by Robert Igoe

Created on: July 23, 2009   Last Updated: July 24, 2009

"Your slip is showing!"

That's among the more polite comments that Zubov has heard from the fans tonight. The Russian-American bad guy, one of a few dozen members of the Championship Wrestling Federation, should be used to such comments by now. It's been months since Zubov lost a match in which the loser would have to wear a dress during his matches until he won again.

Since then, Zubov's record approximates that of the Washington Generals. So once again, Zubov is forced to drag it up. If he's lucky, tonight will be the night that he can end his involuntary modeling career. All he has to do is beat "Spotlight" Scottie Gash tonight in the Schooner Center, which serves as the CWF's home base when it isn't serving as a local religious school.

Zubov's predicament is only one of the headaches that Bill Hughes, who wrestles under the name "Powerhouse Hughes," is dealing with. The owner and promoter for the CWF, Hughes is not wrestling tonight, but still has to manage the proceedings, part athletic competition and part performance art. Besides booking the matches, he has to count the box office and concession sales, then disassemble the ring and move it up four flights of stairs to a class room in the top floor of the school. While major wrestling promotions have a small army of staff to do these day-to-day activities, Hughes has only himself, his wrestlers, and a collection of diehard friends and family to get this done.

To Hughes, the move from wrestler to wrestler-promoter was born out of a frustration with the way the Pittsburgh area scene was operating in the late 1990s, when the area was considered a hotbed for up-and-coming talent.

"There were a lot of promotions in Pittsburgh at the time," he said. "They all had a policy where you could only wrestle for one. In the summer of 1998, a bunch of us got together and talked about starting our own promotion. At the time, I was the champion of one of the promotion, so the idea kind of fell by the wayside. When that promotion folded, we started taking a serious look at the idea. The difference was we weren't into the politics. We told everyone to wrestle wherever. As a promoter, it's not about me, it's about us."

The CWF had its first show on February 19, 2000, the organization has given young talent an opportunity to practice their craft more, experienced talent to get an extra payday or two, and has given the fans the chance to see different talent in the ring. Among those that Hughes has attracted to the CWF

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