(Editor’s Note: If you haven’t already make sure you check out part one of this piece here. Which covers the debut of Hydra and the background of “The Flames of Love” tag team, up until Hydra’s abrupt disappearance from the independent wrestling community. Special thanks to Billy Avery who’s assistance has been invaluable in assembling this piece. All photos are credited to Zia Hiltey of Zia Shoots Wrestling unless otherwise noted. All photos are used with permission and sole copyrights rest with the Zia Hiltey.).
It would be nearly a decade before Hydra would make his return to the world of professional wrestling at LVAC’s Real Rumble Redux in an 8-person (quatros?) match, teaming with Green Ant, Mach 10, and his old Order Of The Neo Solar Temple leader UltraMantis Black.
A return spurred in part by the “speaking out” movement which while we all acknowledge has a long way to go has led to a somewhat different and more diverse landscape within at least the Pennsylvania independent wrestling community.
“It’s a different landscape now then from when I Left. [Wrestling] became something I’d be proud to be a part of [again]. Seeing UltraMantis at my first show back, and seeing Hallowicked- and Delirious. I saw him for the first time in a decade, as well as Shane Storm, Akuma, Crossbones, “Diamond” Joe Leonard, Avery Good, Smart Mark Gary, Dan Yost and many more - even Dan Champion! It’s been very uplifting for me…
While Hydra had now returned to the world of wrestling,his old home school summer camp friend Billy Avery was in a struggle of his own after having run afoul of LVAC Commissioner Chris Reject. Their issues started way back at LVAC Holiday Hang out ‘18 when Billy scored an upset victory in the “Scramble match” upsetting Commissioner Chris Reject by defeating in his opinion the other “worthy” competitors.
Incensed at being humiliated Chris Reject wielded corrupt power from his role as Commissioner and placed Billy into a singles match with the towering Rex Lawless. The fallout of that match saw Billy assaulting Chris Reject in defense of his good friend LVAC and now AEW Superstar Willow Nightingale.
It all came to a head in a “loser leaves Lehigh Valley” match which pitted Billy against the vicious deathmatch wrestler Jeff Cannonball. Not only did he have to contend with the fact that he had never beaten Jeff Cannonball, Commissioner Reject also made the match no disqualification which gave a significant advantage to the deathmatch luminary.
Unfortunately, that match spelled the end of Billy Avery in LVAC, or did it? Shortly after, a comic book character created by John F. Malta named Haunted Francis seemingly came to life and started competing in The LVAC. Of course a comic character didn’t actually become corporeal; it was all a clever ruse by Billy Avery to continue to chase his dream, no matter what Chris Reject was willing to throw at him.
Once the ruse was discovered Chris Reject paid a lackey to have Billy unmasked mid-match to further his humiliation! If you aren’t familiar with wrestling lore in particular lucha-libre, (which is Mexican professional wrestling, one of the foundational styles of wrestling) , unmasking a wrestler during a match is the most disrespectful act you can do, and can result in an immediate disqualification depending on the jurisdiction.
WIth Billy Avery completely at his mercy, Commissioner Reject gave him a terrible choice, if he wanted to continue to be a part of The LVAC he would have to do whatever The Commissioner said, in essence, agreeing to indentured servitude to the despotic Reject.
All the while that Billy Avery thought his struggles against Chris Reject were going unnoticed, they weren’t. Unknown to everyone (Including Billy himself) his old summer camp friend “The Rising Flame” Leslie Butterscotch was under the Hydra mask the whole time! Billy remarked to me in an email interview.
“I had always sensed that something about Hydra was very familiar to me. As a teen, I had loved watching Hydra on Smart Mark Video DVDs, but it didn't strike me that he might be someone that I knew until facing off with him eye to eye.”
At LVAC’S Record breaking Steelstacks Smackdown event (read our review here), Hydra confronted Chris Reject over his corrupt display of power and his attempts to ruin his best friend’s wrestling career. Much like Jeff in “Denton” this is where Hydra helped devise a plan to get even.
Chris Reject goaded Hydra into putting his mask on the line for a “mask vs career” multi-person tag match that featured the reunion of fabled Chikara stable The Order of the Neo Solar Temple of UltraMantis Black, Crossbones, and of course Hydra.
As a lifelong fan of pro wrestling I can easily say this match was one of the most special moments I’ve been able to witness as a fan. Seeing old chikara standouts and stars like Gran Akuma facing off against Crossbones and UltraMantis Black makes me emotional even as I think about it now.
I touched on the topic of the mask earlier but it’s worth revisiting its symbolic importance. For wrestlers a mask is more than just a hood they put on to safeguard their identity from fans and from other wrestlers who would seek to do them harm outside of the ring to get an advantage for a future match.
No the mask itself is an actual extension of the character the wrestler is portraying. It can be seen as sacred and important as their literal face. The ceremony and circumstances of mask matches, while not significant within American wrestling, are a cornerstone of Lucha LIbre. Mask vs Mask, and their alternatives Mask vs Hair, and Mask vs Career are used to sell out the biggest yearly shows and put an end to the most vicious feuds. Indeed the humiliation of losing one’s mask is akin to losing a piece of your very soul.
I asked Hydra to tell me what the mask meant to him, and I was not surprised by the passionate depth of his response.
“Wearing a mask, it was great, especially [when] starting out. Because it’s hard to wrestle with facial expressions, especially when you are learning how to do things. Trying to do things smoothly and not look like you are thinking ahead five steps, or not that you [look] worried. It helped me find the character.”
“I wasn’t sure when I started grunted, and I decided that Hydra would not speak, that was my decision. A lot of the character stuff did come from me and some people I trusted, which was really cool. So the mask worked on those two levels, covering me up and letting me keep my fear to myself, and also letting me develop a character too. In Chikara there were a lot of masked people, but for instance in IWA there wasn’t so [I] could stand out more, and that helped with that.”
So while it initially appeared that Commissioner Reject had just completed his masterstroke in his years-long plan to humiliate Billy Avery and then Hydra it all blew up in his face. Though Billy Avery and his team were able to secure the victory against Hydra and his team which cost Hydra his mask, The National Sokols was shaken to its very foundation when Hydra took off that mask and revealed himself to the world to be “The Rising Flame” Leslie Butterscotch!
What transpired in the aftermath was one of the most genuine displays of emotion and vulnerability that I’ve ever witnessed as a wrestling fan (DVD available here from LVAC). Hydra now Leslie apologized to his estranged friend for abandoning him and their tag team team nearly a decade ago. I asked Billy what the match and the ensuing fallout meant to him.
“When I defeated Hydra to take his mask and to be reinstated, it was bittersweet. I was happy to be a free man again, but it immediately became clear to me how much that Hydra mask meant to Leslie. It's all Reject's fault that everything had to go down that way.”
I could tell the bond of friendship still remained deep between them when Billy seemed more concerned about Leslie losing his mask as his Hydra persona, than he was for being abandoned, but eventually Billy did tell me what the apology and reconciliation meant to him.
“It was everything to me. I wanted to be mad at Leslie because he had completely cut off contact from me after he left the wrestling business 10 years ago. There were many times over those 10 years when I could have used my best friend. But as he spoke to me and the audience back in October after being forced to remove his mask, I could tell that his words were genuine. He had been through a lot. I had also been through a lot, so I understood where he was coming from. He put his Hydra mask and the entire history that it has on the line for me. That was a very emotional moment. There were a lot of tears. Having the OG Order of the Neo-Solar Temple, UltraMantis and Crossbones, there at ringside made that moment even more special, too.”
Like the mythological creature adorning an imagined album cover of “Satan’s Fingers” or “The Hospital Bombers”, from the ashes of Hydra and Haunted Francis arise the Phoenix of “The Flames of Love”!
Chris Reject is going to learn a harsh lesson on December 23rd at National Sokols; no matter how many thugs he brings with him (including Rex Lawless and Blaxstrom) to try and stop Dapper Donnie and “The Rising Flame”, he’s going to find out “that “The Best Ever [Tag Team] outta [Bethlehem] will in time both outpace and outlive you! Hail Satan!”
(DVD’s of past LVAC events, show merchandise, and limited tickets for Friday’s huge year-end show are available here. In addition you can order the limited edition “Flames of Love” T-Shirt designed by Eisner award winning artist Box Brown! All proceeds go directly to the Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Youth Center of Lehigh Valley! To donate directly to the Bradbury-Sullivan Center click here!
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