The beginning of a New Year and 3-2-1 is beginning to build some momentum as shows are starting to run consistently in the Battle Palace. This was the first and only appearance of Zeus McFly in 3-2-1 Battle!; a longtime friend of ours of nearly 15 years at this point, whom we had backyard wrestled with off and on for a decade+. While he was not someone who travelled a ton outside of our region, he made a pretty big impact with a cult following of the types who comb forums and discord group chats looking for the kind of wild and unsavory maneuvers + moments that he was an expert at providing. The primary reason for this being his only time sharing a ring with me in front of the fervent Seattle faithful was pretty cut & dry. As we were approaching the US/Canada border the day of this show, I had a premonition that his passport was likely expired; a quick glance at it before handing it over to the Customs agent confirmed my fear. That being said; neither the US nor Canadian agents upon our return seemed to notice this fact and it thankfully didn't cause any issues in the moment. Regardless, not wanting to run the risk of any issues crossing major international borders going forward - Scott + I told him that he needed to renew his passport before he could continue to travel with us + work for 3-2-1; something he never did.
The reason why I had the aforementioned premonition, was because I was aware why/when he had first acquired his passport in the first place - in December 2009 (5+ years prior to this weekend) in order to travel to Australia to take part in what has become one of the most infamous backyard wrestling shows ever worldwide: Tournament of Hate 5. It was that weekend in the outskirts of Melbourne, that Zeus left his mark not only on the yard full of Aussie onlookers but also on thousands of future YouTube viewers abroad with 3 increasingly violent + creative matches, culminating in the finals with local Australian backyarder Scotty Richter stapling his testicles to the open seat of a folding chair... no, seriously.
*If you've never see this music video - do yourself a favour and take 10 minutes out of your day to watch it. Even now; 15 years on it still holds up as one of the craziest juxtapositions of blood soaked mayhem, set to Black Metal (of course)*
Growing up in nearby Richmond, BC - Zeus first came into our lives alongside his good buddy Chris (aka Chrisman), who would also have on and off tenures in our various backyard promotions as "Dr Unk" (get it?), back when we were merely wrestling on a homemade semblance of a ring in a somewhat remote wooded area in Burnaby, BC. Zeus actually got trained a full year or so before I did in 2002, at the same All Star Wrestling school that Scott, Justin (UKBYW Legend Yakuza J) + I attended the following Summer. He was always a little rough around the edges, never really putting together the combination of look, character and in ring work to gain any traction in the local Vancouver independent scene. We were once in a Battle Royal together in early 2004 in the historic Alice McKay building in Cloverdale, BC where the promoter requested he wear a mask as a generic luchador. The clear highlight of that match however was when we convinced a bodybuilder turned green (albeit athletic) local wrestler named Fade to press slam him out of the ring to the cold unforgiving concrete floor below, eliminating him in the process. With all that being said; the two of us had pretty good chemistry together having numerous matches throughout the years where he would inspire me to take more risks + incorporate creativity into my technical repertoire and I did a good enough job of micromanaging some of his shortcomings within the squared circle.
Over the years he would also have standout matches with some other familiar faces to anyone who's followed my career path - the previously mentioned Scott Henson, Yakuza J + Tony Baroni (whom we'll eventually get to although he didn't debut in 3-2-1 Battle until early 2017); all of whom brought a heightened sense of brutality to their matches with him. Someone else who also fit that mold and maybe had the best, if not certainly the most memorable match in Zeus' wrestling career (regardless of pro/backyard delineation) is the UK backyard wrestler, Pyro. A ginger maned brawler who could match Zeus' love of a pint of lager alongside a pint of spilled blood. It was in early 2007 that the two finally met on Day 2 of that year's "VCW vs The World: 4" backyard super show that we held in the same facility we all got trained at in Surrey, BC. Still to this day - I don't think there's a moment that I've witnessed in real life with my own two eyes that will ever surpass the shock + horror of the finish of said match - the Storm Cradle Driver. A super dangerous move invented years prior by East Coast Indy Wrestler Quiet Storm (fake Canadian fyi) but elevated further as on that day, it was executed off of a steel dumpster onto a similarly unforgiving one a few feet below.
**This is another match that should be requisite viewing for anyone who considers themselves a fan of niche, violent wrestling. It's only 12 minutes or so and has multiple moments that are forever burned into my brain.*
As for our match with one another in 3-2-1 Battle though - this was the beginning of the infamous, thankfully short lived "ball pit" era at the "Battle Palace"; where for a few $$, you could buy a handful of colourful plastic balls (the same style you would find in an enclosed play area at a fast food restaurant) to throw at the wrestlers in... appreciation? disapproval? It's been 10+ years and I'm still not really sure what the logic or motivation from the fanbase who partook in this practice was to be honest. One thing that is for certain is that wrestling with colourful balls flying at you was a nuisance and in hindsight kind of dangerous, especially when you consider how poor my vision is to begin with. I believe it all stemmed from the predecessor to these shows that were held at the nearby "Rebar" venue where instead of balls, the patrons would throw crushed up beer cans at the performers which is even worse and a nice affirmation that we likely made the right call holding out for all those years before taking part in our first 3-2-1 Battle shows.
In addition to all of that, the referee for this match was someone who had just recently began helping out with shows and training with the crew in Seattle and was so far beyond green; finding himself out of place multiple times on near falls (including a particular egregious fish out of water sequence early on), getting in the way multiple times when I was setting up for a dive and having an inconsistent (yet somehow always *too* fast) cadence on his counts. I don't believe he ever refereed another one of my matches in the promotion and thankfully, the referees in Seattle would eventually get a whole lot better in due time.
This match starts out with some pretty decent chain wrestling and the fans are on board with pretty much everything we're doing right from the get go; a bit of a departure from my match with Scott the month prior where we really had to work to earn a good reaction as the match progressed. I've made mention of this to anyone working 3-2-1 for the first time over the years, but it was pretty clear to me that this crowd was something special when I got as good of a reaction as I did (ie great) for a cleanly executed headlock takeover, punctuating the early trading of various locks be them wrist, head, waist or otherwise.
The two of us would always work fairly stiff with one another and this match is no exception as things really start to heat up particularly during an exchange of overhand chops as I attempted to fire back during his control segment. Besides being someone who could take a lot of punishment - McFly also prided himself on his unique moveset that he had established over the years - the Low Blow Suplex, Victory Roll Stump Puller and Top Rope Somersault Backbreaker plus his always sharp left handed jabs he would pepper people with throughout. There's definitely some awkward moments here and there with Zeus still lacking some of the chops of working a crowd, controlling the pace and finding himself it situations where he simply didn't know what to do. With that being said, there's actually a neat bit of some actual psychology to be found, centered around his killer Powerbomb and me doing whatever I can to avoid getting hit with it; even resorting to grabbing on to the ropes while being lifted up for one mid-air in a cool, gritty and realistic spot that I don't think I've ever seen done otherwise.
The following day for the first and only time, the VCW Boys (Scott, Zeus + myself) took the one hour or so ferry from downtown Seattle to nearby Bremerton, WA (probably most famous for being home to 90s Christian Punk Band- MxPx) to wrestle in a Mexican restaurant for the SCW Promotion. Zeus found himself on the other side of the ring from an incredibly young Sonico; this being the first time we ever crossed paths with the not quite yet "Lucha Ghoul", someone I would end up having many memorable encounters with on the other side of the Puget Sound years later. On the other hand - this was the first and only time ever that Scott and I would team up with one another as "Los Tigres Canadiense" with me donning one of his matching full body cat singlets and hooded robe, taking on the local team of Ron Von Hess + Edzel Mendoza, known collectively as "Beast Mode." I'm still not sure whether that team name is fully intended to be a reference to then star Seattle Seahawks RB Marshawn Lynch or not - feel free to watch the opening moments of the match linked below and draw your own conclusions.
One of my favourite stories I've ever told about this trip on multiple occasions over the years is that the entire locker room, which on that evening was behind a meat counter in an adjacent Mexican grocery store, had been repeatedly addressed and specifically asked to not swear as it was a family show with numerous kids in the audience. In classic Zeus McFly fashion, he found himself slipping into a sort of subconscious autopilot mode of his own special crass brand of being a heel upon his entrance - proclaiming to all those in attendance that evening (and I quote):
Seriously.
Regardless - this being our maiden voyage to the Cascades, we were hoping to do our best to not burn any bridges and reminded Zeus of us being asked to be on our best behavior. He proceeded to approach promoter/wrestler/dinosaur lover Ron Von Hess (decked out in a classy Jurassic Park themed leather jacket) to apologize for his slip up - something that had apparently gone completely unnoticed in the moment but was now, certainly not appreciated once it had been brought to the attention of the middle aged tattooed faux vampire. Scott + I did our best to have a competent match with the local team - finding ourselves on the receiving end of some particularly stiff chops and bumping + feeding like a fine set of journeymen, trying to earn an invitation back for future bookings. After a relatively uneventful but competent 8 minute match, I found myself on the receiving end of a particularly snug, ill placed second rope elbow drop (that left me with a sore collarbone for weeks) from the man in charge for the 1-2-3.
Los Tigres Canadiense vs. Beast Mode (1/17/15 - SCW)
However, it was during our discussions with our new friend Sonico on the ferry that evening where we came to realize that Zeus in fact had not been paid whatsoever. For years afterwards, we always assumed that his liberal use of adult vocabulary, that ironically enough was brought to the attention of the promoter by the foul mouthed McFly himself was what lead to this although we never got confirmation one way or the other. Regardless, feeling bad for my friend whom I had a match that we were both really happy with the previous night - I paid for his dinner at Jack in the Box that evening as we slowly made our way home back north via Interstate 5; gearing up for another adventure the following month, as we began to carve our niche as burgeoning pro wrestlers in Western Washington.
**I took this photo in the bathroom on the ferry ride home from Bremerton that night because the lighting was so bad/yellow in there. I look like I have a fat lip but I most assuredly do not.**
