I am happy to report that following a great deal of traveling and countless colorfully packaged gifts - everyone is home safe and sound. Updates to the website have been few and far between. So, I will try to make this a good one. I guess now is as good of time as any to create a year end recap.

January started off well. Things looked very promising. I was working with the IWA - http://www.IWAwrestling.com. The IWA had just signed a major deal. The IWA was to hold an event every Sunday evening at a local skating rink. The event would be a TV taping for a new show that would air through out Columbus Ohio.

In February, I made the long drive to Eldon Missouri by myself. I spent the weekend training at Harley Race's World League Wrestling facility.

March was a busy month filled with long drives and small arenas. I won the IWA United States Championship from Al B. Damm.

April saw several title defenses. The IWA was in a packed house in Circleville Ohio. It was the most profitable event held by the IWA in the year 2002. I am proud to say the event was pulled together by my wife.

In May, I wrestled a heavy schedule and started training with the HWA. I was (physically) in the best shape of my life. I was weighing in around 240 lbs and about 7% body fat.

In June The Fraternity squared off against Shank and Dale for VCW. This very well could have been the FINAL match up for this faction of the Yardbird Posse.

July marked a career highlight. I made my HWA debut. I debuted in front of 1,000 fans in a tag team match against two WWE developmental talents - Charlie Haas and Jason Sugarman.

August was filled with HWA events and lots of driving. Fatigue genuinely set in at this point. Following a joint HWA - WWE (Funaki, Albert, Farooq, John Cena) event in Columbus I really began to question my priorities.

In September I faced former HWA Champion Cody Hawk in a televised match on an old WCW Thunder set in front of a rowdy crowd in Covington Kentucky. The match went well. The following week, I faced Tommy Chill in Washington CH Ohio. It was kind of a good-bye to IWA match-up. That was the last time I set foot in a wrestling ring.

October, November, and December can all be summed up with the following words - disheartened and disinterested. It was my dream to someday tour with WWE. I wanted to be one of the guys jetting from city to city night after night living my dream. Somewhere along the line I began to shy away from WWE programming. It became more and more painful to watch. Eventually, I was so angry that I flat out boycotted any and all WWE television and ppv events.

I was embarrassed to be a wrestler. I was embarrassed to even admit I watched wrestling or was a fan of the sport. It was not fun any more. In many respects, I washed my hands of the business.

I care about wrestling. I love wrestling. I enjoy donning the tights and stepping between the ropes. I enjoy hearing the crowd respond. I grew up watching wrestling. It is in my blood. But, the wrestling I grew up with is dead. The wrestling I fell in love with is in the distant past. Wrestling is not treated with respect. It is treated solely as entertainment. It is not even wrestling any more. It is simply "sports entertainment".

What does the future hold? Will "The Omega" Mark Mattis return to in-ring action in 2003? I honestly do not know. Right now, I have no immediate plans to return to action. But, I have learned - never say never.

Be safe and take care.