Now, as promised, a special comment about Saturday's Pro Wrestling Championship Series show at KG's Sports Bar & Banquet Center in Granite City, Illinois.
DISCLAIMER: I'm biased. Deal with it.
As I may or may not have previously noted, my transportation situation has been stabilized for the moment as I am driving a 2016 Nissan Sentra. Much appreciation to Amber Klear for guiding me through the leasing process as it was my first time leasing a vehicle and getting a totally new car. The car has about fifty more buttons than I'm used to having, but otherwise it's been smooth sailing.
My streak of attending PWCS shows ended last October as I missed an event that, unfortunately, may never see the light of day in video form. I had a comedy show a few months ago that conflicted with the most recent PWCS event, but I picked up the DVD from that event on Saturday evening; review forthcoming, of course. This was "Stage One" of PWCS' third season, so scorekeeping applies anew as everyone starts fresh; of note, Chaos Nation is now known as the Submission Squad and a few people have been shuffled around. I spent most of the show chatting with retired local wrestler Kory Twist, who brought his son to the show.
Your ring announcer was Tito McGee; your referees were Sean Orleans and ?.
Jojo Bravo(Blacklist) vs. Austin Blackburn(w/ Evan Gelistico, Pierre Abernathy, & Everett Connors)(Submission Squad): Gelistico was accompanied by an inflatable dolphin named "Shawshank" in a Gary Jay T-shirt...because why not? The competitors decided to start the bout with some "classic St. Louis wrestling" by going technical, but that didn't last too long. The story of the Submission Squad is that Pierre is TRYING to reform his evil ways but the others(particularly Evan) aren't interested in that career path...in fact, Gelistico tripped Jojo at one point to give Blackburn the advantage. The younger members of the team(Connors & Blackburn) are the ones who may be swayed one way or the other in the long run...stay tuned, as they say. Bravo won with a funky backslide variation in 7:24 to give Blacklist its first win of the season. (Blacklist 1-0, Submission Squad 0-1)
Mat Fitchett & "Zesty" Zakk Sawyers(Resurgence) vs. Adam Caster & "The Blue Chipper" Danny Adams(w/ Greg Jovi)(Ego Busters): Fitchett had his St. Louis Anarchy Heavyweight Title belt, while Sawyers had the medallion he won in the St. Louis Invitational Tournament. This was a lengthy match with a lot of false finishes; the point had been made to me about both PWCS and SLA that a lot of the guys work the same style with similar movesets. That's something I see in a lot of different groups (even WWE); a ton of guys do missile dropkicks and suicide dives. It's cool if a fan likes that style, but it can get repetitive over the course of a single show; the point was made that it's the moves that are over, not the wrestlers. Establishing a character is an important thing to make a wrestler stand out from the pack...otherwise, you've got a lot of interchangable workers in the talent pool. Anywho, side comment over...the tag match was a lot of fun to watch, Maggle. Sawyers pinned Adams after he and Fitchett hit their version of Chasing The Dragon(brainbuster/head kick combo) in 18:19. (Resurgence 1-0, Ego Busters 0-1)
Paco Gonzalez(Resurgence) vs. Justin D'Air: In this match, the free agent(D'Air) could challenge someone currently in a stable(Paco) for the opportunity to "steal" their spot on the team. It was a battle of fan favorites so the audience wasn't as into this match as the others, but they pulled off some impressive aerial moves(particularly D'Air). Paco won with a Death Valley Driver in 8:18 and they shook hands afterwards.
Davey Vega(Resurgence) vs. "Dirdey" Jake Dirden(w/ Greg Jovi)(Ego Busters): This was a particularly intriguing matchup as Dirden had been a Resurgence teammate of Vega's in Season 2, but he was drafted to the Ego Busters and has become particularly surly across the board. Even Jovi seemed wary of his client as he accompanied him to the ring. Vega was seemingly expecting a sportsmanlike contest like their previous meeting in Season 1(which he won), but this was a different Jake Dirden and he quickly found that out. They had a really good matchup, but shenanigans ensued when Jovi distracted the ref as Vega hit a German suplex. That brought out Vega's longtime rival and new Ego Buster K.C. Karrington to run interference; Vega fought him off, but Dirden took advantage of the opening to chokeslam Vega for a CLOSE near-fall. It even fooled the timekeeper as he rang the bell early, but the referee signalled that it wasn't quite a three-count. Despite that close call, Dirden quickly throttled Vega to the mat with a variation of his trademark Asiatic Spike, leading to the real pinfall in 16:32. (Ego Busters 1-1, Resurgence 1-1) After the match, Karrington and Jovi confronted Vega and Vega seemed to think Dirden would side with him...but he was mistaken as Dirden joined his stablemates in the beatdown. Mat Fitchett and Zakk Sawyers made the save, but the damage had been done.
Intermission~! Apologies to Ben Simon as there was no Official Concession Count(tm) on this night; I brought cash for my ticket and used the rest on the DVD of the previous event. Thankfully there was a water fountain in the building.
Arik Cannon was announced for the next PWCS show on July 9th...he hadn't competed in this area in a while (he wrestled semi-regularly for St. Louis Anarchy and appeared a few times for High Risk Wrestling).
Makaze & The Viking War Party("American Viking" Alexandre Rudolph & "Littlest Viking" Jake Parnell)(Blacklist) vs. Evan Gelistico, Pierre Abernathy, & Everett Connors(Submission Squad): Makaze has primarily competed for PWCS in recent years, though he's making a comeback in Dynamo Pro and has been branching out to central/southern Illinois a bit. The Vikings showed their disdain for Shawshank the inflatable dolphin by giving it a Dudley Death Drop, much to Connors' shock and dismay. Gelistico and Abernathy have been tag team partners for quite some time and have become well-traveled in recent years, including forays to Texas, Florida, and the east coast. Kory's assessment of Rudolph(who he wrestled in one of his final matches) was "hair everywhere"...very astute. Things broke down near the end of the matchup as Pierre seemingly tweaked his knee...that brought out Gary Jay and Austin Blackburn to check on him. Gelistico(who had been warned against underhanded tactics by Abernathy on a few occasions) took the opportunity to stun Makaze with a low blow behind the referee's back, pinning him with a jackknife cradle in 13:41. BOO~! (Submission Squad 1-1, Blacklist 1-1) After the match, Pierre professed respect for his opponents, saying Makaze was a local legend and the Vikings were the best up-and-coming tag team in the Midwest...his team won this time around, but it could have gone either way. We'll see if this change of heart holds water in the long run.
Mike Outlaw(Blacklist) vs. Gary Jay(Submission Squad): I was really interested in seeing this matchup as it was a good test for the less-experienced Outlaw. Gary Jay has been traveling a lot in recent years and making waves in Beyond Wrestling as well as EVOLVE...he's one of the most deceptive-looking wrestlers as he's small by wrestling standards but hits HARD. This lived up to my expectations as they had a really good competitive matchup...there was one insane sequence where Gary hit two suicide dives in a row and went for a third, but Outlaw blocked him and gave him an overhead suplex into the chairs in the audience! Gary delivered a hiplock into a kneestrike, then followed up with the Michinoku Driver to win in 11:35. (Submission Squad 2-1, Blacklist 1-2) Cue post-match mutual respect.
Luke Langley(w/ Graham Bell) vs. Kody Krash: Saw these guys for the first time in a pre-show match at the most recent St. Louis Anarchy shows; Langley & Bell compete as the Kansas City Wolves. The fans knew nothing about any of these guys...if nothing else, it worked as a cooldown/breather match between two big competitive bouts on the show. Langley countered a tilt-a-whirl somethingorother into a small package for the flash pin in 4:54...then Tank Engine Thomas hit the ring to destroy all three men, yelling about how they stole his spot on the card. All righty then.
Steven Kennedy(Resurgence) vs. K.C. Karrington(w/ Greg Jovi)(Ego Busters), last-man-standing match: These two had a long history as V.I.P. and then The Ego Express, but Karrington left wrestling for a few years. When K.C. made his surprise return about a year ago, he turned on his best friend and partner; Kennedy won their first one-on-one meeting, but Karrington evened the score by stealing a fall on him in a four-corner match in October. They briefly crossed paths in the Season 2 finale, but Karrington was disqualified for bashing Kennedy with a chair and Kennedy had to leave the match due to injuries sustained from two of Karrington's piledrivers.
It didn't take long for this fight to get out of hand as they brawled out of the ring and Kennedy suplexed Karrington on the concrete floor(OUCH). Chairs came into play, then they brought in the timekeeper's table...they fought on the top rope and BOTH crashed through the table. The chairs were set up near the corner and K.C. tried to set up SSK on them, but SSK took him down from the turnbuckles with a Splash Mountain-style powerbomb onto the chairs! Karrington hit Kennedy with his own Assassination(double-underhook sitout faceplant, a la Angel's Wings) but it couldn't keep him down. K.C. followed up with the piledriver and THAT didn't work...neither did the SECOND piledriver as SSK kept getting up. Karrington set up a second table and took SSK to the top rope for the finishing blow, but Kennedy stopped him with a low blow(paying him back for a nut shot earlier in the bout). That set up Kennedy for a piledriver off the second rope to drive Karrington through the table! That was finally enough to end the match as Karrington stayed down for ten in 17:05...whew! (Resurgence 2-1, Ego Busters 1-2)
This show definitely delivered in a big way, especially with regards to the main matches I was anticipating(Dirden-Vega, Gary-Outlaw, Kennedy-Karrington). I've previously noted that I'm a sucker for adding meaning to wins and losses...it's a core part of PWCS since they keep track of the W/L records and build to the season finales. Good show, gentlemen.
My local comedian friend Landon Meyer had an extra ticket to WWE Raw at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis tonight, so I'll be attending my first WWE live event since March of 2011...to put that in perspective, The Miz was WWE Champion at that show. Yikes.
The rest of May looks like this:
-Saturday 5/7: Dynamo Pro Wrestling in St. Louis, MO (afternoon/Cinco De Mayo festival), Dynamo Pro Wrestling in Fenton, MO (evening); Stride Pro Wrestling in Marion, IL
-Saturday 5/14: World League Wrestling in Troy, MO (Ricky Steamboat appearing); Mid-Missouri Wrestling Alliance in St. Louis, MO; World Powerhouse Wrestling in Kampsville, IL
-Friday 5/20: St. Louis Anarchy in Alton, IL
-Saturday 5/21: St. Louis Anarchy in Alton, IL; Southern Illinois Championship Wrestling in East Carondelet, IL
-Sunday 5/22: Wrestling Invades America in Swansea, IL
-Saturday 5/28: Dynamo Pro Wrestling in St. Louis, MO (Ready Room)
That's my special comment for this, the seventeenth 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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