Wrestling coordinator hoping to draw crowds

Published 12:00 am Wednesday, November 29, 2006

NATCHEZ &8212; When Zeke Rivers arrived in Natchez a year ago, he saw a need for family-oriented entertainment.

Not only did he have an idea, he had a solution.

Rivers, who has been involved in professional wrestling for many years, started ACWA Wrestling, a promotion he will run one Saturday each month.

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The first show was held Nov. 4, and the next will be held Dec. 2 at the Margaret Martin Gymnasium at 8 p.m.

&8220;I had been here a whole year, and I noticed there wasn&8217;t anything to do on Saturday night,&8221; Rivers said. &8220;I wanted to give people a chance to enjoy themselves in a good, family environment. We don&8217;t allow any cursing on the mike, and we don&8217;t have divas like they do in the larger promotions.&8221;

After what Rivers described as a &8220;successful&8221; first time out, he said his upcoming event should be even better.

&8220;We&8217;re going to mix up every event,&8221; he said. &8220;This time we&8217;re going to have Giant Manivator, who has 26-inch biceps, and Hillbilly Mountain Man, who is huge. He&8217;s about 7&8217;, 400-pounds.

&8220;We had a match last time out that the crowd just loved. I think this is going to go over well, and I can&8217;t say enough about Bullet Bob Armstrong. He&8217;s 65 years old, and he&8217;s still going strong. He&8217;ll be here on the 2nd.&8221;

Also on the card will be &8220;Crazy&8221; Cody Krueger, a Jonesville native.

&8220;It&8217;s something I always wanted to do,&8221; Krueger said. &8220;After I graduated, I saved up enough money to get some professional training. I heard about Zeke&8217;s promotion, so I came by just to watch, and he asked me if I&8217;d want to wrestle.&8221;

&8220;I believe in giving people opportunities,&8221; Rivers said. &8220;Someone had to give me an opportunity, so I like to do that for other people.&8221;

Admission will be $10 for ringside seats, and $6 for general admission seats.

&8220;This is all for good, wholesome fun,&8221; Rivers said. &8220;It&8217;s just something good to do on Saturday nights. They can go out, watch some good matches, get up the next day and go to church.&8221;