On Friday, April 1 at 8 p.m., East Coast Pro Wrestling (EPWC) will showcase “Stand Up and Fight” at Magic City Music Hall, located at 1240 Front St. in Binghamton, N.Y. General Admission is $12, front row seats are $16, and second row seats are $14 and can be purchased at the Magic City Music Hall Box Office by calling (607) 296-3269. Doors open at 7:15 p.m.
If the East Coast Pro Wrestling Showcase card for April 1 is an indication of the future, ECPW Showcase is looking to have a great 2016. It has put a great amount of firepower behind it’s premiere annual event, “Stand Up and Fight”, which will see the return of many former ECPW stars and a Main Event that is five years in the making.
The name “Stand Up and Fight” is hardly a name chosen out of random. For the past five years, Lil Daddy C has been asking his longtime nemesis Robert Cook to a grudge match. The name of the show, a direct message to Robert Cook, has largely been ignored in the past. It was believed that Robert Cook thought of himself in another league as Lil Daddy C, but the history between the two men tells a much different story – “a rivalry that has spilled out into the streets of Endicott, and has covered most of the American Legion in Binghamton.”
But the most telling difference to the ECPW Showcase roster is the addition of former ECPW stars that had left years ago to from 3DW (which eventually became Xcite Wrestling). Added to the April 1 show is Sean Carr, Nick Napoleon and Axl Lennox. All three had taken their talents elsewhere in 2010 and haven’t been back since. On April 1 there is a group that is prepared to Stand Up and Fight for the first time in five years. In addition to them, Maximo Suave also makes his return to an ECPW ring for the first time in four years.
The truly interesting part of the returns on April 1 is the baggage that they carry. Rob Cook and LDC have only been inside the same ring once in five years, and they proved they were unable to be civil at the Spike Norton Memorial Show by brawling to the back to close the show out. Now with Robert Cook and LDC in the same promotion for the first time in years, the hatred that these two have for one another will spill out inside an ECPW ring.
Sean Carr’s emergence as a top worker over the past few years has been well documented. His match in Binghamton against LDC left a lot of people happy but left an unsatisfied LDC. Carr won the battle in June but the war is far from over between these two.
ECPW has said they are looking for a solid 2016. With a group of young, local talent that have built feuds over the past few years outside the ring, ECPW has a very strong chance of telling some great stories and having some classic matches this year between guys that the Binghamton public has wanted to see fight for quite some time.
The new additions will be challenged by a group of young, hungry ECPW stars led by standouts Luke Babcock and Brandon Alpha. Both men have been on a roll lately and have proven to be very solid in-ring workers. Underneath them is a cast of unproven’s, led by Mojo, a young worker who uses his abilities to win matches over bigger opponents. Mojo is a wildcard to look for in 2016 as well.
In all, the ECPW roster looks strong and hungry – two attributes that Keith Zimmer must have been looking for to make a statement in 2016. He has certainly set himself up to do just that.
