This past weekend on Saturday night, February 24 in Leppävirta, Finland, a huge rock & wrestling event called Rock Fight took place. This concept goes back a decade to 2008, when the first Rock Fight took place at the Nosturi club in Helsinki with United Underworld and Stoner Kings, whereas the second Rock Fight took place the following year in 2009, also held at Nosturi, with Silver Moth and Sparzanza offering up the metallic musical fare.
Alas, come 2018, it was time to bring back Rock Fight, this time in a new venue and in a new town. Legendary Finnish punk rockers Klamydia and controversial rap artist Petri Nygård were the artists this time around. In addition, we had six international-quality matches on the show, featuring FCF Wrestling talent in addition to European wrestling stars, as promoted by Nordic Wrestling Events in co-operation with Vesileppis Areena in Leppävirta.
In the main event of this huge Rock Fight event, I put up my esteemed Valhalla Nordic Wrestling Championship title against the gigantic 191cm/190kg Demolition Davies of Germany, with 7-time Finnish heavyweight bodybuilding champion Boogie Mustonen as special guest referee. This is notable for the fact that in Boogie’s last pro wrestling match ever back in July 1997 in Joensuu, Finland, I was the referee for his match against the late Tony “Ludvig Borga” Halme (as seen in the video below).
Demolition Davies was a huge threat and an enormous hurdle for me. Although I trained hell-a-hard for this main event, pushing some damn heavy weights to prepare in the gym, it was very challenging to try to move Davies around. With that amount of girth and pure mass, I had to find a different approach.
Davies managed to bloody me mid-match after he ran my head into the steel ringpost and then proceeded to headbutt me over and over again with his haggard mask, splitting my epidermis wide open. I’ll be the first to acknowledge that thankfully guest referee Boogie Mustonen was a bit slow getting into position and also in making his counts, because it managed to buy me some time and make my kickouts.
Davies’ corner avalanche absolutely crushed me and his big splash knocked the wind out of my sails. Running into the man felt like hitting a tree. Davies put up one hell of an intimidating fight, but finally, in the end, I got a second wind and was able to make a sustained rally before Davies cut me off at the pass with a huge Black Hole Slam, followed by a devastating cannonball in the ring corner.
The one big mistake that Davies did, however, was jawing and bitching at referee Mustonen for his slow counts, which obviously threw my challenger off kilter. Once Davies started shoving Boogie, it was only a matter of time that the 7-time bodybuilding champ would explode. And explode he did with a huge forearm smash that knocked Davies over my fallen torso, enabling me to make a leverage pin on the German giant as Boogie made the count. Three seconds later, I was still the Valhalla Nordic Wrestling Champion.
Rock Fight was a hell of a great time, as in excess of 400 fans came out to see the event. Thanks to everyone that bought a ticket to see the event! Here’s to hoping we’ll see Rock Fight for the fourth time in the future!
With another year gone in the history books, I’d like to glance back and assess the past 12 months both personally and professionally.
The last two years have really been life-altering times of change for me. In 2013 I got married, starting a new chapter of my life. Professionally speaking, 2014 signalled the end of the WNC (Wrestling New Classic) organization that I grappled for, marking the close of an era there also. The financial crunch in Europe began to sting and affect businesses across the board, spreading to Asia, including professional wrestling. Less shows were in the offering and the money just wasn’t there. I find myself amongst the hard-nosed veterans of the grappling game who find themselves working a limited number of dates due the poorly paying scene in general, not counting a few decent promotions on the grappling map who are still putting out top dollar for top talent still. 2014 was no cake-walk for independent pro wrestling, folks.
Yet, 2014 was musically one of the better years that I recall as of late. With my southern rock act Crossfyre we blazed across Europe and all around Finland over 2014, having one helluva time! We toured Poland, Estonia and Germany at the start of the summer and hit a slew of summer festivals and biker gigs to boot domestically. I got to see Lithuania and Latvia in transition between countries on tour and overall it was great experience. Crossfyre really evolved even further over 2014 as a working man’s hard working band, and for that, I am proud.
2014 started off with a bang, as fast food giant Subway had me play the lead and do the voice-over for their American Steak House Melt sub sandwich. I got to play my redneck self, complete with my Michael Hayes-like finger mannerisms, familiar to wrestling fans far and wide, who’ve seen ”The Rebel” StarBuck in action.
2014 also marked my 20th anniversary since debuting as an active combatant in the world of pro wrestling. On January 7 this past year, my old wrestling coach Lance Storm sent me a public message on Facebook, congratulating me on my career milestone. It was Lance who was my first opponent, whom I had a very decent 7-minute match with back in Calgary, Canada in my debut bout. Since that time, I’ve gone on to see the world, kick ass and take names far and wide. Thank again, Lance, for setting me off on that fantastic journey!
Speaking of pro wrestling, FCF started off 2014 with a bang on January 11 in Helsinki, as my four-man team of Mikko Maestro, Sly Sebastian, Kristian Kurki and Yours Truly downed the team of Valentine, Conny Mejsel, Steinbolt and Robert Holmström in a hellacious Survivor Series-style elimination match. This tag bout stands out as one of my personal favorites from 2014, as everyone clicked on all cylinders and the action was hot and heavy-handed.
In another huge tag team outing, I teamed with FCF’s King Kong Karhula against the duo of Sweden’s Conny Mejsel and Harley Rage in Gothenburg on February 1, which turned out to be perhaps the hottest tag team match that I have ever wrestled. I am speaking solely about fan reaction to the bout here, but I am in no way undermining the quality of the wrestling in that match. Everyone brought their A-game to the show, and I am glad that my Spandex Sapiens movie producer Oskari Pastila was able to come and film the bout, because this crowd and atmosphere was most definitely worth capturing on film.
The Gothenburg fans went bananas when their hero Conny Mesjel got the upper hand on me.
Speaking of Spandex Sapiens, premature expectations had the 100-minute documentary movie about my persona and wrestling career coming out in 2014. Yet, director Pastila decided to wait out the possible financial commitments of various third parties before tending to the actual release, and thus, the movie debut was delayed until 2015. Now, the release has been set for autumn 2015 and all signs are go at this point. I personally can’t wait! In addition, 2015 will mark the return of Mad Max to the silver screen, as Fury Road comes out in the summer. When I was a kid, Mad Max: The Road Warrior was my favorite movie.
2014 also saw Yours Truly doing a guest DJ spot on Finland’s top rock radio station, Radio Rock. This was a personal milestone for me, much like getting featured in an exclusive article in Hustler magazine several years ago (true story!) about my wrestling career (Hustler publisher and boss Larry Flynt has always been an icon to me as an anti-establishment kind of guy who swims against the stream at large). I got the opportunity to play whatever I wanted, chosing obscure songs by lesser-known bands like Living Sacrifice, Bolt Thrower and even my own bands, Overnight Sensation and Crossfyre. Talk about a great PR opportunity!
February 27, 2014 was a huge day for me in my wrestling career. I defeated ”The Japanese Buzzsaw” Tajiri for the WNC championship in Tokyo, capturing my second title in Japan to date (I became the first champion in SMASH history back in October 2011, also defeating Tajiri then in a tournament final). Tajiri is arguably my greatest nemesis of all time, over the entire span of my wrestling career. He and I have waged numerous wars, both in Japan and Finland, and I am honored to have had such a great fighting chemistry with him.
One week after winning the WNC title, I hit an all-time career low, as I lost both the WNC championship and the BWA (British Wrestling Alliance) Catchweight belt in the same night at FCF Wrestling’s biggest annual showcase event, Talvisota VIII, on March 8. With my wife Diana as my wrestling valet, I also put her career on the line against Valentine in what I can now assess was a bad case of overconfidence on my part. Valentine pulled out a tainted win, complete with brass knuckles, as I lost the BWA title to him. Immediately thereafter, Belgian powerhouse Bernard Vandamme demanded that I wrestle him and defend the WNC title. Never one to back down from a fight, I valiantly did my best, losing in grand fashion in two minutes. It was possibly the lowest point of my career, and it haunted me for the rest of the year in all of my Finnish matches. I can see now, that it was psychologically a demon and monkey on my back, losing my wife as my valet, along with two championships, in one night. In 2015, I plan to rid myself of that jinx for good.
I was able to grapple again in Belgium in March 2014, this time laying waste to a promising young rookie named Tyson Heel out of Andorra, along with a return to Germany to wrestle for EPW. Things were going great for me outside of Finland, as the wins kept coming, but my jinx returned when FCF’s Jatkosota 2014 rolled around on April 12 in Helsinki once again. In a six-man tag team match, my team of Sly Sebastian, Kristian Kurki and myself lost to Heimo Ukonselkä, Stark Adder and Ricky Vendetta when Ukonselkä assisted Vendetta in gaining a pinfall over this disgruntled Rebel. Ricky Vendetta would go on to brag and boast about gaining the biggest pin of his career, shooting his mouth off all throughout 2014 at my expense. Vendetta became a real thorn in my hide at this point.
I became embroiled in a bitter rivalry with young Ricky Vendetta this year (photo: Marko Simonen).
2014 marked my 19th country in pro wrestling, as I went to Holland to wrestle for a fabuolus company called Dutch Pro Wrestling on June 1 against Bernard Vandamme. I was out looking to avenge myself and beat Vandamme into the ground, but as fate would have it, Vandamme found a way to thwart my end goal, eeking out another victory over Yours Truly. That WNC title loss really stung bad after that repeat defeat, I can assure you!
On June 8, I had the pleasure of playing the 2014 Harley-Davidson Super Rally in Tallinn, Estonia with Crossfyre. We had the main stage, we got to meet Mr. Bill Davidson of Harley-Davidson Motorcycles, and we got to treat throngs of bikers from all across Europe to our special southern rocking brand of rock’n’roll from the north. Top of the line hotel, top treatment, top spot on the event line-up = no complaints!
Bill Davidson mugs between me and Crossfyre’s session bassist Sami Salminen.
The summer of 2014 signalled the end of the WNC organization that I wrestled for in Japan. Tajiri, Akira Nogami, Yusuke Kodama, Rionne Fujiwara and a couple of other wrestlers moved on to Keiji Muto’s Wrestle-1 organization, while everyone else from WNC went their own, separate ways. I was saddened to say goodbye to my old Synapse teammates Syuri Kondou and Akira, with whom I enjoyed a tremendous chemistry. We travelled a lot of miles up and down the roads in Japan, kicking asses and taking names for almost two years together. It was a memorable time, and Synapse will always live on in my memories as a unit that I was truly happy to be a part of.
The summer gigs that we played with Crossfyre live strongly in my memories, as I mentioned at the start of this blog. The summer of 2014 was awesome and we really rocked all summer long, as the lyrics to a certain song go. The shows we had in Poland especially warm my heart, as we had Polish audiences dancing on tables and losing their inhibitions (in a good way!) every single night. Poland was one helluva time! I also warmly recall going for a kebab after our gig on the Reperbahn in Hamburg, Germany with a black 74-year-old jazz and blues musician, whose name now escapes me. Talk about experience and the wisdom that only comes with years!
Photographer Igor Uciński captures one of the best shots of me on stage in Poland.
The summer of 2014 also saw FCF Wrestling join forces with fast food restaurant Snacky in Finland for an event called Snacky Slam at the end of July. This show was held outdoors, and we had more media exposure through Snacky for FCF than I recall en masse in recent years. Finland’s top entertainment magazine, 7 Päivää, jumped in as the media sponsor for the event, proving to be the ideal, perfect match in terms of hype. I am proud as punch of the promo work that FCF and myself got to do through 7 Päivää, and the vast, new audiences reached thereby. It was at Snacky Slam that Ricky Vendetta was able to gain yet another tainted win at my expense in a six-man war, featuring myself along with Sly Sebastian and Mikko Maestro against Vendetta, Stark Adder and Pyöveli Petrov in a super-hot match that had the Snacky outdoor audience rocking. Adder was the pivotal man to assist Vendetta this time, leading to the pinfall win for Vendetta over good ol’ StarBuck. Ricky Vendetta was really beginning to piss me off at this point.
In August, I had the pleasure of coaching a week-long training camp for young wrestlers in Denmark. I was able to take my wife along for this trip, and we had our official summer vacation in the process. Danish Pro Wrestling organized the camp, and I had kids from four different countries attend. I saw some real potential amongst the 21 participants that busted their asses that week, and I am sure the world of pro wrestling will be hearing from some of them in the future.
The summer of 2014 also allowed me to mend the fence with Boogie Mustonen, the seven-time Finnish heavyweight bodybuilding champion. Boogie had trash-talked Finnish pro wrestling and my personal legacy many years ago on a certain Finnish bodybuilding online forum, and I had taken personal offense to his derogatory comments. You see, Boogie had once wrestled in the neighborhood of about 20 matches, after getting his training in Australia around the mid-’90s. Since speaking out less than favorably about Finnish pro wrestling, Boogie had amended his opinions and views. Back then, Boogie had never really understood the pro wrestling business, and his career was cut prematurely short after failing to convince in his match against Tony Halme (Ludvig Borga in WWF) in Joensuu, Finland back in July 1997. I had been the referee for that specific match, and it had been Boogie’s tryout bout to get into Otto Wanz’s CWA promotion (Austria) back then. To make a long story short, the match was flop. Boogie went on to concentrate on his bodybuilding career and Halme went on to become a boxer before getting into politics and then eventually killing himself in early 2010.
It’s like the past never happened, Boogie is a great guy!
I had a blast doing another TV commercial shoot during the summer, this time for Vesileppis Sport & Spa Hotel. Hotel manager Kimmo had been the promoter for FCF’s Karjalan Turpakäräjät show in Nurmes, eastern Finland back in October 2012. Kimmo thought StarBuck would be a great fit as a main actor alongside Vesileppis Hotel’s ladybug mascot, to provide a comical contrast. The end production speaks for itself, so take a look…
During the summer, I also got to do a TV commercial shoot for Finland’s biggest dairy manufacturer, Valio Ltd., with NHL ice hockey legend and Stanley Cup winner, Teemu Selänne. The double exposure of both Subway and Valio definitely lay down some serious exposure for me in preparation for my Spandex Sapiens movie next year, as my mug will be familiar to the entire nation pretty much. As the Bible says, the Lord works in mysterious ways!
2014 was a bit of a transitional year for my hard rock band Overnight Sensation, as we have been focusing on writing new material by and in large. We only had a handful of domestic gigs this past year, and granted, we could have done more. Nonetheless, we are planning on releasing a mini-LP of sorts featuring our new songs with our current drummer Jesper in 2015.
On the 13th of September, I finally had the chance to gain a measure of retribution on Ricky Vendetta here in Finland, as we met in a singles match in Helsinki. Yet, Ricky didn’t want to face me square-up. Earlier in the evening at FCF Wrestling’s Syyskuun Selkäsauna, I introduced the new debuting Class of 2014 to the fans present at Hotel Presidentti. Seven new trainees had passed their 2014 schooling to enter the world of professional wrestling, and during this presentation ceremony, Ricky Vendetta chose to attack me with a monkey wrench in his hand. In the ensuing melee, he bruised my ribs, leaving me at less than 100% for our singles match later that night. Regardless of my best efforts, Vendetta thwarted yet another bullet and managed to gain another tainted win over me. I had promised to make Vendetta tap out for his insolence, not content with just pinning him. I promised to make him scream for his life and submit. That is still going to have to wait for another day, and luckily, my opportunity lies in achieving that goal at FCF’s Talvisota IX event in Helsinki on February 9, 2015, when I will face Vendetta in a submission-only match!
I had the pleasure of returning to Japan again on October 10 for my good friend and former Synapse tag team partner Akira Nogami’s 30th anniversary show in Tokyo. Whereas I celebrated 20 years in pro wrestling this year, Akira’s landmark was a decade better. In the main event of Akira’s 30th anniversary card, I wrestled against my old friend Nogami and also against Pancrase founder Masakatsu Funaki in a triple threat match. I got to find out first-hand about Funaki’s legendary kicks, which I felt on numerous occasions during that match. In the end, even I was astounded at the fact that when all was said and done, I had pinned Akira at his own anniversary show! Japan has always been a very special place for me, and my favorite country to wrestle in, and this event once again reminded me just why that is.
Akira’s 30th anniversary show line-up
On November 1, traveled to Stockholm to fight Ken Malmsteen in a Last Man Standing match. I took it upon myself to teach Malmsteen a stern lesson about respect for the way that he disregarded and cheapshotted former Swedish Olympic hero, Frank Andersson. Frank had wrestled in WCW and New Japan way back in the day circa. 1993-1995 or thereabouts. He had made his comeback to pro wrestling this past year in Sweden, challenging Malmsteen to a match for the Swedish wrestling championship after Malmsteen first cheapshotted him when Frank was a special referee in a prior bout. Frank went on to make good and capture the title, but after the match he was diagnosed with a concussion after a loaded uppercut from Malmsteen in their match. On November 1, I beat Malmsteen from pillar to post and was well on my way to busting him open good and proper. Malmsteen got hold of the STHLM Wrestling title belt and blasted me in the face with it during our no-DQ outing, which sliced my head open, instead. After yet another shot with the title belt to my wounded head, I was unable to get to my feet by the referee’s 10-count, and the match was awarded to Malmsteen. At least I did manage to soften up Mr. Malmsteen for Frank Andersson the next time they meet…
I was thinking I had Ken Malmsteen beat (photo: Johannes Tegner).
On November 7, I travelled to France for the first time in five and a half years, which was a welcome return to fight for Wrestling Stars. I had become accustomed to wrestling mixed tag matches with Synapse in Japan over the past couple of years, and this time I teamed with the feisty Miss Agathe against French fan favorite Jimmy Gavroche and Sara Elektra from Finland. I don’t think Sara had ever been rag-tagged so badly in her life as in that match, and it was a valuable lesson for her about the relentless world of pro wrestling. I have always had the same philosophy with training and wrestling, regardless of whether it’s been a man or woman. Pro wrestling is an incredibly hard and remorseless grind physically, and if there ever was a thing called Sexual Equality, the world of pro wrestling is such a place. Hell, I recall facing multi-time Japanese women’s wrestling champion Kana on several occasions a couple of years back, and her kicks were on par with those thrown by Masakatsu Funaki!
On November 15, I celebrated my 20th year in pro wrestling with The Roast of StarBuck at Hotel Presidentti in Helsinki. Although January 7 was officially my anniversary career landmark, FCF Wrestling wanted to toast and roast my contributions to the grappling game at year’s end. Many names from my past dropped by to grill me, including media personality Wilma Schlizewski, Renne Korppila of Radio NRJ, my uncle Lasse, former amateur champion Jouni Mörsky and FCF’s Valentine and Robert Holmström. The best verbal jabs were dealt by Holmström, Valentine and Korppila, who had no mercy on my poor person. Regardless, I was a good sport and hung in there for the duration, until once again, Ricky Vendetta tried to ruin even this occasion as my wife Diana gave me a closing blindfolded lap dance. Vendetta tried to assault me with the trophy FCF handed to me as a commemorative token, which I was able to avoid and then procede to lay a beating on Vendetta, sending him scurrying out of the ring to await his final judgement at Talvisota IX this upcoming February 7, 2015 in Helsinki.
To cap off my eventful 2014, I was asked by Europe’s biggest MMA organization M-1 to ring announce their M-1 Challenge 54 / ACB 12 event in St. Petersburg, Russia on December 17. I did the ring announcing for the M-1 Semi-Finals in 2010 in Helsinki, and M-1 president Vadim Finkelchtein recalled that I did a great job for his organization then. One of the things that I have always prided myself on is having a strong voice and dynamic delivery. This has proven to be an asset for me over 2014, as I have had a slew of voice-over jobs through Finland’s oldest voice-over agency, Dictum.fi. I was once again able to parlay my talents and offer my voice to ring announcing for the M-1 Global live stream of their event from St. Petersburg. I was told the organization was more than happy with my work this time also, and hopefully we’ll be able to work together in 2015.
Yours Truly in a snazzy suit ring announcing M-1 in St. Petersburg.
Thanks to all my fans for the support over 2014. 2015 should be even bigger and better, as the Spandex Sapiens documentary movie about me hits the silver screen this autumn. Stay tuned to http://www.starbuck.fi for developments and all the latest!
What a noteworthy event Syyskuun Selkäsauna was for FCF Wrestling this past Saturday in Helsinki! First and foremost, the MMA barrier in Finland has been breached and busted now with the arrival of Tuomas “Unbeatable” Simola. For anyone who doesn’t know, this guy has an astounding MMA record of 77-0-1. Now, he has stormed the gates of FCF Wrestling, issuing an open challenge to anyone in the FCF locker room to take him on. Take a look at this video from the event to see it all go down:
We had the new Class of 2014 make their debut at the show. Actually, five out of seven students made their debut, of which only one – Julia Kyy – was able to claim a victory. Nonetheless, this new group of students showed heart and good fighting spirit, which is a good case to build on, heading into the next FCF event upcoming on November 15 in Helsinki.
Syyskuun Selkäsauna also saw the departures of both Aurora Flame and El Excentrico, who are moving out of Finland to try their luck abroad in the wrestling world.
Yet, amidst all of the hulabaloo (as the people in Finland say), the one thing that left a bitter aftertaste was the underhanded chicanery of Ricky Vendetta, who assaulted me with a monkey wrench during my introduction of the Class of 2014 to the live audience, causing a hairline fracture in my ribs. I had to get taped up for my match against Vendetta that night, and I am lucky that my physiotherapist friend Tuija Pelkonen from Lihashuoltamo was on hand in the audience. I had asked her to come, since we were filming some things with my cornerman for the evening, former 7-time Finnish bodybuilding champion, Boogie Mustonen, and I needed Tuija’s expert advice on some of Boogie’s medical operations, since Boogie wants to return to pro wrestling next year.
Ricky Vendetta really did a damned dirty thing, attacking me in his orchestrated manner. There was no way that I was backing out of my match against Vendetta. Not after he has spent all spring and summer this year boasting about pinning me twice in tag team matches, after other opponents have offered him timely assists in making those wins come about over myself. Syyskuun Selkäsauna was supposed to me the moment of retribution for Ricky Vendetta as far as I was concerned, but he managed to thwart my plans by injuring my ribs before the match ever took place.
In the match, Vendetta assaulted me straight from the opening bell, blindsiding me and laying it on heavy. I had to literally fight for my life, looking for every opportunity and small opening to make a comeback, and finally, I was able to catch him out at one critical moment of the match, turning the tide for a short spell. Vendetta however assaulted my ribs with knees and kicks again and again, and soon, I was back down trying to find air. I managed to trap Vendetta in a crossface submission, which I will now purpose to take as my hold of choice in my quest to make Ricky boy tap out, as I have promised to do. Heck, I’ll even christen my version of the hold and call it the Canadian Crossface, or the Rebel Lock! How about that, Ricky Vendetta? Put that in your pipe and smoke it, as you think of the inevitable hour when StarBuck clamps that Rebel Lock on you and makes you wish you were back in your mother’s arms, nursing like a baby!
Vendetta’s cornerman and tag partner Stark Adder ran interference at the most crucial moment of the match, just when I had Vendetta tapping out to the crossface! Luckily, my cornerman, Boogie Mustonen, saw to it that Adder was eliminated from the equasion, but not before Vendetta was able to jab me with a shoulderblock to my damaged ribs and sneak in an illegal leverage pin, which, for the life of me, I cannot understand how the referee did not see. Even the fans at Hotel Presidentti were howling disparagingly at the official for the crappy call, and rightfully so. How the ref could have been so ignorant of Vendetta’s feet on the ropes as illegal leverage in making the pinfall is beyond me!
I have to admit that Vendetta is determined, at any cost, to try and make me a stepping stone in his wrestling career. Yet, after this past weekend, he is going to have hell to pay for choosing this latest route of indiscretion. I will not stop until I have beaten this young, belligerent bald-headed punk within an inch of his life. It’s one thing to aspire to greatness. It’s another thing altogether to miscalculate the cost of getting there.
Ricky Vendetta has now posted a check that his body cannot afford to cash.
Me personally, I’m really waiting for this coming September 13th in Helsinki, when I finally get my hands on one Ricky Vendetta, mano y mano.
Since April of this year, young, brash Vendetta has been boasting about gaining a couple of tainted victories over Yours Truly. Victories that were afforded him by third parties. Firstly, his initial pinfall team win over me came at the assist of Heimo Ukonselkä back in April in a six-man main event at FCF Wrestling’s Jatkosota 2014. Then, at Snacky Slam! this past July in another six-man encounter, Vendetta scored another pin on my via the timely interference of his partner, Stark Adder.
Now, were I Ricky Vendetta, I would probably be pretty stoked after gaining the biggest pinfall wins of my three-year career so far. I’d also be an excited young pup, reveling in the feeling of getting the upper hand on a time-tested veteran and multi-time pro wrestling champion around the world. Yeah, it would be a big ego boost.
But were I Ricky Vendetta, I would also consider the truth that I never actually defeated my esteemed opponent by my own merits. No, I’d consider that I had a huge helping hand, one that saved my hide at the most critical moment of the match, just as I was about to go down. Someone else afforded me a break. I’d be thankful, were I Ricky Vendetta. I’d also be very concerned.
Ricky Vendetta would like to believe he’s going to have the upper hand again come September 13.
At FCF Wrestling’s Syyskuun Selkäsauna on September 13th at Hotel Presidentti in downtown Helsinki, Ricky Vendetta is going be in for a reality check. He is going to hurt. Oh yes, Ricky Vendetta will be facing the grim face of reality, the cold hand of truth. This will be his reckoning day, when the bells will toll. Plus, this time, to ensure that Ricky Vendetta doesn’t have any of his pals like Stark Adder messing with our match, I will have former Finnish and European bodybuilding champion and legend, Boogie Mustonen, in my corner. Oh yes, Ricky Vendetta, prepare to pay the piper on September 13th!
Bodybuilding legend Boogie Mustonen will be my cornerman at Syyskuun Selkäsauna
I have an inspirational story, one which will both enamor and enthrall a lot of readers. As everyone knows by now, I am the pioneer of professional wrestling in Finland, dating back to 2003, when I became the first person ever in Finland to take the grappling game to a learning level. I’ve coached pretty everyone and anyone who has ever come onto the scene out of Finland. Back before we started domestic Finnish pro wrestling, it bears to be mentioned that there were a few strongmen and bodybuilders, who, being daring showmen as well, dallied in what very well may be considered as backyard wrestling to a large degree in the late 1990s.
There was a circle of four guys: strongman and former amateur champion Jouni Morsky (who wrestled as Normann the Viking), Tony Halme (who wrestled to international fame as WWF’s Ludvig Borga from 1994), bodybuilder Jyrki Savolainen (nicknamed “Indian” RIP; was trained for pro wrestling in Australia in the mid-’90s) and a guy called Boogie “Commando” Mustonen (who was a Finnish and European bodybuilding champion). Out of the four, I got to know every one of them at some stage during 1997 through their “promoter”, a shyster-kind of fellow who had a few dealings with the Russian mafia. His name was Jussi, and he was actually put down by the Russians after a deal of some sort went bad. But it was Jussi who introduced me to Mörsky and to Boogie during the spring of 1997.
Boogie Commando from around 1996-1997
When I first met him, I thought Boogie “Commando” Mustonen was a big-headed bastard, who thought he knew everything there was to know about the wrestling business. He had been trained by a bald-headed Andy-something-or-other in Australia in 1993. I have no idea what this Andy fellow taught Boogie, because he didn’t know anything about the business, period. The “matches” that the four various Finnish guys were having amongst themselves were far from professional wrestling. They pretty much consisted of three moves, done to overkill: a bodyslam, a clothesline and an elbow smash. Everything else was ramshackle brawling. I was going to the referee between Mustonen and Mörsky in a 2/3 falls match that they’d have in Äänekoski, Finland that summer. Boogie came across as proud, a real peacock, someone who just let you understand that you were beneath them. That was 17-years ago, and now, after I met the man again this past week, I am glad to say that he has changed for the better. Really, there has been a complete turn-around in the person of one Boogie Mustonen.
This past Thursday, I played a leading role in a television commercial shoot for a Sport & Spa hotel named Vesileppis, in Leppävirta, Finland. It’s really an amazing complex, complete with a 1.4 km ski-track deep underground that you can use even in the summertime, a year-round ice hockey rink, full-blown pool and spa area and tons of outside sports activities and possibilities. It’s like a nexus, a center for sports in the eastern Finnish province and area in which it is located. In the commercial, I play myself, complete in wrestling gear, alongside the Vesileppis mascot, which is a ladybug.
The Vesileppis mascot named Spa and me, as I play Sport
Well, Boogie Mustonen literally lives across the road from Vesileppis Hotel, where the wife and I were stationed during my commercial shoot. The owner of Vesileppis Hotel, a nice guy named Kimmo, wanted to organize a meeting between me and Boogie. Kimmo told me that Boogie had changed a lot, that he had an entirely new lease on life, after going through some horrendously hard times in his personal life in recent years. Mustonen has endured bowel cancer, he has had a kidney replaced, and he has gone through a blood poisoning episode, which led in turn to partial paralysis from the waist down for a period of six weeks. In addition, he has a faithful, old English Bulldog named Möykky, who is on his last legs now.
Boogie’s old, faithful buddy Möykky is on his last legs
Now at age 50, the shit hit the proverbial fan for Boogie this past year, when after going through kidney replacement surgery, he still wanted to compete in bodybuilding one more time at the upcoming annual Fitness Expo in Lahti, Finland. That is when his wife, Marjo-Nina, served him with an ultimatum, that she would file for divorce if he decided to risk his new, replacement kidney through bodybuilding competition anymore. The bottom line is, that the worst thing you can do to a kidney is to deplete it of hydration, which is exactly what happens when competitive bodybuilders diet down to the bone, draining their bodies dry to be as cut and lean as possible. Boogie saw the writing on the wall: game over.
Boogie poses with multi-time Mr. Olympia, Dorian Yates of the UK
Yesterday, as I was visiting Boogie at his home gym, he told me that he tried getting excited about discus throwing after his last bodybuilding aspirations went down the drain. Discus didn’t do it for him, Mustonen knew it wasn’t his game. Deep down, Boogie Mustonen knew who and what he was: a showman. He was an entertainer, who loved being in the spotlight. And something still ate at him, like acid on the soul. It was his last match, a July 1997 bout against Tony Halme in Joensuu, Finland. I was referee for their match, which can be seen in the three links below. It’s not a good match by any stretch of the imagination. It’s really quite terrible, a complete mess. It also happened to be, unbeknowst to Mustonen, his try-out match for Otto Wanz’s gigantic CWA (Catch Wrestling Association, in operation 1973-1999) promotion out of Austria. Had Boogie made good in the match against Halme, he very well might have gotten signed with Wanz, and he could have ended up making money in our business, but it was not to be.
Halme cursed underneath his breath to me after the outing, “Have you ever seen such a shit match?!”
He was right. It was downright drivel. Not the way a man wants his career in any field to be remembered. No, everyone out their wants their last standout memory from whatever etaph along the road of life to be a proud one. A tale that you tell excitedly about to your grandchildren one day. That is the marker that you want to leave behind.
Boogie Mustonen never got to clear the table, nor to give his soul rest in this matter. He never got to wrestle another match, a better match. A good, final memory.
Tony Halme vs. Boogie Mustonen in Joensuu 1997, with me officiating
So here we are, in the year 2014, 17-years after the fact, and Boogie tells me that he wants it now. He wants to come back and clear his name and wash clean his memory of the flop against Halme. I am astounded as I listen to him. He has passion in his voice, a determination. He really wants this. At 50, he’s not going to be denied.
So I tell him, “I will train you.” I have the track record to make him take me seriously. Boogie understands, that StarBuck IS professional wrestling here in Finland. If you want to go to the top, you have to learn from the best. And today, even at age 41, I can still say that with the knowledge that I have, I am the best here in this game. So we did a trade: being a former bodybuilding champion, Boogie coaches me in fine-tuning my body, my chassis, with which I ply my trade. In turn, I coach him in making a comeback match in Finnish professional wrestling.
Fine-tuning muscle-building techique with bent-over rows
I hope that Boogie Mustonen has the heart and drive to pull this one through. Bygones are bygones. The big-headed bastard from yesteryear has disappeared. In his place stands a humble, ambitious, grown man, who wants to do his soul and pride right. I want to support him every step of the way.
It’s like the past never happened, Boogie is a great guy!
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