F1rst Wrestling Results
"Wrestlepalooza III" Event
March 14, 2014
Minneapolis, Minn. at 1st Avenue Nightclub
Attendance: 600
Report by Keith Huston, PWTorch subscriber since 2007

F1rst Wrestling presented their third Wrestlepalooza event on Friday night with a lot of local Minnesota talent at First Avenue in Downtown Minneapolis. The venue is a traditional rock club with a stage, dance floor, and elevated bar area, but worked well for the wrestling event, with the stage serving as the entrance ramp to the ring on the dance floor. It was also unique in that there were no guardrails, so there were lots of fans crowding ringside.

Doors opened at 7:00 and the place was packed by the time the 8:00 p.m. belltime rolled around. In addition to the matches, there were two bands and two burlesque performers advertised.

(1) Wildcat (not Chris Harris) vs. Yellow Dog ended in a No Contest after The Misfits (local team reminiscent of The Highlanders) attacked both men. Lots of comedy spots involving a chew toy and a ball of yarn. The crowd got into it with dueling "Meow!" and "Woof!" chants.

Afterwards, a man in a police outfit came out and said he was shutting down the show because he witnessed too many alcohol-related crimes being committed, at which point he was interrupted, leading to the next match.

(2) Venom beat Police Officer in a quick match. The highlight was the crowd chanting "Eat a donut!"

The first band, Lipstick Homicide, did a brief set, followed by a performance by burlesque dancer Sweet Pea, who the mostly-male crowd was very into.

(3) C.J. Esparza & The Northstar Express beat 6 Percent Body Fat (Nick Brubaker & Renny D & Rob James) in a six-man tag match. Classic indy show match where the heels were jerks and the babyfaces played to the crowd with lots of dives and highspots. Esparza got the pin with an impressive shooting star elbow drop after about ten minutes of action in the best match of the night.

Up next was another burlesque performer, Queenie von Curves, who did a brief performance that the crowd loved.

(4) Arya Daivari (younger brother of Daivari/Abdul Bashir from WWE/TNA with mostly the same xenophobic gimmick his brother uses) beat Horace the Psychopath in a Street Fight. The crowd was into the violence. Horace bled within minutes and took a lot of shots to the head with various items, which was unpleasant to watch. Not the style of match I like, but Horace was super over with the local crowd. I would not be surprised to see Daivari in TNA at some point; he's in great shape and was very smooth in the ring. Daivari won with a Flying Carpet Splash off a ladder.

(5) Udo beat The Yeti in a five-minute match that went four minutes too long. Just some overweight dudes trading basic moves that would not have been out-of-place on an early '90s WCW undercard. I give them credit that at least The Yeti looked like a yeti and not a giant mummy.

More burlesque as Sweet Pea and Queenie did a routine together involving a lot of the traditional catfight spots. Then, a performance by heavy metal band Bloodnstuff.

(6) Arik Cannon beat "Playboy" Pete Huge. Both guys are staples of the local indy scene, though Arik has wrestled in DGUSA recently and was on Wrestling Society X a few years back. Cannon got a huge pop when he came out with a long case of PBR and drank before the match. Lots of beer spots and brawling before Cannon won with a brainbuster variation in a good match.

Post-match, The Misfits came out to attack Cannon, but Yellow Dog and Wildcat made the save leading to an impromptu main event.

(7) Yellow Dog & Wildcat beat The Misfits. Misfits beat down Wildcat for several minutes as the crowd chanted "Meow!" Basic tag match that lasted about 15 minutes and sent the crowd home happy.

Bloodnstuff came out one last time as people exited the building.

Not your typical indy show with the musical acts, dancers, and lots of comedy matches, but a fun, party-like atmosphere. Very well-run, as everything started on time, intermission was 15 minutes, and the show ended at a reasonable hour with only a minute or so of downtime between acts. Everyone seemed to have a great time, including the performers and the staff was friendly and helpful as always. Definitely will attend their next show.

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