By RHEA-FRANCES TETLEY
Staff Writer
Flung chairs, bodies flying through the air and slam dunks elicited jeers and cheers as Brawlin’ Brews filled the Lake Gregory Pavilion on the south shore of the lake during an afternoon filled with fog, snow, rain and chilly temperatures.
Brawlin’ Brews promoted itself as the “Mountain’s Premier Sporting Event.” The wrestling did not disappoint, it was as exciting as promoted by the Mountain Wrestling Federation. The winner of the Brawlin’ Brews Rim of the World Championship Belt, after an afternoon of numerous bouts, was Lee Steel from Crestline.
Ken Williams, owner of San Marzano in Crestline, said over 100 pre-sale tickets had been bought earlier in the week, while the weather was warm and sunny. Then, the suddenly arriving storm changed the weather, but the die-hard fans came out anyway and had a wonderful time under the pavilion’s heat lamps, spending the afternoon watching to see who would win the Rim of the World Championship Wrestling Belt.
The event was filmed from many angles, including a 360-degree camera, and Williams hopes to have film clips of the afternoon’s activities available soon for showing on social media. He plans to do this event again. The event was the second wrestling match held in Crestline as a part of the Power-Precision-Pro Wrestling Alliance (aka 3PWA). “This is now an annual event,” said Williams.
Because of the wet weather, few of the children were bouncing in the four bounce houses and inflatable games that had been set up, as they were outside the pavilion, in the rain and snow. There were several food vendors under the pavilion who were keeping the crowd fed, while the breweries kept the fans hydrated.
The crowd, although lower than predicted numbers due to the weather, just made it easier for everyone to have a great position around the ring to see the fights. The promoters promised the fights would occur, despite any rain or snow, fog or even sunshine, because it was a fundraiser for the Rim Vets Outreach. Through the event and the support of the attendees, the wrestling event raised $1,800 for the Outreach program, to the delight of Mike Brewer of the Rim Vets Outreach. He was there, supporting the event, and was shocked by the support of the event, despite the weather.
Starting the festivities of the afternoon was the Sawpit Canyon Band, which brought their own fans to the afternoon affair and kept them dancing, probably to keep warm, because the air temps were in the 30s.
One of the unusual events of the afternoon was when a YouTube influencer came up the mountain, with camera crew in tow, and was intentionally annoying the wrestlers and hassling a particular wrestler by throwing a folding chair into the ring. He was seen leaving the event an hour later, halfway through the afternoon, complaining to his cameraman and those entering the wrestling event that he had later been hit with that folding chair.
“The loud enthusiasm of the crowd which braved the storm to watch these fantastic matches, has encouraged me,” Williams said. “I have new cameras and a sound system to make the next one even better, so I promise to bring more Brawlin’ Brews events to the Crestline area this next year.”
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