Holy God in Heaven Above. Last night's Incredibly Strange Wrestling event was by far the single most awesome spectacle that mine lowly eyes hath ever gazed upon. It was all the best parts of punk rock and pro wrestling, along with a heaping helping of total and complete insanity.
It started off well enough - as we were standing in line, we got to watch a drunk Mexican dude piss in the middle of the street, then run up to a Mercedes that had just pulled up, wave his dick around, and then piss on the hood. But that wouldn't be the craziest thing I saw that night.
Once we walked in the door, I got a feel for what rad a crowd this thing had attracted, and knew a kick-ass time was to be had. They had a full-on wrestling ring set up in the middle of the DNA Lounge, and this punk band was playing on the regular stage, while the crowd hucked tortillas at the band, each other, or just where ever. The ring was simply covered in tortillas, and when the wrestlers came on, they'd throw the tortillas at them. My greatest victory was when I caught Libido Gigante, a heel, right between the eyes with a corn tortilla. Looking at the bottoms of my shoes this morning, there's equal parts maize and street scum embedded in them.
And the wrestling; oh the wrestling. These weren't just art students who thought "gee, wouldn't it be funny if we started a wrestling league?" - these people were pros, albeit with some self-consciously stupid and funny gimmicks. In the second match, a guy went up to the second floor and did a backflip into the ring from off the balcony. Insanity. Wrestlers were flying out of the ring, into the crowd, getting slammed through tables, jumping off ladders, doing all the totally awesome shit you'd want to see a wrestler do.
I fully condone, endorse, and approve of the ISW, and all that it stands for. This, or something like it, could breathe serious life back into both the independent wrestling scene, and the too-cool-for-school punk rock scene.
Oh, and if you live in the Bay, KTVU is going to be showing some stuff from the ISW event at 2AM either this coming Saturday night/Sunday morning, or the following. If you can catch even a glimpse of what this is about, you owe it to yourself to do so.
It started off well enough - as we were standing in line, we got to watch a drunk Mexican dude piss in the middle of the street, then run up to a Mercedes that had just pulled up, wave his dick around, and then piss on the hood. But that wouldn't be the craziest thing I saw that night.
Once we walked in the door, I got a feel for what rad a crowd this thing had attracted, and knew a kick-ass time was to be had. They had a full-on wrestling ring set up in the middle of the DNA Lounge, and this punk band was playing on the regular stage, while the crowd hucked tortillas at the band, each other, or just where ever. The ring was simply covered in tortillas, and when the wrestlers came on, they'd throw the tortillas at them. My greatest victory was when I caught Libido Gigante, a heel, right between the eyes with a corn tortilla. Looking at the bottoms of my shoes this morning, there's equal parts maize and street scum embedded in them.
And the wrestling; oh the wrestling. These weren't just art students who thought "gee, wouldn't it be funny if we started a wrestling league?" - these people were pros, albeit with some self-consciously stupid and funny gimmicks. In the second match, a guy went up to the second floor and did a backflip into the ring from off the balcony. Insanity. Wrestlers were flying out of the ring, into the crowd, getting slammed through tables, jumping off ladders, doing all the totally awesome shit you'd want to see a wrestler do.
I fully condone, endorse, and approve of the ISW, and all that it stands for. This, or something like it, could breathe serious life back into both the independent wrestling scene, and the too-cool-for-school punk rock scene.
Oh, and if you live in the Bay, KTVU is going to be showing some stuff from the ISW event at 2AM either this coming Saturday night/Sunday morning, or the following. If you can catch even a glimpse of what this is about, you owe it to yourself to do so.
taswell:
"Compassion was yesterday; today, you're wasting my motherfuckin' time."