Straight from rasslinriotonline.com

I think all wrestlers have a story that really shows how much wrestling means to them. A moment in their lives that they can pinpoint and explain how they emotional connected with wrestling. A son that the only way to bond with his father was by watching wrestling together. Someone new that moved into the neighborhood and found his first friend because they had the same favorite wrestler. The stories I’m sure are endless.

I’ve talked a few times about how much my grandmother has meant to me as a wrestler. It was her passion for it that drew me to it as a young “golden” boy. Ironic that my favorite wrestler or all time, Ric Flair, was her most hated back then. I wonder what my life would be like today if it wouldn’t have been for her fandemonium. I wouldn’t have the friends I have today, which in turn means I wouldn’t have met my wife which means no second generation wrestlers to debut at a later date. But this isn’t my moment.

Since I’ve lived on my own, I’ve had a wrestling room. A room in my house or apartment ,at first, that has been dedicated to my wrestling memorabilia. Its kind of taken on a life of its own, alot of the boys hear me or friends talk about it. So when they get a chance to come to town, they almost always want to see what all I have. The process usually involves them saying “Oh, man I had that when I was a kid” or “That is freaking awesome”. However most haven’t seen my most prized possession. When my grandmother was a kid and watched wrestling in its golden age she kept a little black book were she written down results. This little black book that is close to fifty years old means more to me than anything else in the wrestling room because it holds more sentimental value above all else. But this still isn’t my moment.

My friends growing up in school didn’t really get into wrestling like I did. But for one year, one glorious year with all the stars in perfect position it became cool to like wrestling. With the NWO, ECW and The Attitude Era it was a marvelous time to be a wrestling fan. We didn’t stop with just the major three but we found a local wrestling promotion right here in Dyersburg, Tennessee. Warriors of Wrestling Federation or affectionately WOWF and became a weekly ritual for us. We loved the bad guys and baddest bad guys at WOWF were The Missouri Bad Boys.

We talked all week about going to wrestling that weekend and even took time to make our own homemade Missouri Bad Boys tshirts. That afternoon before the show my mother told me that I couldn’t go because we were broke. I was raised by a single mom and it broke her heart to have to tell me. We didn’t have $5. I was crushed! I told my mother it was ok and I understood. I called my grandmother and asked if I could borrow $5 dollars so I could go to wrestling and she of course said ok and told me to come get the money. When I arrived my grandfather handed me a $5 bill and I just bursted into tears. I guess it was pride or something. It just meant so much to me to go, not for my friends but for myself. My grandparents consoled me and ended up giving me $40 so I could go to wrestling as much as I wanted. When I got back in the car that when I realized how much wrestling meant to me, that was my moment. I realized it wasn’t JUST wrestling, it was WRESTLING and its been WRESTLING ever since.

—-Greg Anthony is a regular on the local area circuit. He won RRO Booker of the Year 2008 and is listed in the top 5 of the RRO Top 10 2008. Greg is currently working as booker of NEW and can be seen tagging with legend Bobby Eaton and Brian Thompson as “Midnight Gold”.

Look for more of The Golden Circle with Greg Anthony at MWR in the future.

August Wrestler of the Month

Mark Sterling (3XW, LWA, SCW, PWP, DPW, PWE, IWA, MECW, AAPW HVW)

Mark Sterling returns to the top of the Midwest in July (Photo Credit Brian Kelley)

Sterling went up against Michael Strider in Strider’s return to LWA on July 25. The two had a hellacious, yet technical match that delivered what the fans wanted to see. Strider’s tenacity and brutality shined, but it was Sterling’s athletic prowess and pure, gifted skill that sent him on his way to victory. He captured the NWA-CS Championship from Strider. At 3XW Mark teamed up with Gage Octane to defeat the Northstar Express in a two out of three falls to retain the Tag Team Championship.

1st Runner Up –Devin Carter (3XW, MECW)
2nd Runner Up –Bailey Mannix (MECW)
3rd Runner Up – Jeremy Wyatt (LWA, PWP. 3XW, AAPW, PWE, DPW, HVW)

Others receiving votes: Steve Fender, KC Karrington, Gary Jackson

August Tag Team of the month

The Gentleman’s Club (Mark Sterling and Gage Octane) 3XW
The duo of Mark Sterling and Gage Octane has terrorized 3XW for the past year. With their manager Todd Countryman they have beat all of those who have crossed their path. In the month of July it was the return of the fan favorites The Northstar Express (Darin Corbin and Ryan Cruz) who returned to 3XW. The Gentleman’s Club had their biggest test to date when the match was announced that it would be a 2 out of 3 falls match. When the smoke cleared The Gentleman’s Club had their hands raised in victory.

1st Runner up- Devin Carter and AJ Smooth (Deliciously Smooth) (MECW)
2nd runner- Money Makin Jam Boyz ( Mississippi Madman and K.C. Jackson) (AAPW, MPW)
3RD Runner up –Steve Anthony and Bao Nguyen (WLW)

Others who received voted:
Zero Gravity (Brett Gakiya and CJ Esparza ), Rebelucha & Dash Rando

August Female Wrestler of the Month

Destiny Diamond

Destiny Diamond goes for the title. (Photo Credit Mike Van Hoogstrat)

Diamond pulled double duty this month, wrestling on two shows in one day. She challenged Alexis for the MMWA-SICW Women’s belt in Dupo , IL and, although she put up a good fight, came up short. However, at South Broadway Athletic Club later in the evening, Diamond had another shot at the belt—and this time she was prepared. Diamond defeated her longtime nemesis to capture the Women’s championship.
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1st Runner Up – Amy Hennig

No other nominations

August Promotion of the Month

3XW

3XW Four years of excellence was celebrated in the month of July. Standing room only for an exciting night of wrestling that featured a dog collar match, ladder match just to name a few. 3XW was without a home at the beginning of the year but has come back strong with a new facility and keeping the tradition alive of being one of the top promotions in the Midwest.

1st Runner up – IWA Productions
2nd Runner up – MMWA-SICW
3rd Runner up – WLW

Others receiving votes – No others

August Personality of the month

Tiffani LaFane

Tiffani Lafane leads Gary the Barn owl towards victory.(Photo Credit Brian Kelley)

Now equipped with a can of hairspray as she accompanies her men to the ring, LaFane has yet another weapon with which to thwart the attacks of Davey Vega, Gary the Nightowl and the Submission Squad’s opponents. The hairspray came in handy as she escorted Gary to the ring for his match against Tyler Cook. In the closing moments, it looked like Cook would pick up the win, causing LaFane to jump on the ring apron, with the referee distracted, and blind Cook with the spray so Gary could pick up the easy win.

1st Runner Up- Chris Hagstrom (The Southern Illinois Miners baseball team, AAPW)

Others receiving votes: No others

August Match of the month

3XW
3XW Pure Wrestling Championship title match.
Wyatt vs. Tyler Cook
July 17 Des Moines, Iowa

The Rebel and Tyler Cook have been at war for the past few months over the 3xw Pure wrestling title. Always hated Wyatt seems to thrive on the hatred from the fans. One 3xw Fan had this to say about the match “My hat gets even more tipped to “The Rebel”. After taking one the hardest spills on the head I’ve ever seen in person – then the guy delivers several more ferocious bumps. So much emotion & physicality in that match, that is the stuff that makes me love 3xw.”…Another one stated I was sitting across from where it happened, and it was crazy. A lesser man would’ve quit, that just goes to show how tough Wyatt and the entirety of 3XW is. It is a very physical sport, after all…. And even more impressive was this statement “I too was sitting right in front of this vicious bump. It quite honestly was scary for a moment. I can’t believe how tough Wyatt is. By the way this was my first 3xw event and I am already making plans for next months show and beyond!!
INSTANT FAN!!

1st Runner Up

Lethal Wrestling Alliance
NWA Central States Championship
Mark Sterling vs. Michael Strider
July 25th, House Springs, MO.

2nd Runner Up
MMWA-SICW
July 11, South Broadway
Gary Jackson vs. AJ Williams

3rd Runner Up –

Lethal Wrestling Alliance
Brandon Espinosa vs. Steven Kennedy
July 25, 2009 House Springs

No other votes.