture up there. And by the way, his outfit is a copy of the white ranger from the original Power Rangers. The crowd goes nuts. I mean, they just absolutely love these guys – there are little kids chanting “Let’s go Will,” he’s slapping hands with everyone at ringside – you couldn’t ask for better energy for an opening match.

So once the match begins, Hogan and Bray just go at it. They are two extremely skilled performers with unique styles that just mesh really well. You can see videos of them here (One of the best Super Kicks you will ever see) and here.

Just as the momentum turns in Bray’s direction, he hits a devastating move and pins Hogan in the corner 1-2-3 to win the title! The crowd erupted. But it turns out, they were only teasing – they pulled a Dean Ambrose on us.

While Bray made the cover, Barry and his crew pulled Hogan’s feet into the ropes and the ref didn’t see it until after the celebration had begun. So the match resumed. It wasn’t long after that Hogan hit the Canadian Destroyer and it was over, but the controversial finish – in my mind – at least sets up a perfect feud between Hogan and Bray and holy cow, will that be something to watch.

As for the rest of the card – there were some great matches there too. Honorable mention goes out to the tag Match featuring the Southern Shiners vs. Banshee & Sandman.Check out this video!

I’ll also give a nod to the Elimination Match between X-Calibur, Anderson Grimm and Big T Thomas Moore – that was a fun one to watch as well. Check out this video! And this one. And This one!

As an added bonus, I’ve stolen (with permission) the run down from the night posted on TSW’s Facebook Page. Enjoy!

Match 2 was a tag team Match that featured one the fastest growing tag Teams in the TSW The Southern Shiners and A team that has been around a while but just cant seem to get a good footing in the TSW The Banshee and the Sandman it was a great match overall but in the end the Southern Shiners Showed the Fans and the Banshee and Sandman that they are a team that’s going places in the TSW
Match 2 The Banshee and The Sandman Vs Southern Shiners Winner: Southern Shiners

The Next match was the first ever TSW Elimination Proving Grounds Match, this match is intended to be where New Talent can showcase their work and earn a spot on the TSW Roster full time. (Editor’s note: Big Thomas T reminds me a lot of Stan Hansen – Who was just announced as the newest Inductee to the WWE Hall of fame. The Bit with the Rope and cowbell by Anderson Grimm where he tossed it to Big T behind the refs back and then hit the ground to get him disqualified – classic.)
Match 3 Anderson Grim Vs X-Cailbur Vs Big T Thomas Moore
Winner: X-Cailbur

after this match we had a tag match with the tag Team champs but there was a catch Patrik Taylor was injured at the last event and will be out of action till October. So, last night Blaine Black Choose someone to wrestle in his place and that person was Matt Diamond. They would take on the Team of Dawn The Ref and Johnnie Watts
Match 4 Blaine Black and Matt Diamond Vs Dawn the Ref and Johnnie Watts Winners; Blaine Black and Matt Diamond.
After this match was over Blanie Black attacked Matt Diamond and made a statement that he isn’t Chaos Carnival approved Matt was saved by the Southern Shiners who let it be known that they are coming for the TSW Tag Team Titles.

The next match featured the TSW Southern Champion Terence putting his title on the line against Hunter Love, Hunter is a graduate of the TSW University. He earned this title match last month when he pinned Terence in a non-title match
Match 5: TSW Southern title match
Hunter Love Vs TSW Southern Champion Terence Winner: Terence

With all the craziness that had already happened over the course of the night it was time for the Semi-Main Event for the evening
the TSW AWA Memorial Title match between the Champion Benny Bray and the Returning The Don Tony V.
Semi-Main Event: AWA Memorial Championship Match
The Don Tony V. Vs Champion Benny Bray Winner: Benny Bray

Now its time for the Main Event for the evening and everyone will agree that this was a set up from the start as the Owner Sweet Daddy B banned any and all support for the TSW United States Champion SSG Stanley Roberts from ring side and getting involved in the match.
Main Event TSW United States Title Triple Threat Match
Abdual Merrick Vs Yusev Merrick Vs Champion SSG Stanley Roberts Winner and New Champion Abdual Merrick
After the match was over Abdual Merrick and Yusev Merrick attack SSG Stanley Roberts’ son at ring side but luckily his dad was able to get back up from the beating he had just taken and save him. SSG Stanley Roberts issued a challenge to the Merricks – a Tag Team Warfare on April 23rd at the Vincennes Eagles Family Vs Family.

Don’t like what I wrote? Let me know in the comments section. Think you can do better? Write a blog post and send it to 10countblog@gmail.com, along with your name – all submissions are considered. Check us out at Facebook.com/10countblog and on Twitter @10countblog.

What an evening it was on March 19 at the Vincennes Eagles Lodge! Our friends at Tri-State Wrestling put on one hell of a show for the benefit of Hands in Autism. Be sure to check out all of our pictures and videos from the latest Proving Grounds on our Facebook Page and also on Twitter!

It’s a very special day for 10 Count, because we’re foraying into the dark abyss that is podcasting. And to help us kick off the occasion, we were able to get an interview with TSW Owner Barry Baker who dives into some of the inspiration for the promotion and also his Vince McMahon-esque character, Sweet Daddy B.

 

Normally, I’m on here writing about the latest crazy thing happening in WWE. I really should cover other promotions more often, but I just now found a way to watch Lucha Underground, so I’m playing catch up; and I’m still searching for a way to watch TNA since I’m poor and can’t afford the massive cable package it would require to get Pop TV.

But today is different. Today, I chose to write about something that I recently discovered that has become near and dear to my heart: local promotions.

I live in a small community. Really small. Seriously, think about oceans of corn. Like many small towns and communities, it’s difficult to find things to do without driving an hour or two – especially when it comes to wrestling. The closest WWE ever comes to me is Evansville, Indiana, and that’s only for Smackdown tapings at best.

So, you’ll understand my surprise when I was randomly browsing Facebook one day last month and came across a promotional post from a company called Tri-State Wrestling doing a show in my own back yard. That was something I simply could not miss.

I went into this thing not knowing what to expect. I had never been to any kind of independent show – but truthfully, my expectations weren’t high. What I found when I got there was a loyal group of fans, performers who were everyday people that loved to put on a show, and a renewed love for the art of wrestling (please don’t sue me, Colt Cabana.)

Sure, some of the matches and characters were a little hokie. You could tell who had put money and effort into learning the craft and you could tell who was just starting out – but the magic in the entire night was that they were real people doing something they loved. There were some great spots, some excellent moves that would never be allowed in WWE and chants of “D.O.C.” and “Barry Sucks.”

One of the cooler parts about the show was that it was super family-friendly. The wrestlers were awesome with the crowd – especially the kids in attendance.

But I think the most enjoyable thing that I learned is that TSW is a non-profit that raises money for causes at their shows – like Relay for Life, Autism Awareness, and other things like that. Several of the characters broke the 4th wall during an intermission to present that organization with the funds they’d raised. They even had an auction for a photo of one of the more popular performers that brought about $100.

It was a great show all around and I intend to be at their next show in my town on March 19th at the Vincennes, Indiana Eagles. If you’re in the area, you should check them out. Here’s their Facebook page.

If you’re a wrestling fan, it’s important to support local promotions. Nine times out of 10, the people in them are your neighbors and you’d never know it. And the thing is, there are a lot of local promotions out there doing the exact same type of work as TSW. If you’re not a wrestling fan, this is a great place to become one.

10 Count Blog is a community of fans that loves sports entertainment and is constantly looking for writers. Don’t like what I wrote? Let me know in the comments section. Wanna write for us about WWE or another wrestling promotion? Send a submission to 10countblog@gmail.com!