The power of the Fanny Pack would be the only thing that could replace the utility belt. That Robin must be Jason Todd because he's dead wrong.
The Official Blog of Professional Wrestler and Fanny Pack Aficionado: Ray (RRRRR)Rosas
Monday, March 11, 2013
Monday, March 19, 2012
While You Were Gone.
…I laid there on the mat. I laid there broken, beaten and defeated. I saw nothing but my own hair and ceiling. I could barely make out the muffled noise as it got louder. My head was spinning, my muscles ached, my shoulder…probably dislocated again and my calves felt like they were going to explode. I was really regretting leg work out two days ago. I was desperately trying to gather more oxygen into my body. I haven’t been this winded in long time. It was almost disappointing.
Rick Knox, one of SoCal’s finest referees hovered over me. The first time Rick Knox ever officiated one of my matches he told me it was terrible. Now he’s telling me to get up off the mat. I pick my head up and glance over to see my opponent for the night and winner of the match, Brian Cage(-Taylor) walking back through the curtain.
I got to my feet and I clutched my left arm with the fear that if I don’t it will just dangle there lifelessly. Then something happened. Something I didn’t quite expect. The muffled noise became clear. The crowd was cheering. I stood there alone in the middle of the ring and the fans were applauding…
So far, 2012 has been a fantastic year. I’ve had some very exciting and challenging matches with some great opponents. The Fanny Pack Nation is starting to take a life of its own. I’m glad it went from inside joke to greatest idea ever. I’m just going to ride this out and see how far it goes.
Unfortunately, injuries have piled up a little bit. Nothing really major, but just a bunch of small and nagging injuries. Though I’ve cut down on my bookings, my few attempts at a sabbatical have proved futile.
NWA Hollywood moved into its new home at the Glendale Studios which looks great on television. The cast and production crew put in a lot of hard work to produce a fine wrestling program. I’m enjoying my time there. Teaming with “Pretty” Peter Avalon has been a barrel of laughs. We have unbelievable chemistry and we’re just out of control or in his words, “We just love murdering fools.” We’ve really been trying to push Sexual Assault as our team name but I don’t think it’s going to happen.
I loved every match we’ve had there at NWA Hollywood. There was the Handicap, No-DQ match with Terex where he double superplexed Peter and I. It was just a fun and wild match but in the end it was chair, steel steps and Terex’s head. I’m sure you could figure it out. We eventually got our comeuppance with a pair of Steel Cage Matches.
I certainly paid for my dastardly deeds by getting locked in the confines of a steel cage with Terex. I continued my trend of jumping off really high structures or platforms by attempting a diving headbutt off the top of the cage. It became my undoing as I missed my giant target pretty much shattered to pieces.
Since my regular tag team partner, Lucha Machine was on paternity leave, I had to branch out on some more singles matches. I’ve really enjoyed it as I think I’ve produced some fine work. At Battleground, I had a Fanny Pack vs. Fanny Pack match with Sasha Darevko. I actually requested the match against the surly Russian and we had a damn good match. One of his favorites and that to me is a great compliment. With that momentum, I challenged Sheik Khan Abadi for his “World Fanny Pack Championship.” Before the match, he gave the best promo anyone could possibly give about the importance of the Fanny Pack. It was hilariously serious.
Sheik Khan Abadi easily became one of my favorite opponents of all time. He has a very unique vision for the wrestling business and I dig that. It was a good back and forth contest and he got the win that night. Tremendous amount of respect as we celebrate in the ring with our fanny packs and beer. Until I gave him a stunner and had a beer bash just for the hell of it. That’s what it should be about good competitive, story-telling wrestling with a bit of over-the-top, fun entertainment.
The next day was a rough one. That whole weekend coincided with WrestleReunion, which was very stressful to say the least. With part of crew in Canada, and part of crew booked for Battleground and LCW it was tough to staff the security detail for WrestleReunion and man our own booth.
It wasn’t all bad. I got to run some awkward errands for Mick Foley and Kevin Sullivan. Johnny Yuma quickly pointed out how I was performing tasks for Kevin Sullivan. He used to be The Taskmaster if you didn’t get that reference.
It was a hellishly long 3-day weekend that culminated in a double shot Sunday. PWG Kurt Russellreunion and LCW on the same day. It started off easy enough. 8-Person Tag Team match that featured DEMUS 316 and Mascarita Dorada. As soon as that match was over, it was off the Casa del Mexicano for Legion Championship Wrestling. I was almost going to pull out because I aggravated my knee the night before against the Sheik.
A newcomer from out of town, El Chupacabra debuted and threw out an open challenge that was answer by me…then Steve Pain…then Kaos. So we had a Four-Way on our hands. It came down to me against Chupacabra. I was able to edge out the victory but I had to work for it. I look forward to working with him again hopefully in a one-on-one match. That weekend took a lot out of me and I didn’t fully recover until the following Wednesday.
The Insane Wrestling League would enter 2012 with full force. I challenged Famous B for IWL Anarchy Championship. It eventually became an impromptu Title vs. Fanny Pack match. That night I was able to finally defeat Famous B and walk away with the spiffy new Anarchy Championship belt. I suffered a harsh rib injury that night but that’s a small price to pay to be champion.
The Silver Heart Radicalz would suffer some major setbacks. First we had a lackluster return to Battleground Pro Wrestling. We retained our tag team championship but Lucha Machine felt it wasn’t on the level. We would later lose our New Wave tag titles at the final New Wave Pro Wrestling event, Tidal Wave.
The worst was at LCW. The newly-instated Commissioner Joey Kaos decided to shake things up. He felt we as a team were holding each other back, that we couldn’t reach our potentials as a team. So Kaos made the match. Lucha Machine vs. Ray Rosas. Loser Leaves LCW. It was such an intense and emotional match. It told such a phenomenal story, just the way I like it. It was kind of a downer though. The fans were in to it but they didn’t know who to cheer for because in the end of it…one of us was leaving.
I had to pull the trigger, defeat my friend and banish him from LCW. We were both losers that night. We cried, hugged and danced and we walk through the curtain together for the last time at LCW. After all of that, things will never be the same. I think George Michael said it best “I’m never gonna dance again, guilty feet have got no rhythm.”
Lately, I’ve been trying to take it easy ever since the rib injury. So I’ve been cutting down my wrestling bookings. However, I have been providing some guest host work at Lucha Pro. I saw this as opportunity to help a company, get some of our newer students some experience in front of a live crowd and also to brush up on my mic skills. It’s been an entertaining experience. It’s nice to go to a show and not stress about too much.
Suddenly I was hit by a stress bomb! PWG World’s Finest. I was originally set to team with Peter Avalon (#Sexual Assault) to take on the Fightin’ Taylor Boys, Ryan Taylor and Brian Cage-Taylor. I spent a week and half preparing for a tag team match. After 2 match changes the day before the show, I find myself wrestling Brian Cage-Taylor in a singles match.
All my ideas and gameplan went right out the window. The whole game had changed. Now I had to perform on my own and I felt totally unprepared. It was true make or break situation for me. If I can make it there I can make anywhere but if I fall flat, I’d be ruined…at least in my eyes. To make matters worse, just hours before the much I re-aggravate my previous injured shoulder. A lot of people saw it happen and ask if I was ok. I lied. For a few seconds, I lost feeling in my arm between my shoulder and elbow and had a tingling sensation from my elbow to my fingers.
I was panicking big time. After pacing around for a few minutes the numbness and tingling were replaced with pain. It wasn’t the best feeling but at least I was feeling something. That still didn’t help my nerves.
When I came out to the ring for my match I got no reaction. It was awesome. My only saving grace at that point…The Fanny Pack. Making its debut that night was the Ruby Edition Ray Rosas’ Fanny Pack and shenanigans ensued. Nothing beat the dueling chants. GET YOUR SHIT IN! FANNY PACK! GET YOUR SHIT IN! FANNY PACK!
For this match I had to embrace my Lucha Libre influence. Cage really helped in this match. He usually has a habit of pushing me to pull off some cool maneuvers. I really enjoyed the match and I really have to thank Brian Cage(-Taylor) for it. But for some reason I was so winded. I usually have really good cardiovascular conditioning so I just couldn’t understand why I was huffing and puffing.
I smacked the back of my head when I dove to the outside of the ring and I also took out a few fans in the first and second row. During the closing moments of the match, I just couldn’t catch my breath. I was worried my fatigue was going to hinder my technique. Fortunately, we finished the match without a hitch and without serious injury.
After the match was over I laid there on the mat. I saw nothing but my own hair and ceiling. I could barely make out the muffled noise as it got louder. When I got to my feet, something happened. Something I didn’t quite expect. The muffled noise became clear. The crowd was cheering. I stood there alone in the middle of the ring and the fans were applauding.
I can’t remember if they were chanting Fanny Pack or not but I took a moment to soak it up. I was almost overcome. It was very rewarding feeling. After I regained my faculties, I stood in the middle of the ring and raised my arms in the air to show my appreciation back…by giving them the finger.
- @RayRosas
#FannyPackNation
#FearTheFannyPack
Rick Knox, one of SoCal’s finest referees hovered over me. The first time Rick Knox ever officiated one of my matches he told me it was terrible. Now he’s telling me to get up off the mat. I pick my head up and glance over to see my opponent for the night and winner of the match, Brian Cage(-Taylor) walking back through the curtain.
I got to my feet and I clutched my left arm with the fear that if I don’t it will just dangle there lifelessly. Then something happened. Something I didn’t quite expect. The muffled noise became clear. The crowd was cheering. I stood there alone in the middle of the ring and the fans were applauding…
So far, 2012 has been a fantastic year. I’ve had some very exciting and challenging matches with some great opponents. The Fanny Pack Nation is starting to take a life of its own. I’m glad it went from inside joke to greatest idea ever. I’m just going to ride this out and see how far it goes.
Unfortunately, injuries have piled up a little bit. Nothing really major, but just a bunch of small and nagging injuries. Though I’ve cut down on my bookings, my few attempts at a sabbatical have proved futile.
NWA Hollywood moved into its new home at the Glendale Studios which looks great on television. The cast and production crew put in a lot of hard work to produce a fine wrestling program. I’m enjoying my time there. Teaming with “Pretty” Peter Avalon has been a barrel of laughs. We have unbelievable chemistry and we’re just out of control or in his words, “We just love murdering fools.” We’ve really been trying to push Sexual Assault as our team name but I don’t think it’s going to happen.
I loved every match we’ve had there at NWA Hollywood. There was the Handicap, No-DQ match with Terex where he double superplexed Peter and I. It was just a fun and wild match but in the end it was chair, steel steps and Terex’s head. I’m sure you could figure it out. We eventually got our comeuppance with a pair of Steel Cage Matches.
I certainly paid for my dastardly deeds by getting locked in the confines of a steel cage with Terex. I continued my trend of jumping off really high structures or platforms by attempting a diving headbutt off the top of the cage. It became my undoing as I missed my giant target pretty much shattered to pieces.
Since my regular tag team partner, Lucha Machine was on paternity leave, I had to branch out on some more singles matches. I’ve really enjoyed it as I think I’ve produced some fine work. At Battleground, I had a Fanny Pack vs. Fanny Pack match with Sasha Darevko. I actually requested the match against the surly Russian and we had a damn good match. One of his favorites and that to me is a great compliment. With that momentum, I challenged Sheik Khan Abadi for his “World Fanny Pack Championship.” Before the match, he gave the best promo anyone could possibly give about the importance of the Fanny Pack. It was hilariously serious.
Sheik Khan Abadi easily became one of my favorite opponents of all time. He has a very unique vision for the wrestling business and I dig that. It was a good back and forth contest and he got the win that night. Tremendous amount of respect as we celebrate in the ring with our fanny packs and beer. Until I gave him a stunner and had a beer bash just for the hell of it. That’s what it should be about good competitive, story-telling wrestling with a bit of over-the-top, fun entertainment.
The next day was a rough one. That whole weekend coincided with WrestleReunion, which was very stressful to say the least. With part of crew in Canada, and part of crew booked for Battleground and LCW it was tough to staff the security detail for WrestleReunion and man our own booth.
It wasn’t all bad. I got to run some awkward errands for Mick Foley and Kevin Sullivan. Johnny Yuma quickly pointed out how I was performing tasks for Kevin Sullivan. He used to be The Taskmaster if you didn’t get that reference.
It was a hellishly long 3-day weekend that culminated in a double shot Sunday. PWG Kurt Russellreunion and LCW on the same day. It started off easy enough. 8-Person Tag Team match that featured DEMUS 316 and Mascarita Dorada. As soon as that match was over, it was off the Casa del Mexicano for Legion Championship Wrestling. I was almost going to pull out because I aggravated my knee the night before against the Sheik.
A newcomer from out of town, El Chupacabra debuted and threw out an open challenge that was answer by me…then Steve Pain…then Kaos. So we had a Four-Way on our hands. It came down to me against Chupacabra. I was able to edge out the victory but I had to work for it. I look forward to working with him again hopefully in a one-on-one match. That weekend took a lot out of me and I didn’t fully recover until the following Wednesday.
The Insane Wrestling League would enter 2012 with full force. I challenged Famous B for IWL Anarchy Championship. It eventually became an impromptu Title vs. Fanny Pack match. That night I was able to finally defeat Famous B and walk away with the spiffy new Anarchy Championship belt. I suffered a harsh rib injury that night but that’s a small price to pay to be champion.
The Silver Heart Radicalz would suffer some major setbacks. First we had a lackluster return to Battleground Pro Wrestling. We retained our tag team championship but Lucha Machine felt it wasn’t on the level. We would later lose our New Wave tag titles at the final New Wave Pro Wrestling event, Tidal Wave.
The worst was at LCW. The newly-instated Commissioner Joey Kaos decided to shake things up. He felt we as a team were holding each other back, that we couldn’t reach our potentials as a team. So Kaos made the match. Lucha Machine vs. Ray Rosas. Loser Leaves LCW. It was such an intense and emotional match. It told such a phenomenal story, just the way I like it. It was kind of a downer though. The fans were in to it but they didn’t know who to cheer for because in the end of it…one of us was leaving.
I had to pull the trigger, defeat my friend and banish him from LCW. We were both losers that night. We cried, hugged and danced and we walk through the curtain together for the last time at LCW. After all of that, things will never be the same. I think George Michael said it best “I’m never gonna dance again, guilty feet have got no rhythm.”
Lately, I’ve been trying to take it easy ever since the rib injury. So I’ve been cutting down my wrestling bookings. However, I have been providing some guest host work at Lucha Pro. I saw this as opportunity to help a company, get some of our newer students some experience in front of a live crowd and also to brush up on my mic skills. It’s been an entertaining experience. It’s nice to go to a show and not stress about too much.
Suddenly I was hit by a stress bomb! PWG World’s Finest. I was originally set to team with Peter Avalon (#Sexual Assault) to take on the Fightin’ Taylor Boys, Ryan Taylor and Brian Cage-Taylor. I spent a week and half preparing for a tag team match. After 2 match changes the day before the show, I find myself wrestling Brian Cage-Taylor in a singles match.
All my ideas and gameplan went right out the window. The whole game had changed. Now I had to perform on my own and I felt totally unprepared. It was true make or break situation for me. If I can make it there I can make anywhere but if I fall flat, I’d be ruined…at least in my eyes. To make matters worse, just hours before the much I re-aggravate my previous injured shoulder. A lot of people saw it happen and ask if I was ok. I lied. For a few seconds, I lost feeling in my arm between my shoulder and elbow and had a tingling sensation from my elbow to my fingers.
I was panicking big time. After pacing around for a few minutes the numbness and tingling were replaced with pain. It wasn’t the best feeling but at least I was feeling something. That still didn’t help my nerves.
When I came out to the ring for my match I got no reaction. It was awesome. My only saving grace at that point…The Fanny Pack. Making its debut that night was the Ruby Edition Ray Rosas’ Fanny Pack and shenanigans ensued. Nothing beat the dueling chants. GET YOUR SHIT IN! FANNY PACK! GET YOUR SHIT IN! FANNY PACK!
For this match I had to embrace my Lucha Libre influence. Cage really helped in this match. He usually has a habit of pushing me to pull off some cool maneuvers. I really enjoyed the match and I really have to thank Brian Cage(-Taylor) for it. But for some reason I was so winded. I usually have really good cardiovascular conditioning so I just couldn’t understand why I was huffing and puffing.
I smacked the back of my head when I dove to the outside of the ring and I also took out a few fans in the first and second row. During the closing moments of the match, I just couldn’t catch my breath. I was worried my fatigue was going to hinder my technique. Fortunately, we finished the match without a hitch and without serious injury.
After the match was over I laid there on the mat. I saw nothing but my own hair and ceiling. I could barely make out the muffled noise as it got louder. When I got to my feet, something happened. Something I didn’t quite expect. The muffled noise became clear. The crowd was cheering. I stood there alone in the middle of the ring and the fans were applauding.
I can’t remember if they were chanting Fanny Pack or not but I took a moment to soak it up. I was almost overcome. It was very rewarding feeling. After I regained my faculties, I stood in the middle of the ring and raised my arms in the air to show my appreciation back…by giving them the finger.
- @RayRosas
#FannyPackNation
#FearTheFannyPack
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Top Eleven Matches of 2011
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| Courtesy of Chris Kadillak (BTW I'm more handsome in person.) |
The Stats
I wrestled 77 matches this year. That's 11 more matches than last year. The most matches I wrestled in one month was 10 in June. I wrestled for 16 different companies but 8 of them were debuts. The most matches I wrestled for one company was 15 for NWA Hollywood. I won 3 championships this year, 2 more than last year. I was in 2 Ladder Matches and 1 Table Match. I also dislocated my left shoulder and tore the meniscus in my left knee.I left the year with a impressive 25-49-3 record. So in other words...I suck. Anyway, out of all the 77 matches this year I was able to narrow it down to the top eleven matches. It was tough but I'm happy with the list. These matches were selected due to a number of different factor but ultimately it came down to which matches were my personal favorites.
Honorable Mention: This match between me and Nick Madrid barely miss the cut.
Now that we're all warmed up without further ado, I present....
Ray Rosas' Top Eleven Matches of 2011
# 11 (6/17/2011) Match #135: Alternative Wrestling Show - AWS Lightweight Championship
vs. Sindarin (c)
When AWS made it's return in the Summer, I made my debut and challenged the Lightweight Champion Sindarin. It was a really fun match, one of the few matches I've had fun while I was wrestling it. I'm also proud of this match because we had a good American style wrestling match in front of the Florence and Main Lucha Libre fans and got a good reaction. Sindarin is criminally underrated. As far as I know, there is no video footage and very few photos of this match. Shame.
w/ Lucha Machine (c) vs. The RockNES Monsters
This was the Silver Heart Radicalz biggest challenge of the year. At times, I felt as a team we weren't ready for the Monsters. I'm glad I was wrong. 3 out of the 4 of us in that match were beat up from the night before but it didn't stop us from having a super fun match. For us and the fans. There's something about New Wave that brings out the best in Lucha Machine. He was all business that day. This match restored my confidence in our floundering tag team. I really enjoyed the light-hearted nature in this match.
# 9 (12/4/2011) Match #169: NWA Championship Wrestling from Hollywood
vs. SoCal Crazy
SoCal Crazy and I have had a few brief altercations. I touched on it a little bit in this BLOG. The match itself was as good as everyone expected to be if not better. I was really antsy for this match because my knee was really hurting that day for some reason. Plus, we were so late on the 18+ plus match card, I was worried the crowd would be too worn out for our match.
Luckily for us, the crowd came alive. I got knocked a little loopy when SoCal dove onto me on the outside. It didn't derail the match. It was good back and forth contest and I was able to bust out some new tricks. Like my new Go To Hell finishing maneuver. Look out for it in the next couple of weeks.
vs. Johnny Yuma
This was one of those matches where when I walked back through the curtain I was extremely happy with the work we left in the ring. Yuma and I both left with black eyes after this match...his was much worse than mine. It was kind of a throw away match because there was no build or heat behind it but the chemistry was there and everything flowed well. I'm still waiting to see if it will ever air. It was cut from the program due to time contraints. Shame again.
# 7 (9/23/2011) Match #159: Insane Wrestling League - IWL Heavyweight Championship
vs. Chris Kadillak vs. Paul London (c)
You can purchase this match as well as the entire show HERE.
# 6 (7/10/2011) Match #143: NWA Championship Wrestling from Hollywood - Hair vs. Hair
w/ Rico Dynamite and Peter Avalon vs. Ryan Taylor, Famous B, Jarek Matthews
The stakes couldn't be any higher than hair vs. hair. It was a good solid feud that led to a great match. This was a match that had so many variables that pushed it from amazing to epic. So many stories and rivalries were intertwined in one match. You have six very different personalities and styles going at it for almost 30 mins. (And I was in there for most of it.) I loved the drama and suspense of the elimination rules. But in the end the villians were defeated. Classic Story.
# 5 (7/15/2011) Match #144: Insane Wrestling League - Table Match
vs. Chris Kadillak
Every match I've had with Chris Kadillak in IWL was one of my favorites. But this Table Match was by far the best of the entire series. We really tried to think outside the box and I thought we were pretty clever. People always tell me, "No wonder you're alway hurt. You do matches like this." Don't get me wrong, everything hurt but it got people to pay attention and take notice. But more on that later...
# 4 (5/28/2011) Match #129: Legion Championship Wrestling - Ladder Match
w/ Lucha Machine vs. Order 66
I've already blogged about this match. (That you can read HERE.) The match had a nice, long feud and great build-up. The match was the perfect blow off for one of the hottest feuds in LCW. It was also the match where I dislocated my shoulder and ended up a bloddy mess.
# 3 (10/22/02011) Match #162: Pro Wrestling Guerrilla
w/ Peter Avalon and Freddy Bravo vs. Candice LaRae, Famous B and Chris Kadillak
Pro Wrestling Guerrilla. This was my biggest debut of the year and probably my highest profile match of the year. I'm grateful that I was able to debut with some of my close friends. And people all around bought that DVD and watched me and my friends do our thing in the ring that night. It was one of the most nerve-racking nights ever. We really lucked out that we debuted on this show. It was an awesome show with an amazing main event (That blew my mind) and the epic return of Super Dragon. You can purchase it HERE.
w/ Chris Kadillak vs. The Young Bucks (c)
I really have to thank IWL for making this match. It was this match that pretty much got me and Kadillak to PWG. This happens to be my girlfriend's favorite match. I was really worried going into this matchbut when it was all said and done, I left more confident. Going in, I wasn't sure if I was ready to take on a team of that caliber. We also had the special challenge of having a complicated story to build the match around. We were able to get the point across and have a great match. This will be one of my favorites for a long time.
# 1 (9/11/2011) Match #156: NWA Championship Wrestling from Hollywood - NWA International Television Championship
vs. Scorpio Sky (c)
It was close call to make between this match and The Young Bucks match but this one barely edges it out. for two reasons. First, because this was a one on one match, I had no one to rely on but myself. And Secondly, it was against Scorpio Sky. A guy I considered not only the best in our area but one of the best in our sport. Period. I saw this as a major test for myself as a wrestler/performer/entertainer. If this would have been my last match ever I would have been fine with it because I had such satisfaction. A rare feeling for me. This match is also one night after I tore the meniscus in my left knee. You'll notice the brace. In any case, I still feel this is the best match of my career so far and it will be very hard to top.
Like I said earlier, 2011 was a hell of a year. I'm really looking foward to see what happens in 2012. I'm predicting big things for not only me but the entire Southern California area. Thanks to all the fans who came out and watched me wrestle and thanks to a lot of the guys I've been in the ring with, who pushed me to a different level everytime. Let's make 2012 a year we won't forget. Happy New Year.
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| @RayRosas |
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