Adios ISW.

Count Dante bids farewell to Incredibly Strange Wrestling.

It has been seven years since I showed up at the Transmission Theater in San Francisco in a red, white and blue "Superfoot" Wallace on acid kimono and started down the road to low-rent pro wrestling fame and fortune. It was that night that I joined Incredibly Strange Wrestling in a career move that would see me duking it out with lions, Flamuis Caesars, Poontanglers and Loco Homos whose only strategy was to pummel my groin for 7 minutes.

After tiring of all of that nut pounding action, I most importantly became the voice of ISW with my co-host Alan Bolte and added my insightful analysis and daring color commentary to the live costumed carnage. My wrestling was god-awful for the most part but my booming voice and sharp wit are what got me noticed, what put me on television and got me written up in newspapers.

Because of ISW, I toured the US and Europe, played the Fillmore numerous times, did the Skydome several months before WrestleMania 2002 took place there and had my nuts (again with the nuts) stomped on by lucha/WCW star Vampiro. Without the local notoriety afforded me by my association with ISW I probably wouldn't have snagged the California Music Awards nomination for Outstanding Bassist in 2001, which led to me taking the stage with Hagar and Michael Anthony in 2002. A lot of things wouldn't have happened to Count Dante had it not been for ISW.

It is due to all of this that I am somewhat sad to announce that I have taken leave of ISW. I will never say never to return because I can still remember when The Who broke up 23 years ago and kept reuniting over and over again. Hell, KISS broke up a couple of years ago too and have kept themselves on a permanent farewell tour. How tacky. How can we miss you if you won't leave?!? That all being said, I feel that I have reached a point of creative stagnation with Incredibly Strange Wrestling where I am only going through the motions and am no longer having fun doing those shows. Let's face it, ISW has paid me more than it ever realistically should have, but there was never enough money in it to justify doing it when it was no longer fun.

Still, I wish all of the lunatic luchadores in ISW the best of luck and look forward to seeing the introduction of new characters in the future as some of us old ones fade away into the woodwork of the Bay Area. As for me, I will still be rocking the Bay with my band The Black Dragon Fighting Society and I have signed to handle the ring announcing chores for a really big boxing card at the Longshoreman's Hall in San Francisco on Friday Feb. 27th. Be there. I will be in a tux.

Now the Poontangler won't have Count Dante to kick around anymore.

Success, Profit and Fighting Skill,

Count Dante