Tumble in Tank Town Friday night

By Kyle Mooty

LPR Editor

Trying to combine the allure of Lockhart’s music and wrestling, Rach & Rhodes Presents will collaborate with AWR Wrestling (Austin Wrestling Revolution) for the Tumble in Tank Town on Friday, Jan. 10.

Doors will open at 6:30 p.m. for the family-friendly event at the Corn Crib at Tank Town. Music with the band Heavy Meddo begins at 7 p.m., and the wrestling begins at about 8 p.m.

Chayo Rodriguez, owner of Chayo’s & Paint Shop in Lockhart, is also Alberto Del Frito, the wrestler, and works with AWR Wrestling. While local events have been held at El Rey in the past, the venue at the Corn Crib at Tank Town is something Rach & Rhodes believes will be a big hit.

“We have taken kids to these events,” said Will Rhodes of Rach & Rhodes Presents. “We realized we were having a good time, our kids were having a good time, and our friends were having a good time. So, with us doing what we do with music, we wanted to put something together. That’s when we started talking to Chayo.”

Rodriguez has been with AWR for eight years. The organization has benefitted greatly by its growing reputation in Texas. In 2024, AWR brought legendary wrestler Jerry Lawler to Lockhart.

“AWR has a core group of guys, but we also gather from all types of promoters all over Texas,” Rodriguez said. “We get calls from ex-WWE guys and TNA guys who are traveling around the country. Now, we’ve been such a dominant promotion that we’re the guys they pick up the phone and call, ‘Hey, we’re flying through here at this time, so you have anything going on?’ 

“Lawler is a classic example of the product we do. There are a lot of promotions in Texas that are doing a lot of little stuff. We’re bring it back the 80’s style… old school. It’s a real simple show to follow: Good guy vs. bad guy. You don’t have to go to every show to follow along with these characters, and they’re larger than life characters where you fall in love with them, whether they’re a good guy or a bad guy.”

Rachel Lingvai, of Rach & Rhodes Presents, agreed the wrestling events were fun for all.

“You get to boo and hiss and clap,” Lingvai said. “It’s really fun.”

Rhodes added, “It definitely takes on an antagonist/protagonist feel.”

There will be beer and wine sold at Tumble in Tank Town. The Corn Crib will hold about 200 people at the partially covered venue.

Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 at the door. They are available by visiting rachandrhodespresents.com.

“We thought we would have Chayo doing his thing, but we thought we’d also have a cool rock band,” Rhodes said. “Heavy Meddo (from San Antonio) has musicians from several groups. They’re all excited.”

There are five matches planned, but Rodriguez said AWR may throw in “a rumble.”

Hernandez is a former TNA Tag Team World Champion. “He will have a possible encounter with a 400-pound Texas giant,” Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez is a 2002 graduate of Lockhart High School. He moved to Lockhart as a first-grader from California. He has three daughters; one of whom (Ariana) is an electrician, a 17-year-old (Evelyn) who plays softball for Lockhart High School, and a son, Isaiah.

“A big part of this wrestling thing is I can show them that we can do anything in our lives that we put our minds to,” Rodriguez said. “Wrestling was my dream, and I’m literally living out my dream. By doing that, I’m showing my kids they can do anything, just figure out what needs to be done and how to do it. Instead of saying ‘I can’t,’ say ‘How can we?’

“I was always wanting to be a wrestler. I boxed for 10 years, so I knew I had to go to training. I knew I could not just go once a week and train. Hernandez physically came to my shop. I set up a ring there. He helped me train. I had an open book where I could ask questions. He would say ‘don’t do that, don’t do this.’”

There will be a 3-foot tall ring on stage, meaning everyone will have a good view of the wrestlers.

Rodriguez said in talking with many who have been in Lockhart for a while, wrestling was once very big in town, even having it at Adams Gymnasium.

Today, Rodriguez runs Chayo’s Paint and Body Shop on US 183 in Lockhart.

“I fix cars during the week, and assault people for money on the weekends,” he said with a grin.