I was about 10 or 11-years-old at the time. While channel surfing one afternoon just after school, I discovered a wrestling program on ESPN.
The show was the Global Wrestling Federation (GWF). As a wrestling fan, this was exciting. Unfortunately, due to my youth, I missed a lot of first run action of the AWA, Memphis, etc. This was a chance to see something other than the WWF or WCW.
I began following this GWF organization.
It wasn’t the greatest, but it wasn’t the worst. It had some decent stuff to follow and sink your teeth into.
I was intrigued by one individual who was a teenager at the time. His name was Brandon Baxter. He had long, blonde hair and would do various “fan reports” style segments.
I didn’t think much of it at the time, but I would in later years.
Let’s fast forward to late 1995. Bert Prentice is running his Ozark Mountain Wrestling (OMW) promotion in Northeast Arkansas and Southeast Missouri. After mostly touring in NEA, he decides to give the Bootheel of Missouri a try. In December 1995, a card was set featuring Tommy “Wildfire” Rich against Bill “Superstar” Dundee. This event was held at the National Guard Armory in Dexter, MO.
Prentice ended up running several more shows from January thru June 1995 in Dexter. He even had a title change on a summer show at the Dexter Armory.
Anyway, let me tie all of this together. As a young 14-year-old boy going to these Dexter shows, I remember telling my mother that I should talk to Prentice about getting involved.
My remark went something like, “In the GWF, they let Brandon Baxter do a fan thing when he was really young. Why couldn’t I do it for OMW?”
I never had the nerve to make such a request of Bert. Looking back, maybe I’m glad I was too shy, but anyway it just goes to show that Brandon had an influence on me then.
As you all know, or should know, Brandon went on to do much more than simply host “fan” segments. He became involved in many aspects of the wrestling business from actively competing to managing to booking and the list goes on and on.
I first met Brandon in person in February 2001, when I was getting a tryout for Memphis Championship Wrestling (MCW). I was ring announcing in either Ripley or Covington, TN. Brandon was in the ring perfecting his heel persona. I remember him saying, “what is this goofball still doing in the ring,” which was directed solely at yours truly. While that comment is something that was a part of his heel character, it is something I would remember and use 3 ½ years later.
Let’s fast forward some more. It’s now the spring of 2002. I’m a student at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro, AR. Brandon is now working for KISS FM. I see him at an ASU function and re-introduce myself. To my surprise he remembered me from our brief association in MCW/Power Pro. We talk and I inform him of my pending partnership that led to the formation of LAW.
We end up talking relatively often as Brandon was doing live remotes and such around Jonesboro. He ends up helping us with an LAW show or two as far as pushing them on the air and helping us record audio tracks for radio spots.
Then, in 2004, we had the chance to work a fun program for the ASWF in Clover Bend, AR. We did a deal where Brandon needed a partner for a tag match against Austin Lane and Heartbreaker. He called for Bobby Eaton. The “Midnight Express” music plays but out comes . . . yours truly.
Brandon says he needs a partner and I’m not Eaton. I reply with Bobby is not contracted to wrestle tonight. Brandon responds with the fact that I, as Bobby’s agent/manager, can make it happen. I come back with the fact that I don’t WANT Bobby to wrestle as his partner. Then I bring up the fact that when I started my career, Brandon wouldn’t give me the time of day. (Remember the 2001 incident now???).
We go back and forth for a bit with Bobby coming out and agreeing to team with him to my disapproval.
During the match, we set up a scenario where I turn on Brandon. This leads to an after-match situation that leads to Bobby grabbing me by the collar. Brandon is directly behind him telling him to punch me. Bobby throws a punch . . . and hits Brandon. The people were shocked. It was great heat. It’s like someone hit them in the stomach. We left Brandon in the ring, with no mic work to kill the heat, and left the building. I guarantee you that people there that night would have hurt me if they could get within arm’s reach of me.
Unfortunately, ASWF never capitalized on the deal and we pretty much left it there.
Brandon has become one of the most popular figures in Jonesboro and the entire listening area of his station. He has worked hard to make his way up the radio business ladder. I’m personally proud of him for all he has accomplished outside the wrestling business.
Some people have a hard time moving on and doing something else when their full-time wrestling career is over. Brandon has not only moved on, but he has become very good at what he does.
However, he still has a little bit of that wrestling bug. In the last 5 years, he’s made sporadic appearances like the one at Clover Bend. He’ll usually do five or six shows a year, some years more and some less.
That is why it truly disgusts me when people take advantage on the guy. The promotion he gives on KISS FM is priceless. As a former radio sales account executive, I know that radio advertising is not cheap. It can be cost effective is used properly. Brandon knows how to deliver the goods when it comes to using the radio to push a local benefit. Go back on this site and research the shows he was involved with heavily in Walnut Ridge and Paragould. Great houses for this day and age.
When editing the RasslinRiotOnline Yearbook 2007, I came across a couple of stories where guys alleged to have Brandon coming in for a show. One time in particular a show was booked in Harrisburg, AR at the town’s National Guard Armory. Brandon plugged this show on the air. Then it was discovered that the Armory was NEVER BOOKED! Are you kidding me?
It’s one thing to pay a deposit and then something happen at an Armory, such as a deployment or whatever. But to never OFFICIALLY BOOK the building is unacceptable. Again, folks I know this personally. Such a thing hurt us, during my LAW days, in Dexter, MO, when we announced a card before officially having the building sealed. When we went to book it, the building was already gone. We were screwed and we screwed the fans.
Back to my point. The Harrisburg deal simply made Brandon look like an idiot. Why do this to such a good ambassador for our business? He has made promotions that would draw 100 people at best draw 300-900 at various times.
I often tell Brian Tramel about what I think is wrong with the wrestling business. Well, one of the big things wrong is how a guy like Brandon is taken advantage of. Remember, this guy worked at a much higher level than most of us can imagine around here. GWF was on NATIONAL TV. Power Pro was successful on WMC TV-5.
He’s worked with the biggest names in the sport and is respected by them. God forbid, us little peons in the Mid-South show respect for him. But, who am I fooling? We can only expect so much from today’s wrestling business right? And again we wonder why we draw less than 50 people per week don’t we?
(Brian Thompson may be reached by e-mail at bptbookings@yahoo.com. Don’t forget to tune in this Tuesday night from 7 – 8:30 p.m. for a special Cheap Heat Radio featuring Brian Tramel and Brian Thompson.)
