Verona's Battle in the Borough wrestling event held before record crowd for final installment

Cribbs Field in Verona will never be the same.

The recreation site at the corner of Second and South avenues was packed with close to 400 people, including local first responders and nonprofit officials, for the last Keystone State Wrestling Alliance show.

Battle in the Borough 7 set records on Aug. 16 for attendance and 50-50 raffles.

The Lower Valley Athletic Foundation covered the cost of admission for everyone.

LVAF was founded by Vince Flotta and Timothy Long, who both serve on borough council.

“I wasn’t positive, but I was hoping that this (would turn out like this),” Long said. “The whole point was to pack the field. … To see that many people cheer for wrestling is a big thing. The whole thing started to shine light on the first responders.

“This is probably the best shows that we’ve put on.”

Event history

Battle in the Borough started out as a Verona parks and recreation fundraiser in 2018. It was canceled in 2020 because of the pandemic.

The Lower Valley Athletic Foundation assisted with concessions and raffles at the start and steadily grew to a stronger presence.

There were 50-50 and basket raffles. Attendance and fundraising grew over the years with more than 300 people in the field and about $1,000 coming to recreation coffers annually.

The reason this year would be its last is because KSWA is on its final tour. The longest tenured pro wrestling company in the Pittsburgh area will be closing up shop in December.

“Thank you, Verona,” said Bobby Orkwis, wrestling promotion owner. “Hello, Verona. Also, goodbye, Verona. It’s sad. We have seven shows left now. Seven shows to close down 25 years.

“LVAF, what a fantastic group that is. They are great champions for your community. Give it up for them. They do a lot of great stuff for this community. Thank you for being such a great supporter of KSWA.”

The wrestlers and officials really left it all out in the ring.

Ring announcer Matt Vandriak was in rare form with his introductions and verbal jabs to his KSWA cohorts, including retired referee “The Pride of Springdale” Shawn Patrick, who turns 60 this month. Vandriak quipped Patrick’s first job was as a waiter for the Last Supper.

Patrick nearly “thanked” Vandriak with a folding chair.

Vandriak also reminded fans of some of the legendary matches though the years including an epic ladder match two years ago and Verona’s 150th celebration before that.

Camping out

John Huston, 43, of Verona put up a tent for his wife, Becky; his mother, Bonnie, of Penn Hills; and friends to enjoy the show.

Becky had recently undergone some preventive chemotherapy and was sensitive to sunlight. Her favorite KSWA wrestler, Taylor Grayson, visited the tent before his main-event match.

“We come almost every year,” John Huston said. “It’s a lot of fun. Everybody gets into it. All the wrestlers put on a great show. They give it their all every year, I think, and everybody has a great time. It’s a good production.”

Becky Huston said one of her favorite matches in Battle in the Borough history took place in 2023. Grayson beat Sin Born in a fire truck ladder match for the Golden Triangle championship. The belt was hung from an Oakmont Volunteer Fire Department ladder truck.

Local celebrity sings anthem

What started as a lark ended up a tone-setter as lifelong Verona resident Ryan “Bubs” Alberts sang the national anthem six out of the seven shows — including one year with the Riverview High School choir and another with students from School of Rock South Hills.

“Vince asked me to perform the national anthem,” Alberts said. “He thought it would be a good draw since I’m well known locally. It was a lark. Vince said, ‘If I did bad, it was good. And if I did good, it was good.’ It just kind of went better than we all anticipated.”

Alberts, 48, said he felt nervous each time being in the ring but called upon his experience as an open-mic stand-up comedian to cope with the crowd.

His performance has garnered some notoriety.

“I’m happy to do it,” Alberts said. “A lot of friends and family show up and come to see me. It’s harder when you get older and have kids to see your buddies.”

Alberts said he would be ready to perform for any Verona events if called upon.

“I like the nervous energy,” he said. “I don’t mind performing.

“It’s kind of sad (that it’s the last show). I’m going to miss it. It’s a great event for the community. I hope they can figure something out and try to get something else to take its place.”

Young said the association is reaching out to other wrestling promotions to keep the tradition going.

He did not say which companies have been contacted.

Match results

Golden Triangle champ Freek E. Doyle successfully defended his title against “Big” Tony Onyx.

Capt. Curly John made Jesse Lawhead walk the plank. The high flyer from the high seas celebrated the big win with a frosty beverage from the concession stand.

The curtain closed on The Freek Show as Justin Sane, The Ram and Man-Child were defeated by “The Exotic One” Daniel Exotic, “The Apostle” Joshua Kavod and “The Face of Pittsburgh” Lou Martin.

In the battle for Sharpsburg supremacy, heavyweight champ Shawn Blanchard and “The Future” Shane Starr went at it in an all-time classic. Both the champ and the challenger are from the borough.

Blanchard had the benefit of KSWA Hall of Famer King Del Douglas in his corner.

There was some additional outside interference in Starr’s moment of glory. He was unjustifiably in a position he’d rather not be in and the champ rose to the top.

In a cross-promotion match, former Verona resident Ian Taylor, known in pro wrestling circles as BROhemoth, made his return to the KSWA ring.

BROhemoth is the Wrestling is 4 Everyone champ, and primarily works under the 880 Wrestling promotion in Pittsburgh’s South Side. He took on Damien Greene, one of KSWA’s toughest brawlers.

The match was the equivalent of a kaiju battle the likes of Godzilla, Gamera and other monsters.

Half of Verona might have been demolished had the carnage not been contained in the ring.

Taylor pulled off the victory with a devastating drop.

Exhausted, Taylor laid on the grass a few feet from the makeshift locker room and expressed joy being back in the park.

“I’m so glad to be back,” he said. “They welcomed me with open arms. … They put me on so I’m just returning the love.”

The last time BROhemoth competed at Battle in the Borough was in 2021 for Verona’s 150th anniversary celebration.

Main event

The main event of Battle in the Borough is an ambulance match. A wrestler must throw his opponent into the back of the emergency vehicle and shut the doors in order to win.

“The Artist” J-Ru put his Five Star title on the line against Grayson. At the rate the two were going from the opening bell, someone was bound to need medical attention.

The competitors took the action inside and outside the ring several times with J-Ru unceremoniously using ambulance equipment, including several stretchers. He also barked orders at the EMTs.

Just when things started to turn Grayson’s way, Man-Child emerged from the back of the ambulance and helped put a stop to the momentum. It looked like things were almost over when Grayson later stopped the doors from closing.

J-Ru, who was growing frustrated with Grayson’s resiliency, banged on the side of the ambulance and attempted to use more equipment.

That was all EMT Gary Shondelmyer could take as he got in the champ’s face and delivered a stunner.

Dazed and finding his way onto a stretcher, J-Ru wound up on the receiving end of a “splash dive” from Grayson off the top of the ambulance.

A “this is awesome” chant erupted from the crowd.

Grayson ultimately proved victorious with J-Ru being hauled away for treatment.

After the match, Shondelmyer said he felt he had to get involved after all the disrespect and damage to materials.

“It’s not like that stuff’s cheap,” he said.

This is the second time in as many years Shondelmyer defended first responders’ honor and stopped someone acting belligerent.

He clotheslined Blanchard following a “lumberjack” match in which people would surround the ring and throw wrestlers back in should they make it to the floor, or in this case, grass.

“The Ironman” Jimmy James refereed all six matches.