NEW ENGLAND PRO WRESTLING HALL OF FAME
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Kevin Landry
"wolfman" Jason Sanderson
"LiveWire" Dave Padula
"Superbad" Steve Bradley
Bobby Riedel
Tony Atlas
Justin Credible
OX Baker
Gino Martino
Referee Willie Jackson
Sheldon Goldberg
Jim Kettner
The Power Company twins (Dave and Dean)
"The Lobster man/Bruiser" Jeff Costa
Lethal Paul Lauzon
Jason Sanderson began training with Jeff Costa in 1995 and debuted as "The Wolfman" in his first match against Dave Barron on January 11, 1996. He worked primarily in singles matches until 1997 when he was teamed with "Super Moondog" Peter Bashi to form "The Super Moondogs" challenging then W.I.W. Tag Team Champions, the Boston Bulldogs. In 1998 he began wrestling as "Merlyn" and teamed with Johnny Royal to defeat Maverick Wild and Brian Walsh for the vacant W.I.W. Tag Team Championship. Following the breakup of that team, he went on to capture the All-Star Wrestling (AWA) New England Heavyweight Championship; defeating Bruiser Costa in the final round of a tournament in Brattleboro, Vt. In 2004 he teamed with Capt. USA Dan Petty to claim the All-Star Wrestling (AWA) Tag Team Championship. He wrestled his final match in 2005 in a Six Man Tag Match, teaming with Capt. USA and Tony Atlas against Greg "The Hammer" Valentine, Ox Baker and Brian Black. Jason Sanderson has wrestled across New England as well as in Mexico, working for Ringside Wrestling, Green Mountain Wrestling, World Independent Wrestling, All-Star Wrestling Association and Championship Wrestling Promotions. His favorite opponents were Jeff Costa (aka "Lobsterman"), the Boston Bulldogs (Rip Morrison and Johnny Royal), Dave Barron and The Barbarian. Jason is a 2004 recipient of the Lou Thesz Heavyweight Championship Award from the International Wrestling Museum and Hall of Fame in Waterloo, IA; and is a life member of the Cauliflower Alley Club, serving on both the Board of Directors and the Executive Board.
Jim Kettner along with a friend had a dream to become professional wrestlers. They founded the East Coast Wrestling Association (ECWA) in New Castle, DE on August 27, 1967. Since that time over 700 performers have walked the aisle of the promotion and many have went on to become stars in top promotions such as WWE & TNA. The promotion was noted through the 1970’s and 1980’s for raising over $10,000 annually for local charities. In the 1990’s the promotion caught the eye of the wrestling world as it founded the Super 8 Tournament which became known internationally. Jim wrestled on all of his shows from 1967 until 1996. He has returned to the ring a total of 4 times since then. Jim also wrestled for independent promotions from 1979 to 1983 primarily in Delaware, West Virginia, Maryland and New Jersey. He held the ECWA Tag Team Titles (for 6 month reigns) in 1983 and 1995. Jim’s biggest claim to fame was not so much as a pro wrestler, but for his ability to teach and mentor young stars. Kettner operated a wrestling school called “Wrestle Tech” from 1997 to 2001. Jim’s star students from the Wrestle Tech days were Charlie Haas, his late brother Russ and Simon Diamond. Jim has not only been a trainer but he has helped mentor many performers including: Charlie Haas, Simon Diamond, Low Ki, Christian, Billy Kidman, Test, Devon Storm, Ace Darling, Matt Striker and countless others. Jim, through invitations to perform in the prestigious Super 8 has helped wrestlers gain international exposure such as Christopher Daniels, American Dragon, Low Ki, Billy Kidman, Steve Bradley, Alex Arion, A.J. Styles, Scoot Andrews, Bobby Rhood, Chris Sabin, Alex Shelly, Davey Richards, Petey Williams, Brian Kendrick, Paul London Chase Del Monte, The Logan Brothers and others. Jim remains active as the owner and promoter of the ECWA which still runs successful wrestling shows in the Delaware area. Jim believes that everyone should follow their dreams. He did almost 42 years ago and those dreams have taken him virtually to every corner of the United States, but he claims there was no greater thrill than having the opportunity to stand in the center of the ring of Madison Square Garden. He sold ECWA in Sept 2010 and retired from independent wrestling, but since then remains active by assisting in promoting WWE events when they are in the Maryland market.
Dave and Dean started their wrestling career in Cheshire, Conn. in 1991 under the teacher Paul Roma. Paul had just won the WCW Tag Team Titles and would fly back into town whenever he could to run the school. Paul taught the Power Company the “art” of tag team wrestling. Paul was one of the greatest tag team champions they had ever learned under and were very grateful to have been a part of his school. They were then noticed by a WCW scout named Kevin Sullivan in 1995 and were flown down to Atlanta and did their first WCW TV taping against The Giant (Big Show) and Lex Luger. From there they did regular TV shows with WCW fighting every major tag team: Steiners, Harlem Heat, Public Enemy, Bushwackers, Nasty Boys, and others. They were also very fortunate to be around some of the great singles wrestlers like Tony Atlas, Jimmy Superfly Snuka, Bill Edde, Arn Anderson, Ox Baker, Brutus Beefcake, Jimmy Hart, and other that help them out tremendously over their career. They were also apart of other (and held the tag team traps in those promotions) great promotions like XWF, Wrestle Rock, New England Pro Wrestling, ACW, NCW, AWF, EFW, and FPW.They have meet a lot of great people along their many, many journeys and wish they could thank all of them personally for all their support and good times they shared.
Paul Lauzon had always wanted to entertain people from the time he was a small child.Different forms of "show business" had run in his family, but he wasn't quite sure what form of entertainment would be best for him. Holding magic shows for his family from the age of 7, it wasn't a large enough audience to satisfy his hunger to entertain. Always being sports orientated, he began getting involved in martial arts, and in no time made a name for himself as being "very entertaining". As most people know, most martial artists don't have an audience so he began kickboxing to hear the roar of the crowd. 16 years had gone by and his appetite for the admiration of spectators was really getting the best of him. As luck would have it, one day he drove by a place in New Bedford, Ma that said "Have you ever wanted to be a pro wrestler"? With a resounding YES! He called to meet the man. Soon after he started training with former WWF wrestler Silvano Souza. A lot of the training became natural and in three months was ready for his first match. Getting knocked out cold in that first match wasn't enough to kill his dream. It was on and up from their and a year later captured the New England tag team championship with "Brutal" Bob Evans. A 20 year career saw many miles, many titles and many great friends. Even working for the Savoldi's in IWCCW, an appearing on The Sports channel on Saturday mornings. Now many of the guys you can come out and see on independent shows in the area, have been trained and groomed by Paul Lauzon. Today he owns and operates Lethal Pro Wrestling out of Fall River.
Bruiser Costa AKA Lobsterman broke into wrestling as part of Killer Kowalski's Original Class in Salem MA. Then he started his career in Montreal as Tony Costa working for Montreal's International Wrestling. Costa became a famous in Canada as part of Vancouver NWA All Star Wrestling in 1981 where he held the NWA International Tag Team Titles on 2 occasions, the NWA Canadian Title and the areas version of the NWA Canadian Tag Title through 1988. His matches with DEAN HO are still considered Classics in the area as well as his many Interview segments on the nationally televised (In Canada) ALL STAR WRESTLING show. After the expansion of the WWF and the closing of most of the territories Costa returned to his home in Nashua, NH after almost a decade on the road. Costa opened Ringside Wrestling in NH and became THE LOBSTERMAN eventually getting National attention with his campaign running for President of the United States. The campaign caught the attention of National media outlets and led to appearances on THE DAILY SHOW, CNN, CSPAN and other local news stations in the Northeast. This attention elevated LOBSTERMAN to a new level of success and notoriety which in turn helped turn Ringside Wrestling become more active and more successful. With the advent of YOUTUBE and tape and DVD trading, matches and interviews of BRUISER COSTA from the 80's in Vancouver have surfaced and become very popular allowing Jeff “Bruiser" Costa another decade of popularity with Wrestling fans worldwide.
