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A Very Good Professional Wrestler (fka Dasher Hatfield) Leaving Wrestling

A Very Good Professional Wrestler

Sad news for long-time indie wrestling fans as A Very Good Professional Wrestler – who has been going by Avery Good in recent months – announced that he would be leaving professional wrestling in the coming months. Formerly known as Dasher Hatfield for many years in CHIKARA, Avery Good revealed that he has 10 more matches left in the tank before he hangs up his boots as far as in-ring competition goes. “Dear Pro Wrestling,” he stated in a Tweet sent out on Wednesday night, “I’m going to wrestle ten more matches, and then I’m out.” He went on to state that five were already booked, leaving only five more matches to add to his calendar before he winds down his career.

A 15-year veteran of the U.S. indies, he was a trainee of the CHIKARA Wrestle Factory after beginning in the Pennsylvania indies. He made his CHIKARA debut in 2007 as Create-A-Wrestler before becoming Moscow The Communist Bovine a few months later. In 2008, he switched personas again, this time to Ultimo Breakfast (and then a brief return to Create-A-Wrestler), before becoming his most popular character in CHIKARA – Dasher Hatfield – at the 2009 Young Lions Cup Tournament. Following the tournament, he created the first incarnation of The Throwbacks, teaming with Sugar Dunkerton, who competed together until 2011. Alongside Suge, he had his first attempt at gold in CHIKARA, in a failed attempt to win the CHIKARA Campeonatos de Parejas against champions Team FIST in October of 2011. The duo would also debut with Beyond Wrestling that same year, before splitting up by the year’s end.

In 2012, Dasher Hatfield found a new partner in The Throwbacks with “Mr. Touchdown” Mark Angelosetti, and in 2014 the duo would finally win tag team gold in CHIKARA, holding the Campeonatos de Parejas titles for 139-days. For much of the 2010s, Dasher Hatfield became one of the top faces of CHIKARA, a heroic champion of all things sportsmanlike, and in 2015 formed the stable Dasher’s Dugout, alongside Angelosetti, Icarus, and Heidi Lovelace (AEW’s Ruby Soho). Despite competing in every CHIKARA King of Trios tournament from 2010 through 2019 (minus 2013), Hatfield failed to capture the trophy. But he persisted in becoming one of CHIKARA’s most reliable wrestlers, and a hero to children around the world.

In August of 2018, his Throwbacks partner Mark Angelosetti defeated Juan Francisco de Coronado to become the CHIKARA Grand Champion, but he was injured shortly after his victory. CHIKARA granted Angelosetti the opportunity to pick an Interim Grand Champion until he was recovered, so “Mr. Touchdown” passed on the title to Dasher Hatfield. Hatfield made five title defenses during that time, against Travis Huckabee, Sloan Caprice (Mike Verna), The Whisper, Ophidian, and Solo Darling, before Angelosetti returned in the spring of 2019. The two faced off to determine the undisputed CHIKARA Grand Champion and in April at CHIKARA Once Upon A Beginning, Dasher Hatfield defeated Angelosetti in a Ladder Match to become the official CHIKARA Grand Champion. Hatfield also saw his family grow, as he brought in his “son”, Boomer Hatfield, and his “niece”, Molly McCoy (now Shea McCoy) by his side. That May, things got heated between Hatfield and Boomer, leading to a mask vs. mask (non-title) match at CHIKARA Anneversario: Scotch Mist, which saw Boomer win the match and Dasher remove his moustachio’d baseball mask for the first time. When CHIKARA shut down in mid-2020, Hatfield was still champion, making him CHIKARA’s final Grand Champion. Between his time as interim champion and his own reign, Hatfield defended the CHIKARA Grand Championship for 664-days, for the longest title reign behind only Eddie Kingston‘s inaugural run of 924-days.

Following the demise of CHIKARA in 2020, Dasher Hatfield hit the U.S. indies with a thunder, renaming himself A Very Good Professional Wrestler, and immediately challenged IWTV Independent Wrestling World Champion WARHORSE (in a losing effort) at Black Label Pro. In September, he won the 24th Annual ECWA Super 8 Tournament and in October fought in Black Label Pro’s Turbo Graps 16 tournament. That December, he arrived in Camp Leapfrog, a new indie promotion that arose from the ashes of CHIKARA with some of the company’s young talents, emerging as the inaugural Camp Leapfrog Champion. This past April, he was the focus of the inaugural episode of the new series, A Life Of…, on IWTV.

Sadly, injuries blocked a huge part of 2021 for AVGPW, but he made his return to the ring in a big way, making his All Elite Wrestling (AEW) debut on AEW Dark: Elevation, where he teamed with JT Dunn against Santana & Ortiz. It was during this set of AEW tapings that AEW referee (and former long-time CHIKARA employee) Bryce Remsberg captured a great photo of all the former CHIKARA wrestlers now active in AEW, which also featured the now renamed Avery Good. In what may seem prophetic now, on Dec. 2, Avery Good responded to a Tweet from Alex Shelley by saying “Like most scenarios in life I try to be the ultimate optimist, the last 2 years have tested my optimism on more than one occasion. My perception of myself is no different. I know I have worked hard to look/feel like a professional wrestler. I am going to enjoy it while it lasts.” In a response to his announcement on Wednesday night, he stated he’s “stick around for a job”, but that he’s more interested in becoming a “full-time dad”. With the grind of the past year and injuries slowing his momentum, it appears that Avery Good is now focusing his attention solely on his family as he prepares to leave his boots in the pro wrestling ring for the last time, most likely in early 2022.

The staff of Last Word on Pro Wrestling wishes Avery Good a very good life in whatever he chooses to do and thank you for a great 15-years in the ring!

Many of his peers reacted to the news with sadness but with the utmost respect for one of the past two decades’ most underrated grapplers.

Main Photo of A Very Good Professional Wrestler by Jon Washer

https://twitter.com/Razerwyng/status/1468774460354441217

Stay tuned to the Last Word on Pro Wrestling for more on this and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world, as well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world. 

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