Pro Wrestling Explosion Comes To PhilaMOCA
A mustache match, Sweethearts Brawl and the Beach Bums collide!
All good things must come to an end, but not this soon.
2019 started with heartbreak for wrestling fans around the United States as one of the fastest-rising tag teams on the independent scene announced they were splitting up. Freddy Flamingo and TJ Crawford, known coast to coast as the Beach Bums (along with teammate Brody), rode a tremendous wave of momentum over the past three years. They became one of the most popular acts in WrestlePro, dazzled the CHIKARA audience last year and made their Impact Wrestling debut in November.
Just two months later, Flamingo announced via Twitter that the team had decided to go their separate ways. Well, it seems that Crawford made the decision for Flamingo.
Crawford is no longer focused on soaking up the rays and listening to the magic conch. Instead, he’s taking life seriously, a bit too seriously for Flamingo. The former friends will face each other for the first time this Friday in Philadelphia at Pro Wrestling Explosion’s “Galactic Resolution.”
And Brody has volunteered to be the special guest referee.
“I booked them six months into their run and kept booking them for over two years,” says PWE promoter Erik Viking. “You want to see good dudes like that move up, maybe go to NXT. Now that they’ve broken up, it feels like they have to start all over again.”
With a New Year and new venue, it seems like PWE is starting all over again as well. After previous events in New Jersey and The Wrestle Factory, PWE is coming to PhilaMOCA – a gallery space and performing arts venue in the Spring Garden section of Philadelphia. Known for showcasing the underground, alternative and DIY culture, it’s the perfect fit for Viking’s science fiction-themed throwback to ‘80s action movies.
“Pro Wrestling Explosion is a play on the Big Bang,” says Viking, a science and astronomy buff. “There is this explosion of various types of wrestling. It’s a circus – every match is different and everybody looks different. It’s a variety show for all ages.”
Viking moved from the West Coast to Bristol, Pennsylvania, to join the Ring of Honor Wrestling Academy in 2008. He trained as a wrestler, referee and manager, working for the company for three years. After absorbing so much knowledge and experience behind the scenes, the lifelong fan decided to start his own promotion.
“I wanted my own brand, my own style, my own graphics and I just wanted to do it my own way,” Viking says. “I wanted PWE to be a small, little independent promotion where wrestlers can come and have fun. Instead of working a show and feeling pressure or walking on egg shells, PWE is an open dialogue with a locker room full of good people. It’s what a wrestler would want it to be.”
Since 2016, PWE has featured talent from all over the Northeast, holding Sunday afternoon shows geared toward a younger audience. That strategy has changed for “Galactic Resolution,” which takes place on Friday night at a hipster venue serving alcoholic beverages. “It’s a small space with a balcony, a stage and standing room so you’re basically touching the action,” Viking says. “It’s perfect for wrestling. We’ll find out if it changes how I look at the company.”
There will also be another first at “Galactic Resolution” as “Retrosexual” Anthony Greene meets “Yodeling” Yohan Wunderschintzel in a mustache match. The loser will have their trademark whiskers shaved off in the middle of the ring. Viking is very high on Yohan, who he discovered at a scouting camp in New Jersey. The youngster also impressed Impact Wrestling Hall of Famer Abyss, Viking says.
“We look at yodelers and we laugh, but to them, yodeling is definition of manliness,” he says. If you can yodel, you’re the manliest man in the village.”
Maintaining that circus-like atmosphere, there is something on the card for everyone. Troy Nelson and CPA will battle in a Sweethearts Brawl, in which fans are encouraged to bring their candy conversation hearts to the show. Former Ring of Honor and Impact talent Jimmy Rave goes one on one with Joey Gacy. Manager Sly Stetson will finally step in the ring and compete against Grizzly Redwood. Green Ant makes his debut against the monstrous Beefcake. Shockwave the Robot has issued an open challenge.
Plus, Billy Avery and Smash Bradley will settle their storied rivalry, and there will be a “galactic” battle royal.
In the main event, PWE Champion Alex Payne defends the title against “Hot Sauce” Tracy Williams, a rematch from a couple summers ago when there was a double pin. Feuding with Viking and cohort Shane Hagadorn for two years now, Viking will be watching this match with bated breath.
“They exemplify the exact opposite of what PWE is,” Viking says. “They’re the traditional bad guy wrestlers that cheat, low blow, eye poke, whatever it takes to keep the title. It’s called ‘Galactic Resolution’ because we’re going to have a resolution. Either Tracy wins the belt or I’m going to have go out there and fight Payne myself. We’re getting our title back one way or another.”
Viking has already stacked the deck against the champion, scheduling a tag team match earlier in the evening pitting Payne and Hagadorn against Ernie Osiris and his chosen partner…ROH pioneer Prince Nana!
PWE Galactic Explosion takes place Friday, February 8, at the PhilaMOCA in Philadelphia.
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