Jul 22, 2024

The Return Of Reel Rumble


Mahoning Drive-In Theater - Lehighton, PA
There was a time in my life that I tried to attend as many independent wrestling events in the tri-state area that I possibly could; particularly Ring Of Honor and Chikara.  I still enjoy professional wrestling, but I have too many hobbies and there aren't enough hours in the day to keep up with them all.


The in-ring portion of last year's Reel Rumble event was rained out, so the last indy wrestling event I attended was Reel Rumble III.  This year's Reel Rumble V event included five matches with several wrestlers that we got to see at the Mahoning in 2002, and some familiar faces from the indy wrestling scene that I followed more closely in the years before I went back to college.

The main wrestler from this card that I remember from his days in Chikara and ROH is Hallowicked.  UltraMantis Black once led The Order Of The Neo-Solar Temple in Chikara.  Drew Gulak and Tracy Williams worked in Chikara as a masked tag team called The Colony (Soldier Ant and Green Ant), and Lucky 13 wrestled in Chikara as the masked Retail Dragon.  The card also included ROH-veteran Cheeseburger, and folks who we got to see at Reel Rumble III like Big Dan Champion, Kodama, "La Chica" Clara Carreras, Erica Leigh, and Jeff Cannonball.

Photo by Sergio Valentino
Photo by Sergio Valentino
Photo by Gene Baretta


Most of the photos that you're going to see on this post were taken by the very talented Sergio Valentino (aka: pixematize) who kindly allowed me to share them here.  A small handful of them are mine.  Those will be the ones that don't look nearly as good as Sergio's.





Photo by Sergio Valentino

Results:
  • Athan Promise defeated Ultimo Ant
  • The Lost Boys (Miles Penn and Ryan Ryzz) defeated Club Soda (Jeff Cannonball and Puf)
  • Erica Leigh defeated Vita Von Starr

  • "Honey Mustard" Drew Gulak defeated "Hot Sauce" Tracy Williams
  • Trios Match
    Cheeseburger, Big Dan Champion, and La Chica Carreras defeated Hallowicked, Kodama, and Lucky 13

Many of the wrestlers hung out at the merch tables after the show to meet fans, sign autographs, and take pictures.  Ben, Avery and I all wanted to get a picture with the dude who we all became fans of at the 2002 Reel Rumble, the one and only Big Dan Champion.
 

I didn't want to bug the whole roster for a photo, especially since my spending money is a little slim after VHS Fest, but I had to get a picture with Hallowicked.  The photo on the left was taken on May 26th, 2007 at Chikara Anniversario in Hellertown, PA.  A lot of things have changed over the seventeen years between these two photos, but two things that have not are the fact that he's still wrestling in some of the most fun matches I've ever seen, and I'm still a fan of independent wrestling.

Photo by Sergio Valentino

And that's a wrap on another fun wrestling event under the big screen at the Mahoning Drive-In Theater.  That alone would have been worth the price of admission, but we also got to see the greatest movie ever to star a professional wrestling legend once the sun went down.  More on that tomorrow.

Jul 21, 2024

The Tattoo Bus


The Tattoo Bus
Mahoning Drive-In Theater - Lehighton, PA
This vendor caught my eye as we were setting up our camping chairs at ringside prior to the start of the wrestling show that was about to take place on the lawn under the screen at the Mahoning Drive-In Theater.


The Tattoo Bus is based out of Rochester, New York, and they are essentially a food truck for tattoos.


They were operating on a first come, first serve basis, and were limiting their work to the flash in their portfolio, but I've had an idea of something that I've wanted to get done for a few months now, and this was the perfect opportunity to make it happen.
 

One of my favorite snipes that the Mahoning plays on the screen prior to the first movie of any given night, whether it be for a paying crowd, the Patreon fans, or even the virtual screenings that we watch from home, is for Pic Mosquito Repelling Coils.  It's usually one of the last things that you see before the movie hits the screen, and it's something that even a first-time visitor to the Mahoning is likely to associate with the place.
 

There is no shortage of folks on the lot on any given night who have a Mahoning tattoo.  Some folks have the marquee.  Others have Rico or Pepe from Rico's Nachos, or maybe ticket stubs, or a film reel, or a Jason mask for Camp Blood.  You get the idea.

To the best of my knowledge, nobody has a Pic mosquito tattoo, so that was part of the draw for what I wanted to get done, but I mostly wanted it because I really like the overly dramatic mosquito at the end.  My understanding is that those Pic mosquito coils don't actually kill mosquitos.  They just keep them from flying near you in the first place, so this little guy at the end of the ad is really hamming it up with his pained "bye" before keeling over dead with a flower in his hand.  I've probably seen it a hundred times and it still makes me chuckle every time it comes on the screen.


It's not a super complicated design, and Greg is an extremely cool artist who was willing to draw it up for a guy he just met who didn't even have an appointment.  So...


My little dramatic mosquito friend is now immortalized on my wrists - living on the right and dead on the left, and it was inked while I sat in the shadow of the screen that he appears on every night that the drive-in is open for business.


I wasn't the only one who got some ink at Reel Rumble V.  My wife has become very fond of the squirrels in our backyard since the start of the pandemic.  She feeds them every morning and spends the day working at a desk in front of a window where she can watch them happily munching away at their squirrel food.  So, in honor of her status as Squirrel Momma, she got a nice tattoo of an acorn.  Kate and Carrie were also inspired to get some work done.  They each got an Eye of Ra tattoo, so we now all have a nice memory of a fun day at the drive-in with our found family.
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