BREAKING NEWS
Minneapolis, MN
May 30, 2024
Veteran professional wrestler Tommy “The SpiderBaby” Saturday today confirmed the date of his long-rumored Farewell Match, one of several blockbuster contests presented at Headlocks at Headflyer, an event co-promoted by Midwest All-Star Wrestling and Iron Heart Pro Wrestling. The SpiderBaby redefined professional wrestling at the very beginning of his career when he came out as gay before his first match on November 9, 2003. This history-making moment was immortalized by Out Magazine, The Southwest Journal, and Fox 9 Minneapolis-Saint Paul, among other news outlets.
Since then, the self-styled Forgotten Villain has dragged professional wrestling, sometimes kicking and screaming, into a more inclusive state. “It’s okay to boo me for what I do,” The SpiderBaby declared in those salad days, “but it’s not okay to boo me for who I am.” In fact, Saturday has brought his redefinition of the grappling game to countless mainstream podcasts and broadcasts, including Coast to Coast AM, which was syndicated in 600 different North American markets at the time. He contributed to the It Gets Better movement in 2010 and was featured twice in the 2017 documentary film, Dropkick Minnesota.
During the course of his career, the World’s Wickedest Wrestler has earned the reputation of an endlessly-innovative cheater while earning over a dozen championships. Saturday has shared the ring with such wrestling luminaries as WWE Hall of Famer Tito Santana, AJ Styles, Chad Gable, Erick Redbeard, Demolition Smash, Haku, Jerry Lynn, Lenny Lane, Chris Hero, Kenny “The Sodbuster” Jay, Baron von Raschke, and “The Trainer of Champions” Eddie Sharkey. “Wrestling my heroes, even when my heroes were villains, made me better in the ring,” Saturday reminisces. Further, the SpiderBaby has wrestled in every venue imaginable, from racetracks to baseball fields to fairgrounds to Minneapolis’s iconic music club, First Avenue.
“Midwest All-star Wrestling and Iron Heart Pro Wrestling are excited to, once again, collaborate and work together to produce an event that will showcase both of our diverse, amazing rosters," declares MAW Commissioner and co-owner Brian Sager. “We are honored to have been selected to be the company that SpiderBaby wanted to end his journey in wrestling with.”
Saturday’s handpicked opponent for his Farewell Match is fellow indy stalwart Leonard Literacy. “Leonard and I got into this racket at more-or-less the same time,” The SpiderBaby remembers. “In the past two decades, each of us has grown from a young talent eager to learn to a locker room leader eager to teach. We’ve had countless matches against each other over those same years, and I’ve won most of them...but recently, Leonard’s been balancing the scales, making some wonder if he’s surpassed me in the ring. I’ve dedicated my entire career to improving, so on my way out, I’m determined to prove that I’m the better wrestler...and the better man.”
His Farewell Match has given The SpiderBaby an occasion to re-issue three of his most popular bits of merch—his Spider Prider T-shirt, his trading card, and Heroic Publishing’s Champions #55, a super-hero comic that features the World’s Wickedest Wrestler as the primary antagonist. “Honestly,” Saturday grumbles, “fans have been diligently pestering me about bringing back all three since they sold out years ago.”
Where some might use imminent retirement as an excuse to coast, The SpiderBaby is determined to sprint into antiquity. “Over two decades, with the help of local promoters, my in-ring colleagues, and the fans, I’ve won hearts and changed minds with my gospel of inclusion and my smashing of the stereotype, but the name of the game is professional wrestling,” he asserts. “I made history with my first match, and I’ll make history with my last match. As long as I still have one contest left, the best is yet to come.”
Since then, the self-styled Forgotten Villain has dragged professional wrestling, sometimes kicking and screaming, into a more inclusive state. “It’s okay to boo me for what I do,” The SpiderBaby declared in those salad days, “but it’s not okay to boo me for who I am.” In fact, Saturday has brought his redefinition of the grappling game to countless mainstream podcasts and broadcasts, including Coast to Coast AM, which was syndicated in 600 different North American markets at the time. He contributed to the It Gets Better movement in 2010 and was featured twice in the 2017 documentary film, Dropkick Minnesota.
During the course of his career, the World’s Wickedest Wrestler has earned the reputation of an endlessly-innovative cheater while earning over a dozen championships. Saturday has shared the ring with such wrestling luminaries as WWE Hall of Famer Tito Santana, AJ Styles, Chad Gable, Erick Redbeard, Demolition Smash, Haku, Jerry Lynn, Lenny Lane, Chris Hero, Kenny “The Sodbuster” Jay, Baron von Raschke, and “The Trainer of Champions” Eddie Sharkey. “Wrestling my heroes, even when my heroes were villains, made me better in the ring,” Saturday reminisces. Further, the SpiderBaby has wrestled in every venue imaginable, from racetracks to baseball fields to fairgrounds to Minneapolis’s iconic music club, First Avenue.
“Midwest All-star Wrestling and Iron Heart Pro Wrestling are excited to, once again, collaborate and work together to produce an event that will showcase both of our diverse, amazing rosters," declares MAW Commissioner and co-owner Brian Sager. “We are honored to have been selected to be the company that SpiderBaby wanted to end his journey in wrestling with.”
Saturday’s handpicked opponent for his Farewell Match is fellow indy stalwart Leonard Literacy. “Leonard and I got into this racket at more-or-less the same time,” The SpiderBaby remembers. “In the past two decades, each of us has grown from a young talent eager to learn to a locker room leader eager to teach. We’ve had countless matches against each other over those same years, and I’ve won most of them...but recently, Leonard’s been balancing the scales, making some wonder if he’s surpassed me in the ring. I’ve dedicated my entire career to improving, so on my way out, I’m determined to prove that I’m the better wrestler...and the better man.”
His Farewell Match has given The SpiderBaby an occasion to re-issue three of his most popular bits of merch—his Spider Prider T-shirt, his trading card, and Heroic Publishing’s Champions #55, a super-hero comic that features the World’s Wickedest Wrestler as the primary antagonist. “Honestly,” Saturday grumbles, “fans have been diligently pestering me about bringing back all three since they sold out years ago.”
Where some might use imminent retirement as an excuse to coast, The SpiderBaby is determined to sprint into antiquity. “Over two decades, with the help of local promoters, my in-ring colleagues, and the fans, I’ve won hearts and changed minds with my gospel of inclusion and my smashing of the stereotype, but the name of the game is professional wrestling,” he asserts. “I made history with my first match, and I’ll make history with my last match. As long as I still have one contest left, the best is yet to come.”
Headlocks at HeadFlyer
presented by Midwest All-Star Wrestling and Iron Heart Pro Wrestling
HeadFlyer Brewing
861 E. Hennepin Ave.
Minneapolis, MN 55414
June 30, 2024
Doors open 1 p.m.; Bell time 2 p.m.
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