Author: Evan Ginzburg

Imanii Labels is known for his cutting-edge mix of film, fashion, video and even live hip hop during wrestling cards. His network just dropped a brand new video that is currently drawing attention on YouTube and throughout social media. Billed as “No rules for the One Division Pro Championship” it is labeled as a “cinematic thriller between two former friends to take place at a secret location.” Only one emerges as champion and it matches up and coming stars, KC Lycan vs. Nicholi White. Featuring the tune My Way by Limp Bizkit, the creative short film/grudge match parking lot brawl…

Mary Lillian Ellison, far better known by her ring name, The Fabulous Moolah, spent much of her career as the perennial Undisputed Women’s World Champion. Her lengthy and complicated legacy is more suited to a book than a short article. So I want to instead offer a different take on Moolah. As someone who saw her perform regularly at Madison Square Garden, I’d like to put you in that seat in just what it was like to see her live in her 1970s championship heyday. On July 1, 1972, Moolah became the first woman allowed to wrestle at the Garden, which…

When a new promotion sets out to put on a tight, professionally run, quality card and does just that they are worth applauding. Titan Championship Wrestling’s February 29th Winters Vengeance Card at the Passaic Valley Elks Lodge was a crowd-pleaser. TCW’s crew has not only vets like Steve Monsta Mack and 58-year-old former ECW tag champion Chris Michaels of Team Splendid (who also serves as an Agent and talent scout there), but also hungry young talent on the way up. Highlights of the show included Team Splendid’s Gorgeous George like gimmick which is “so old it’s new” and they defeated…

Unlike the innumerable indies who use the very same talent pool in their area, New Jersey-based TiTan Championship Wrestling is rapidly making a name for themselves as being something special. Bringing in rarely and never used wrestlers from out of state, mixing in some of the greatest legends in the history of the game with their own grapplers, and booking seminars with such immortals as Arn Anderson to help their young, hungry talent flourish, they have rapidly made a reputation for themselves as the new promotion of note. I sat in on a business meeting they held Sunday, February 23rd…

David Fredrick and Stephen Faust of the “Official Tito Santana Group, Arriba!” on Facebook “gets it.” Tito Santana is a legend deserving of not only having his career archived daily as Faust does so passionately but of being in any and all discussions of all-time greats. Tito was “that guy” who night after night came into the ring, gave 110% percent, and had good to great bouts on a nightly basis. While Hogan turned up three or four nights a year to major arenas, Tito was that IC Champ and/or challenger who would sell out MSG and arenas throughout the…

Well, the big week has ended. AEW’s TNT debut. Smackdown on Fox. Kofimania’s end. And both Cain Velazquez’s and Seth vs. Fiend’s WWE debuts. And all I keep thinking is “I’m drained”…from way too much wrestling. AEW I don’t even know where to begin. Kudos to AEW for blowing away NXT in the ratings, and I wish them all the luck in the world against WWE, but the show for me was a mixed bag. It started strong with Cody-Guevara and seemed to make the baby-faced Sammy a star. The pull-apart with SCU and the Lucha Brothers also whet one’s…

New Evolution Wrestling based out of Queens, New York is a great mix of polished pros and hungry youngsters regularly putting on quality shows. Combine veteran greats who have wrestled around the world like ECW Pitbull Gary Wolf, Homicide, Julius Smokes, Bull James, former ECW tag team champion Chris Michaels and put them in the mix with youngsters who give their all and you have an unbeatable mix. Their Mass Destruction card this past Saturday was another winner.  Homicide vs. Bull James could headline any indy card anywhere. To this day after watching him some twenty or so years, I’ve…

Imanii Labels is the Co-Owner and Executive Producer at Imperial World Wrestling and a retired rapper, indie wrestler, and fashionista for Shannon Maze and Episode 1. He is making waves in the indie wrestling world with his innovative use of music and videos to market the New York-based IWW, which recently had a wildly successful sold-out first show in Queens. Think of the IWW as the “Hip Hop and wrestling connection.” He sat down with Shannon Maze for an in-depth interview on the new Internet interview show Shannon. Shannon is a quality interviewer who can walk that line between tough…

Harley Race liked to refer to himself as “the greatest wrestler on God’s green Earth” And as a 70’s and 80’s fan, when he walked down the aisle you believed just that. These are my live Harley Race memories. The first time I saw Harley Race live was at Madison Square Garden on April 30, 1979, when he defeated “Rookie of the Year” Steve Travis in a mere 5:14. Although not a particularly memorable match, it was quite the big deal that the NWA belt was being defended on a WWWF card and treated as a major event. Race had…

Yesterday was the first anniversary of the death of my beloved friend, Nikolai Volkoff. Marc Madison asked me to do a piece on him and rather than once again chronicling his amazing career, I thought I’d share some personal memories of the man Bret Hart described as “The nicest wrestler I ever met.” This was about my friend Nikolai. The first time I met Nikolai was at wrestling historian Scott Wilson’s house on Long Island on April 13, 2002. Scott has the most extensive collection of Nikolai Volkoff memorabilia and ring worn garb in the world and hired Nikolai for…