MONONGAH – Take any town hall in West Virginia.
Such centers of municipal governance are where the metaphorically civic suplexes, choke-slams and acrobatic finishing moves from the top rope onto your opponent’s sternum … usually only occur behind closed doors in executive session.
You know: The stuff that’s going to leave a nasty bruise.
The stuff that’s going to make you feel it from here on out when the weather turns.
Which is why the Town Hall of Monongah is turning the (collapsing) table on the above conventional wisdom.
Two weeks from now, the place where citizens occasionally grapple with councilors will be the center for a full card of professional wrestling, courtesy of Real Shoot Wrestling.
The company regularly stages matches in such unlikely venues across the tri-state region.
Flea markets.
American Legion posts.
High school gyms.
Anywhere a ring can be quickly assembled while leaving room for chairs.
In the aforementioned outlying Marion County town, doors for “The Tax Time Tussle” open at 6 p.m. April 11, with an evening full of matches, including a giant one.
“The Killer” Logan Taylor will try to keep Theo Strong from snatching his RSW World Championship Title in the main event.
Visit rswlivepro.com for ticket prices and more information on all the wrestlers appearing.
Organizers say the evening will be perfect, should you need to tap out from your 1040 for a while.
Real Shoot Wrestling has been a popular draw at Monongah Town Hall in recent years.
As Mayor John “JohnBoy” Palmer said, an entity can still be serious and relevant – while having a sense of humor at the same time.
Last December, when a wind storm roared through Monongah five days before Christmas with such a clatter that it put Santa into a (well) somewhat compromising position, the mayor twinkled – and went with it.
The gusts knocked down a decoration depicting Mr. Kringle from the top of a utility pole along Pike Street, the town’s main drag.
Said decoration slid more than halfway down the pole, resting at such an angle that made it appear Santa was doing some pole-dancing of a decided, non-North Pole variety.
Palmer’s phone blew up and when he drove over to Pike to see for himself, he chortled along with everybody else.
Then he started posting updates online.
Palmer loved that all of the people who messaged him weren’t offended by the meteorological mishap.
In fact, he said, most of them wanted him to leave it the way it was for the duration of the holidays, though Mr. Mayor did have Mr. Claus restored to decent protocol in time for the town’s Christmas parade.
“I mean, it was funny,” Palmer said. “You had to laugh.”
