What can I say I am a fan
A few years ago, I met Manny Lemons for the 1st time. You boy , the brand , King of the Lemonade stand. The Zest of the Best and you know the rest. On top of that he is a great wrestler.
Manny has a zest for life and a zest for the wrestling business that I find infectious. He is the owner and promoter of Devotion Championship Wrestling out of Salt Lake City and he is bringing pro-wrestling to North Logan. At the Hansen Sports Complex. The doors open at 6pm bell time is at 7pm.
I am so thrilled that Manny is allowing me to be the ringside announcer for the throwdown and I am stoked. Just before the Pandemic I went to DCW in Salt Lake and I was a last minute replacement for the announcer and I had a blast.
Years ago when I was working in Central La. I was asked to do ringside at an event there. I sat at a table and was able to reach out and touch the ring and saw some people that night that went on to become huge stars. A very young Shawn Micheals and Marty Jenette battle the Freebirds ( without Micheal Hayes), Koko B Ware ( before he became the Birdman) against Jim Helwig ( The Ultimate Warrior) and almost had my hand broken by Ted Debiase ( Pre Million Dollar Man) , He fell out of the ring and stepped on my left hand. So I guess you can say I had a bump that night.
Several years later a very small promotion affiliated with Harley Race came to the small town I was working in in Montgome city Mo. Once again, I was asked to be the announcer. I arrive at the venue and did my 1st introduction. Out of the backstage area man who I would guess weighed in at least 45o pounds, he had a blue mohawk and was huge. My next intro was for the Northwest Arkansas Champion and as he came out he was huge but not in an impressive way. Wearing sweatpants with more than little belly hanging over, but that was fine with me because he was THE CHAMP. The wrestlers went into the middle of the ring tied up and pushed toward one of the corners when half the ring went down.
There was a rep from the Missouri athletic commission standing next to me and he shut us down. No more show but a great memory.
I have been a wrestling fan since I was a child in Memphis Tennessee. Watching the Fabulous Jackie Fargo, Jerry the King Lawler, Superstar Bill Dundee, The Fabulous ones and more. That is why when podcasting started, I was all in. Now along with fellow fan Zane Petersen and Chris Evans I get to talk wrestling all the time on Turnbuckle Trash podcast.
During the Pandemic and after I had a series of health issues that kept me from traveling much. So, I wasn’t able to go to the show’s but I will so glad to be there Saturday night. You might say I am Devoted!
