Man, it’s been a long time.

Some weeks ago, I had a discussion with a business partner about the blogging culture being a thing of the past. They corrected me and said, no, it’s still as vibrant as ever and people read up on interesting stuff. For the longest time, I thought that the blog had gone the way of the attention span at large and had been eaten up by quick videos and the like.

Well, I figured to write after a long time of radio silence on the blog front.

Firstly and foremost because I’ve come to a very pivotal moment in my wrestling career and a milestone year in general. You see, 20 years back in 2003, I started coaching wrestling hopefuls here in Finland, then situated out of the city of Kerava with that first class. Now, 20 years later, I’ve coached all around Europe and even in Japan, and I run SLAM! Wrestling Finland, operating in both Finland and Estonia.

It was this year that I looked at what I’d achieved, creating an entire wrestling scene in a country where we nothing of the like, save what was shown on television since the late 1980s. I looked at two decades of hard pioneering work, the ups and the downs, the trials and tribulations, and I got a little hungry again.

Firstly, I got SLAM! Wrestling onto a Finnish television channel called Eveo this past Spring. That’s channel 17 in this country. They’ve got national exposure, so that means we’re seen in 100% of Finnish households. As a matter of fact, we got two SLAM! Wrestling shows on their channel on a weekly basis: Painin otteessa (In Wrestling’s Grip) and SLAM! Boot Camp, which are consistently in the top three most viewed programs on the station. That’s pretty admirable.

On top of that, we’ve been able to procure bigger and more notable contracts with large organizers in both Finland and Estonia, enabling us to grow the brand through relentless persistence and tireless grinding. It’s been a slow but steady build but things are paying off, finally.

Then, I looked at myself. Where I was here in 2023 at the age of 50.

Dammit all, the age of 50. Man, time just flies and here I still am, in this crazy business called professional wrestling, doing what I love to do, regardless of the odds. Here, at the ass-end of the world, up in Finland, right next to the Arctic Circle. Hell, most people in the world don’t even know where Finland falls geographically on the world map!

But yeah. I looked at myself and all that I’ve achieved in this zany, surreal world that has been my chosen passion called professional wrestling. And then I realized… I want to become a champion again.

I’ve got that chance now, upcoming on December 9 in Seinäjoki, Finland, where I face the new face of my company, a man called Sam Gradwell. It’s going to be a match for the one title I’ve never held: the SLAM! Championship. My company’s title.

I’m a bit torn to be honest. Torn because I want this to be a fair shake, without anyone pointing fingers saying that I doctored the result afterward into my own favor. Torn because it is, after all, my company. Torn because I don’t feel that in some light it’s fair that I pursue the championship of my own company.

So I went the extra mile and I outsourced the jurisdiction of this upcoming SLAM! Championship title match at Wrestling SLAM in Seinäjoki at the legendary Rytmikorjaamo club, coming up December 9. I went and reached out to an old comrade and someone I hold in high regard, the grand commissioner of European professional wrestling: Marty Jones of England.

Now, Marty Jones is not only a seven-time world heavyweight champion and one of the most respected legends ever out of Europe. He’s also the man that trained Sam Gradwell.

The SLAM! Champion, Sam Gradwell, who is – right now – arguably one of the most dominant wrestlers of the modern era in all of Europe.

Yes, I handed over governing authority over the coming SLAM! Championship title match between myself and Sam Gradwell on December 9 to Marty Jones, cut and dry.

Come hell or high water, I am washing my hands of any wrongdoing or coercion when it comes to the outcome of Gradwell vs. StarBuck. Marty has the pen, Marty has the final say. For this match, I’m just a wrestler, not a boss. Not the CEO Michael Majalahti, but the 30-year pro wrestling veteran, “The Rebel” StarBuck.

I don’t just want this match. I NEED this match. I need it for my own sake, for the warrior inside of me, for the competitor, for the lion king inside to rise to the occasion.

Yeah, I want to be a champion again. In the footsteps of champions like Nick Bockwinkel, Dave “Fit” Finlay and my old friend, Chris Jericho – each of them wrestling at a very high, main event level past the age of 50.

Because I’ve always believed that if you want an extraordinary life, you must be willing to do extraordinary things.

December 9 is going to be one of the most important days of my life. I can feel it.