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Supercard Archives / A Road Once Traveled Part II
« on: September 21, 2012, 09:00:58 PM »
The cab pulled up on the city street in downtown Tokyo, a small suburb from the large metropolis itself. Along this street was lined with small businesses, such as neighborhood groceries, stores and businesses. Only one stood out however to the two occupants of the cab as they slowly climbed out; a small building with a sign above the large, picture-esque window that bore the name "Maiden America". The building itself was crafted of old school red brick but the windows along the wall and door were tinted just a shade dark enough that it made it rather difficult to see inside for any curious passers-by.
Derrick Bartaud and Anthony Costantino, known collectively in the wrestling community as Chippendale and Thunder of Twisted Steel and Sex Appeal, stepped out onto the curb and surveyed their surroundings, mostly on the building that was their intended destination. Thunder turned around with his wallet and handed the cab fare to the driver and thanked him, then turned back to join his partner's side as the taxi pulled out into the lane of traffic.
"Out of idle curiosity, how did you know how much to give him?" Chippendale asked. "You're still getting used to using yen, again."
Thunder shrugged and responded, "Simple enough. If it was too little he would have let me know. If it was too much -- he wouldn't have." And Thunder walked up toward the business's front door and Chippendale watched him and shook his head.
"I guess I can't argue with that sound logic." He said as he went to follow him inside.
The door swung open and Thunder held it for the man he shared his life with and he stopped him with a hand on the shoulder.
"I have an even better question." Thunder asked. "Why did I have to even pay in the first place?"
Chippendale faked a most convincing bewildered expression and he shrugged, "You're always telling everyone that you're the man. The man pays." He reached up and patted his cheek, ending with a hard yet playful smack. "Way of the world." And he went all the way inside and Thunder rolled his eyes and returned the favor, slapping him hard across the backside as he passed.
Once inside, the very nature of the business was in full view, showing itself to be a modest gym, complete with weights along the walls, punching bags dangling from the rafters on the ceiling, mats all along the floor, and right smack in the center, a full-sized wrestling ring.Save for the ring itself, all of the equipment was in full use by the patrons, all female, all Japanese. This was an in dependant training dojo for prospective female wrestlers in this nation, owned and operated by someone this pair was intimately familiar with;
"Well it's about time!" The feminine voice called out over the sounds most often associated with a gym of any sort and the two men of TSSA turned to where the call had come from and saw the blonde woman, the very owner of the gym, heading their way with a smile on her face.
Her name is Brandi Costantino, a name that was familiar with many fans of the women's side of professional wrestling, perhaps more so here in Japan than anywhere else in the wrestling community.
Brandi got her start in the sport in the early nineties, after staying in Japan as part of a foreign exchange program in her senior year in high school. Gifted athletically in baseball and track, Brandi applied to begin training at one of Japan's more reputable wrestling dojos. Interested in this American applicant, the trainers instructed her to finish her education and then return and the process would begin.
Brandi did exactly that. After returning home to Daytona Beach, Florida, she made all arrangements with friends and family after graduating and then returned to Osaka, Japan where she formally enrolled in the dojo and for the next year and a half, her body was put through every rigorous torture imaginable to weed out whether she could handle the rough nature of this sport.
She could. She graduated from the dojo and went on to tour several of Japan's top in dependant leagues, scoring several upset victories over some of the country's top female stars and even did what few Americans can lay claim to; she won a respectable number of championships in both the singles, tag team and six woman divisions. To make her ring style even more intense, Brandi extended her training from her school days in the martial arts where she held a third degree black belt in Taekwando and took up kickboxing. In the amateur fields, Brandi won kickboxing titles in both Japan, Malaysia as well as Thailand.
She then yearned to return home to the states and eventually found herself signed to various promotions such as the PWA (Phantasy Wrestling Alliance), IWA (Imaginary Wrestling Association), and ASFW. And although she gained some respect in these leagues, including winning the ASFW Woman's World title on two separate occasions, Brandi's greatest success came in the Land of the Rising Sun, where she now spent the majority of her time, training and promoting female wrestlers.
"You never were able to arrive anywhere on time." Brandi said as she approached, "Probably been staring at yourself in the mirror and lost track of time."
A subtle smile was worn on her face as she walked up and immediately embraced Thunder, who just so happened to also be her ex-husband and the father of their shared children between them. Holding no grudges between them, she also turned and hugged Chippendale tightly.
Once separated, she looked between the two and said, "I can't believe you two are actually doing this, again. After all this time?"
"Yeah, neither can I." Thunder answered, then jetted a thumb to the man on his right side and said, "Blame him. And Mark too, if you want to get technical."
"Well, so long as you two play it safe." She offered, then tilted her head forward and inquired, "This is a one time thing, isn't it?" She looked to Chippendale and raised her brow in questioning.
"Yes, ma." Chippendale sighed, rolling his eyes and was rewarded promptly with a swat from Brandi. Chippendale looked to Thunder, rubbing the side of his head and Thunder just held his hands up in mock surrender.
"Don't look at me!" Thunder mused. "I'm not the one who got smart with her."
"Fifteen years later and he finally gets enough blood in his head to think a rational thought." Brandi shook her head and the two followed her as they made their way around the women working out and headed towards the ring.
Thunder glanced around at all of the women in their gear, building up a sweat and he shook his head, "Amazing. Sights like this and it does absolutely nothing for me."
"Mark would be in heaven though." Chippendale added as they arrived at the ringside area and paused, waiting.
Thunder leaned back against the ring and sat down against it with his hands propped back on the apron. He asked, "So you said you had someone to help us get ready?"
Brandi nodded but it was Chippendale who looked in the air wistfully and said, "I can only pray it's Hiroshi Tanahashi."
"Sadly, no." Brandi said. "That guy's heard about your two's reputation for seduction and wanted nothing to do with this. But I did get a couple volunteers who just got into the city. They're getting ready right now."
"Who is it?" Was what Thunder wanted to ask but the answer came soon enough when he was met with a hard slap to the back. He turned about to look at who had snuck up behind him and it was none other than his former stablemate and the husband of one of his best friends, Austin Parker.
"Hey boy." Austin drawled in his Georgia twang. "It's about damn time you two showed up. We haven't got all day."
"Actually, you do." Brandi observed. "I can stay open as long as I want and these two are going to need the practice if they're going to work off the ring rust."
"Where's Angel?" Thunder looked around, hoping to see his and Chippendale's best friend since childhood. "She not here?"
"No," Austin answered. "She decided she was gonna spend the day shoppin' while we did our thing."
"Ha ha." Thunder chuckled, pointing at Austin. "And you had to go and agree to those joint charge cards too."
Austin growled, "Tell me about it. It'll just give me more of a reason to beat yer asses here jest thinkin' about it."
"Against just you?" Chippendale asked, crossing his arms over his chest. "I thought we were going to be working in pairs today?"
"You are." Brandi said. "Austin has someone else for you as well."
"Hey." Bo Dreamwolf, Austin's protege', walked out in a loose muscle shirt and shorts.
Thunder took one glance over at the handsome Native American and he leaned over and whispered in Austin's ear, "Oh I like him. Thank you."
Austin turned to look at him and frowned most noticeably before he said, "Get yer mind outta the gutter an' go get ready!"
Thunder pulled his gym bag off of the side of the ring apron and Chippendale followed when Austin grabbed him by the arm to stop him. He asked, "Yer not gonna wear that thong, are you?"
"Not unless you ask me nice." Chippendale laughed and Austin let go and gave a mock shudder as the pair head back towards the locker room reserved for men.
DESTINY
"A ROAD ONCE TRAVELED"
PART II
Thunder: It's actually hard to pinpoint the exact moment when Derrick and I decided we were going to give this whole wrestling thing a try, but I *think* the real pinpoint time had to be when I took him and his parents to that WWF show in Monaco.
Chippendale: My dad always enjoyed watching it when he could, which was seldom with all of his free time taken up supporting such a large family. My mom liked it to a point but not nearly so much as the rest of us, but she went to because Thunder wouldn't let her stay at home that night by her lonesome.
Thunder: We just all had this great time and after the show, we went out to dinner, the four of us, and we just started talking. The topic turned to our own paths and I think this spark suddenly just ... ignited. The interest had always been there but it was more of a 'what if' kind of scenario rather than this full fledged dream we wanted to fulfill.
Chippendale: The trick is, we didn't have the slightest clue how to even get involved in the business. We didn't know anything about training schools or how to get hired once we were trained, so we did the one thing we always knew was the most reliable solution.
Thunder: We called Angel to see what she thought.
Ms. Angel: Personally I thought the boys were nuts. **laughs** But it wouldn't be the first time that I supported one of their crazy joint ventures, and I admit I had a certain appreciation for the sport. I had been taking business management courses and I started looking into some ways for my two boys to get their wrestling 'careers' kick started. Obviously since they'd be new to the scene, I thought their best chances were to be getting hired by a new promotion so the pressure would be lighter. That's where the PWA came into play.
Thunder: The Phantasy Wrestling Alliance was this new nation-wide promotion that was just getting off the ground. They offered a training school and one of the trainers was this female wrestler by the name of Brandi Rose.
Brandi: I had just came to the States after my initial tour of Japan and I applied to wrestle for the PWA, and they asked me if I'd be interested in helping get some of their new talent ready for the ring. I remember thinking that this really wasn't what I wanted to do. I thought I was still too wet behind the ears, but who was I to turn down passing on what I've learned to someone else? Then I saw this smoking hot young guy walk into the camp, ready to start the first day of training and that's all I needed to see! **laughs**
Chippendale: She's talking about me.
Thunder: Like Hell.
Brandi: I did what I could to get their initial training off the ground and some more experienced players came into the field to finish what I admit that I could not. Veteran workers who knew better how to take someone's career into their hands.
Chippendale: It was about eight months we spent going through all those bumps and bruises and I don't think Thunder's habit of turning me into a pretzel when we're alone could equal how sore those times made me feel.
Thunder: Ah! A challenge!
Chippendale: And as frustrated as we were getting, we stuck with it because those men who were beating us silly wouldn't have let us do otherwise. Plus at the time, Tony and Brandi were growing close.
Ms. Angel: Then finally the PWA offered a contract to Tony and Derrick and even went so far as to ask me if I'd be at all interested in signing on as well as managerial talent. I admit at first I wasn't interested but when you have these two picking at you and pulling those puppy dog pouty faces, you find yourself giving in almost every time.
Chippendale: Tony and I were smart enough to realize we weren't the types who could handle our own contract negotiations and we knew that Angel could. She was a whiz with those sorts of things and to top things off, it would allow us all the chance to do this thing and reunite our own clique all over again.
Ms. Angel: I missed them. I mean, terribly. I wanted so bad to have gone with them when they went to Monaco for the summer. To not b around them just seemed ... not an option. You know? So they broke me down...
Thunder: She begged us!
Ms. Angel: And I officially signed on to the PWA as well as the manager of Twisted Steel & Sex Appeal.
Taking on the nickname that the trio earned in school, Ms. Angel led Chippendale and Thunder to the He-Man's League division in the PWA, while she also ended up taking on Brandi and managing her career in the all-women's division of the same promotion. The first card was scheduled for the debut of the HML, and on that card, two brand new teams locked horns in debut action. One was TSSA, the other was Blade and Hilt.
PWA - Phantasy Wrestling Alliance ...
April 11, 1992 ... The He Man League officially debuts...
Hilt gets to his feet, dragging Chippendale along with him, and tags Blade back in. The two brothers stand the smaller, hurt rookie up on his feet and each takes a side, then runs, arm extended, but Chippendale drops down and Blade and Hilt clothesline each other! Chippendale then jumps and tags Thunder much to the delight of the fans!
Thunder quickly steps inside of the ring and as Blade and Hilt rise groggily to their feet, Thunder barrels forward with a double clothesline that takes both men down to the mat! The crowd is all pumped up as the fresh Thunder grabs Blade and Irish whips him into the ropes at top speed and jumps, nearly taking his head off with a clothesline from those huge arms, then Thunder runs off of the ropes as Blade gets on his feet, out of it, and a high knee to the face flattens him and knocks him close to his own corner where Hilt tags himself in! However Thunder is right there and he grabs him by the dreadlocks and flips him over the top, bringing him in the hard way! Thunder then sends HIM into the ropes where he jumps, taking him down and landing right on top of him in a Thesz press, landing a series of hard rights to the temple as the referee wants a break! Thunder obliges, but only to pull Blade up and take him over with a gut-wrench suplex. Thunder then goes to the corner and mounts the middle turnbuckle, facing the crowd, then jumps back, landing his full body weight down onto the prone Blade in a body splash for the One...two...th-Hilt runs in and breaks it up!
Thunder reaches and tags Chippendale into the match but as he does so, Hilt brushes past the referee and jumps into the fray and a four way brawl ensues and TSSA manages to get their foes backed into opposing corners. They then goes to Irish whip them into each other but Blade and Hilt both reverse and try the same, only Chippendale and Thunder link arms in a dosey do where Thunder levels Blade with a clothesline and Chippendale dropkicks Hilt right out of the ring!
Chippendale then grabs Blade by the legs and falls back, sending him flying with a catapult maneuver and right into Thunder's awaiting arms for a powerslam! The crowd is cheering the amazing teamwork of the two rookies as Chippendale goes right up to the top of the corner and as Thunder body slams Blade and holds him down as Chippendale comes flying off of the top rope for a guillotine legdrop right across Blade's throat! Hilt comes running in and Thunder cuts him right off as Chippendale makes the cover for the one...two...three!
The fans stand up and cheer as Ms. Angel hurriedly climbs into the ring and applauds her two best friends as the referee holds their arms high into the air, announcing their first ever victory into the foray of professional wrestling!
Thunder: That one match really got things started for us. It seems like just yesterday, and we still have all of our old press releases and match recordings. Things just really took off and the momentum didn't seem like it was ever going to slow down.
Chippendale: The PWA held several shows a month, roughly five a week, and we ended up booked on the vast majority of them.
Brandi: It wasn't any secret that the fans took to those two. From the start of the month to the end, they were kept busy as any tag team could possibly be. If they weren't defending a tag team title, they were somewhere else winning one.
Chippendale and Thunder started their long string of championship reigns when they won the HML National Tag Team Championship and League Tag Team Championship both in the same month. During their time in the PWA's HML, they won the top tag gold a total of five times, and the National version twice. There was also a League Six-Man tag title that would soon be pursued.
Chippendale: We had met a veteran pair of wrestlers named "Pretty Boy" John Blair and his former teacher, Victim Blue. We had a bit of a 'thing' I guess you'd call it against Victim Blue that got ugly fast when he laid a hand to Angel and hurt her. John Blair came in and helped us get rid of Blue and we started working together off and on in six-man matches, although he never formally joined our group. We finally got a shot at the HML Six-Man Tag Team titles and you guessed it.
Chippendale winked.
Thunder: That arrangement didn't last long unfortunately. John was a great worker but he had that backstage ego problem. He went behind our backs to get the partnership severed and in our next six-man defense, he pretty much walked out on us and we dropped the belts.
Chippendale: The funny thing is, that in the long run he did us a favor because he opened the door up for someone else who would turn out to be an even more valuable team player than he ever was.
Ms. Angel: A new masked wrestler named the Handsome Stranger arrived in the HML. He debuted in a match and everyone was amazed by just how seasoned and skilled he was, despite the fact he had been wrestling for less than a year. He had everything going for him except for his manager who was also his girlfriend at the time. Right after his first couple of matches, she decided she didn't want to share him with the fans so she just walked out on him. Left him high and dry, just like that. The sad part is he admitted he didn't know much about the business side of the sport. He was just the muscle, so to speak. His now ex-girlfriend, Rochelle, handled his contracts and he no longer had her in his corner. We invited the poor guy out after the show for dinner and we just sat there and talked, getting to know him. Derrick and Tony took me aside and it didn't take much convincing to talk to him about offering him a contract.
Thunder: Didn't take much convincing... that smile of his practically blew her dress up right then and there!
The contract was signed. the mask was removed, and the Handsome Stranger was rechristened Romeo for the next several years. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how Austin Parker had become a member of TSSA.
Over the course of the next several months, Chippendale and Thunder (along with Austin) started the dynasty that today we know all too well. Not only did they reign in the tag team division, but on a few occasions, both men had bookings in the singles as well and walked away with gold there too. National, TV, Emperor were just three of the singles titles that found their way around the waists of the original two TSSA members. Thunder even won the top prize, the HML League Championship.
Brandi: By then, Tony and I had been married and we were expecting our first children. Everyone backstage knew that Derrick swung the other way, but promoters weren't anxious to let that little secret get out for fear that it would spoil the money they were making off of his selling his sex appeal to the women in the audience.
Chippendale rolled his eyes.
Chippendale: So some rocket scientist booker came up with this idea to run this program of me pursuing this new lady wrestler who had just arrived in the PWA, named 'Luscious' Linda Lusardi. They laid out all of these plans for it to run over the next several months until it culminated in our 'marriage'. That was not something in my wrestling past I look back onto very fondly. Linda could be a sweet woman at times but she had this backstage diva attitude that had just about everyone wishing she'd get canned and fast.
Brandi: Personally I wanted to get a match against her just so I could kick her teeth down her throat. It was rare she ever agreed to a match against a woman of equal or better 9which was often skill than she had. She wrestled mostly scrubs so she could look good while making them look bad. The few times she did get pt against a higher ranked woman, ninety percent of the time she lost. She knew damn well what I would have done to her if we ever got signed against one another and she avoided it like the plague.
Thunder: That little bit of publicity didn't last very long. Even the staff were getting fed up with Linda's prima donna attitude and eventually she was released from her contract and there wasn't much mention of the 'wedding' after that. By then, things were starting to change. For the first time ever that I can recall, Derrick and I got into an argument. And I'm not talking about a little tiff. They ended up having to separate us. I can't even remember what the hell it was about, it was so long ago, but I do remember what the catalyst was.
Brandi: By then I knew something was changing about Tony. It started when Derrick was dating a rookie who we now know as Christian Underwood. Tony didn't approve and voiced his opinion at the time and Derrick didn't appreciate it. Finally Derrick just blew up and for the first time I can ever remember, the boys decided to go their separate ways.
Ms. Angel: I was heart broken. I can't even begin to tell you what seeing them fight like that did to me as the third party in a friendship that went back twenty years. I didn't know what could even start to cause Tony to act out like that because Derrick was dating.
Brandi: I could. I hadn't known the guys as long but I could see from the outside looking in. It was jealousy. Tony was jealous over the fact Derrick was dating someone. That sent up red flags right there. Tony and I were separated at the time. It hurt that it seemed our marriage could be over but he was growing more miserable as time went on. I called Angel and we were on the phone for hours when we came to a mutual understanding.
Thunder: Brandi and Angel both met me and sat me down, and I guess you might say they had an intervention.
He shook his head.
Thunder: I had been in denial for so many years because I came from a traditional Italian upbringing and I wasn't sure how my family would respond, so I denied it all these years. I was gay -- am gay. But I think back then I would have considered myself bisexual because I wasn't the most loyal husband on the planet.
Chippendale: Female wrestlers and fans... ring rats... Tony did them all.
Thunder: I tried denying it for all it was worth, but Brandi and Angel wouldn't let it go and they finally broke me down and I admitted it. I admitted the one thing that I look back on and wonder why I couldn't bring myself to admit it before; I was in love with my best friend.
Brandi: It hurt. I have to admit that. I wondered if our marriage at the time was some lie or his way to hide his sexuality but the strange thing was... when he admitted the truth about himself, all the tension between us vanished. We talked like two people, parents of two beautiful children, and although we didn't remain husband and wife, we became very good friends.
Ms. Angel: Now the hard part was over, the tricky part would start; telling Derrick about how Tony felt. Tony asked for me and Brandi to go with him but we both refused. This was one thing we knew Tony had to handle himself. I knew deep down though everything would be alright because I knew deep down, Derrick had been attracted to Tony for years. I really think that on his part, and however buried it was on Tony's part, was the core of their bond as friends.
Thunder: So after a wrestling pay-per-view, Angel told me where Derrick was staying and I went to his hotel. I had never been so damn scared in my life. I was shaking, I felt sick... I thought I wouldn't make it up the steps to his room. It felt like my legs would give out.
Chippendale: We hadn't really spoken in almost a month, so imagine my surprise when Tony showed up at my hotel asking to talk. We sat down and I think we talked pretty late until finally Tony told me why he was there -- and I almost fell out of my chair. I don't know if it was surprise, or that feeling of reciprocation since I personally had been carrying a torch for him since high school.
Thunder: of course Derrick couldn't let me have my awkward moment. he had to go and steal my spotlight by telling me he felt the same way and had for a number of years!
Chippendale: Both of us had the same worry, that if we let something happen, if it would change things between us. of course, the moment I let him into that room, things had changed.
Chippendale scratched the back of his head and chuckled awkwardly.
Chippendale: I won't go into detail about what exactly we did that night...
Thunder leaned over into the camera.
Thunder: I tapped that tight little ass `til dawn!
All of the trainees in the "Maiden America" gym had stopped training with express permission to witness the spectacle inside of the ring. They were there to learn the art of professional wrestling, and it was on full display, right in front of them for all to see as three ring legends were engaging in a sparring match with a fourth involved as well.
Austin Parker had Chippendale in a side headlock and cranked it on tightly until he used his height and weight to flip him over onto the canvas, retaining the headlock on the mat. Chippendale tried the age old counter of using his legs to grab Austin's head but the size advantage came again into play and thus, he was unable. So Chippendale grabbed his in a waistlock and rolled him back over into a pinning combination, using Austin's own size against him. Brandi herself was acting as the 'referee' and managed a two count before Austin had to let Chippendale go in order to get out of the pinning predicament.
Both men were up and they paused for a breather before they locked up again. Chippendale reached down and tripped Austin, then put him in a step over toehold but Austin rolled over and tripped Chippendale to the mat, using his legs. Austin then rolled onto his back and wrapped Chippendale up in a combination chinlock/hammerlock while everyone watched on.
Ms. Angel: I couldn't tell you how thrilled I was when the boys told me things were fine between them. Better than fine! They were officially together. The only sad thing was that I had to tell them that the PWA was folding due to financial problems. The place where they got their start together as a team was now defunct. It was just as well, I suppose. I mean, what else could they do that they haven't already done there?
Chippendale: Once the PWA folded, we started getting offers from other wrestling companies and we decided to go with the IWA, where we actually met Jordan Williams who was competing under the moniker the Marauder. We won't go into too much detail there because Jordan has been gracious enough to tell everyone already how much we helped him, but I think he's giving us far too much credit. The talent and attitude were already there. We just helped coax it out a bit.
Although their stay in the IWA wasn't long, while they were there their run of success continued in both the singles and tag team divisions.
Thunder: I don't get why they kept booking us in singles matches when we were trying to get it through their heads it was tag team matches, and tag team matches only, that we were interested in.
Despite that fact, TSSA went on to win several championships in two different Leagues in the IWA; including the League Tag, TV tag, and Six-Man tag (w/ both 'Romeo' and Marauder/Jordan Williams). Thunder even held both the League and TV tag belts with Marauder, the first time he had ever teamed with someone else other than Chippendale. Singles championships in the IWA were few but they were there showing TSSA's versatility in the wrestling world.
Thunder: I have no be honest though; The IWA just wasn't the same as the PWA and we weren't happy being a part of it. It was the first wrestling company that I can remember where focus was more on interviews than actual wrestling.
Chippendale: Hello, WWE?
Thunder: So the moment our contracts were up, we went to the WWA where Jordan Williams put in a good word for us and got us signed. I have to admit, our stay there wasn't very memorable. No matter who we beat or what we accomplished, we couldn't get a championship around our waists for the life of us.
Chippendale: It was later revealed to us by Jordan himself that the current owner of the WWA was intentionally holding us back because he just didn't think we were ready to be at the top.
Chippendale chuckles.
Chippendale: After everything we managed to accomplish, he thought we weren't ready. Apparently though things weren't all peaches and cream backstage either because three of the best promoters in the business (Craig, Mike and Casey), started up a promotion called Global Pro Wrestling and our careers were immediately back on track, thanks to the wisdom those three had for the business and giving fans what they wanted. We were back on the top, feuding with the top heels and we even won the GPW tag team championship.
Thunder: Like there was ever any doubt.
Chippendale: The best thing however I think that happened in GPW was when Mark Ward decided to help me 'out' myself to the public. I was so damn tired of living this lie and pretending to be something that I wasn't, so his son hatched this idea of a 'sex tape' scandal and he aired a little video of Tony and me fooling around on a live edition of the GPW's program. Mark and we have had our ups and downs here and there but I am going to be forever grateful for his help in allowing me to be myself in this business for the first time in memory.
Ms. Angel: Unfortunately there was a contract dispute later in their stay and I couldn't see my boys remaining there so we left and almost immediately I got them booked for a new promotion started by of all people, Jerry Sabel and a friend of his in Chris Frank. All Star Fantasy Wrestling. Things were promoted there from a desire to see more wrestling and less angles, and it carried on well enough for awhile, but in the end it didn't last. By then, both ASFW and GPW were in some difficulties and they made the huge announcement that they were going to merge together to form one huge worldwide promotion and Global Championship Wrestling was born.
Kicking things off in spectacular fashion, the bosses of both promotions decided the best way to decide the new GCW Champions would be to let their own respective champions battle it out in title unification matches; the winners being declared the inaugural GCW Champions.
Thunder: At the time, Derrick and I were the ASFW Tag Champions so we were booked against one hell of a combination in the GPW Champions, the Undertaker and Stone Cold Steve Austin. Man, I don't think I was ever put through such a hellish match in my life! Undertaker and Stone Cold fought like hell to try and walk away as the first GCW Champions.
But in the end, TSSA's experience as a team proved the deciding factor and they walked out of Uniondale, New York on July 30, 2001 as the GCW World Tag Team Champions. But by then, the end was already drawing near.
Chippendale: At that point in time, I had already been plagued by a number of injuries to my back and neck, concussions and the like. I had been involved in a car wreck years ago when we were working for the PWA, and despite having surgery on a couple of occasions, I never really fully recovered. Being a small man in a world of giants didn't help matters. I had a couple of blackouts on the road that scared the Hell out of a number of people, including guys like Mark and Jordan. In the match where we lost the titles to Hot n Sexy, Mark had hit me with that superkick of his and that was probably the longest blackout I had went through.
Thunder: I still get this bad chill down my back when I think of that moment. The fact the titles changed hands didn't matter when we all saw Derrick laying down and he wasn't moving. Mark and Jordan stopped their celebration and we all helped the medical personnel get Derrick to the back so he could be sent to the hospital for some X-Rays.
Chippendale: I guess that after so many years in such a rough sport, my body was finally just telling me that enough was enough.
January 2003
The small assembly of wrestling reporters and camera crews were stationed in the hotel lobby, awaiting the beginning of this press conference and the impending announcement. The rumors had started to circulate and they, and fans alike, were now waiting to hear the truth from the source himself.
The fact that a press conference had been called at all, spoke volumes.
Chippendale stood at the podium with the microphone. On his left stood Thunder, on his right, Ms. Angel. He said, "It's today that I am being forced to make the hardest announcement of my life." He took a moment as this sense of loss was overwhelming to him and he felt choked up, the evidence of his emotions brimming within his blue eyes.
He looked up at the assembly of reporters and spoke, "I must announce my retirement from the world of professional wrestling. Over the years, my body has been through too much and the injuries have become one too many. My doctor has warned me that it wasn't safe to continue, and so I'm here to announce the Farewell tour for Twisted Steel & Sex Appeal.
The sparring match continued, neither team willing to give an ounce to the other. For much of the start, Austin and Bo had actually kept control and dominated both Thunder and Chippendale, given the fact Bo was an active wrestler and Austin was always staying in ring shape, thanks to a healthy amount of friendly matches he and wrestlers who stayed at his ranch in Atlanta indulged him with in the ring he had in his barn.
On the flip side, Chippendale and Thunder, although remaining in great shape, had not competed actively since their retirement almost ten years ago. They stayed at the Georgia ranch often but only stepped inside Austin's ring every so often, so their active status paled in comparison to Austin's own -- despite all three men being actively retired.
Now, however, their minds were getting back into the game and their bodies were adjusting once again to being inside of a ring. The teamwork that they had excelled at in years past was again returning to the forefront of their strategy.
Bo came running off of the ropes and Chippendale dropped down, but instead of allowing Bo to run over him, Chippendale used his own legs to scissor Bo's and trip him to the canvas. Chippendale reached out and tagged Thunder, while keeping Bo trapped flat on the mat and that left him wide open for thunder to back up and jump, landing his full weight on Bo in a body splash.
Thunder rolled Bo over onto his back and covered him, hooking his leg and but as Brandi reached the count of two, Austin came into the ring and pulled Thunder off of his student, thus breaking up the pin. Austin then calmly walked back out to his corner and Thunder slowly stood up, licking his lips and nodding.
Thunder said casually, "Oh it's going to be like that, huh?" and he grinned a most wicked grin.
The Farewell Tour for TSSA started off in the newest sensation to hit the wrestling scene; Generation-X Wrestling. On the very first show, Thunder competed in his last singles match, meeting none other than "Hot Stuff" Mark Ward in a losing effort.
The following week, Mark went up against the other half of the famous combo in Chippendale, and this time with some assistance from Thunder, it was Chippendale who walked away with the win, his very last in the singles ranks.
Thunder: We couldn't have asked for a better person to wrestle against in our last singles matches than Mark. The GXW promoters were good enough to ask how we wanted to see this tour go, and both of us admitted we wanted one final singles match a piece. Mark was the man we both wanted to go up against. Reason being he was a total class act, and helped us out throughout our careers. Plus, he was careful when he needed to be. When he and i had our match, he went all out to get that win, and he did the same with Derrick but he also made damn sure not to hit him in the head in any way.
Thunder nodded.
Thunder: That took class.
Chippendale: Things finally started winding down when we were booked against Bad Medicine for the GXW tag titles. Bad Medicine was compromised of the two cousins in Jason Adams and Shane Boswell, and when you're in there with a team compromised of family, you know you're going to be in for a fight. Thunder and I won the belts, but Shane and Jason didn't make it easy by any means.
Brandi: I could tell just how much those GXW titles meant to the boys because it would be the last tag team championship they'd win. The GXW was operated by Mark Ward Senior and Chris Frank, and both of those men showed Derrick and Tony and immense level of respect when they let them retire on top, still the champions. They even let them keep the championship belts and went on to have brand new ones made for the new champions that were going to be crowned.
It all came down to Nu-Age Xtreme, one of the GXW's pay-per-view events, and the final farewell of the TSSA's last tour. Chippendale and Thunder were booked in an exhibition gauntlet match against three other tag team combinations, each of whom they had faced multiple times in their careers; the Enforcers (Dr. Zeck and Smash TV) ... Battlin' Ben and Titan ... and the Freaks (Scott Schreiner and Christian Underwood).
Two wins, one draw, and twenty minutes later, the fans gave Chippendale and Thunder a standing ovation as their wrestling careers came to a dramatic close. Wrestlers and staff alike entered the ring to bid these two young men a fond farewell.
"Alright you four, enough!"
Brandi called out as the sparring match had started to get heated as any might. They were not fighting, per se, but the rough house fun between the four had broken out and now it was time to call it a day.
Thunder had Bo in a bear hug from behind and was swinging him around like a rag doll, while Austin had Chippendale pinned down on the mat, tied up like a pretzel.
Brandi walked up and grabbed Austin by the shoulders and made him release Chippendale, saying, "I said enough!" She then walked over to Thunder and just gave him a heated look and he shrugged and impishly lowered Bo to his feet and released him. "Smart." Brandi said. "Otherwise i was going to bring all these girls in here to kick all four your asses."
"Oo." Thunder cooed, puckering his lips.
All four men were drained. Exhausted and dripping with sweat as they slowly climbed from the ring.
"Hit the showers?" Thunder stated to Chippendale who nodded and started for the locker room. He went to follow and then raised a questioning brow at Bo and Austin.
Austin held a hand up and shook his head, "We'll wait until you're finished. Ah still remember how you like to peek."
"Your loss." Thunder laughed and he started to head for the back, but before doing so, he laid a hand on Austin's shoulder.
"Austin," He said. "Thank you."
Austin shared a look and he slowly nodded. "My pleasure."
"There's not a whole lot to say that hasn't been said already, so we'll try to keep from boring all of you too much by repeating ourselves or what others have already done."
"Over the years we've given thanks for a lot of blessings. Each other. Our friendships with Austin and Angel. Our careers. But now we want to give thanks again, and this time it's to two men who we've come to know and love like brothers in and out of the ring, and that's the same two men who we'll be facing this Sunday in Tokyo; Jordan Williams and "Hot Stuff" Mark Ward."
"Mark, this match was entirely your idea, and for that, we thank you. I think you above all others realized how much we missed the sport and this one tiny act is giving us the chance for that one last bit of time under those ring lights. You wanted to showcase to the wrestling world the importance of tag team wrestling, and you could have picked anybody, but you decided to go with the best. (laughs) We both appreciate that more than you can ever know. We miss everybody that we ever grew to know in wrestling. We miss the action in the ring, the interviews and the fans."
"And above all else, we miss walking in on you in the showers. (laughs)"
"Jordan, we've known you longer than almost anyone in this business, and that time is always looked back on with fond memories. Teaming with you and the occasional match against you has been nothing short of blessings in our careers. We understand that you've recently moved closer to New York so don't be a stranger. You're welcome any time to share our home and our bed."
"Hey, you can't blame a couple of guys for trying, can you?"
"You two are the cream of the crop when it came to professional wrestlers, past or present. Singles or tag teaming together, we see you as certifiable legends of the business. This match is going to steal the show, of that we have no doubt. The four of us are going to show the fans and every wrestler in Sin City Wrestling that tag team wrestling is not a lost art. They're going to have the two best teams in history right in their faces, showing them why."
"Take care guys, and whatever happens this Sunday, win or lose, we'll always be grateful for what you two have given us."
Love and respect,
Chippendale and Thunder
Derrick Bartaud and Anthony Costantino, known collectively in the wrestling community as Chippendale and Thunder of Twisted Steel and Sex Appeal, stepped out onto the curb and surveyed their surroundings, mostly on the building that was their intended destination. Thunder turned around with his wallet and handed the cab fare to the driver and thanked him, then turned back to join his partner's side as the taxi pulled out into the lane of traffic.
"Out of idle curiosity, how did you know how much to give him?" Chippendale asked. "You're still getting used to using yen, again."
Thunder shrugged and responded, "Simple enough. If it was too little he would have let me know. If it was too much -- he wouldn't have." And Thunder walked up toward the business's front door and Chippendale watched him and shook his head.
"I guess I can't argue with that sound logic." He said as he went to follow him inside.
The door swung open and Thunder held it for the man he shared his life with and he stopped him with a hand on the shoulder.
"I have an even better question." Thunder asked. "Why did I have to even pay in the first place?"
Chippendale faked a most convincing bewildered expression and he shrugged, "You're always telling everyone that you're the man. The man pays." He reached up and patted his cheek, ending with a hard yet playful smack. "Way of the world." And he went all the way inside and Thunder rolled his eyes and returned the favor, slapping him hard across the backside as he passed.
Once inside, the very nature of the business was in full view, showing itself to be a modest gym, complete with weights along the walls, punching bags dangling from the rafters on the ceiling, mats all along the floor, and right smack in the center, a full-sized wrestling ring.Save for the ring itself, all of the equipment was in full use by the patrons, all female, all Japanese. This was an in dependant training dojo for prospective female wrestlers in this nation, owned and operated by someone this pair was intimately familiar with;
"Well it's about time!" The feminine voice called out over the sounds most often associated with a gym of any sort and the two men of TSSA turned to where the call had come from and saw the blonde woman, the very owner of the gym, heading their way with a smile on her face.
Her name is Brandi Costantino, a name that was familiar with many fans of the women's side of professional wrestling, perhaps more so here in Japan than anywhere else in the wrestling community. Brandi got her start in the sport in the early nineties, after staying in Japan as part of a foreign exchange program in her senior year in high school. Gifted athletically in baseball and track, Brandi applied to begin training at one of Japan's more reputable wrestling dojos. Interested in this American applicant, the trainers instructed her to finish her education and then return and the process would begin.
Brandi did exactly that. After returning home to Daytona Beach, Florida, she made all arrangements with friends and family after graduating and then returned to Osaka, Japan where she formally enrolled in the dojo and for the next year and a half, her body was put through every rigorous torture imaginable to weed out whether she could handle the rough nature of this sport.
She could. She graduated from the dojo and went on to tour several of Japan's top in dependant leagues, scoring several upset victories over some of the country's top female stars and even did what few Americans can lay claim to; she won a respectable number of championships in both the singles, tag team and six woman divisions. To make her ring style even more intense, Brandi extended her training from her school days in the martial arts where she held a third degree black belt in Taekwando and took up kickboxing. In the amateur fields, Brandi won kickboxing titles in both Japan, Malaysia as well as Thailand.
She then yearned to return home to the states and eventually found herself signed to various promotions such as the PWA (Phantasy Wrestling Alliance), IWA (Imaginary Wrestling Association), and ASFW. And although she gained some respect in these leagues, including winning the ASFW Woman's World title on two separate occasions, Brandi's greatest success came in the Land of the Rising Sun, where she now spent the majority of her time, training and promoting female wrestlers.
"You never were able to arrive anywhere on time." Brandi said as she approached, "Probably been staring at yourself in the mirror and lost track of time."
A subtle smile was worn on her face as she walked up and immediately embraced Thunder, who just so happened to also be her ex-husband and the father of their shared children between them. Holding no grudges between them, she also turned and hugged Chippendale tightly.
Once separated, she looked between the two and said, "I can't believe you two are actually doing this, again. After all this time?"
"Yeah, neither can I." Thunder answered, then jetted a thumb to the man on his right side and said, "Blame him. And Mark too, if you want to get technical."
"Well, so long as you two play it safe." She offered, then tilted her head forward and inquired, "This is a one time thing, isn't it?" She looked to Chippendale and raised her brow in questioning.
"Yes, ma." Chippendale sighed, rolling his eyes and was rewarded promptly with a swat from Brandi. Chippendale looked to Thunder, rubbing the side of his head and Thunder just held his hands up in mock surrender.
"Don't look at me!" Thunder mused. "I'm not the one who got smart with her."
"Fifteen years later and he finally gets enough blood in his head to think a rational thought." Brandi shook her head and the two followed her as they made their way around the women working out and headed towards the ring.
Thunder glanced around at all of the women in their gear, building up a sweat and he shook his head, "Amazing. Sights like this and it does absolutely nothing for me."
"Mark would be in heaven though." Chippendale added as they arrived at the ringside area and paused, waiting.
Thunder leaned back against the ring and sat down against it with his hands propped back on the apron. He asked, "So you said you had someone to help us get ready?"
Brandi nodded but it was Chippendale who looked in the air wistfully and said, "I can only pray it's Hiroshi Tanahashi."
"Sadly, no." Brandi said. "That guy's heard about your two's reputation for seduction and wanted nothing to do with this. But I did get a couple volunteers who just got into the city. They're getting ready right now."
"Who is it?" Was what Thunder wanted to ask but the answer came soon enough when he was met with a hard slap to the back. He turned about to look at who had snuck up behind him and it was none other than his former stablemate and the husband of one of his best friends, Austin Parker.
"Hey boy." Austin drawled in his Georgia twang. "It's about damn time you two showed up. We haven't got all day."
"Actually, you do." Brandi observed. "I can stay open as long as I want and these two are going to need the practice if they're going to work off the ring rust."
"Where's Angel?" Thunder looked around, hoping to see his and Chippendale's best friend since childhood. "She not here?"
"No," Austin answered. "She decided she was gonna spend the day shoppin' while we did our thing."
"Ha ha." Thunder chuckled, pointing at Austin. "And you had to go and agree to those joint charge cards too."
Austin growled, "Tell me about it. It'll just give me more of a reason to beat yer asses here jest thinkin' about it."
"Against just you?" Chippendale asked, crossing his arms over his chest. "I thought we were going to be working in pairs today?"
"You are." Brandi said. "Austin has someone else for you as well."
"Hey." Bo Dreamwolf, Austin's protege', walked out in a loose muscle shirt and shorts.
Thunder took one glance over at the handsome Native American and he leaned over and whispered in Austin's ear, "Oh I like him. Thank you."
Austin turned to look at him and frowned most noticeably before he said, "Get yer mind outta the gutter an' go get ready!"
Thunder pulled his gym bag off of the side of the ring apron and Chippendale followed when Austin grabbed him by the arm to stop him. He asked, "Yer not gonna wear that thong, are you?"
"Not unless you ask me nice." Chippendale laughed and Austin let go and gave a mock shudder as the pair head back towards the locker room reserved for men.
"A ROAD ONCE TRAVELED"
PART II
Thunder: It's actually hard to pinpoint the exact moment when Derrick and I decided we were going to give this whole wrestling thing a try, but I *think* the real pinpoint time had to be when I took him and his parents to that WWF show in Monaco.
Chippendale: My dad always enjoyed watching it when he could, which was seldom with all of his free time taken up supporting such a large family. My mom liked it to a point but not nearly so much as the rest of us, but she went to because Thunder wouldn't let her stay at home that night by her lonesome.
Thunder: We just all had this great time and after the show, we went out to dinner, the four of us, and we just started talking. The topic turned to our own paths and I think this spark suddenly just ... ignited. The interest had always been there but it was more of a 'what if' kind of scenario rather than this full fledged dream we wanted to fulfill.
Chippendale: The trick is, we didn't have the slightest clue how to even get involved in the business. We didn't know anything about training schools or how to get hired once we were trained, so we did the one thing we always knew was the most reliable solution.
Thunder: We called Angel to see what she thought.
Ms. Angel: Personally I thought the boys were nuts. **laughs** But it wouldn't be the first time that I supported one of their crazy joint ventures, and I admit I had a certain appreciation for the sport. I had been taking business management courses and I started looking into some ways for my two boys to get their wrestling 'careers' kick started. Obviously since they'd be new to the scene, I thought their best chances were to be getting hired by a new promotion so the pressure would be lighter. That's where the PWA came into play.
Thunder: The Phantasy Wrestling Alliance was this new nation-wide promotion that was just getting off the ground. They offered a training school and one of the trainers was this female wrestler by the name of Brandi Rose.
Brandi: I had just came to the States after my initial tour of Japan and I applied to wrestle for the PWA, and they asked me if I'd be interested in helping get some of their new talent ready for the ring. I remember thinking that this really wasn't what I wanted to do. I thought I was still too wet behind the ears, but who was I to turn down passing on what I've learned to someone else? Then I saw this smoking hot young guy walk into the camp, ready to start the first day of training and that's all I needed to see! **laughs**
Chippendale: She's talking about me.
Thunder: Like Hell.
Brandi: I did what I could to get their initial training off the ground and some more experienced players came into the field to finish what I admit that I could not. Veteran workers who knew better how to take someone's career into their hands.
Chippendale: It was about eight months we spent going through all those bumps and bruises and I don't think Thunder's habit of turning me into a pretzel when we're alone could equal how sore those times made me feel.
Thunder: Ah! A challenge!
Chippendale: And as frustrated as we were getting, we stuck with it because those men who were beating us silly wouldn't have let us do otherwise. Plus at the time, Tony and Brandi were growing close.
Ms. Angel: Then finally the PWA offered a contract to Tony and Derrick and even went so far as to ask me if I'd be at all interested in signing on as well as managerial talent. I admit at first I wasn't interested but when you have these two picking at you and pulling those puppy dog pouty faces, you find yourself giving in almost every time.
Chippendale: Tony and I were smart enough to realize we weren't the types who could handle our own contract negotiations and we knew that Angel could. She was a whiz with those sorts of things and to top things off, it would allow us all the chance to do this thing and reunite our own clique all over again.
Ms. Angel: I missed them. I mean, terribly. I wanted so bad to have gone with them when they went to Monaco for the summer. To not b around them just seemed ... not an option. You know? So they broke me down...
Thunder: She begged us!
Ms. Angel: And I officially signed on to the PWA as well as the manager of Twisted Steel & Sex Appeal.
Taking on the nickname that the trio earned in school, Ms. Angel led Chippendale and Thunder to the He-Man's League division in the PWA, while she also ended up taking on Brandi and managing her career in the all-women's division of the same promotion. The first card was scheduled for the debut of the HML, and on that card, two brand new teams locked horns in debut action. One was TSSA, the other was Blade and Hilt.
April 11, 1992 ... The He Man League officially debuts...
Hilt gets to his feet, dragging Chippendale along with him, and tags Blade back in. The two brothers stand the smaller, hurt rookie up on his feet and each takes a side, then runs, arm extended, but Chippendale drops down and Blade and Hilt clothesline each other! Chippendale then jumps and tags Thunder much to the delight of the fans!
Thunder quickly steps inside of the ring and as Blade and Hilt rise groggily to their feet, Thunder barrels forward with a double clothesline that takes both men down to the mat! The crowd is all pumped up as the fresh Thunder grabs Blade and Irish whips him into the ropes at top speed and jumps, nearly taking his head off with a clothesline from those huge arms, then Thunder runs off of the ropes as Blade gets on his feet, out of it, and a high knee to the face flattens him and knocks him close to his own corner where Hilt tags himself in! However Thunder is right there and he grabs him by the dreadlocks and flips him over the top, bringing him in the hard way! Thunder then sends HIM into the ropes where he jumps, taking him down and landing right on top of him in a Thesz press, landing a series of hard rights to the temple as the referee wants a break! Thunder obliges, but only to pull Blade up and take him over with a gut-wrench suplex. Thunder then goes to the corner and mounts the middle turnbuckle, facing the crowd, then jumps back, landing his full body weight down onto the prone Blade in a body splash for the One...two...th-Hilt runs in and breaks it up!
Thunder reaches and tags Chippendale into the match but as he does so, Hilt brushes past the referee and jumps into the fray and a four way brawl ensues and TSSA manages to get their foes backed into opposing corners. They then goes to Irish whip them into each other but Blade and Hilt both reverse and try the same, only Chippendale and Thunder link arms in a dosey do where Thunder levels Blade with a clothesline and Chippendale dropkicks Hilt right out of the ring!
Chippendale then grabs Blade by the legs and falls back, sending him flying with a catapult maneuver and right into Thunder's awaiting arms for a powerslam! The crowd is cheering the amazing teamwork of the two rookies as Chippendale goes right up to the top of the corner and as Thunder body slams Blade and holds him down as Chippendale comes flying off of the top rope for a guillotine legdrop right across Blade's throat! Hilt comes running in and Thunder cuts him right off as Chippendale makes the cover for the one...two...three!
The fans stand up and cheer as Ms. Angel hurriedly climbs into the ring and applauds her two best friends as the referee holds their arms high into the air, announcing their first ever victory into the foray of professional wrestling!
Thunder: That one match really got things started for us. It seems like just yesterday, and we still have all of our old press releases and match recordings. Things just really took off and the momentum didn't seem like it was ever going to slow down.
Chippendale: The PWA held several shows a month, roughly five a week, and we ended up booked on the vast majority of them.
Brandi: It wasn't any secret that the fans took to those two. From the start of the month to the end, they were kept busy as any tag team could possibly be. If they weren't defending a tag team title, they were somewhere else winning one.
Chippendale and Thunder started their long string of championship reigns when they won the HML National Tag Team Championship and League Tag Team Championship both in the same month. During their time in the PWA's HML, they won the top tag gold a total of five times, and the National version twice. There was also a League Six-Man tag title that would soon be pursued.
Chippendale: We had met a veteran pair of wrestlers named "Pretty Boy" John Blair and his former teacher, Victim Blue. We had a bit of a 'thing' I guess you'd call it against Victim Blue that got ugly fast when he laid a hand to Angel and hurt her. John Blair came in and helped us get rid of Blue and we started working together off and on in six-man matches, although he never formally joined our group. We finally got a shot at the HML Six-Man Tag Team titles and you guessed it.
Chippendale winked.
Thunder: That arrangement didn't last long unfortunately. John was a great worker but he had that backstage ego problem. He went behind our backs to get the partnership severed and in our next six-man defense, he pretty much walked out on us and we dropped the belts.
Chippendale: The funny thing is, that in the long run he did us a favor because he opened the door up for someone else who would turn out to be an even more valuable team player than he ever was.
Ms. Angel: A new masked wrestler named the Handsome Stranger arrived in the HML. He debuted in a match and everyone was amazed by just how seasoned and skilled he was, despite the fact he had been wrestling for less than a year. He had everything going for him except for his manager who was also his girlfriend at the time. Right after his first couple of matches, she decided she didn't want to share him with the fans so she just walked out on him. Left him high and dry, just like that. The sad part is he admitted he didn't know much about the business side of the sport. He was just the muscle, so to speak. His now ex-girlfriend, Rochelle, handled his contracts and he no longer had her in his corner. We invited the poor guy out after the show for dinner and we just sat there and talked, getting to know him. Derrick and Tony took me aside and it didn't take much convincing to talk to him about offering him a contract.
Thunder: Didn't take much convincing... that smile of his practically blew her dress up right then and there!
The contract was signed. the mask was removed, and the Handsome Stranger was rechristened Romeo for the next several years. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how Austin Parker had become a member of TSSA.
Over the course of the next several months, Chippendale and Thunder (along with Austin) started the dynasty that today we know all too well. Not only did they reign in the tag team division, but on a few occasions, both men had bookings in the singles as well and walked away with gold there too. National, TV, Emperor were just three of the singles titles that found their way around the waists of the original two TSSA members. Thunder even won the top prize, the HML League Championship.
Brandi: By then, Tony and I had been married and we were expecting our first children. Everyone backstage knew that Derrick swung the other way, but promoters weren't anxious to let that little secret get out for fear that it would spoil the money they were making off of his selling his sex appeal to the women in the audience.
Chippendale rolled his eyes.
Chippendale: So some rocket scientist booker came up with this idea to run this program of me pursuing this new lady wrestler who had just arrived in the PWA, named 'Luscious' Linda Lusardi. They laid out all of these plans for it to run over the next several months until it culminated in our 'marriage'. That was not something in my wrestling past I look back onto very fondly. Linda could be a sweet woman at times but she had this backstage diva attitude that had just about everyone wishing she'd get canned and fast.
Brandi: Personally I wanted to get a match against her just so I could kick her teeth down her throat. It was rare she ever agreed to a match against a woman of equal or better 9which was often skill than she had. She wrestled mostly scrubs so she could look good while making them look bad. The few times she did get pt against a higher ranked woman, ninety percent of the time she lost. She knew damn well what I would have done to her if we ever got signed against one another and she avoided it like the plague.
Thunder: That little bit of publicity didn't last very long. Even the staff were getting fed up with Linda's prima donna attitude and eventually she was released from her contract and there wasn't much mention of the 'wedding' after that. By then, things were starting to change. For the first time ever that I can recall, Derrick and I got into an argument. And I'm not talking about a little tiff. They ended up having to separate us. I can't even remember what the hell it was about, it was so long ago, but I do remember what the catalyst was.
Brandi: By then I knew something was changing about Tony. It started when Derrick was dating a rookie who we now know as Christian Underwood. Tony didn't approve and voiced his opinion at the time and Derrick didn't appreciate it. Finally Derrick just blew up and for the first time I can ever remember, the boys decided to go their separate ways.
Ms. Angel: I was heart broken. I can't even begin to tell you what seeing them fight like that did to me as the third party in a friendship that went back twenty years. I didn't know what could even start to cause Tony to act out like that because Derrick was dating.
Brandi: I could. I hadn't known the guys as long but I could see from the outside looking in. It was jealousy. Tony was jealous over the fact Derrick was dating someone. That sent up red flags right there. Tony and I were separated at the time. It hurt that it seemed our marriage could be over but he was growing more miserable as time went on. I called Angel and we were on the phone for hours when we came to a mutual understanding.
Thunder: Brandi and Angel both met me and sat me down, and I guess you might say they had an intervention.
He shook his head.
Thunder: I had been in denial for so many years because I came from a traditional Italian upbringing and I wasn't sure how my family would respond, so I denied it all these years. I was gay -- am gay. But I think back then I would have considered myself bisexual because I wasn't the most loyal husband on the planet.
Chippendale: Female wrestlers and fans... ring rats... Tony did them all.
Thunder: I tried denying it for all it was worth, but Brandi and Angel wouldn't let it go and they finally broke me down and I admitted it. I admitted the one thing that I look back on and wonder why I couldn't bring myself to admit it before; I was in love with my best friend.
Brandi: It hurt. I have to admit that. I wondered if our marriage at the time was some lie or his way to hide his sexuality but the strange thing was... when he admitted the truth about himself, all the tension between us vanished. We talked like two people, parents of two beautiful children, and although we didn't remain husband and wife, we became very good friends.
Ms. Angel: Now the hard part was over, the tricky part would start; telling Derrick about how Tony felt. Tony asked for me and Brandi to go with him but we both refused. This was one thing we knew Tony had to handle himself. I knew deep down though everything would be alright because I knew deep down, Derrick had been attracted to Tony for years. I really think that on his part, and however buried it was on Tony's part, was the core of their bond as friends.
Thunder: So after a wrestling pay-per-view, Angel told me where Derrick was staying and I went to his hotel. I had never been so damn scared in my life. I was shaking, I felt sick... I thought I wouldn't make it up the steps to his room. It felt like my legs would give out.
Chippendale: We hadn't really spoken in almost a month, so imagine my surprise when Tony showed up at my hotel asking to talk. We sat down and I think we talked pretty late until finally Tony told me why he was there -- and I almost fell out of my chair. I don't know if it was surprise, or that feeling of reciprocation since I personally had been carrying a torch for him since high school.
Thunder: of course Derrick couldn't let me have my awkward moment. he had to go and steal my spotlight by telling me he felt the same way and had for a number of years!
Chippendale: Both of us had the same worry, that if we let something happen, if it would change things between us. of course, the moment I let him into that room, things had changed.
Chippendale scratched the back of his head and chuckled awkwardly.
Chippendale: I won't go into detail about what exactly we did that night...
Thunder leaned over into the camera.
Thunder: I tapped that tight little ass `til dawn!
All of the trainees in the "Maiden America" gym had stopped training with express permission to witness the spectacle inside of the ring. They were there to learn the art of professional wrestling, and it was on full display, right in front of them for all to see as three ring legends were engaging in a sparring match with a fourth involved as well.
Austin Parker had Chippendale in a side headlock and cranked it on tightly until he used his height and weight to flip him over onto the canvas, retaining the headlock on the mat. Chippendale tried the age old counter of using his legs to grab Austin's head but the size advantage came again into play and thus, he was unable. So Chippendale grabbed his in a waistlock and rolled him back over into a pinning combination, using Austin's own size against him. Brandi herself was acting as the 'referee' and managed a two count before Austin had to let Chippendale go in order to get out of the pinning predicament.
Both men were up and they paused for a breather before they locked up again. Chippendale reached down and tripped Austin, then put him in a step over toehold but Austin rolled over and tripped Chippendale to the mat, using his legs. Austin then rolled onto his back and wrapped Chippendale up in a combination chinlock/hammerlock while everyone watched on.
Ms. Angel: I couldn't tell you how thrilled I was when the boys told me things were fine between them. Better than fine! They were officially together. The only sad thing was that I had to tell them that the PWA was folding due to financial problems. The place where they got their start together as a team was now defunct. It was just as well, I suppose. I mean, what else could they do that they haven't already done there?
Chippendale: Once the PWA folded, we started getting offers from other wrestling companies and we decided to go with the IWA, where we actually met Jordan Williams who was competing under the moniker the Marauder. We won't go into too much detail there because Jordan has been gracious enough to tell everyone already how much we helped him, but I think he's giving us far too much credit. The talent and attitude were already there. We just helped coax it out a bit.
Although their stay in the IWA wasn't long, while they were there their run of success continued in both the singles and tag team divisions.
Thunder: I don't get why they kept booking us in singles matches when we were trying to get it through their heads it was tag team matches, and tag team matches only, that we were interested in.
Despite that fact, TSSA went on to win several championships in two different Leagues in the IWA; including the League Tag, TV tag, and Six-Man tag (w/ both 'Romeo' and Marauder/Jordan Williams). Thunder even held both the League and TV tag belts with Marauder, the first time he had ever teamed with someone else other than Chippendale. Singles championships in the IWA were few but they were there showing TSSA's versatility in the wrestling world.
Thunder: I have no be honest though; The IWA just wasn't the same as the PWA and we weren't happy being a part of it. It was the first wrestling company that I can remember where focus was more on interviews than actual wrestling.
Chippendale: Hello, WWE?
Thunder: So the moment our contracts were up, we went to the WWA where Jordan Williams put in a good word for us and got us signed. I have to admit, our stay there wasn't very memorable. No matter who we beat or what we accomplished, we couldn't get a championship around our waists for the life of us.
Chippendale: It was later revealed to us by Jordan himself that the current owner of the WWA was intentionally holding us back because he just didn't think we were ready to be at the top.
Chippendale chuckles.
Chippendale: After everything we managed to accomplish, he thought we weren't ready. Apparently though things weren't all peaches and cream backstage either because three of the best promoters in the business (Craig, Mike and Casey), started up a promotion called Global Pro Wrestling and our careers were immediately back on track, thanks to the wisdom those three had for the business and giving fans what they wanted. We were back on the top, feuding with the top heels and we even won the GPW tag team championship.
Thunder: Like there was ever any doubt.
Chippendale: The best thing however I think that happened in GPW was when Mark Ward decided to help me 'out' myself to the public. I was so damn tired of living this lie and pretending to be something that I wasn't, so his son hatched this idea of a 'sex tape' scandal and he aired a little video of Tony and me fooling around on a live edition of the GPW's program. Mark and we have had our ups and downs here and there but I am going to be forever grateful for his help in allowing me to be myself in this business for the first time in memory.
Ms. Angel: Unfortunately there was a contract dispute later in their stay and I couldn't see my boys remaining there so we left and almost immediately I got them booked for a new promotion started by of all people, Jerry Sabel and a friend of his in Chris Frank. All Star Fantasy Wrestling. Things were promoted there from a desire to see more wrestling and less angles, and it carried on well enough for awhile, but in the end it didn't last. By then, both ASFW and GPW were in some difficulties and they made the huge announcement that they were going to merge together to form one huge worldwide promotion and Global Championship Wrestling was born.
Kicking things off in spectacular fashion, the bosses of both promotions decided the best way to decide the new GCW Champions would be to let their own respective champions battle it out in title unification matches; the winners being declared the inaugural GCW Champions.
Thunder: At the time, Derrick and I were the ASFW Tag Champions so we were booked against one hell of a combination in the GPW Champions, the Undertaker and Stone Cold Steve Austin. Man, I don't think I was ever put through such a hellish match in my life! Undertaker and Stone Cold fought like hell to try and walk away as the first GCW Champions.
But in the end, TSSA's experience as a team proved the deciding factor and they walked out of Uniondale, New York on July 30, 2001 as the GCW World Tag Team Champions. But by then, the end was already drawing near.
Chippendale: At that point in time, I had already been plagued by a number of injuries to my back and neck, concussions and the like. I had been involved in a car wreck years ago when we were working for the PWA, and despite having surgery on a couple of occasions, I never really fully recovered. Being a small man in a world of giants didn't help matters. I had a couple of blackouts on the road that scared the Hell out of a number of people, including guys like Mark and Jordan. In the match where we lost the titles to Hot n Sexy, Mark had hit me with that superkick of his and that was probably the longest blackout I had went through.
Thunder: I still get this bad chill down my back when I think of that moment. The fact the titles changed hands didn't matter when we all saw Derrick laying down and he wasn't moving. Mark and Jordan stopped their celebration and we all helped the medical personnel get Derrick to the back so he could be sent to the hospital for some X-Rays.
Chippendale: I guess that after so many years in such a rough sport, my body was finally just telling me that enough was enough.
The small assembly of wrestling reporters and camera crews were stationed in the hotel lobby, awaiting the beginning of this press conference and the impending announcement. The rumors had started to circulate and they, and fans alike, were now waiting to hear the truth from the source himself.
The fact that a press conference had been called at all, spoke volumes.
Chippendale stood at the podium with the microphone. On his left stood Thunder, on his right, Ms. Angel. He said, "It's today that I am being forced to make the hardest announcement of my life." He took a moment as this sense of loss was overwhelming to him and he felt choked up, the evidence of his emotions brimming within his blue eyes.
He looked up at the assembly of reporters and spoke, "I must announce my retirement from the world of professional wrestling. Over the years, my body has been through too much and the injuries have become one too many. My doctor has warned me that it wasn't safe to continue, and so I'm here to announce the Farewell tour for Twisted Steel & Sex Appeal.
The sparring match continued, neither team willing to give an ounce to the other. For much of the start, Austin and Bo had actually kept control and dominated both Thunder and Chippendale, given the fact Bo was an active wrestler and Austin was always staying in ring shape, thanks to a healthy amount of friendly matches he and wrestlers who stayed at his ranch in Atlanta indulged him with in the ring he had in his barn.
On the flip side, Chippendale and Thunder, although remaining in great shape, had not competed actively since their retirement almost ten years ago. They stayed at the Georgia ranch often but only stepped inside Austin's ring every so often, so their active status paled in comparison to Austin's own -- despite all three men being actively retired.
Now, however, their minds were getting back into the game and their bodies were adjusting once again to being inside of a ring. The teamwork that they had excelled at in years past was again returning to the forefront of their strategy.
Bo came running off of the ropes and Chippendale dropped down, but instead of allowing Bo to run over him, Chippendale used his own legs to scissor Bo's and trip him to the canvas. Chippendale reached out and tagged Thunder, while keeping Bo trapped flat on the mat and that left him wide open for thunder to back up and jump, landing his full weight on Bo in a body splash.
Thunder rolled Bo over onto his back and covered him, hooking his leg and but as Brandi reached the count of two, Austin came into the ring and pulled Thunder off of his student, thus breaking up the pin. Austin then calmly walked back out to his corner and Thunder slowly stood up, licking his lips and nodding.
Thunder said casually, "Oh it's going to be like that, huh?" and he grinned a most wicked grin.
The Farewell Tour for TSSA started off in the newest sensation to hit the wrestling scene; Generation-X Wrestling. On the very first show, Thunder competed in his last singles match, meeting none other than "Hot Stuff" Mark Ward in a losing effort.
The following week, Mark went up against the other half of the famous combo in Chippendale, and this time with some assistance from Thunder, it was Chippendale who walked away with the win, his very last in the singles ranks.
Thunder: We couldn't have asked for a better person to wrestle against in our last singles matches than Mark. The GXW promoters were good enough to ask how we wanted to see this tour go, and both of us admitted we wanted one final singles match a piece. Mark was the man we both wanted to go up against. Reason being he was a total class act, and helped us out throughout our careers. Plus, he was careful when he needed to be. When he and i had our match, he went all out to get that win, and he did the same with Derrick but he also made damn sure not to hit him in the head in any way.
Thunder nodded.
Thunder: That took class.
Chippendale: Things finally started winding down when we were booked against Bad Medicine for the GXW tag titles. Bad Medicine was compromised of the two cousins in Jason Adams and Shane Boswell, and when you're in there with a team compromised of family, you know you're going to be in for a fight. Thunder and I won the belts, but Shane and Jason didn't make it easy by any means.
Brandi: I could tell just how much those GXW titles meant to the boys because it would be the last tag team championship they'd win. The GXW was operated by Mark Ward Senior and Chris Frank, and both of those men showed Derrick and Tony and immense level of respect when they let them retire on top, still the champions. They even let them keep the championship belts and went on to have brand new ones made for the new champions that were going to be crowned.
It all came down to Nu-Age Xtreme, one of the GXW's pay-per-view events, and the final farewell of the TSSA's last tour. Chippendale and Thunder were booked in an exhibition gauntlet match against three other tag team combinations, each of whom they had faced multiple times in their careers; the Enforcers (Dr. Zeck and Smash TV) ... Battlin' Ben and Titan ... and the Freaks (Scott Schreiner and Christian Underwood).
Two wins, one draw, and twenty minutes later, the fans gave Chippendale and Thunder a standing ovation as their wrestling careers came to a dramatic close. Wrestlers and staff alike entered the ring to bid these two young men a fond farewell.
"Alright you four, enough!"
Brandi called out as the sparring match had started to get heated as any might. They were not fighting, per se, but the rough house fun between the four had broken out and now it was time to call it a day.
Thunder had Bo in a bear hug from behind and was swinging him around like a rag doll, while Austin had Chippendale pinned down on the mat, tied up like a pretzel.
Brandi walked up and grabbed Austin by the shoulders and made him release Chippendale, saying, "I said enough!" She then walked over to Thunder and just gave him a heated look and he shrugged and impishly lowered Bo to his feet and released him. "Smart." Brandi said. "Otherwise i was going to bring all these girls in here to kick all four your asses."
"Oo." Thunder cooed, puckering his lips.
All four men were drained. Exhausted and dripping with sweat as they slowly climbed from the ring.
"Hit the showers?" Thunder stated to Chippendale who nodded and started for the locker room. He went to follow and then raised a questioning brow at Bo and Austin.
Austin held a hand up and shook his head, "We'll wait until you're finished. Ah still remember how you like to peek."
"Your loss." Thunder laughed and he started to head for the back, but before doing so, he laid a hand on Austin's shoulder.
"Austin," He said. "Thank you."
Austin shared a look and he slowly nodded. "My pleasure."
"There's not a whole lot to say that hasn't been said already, so we'll try to keep from boring all of you too much by repeating ourselves or what others have already done."
"Over the years we've given thanks for a lot of blessings. Each other. Our friendships with Austin and Angel. Our careers. But now we want to give thanks again, and this time it's to two men who we've come to know and love like brothers in and out of the ring, and that's the same two men who we'll be facing this Sunday in Tokyo; Jordan Williams and "Hot Stuff" Mark Ward."
"Mark, this match was entirely your idea, and for that, we thank you. I think you above all others realized how much we missed the sport and this one tiny act is giving us the chance for that one last bit of time under those ring lights. You wanted to showcase to the wrestling world the importance of tag team wrestling, and you could have picked anybody, but you decided to go with the best. (laughs) We both appreciate that more than you can ever know. We miss everybody that we ever grew to know in wrestling. We miss the action in the ring, the interviews and the fans."
"And above all else, we miss walking in on you in the showers. (laughs)"
"Jordan, we've known you longer than almost anyone in this business, and that time is always looked back on with fond memories. Teaming with you and the occasional match against you has been nothing short of blessings in our careers. We understand that you've recently moved closer to New York so don't be a stranger. You're welcome any time to share our home and our bed."
"Hey, you can't blame a couple of guys for trying, can you?"
"You two are the cream of the crop when it came to professional wrestlers, past or present. Singles or tag teaming together, we see you as certifiable legends of the business. This match is going to steal the show, of that we have no doubt. The four of us are going to show the fans and every wrestler in Sin City Wrestling that tag team wrestling is not a lost art. They're going to have the two best teams in history right in their faces, showing them why."
"Take care guys, and whatever happens this Sunday, win or lose, we'll always be grateful for what you two have given us."
Love and respect,
Chippendale and Thunder
