Empire State Wrestlings Spring Smash
Hello, everybody!
This blog post is about my time at Empire State Wrestlings debut in Medina, NY called “Spring Smash”. This event is a bit different than the last several ESW shows but still delivered and was fun. Let’s jump into my experiences on it!
Spring Smash was a fundraiser for the East Shelby Vol. Fire Dept. In prior years, this fundraiser event was held across at the Orleans County Fairgrounds in Albion, N.Y. This one was held at Medina High School, which provided better amenities all around for the fans, wrestlers, and staff alike.
Empire State Wrestlings Spring Smash
Where is Medina? It is a small village located on the western part of Orleans County in one of the more rural parts of Western New York. Medina is like the numerous village that around the Erie Canal in this area. The most prominent people that lived in Medina include former First Lady Frances Folsom Cleveland Preston, former U.S. Congressman Silas M. Burroughs, 1930s Major League Baseball pitcher Carl Fischer, and former Governor of Michigan John J. Bagley.
Medina High School is your standard suburban/rural high school. The show was held in its gym, and we had access to the adjacent locker rooms. This is a better-than-usual setup compared to many other indie venues.
The referees of the night were Ryan Rice, Richard Headstrong (aka Richard Head), and me. I worked the opening battle royal and three other matches.
The battle royal kicked off the event. All the competitors were aiming for a shot at facing ESW Heavyweight Champion Kevin Bennett in the main event. There were a lot of shenanigans involving Edge of Hope but eventually Space Monkey was the last primate standing.
My first match was right after the battle royal. Greed made their ESW debut challenging High Seas for the ESW Tag Team Championships. This was my first time working with Greed. They are a young team that is getting a lot of traction around the Upstate New York wrestling scene, and I think they hung well with the champs.
My next match was a doozie. Kevin Blackwood took on Cheech in a great athletic display. The wrestling style at high school events usually focus on characters and working the crowd. Even though this match was not in that style, it translated well with the audience. This was also a homecoming match for Blackwood as he’s originally from Albion.
Spring Smash was a smashing success. The fire department raised a nice amount of money for themselves, the fans were happy with the action, and all the wrestlers and staff were upbeat at the end. We headed to Poler’s Pub for the afterparty, then picked up some Burger King for dinner and headed home.
Shout to Orleans Hub for coming to cover Spring Smash. You can read the article about it here.
I enjoyed doing an event like this. High school shows are throwback wrestling events within the same line as fair shows. There is a little more interaction with the crowds during the matches and a super indie style is not needed as much. I hope we can continue doing shows here on an annual basis.
My next blog will be about my time at Buffalo Championship Wrestling’s “Chaos in Cheektovegas”. As always, thanks for reading.
