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| The very first KSWA Heavyweight Champion, Skippy Hawke, is to participate in the "Alumni Battle Royal" at FanFest on December 6. Photo courtesy of KSWA archives. |
By Trapper Tom, Editor, KSWA Digest
Battle Royals are among the most popular matches in
professional wrestling. For decades, the match has been a showcase for talent
to work for an ultimate goal: outlasting everyone else.
The way to lose a Battle Royal is simple. Participants must
be tossed over the top rope and athletes aren’t eliminated until both feet
touch the floor below.
In the Keystone State Wrestling Alliance, the Battle Royal
has been a unique way for athletes to win in weighty fashion. In Millvale, “King”
Del Douglas won the first “King of Millvale” Battle Royals, and this past September
he won the last.
In Sheraden at the American Legion, the Timmy Moore Memorial
Battle Royal has been memorable for that great city of Pittsburgh community. At
the last KSWA event before FanFest, Commander Don Scholz was victorious when “Big
Country” Matt McGraw celebrated his friend by stepping over the top rope and
eliminating himself in respect.
Those are just some of the significant Battle Royals in KSWA
history. The last Battle Royal will be the most important of all.
Each competitor has been a champion in the KSWA. From Shane
O’Shea to QB Blitzz, Biker Al to Joey Quervo, the Alumni Battle Royal is one
last chance for these pioneering Megastars to fight for KSWA history.
Here is a look at just some of the announced Megastars in
the Final Battle Royal.
Skippy Hawke, the KSWA’s very first Heavyweight Champion, but
he and “The World’s Strongest Cop” Bob Thomas were also tag team champions in
the organization’s inaugural season.
KSWA Hall of Famer, “Big” Mike Malachi is one of the most
decorated Megastars announced for the Battle Royal. In August 2000, Malachi
defeated Justin Sane to become just the second Golden Triangle Champion and he
won the KSWA Heavyweight Championship on November 9, 2002. At the time he was
just the fourth man to hold the prestigious title. He held onto the title for
441 days. Malachi won the Golden Triangle Championship a second time in 2008,
but he’d even accumulate more success as a three-time KSWA tag team champion.
He held the belts with Tommy Faime in 2003, as a part of The International
Thugs in 2006, and “Big and Bigger,” the “Wall Street Cover Boys” with Jack
Massacre in 2014.
What else can be said of KSWA Hall of Famer La Lucha? La
Lucha pinned “Mr. Tenacity” Tommy Faime on February 18, 2000, at the first
sanctioned KSWA event. Neither could have possibly guessed their future
successful, Hall of Fame careers. In 2001, La Lucha and Soul Fighter defeated
The Prime Time Players and Shane O’Shea and The Great Toyota to become KSWA tag
team champions. On September 12, 2002, after the title was vacated due to
injury, La Lucha defeated Joey Quervo for the International Championship. He
and Biker Al were star-crossed KSWA tag team champions in 2004, Justin Sane in
2005 and Joey Quervo in 2007. After a feud with Shawn Blanchard that culminated
at FanFest 2006, “The Mayor of Mexico City” defeated the defending KSWA
Champion Shawn Blanchard in front of what was then the largest KSWA and loudest
KSWA crowd. La Lucha wasn’t pinned in the title change, and he never received a
rematch.
In January 2002, Shane O’Shea won the Pittsburgh
Championship in a Triple Threat Match between the Great Toyota and “Mr.
Puniverse” Bob Atlas. May 17, 2003, QB Blitzz and Sam Slej were KSWA Tag Team
Champions, before losing the belts to Shane O’Shea and “King” Del Douglas.
On November 9, 2002, “Mr. Puniverse” Bob Atlas won the KSWA’s
Pittsburgh Title from The Great Toyota. In March 2003, Atlas won the KSWA’s Tri-State
Title via a Battle Royal. And he collected the title again in 2004. But before
that, he earned the KSWA’s International Title by outlasting everyone else in—you
guessed it—a Battle Royal. During his time in the KSWA’s early days, “Mr. Puniverse”
was a box office draw.
In the earliest days of the KSWA The Great Toyota was a
fierce competitor. On July 13, 2002, the vintage Toyota defeated Shane O’Shea
for the Pittsburgh Championship and then quickly lost it to Bob Atlas.
The Glamm Slam Duo, QB Blitzz and Sam Slej, helped define
the KSWA tag team division in the formidable years. The pairing was Tag Team
champions in 2003 and 2004. QB Blitzz will return for the Alumni Battle Royal.
On October 9, 2004, Biker Al won a strange Battle Royal in
which the prize was the KSWA tag team championship. He was to pick a tag team partner,
and he selected La Lucha as his foil! That reign didn’t long as Biker Al abandoned
La Lucha in a match against “Mr. Tenacity” Tommy Faime and “King” Del Douglas. Four
years later he would win tag team gold with “Vicious” Vinnie Stone a wrestler
he duped into believe they were cousins. Biker Al was also the very first (and
some would say “krooked”) Kommissioner in KSWA history.
Earlier this year, The Latin Assassin was inducted into the
KSWA Hall of Fame. Especially in the group’s earliest days, the battler from
the Bronx was a VIP and then a long-time fan favorite. He was a Golden Triangle
Champion in 2003, and again that title holder in 2005 and 2006. He was a
two-time Tri-State Champion in 2005 and 2006 and also made an unusual “one
half” of the KSWA tag team champions with the Blood Beast twice in 2008. He
defeated Ali Kaida in May 2010 to become the KSWA Heavyweight Champion. The
Latin Assassin is one of the most well-respected and beloved wrestlers to ever
grace the KSWA ring.
Do you remember “The Mexican Connection”? La Lucha and his
childhood friend Joey Quervo were tag team champions when they defeated the
International Thugs at FanFest in 2007. They held onto the titles into May of
2008, but 2007 may have been “Joseph Q’s” most successful campaign. He won a
Yeung in the Ring Battle Royal and was featured in Bobby O’s winning “Captain’s
Series” team that spring.
“Mr. 8x10” Michael Cruz has wrestled for decades in West
Virginia; however, Pennsylvanians know him best as the boa-wearing, picture
frame carrying one-time KSWA Golden Triangle Champion. After a rivalry that
last months, Cruz defeated Justin Sane for the title at FanFest 2007. He
remains one of the most memorable Megastars of all time.
Exactly 15 years ago, "Iceman" Tony Johnson won a FanFest
match to determine the very first KSWA “Jr. Heavyweight Champion.” In a Gauntlet
Match, Johnson defeated Jay Flash, JP Goulet, The Jester and Drew Belanger, who
all got their start in Western Pennsylvania in a KSWA ring. He would win the
belt again in 2011. One of the KSWA’s greatest all-around athletes.
Jay Flash, “The Giant Killer” defeated all of the KSWA’s
giant Megastars on his way to defeating Kris Kash for the Heavyweight
Championship in 2016. But before that, he won the Golden Triangle Championship
against Bobby Badfingers at a FanFest in 2011. Flash was one of the most popular
KSWA Megastars during his time in Pittsburgh, and he was one of the most reviled
after turning on his long-time friend, “Ice Man” Tony Johnson.
Nasty Nick Crane and Sniper, both experienced hands, are
former KSWA tag team champions. In addition, Crane is a former Five Star
Champion who Main Evented against Hacksaw Jim Duggan at FanFest. Both men have
won individual and team awards over careers that span more than two decades.
During his time in the KSWA, Yinza, the Pittsburgh
Luchadore, was one of the most popular Megastars on the roster. In 2021, he and
McGraw were tag team champions. A year later, Yinza won the “Brawl Under the
Bridge” Championship. A career-threatening injury forced him to vacate the tile
the following year; however, he recovered and was a successful Golden Triangle
Champion. He has won many accolades in the KSWA and reinvigorated the
Pittsburgh Polka and Renegade.
Along with Harley T. Morris, Officer Dan Murphy made up “An
Officer and a Gentleman.” The mix of technical prowess and brute strength made
them KSWA tag team champions on two occasions in 2022. And while he was a
frequent opponent of Anthony Alexander and others, Murphy never held individual
gold in the KSWA. Officer Dan remains one of the most unique KSWA Megastars of
all time.
There may be other Megastars added to the Final Battle Royal
(the KSWA Championship Committee is very coy), but this one already promises to
be one for the trophy room.
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