Ricky Blues

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Ricky Blues
Ring name(s) "Hard Rock" Ricky Blues
"Street Punk" Ricky Blues
Ricky Blues, Sr.
Born Baltimore, Maryland, United States
Trained by Barry Hardy
Duane Gill
Axl Rotten
Rip Sawyer
Dave Casanova
Debut August 3, 1990
Retired c. 2000

"Hard Rock" Ricky Blues is a semi-retired American professional wrestler and trainer who competed in the East Coast and Mid-Atlantic independent circuit during the 1990s and 2000s. He is regarded as a pioneering cruiserweight wrestler and dominated the Baltimore-area, especially in the Mid-Eastern Wrestling Federation and Maryland Championship Wrestling, in the early to mid-1990s. He also wrestled for Universal Independent Wrestling, the Wrestling Independent Network, Larry Sharpe's World Wrestling Association, and for Doug Flex and Brick Bronsky in International Pro Wrestling.

He was the first MEWF Heavyweight and Light Heavyweight Champion. In 1995 he defeated Mark Shrader for his second reign as the MEWF Light Heavyweight Champion. He was also a 3-time MEWF Tag Team Champion with Nick Tarentino, Flexx Wheeler (1997) and The New Patriot (1999). He and Nick Tarentino, as Sonic Express, were a successful tag team during his early career and together won both the MEWF and WWA Tag Team titles in 1993.

Blues influenced a number of future high-flying cruiserweights and, as an instructor at the Brainbusters Wrestling School, helped train future Ring of Honor star Ruckus. In 2009, he was inducted into the Maryland Wrestling Hall of Fame.

Career

Mid-Eastern Wrestling Federation (1991-1999)

Trained at the Baltimore Monster Factory beginning in February 1990 by Barry Hardy, Duane Gill, Axl Rotten, Rip Sawyer and Dave Casanova, Ricky Blues made his professional debut on August 3, 1990 in promoter Jim Kettner's Delaware based East Coast Wrestling Association as part of the tag team The Chicago Hitmen with Steve Valentino. He spent his first year in various East Coast and Mid-Atlantic independent promotions. The following year, he began wrestling for the Mid-Eastern Wrestling Federation[1] and, on October 11, 1991, appeared on its debut show in Pasadena, Maryland where he defeated Adrian Hall to become the first Light Heavyweight Champion.[2][3] Though he was stripped of the title within a few months, he beat Agent Orange in Odenton on January 18, 1992, to be crowned the first MEWF Heavyweight Champion.[2][4]

Later that year, Blues began teaming with Nick Tarentino as Sonic Express. On October 23, they unsuccessfully challenged Leather & Lace (Rich Carlisle and Adrian Hall) in Essex, Maryland for the then vacant MEWF Tag Team Championship, however, they won the titles a month later in Gaithersburg. They had faced Rich Carlisle and Ricki Lane who substituted for an injured Adrian Hall. After a near 4-month reign, they lost the titles to The Outrageous Ones (Ricki Lane and Quinn Nash) in Dundalk on March 6, 1993.[2][5][6] Two months later in Larry Sharpe's World Wrestling Association, they defeated Chris Evans & Chris Candido in Williamstown, New Jersey for the promotion's tag team titles. They dropped the titles to The Super Jocks (Ed Atlas & Chris Weider) in Clementon on June 4, 1993.[2][7]

Over the next few years, Blues would have memorable bouts against some of the region's top stars including "Stone Cold" Chad Austin,[8] Corporal Punishment and Steve Corino.[9] In the early 1990s he had career defining matches with the [(Lightning Kid / Sean Waltman)] for WIN and WWA, where they battled over Blues' WIN Atlantic State Light Heavyweight Championship. Later, on November 14, 1998, Blues lost to Adam Flash in Hampstead, Maryland in a match for the vacant MEWF Mid-Atlantic Championship.[10] A year later, he and The New Patriot defeated Max Thrasher & Dino Casanova for the MEWF Tag Team titles on November 13, 1999.[2][5]

Maryland Championship Wrestling and semi-retirement (2000-2009)

Around this time, creative differences and salary disputes with the MEWF[11] caused Corporal Punishment and Mark Shrader to leave the promotion and took half its roster with them to form Maryland Championship Wrestling. By early-2000, Blues began wrestling for MCW facing Christian York[12] and Joey Matthews in singles matches in April. In both these matches, Blues was noticeably distracted by fans and, in his April 15 match against Matthews, he left the ring in mid-match to argue with hecklers at ringside.[13]

Blues took on MCW Heavyweight Champion The Bruiser two months later at a special MCW show near Ocean City, Maryland on June 10, 2000. Though Blues and The Bruiser headlined the show, WWF legends George "the Animal" Steele, Mae Young and The Fabulous Moolah made an appearance as did Xtreme Pro Wrestling valet Chastity.[14][15] On July 19, Blues wrestled Balls Mahoney at the 2000 Shane Shamrock Memorial Cup in Glen Burnie.[16] Over the summer, Blues also had a series of matches against Adam Flash.[17] One of these, a No-DQ match in Ocean City, was later featured on The Indies: The Best Of 1997 - 2000 video series.[18][19]

On August 25, a rematch against The Bruiser in Odenton saw Blues pin the Bruiser, but he did not win the MCW title because of interference by Cpl. Punishment. The next month in Glen Burnie, he wrestled Gillberg at Micheal’s Eighth Avenue on September 27, 2000.[17] After the match, Blues was approached by manager Platinum Nat offered his services to "guide [him] to the next level". Blues accepted and was welcomed into the manager's "heel" stable, The Congregation, with The Holy Rollers (Earl the Pearl & Rich Myers).[20] However, Blues did not remain with The Congregation for very long as he soon went into retirement by the end of the year

After nearly a decade, Blues was formally inducted into the Maryland Wrestling Hall of Fame at a special ceremony held at the New Green Room in Dundalk. Later that night, he defeated his old rival Agent Orange at "Legends of Maryland" on November 7, 2009.[21][22] Blues made a second appearance at MCW's MCW "Xtreme Rules" supercard where he was defeated by Ricky Blues Jr. on April 4, 2010.[23][24]

In 2010 Ricky Blues, under his given name, became a published author with the novel To Kill The Town. It is the story of independent professional wrestling in Baltimore, Maryland from the mid-1980s through 2000. The story gives the insider's view of all the triumphs and tragedies of those that blazed the trail of the Mid Atlantic hotbed.[25]

Championships and accomplishments

  • Atlantic States Wrestling Alliance
    • ASWA Junior Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[2]
  • Universal Independent Wrestling
    • UIW Light Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[2]
  • Wrestling Independent Network
    • WIN Atlantic States Light Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
  • World Wrestling Association
    • WWA Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Nick Tarentino[2][7]

References

  1. ↑ Simpson, Greg. "Mindbender's Wrestling Greats: "B"". Mindbenders Wrestling Greats. Mindbenders.ca. Retrieved 2010-04-28. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 2.9 2.10 Royal Duncan & Gary Will (2000). Wrestling Title Histories (4th ed.). Archeus Communications. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Duncan, Royal and Gary Will; Brian Westcott (2004). "MEWF Light Heavyweight / Maryland Title History". Solie's Title Histories. Solie.org. Retrieved 2010-05-24. 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Duncan, Royal and Gary Will; Brian Westcott and Eric Roelfsema (2004). "MEWF Heavyweight Title History". Solie's Title Histories. Solie.org. Retrieved 2010-05-24. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Duncan, Royal and Gary Will; Brian Westcott and Eric Roelfsema (2004). "MEWF Tag Team Title History". Solie's Title Histories. Solie.org. Retrieved 2010-05-24. 
  6. ↑ Martinez, Ryan (2010-03-06). "This Day In History: Fred Blassie VS. Rocky Johnson, Public Enemy Win Their First ECW Tag Team Championship And More". PWInsider.com. Retrieved 2010-05-24. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 "W.W.A. Tag Team Title (New Jersey)". The Great Hisa's Puroresu Dojo. Wrestling-Titles.com. 2003. Retrieved 2010-05-24. 
  8. ↑ Mid-Eastern Wrestling Federation (Producer) (1994). MEWF Kenwood Khaos Raw Footage (DVD). Maryland: Tim's Video Collection. 
  9. ↑ Mid-Eastern Wrestling Federation (Producer) (1996). Mid Eastern Wrestling Federation 1996 (VHS). Maryland: TCTapes.net. 
  10. ↑ Duncan, Royal and Gary Will; Brian Westcott and Eric Roelfsema (2004). "MEWF Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Title History". Solie's Title Histories. Solie.org. Retrieved 2010-05-24. 
  11. ↑ Shady, Chunk (2004-03-29). "The Inside Credle Report: Entertainment, Honey's and Wrestling from the Bad Boys of Baltimore!". BelowTheBeltShow.com. Archived from the original on 2006-05-04. 
  12. ↑ Blues, Ricky, and Christian York, perf. MCW - April 8, 2000 - Catonsville, MD. Prod. Maryland Championship Wrestling. 2000. SmartMarkVideo.com. DVD.
  13. ↑ Russell, Yekaterina (2000-04-17). "Show Results". The Official Homepage of Joey Matthews and Christian York. Retrieved 2010-05-24. 
  14. ↑ Furguson, Anita (2000-06-09). "Pro wrestlers take the stage at Bally's". Ocean City Today. MarylandWrestling.com. Retrieved 2010-05-24. 
  15. ↑ Tavares, Michael (2000-06-13). "Moolah, Mae Young And Gillberg Team Up". The WAWLI (Wrestling As We Liked It) Papers No. 745. WrestlingClassics.com. Retrieved 2010-04-28. 
  16. ↑ Maryland Championship Wrestling (Producer) (2000). MCW 07/19/2000 Shane Shamrock Memorial Cup 2000 (VHS). Maryland: Jeff's Wrestling Tape Trader. 
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 Maryland Championship Wrestling (Producer) (2000). Tapes 1109-1134 (VHS). Maryland: TCTapes.net. 
  18. ↑ Maryland Championship Wrestling (Producer) (2000). Best Of - "The Indies: The Best Of 1997 - 2000" (3 DISC-SET) (DVD). Maryland: WrestlingDVD.net. 
  19. ↑ Maryland Championship Wrestling (Producer) (2000). Best of the Independents 2000, Volume 2 (DVD). Maryland: Coliseum of Wrestling & Boxing. 
  20. ↑ Hillie, Marcel; Schneider, Phil; Rippa, Phil (2000-10-28). "MCW 10/28/00 – Micheal’s Eighth Avenue, Glen Burnie, MD.". On the Road. DeathValleyDriver.com. Retrieved 2010-04-28. 
  21. ↑ Maryland Championship Wrestling (Producer) (2009). MCW Legends of Maryland 11/7/09 Dundalk, MD (DVD). Maryland: RF Video. 
  22. ↑ Burrows, Joe (2009). "Maryland Championship Wrestling". Miscellaneous Independent Results. OnlineWorldofWrestling.com. Retrieved 2010-05-24. 
  23. ↑ Meltzer, Dave (April 2010). "MON. UPDATE: UFC counters Strikeforce; Raw vs. Impact; New show starts Thursday; TNA house shows". Wrestling Observer/Figure Four Online. F4Wonline.com. Retrieved 2010-05-24. 
  24. ↑ "MCW Xtreme Rules Results". Local Indy Wrestling News/Events/Results. KLQwrestling.com. 2010-04-04. Retrieved 2010-05-24. 
  25. ↑ "To Kill The Town / ISBN 0-7414-6206-0, published by Infinity Publishing, 2010"

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