phoenixnewtimes.com PHOENIX NEW TIMES MNY 12TO– MNY 18TO, 2022 State Licensed Dispensaries & Doctor Certifications | CANNABIS | Fumadores from p 37 came in and pounced on Nastyy. Throughout metro Phoenix, weed and pro-wrestling showcases like this were unheard of — until now. Watson, the Arizona champ, explained, “Like just before the 2020s, here in Arizona, they were still pushing the books to people getting caught with marijuana; I got hit with the books. Do you know what I mean? So it’s like now, you see cops walking around here — I wouldn’t be surprised if one of them hit a blunt.” “It’s crazy to see that and how different it is that people are just open about it.” But it’s not just Arizona weed smokers who grappled with medicating and recre- ational usage in public. The relationship between pro wrestling and weed consump- tion was taboo, only spoken about in code in locker rooms. “I think it’s actually changing nowa- days,” Watson said. “The reason why wres- tlers weren’t admitting to smoking weed for a while, I think, it’s because in WWE, the main stage, it was against the rules.” World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., which is shortened to WWE, is the largest professional wrestling promotion company in the world. The WWE website proclaims that any competitor who tests positive for marijuana shall be fined $2,500 per positive result. But according to various wrestling fan websites, the pro wrestling company is pretty lax about the rule. Many pro wrestlers from the 1980s through the 2000s are finally speaking openly about their marijuana use, including Norris “Bones” Jarmon, a San Diego-based pro wrestler who trucked in and assembled the wrestling ring at the west Phoenix venue. He’s also the wres- tling promoter who booked the wrestlers and luchadores. For years, “there were a lot of us that smoked weed in the wrestling industry, on the low,” Jarmon said. “Rob Van Damme (RVD) allegedly had difficulty with pro wrestling management because of weed. But obviously, they got over it because now RVD is in the WWE Hall of Fame.” Van Damme wrestled with the WWE, Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA)/Impact Wrestling leagues begin- ning in the early 1990s, and on and off until recently. He is a longtime user and propo- nent of cannabis products. Now 51, he has transitioned his pro wrestling career into creating RVDCBD, a cannabinoids company. It specializes in CBD and cannabis paraphernalia — which a few Phoenix-based dispensaries at the event stock on their brick-and-mortar shelves. Then there’s The Godfather — who made a guest appearance at one of Jarmon’s wrestling events. In a recent Table Talk interview, he told the hosts he smoked a “one-hitter” inside fellow wres- tler Undertaker’s coffin prior to a WWE show. “I swear that’s true. ... I smoked in the coffin,” he said. The 60-year-old Godfather also said he began medicating with cannabis at 27 to get off painkiller pills. “I watch these wrestlers, these older wrestlers, and they’re all banged up,” Jarmon continued. “There’s not an old wrestler who doesn’t have some ailment or something wrong with their knees. And they take painkillers and other things to block the pain. The Godfather hasn’t taken a narcotic pill since he was introduced to cannabis.” Erika McKendree was at one of the 94 vendor booths at the event; she repped the Genesis Bioceuticals company. “The pharmaceutical users are awak- ening and acknowledging that there is a better way for them,” she said. “And it’s really important for us to bridge that gap and try to help rehab a lot of those people who have become addicted (to pharma- ceuticals) and turned into users.” McKendree and her buddies provided free prerolls (prerolled joints) to the concertgoers, wrestling fans, and the wrestlers. “I just laughed,” she continued, “It’s funny to see people wrestling with wigs and cute girls throwing up prerolls.” The Arizona tag team wrestling champs sparked up a prerolled joint; then, they checked out one of the designated cannabis consumption lounges to view a couple of the music acts. Authority Zero, The Black Moods, Mouse Powell, Black Bottom Lighters, Pariah Pete, Dann G, Barefoot, and Rico Santana 400 performed on the main stage. “Being an enhanced super-duper athlete, you have to make sure you have something to go off of after long, stren- uous matches and bouts,” Fresco said in a softer toned voice. “One thing that helps out is something like this weed, man. It’s just getting you in the right mind. So it’s kind of trip I’m on.” When asked if smoking weed affected the Arizona wrestling champions’ perfor- mance in the ring, the tag team cham- pions’ eyes lit up. “You do have to make sure you are continuously active,” Watson responded. “You can’t just sit there and smoke all day.” Fresco continued, “I’m a productive smoker, and smoking before going to the gym will get me more in the zone, keep me focused, and get me locked in but after- ward, when I’m done, I can relax.” David Fowler, the executive director of the Cannaval event, was stoked with the action-packed wrestling matches. “People loved the entertainment and the fact that we had married the wrestling aspect with the cannabis expo,” he said in a recent email. “After a successful event, we are looking to November 12 for Cannaval 2.0. It’ll be bigger and better.” 39
