Around the Ring: Gary Michael Cappetta set for Chicago doubleheader

Sep 19

Sep 19 Around the Ring: Gary Michael Cappetta set for Chicago doubleheader

By Mike Pankow

September 19, 2018

One of wrestling’s most famous ring announcers, Gary Michael Cappetta, will invade Chicago this weekend when he brings his one-man show to Berwyn on Friday night.

Cappetta, a longtime ring announcer who has worked for WWE, AWA and WCW, hosts Beyond Bodyslams at the Berwyn Eagles Club at 8:05 p.m. The :05 is a homage to TBS’ start times for World Championship Wrestling

The two-hour show will delve into old stories of Stone Cold Steve Austin, Dusty Rhodes, Ric Flair, the Undertaker, Vince and Shane McMahon, Andre the Giant, Hulk Hogan, Daniel Bryan, Mick Foley, Gorilla Monsoon and Bruno Sammartino among others accompanied by video and audio of some of the wrestlers.

Cappetta will be joined by second-generation wrestler Brian Pillman Jr. after the show for what is advertised as an “anything goes” Q&A session.

Cappetta is probably best known by younger fans for his years with NWA/WCW and was dubbed “The World’s Most Dangerous Announcer” by his friend, legendary manager Jim Cornette.

Tickets start at $25 and VIP experiences are available for $45. For tickets, go to: https://bit.ly/2QH9n7h.

After Friday night’s show, Cappetta won’t be finished in Chicago. He will return the next night to be special guest ring announcer for Berwyn Championship Wrestling’s “Heavyweight Rumble for the Gold” on Saturday night.

BCW’s rumble will feature 30 wrestlers with the winner getting a match against Vic Capri for a shot to become BCW’s first heavyweight champion. Among the wrestlers in the rumble are former WWE and IMPACT Wrestling star Jay Bradley, Egotistico Fantastico, Shogun Chris L.O.G.A.N. and Roy “Flash” Gordon.

AAW loading up: AAW continued to add its stacked lineups for its Jim Lynam Memorial Tournament weekend shows next week at Logan Square Auditorium.

Recently crowned AAW Champion Brody King, who defeated ACH last month, will defend the title against Pentagon El 0M (aka Pentagon Jr.) on Night 1 of the Lynam Tournament on Friday, Sept. 28.

The Lynam Tournament is loaded with Friday first-round matches including DJZ vs. Ace Romero, Fenix vs. Shane Strickland, Rich Swann vs. Trevor Lee, Moose vs. Sami Callihan, Sammy Guevara vs. Trey Miguel and AR Fox vs. Myron Reed.

The tournament concludes next Saturday and that night also features a women’s match between IMPACT Wrestling Knockout and Chicago native Scarlett Bordeaux and Kylie Rae.

Ringside chatter: WWE keeps ramping up its international presence, announcing its Crown Jewel special for Friday, Nov. 2 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, featuring a triple threat match for the Universal Championship with champion Roman Reigns defending against Braun Strowman and Brock Lesnar. This comes on the heels of next month’s Super Show-Down in Melbourne, Australia, which features a WrestleMania rematch of Triple H vs. The Undertaker. … IMPACT Wrestling announced last week that its annual October event Bound for Glory has sold out New York’s Melrose Ballroom. The main event of IMPACT World Champion Austin Aries against Johnny Impact (fka John Morrison) has the potential of being the best match in IMPACT this year. … MLW announced it will be taping its Fusion TV show in the Chicago area on Thursday, Nov. 8 at Cicero Stadium. It is the same arena that hosted Evolve and PROGRESS back in mid-August. Tickets go on sale this Saturday at 10 a.m. at www.MLWTickets.com.