Abu Colossus
By Brian “Flair” Kelley
Photo Credits: Gary Giaffoglione for Pro Wrestling Phoenix
Abu Colossus is a mountain of a man. Standing at 6″5 and weighing 280 LBS, the Pro Wrestling Phoenix Champion not only brings power to the ring but uses his speed to electrify the crowd. As soon as his entrance music, Ludacris’s “Move”, hits the PA the fans go wild and his opponents know they will have their hands full.
Abu has dominated the PWP ring for over three years while waiting to claim what he has always felt was rightfully his: the Pro Wrestling Phoenix Championship. That goal was achieved on May 10, 2008 at PWP’s 3rd Year Anniversary Spectacular when he was able to defeat Babyface” Tony Cortez, Jaysin Strife, & “The Rebel” Jeremy Wyatt in a 4-way Elimination Match for the title.
Tony Cortez will be the first to tell you that he was the longest reigning Champ with an amazing 20 months and that the belt will return around his waist yet PWP has claimed that we are in “The Era of Colossus”. Cortez and his partner in crime, Hype Gotti will pull out all stops to make sure that the Era is more like a Moment. Cortez and Gotti, once bitter enemies, now collectively known as Simply the Best, are sure to be a thorn in the side of the current champ.
Abu grew up a wrestling fan and took special interests in the Bret the Hitman Hart along with Hall of Famer Ricky Steamboat. He was trained by “Irish” Mick Tierney and has worked hard building his reputation as one of the most respected wrestlers in the area. He also utilizes former ECW Champion Tazz’s suplex to punish his opponents along with signature moves the Two Handed Choke Slam and the Colossal Slam.
[Abu hits a Two Handed Choke Slam.]
I had the chance to talk to Jeremy Wyatt and asked him how he approaches a wrestler with the talent that Abu possesses. He said, “Abu is a guy who can be classified as a true heavyweight, there’s not many guys his size working the Indies. You might be able to wear him down if you can keep him from getting a hold of you but he’s not a guy to try and trade shots with. Seems as if he has stepped up his game a bit in the last year or so. With his size and strength, I think he should look to branch out a little more and try to work more places.”
I was able to track down Independent wrestling’s best kept secret, Abu Colossus, the night before he would defend his title at Raising the Bar against the winner of the 2008 Phoenix Challenge, “Number One” Brett Young on August 16th in Council Bluffs, IA .
When I asked him what his favorite matches were to this date, he was quick to say PWP’s December 9, 2006 Candy Cane Chaos match with Michael Strider that ended up in a double DQ. It was a match that took the big man to his limits and led to a dog collar match at PWP’S Year of the Phoenix . A Match with Mark Sterling on November 18th at PWP’S In Your Church was a close second as he feels Sterling is among the elite in the business.
Michael Strider had this to say about the man whose nickname is the Big Hurt:
“Abu Colossus has a million dollar look and I knew every night that we wrestled that I had to bring my ‘A’ game. That guy is just starting to show his full potential”.
[Michael Strider had his hands full during a Dog Collar match that you can purchase on the PWP DVD Year of the Phoenix 2.]
Abu takes great pride in representing Pro Wrestling Phoenix and working with the upstart wrestling promotion Magnum Pro Wrestling. He looks forward to showcasing his skills with the best to prove to the fans in the Midwest that he is the standard that all wrestlers should be compared to. The names that he would like to work with on the national scene were TNA wrestler Abyss, Samoa Joe and Bryan Danielson. In the Midwest he would love to hook up with NWA/CSW Missouri Champion Dingo, Gage Octane, Brian Ash and Mitch Paradise.
When asked if there was anything that he would like to say to the fans he replied “We love what we do and we appreciate their support and we hope that they know that the Independent wrestlers will give a 100% to entertain. They are the reason we do what we do.”
Final thoughts
As a fan of Independent Pro Wrestling I look forward to seeing some of the best take on each other and there is no doubt that Abu Colossus should be in the sights of all promoters and would add to the show instantly.
Love it or hate it, the truth of the matter is fans enjoy powerhouse wrestlers and they are few and far between in this area. Abu is something special and I would love to see how 3XW Commissioner Todd Countryman and his men, Mark Sterling and Gage Octane would deal with this monster of a man. Maybe Casanova will need some assistance with 3XW Champion Devin Carter after turning on him at 3XW’S “On a Stick” show this past month.
Central States Wrestling in Kansas has stated that they will be making a comeback soon and though the talent in the company is plentiful, Abu would be a force from the start, and the fan favorites could use a little help with the “In Crowd” or the Barrio Boys, two factions that have been terrorizing the fans and their favorites in the area.
Let’s not forget that Lethal Wrestling Alliance president Luke Roberts is looking for a man that can defeat the Future Donovan Ruddick. Why not bring in an outsider to do their dirty work. Yet who knows maybe the Future will contact Abu to help him in his dominance of LWA, a combination that could prove unstoppable.
Pro Wrestling Phoenix fans are fortunate to have one of the most exciting wrestlers in the Midwest as their champion and some big matches will be in Abu’s future with the very talented roster that PWP now boast to have in Number One” Brett Young, Jaysin Strife, Rebel” Jeremy Wyatt, Arya Daivari, The Anarchist” Arik Cannon, Mark Sterling, Tyler Cook and familiar foes Simply the Best gunning for the title.
You can check out Abu Colossus at Pro Wrestling Phoenix http://www. prowrestlingphoenix. com/ where you can purchase DVDs and find out who he will be up against at future shows. He can also be found at Magnum Pro Wrestling at http://www. myspace. com/magnumpw . Booking info for Abu Colossus http://www. myspace. com/abucolossus
Hollister had one of the toughest schedules of all wrestlers in the Midwest for the month of May. It all started with a tough tag team loss (with Bryce Benjamin) to the Motor City Machine Guns in AAW. It was all good after that, as he followed the loss up with a victory (although tainted) over Egotistico Fantastico in a hard-hitting affair, the closed out the month by defending his Scott County Wrestling Title not once, but twice in one night. He retained the title after defeating Danny Daniels and Marek Brave. It was a successful month for Shane Hollister, as he wrestled some of the best in the business and came out on top in three out of the four encounters.
The Phoenix Twins continue to impress wrestling fans across the Midwest. This month, Tweek and Dash won two non-title matches against current tag champions in SCW and AAW. They also each competed in singles matches as part of “Best of Three” series of matches with members of Zero Gravity, splitting the contests and inching closer to being the number one contenders for the SCW Tag Team Titles. For 2008, Tweek and Dash have set the bar very high. It often seems as if they are the only tag team that can surpass this high standard.
Stacy O’Brien has emerged in the second quarter of 2008 as the premier female wrestler in the Midwest. She currently owns the World League Wrestling and MMWA-SICW Women’s Championships. She defeated Ms. Natural and Alexis Lightfoot for each belt, respectively. In yet another month where female wrestlers have been inactive, Stacy is a step in the right direction.
Missouri Wrestling Revival 