Skullion crowned Hardcore King at Ring n' Ears

By ADAM BURCHILL -- For SLAM! Wrestling
Saturday night Toronto's Opera House was once again host to the an indy wrestling event. The premise was simple: Take overly violent wrestling, mix it with deafening hardcore music and throw in a mostly drunken crowd. No, this wasn't the tryouts for the Canadian Olympic wrestling team, it was the fourth installment of Ring n' Ears, the brainchild of the band Bad Blood.

The Squeegee Kid nails Ms. B. Haven with a garbage can lid. -- Carl Lampman

This year the wrestling insanity was brought to you by the Toronto-based AWF, run by Ron Hutchison and Rod Boudreau. On the flip side, the music was provided by eight local bands, all of which incorporated screaming and distorted guitar in to their sets.

The card this time featured a King of Hardcore tournament. There were three opening round matches, with the winner of the third round getting a bye to the finals. If the sight of blood or the sound of swearing makes you squeamish I hope you stayed home with a Disney movie 'cause this was not the wrestling event for you. Anyway, On to the results.

Before any wrestling happened Bands Out of Hand and Grift had sets, with Grift placing names of wrestlers into the chorus of their songs.

WWF personality Jason Sensation warmed up the crowd with the same impressions that we've been hearing for over a year now. He went through the rules about not touching the wrestlers, no throwing things, etc. The crowd didn't really pay attention to him and just wanted to get to the blood. They would have to wait though as the first bout was a non-tournament match

Six man "Super Scrap" battle royal.

Mayhem vs. Tony Mack vs. Jim Fury vs. Jaguar V.J. Singh vs. Custom Made Man vs. Killer Kanerick

On his way to the ring Singh tripped on the stairs. Enraged, he didn't wait for the other participants to get to the ring, and started attacking anyone in sight. There was lots of brawling, and it was hard to keep up with everything going on. Custom Made Man hit a facebuster on Jim Fury, then nailed a huge frog splash on Tony Mack. After more brawling Custom was tossed out by Mack. Not liking what had just happened, Custom snuck back into the ring, and returned the favor. The two brawled all the way to the back, having a nice fight on the balcony before disappearing. Back in the ring, the final four continued to fight. At one point, a downed Killer Kanerick was on the wrong end of splashes from all the other wrestlers. Kanerick was then eliminated after he tried to splash the other three in the corner, but was flipped out instead. The match was quick after that with Mayhem throwing out Jim Fury, and Singh eliminating Mayhem with a backflip.
Winner: Jaguar VJ Singh

Match Rating: 7/10

The band Notoriety Played

Jason Sensation came out again and did a Road Dogg impression before announcing the next match.

Table Match

Sheik Abdoul Mustafa vs. Bloody Bill Skullion

Mustafa ran down the crowd and the bands quite nicely before the match started. Skullion came out to a nice pop and got right to work on Mustafa with a chain. They both fell to the outside where the brawling continued. Back in the ring Skullion grabs a chair and whips it across the ring into Mustafa's skull. Skullion then beats on his foe in the corner before attempting a pin, but the ref reminds him the only way to win is to put your opponent through a table. Upset, Skullion opens up a chair in the middle of the ring, throws Mustafa into the ropes, and attempts to throw him on the chair. His plan backfired, and he ended up landing on the chair, crushing it in the process. Mustafa now in control placed a chair on Skullions face and hit a leg drop. Looking for the win Moustafa sets up a table in the ring, but the legs give out when attempting to put Skullion on top. He then set the table up in the corner, but ends up going through it after two attempts by Skullion.
*Interesting Side note- when the table broke, a whole crowd of earwigs came running out of it. Hey, nobody ever accused the Opera House of being the cleanest place in Toronto
Winner: Bloody Bill Skullion
Match Rating: 7/10

Semi-Auto Reflex Played. At this point, the drums were so loud they were making my heart go off-beat so I headed outside.

Toronto Street Fight

Ms. B. Haven vs. Squeege Kid

Even before the match started things heated up quick. During her/his entrance, Ms. B. Haven took time to seduce our very own Greg Oliver! I'm not sure what's going on there, but what I can tell you is that I saw the two leaving together after the event. I'll keep you posted on this very hot news item as more becomes available. Now getting to the action INSIDE the ring. [Editor's note: It was a professional conversation.] The two took turns hitting each other with a trash can before Haven took the lead. She/he laid the trash can over Squeegee's head and beat it with a crutch. Haven then goes for the pin, and in the process his head lands in Squeege's um....area (accidentally I'm sure). Haven gets distracted by a fan and when he turns around squeege nailed him, sending them both outside. Squeege laid him out on a table, and hit a nice suicide dive to the outside, sending them both crashing through it. They go back in the ring where Squeege set up the garbage can in the corner and sent Haven head first into it. Squeege then put the can on Haven's head and nailed it with a drop kick. After a splash off the second rope Squeege won with back to back sling shot legdrops.
Winner: Squeege Kid Match Rating: 8/10


Soul Storm Played, I once again headed outside.

Taped Fist Match

El Fuego vs. L'artiste

Will someone please tell me why a taped fist is so dangerous? Honestly, hit yourself with a piece of tape and tell me if you even feel it? Ah well, someone decided this was hardcore and I'm not gunna argue This turned out to be one of the best matches on the card. It started out fast when right after the initial lock up, L'artiste hit a variation of a huricanrana. L'artiste tried to hit a plancha to the outside but missed his mark. Now with the advantage Fuego beat on him and threw him back in the ring. Fuego missed with a splash from the top and rolled outside holding his stomach. Seeing his chance, L'artiste hit an amazing corkscrew-somersault type thing and then took Fuego to the band stage where they went back and forth. Back in the ring, Fuego nails a 'rana and a moonsault, but got a suplex from the top when he went to try something else. The end came when Singh interfered and slammed Fuego hard, a dazed L'artiste then made the pin.
Winner: L'artiste
Match Rating: 9/10


On then played for about 45 minutes.

Death Match

Bill Skullion celebrates his win over Squeege Kid. -- Carl Lampman

Bloody Bill Skullion vs. Squeege Kid

This was to decide who would face L'artiste in the finals. Squeege came out with his arm bandaged up, and looked hurt. This was the worst match on the card. Skullion had control of this match from the opening bell but still somehow managed to bleed. The end came when Ms. B. Haven came down and sprayed something in squeege's eyes, Skullion just took advantage of it for the win.
Winner: Bloody Bill Skullion Match Rating: 4/10


Bad Blood played a really good set. The crowd loved them, and the mosh pit wasn't too bad.

King Of Hardcore Final
Weapons Match

Bloody Bill Skullion vs. L'artiste

This was by far the best match I have ever seen live. It makes me wonder how people like Hulk Hogan can main event huge cards, but great wrestlers like these are still main eventing the indies. Ah well, on with the results. L'artiste came out first with a bin of weapons including a stereo, crutch, chairs, and a saw. Skullion came out with a thumbtack baseball bat.

L'artiste didn't wait for Skullion to get in the ring and hit a drop kick between the ropes sending Skullion flying. Not giving him anytime to rest, L'artiste then hit a huge dive to the outside. L'artiste picked up the stereo but Skullion blocked the attempted to hit him, and instead smashed it into the head of his enemy. Still outside, Skullion dug into those deep pockets of his and pulled out a cheese grater. He went to work on L'artiste with the grater, drawing blood. Back in the ring Skullion set up a chair in the middle of the ring, and decided it be better if he set it on fire. Again his plan backfired (that seems to be happening a lot) and he went face first into the flames.

L'artiste then broke a crutch over Skullion's head. That wasn't enough to stop the big man as L'artiste ended up getting suplexed on the chair. Still dazed, Skullion put a condom over his fingers and gave the ref the mandible claw.

While all this was going on L'artiste picked up the thumbtack bat and nailed Skullion with it twice -once in the back, once in the crotch. L'artiste then threw Skullion outside and then climbed the balcony as he did at the first Ring n' Ears. When Skullion got up, L'artiste dove about 15 on to him and both were knocked down on the floor. Skullion got L'artiste back in the ring and powerbombed him on the thumbtacks that were on the bat but had fallen off. Not satisfied with that feat, He got a cup of about 300 more thumbtacks spread them out and hit another powerbomb for the win.
Winner: Skullion, although it was hard to tell with all the blood and thumbtacks coming out of him.

Match Rating 10/10

Overall Event rating 8/10