Uncle Eddie hypes his UCBW title defense at WrestleSlamMania IV

I think we all can remember a time in our lives when we not only watched professional rassling on the TV, but also maybe felt compelled to attend an event live in person or re-enact the moves with our friends in junior high school. But what if we embraced the sports-entertainment hybrid as adults and co-opted it into an underground live comedy event? If you are the Upright Citizens Brigade, you say yes, and how would you like two tickets to the gun show that is the UCBW? Every Thursday night, the UCB's New York theater hosts a late-night "Cage Match" that pits improv teams against one another in a battle for the audience's admiration — and also serves to promote the UCBW.

At midnight tonight, four years into this experiment in sketch comedy wrestling, the UCBW presents WrestleSlamMania IV. I had the opportunity to talk to the UCBW's heavyweight champion, Uncle Eddie, who defends his title belt tonight against "The Black Planet" Marz. First things first, though. Eddie, who also has competed as one-half of tag-team ConEd, told me he now goes by Uncle Hollywood Eddie because apparently the producers of The Wrestler relied on his input and participation into their film. He also has picked this fight with Marz, adding injury to insult earlier this year. "I'm jealous of his popularity with the fans, so I blinded him in one eye," Eddie said.

If you're worried about more intense (read: real) injuries during the fights, rest easier knowing that they do put mats down on the UCB's theater floor. Also: "People have superpowers," Eddie told me. His include a variety of electrical and electro-shock tricks, befitting his day job at ConEd. Here's Uncle Eddie at work last year in the title bout at WrestleSlamMania III:

And footage from 2007, when ConEd took on Marz:

The lineup for WrestleSlamMania IV:

The Main Event:
UCBW Heavyweight Championship: Uncle Hollywood Eddie (champion) vs. "The Black Planet" Marz (challenger)

ALSO:
UCBW Tag Team Championship: The Fraternity (champions) vs. The Mountain Men (challengers)
Supermarket Sweep Match for the Hardcore Championship: "The Grocer" Steve Gristedes (champion) vs. Muscles Marinara
The King of the Ring vs. The Kang of the Rang: King of Hearts vs. Pu Kang Kang
Referee Pat Baer's Retirement Ceremony

Also scheduled to appear: Chuck McMahon, The Cowboy, BucketFace, Punchmug, Kirk Cameron, The Blue Bullet, Dr. Fujimora, The Lunchlady, The Jewish American Princess, Wall Street, and many more!

And featuring the Voices of the UCBW - TT Billingsworth & The Captain!

And if you're still reading this and thinking, really? Really? Uncle Eddie's alter-ego confided in me that it's all just about having fun and "doing absurd sh#!" onstage. "I figured something I was good at was comedy wrestling," he said. "It's helped me get better on the microphone."

Sean L. McCarthy

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