Angry Young Man - Matt Dawg

It's been quite a week for me, Matt Dawgs the Infamous Angry Young Man. On August 29, 2003, The A.Y.M. made his debut at the Madhouse of Extreme on Queens Blvd. The Elks Lodge. The same building where on ECW's last show at the Elks, The Dudley Boyz made their return to ECW from the then WWF, captured the ECW Tag Titles from Balls Mahoney and Spike Dudley only to lose them to Tommy Dreamer and THE RETURNING RAVEN in the main event. Memories like that fill the Elks. And I was going to wrestle there. For the new king of New York Indy's, USA Pro Wrestling.

I woke up that morning around 9:00AM. A little later than normal since I took off from work. I knew there was no way I would be able to work knowing in the back of my mind, I had a show at the Elks. In the eyes of many wrestlers, the Elks is probably the second most famous venue for a wrestling event in New York following only MSG.

Describing myself as nervous would be an understatement to say the least. Anyway, I got to the Elks Lodge at around 4:15PM. Upon arriving, I bumped into one of my old trainers, Ralph Gutierrez outside the Elks. Now I know many people hate to admit that Ralph helped train them, I don't. Ralph isn't the best businessman in the world and is blackballed by many due to it, but he still helped get my foot in the door. If it wasn't for him, I would have not known about Arena Puerto Rico a.k.a. Pedro's and would have thought that the only way to get trained was Killer Kowalski's in Boston.

I stopped to speak to him for a few before heading inside and beginning my search for USA Pro Wrestling Owner and Promoter, Frank Goodman. As I got into the gym, the ring was set up and to my surprise, a lot of the workers on the show were already in attendance. I looked into the ring and none other than the Sandman was in there working out with his youngest son. I did not catch his son's name however he was definitely no older than 5 or 6. A 5 or 6 year old who knows how to take bumps and sells better than most wrestlers I see on TV each week. Also working out were Rob Fury and J-Busta. Others near the ring included Havok from the Solution, Simply Luscious, D-Lo Brown and Billy Reil who were all shooting the breeze with each other.

I walked to the locker room where I found Mike Zevon. He pointed out where Mr. Goodman was so I can speak with him. I found. Mr. Goodman and introduced myself. I also thanked him for the opportunity he was giving me and asked if I could help out. He said if he needed more help, he would let me know.

I then proceeded to find a seat and try and calm my nerves. I have wrestled shows before but never in front of a few hundred people. The most I worked in front of was maybe about 90 people. Half of which were 10 year olds. What the hell was I going to do? What if I f*cked up? It has been over a year since I last took a bump. After calming down and speaking with an almost as nervous Penny Dreadful, I decided to go into the locker room for a bit. There, I met up with some of my old pals, Lowlife Louie and the Elm Street Kids. Louie and Rayza told me to calm down and relax. Everything would be ok. It's funny hearing that from Rayza since I have actually been wrestling longer than him. But in his defense, he has been more dedicated than I have and is technically the veteran since he has been in the ring with more experienced names than myself.

By this time, it was already 5:30 and Mr. Goodman told everyone to get into the locker room and start preparing for the show. I got my gear on and went out to the ring so I can run the ropes a bit and take some bumps. D-Lo Brown was nice enough to come into the ring with us and give some of us a few pointers. First time meeting D-lo and I must say he is a real down to earth guy. I thanked him and we all went into the locker room. In the locker room area, I went to the board to see what time my match was scheduled. To make my nerves a bit worse, I swore to God that Mr. Goodman must have been pulling a rib on me cause as I looked at the line-up, I find that instead of one of the opening matches that ticket sellers are usually on, I am on 10th!!!!!!! The 10th match of the card following LOWLIFE LOUIE vs. BALLS!!!

Jesus Chr*st. How in the hell am I going to follow that? But f*ck it I said to myself. I shook it off and took a seat. As I did that, Mr. Goodman walks in and asks everyone to quiet down.

It was then when I realized how lucky I am. Everyone who was working the show was in the locker room. Al Snow, D-Lo Brown, Balls, The D.R.S., Homicide, Xavier, Knight Life, Becky Bayless, The Solution, Lowlife Louie and more. I looked at all the faces, most of them familiar since I knew them from the Doghouse but some I didn't recognize. Mr. Goodman then gave an impassioned speech which was to both boost morale and to make a point. He spoke about the lack of respect that some workers have for USA Pro and for the business in general. A point which many people got and understood. A point which I got loud and clear. You have to respect this business. And you know what? He is right.

I have noticed on some USA Pro shows which I have attended that some people just don't look like they give a f*ck about USA Pro or wrestling in general. That is a slap in the face to all those who do. That is a slap to Homicide who busts his ass day in and day out and looks at everyone who he has either trained or wrestled with, with pride and appreciation as they have a great match. That is a slap in the face to Danny Drake who can no longer wrestle without pain cause of all the times he has put his body on the line for the amusement of fans. That is a slap in the face to Lowlife Louie and Balls Mahoney who bleed pints of blood for fans and for people like Sandman who was selling out the Elks Lodge way before USA Pro was even though of. The same Sandman who worked for Eastern Championship Wrestling and wore a surfing outfit to the ring. Some of the kids in the locker room don't show respect to anyone. There were some people who worked the show that didn't even have the decency to introduce themselves to Mr. GOODMAN!!! How are you going to work for someone yet not introduce yourself to him?

Mr. Goodman also spoke about the New York State Athletic Commission's new policies in regards to drug testing. No need for me to get into that here but there is now drug testing for any promotion that holds over six shows a year. In NY, that means WWE and USA Pro. Anyway, the bottom line of it was that Frank Goodman has decided that changes need to be made and he is making them. You will see less people on the shows. Some people who disrespect USA Pro will not be invited back. People who f*ck up will have to pay for their actions. Not to make a shout out but there were two people who were advertised to appear on the show who didn't appear on the show. They were there, but were not used cause they arrived 10 minutes before show time. Stuff like that is going to happen in the future. And because of these changes, the future looks promising.

Anyway, the show then began with surprisingly, the Dirty Rotten Scoundrelz in action. The D.R.S are one of my favorite tag teams but mostly because I like their name. The person who thought of that name is very creative. Anyway, I didn't expect them to be on first but they were and had a very good match with Johnny Ova and Dan Barry. I am not going to give you all a match by match rundown of the show cause you have read it already. But as I sat behind the curtain watching each match, getting more and more nervous I noticed subtle little things back there. I noticed that most of the roster watches what goes on in the ring. I noticed that people like Boogalou enjoy what goes on out there. I noticed that Homicide looks like a proud father when one of his students are in the ring. I noticed that Al Snow and D-Lo Brown are impressed with many of the workers who work for USA Pro and even heard Al mention that some of them have a future with the "E" if they hit the gym a bit or train a little more. It is like a family at USA Pro. Something I didn't expect since I have heard stories of fights, cliques and tension backstage. If there was any of that, I must have not been around for it. Cause all I saw was a brotherhood of people who wanted to entertain to the best of their ability.

As the night wore on it came time for my big USA Pro Wrestling debut. I did manage to bring music to the event which would have gotten a pop from 80's aficionados Mike Tobin and Danny Drake. Unfortunately due to time constraints, mine didn't get played. I was in a 10 man gauntlet. I was the 7th man in the ring. As Stephen DeAngelis announced my name and where I was from (announced as from anywhere but Queens, designated for the cheap heel heat) I came out. I hit the ring like a ball of fire only to see that everyone was preoccupied with someone. I stood there like a deer in headlights until I found my first victim, THE MOTIVATOR. I grabbed the Motivator and prepared to hit him with a Russian Leg Sweep. Unfortunately, Motivator wasn't very cooperative and just fell to the floor in a heap like a sack of sh*t. So I kicked him and he rolled out of the ring. I then proceeded to look around and find another person to beat down. I found him. Eric I believe was his name, or it could have been Gilbert. Not sure which. Anyway, I hit him with a devastating suplex and covered him for the pin. Ref Hanson then notified me that it was an over the top rope gauntlet match. I got in Hanson's face and even gave him a shove. Hanson was having none of it and for a referee is pretty strong as he shoved me back to the mat. As I begged off, J-Busta came towards me and began nailing me with some right hands. He backed me into the corner and hit me with some chops as well. I reversed it and went to nail J-Busta with a clothesline but was back dropped over the top rope. But just like the wily veteran I am, I held on. Only to be punched off the apron by Busta to the floor. That did manage to get a smile off Mr. Goodman though who was right in front of me. So there it was. My USA Pro debut. Nice and short and sweet. But mark my words A.Y.M. fans, you have not heard the last of me. I will be in attendance on September 26th. I will be ready to take on all challengers whether it be J-Busta in a singles. A tag team match with a partner of USA Pro's choosing, a battle royal or a gauntlet match. It doesn't matter. Just as long as I get my chance to shine again.