Peebles’ own Xander Black, left, has his arms raised in victory by Livewire Sean Casey after winning the Wrestling Royal at Saturday night’s event at North Adams High School.

Over 900 in attendance at Saturday night grappling –

Story and photos by Mark Carpenter –

The gymnasium at North Adams High School was transformed last Saturday night as the squared circle took over midcourt and the heroes and villains of World Classic Professional Big Time Wrestling entertained an estimated crowd of over 900 southern Ohio wrestling fans.  Judging by the reactions and enthusiasm of those assembled on Saturday at NAHS, the wrestlers will almost certainly be getting another invite to Adams County.
The event was a fundraiser for the North Adams High School baseball team, with a reported $3700 in just presale tickets, not to mention the tickets bought at the gate plus the concessions.  Overall, it was a good night for the baseball program and a fun night for local wrestling aficionados.

Special guest referee Isaac Wooten lays a little “justice” down on Cody Hawk after the women’s match on Saturday evening at NAHS.

The special guest of the evening was WWE Hall of Famer Roadwarrior Animal, who posed for photos for a long line of his fans, and let many of them try on his signature spiked shoulder pads.
The evening opened with a battle between the veteran “Icon” Cody Hawk and the underdog Tyler Robinson, with Hawk taking the win on a leverage pin.  Next to the ring came the obligatory patriotic match, pitting the villainous Iron Russian with his nefarious manager  The Playboy against Black Superman Onyx, representing the stars and stripes.  Though the evil Russian tired numerous distractions and used foreign objects in the ring, it was Superman winning the match for the good ol’ USA.
The next match may have been the most anticipated of the entire card, a women’s match with Shawna Reed and her manager Cody Hawk battling Miss Hannah, who announced herself as being from Seaman, Ohio, while Reed declared her hometown as “anywhere better than here.”  The anticipation was for the match’s guest referee, Isaac Wooten, a teacher and the boys soccer coach at North Adams.  Though she was accused of collusion with the guest ref, Miss Hannah won the match and after it was over, Wooten had to instill a little “Adams County justice” on Hawk, much to the pleasure of the audience.

Special guest at Saturday night’s Main Event in Seaman was WWE Hall of Famer Roadwarrior Animal.

The main event followed and it was a hard-fought tag team match with the Sensational Superstars (Shane Storm and Robbie Starr) matched up with Live Wire Sean Casey and Fantastic Bobby Fulton for the Ohio State Tag Team Championship.  Perhaps with the use of a foreign object, the Superstars were able to snatch the title away, leaving the ring quickly before their deceitful ways were discovered.
The final match of the evening was a unique seven-man Blindfold Wrestle Royal, featuring the debut of Peebles’ own Xander Black.  With their blindfolds on, the wrestlers wandered the ring, looking like walkers from Alexandria, looking to find someone to pin or toss over the top ropes.  In the end, with the assistance of Casey, the local kid was victorious in his debut as Black thrilled his large contingent of fans with his arms raised in victory.
The event was such an unexpected success that talk around the gym on Saturday night was that there could very well be a return engagement in the fall.  To sum it up, “a great time was had by all.”

The night of wrestling opened with a battle between “Icon” Cody Hawk and Tyler Robinson, who looks to be in a bit of trouble in this shot.