This is a tribute to a man I didn't know personally but who had a passion for professional wrestling and our Futures Showcase Tournament.
Jason began this project and I wanted to finish it.
On Saturday August 7 at 2pm EDT at the TWE Arena located at 4825 Dayton Blvd, Red Bank, TN we will have the 4th Action Futures Showcase Tournament featuring 9 of the best up and coming professional wrestlers with 5 years or less experience competing in 3 first round matches and a final 3 way. There are also other great attraction and surprise matches added to this event!
Jason sent each Futures entrant a couple of questions and here are their answers to these questions:
1) How did it feel to be selected (or earn your way into) for the 2021 Futures tournament?
2) What would it mean to you and your career if you take it all?
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- Ron Bass Jr 1) I was ecstatic to be chosen. As someone who is trying to navigate his way through the South when it comes to independent wrestling, being selected to be apart of such an Iconic tournament is a hell of an accomplishment.
2) Winning Futures would be another monumental step in fulfilling a promise I made to my father; that I would keep our last name alive in wrestling, but that I would also elevate it to heights it had previously never known.
- Landon Hale 1) Blessed is an understatement. This will be my first time competing in a tournament, and it’s one of the biggest tournaments to be a part of. I’m very humbled and honored, and I’m ready to show everyone who I am, and what I can do.
2) It would mean everything to me. The years that I’ve worked tirelessly with my trainer, Robert Gibson, will pay off. I don’t have a lot of noise on the independent scene. However, winning this tournament will definitely help my career. I’m ready for this moment.
- Hardway Heeter 1) I had set a silent goal for myself during the 2020 Futures Showcase, that goal was to be in the 2021 Futures Showcase. To have earned a spot amongst some of the independent's most buzz worthy talent is a cavalcade of emotions. I feel successful in completing a goal. I have excitement to meet face to face with other competitors who are considered to be on their way up. There's also an ominous feeling of what I will have to do to earn the title of 2021 Futures Showcase winner.
2. To win the tournament would mean that this future is my present. If (When) I take home the title of Futures winner, it will be just the start of things to come. And as many of you will find out at 2021 Futures, with me, it’s Always The Hardway!
- Chase Holliday 1)To be able to not only be selected, but to be the first confirmed entrant in SCI Futures means a lot. I'm glad that people recognize the work I put in & trust in me enough to give me such am opportunity. I love competing in tournaments & I want more of them; it helps me push myself & test myself. Being able to be in the position I'm in is a blessing that I'll never take for granted. Futures is just step 1 into securing a spot in SCI next year.
2) There's no "if." It's "when". This is an opportunity for me, it's written itself already. The first entrant confirmed when no one knew the tournament was gonna happen- to being the one to win it all. This is another opportunity to prove myself & to continue to grow. I will walk out of this the winner, & I will walk out of this better than when I came in. And that should be a scary thought. There is no "if" it is simply "when". And WHEN I do, I'll forever be appreciative & thankful for these moments in time.
- Hoodfoot 1) Being selected as a futures competitor on my last year of eligibility is honestly a huge deal for me. I feel like my back is against the wall to win a real do or die situation.
2) It would mean the world to me to win the tournament. Almost everyone who has won the Futures tournament has gone on to do great things in wrestling and I’ll be damned if I’m not one of them. So if that means I've got to go through rivals, acquaintances, friends or even my Lost Boy brother - well damnit that’s what I’m gonna do.
- Eli Knight 1) Being selected into this tournament really meant a lot because it shows that the work I’ve been doing so far in this career that I’m trying to chase has been noticed and is paying off. This tournament was one goal of many that I am able to knock off this list and now I have the ability to show the independent wrestling world that I’m about it.
2) Winning this whole entire tournament means that I am 1 out of the 9 who is able to step up and put the future of wrestling on my back. Hoping for the best, it’s not only gonna elevate me, but elevate the team that I rep and let everyone in wrestling know that we’re sharks in these waters and we’re hungry for more.
- Robert Martyr 1) It feels long awaited and in a way I’m grateful, but at the same time I feel insulted.
I am the ONLY person in this tournament that had to fight for a spot. Everyone else got a free ticket in. I feel like they don’t want me to succeed. Every wall they put in front of me I will climb. I’m the only person that can say they earned their spot. I didn’t just beat Brogan Finlay; I made him quit. If that doesn’t tell you all you need to know, then you’re just in denial. Fact is you’ll be hard pressed to find anyone that wrestles as hard as I do.
This is my opportunity, this is my chance. This is my spot.
2) It would mean that everything I said I am is the truth. I will show all my hard work, me legitimately giving my entire body into every single match I do, wrestling to work harder than the work horse, constantly wrestling people that expose other wrestlers by out working them. It would mean that every single person that said that I would never amount to anything since I started at 14 years old - taking advantage of me, hurting me & beating me senseless, that I am not everything they said I was.
This is everything I’ve ever wanted. When I win this tournament, there will be no doubt in anyone’s mind that I am future of this business.
And that means more to me than anything.
- Billie Starkz 1) It was a huge accomplishment for me. I remember telling Matt Griffin at the end of SCI weekend in 2019 that I was going to be part of Futures. I truly feel that by working hard in and out of the ring that I have earned a spot amongst all the newer talent.
2) If I win SCI Futures it is showing I'm the future of wrestling, along with my passion and drive. It means a lot to just be part of it, however, winning it all and earning a spot in SCI 2022 would mean making history. Plus, being there the past few years and watching what other talent has gone on and done I can only imagine what my future holds if I were to take the whole thing.
- The Whisper 1. Getting the opportunity to be a part of Futures is such a surreal feeling. It has been so motivating to work even harder. It fuels the confidence I have in my trajectory and abilities as a professional wrestler. I made this happen for myself and I’m proud of that.
2. If I’m able to walk out of Futures as the winner of the whole Tournament, especially against such a wildly talented field of competitors, it would be the ultimate validation. I want the world to know that I can not only hang with the very best of independent wrestling, but excel against them. The Silence is the Future, and I plan to solidify that.
Tickets are just $5 and can be bought day of show or at SCIWrestling.com