The Tribune

By Iñigo ‘Naughty’ Zenicazelaya

WHAT a nice surprise I had late the other night while flipping through the cable channels.

I found yet another pro wrestling promotion with a weekly show.

Ohio Valley Wrestling OVW.

Anyone who knows me knows I’m a huge pro wrestling aficionado.

Yes I know it’s faker than campaign promises in the Bahamas, but it’s entertaining with far better storylines than those found on most reality tv shows.

Now imagine my shock and awe upon finding out that a Bahamian was the former OVW Heavyweight Champion and current number one contender.

Done imagining yet?

Omar Francis, who grew up in Nassau and who later served in the US Marine Corps, has made a career in pro wrestling in various independent promotions since he entered the business in 2012.

Omar Amir (ring name) exploded onto OVW television at the beginning of 2020 and lost only one singles match in his debut year.

After that Omar went on to win the 2021 Nightmare Rumble and become OVW Heavyweight Champion for the first time, with character storyline to match.

(Omar came to the US from Nassau and served in the US military to earn his citizenship.)

Trained by the legendary Dudley Boys, Amir made his Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) debut on September 1, 2020 in a losing effort against Gustavo.

Amir continued to work dark matches for OVW until November 7, 2020, where he teamed with KTD in the Nightmare Tag Team Tournament losing in the first round.

On January 9, 2021, Amir won the Nightmare Rumble capturing the vacant OVW Heavyweight Championship all while making history in the process, as the first Bahamian to hold a Professional Heavyweight Wrestling Championship.

Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) is an independent wrestling promotion in Louisville, Kentucky.

The company has strong links to the WWE and is currently run by former WWE superstars Al Snow and founder / owner ‘Nightmare’ Danny Davis.

So with continued hard work and a bit of luck, I’m sure we will all see Omar Amir - (Omar Francis) continue to make history and make the Bahamas proud as a future champion in the ring of a major pro wrestling promotion such as the WWE, AEW, MLW, NWA, ROH or TNA.

VALLEY OOP -

With the Suns trailing 103-102 with .9 seconds left, Deandre Ayton caught an alley-oop pass from teammate Jae Crowder over the rim. Ayton slammed home the dunk as time expired to give the Suns the win.

Finishing off a play while the ball is over the cylinder of the rim would usually be offensive goaltending, wouldn’t it ?

Correct, however, off an inbounds play it’s legal to catch the ball and dunk it, even if it is over the rim.

Post game, Ayton told reporters that he thought he had broken a rule, but the rules were quickly explained by (Suns) head coach Monty Williams and that it was legal.

In an interview with the Athletic, Ayton reiterated the same - “I’ve never been in this position before. I just knew to put the ball in the hoop right now. If you didn’t know that — I worried [it was illegal], but I did what coach told me to do. So I’m like, is it on me? Coach looked at me and said, ‘Yo, that’s the rule. It’s above the cylinder. You can finish that play.’”

Ayton and the Suns held a 2-0 series lead last night and are looking to close things out as the series shifts to Los Angeles for Games 3 and 4.