By Brian Kelley
Owner and Editor of MWR

Helloooo wrestling fans as the great Bill Kersten would say. I am thrilled that today we are celebrating our 1,000 post here at Missouri Wrestling Revival. Throughout the past two and half years you have been able to come to MWR site to check out upcoming shows, interviews and stories of the top stars of not only the Midwest but around the world.

MWR started out simple enough from one of my best friends Josh Ray who had the dream to bring attention to wrestling in the Midwest. He worked hard to get the site going and along with myself and Kari Williams the site was off and running.

Thankfully we had a good friend Peter Hahn whos sister Rachel, is a wonderful graphic artist that came up with the logo that has became the face of MWR.

I have been so busy getting ready for school, preparing for my sons school year and other projects that I have yet to unveil some great new logo’s from our good friends at Awesome bomb radio so no time is better than the start of a new thousand. Adult MWR fans take a chance to check out the Awesome Bomb Radio for some wild and crazy interviews with some of the top wrestlers in the game today.

Everyone at MWR has worked hard to be respectful and polite to each promotion, wrestler and fans that we have gone across.

I have a strong belief that to be successful that no one can do it alone. In the history of MWR there have been some wonderful supporters of the site that is vital to MWR’S place in wrestling today. I am going to attempt to thank everyone that has made MWR possible. At every promotion we have worked with there has been not only promoter, wrestlers but also referees, ring announcer, security, video crew and fans that I have nothing but love and respect for. Several have become close friends, while others I have not seen in a long time, though time has past by and we may have not seen each other this post is still for you.

1) The Fans: I hope that you have found MWR a place that you come to enjoy. You are the most important piece to the puzzle to making a show a success. At times we are very busy at a show but I want you to know that I thank you for clicking on the site and we are always excited to get to meet you. Your support for the hard working men and women of the sport keeps the hope alive for pro wrestlers to live their dream. If you have not checked out a local show near you I urge you to check out a promotion soon.

We have made many Friends thanks to the MWR site. Drew and Gary are two great guys that I met at local shows, they knew us from the work we do thanks to MWR. During the Wrestling Legends on tour the three of us got to pose with some of the top wrestling stars ever in the sport. These are just two of the many fans that we are proud to call our friends.

2) The Promoters: These guys are judged, hated and sometimes forgotten. It takes a special person to risk there money and spend their time to run a show. The cold hard fact is that it is a LOT of work to be one and at times luck to be successful in this profession. Without them doing the ground work a show never gets off the ground. They have opened their doors to us and I hope they know we have been honored to try our best to get the word out about the dates of their show.

3) The Wrestlers, managers and referees: Call it a sport or call it entertainment, one can not deny that it takes true talent to make a show a success..

During the years I have been all around the Midwest checking out shows in the big cities and the small towns and I can say that I have no doubt that there is no athletes that cares more for their fans that the wrestlers.

We have been at a few shows that have had less than 30 people, that did not stop the wrestlers from going out there and giving it their all, then took the time to come meet the fans.

I watched time and time where they have took that extra moment to talk, pose for pictures and sign autographs to the kids of all ages and thanking them for their hard earn money to watch them do what they love.

There have been many shows where the wrestlers have donated their time and skills with no pay to support a fundraiser for a local family or school.

No matter what state we are in, or the three letters of the promotions every wrestles have the same goal and that is to entertain you with the best of their abilities.

This past weekend I was in Lincoln Illinois for the Arts and Balloon Festival where the a huge crowd witness some exciting wrestling action. One of the many talented wrestlers in the Midwest today, Knight Wagner asked if he could do a promo commemorating the moment that so many fans had a chance to see what wrestling was like in our area.

I was honored by the kind words that he said in the promo for our website in hopes that you the fans will check us out to find out where you can see the next wrestling show in your area. I want to share with you the words of Knight Wagner.

To be honest there have been many such compliments given to the MWR family from many many wrestlers that understand that this site is built for the fans, the promoters and wrestlers themselves.
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It has been a pleasure to work each and every one of you. I have seen some of the craziest, weirdest and breathtaking matches ever in the past two plus years at MWR. The love that you have for wrestling is only equaled by the desire to give the fans their money’s worth. MWR could not be as successful or fun without your cooperation

4) Dubray Tallman: The old saying is behind every successful man is a good women. Thankfully I have Dubray to help support me while we drive the six hours roundtrip for many shows. There is no group of friends that live close enough that we can ride with to make the trip faster or cheaper. In less than a year and half we have made over eighty shows in Missouri, Kansas, Iowa and Illinois. At times the site takes away from what we can do elsewhere or together as it takes time to write and edit everything. Prior to the show Dubray works on one of the most popular articles that we have Dubi meets the fans. Often Dubi Meets the Fans is the among the top post for weeks on end . Dubray I love you.

5) Josh and Sara Ray: The founder of MWR is also one of my best friends. Josh has a great mind and love for the business. If only the two of us lived closer no telling how much more successful MWR would be. They don’t get much better than Josh and Sara

6) Kari Williams: MWR’S number one writer, you have read Kari’s articles from the inception of the site. Young and talented there is no doubt that you will find Kari’s work in a much bigger forum one day. Dubray and I always are thrilled to see Kari and her mother Joan.

7) Matt Murphy: Matt is one of the most underrated wrestling minds today. He has always been willing to give his advice and assistance for the site. In fact I didn’t take his advice early on and paid for it. Lesson learned, listen to Matt Murphy. Seriously Matt was kind enough to have his book showcased here at MWR in a weekly article that many MWR fans loved. If you missed it, there is a link at the top of the page that you can go to do catch up. MWR fans if you have read this article or book PLEASE take the time to review it on Amazon.com here.

8) Greg Anthony – Anthony brings to the site, a fan that is talented enough to excel in the sport today as a wrestler. I am never bored and often surprised to what he has to say in the MWR favorite the Golden Circle. As with Murphy if you have missed any of his articles I urge you take a look at the top of the page and enjoy.

9) Patrick Brandmeyer– As much as I love local professional wrestling, the truth is at times it can be nearly impossible to find out information on the past as well as the current history of the business. I often look to my good friend Patrick Brandmeyer for the what, how and why in the St Louis wrestling market and beyond. If a promotion wants a good source of advertisement then most defiantly contact Brandmeyer to make his way to your show.

10) ST Louis Wrestling Community and the Nose Bleed seats- Many people think that the man known as the Crimefighter and his website the ST Louis Wrestling Community are a competitor of the MWR website. The truth is that I have always enjoyed working with Crimfighter and his colleagues from the Nose Bleed Seats Chris Lee and MOAV5706. I often use the site and their advice for articles that you read here. They have had some great podcast and they are the number one source for all your wrestling in Central Illinois. Check them out here.

11) MWR T-shirts– Nothing brings a smile to my face than seeing a fan or wrestler wear a MWR Shirt. In the four states that we cover we have given away or sold 100’s of our shirts to wonderful people such as yourself. We started out with free drawings during intermission to a lucky fan.

Fans like this wonderful women has been thrilled to catch a MWR T-Shirt from a Midwest Superstar (Photo Credit Mike Van Hoogsraat)

Then one day at PWP I was taken photos when Murder Militia’s #1 Brett Young came to the ring wearing an MWR shirt . That kicked a light bulb in my head, why don’t we have a wrestler wear to ring and unlike the greedy Young who kept his shirt, we have them throw it to a lucky fan. This promotion has been more than a success and I would like to thank all the wrestlers who have worn the shirt in the past in this promotion. The fans I feel have had a lot of fun in catching them . Most recently one fan told me that her daughter was so impressed with catching the t-shirt and having her picture taken with the wrestler(Jimmy Karryt) that she has that picture of her and him as the background picture on their computer. You can not purchase moments as special as that.

Words can not describe how important my friend Nick Ridenour has been this year in working with us to have quality and affordable t-shirts with the small budget we have.

12) MWR Top Draws – A very popular feature at MWR is the art work from MWR’S Dartallion Allen JR. Allen brings to life your favorite stars in a cartoon style. Mwr fans look in the very near future a chance to vote for who you think Allen Jr should draw in the MWR Classic Wrestler Top Draw. Till then take the time to click above to see one of Midwest brightest artist today.

13) MWR Trading Cards– This is my new passion and a set that I take great pride in. A worthy collectable for the fans of MWR, the set features the stars of the Midwest and around the world that we have all come to love or hate. We started off with the MWR award winners for 2008 and 2009, card number one was the 2008 MWR Tag team of the year the Northstar Express Darin Corbin and Ryan Cruz with Pnut, the three who is awesome in promos looked just as good in a trading card.

“The Future” Donovan Ruddick takes the time to pose with young fans that had purchased his MWR Trading Card prior to him autographing the collectable that fans have been clamoring for the past few months.

Since then we have added a who’s who of stars in the Midwest including three people that I am forever grateful who brought worldwide recognition to the set, site and other wrestlers of the series and they are international stars MsChif, Davey Richards and Ring of Honor World Champion Tyler Black.

A big thank you goes out to Alyssa Major for her amazing talent on these cards.

As of press time we have announced Nineteen trading cards and each and every individual brings their own flair and worth to your collection. Look for many other superstars of the ring to grace their presence in the set. In fact I am so excited to name them that I need to stop writing about it.

For a look at these card check out our checklist at the number one site for wrestling trading cards Wrestlingtradingcards.com here.

14) MWR Photographers– People that know me, know that I love photos of wrestling. Often I will go to a website and see results from a show but never know what that person looks like. At MWR you get a chance to put a name with a face in an exciting fashion

I am blessed to be able to have some of the great photographers in the Midwest at MWR that allow us to use their work and expensive equipment for the site. A very underrated aspect to the scene is a photographer, these hard working professionals are able to capture that moment when your favorite wrestler goes for that high risk move, or the final moment when a wrestler wins the championship. With pictures you capture history.

Mike Van Hoogstraat, Gary Giaffoglione, Bill Smith and Scott Fieldstein are regulars with MWR who donate the pictures for you the fans to enjoy. I love all of these guys for their contribution and friendship.

15) Absolute Wrestling Radio: Amazingly when I wrote this article for 1,000 post I had somehow forgotten to recognize the AWR family. It’s not that they were not worthy or I hadn’t thought of them its just that I thought I had them done. Make no mistake about it that AWR was very crucial to MWR inception to the wrestling world. Based out of St Louis AWR has been a place where fans can listen and call in to talk about the WWE, TNA , local wrestling and MMA.

Mark Bland Matt Kreuger and Andy Echle have been a lot of fun throughout the time that I have known them and have created some of the most memorable moments in MWR history. They have always done a wonderful job getting the word of MWR out to the masses. We look forward to all of your hard wok and friendship.

Promotions

In the past two and half years MWR has covered and worked with each of these promotions in one form or another. I don’t want to thank anyone in particular because of the fear of forgetting anyone. Once again there are many great people that are in each of these promotions who have made a positive impact for the MWR site.

3XWrestling
All American Pro Wrestling
All American Wrestling
Central States Wrestling
Great American Wrestling
High Voltage Wrestling
IWA-Mid-South
Independent Hardcore Wrestling
IWA Productions
Lethal Wrestling Alliance
New Midwest Wrestling
New Breed Wrestling Alliance
NWA Supreme Wrestling
NWA Dynamo Pro Wrestling
Metro East Championship Wrestling
Metro Pro Wrestling
MMWA-SICW
Pro Wrestling Epic
Pro Wrestling Next
Pro Wrestling Phoenix
Pro Wrestling Next
Rampage Championship Wrestling
World League Wrestling

I hope that you check out these promotions live in the very near future.

Thank you MWR Fans and we hope to celebrate 1,500 soon. Till then look for all the exciting developments and happenings in the world of Pro Wrestling in the near future at MWR.

Sincerely,

Brian Kelley
Owner/ Editor of Missouri Wrestling Revival

My good friend Josh Ray and I spoke recently about the celebration of the MWR 1,000 POST. He stated that he had an article he would like to share with you so we started MWR post 1 with Josh Ray so it is only fitting that we end 1,000 with my good friend Josh.

By Josh Ray

Even though I left Missouri Wrestling Revival in the talented hands of Brian Kelley and Kari Williams a year ago to pursue other pro wrestling opportunities, as founder of this website/community I am extremely attached to any of MWR‘s successes and failures. It doesn’t matter whether the ideas came from my own mind or the mind of a friend, because once it is implemented by the site, it becomes part of the family.

As family, career, and life in general have siphoned time from one of my passions, most of my Midwest pro wrestling knowledge comes in spurts from MWR. It is a great site that has helped in more ways than it will ever get credit for, and that is due to a combined effort from contributors to MWR, promoters, wrestlers, behind-the-scenes staff, and of course fans! When Brian and I chatted last week and he informed me that the 1000th post was fast approaching, I wanted to get involved.

A lot is said of a wrestler’s desire and love of the business. Sometimes paid in hot dogs and other time not paid at all, these men and women travel at great physical, emotional, and financial expense because they love to entertain and they strive to improve. Unfortunately, there are other pieces of this puzzle that often go overlooked. These overlooked pieces are evident in those train wrecks that inevitably occur. Great wrestlers can make a great match, but those that work in supporting roles (the overlooked pieces I am referring to) are what make an entire event a success. In fact, those working in these supporting roles can make or break everything from the attendance to the safety at the show.

Those in these supporting roles include the promoter himself/herself, the booker, the referee, ring announcer, managers/valets, sound man/woman, camera crew, photographer, security, bloggers/journalists, and other volunteers. These men and women are no less a part of the wrestling business than the wrestlers themselves, but they often do what they do with little or no fanfare. There is no World Wrestling Entertainment developmental program for most of these roles, and many serving in these capacities are expected to do the work for free to pay their dues and to be a part of the show.

Even WWE legend Shawn Michaels acknowledged many of the great supporting members of WWE during his retirement speech on the March 29, 2010 edition of Monday Night RAW:

This is really gonna sound strange to you guys, but there’s a whole lot of people in those big ‘ol trucks out back, there are these guys here holding the camera, Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler, and of course the greatest announcer of all time Jim Ross… but I want to thank all you guys. You guys always made me look better than I ever really was and I so appreciate that.

I want to follow in those great footsteps in this, the 1000th post on Missouri Wrestling Revival, by naming my own MWR “Supporting Roles” All-Star Team. This is by no means definitive and is solely based on my opinion with some input from trusted friends.

Supporting Roles All-Star 1st Team

Booker – Matt Murphy
I have talked with Matt numerous times and know his credentials. This would be the guy to go to in order to get the matches lined up… and the first guy I would talk to to straighten out any backstage issues.

Referees –

Brandon Schmidt

Eric Davis

Both men work hard and want to continue learning. You’d be hard pressed to find two more competent officials to ref a show.

Ring Announcer –

KL Snow

The man with the green socks has a great voice for ring announcing and is one of the nicest men you’ll meet in and out of the ring. He no longer operates in the area, but is worth the money to bring in.

Video –

Skylar Pierce

This guy shoots and edits wrestling video on a regular basis and continues to improve. Watch 3XW’s Outside the Ring on Youtube to see the progression of his video work.

Camera – Jenny Bessman
3XW’s video team under the guidance of Skylar Pierce is my logical choice, with Jenny getting the by name selection, but without excluding the video talents of Sean Wilkerson. These guys keep the 3XW machine moving in the right direction by continuing their line of DVDs and providing footage for the 3XW web show Outside the Ring.

Security – Brandon “Bubba” Wacholtz
When I put together the MWR show for November 2009, “Bubba” was my first choice for security. Very professional in a security capacity and anyone that says otherwise has probably deserved being removed from a show.

Backstage Photographer –

Michael R. Van Hoogstraat

Many of the great Midwest wrestler photos from backstage that you see on this site and across the Internet come from this man!

Ringside Photographer –

Gary Giaffoglione

You feel right there in the middle of the action when Gary is at the helm.

Mouthpiece –

Magic Man

I extended the offer to Magic Man a long time ago… whenever I have a video camera he is always welcome to jump in front of it.

Mouthpiece –

Chad Mylan

Quite honestly, I mark for very few things in this world… but I mark for Chad Mylan. I am a Mylanite.

Booster –

Chuck Maddox

A genuinely nice guy with a love for professional wrestling that many do not come close to matching. Chuck is the guy you’d want to work with on any marketing plan or budget.

Journalist/Blogger –

Kari Williams

The resident workhorse at MWR has a career beyond this site that is right around the corner. I am very proud to have met her and often go to her for writing advice.

That is all I have for this, the 1000th post on Missouri Wrestling Revival. Remember, if its worth supporting then support it. If not then run the other way and something better will eventually come along!