Pro wrestling column: Damron has built ASW into the standard bearer

Feb. 6—The year was 1985, and Hulkamania was indeed runnin' wild.

Hulk Hogan was more than a year removed from his iconic victory over The Iron Sheik for the first of his six World Wrestling Federation championship reigns. It was iconic because it launched the start of Hulkamania, a phenomenon that the world of the squared circle could not contain.

Then-WWF owner Vince McMahon took advantage of Hogan's popularity and thrust professional wrestling into the mainstream of American pop culture. Hogan was on MTV with Cyndi Lauper, on "Saturday Night Live" with Mr. T and on the cover of Sports Illustrated.

When Hogan and Mr. T teamed up against "Rowdy" Roddy Piper and Paul "Mr. Wonderful" Orndorff at the first WrestleMania, it lifted wrestling to heights it had not yet seen.

There was one more vessel to carry the onslaught of Hulkamania. Saturday morning cartoons were still part of the fabric of America, and the WWF jumped on board with "Hulk Hogan's Rock 'n' Wrestling".

The show lasted only one season (plus one year of reruns), but, in retrospect, that was long enough to set the course of Gary Damron's life into motion.

"When I was a kid I watched the 'Hulk Hogan's Rock 'n' Wrestling' cartoon, and I realized these guys are real people," Damron said. "So we're flipping through the channels one Saturday evening and came upon wrestling on TV, and I said, 'Oh, my gosh, these are the guys I watch on Saturday morning.' I just kind of got into it that way."

Nearly 40 years later, Damron is more than just a fan. Wrestling is a way of life for the Logan native. He has taken that fandom and combined it with his promotional skills and outgoing personality, and parlayed it all into creating All Star Wrestling, the top indie wrestling promotion in West Virginia.

The road to success didn't exactly get off to a conventional start. Damron, of course, grew to love professional wrestling, from the first WrestleMania and the WWF to AWA, NWA and World Class. He read all the magazines and collected as many wrestling figures and other memorabilia as he could — and still does.

Eventually, however, he veered away from the sport when he followed a different calling.

"(At) 17 or 18 years old, I started promoting gospel music," Damron said. "I did that for about nine years and I didn't watch wrestling during that time, kind of got out of it."

That changed in 2003. While Damron was watching the 700 Club, one of the guests on the show that particular day was Ted DiBiase. Among the great heels ever of pro wrestling who gained his most notoriety as "The Million Dollar Man" in the WWF in the late 1980s and early 1990s, DiBiase is now an ordained minister.

"He's talking about how he's making appearances and going to churches and different things, and he put his phone number on there for (people) to call him," Damron said. "And I thought, 'Oh, my gosh, I can book him to come to one of our gospel shows and share his testimony.'

"What a great thing, and I would get to work with somebody that I grew up watching as a kid."

Damron made the call and DiBiase committed to the show in Logan for March of the following year. Somewhere along the way, someone made a suggestion to Damron.

"I had talked with somebody during a local wrestling show and they said, 'Well, if you're bringing in Ted DiBiase, go ahead and have him be your special guest and you can just build off of that,'" he recalled. "So I ended up booking a wrestling show the night before I did the gospel show."

Damron got booking help from the legendary George South, who was able to secure the Rock 'n' Roll Express, Greg "The Hammer" Valentine, the Barbarian and "Boogie Woogie Man" Jimmy Valiant.

At that moment, Damron was back in love with professional wrestling. Getting to hang out with one of the icons of his childhood helped reignite the fire.

"Oh, it did," he said. "I spent the whole weekend with Ted because, since he was up here he didn't have anything else going on. So he asked me to get him in some churches so he could maybe share his testimony."

DiBiase encouraged Damron to book wrestling shows and offered to get him in contact with the necessary people, including former WWE wrestlers who were available for bookings.

"Ted Dibiase was a big help to getting me started in promoting," Damron said.

That, really, set the starting blocks for the foundation of ASW, which Damron has built into the standard bearer for indie wrestling in the Mountain State. Damron's skills as a promoter are a blend of his previous experience in gospel music and his personality.

"I love talking to people," he said. "I took in a lot of knowledge from people that would give me advice on how to promote gospel (music). It's the same thing. It might be two completely different worlds, but you're doing the same thing. Any kind of event you're promoting, you've got to get out and spread the word, people have to get excited. You've got to make people feel that your event is an exciting one.

"Ted DiBiase told me, and it's definitely true, 'Reputation is everything,'" Damron said. "Fans have got to respect you. If fans know, 'Hey, we're going to go the show, spend money, buy our tickets in advance,' and they know you're going to deliver what you're advertising, then you'll be in good shape."

By this point, that has become an easy sell for ASW. Damron books a mix of ASW mainstays such as Ron Mathis and Bruce Grey — collectively known as DDTrash, the ASW tag team champions — Aaron West, Huffmanly, Super Oprah, Axton Ray, Shane Storm and women's champion Nurse Mika with many national stars such as current ASW champion Heath (a native of Wyoming County), TNA star Brian Myers and Matt Cardona — recently named the Pro Wrestling Illustrated Indie Wrestler of the Year — to provide an exciting wrestling experience with each show.

Damron's first ASW card was on a Sunday afternoon in 2006 in Williamson, and there were eventually shows in Logan and Madison. Not every show went well, but Damron was unfazed.

"When I would have a bad night, we would just keep going," he said. "If something didn't turn out good, I'd dust myself off and we would just keep going. The next one, got to (work) even harder than what you did this one. It just takes a lot of determination, because it's easy to get discouraged and quit, and I think that happens to a lot of people."

Damron never let that happen to him. He stayed the course and now has ASW thriving. And along the way he has forged friendships — true friendships — with many of the legends he grew up watching, including "Loverboy" Dennis Condrey and "The Mouth of the South" Jimmy Hart.

"I think one of the things that makes me different than other promoters is I try to have a personal (relationship)," Damron said. "I've watched a lot of promoters at conventions and stuff and I've talked with a lot of them. They'll bring somebody in and just, 'Here's what I want you to do. Here's your money. Have a good night.'

"When they come in for me, I try to build a relationship with them. 'Hey, what's up,' you know? 'You need anything, just let me know.' I keep up with them, too. When they go home I'll message them or text them. 'Hey, you doing OK? If you ever need anything, just hit me up.'"

The 20-year anniversary of Damron's first show is approaching, but he actually considers his first ASW show as his true start in pro wrestling. An 18-year celebration show is scheduled for March 30 at the Madison Civic Center, and several well-known stars are already booked, including Erick Rowan, Damien Sandow, Angelina Love and Psycho Boy Fodder, as well as boxing legend Butterbean.

Also, George South will be inducted into the ASW Hall of Fame.

This Saturday, ASW will hold its annual My Bloody Valentine show at the Special Occasions Event Center in Logan. Nikita Koloff will be there, and the main event will be Heath defending the ASW Heavyweight Championship against TNA's John Skyler.

The big one as far as Beckley is concerned comes up June 1. The Bash in Beckley IV will be held at the Beckley-Raleigh County Convention Center with an opening bell time of 7 p.m.

No matches have been announced, but there will be meet and greet opportunities starting at 5 p.m., with chances to get photos and autographs from the likes of Arn Anderson and his son Brock, Jimmy Hart, Ricky Morton and his son Kerry along with Robert Gibson, referee Earl Hebner, Bill Alfonzo, Sabu and Sandman.

VIP tickets are $35 and general admission $25, and reserved seats are $30. To purchase tickets, go to beckleyconventioncenter.com.

At any of these shows, it will be obvious what ASW means to Damron.

"Oh, I feel like it's my child," he said. "Nobody gave me any hope when I started. Everybody was like, 'Oh, this guy's not going to make it in the wrestling world. He knows nothing about promoting wrestling.' I'm still learning stuff and I'm 18 years into it. But I think I've worked hard, and I do take great pride in ASW and the reputation we have."

Email: gfauber@register-herald.com; follow on Twitter @gfauber5