It has been a long time since the Magic City hosted a professional wrestling organization show in a large arena venue. That will change tonight.
The Northern Outlaw Wrestling organization is invading the Maysa Arena tonight and Saturday to showcase its talent and the organization is bringing a huge wrestling star in the Honky Tonk Man.
Minot has a rich professional wrestling tradition. The American Wrestling Association of Minneapolis used to frequent the Minot City Auditorium during its run from 1960 to 1991, with such stars as the Crusher, Nick Bockwinkel, Mad Dog Vachon and Dr. X. The State Fair brought in the World Wrestling Federation, now known as World Wrestling Entertainment, once in the mid-80s headlined by Hulk Hogan, but not since then has a wrestling group wrestled in an arena environment in Minot.
The NOW is a group effort between local athletes from the Minot and Bismarck areas, along with talent from the Twin Cities area. According to local promoter Mark Holter, his group of wrestlers has been doing shows at the Vegas Motel and Erik Ramstad Middle School as well as the Doublewood Hotel in Bismarck within the last three years, but they are ready to hit a larger venue.
"When I was young I remember going to the auditorium to watch the AWA almost every time they came to town," said Holter. "It was such a great event with a feeling of fight night in the air - it was huge. We wanted to try to bring that feeling back to Minot, and with some pretty good shows up at the Vegas, we decided we were ready to try to host an event in an arena atmosphere."
When Holter found out the Maysa Arena was available for functions in the summer, he jumped on the opportunity.
"Chuck Emery and his crew invited us in to take a look and the partnership has been real good so far," Holter said. "We are looking forward to working with them."
Holter's organization is looking forward to the chance to have a built-in sound system, plenty of space on the floor for the ring and the seating area and the extra availability of the arena's bleachers. The accommodations also have more room for the wrestlers to have actual locker rooms and an area to have an autograph signing session.
"We are very excited to have signed the Honky Tonk Man to come with us as our featured wrestler," said Holter. "He was one of my favorite wrestlers when I was a kid, and he is still very active in the profession. Having the opportunity to have him around for our wrestlers is a fantastic opportunity.
"The NOW is also working as a fundraiser for the Minot Park District, Minot Hockey Boosters and for the Mother's of DayCare Children programs."
The increased size of venue has helped NOW land Honky Tonk. According to Holter, the Honky Tonk Man just appeared at WrestleMania 25 in March for the WWE and still travels almost every weekend to appear at different areas of the country to help small independent wrestling associations. Honky Tonk held the WWE Intercontinental championship belt for one year, two months, and 22 days, a record that still stands.
Not only is Honky Tonk going to wrestle at both shows at the Maysa, he is also going to be available in the arena's banquet room area on Saturday from noon until 2 p.m. to sign autographs during a video game tournament, which will be going on in conjunction with the wrestling event. Minot's Game Crazy store is conducting the Halo 3 tournament, and will also have the new Legends of Wrestlemania video game available to be played, which includes the headliner.
Holter also set up an adult meet and greet that will be held at the Landing Bar immediately following the end of tonight's show.
"We will bring the Honky Tonk Man and a couple of our other wrestlers with us after the show and people over 21 can come up and visit with us and get autographs as well," Holter said. "I guess we will stay until the wrestlers are not thirsty anymore, or until Chuck and his crew at the Landing have to throw us out," joked Holter.
All joking aside, the wrestlers will be available until midnight to sign autographs.
Tonight's show will feature a few matches with huge implications on the NOW.
Patriot 3 will be defending the NOW heavyweight title belt against Horace the Psychopath, and the Barking Spiders will defend the tag team belts against the Southern Outlaws.
Also scheduled on the card is a 10-man over the top rope Battle Royal, a match in which the winner will become the No. 1 contender for the heavyweight title, giving them a shot at the gold on Saturday night.
There will also be a first for the NOW as a ladder match for the first time in NOW's history. Wrestlers must climb to the top of the ladder in the ring to grab a suitcase suspended from the ceiling to be declared the winner - and a shot at the NOW T.V. Title Saturday against current champion Venom.
