Now, as promised, a special comment about Saturday's Pro Wrestling Championship Series show at the American Legion Hall in Edwardsville, Illinois.
DISCLAIMER: I'm biased. Deal with it.
The show underwent a last-minute venue change as KC's Sports Bar & Grill in Granite City turned out to be unavailable for Saturday. The show was nearly shifted to Friday, but the Edwardsville venue turned out to be open for the night so PWCS switched to the alternate venue. Nice place, good turnout, not hard to find (just off Highway 157).
Talked with several different people over the course of the show, so I was bouncing all over the place. I'm getting a bit old to be standing for entire wrestling events. Good to see Dingo at the show...was surreal to see him helping with ring breakdown like old times. Wore my new Lucha Underground T-shirt...picked it up at Hot Topic along with an NXT shirt. (They also have New Day and Revival shirts.) Now all I need is a New Japan Pro Wrestling shirt to complete the hipster smart mark combo pack.
Your ring announcer was Sarah Rose; your referees were Jason Pemberton and Sean Orleans(who kept dashing back and forth between the merchandise table and the ring).
Starting scoreboard: Resurgence 6-3, Blacklist 5-4, Submission Squad/Ego Busters 3-5-1. It was close enough that any two teams could conceivably make it to the championship finals.
Darin Corbin(w/ Evan Gelistico & Shawshank The Inflatable Dolphin)(Submission Squad) vs. "The Millenial" Danny Adams(w/ Greg Jovi)(Ego Busters): Always good to see Corbin; he's one of the most entertaining guys on the national indie scene. It seems wrong that the dolphin was more popular than some of the wrestlers on the show. Despite common perceptions, I do prefer my wrestling to be good guy vs. bad guy and the fans were solidly behind Corbin; sadly, there was no slow-motion on this night. Jovi, desperate to get his stable back in contention, tried to interfere only to get into a near-collision with Adams. Corbin capitalized with the dreaded Ginger Snap(Diamond Cutter) for the win in 9:07 as Gelistico threw Shawshank to cut off Jovi's attempt to jump in the ring. (Submission Squad 4-5-1, Ego Busters 3-6-1)
Kevin Lee Davidson(Resurgence) vs. Brandon Espinosa(w/ Greg Jovi)(Ego Busters): This would be the latest of many battles between the two; they've fought in the Mid-Missouri Wrestling Alliance and Wrestling Invades America, among other places. Espinosa wore his letterman jacket to the ring in a nod to K.L.D.'s impending name change (he'll be Todd Letterman in the National Wrasslin' League). Espy noted that it was trainer vs. student and told Jovi to return to the dressing room area so they could have a sportsmanlike match; despite that, the crowd support seemed to be in K.L.D.'s favor. Espinosa used more high-risk maneuvers due to the obvious size and power disadvantage, including a moonsault off the second rope to the floor! K.L.D. delivered his finishing spinebuster(bumping Espy's head into a ceiling tile) but Espy surprisingly kicked out at two-and-a-half. Espinosa managed to turn the tide and hit the brainbuster for the victory in 10:52. (Ego Busters 4-6-1, Resurgence 6-4)
Afterwards, Espy acknowledged his trainers over the course of his career: Gary Jackson, Dingo(who he noted was in attendance), and Al Snow in Memphis. His reason was to note that, while a lot of the local guys refer to themselves as trainees of Michael Elgin, Davidson always referred to Espy as one of his trainers as well. (Espy has trained a LOT of local guys, but a bunch of them started training under Elgin as well and are usually identified as Elgin trainees.) Espy talked about the significance of the letterman jacket and said he was giving it to K.L.D. as a sign of respect...but it was only a ploy to lure him into a cheapshot! Espinosa continued his beatdown until Davidson's Resurgence teammate Paco Gonzalez ran him off.
"The Warhorse" Jake Parnell(Blacklist) vs. "Risky Business" Everett Connors(w/ cardboard cutout Justin Bieber)(Submission Squad): Bieber got more boos than just about anyone tonight, including a few "Bieber Sucks" chants. That led to the newly-renicknamed Parnell casually leaning out of the ring and chopping the Bieber cutout, separating the top part of the cutout from the rest of it! Connors was devastated and threw up the "X" sign for his hero; Biebs was moved to the relative safety of the area behind the merchandise tables. With the Viking War Party members going their separate ways at the final St. Louis Anarchy show, this was a chance for Parnell to make an impact as a solo competitor; while he didn't win in the end, he definitely made his mark (especially on Bieber!). Parnell's highlights including a flying double-stomp off the top rope to Connors' back on the floor, plus a top-rope backcracker! Connors somehow survived the assault and kept fighting despite the emotional trauma he had endured...he picked up the win after more shenanigans with the cutout remains. Connors finally put away Parnell with a slingshot Paydirt in 15:23. (Submission Squad 5-5-1, Blacklist 5-5)
Mike Outlaw(Blacklist) vs. Paco Gonzalez(Resurgence) vs. Austin Blackburn(w/ Shawshank)(Submission Squad) vs. "Lights Out" Adrian Surge(w/ Greg Jovi)(Ego Busters): The peril of this match was that only one man could win, so all three opponents' teams would be tagged with losses even if the person was not pinned or made to submit. I'm a bit burned out on multi-way schmozz matches since so many are done nowadays. This match had an odd balance as Surge was the only rulebreaker with three fan favorites. Blackburn didn't get much of a crowd reaction at first, so he went backstage and got Shawshank; that got a much better response. As is often the case in this style of match, the decision came down to opportunity; Paco countered Outlaw's middle-rope springboard European uppercut by superkicking him in mid-air. He might have won at that point, but Surge threw him out of the ring and stole the fall on Outlaw in 5:21! (Ego Busters 5-6-1, Resurgence 6-5, Blacklist 5-5, Submission Squad 5-6-1) Post-match, Outlaw left his bandanna in the ring...he's headed to NWL as well in 2017.
"The Dirty Rook" Mat Fitchett(Resurgence) vs. "The Anarchist" Arik Cannon(Blacklist): How long do you have to wrestle before you stop calling yourself a "rook"? (Legit question.) Cannon's dropped quite a bit of weight in recent years, to his credit; it sometimes takes me a bit to recognize him nowadays. While this was a battle of fan favorites, it was also a LONG-delayed rubber match between the two; they first met at the final Lethal Wrestling Alliance show in October of 2010 with Cannon scoring the win. The rematch took place in St. Louis Anarchy in April of 2011 and Fitchett evened the score at that time, but they hadn't crossed paths one-on-one since then. At one point Fitchett attempted a rana off the apron and Cannon countered by swinging him into several ringside chairs! The finish saw Fitchett tilt-a-whirl into a DDT and go for the cover, but Cannon crucifixed him on the mat for the flash three-count in 13:00! (Blacklist 6-5, Resurgence 6-6) The competition was anybody's ballgame at this point...
Intermission~! Trina The Marky Smark has some serious dedication as she drove to this show, arriving during the match before intermission. I only brought a few dollars for refreshments and cans of soda were $1.50, so I settled for a Pepsi and Mountain Dew plus a slice of Trina's pepperoni pizza. (Yes, I did ask if I could have a slice.)
Angelus Layne vs. "The Incredible Primal Prodigy" Matt Kenway (Look At Him): Layne was billed as weighing "probably more than Matt Kenway" and still hails from The Nearest Emergency Room. While I like both wrestlers, they didn't seem to click too well for whatever reason; intergender matches are an adjustment for inexperienced wrestlers and that may have been a factor; that's just a guess on my part, of course. At any rate, Layne won with a TKO in 6:51; hopefully we'll get to see them have another go-around at some point.
"Dirdey" Jake Dirden(Ego Busters) & Davey Vega(Resurgence)(w/ Greg Jovi) vs. Makaze(Blacklist) & Evan Gelistico(Submission Squad)(w/ Shawshank): The Blacklist held a VERY slim lead of 6-5 going into this bout; The Resurgence were at 6-6 and The Ego Busters and Submission Squad were both at 5-6-1. Sarah clarified the situation by saying that the winning team's stables would advance to the championship final match...all righty then. Both sets of teammates had previous issues, though Makaze's main issues were with Gelistico's partner Pierre Abernathy. Each duo got on the same page for the majority of the bout, but it was a last-second miscommunication that led to the outcome; Gelistico attempted a superkick on Vega and hit Makaze by mistake, leading to Vega rolling up Evan for the three-count in 11:32! (Resurgence 7-6, Ego Busters 6-6-1, Blacklist 6-6, Submission Squad 5-7-1) With that, the final confrontation was set...it looked like Vega and Dirden would part peacefully for the moment, but then Dirden dropped Vega with a huge boot to the face. Message: Sent.
Gary Jay vs. Pierre Abernathy(w/ Evan Gelistico & Shawshank): It's safe to say that these two know each other very well. Pierre's first professional match was against Gary and they've gone around the horn to just about every promotion in the Midwest (including Gateway Championship Wrestling)...not to mention several across the country! However, this would be Pierre's final match in the St. Louis area as he's taking a behind-the-scenes job with the NWL. While Pierre hasn't competed as regularly as he once did, he was always an underrated technical wrestler; this made him a good rulebreaking foil to the high-flying and hard-striking Gary Jay. Pierre went old-school by using his old Kill Bill entrance theme music. One of the craziest moments of the night occurred when Pierre avoided Gary's suicide dive, causing him to crash-land into the chairs in the audience! (Angelus Layne once had a painful moment when she wasn't caught on a suicide dive attempt and she hit the floor hard...breaking both of her wrists!) The Submission Squad pairing tried to win with subterfuge as Evan used the inflatable dolphin as a distraction so he could deliver a Diamond Cutter behind the referee's back; however, Pierre's cover only resulted in a near-fall. Gary retaliated by taking out Evan with a more successful dive to the floor, then beat down Pierre with his signature forearm smashes...a sliding forearm finally kept the former "European Scumbag" down for the count in 11:17.
After the match, Pierre spoke to the fans and the wrestlers in the ring area about his career and future prospects...several of his former LWA and SLA colleagues were in attendance, including Jordan Lacey. He asked the fans to continue their support of their favorite independent wrestlers, because it's that support that helps them reach the next level of their careers.
The Resurgence(Davey Vega, "The Dirty Rook" Mat Fitchett, Paco Gonzalez, & Jason Roberts) vs. The Ego Busters("Dirdey" Jake Dirden, Brandon Espinosa, "The Millenial" Danny Adams, & "Lights Out" Adrian Surge)(w/ Greg Jovi), elimination tag match: This was for all the marbles in Season Three of PWCS. It was a good thing that The Resurgence made it to the finals or Roberts wouldn't have had a match. My immediate prediction was that The Ego Busters would win since The Resurgence had won season two...but then I suck at predictions.
The first elimination was a surprise as Espinosa had Roberts set up for the brainbuster, but Paco superkicked him in mid-move and Roberts countered into a guillotine lock...getting the tapout elimination in 4:15! Right after the submission took place, Surge rolled up Roberts to eliminate HIM in 4:30...then Fitchett took out Surge with a Michinoku Driver in 5:03. Things settled down as the Ego Busters attempted to isolate Paco from his corner so the three-on-two disadvantage wouldn't hinder them. The Resurgence mounted a comeback, but Dirden booted Paco on the mush from the ring apron...that allowed Adams to take out his occasional Alpha Class colleague with the reverse Stunner in 15:22.
That evened the score at two apiece, but The Ego Busters had gained the momentum. Fitchett and Dirden renewed hostilities from a St. Louis Anarchy Championship match earlier in the year, but this time around Dirden got the duke with a discus Polish Hammer in 17:35. Vega went toe-to-toe with Dirden, having split a pair of matches with the big man at previous PWCS events. (Note: Around this time, I dropped my ancient flip phone and lost the exact match time...it was around the twenty-minute mark, so I went with that plus another minute to start the phone and stopwatch back up.) Each man brought the heavy artillery, but Vega emerged victorious in the exchange; Vega delivered a pump kick with Dirden on his knees and pinned him in 21:52!
The referee raised Vega's hand, but Jovi frantically pointed out that Danny Adams had NOT been eliminated; he had been laying low on the floor until the right opportunity arose. (I had almost forgotten that he was still in the match myself.) Adams caught Vega by surprise with the reverse Stunner...for two! They battled it out for a few more minutes, but Adams' downtime proved to be the deciding factor as he won with a second reverse Stunner in 24:44! The Ego Busters had finally become Season Champions! I'm a fan of elimination tag matches in general and the PWCS finales have delivered in that regard; the Blacklist-Ego Busters matchup in Season One with the surprise inclusion of Jimmy Jacobs ranked pretty high on my list of favorite matches for 2015.
Post-match, Jovi sarcastically thanked referee Sean Orleans for his mistake in prematurely raising Vega's hand...Orleans was less than pleased by this comment. Of course Jovi took as much of the credit as possible as his team stood victorious at the end of the show and Season Three...PWCS Season Four begins on January 21st in Alton, IL (the old St. Louis Anarchy venue, which will also host the premiere event for Glory Pro Wrestling in February).
After the show, I tagged along with friends to a place called Edison's in Edwardsville...it was mostly wrestlers and a couple of fans who knew them pretty well. I bummed a slice of barbecue chicken pizza...most tremendous, and yes, I did ask before I partook. We had a couple of surprise guests to the gathering: Kongo Kong and Travis Titan, who had worked the Southern Illinois Championship Wrestling show that evening. I had only seen Kongo once in person before that, at a High Risk Wrestling show against Moose. It sounds like he made a good impression in SICW and I feel like he and Ron Powers could have some good brawls in the near future.
That will mostly wrap up my year of attending wrestling shows...I'm still deciding on whether to check out the WWE house show in St. Louis on the 27th. Preparations are underway for All-American Wrestling in Merrionette Park, IL (near Chicago) on the 30th...bwahahaha. I asked off work and will be riding along with several other fans from the area. There are several people on the show who are on my bucket list to see live, including one of my Lucha Underground favorites in Pentagon Jr. Woo.
That's my special comment for this, the fifty-second 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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