Published: July 05, 2009 12:18 am      

‘Pinned in the Park’ popular in first year

Wrestling packs park in debut

ASHLAND — So is there a better way to celebrate our nation’s independence than by watching a bunch of huge, muscular guys in tights smack each other around?

Eleven-year-old Joe Puckett of Flatwoods certainly didn’t seem to think so.

“It’s awesome!” he said, as he watched two wrestlers, one named Sigmon and the other named Andy Douglas, doing battle in the yellow wrestling ring that had been set up in Central Park.

Ohio Championship Wrestling, a new addition to this year’s Summer Motion activities, was far and away the most popular of Saturday’s events. Several hundred folks, many of them youngsters who stood on their tiptoes to get better views of the action, were packed around the ring.

And the wrestlers certainly disappoint. They put on a show filled with all the bombast, insults, drama and bone-crunching action that wrestling fans have come to expect.

The first match pitted Onyx, the Black Superman, a Columbus wrestler, against Bostonian Johnny Punch. The match eventually was won by the much lighter and smaller Punch.

In the second match, pitting Chris “The Headliner” Michaels against Kris “Loaded Gun” Kannon, Michaels played the role of the villain to the hilt, from demanding “complete silence” from the crowd to trading taunts with an audience member to getting into a shoving match with the referee. Kannon won the match, though.

The “bad guy” prevailed in the third match, though, with preening star Stan “The Man” Lee defeating “Superstar” Shane Matthews. In the main event, Douglas prevailed over Sigmon, and the show climaxed with a free-for-all brawl in which all of the wrestlers took part.

Summer Motion President Chuck Charles said the wrestling event, billed as “Pinned in the Park,” was a trial event this year. Based on its popularity, he said it was highly likely it would be making a return.

Charles said wrestling was something he’d considered adding to the festival for years. However, he said he was concerned it might not square with Summer Motion’s “family friendly” image.

But, when the OCW folks invited him to come watch one of their events at a church, Charles said he figured it would be a safe bet the organization would put on a show safe for family viewing.

Rick Barnett of Ashland said he thought the OCW put on a great event. But, he said watching the mayhem in the ring wasn’t the most enjoyable part.

“The best thing,” he said, “is watching the kids.”