Always the bad guy Travis Cook does not even grant a picture with his former partner on the mic at GCW.
The month of December is known for the time of giving, so it is only fitting that we honor a man that continues to give to pro wrestling in the Midwest, Patrick Brandmeyer. When we started MWR over 6 years there were many promoters, wrestlers and fans that felt that pro wrestling was about to be a long lost memory, especially with the success of another sport I enjoy UFC.
One of the men that has been important in support pro wrestling on the Independent level is Patrick Brandmeyer. Patrick went to his first independent show in 2000, and has been a wrestling historian ever since, as you can see him write the results of each match that take place on a piece a paper, and keeping fans informed through his blogged that is shared on the wrestling website St Louis Wrestling Community.
Let us take a look at a small list of the ways that Patrick has supported pro wrestling and some key facts on one of MWR’s closest friends.
1) First Independent show 2000 GCW at North County Tech High School in Florissant, MO, May 19, 2000. Main event was Pete Madden vs. Danny Boy. Show also had Makaze vs. Mike Sharona vs. Nikki Strychnin.
2) A year or two into going to GCW attendance that they asked about using his photos and for him writing stuff for the event programs and website.
3) Worked with Travis Cook do to commentary for two years One of the most notable matches he called was Cowboy Bob Orton vs. Dingo in Mt. Vernon. Plus a few Jerry Lynn matches.
4) Sends results from the shows he attends to Pro Wrestling Illustrated to let the country know of the hard work that promoters and wrestlers do to entertain the fans.
5) One of the Biggest fans of the late Gateway Championship Wrestling. Though the company is no longer any more, he continues to support the wrestlers that made it great, yet still gives the same amount of respect to the wrestlers that have come along ever since.
6) Brandmeyer is an aspiring comedian on the side after going to a few open-mics when Dan Walsh was going to the Funny Bone regularly, so he got it is his head that he wanted to try it. First time on stage was June 20th of 2006.Highlights have been the the paid gigs definitely as well as getting to host the weekend shows at the Comedy Forum and Comedy Etc, plus the road gig he did in Quincy, Illinois.
7) Patrick has been a columnist for MWR since the early stages of the site. Today he continues to contribute with articles on the site and for the upcoming 2013 MWR Yearbook.
8) SICW in EC on Saturday will make 46 shows that he attended for 2013.
The truth of the matter is that you can find hundreds, if not thousands of people that can give you information on WWE or spend money and time on that promotion, but there are very few people who are not wrestlers that are willing to take the time to cover the sport or use their talents to help out the foundation of pro wrestling for such a long time. I hate to say it but even at this stage of how easy it is to put something on the net, Patrick often has more information on his blog than many have on their own wrestling website.
I was able to ask Patrick his thoughts of being an important member of the wrestling community recently and he had this to say.
“It’s funny because I have trouble thinking of myself as any more than a fan. But at a time in my life when I didn’t have any sort of social life to speak of, these guys and gals put up with me hanging around the shows all the time.
They let me be a small part of a business that I’d been a fan of for a long time, and I’m grateful to them for that.
While I’m probably a “smart mark” in some sense, I do my best to remain a fan at heart. There have been plenty of times when cynicism got the better of me, though.
It happens. Any fan wants wrestling to be done his or her “way”. If you want wrestling to happen that way, you’d better get a promoter’s license.
A lot of indy wrestling is discovered through word of mouth. I went to broadcasting school with Ryan Ash and he told me about GCW; I don’t know if I would have started going to shows otherwise.
That’s why I make an effort to tell people about indy wrestling. There are another options besides the stuff on TV and sometimes people aren’t aware of them.
I always recommend indy wrestling to fans…it puts things in perspective since most wrestlers started on that level. It’s more “up close and personal” than a WWE show.
You see people on TV or at a distance in a big arena, they’re larger than life. You see them at an indy show and they’re people like any of us. I guess that’s one way to put it.”
Patrick plans on being in East Carondelet for SICW huge Christmas show, feel free to come up and say hi to one of pro wrestling’s biggest supporters.
If you would like to see Patrick Brandmeyer at the Funny Bone next Tuesday Funny Bone: 614 Westport Plaza Dr. in St. Louis(though it’s more like Maryland Heights). Open-mics are $5, with a two-drink minimum. Patrick wanted to let everyone know that there are “No guarantee I’ll make the list, there are usually a lot of people signing up and only so many slots to fill.”
On a personal level I would like to thank Patrick for his friendship to the MWR family, the support of pro wrestling in the Midwest as well his awesome contributions for the write ups
Missouri Wrestling Revival 