Now, as promised, a special comment about Saturday's Dynamo Pro Wrestling show at the Stratford Inn in Fenton, Missouri.
DISCLAIMER: I'm biased. Deal with it.
It was a very busy wrestling weekend because of that one show yesterday; one could immerse oneself in constant wrestling if one was in the Dallas, Texas area this past weekend. Ring Of Honor, EVOLVE, SHIMMER, Wrestle Con, and even Kaiju Big Battle had shows on Friday and Saturday prior to WrestleMania. My online compatriot Michael Langan was in the Lone Star State for the occasion, as well as Ben Simon from Missouri Wrestling Revival and Tony Patrico from 105.7 The Point's Rizzuto Show. It sounds like a good time was had by all, though your mileage may vary as to the quality of the big show(not Paul Wight)...to each his/her own.
As for the local scene, Dynamo had its monthly outing in Fenton while World Powerhouse Wrestling had a show in Jerseyville. Dynamo had a stacked lineup; while the attendance number was looking worrisome at first, the venue eventually filled out nicely. There was a group of guys in the house that included one person in a crown and cape...bachelor party, perhaps? The crown/cape guy got to do the 50/50 drawing before the main event and it was won by Larry Nickel of AM 920 fame...well, he bought a lot of tickets. Brian Kelley was taking pictures at ringside, so I looked after the MWR merchandise table (as I did at WLW two weeks ago).
Your ring announcers were Chris Roedel & Luke Roberts; your referees were Patrick Hook & Jay King.
"The Don Mega" Shorty Biggs vs. "Young & Dangerous" Evan Morris: This stemmed from Morris' turn last weekend as he named Shorty as one of the guys who "held him back" in the days of Metro East Championship Wrestling. Morris entered with Shawn Santel & Mauler McDarby by his side, so Shorty was accompanied by D-1 Champion Outtkast who ran them off...so that left the match as a one-on-one bout as it should have been. I would have pegged Morris to win, but I historically suck at predictions and prefer to let things play out instead of trying to figure out how things will go (oddly enough). After a competitive matchup, referee Patrick Hook was knocked down(the start of a rough night for him) and Morris brought a chair into the ring...promotions should probably bring some metal chairs so the wrestlers don't have to use to the plastic versions. At any rate, Shorty got the chair away from Morris, but saw the referee was recovering and threw the weapon back to Morris, pretending he had been hit with it. (EDDY~!) Morris confronted the official and protested that he hadn't hit Shorty with the chair, but Shorty rendered the point moot by rolling up Morris for the pin in 9:59.
"The Valedictorian" Keon Option, Justin D'Air, & "The Millenial" Danny Adams vs. Brandon Espinosa, "The Filipino Warrior" Elvis Aliaga, & Da'Marius Jones: I was expecting Mike Outlaw to be Option & D'Air's tag partner before Adams came out...I'm sure that says SOMETHING about me. Of course, I'm referring to my memory for continuity as they had been a trio team in the past. Good to see Da'Marius back at Dynamo. This was a fast-paced encounter that got a lot of time; the highlight move of the match was D'Air delivering an insane senton off the top rope onto a bunch of opponents on the floor! The finish saw the referee checking on the humanity outside the ring, totally missing Espinosa delivering a low blow on D'Air. After that, the brainbuster was academic and Espy got the win in 15:26.
Rocket Mapache vs. "The Alternative" Ozzie Gallagher: Gallagher had another ringside confrontation with Sadie Blaze as their ongoing issue continues; Blaze has been particularly sensitive about Gallagher's disrespect regarding Rocket's mask. Gallagher actually stole Rocket's mask a few months ago, but Rocket reclaimed it with help from his Bite Club partner Jackal. Rocket was motivated in this matchup, but Gallagher kept using underhanded tactics and was obsessed with trying to remove the mask. That drew the ire of Blaze in the audience and Gallagher got sidetracked by his war of words with his former mentor. That allowed Rocket to surprise Gallagher with a crossface chicken wing out of nowhere for the tapout in 6:28...but Gallagher attacked Rocket from behind and went for his mask again. Sadie had finally seen enough and jumped in the ring to confront Gallagher directly...he kicked him in the midsection before delivering a double-underhook suplex to send Gallagher into retreat move. Sadie got the microphone and told Gallagher that he had a friend who knew a thing or two about masks in wrestling...a "Wind Of Destruction" was coming his way. It looks like we may be seeing the return of Makaze in the near future...
Jackal vs. C.J. Shine: I had heard that this match underwent a few changes prior to the show...it had originally been scheduled to be Jackal vs. Billy McNeil and then Jackal vs. Jayson Khaos, but Missouri licensing came into play and neither were approved to compete. Shine danced his way through his ring entrance and got a good reaction from the fans, but he wasn't likely to beat out the longtime favorite Jackal in the popularity department. Shine had a competitive showing, one of his best to date, but Jackal picked up the victory with a frog splash in 5:55.
Mike Outlaw vs. Brandon Aarons: This promised to be a competitive battle between two of the top-ranked wrestlers in the Midwest. While it was a battle of fan favorites, Outlaw made some uncharacteristic moves such as attempting a pinfall with a single knee on the chest. Considering his change of attitude in alternate universes, I wonder if that'll influence his character under the Dynamo banner? The match could have easily gone either way and Aarons appeared to have the momentum in his favor, but recent rival Kevin Lee Davidson made his way to ringside. That distracted Aarons as he ascended the turnbuckles, giving Outlaw enough time to roll out of the way of the incoming double-stomp from the top rope. Outlaw delivered the Mafia Kick and that was enough to edge out the win in 9:24...despite the outside influence on the result, the two shook hands after the match was over.
Intermission~! Official Ben Simon Concession Count(tm): The bar was very busy during this time, but I got a Coke and bacon cheese fries later in the event. I didn't have much for dinner, so I was hungry by that point in the show.
High Level Enterprise(Jack Gamble & Jon Webb) vs. The Professionals(Shawn Santel & Mauler McDarby) for the Tag Team Titles: On the heels of retiring Eric Allen at the previous week's Wood River show, Santel & McDarby finally had their shot at the belts. They were really good foils for the flashier style employed by Gamble & Webb; I would compared them to NXT duos like Wesley Blake/Buddy Murphy and Scott Dawson/Dash Wilder in that regard. While it looked like the champs were on their way to another successful title defense, the official was knocked down...this was just NOT Patrick Hook's night. Santel brought the shillelagh into play and, despite a near-miscue, managed to coldcock Webb with the weapon. That brought Gamble to the rescue, but the rulebook was out the window with the referee down and out. Gamble got a hold of the weapon and hit Santel with it, but McDarby had a backup plan: Brass knuckles! He took Gamble out of the game with the knucks, then dragged the dazed Webb to his feet for a totally graituitous shot with the knuckles. 1-2-3 and we had NEWWWWW Tag Team Champions in 8:48! The titleholders took some time to gloat, then ran like the proverbial thieves in the night when Gamble & Webb gave chase...tremendous. I feel like this could turn into a strong series of matches between the two teams...I look forward to seeing how things play out from here. There are a lot more fan favorite tag teams in Dynamo right now and Santel & McDarby could defend against HLE, Bite Club, Option & D'Air, and possibly the Bumrush Brothers.
Outtkast vs. Kevin Lee Davidson for the D-1 Title: I was looking forward to this one; K.L.D. has been impressive and just got back from a successful tour of Europe. He's held titles in the Mid-Missouri Wrestling Alliance and is the current Heavyweight Champion of Wrestling Invades America. I wondered if my Bumrush Army T-shirt would be a jinx since I felt like both members of the BRBs had a realistic chance of losing on this night...it turned out to be the opposite. These two had a couple of rough spots in the early going but got it together as the match progressed. Outtkast had to go aerial a bit more than usual due to the size difference, including his corkscrew moonsault dive from the top rope to the floor. He had trouble hitting his signature moves, though he did manage to deliver the Lost Cause(fireman's-carry spinebuster) for a near-fall. K.L.D. nearly won a few times, but his second attempt at a corner cannonball missed the mark and Outtkast rolled him up for the pin in 9:24. I'm sure there will be another day for the big man...
"Dirdey" Jake Dirden vs. "The King Of Chaos" Ricky Cruz for the Heavyweight Title: I don't recall if they said that the MWR Missouri Title was at stake, though I'm pretty sure it's on the line in all singles matches involving the champion. This didn't take long to get out of hand as they fought out of the ring and brawled all over the building...Dirden rammed Ricky's head into the wall and left a hole! They fought toward the merchandise tables and Cruz threw Dirden over the main table...thankfully they more or less spared the MWR table and my fries and soda. They eventually made it back to the ring as the referee allowed some leeway, but Brandon Espinosa decided to get a closer look at the action...and both title belts at ringside. The fight spilled out of the ring AGAIN, leading to Cruz decking Espy when Dirden moved out of the way. The fight continued and both guys traded signature moves...Ricky hit the Cruz Control(swinging fisherman buster), but Espy pulled the ref out of the ring. The ref called it a DQ win for Cruz in 13:36...but things were far from over between these three. Dirden gloated that Cruz would NEVER get another shot at his title...and Espy added injury to insult by attacking Ricky from behind with a chair. After all of that, Ricky declared that if Dirden wouldn't give him a title shot, he may just have to make sure Dirden doesn't hold the title for much longer...hmm.
During the main event, I had a chance to meet Lux(another deejay from 105.7 The Point); she and her husband are big wrestling fans and know K.L.D. Very cool person; several Point deejays are wrestling fans, so it'd be cool to get a whole group from that station out to the indie shows. Patrico checked out ROH shows in Texas and is already a big ROH fan, plus he follows The Hooligans and The Viking War Party on social media.
Dynamo doesn't have any shows scheduled for the rest of April...and I was planning to go to South Broadway for the MMWA show next Saturday, but I'm hosting the Friday and Saturday shows at Hey Guys Comedy in Fairview Heights(cheap plug~!) so I'll have to catch up on YouTube.
The rest of April looks like this:
-Saturday 4/9: Mid-Missouri Wrestling Alliance in St. Louis, MO; Combined Martial Arts in Marion, IL
-Friday 4/15: Southern Illinois Championship Wrestling in East Carondelet, IL (Terry Funk appearing)
-Saturday 4/16: World League Wrestling in Troy, MO; Southern Illinois Championship Wrestling in Cape Girardeau, MO (Terry Funk appearing)
-Saturday 4/23: High Risk Wrestling in Warsaw, MO
-Sunday 4/24: Wrestling Invades America in Swansea, IL
-Saturday 4/30: Pro Wrestling Championship Series in Granite City, IL; Southern Illinois Championship Wrestling in Millstadt, IL
That's my special comment for this, the thirteenth wrestling show I've attended in the year 2016. Good night, good luck, and #yaywrestling.
-PB, Watching Wrestling Wrong Since 1991
P.S. We are all marks.
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