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Serving Taylor, Old Forge, Moosic & Surrounding Areas
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times-shamrock community newspapers 149 Penn Avenue Scranton, PA 18503 Phone: (570) 207-3473 Fax: (570) 207-3448 e-mail: triborobanner@ timesshamrock.com
Aug. 6, 2015
thetriborobanner.com
‘Big Trouble in Little Moosic’
ON THe iNSide The latest happenings in our area Page 2
BANNER
New local pro wrestling season begins
by Tucker Hottes
SPECIAL TO THE BANNER
Pro wrestling fans, get ready to rumble: Saturday, Aug. 8, at 7 p.m., Grand Slam Wrestling (GSW) pro wrestling will present “Big Trouble in Little Moosic” at the Moosic Youth Center, 606 Main St. Tickets are $10; kids 12 and younger can attend the show for free. GSW is an independent wrestling promoter responsible for booking matches throughout the region. “We do our best to provide family entertainment in the northeast Pennsylvania area,” said GSW co-owner Brad Czankner. “Our wrestling is always family-friendly — children 12 and younger always get in free. We want to provide good entertainment.” Czankner said GSW aims to bring some of the excitement of pro wrestling to fans’ backyards and adds an extra layer that might not be present from huge names on TV and payper-view. “We try to give everyone who comes out their own special experience,” he said. “We have a little bit of everything. There are big guys, guys who can do crazy flips and ridiculous moves that are breathtaking, there are guys who come here and do comedy, which is something you don’t see many other places. We hope that everyone can come in and see something different from what they might see on TV, something they might not even see anywhere else.” Aside from the theatrics and athletic feats on display, GSW boasts plenty of out-of-thering drama pro wrestling fans crave — including potentially career-ending stakes for some of the wrestlers. “Our champion, Stevie Shields is defending his title one more time against Clay Drasher, a former best friend of his,” said Czankner. “Not too long ago, Clay turned his back and did some nefarious things, so now Stevie is on a mission to stop Clay and his pack of goons any chance he can. That’s our marquee match, but there are a bunch of other great matches
TS_CNG/TRIBORO/PAGES [T01] | 08/05/15
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Plenty of action is in store as the new season of GSW wrestling begin.
on deck, like a career vs. career match between Eric Pinhat and AJ Evers — the loser of that match has to retire.” The GSW season will include other large matches later in the gear, but Czankner said the events that take place during Big Trouble in Little Moosic will continue to ripple as the season unfolds. “This is one of our bigger shows,” he said. “This is going to set the stakes for some of what we do the rest of the season. We’re also doing a bunch of tag team stuff to really showcase what those guys can do.” Wrestling fans new to GSW events can look forward to an evening that doesn’t necessarily require an encyclopedia to understand. Even newcomers to the wrestling scene should find plenty of entertainment. “You don’t have to have years and years of knowledge like you would for some of the big name organizations to come to one of our
shows,” said Czankner. “It’s a good night out, tickets are cheap, you can bring the whole family – mom and dad and three kids under 12 can walk in the door for 20 bucks. For eight matches, three hours of fun, there’s no excessive violence, no over-the-top shenanigans — it’s just three hours of some of the best wrestlers in the area. And if you’re not into wrestling, we tell stories. We have a lot of great stories going on right now.” Czankner said independent pro wrestling often has a bad reputation for excessive violence or non-family-friendly antics. “That stuff is cheap,” he said. “Anyone can go out there and do blood and guts and draw people in. That’s not worth any time to anybody. You’re going to hurt yourself, you’re going to hurt your fanbase. We’re not interested in going into any of that. It’s entertainment, it’s not something you should worried about getting hurt at.”