10 Years Ago: Pro Wrestler Knocks Out Local Rock DJ in Hudson Valley Bar
It's been 10 years since the sucker punch heard around the Hudson Valley...and beyond.
I gotta say, I always had hoped to get involved in some wrestling angle, but never dreamed of something like this happening. Getting knocked out while djing in a bar, and eventually getting revenge in front of a packed house at the Civic Center in Poughkeepsie alongside WWE Hall of Famer Bret "The Hitman" Hart. A little background information on this story. Back in the Fall of 2011, Northeast Wrestling was scheduled for a big show on Oct. 1 called Autumn Ambush at the Mid Hudson Civic Center (now the Majed J. Nesheiwat Convention Center). The popular tag team of The Now (Arlington High School grads Hale Collins and Vik Dalishus) had recently had a major falling out, and the two were to battle each out at the upcoming event with Bret Hart as the special guest enforcer referee. I was out doing one of my rock/heavy metal dj nights that I would do regularly at the area bars a couple of weeks prior and this night it was at Nellie Kelly's in Poughkeepsie (which sadly is no more as it is now a Popeye's Chicken.) Nellie Kelly's was a fun hole in the wall bar, and we always had a good time there. On this particular night, the crowd was fairly light to put it mildly, so we needed some excitement to pick things up a bit. Vik Dalishus was going to stop by the event and bring some heat if you will, helping promote the event while getting on the mic with me and bad mouthing his opponent Hale Collins.
After a bit of bad mouthing on the mic, and Vik grabbing a foam finger that he was taunting me with, I told him and the bar that I predict Hale collins would kick Vik's a** at the NEW Autumn Ambush event. After that I knew that Vik had been rattled, and I thought maybe I would get shoved or something, but I actually ended up taking a right hook to the jaw that sent me crashing down, knocking me out cold. See full video below.
After my brother uploaded the video of the incident on Youtube, we saw the amount of views it quickly gathered and knew people were going to be talking about it for some time. eBaum's World even covered it and their video got nearly 100k views. It was a highlight of my radio career, I can tell you that, with everything culminating at Autumn Ambush 2011 at the Mid Hudson Civic Center. Townsquare Media Poughkeepsie news king Bobby Welber even covered the wrestling event with a recap while covering sports for Cablevision News at the time. See the news report below. It was an amazing night and a dream come true to get in the ring with the legendary Bret "The Hitman" Hart that night, while getting sweet revenge on the wrestler that knocked me the f**k out in a bar. Hard to believe 10 years has passed already. Time sure files.