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Dark Starr & Mean Marc Ash -- UPWA Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame 7/12/25
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Heat.
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Heat.
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back. If you're watching on the live
0:40
stream, you're watching Summer Showdown,
0:43
the 20th anniversary here of the UPWA.
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It's an honor to have you here and it's
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an honor to induct this year's class of
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2025 into the UPWA Hall of Fame. Let's
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start with our first recipient. He says,
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"I started my wrestling career in 1985.
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Was trained by Nelson Royal and Jane
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Anderson in Morsboro, North Carolina
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at their housing camp for 2 years. Then
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I made my day, my debut I should say, in
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1987 with the National Wrestling
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Alliance. I worked for the NWA for about
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5 years and then they changed to WCW.
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I continued wrestling for them until
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well
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I've actually not stopped.
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Okay.
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I took on the name Dark Star from a
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tribe in South Africa.
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I am from Wilmington, North Carolina.
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I wrestled for New Hover High School,
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class of 1976.
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wrestling coach James Moresy. I've
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worked for several wrestling federations
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all over the United States. Great people
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to work for. My hobbies are camping,
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fishing, and gardening and working with
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you folks. It could only be one person,
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and that is Dark Star inducted in the
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UPWA Hall of Fame.
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[Applause]
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I would like to say thank you for
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so much. It's good to be recognized by
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your peers. Whatever I have achieved is
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because of y'all. So, thank you for the
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memories. And I would always share this
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moment from the bottom of my heart.
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Y'all made it possible for me. and the
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young gladiators.
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Uh, the music was very bright for y'all.
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Thank you,
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Dark Star. Everybody, congratulations on
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your induction into the Hall of Fame.
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Thank you. Thank you.
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Thanks for coming. Thank you.
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Ladies and gentlemen, our next recipient
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grew up a lifelong fan that had a lot of
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backstage access. He trained initially
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under Chief Jay Eagle and had his first
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match on June 3rd, 1989.
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A couple years later, he met and worked
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with Nelson Royal, which opened doors.
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from there had his first match on the
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national stage in 1992 with the Global
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Wrestling Federation.
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Wrestling such great as Nelson Royal,
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Ivan Koff, Chief Wahoo McDaniel, Viser,
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Shane Helms, Brad Scott and Steve
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Armstrong, George South, and many
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others. It is our honor to induct into
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the 2025 UPWA Hall of Fame Mark Ash.
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[Applause]
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like to say a few words.
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All right, those of you who know me, I'm
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sure you probably expected some uh
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arrogant, cocky heel promo, but that's
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not what you're going to get tonight. I
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want to say thank you to everybody that
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came out to see me cuz 1989 star. You
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started a couple years ahead of me. We
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wrestled five different decades, buddy.
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You know, but uh 1989 when I started, I
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did it all for me. It's what I wanted to
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do. But you fans, you came out and
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supported me. You got behind me. I
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became a fan favorite.
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Uh, whatever you love to hate, whatever
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you love to cheer, I was there for you.
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And thanks to you, I got to go all
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around the world and all around the
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country. Much like Darkst Star ahead of
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me. Um, you know, I want to say thank
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you to, you know, much like you said to
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the fans that made it all possible and
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to the peers in the back. You know,
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Donnie can tell you and Darkst Star can
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tell you. Pack the peak. I was just as
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it um um let's see as unpredictable as I
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was in the ring. You know, I could
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either be your best friend or the
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biggest pain in the ass. A lot of it
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depend on which mood I was in. But like
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I said, I want to thank everybody that
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put up with me. First and foremost,
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thank you all guys for supporting me.
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Thank you organizing. I appreciate our
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cash. Everybody,
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congratulations on your induction into
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the UPWA Hall of Fame.
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[Applause]
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Last but not least, our final inductee
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started in 2004
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and trained by Mr. Italy, Gino Caruso.
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He got into wrestling by watching
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Wrestlemania 3 with his uncle Dario in
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the match between Savage and Steamboat.
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It made him want to be a wrestler.
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He started in the UPWA in 2006,
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captured the world title and tag team
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titles in very short order. Despite a
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relatively short time in the company, he
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was one of the building blocks that set
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the trend early, helping the people
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wait for UPWA
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for 20 years.
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He wishes he was able to entertain the
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fans of Wilmington even more and is
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extremely proud of being inducted into
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the Hall of Fame. It's a huge honor for
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him personally. Those are his words.
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Playboy Marcus Shields.
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Give him a round of applause, ladies and
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gentlemen.
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Now, Playboy Marcus Shields was
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unfortunately not able to be here with
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us tonight. So, we will accept the honor
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on his behalf. Thank you and
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congratulations to all our inductees in
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the UPWA Hall of Fame, class of 2025.
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Ladies and gentlemen, it remains a big
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honor to be with you here on this 20th
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anniversary and summer showdown. Our
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main event is still to come. It's War
6:49
Games and we'll be bringing that to you
6:51
here very shortly. Stick with us. After
6:54
a brief intermission, our main event
6:56
will be underway.
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