Blizzard Brawl Rocked Waukesha!

Saturday night, I was “On the Beat” as Great Lakes Championship Wrestling presented Blizzard Brawl 15: Challenge of the SuperFriends. I have attended several Blizzard Brawl events and they are always one my year's wrestling highlights.

The night started with a meet-and-greet featuring WWE Hall of Famers The Godfather and Rikishi. The Godfather always greets me with a hearty “Hello Jay Leno,” referring to me resembling the comedian, something I hear fairly often.

That was followed by about 90 minutes of my friend Jim Strong and I trying to coordinate meeting all the rest of the wrestling stars. Fortunately, we only missed a couple.

First up was ODB (aka Jessica Kresa). ODB shared the good news that a new food truck is becoming a reality. Fans of ODB and her food and sauces will be happy when her food truck is back in business.

For years, Al Snow has had a running gag of punching me in the face in our pictures and this year was no different. I think Al enjoys this even more than I do. Either way, it is always great to see Al. Along with his usual array of merch, Al had his book, Self Help: Life Lessons from the Bizarre Wrestling Career of Al Snow.

Al was accompanied as usual by his lovely wife Jessica. A licensed massaged therapist, Jessica operates out of the Louisville area. Some day, I hope to book an appointment with her there.

Also selling his book was Dylan “Hornswoggle” Postl. He joked that Life Is Short and So Am I: My Life Inside, Outside, and Under the Wrestling Ring is a short read, but am sure it is very enjoyable and plan on adding it to me wrestling bookshelf.

Melina Perez talked to us about reducing her in-ring activity, but she looks in fantastic ring shape. Her next match will be in April in Oshkosh.

The last time I saw Angelina Love, she was accompanied by her infant son. I reminded her of that and we talked a bit about him. She also talked about loving “The Beautiful People” gimmick and working with her bestie Velvet Sky.

Luchasaurus and Marko Stunt are hugely popular in All Elite Wrestling and they were insanely over with the GLCW crowd. I think Luchasaurus can be a mega star. Marko is limited by his size, but it he has worked it well into an identity. Both were very cool to fans.

I usually see the lovely Dana Adiva in the Chicago area, but it's great seeing her anywhere. As sweet as she is beautiful, Dana is also great with fans.

I have seen Kal Herro grow from a little tyke to a promising young wrestler. Kal has it all, except experience, which he is getting now. He has the “it” factor and the intangibles needed for a successful career. It was my first time seeing him wrestle and it will not be my last. Soon enough, everyone will know about him.

It was a bit of a reunion for “The Beer City Bruiser” Matt Winchester and me, as we appeared in a Sears commercial a few years back. Unfortunately, neither of us can find that ad online anywhere now, but we are both looking for it.

I finally got a picture with Val Malone. I have seen her in action several times, but always missed a photo opportunity with her. Fortunately she looked on social media, saw I was looking for her and told me where she'd be at intermission.

At intermission, I found Linda Kay, who handled ring announcing duties all night, much to the delight of the crowd. Linda kept things moving along, despite a few mic malfunctions.

I also managed to catch Monique Dupree ringside. I first met Monique years ago at Motor City Comic Con and have followed her since. Aside from her wrestling appearances, Monique has a very nice acting resume, including many horror films.

I always enjoy seeing Jay Bradley, one of the first wrestlers I ever followed on the independent scene. Jay has wrestled pretty much everywhere and he is still one of my favorites. He always had time for an interview when I was covering Resistance Pro Wrestling during his run there.

I kept missing David Herro all night, but finally caught up with him just as I was leaving. Truly a #SuperFriend, David always organizes a fantastic show. Even more important in life, David is a great father. I follow him and Kal on social media and have seen them together many times. Their bond is special and I have a lot of respect for both. It is really heartwarming.

There was also an unexpected pop culture encounter to be had. There was a booth featuring and promoting Batwoman and Arrow from CW18 Milwaukee. As the curator of Johngy's Beat, the 314th best source for pop culture nuggets, I was immediately drawn to them. They had a lot of cool swag and everyone there was a lot of fun. As a big fan of both series, this was a cool surprise!

My main interest is meeting and interacting with the wrestling stars, but I also obviously enjoy the matches. This night featured solid action all night. Highlights for me included Tommy Dreamer and Al Snow teaming after initially preparing to battle each other, ODB beating Melina (although I am a big fan of both ladies), and seeing my bud Jay Bradley in a six-man match. Of course, as I previously mentioned, seeing Kal wrestle for the first time was great.

I won't go into the details of each match. You can go to the GLCW site or Facebook page for info on that and future events.

Speaking of future events, the next GLCW event is Season's Beatings with Road Warrior Animal on Saturday, December 14 in Merrill, Wisconsin. Road Warrior Animal is the Guest of Honor on a night that will include seven matches. This promises to be another fun night at GLCW.