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Well-traveled Plantz seeks St. Charles pro wrestling base

Posted: Apr 14th 2015 By: Kevin Druly

Brian Plantz occasionally travels from Algonquin to Omaha, Nebraska for construction work, and holds independent MWA pro wrestling?s heavyweight title when he?s not commuting.

Believe it or not, the 38-year-old might consider the latter more tedious.

?As much as I don?t want to be [champion], I?m kind of forced into it at the moment,? Plantz said.

Plantz will compete as ?Brian Blade? when MWA arrives for a 7 p.m. show April 18 at St. Charles? Pottawatomie Community Center, 8 North Ave. Earlier this week, he and fellow MWA co-owner Jeff Linscott still were finalizing the match card, perpetuating the whole issue with that glitzy belt.

Plantz would rather wrestle at the start of shows before overseeing the rest, and has worked to maintain more consistent attendance from wrestlers in Illinois who might take the title.

Until then, he reigns over the Algonquin-based federation. Could be worse things, right?

MWA started in Omaha about a decade ago, four years after Plantz entered independent pro wrestling. His own company, Plantz Construction, also is headquartered in Nebraska?s largest city, along with many existing referrals and contacts from his lives as both Brian Plantz and Brian Blade.

Plantz and his wife, Jill, who grew up in Elk Grove Village, moved to Algonquin for Jill?s job in 2013. The distance from Plantz?s own home base ? a 61/2- to 7-hour drive one way, Plantz estimates ? hasn?t been a roadblock.

Ditto for a handful of MWA?s personalities, who have been known to commute from Nebraska, Iowa and Kansas, where Plantz still has ties. Linscott, alias Austin Storm, lives in Nebraska, too.

Of course, circumstances ? like powerbombs ? occur in life, leaving Plantz to scramble as he works to cultivate more local talent.

?If you can?t make the show,? he said, ?it kind of makes it tough.?

In any event, Plantz has relished the opportunity to develop more Illinois venues for MWA, namely Pottawatomie, whose staff and set-up he called ?pretty accommodating.? The upcoming card marks the federation?s fifth show in St. Charles, and the crowds have climbed in each instance thanks in part to sponsorship help from Rookie?s.

Given MWA?s relative youth in the region, Plantz said exceeding 100 in attendance represents success.

At the most recent Pottawatomie show, on Jan. 31, hours before a major snowstorm, Plantz remembers spotting children, their families, adults and even an octogenarian or two.

?They all came and enjoyed the show,? Plantz said. ?There?s a little bit for everybody. There?s some of that comedy stuff, some stuff aimed for the kids and then some stuff aimed more for adults, but still appropriate for the children. We try to do our best to be a family friendly event that?s cheap, that?s reasonably priced. The whole family can go out and have a good time and hopefully want to go back.?

One week from tonight, fans can expect to see former WWE personality Mike ?Mantaur? Halac in one of six scheduled matches.

Wrestling as ?Tank? in the United States Wrestling Association in 1997, Halac won the USWA?s heavyweight title before his second return to WWE.

Yup, 1997. So sounds like the Mantaur?s due.

You hear that, Brian Blade?