Hey, it’s me, Orin. I love digging around on Facebook, with all its angry grandmas and dirty trucker memes. Over time, my digging has led me to a ton of small, often rural indie promotions. These promotions’ pages offer a cool glimpse of what wrestling looks like on a hyper-local level: event flyers, promotional videos, wrestlers’ headshots, and albums full of in-ring action.
The first installment of Facebook Wrestling Gems showcases cool wrestler headshots. Some of these characters are lovable, some are fearsome, and some are a little confusing. They’re all fantastic. Note: When available, I’ll include links back to the promotions where I found the photos.
I encourage you to click around and do some exploring of your own. Find a super small indie near you and go to a show! They’re tons of fun and you may discover your new favorite wrestler. Let’s get started.
Angel De La Muarte (sic?) – Rebellious Wrestling Federation
Okay, yes. There may be a misspelled word in his name, but that’s not the point. Imagine running into this fucker on a dark sidewalk. He’s ambling toward you doing that arm gesture. You’d piss yourself, no questions asked. This is Angel De La Muarte. ARRIBA.
Snake Man Mitch Toretta – CWA Championship Wrestling
I have to admit that I’ve never seen Snake Man Mitch Toretta on my TV, but I really hope I do someday. There is nothing not to love about this guy. In addition to Mitch himself, you’ve got a big snake and a little snake, which is still pretty massive. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find the snake’s name anywhere. Here’s a little more of Mitch and his snake.
Iceman Rod Storm – Alabama Wrestling Alliance
You can be my wingman anytime, Iceman Rod Storm. Jokes aside, this is a great promo image. He’s the iceman, he’s emerging from an icy-textured background, and he’s got icy blue eyes. There isn’t much online about Rod Storm, but Cagematch claims he wrestled in South Africa in 1994, which is fascinating to imagine. Keep kicking ass, Iceman.
Collumbine – Alabama Wrestling Alliance
Also hailing from Alabama Wrestling Alliance is Collumbine. Columbine (the school tragedy) is, of course, nothing to joke about. Collumbine, the wrestler from Alabama, isn’t a joke either. Although it’s hard to tell from the photo, we can assume that he’s wearing a trenchcoat, or at least a sport coat, which means he’s prooobably doing a school tragedy gimmick and not a florist gimmick. This is edgy, but I like it.
Bonus: here’s Collumbine wrestling Chip Day in 2010.
“American Hate” Ruff Crossing – Rebellious Wrestling Federation
This guy has one of the better and more socially relevant names in pro wrestling today and he’s currently wrestling all over the midwest! I’m not sure if this is a border crossing thing or what. Perhaps you’re in for a rough situation if you cross him? If anyone out there knows, tweet me at @orinanne.
“President of Professional Wrestling” Brian Johnson – Dangerous Adrenaline Wrestling Gladiators (DAWG)
As the saying goes: don’t blame me, I voted for “President of Professional Wrestling” Brian Johnson. Again: this is GREAT and I love everything about him. He’s got patriotic suspenders attached to his trunks (does he wrestle in them?). There’s a campaign pin on the suspenders. If I had the pleasure of seeing him wrestle live, I would scream for him until my throat bled.
Bonus: here’s President Johnson in an extremely good outfit, cutting a fired up promo for a tournament last year.
– Stay tuned for future installments of Facebook Wrestling Gems. Next up: flyers. Know of any small promotions out there with good FB pages? Have any updates on the whereabouts of Rod Storm? Tweet Orin at @orinanne.