26 SEP 06: A REAL BACKBREAKER

Oh no! First Riverfest is canceled for next year -- and now Columbus apparently has lost another professional sport! If we didn't know better, we'd think Hugo Chavez had become mayor and everyone was protesting....

The latest "sport" to leave Columbus is professional wrestling. The wrestling news web site of Steve Gerweck reported Monday "Great Championship Wrestling" is moving its matches -- all the way to Phenix City! Add this to Club Roc and the Wal-Mart SuperCenter, and people will start saying, "WHAT Park Crossing?!"

For more than two years Great Championship Wrestling matches have been held (I wouldn't dare write "staged") in the old Burnham Industries building near Cooper Creek Park. In fact, it was converted into the "GCW Sports Arena" -- but for some reason, the promoters never added an ice rink so the Cottonmouths could practice there.

But the whole wrestling equation apparently had a reversal Saturday night. The Gerweck web site reports GCW now has new owners, who plan to move the matches across the river. But maybe this had to happen. Maybe when WWE wrestlers appeared at the Columbus Civic Center three weeks ago, the promoters had their own "loser leaves town" match.

GCW fans reportedly were told over the weekend weekly wrestling cards now will take place at the recently-closed Phenix City Skate-a-Rama on the 280 Bypass. In fact, the rink may reopen on other nights of the week - so people who aren't good enough to wrestle could become roller derby stars instead.

But there's another big switch in the works at Great Championship Wrestling - as the weekly matches will move from Saturday nights to Wednesdays. The new owners reportedly believe there's too much competition from other local events on Saturdays. So this is a major victory for the Columbus Symphony Orchestra....

(Somebody's gotta ask it: what are these new owners thinking? There's plenty of competition in Columbus on Wednesday nights as well -- called prayer meetings.)

For all the talk of Columbus being a wrestling town, Steve Gerweck's web site notes attendance at GCW matches has been rather small. Last Saturday night's card attracted about 350 fans. Yeow - I think even the Columbus Catfish do better than that, on nights with regular-priced beer.

The report from Steve Gerweck's web site notes the changes were announced at the third annual "Fred Ward Memorial" wrestling card -- and the new owners are taking over for the "retired" Jerry Oates. One famous wrestling name in Columbus is dead, while another is retiring. The next "legends" event might require Dan Masters to take a night off from "The Edge" magazine.

In a way, I can see why Great Championship Wrestling is moving to a different location. For one thing, suppose a Texas Death Match gets out of hand. The former Skate-a-Rama on the 280 Bypass is close to that new hospital....

And this move of pro wrestling to Phenix City is a big win for Mayor Jeff Hardin, just one year before he's up for reelection. He campaigned on getting a theater in the city - and now he has theatre of a very different sort.

On the other hand, how could the city of Columbus possibly let a wrestling troupe get away like this? I mean, the Saints were persuaded to stay in New Orleans after the hurricane. Where was the financial incentive package, negotiated by the Chamber of Commerce?

THE BIG BLOG QUESTION was changed Monday afternoon, and now pits the candidates for Columbus Mayor against each other. We'll see if the loss of professional wrestling has a major impact on the vote - although the addition of write-in Burt Coker might have almost as much impact.

It's six weeks until Election Day, and some people are telling me they expected "more fireworks" from the mayor's race by now. Perhaps this poll will stir up the powder keg a bit - but then again, we ARE in a city where the only legal fireworks are sparklers.

Our last Big Blog Question ends with 57 percent of you (4-3) supporting the "Can Man." They said it's OK for my neighbors at the apartment complex to leave beer cans outside on the ground, for wandering collectors to pick up. We should alert "Keep Columbus Beautiful" that we do NOT track the IP addresses of our voters -- so don't even ask.

E-MAIL UPDATE: Back to the world of entertainment for a moment:

For some red light entertainment on a Sunday go to the intersection of Macon and University and watch the teen selling newspapers .. He dances better than Michael Jackson...

Hmmmm - OK, if you say so. But when I saw the words "red light entertainment," I thought this writer was going to recommend a strip club on Victory Drive.

It's a long wait until next Sunday, so for now you'll have to settle for these short items from Monday:

+ Which local activist sent e-mails all over Columbus, with a title saying the person's group "mourns the LOST of Lonnie Jackson"? Maybe this activist needs to spend a couple of Saturday mornings in tutorial English at Eastway School.

+ Max Wilkes told WRBL he was fired last week as Phenix City's Municipal Court Clerk, only six months short of his retirement. This has to sting a little - especially every time he drives past a "TitleMax" business, and realizes he doesn't have one anymore.

(Phenix City Council member John Storey explained Max Wilkes was released because the city budget is tight - and besides, Wilkes was paid $30,000 more than he should have been due to a city error. So Wilkes already has his city pension money, if he hurries up and puts it in the bank....)

+ The wives of several Russell County sheriff's deputies gathered outside the county courthouse for a small protest. From what I saw on TV, these women have every right to complain about a lack of income - because they can't afford to visit top-dollar hairstylists.

(One business with a big marquee along the 280 Bypass has put up the words: "WE SUPPORT OUR SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT." That's nice to remember -- because if the county commission doesn't approve big raises, it may have to provide support. The financial kind....)

+ Crews set up the Greater Columbus Fair for today's grand opening. Robin Walker with the Columbus Civic Center promised this year's fair will have something new. Hmmmm - how many calories does a reduced-fat funnel cake have?

+ The Historic Columbus Foundation announced instead of Riverfest next year, it will bring a big-name speaker to town for a November fundraiser. How about Bill Cosby? He could take issue with some of the musical acts presented at Riverfest in recent years.

+ Alabama gubernatorial candidate Lucy Baxley spoke at a Democratic Party rally in Phenix City. WXTX "News at Ten" showed Baxley holding a copy of incumbent Bob Riley's "plan for change." If a Republican was given a Democrat's campaign book, it probably would be burned to a crisp by now.

+ The LaGrange Daily News reported on Zeek Cofield of Callaway High School - who was crowned Homecoming King last Friday night at halftime, then returned the second-half kickoff at the football game 99 yards for a touchdown. Now there's a man who REALLY wants a second dance with the Homecoming Queen.

+ Former University of Georgia coach Vince Dooley spoke at the Columbus Quarterback Club - and said yes, the Bulldogs DO have a quarterback controversy right now. Hearing these words from Dooley seems a bit like some hearing retired Army generals talk down the mission in Iraq.

+ The Atlanta Falcons fell to New Orleans 23-3, at the grand reopening of the Superdome. One week after Michael Koenen had two field goals blocked, Morten Andersen watched the Saints block an attempt from 25 yards. That settles it -- the Falcons need a better holder.

+ Instant Message to Falcons radio announcer Wes Durham: Are you sure about that? You said Roman Harper of New Orleans was a three-year starter at Alabama under "Coaches Shula, Franchione and Price." Was Mike Price in Tuscaloosa long enough to even NAME any starters?

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