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This is coverage of the second annual Indie Wrestling Hall of Fame will take place this afternoon in Los Angeles, CA at the Millenium Biltmore Hotel, Emil Jay is the MC for the show.
Jimmy Jacobs is the first inductee and Alex Shelly is out to induct him.
He talks about his matches with Jimmy Jacobs at IWA Mid South in 2003. He talks about how Jacobs drove him from Detroit to the show, almost 7 hours, and how Jacobs had driven so many people to shows and helped so many people over the years. He then brings Jacobs to the stage.
Jacobs says he thought the Hall of Fame was for people who are washed up, but he’s still able to go. He then said there are so many people who should go in before him. He then says when watched two of his friends main event WrestleMania last night. He then goes over how he would go anywhere to perform like CM Punk and Colt Cabana.
He talks about his time in Ring of Honor. He talks about his matches with the Bricoes. He said they used to pile into hotel rooms and talking about how they would change the business, and they did. He says he loves about how he had feuds that only the people at the venue know about.
He talks about how being in the ring is the most beautiful thing. He then lays out all of his thank yous. He says the internet is full of nasty rumors, and the internet says he is retired, and he will never retire.
There are some sound issues on the feed, so I have to turn it up pretty loud to hear things. I don’t know if it will be corrected when it’s archived.
Dave Prazak is out to induct Cheerleader Melissa. He says everyone knows the people on the grand stage, but they are here to honor the people who worked the indy shows to hone their craft and built the independent scene. He says no one has done more to build up the indy scene in So Cal was Cheerleader Melissa. He says he first saw Melissa on tapes from Japan. He thought they could have her help them build a company for women’s wrestling.
He talks about her time with different indys like Chick Fight and Click Wrestle. He talks about her time in TNA and how versatile she is.
Melissa says Dave covered more stuff than she remembers. She puts over GCW for holding the event. She thanks her late father for helping her get into the business. She then discusses how her uncle ran a wrestling school and her father drove her there every Saturday. She thanks Christopher Daniels for training her. She then talks about an e-mail he sent her 25 years ago on how to lay out a match, and he asked for directions.
She then says she doesn’t think she ever got him directions. Then she hands him the Mapquest printout.
She said she was never a real cheerleader. She goes over how she wa always looking to learn more from anyone who would help and train her. She then talks about early matches and her time with Shimmer. She thanks Dutch Mantell for putting together the women’s division in TNA. She says Amazing Kong is her ride or die.
She then goes over her time in Lucha Underground, and then talks about how she’s a trainer now in Vegas. She also says she will never retire and thanks everyone.
Orange Cassidy is then out to induct Excalibur. He says that irony is a person who doesn’t talk much giving an award to someone who talks all the time. He says he is surrounded by legends and they all came through Pro Wrestling Guerilla and the legacy is that two guys with that on their tights headlined WrestleMania. He says that he doesn’t know if Excalibur gets the appreciation he really deserves.
Excalibur says he didn’t expect this and he feels he doesn’t deserve it because so many people have done more. Then his wife said “You’ve done a lot, you deserve it, so shut up and take it.” He talks about his time as a tape trader, and watching Rey Mysterio Jr. vs Psychosis, and he loved Psychosis because he made Rey look like a million bucks.
He talks about training in Anaheim and how much the people there meant and still mean to him. He discusses how California wrestling was isolated, unlike the Northeast. He talks about Revolution Pro and how he learned his craft. He then discusses the genesis of Pro Wrestling Guerilla being at a charity show where the promoter took off with the money, and they decided to give the fans a show anyway.
He said that PWG was about the people involved putting on the matches that they want to see. He says that the award isn’t just for him but for PWG. He then thanks the people who showed up to perform even when there was no money. He then says when he started commentary, he took it for granted. As time went on, he started to call everything straight because he realized what was happening was a gift.
He said there are people who build the stars and because his in ring career was over, it was his job to be one of those people. He talks a little about his in ring career, and says his dad saw him in Detroit in 2005 vs Bryan Danielson and Bryan beat the shit out of him. After the match, his dad said “The guy you wrestled was pretty good.”
He talks about how the DVDs have spread PWG all over the world. Without PWG and the indy scene, AEW would not exist, and WrestleMania would be a much different show. He thanks everyone and says the business will be in good hands.
Barry Blaustein is up next to induct Mike Modest. He talks about how, over the years, they have become good friends. He says he watched Mike train people, and he is a great teacher. He says that Mike never tried to work him as he made “Beyond the Mat.” He tells a story about how, to supplement his income, Mike worked at a funeral home, but there were no bodies for him to pick up the day they filmed. So, they paid someone to be a dead body for him to pick up and the person in the body bag was laughing so hard, the gurney collapsed. He says that Mike is retiring and a champion and deserves this great honor.
Mike tells the story about how he got the name because he didn’t like it when the trainers would tell people to do it like him. He also says he is glad he doesn’t have to follow Chris Daniels. He then thanks the guy who died for them to get the big floral display behind them (which was a decent joke). He talks about his father and how he understood the traveling lifestyle.
He thanks his trainers by name.
He then tells stories, the first is about fighting the Samoan Bulldog when he was young, and he didn’t have tapes to see how he worked, and all he had was a picture. He stayed up the night before going through the moves they could do. When the Samoan Bulldog got there, he told him he had a ton of ideas and went over them. When he was done, the Bulldog says “OK Boss, let’s do all of it.”
When the match started, the Bulldog punched him in the nose and he thought “Why did I call that?” and the Bulldog yelled “I’m gonna kill you, brother”. He gets in the ring and gives an easy boot, and the Bulldog punched him again and he was pretty much knocked out. When he went back to school, the trainer said, “Your first lesson is when a veteran asks if you have any ideas for the match and it’s your first match, you say, No.”
His next story was about Buddy Rose, and Buddy was completely different. He was careful and didn’t make any suggestions. Buddy asked if he brought the gimmick. Mike didn’t know what he was talking about and Buddy said “How can you hit me with the gimmick if you don’t have a gimmick.” He brought a few things and Buddy says “Nah, someone could get hurt with that.” He couldn't find a gimmick. Buddy asks if he had a piece of paper. Buddy folded up the paper and said, Here’s your gimmick., and the fans bought it.
That is when he realized he had to be a part of this forever.
When he started, his parents asked if he was going to do it for a living, and he said it was for fun. 30 years later, here he is.
Rick Bassman, owner of Ultimate Pro Wrestling, inducts Paul London into the Hall of Fame. He points out Jesse Hernandez. He discusses looking over the cards for the week and says he had to be at the Hall of Fame and puts over the other inductees. He says we all know Paul and he marches to the beat of his own drummer.
He says Paul London and many others changed the face of pro wrestling. He says he grew up as a huge fan of comics and then wrestling. The wrestlers were like super-heroes come to life. He said he wanted to make all American heroes for Power Team USA. Then, he created UPW and he had no design for it, but that Bruce Pritchard wanted to find women’s wrestlers for Smackdown which was going to be an all women’s show. He put together a group and they signed all of his trainers. He goes over the people who got hired away. He says Jim Ross told him to keep sending him monsters. He then says he got a call from Paul London and the first thing you DON’T think is Monster. He says that London is one of the most skilled pro wrestlers in the world, but he didn’t see it at the time.
He says he has apologized to Paul over and over through the years. He says Paul London has the greatest attribute in pro wrestling and that is heart and it’s his honor to induct Paul London into the Hall of Fame.
Paul makes a few self-deprecating jokes to start with and says he didn’t write anything down and he will be wandering around. He goes through the people he wants to thank. He says he didn’t know football, which was weird in Texas. He was also short so he didn’t seem to fit as a pro wrestler. He talked about how his family and friends doubted it was safe to be a wrestler.
He says the essence of being an Indy wrestler is having the cards stacked against you. He says he watched a special on wrestling and it spotlighted UPW. He drove there from Texas and wanted to get started as quickly as possible. He didn’t fit the mold of UPW. He talks about Adrian Street ripped him off for training.
He discusses loving Beyond the Mat. He then tells a story about getting to a Galaxy show and worked as much as he could, and hurt his neck on a show and lost all feeling from his waist down. He went to the chiropractor at the flea market he was working. After that, he ended up in a neck brace because of the chiropractor. Then he went to Vegas and did bungee jumping.
He thanked Ivan Putski for training him. He tells stories about all the different schools he went to. He talks about Rudy Boy and Christopher Daniels again. He then talks about Terry Funk putting him over on a shoot interview and Ring of Honor. He keeps returning to people asking him if he really wanted to do this. He then talks about being on the road for “The Entertainers” (WWE).
He says he’s not as active as he used to be, but he loves pro wrestling. He says he knows what wrestling can be, and sometimes when he talks he says things that people don’t like. He says you are the only one who sets limitations on yourself in Indy pro wrestling. He says it’s pretty cool and pretty special and thanks everyone.
Frankie Kazarian is up next to induct Christopher Daniels. He congratulates all of the other inductees. He says he and Daniels have been together for 20 years, and first he’s gonna bury him a bit. He says they were in Florida for TNA and borrows Kazarian’s rental car. He returns it and says he got in a little fender bender. When they get to the minivan and 3/4s of the rear fender is in the back seat. Another time, Daniels forgot to pack his martini glass, and he sees Daniels hop over the bar, grab the glass and walks out like it’s an Olympic Torch. Then a woman grabs it from him and says “Sir, there are cameras”.
When Kaz met him, he was called the King of the Indies. The first time he was ever blown up was with Daniels. He tries to ask if they could go to the finish, but before he could finish asking, Daniels said “No” and shot him into the ropes and went on. He says Daniels can be anything needed in the ring. He says when you are in the ring with Daniels, you are a better wrestler.
When Daniels worked the main event at the first ROH show, there was no Indy wrestling yet. He says he is thrilled and honored to induct him into the hall of fame.
Christopher Daniells takes the stage. He thanks GCW for the event. He thanks his family for being there so that we didn’t hear the first version of Frankie’s speech, which he will give at the hotel bar later. He also sends love to Dante Martin.
He talks about what Indy Pro Wrestling did for him, and thanks everyone at Windy City Wrestling. In 1996, he moved to California so his wife could try an acting career. He didn’t know there was wrestling on the West Coast. They found the School of Hard Knocks and he worked there. He wrestled every week and with new people, it forced him to up his game.
He says once you can get into the ring with anyone and adapt to their style, you will become a better wrestler. He then talks about the people who helped him become a full-time wrestler. He tells the story of the Super 8 tournament Jim Ketner ran and how that opened the world to him. He was next in the King of the Indies tournament, which led to Ring of Honor.
He talks about how Impact and ROH were great companies for Indy wrestling and he was there in the beginning. He thanks the promoters who gave him the opportunity to make a living. He then goes through a lot of wrestlers he loved working with. He says it was always his honor to be the worst guy in the ring with them.
He says that wrestling is where strangers can become family. He says that he has had 6 men he feels are Ride or Die.
Frankie Kazarian, Samoa Joe, AJ Styles, Scorpio Sky, Matt and Nick Jackson.
He puts them all over.
When he gets to Kaz, he says that Kaz is his road wife and he’s never known a better person to share his life with. He says on his best day he wants to be a tenth of the man he is. It was really touching how much they care about each other. He thanks his family again, and says nothing happens without their blessing and support.
He says that tomorrow is the 30th anniversary of his first wrestling match. He says he doesn’t know how much longer he can do this, but he will continue because he does it, even when he hates it. He thanks those who watched him, and for those who are on the journey with him, he loves you. When he does retire, he will cherish every moment.
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