This weekend was the big NWS show in Keansburg. They run there quite often and always do very well there. This time did not disappoint as well. There was about 400 fans there for this sold show. After spending some quality time with my girlfriend which included going to the Red Bank Riverfest on Friday night which was a lot of fun and Sat going shopping after the garage sale she had for my Jamaica trip in July I headed over to the show. On the way to the show I just happened to listen to the Maniac hotline as I am a Maniac A Holic. Chris Candido was the guest and they covered the show that night that he was on and also mentioned that his best friend Balls Mahoney would be there as well just to hang out as he was not booked for the show. He also mentioned that Hacksaw Jim Duggan would be on the show as well. Chris made mention of the Balls shoot video were he didn't have nice things to say about good old Hacksaw. Stuff that I cannot mention here. Needless to say it was pretty bad. I was anticipating a confrontation. If you want to know what Balls said buy the shoot video which I have in stock at www.esspromotions.com . As is the case I got there early and made the rounds getting caught up with some folks. I spoke with Richie lopes who plays the character of Mohoward Gottheheaves Al Getz which is the manager for the Bullies and he asked me to act as the agent for them so if anyone is interested in booking the Baghdad Bullies please go to my website www.esspromotions.com and contact me. It was hot as hell in the building as I don't think there was enough money budgeted for air-conditioning ( lol ). I am very good friends with the promotion as I act as a utility guy there for them. If they need help with security I lend a hand, if they need help with intermission I lend a hand, if they need a runner I help them out as well. They have been good to me and take care of me so I help out when I can. When Balls and Hacksaw saw each other they greeted each other like old friends and went on with there business with no incidents. I met up with Chris and Tammy who I am very good friends with as I consider Chris a brother and look out for him whenever I can.

As for the show itself, it was a typical NWS show with the highlights being a 3 way with Roman, Kevin Knight, and Mike Kruel with Roman winning the title from Kruel and and Kruel spanking the female ref ( Amy Lee ) at the end. They set up a tag team match with Patriot and Hacksaw vs the Baghdad Bullies. This was a great match. There was so much heat in the match that it just made it great. Everyone just hit there spots and it just clicked. After the match both Hacksaw and Patriot did polaroid's together as they were setting up the cage for the huge main event. I helped out with the polaroid's and kept order. Patriot thanked me later on for doing a good job with that. Everyone made out good as there was a nice line for polaroid's. It was then time for the big cage match brother vs brother as Chris Candido took on Johnny Candido. I have to admit I was a little skeptical going into this match as I wasn't sold on Johnny yet. Knowing he was in there with Chris made me feel a little better. All doubting aside Johnny held his own and did quiet well in there staying up with Chris. This was the best indy cage match I have seen in the last 5 or so years. It was strictly 80's style old school with no high risk spots. There were your normal cage spots. This was set up as a first blood cage match. That is the first to bleed loses. Tammy got involved a little as well as Balls Mahoney. They set up a chair spot with Chris, Johnny and Balls. When Balls hit Chris something went terribly wrong where Chris moved his head down to much and Balls hit him hard which is his thing which opened Chris up legit and was gushing blood. This was worse than an Abdullah the Butcher blood bath where Chris had a huge gash on the top of his head toward the rear. He finished the match which he won but his cut was real bad. It was almost down to the bone which was real scary. Chris was conscious and able to move on his own accord. Needless to say Tammy was very upset and didn't hesitate to voice her opinion on how she felt. I again cannot print what was said as it is not appropriate for this piece. When Balls came back to check on Chris and found out what happened he felt really bad. Chris was really cool about it. The first aid came and bandaged him up. I have exclusive behind the scenes photos of this that will appear on my website www.esspromotions.com in the near future. I later found out not before a lot of encouraging that Chris went to the hospital to get stitches. I believe he got 11 stitches. After the show I went to the diner with Doc Daniels who is the music guy and time keeper there and had dinner. He is also a chiropractor so I got my adjustment at the show as well. We had a good dinner and then went our own ways.

Sunday I was invited to a christening for my good friend Ricky O ( JCW WRESTLING ) for his newborn daughter Ricky Lynn. I felt privileged as I was the only wrestling person there outside of his best friend Nick Niosi who is also his right hand man. I got to meet his family who are very nice people. I really felt honored that Ricky thought enough of me to invite me to this special occasion. Family is very important and I felt apart of Ricky's family. My friendship with Ricky means a lot to me. It was a very nice affair. Nick's girlfriend Denise did all the cooking for the event. She makes a killer chicken franchaise which is my favorite Italian dish. It was out of this world and one of the best frachaises I have ever had. When Ricky's older daughter Kasey came into the room she made the rounds like a pro. Keep in mind that she is 3 going on 4 and just went around saying hello to everyone in the family and wasn't shy at all. She even played a rib on me. I thought it was funny. There was snack tray of cookies and was handing everyone a cookie except me. When I asked for mine she just ignored me and gave cookies to everyone else. Denise and I were laughing at his as I thought it was funny. After about 90 minutes or so she finally gave me a cookie. But by that time I was so full I just could not eat it. I got Ricky's daughter a lovely gift. A hand knitted sweater which my mother does in her spare time. She does knitting and needlepoint so she makes some nice pieces.

After the party I headed over the UWA show in Passaic which was about 10 minutes away. I really wanted to check up on Chris Candido and see how he was. This is where I was informed about the stitches and he seemed in good spirits. The show was held in Lucky's nightclub that is located in Passaic. If you have never been to Passaic before, you are in for a culture shock. It almost felt like I was in a foreign country. I went into the club where it had to be a good 120 degrees and the lockerroom upstairs had to be about 160 degrees. It was hot and muggy in there. Reminiscing with Chris and Balls I told them that this reminded me of the old Galaxian days. We all agreed. That is a gym we all used to wrestle in in Brooklyn between the years of 1986 to 1988. That was back in the Manny Lebron days as well as Black Gorman and when the HeadHunters were just starting out and did not become famous yet. We also did shows in Williamburg. Those were the good old days. Back then all of us were getting started in the business and we did these underground Spanish shows to get experience. I even wrestled Balls on one of the shows. It was a lot of fun back then. I used to pick everyone up as I was the only driver and then head to NYC to pick up Sheik Al Grecco who was a manager and had the hook up for these places. We then took the trip in to Brooklyn and did the shows and then headed back to the city as the good old Sheik hooked some of us up with a special surprise which I cannot mention to protect all parties involved. Just keep in mind that there was no drugs or booze going on. Back to this show which had a slightly higher attendance than the last SSCW show. I didn't watch most of the show as it was just too damm hot. I was talking with Chris outside most of the time to keep cool. We finally found an air conditioned spot in another room in the club and that became a make shift locker room for the veterans. Mainly Chris, Balls, Tammy and myself. I had a long conversation with both Chris and Tammy. I am very close with them and consider them on my inner circle. Both are very intelligent. According to Tammy this is the best she has felt in the last 5 years. Both are drug free for the last 6 months and both look good. Tammy is starting to get some of her old look back. She is a little older but still looks good. She is comfortable where she is at and still looks damm good. I have always said that Chris is the best indy worker on the circuit and I stand behind my comments. I just hope the right people take notice and do the right thing by him as he deserves it. Chris sold huge for the tomahawk chop by Julie Strongbow that's my nickname for Alere Little feather. You would think Chris just got chopped by Chief Wahoo McDaniel he sold it huge at the conclusion of Alere Little Feather match with Diamond LiL. That is nickname for Luscious Lilly. Alere has a lot of potential and is good for the short time she has been in the business. Not to mention I like the gimmick. I also enjoyed the main event which was Chris, Balls and Billy Reil in a 3 way. It was pretty much old school and Chris did his thing which I am a huge fan of. After close to 4 hours and 15 matches not to mention nearly passing out due to the heat it was time to leave. I went to dinner with Chris, Tammy Johnny and his friend who I can't remember his name. We went to an IHOP and had a great meal and a great conversation. I cherish these moments. After dinner we parted ways

FINAL THOUGHTS

If I haven't mentioned it before I have recently updated my website at www.esspromotions.com go there to see all the latest happenings. A great NWS show with an awesome cage match, the best I have seen in years, a vicious chair shot that resulted in 11 stitches and a great semi main that was as Dapper Johnny likes to put it schlock at its best and it is at its best. To see Sadamm Insane that is big Harry with his body doing his thing is a site to be seen and not missed. A real honor to be included at the Ricky O family affair and a finally to relive the old days sort of with the UWA was a nice end to the weekend.

Eric Simms
ESS316@AOL.COM
www.esspromotions.com