One week back, on June 29 in Rauma, Finland, we held the most significant international pro wrestling card in all of Northern Europe this summer, entitled Wrestle Aid 2019.
With top talents flying to Finland to take part in this big event, in the end we had wrestlers from 10 countries represented: Japan, USA, Puerto Rico, Spain, England, Estonia, Holland, Ireland, Canada and Finland.
This all was done to help raise charity funds for the Finnish Muscular Dystrophy Association, Lihastautiliitto, to help those with ALS and Duschenne Muscular Dystrophy to take part in wheelchair-assisted sports.
The entire concept of Wrestle Aid came about as the brainchild of one of the event organizers, Riku Forsström of Rauma, where the event was held. Riku is a long-time Duschenne patient, eclipsing the typical lifespan of contemporaries with his condition by well over 10 years. It was at the express request of Riku that I booked all of the talent that was on hand at Wrestle Aid, allowing the man to live his dream and see the top-notch international stars that we had at the event live.
In the opening cruiserweight match, “MDogg” Matt Cross (Son of Havoc from Lucha Underground) defeated Finland’s “Luchadore of Lapland” Jami Aalto in 7:49 following a picture-perfect Shooting Star Press off the top rope.
The second match featured tag team action, with Carlos Zamora of Spain and Mikk Vainula of Estonia besting the Finnish tandem of Polar Pekko and Patrik Mieto in 8:28 when Vainula delivered a thunderous Jackhammer to Mieto for the winning pinfall.
In what was billed a Medieval Rules match sans disqualifications and countouts, Finnish “Wildman” Heimo Ukonselkä defeated Holland’s big man, Jurn Simmons, in a wild brawl after a big boot out of nowhere in 10:29.
Ireland’s phenomenal 18-year-old sensation Scotty Davis fell to Finland’s Viktor Tykki in 7:48 of match time after a ring-shaking backpack slam.
Local son of Rauma, Toni Tamminen, bested long-time Finnish ring veteran Stark Adder in 12:31 after nabbing a crucifix pin in mid-action.
“The Japanese Buzzsaw” TAJIRI overcame arch-rival “The Rebel” StarBuck after 20:02 via pinfall upon finally delivering a successful Buzzsaw Kick to the Finnish pro wrestling pioneer’s head.
Meiko Satomura of Japan defeated Ivelisse Velez of Puerto Rico and Sadie Gibbs of England in 10:10 in a heated women’s Triple Threat match when she pinned Ivelisse following her renowned Death Valley Driver.
All of the action and excitement of Wrestle Aid 2019 will be available for one more week on ISTV through www.is.fi as a streaming service, so be sure to check out this stellar event through your device of choice and also follow SLAM! Wrestling Finland in Instagram, Facebook and Twitter as we deliver photo galleries of each match-up this coming week daily.
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