I am enjoying the feedback I have received about Flowers here at GWH. I have also enjoyed seeing many of you share stories and celebrating our friends.
Back in 1998, I was working for a company called Millennium Wrestling Alliance. It was a local promotion ran by Murder-1 and Steve Stussey. It was the birthplace of many great talents such as Iceberg, Rainman, and Jimmy Rave among others. In November 1998, they ran a joint show with the IWU and eventually the two merged. On this one night in November a young man entered the Marietta National Guard Armory looking to get a spot as a referee. Well, just so happens we needed one and this young man was given a spot. He had long red hair, a classic WWF blue referee shirt, and introduced himself as Todd.
This is the part where someone usually says, from that moment I just knew this guy was going to be a huge success. Honestly, I don’t remember much about the night. I do remember that Todd was on top of his game. Apparently, Todd had refereed other shows despite not having any real training at this point. I do remember him saying he was heading out to Texas to go to Shawn Michael’s school in the near future. After that night, it was the last time I would see Todd for a while.
Sometime around 2000 or 2001 I guess, I started bumping into Todd at different places. Long gone were the flowing red locks of hair and in it’s place was baldness. Over the next couple of years Todd would have classic matches with Jimmy Rave and then go on to form one of the most revered tag teams in Wildside with Masada, The Texas Death Club. It was also during this time around 2003 that I made my Friday Night Wildside debut and formed what I called the Todd and Bod Connection. It was also around this time that I started noticing the beginnings of the genius that is Todd Sexton.
As Wildside closed and Anarchy took its place, Todd continued to thrive inside the ring. I honestly don’t think the guy can have a bad match. Even if you are in an 8-man elimination match that causes Raven’s hair to dry out several times. One night in Dothan, Alabama, I was managing Todd in a match that also included Sal Rinauro, Seth Delay, among others. I think originally the match was supposed to go like 15 minute, but I did mention Sal was there, so you know to double that, flip, and add extra time like the finals of a FIFA World Cup match. Sal took the elimination just before Todd and was off to the back. Next up was Todd’s elimination which included him superkicking me instead of Seth Delay and then being rolled up for the pin. As we were slinking to back, we come to the current, where you could hear Raven, dred locks and all giving Sal the riot act. He turned his attention to Todd and then to me. He told me if I was going to take a superkick I needed to actually take it and not bump early off the apron. Of course this was being said with Todd’s boot print across my chest and my black leather jacket.
Sometime after this Todd was helping book Anarchy and would have what would become the first of many of his retirement matches. The match he had with Mikael Judas was classic and showcased just how versatile Todd can be. His retirement wouldn’t last very long as he would be back in the ring by year’s end. His matches with guys like Chad Parham, Sal Rinauro, and others were building blocks of Anarchy. While the big draw was The Devil’s Rejects and Team Anarchy, the matches that Todd was putting together with the rest of the roster rounded out what Anarchy was all about. While the in-ring career of Todd Sexton would fluctuate between being retired and being active, his work behind the scenes was starting to hit on a whole other level. Todd’s booking of Anarchy always kept a fresh face on the product and introduced so many young up and coming talents. He knew how to build the younger guys to put them on par with the more experienced guys. He knew when to pull the trigger and when to hold back. Sometimes you really do not get a chance to appreciate things like that until you look back and realize just what was happening. One of the guys Todd saw something in was Bobby Moore. First Todd took Bobby and his partner, Tyler Smith in as proteges dubbing them The Technicians.
They were previously known as The Regular Guys, and had Waffle House colored gear. They would drop the yellow and black to black and blue to match Todd and become the Technicians. Todd Sexton found a way to retire a couple more times during the next couple of years.He had a memorable feud with his brother, referee Brent Wiley. Brent had grown jealous of being in his brothers shadow and was swayed by Miss Rachel. I left Anarchy for a few months due to scheduling conflicts, but returned a short time later to reunite The Todd and Bod Connection. It would be our last little run that saw Todd become the Anarchy TV Champion, have a feud with his former partner Bobby Moore, and some incredible matches with John Skyler, Slim J, and Corey Hollis. The blowoff to the Bobby Moore feud was a Valentines Day Massacre match which was amazing.
The summer of 2015 was a bittersweet one for Todd. As part of the Anarchy 10th Anniversary Show, he teamed with Seth Delay and Sal Rinuaro to take on Jimmy Rave, Mike Posey and CB Suave. It was a few of Todd’s closest friends, and his brother was the referee. It was a fun match. It would also be the last appearance of Brent Wiley, who would tragically pass away just a couple of weeks later. As Anarchy paid tribute to Brent with a traditional 10-bell salute, a video package, and some emotional words from Jerry Palmer and Bill Behrens, Todd Sexton and Sal Rinauro tore the house down with a fitting tribute match to Brent. The leather jacket Todd wears to the ring for many of his big moments, belonged to Brent and is a way for Todd to keep his brother with him.
Over the next few years Todd would weave in and out of full-time in-ring action and take more of the reigns on booking for a couple promotions. One of those promotions was Southern Fried. There he would create and still does to this day some of the most compelling storylines and matches.
In this crazy wrestling business you run into some unique individuals. Many are unique for different reasons, some of those reasons are not always flattering. Todd is not one of those people. He is unique in the sense that there are very few that can touch his genius. There are students of this business, then there is Todd. He is one of the most creative people I have ever met and he can do it without getting stale or recycling old ideas continuously. He has a vision for a product. And it isn’t just the main event guys. It is an all encompassing thought process that gives everyone on the show from opening match to the main event a purposeful story and an opportunity to shine. When things get out of whack and some on-the-fly booking is needed, he is your guy. It comes from not just being a guy who has studied everything under the sun, but from a true love and passion for the business and the guys and girls he chooses to surround himself with. If you have ever had even a brief conversation with the guy, he radiates that passion and it inspires.
There is a reason he has won numerous mentor of the year awards. He is there not just for the new generation that is coming up and he has taken under his wing. He is there for all the folks who seek his advice. He has literally agented a match that was 1000s of miles away on the phone, while still booking an entire show at the same time. That takes skill. I know that he sends guys different matches to watch to help them with their upcoming matches. He cares that much about the business. He respects the past, embraces the present, and prepares for the future.
While it is true that Todd is one of wrestling’s true geniuses, there is another side too. Todd is a devoted and loving husband to his wonderful wife (excuse me, The First Lady of Southern Fried Championship Wrestling and Director of Covert Operations for The Sexton Alliance Miss) Kelly Sexton. He is an amazing father to his son Xander. I am amazed at how he balances the demands on his time and gives both the love and attention that is needed. On a personal level, he has been one of my best friends. He has tolerated me through some depressing times and is one of the people who has helped restore some lost confidence I had in myself. He has cared enough to reach out when things weren’t so good. A few years ago before my dad passed away, when he was getting real bad, I remember him and Kelly bringing me a huge ziplock full of homemade cookies. It was a gesture that I still think about and it meant so much to me. While I know I can’t fit everything he has done or continues to do for this business in this column, just know that the effects of what he has done and continues to do will be felt long after we have stepped away. Of course if Todd steps away, we know he will be back a few weeks later, he can’t stay retired. And I am honestly glad he doesn’t stay away. This business, this world, and our lives are better because he is in it. Thank you Todd for all you do, Hope you enjoy your Flowers.
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