Grits 'n' Grunts

Stoney Hooker is rolled-in-batter-and-deep-fried Southern rasslin', with a smarty-pants smile as sweet as pecan pie and a nasty streak as sharp as ten-minute collards. Like Mawmaw's cookin', he may not be good for the heart, but I like the way he wraps his limbs around an opponent, like biscuit on a salty chunk of ham. Snug-like.

Blake Arledge's photos of Trans-South's February 4th show in Union, South Carolina, give us Stoney against "The Specialist" Jeff Connelly, but apparently the camera tells only part of the story. What was basically a straight-up scientific fight was supposed to end when Connelly pinned Hooker. But I hear that Hooker got riled up over the loss. After offering to shake the victor's hand, Stoney reheated the brawl so that the two men eventually had to be pulled off each other. Not too soon, I hope. Twice in the course of the brawl Hooker applied the Hardy brothers' "twist of fate" hold (a variation of the three-quarter facelock bulldog) and got fined $500. (The show was a fundraiser for Relay for Life, to fight cancer, so let's hope Hooker's half a grand does somebody a whole lot of good.)