Posts Tagged ‘sports’

It’s been nearly two weeks since Halloween night, where I lost the SLAM! Wrestling championship.

Only now, after taking a much needed respite, have I had time to let the dust settle and have things sink in.

In one of the most personal rivalries of my three-decade worldwide professional wrestling career, the culmination of my feud with “Back Breaker” Dylan Broda came to a climax on October 31, 2025 at SLAM! Wrestling’s Halloween Hell event, held in Vantaa, Finland.

StarBuck vs Dylan Broda SLAM wrestling championship Halloween Hell 2025
SLAM! Halloween Hell, Oct. 31, 2025.

It should be noted that Dylan Broda cut his teeth in the pro wrestling game under me. He was among the first students I ever had at the SLAM! Pro Wrestling Boot Camp and he was one of the first two to graduate. He showed an aptitude for the game, picking things up very quickly. Being that he was from Ontario, Canada, I propositioned to him that we ought to start a wrestling podcast for the international market together, and that we did. It was called Shootin’ the Shizzat and it ran for about four years, before Dylan ran into some major personal issues that made it impossible to continue.

Shootin’ the Shizzat was the top pro wrestling podcast out of the Nordics of Europe for its time.

It was during that time that Dylan changed as a person. He got bitter, angry and resentful. Maybe he was just mirroring what was happening in his own life onto the world around him. Regardless, he became an antagonistic man who just avoided doing anything but the bare minimum and then – BOOM! – he was out the door again. Personally, I chagrined seeing him change for the worse. Ultimately, his wayward attitude caused him to resent me as his coach and the learning tree that he grew up under in our business.

On October 31 of this year, it was a No-DQ Texas D€ath Match – the first of its kind ever in the 22-year history of professional wrestling in Finland – and it was so due to the very personal, bitter nature of this rivalry. Dylan said he would only agree to the stipulation if I – as the reigning champion and CEO of SLAM! Wrestling Entertainment – were to put any possible rematch clause, my shares in the company as well as the title on the line. And so I did, because this whole thing needed to end.

SLAM! Halloween Hell, Oct. 31, 2025.

Sometimes in life, the Russian Roulette doesn’t pay off. Such was the case here.

I originally won the SLAM! Championship back on February 10, 2024 in Helsinki at SUPERSLAM!, where I put my three-decade career on the line in my last attempt to vie for the title, then held by former WWE NXT UK superstar, Sam Gradwell. I made good on that quest and kept my career alive, going on to carry the championship for over a year and a half, defending against some of the biggest and best names in the wrestling industry both here in Europe and from around the world.

SLAM! Halloween Hell, Oct. 31, 2025.

Yet, as the book of Ecclesiastes says, there is a time and place for all things under heaven. My time came to a close, at least as champion, on October 31 of this year. I was unceremoniously choked out with a steel chain by Dylan Broda after his good of a bodyguard struck me in the back of the head with said steel chain around his fist. The officiating referee for the match, Aki Mäki, called for the bell and brought a halt to the match after I could not get any more air and fight back. And so, Dylan Broda was crowned the new SLAM! Champion.

SLAM! Halloween Hell, Oct. 31, 2025.

Now, I put up my part of the shares in SLAM! Wrestling Entertainment upon the contractual demands set forth by Broda’s shill lawyer, Urpo Myyrä, in order for his client to accept the terms of the severe beating that he was going to be dealt upon entering the No-DQ Texas D€ath Match at Halloween Hell. Broda has taken the lowest road possible leading up to this match, taking jabs at my ill father and making underhanded comments about my family, in order to get under my skin.

And that he did. I let him get under my skin because he disrespected not just me but went after my family. Any man of any integrity at all would have done the same thing in retort. Unless someone has succumbed to being a beta cuck, there is no way that a man will allow disrespect to pass unanswered.

Yet, things aren’t quite as clear as Dylan and his lawyer would have hoped for. I personally feel that Urpo Myyrä is one of those lawyers at the bottom of the totem pole, who is just looking for his lucky break. Dylan probably took another low road in hiring the cheapest shill possible in the aspirations of claiming head shareholding stakes in SLAM! Wrestling. My legal team has looked at the fine print drafted up by Myyrä & Son’s office and they’ve found some discrepancies that I am not at leisure to go into at depth at this stage. Let me just say that things are a bit… up in the air in that regard at the moment. Like they say: anything can happen in the world of pro wrestling.

SLAM! Halloween Hell, Oct. 31, 2025.

I might have lost any rematch possibility due to the nature of the match contract at Halloween Hell, but in order to defend my honor and that of my family, that was a risk I was willing to take and I have no regrets in that aspect. Dylan has a long list of hungry foes to look forward to, eager to knock him off his lofty perch, while my legal team deals with this outlandish lawsuit that Broda imposed with Myyrä over the summer on SLAM! Wrestling.

SLAM! Halloween Hell, Oct. 31, 2025.

With all that said, I’d like to thank all the fans and supporters who backed me during the epic run that I had as SLAM! Champion for year and eight months plus that I carried the torch of my company. It was one helluva ride.

SLAM! Halloween Hell, Oct. 31, 2025.

Photos: Marko Simonen / SLAM! Wrestling Entertainment Ltd.

It’s been three days since my title fight – and I do mean FIGHT – with Sam Gradwell this past weekend at Rytmikorjaamo in Seinäjoki, Finland.

I’m busted up, bruised, contused and heartbroken. No, I did not win the SLAM! championship. But neither did I concede the match.

Scenes from a personal war (photo: Marko Simonen / slamwres.com)

Sam Gradwell assaulted me mercilessly, to the point that I was unable to defensively answer back. It was the official, Teemu Kytösaari, that ultimately called a halt to the match by referee’s decision.

I had been sick for two weeks prior to this pivotal and all-important bout. At the worst possible time, I got hit with whatever virus or influenza is making the rounds in Finland at the moment. Every second person seems to be sick with it. I wasn’t spared, either.

Wrestling SLAM in Seinäjoki, Dec. 9, 2023. (photo: Marko Simonen / slamwres.com)

For two weeks, I was unable to prepare for the match. No physical training, no exercise. I was damn near bed-ridden for the first week when I caught the bug. During the second week, I went on antibiotics four days prior to the match. Quite literally, I pulled a proverbial rabbit out of the hat at less than 100%.

If there is one thing that I have learned in the day and age of social media, it is that you never let them see you bleed. If you bleed, if you suffer, you do so in silence. You do not tote cracks in your armor before the whole world to see. That is just plain stupidity and pearls before swine.

In so saying, I can’t let it end like this. Now, this has become a story of redemption, simply by proxy.

No place for disgrace (photo: Marko Simonen / slamwres.com)

I have given 30 years of my life to professional wrestling. January 7 will be the three decade watermark since my very first match back in 1994 against my coach, Lance Storm, in Calgary, Canada. The fact that after all these years, I can still be active at a main event level is a testament to longevity and something that I take personal gratification and great pride in.

The fact that, at the age of 50, I can wrestle for a half-hour still, just as I did this past weekend at Wrestling SLAM in Seinäjoki against a beast of a man in Sam Gradwell, is something that I do not take lightly. Show me who else at my age can do what I do. Show me, because I’m waiting to see that list.

You haven’t lived until you’ve fought for your life (photo: Marko Simonen / slamwres.com)

So at the end of all this, I have purposed to build myself back to not only full health following whatever this damn thing is that has ransacked my body, but also, I will redeem what I need to redeem following the brutal beating that I took this past weekend at the hands of Sam Gradwell.

SLAM! Wrestling Finland has an event entitled SUPERSLAM on February 10 in Helsinki at Mall of Tripla’s Black Box 360. I’m going to talk to the grand commissioner of European pro wrestling, Marty Jones out of England, and I’m going to lobby for the rematch. Marty resided with full jurisdiction over the title match that Gradwell and I had this past Saturday, and Marty has the power to make the rematch happen, because I rescinded all of my personal power over the ongoings and outcome of Saturday’s match to Marty in the spirit of fair play.

Heart is the one thing that you cannot teach (photo: Marko Simonen / slamwres.com)

First though, I am going to take this holiday season and time to heal up.

I’m broken.

This summer, I will be hosting and coaching the very first SLAM! Pro Wrestling Boot Camp 2020, just in time for the market to free up enough from the COVID-19 restrictions that participation will be possible and legal.

We have a superb training hall reserved in the Hannus suburb of Espoo, Finland, right beside Helsinki.  The place is located beside Länsiväylä motorway and public transport by bus takes you right beside our training hall.  In addition, a huge, new Lidl food store is next to our establishment and Iso Omena shopping center, voted the top shopping mall in Finland not too long ago, is only 1km away.

This summer, under the auspices of Yours Truly, you will be able to apply yourself to learning all aspects of the grappling game inside the squared circle: from chain wrestling and submissions, to bumps and falls, to ring positioning and rope work, to throws and lifts, to character presence and mic skills, and beyond… you will be able to learn the ins and outs of the world of professional wrestling from one of the masters (even if I say so myself), and the most highly-acclaimed professional wrestler in Northern European history: “The Rebel” StarBuck.

Folks, I have taught talents now since 2003 in seven different countries: Japan, Italy, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark and Russia.  Many of my students have gone on to wrestle extensively abroad all around the world.  The lessons you will learn from me are lessons passed down from the old school, where fundamentals and realism are key.

fake-or-break-camp-2014-denmark1

StarBuck teaching a wrestling camp in Denmark 2014, with participants from 4 countries.

If you would like to be a part of this groundbreaking opportunity in Finland, hit me up at info@slamwres.com and tell why you would like to be involved in this intensive summer course.  Be sure to attach a recent photo full-body of yourself and prepare to train twice weekly for the next three months, every Monday and Thursday night.

This is your chance… grasp for the brass ring and make it count!!!

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Get ready for the real deal, this is true-grit, honest, world-class pro wrestling coaching!

 

There are days that just feel haggard when you get older.  The body starts to show the signs of wear and tear and you realize there ain’t no way in hell you’re getting your former self back.  Today was one of those days for Yours Truly.

Just like everyone else out there, I’ve seen all the bodybuilding and fitness magazines promising “constant development” and shit like that, but let me assure you, that’s a crock.  Unless you’re on the gas (steroids) or other performance-enhancers, the body just begins to turn against you at a certain point after you’ve outlived your youth, and believe me when I tell you, then you are just trying to stem the tide anymore.

After wrestling for on top of two decades, one tends to build up a specific list of nagging injuries and physical setbacks.  The joints hurt, the body becomes increasingly stiff.  Certain ranges of motion induce pain.  Then you must push through the pain barrier (unless it serves to inflammate your current state of being) and clear your personal aging hurdles.  Because, seriously, what other choices do you have?

That’s not to say that it’s game over when the tipping point arrives, no sir, not at all!  Of course, the relevance of a healthy lifestyle and healthy eating habits become all the more pronounced as the years wear on.  But there’s more.  There comes the pivotal moment, when you have to change your game.  You have to dig deeper and play smarter.  There is no surcease.  There is no cease-fire.  I mean, let’s be honest, if you choose to give up when the pain starts to come and the body starts to rebel against its owner, then all you’ll have left to look forward to is a painful and slow death.  You absolutely MUST stay in the fight.  Quitting is NOT an option.

Choose your hard

Believe me, there have been countless times when I just couldn’t have cared less about hitting the track or banging it out another day in the gym.  It’s a lot like a long marriage, I guess.  There are days that you are sick and tired of it all, and then there are days that make it all worth the while.  And at the days end you still know deep down, that if you chose to give up on this chosen path, there would be more negatives that positives waiting for you.  Therefore, you choose to persist.

I remember watching the Rocky Balboa movie back in 2008 and feeling inspired even back then at the following motivational clip, which I am really starting to relate to after spending two decades plus in the pro wrestling game…

Let me assure you, life doesn’t feel like the movies.  Romance and love do not work in real life like they do in the movies.  Fights do not look or feel anything like they are portrayed in the movies.  No one has a backing soundtrack in this life.  All we have is that little voice deep within our heads and something called heart, or lack thereof.  At the end of the day, it’s just sheer willpower and persistence that makes the difference in anyone’s life.  Forget talk of motivation.  Do not wait for someone or something to motivate you.  YOU have to go out there and make it happen!  Remember, there are no such things as excuses, only reasons why things don’t get done.

out of gas

People are always looking for the quick fix, the fountain of youth, the magic formula.  Allow me to let you in on something: THEY DON’T EXIST.  The commercial powers that be have duped you.  They’ve lied to you for years.  Some of you still believe the sales pitches.  Like a good politician herding the sheep in every four years, some folks still want to believe in what may as well be termed “something for nothing.”

The cold, hard truth is: there are no free rides, no easy money, no shortcuts to the goal.  There is only hard work, sweat, struggle and persistence.

where-there-is-no-struggle

On October 26 in Vantaa, Finland, I make my in-ring comeback after rehabbing my C6-C7 vertebrae, against fan favorite grappler Sly Sebastian. This event, entitled Lokakuun Luuvitonen (basically and loosely translated in english: An October punch in the face!), will also be FCF Wrestling‘s comeback to the city of Vantaa, where FCF last appeared in February 2009.

Back on May 11 this year, when I won the BWA Catchweight championship from Valentine in Espoo, Finland, Sly Sebastian put out his challenge for my newly-won title immediately after the match. However, at the time, FCF General Manager Kristian Kurki had other plans for FCF’s next event on June 8, where I was to defend my new gold strap against Sweden’s Conny Mejsel. Therefore, Sly Sebastian never got his wish fulfilled, but alas, here we are in the month of October and all is right in the world again, as now, the young lion gets to prove his worth against the pioneer of our sport here in Finland on October 26 at Vantaa’s Vernissa venue.

I am not putting the BWA title on the line in this match, because like I told Sly back in May, he has to earn his shot at the belt, which means either he has to score notable victories over established names in singles matches, or then he has to beat me in a non-title match. Sly has mainly been a tag team competitor alongside punker Vili Luupää over the past year, and I really don’t see reasonable grounds to just throw out and offer him a title opportunity as of yet.  Maybe in some ways, Sly is experiencing “young lion syndrome“, which bears reading up on, if you are unfamiliar with the concept.

Nonetheless, if the young man Sly Sebastian manages to get the duke on me on October 26 in my Finnish comeback match, then I will be more than happy to oblige and give him his sought-after title contention opportunity.

Sly Sebastian is ambitious, that is for sure. He has improved his game especially over the past year in leaps and bounds, and he is rising up the ladder. But wanting to bite off a chunk that is too big to chew might prove fatal for the young lion at Lokakuun Luuvitonen on October 26 in Vantaa…

Vernissa2013_match_banner_starbuck_sly

 

Lokakuun Luuvitonen

26.10.2013. Showtime @ 18:00, doors 17:30

Kulttuuritalo Vernissa

Tikkurilantie 36, 01300 Vantaa

The Vernissa cafeteria will be open during the event.

Tickets:

Ringside seats: 20e (Attn: limited amount available!)

Other tickets (standing room only): 12e in advance, 15e at the door.

Ticket pre-sales on till 20.10.2013

Buy your tickets here: www.fightclubfinland.fi/kauppa

vernissa2013_paikkakartta