Posts Tagged ‘StarBuck’

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.

This coming weekend on Saturday, April 5, my company SLAM! Wrestling debuts in Sweden with Stockholm SLAM! at Telefonfabriken.

This event will feature premiere European wrestling talents from ten different countries in action, in seven diverse and thrilling matches.

Stockholm SLAM! Telefonfabriken April 5, 2025

The question, then: Why SLAM! in Sweden?

Well, it has always been a goal of mine to expand to new markets. You only live once. And as Walt Disney once said, “If you dare to dream, dream BIG!”.

Sweden has a much larger population base than Finland and Estonia combined; markets that we now serve and have done so since our inception in 2018. Before that, COVID sabotaged any means of moving forward and cast everything into muddy waters.

Now, however, is a new day. This is carpe diem for SLAM! Wrestling here in 2025.

With the release of Dark Side of the Ring’s Ludvig Borga episode yesterday on the worldwide stage, wherein I play a key role, the timing couldn’t be any better.

The match card has been specifically booked to offer a real plethora of interesting bouts for the whole family, featuring: a SLAM! Women’s Championship match, a Triple Threat match, tag team matches and men’s singles matches.

If you want to see professional wrestling presented with a sports-based feel, with high quality talent and international flavor, then Stockholm SLAM! is for you. Ten different nationalties in action, seven diverse and thrilling matches on the card.

Tickets available in limited quantities as the capacity is quickly filling up, so I would advise acting quickly: billetto.se/en/e/stockholm-slam-biljetter-1165479

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.

Today marks 27 years since I started my in-ring, active professional wrestling career.

My first match was on January 7, 1994 at the Victoria Park Civic Center in Calgary, Canada. I worked against one of my coaches, Lance Storm, who went on to become a champion in ECW, WCW and WWE.

I recall how my good friend Chris Jericho, now with AEW, lent me a pair of his old tights that he wore alongside Lance in their tag team, Sudden Impact. Chris also gifted me my first pair of wrestling boots for that encounter, a pair of plain black ones, which I have somewhere in storage back in Canada to this day.

My match with Lance was seven minutes on the nose, and Lance pinned me after a competitive outing that I was afforded by hitting a jack-knife pin after a powerbomb. The guys in the dressing room clapped it up afterwards, including my other coach, Karl “Jason The Terrible” Moffat, Lenny St. Clair (AEW’s Luther), Beef Wellington, Jericho and others, claiming it was the second best match on the card that night. The top honors went to Beef Wellington vs. Chris Jericho in the main event.

So here’s to a look back at 27 years ago half a world away. Today, I run my own wrestling company, SLAM! Wrestling, in Finland and Estonia, as well as being an active wrestler at the age of 47, still able to pull 30-minute matches with ease.

Life is for living, so I embrace every day that the Good Lord gives me and I’m thankful for the 22 countries and four continents I’ve been able to ply my trade in, and thanks to all the bookers and promoters who made it possible!

(photos by Sam Leppänen, Sander Burmeister and Rob Haynes)

26 years

Today marks 26 years since my professional debut as a wrestler.  I owe it to my coaches, Lance Storm (WWE, WCW, ECW), who is currently working for WWE as an agent, and Karl Moffat, who used to wrestle in the ’80s and ’90s as Jason the Terrible under a hockey mask (Stampede Wrestling, Capitol Sports Puerto Rico, All-Japan and New Japan Pro Wrestling), as they started me off right and gave me the mindset and tools to make it this far.

After 22 countries on four continents, coaching in seven countries worldwide since 2003 and being a champion and main event player the world over, I can only be grateful that my career is still rolling strong at the age of 46.

I’ve had setbacks and injuries, faced the challenges that age brings to the game, navigated through the shark-infested waters of wrestling politics and petty shenanigans, and steered the course so that here in 2020, I’m spearheading my own wrestling promotion, SLAM! Wrestling Finland, with operations in both Finland and Estonia, with much more to come.

I’m thankful to the Good Lord above, in whom I steadfastly trust as any credible rebel these days would, for giving me the health, longevity and blessing to extend an in-ring career and professional achievement that no one in the Nordics of Europe has yet to surpass.

Here’s to the future, and to the challenges and victories that lay ahead!

StarBuck at SLAM! Wrestling Finland Mega Launch, March 22, 2019 in Helsinki

StarBuck at SLAM! Wrestling Finland Mega Launch, 22/3/2019 Helsinki (photo: Marko Simonen)

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.

Wrestle Aid wrestlers with Riku

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.

SLAM-Wrestle-Aid-2019-111

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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“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.

SLAM-Wrestle-Aid-2019-759.jpg

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.

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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.

For those of you who might have missed it, I was on my old buddy Chris Jericho’s Talk is Jericho podcast recently.  You can check out the whole episode HERE!

Talk is Jericho

Also, I’ve got some huge news for you all!  The next super-spectacular SLAM! Wrestling Finland event happens on June 29 this summer on the West Coast of Finland in Rauma.  It’s called Wrestle Aid 2019 and part of the proceeds are going to the Muscular Dystrophy Foundation (Lihastautiliitto Ry) in Finland to help those with ALS and Duschenne Muscular Dystrophy to partake in sports while their situation still warrants it.

It’s a fantastic cause, and you certainly should be supporting this big event and the ethical framework of its intent.  We’ve got top wrestlers coming in from eight different countries for Wrestle Aid: TAJIRI from Japan, Ivelisse from Puerto Rico, Matt Cross from the USA, Jurn Simmons from Holland, Chris Ridgeway and Sadie Gibbs from England, Shanna from Portugal and several others are slated to appear in action on June 29 at the biggest, international pro wrestling mega-event of the summer in the Nordics of Europe!

Wrestle Aid poster SLAM Wrestling Finland

Tickets for Wrestle Aid are NOW AVAILABLE through Ticketmaster in Finland HERE.

This coming Friday in Helsinki, I’ll be personally promoting the biggest, international pro wrestling event ever to be held in the Nordics of Europe.

It’s called SLAM! Wrestling Finland Mega Launch, and it’ll feature top talents from 10 different countries in seven dynamic, differently-themed matches on a two-and-a-half hour live show to be streamed live across Finland on ISTV.

SLAM Mega Launch sponsors SQUARE NEWEST 20 SPONSORS

The entire function of this Mega Launch show is to give people in Finland a clear-cut look at what all SLAM! Wrestling Finland has to offer.  From Triple Threat three-way matches to tag team matches to singles matches featuring big men vs. big men, big men vs. small men and damn good technical wrestlers against one another, to Hardcore matches to women’s matches to title matches, Mega Launch has it all!

It’s like legendary wrestling promoter Eddie Graham from Florida said back in the day (paraphrasing): “I believe a wrestling card has to offer something for everyone.”  Well, that’s exactly what Mega Launch is offering.

Match banner tag team MEGA LAUNCH

In the first match, it’ll be the Estonian contingent of Big Mikk Vainula and Kert Kukk – the Estonian Boyz – against the Finnish duo of Jami Aalto and Polar Pekko.  Methinks this is going to be a fast and furious opener at Mega Launch, with both young teams full of piss and vinegar, hungry to prove that they have what it takes to make it in the dog-eat-dog world of pro wrestling.  Expect some quality bang for your buck in this one!

Match banner Malmsteen vs Adder MEGA LAUNCH

“The Stockholm Playboy” Ken Malmsteen arrives in Helsinki on March 22 to take on “Metal Warrior” Stark Adder in a battle of polar opposites.  This one is a re-visitation of the age-old hatred between the Swedes and the Finns.  Both men have been in the wrestling game for well over a decade and are grizzled veterans.  Expect the proverbial fur to fly in this one!

Match banner Ivan vs Heimo MEGA LAUNCH

In a super-intriguing match-up, “The Russian Ass-Kicker” Ivan Markov takes on “Wildman” Heimo Ukonselkä in a Hardcore match at Mega Launch!  I foresee this one breaking down into a complete donnybrook and the weapons are going to be out en masse before long!  Both of these guys are known for their nasty brawling strikes and dirty tricks, so it’ll be a true battle between Russia and Finland – another age-old grudge that refuses to die – on March 22 in Helsinki.

Match banner Renegade vs Shemeikka MEGA LAUNCH

It’s a battle of David vs. Goliath at SLAM! Wrestling Finland Mega Launch on March 22 in Helsinki as Finnish luchadore, the 1.7m “Ghost of Karelia” Shemeikka, takes on the 1.9m “Renegade” David Turger of Hungary.  This is literally a story of speed and agility versus power and brute force in a match that is easy for anyone to comprehend and appreciate.  I’m really looking forward to this one, and the polarizing dynamic between these two combatants’ styles.

Match banner Fabio vs StarBuck MEGA LAUNCH

It wouldn’t be right if I didn’t put myself in the mix at an event of this magnitude as an event organizer, so I accepted the offer made to me by Germany’s IPW organization for something they are calling the Circle of Champions tournament, taking part in the latter half of this year in Lübeck, Germany.  It’s a tournament that brings together the best pro wrestlers in all of Europe who have been champions in their own right.  The qualification match for myself and my opponent, Fabio Ferrari of Italy, will take place for the Circle of Champions at Mega Launch.  To make things even more interesting, former two-time European welterweight boxing champion Juho Haapoja will be serving as our special guest referee.  This one is anyone’s ballgame on March 22.

Match banner Girls Triple Threat MEGA LAUNCH

Talk about beauty, skill and charisma all in one package!  This women’s Triple Threat match-up will be for the Queen of Southside women’s championship out of the UK, held by Shanna of Portugal, who puts her title on the line against “Russian Crush” Natalia Markova and “The Pin-Up Punisher” Betty Rose of Sweden.  This is arguably the biggest challenge so far in Betty’s young wrestling career and she will have two of the toughest female veterans of the game against her at Mega Launch as the first girl to score a submission or pinfall wins the match… and the championship!

Match banner Davies vs Tiny MEGA LAUNCH

In the huge, colossal main event of SLAM! Wrestling Finland Mega Launch, the 1.91m/190kg Demolition Davies of Germany puts his WAW European Heavyweight Championship title on the line against the challenge of the 1.92m/127kg Tiny Iron of England.  This is literally King Kong vs. Godzilla, a match that could be a main event anywhere in the world, and it’s taking place for all the marbles on March 22 in Helsinki.  There will be over 400kg of humanity in the ring at the same time (counting in the referee also) in this gigantic main event monster mash, which alone is already worth the price of admission!  Who is taking home the gold leaving Helsinki?  Be on hand to find out as it doesn’t get any bigger than this!

All that said, even my old buddy, former WWE world champion, Chris Jericho, is excited about Mega Launch!  Take a look at what Y2J has to say about my huge show in Helsinki this week:

Get your tickets now while you still can for March 22 through Ticketmaster Finland via this LINK!  Normal tickets are 25€, Silver upper balcony tickets (with small condiments served) are 45€ and Golden ringside seats with catering included are 65€ a piece.

Be a part of pro wrestling history in the Nordics of Europe this week on Friday, March 22 in Helsinki as SLAM! Wrestling Finland Mega Launch blows the roof off of Helsinki!!!

https://youtu.be/Vp42ykVz9Iw

SLAM Mega Launch 1200 x 1200 TICKETMASTER

Howdy ho, folks!  I’ve got some news for those amongst you who don’t yet know, that I’ve started a new pro wrestling podcast with fellow Canadian Dylan Broda, who is also living here in Finland and working as a pro wrestling referee.  Our show is called Shootin’ The Shizzat and it’s available on iTunes, Spotify, Podbean and Soundcloud.

I heartily recommend y’all checking out our in-depth verbatim and compelling jabber on all things pro wrestling, at times joined by select, carefully-chosen guests from the world of pro wrestling, such as legendary British grappler and multi-time world champion, Marty Jones from the UK, and Japanese wrestling journalist Fumi Saito from Japan to date.

Shootin' The Shizzat

Dylan Broda on the left, StarBuck on the right: Shootin’ The Shizzat!

We’re just getting started as the we launched the podcast under two months ago, with weekly episodes, but it’s already gotten fantastic feedback from the global professional wrestling sector!  So be sure to check us out, you won’t regret it!

If you are a business and you’d like to sponsor the show, contact me directly through my website contact form that you can find on this site, and join the list of our program supporters like SLAM! Wrestling Finland, Redd Skull Hot Sauce, Marko Simonen Photography, Earl Creative Media and others!

Join us and follow our show and you’ll be Shootin’ The Shizzat before you know it!