John Skyler and Josh Magnum Deliver Match of the Year

Photo taken by Mike Mooneyham

The Hanahan gymnasium is a sweltering tin box. We all might as well be toast as we contort to near floor level on the bleachers. The heavy rain has left a musty thickness in the air, not to mention the humidity is the usual Charleston level of sweat. The old school wrestling fans would appreciate the lesser comparison to the famed Dallas Sportatorium that was like the Garden down South for many a wrestling event over the decades before its demise in 2003. The comparison only really exits in the peaking temperature of the building. No reports of infestation here, although I'm eagerly keeping my eyes open.

The combination of tobacco and taurine on top of plenty of beer from earlier in the day starts to take its toll before the event even begins. This is already on top of the 2am screening of The Wild Bunch that was hosted by Jim Beam and others where all of the aforementioned ingredients sans taurine were very much in play. The taurine is the result of two Monster energy drinks followed by a subsequent Rock Star energy drink I picked up when I gassed the car for the late night journey home. (A reserve Rock Star sits in the car to keep the midnight oils burning on the way back to Greenville.) I'm determined to burn out between the contrasting lack of sleep and overload of multiple -fines in my body.

All in the effort to see one main event that on a local scale is as anticipated as Flair and Steamboat. In any other part of the country, any sort of name recognition would fall underneath a blank stare; a confused look only qualmed by a brief run-down of local independent wrestling history and current crop of rising talent in the Lowcountry.

No such clarification needed in Hanahan.

They know who John Skyler and Josh Magnum are, and they know the show they're capable of putting on. Even a 24 hour deluge in the Charleston area wouldn't keep them from seeing the main event that no one else knows about. And it's certainly reason enough to journey three hours to witness in person.

...

Photo by Wayne Rush

November 2011

The locker room of Goose Creek High School is no different than my experiences in Hanahan. My choice of attire is poor. Three layers of shirts including my Walter Payton jersey. Unknown looks from many people. "Sweetness" is apparently forgotten in these parts of the Lowcountry. American tragedy.

That aside, my journey here is my own interview assignment with The Barbarian, who is in town to help headline the independent show OSCW is putting on. He's a great interview; witty and funny in an eccentric sort of way. He occasionally has someone speak for him, but when he does it's with a wad of tobacco that adds even more character to his staccato grunts. Truly the antithesis of the monster heel I grew up watching on WWE television. Honestly, he could not have been nicer or more inviting.

I could easily get back on the road once we're done and come away under par for the course. but sitting in the background is John Skyler, the other participant in the night's main event. As I've found my way to more and more of the independent shows in South Carolina, it's Skyler I keep running into with brief conversations and congratulatory remarks on his efforts. Truly he's becoming a stand-out in the wrestling scene down south.

It's one of those times when you just get that feeling that you might be in the presence of someone who just might make it to the highest level, and you'd at least be able to say later you took the chance to talk to him about his journey.

Skyler has the look of a young Shawn Michaels, and I know that doesn't bother him. It certainly doesn't bother him when he gets the comparisons to Michaels with his work in the ring. A ball cap with its brim bent into a perfectly broken-in upside down u-shape; his hair pulled into a pony tail. Light beard and a green flannel shirt. He's confident in his posture, but not arrogant in talking about his journey that started four years ago.

A humble beginning for a young man who in one night went from hawking cheap WWE merchandise to debuting against a monster in Bill Bain. Sure it was a squash match, but the memory remains with Skyler and began a career that saw many travels north and west; anywhere he could get on a card to gain more experience in wrestling.

Skyler works heel for the most part. (In Columbia, where he resides, he often garners a sizable tweener pop, though.) As polite and forthcoming as he is in an interview, Skyler has a remarkable talent for getting under the crowd's skin. Not necessarily by cheap heat. By mere avoidance. He keeps the audience angrily on the edge of its seat, seething at his non-committal actions as the babyface taunts him from the ring.

Our conversation goes the usual route of talking about what the future holds and what his goals are. They're exactly what you expect: make it to the national promotions. Get paid to wrestle for a living a nothing else. The quintessential benchmark for any independent wrestler scraping by with a maybe a twenty dollar bill for their efforts in a show.

Months later I catch up with Skyler, and it's almost no surprise the progress he's made. After working a timely show in North Carolina that had WWE executive John Laurinaitis in attendance evaluating the local talent, Skyler got to venture up to New York to work for Mikey Whipwreck's promotion, which became a timely contact that led to the biggest break thus far in Skyler's career: an invitation to work for Billy Corgan and Resistance Pro Wrestling out of Chicago.

Fast forward even further to June of this year when WWE came through South Carolina as part of their live tour. At the SmackDown taping in Columbia, he was picked to be one of the squash victims for Ryback. Squash match or not, it marked a significant achievement in the progression of Skyler's career.

What a difference a year makes.

...

Photo by Wayne Rush

October 2011

The Loose Cockaboose is flowing with booze as the epic Fall Brawl event reaches hour five. College students who have no bearing on the happenings of professional wrestling mingle with the die-hards who await the battle royal to crown the winner of the Lethal Lottery.

I've hunkered down at the bar, trying to keep my wits about me with spaced out rounds of beer. Many of the monsters lingering around the crowd appear to be too far gone to know the difference of what is going on.

Out of the corner of my eye I see a young man in street clothes and ball cap sneak to the back of the outdoor arena set-up. Near a brick hedge he lights up a cigarette and sips from a beer himself.

It's not often Josh Magnum is unassuming in the context of professional wrestling, but for a moment he blends in with the crowd.

Despite being a writer of little significance, I approach Magnum as a fan and introduce myself, expecting him not to put much stock in our conversation. But he's actually quite the magnanimous bastard, and as we trade wrestling stories. We even trade opinions on writing as we put down a couple of beers.

The most fascinating part about Magnum the wrestler is the genuine charisma he emotes and the rapport he instantly builds with the audience each show. There's no one who rivals the response Magnum gets from a crowd. As his entrance card reads, he hails from the last stool at the end of the bar, and that's exactly the character he embodies. But it's hard to separate Magnum the character and Magnum the man because he puts so much of himself into the wrestler he embodies.

He keeps you engaged in conversation with a raw charm that's like a Burt Reynolds character from a 70's car movie. He puts away beer like no other and can smoke like a chimney. And yet Magnum can fly around the ring with the same spry as someone who was completely straight edge.

That leads us to talk about the high-risk stunt he performed in the same Hanahan gym back in the spring where he leaped from the top of a twenty foot high steel cage to the hard wood below; a seminal moment for OSCW in 2011. (Not to forget as well his famed work in ladders matches, especially here with Xavier Knight in CWA.)

At least one other fan approaches while we talk, and Magnum takes the time to greet him as well, thanking him for his compliments. He's not far off from his wrestling idol Dusty Rhodes; a common man hero that everyone seems to live through vicariously. From kids to adults, the fanfare he generates on the independent level is very widespread.

And yet with the incredible popularity he maintains throughout the southern circuit of independent wrestling, Magnum comes across as a man worn out by wrestling. He puts on the good face for the fans who approach him and the ones he entertains in the ring, but as we talk more and more he shows more desire to walk away from the business and move on with his life.

Can one blame him? He has children; a family. Throughout his (now) eleven year career he has escaped major injury for the most part, despite taking his share of high risks. But in wrestling, that can change with the next spot in an instant. And as a working father in the roofing business when he's not on the road, he could never afford to be out of work due to injury.

But despite admitting a little bit of burnout, Magnum still gets the rush when the moment arises; when he walks out of an entrance way or comedically taunts his opponent and certainly when he goes for a high spot. Those are the moments that keep the engines firing.

The consummate entertainer.

...

I manage to get one more cigarette in before the main event is announced.

It's one of those five minute Theatre smoke breaks where you wish you had a .72, but have to suck down a full Marlboro so you don't feel like you've wasting. In the end, it's inconsequential. This is what what we've all gathered for.

The one element not entirely harped upon but certainly apart of the match in the background is the fact that both Skyler's OSCW Universal Title and Magnum's World Heavyweight Title are up for grabs; a unification bout to decide the one, great OSCW champion.

Skyler enters as the self-proclaimed "Southern Savior" and many of the Columbia faithful are in applause for the heel's entrance. Then again, maybe even Hanahan is wising up to the fact that great wrestlers can supersede the label of face or heel and should be applauded regardless.

Magunm's entrance gets the usual high pops from every demographic. And as usual he wears his title belt backwards and upside down with almost a slight stagger that he feigns for amusement.

Do they lock up immediately? No, smartly they don't. Skyler plays up his reluctance to enter the ring when everyone else tells him to do so. That will be on his terms.

When they lock up, they trade corner shots with chops and open hand slaps. The fight quickly gets to the outside where both Skyler and Magnum trade suplexes and other big bumps on the outside. My ribs shudder with each echo of body hitting unmatted floor.

Photo by Wayne Rush

Easily we get twenty minutes into this match with both wrestlers trading their signature maneuvers. Both showcase dropkicks that are hard to judge as one being better than the other. They both connect with the same high impact velocity coming off the Irish whip.

Magnum even goes to the high risk with a dive to the outside floor; still going for the big one every time he hits the ring. Not a lot has changed since October of last year.

As the nearfalls mount, more and more of the crowd is getting to its feet, and you can almost hear Jim Ross screaming "what's it gonna take!?" to end this match. Skyler scores with his variation of his springboard cutter from the one of the turnbuckles; a maneuver that has given him numerous victories.

Magnum kicks out at two.

Magnum regains the upperhand and scores with his second attempt at the 450 splash; a maneuver that has given him numerous victories over the years throughout the country.

Skyler kicks out at two.

The WrestleMania XVII feel is contagious in the air. Austin and The Rock trading finishers in 2001. The same is the case here in 2012. This third act has everyone guessing to who will win; the perfect moment in professional wrestling. When you completely forget it's all a work; a predetermined show where you can probably guess who will win. No one knows at this point whether it's Skyler's or Magnum's to win. The Hanahan faithful is ecstatic with jubilation and awe for the spectacle they are seeing.

Two incredible athletes. Mirror images of one another. One a veteran of eleven years, the other a rising star at only four.

The finale finally comes with the recreation of an iconic moment in wrestling history. The frustrated Skyler, using the no-disqualification clause to its utmost, drives a chair shot into Magnum's forehead with a heavy windup.

Photo by Wayne Rush

A rarity in OSCW, Magnum bleeds from the shot to his forehead. Not a pulsating stream that gushes everywhere but a noticeable rupture. Skyler seizes the moment and locks in the famed Sharpshooter on Magnum in the center of the ring. It's now WrestleMania XIV all over again. Bret Hart and Steve Austin's iconic moment live in Hanahan.

Magnum squirms, fights for an escape. But the pressure of the hold is too much. Only the final bit of his energy is what escapes. The bloodied Magnum passes out in the middle of the ring. The referee calls for the bell.

Skyler raises both belts above his head, the triumphant and undisputed king of OSCW. But the moment is quickly interrupted by OSCW commissioner Bob Keller who insists upon a rematch to take place in September that Skyler is reluctant to accept. But, of course, in every wrestling title situation there is the return match clause in the contract, and that's the power card to force a rematch the following month. The stakes are quickly escalated. A ladder match will provide the backdrop for the return bout. But also Skyler tucks in the clause that if Magnum loses, he must retire from wrestling. And according to Keller, Magnum has never lost a ladder match. Magnum agrees to the stipulation.

The foreshadowing for the September 16th show seems to be ominous based on the emphasis Keller puts on Magnum's undefeated streak when the ladder is in play. But it's not the time to be looking ahead yet. What's important is what we've seen. A thirty minute epic. The El Cid of independent wrestling.

And also a nexus in the sport.

To throw in one more WrestleMania comparison, it is like number twelve, where Hart and Michaels showcased a battle of the old guard versus the new. But if one was hard-pressed to answer which one had eleven years under their belt and the other only four just by watching Skyler and Magnum, their performances in the ring make it nearly a coin flip.

The rivalry that earned the 2009 Carolina Independent Wrestling Award for Feud of the Year lived up to the billing and for all intents and purposes exceeded it.

My three hour journey home in the darkness of I-26 while the rain is intermittent carries the replay of the match in my head. The song "Turn the Page" (Seger's original) becomes the perfect soundtrack for Skyler and Magnum's effort.

If September 16th proves to be the final installment, then it will be the ending of one of the most talked about series of matches in independent professional wrestling. Not one someone in Oregon, Kansas, Pennsylvania, or anywhere else outside of South Carolina will probably know about or understand.

But that's alright to the fans of Hanahan.

They understand what John Skyler and Josh Magnum mean to them.