StarBuck | | Page 11

Posts Tagged ‘StarBuck’

Six-man roughhouse

Posted: March 26, 2014 in Professional Wrestling
Tags: action, challenge, Ecki Eckstein, FCF Wrestling, Heimo Ukonselkä, Kristian Kurki, match, Pro Wrestling, Ricky Vendetta, Sly Sebastian, StarBuck, Stark Adder, Steve Austin, Stone Cold, tag team, WCW

This past weekend in Hannover, Germany, I was part of a six-man tag team match-up that served as a good warm-up for the six-man slobberknocker that will take place on April 12 in Helsinki at FCF Wrestling’s Jatkosota 2014.

In Hannover, I teamed with Ecki Eckstein and Stampede Simon to face the trio of American bad boy Sam Elias, Val Verde and Johnny Rancid. I was particularly impressed with Sam Elias, who reminded me more than a bit of early Steve Austin, circa. 1991-1193 in WCW. Elias caught me out with a wicked knee to the gut, after which his team laid the heat on heavy. I stayed alive, with the “Eye of the Tiger” blazing in my spirit, and rallied back to tag in Eckstein, who capitalized on the situation and scored the win for our team, pinning Rancid with a powerbomb.

On April 12 in Helsinki, however, the stakes are even higher, after the upset win that Sly Sebastian scored over Finnish wrestling veteran Stark Adder at Talvistoa VIII this past March 8 in the tag team encounter between Sly and partner Kristian Kurki against Adder and Ricky Vendetta. I forecast already in my FCF Year in Review 2013 blog, that Sly Sebastian was really starting to take off, after honing his skills patiently as a wrestler over the past three years. Sly finally pulled off his biggest career win at Talvisota VIII, even if it was in tag team action, and now Stark Adder is raving mad about the upset. Adder wants to trample out the flickers in Sly’s eyes before blaze gets out of control, and so Adder and Vendetta have recruited new FCF champion, “Wildman” Heimo Ukonselkä, to be their partner on April 12 and challenge Sly and Kurki to a six-man rumble. That’s where I decided to take up the slack and offer myself as Sly’s and Kurki’s partner for FCF’s Jatkosota event.

Both Sly and Kurki helped Yours Truly this past January, when with Mikko Maestro as our fourth member, we overcame the team of Swedish snobs, Bättre Folk. Therefore, now it’s my turn to help them, as they answered the call at my behest last time.

As an additional note: this spring season, both Ricky Vendetta and I were asked to be a part of “Duudsonit tuli taloon” (The Extreme Dudesons, Finland’s version of Jackass) TV-series, which will be airing on MTV in Finland. Check program listings here: http://www.mtv.fi/duudsonit/

Ricky Vendetta and I will be featured on the Dudesons TV show this spring.

Bodyslam bonanza in Belgium

Posted: March 18, 2014 in Professional Wrestling, Travel
Tags: Belgium, Bernard Vandamme, Brugges, champion, Cybernic Machine, EPW, Eurostars, Germany, Hannover, Pro Wrestling, StarBuck, WNC

This past weekend, I wrestled in Brugges, Belgium for Eurostars. We had a huge audience of nearly 800 screaming fans on hand, main evented by Bernard Vandamme (whom I lost the WNC title to just over a week ago in Helsinki) vs. Eurostars European champion, Cybernic Machine, in a “loser-must-retire” match. The feud between Vandamme and Cybernic has been going on for three years already, stemming back to when Cybernic captured the European title from Vandamme, and now this past weekend, it reached its climax. Cybernic machine was ushered into retirement, and Vandamme became a double-champion, holding both the WNC and European titles now. This win makes Vandamme a 5-time Eurostars European champion (two of those wins have been over Yours Truly, in 2007 and 2009).

Bernard Vandamme, the new European wrestling champion (photo: City Brugges)

In the semi-main event of the card, I faced a promising young 18-year-old talent from Andorra, named Tyson Heel. The kid honestly looked in great shape and had the muscular structure of a 25-year-old serious trainer, but my veteran savvy and experience just overpowered him. I fell the young man with a superkick for the pin, after he missed a top rope flipping senton. Heel hung in there, though. I have to give it to him, he was ambitious, but it was too little, too late for him.

Tyson Heel put up a game fight against Yours Truly (photo: City Brugges)

This coming weekend, I gear up to wrestle in Hannover, Germany for EPW at Hanger No. 5, so get ready Deutschland!

The Evil that Men do

Posted: March 11, 2014 in Life, Professional Wrestling, Social commentary
Tags: Bernard Vandamme, BWA, evil, Finland, Helsinki, Miss D, StarBuck, stretcher match, Talvisota VIII, Valentine, WNC

After a hellacious night of wrestling warfare in Helsinki this past weekend at the biggest yearly event in Finnish professional wrestling, I found myself losing … and losing big!

I entered the event with my head held high, a dual-champion, representing both Britain and Japan. However, after the dust had settled, I left the ring dejected, having lost both the BWA Catchweight title to Valentine, as well as the WNC championship to Bernard Vandamme. To add salt to my wounds, I also lost the services of my wife, Miss D, as my ringside valet, since the stipulation in the match with Valentine was that should I lose the match (and BWA title), my wife’s career would also be on the line. In other words, FCF Wrestling’s Talvisota VIII was a royal flush for me … right down the proverbial shitter.

Firstly, the long-awaited Stretcher Match that I had with Valentine was a war that I gladly accepted and looked forward to. After the match, his face was marred and his front tooth chipped, after all that he and his Bättre Folk cohorts instigated against my wife and I over the past year. This was a bittersweet revenge for me, and although I lost the match, which could only end in a pinfall, I gained my measure of retribution. Valentine used a foreign object, which I heard were brass knuckles, on my ribs, and in the end, threw salt into my eyes before nailing his Code Breaker finsiher to pin me down for the win. After I was able to shake the stinging from my eyes, I paid Valentine back in spades, piledriving him three times – two of those head-first on a steel chair. Valentine was carted out of the ring with his newly-acquired BWA title draped unceremoniously across his prone carcass. Miss D even got her own personal comeuppance against Valentine’s Bättre Folk valet, Barbie, slapping the devious wench to the canvas after the match. I was happy over all of the dished out retribution, even in defeat.

However, my WNC title defense against Belgium’s powerhouse Bernard Vandamme was an even more bitter pill for me. I was battle-weary, but Vandamme demanded his match immediately after I duelled Valentine. With the heart of a hero, there was no way I was backing down. I fought with all I had, but Vandamme was fresh, and he laid the heat on hard and heavy. It took just under two-minutes for my assailant to score the victory, with an Oklahoma Stampede powerslam. Lo and behold, in one fell swoop, wihtin one night, I lost two championships.

Now, in this life, there is no up without the down, no happiness without sadness, and no good without evil. Everything is relative, in addition: the higher you climb, the further down you have to fall. After reaching the pinnacle, the top of the mountain, the only way is down. No one stays on top forever.

So now, in the face of this monumental, personal defeat at Talvisota VIII, starts the climb back up the mountain for this wayfaring, battle-worn ring veteran. But mark my words, I will rise like a phoenix from the ashes. My ego and spirit are too strong to be denied.

It wasn’t only me, that suffered a crushing loss at Talvisota VIII. The FCF Wrestling championship changed hands at the event, as the incredibly-popular champion Tuho Torvinen lost his prestigious title to ”Wildman” Heimo Ukonselkä. Ukonselkä played a very aggressive and dirty game against Torvinen, laying the champion out with the butt of his battle axe, which is a part of the Wildman’s gimmick regalia during his ring entrances. Torvinen’s bell was visibly wrung, and the man was never able to fully regain his senses and sustain a prolonged flurry of offense. In just over 10-minutes, Ukonselkä countered Torvinen’s football tackle charge, nailing the champion with a powerful big boot to the face, after which the winning pinfall was academic.

Perhaps the lesson to be learned here is, that as Iron Maiden once sang, ”The evil that men do lives on and on.”

Yet, like a phoenix, the good will rise from the ashes. Just watch us.

StarBuck defeats TAJIRI for the WNC title!

Posted: March 3, 2014 in Life, Professional Wrestling
Tags: Akira Nogami, Bernard Vandamme, champion, Eurostars, fight, Japan, Japanese Buzzsaw, match, Pro Wrestling, puroresu, StarBuck, Synapse, Syuri Kondou, Tajiri, Tokyo, WNC, Wrestling New Classic

I just came home last night from a tremendous few days in Tokyo, where this past Thursday night, February 27, I defeated my long-time nemesis “The Japanese Buzzsaw” Yoshihiro Tajiri for the WNC (Wrestling New Classic) championship title.

Our match was grueling and hard, as Tajiri laid his kicks into me so hard that I thought I was a soccer ball. He went after my arm, the psychology of which I only understood later on in the match when I attempted to first hoist Tajiri for my trademark finisher, the spike piledriver. He was able to escape by capturing my weakened arm on the lift portion of the move, trapping me in a unique submission attempt. I made a rope escape, and moments later, as Tajiri charged me, I caught him out with a hotshot, landing his throat on the top rope, after which I immediately captialized with a successful spike piledriver for the pinfall and victory.

Tajiri kicks awat at me (photo by Yuichi Kojima)

This win puts good ol’ StarBuck into the wrestling history books, as the fourth WNC champion in history, behind Akira Nogami, Osamu Nishimura and Tajiri. On a personal note, this victory was incredibly sweet for me, as I returned to Japan after a nine-month absence, during which I had to rehabilitate my herniated neck. In my first match back to Japan since May 2013, the fans at Shinjuku Face arena in Tokyo exploded in support of Yours Truly, rallying behind with much support as I claimed the WNC title.

The piledriver spells title victory! (photo by Yuichi Kojima)

Tajiri and I have had our wars, and I highly respect him as one of my greatest opponents ever. In 2010, we traded the FCF championship back and forth a couple of times. In 2011, I defeated Tajiri in the finals of the SMASH title tournament to become the first SMASH champion. Now, in 2014, I was able to go over Tajiri to claim the WNC championship.

With my friends Mayumi and Dr. Terasaki at Antonio Inoki’s famous Saka Bar

It should also be noted, that at the end of the night, after I had won the title, my Synapse teammates entered the ring and Akira Nogami took the mic, announcing that our group is disbanding and going our separate ways. I would like to thank Akira, Syuri Kondou, Yusuke Kodama and Horizon (the latest member of Synapse) for the times that we had as a unit. I never fought alongside Kodama or Horizon, as they joined the team after my last tour of Japan in May 2013, prior to my return now this past week, but with Akira and Syuri I team on numerous occasions. We were a dominant in 2012-2013, but all good things must come to an end, and so it is with the tale of Synapse. No bad blood, no remorse, no regrets. A friendly parting, with mutual respect displayed by all.

Synapse’s last stand (photo by Michiro Tomita)

More infos: www.wnc-pro.com

Now, this coming Saturday at Winter War VIII in Helsinki, Finland, the WNC organization has demanded that I defend my newly-won crown against the challenge of former European wrestling champion, Bernard Vandamme!

I already have a gruelling Stretcher Match against Valentine for the BWA title, and with my wife’s valet career riding on the line, so this new development means double duty for me on the night of March 8 in Helsinki!

I will have to be training like an animal all this week to get ready for the double-edged sword that awaits me. You can be sure that Vandamme remembers 2006, when I tood the Eurostars European championship from him at the first first Talvisota event in Vantaa, Finland, and this means Vandamme would be hungrier than ever to redeem himself against me now with the WNC title riding on the line.

I am not turning away any challengers, however, regardless of the circumstances. Bernard Vandamme can bring it on, because this old war horse is waiting for him. The Alpha Male, try to take his piece of meat away from him.

The Hell of a Winter War

Posted: March 3, 2014 in Life, Professional Wrestling
Tags: battle, FCF Wrestling, fight, Helsinki, Miss D, revenge, StarBuck, stretcher match, Talvisota, Valentine, vendetta, vengeance, Winter War

This coming Saturday night in Helsinki, Finland, FCF Wrestling celebrates the eighth annual installment of Winter War, Talvisota VIII, which will be held at Sokos Hotel Presidentti.

Talvisota VIII is a monumental card, headlined by FCF champion Tuho Torvinen defending his prestigious title against the challenge of “Wildman” Heimo Ukonselkä and Finland’s very first Stretcher Match, featuring myself against the villainous Valentine.

Now, personally speaking, I have long-awaited this Stretcher Match against Valentine. In fact, I was the one who initially demanded that the match take place, due to the fact that Valentine assaulted my wife almost one year ago in March 2013. I certainly cannot live that moment down, and the scars still remain.

The fact that Valentine did not only assault my wife one single time, but repeated his cowardly act twice thereafter, is something that screams for retribution. No man on this Earth worth their manhood and weight would opt to sit idly and do nothing, as their woman becomes the target of an attack. For this sin, Valentine MUST pay. Talvisota VIII and the Stretcher Match that he and I will do battle in is the judgement that is due to him, and I will be the judge, jury and executioner on the night of March 8 in Helsinki when the bell rings. One of us will be carried out of that ring, laid out on a stretcher, and that means punishment in capitals!

Not only did Valentine finally “man-up” (and in his case, I use the term “man” very loosely) and accept my Stretcher Match challenge for Talvisota VIII, where I will openly put my BWA Catchweight title on the line also, but he also presented his own demand: that I put my wife’s career as my wrestling valet on the line in this match also.

Now my wife, Diana, or Miss D as she is known in wrestling circles, has certainly done nothing to provoke the kinds of attacks that she has endured, nor should she suffer the consequences of collateral damage in the issue between Valentine and myself. Yet, it has come down to this. I am so ready to beat Valentine into oblivion, that I accept his additional demand and stipulation regarding putting my wife’s career on the line at Talvisota VIII. I am going to make him rue the day that he instigated what he has done to my wife.

This coming Saturday, no wrestling fan in Finland should miss the utter destruction of Valentine that I will personally deal out in Helsinki at the biggest wrestling card of the year in this country.

As far as I am concerned, this issue ends on March 8.

My greatest arch-nemesis

Posted: February 11, 2014 in Life, Professional Wrestling, Social commentary
Tags: Bernard Vandamme, Chris Raaber, FCF, feud, Finland, Japan, Michael Kovac, Pro Wrestling, puroresu, StarBuck, Stark Adder, Steve Corino, Tajiri, WNC, Wrestling New Classic

Looking back on my extensive wrestling career, I can say I’ve had a lot of great opponents. Some of those opponents have offered me feuds to remember for a lifetime, matches that I will one day tell my grandchildren about.

Many notable foes come to mind over the years, whom I have had the pleasure of doing battle with: former ECW world champion Steve Corino, ex-GSW champ Michael Kovac, EWA world champion Chris Raaber, my former FCF teammate Hajime Ohara, multi-time Eurostars European champion Bernard Vandamme, former FCF champion Stark Adder, just to name a few. Yet, beyond a shadow of a doubt, the most notorious feud of my wrestling career has been with one “Japanese Buzzsaw” Yoshihiro Tajiri.

Tajiri is, without question, the most persistent adversary I have ever fought. We have duked it out over the FCF championship – putting that title on the map globally as one of the top trophies in our industry today – on a couple of memorable occasions; we have fought over the SMASH championship, which I won in a tournament final in Tokyo, defeating Tajiri in 2011; and now, on February 27 in Tokyo once again, I will face Tajiri for the WNC championship, should he retain his title after a defense against Hiro Tonai on February 23, just days before our showdown.

There’s something to be said for Tajiri as a trailblazer and main mover in the wrestling industry. The man is undoubtedly the most prominent Japanese star in WWE history, being well-featured for nearly six-years and Smackdown and Raw broadcasts, having held the WWE US, WWE Cruiserweight and WWE tag team championships. Tajiri’s trademark kicks have become the stuff of legend, and his famous Buzzsaw Kick has given me more headaches than I care to remember. The man has a brilliant mind, and is one of the smartest people that I have come across in our industry. I have a lot of respect for Yoshihiro Tajiri, and I believe the feeling is mutual.

Now, on February 27 at Shinjuku Face arena in Tokyo, once again, it will be another chapter in the ongoing war between Tajiri and myself. I still clearly remember a couple of concussions that this man gave to me in the heat of battle, in 2010 and 2013. Tajiri kicked one of my front teeth out of my mouth in 2012, which is something that is hard to forget. We have beat each other from pillar to post, from Europe to Asia, and we are still at it, four years after it all began at FCF Wresting’s Talvisota IV event back on February 20, 2010 in Helsinki.

The night that it all began in Helsinki, Talvisota VI (photo by Kari Helenius)

I personally highly look forward to this next encounter with “The Japanese Buzzaw”. I sincerely hope he retains his WNC title against Hiro Tonai on February 23, because I need to pay Tajiri back for some of the damage that he did to me previously, as aforementioned.

This feud is one for the ages.

StarBuck guest DJ’s on Radio Rock

Posted: February 2, 2014 in Life, Music, Professional Wrestling
Tags: Crossfyre, DJ, Finland, hard rock, heavy metal, Marce Rendic, Overnight Sensation, pro wrestler, Radio Rock, StarBuck

I am proud to say that this starting week, from Monday to Friday (February 3 – 7), I will be the guest DJ of the week on Finland’s number one rock radio station, Radio Rock.

Air times for my guest DJ spots are 14:30 and 17:30 in the afternoons throughout the weekdays. Be sure to tune in for my choice picks of my favorite hard rock and metal artists of all time, plus interview verbatim with Yours Truly!

In case you enjoy my verbatim and dig what I do, you can also support “The Rebel’s” rebellion by joining/liking my official Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/therebelstarbuck

Tag war in Gothenburg

Posted: January 30, 2014 in Professional Wrestling
Tags: Conny Mejsel, FCF, fight, Finland, GBG, Gothenburg, Harley Rage, King Kong Karhula, Pro Wrestling, StarBuck, Sweden, tag team, war

This coming weekend in the city of Gothenburg, Sweden, one of the most important matches in Scandinavian wrestling today will be waged between four men. The Swedish contingent of their most popular wrestler, Conny Mejsel, and his hulking partner, the young but very talented Harley Rage (what a name!), will take on Finland’s veteran duo of myself and the lightning-fast 125kg King Kong Karhula.

Now, let’s make no mistake about it: I am no friend of Karhula, nor do I want to mislead anyone into believing so. Yet, for the sake of making a heartfelt statement on Swedish soil this coming Saturday night, February 1, I wanted to bring the former FCF champion, because I can vouche for this man’s talent. I don’t have to like Karhula to do business with him, and serious business it will be in Gothenburg in just a matter of days, when he and I lay waste to the hometown favorite and his big buddy.

Conny Mesjel is someone that I have an outstanding issue with, since he first challenged me for my BWA Catchweight title back in June of last year in Helsinki. I’ve heard that he’s wanted to take me on specifically due to the fact that I am considered to be the ”Lord of Northern European Wrestling”, as they say in Japan.

I can accept that. As a matter of fact, I find that flattering to a large degree. That said, I will not refrain from beating a mudhole into Conny Mejsel and anyone else that he decides to bring with him to the dance, because he is literally asking for it!

Laying out Mesjel with a chair shot in Gothenburg, September 2013

Conny Mejsel wants to be an old school tribute, but he should realize that I am the real thing.

Conny Mejsel is going back to school this coming Saturday in Gothenburg, and his younger friend Harley Rage is going to serve hard time alongside him. Mark my words.

StarBuck’s Subway franchise commercial

Posted: January 22, 2014 in Life, Odds and Ends
Tags: commercial, diet, fast food, Finland, franchise, StarBuck, subs, Subway

Well, here it is, folks! I was asked to play the lead in Subway‘s newest commercial for their American Steakhouse Melt sub. I also did the voiceover speak for the commercial.

Take a look:

United we stand, divided we fall

Posted: January 8, 2014 in Professional Wrestling
Tags: Bättre Folk, Conny Mesjel, Eurosport, FCF Wrestling, Finland vs Sweden, Helsinki, Ice Hockey championships, Kristian Kurki, match, Mikko Maestro, Pro Wrestling, rivalry, Robert Holmström, Sly Sebastian, StarBuck, Steinbolt, Survivor Series, Valentine, WWE

This weekend on Saturday night, January 11, in Helsinki, it’s Finland vs. Sweden in another chapter of an age-old rivarly between these nations.

Hot on the heels of Finland’s Junior Ice Hockey team winning the World Championships against Sweden a few scant days ago, the feelings on both sides of the fence are hot and heavy. Only this time, the battle will be waged in a professional wrestling ring, and not an ice hockey arena.

It seems fitting, that to start off the New Year, the Bättre Folk contingent in FCF Wrestling has set out to claim this year as their own. After my Eurosport co-commentator Robert Holmström issued the challenge for me to round up three partners for myself, right on a live WWE Vintage wrestling broadcast in late December 2013, I knew there was no backing down. Holmström, Valentine, Conny Mejsel and Steinbolt all want to write a new chapter in the annals of Northern European wrestling, by establishing their group as the alpha males to begin the second decade of Finnish professional wrestling. But me, I just can’t have that.

Whether people love me or hate me, the one thing that nobody can take away is the fact that I am the pioneer and founding father of professional wrestling in the country of Finland. This is my heritage, my imprint for all times, for the history books. I’ll be damned if I let some arrogant pack of Swedish prissies and pricks take over here in Finland, as long as I live here and call FCF Wrestling my homebase!

So I thought quick and snappy, right on the air at Eurosport, of who I could ask to be my partners at FCF’s Saturday Wrestling Slam 2 this coming Saturday night. In reality, my choices were self-explanatory.

I thought of all of the wrestlers that Bättre Folk has sabotaged since their inception during the summer of last year. Valentine, Steinbolt and Holmström all assaulted FCF General Manager Kristian Kurki in September. What they didn’t realize is, that Valentine’s backstabber backbreaker to Kurki in that very attack actually set his injured spine back into place, making him able to compete again. Now that is bad news for Bättre Folk!

It was Holmström, Valentine and team valet Barbie that struck out against both Sly Sebastian and I in our singles match back in October. I think Sly has some bones to pick, as that match was to be his testing ground to see whether he could procure a BWA title shot against me. The no-contest ruling following Bättre Folk’s attack in that bout certainly didn’t do Sly’s aspirations any favors. Oh, and I certainly haven’t forgotten about Barbie striking my wife in the melee, either…

Then I thought of my young and ambitious protege, Mikko Maestro, whom Valentine gave a serious concussion to in September during a match between the two. Maestro’s father even emailed me and asked that I beat the living daylights out of Valentine for causing that harm to his son. So really, there you have it: my team, all of whom gladly accepted the invitation to lay the thrashing of a lifetime on Bättre Folk this coming January 11 in Helsinki at Nightclub Tähti.

The bemusing fact is that Robert Holmström, in all of his Machiavellian grandeur and high imagination, feels that he is fit to climb into the ring as an active competitor with his team on January 11. I personally find that both absurd and hilarious! Robert might be a former referee, dating back many years, but he was never schooled to be a wrestler. Refereeing and wrestling are worlds apart, like comparing tomatoes to beef jerky. I really believe that Robert Holmström’s participation in this coming four-on-four Survivor Series-style elimination tag team match at FCF’s Saturday Wrestling Slam 2 will be his team’s downfall.

The bottom line is, this coming Saturday night in Helsinki, this Swedish quartet known as Bättre Folk is in for a world of trouble. They are the catalysts of the woe that they have themselves caused, and now they will all pay the piper … one by one … down they fall … and their fall will be great.

Latest Posts

Categories