Ringside With Rich

01/04/09

First of all, I want to wish all of you a very Happy New Year! 2009 is finally here and Chaotic Wrestling is gearing-up for its most exciting year ever with the best action offered in independent wrestling anywhere. Look for the CHAOS to spread to new towns and venues this year, with a full schedule that will consist of more shows than in years past.

As always, Lowell, MA will always be our "home" but we will be running more shows in Lawrence, Tyngsboro and plans are already being put into place for a big fundraiser featuring at least one of the sport's biggest stars in the first-half of '09. Speaking of fundraisers, did you know that you can plan your own right here at chaoticwrestling.com? Just click on the Fundraising tab on the main menu for more information.

THIS FRIDAY NIGHT!

Chaotic Wrestling kicks off 2009 in a big way at the Polish-American Veterans Club in Lowell with our final stop on the road to COLD FURY 8. After five weeks off, I personally cannot wait to get back to the PAV!

- A rematch (of sorts) of a CW Heavyweight title change from over 2 1/2 years ago will take place as "The Duke of Elegance" Don Chesterfield does battle with the popular Tommaso Ciampa. Back in May of 2006, it was Chesterfield (then known as "Handsome Johnny") that lost the CW title to Ciampa (the former "Thomas Penmanship") in Methuen, MA.

Title implications abound in this forthcoming match as both men are eager to reclaim past glory. The Duke needs a big victory to get back into title contention, while Ciampa has just returned from a five-month hiatus during which he gained some valuable training from legendary seven-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion, Harley Race. Ciampa hopes to utilize this recent experience in his quest to defeat Chesterfield and begin ascending the ladder of contention here in CW.

However, Ciampa will need to be leery of the Duke's newest ally, "Duchess" Damon. The Duke had been looking for a new "squire" for the past few months and has recently come up with his "Duchess" instead. Don't be fooled by Damon's effeminate appearance at ringside. He is a skilled veteran of the New England wrestling scene who can be the difference-maker in this all important match.

- Speaking of recent returns to Chaotic Wrestling, the first member of the CW Hall of Fame, Luis "Demon" Ortiz made an auspicious return back in November, saving the ever-popular Psycho from a post-match beating at the hands of CW New England Champion, Scott Reed and The Empire.

Ortiz showed absolutely no signs of any "ring rust" as he emerged victorious over the double-tough Brandon Locke on December 5th. Ortiz has now set his sights on recapturing what was once his, and that is Reed's CW New England title (formerly known as the Chaotic Wrestling TV title, which Ortiz was the first owner of back in 2001).

On January 9th, Demon Ortiz will answer the challenge of The Empire's mouthpiece and leader, "The Manager of Champions" Sean Gorman and will have a face-to-face confrontation with Scott Reed in the ring this Friday night!

- Gorman truly has lived up to his monicker as he not only possesses the CW New England title in his stable, but the prestegeuos Chaotic Wrestling Tag Team Championship as well as the current champions are The Empire's "Kingpin" Brian Milonas and the "Beast" known as Sledge.

They were successful in their first title defense last month, turning back the challenge of the red-hot duo of "Head of Security" Tony Omega and Nick Gamma, better known collectively as Omega Security. However, a #1 Contenders match that took place later in the evening saw "Straight Edge" Brian Fury and "The American Sasuke" Mikaze defeat former champions, Big Rick Fuller and Fred "Bonecrusher" Sampson to earn their long-awaited title shot.

The Empire had best beware of Fury and Mikaze. Their high-flying attack may be just what it takes to capture the tag straps from the much larger team of Milonas and Sledge. Nothing would make Mikaze happier than to become a three-time tag team champ, while Fury would love to add this title to his already impressive resume. This should be an exciting match for all of our great fans, and one that I cannot wait to call!

- Despite being on the losing end of the aforementioned tag match, Rick Fuller rebounded in the December 5th main event as he was voted-in by the fans to compete in the Chaotic Contender Challenge. Fuller, the third man in Chaotic Wrestling history to hold the heavyweight title in 2001, found himself pitted against Psycho, "The Mohawked Enforcer" Max Bauer, Don Chesterfield, CW Tag Team Champion Brian Milonas and CW New England Champion, Scott Reed in hopes of emerging victorious and earning a title shot against CW Heavyweight Champion, "The Golden Greek" Alex Arion at COLD FURY 8 on February 6th.

Arion and his manager, "The Golden Goddess" Cherry Payne joined myself and Mike Nice at ringside to observe the match and provide his insights on the night's main event. While Arion did all he could to ensure that his former ally (now foe) Max Bauer did not win the match and get his shot at the title, even trying to negotiate with four of the match's other participants to help his plight. The champ then entered the ring and kicked Bauer in the head, but he took his eye off the ball for a split-second and was not even aware that Fuller tagged himself into the match and chockeslammed "The Duke of Elegance" to secure the victory and earn his title shot.

A stunned Arion could do nothing but look on in disbelief as the 6'5" former champion, Rick Fuller looked down on the 5'9" current champion, motioning that he was going to take his title on February 6th at COLD FURY 8. It was then announced that the contract between Arion and Fuller will be signed this Friday night at the PAV in Lowell!

You know Alex Arion and Cherry Payne will have something up their sleeves as they head into COLD FURY 8 for this main event title match. Arion has held that title for over seven months now and has turned back every challenger he has faced thus far, taking some opponents well-past the 30-minute mark in defense of the gold. However, you know Arion will be looking over his shoulder as he knows he is the "hunted" here in Chaotic. He's got two of the biggest and best gunning for him, in Fuller and Bauer. Could his days as champion be numbered? We'll have to wait and see!

I hope to see each and every one of you great fans this Friday night at the PAV in Lowell!

Until next time...

LET THE CHAOS BEGIN!

Rich Palladino