Chip Fairway
Brett J. Keen, better known by the ring name Chip Fairway, was an American professional wrestler. One of the top cruiserweight wrestlers in the Midwestern United States during the mid-to-late 1990s, his in-ring persona as a pro golfer turned wrestler was considered one of the most unusual "gimmicks" on the independent circuit.
Trained by wrestler Les Thatcher, Keen made his wrestling debut in December 1996. He worked for the Heartland Wrestling Association twice winning the HWA Tag Team Championship with Cody Hawk as part of The Surf 'N' Turf Connection. Keen was a close friend of Brian Pillman and regularly performed at the Brian Pillman Memorial Shows. He was an occasional preliminary wrestler for World Championship Wrestling and the World Wrestling Federation.
Keen was also a major star in IWA Mid-South where he won the IWA Mid-South Heavyweight Championship two times and the IWA Mid-South Television Championship three times. His long-running rivalry with IWA Mid-South Heavyweight Champion Bull Pain was a prominent storyline in the promotion's history as well as one of the biggest feuds on the Midwestern independent circuit. From 1998 to 2001, Keen was part of The Old School Posse with GQ Masters III, Sean Casey, Shark Boy, and manager Dutch Mantell which antagonized the promotion's hardcore wrestlers for several years.
Professional wrestling career
Heartland Wrestling Association (1996–97)
Keen was trained at Les Thatcher's "Main Event Pro Wrestling Camp" in Cincinnati, Ohio. Keen was initially brought to the wrestling school by a friend. Keen continued training there after his friend dropped out and made his pro debut in Indianapolis, Indiana on December 15, 1996. He eventually became a mainstay for the Heartland Wrestling Association based in Cincinnati. Wrestling under his real name, Keen battled Brian Taylor and The Xtremist during his first year in Thatcher's promotion. On October 25, 1997, Keen won a 12-man battle royal at an HWA house show in Harveysburg, Ohio. As a developmental territory for both World Championship Wrestling and the World Wrestling Federation, this allowed Fairway to make appearances for both promotions as a preliminary wrestler.IWA Mid-South (1997–98)
In addition to the HWA, Keen also wrestled for IWA Mid-South in neighboring Louisville, Kentucky. In November 1997, he began wrestling under the name "Chip Fairway", an ex-golfer turned pro wrestler, and remained undefeated during his first five months in the promotion. As part of his gimmick, Keen carried a golf club called "Big Bertha" which referred to as "his personal valet". Fairway defeated Shark Boy at Gorefeast 1997. On December 9, 1997, Keen defeated Cash Flo in Louisville, Kentucky for the IWA Mid-South Television Championship. and successfully defended the belt against Steven Dunn, Shark Boy, and Flash Flanagan during the next few weeks. He lost the belt back to Flo on January 29, 1998, but regained it the following night in Lexington, Kentucky.A week later, Keen was defeated for the title by IWA Mid-South Heavyweight Champion Bull Pain in a Champion vs. Champion match at No Blood, No Guts, No Glory 1998 in New Albany, Indiana. Fairplay failed to regain the title from Pain at IWA Mid-South's Eddie Gilbert Memorial Show but won it back in Louisville on March 12. His third and final title reign ended when he was defeated by Shark Boy on April 2, 1998. The championship was retired after the match due to the cancellation of the promotion's television show. Despite this, Fairway and Shark Boy's feud continued throughout the spring. On April 29, Fairway and Shark Boy defeated Terek the Great and "Live Wire" Sean Casey at the 1st Annual Brian Pillman Memorial Show. The following night at April Bloodshowers 1998, Fairway and Shark Boy wrestled to a time limit draw in a Mask vs. Dress match. Shark Boy defeated Chip Fairway in a rematch several weeks later. On June 27, Fairway beat Mike Sensation to earn a title shot at IWA Mid-South Light Heavyweight Champion Cash Flo but failed to win the title later that night. He briefly feuded with Shawn Casey that same month. On July 23, Fairway lost to Casey in a Best 2-of-3 Falls match. Fairway joined forces with Shark Boy to defeat Casey and G.Q. Masters III at Extreme Heaven 1998 a week later. For the next few months, Fairway was a regular at IWA Mid-South's Total Eclipse Teen Club shows where he faced such opponents as American Kickboxer, Corporal Robinson, Doug Gilbert, Mad Man Pondo, Ox Harley and IWA Mid-South Heavyweight Champion Harry Palmer.
In the fall of 1998, Fairway joined G.Q. Masters III, Sean Casey, Shark Boy, and manager Dutch Mantell to form The Old School Posse. As all four wrestlers were HWA alumni, trained in traditional style of pro wrestling, they were often at odds with the promotion's hardcore wrestlers. On November 12, Fairway and Shark Boy defeated The Suicide Kid and "Nature Boy" Buddy Landell at IWA Mid-South's 2nd Anniversary Show in Louisville, Kentucky. Fairway also beat The Suicide Kid in a singles match the following night in West Point, Kentucky. He returned to West Point at the end of the month for IWA Bloodfeast where he wrestled Wolfie D at Bloodfeast 98. At the end of 1998, in his second year as a wrestler, Fairway was ranked #500 in the PWI 500.
Heartland Wrestling Association (1998–99)
Back in the HWA, Keen feuded with Anthony Kingdom James during the first half of 1998. On August 15, Fairway and James wrestled to a 2–2 draw in a 30-minute Iron Man match. After the feud ended, Fairway began teaming with Cody Hawk as The Surf 'N' Turf Connection. On September 23, the team defeated "The Expert" Brian Taylor and The Bounty Hunter in Lima, Ohio for the HWA Tag Team Championship. A match against Taylor and Sean Casey in Blanchester, Ohio on November 7, 1998, ended in a no-contest. A week later in Aberdeen, Ohio, Fairway and Hawk beat Taylor and G.Q. Masters III in a tag team elimination match. On December 5, 1998, Fairway beat Sean Casey via forfeit in Blanchester. As a result, Fairway got 5 minutes in the ring with G.Q. Masters III but lost the bout.They lost the championship to Taylor and Casey in Hamilton, Ohio on January 23, 1999, but regained them on February 27. The Surf 'N' Turf Connection held on to the belts for six months before dropping them to Alexis Machine and "Beautiful" Brian Fury in Blanchester on August 25, 1999. Earlier that month, the team appeared with Andrew McMurphy on WWF Shotgun Saturday Night in a six-man tag team match against Droz, Key and Prince Albert at the Joe Louis Arena.
Also that summer, Fairway was among the cruiserweight wrestlers invited to take part in a special championship tournament held at the Cincinnati Gardens for the 2nd Annual Pillman Memorial Show. He was one of six cruiserweights representing the HWA at the event. Fairway defeated Chad Collyer via submission in the opening round but lost to Shark Boy in the finals. Shark Boy's performance in the tournament, and his bout with Fairway in particular, was covered by several wrestling magazines and led to Shark Boy being signed to World Championship Wrestling. The young wrestler later called this bout the most favorite match of his career.
IWA Mid-South (1999)
On January 3, 1999, Fairway wrestled Mitch Page and Twiggy Rameriz in a 3-Way Dance at Barbwire, Bulbs, and Blood in Charlestown, Indiana. On January 21, Fairway defeated The Suicide Kid for the IWA Mid-South Heavyweight Championship. The Suicide Kid won the title back a week later at Kentucky Armageddon. The title was declared vacant after a February 2 title defense when both men scored a double pin. A ladder match was held at Last Chance In Charlestown the following night, which Fairway won. Fairway's second title reign lasted almost three months retaining the title against Rollin' Hard, 2 Tuff Tony, and Ian Rotten. On April 2, Fairway and Dean Baldwin were defeated in a tag team match against Rotten and Corporal Robinson. On April 29, Rotten won the title from Dean Baldwin, substituting for Fairway, in Salem, Indiana.Heartland Wrestling Association (1999–2000)
On November 6, 1999, Fairway beat Alexis Machine in a Texas Death match. A month later, The Surf 'N' Turf Connection lost to Alexis Machine and Brian Fury in a match for the HWA Tag Team Championship. On January 23, 2000, Fairway faced the tag team champions with Race Steele at Eastern High School but came up short. On February 5, The Surf 'N' Turf Connection and Steele defeated Bull Pain, G.Q. Masters III, Alexis Machine and Brian Fury when Steele pinned Masters due to outside interference by Shark Boy.Feud with Shark Boy
On April 15, Fairway defeated The Xtremist at Shark Boy Comes Home. Later, during the main event between Shark Boy and Jeremy Lopez, Fairway stopped Lopez's cornerman Tony Marinara from interfering in the match. Afterwards, Fairway challenged Shark Boy for the HWA Cruiserweight Championship. The confrontation turned into a "worked shoot" with Shark Boy removing his mask and telling the crowd "This isn't about Shark Boy and Chip; this is about Dean and Brett". When Shark Boy turned his back, Fairway hit him from behind and continued attacking Shark Boy until the entire HWA roster came out to chase him off. The two wrestlers met two weeks later in Greensburg, Pennsylvania where Fairway lost to Shark Boy in a Ladder match. The following night in Hamilton, Ohio, Fairway was disqualified in his match against Race Steele when he assaulted the referee.That same month, Fairway was entered into a championship tournament via lottery drawing to crown a new HWA Heavyweight Champion. Fairway defeated Anthony MacMurphy in the opening rounds and Cody Hawk in the semi-finals. During the tournament, Fairway bragged that he would win both the heavyweight title and Shark Boy's cruiserweight title. On the night of the semi-finals, he attempted to interfere in Shark Boy's title defense against Matt Stryker and Astin Agustus Ambrose but was prevented by the latter. On May 19, Fairway met Shark Boy at Carlisle High School but was again disqualified for hitting the referee. He and Shark Boy wrestled to a double-disqualification the following night in Lebanon, Ohio when Brian Fury, Bobby Casanova, Anthony MacMurphy and Cody Hawk all ran in. On May 25, Fairway wrestled Race Steele in the tournament final for the vacant title at the 3rd Annual Pillman Memorial Show. D'Lo Brown, the inaugural champion, was the special guest referee. Fairway lost the bout when his manager, local disc jockey Mark Amazon, attempted to hit Steele with a golf club. Brown prevented Amazon from interfering, however, and Fairway crashed into his manager during the confusion. Steele took advantage of his distracted opponent and pinned Fairway with a Diamond Cutter.
On June 17, in Hamilton, Ohio, Fairway defeated Shark Boy in a Lumberjack match. Fairway won the bout with his Sandtrap finisher after "The Hussla" Tim Moxley hit Shark Boy with a steel chair. Fairway refused to release the submission hold until HWA Heavyweight Champion Race Steele came to the ring. Fairway then challenged Steele for a title shot which the newly crowned champion accepted. On June 24, Fairway and Matt Stryker lost to Shark Boy and Astin Augustus Ambrose, Esq. in a Best 2-out-of-3 Falls match in Middletown, Ohio. Fairway won the first fall when Ambrose submitted to The Sandtrap. Ambrose scored the second fall when he pinned Stryker with a sunset flip. The final fall was awarded via disqualification when Ambrose was lured away from the ring by Bennie the Bookie allowing Tim Moxley to attack Shark Boy from behind. Race Steele once again showed up to make the save.