Over a decade ago, hardcore defined more than a state of mind; it became a part of life for wrestling fans. Through those then years, the fans have seen wrestlers like Terry Funk, Mick Foley and countless others put their bodies, their lives and their existence on the line. The risks that these veterans of extreme took have spawned a new generation of wrestlers.

This generation grew up watching people put their body on the line and hope that each night wouldn’t be the last. But the new generation has followed that path. For some the path came through the backyard ranks to being trained for in ring action for a legit company to working their way through the independent circuit and up to the big leagues. Maybe this type of lifestyle seems too harsh, but there are many wrestlers that have done that and are continue to make their way up with the hardcore status in mind.

Over the past weekend, another one of the quips that being married to a wrestler is that they can get a traveling bug and when it strikes, get out of the way or get into the passenger seat, otherwise they’ll leave you behind. So while fulfilling this need, we made our way down to Mississippi where this writer has not personally been at in over five years, but a band competition isn’t exactly wrestling. We made our way through the dark Mississippi and Alabama roads to Booneville, Mississippi, to a new company for a couple of weeks and to see how things are done in that part of the South.

Growing up in Tennessee, it has always been tales of Jerry “The King” Lawler or Jeff Jarrett, but down in Mississippi, there were the new hardcore fans. This kind of surprised me. Yes, we have our hardcore addicts up in Tennessee, but this was the first company I had physically attended where it lived up to its name, Extreme Wrestling Wars.

With it’s intimidating heavyweight champion, Justin Rhodes, he and his group called the P.H.A.T. Foundation not only ruled the Heavyweight Title, but also intimidated every wrestler in the arena. Starting off the show with something that came close to my own proposal, Rhodes proposed to his girlfriend, Miss Maggie, to ensure to life of the P.H.A.T. Foundation would continue into the near future. However, the moment between the two lovebirds would come to an abrupt end with the EWW’s number one contender making his way to the ring, A.C. Styles. Now Styles, though wanting the title, has to contend with the Foundation with its five members.

Styles would have to fight off all of the Foundation while trying to gain the gold, however, the more he would fight back, the more tricks that the P.H.A.T. Foundation would pull out of their sleeves. Safe to say that Rhodes retained his title, but not by much, cause this week Justin has to defend his title against a more pumped up A.C. Styles.

During the rest of the night, the wrestlers came out and gave their all. A war is what these extremely pumped up fans wanted, and they got it. With my husband, Anthony Wayne coming out in the second match to take on their former Cruiserweight Champion, Kage, and his assistant Kathy. Kage didn’t know what to expect from the Oklahoma native. Anthony took him to the brink, and won via disqualification when Kage finally lost it and handcuffed him to the ring. This coming week, Kage has Anthony Wayne in a return bout, but will Kage have to bring out his bag of tricks and declare war?

The P.H.A.T. Foundation made their way back towards ringside after intermission to take on opponent’s of the fan’s choosing, which ended up being A.C. Styles and Billy Cash. Styles came back with a vengeance to prove that he wanted the Heavyweight Title draped over Rhodes’s now fiancée, Miss Maggie. He and Cash took everything that Rhodes and Tragik could throw at them, but once again, tricks and treachery gave Tragik and Rhodes the win.

Next match up was a straight-up old school match with Superstar taking on Cowboy Jim. These two showed the crowd what true brawling could be. Superstar took Cowboy Jim to the woodhouse, so to speak, and took the victory.

The fans were then given a tag team title match between the champions, the Highrollers, taking on yet more members of the P.H.A.T. Foundation, this time in Tragik and Willie Ray. Willie Ray, whom I’ve seen wrestle before in Tennessee, has not only trimmed up, he has shown that he can wrestle his way into the tag team titles with his partner Tragik, and the rest of the Foundation not far behind, the Highrollers battled and finally prevailed over Willie Ray and Tragik to retain the EWW Tag Team Championship.

Main Event came up with the new EWW Hardcore Championship to be crowned that night. Damion Rage and Nathan Williams brought out all the classic hardcore items and then some. The more these two individuals fought, the more they showed what true hardcore could be. But this time, the match went to a draw. However, this week, Rage and Williams will be hitting the ring to go for the Hardcore Title, with an extra element involved, Hunter.

For more information on Extreme Wrestling Wars, check out their website at www.extremewrestlingwars.bravehost.com or www.phatfoundation.bravehost.com. This weekend, the EWW will be back in action. Check the website for more information and the full lineup for this weekend.

Now, I can’t say that hardcore hasn’t been watched by this writer before, but it’s more interesting in person. The passion that each wrestler has to have to allow their bodies the pain each week shows true heart. Watch the future WWE Superstars each week around the world in the nearest Independent show. Who knows who will appear?

As for this week, the column is complete. I plan to be back next week with more about the road trip and more for the column in the future. Any questions or feedback is welcome at belleofthebrawl@yahoo.com

Just one more old school question, with year five coming up in February, the question for the readers is what would you like to see in a fifth year column from me? An interview or column or both? Email me at belleofthebrawl@yahoo.com with “Anniversary” in the subject line.

Stay safe and if ya get a chance, check out my website at www.belleofthebrawl.com for updates and new pictures coming up in the next couple of weeks. Have a wonderful new year!