Bam Bam Bundy is from Bolivar originally and lives in Memphis.
But he’s in Jackson often.
As a wrestler on the industry’s independent circuit, he’s a regular performer for Tennessee Championship Wrestling.
On Saturday, March 23, he’s scheduled to compete in the main event for the Southern Heavyweight Championship.
There are a number of reasons for this to be a big night for Bunday, but probably the biggest one is the show is called the Bert Prentice Birthday Bash Memorial show, as it’s on the late promoter’s birthday.
Prentice was a long-time wrestling promoter in Memphis and Nashville, managing talent in the USWA organization in the 1990s including future legends like the Undertaker before running his own promotion in Nashville, USA Wrestling.
He died a couple of years ago after battling cancer.
“Bert was a good man who did a lot of good things for a lot of different people,” said TCW promoter K.C. Gold, who essentially inherited TCW from Prentiss after he passed. “He was a good friend for a lot of us, and we want to honor him with this annual show.”
Bundy wrestled for Prentice and USA Wrestling. He’s excited to see some old friends and rivals from the defunct promotion that was TCW’s predecessor on the show like Danny Dollar and Matt Boyce, who will be tagging together for the first time ever, Kevin Zion and Christian James.
Legends like Doug Gilbert and Jerry “The King” Lawler will also be on hand for the show.
It’s a chance for Bundy to win back the Southern Heavyweight Championship, which he was the champion who brought the belt to TCW.
But he and his opponent, Logan Blake, have a little bit of history.
At the promotion’s last big show at Chester County High School in February, the two were on opposing sides in a 5-on-5 elimination match. They were the final two competitors remaining, and Bundy seemingly had the match in hand when he was distracted when Gold, whose position as promoter for the company was on the line in the match, lit a fireball and his Bundy’s manager, Lucky P., in the face with it.
“I’ll give the kid some credit for hitting me at the right time,” Bundy said. “But it wasn’t right for Gold to get involved and burn my business partner and distract me to allow the kid the opening he got to knock me clueless and pin me.
“But that’s OK because I’ll prove how it is when it’s one-on-one. It’s a tables-ladders-chairs match, which means I can use every one of those on him and it be within the rules before I climb to grab that belt and make it mine. I’ll beat him clueless and take what’s mine and show this organization how a real champion represents this business.”
Blake is a South Side grad, and Bundy is a Bolivar alum. So that adds to the match.
“You can quote me on this: South Side Hawks suck,” Bundy said. “And it won’t be pretty for them on Saturday.”
The event will be at the Picture Perfect Event Center at 2310 North Highland Avenue near the intersection with Ridgecrest Drive. Tickets are $15 for general admission and $20 for the few VIP tickets that remain. Doors open for VIPs at 5:30 p.m., 6:30 for general admission and bell time is 7 p.m. For more information, log into TCW’s Facebook page.
Brandon Shields, brandon@jacksonpost.news
