Professional wrestling flies into Osky
Central Empire Wrestling came kicking, flipping, stomping and flying off the top rope into Oskaloosa Saturday night, the blizzard right on it’s heals, to Bradbury Hall at Nelson Pioneer Farm.
Their day started off with a pancake breakfast to benefit the local Lions Club. Debbie Doty, Oskaloosa Lions Club President, says the funds go towards “helping people in need, with the focus on eyesight and hearing and diabetes awareness.”
Central Empire Wrestling then held a wrestling camp that started at 12:30 p.m. for those wishing to learn more about wrestling.
The doors opened at 6:00 p.m. for a Meet and Greet session for those with 1st and 2nd row tickets so they could get autographs from the wrestlers.
There was certainly a great deal of action and fun to be had by people of all ages. The wrestlers and other entertainers engaged not only each other but the crowd as well, bringing them right into the show.
If you are not familiar with this type of wrestling, there are good guys and bad guys or “Heel” as it’s called in the industry. A wrestler is there to engage a set of emotions, based upon the given character they are, and just because they are the good guys doesn’t mean they will win.
The evening started off with a tag team match of Bob Beater & Austin Bayliss taking on Major Pain & Luke Walker. Beater and Bayliss won over Pain and Walker.
Two singles matches were up next with Shawn Nautilus taking on Mac Convoy. Mac Convoy took the win, but was immediately disqualified when he was caught using illegal brass nuckles. The win then went to Nautilus.
Tommy Ace was accompanied to the ring by Underdogg while Blue Rocket was escorted by Heather Ace. With a crazy start to the match, at the end Tommy Ace won over the Blue Rocket.
A 6 man tag-team match that squared off “Gott Superfli” which included Brian Gott, Supafli and Angelus Layne against “The Black Sheep” comprised of Chief, Stephen Stonebreaker and Eric Lancaster. After a tough fought match by all and some shenanigans by The Black Sheep, they snagged the victory.
The grudge match paired Evan Jordan against Tim Rhodes. This intense battle saw Jordan pull off the win. Rhodes, upset with the loss, ambushed Jordan and sent him flying onto a table breaking it in half.
The Special Attraction of the evening was Scotty 2 Hotty vs. Al Snow, both of them from WWE wrestling fame. Just before the match was to start, “The Black Sheep” made their way to ring side insulting the guest wrestlers. Al had no other option but to drag them back to the ring and show them how it’s done in the big league. Scotty 2 Hotty and Al Snow put on a great show and sent The Black Sheep packing to a cheering crowd at Bradbury Hall.
Central Empire Wrestling is based out of Wellman, Iowa and is owned and promoted by Austin Bayliss.
Bayliss, wrestler turned promoter, got into wrestling in 2004 when he started training for his first event in Hedrick. He can remember his first event that he promoted while still in high school. Bayliss, a Keota Iowa native, held his first event at West Chester, a small town just East of Keota. The turnout was great for a first event with 250 to 300 people in attendance. Bayliss was hooked.
As with all businesses, the beginning is rough. Bayliss used his graduation money to buy a wrestling ring and the other equipment needed in order to put on a show. But did we mention he didn’t have a trailer yet to haul the equipment? So he did as all young and new business owners do, he improvised. A hayrack was called into service, and what is normally a 10 minute drive turned into 50 minutes.
Bayliss stating about the weather and how it effected attendance,”That was a disappointment with the weather, but the show still went on.” “We still put the show on, the talent was still there and we delivered as advertised.”
Even with the weather looming, there were many people still arriving to buy tickets at the door near the event time. It wasn’t a packed house, and mother nature sure did her part to keep people home. Those with first and second row tickets, purchased well in advance, found it difficult to make it which left many prime seats sitting empty from what was sold out seating. A large group of people from Ottumwa couldn’t make it as the bus owner informed them that the bus would not be making the trip to Oskaloosa.
4 year show will be held on January 15th, making a return to Bradbury Hall at the Nelson Pioneer Farm, with tickets going on sale towards the end of December or early January for the event.
Ticket for that event will be available once again at Summers Car Credit and Doty’s.
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