April 2005

 Hi there reader - I hope you had a good [insert your winter holiday(s)/festival(s)] and happy new year!

Wanted to make a quick post - I realized today the last post was in November! Holidays get busy here at the home office. 

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Uploaded a few photos from April 2005 in this album. These are all from American Pro Wrestling in Spartanburg, SC and High Velocity Wrestling in Hendersonville, NC.

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For Mitchell's Mess & More, upcoming: 

Saturday, Jan. 17th - Greater Goldsboro Collectibles Show in Goldsboro, NC at the Maxwell Ag Center. 
Saturday, Feb. 7th - Carolina Sports Promotions in Wilmington, NC at the American Legion. 

MMM hit Gastonia,NC back in December for the Fourth & Goal Collector's Vault Show - check out the post below on the MMM facebook.  If you're not already, follow the page - upcoming shows, updated photos, and the great group shots of all our pretty faces!

January is quiet for myself - I am planning on visiting the Spartanburg Comic Con on January 24: 

Collector's Vault Shelby AND Wrestling Evolution: Love is Pain on January 31: 

That's it - thanks for reading!

2004 - APW, HVW...

The last couple of weeks I have looked through the 2004 photos folder. It was over 3300 photos...and...they were not the best. I took photos from a seated position for a few months at American Pro Wrestling in Spartanburg (APW). It was the top tier of the metal bleachers you see on the left of the below photo: 

 I was learning "on the job" so to speak. I had no experience in photography, but I was a big wrestling fan and knew what a good wrestling photo looked like. I was learning my way and the photos showed that. Also, the Sony Mavica had a bit of a delay, so I missed more than I got. 

So here are some selected pics from (mostly the latter part of ) 2004. I've tried to do a mix and include different wrestlers, but as I mentioned not all of the photos were that great, so if you're looking for someone specific you may not see them-this wasn't intentional...again, in 2004...I wasn't that good. 

View the gallery here.

I'll be joining the con family again next weekend at the Mad Monster Expo in Charlotte, NC. It's a great horror convention and is where I reconnected with Tre & Mitchell from Mitchell's Mess & More. They usually have a rassler or two also. This year: The Honky Tonk Man, Killer (Karrion) Kross & Scarlett Bordeaux, and Saraya.

Further Reading: 

https://midatlanticwrestling.net/andersons/abc/2004_abc1/abc1.htm

https://witnesstheevolution.com/

https://jimmyvaliant.weebly.com/

https://madmonster.com/expo-2025/

https://scaresthatcare.org/

It started in 2004...

 It started in 2004...Adam Jaxon and Ken Magnum started training with Gary "Viper" Benfield and debuted in American Pro Wrestling (Spartanburg, SC) for owner, Chief Jay Eagle.  They used different names back then:  Ethan Cage & Kris Pain. These guys are family - they were a great classic tag-team (called The UnderGround) and we had a lot of fun together. This was the beginning of the journey for me and I'm forever thankful they let me tag along with them. 

Below are some photos from that year:

Just like everybody involved, we started out as fans and we happily ran into Barbarian several more times down the road.

The bear belonged to Jimmy Kindrid...Ken didn't care. 

Blond hair courtesy of "Hot Shot" Shane Austin

The "I Hate Viper" head wrap.

The fireball injury head wrap. 

July 4, 2004 - High Velocity Wrestling in Hendersonville, NC at Jackson Park - what was published...

...and what you didn't see: