{"id":10007,"date":"2022-06-16T08:03:10","date_gmt":"2022-06-16T13:03:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateoftheozarks.net\/showcase\/?p=10007"},"modified":"2022-06-25T23:27:11","modified_gmt":"2022-06-26T04:27:11","slug":"hometown-heroes-mid-states-wrestling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateoftheozarks.net\/showcase\/2022\/06\/16\/hometown-heroes-mid-states-wrestling\/","title":{"rendered":"Hometown Heroes, Mid-States Wrestling"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

Hometown Heroes, Mid-States Wrestling<\/h1>\n

by Joshua Heston & Noah Bray<\/strong><\/p>\n

(Harrison, Arkansas) \u2014 Inside a steel farm building on the mountainous Boone County fairgrounds, the crowd gathers. Classic rock blares from speakers. The smell of BBQ pulled pork nachos wafts through the air. Blinding fluorescent light shines down on the ring.<\/p>\n

\u201cTease me, please me, No one needs to know\u2026\u201d<\/em> sings The Scorpions before fading suddenly.<\/p>\n

\u201cArkansas, who\u2019s ready for Mid-States Wrestling?\u201d booms announcer Ryan Lee. Lee is all-business in a black suit and close-cropped, near-mohawk fade<\/p>\n

Children wriggle near the ring. A man with a grand mullet and a t-shirt reading \u201cNaughty Is the New Nice\u201d hurries to his seat. White ceiling fans hum in the cavern-like space. The lights dim, obscuring sleeveless denim shirts, Confederate caps, Native American tattoos and Harley-Davidson shirts.<\/p>\n

The crowd rises to the national anthem and the fog machine churns mist. Lights flash. It is a Saturday night in Northwest Arkansas and Space Cowboy Jason Jones, the \u201cHardest Working Man in Pro Wrestling,\u201d is making dreams come true.[\/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”10037″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_single_image image=”10010″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_single_image image=”10012″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

In the ring, Space Cowboy and Monster Thrash size each other up, heads together like two bulls. Thrash attacks first, Cowboy responds. Thrash distracts the referee, giving his teammate Tim Rockwell a chance to attack like the dirty cheat he is. Cowboy is surprised, backed into the corner and goes down. Thrash\u2019s attempts the pin but there is no three-count as Cowboy keeps his shoulders off the mat. Thrash stomps Cowboy, following with an Irish whip and a clothesline. Cowboy body slams Thrash.<\/strong><\/h5>\n
Rockwell distracts the referee, scratches Cowboy\u2019s eyes. In the melee, the referee goes down, a double disqualification, but the fighting intensifies. Rockwell and Thrash pound Cowboy until Blue Bolt rushes in.<\/strong><\/h5>\n
The disqualification means Space Cowboy Jason Jones retains the title of Southern Heavyweight Champion. He throws down a challenge to Monster Thrash and his accomplice:<\/strong><\/h5>\n
\u201cIf you got the guts, show up here tomorrow!\u201d<\/strong><\/h5>\n
The hometown crowd goes wild.<\/strong><\/h5>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”10015″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]It is Mid-States Wrestling\u2019s 20th year and Jones\u2019 25th as a pro wrestler. Born and raised in Harrison, Arkansas, Jones broke into wrestling in 1996 while still in high school.<\/p>\n

\u201cI started off ring announcing,\u201d he says, \u201cand would let the guys bump me around to see if I was tough enough to take it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tough enough Jones was.<\/p>\n

\u201cMid-States is wonderful,\u201d explains Roscoe Monroe, self-described \u201c245 pounds of twisted steel and sex appeal with a body women love and men fear.\u201d A Cabot, Arkansas pharmacist by trade, Monroe fell in love with the sport. \u201cThere\u2019s a polish [to Mid-States] that is akin to Las Vegas. Their wrestling skills, the intensity of conditioning. This is all-encompassing sport.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jones\u2019 Harrison gym is where it begins for many. Students from four states train here, one getting signed to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) in March.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re getting the wind knocked out of you [with the force] of a car crash going 35 miles per hour. I have football players show up and I got them sucking air within two minutes,\u201d notes Jones.[\/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”10019″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_single_image image=”10020″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

Cannonball Matthews from Better Than U University, a massive young man dressed in purple singlet and collegiate jacket, is getting into it with the fans because of his cocky attitude. His opponent, Gary Roosevelt Gram, MSW Heavyweight Champion, is high-fiving those ringside.<\/strong><\/h5>\n
Roosevelt brings a junkyard dog aesthetic, complete with signature heavy chain. Dressed in red, he is a lighter but still imposing figure against Cannonball.<\/strong><\/h5>\n
Cannonball pushes Roosevelt to the corner, begins doing push-ups, then flexes broadly. The crowd boos. Cannonball attacks but is trapped in a loop of right hands from Roosevelt. Ending on the mat, Roosevelt lifts his leg on Cannonball. The crowd instantly understands.<\/strong><\/h5>\n
\u201cYou got peed on!\u201d begin the chants.<\/strong><\/h5>\n
Confused, disgusted, Cannonball jumps to his feet but is pinned in the corner by Roosevelt, who bites him on the butt.<\/strong><\/h5>\n
The match concludes with Roosevelt\u2019s suicide dive onto Cannonball from the middle rope all the way to the floor. Both men are disqualified. Cannonball attacks Roosevelt with his headgear but is driven off when Roosevelt swings his chain.<\/strong><\/h5>\n
As Cannonball exits, the crowd takes up the chant again:<\/strong><\/h5>\n
\u201cYou got peed on!\u201d<\/strong><\/h5>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”10021″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]Here is carnival atmosphere hearkening back to the sport\u2019s origins but sometimes belying the athleticism and risk.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I\u2019m in the ring, I\u2019m an inch from paralysis,\u201d notes Jones.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a modern-day gladiator,\u201d says James Legault (Jimmy Fiasco). \u201cAt the end of the day, everything we do is real. I\u2019m hitting guys. I\u2019m taking hits. Concussions are real. Injuries are real. I may not be a collegiate athlete but I\u2019m putting my body on the line to entertain a crowd.\u201d[\/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”10023″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]In the ring, that reality is heightened by a mysterious realism made of building blocks simple enough for the youngest child to understand. Here is swagger, heroics, fear and virility with larger-than-life characters speaking truth through actions.<\/p>\n

It is off-putting to some.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome people consider wrestling lowbrow,\u201d explains Jones. \u201cI say, \u2018You ought to bring the kids out to the fair grounds,\u2019 and they\u2019re like, \u2018Oh, no, we don\u2019t want to be seen going to a wrestling match.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Jones\u2019 own memories of wrestling began very young. He would crawl into his father\u2019s lap and his dad would explain the sport:<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018This is the good guy,\u2019 he would say, \u2018because he is tough and he is good. And this is the bad guy because he\u2019s cocky. We don\u2019t like him.\u2019\u201d Father-son bonding led to attending match after match.<\/p>\n

\u201cI could count on one hand the shows we missed at Shrine Mosque [in Springfield, Missouri]. My dad knew there was an element of cooperation in the ring [and] I loved watching him get tickled at little old ladies getting so pissed off.[\/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”10025″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

Back in the ring, it\u2019s time for Jimmy Fiasco to face Ice Man.<\/strong><\/h5>\n
Ice Man is a cool and arrogant 160 pounds. The crowd boos even as commentator Sumo suggests Harrison may not be cosmopolitan enough for the wrestler\u2019s Vanilla Ice soundtrack.<\/strong><\/h5>\n
And then there\u2019s Jimmy Fiasco.<\/strong><\/h5>\n
\u201cWeighing in at a ton of fun and coming from the cool club on the other side of town, the man with the neon hand!\u201d<\/strong><\/h5>\n
\u201cJimmy Fiasco doesn\u2019t bring the party,\u201d explains commentator Loose Cannon, \u201cHe is the party!\u201d<\/strong><\/h5>\n
The match begins with a dance off.<\/strong><\/h5>\n

\u201cI am at heart a storyteller,\u201d says Legault, speaking of his Jimmy Fiasco persona. \u201cThere\u2019s so many heavy things going on in the world. I don\u2019t need to take myself too seriously.\u201d[\/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”10027″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

In the ring, Fiasco is dropping it like it\u2019s hot, much to the delight of the crowd and the disgust of Ice Man. Earlier, Fiasco had called out Ice Man on live Springfield TV.<\/strong><\/h5>\n
\u201cHe told my mom to shut up,\u201d said Fiasco as Jason Jones and Ryan Lee looked on. \u201cI\u2019m lacing up my boots and taking him to Pound Town! These hips? They don\u2019t lie!\u201d<\/strong><\/h5>\n

Fiasco\u2019s persona is bombastic but child-like. He holds his pink neon tape-wrapped hand high in the air and children, in particular, adore him. He represents that little boy who just wants to have fun when the adults are all-too serious for their own good.<\/p>\n

Ice Man tires of the dance and attempts a running clothesline. Fiasco ducks out of the way, movements incredibly swift for such a big man. As Ice Man turns, Fiasco flips Ice Man over his shoulder like a sack of grain. It\u2019s a beautiful slam, no more dancing, all business. This boyish bear of a man follows through, scooping his opponent into the air and slamming him onto the mat again. Ice Man rolls to escape.<\/strong><\/h5>\n

\u201cMinimum effort, maximum fun,\u201d is Fiasco\u2019s tagline. He sells merchandise saying, \u201cMediocre at best.\u201d<\/p>\n

Due to a series of unfortunate hi-jinks, Ice Man comes out on top. Hit by what appears to be brass knuckles, Fiasco goes down. A blonde girl stands on a chair shouting, \u201cYou suck, Ice Man! You\u2019re a cheat!\u201d She can\u2019t be more than six.<\/strong><\/h5>\n

\u201cI feed off the energy of the crowd,\u201d shares Legault. \u201cJimmy Fiasco is my personality cranked up to 11. He wants to hear the crowd having a good time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Here in this lighted square are villains we love to hate and heroes we love to love. This is performative honesty and vicarious release from social dictate.[\/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”10028″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_single_image image=”10032″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]The \u201chottest tag team in wrestling\u201d is Toxic Masculinity \u2014 Johnny Lightning and Johnny Dynamite. With long hair, black jackets and tight silver pants, they make an imposing pair. They are cocky but the crowd adores them.<\/p>\n

The Death Machine duo is Jim Fallon, a slight, bald man in black briefs alongside Doomsday in a black-and-white luchador mask with matching singlet. Doomsday towers over his partner.<\/p>\n

\u201cWeighing in at two Johnnies,\u201d announces Lee, \u201cis every man\u2019s nightmare and every woman\u2019s fantasy, the returning, reigning and defending WFC tag team champions!\u201d<\/p>\n

Johnny Lightning taunts the crowd. Johnny Dynamite lounges on the ropes. Jim Fallon and Doomsday stare menacingly.<\/p>\n

The match begins with Dynamite versus Fallon but Lightning pulls Dynamite away, literally by the seat of his silver briefs. Dynamite tags Lightning who tosses his jacket at his opponents, then tags Dynamite.<\/strong><\/h5>\n
Dynamite grapples with Fallon who throws Dynamite into the ropes. Dynamite rushes Fallon, shoulder checking Fallon onto the mat, then drop-kicks him. Dynamite tags Lightning but Fallon tags Doomsday.<\/strong><\/h5>\n
Johnny Lightning flexes for the crowd. Like something out of a cartoon, Lightning reaches back mid-flex to find the massive luchador menacing, attempts a headlock, then frantically shouts, \u201cWhat do I do?\u201d<\/strong><\/h5>\n

Toxic Masculinity are comedic heels. Fallon is a ring technician and high flyer, having been trained by Extreme Championship Wrestling legend Perry Saturn. Doomsday is more beast than man.<\/p>\n

The match concludes with a win for Toxic Masculinity but not before Doomsday crotch-scoops Lightning and slams him into the mat, then tags Fallon who does a diving head-butt into Lightning from the top rope.<\/strong><\/h5>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”10030″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_single_image image=”10033″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]The lights come up, crowd moving toward autograph tables. Wrestlers are among the crowd, less larger-than-life in their sweat and exhaustion but laughing, signing posters, posing with fans, hugging loved ones.<\/p>\n

The little blonde girl has spilled Mountain Dew on her brothers. In unison, they make their way to meet Space Cowboy.<\/p>\n

This is not the etheric stratosphere of sculpted magazine-cover athletes. This is family and brotherhood, framed by down-to-earth athleticism beyond most sports.<\/p>\n

Jones shares, \u201cI\u2019ve watched kids grow up and now they\u2019re bringing their kids.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re not lying when they call it a brotherhood,\u201d says Fiasco.<\/p>\n

\u201cIndependent wrestling is taking off,\u201d explains Monroe. \u201cPeople want hometown heroes.\u201d There to help, Monroe is busy cleaning the concession stand.<\/p>\n

The crowd empties from the fairgrounds but there is little doubt the hardest working man in wrestling is already working on his next show.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt makes my heart happy, helping so many people make their dreams come true.\u201d[\/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”10035″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] Hometown Heroes, Mid-States Wrestling by Joshua Heston & Noah Bray (Harrison, Arkansas) \u2014 Inside a steel farm building on the mountainous Boone County fairgrounds, the crowd gathers. Classic rock blares from speakers. The smell of BBQ pulled pork nachos wafts through the air. Blinding fluorescent light shines down on the ring. \u201cTease me, please…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":10008,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[581],"tags":[1662,1660,1661,1667,1666,1664,1665,1663],"class_list":["post-10007","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sotofeature","tag-ice-man","tag-jason-jones","tag-jimmy-fiasco","tag-johnny-dynamite","tag-johnny-lightning","tag-mid-states-wrestling","tag-roscoe-monroe","tag-toxic-masculinity","category-581","description-off"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateoftheozarks.net\/showcase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10007","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateoftheozarks.net\/showcase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateoftheozarks.net\/showcase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateoftheozarks.net\/showcase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateoftheozarks.net\/showcase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10007"}],"version-history":[{"count":21,"href":"https:\/\/stateoftheozarks.net\/showcase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10007\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10090,"href":"https:\/\/stateoftheozarks.net\/showcase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10007\/revisions\/10090"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateoftheozarks.net\/showcase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10008"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateoftheozarks.net\/showcase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10007"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateoftheozarks.net\/showcase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10007"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateoftheozarks.net\/showcase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10007"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}