Missouri Wrestling Revival

‘Cause I’m TNT! I’m dynamite
TNT! and I’ll win the fight
TNT! I’m a power load
TNT! watch me explode

I am taking this time to honor former wrestler, promoter and my good friend TNT Keny Garrett. I am still reeling from his loss at age 51 on December 10th. Though there is sadness in my heart that we will no longer be able to talk to each other, I would like to focus on our wild and crazy friendship.

I remember meeting TNT Keny G for the very first time in Granite City, Illinois at a High Voltage Wrestling event (his company). He had reached out on the St. Louis Wrestling message board, and asked Missouri Wrestling Revival to cover his show. He realized that if you were to have a show that it would only make sense to have as much attention on his product as possible. We walked in the building and noticed right away that it looked like the place to be.

His family and friends helped with the concession stand and were all decked out with branded tees, and the night’s action delivered shocking surprises with stars from around the Midwest and his home state of Florida. His special guest was former Wrestling at the Chase announcer Larry Matysik. Keny respected and loved wrestling so much that he knew that having Matysik in the house brought legitimacy to HVW. Keny himself was dressed to the nines, and thanked everyone for coming. I was impressed, to say the least.

Wrestling started our friendship, but we eventually became like brothers. He invited my girlfriend Dubray and me over to talk wrestling, and so much more. His quick wit and sharp tongue made him a true character.

We didn’t always get along. There were times that I bothered the hell out of him and vice versa. Yet, I can swear on the Bible that Dubray and I loved Keny as much as anyone that we met at wrestling. There were so many good times with him. It saddens me more as I try to think of them all.

In fact, there is no way that I could remember them all but I would like to share a few of them on here:

If you ever get a chance ask the former NWA World Champion Kahagas what he thought of this promo!

How Keny got the nickname “TNT,” I can’t honestly tell you, but if I was to have a gallon of gas for every time I heard it I would be driving for free to shows for life. Every time I hear it, I always think of him and I remember being on the road with Kahagas in Illinois and his ringtone on his phone played that AC/DC song. If someone told me on that three-day weekend that we heard it a thousand times, I would believe them. I can still hear Kahagas telling him to change his damn ringtone.

My friend Kari Williams (the best pro wrestling writer in this generation) stated in her post about Keny giving her advice of the who, what, where, and when over and over. Keny had these words of advice that he made his own, even though they had been around forever. He delivered them in a memorable way, just like his hero Dusty Rhodes.

He was creative and tried to give everyone a chance. He took a chance on my friend (and MWR founder) Josh Ray and me behind the scenes of HVW, making us “co-bookers.” I use that term loosely because I had no business being a booker of any wrestling company. Still, I have no regrets even though there were crazy arguments about what should be done but talk about some good times.

One argument was that I wanted to bring in the Mississippi Madman for an event. He knew I loved the Madman and thought that he was over like a million bucks and said that he didn’t want him on the show. I truly believed that he liked him as well from the get-go, but because I was such a huge fan of him, he razzed me about him not being worth a spot. I told him that if he would not book Madman, then I would pay his booking fee and show him that he would be one of the most over wrestlers on the card.

Keny quickly said that if I paid for Madman that he would let the Madman carry him to the ring like a baby. Why? I do not know why he thought that was funny. Maybe it was just to get me to pay Madman, but I held him to his promise when I did. The moment was priceless.

One of Keny’s closest friends was “Tokyo Monster” Kahagas. They ran up and down the roads long before I knew Keny. Kahagas was the premier talent of High Voltage Wrestling. There was no doubt that Kahagas was and is one of the best wrestlers in the country, but I believed that Jeremy Wyatt was the best. We would have these huge arguments about who was better night after night early on in our relationship. He would harp that I should “get my Jeremy Wyatt pajamas” on when I stayed at his house before we called it a night. It did not take TNT Keny G very long to come around to Wyatt and then I was kidding Keny G on his own pajamas.

Keny would be quick to tell me and anyone who would listen that it was he who made me a “wrestling journalist.” He told this story a million times about how we drove many miles to Illinois for a big wrestling show with plenty of legends. I wanted an interview with the Honky Tonk Man and Jake Roberts but I ran out of time. I was happy to get a promo from “Bloody” Harker Dirge (an underrated talker and wrestler in the Midwest).

Keny called me out that day (and years after) for giving up on Honky Tonk and Roberts, and and took me to the back.

He said, “You deserve to be back here. You work as hard as anyone to make these guys look good. You get this done.”

I conducted interviews with all the stars on this huge card.

Keny often said he was responsible for some of my success, and it’s true. He vouched for me, called me out when I did wrong, and gave advice when it was needed.

Every time Dubray and I came to St. Louis for a wrestling event, we stayed at his house. Dubray loves pugs, and Keny had a pug named Gracie. Gracie always slept with Dubray. One evening when we were to return back home for the two hour drive, Dubray told me that Keny had given her Gracie as a gift.

I thought that Dubi had begged to have the dog, and I said “No way.” That was Keny’s dog and we were not taking it from their home. Gracie had to stay there.

But then Keny explained that he was tired of the dog wanting food from the table and he was done with her. I just think he knew Dubi loved that dog and wanted to make her happy. Gracie ended up as a part of our family until she passed away on our anniversary: December 10th, 2015.

On the mic and in the spur of the moment, Keny was at his best. We did a wrestling feud with a big build with Donovan Ruddick and Mark Bland that, I swear if it had money behind it, would had packed huge houses. Bland had a popular UFC and pro wrestling radio show, Absolute Wrestling Radio, on the Fox Sports radio affiliate in St. Louis, Team 1380 AM. Josh Ray and I spoke to Keny about putting together an angle for a diabetes charity show. A little known secret is both Keny and Bland were both diagnosed with diabetes and the pair had always been active in fundraising.

The feud started when Bland, a former wrestler, bragged that he could take on any local wrestler week after week on the show. Who would answer the call? Wrestling promoter TNT Keny G and the 6’9″ Donovan Ruddick, a big star in Saint Louis.

Mark Bland has a conversation with Kenny G of HVW regarding his recent infiltration of Absolute Wrestling Radio. Contains EXPLICIT WORDS!

We went on a publicity tour to hype the match at Mark Bland’s radio station and the show even broadcasted live from Six Flags St. Louis. We taped a video at the Pro Wrestling Shirt Shop that featured an attack from Bland on Keny, forever one of my favorites. We did our best to bring attention to the wrestling scene in the area through Absolute Wrestling Radio, and had fun doing it.

It was common to dine with legends at the Garrett dinner table. I remember Larry Zbyszko and Mike Sydal sharing stories in Keny’s living room after a HVW event. I wish I would have gotten our photo with each other! Still, I experienced it, thanks to TNT Keny G.

After one visit at TNT Keny G’s Dubray made the mistake of leaving her sweatpants that had the words Flirt printed on the back of them. This would not be a big deal at most homes, but Keny saw this as a way to rib Dubray in a way only he could. One day I received a call from Dubray telling me that Keny was in Florida visiting his family and had tagged some photos to her. Awesome, he wanted to share with us what a good time he was having.

Nope, they were photos of Keny holding up her Flirt pants in different States. He was entertaining himself with joking with her, and it did not stop there. He somehow talked WWE Legend Larry Zbyszko to hold them up in a photo. He got his daughter Santana G and another female wrestler to pose with them for a photo. Keny was proud to say that he went on tour with those flirt pants.

This year I have lost a lot of love for pro wrestling. That does not mean that I will ever quit but I have slowed down making trips. This summer, I took a job as an assistant manager at a convenience store that had me working a ton of hours.

Keny told me that if I came to St. Louis and took him to the premiere of the movie “350 Days,” he would pay for it. I was not interested in the movie, but because Keny wanted to go, I said yes. I am glad, not because I enjoyed the movie, but because in the past few years it was hard to get him out of the house. On that night we did, just like old times.

Keny could be so funny. A natural storyteller that often would have you wonder if you were being told the truth. He could be overbearing and political incorrect even during the days of that not even being a thing. His friends referred that to “Keny just being Keny”.

 

 

 

 

Though in the crazy world of pro wrestling were everyone is a taker, Keny was a giver. Even after I covered his promotions High Voltage Wrestling, and sent him photos he was always there for us. We were so different in so many ways. I remember going to a St. Louis Cardinal game and he loved to leave shows early, the Cards game being no different. He knew that if I went somewhere then we were staying to the end. He razzed me about leaving but we did stay to the last pitch.

 

Dubray and I were never without a place to stay when we came to town or a bite to eat with Keny living in South County. He was a big part of our relationship and would have been one of my best mans if we would of gotten married in Vega during the CAC reunion this year. He often bragged about keeping us together (even though he stirred the pot sometimes lol) so in what seems like a rib (A practical joke played by or on a wrestler) Keny, like the pug (Gracie) that he gave us passed away on our anniversary. I would like to think that it was his way of making sure that we would never forget him. Like there was ever a chance that that could happen.

Thanks to Keny, I have made countless friendships and experiences over the past decade. I could write a book about them.

TNT Keny G loved his family.

Most MWR fans know of his daughter, Santana G. She has become one of the top women wrestlers in the world. I was blessed to see her first match and watch her debut at Harley Race’s World League Wrestling. Her dad supported her at all times and was so proud to see her in Japan and on the WWE Network.

He was just as proud of his other children too, and I was able to see his boys Dusty, Sam, and lil’ Keny grow up. He loved them with all his heart, and as he grew sick they were there for him. Keny had a daughter Savannah and a granddaughter in Florida that he thought of often as well. He loved his wife Luanne who was just as quick-witted as he was.

TNT Keny G, we love you and we will always remember you.

Keny Garrett

1967-2018

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