(Editor’s Note, I sat down with Hydra after the October LVAC show in which he lost his mask and was revealed to be Leslie Butterscotch, reconciling with former best friend and "Flames of Love" tag team partner Billy Avery. The quotes in this piece came from that interview.)
“When you punish a person for dreaming their dream don’t expect them to thank or forgive you” is the searing line from the Mountain Goats song “The Best Ever Death Metal Band In Denton”. (referred to going forward in this piece as “Denton”) The story of two childhood friends, Jeff and Cyrus, determined to set the world on fire by becoming the best death metal band to ever come out of their hometown of Denton Texas. Their journey is full of obstacles, adversity, and authority figures that don’t understand them or their dreams, but it’s also a story of determination and persistence.
If you took the names and specifics away from their story though, you’d find people like “Jeff and Cyrus” all over the world. In every sport and artistic discipline. Underdogs fighting against a system that says there is no place for them.
In the world of professional wrestling those underdogs are Billy Avery and Leslie Butterscotch, collectively known as “The Flames of Love”.
To properly tell the story of the Flames of Love and their struggles against Lehigh Valley Athletic Council Commissioner Chris Reject, we must first look at the story of Hydra and his struggles for acceptance as a serious competitor within the community of independent professional wrestling.
This is a story of setbacks and some adversity, but it’s also a story of triumph and accomplishment; of the dividends that can be paid when one bets on themselves and never gives up.
Leslie Butterscotch made his debut as Hydra on November 13th 2005 for Chikara Pro; an unfortunate and tragic day in the world of professional wrestling, one that few fans alive that day will forget.
That was the day when beloved WWE Superstar and pro wrestling legend, Eddie Guerrero passed away. But Chikara still had a show booked that day at the former ECW Arena, and as the saying goes “The Show Must Go On”.
In another example of “The Show Must Go On” Leslie wasn’t even originally slated for the Hydra character. The first portrayer of the Hydra character originally was in fact current AEW Mid Atlantic Champion Orange Cassidy. Another wrestler was then slated to take over the role but no-showed the November event, which opened the door for Leslie to make his unexpected debut.
“The next month November is when [The original intended Hydra] was supposed to take over the role, and he didn’t show up for the show. They were looking for someone for an eight man tag. I remember [them looking my way] and then (Chikara Head Trainer at the time)[Chris] Hero called me over and said "we think you are ready". They threw me a trash bag with the Hydra gear in it, and I found out about 3 hours before the show, this was also the same day that Eddie Guerrero died, so I was kind of in a weird headspace.”
The world of professional wrestling rarely makes allowances for anyone’s feelings or comfort. Not only did Leslie have to prepare for his debut with as little as three hours notice, the Hydra costume or “gimmick” as it’s known, was intended for another wrestler entirely so the mask and gear sizes were not measured for Leslie’s body type.
In fact it would be a full year before Leslie would be able to have properly fitting gear made, the whole time still being expected to make payments on the ill-fitting mask and gear. Unfortunately this is standard behavior in the world of professional wrestling, hand waived away under the guise of “paying your dues”. A nebulous concept that seems to usually end up with the rookie or novice wrestler exploited in some way.
I was in the audience that day when Hydra made his debut for Chikara. I was there to support Shane Storm as he defended his mask against (current LVAC wrestler) Gran Akuma in a mask versus mask match.
Hydra's match also featured IWTV boss and NEPAwrestling.com co-founder Gerry in an early professional match. I have been familiar and acquainted with Hydra’s career from the very beginning.
Chikara at the time was the vanguard of American independent professional wrestling. The list of top wrestling talent that made their home in Chikara at that time is truly staggering. Claudio Castagnoli, Chris Hero,(a future) Orange Cassidy, Eddie Kingston, Mexican Lucha Libre legend Skayde, as well as legends no longer with us: Mr. Brodie Lee, and Larry Sweeney just to name a few. That kind of talent pool was an incredible resource but was also very challenging to Hydra.
“It was wild, but it was really intimidating. I definitely learned a lot from being in the ring with them, and going from feeling like there's no way I can hang in the ring with them to wow that actually went really well, it was a big boost of confidence from that. My second day of training was with Skayde. He was doing just wild shit. I don’t know how his brain works, he would come up with pinning combinations and different arm drags, it was so fluid and in the moment.”
Even though Leslie was training at Chakira which was known to have athletes of all sizes, his slight stature still kept some doors closed for him.
“I was told by some people there were moves that I couldn’t do because of my size. I feel like that held me back for the first couple of years. But then I had a match with Tyler Black [WWE Superstar Seth Rollins] in 2009. Traveling outside of where I was [normally wrestling] really helped. I was able to bring the character out a little more, try different things, and develop more confidence in the ring to try things.”
While Leslie was trying to live his dream as the masked Hydra, his childhood friend Billy Avery (best friends since meeting at home school summer camp and bonding over a love of Pro Wrestling) had since entered wrestling training to pursue their shared dream, opening the door to the formation of “The Flames of Love”.
“We went to The Great American Bash 2000, In Baltimore Maryland, and we saw Sting get set on fire [By Vampiro] It was a really good show! It was a great feud [Sting vs Vampiro]. We decided we wanted to be wrestlers at that moment.”
“We started a backyard promotion called ‘Cream of The Crop Wrestling’ or “CCW”. It was us and a bunch of kids in the neighborhood. Our biggest show of the year, our “Wrestlemania” if you will , was called ”Extreme Measures”. The most extreme we got was a [single] lighttube.”
With Billy Avery ready, and Leslie having been wrestling as Hydra the stage was set for “The Flames of Love”, the only problem is that no promoter wanted to take a chance on an untested tag team, which led to Billy and Leslie having to get “creative” to get noticed.
This is where the comparisons to Jeff and Cyrus are the strongest; like the titular protagonists of “Denton” Billy and Leslie believed they could overcome any shortcomings in their physique or ability with sheer determination and will.
“The Flames of Love are the energy of [Denton]. The drive we had was similar, we tried to advocate for ourselves to get on the “Wrestling is Fun” shows. We went into the bathroom and projected our backyard match on the back of the wall. We were giving away tee shirts with our faces on them, and security kicked us out.”
“The next month we did a guerilla show. We set up a ring; it was just a mat with some poles. We started to wrestle, the fans came out and were like “what's going on”. Right as we locked up our manager ran out and said hey I’ve got you guys a match on the next “Wrestling is Fun” show . We were earning money to pay for a manager to get on these shows. We needed representation to be noticed.. “
The hard work paid off as they built towards an impending tag team match against Sidney Bakabella’s “Devastation Corporation: of Blaster McMassive and Max Smashmaster set for a future “Wrestling is Fun” show.
Unfortunately real life would intrude on the world and the match never came to be as Leslie suddenly and unexpectedly stepped away from professional wrestling completely. Leaving his best friend Billy Avery without a tag team partner to challenge The Devastation Corporation, and thus “The Flames of Love” were extinguished before they even had a chance to burn bright.
“In 2008 I had just gone through a bad breakup, I was living on my own, trying to make ends meet. My job was on weekends, so to take off for a wrestling show, I lost money. I was thinking about how I am going to make [it] and wrestling just wasn’t paying the bills. I just wanted to go to school. I went to community college the same time I left wrestling which was in 2009. One of the people that convinced me to go back to school was [Indie Wrestling Legend The Late] Larry Sweeney. He was a dear friend. [He] looms large [in me]. He gave me a book recommendation, this book “The Corrections” by Jonathan Franzen. It was my first time with a postmodern novel and I loved it. He opened me up to the possibilities of writing. I decided to go to school and study English. He helped me get there.”
“When I went to community college I wanted to do a full stop on wrestling and put both feet in. Also I didn’t have [health] insurance.[I thought] I have to do this to look out for my future.”
So the book was closed on the “Flames of Love” and wouldn’t be opened for another ten years...
You can Pre-order the new "Flames of Love" T-shirt designed by Eisner awarding winning artist Box Brown ! Available for shipping or pick up "Holiday Hang Out" on Dec 23rd! Only 20 dollars + shipping and 100 percent of the proceeds benefit The Bradbury Sullivan LGBT Community Center!
(You can read part 2 of our piece here on Hydra and The Flames of Love here, covering Hydra’s return to the Ring for The Lehigh Valley Athletics Council, Chris Reject’s issues with Billy Avery, the shocking reveal of Hydra as Leslie Butterscotch, and the monumental handicap tag match booked for December 23rd Holiday Hang Out (limited tickets still available!) at National Sokols in Bethlehem PA, that will see Blaxstrom, Rex Lawless AND Commissioner Chris Reject take on Billy Avery and Leslie Butterscotch in the long awaited debut of The Flames of Love!)
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