I talked about my first night in professional wrestling in a blog post last week and here's the story of my first experience with the Kevin Sullivan, The Tazmaniac & the ECW style.
After getting back to the locker-room and being thanked by Mr. Hughes for a job well done, I was told by Paul Heyman I'd be wrestling Kevin Sullivan & The Tazmaniac later in the show. I'd never spoken to Kevin, but was very familiar with his work in Championship Wrestling from Florida & the NWA/WCW. Kevin Sullivan's persona was the "Prince of Darkness". A cult leader who would talk about evil powers, spirits, and the occult. Without coming out and saying it, he was 'satanic'. The Tazmaniac, who I'll refer to as Taz was in a word.... intense and intimidating. When I introduced myself, he said, "How ya doin' kid...get bigger". His character painted his face, wore a singlet with fur, didn't speak a language but grunted like an animal.
Kevin Sullivan & The Tazmaniac with The Mongolian Mauler (center)
Taz grabbed me and my tag partner and went over and spoke to Kevin about the 'plans' for the match. There really were no plans. Taz said he'd give me a belly-to-belly suplex off the top rope for the finish and that was it. I figured it would be similar to my match with Mr. Hughes, nice and easy. Boy was I wrong.
I'm going to preface this by saying they didn't hurt me, but it was a rough night. I already had a concussion (that I didn't tell anyone about) so luckily there wasn't much to remember. As soon as the match started it was game on. They attacked us both and almost immediately through us out of the ring to the floor. Chairs, tables, and anything else not nailed down was fair game.
When it finally came time for the end of the match Taz put me on the top rope, climbed up to the middle rope, put me in a bear hug with my arms trapped at my side and threw me 1/2 way across the ring. I landed flat and safe. He pinned me and that was it.
In the locker room Taz & Kevin said I did great and thanked me quite a bit. Paul Heyman came over, thanked me again and told me he "owed me". I thought he meant a payday but that wasn't meant to be. I earned my $50 ring crew pay and that was it. I'd find out in a few months what he meant.
If you're interested, he's the full match...Kevin Sullivan & The Tazmaniac vs. Mikey Whipwreck & Keith Scherer
-Mikey-
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