Wednesday, September 12, 2001
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Wednesday, September 12, 2001 |
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Fayette man brings pro wrestling show to the area
By MICHAEL
BOYLAN David Penzer was always a fan of wrestling and in October he will share his love with Fayette County with a wrestling extravaganza that will benefit the Fayette County High School wrestling program. Penzer began working with WCW Wrestling in 1989 and worked his way up through the ranks. He began booking the talent for the television and eventually got more opportunities, thanks to a background in emceeing. In 1993, he began working as a ring announcer and over the next eight years he traveled around the country with WCW. The job of the ring announcer is to pump the crowds up, fill them in on any changes and of course, announce the wrestlers. "I never missed a Monday Nitro," said Penzer. "I also worked Thunder and the monthly pay per view programs." Over the years, Penzer worked with such wrestlers as Ric Flair, Randy "Macho Man" Savage, and Georgia's own Goldberg. There were even times where he would get caught in the middle of the action. He "got beat up" by Savage, Jeff Jarrett and survived a "Diamond Cutter" from Diamond Dallas Page. Through WCW he also formed friendships with wrestlers who live in Fayette County includign Paul Orndorff, Chris Benoit, and Johnny Grunge from the tag team duo of Public Enemy. Earlier this year WCW was sold to the World Wrestling Federation and Penzer, like many other people from WCW, was out of a job. During a concert at the Fourth of July festivities at the Kiwanis Complex in Fayetteville, Penzer had an idea that the building would be a great place for a wrestling event. "I talked with Coach Bailey, the wrestling coach at Fayette County high School, and we both agreed that the event could help raise some money for the team. Many of the professional wrestlers I know got their start in high school wrestling and would love to be able to give something back." If the event goes well, Penzer would like to put on a show once every few months and have the event benefit each of the county high school's wrestling programs. The wrestling extravaganza, set for Oct. 6, will be fan-friendly and will not feature some of the more adult material featured on television. It will begin with a FanFest, where the fans will get to meet all of the wrestlers and get their autographs. The wrestlers featured in what is being hailed as the South Atlanta Showdown will be Buff Bagwell, managed by Coach Bailey, versus Disco Inferno, an Anything Goes Tables Match with Public Enemy versus the Southside Juggalos, a Legends Match with "The living Legend" Larry Zybysko versus Terry Taylor, Sgt. Buddy Lee Parker versus David Young and an NWA Wildside TV Title Match between Adam Jacobs and The Iceman. Chris benoit and "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff will be on hand at the FanFest. Tickets for the event are on sale now at .... They will also be on sale at the Pro Wrestling International booth at the Kiwanis Fair, Sept. 24-29. There will be several autogrpah sessions during the fair. Fans will get a chance to meet Buff Bagwell, Thursday, Sept. 27 from 7-9 p.m.; Fit Finlay on Friday, Sept. 28 from 7-9 p.m. and Legendary Manager "The Mouth of the South" Jimmy Hart on Saturday, Sept. 29 from 1-4 p.m. Advance tickets for the South Atlanta Showdown are $12 for adults and $10 for children under the age of 12. Tickets will be available the day of the event for $15 for adults and $12 for children under the age of 12. Additional information is available at prowrestlinginternational.com.
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