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Professional wrestler's the special attraction

Posted: Jan 3rd 2011 By: mikeiles

The renowned Honky Tonk Man will visit Maine for a tag-team match on Friday.

FAIRFIELD - If you knew anything about professional wrestling in the late 1980s, you knew the Honky Tonk Man.

In his heyday, the Honky Tonk Man, whose real name is Wayne Farris, was nearly as recognizable as Hulk Hogan and Macho Man "Randy" Savage.

On June 2, 1987, Honky -- as he's known by fans -- pinned Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat to become the Intercontinental Champion of what was then the World Wrestling Federation, now called World Wrestling Entertainment.

He held the title for 64 weeks -- a record that's yet to be broken.

On Friday, Honky will team up with "Mass Appeal" Jay Jaillet in the special attraction tag-team match of the 3rd Annual Al Biondi Memorial Tournament at the Fairfield Community Center.

"I can't wait for this show coming up. He's one of the legends," said Joey Gleitz, a referee for Independent Wrestling Entertainment, the company that puts on the tournament.

Known for his Elvis-inspired hairdo, sequined jumpsuits and southern twang, the Honky Tonk Man, in his heyday, was nearly as recognizable as Hulk Hogan and "Macho Man" Randy Savage.

"Pretty much everybody knows who he is," said Gleitz.

Honky, whose real name is Wayne Farris, couldn't be reached for comment.

He was a special guest at the tournament two years ago, said Eric Johnson, the event's promoter. Johnson, who's also a wrestler, said he had a chance to hear Honky talk about his old rivals, his greatest matches and his trips to Mexico and Puerto Rico to wrestle.

"Standing there listening to a guy you used to watch on TV tell all those stories just gives you that warm feeling," Johnson said.

Wrestling as "Jimmy Capone," Johnson and his teammate Sonny Roselli will take on Honky and Jaillet in the tag-team match.

Though the Honky Tonk Man will be the event's biggest draw, his match isn't the main purpose of the show. The tournament's champion will be determined Friday, in the final-round match between John "The Bomb" Bryer and Johnathan Alexander Primer. The preliminary rounds of the tournament were in December.

Primer, a 27-year-old from Bangor, said he's met Honky before, but he's nervous about competing in front of one of his childhood heroes.

"I'm still kind of starstruck. I had a dream as a kid of being a professional wrestler, watching him on TV. Now that I get to share a locker room with him is amazing," Primer said.

Like Primer's wrestling persona, the Honky Tonk Man has a big ego, Primer said. Honky's routine is to enter the wrestling ring, belting out his theme song.

"I'm just a honky tonk man. I'm cool, I'm cocky, I'm bad," he sings.

His signature move is to finish his opponent by smashing a guitar over his head or back.

Despite his arrogance, Honky is considered a "good guy" in the wrestling world, where every fighter is characterized as either a hero -- called a face or babyface -- or villain, called a heel. Most matches pit a face against a heel, and the relative popularity of the two fighters usually determines who will win the match, Johnson explained.

A lot of athleticism goes into the sport, too, Johnson said. Training sessions include calisthenics and stretching to build muscle tone. Being able to execute a body slam or hip toss takes practice, he said.

But in the end, it's a wrestler's showmanship that earns him fans. And fans come out to see their favorite fighter win. However, Johnson said, sometimes the unexpected happens.

"Not everything is predetermined. It's still a sport. If you knew the ending of a movie, would you go see the movie?" he said.

Though the Honky Tonk Man will be the clear favorite Friday, Johnson wouldn't say if the wrestling legend would inevitably win.

But he's fought Honky before, and, imitating his twang, Johnson said, "Honky Tonk Man don't lose."

Tags: Honky Tonk Man, WWF, WWE