www.GeorgiaWrestlingHistory.com
OUT OF SIGHT, OUT OF MIND
â” Jimmy Rave
Iâve been around professional wrestling since I was 15 years old. In a couple weeks I turn 26 and looking back on it, Iâve been very blessed. When I approached Rich Tate about writing a piece for www.GeorgiaWrestlingHistory.com, I was honored he agreed. He even asked me to start hosting a radio show starting in January 2009 (OH BOY! Fun times ahead!). So keep a watch for that. Iâm going to write this column pretty regularly, so letâs get this started off on a positive note.
Pro wrestling is a sport that takes a toll on your body (DUH!), but it always really hits you mentally and emotionally. Thereâs been many times, and Iâm sure if you talk to most wrestlers they can tell you this, Iâve been promised something and never got it. Or maybe had a few, âCan I pay you next time?ââs. Well, actually that digs more into your wallet than anything. I think the hardest thing for me is crossing paths with people.
When I first started, I had a crew. The guys I was always riding with or booked with, like Murder-1, Kory Chavis, Iceberg, Jason Cross, Dean aka Freak, Ken Timbs, Ted Allen, Alexander the Great, Pretty Boy Floyd, Billy Love, Mark Pain, Lee Thomas, CC Devlin, Jess Wade, The Beatniks, Nemesis, and Rob Adonis. Now, most of these guys Iâve not seen in years.
M1 trained me, but now we are off doing our own thing. Kory (or Chuck or Rainman) Chavis is in Florida doing his thing. I never understood why he didnât get picked up by Ring of Honor, but Iâll have a whole column on that. Jason Cross and I wrestled each other in Philly, TNA on PPV, New Jersey, and about 100 times in every town in Georgia. He is a class act and I miss him a lot. I hear he has a good thing going in Warner Robins, Georgia, and I wish him the best of luck. I still see The Nightmare about once a month. He probably never knew this, but Ted Allen is a guy I look up to so much. Iâve never heard him say a bad thing about anyone. He never takes a day off. Heâs very smart in the ring, and if it wasnât for him 90% of the shows in Georgia wouldnât happen. You gotta have a ring! Nemesis had an incredible run at NWA Wildside/Anarchy. He and I would talk for hours. Heâs the real deal. We had a respect for each other that nobody could break. A lot of people didnât understand it, but his passion about life and wrestling is untouchable. I saw Billy Love a few months back. We actually tagged together. If I ran a show Billy would be on every card! He can keep up with anyone. Shane (from the Beatniks) and I used to hang out and talk for hours when I still lived in Kennesaw. He made me fall in love with Japanese wrestling. Thanks, Shane. I did two tours for NJPW this year and those tapes you gave me of people getting dumped on their head helped.
Rob gets his own paragraph. He likes to joke with me that we are the âClass of 99â. Rob and I both started in White, Georgia, and I remember seeing his first match and he probably saw a few of mine. Heâs always been a stand up guy. Heâs a real Christian that believes in doing the right thing. Right before my wedding, my wifeâs cousin comes up to me and says, âDo you know a Rob Adonis?â I told her we go way back. She says, âYeah, heâs always showing videos in our class of you getting your butt kicked by him.â Rob was a high school teacher at the time. Every time Iâm reading the results on www.GeorgiaWrestlingHistory.com I see Rob Adonis vs. someone at what seems to be every show. I really wish he would have stayed with Prime Time Pro Wrestling in Columbus, Georgia, so I could see him more often, but heâs doing his thing. I remember pushing him very hard to Bill Behrens to bring him to Cornelia. I love watching him wrestle Bull Buchanan. But thatâs more for my amusement because he gets the crap kicked out of him⦠Hey, Rob, show that to the FRESHMEN!
I got booked for Middle Georgia Championship Wrestling in June 2000. I wrestled this kid in only his third match. The finish was a La Majistral Cradle. Itâs a move where the guy getting pinned is on all fours. Well, this kid already had a bad night. They had him doing double duty (wrestling twice). In his first match he wore windbreaker pants that came off during his intro to The Thong Song, thus showing the whole world he preferred briefs over boxers. Now we are wrestling each other and I go to give him the finish and he just laid there like sack of crap. I made do with it and finished him off. I shouldâve known then to never talk to him again, but this guy shows up at NWA Wildside. I was using the name âThe Original XTCâ Jimmy Rave and he was known as Kid Xctasy. How freaking original. Over the years he started to grow on me. I started pushing for him to do matches with me on other shows. Then, when I would get out-of-town bookings, I would bring him along. I brought him to CZW, FIP, and ROH, and we even did some tag stuff there. Now, I get to see him a few times a month, but I wish we were still on the road together. When he was around the ribs and the just plain dumb things that would happen made being away from home bearable. I did things like put numbing liquids in his protein shakes, once convinced him to driver 15 hours straight, and together we convinced Seth Delay to jump in a pond fully clothed. Some of my best ideas he thought of only after I already thought of them. Heâs my best friend and now that kid can actually wrestle like a mad man. You may know him better as Sal Rinauro.
When I left Wildside there were a ton of guys I missed: Todd Sexton (one of my closet friends ever), Chad Parham, and Onyx. Next, I left CZW and didnât get to see B-Boy, Adam Flash, or Nick Gage (who is a great guy!). Then, I left Ring of Honor and now I donât see Bryan Danielson, Roderick Strong, Delirious, and so many others. I havenât talked to CM Punk in months, or Matt Sydal in a long time. These are all people I developed a close friendship and spent a lot of time with over the years. Now, with all of our busy lives itâs hard to find time to hang out or even talk. I couldnât begin to imagine what it was like for guys wrestling when they went from territory to territory. When you are out of sight you are out of mind, but you are never ever forgotten!
