Everyone is familiar with wrestlers, like Hulk Hogan, The Rock, Triple H, and Kurt Angle, but how do some wrestlers get started?
On the night of Friday, October 4, Fort Lauderdale-based Future of Wrestling (FOW), demonstrated their brand of sports entertainment at the Boca Campus, putting on a show for students. The event, originally scheduled to be outside at the outdoor stage area, was moved indoors to the Live Oak Pavilion, due to the threat of rain. The one disadvantage here is that no one could fly off the top rope to demonstrate high-risk maneuvers.
FOW is considered an independent wrestling organization, or in simpler terms, a minor league for wrestling. FOW tours South Florida mainly in the Broward/Palm Beach area, performing at local gyms and small auditoriums. Bruno Sassi, the company’s Heavyweight and International Champion, came in dressed as a college frat boy, wearing Greek letters all over his tights and carrying a frat paddle. Other wrestlers that performed included Billy Fives, Antonio Banks, Dow Jones, Ram Man, Al Bino, and David Babylon, the Light Heavyweight Champion.
Most matches were one-on-one or tag team. One match was a ten-minute; seven man “kill the man with the belt” contest for the Light Heavyweight Title. Here, at the end of ten minutes, whomever had the belt won the match. Babylon came into the match, lost the belt, passed it around to a few other wrestlers, and then regained it at the end of the match.
Special guest referee for some of the night’s matches was FAU’s own Lieutenant Chuck Aurin, who, later that night, wrestled as a mystery tag team partner. Before and during the event, tables were set up to sell t-shirts of their stars and low-budget DVD’s of their previous live and televised events.
Johnny Orteagun, who wrestles under the name Johnny Vandal, is a student at Spanish River High School in Boca Raton and wrestles for some extra cash. Now age 17, he has been wrestling for FOW for the past two years and plans on continuing his career, but values his education and believes it is better to finish school than quit. If his career keeps Vandal here, he does plan on going to college with an emphasis on education. For now, it is school during the day and he practices Monday and Wednesday nights, with performances on the weekends. When asked what he would do if Jim Ross (vice president of talent for World Wrestling Entertainment) called him for a tryout to become the newest superstar in the WWE, Vandal said he would be on the next plane to Stanford, Connecticut (WWE’s headquarters).
Although the Student Government Program Board reported that 200 attended the event, about 57 claimed to be FAU students. Of those 57, only one could be located. Freshman Rick Smith, SG Director of Athletics, was one of a few FAU students in attendance. He stated after the FAU mascot tried picking a fight with one of the managers that he would like to see the mascot taking on FAU Student Body President Pablo Paez. The mascot, who would not reveal his identity, said he would never fight a fellow frat brother.
For more information on where FOW will perform next, check out their website at www.futureofwrestling.com
