by Evan Ginzburg
This past Saturday night’s 12/28 New York Wrestling Connection’s Tour De Circus was everything an indie wrestling show should be.
The promotion exudes a warm, friendly, welcoming vibe and you feel at home from the moment you walk in.
Wrestlers of various experience levels and abilities give 110% and leave it in the ring.
The promotion (gasp!) actually promotes their shows, and thus, an SRO-packed crowd came out. At $25-$40 a ticket, this made for a financially successful show. How many indies can say that?
Highlights of the show included a wild tag team match between The Extricated (Mouse & Bam Sullivan) and The Slimeballz (Sage Chantz & Tommy Rant). These are some colorful, original characters who are total packages. They have charisma and combine solid wrestling with impressive high spots. The Slimeballz recently signed with the NWA and look for great things in the future from both teams.
Michael Mistretta and Jarett Diaz also showed a lot of raw talent in their exciting bout. I think we’ll see big things from them in the future.
I found the A1G vs. Isaiah Wolf bout to be a standout. Wolf is a tremendous heel who exudes menace. He has a Bad News Brown-like aura of, “You don’t want to mess with me.” This was an old-school crowd-pleasing face vs. heel matchup that just plain worked.
Also of note, in a dark match Big Koz def Trevor. Koz told me before the bout that he had lost 350 pounds, which was probably life-saving. And there he was putting on a quality bout—nothing but respect for that kind of discipline. And while we’re on that subject, I’m not one of the Vince McMahon body beautiful exponents- some of the greatest wrestlers of all-time had beer bellies and such- Harley Race, Dusty Rhodes, Ray Stevens, Dick Murdoch, et al. But at the same time, honestly, in today’s wrestling world, the Kevin Owens body types making it to the top are the exception to the rule, and some of the wrestlers on the show need more gym time. I’m not saying it as criticism but as advice, if you want to take your career to that next level.
And let’s not forget the tremendous main event of the NYWC Trios Championship Dumpster Match Dirty Deedz ( Dirk Moore, Johnny Malloy, Uncle Billy) versus The FBI (CJ Bambino, Nicky Primo, Ray Jaz). This was a crazy brawl that popped the crowd. There was so much crazed action it was hard to follow it all as these six battled like their life depended on it- what a great effort. Special kudos to 63-year-old Uncle Billy, who is defying Father Time. What a great career he’s had as a former ECW Tag Champion under Eddie Gilbert’s reign, a push in Herb Abrams’ UWF, and wrestling anyone and everyone in the WWF, including The Undertaker and Ric Flair. I hope the kids in the locker room at NYWC sit under the learning tree with this accomplished veteran with much wisdom and experience.
Great as well to see “Sure Thing” John Shane still doing his thing- I go back with John to his Dog House days and what an unsung great manager he has always been. Kudos.
I’ve attended countless indie shows in my 50 years of attending wrestling live. Many have the same flaws- it becomes a 15 or so match 5-hour slog with a slew of ticket sellers who don’t have proper gear and don’t belong in a ring yet. NYWC avoided this with a top-notch, tight show that started on time and gave more than enough to leave fans of all ages happy and satisfied.
It was a fun and memorable evening, and much respect to all involved for a wildly successful night.
Results:
NYWC Tour de Circus 12/28/24 NYWC Sportatorium Deer Park, NY
Dark Match: Big Koz def Trevor
Blu Kay Blazer & Dante Storm def JT Kasin & Setanta Furey
Dolli Darko def Elle Valentine
Michael Mistretta def Jarett Diaz
NYWC Tag Team Championships The Extricated (Mouse & Bam Sullivan) def The Slimeballz (Sage Chantz & Tommy Rant) (new champs)
NYWC Starlet Championship Amity LaVey def Zenith
6 man tag Live Danger (Danger Ross, Livewire Charlie, Ziggy Danger) vs. Nuke, J-Redd, Spyder – no contest
O3 Championship The Big O def Alex Reiman
NYWC Fusion Championship A1G vs. Isaiah Wolf- no contest
NYWC Championship Salvatore Savelli def Cooper Valentine
NYWC Trios Championship Dumpster Match Dirty Deedz ( Dirk Moore, Johnny Malloy, Uncle Billy) def The FBI (CJ Bambino, Nicky Primo, Ray Jaz)
Evan Ginzburg
https://www.facebook.com/EvanGinzburgsOldSchoolWrestlingMemories
Evan Ginzburg is the Senior Editor for Pro Wrestling Stories and a contributing writer since 2017. He’s a published author and was an Associate Producer on the Oscar-nominated movie “The Wrestler” and acclaimed wrestling documentary “350 Days.” He is a 30-plus-year film, radio, and TV veteran and a voice-over actor on the radio drama Kings of the Ring. Look for his books Wrestling Rings, Blackboards and Movie Sets and Apartment 4B, Like In Brooklyn coming in 2025 from WOHW Publishing.