On occasion, I upload past bouts I refereed to my YouTube channel. Today, I’d like to highlight four from 2012.
I was a high school senior when Sami Callihan became part of my local indie and first pro wrestling home, Force-1. As head trainer of the school, he appreciated my respectful attitude and insatiable desire to learn. After months of kicking my ass on shows and at training, Sami took me under his wing, and then on the road with him. One of our first stops was Severn for Maryland Championship Wrestling Rage TV. A severely cramped locker room led to a loudly-painted room with a friendly crowd and a stiff ring, which played host to a three-way dance between my fellow road trip companions, Sami, Alex Colon, and, fresh from a tour with Dragon Gate in Japan, Rich Swann.
While en route to MCW, Sami pressed CZW owner, DJ Hyde, over the phone into providing me an opportunity to debut at what would prove to be their final card at the ECW Arena prior to a temporary closure. The following weekend, with an oversized polo to match my bushy Jewfro, I refereed Sami’s defense of the CZW Wired Championship against Rich Swann. I was beyond nervous. At one point, I nearly counted Rich out. Afterward, he assured me it would have been his fault had things actually come to that, but I doubt it would have been a positive first impression with the company.
One week later, I rode with Sami, Rich, Alex, and Pac, who was on a special US excursion, to upstate New York for a cancer benefit at Squared Circle Wrestling. There, I was privileged to referee an all-time career highlight, a four-way dance between Sami, Rich, Pac, and the late Brodie Lee.
Several months later, I was a regular at CZW, which struggled to find a suitable home. I was typically officiating preliminary bouts on the undercard with fellow young guns gunning for an opportunity, as was case in this three-way dance with Shane Strickland, Latin Dragon, and Alexander James. While Alexander had joined me with Sami on past trips, I shared numerous adventures (and even more laughs) over the years up and down the East Coast with Shane and L-Drags. What you see in the ring represents only a small fraction of those wonderful years and unforgettable journeys.
Kris Levin is the author of The Best at Being the Worst: The 15-Year Odyssey of Pro Wrestling’s “Kid Ref” Surviving Impact, GCW, MLW & Mexico’s Deathmatch Wrestling Scene. He can be found online at TalesFromTheMat.com.
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