May 31, 1999 was Memorial Day all throughout the United States. In Climax, MI, per usual, it was also Founders' Day. And with Founders' Day came all the usual gatherings and events like the parade, brats from Rotary and more. But in 1999, a vastly different attraction was added. The American Legion was the site of Climax's first-ever pro wrestling event dubbed "Scotts Wrestling Federation presents The Memorial Mauling." Normally, I write articles in third person, but this one I feel obligated to write as Kevin. It's just too fun of a memory not to.
If you didn't know, I worked in the pro wrestling industry for twenty-two years. I got to do a lot of amazing things and travel a lot of amazing places, largely getting to live out childhood dreams. Having said that...The Memorial Mauling was only the fourth event of which I was any part in my entire life. Yep, this is five weeks into my wrestling career, and lemme tell ya...this match is a little rough to watch! I barely had any training of what to do in the ring and had NEVER performed in front of people. In hindsight, I had no business wrestling and even less promoting a show.
Thankfully, I had a very supportive and even more forgiving audience in the Climax-Scotts Community!
Between not being even close to good enough physical conditioning to wrestle, my nerves and a temperature, if memory serves, of about 64000 degrees that day, I was a mess. I even got sick under the ring at one point! Watching this is somewhere at the intersection of "why did I ever do that" and "one of the best days of my life."
As much as I can barely stand to watch this knowing now what I didn't know then, it's still very endeared to my heart. It was just one of the many foolish ventures of my life where I had the full support of the people of C-S behind me.
In the video above, relive, in "all its glory" the match that was Lee Asherman with Amber Thurman (1997 Graduate Kathleen Weessies) as he took on the hometown boy, from Timberlake Campground in Climax, Michigan, Lumberjack Flash. Don't let the hairline fool ya, that's a much younger version of me on the day of my nineteenth birthday!
Now, as to the often asked question if there will ever be another Memorial Mauling...never say never...
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