MMWA Special Comment

Now, as promised, a special comment about Saturday afternoon's Mid-Missouri Wrestling Alliance show at the Cinco De Mayo Festival in St. Louis, Missouri.

DISCLAIMER:  I'm biased.  Deal with it.

MMWA's second annual rasslin presentation at this event was an expanded affair; they had the first half of the show at 2 PM and the second half at 4 PM with an extended intermission in between.  I was more prepared for the parking situation this year and walked from Foam to the location of the wrestling ring.  I was in good company for the afternoon as I spoke with Gary Jay and new female wrestler Kandi Kane at different times.  Someone from the crowd of onlookers recognized me from comedy, so that was neat.  These shows remind me of the times when GCW would put on matches at Pointfest; they introduce a more casual audience to independent wrestling in an effort to draw them to the regular shows.

Your ring announcer was Ben Simon; your referees were Jay King, Nick Ridenour, & Brian Stoltz.

Tag Team Champion Andrew "The Wolf" Wilder vs. Kevin Lee Davidson(w/ Evan Gelistico & LaMarcus Clinton):  With the Elitism seemingly fading out, this particular heel trio appears to be sticking together.  L.M.C. was sporting an afro wig for the entire event and dousing it with hairspray...excellent.  There was a SLIGHT size difference in this one and K.L.D. dominated most of the bout...perhaps this will put two members of the stable in line for a Tag Team Title shot (Johnathan Zulu was absent).  Wilder attempted to cut off the bigger man's air with a guillotine hold, but K.L.D. powered out of the move and hit spinebuster for the win in 10:41.

Clownman Jacko vs. J-Mal Swagg:  I jinxed myself by openly wondering about the last time Swagg had won a match, even using the old Jim Cornette line about Barry Horowitz("0-for-ever").  Swagg had a fanbase at this show, getting decent positive reactions for both of his matches.  J-Mal worked on the leg to take the bigger guy down...Jacko made the comeback, leading into a semi-awkward finishing sequence.  A knee clip set up the Zigzag(Zigswagg?) in 5:57 and SWAGGOWITZ WINS~!  SWAGGOWITZ WINS~!  Good for him.

Sean Orleans vs. "Risky Business" Everett Connors, best-of-three-falls for the Jr. Heavyweight Title:  Since it was Cinco De Mayo weekend, this was made into a two-out-of-three-falls affair in the tradition of lucha libre.  The match quickly spilled out of the ring, leading to Orleans catching Connors with a knee trembler as he re-entered.  Another knee trembler followed and Orleans got a quick first fall in 1:52.  Everett evened it up when he avoided the advanced curbstomp and rolled up Orleans for the three-count in 7:51.  They had a really good matchup all around...impressive considering both have only been wrestling for about a year each.  They traded a bunch of near-falls near the end, finishing with Connors landing a Shining Wizard on a seated Orleans for the final fall in 14:39(!).  Ladies and gentlemen, we have a newwwww Junior Heavyweight Champion!

Da'Marius Jones vs. Brandon Espinosa for the Heavyweight Title:  Jones won the title from Espinosa in January; this was a rematch not only from that match, but also from the previous year's Cinco De Mayo Festival outing.  They had another strong outing, as expected from these two; one of Jones' first matches was against Espy at a Hillsdale show with Jones scoring the upset victory.  A few years later, the two are on more even terms after their lengthy feud.  Jones did a blind jump off the second rope into a mid-air Paydirt for the finish...the referee hesitated on the third count, but called for the bell anyway in 13:18 (oops).  A.J. Williams hit the ring to attack his former tag team partner Da'Marius, but Barackus made the save and Commissioner Jim Harris ordered a tag match for the second half of the show.

Intermission~!  Since I was in the neighborhood, I stopped by I Scream Cakes(cheap plug~!) to visit my comedienne friend Angel Kircher during her work break.  Also got some water and a Fitz's root beer(cheap plug~!) for refreshment.

"The Millenial" Danny Adams vs. J-Mal Swagg:  This was Adams' MMWA debut, to the best of my recollection.  Swagg wrestled his second match of the day and the only person besides Jones and Espinosa to work twice.  The audience was divided on this one as Adams made a rare appearance as a fan favorite, but Swagg had developed his own fanbase.  J-Mal got the win with the Zigswagg in 6:22 after an eye rake(HEEL~!)...two in a row!

"Night Train/Gorgeous/Great One" Gary Jackson vs. Evan Gelistico(w/ Kevin Lee Davidson & LaMarcus Clinton):  Gelistico pinned Da'Marius Jones in a six-man tag at last month's South Broadway show and became number-one contender to the Heavyweight Title as a result; he is scheduled to get his title shot at next week's event.  Gary is always near the top of the rankings for both MMWA and Southern Illinois Championship Wrestling; he held the SICW Classic Wrestling Championship until the previous weekend when he lost it back to Flash Flanagan.  Gary pulled the afro wig off L.M.C.'s head at one point, but he recovered it fairly quickly.  Time-limit draws are really a lost art in wrestling nowadays with all of the rushed matches on free TV...great heel Television Champions made an art out of stalling out the clock to save their titles.  I say this because these two were able to hold the audience's attention for the duration of this one...Gelistico repeatedly escaped and/or reached the ropes when Gary went for the Texas Cloverleaf, ending with a 20:00 time-limit draw(!).  Gelistico is a really underrated guy around here and he's carved out an odd little niche in MMWA.

Of course the fans wanted Five More Minutes, but Gelistico's crew settled for a three-on-one beatdown instead.  After recovering from the assault, Gary challenged the threesome to a six-man tag and said he wanted Heavyweight Champion Da'Marius Jones and Survivor Champion Brian James as his partners...presumably a preview of coming attractions.

Austin Blackburn vs. LaMarcus Clinton(w/ Evan Gelistico & Kevin Lee Davidson):  This was Blackburn's third or fourth match ever; the South Broadway match from April was apparently his second.  L.M.C. had trouble with his afro wig in this more active context; Blackburn threw him into the nearby open-ended dumpster at one point.  Blackburn had a fine showing, even pulling off a few complex aerial moves; we'll be watching his career with great interest.  (Happy May The Fourth, by the way.)  As was tradition for this day, the heel trio interfered in each other's matches; that led to a cheapshot and rollup pin for L.M.C. in 8:08.

Heavyweight Champion Da'Marius Jones & Barackus vs. Brandon Espinosa & A.J. Williams:  Issues all around in this one.  I don't think either duo had teamed up before this bout, but Espinosa & Williams were more familiar with each other due to previous matchups as opponents.  Jones took the lion's share of abuse for his side, but the big man finally cleaned house in the home stretch.  Barackus picked up a huge winning, pinning Espinosa clean after the clawhold Flatliner in 13:07...he had lost some momentum in recent months and needed the win here.

After another quick stop at I Scream Cakes, I headed home to walk the dogs and heat up dinner...my Saturday was far from over.  More on that next time...same Pat-Time, same Pat-Channel.

Good night, good luck, and #yaywrestling.

P.S. We are all marks.