WWE Raw

-Commentators:  Michael Cole, Booker T, & Corey Graves.
-The Hardy Boys(Matt & Jeff) d. The Bullet Club(Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows) when Jeff pinned Gallows after the swanton bomb (5:34 aired); The Revival(Scott Dawson & Dash Wilder) did commentary.
-Cedric Alexander, "The Outlandish" Rich Swann, & Akira Tozawa(w/ Titus O'Neil) d. T.J. Perkins, "The Premier Athlete" Tony Nese, & Ariya Daivari when Tozawa pinned T.J.P. after the top-rope senton bomb (5:24 aired).
-Seth Rollins d. Raw Tag Team Champion Sheamus O'Shaunessy(w/ Antonio Cesaro) via rollup (5:26 aired).  Dean Ambrose attempted to save Rollins from a post-match beatdown but was beaten down as well.
-Roman Reigns won a triple threat match with Braun Strowman and Samoa Joe when he pinned Joe after the spear (11:19 aired).
-"The Drifter" Elias Samson d. Kalisto after the Drift Away(inverted swinging neckbreaker) (4:43 aired).
-Bayley Rose d. Nia Jax by countout despite interference by Raw Women's Champion Alexa Bliss (5:22 aired).
-"Big Cass" Colin Cassady d. The Big Show(w/ Enzo Amore) by DQ when Enzo attacked Cass (5:06).

PWR Special Comment

Now, as promised, a special comment about last Sunday's Pro Wrestling Resurgence show at the Improvement Hall in Swansea, Illinois.

DISCLAIMER:  I'm biased.  Deal with it.

The Midwest has been oversaturated with promotions in recent times...given that and the close assocation between Resurgence and Glory Pro Wrestling, something had to give.  This was advertised as a joint show with Glory Pro and they had planned a title unification bout between Crown Of Glory Champion "Hot Fire" Myron Reed and Resurgence Champion Everett Connors.  However, it was announced before the show that Reed had to miss the show due to travel issues; as a result, the scheduled bout between Donovan Dijak and Shane Sabre became a triple threat title match with Connors added.  Hopefully we'll see Reed vs. Connors at some point down the line.

Sarah did in-ring interviews with several competitors prior to the official start of the show, which was a nice touch to build up the event.  Sabre isn't well known in this area, but he did a good job of getting the fans on his side.

Your ring announcer was Sarah Rose; your referee was Jason Pemberton.

The Besties In The World("The Miracle Worker" Davey Vega & "The Dirty Rook" Mat Fitchett) vs. The Pride("The Incredible Primal Prodigy" Matt Kenway(Look At Him After Dark) & Aaron Dzinic) for the Glory Pro Wrestling United Glory Tag Team Titles:  The Pride had defeated "The Roman Dynasty" Karim Brigante & Isaias Velazquez at the Glory Pro show in Belleville to gain momentum heading into this match.  The Besties have been making their mark all over the Midwest, including the National Wrasslin' League and All-American Wrestling; they retained their titles against The Boys From Jollyville(T-Money & Nasty Russ Myers) in Belleville.  Kenway remains not all that popular in the Midwest; a friend noted that it was an afternoon show and he gets more cheers After Dark(tm).  Fitchett started calling Dzinic "Jeremy" for some reason...my best guess was that the lion logo on his tights resembled that of "The Monarch" Jeremy Wyatt in NWL.  The Pride didn't win on this night, but they put up a great fight against one of the top teams in the Midwest(and arguably the country).  The Besties retained after hitting their double-team Braineater(brainbuster onto the knee/flying knee strike combo) on Kenway, allowing Vega to get the pin in 11:44.

Sarge came out for a scheduled match, but Evan Gelistico(who was seated at the merchandise table) lost his cool and attacked the military man before he could enter the ring.  Gelistico ranted about being left off the card while Sarge got to wrestle and said he would face whoever Sarge was scheduled to face...that brought out Space Monkey!

Space Monkey vs. Evan Gelistico:  Gelistico was willing to use any means necessary to achieve victory; he repeatedly threw Space Monkey out of the ring in an attempt to win by countout, each time dragging him farther and farther away from the ringside area before stepping back through the ropes.  He even tied his tail to the middle turnbuckle before beating him down in the corner!  Evan had things going his way, but made the mistake of giving Space Monkey a "last meal" in the form of one of his bananas.  The Monkey chowed down, ignoring Gelistico's attempts to continue his attack...he was Monkeying Up!  Monkey finally delivered a high-pitched "YOUUUUU!" before rallying on offense, but Evan cut him off and locked on his Gory Special/chicken wing hold.  The bitter hand of irony would rear its ugly head as Gelistico slipped on the discarded banana peel and hit the mat hard; Space Monkey capitalized with the tail whip to get the win in 10:39!

Despite being defeated, Gelistico was not at a loss for words...he vented about how Michael Elgin didn't deem him worthy to be booked at Glory Pro and how guys who he promoted at St. Louis Anarchy were getting opportunities while he was left behind.  Will this lead to anything in the long run?  Who knows...

Cornelius Wyverstone vs. "Lights Out" Adrian Surge:  These men were tag team partners but the union quickly fell apart, leading to several clashes prior to this matchup; Surge didn't feel the "circus freak" was worthy of a spot in Resugence.  Wyverstone's bullwhip came into play on a few occasions, though Surge couldn't successfully crack the whip like Wyverstone could.  The match was solid despite a mistimed landing on a leapfrog out of the corner...they worked through it and that's all you can do sometimes.  Surge went for his spinebuster finisher but Wyverstone blocked it, taking Surge down into a Texas Cloverleaf.  Surge struggled to escape, but Wyverstone cinched in the hold in the middle of the ring and Surge tapped out in 11:53!

"The Stiff Robo Ginger" Gary Jay vs. Brandon Aarons vs. "The Diamond Tiger" Kobe Durst vs. Jason Roberts vs. Donovan Danhausen vs. "The Warhorse" Jake Parnell:  Gary Jay and Parnell have been wanting a match in Zero-1 USA for the past several months, so they teased a few confrontations before finally getting a chance to lock horns...that match will happen in Mattoon, IL in September and a road trip may be in order.  I hadn't seen Durst since the inaugural Glory Pro show in February.  I've only seen Roberts at Resurgence since he moved to Florida; hopefully PWCS or Glory Pro will bring him in.  I haven't seen a whole lot of Danhausen, but he seems like a solid guy.  One of Gelistico's earlier complaints was that Gary Jay was only seen as a "multi-man match guy" in Glory Pro...and here he was in a multi-man match.  At any rate, the match was action-packed and could have gone in any man's favor...Durst got the duke in 10:54 after a piledriver on Aarons.

Intermission~!  Official Ben Simon Concession Count(tm):  Ski soda, cheeseburger, and potato chips.

Kevin Lee Davidson vs. "All Ego" Ethan Page:  Despite K.L.D.'s actions at the previous Glory Pro show, he seemed to be the crowd favorite against the arrogant Page; "All Ego" is a big dude but Davidson is just a bit bigger.  Page had the advantage in experience, at any rate...it looked like he had gained the upper hand with a re-entry Diamond Cutter, but Danny Adams appeared out of nowhere to pull the referee out of the ring.  As Adams argued with the official, K.L.D. delivered an unseen low blow before finishing with the spinebuster in 11:31 (HEEL~!).  The new buddies congratulated each other, then stuck around as Danny's match was up next.

Paco Gonzalez & "The Dad Bod" Sean Orleans vs. "The Millenial" Danny Adams & Brandon Espinosa(w/ Kevin Lee Davidson):  The rulebreakers attacked Orleans right away, leading to Paco storming the ring with a chain to run them off (dog collar match on August 20th!).  The Paco-Danny feud has become a major part of the St. Louis wrestling scene as their careers have been inextricably linked since the beginning.  Orleans and Espy have their own issues from Glory Pro and I imagine a rubber match is in our future.  Both teams seemed to work well enough together until the closing moments of the match as Espy hit Adams by mistake.  As a result, Adams and K.L.D. took a walk and left Espinosa high and dry...Paco lifted Espy into a Gory Special and dropped him into a knee strike, then Orleans did the schoolboy trip for the rollup pin in a brisk 6:10!  Espy was in disbelief that Orleans had beaten him with the same trick twice...it was not a good weekend for the now-former MWR Missouri Champion.

"The Neon Icon" Justin D'Air(w/ Lady D'Air) vs. Barackus:  While D'Air had a competitive showing against Surge at Dynamo Pro, he wasn't so fortunate here as Barackus dominated the bout.  I feel like D'Air will be getting on the right people's radars in due time.  Barackus is in a good position in several promotions and I feel like he'll do better than people might think in a big-match situations with Glory Pro.  Barackus won with the splash off the second rope in 4:56.

Everett Connors vs. Donovan Dijak vs. Shane Sabre for the PWR Title:  With the low clearance in the Swansea venue, Dijak couldn't take to the air like he's normally capable of doing.  Of course, he had the clear edge in size and power.  Perhaps Connors should have stayed out of the way while the bigger challengers fought it out, but that hasn't been his style in recent times.  Dijak press-slammed Connors over the top rope from the floor at one point, then later delivered a double chokeslam on both opponents!  Connors and Sabre momentarily joined forces for a Dudley Death Drop on Dijak to take him out of the game for a while.  Connors delivered a Bieber Driver(hanging piledriver) to Sabre into the ring apron(#HARDESTPARTOFTHERING), but Dijak re-entered the fray at that point...Connors was able to hit a running Destroyer DDT on Dijak, but Dijak returned fire by chokeslamming Sabre onto the ring apron(#HARDESTPARTOFTHERING) before chokeslamming Connors onto Sabre!  In triple-threat matches, the third man is always a factor to break up pins, so someone has to be taken out of the game long enough for a finish to occur...in this case, Dijak was able to hit the Feast Your Eyes(torture-rack Go 2 Sleep) on Connors but Sabre hit Dijak with a slingshot spear for a CLOSE near-fall.  Dijak withstood the damage and came back with a chokebreaker on Sabre to win in 13:40, becoming the NEWWWWW and final Pro Wrestling Resurgence Champion!

After the match, K.L.D. thanked Dijak for appearing at the show and Dijak spoke highly of his experiences in the St. Louis independent scene, saying this match was one of the best triple threat bouts he'd ever had!  Most tremendous...the rumor mill has been buzzing that he'll be making a trip to Orlando, FL in the near future.

HEY, I finally got these done.  Score.  I declined to make the trip to Cape Championship Wrestling last night, though it sounds like they had a fine show.  World Powerhouse Wrestling also had a show on Collinsville, IL last night along with a seminar from Cowboy Bob Orton.

A very busy August looks like this:
-Friday 8/4: Dynamo Pro Wrestling in Grafton, IL
-Saturday 8/5: Southern Illinois Championship Wrestling in Hillsdale, MO(afternoon); World League Wrestling in Troy, MO
-Sunday 8/6: Wrestling Over Everything in Centreville, IL
-Saturday 8/12: Mid-Missouri Wrestling Alliance in St. Louis, MO
-Saturday 8/19: SICW in East Carondelet, IL
-Sunday 8/20: Glory Pro Wrestling in Alton, IL
-Friday 8/25: Dynamo Pro Wrestling in St. Louis, MO(Concordia Turners Gym)
-Saturday 8/26: National Wrasslin' League in St. Peters, MO
-Sunday 8/27: Pro Wrestling Championship Series in Alton, IL

That's my special comment for this, the thirty-sixth wrestling show I've attended in the year 2017.  Good night, good luck, and #yaywrestling.

-PB, Watching Wrestling Wrong Since 1991

P.S. We are all marks.

Show results

Saturday CCW results from Cape Girardeau, MO:

-Farmer Billy Hills d. Brandon Espinosa.
-The L.A. Hustlers(Bradley & Lamont) d. Blaster & Sexy Sarge O'Riley(subbing for Jeff Cobb) to win the Tag Team Titles.
-Roscoe Eat Lisa(Mikey McFinnegan & Zakk Sawyers) d. MWR Missouri Champion Ace Hawkins & Dexter Roswell.
-"Tatt2" Darius Lee & Women's Champion Marni Gras d. Jeff O'Dell & Sarah Summers.
-Jason Vaughn d. Osby Tomlin & Justin Smart in a handicap match.
-Austin Lane d. Dell Tucker.
-Billy Gunn & Brandon Barbwire d. Heavyweight Champion Hollis Giroux & Roger Matheus.

Saturday ROH results from Concord, NC:

-"The Punishment" Damien Martinez d. Flip Gordon.
-Rhett Titus d. Cheeseburger.
-Yujiro Kushida fought Kenny King to a no-contest to retain the T.V. Title.
-T.V. Champion Yujiro Kushida & Kenny King d. Marty Scurll & "Hangman" Adam Page.
-Karen Q d. Stella Rae.
-The Best Friends(Chuck Taylor & Trent Barreta) d. Coast 2 Coast(Leon St. Giovanni & Shaheem Ali).
-Jay Briscoe d. Matt Taven by DQ.
-Dalton Castle & The Boys(Brandon & Brent Tate) d. Colt Cabana & The Tempura Boyz(Sho Tanaka & Yohei Komatsu) to retain the Six-Man Tag Team Titles.
-Mandy Leon & Jenny Rose d. Brandi Rhodes & Sumie Sakai.
-War Machine(Todd Hanson & Raymond Rowe) d. Jay White & Jonathan Gresham.
-Josh Woods d. Shane Taylor.
-The Young Bucks(Matt & Nick Jackson) fought The Motor City Machineguns(Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley) to a no-contest to retain the Tag Team Titles.
-Kelli Klein d. Deonna Purrazzo.
-Jay Lethal d. "Beer City Bruiser" Matt Winchester in a no-DQ match.
-Will Ferrara d. ?.
-Bully Ray & Mark Briscoe d. Heavyweight Champion Cody Rhodes & "Hangman" Adam Page by DQ.

Saturday WPW results from Collinsville, IL featuring the Tag Team Title Tournament:

-The Searcher d. Curtis Payne in a no-DQ match to win the vacant Heavyweight Title.
-Little Evil won a battle royal.
-The Fallen(Scar & Damian Blade) d. The Reavers(? & ?).
-Wicked & Xavier Frost d. Victor Cortez & Marcellus Knyght.
-Kaos & Chris Riot d. Ivan Strokgenovf & Bronson.
-Playboy Double H & Hawk Elliot d. Chico Es Loco & Keith Smith Jr.
-Kaos & Chris Riot d. Playboy Double H & Hawk Elliot.
-The Fallen(Scar & Damian Blade) d. Wicked & Xavier Frost by DQ.
-Kaos & Chris Riot d. The Fallen(Scar & Damian Blade) to win the tournament and the Tag Team Titles.

Dynamo Special Comment

Now, as promised, a special comment about last Saturday's Dynamo Pro Wrestling show at the Concordia Turners Gymnasium in St. Louis, Missouri.

DISCLAIMER:  I'm biased.  Deal with it.

With the buzz of Dingo's return to St. Louis wrestling competition, Dynamo had a strong turnout for its second event at Concordia Turners.  Several familiar faces were in the house, including Pete Madden, Big Bad Ben, Keith Smiths Sr. & Jr., Ricky Cruz, and Coach Chuck Farley.  I was not aware that Midwest Renegade Wrestling had held events in the venue many years ago...hopefully it can become the new regular home for Dynamo Pro.

Your ring announcers were Chris Roedel & Luke Roberts; your referees were Scott Ramsey, Ricky Rodriguez, and Richard White.

"The Alternative" Ozzie Gallagher vs. The Snitch:  Once again, Snitch hesitated to speak to the fans and had Chris Roedel read his prepared statement.  Snith was prepared to offer Gallagher a payoff in order for him to lay down...Gallagher seemed to consider it, but he let Snitch know that he was a bit light in the wallet for such a tactic.  The match was fairly short but got the point across; Snitch scored a cheap victory via rollup with feet on the ropes in 3:56.  Gallagher made Snitch pay for his transgression with a post-match Champagne Supernova(cradle back suplex).

The ring rattled quite a bit during the opener, so the ring announcers killed some time while adjustments were made on the ring.

Jackal & Frodo "The Ghost" Meyer vs. The Agents Of Chaos(Viktor Von Stein & Xavier Shadowz):  I had never seen Von Stein or Shadowz before; research tells me that they compete for Strictly Nsane Pro Wrestling in Illinois, so I imagine they traveled with Adrian Surge.  They clearly had the advantage in team experience, though Jackal was the most experienced of the four overall.  I liked what I saw of the Agents in their debut appearance and hope to see them back in the area down the line...hey, Dynamo needs to get those Tag Titles going again.  (Keon Option was in the house, so hopefully the most recent tag champs will reunite soon.)  The teamwork made the difference in this one; all four men fought in the ring at one point, allowing Shadowz to deliver an elevated neckbreaker on Frodo as the referee attempted to regain control.  Von Stein finished off Frodo with the good old Legdrop O' Doom in 11:32...nicely done.

"The Human Wrecking Ball" Pete Madden presented the brand-new Dynamo Pro Heavyweight Title belt, which would be awarded to the winner of the night's main event.  Champion Brandon Aarons and challenger Dingo got a good look at their upcoming prize...while Aarons was initially trained by Dingo, a lot of time has passed and he didn't seem to be intimidated by his mentor.  Once the competitors left the spotlight, co-promoter Crystal Yount brought out the roster to applaud Madden...she said that she and Evil Jim had first seen Madden in the ring at that very venue.  As a result, Jim and Crystal were inspired to get into the wrestling business themselves, leading to their participation in MRW, Gateway Championship Wrestling, and now Dynamo Pro.  Pete definitely qualifies as one of the coolest people I've met in Midwest wrestling and I appreciate every chance I get to have a conversation with him.

"The Caramel Bear" C.J. Shine vs. Thomas Muños:  Muños was making his Dynamo Pro debut; he's a regular in Texas-based Anarchy Championship Wrestling and has also appeared for Pro Wrestling Championship Series (using the alternate ring name "Tank Engine Tommy/Thomas").  Not sure why, but these two didn't click well with each other...oh well, it happens sometimes.  Shine avoided a charge into the corner and Muños hit the ringpost shoulder-first, allowing Shine to get the rollup pin in 4:57.

Savanna Stone vs. Rahne Victoria:  "The Roman Dynasty" Karim Brigante and Miss Monica Passeri had a last-minute change of plans, meaning the scheduled triple threat match with the ladies became a singles bout.  It would have been the first triple threat bout for both of them and also their first opportunity to work with another female competitor (other than the mixed tag in Grafton, they've only had singles matches with each other).  They had a fine bout and added a few new maneuvers to their recent game plans...they'll build their games over time and figure out what works best for them, I'm sure.  I've seen most of their matches so I don't know what the all-time win-loss record is between the two, so I can't give a score on who's in the lead...heh.  What I know for sure:  They traded wins in Midwest Impact Pro, Savanna's team won the mixed tag, Rahne won their singles match in Grafton, and Savanna won in Proving Ground Pro.  Savanna took home the victory on this night with the Sliced Bread #2 in 7:07...we'll be watching their careers with great interest.

Intermission~!  Official Ben Simon Concession Count(tm):  Two root beers.

"The Neon Icon" Justin D'Air(w/ Lady D'Air) vs. "Lights Out" Adrian Surge:  They turned off the house lights for the D'Airs' entrance...when they came back up, it was discovered that the middle rope had come loose when Surge climbed on the turnbuckles to pose.  Whoops.  The ring crew got another workout for the night as Surge and D'Air played to the fans before the official start of the match...this included D'Air running to the merchandise stand to throw some of his items to the fans.  In contrast to the earlier match, these two seem to work together VERY well; D'Air's turned some heads in the St. Louis area in recent weeks and Surge has been establishing himself as a solid competitor(though I feel like he's best as a full rulebreaker).  Surge attempted to slide out of the ring for a break at one point as D'Air climbed the turnbuckles, but D'Air launched a missile dropick from the opposite side of the ring and nailed Surge in the back as he was seated on the ring apron!  Despite that spectacular move, Surge picked up momentum heading into his Riot On The River Tournament final; he caught a springboard move and turned it into a spinebuster for the three-count in 12:15.

Brandon Espinosa vs. "The" Ace Hawkins for the MWR Missouri Title, no-DQ match:  This stemmed from a disqualification finish in their previous bout in Grafton after Hawkins hit Espy with his own championship belt.  The history between the two men extends all the way back to the beginning of Hawkins' career...in that time, the two have been allies, tag team partners, and heated rivals.  Espinosa lost the MWR Missouri Title to Barackus in January, only for Hawkins to capture it from the big man in February.  The round-robin tournament in the Mid-Missouri Wrestling Alliance ended with a classic ladder match in which Espy regained the title, but the feud was far from over.

The match was tremendous, as you might expect.  Several weapons came into play, including a steel chair...but Espinosa accidentally took out the referee with a late-match superkick.  The match spilled out of the ring and Ace attempted to suicide-dive onto Espy, but Espy caught him in mid-air for a brainbuster on the floor!  Espinosa threw Hawkins back into the ring, but the official was not there to count the pin.  The other officials made their way to ringside as one checked on the main ref and the other took over the officiating duties for the bout...Ace was somehow able to rebound and fought out of an attempted brainbuster onto a chair, delivering a somersaulting Ace Crusher onto the set-up chair!  Ace continued his offensive flurry and hit the jumping DDT...the referee hesitated on the third count, but nonetheless Ace scored the victory in 18:20 to capture the MWR Missouri Championship!

After the match, Espinosa spoke to the fans...he said that Hawkins beat him fair and square in the no-DQ environment.  With the MWR Missouri Title in his rear-view mirror for the moment, he said he planned to focus on traveling around the country to compete.  It would be odd to not see a mainstay like Espy at St. Louis-area shows, but a wrestler has to advance his career...best of luck to him!

Brandon Aarons vs. Dingo for the Heavyweight Title:  Dingo was Aarons' original trainer when he began his wrestling career...they met a handful of times after that with Dingo scoring the victories.  A lot has changed since that time with Aarons building his reputation in the Midwest and Dingo taking a break from the ring wars...now Dingo is returning from his hiatus and Aarons stands atop Dynamo Pro Wrestling, a promotion where Dingo once reigned supreme as the NWA Missouri Champion.  Aarons wanted to prove that he could not only hang with his former mentor, but also surpass his teacher on this night.

The opening minutes were the proverbial game of chess as the two attempted to one-up each other, but tempers flared as the match progressed.  The fight spilled out of the ring and Dingo stunned Aarons with a back suplex onto the ring apron(#HARDESTPARTOFTHERING)...it was a move that had been used a couple of times earlier in the show to great effectiveness.  Aarons somehow survived some of Dingo's best shots, including a dragon suplex and at least two Dingo Drivers.  As in his title-winning match with Mike Outlaw, Aarons had to unleash several devastating moves in a row to achieve victory; he turned the tables and hit Dingo with his own namesake 'Driver, then followed up with the Hairflip Suplex(half-nelson suplex) and superkick to finally win in 16:20!

Cue post-match mutual respect...Dingo praised his protege, but said he'd love to face him in the ring one more time.  Hopefully that can happen in the near future...Dingo also praised the locker room of up-and-coming talent, saying the future of Midwest wrestling was in places like Dynamo Pro!

I am WAY behind on these commentaries...I didn't go to any wrestling shows this weekend, so hopefully I can catch up soon.  Of course that particular weekend wasn't quite over, but that's another story for another time...tune in next time:  Same Pat-Time, Same Pat-Channel.

That's my special comment for this, the thirty-fifth wrestling show I've attended in the year 2017.  Good night, good luck, and #yaywrestling.

-PB, Watching Wrestling Wrong Since 1991

P.S. We are all marks.

Weekend wrestling

WWE Main Event

-Commentators:  Vic Joseph & Corey Graves.
-Cedric Alexander d. "The Premier Athlete" Tony Nese with the Lumbar Check(belly-to-back double-knee backbreaker) (5:25).
-Apollo Crews d. Kalisto via delayed Blue Thunder Bomb (6:04 aired).
NJPW On AXS

-Commentators:  Jim Ross & Josh Barnett.
-Kazuchika Okada(w/ Gedo) fought Hiroshi Tanahashi to a time-limit draw.

ROH TV

-Commentators:  Ian Riccaboni & Joe Koff.
-Kris Wolf d. Sumie Sakai with a modified jackknife cradle (7:06 aired).
-Jenny Rose d. Mandy Leon after an electric chair drop (7:11 aired).
-Karen Q won a triple threat match with "The Gatekeeper" Kelly Klein and "The Virtuosa" Deonna Purrazzo when she rolled up Purrazzo (7:55 aired).

SICW Wrestling Explosion

-Commentators:  Drew Abbenhaus & Herb Simmons:  Guest commentators:  Andy Warner & Keith Smith.
-"Big Country" Clint Poe d. Jayson Khaos after the running powerslam.
-Moondog Rover d. "Volatile" Curtis Wylde in a match where Wyldefyre was the special guest referee; Wyldefyre hesitated to coutn the pin after Wylde hit the Wylde Ride(Flatliner), so Wylde brought a chair into the ring.  Wyldefyre momentarily stopped him from using the weapon and was thrown to the mat, but Moondog avoided the swing and the chair rebounded off the top rope to hit Wylde in the head.  Moondog covered and Wyldefyre reluctantly counted three.
-After the match, promoter Herb Simmons listened to Wylde's complaints about the situation and ordered a rematch for the August show:  A dog collar match where the loser would have to stay away from Wyldefyre.
-Flashback to September 1980:  David Von Erich d. Bobby Van with a sunset flip.

NJPW G1 Climax Day 10

-NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Champion Takaaki "Evil" Watanabe d. Toru Yano with the STO.
-NEVER Openweight Champion Minoru Suzuki d. Tama Tonga(non-title) after the cradle piledriver.
-NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Champion Seiya Sanada d. Michael Elgin via moonsault.
-IWGP U.S. Champion Kenny Omega d. Satoshi Kojima(non-title) after the One-Winged Angel(electric chair Michinoku Driver).
-IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada(w/ Gedo) d. Juice Robinson(non-title) with the Rainmaker(windup short-arm lariat).

Block B:
-Okada:  10
-Omega/Evil:  8
-Suzuki/Sanada:  6
-Elgin/Tonga:  4
-Yano/Juice:  2
-Kojima:  0

NJPW G1 Climax Day 9

-Togi Makabe d. Yuji Nagata with the King Kong Kneedrop off the top rope.
-Bad Luck Fale d. Kota Ibushi with the Bad Luck Fall(Border Toss-style powerbomb).
-Hirooki Goto d. Zack Sabre Jr.(w/ El Desperado) after a Penalty Kick.
-IWGP Intercontinental Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi d. Yoshi-Hashi(non-title) with the High Fly Flow(frog splash).
-Tomohiro Ishii d. Tetsuya Naito after the vertical-drop brainbuster.

Block A:
-Tanahashi:  8
-Ishii/Naito/Sabre/Goto/Makabe/Fale:  6
-Ibushi:  4
-Yoshi-Hashi:  2
-Nagata:  0

Comedy Part 758: Hey Guys, Thanks For Skipping Guns 'N' Roses

Location:  Hey Guys Comedy
Emcee:  Will O'Donnell
After:  Nathan Orton
Before:  Andy Hamilton

I got off work at 6:30 and drove straight to the club as quickly as possible...due to traffic and rain, that wasn't a very high rate of speed.  Thankfully, we had a really good audience for the evening and I went with my stronger material as I went up early.  I've been busy with my job and other things so I haven't had much opportunity to write new jokes...hopefully that will change soon.

GFW Impact

-Commentators:  Jeremy Borash, "The Pope" D'Angelo Dinero, & Josh Mathews.
-Ethan Carter III, Eli Drake, & Chris Adonis d. Grand Champion Moose, Eddie Edwards, & Naomichi Marufuji; EC3 pinned Moose after a kick to the groin behind the referee's back followed by a sitout Pedigree (11:43 aired).
-Coming soon:  Ohio vs. Everyone(Jake & Dave Crist).
-Super X Cup Tournament:  Taiji Ishimori d. "The Lone Wolf" Davey Richards after a 450 Splash (8:25).
-Sienna Kay d. Rosemary Rush in a last-woman-standing match to retain the Women's Title; Kevin Matthews distracted Rosemary and was blinded by green mist, but Sienna threw a trash can at Rosemary's head and she fell off the ropes and through a table on the floor.  As a result, Rosemary was unable to answer the ten-count (10:49 aired).
-Octagoncito d. Trevor Lee by countout when Lee walked out on the match (1:40).
-Heavyweight Champion Alberto El Patrón won a gauntlet match against three members of the Latin-American XChange(Tag Team Champions Angel Ortiz & Santana Draztik, Konnan, Homicide, & Diamante Zuniga).  Alberto d. Homicide after a frog splash (0:18).  Alberto d. Ortiz with the Tree Of Woe double-stomp (2:18 aired).  Alberto d. Santana by DQ when Ortiz interfered to break up the cross-armbreaker (4:40 aired).  El Hijo De Dos Caras and Dos Caras attempted to help, but The Veterans Of War(Anthony Mayweather & Jax Wilcox) finally turned the tide.

NJPW G1 Climax Day 8

-Tama Tonga d. Juice Robinson with the Gun Stun.
-NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Champion Seiya Sanada d. Toru Yano by countout.
-NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Champion Takaaki "Evil" Watanabe d. NEVER Openweight Champion Minoru Suzuki(w/ El Desperado)(non-title) via STO.
-IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada(w/ Gedo) d. Satoshi Kojima(non-title) after the Rainmaker(windup short-arm lariat).
-Michael Elgin d. U.S. Champion Kenny Omega(non-title) with the Burning Hammer.

Block B:
-Okada:  8
-Omega/Evil:  6
-Tonga/Suzuki/Sanada/Elgin:  4
-Yano/Juice:  2
-Kojima:  0

NXT/LU/XPlosion

WWE NXT

-Commentators: Mauro Ranallo, Nigel McGuinness, & "Showtime" Percy Watson.
-Ember Moon d. Lei'D Tapa with the Eclipse(flying Stone Cold Stunner off the top rope) (1:24).  After the match, Ember challenged NXT Women's Champion Asuka Urai to a match at Takeover Brooklyn.
-NXT Tag Team Champions The Authors Of Pain(Akam Dhinsa & Rezar Selmani)(w/ Paul Ellering) vs. David Ramos & Timothy Bumpers(non-title) never officially started as Sanity(Killian Dain & Alexander Wolfe)(w/ Nikki Cross) attacked Ramos & Bumpers; The Authors and Sanity brawled until Akam and Rezar cleared the ring.
-Coming soon:  The Street Profits(Angelo Dawkins & Montez Ford).
-Earlier today: "No Way" Jose Valenzuela was confronted by Thea Trinidad(now officially named Zelina Vega) who warned him that Andrade "Cien" Almas would be targeting him.
-"The Velveteen Dream" Patrick Clark d. Cezar Bononi with the Purple Rain-Maker(top-rope elbowdrop) (1:40).
-Drew McIntyre, having recently earned a shot at NXT Champion "The Glorious" Bobby Roode, reflected on his career path leading back to WWE and vowed to win the title for the people.
-Kassius Ohno d. Hideo Itami by DQ after a blatant kick to the groin by Itami (7:41 aired).  Afterwards, Itami laid out Ohno with two Go 2 Sleeps and then hit a third onto the ring steps.
-Next week:  Johnny Gargano vs. Raul Mendoza.

Lucha Underground Season 3 Episode 28

-Commentators:  Matt Striker & Vampiro.
-Cueto Cup Tournament:  El Texano Jr. d. Willie Mack when Famous B distracted Mack, allowing Texano to finish with the sitout powerbomb (7:18).
-Elsewhere:  Son Of Havoc and Son Of Madness had a confrontation at a bar.
-Backstage:  Mascarita Sagrada met up with The Rabbit Tribe(Paul London, Saltador, & Mala Suerte), but scared them with the gift of a rabbit's foot.
-Cueto Cup Tournament:  Pentagon Dark d. Trios Champion Drago(w/ Kobra Moon) with the package piledriver (7:57).  After the match, Pentagon superkicked Kobra Moon and attempted to break Drago's arm before Aero Star made the save.  Dragon didn't appreciate his former tag team partner's gesture and attacked him, leading to Pentagon snapping Aero Star's arm with the armbar/hammerlock combo.
-Rey Misterio Jr. d. "The Darewolf" P.J. Black with a springboard frog splash despite the interference of Worldwide Underground(LU Champion Johnny Mundo, Jack Evans, & Taya Valkyrie) (11:30); Dragon Azteca Jr. arrived to fight off the extra parties.
TNA XPlosion

-Commentators:  Jeremy Borash & Josh Mathews.
-"The Skywalker" Andrew Everett d. Chris Silvio after the shooting star press (7:21 aired).

NJPW G1 Climax Day 7

-Tomohiro Ishii d. Yoshi-Hashi with the vertical-drop brainbuster.
-Zack Sabre Jr.(w/ El Desperado) d. Bad Luck Fale via victory roll.
-Togi Makabe d. Kota Ibushi after the King Kong Kneedrop from the top rope.
-Tetsuya Naito d. Yuji Nagata with the Destino(sitout Asai DDT).
-IWGP Intercontinental Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi d. Hirooki Goto(non-title) after the High Fly Flow(frog splash).

Block A:
-Tanahashi/Naito/Sabre:  6
-Fale/Goto/Ibushi/Ishii/Makabe:  4
-Yoshi-Hashi:  2
-Nagata:  0

SD/205/This Week In Wrestling

WWE Smackdown

-Commentators:  Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton, & John Bradshaw Layfield.
-Shinsuke Nakamura d. Baron Corbin with the Kinshasa(flying knee strike) (9:25).
-Charlotte Flair & Becky Lynch d. Tamina Snuka & Lana Perry-Rusev when Charlotte pinned Lana after IT'S THE BIG FOOT (4:27).
-Sami Zayn d. "The Perfect Ten" Tye Dillinger d. Mike Kanellis & "The Artiste" Aiden English(w/ Maria Kanellis) when Zayn pinned Kanellis after the Helluva Kick (6:04).
-"The Phenomenal" A.J. Styles won a triple threat match with Kevin Owens(C) and Chris Jericho to win the U.S. Title when he stole the pin on Jericho after Owens' frog splash (11:12 aired).
-Next week:  John Cena vs. Nakamura for the SummerSlam WWE Title shot at Jinder Mahal.

WWE 205 Live

-Commentators:  Vic Joseph & Corey Graves.
-Ariya Daivari d. Cruiserweight Champion "The King Of The Cruiserweights" Adrian Neville(non-title) by countout after running Neville into Akira Tozawa at the commentary table (4:37).
-T.J. Perkins & "The Premier Athlete" Tony Nese d. "The Outlandish" Rich Swann & Cedric Alexander; Nese tripped Alexander on the top rope and T.J.P. quickly covered the pin (12:21).
-----

WORLD WRESTLING ENTERTAINMENT(www.wwe.com)

NXT this week has:
-Hideo Itami vs. Kassius Ohno
-Ember Moon vs. Lei'D Tapa
-"The Velveteen Dream" Patrick Clark vs. Cezar Bononi
-In action:  The Authors Of Pain(Akam Dhinsa & Rezar Selmani)

Main Event this week has:
-Kalisto vs. Apollo Crews
-Cedric Alexander vs. Tony Nese

Raw on Monday 7/31 has:
-Roman Reigns vs. Samoa Joe vs. Braun Strowman

Smackdown on Tuesday 8/1 has:
-John Cena vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

SummerSlam is on Sunday 8/20:
-Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns vs. Samoa Joe vs. Braun Strowman - Universal Title
-Alexa Bliss vs. Bayley Rose - Raw Women's Title
-Naomi Night vs. Natalya Neidhart - Smackdown Women's Title

GLOBAL FORCE WRESTLING(www.impactwrestling.com)

Impact on Thursday has:
-Alberto El Patrón vs. The Latin-American XChange(Santana Draztik, Angel Ortiz, & Homicide) - Gauntlet Match
-Sienna Kay vs. Rosemary Rush - Women's Title - Last-Woman-Standing Match
-Moose, Eddie Edwards, & Naomichi Marufuji vs. Ethan Carter III, Eli Drake, & Chris Adonis
-Taiji Ishimori vs. Davey Richards - Super X Cup Tournament
-Octagoncito vs. Trevor Lee

RING OF HONOR(www.rohwrestling.com)

ROH TV this week has:
-Karen Q vs. Deonna Purrazzo vs. Kelly Klein
-Kris Wolf vs. Sumie Sakai

Next show is Saturday 7/29 in Concord, NC:
-The Briscoe Brothers(Jay & Mark) & Bully Ray vs. Cody Rhodes, Marty Scurll, & "Hangman" Adam Page
-Yujiro Kushida vs. Kenny King - T.V. Title
-The Young Bucks(Matt & Nick Jackson) vs. The Motor City Machineguns(Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley) - Tag Team Titles
-Flip Gordon vs. "The Punishment" Damien Martinez

NEW JAPAN PRO WRESTLING(www.njpw.co.jp/english)

The G1 Climax takes place from Monday 7/17 to Sunday 8/13:
-Participants: Bad Luck Fale, Takaaki "Evil" Watanabe, Hirooki Goto, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Juice Robinson, Kazuchika Okada, Kenny Omega, Kota Ibushi, Michael Elgin, Minoru Suzuki, Seiya Sanada, Satoshi Kojima, Tama Tonga, Tetsuya Naito, Togi Makabe, Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano, Yoshi-Hashi, Yuji Nagata, Zack Sabre Jr.

LUCHA UNDERGROUND(www.luchaunderground.com)

This Wednesday's episode has:
-Rey Misterio Jr. vs. P.J. Black
-Pentagon Dark vs. Drago - Cueto Cup Tournament
-Willie Mack vs. El Texano Jr. - Cueto Cup Tournament

-----

GLORY PRO WRESTLING(www.gloryprowrestling.com)

Next show is Sunday 8/20 in Alton, IL:
-Myron Reed vs. Alex Daniels - Crown Of Glory Title
-The Besties In The World(Davey Vega & Mat Fitchett) vs. Michael Elgin & Everett Connors - United Glory Tag Team Titles
-Paco Gonzalez vs. Danny Adams - Dog Collar Match
-Hakim Zane vs. Zachary Wentz
-Space Monkey vs. Ethan Page
-Fred Yehi vs. Curt Stallion
-Jeff Cobb vs. Kevin Lee Davidson vs. Jake Something
-Chuck Taylor vs. Maxwell Jacob Feinstein vs. Austin Theory vs. Sean Orleans
-Matt Knicks vs. Jake Parnell vs. Aaron Dzinic vs. Matt Kenway vs. Trey Miguel v. Barackus vs. Tyler Matrix vs. Gary Jay

DPW(www.dynamoprowrestling.com)

Next show is Friday 8/4 in Grafton, IL:
-Brandon Aarons vs. Adrian Surge - Riot On The River Tournament Final

DPW has a show on Friday 8/25 in St. Louis, MO(Concordia Turners Gymnasium).

SICW(www.sicw.org)

Next show is Saturday 8/5 in Hillsdale, MO.

SICW has a show on Saturday 8/19 in East Carondelet, IL:
-Ken Kasa vs. Steve Fender
-Moondog Rover vs. Curtis Wylde - Dog Collar Match - Referee Wyldefyre
-Appearing: Manny Fernandez

MMWA(www.southbroadwayac.com)

Next show is Saturday 8/12 in St. Louis, MO.

PWCS(www.pwcswrestling.com)

Next show is Sunday 8/27 in Alton, IL:
-Davey Vega(Ego Busters) vs. Gary Jay(Submission Squad) - Gateway Heritage Title
-Mat Fitchett(Resurgence) vs. Alexandre Rudolph(Blacklist)
-Everett Connors(Submission Squad) vs. Danny Adams(Ego Busters)
-Dingo(Blacklist) vs. Jake Parnell(Resurgence)
-Dominic Garrini vs. Stephen Wolf
-Appearing: Evan Gelistico, Matt Kenway, Paco Gonzalez, Angelus Layne, Pat Monix, "Eye Candy" Elliot Paul

HIGH RISK WRESTLING(www.facebook.com/hrwstl)

Next show is Saturday 8/12 in Warsaw, MO:
-Jon Webb vs. Jack Gamble - Mayhem Title

WLW(www.harleyrace.com)

Next show is Saturday 8/5 in Troy, MO:
-Leland Race vs. Jon Webb
-"Miss Natural" Heather Patera vs. Stacey O'Brien
-Harley Race Invitational Tournament Quarterfinals: Rex Fults, Karim Brigante, Superstar Steve Fender, Kyle Roberts, Brandon Espinosa, Jack Gamble, Jayden Fenix, ?

WLW has a show on Saturday 8/12 in Richmond, MO:
-Appearing: Ron Simmons

GATEWAY ELITE WRESTLING(www.facebook.com/TheGatewayEli

te)

Information on upcoming shows will be posted as it becomes available.

STRIDE PRO WRESTLING(www.facebook.com/Cmaprowrestling/)

Next show is Saturday 7/29 in Marion, IL:
-Roger Matheus vs. Cash Borden - Heavyweight Title
-Heath Hatton vs. Jay Spade

WRESTLING OVER EVERYTHING(woe-wrestling.webnode.com)

Next show is Sunday 8/6 in Centreville, IL:
-Leone Mephisto vs. Tyler Copeland - Heavyweight Title

CENTRAL STATES CHAMPIONSHIP WRESTLING(nwaccw.x10.bz)

Information on upcoming shows will be posted as it becomes available.

WORLD POWERHOUSE WRESTLING(sites.google.com/site/worldpowerhousewrestlingstl/home

Next show is Saturday 7/29 in Collinsville, IL.

NEW BREED WRESTING(www.facebook.com/NewBreedMO)

Information on upcoming shows will be posted as it becomes available.

CCW(www.capewrestling.com)

Next show is Saturday 7/29 in Cape Girardeau, MO:
-Billy Gunn & Brandon Barbwire vs. Hollis Giroux & Roger Matheus
-Blaster & Sarge O'Riley vs. The L.A. Hustlers(Bradley & Lamont)
-"Tatt2" Darius Lee & Marni Gras vs. Marko Stunt & Nikki Lane
-Brandon Espinosa vs. Billy Hills
-Austin Lane vs. Dell Tucker
-Jason Vaughn vs. Justin Smart & Osby Tomlin
-Roscoe Eat Lisa(Mikey McFinnegan & Zakk Sawyers) vs. Ace Hawkins & Dexter Roswell

PROVING GROUND PRO(www.facebook.com/PGPwrestling/)

Next show is Saturday 9/16 in Petersburg, IL.

3XW(www.3xwrestling.com)

Information on upcoming shows will be posted as it becomes available.

OUTLAW WRESTLING(www.facebook.com/OutlawWrestling01)

Next show is Friday 9/15 in Alton, IL.

NATIONAL WRASSLIN' LEAGUE(www.nwleague.com)

Next show is Saturday 8/5 in Kansas City, MO:
-Dak Draper vs. Blaine Meeks vs. Thor Theriot - Kansas City Title

NWL has a show on Saturday 8/26 in St. Peters, MO:
-Gary Jay & Davey Vega vs. Maverick & Dak Draper
-Jack Foster & Dingo vs. Jeremy Wyatt & Michael Strider

EVENING FOR TESS(no website)

The show is Saturday 8/12 in Jerseyville, IL.

-----

EVOLVE(www.wwnlive.com & www.dgusa.tv)

Next show is Friday 8/11 in Joppa, MD:
-Matt Riddle vs. Lio Rush
-Keith Lee vs. Timothy Thatcher

EVOLVE has a show on Saturday 8/12 in Queens, NY:
-Matt Riddle vs. Tracy Williams vs. Keith Lee vs. Walter - WWN Title

PRO WRESTLING GUERRILLA(www.prowrestlingguerrilla.com)

Information on upcoming shows will be posted as it becomes available.

CHIKARA(www.chikarapro.com)

Next show is Saturday 8/5 in Philadelphia, PA:
-Juan Francisco De Coronado vs. Rory Gulak - Grand Title
-Fire Ant, Icarus, Travis Huckabee, & Solo Darling vs. Oleg The Usurper, Kobald, Cornelius Crummels, & Sonny Defarge
-Missile Assault Man vs. The Whisper

ANARCHY WRESTLING(www.facebook.com/ThisIsWhyWeWrestle)

Next show is Saturday 8/12 in Cornelia, GA:
-Gunner Miller vs. A.J. Gray - Heavyweight Title

HOUSE OF HARDCORE(www.houseofhardcore.net)

Next show is Friday 8/11 in Freehold, NJ.

HOH has a show on Saturday 8/12 in Philadelphia, PA.

SHIMMER(www.shimmerwrestling.com)

Information on upcoming shows will be posted as it becomes available.

SHINE(www.shinewrestling.com)

Information on upcoming shows will be posted as it becomes available.

IWA MID-SOUTH(iwamidsouthwrestling.webs.com)

Next show is Thursday 7/27 in Jeffersonville, IN:
-The Rejects(John Wayne Murdoch & Reed Bentley) vs. The Young Dragons(Dale Patricks & Josh Crane) vs. Larry D & ? - Tag Team Titles - Tables Ladders & Chairs Match
-Calvin Tankman vs. Aaron Williams
-Pat Hickey vs. Mance Warner

IWA-MS has a show on Saturday 7/29 in Memphis, IN:
-John Wayne Murdoch vs. Dale Patricks - House Of Horrors Match
-Dingo vs. Jake Parnell
-Brad Cash vs. J.C. Rotten - Barbed-Wire-Boards-And-Bat Match
-Gary Jay vs. Tripp Cassidy

AAW(www.aawrestling.com)

Next show is Saturday 8/5 in LaSalle, IL:
-Sami Callihan & Ohio Is 4 Killers(Jake & Dave Crist) vs. Rey Fenix, A.R. Fox, & Juventud Guerrera
-Dezmond Xavier & Zachary Wentz vs. Stephen Wolf & Trey Miguel - Tag Team Titles
-A.C.H. vs. Mat Fitchett
-Bob Holly vs. Keith Lee
-Alex Daniels & Davey Vega vs. Paco Gonzalez & Ace Perry
-Chuck Taylor vs. Andrew Everett
-C.J. Esparza vs. Nick Brubaker

ACW(www.anarchychampionshipwrestling.com)

Next show is Sunday 8/27 in Austin, TX.

Missouri Wrestling Revival: http://www.missouriwrestlingrevival.com/
St. Louis Wrestling: http://www.saintlouiswrestling.com/
St. Louis Wrestling Community: http://community.livejournal.com/stlwrestling/

Leave a comment or e-mail: patrickab7@yahoo.com
Follow me on Twitter or Facebook at: @patrickab7

NJPW G1 Climax Day 6

-Michael Elgin d. Satoshi Kojima with the spiral bomb.
-NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Champion Takaaki "Evil" Watanabe d. Tama Tonga with the STO.
-NEVER Openweight Champion Minoru Suzuki(w/ El Desperado) d. Juice Robinson(non-title) with the cradle piledriver.
-IWGP U.S. Champion Kenny Omega(w/ Chase Owens) d. Toru Yano(non-title) via countout.
-IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada(w/ Gedo) d. NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Champion Seiya Sanada after the Rainmaker(windup short-arm lariat).

Block B:
-Okada/Omega: 6
-Evil/Suzuki: 4
-Elgin/Juice/Sanada/Tonga/Yano: 2
-Kojima: 0

Raw + XPlosion

WWE Raw

-Commentators:  Michael Cole, Booker T, & Corey Graves.
-"The Drifter" Elias Samson d. Finn Bálor in a no-DQ match after Bray Wyatt interfered and hit Bálor with the Sister Abigail (11:34 aired).
-"Big Cass" Colin Cassady d. Enzo Amore with IT'S THE BIG FOOT (3:37).
-Nia Jax d. Emma Tayla with a somersault senton (1:24).
-Akira Tozawa vs. Ariya Daivari never officially started as Cruiserweight Champion "The King Of The Cruiserweights" Adrian Neville confronted Tozawa, leading to a fight before Daivari got involved as well.
-Bayley Rose d. "The Boss" Sasha Banks; Sasha hit a frog splash and had the pin cover, but Bayley reversed into her own pinning combination for the win (9:11 aired).  Raw Women's Champion Alexa Bliss did commentary.
-Jason Jordan d. Curt Hawkins with a belly-to-back suplex dropped into a neckbreaker (1:44).
-The Revival(Scott Dawson & Dash Wilder) d. The Bullet Club(Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows) when Dawson pinned Anderson after he and Wilder hit the Shatter Machine(Flapjack-into-Codebreaker) (5:14 aired).  The Hardy Boys(Matt & Jeff) made their entrance and the distraction led to the finish; after the match, the Hardys stormed the ring to attack Dawson & Wilder.
-Seth Rollins & Dean Ambrose d. Intercontinental Champion "The Miz" Mike Mizanin, Curtis Axel, & Bo Dallas(w/ Maryse Ouellet-Mizanin) in a handicap match when Ambrose pinned Miz after the Dirty Deeds v2.0(double-underhook DDT) (13:49 aired).

TNA XPlosion

-Commentators:  Jeremy Borash & Josh Mathews.
-Dezmond Xavier d. Idris Abraham with the Spiral Tap (4:46 aired).
-"Mr. M80" Marshe Rockett d. Chris Silvio after a Diamond Cutter (5:54 aired).

WWE Battleground

-"The Artiste" Aiden English d. "The Perfect Ten" Tye Dillinger after a full nelson faceplant.
-The New Day(Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods)(w/ Big E Langston) d. Jimmy & Jey Uso to win the Smackdown Tag Team Titles when Woods pinned Jimmy Uso after the ropewalk elbowdrop.
-Shinsuke Nakamura d. Baron Corbin by DQ when Corbin mulekicked him in the groin.
-Natalya Neidhart won a five-way dance with Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch, Lana Perry-Rusev, and Tamina Snuka.  Eliminations:  Becky made Tamina tap out to the Dis-Arm-Her(armbar submission).  Becky made Lana tap out to the Dis-Arm-Her.  Natalya rolled up Becky with a handful of tights.  Natalya pinned Charlotte after raising her knees to block a moonsault and then rolling her up into the bottom turnbuckle.
-Kevin Owens d. "The Phenomenal" A.J. Styles to win the U.S. Title; Owens countered Styles' Crippler Crossface into a pinning combination for the win, though the ref didn't notice that Owens' shoulders were down as well.
-John Cena d. Alexander Rusev in a flag match by placing the American flag in its podium.
-Sami Zayn d. Mike Kanellis(w/ Maria) via Helluva Kick.
-Jinder Mahal d. Randy Orton in a Punjabi Prison Match to retain the WWE Title, escaping the structure after interference by Samir & Sunil Singh as well as the returning Great Khali.

Sunday PWR Results From Swansea, IL

-During the pre-show interviews, it was announced that Glory Pro Wrestling Crown Of Glory Champion "Hot Fire" Myron Reed was unable to attend the show due to travel issues.  As a result, the main event had been changed to a triple threat match with Everett Connors defending against both Donovan Dijak and Shane Sabre.
-The Besties In The World("The Miracle Worker" Davey Vega & "The Dirty Rook" Mat Fitchett) d. The Pride("The Incredible Primal Prodigy" Matt Kenway(Look At Him After Dark) & Aaron Dzinic) to retain the GPW United Glory Tag Team Titles; Vega pinned Kenway after he and Fitchett hit the double-team Braineater(Vega brainbuster onto the knee/Fitchett flying knee strike) (11:44).
-Evan Gelistico attacked Sarge before his scheduled match, furious that Sarge was on the final Resurgence show and he wasn't.  He said he would take Sarge's place in his scheduled match...
-Space Monkey d. Evan Gelistico after the tail whip (10:39).  After the match, a distraught Gelistico ranted about "Unbreakable" Michael Elgin and Glory Pro Wrestling; he said that he didn't seem to have a place in that promotion and that he gave people in St. Louis Anarchy opportunities.  He claimed that Elgin wasn't like that and reserved his opportunities for a select few.
-Cornelius Wyverstone d. "Lights Out" Adrian Surge by countering a spinebuster attempt into a takedown and hooking the Texas Cloverleaf for the submission (11:53).
-"The Diamond Tiger" Kobe Durst won a six-way match with "The Stiff Robo Ginger" Gary Jay, Jason Roberts, Donovan Danhausen, "The Warhorse" Jake Parnell, and Brandon Aarons when he pinned Aarons after a piledriver (10:54).
-Kevin Lee Davidson d. "All Ego" Ethan Page; Page seemed to have the win after a re-entry Diamond Cutter, but Danny Adams pulled the referee out of the ring.  As the official was arguing with Adams, K.L.D. delivered a low blow before finishing with the spinebuster (11:31).
-Paco Gonzalez & "The Dad Bod" Sean Orleans d. "The Millenial" Danny Adams & Brandon Espinosa(w/ Kevin Lee Davidson); Espy accidentally hit Adams at one point, leading to Adams and K.L.D. abandoned their partner.  Paco hit Espy with a Gory Special into a knee strike, then Orleans schoolboy-tripped Espy and got the rollup pin similar to their Glory Pro match (6:10).
-Barackus d. Justin D'Air(w/ Lady D'Air) after a frog splash off the second rope (4:56).
-Donovan Dijak won a triple threat match with Everett Connors(C) and Shane Sabre to win the PWR Title; Dijak took out Connors with the Feast Your Eyes(torture-rack Go 2 Sleep) but Sabre hit a slingshot spear for a close near-fall.  Sabre attempted his own Feast Your Eyes on Sabre, but Dijak countered out of it into a huge chokebreaker and pinned Sabre for the win (13:40)!

Weekend wrestling

WWE Main Event

-Commentators:  Vic Joseph & Corey Graves.
-"R-Truth" Ron Killings d. Curt Hawkins with the Lie Detector(Paydirt) (4:38).
-The Bullet Club(Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows) d. Rhyno & Heath Slater; Gallows pinned Rhyno after he and Anderson hit the Magic Killer(double-team elevated neckbreaker) (6:12 aired).

ROH TV

-Commentators:  Ian Riccaboni & Rico DeLaVega.
-"The Villain" Marty Scurll(w/ Tag Team Champions The Young Bucks(Matt & Nick Jackson) & "Hangman" Adam Page) won a six-way match with "The Heavy Metal Rebel" Frankie Kazarian, Josh "The Goods" Woods, Will Ferrara, El Terrible, & Vinny Marseglia(w/ Matt Taven & T.K. O'Ryan); Shane Taylor attacked Woods during the bout.  Kazarian hit a slingshot Diamond Cutter on Marseglia, but Scurll threw Kazarian out of the ring and stole the pin (8:33 aired).
-"Beer City Bruiser" Matt Winchester(w/ "The Last Real Man" Silas Young) d. "The Kingpin" Brian Milonas after the frog splash (5:00).
-Yujiro Kushida d. Jay White with the Back To The Future(small package driver) to retain the T.V. Title (12:39 aired).  Kenny King confronted Kushida after the match.
-Next week:  A Women Of Honor episode with Kris Wolf vs. Sumie Sakai and Karen Q vs. Kelly Klein vs. Deonna Purrazzo.
-In two weeks:  "The American Nightmare" Cody Rhodes vs. "The Almighty" Christopher Daniels in a best-of-three-falls match for the Heavyweight Title.

SICW Wrestling Explosion

-Commentators:  Drew Abbenhaus & Herb Simmons.  Guest commentators:  Andy Warner & "Your Canadian Hero" Sean Vincent.
-"Night Train/Gorgeous/Great One" Gary Jackson & Keith Smith Jr. d. "The Roman Dynasty" Karim Brigante & The Big Texan(w/ Miss Monica Passeri); Jackson attempted a sunset flip on Brigante as Texan and Smith were fighting.  Smith ducked a clothesline and Texan hit his partner by mistake, allowing Jackson to complete the sunset flip for the win.
-"Ironman" Ken Kasa d. Bubba Troll after a John Wu Dropkick off the second rope with Troll slumped in the adjacent corner of the ring.
-Flashback to April 1981:  Kerry Von Erich d. Mike Blood with the stomach claw.

NJPW G1 Climax Day 5

-Zack Sabre Jr. d. Yoshi-Hashi with a double-armbar submission hold.
-IWGP Intercontinental Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi d. Yuji Nagata(non-title) with the High Fly Flow(frog splash).
-Bad Luck Fale d. Tetsuya Naito with the Bad Luck Fall(Border Toss-style powerbomb).
-Kota Ibushi d. Tomohiro Ishii with the Golden Star Bomb(sitout Last Ride powerbomb).
-Togi Makabe d. Hirooki Goto with the King Kong Kneedrop off the top rope.

Block A:
-Tanahashi/Goto/Fale/Sabre/Ibushi/Naito:  4
-Makabe/Ishii/Yoshi-Hashi:  2
-Nagata:  0

Saturday DPW Results From St. Louis, MO (Concordia Turners Gymnasium) + Other Show Results

-The Snitch d. "The Alternative" Ozzie Gallagher via rollup with feet on the ropes (3:56).  Gallagher got some payback with a post-match Champagne Supernova(cradle back suplex).
-The Agents Of Chaos(Victor Von Stein & Xavier Shadows) d. Jackal & Frodo "The Ghost" Meyer; Shadows hit Meyer with an elevated neckbreaker and Von Stein got the pin after a Legdrop O' Doom (11:32).
-"The Human Wrecking Ball" Pete Madden was in the house to unveil the brand-new Dynamo Pro Wrestling Heavyweight Title belt; champion Brandon Aarons and challenger Dingo faced off in the ring.
-"The Caramel Bear" C.J. Shine d. Thomas Muños via rollup after Muños hit the ringpost shoulder-first (4:57).
-Savanna Stone d. Rahne Victoria with the Sliced Bread #2 (7:07).
-"Lights Out" Adrian Surge d. Justin D'Air after catching a springboard move by D'Air and hitting a spinebuster (12:15).
-"The" Ace Hawkins d. Brandon Espinosa in a no-DQ match to win the MWR Missouri Title.  The referee accidentally got superkicked by Espinosa, so he wasn't available to make the count after Espy caught a suicide dive and turned it into a brainbuster on the floor.  Espinosa tried to set up for a brainbuster onto a set-up chair, but Ace fought out of the move and delivered a somersaulting Ace Crusher onto the chair.  Ace hit several big moves in a row, ending with a jumping DDT for the victory (18:20)!
-Brandon Aarons d. Dingo to retain the Heavyweight Title; Aarons had a lot to prove against his original wrestling trainer and showed his toughness by surviving not one but two Dingo Drivers.  Aarons was able to return fire with his own Dingo Driver, then followed up with a Hairflip Suplex(half-nelson suplex) and superkick for the win to retain his title (16:20)!

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Saturday NWL results from Kansas City, MO:

-Jet Royal won a triple threat match with Fuego Del Sol and "The Dirty Rook" Mat Fitchett; Jet pinned Fitchett after giving Fuego a Canadian Destroyer onto Fitchett (8:35).
-Leonel Howlett d. Luke Holliday after a TKO (6:48).
-"Lockdown" Ray Briggs & Flex Zerba(w/ Roscoe Leech) d. "The Connoisseur" Niles Plonk & Lakota Red Cloud(w/ Belvedere) when a miscommunication between Plonk and Red Cloud led to Zerba pinning Plonk after the F-5 (7:52).
-"The Monarch" Jeremy Wyatt d. Jack Foster; Michael Strider & Scott Slade interfered before the match and again when the referee was knocked down.  Wyatt blinded Foster with powder, kicked him below the belt, and then hit a Diamond Cutter on the chair; he covered for the pin as the referee revived to count three (18:55).
-Michael Strider & Scott Slade(w/ Jeremy Wyatt) d. "Sharkbait" Anthony Gutierrez & Gil Rogers when Slade rolled up Sharkbait with a handful of tights (10:13).
-"The Mile-High Magnum" Dak(ota) Draper d. Marty "The Moth" Casaus with the Mile-High Doctor Bomb to retain the Kansas City Title (14:00).
-"The Austrian Horse" Hans Ruger d. "High On Life" Ken Dharma in a kendo-stick-on-a-pole match after an Alpine Plunge(Razor's Edge-style powerbomb) onto the kendo stick (11:32); Blaine Meeks stopped Dharma from walking away from the match.
-"Captain K.C." Blaine Meeks vs. Thor Theriot ended in a no-contest when Kansas City Champion Dak Draper attacked both men (12:27).  NWL President Major Baisden ordered a triple threat title match for the following show.

Saturday Anarchy Wrestling results from Cornelia, GA:

-Jeremy Foster d. Brad Cash.
-Kyle Matthews d. Gladiator Jeremiah to retain the Heritage Title.
-The Hate Junkies(Stryknyn & Dany Only) d. The Hooligans(Devin & Mason Cutter).
-Gunner Miller d. Jacob Ashworth to win the Heavyweight Title.
-Se7en d. Shad Satu.
-Billy Buck & Chris Spectra d. Heritage Champion Kyle Matthews & Gladiator Jeremiah.
-Matt Tremont d. Tank in a hardcore match.

Sunday CHIKARA Hour Of Power results:

-Merlok d. Doc Diamondfire.
-The Rumblebees(Travis Huckabee & Solo Darling) d. The Force(Officers Warren Barksdale & Bruno Meloni).
-Cajun Crawdad d. Dasher Hatfield by DQ.
-Cornelius Crummels, Sonny Defarge, & The Whisper d. Obariyon & Team Sea Stars(Ashley Vox & Delmi Exo).
-Razerhawk d. Hermit Crab to win the Young Lions' Cup.

Sunday ACW results from Austin, TX:

-Mad Tigre(unmasked as J.C. Bravo) won a six-way dance with Johnny Swole, Ethan Price, Reggie Lincoln, Donnie Giovanni, and D.G. Taylor.
-Marcus Rose d. Ruthless Lala.
-Alexandre Rudolph & Shad Satu won a three-way dance with The Horde(Ruben Steel & Calavera) and Wesley Crane & Skylar Fadden.
-Gregory James won a three-way dance with Thomas Muños and Tag Team Champion Killah Kash.
-Cherry Ramons d. Shigeyuki Kawahara.
-Johnny Axxle d. Mr. B in a street fight.
-Dillon Divine d. Dylan Dunbar to win the U-30 Title.
-Jeff Gant d. Curt Stallion.
-Scotty Santiago & Steve O. Reno d. A.C.H. & Kody Lane.
-J.C. Bravo d. Junior Garza in an Unlucky 13 Match.
-The Hooligans(Devin & Mason Cutter) d. Pow Meow(Allie Kat & Chrisi Jaynes).
-Dimitri Alexandrov d. Skyler Fadden.
-Sky DeLacrimosa won a four-way dance with Barrett Brown, Jason Silver, and Angel Blue.
-Sky DeLacrimosa d. Heavyweight/Hardcore Champion Jojo Bravo by countout to win the Hardcore Title.

NJPW G1 Climax Day 4

-Toru Yano d. Satoshi Kojima via low blow and rollup.
-NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Champion Takaaki "Evil" Watanabe d. Juice Robinson with the STO.
-NEVER Openweight Champion Minoru Suzuki(w/ El Desperado) d. NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Champion Seiya Sanada(non-title) after the cradle piledriver.
-U.S. Champion Kenny Omega(w/ Yujiro Takahashi) d. Tama Tonga(w/ Bad Luck Fale & Chase Owens)(non-title) with the One-Winged Angel(electric chair Michinoku Driver).
-IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada(w/ Gedo) d. Michael Elgin(non-title) via Rainmaker(windup short-arm lariat).

Block B:
-Okada/Omega: 4
-Evil/Juice/Tonga/Suzuki/Sanada/Yano: 2
-Elgin/Kojima: 0

NWL Special Comment

Now, as promised, a special comment about Saturday's National Wrasslin' League show at the misleadingly-named Matteson Square Garden in St. Peters, Missouri.

DISCLAIMER:  I'm biased.  Deal with it.

I haven't really covered the NWL situation on this blog:  Last month, NWL President Major Baisden posted on his Facebook page out of nowhere that simply said "NWL will never run another show in St. Louis."  A Friday show was abruptly cancelled and it seemed as though the St. Louis branch of the promotion was finished.  He followed that up with several posts bashing the St. Louis area, which certainly got people fired up.  While the St. Louis shows had struggled from a business perspective and I could understand why they would decide to cut their losses and focus on Kansas City, the manner in which this news was delivered didn't sit well with a lot of people...particularly many St. Louis wrestlers who only found out through the Facebook post.

As it turned out, the St. Louis side of the group would attempt to reboot and rebrand itself as St. Louis Anarchy on some level.  Several wrestlers(though not all) would use their better-known ring names.  A different venue was found where they could finally run on Saturdays and they would only run once a month instead of every two weeks.

Whether the promotion would address the fundamental problems that led to its previous struggles would remain to be seen.  I addressed some of these on Twitter:  Local favorites seemed to be pushed to the side in favor of "imports", particularly Maverick(who started getting Roman Reigns heat as early as the match with Dez Wellston/Mike Outlaw in the title tournament)...at least Maverick finally changed his attitude.  NWL attempted to present itself as a smaller version of WWE; my view is that fans go to independent shows to see something different from what's on television, so the presentation actually hurt their appeal.  Oversaturation was a big thing as well; this area has a ton of promotions as opposed to only one or two others in the greater Kansas City area.  I heard a lot about ticket prices in that regard; you can see a lot of the same people at other shows for less money.  While NWL replaced a similar product in Kansas City(Metro Pro Wrestling), they replaced a totally different product here(St. Louis Anarchy)...the main thing I heard was that "it's not Anarchy".  This would hopefully be an attempt to change that.

Your ring announcer was Ben Simon; your referees were Sean Orleans & Michael Crase.

NWL interviewer and competitor Marti Belle welcomed the fans and hyped the show.  She had a full weekend as she took part in WWE's Mae Young Classic Tournament.  All things considered, the show had a good turnout; I imagine a lot of fans were there for Tommy Dreamer and the curiosity bump has historically helped NWL in the past(first show in January, first Sunday show).  The mere mention of Major Baisden's name in the pre-show announcements got more boos than just about anybody on this night (yet you buy tickets to the shows he puts on...).

Skyler Beckett(w/ Buddy Shepherd) vs. "The Monarch" Jeremy Wyatt(w/ Michael Strider):  I understood the Buddy System maintaining their names since Buddy is one of NWL STL's most popular characters.  This was Wyatt's first visit to the St. Louis area in over a year; he nearly hung up the tights but NWL brought him back into the game.  These two had a match in Kansas City as part of the now-seemingly-defunct I-70 Series(RIGHT when St. Louis was closing the gap...hmm...) with Wyatt scoring the win.  They had a strong opening bout, highlighted by Beckett's somersault plancha(DIVE~!).  Strider and Shepherd tangled briefly; I don't know how well Buddy would fare in a full-fledged encounter.  A reversal sequence ended with Wyatt hitting the Coronation piledriver for the win in 8:54...I don't know if it was the best tone-setter to have a Kansas City guy beat a St. Louis guy in the opener, but oh well.  After the match, "The Billion-Dollar Brother" Emmett DuBois sent in Clayton Fox to attack Buddy and Skyler and start a new feud.

Jack Foster vs. Brother Castle:  This was my first opportunity to see Castle in a full-fledged singles bout and he fared well against the big man.  Despite that, the fans delivered the rather creative chant of "Castle Can't Wrassle".  The outcome seemed obvious, at least to the local fans; Foster finished with the chokeslam in 7:59.  Going by the aftermatch of the previous NWL STL Title match, he's got Maverick in his sights...

Thor Theriot vs. Christian Rose:  Rose was one of the competitors who went back to his regular ring name; as it turned out, the Anti-Social Network was so anti-social that it dwindled to one person (Oliver James/Jason Roberts never even debuted for NWL; August Marshall/Austin Blackburn has been on a hiatus from wrestling in recent weeks).  Rose talked about how Anarchy let him be himself, even if "himself" was a terrible person...then he took a hard left turn and trashed the Anarchy fans for not supporting the promotion well enough for it to continue.  Theriot was a victim of the NWL conditioning to automatically boo someone from the other city; he's a solid fan favorite in Kansas City, but was put against St. Louis fan favorite Spike(Zakk Sawyers) in his STL debut and got booed.  As a result, the fans were deathly quiet for this match despite the wrestlers' best efforts.  Rose countered an attempted Ragnarok(fireman's-carry double-knee gutbuster) into the No-Leaf Clover(Liontamer-style Boston crab) but Theriot reached the ropes to escape defeat.  Thor fired back with a Blue Thunder Bomb(given the name, shouldn't that be a finisher for him?) for a near-fall.  After a few attempts to hit the move, Rose finally delivered his version of the Sister Abigail for the win in 7:50.

Dingo vs. Michael Strider(w/ Jeremy Wyatt):  Dingo returned to the ring about a month ago at Matt Cage's retirement show and also competed at an IWA Mid-South event; this was his first appearance in the St. Louis area in several years.  It was also Strider's return to action in the St. Louis area; he hadn't competed in this region in a LONG time.  He had stayed around the business as an authority figure in Metro Pro, then returned to the ring for one final(at the time)grudge match with Wyatt.  However, a SWERVE~! ensued as the two decided they'd be more formidable as allies than as opponents.  While Strider has primarily worked as Wyatt's manager in NWL, he has stepped back into the ring on occasion...he had a long-time feud with Dingo back in the days of Gateway Championship Wrestling, the Lethal Wrestling Alliance, and NWA Central States.

Wyatt cared not about the "nostalgia factor" in this bout as he got in his cheapshots early and often.  Strider pulled out some moves I'd never seen him do, including a Rolling Chaos Theory...nice.  He hit the Strider Spiral(inverted swinging neckbreaker) but Dingo got a foot on the bottom rope(protect your finishers!).  The finish saw Strider deliver a superplex, but Dingo small-packaged him on the landing for the flash pin in 9:12!  Wyatt & Strider double-teamed Dingo after the match, but Jack Foster made the save...Dingo called Strider an egg-sucking dog(OLDSCHOOL) and a tag match was set up for the next show on August 26th!

Intermission~!  Official Ben Simon Concession Count(tm):  Two Coca-Colas.

Roscoe Eat Lisa("The Big Mustache On Campus" Mikey McFinnegan & "Zesty" Zakk Sawyers) vs. "Captain K.C." Blaine Meeks & Jet Royal:  With Jax on the shelf with an injury, Meeks and Jet have been joining forces in recent weeks.  The STL/KC dynamic made this odd as they're both fan favorites in Kansas City, but the Royal Blood are rulebreakers in St. Louis so Meeks and Jet didn't get along as well as they normally had.  On the other side, R.E.L. are back to their regular names after a mostly unsuccessful stint as Party Crashers Boulder & Spike.  I feel like NWL expected each city's fans to follow the other city's product via YouTube, but I don't think that's been the case...as a result, a lot of K.C. guys have gone unrecognized.  (Theriot had never competed in this area so that's understandable, but did Meeks change THAT much from his days as Bolt Brady in St. Louis Anarchy?)  Meeks tried to maintain his fan favorite character in St. Louis, but got booed anyway for being from Kansas City since that's how the fans were conditioned to respond.  In a nice touch, the more established team got the win; McFinnegan got Meeks in position for a Code Red, then Zakk delivered a Stone Cold Stunner on Meeks to catapult him backwards into the Code Red...Mikey got the pin with that in 9:39.

Kansas City Champion "The Mile-High Magnum" Dak(ota) Draper vs. Mike Outlaw, non-title:  Dez Wellston did his best to remain a fan favorite across enemy lines, even garnering some reluctant fan support when matched up with Kansas City rulebreakers like Draper.  However, he gradually grew bitter in that territory over the fans' insistent boos...he went totally into rulebreaker mode at a recent NWL KC show by helping The Besties In The World(Davey Vega & Mat Fitchett) win a feature bout against Blaine Meeks & Jet Royal.  (For the record, Vega & Fitchett were competing at All-American Wrestling on this night...this was covered by Major Baisden suspending the pair via pre-recorded video.)

Outlaw remained a solid fan favorite in St. Louis and kept his previous NWL theme music, though his entrance video had been altered to fit his ring name.  Draper nearly walked out on the match, but Outlaw cut him off with a somersault plancha...Outlaw went to the top rope for the finish, but Leonel Howlett made a surprise appearance and hit Outlaw behind the referee's back.  That was enough for Draper to finish with the Mile-High Doctor Bomb in 12:40...but Leonel had something to say.  The Howletts hadn't appeared in St. Louis and he felt like he might like any group that associated itself with "Anarchy", but he hadn't seen anything of the sort on this night (...he wasn't wrong...).  At any rate, it looks like we'll be seeing the Howletts in our neck of the woods...Vega & Fitchett knew not what they did when they interfered in their K.C. ladder match with the Royal Blood, causing the Howletts to regain their employment with the company.

"The Innovator Of Violence" Tommy Dreamer vs. "The Bull City Boss" Cornell Douglass, extreme-rules match:  Dreamer used a cover of Man In The Box that I presume he uses at his House Of Hardcore shows.  Marti Belle was the special guest ring announcer for this match, but Douglass protested that he had never agreed to an extreme-rules bout (to be fair, I didn't think that stipulation had been announced prior to the show).  Dreamer joked that he would just have a "boring" regular wrestling match instead...they tried that for a bit but it didn't take long for the fight to get out of hand.

Dreamer just happened to have a garbage can full of weapons on hand, of course.  Douglass is a proficient brawler in his own right and held his own against the hardcore legend...but Dreamer reversed him into a chair in the corner and hit his signature DDT.  That brought out Castle for a distraction...Marti pulled him off the ring apron and then ducked out of the way of his attack, causing him to hit the ringpost!  However, the chaos led to Douglass delivering a low blow, then throwing Dreamer into the chair in the corner...he then hit his own DDT and got the win in 12:01.  Dreamer got some post-match retribution by taking out Castle with the Death Valley Driver.

After that, Dreamer talked about bonding with Marti since they were both trained by "The Unpredictable" Johnny Rodz...she paid her dues across the country, moved to the Midwest to be a part of the NWL, and just recently took part in WWE's Mae Young Classic Tournament!  (I got my picture taken with Marti after the show...she's very cool in person.)  While NWL has had women's matches in Kansas City, they have yet to do any in St. Louis...hopefully that'll happen in the near future.

"The Raging Bull" Maverick(w/ Drew Gold) vs. "The Stiff Robo Ginger" Gary Jay for the St. Louis Title:  Gary had an instrumental soundalike of "Joker & The Thief" by Wolfmother(his usual indie theme music), which was a nice touch.  Despite his past association with St. Louis Anarchy, Drew Gold maintained his NWL name as he had helped Maverick win the title at the previous NWL event.  I'd felt for a while that Maverick was better in the rulebreaking role, which he had already used at Kansas City shows.  Maverick's promos leading up to the match were rife with real-life subtext, saying Gary didn't like his "Jay Lutz" character but it should have worked since he LOOKS like a drunk homeless guy.  (This from a guy who used to be called "Moonshine Mantell", for the record.)  He also made light of Gary's lengthy STL Anarchy Title reign, saying the promotion only ran a few times per year so it wasn't that impressive.

Anywho, wrestling match.  Maverick took control after a spinebuster into the ring apron(#HARDESTPARTOFTHERING) and focused on the ribs.  Gary made the comeback but the referee was knocked down...uh-oh.  Maverick hit an elevated neckbreaker but there was no one to make the count.  Gold passed in the title belt and Maverick decked Gary with it, making the cover as the official revived to count...two.  Gary came back with his flying Flatliner off the second turnbuckle, but Gold put his client's foot on the bottom rope to save him.  Gary kept rolling and went to the top rope to finish off Maverick, but Dak Draper ran out and pushed him to the mat...right in front of the ref, so that was a DQ in 21:29.  Cue chaos(or, dare I say, "anarchy") as Mike Outlaw, Leonel Howlett, and Roscoe Eat Lisa joined the fray...the St. Louis crew stood tall as the Kansas City trio retreated.  Of course Gary did not win the title on the disqualification, but he challenged Maverick & Draper to a tag match at the August show.  He had a few good choices for a tag team partner in the ring, but he decided to go with a closer Anarchy compatriot in Davey Vega!

The post-show party took place at Shamrock's Pub & Grill a bit down I-70...I recognized the plaza where the restaurant was located as it was once the home of The Comedy Forum.  Jeff Milovich rode with me as several NWL wrestlers made their way to the venue...it was good to talk to Dingo again for the first time in a while.  I also chatted with Buddy Shepherd about comedy goings-on...and I witnessed a chess match between Ben Simon and Mike Outlaw.  For perspective:  Ben works at the St. Louis Chess Club.  Outlaw had to be educated on how pawns work.  (I'm extremely rusty at chess, but I'd like to have a game with Ben one of these days to see how it goes.)

As far as the overall show went:  Anyone who went to the show expecting a full-fledged "Anarchy" show would have been disappointed.  I liked NWL's product before and I liked this show, but it wasn't much of a change in the product aside from the venue and a few of the names.  Next month will tell the tale of how effective the revamping has been, especially without Dreamer on the show to pull in the more casual fans.

Anywho, I'm getting this done on Friday night so the weekend is already ahead.  Saturday has Dynamo Pro Wrestling at Concordia Turners Gymnasium in St. Louis, MO.  Sunday has the final Pro Wrestling Resurgence show at the Improvement Hall in Swansea, IL with several Glory Pro competitors in the house.  It should be a banner weekend...

Upcoming weeks look like this:
-Saturday 7/29: World Powerhouse Wrestling in Collinsville, IL
-Friday 8/4: Dynamo Pro Wrestling in Grafton, IL
-Saturday 8/5: Southern Illinois Championship Wrestling in Hillsdale, MO(afternoon); World League Wrestling in Troy, MO
-Sunday 8/6: Wrestling Over Everything in Centreville, IL
-Saturday 8/12: Mid-Missouri Wrestling Alliance in St. Louis, MO
-Saturday 8/19: SICW in East Carondelet, IL
-Sunday 8/20: Glory Pro Wrestling in Alton, IL
-Saturday 8/26: National Wrasslin' League in St. Peters, MO
-Sunday 8/27: Pro Wrestling Championship Series in Alton, IL

That's my special comment for this, the thirty-fourth wrestling show I've attended in the year 2017.  Good night, good luck, and #yaywrestling.

-PB, Watching Wrestling Wrong Since 1991

P.S. We are all marks.

NJPW G1 Climax Day 3

-Hirooki Goto d. Yuji Nagata with the G.T.R.(Eye Of The Hurricane onto the knee).
-Tomohiro Ishii d. Togi Makabe after the vertical-drop brainbuster.
-Kota Ibushi d. Zack Sabre Jr. with the Golden Star Bomb(sitout Last Ride-style powerbomb).
-IWGP Intercontinental Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi d. Bad Luck Fale by countout after a Slingblade on the ring apron.
-Tetsuya Naito d. Yoshi-Hashi after the second Destino(sitout Asai DDT) of the match.

Block A:
-Naito/Goto:  4
-Tanahashi/Ishii/Yoshi-Hashi/Fale/Sabre/Ibushi:  2
-Makabe/Nagata: 0

GFW Impact

-Commentators:  Jeremy Borash, "The Pope" D'Angelo Dinero, & Josh Mathews.
-Super X Cup Tournament:  Drago d. Sammy Guevara after a running Destroyer DDT (4:24).
-Women's Champion Sienna Kay d. Amber Nova(non-title) with the AK-47(powerbomb dropped into Diamond Cutter) (1:27).
-Garza Jr., Laredo Kid, & Octagoncity d. Trevor Lee, Idris Abraham, & Demus 3:16; Octagoncito pinned Abraham after a splash off Garza Jr.'s shoulders as Garza was standing on the second rope (5:33 aired).
-"Rebourne" Matt Sydal won a triple threat match with El Hijo Del Fantasma and Low-Ki when he pinned Low-Ki after the shooting star press (9:17 aired).
-Eli Drake won a non-title four-corner match with Grand Champion Moose, Ethan Carter III, and Eddie Edwards when he stole the pin on Edwards after EC3's One-Percenter(headlock driver) (6:25).

NJPW G1 Climax Day 2

-Juice Robinson d. Satoshi Kojima(w/ Hiroyoshi Tenzan) after the Pulp Friction(Unprettier).
-Tama Tonga d. Michael Elgin with a top-rope Gun Stun(Diamond Cutter).
-NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Champion Champion Seiya Sanada d. NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Champion Takaaki "Evil" Watanabe via moonsault.
-IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada(w/ Gedo) d. Toru Yano(w/ Jado)(non-title) with the Red Ink(crossed-leg STF).
-U.S. Champion Kenny Omega d. NEVER Openweight Champion Minoru Suzuki(non-title) after the One-Winged Angel(electric chair Michinoku Driver).

Block B:
-Okada/Omega/Sanada/Juice/Tonga:  2
-Elgin/Suzuki/Evil/Kojima/Yano:  0

NXT + LU

WWE NXT

-Commentators:  Mauro Ranallo, Nigel McGuinness, & "Showtime" Percy Watson.
-Ember Moon d. Ruby Riot with the Eclipse(flying Stone Cold Stunner off the top rope) (8:19 aired).
-Oney Lorcan d. Danny Burch with a rollthrough half-crab (4:38).
-"No Way" Jose Valenzuela d. Cezar Bononi with the pop-up knockout punch (2:10).  After the match, Andrade "Cien" Almas(w/ Thea Trinidad) attacked Bononi; Almas dared Jose to get back in the ring, but left just as Jose was re-entering.
-Drew McIntyre d. Killian Dain after the second Claymore(flying boot) of the match (10:36 aired).
-Next week:  Hideo Itami vs. Kassius Ohno.

Lucha Underground Season 3 Episode 27

-Commentators: Matt Striker & Vampiro.
-Vampiro met with Prince Puma on the roof of the Temple, telling him that he had to regain the LU Title or his dark visions would consume him.  He watched the Worldwide Underground stable(LU Champion Johnny Mundo, P.J. Black, Jack Evans, Ricky Mandel, & Taya Valkyrie) enter the building...Black spotted him and flipped him off before entering.
-Cueto Cup Tournament: Trios Champion Pindar(w/ Kobra Moon) d. "They Call Him The Machine" Brian Cage by DQ when Cage attacked the referee and Pindar with his gauntlet (0:32).  Cage snapped and took out the referee with the Drill Claw(vertical suplex dropped into sitout Tombstone).
-Son Of Madness attacked Son Of Havoc before his scheduled tournament match; promoter Dario Cueto declared that Havoc had to either go through with the match or lose by forfeit.
-Cueto Cup Tournament: Dante Fox d. Son Of Havoc with the Fox Catcher(straitjacket fisherman buster) (9:08).
-Backstage: LU Champion Johnny Mundo & P.J. Black met with their new agent Benjamin Cooke.
-Cueto Cup Tournament: Prince Puma d. "The Darewolf" P.J. Black with the 630 Splash (15:55).
-Backstage in promoter Dario Cueto's office:  A defeated Black staggered into Dario's presence; Dario said that Benjamin Cooke had been pestering him on the phone to give Black another opportunity, so he would get it on next week's show against Rey Misterio Jr.
-Next week: Rey vs. Black, plus Pentagon Dark vs. Drago and Willie Mack vs. El Texano Jr. in the second round of the tournament.

SD/205/This Week In Wrestling

WWE Smackdown

-Commentators:  Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton, & John Bradshaw Layfield.
-Smackdown Tag Team Champion Jimmy Uso(w/ Jey) d. Kofi Kingston(w/ Big E Langston & Xavier Woods) by rolling through a cross-bodyblock off the top rope (8:35).
-Mike Kanellis(w/ Maria) d. Sami Zayn after a fireman's-carry Michinoku Driver (3:00).
-Becky Lynch d. Charlotte Flair with the Dis-Arm-Her(armbar submission) (8:58); Natalya Neidhart did commentary.  Tamina Snuka and Lana Perry-Rusev entered the picture and Nattie got involved as well, ending with Tamina laying out all of the other women besides Lana.
-Kevin Owens & Baron Corbin d. U.S. Champion "The Phenomenal" A.J. Styles & Shinsuke Nakamura when Owens pinned Styles after the pop-up powerbomb (joined in progress; 9:07 aired).

WWE 205 Live

-Commentators:  Vic Joseph & Corey Graves.
-Mustafa Ali d. Drew Gulak in a best-of-three-falls match.  Ali won the first fall via modified crucifix on the mat (1:53).  Gulak won the second fall with the Gu-Lock(dragon sleeper) (7:58).  Ali won the final fall and the match with the imploding 450 Splash (16:57).
-"The" Brian Kendrick d. Devin Bennett with the Captain's Hook(grounded chinlock submission) (1:46).
-Akira Tozawa d. Ariya Daivari; Daivari hit the frog splash and covered, but Tozawa reversed into his own pin attempt and desperately held the tights for the win (8:21).

-----

WORLD WRESTLING ENTERTAINMENT(www.wwe.com)

NXT this week has:
-Drew McIntyre vs. Killian Dain
-Oney Lorcan vs. Danny Burch
-Ember Moon vs. Ruby Riot
-"No Way" Jose Valenzuela vs. Cezar Bononi

Main Event this week has:
-Rhyno & Heath Slater vs. The Bullet Club(Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows)
-"R-Truth" Ron Killings vs. Curt Hawkins

Battleground is on Sunday 7/23:
-Jinder Mahal vs. Randy Orton - WWE Title Punjabi Prison Match
-A.J. Styles vs. Kevin Owens - U.S. Title
-Jimmy & Jey Uso vs. The New Day(Big E Langston & Kofi Kingston) - Smackdown Tag Team Titles
-John Cena vs. Alexander Rusev - Flag Match
-Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Baron Corbin
-Charlotte Flair vs. Becky Lynch vs. Natalya Neidhart vs. Tamina Snuka vs. Lana Perry-Rusev
-Tye Dillinger vs. Aiden English

Raw on Monday 7/24 has:
-Seth Rollins & Dean Ambrose vs. "The Miz" Mike Mizanin, Curtis Axel, & Bo Dallas
-Sasha Banks vs. Bayley Rose
-Finn Bálor vs. "The Drifter" Elias Samson - No-DQ Match

GLOBAL FORCE WRESTLING(www.impactwrestling.com)

Impact on Thursday has:
-Eddie Edwards vs. Moose vs. Ethan Carter III vs. Eli Drake
-Drago vs. Sammy Guevara - Super X Cup Tournament
-Matt Sydal vs. Low-Ki vs. El Hijo Del Fantasma
-Garza Jr., Laredo Kid, & Octagoncito vs. Trevor Lee, Idris Abraham, & Demus 3:16
-Sienna Kay vs. Amber Nova

RING OF HONOR(www.rohwrestling.com)

ROH TV this week has:
-Yujiro Kushida vs. Jay White - T.V. Title
-Frankie Kazarian vs. Josh Woods vs. Marty Scurll vs. El Terrible vs. Vinny Marseglia vs. Will Ferrara
-Brian Milonas vs. "Beer City Bruiser" Matt Winchester

Next show is Saturday 7/29 in Concord, NC:
-The Briscoe Brothers(Jay & Mark) & Bully Ray vs. Cody Rhodes, Marty Scurll, & "Hangman" Adam Page
-Yujiro Kushida vs. Kenny King - T.V. Title
-The Young Bucks(Matt & Nick Jackson) vs. The Motor City Machineguns(Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley) - Tag Team Titles
-Flip Gordon vs. "The Punishment" Damien Martinez

NEW JAPAN PRO WRESTLING(www.njpw.co.jp/english)

NJPW On AXS this Friday has:
-Hiromu Takahashi vs. Yujiro Kushida

The G1 Climax takes place from Monday 7/17 to Sunday 8/13:
-Participants:  Bad Luck Fale, Takaaki "Evil" Watanabe, Hirooki Goto, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Juice Robinson, Kazuchika Okada, Kenny Omega, Kota Ibushi, Michael Elgin, Minoru Suzuki, Seiya Sanada, Satoshi Kojima, Tama Tonga, Tetsuya Naito, Togi Makabe, Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano, Yoshi-Hashi, Yuji Nagata, Zack Sabre Jr.

LUCHA UNDERGROUND(www.luchaunderground.com)

This Wednesday's episode has:
-Brian Cage vs. Pindar
-Prince Puma vs. P.J. Black
-Son Of Havoc vs. Dante Fox

-----

GLORY PRO WRESTLING(www.gloryprowrestling.com)

Next show is Sunday 8/20 in Alton, IL:
-Myron Reed vs. Alex Daniels - Crown Of Glory Title
-The Besties In The World(Davey Vega & Mat Fitchett) vs. Michael Elgin & Everett Connors - United Glory Tag Team Titles
-Paco Gonzalez vs. Danny Adams - Dog Collar Match
-Hakim Zane vs. Zachary Wentz
-Space Monkey vs. Ethan Page
-Fred Yehi vs. Curt Stallion
-Jeff Cobb vs. Kevin Lee Davidson vs. Jake Something
-Chuck Taylor vs. Maxwell Jacob Feinstein vs. Austin Theory vs. Sean Orleans
-Matt Knicks vs. Jake Parnell vs. Aaron Dzinic vs. Matt Kenway vs. Trey Miguel v. Barackus vs. Tyler Matrix vs. Gary Jay

DPW(www.dynamoprowrestling.com)

Next show is Saturday 7/22 in St. Louis, MO(Concordia Turners Gym):
-Brandon Aarons vs. Dingo - Heavyweight Title
-Brandon Espinosa vs. Ace Hawkins - MWR Missouri Title No-DQ Match
-Justin D'Air vs. Adrian Surge
-Savanna Stone vs. Monica Passeri vs. Rahne Victoria

DPW has a show on Friday 8/4 in Grafton, IL:
-Brandon Aarons vs. Adrian Surge - Riot On The River Tournament Final

SICW(www.sicw.org)

Next show is Saturday 8/5 in Hillsdale, MO.

SICW has a show on Saturday 8/19 in East Carondelet, IL:
-Moondog Rover vs. Curtis Wylde - Dog Collar Match - Referee Wyldefyre
-Appearing:  Manny Fernandez

MMWA(www.southbroadwayac.com)

Next show is Saturday 8/12 in St. Louis, MO.

PWCS(www.pwcswrestling.com)

Next show is Sunday 8/27 in Alton, IL:
-Davey Vega(Ego Busters) vs. Gary Jay(Submission Squad) - Gateway Heritage Title
-Mat Fitchett(Resurgence) vs. Alexandre Rudolph(Blacklist)
-Everett Connors(Submission Squad) vs. Danny Adams(Ego Busters)
-Dominic Garrini vs. Stephen Wolf
-Appearing:  Dingo, Evan Gelistico, Matt Kenway, Jake Parnell, Paco Gonzalez, Angelus Layne, Pat Monix, "Eye Candy" Elliot Paul

PRO WRESTLING RESURGENCE(www.facebook.com/ProWrestlingResurgence)

Next show is Sunday 7/23 in Swansea, IL:
-Myron Reed vs. Everett Connors - Glory Pro Wrestling Crown Of Glory Title vs. PWR Heavyweight Title
-Kevin Lee Davidson vs. Ethan Page
-The Besties In The World(Davey Vega & Mat Fitchett) vs. The Pride(Matt Kenway & Aaron Dzinic) - Glory Pro Wrestling United Glory Tag Team Titles
-Donovan Dijak vs. Shane Sabre
-Paco Gonzalez & Sean Orleans vs. Brandon Espinosa & Danny Adams
-Cornelius Wyverstone vs. Adrian Surge

HIGH RISK WRESTLING(www.facebook.com/hrwstl)

Next show is Saturday 8/12 in Warsaw, MO:
-Jon Webb vs. Jack Gamble - Mayhem Title

WLW(www.harleyrace.com)

Next show is Saturday 8/5 in Troy, MO:
-Leland Race vs. Jon Webb
-"Miss Natural" Heather Patera vs. Stacey O'Brien
-Harley Race Invitational Tournament Quarterfinals:  Rex Fults, Karim Brigante, Superstar Steve Fender, Kyle Roberts, Brandon Espinosa, Jack Gamble, Jayden Fenix, ?

WLW has a show on Saturday 8/12 in Richmond, MO:
-Appearing:  Ron Simmons

GATEWAY ELITE WRESTLING(www.facebook.com/TheGatewayElite)

Information on upcoming shows will be posted as it becomes available.

STRIDE PRO WRESTLING(www.facebook.com/Cmaprowrestling/)

Information on upcoming shows will be posted as it becomes available.

WRESTLING OVER EVERYTHING(woe-wrestling.webnode.com)

Next show is Sunday 8/6 in Centreville, IL:
-Leone Mephisto vs. Tyler Copeland - Heavyweight Title

CENTRAL STATES CHAMPIONSHIP WRESTLING(nwaccw.x10.bz)

Information on upcoming shows will be posted as it becomes available.

WORLD POWERHOUSE WRESTLING(sites.google.com/site/worldpowerhousewrestlingstl/home

Next show is Saturday 7/29 in Collinsville, IL.

NEW BREED WRESTING(www.facebook.com/NewBreedMO)

Information on upcoming shows will be posted as it becomes available.

CCW(www.capewrestling.com)

Next show is Saturday 7/29 in Cape Girardeau, MO:
-Billy Gunn & Brandon Barbwire vs. Roger Matheus & D'Mone
-Hollis Giroux vs. "Tatt2" Darius Lee - Heavyweight Title

PROVING GROUND PRO(www.facebook.com/PGPwrestling/)

Next show is Saturday 9/16 in Petersburg, IL.

3XW(www.3xwrestling.com)

Information on upcoming shows will be posted as it becomes available.

OUTLAW WRESTLING(www.facebook.com/OutlawWrestling01)

Next show is Friday 9/15 in Alton, IL.

NATIONAL WRASSLIN' LEAGUE(www.nwleague.com)

Next show is Saturday 7/22 in Kansas City, MO:
-Blaine Meeks vs. Thor Theriot
-Jack Foster vs. Jeremy Wyatt
-Hans Ruger vs. Ken Dharma - Kendo-Stick-On-A-Pole Match

-----

EVOLVE(www.wwnlive.com & www.dgusa.tv)

Next show is Friday 8/11 in Joppa, MD:
-Matt Riddle vs. Lio Rush
-Keith Lee vs. Timothy Thatcher

EVOLVE has a show on Saturday 8/12 in Queens, NY:
-Matt Riddle vs. Tracy Williams - WWN Title

PRO WRESTLING GUERRILLA(www.prowrestlingguerrilla.com)

Information on upcoming shows will be posted as it becomes available.

CHIKARA(www.chikarapro.com)

The show on Friday 7/14 in Reading, PA was postponed.

Next show is Saturday 8/5 in Philadelphia, PA:
-Juan Francisco De Coronado vs. Rory Gulak - Grand Title

ANARCHY WRESTLING(www.facebook.com/ThisIsWhyWeWrestle)

Next show is Saturday 7/22 in Cornelia, GA.

HOUSE OF HARDCORE(www.houseofhardcore.net)

Next show is Friday 8/11 in Freehold, NJ.

HOH has a show on Saturday 8/12 in Philadelphia, PA.

SHIMMER(www.shimmerwrestling.com)

Information on upcoming shows will be posted as it becomes available.

SHINE(www.shinewrestling.com)

Information on upcoming shows will be posted as it becomes available.

IWA MID-SOUTH(iwamidsouthwrestling.webs.com)

Next show is Thursday 7/20 in Jeffersonville, IN:
-The Rejects(John Wayne Murdoch & Reed Bentley) vs. Roscoe Eat Lisa(Mikey McFinnegan & Zakk Sawyers) vs. The Ministers Of Pain(Shane Mercer & Larry D) - Tag Team Titles - Tables Ladders & Chairs Match
-Calvin Tankman vs. Johnathan Wolf
-The Hickey Boys(James The Baker & Pat The Bruiser) vs. 4Gotten(Ray Waddell & Brandon Taggart)
-Aaron Williams vs. Cole Radrick
-Zodiak vs. Zachary Wentz
-Percy Davis vs. Teddy King
-J.C. Rotten vs. Justin Storm
-Trey Miguel vs. Sage Phillips

IWA-MS has a show on Saturday 7/22 in Memphis, IN.

AAW(www.aawrestling.com)

Next show is Saturday 8/5 in LaSalle, IL:
-Sami Callihan & Ohio Is 4 Killers(Jake & Dave Crist) vs. Rey Fenix, A.R. Fox, & Juventud Guerrera
-A.C.H. vs. Mat Fitchett
-Bob Holly vs. Keith Lee

ACW(www.anarchychampionshipwrestling.com)

Next show is Sunday 7/23 in Austin, TX:
-Jojo Bravo vs. ? - Heavyweight Title
-Jason Silver vs. Angel Blue vs. Sky DeLacrimosa vs. Barrett Brown - Winner Gets Heavyweight Title Shot
-Curt Stallion vs. Jeff Gant
-A.C.H. & Kody Lane vs. Scotty Santiago & Steve O. Reno
-The Hooligans(Devin & Mason Cutter) vs. Allie Kat & Christi Jaynes
-Johnny Axxle vs. Mr. B - Street Fight
-Dylan Dunbar vs. Dillon Devine - U-30 Title

Missouri Wrestling Revival: http://www.missouriwrestlingrevival.com/
St. Louis Wrestling: http://www.saintlouiswrestling.com/
St. Louis Wrestling Community: http://community.livejournal.com/stlwrestling/

Leave a comment or e-mail: patrickab7@yahoo.com
Follow me on Twitter or Facebook at: @patrickab7

WWE Raw

-Commentators:  Michael Cole, Booker T, & Corey Graves.
-Bayley Rose d. Raw Women's Champion Alexa Bliss(non-title) with the Belly-To-Bayley Hugplex after "The Boss" Sasha Banks stopped Nia Jax from interfering (4:43 aired).
-"The Extraordinary Gentleman" Jack Gallagher & Mustafa Ali d. "The" Brian Kendrick & Drew Gulak when Ali pinned Kendrick after the imploding 450 Splash (2:17).
-Finn Bálor d. "The Drifter" Elias Samson by DQ when Samson hit Bálor with his guitar (5:04).
-Ariya Daivari d. Akira Tozawa(w/ Titus O'Neil) via ref stoppage when Titus called for the match to be stopped after Daivari repeatedly attacked Tozawa's injured shoulder (2:55).
-The Revival(Scott Dawson & Dash Wilder) d. The Hardy Boys(Matt & Jeff) when Wilder crotched Jeff on the top rope and Dawson got the pin with a handful of tights (9:51 aired).
-Roman Reigns vs. Samoa Joe ended in a no-contest when Braun Strowman interfered (no closing bell; about 11:40 aired).
-On Smackdown:  A.J. Styles & Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Kevin Owens & Baron Corbin.

G1 Climax Day 1

-Yoshi-Hashi d. Yuji Nagata with the Karma(pumphandle Michinoku Driver).
-"The Underboss" Bad Luck Fale d. "The Unchained Gorilla" Togi Makabe with the Grenade(elevated Samoan Spike).
-Hirooki Goto d. "The Stone Pitbull" Tomohiro Ishii with the GTR(Eye Of The Hurricane onto the knee).
-Zack Sabre Jr.(w/ El Desperado) d. IWGP Intercontinental Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi(non-title) with a hammerlocked armbar.
-Tetsuya Naito d. Kota Ibushi with the Destino(sitout Asai DDT).

Block A:
-Naito/Sabre/Goto/Fale/Hashi:  2
-Ibushi/Tanahashi/Ishii/Makabe/Nagata:  0

Glory Pro Special Comment

Now, as promised, a special comment about last Sunday's Glory Pro Wrestling show at the Bel-Clair Fairgrounds Expo Center in Belleville, Illinois.

DISCLAIMER:  I'm biased.  Deal with it.

It's safe to say that this was a huge show for Glory Pro.  With a bigger audience expected and more headroom required for the high-flyers on the show, they had their first event away from the Spaulding Hall Club in Alton, IL.  The presence of Cody Rhodes was a major drawing point, even before he captured the Ring Of Honor Heavyweight Title from Christopher Daniels.  The show was already loaded and the late addition of Naomichi Marufuji vs. Donovan Dijak just put it over the top.  It had over four hundred advance tickets and they actually had to turn away fans at the door once the attendance number hit six hundred!  Fans traveled from all over the country for this one...I never thought such an event would take place in my hometown.  Tony Patrico from The Rizzuto Show on 105.7 The Point was in the house, as well as my comedian friends Landon Meyer and Matthew Rude.

Your ring announcer was Ben Simon; your referees were Richard White & C-Lo.

Michael Elgin addressed the fans to start the show; he's like a less-scarred and less-verbose Ian Rotten.

The Pride("The Incredible Primal Prodigy" Matt Kenway (Look At Him After Dark) & Aaron Dzinic) vs. "The Roman Dynasty" Karim Brigante & Isaias Velazquez(w/ Miss Monica Passeri):  This preshow bout was scheduled to be Velazquez teaming with Joey O'Riley, but O'Riley was absent for unknown reasons and Brigante took his place.  Isaias is a regular competitor in the Chicago area and has appeared for All-American Wrestling in the past.  It was initially tough to tell who the fan favorites were supposed to be, as local fans have gotten used to hating and heckling Kenway.  Despite that, the fans got behind The Pride as the match progressed; the bout had a few hiccups but otherwise went fairly well.  The Pride won after Kenway did a forward-roll re-entry to the ring to deliver a running knee strike on Brigante as Dzinic hit his own knee strike from the other side; after that, Kenway pinned Brigante in 9:56 to score the victory for his team.

"The Guvnor" Martin Stone vs. "The Lone Star" Curt Stallion:  I dubbed Stallion "The Southern Shibata" this past weekend since the New Japan competitor seems to be a significant influence on him.  Despite having impressive performances in Glory Pro, he had yet to score a win under that banner and was looking to gain momentum...however, Stone is a tough customer and had defeated Gary Jay and Davey Vega in St. Louis Anarchy last year.  He also participated in WWE's United Kingdom Championship tournament under the name Danny Burch and has once again become a regular on NXT TV.  This was a hard-hitting battle, as one might suspect...Stallion is one of those guys who isn't the biggest in the world but can take a ridiculous amount of punishment.  It turned into a battle of headbutts, a territory in which both men excel...Stone has finished a few matches with his step-up headbutt.  In this case, it wasn't quite enough to keep Stallion down...given Katsuyori Shibata's recent fate, the headbutts have become a bit more cringeworthy to observing fans.  One would normally pick Stone in a war of attrition such as this one, but Stallion survived and took out Stone with a flying headbutt that caught him right in the jaw!  Stone went down and Stallion collapsed on top for the hard-fought win in 12:31!  As one of the video commentators said:  Welcome to the winner's circle!

"The Dad Bod" Sean Orleans vs. Brandon Espinosa:  Espinosa embarrassed Orleans with a quick win at the inaugural Glory Pro event and Orleans has been trying to prove himself worthy of a spot on the shows ever since.  That resulted in a few altercations with Espinosa and Espy dropping Orleans with a brainbuster on the floor!  This was the long-awaited rematch; while Espy saw this as light work for the evening, Orleans had everything in the world to prove.  The bell rang and Espy charged at Orleans, but Orleans moved out of the way and Espy hit the turnbuckles chest-first.  Orleans dropped down into a schoolboy trip and rolled up Espinosa, scoring the flash pinfall in five seconds!  Orleans celebrated with the fans as he had gained his retribution...not only had he avenged his previous defeat, but he had scored an even faster win over his rival and embarrassed him in front of a huge audience!

"Risky Business" Everett Connors vs. "The Leader Of The Pack" Stephen Wolf(w/ D.J. Shiima Xion):  The match had been scheduled to be D.J. Z vs. Connors, but Xion had tweaked his knee in a recent matchup and was not cleared to compete.  Xion introduced Wolf as his replacement and someone he had known from the Chicago wrestling scene; Wolf had appeared in this area a handful of times, but I feel like he hadn't really had the platform to shine like he did on this show.  The end came when Wolf missed a shooting star press; Connors followed up with a running Destroyer DDT(a la Drago) and the torture-rack Diamond Cutter to win in 7:47.  Wolf will have another day, I'm sure.  After the match, Connors reminded everyone that he is challenging for the Crown Of Glory Title at Pro Wrestling Resurgence on July 23rd...plus he had earned a shot at the United Glory Tag Titles by winning a gauntlet match.  He had to choose his tag team partner for that title shot, so he chose his trainer Michael Elgin!

"The Real-Life Ben Affleck" Alex Daniels vs. "Mr. '70s Kung Fu" Louis Lyndon vs. Kevin Lee Davidson vs. Gringo Loko vs. "The Mad Dragon" Hakim Zane vs. "The Warhorse" Jake Parnell:  This six-way bout had quite a variety of talent with high-flyers and brawlers as well as the big powerhouse K.L.D.  The rest of the field tried to gang up on Davidson a few times...it worked for a while, but he eventually overpowered everyone.  Daniels took a walk near the end of the bout, figuring that he already had a guaranteed Crown Of Glory Title shot in the bank and didn't want to risk further damage.  K.L.D. picked up the victory in 14:13 when he pinned Parnell after the spinebuster.  Parnell got a nice ovation as he exited the ringside area.

Gary Jay vs. Jake Something:  This was a battle of heavy hitters; Gary had the experience and speed advantage, but Something had the size and power.  Both guys seemed particularly inspired on this night.  Something controlled the action for a while after a spinebuster into the edge of the ring apron(#hardestpartofthering).  He tried to do more damage in that particular area of the venue, but Gary countered a powerbomb attempt with a rana that spiked Something's head into the ring frame(#hardestpartofthering)!  Gary rallied, but Something scored the win in 8:50 after a lariat to the back of the head while Gary was on his knees.  As with Parnell before him, Gary got plenty of respect from the fans after the bout.

"The American Nightmare" Cody Rhodes vs. "Unbreakable" Michael Elgin for the ROH Heavyweight Title:  Cody nearly walked into Glory Pro with two major championships, but he came up short against IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada at last week's G1 Special in California.  Cody graciously offered to put the ROH Title on the line against the two-time former champion.  In a homage to the old feud between Dusty Rhodes and Terry Funk, Elgin showed off a T-shirt that said "Cody Sucks Eggs".  I was conflicted on the title match stipulation as it didn't seem likely that Elgin would win the championship.  The matchup was tremendous as expected; Cody has added moves from several previous tag partners to his current repertoire (primarily Goldust and Hardcore Holly).  Elgin survived the Crossrhodes(inverted swinging neckbreaker), but Cody edged out a win in 14:31 after a series of pin reversals ended with a sunset flip block and double hook of the legs.  Cue mutual respect, though Elgin admitted to being preoccupied with a seating situation in the venue (fans had claimed front-row seats who had paid for cheaper tickets, apparently).  Elgin remains winless in Glory Pro...hang in there, slugger.

Intermission~!  Official Ben Simon Concession Count(tm):  Coca-Cola, Mountain Dew, and bottle of water.  Added to the August 20th show:  "The Kentucky Gentleman" Chuck Taylor(who recently won the Pro Wrestling Guerrilla Heavyweight Title from Zack Sabre Jr.) and Fred Yehi!  Side note:  If you're going to a wrestling show, make some effort to research what kind of show you're attending so you don't spent a good chunk of the show complaining about it.

Paco Gonzalez vs. "The Millenial" Danny Adams:  The history between these two extends all the way back to June of 2014 when they faced each other for the first time in a Ring Of Honor preshow match; the two became regular competitors for several area promotions after that.  While they fought each other on several occasions, they also formed a solid tag team combination when they were on the same page..."Alpha Class" previously held the Proving Ground Pro Tag Team Titles.  As noted in the Proving Ground Pro commentary, they gave one more shot to their tag team exploits in the United Glory Tag Title tournament but fell to the Besties In The World in the finals.  The individual egos(particularly on Danny's part) boiled over and Danny challenged Paco to this grudge match.

As you might expect, the two knew each other very well and were able to counter each other's signature moves.  Each man had something to prove in front of the largest audience in Glory Pro Wrestling history.  Adams' highlight was a fisherman driver(aka Ki-Krusher) onto the ring apron (#HARDESTPARTOFTHERING).  Paco incredibly survived that devastating move and fought back to win with his version of the Cradle Shock(fireman's-carry fisherman driver) in 17:37!

It looked like the partners would make amends after the match as the partners embraced...but it was a setup by Adams as Kevin Lee Davidson hit the ring to plant Paco with a ring-shaking spinebuster!  Chaos ensued as K.L.D. and Adams beat down Paco and even hung him over the top rope with a chain!  It looks like a new unholy alliance has been formed in Glory Pro...  (Side note #2:  The dude who tried to start a one-man "build the wall" chant after this match can kindly fall dick-first into a beehive of flaming AIDS.)

The Besties In The World("The Miracle Worker" Davey Vega & "The Dirty Rook" Mat Fitchett) vs. The Boys From Jollyville(T-Money & Nasty Russ Myers) for the United Glory Tag Team Titles:  The newer fans weren't quite sure what to make of The Besties' theme music ("Truly Madly Deeply" by Savage Garden, for those of you who came in late).  The Jollyville team had been impressive in a four-corner match at the Glory Pro show in May, thus earning this title shot.  I hadn't seen T-Money's dreaded POUNCE~! at Proving Ground Pro the previous night, but he absolutely blasted Vega with it on this night and sent him completely out of the ring!  Despite the power disadvantage against T-Money, the Besties were able to isolate Myers; Vega got the pinfall on Nasty Russ in 14:10 after he and Fitchett hit the Brain Eater(brainbuster onto the knee)/flying knee strike combo.  Most tremendous...they'll defend their titles against The Pride at Pro Wrestling Resurgence on the 23rd, as Kenway & Dzinic have momentum from their own win earlier in the night.  Whoever wins that match will face the duo of Michael Elgin and Everett Connors on August 20th, so no rest for the weary.

Naomichi Marufuji vs. Donovan Dijak:  Marufuji was scheduled to be in the States for Global Force Wrestling's Slammiversary and Impact tapings, so Glory Pro was able to book this marquee matchup.  Dijak is a big dude who won Ring Of Honor's Top Prospect Tournament a few years ago, beating St. Louis favorite Jake Dirden in the first round en route to the victory.  I'm not as familiar with Marufuji as I would like to be; my main exposure to him was last year's NJPW G1 Climax Tournament.  He had a strong showing highlighted by his huge upset win over IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada; that led to a title shot later in the year in which Okada evened the score.  Dijak had a distinct size advantage over the Pro Wrestling NOAH legend, but Marufuji didn't gain his hard-hitting reputation for nothing.  Dijak is also exceptionally agile for his size, capable of pulling off some eye-popping aerial moves.  As for Marufuji, he's known for his striking ability which primarily centers around his chops and kicks.  I would definitely recommend seeking out this match if you haven't seen it...it was fun to watch, Maggle.  Marufuji managed to survive Dijak's Feast Your Eyes finisher(torture-rack flipped down into a knee strike, sort of a modified Go 2 Sleep).  Marufuji rallied and finished with the Shiranui(better known in the States as Sliced Bread #2) in 19:40...outstanding.

Before the main event, we were graced by the presence of Jason Saint & Barackus.  Saint complained about being left off the biggest show of the year and said that Elgin was protecting his champion Myron Reed...after all, how could Reed have any chance against the super heavyweight?  Reed didn't feel like he was ducking anybody and hit the ring to confront his accusers...the fight led to Reed low-bridging Barackus out of the ring and then taking him out with a huge somersault plancha!  Reed's challenger for the night decided to add his two cents as A.R. Fox made his entrance, delivering a springboard somersault plancha onto BOTH men!  This kickstarted the night's main event...

"Hot Fire" Myron Reed vs. A.R. Fox for the Crown Of Glory Title:  I only recent became familiar with Fox, who made a name for himself in AAW and recently became a regular on Lucha Underground as Dante Fox.  Reed made a splash in his Glory Pro debut and earned a title shot at then-champion "The Gift" Jason Kincaid, upsetting him for the title in May.  Since that time, the young titleholder has turned heads across the country and has been defending his title against all comers, including Elgin himself at Wrestle Circus in Texas.  Fox presented a tough challenge as someone who could match Reed in agility...both guys pulled out some heavy weapons in their arsenal.  I don't mind that style as much as some people, but it does reach a point where it's tough to fathom a person surviving that level of punishment.  Fox actually delivered a package piledriver on the ring apron at one point(#HARDESTPARTOFTHERING)!  He nearly scored the win after the Lo Mein Pain(ropeflip variation of the Spanish Fly) followed by a 450 Splash, but Reed somehow kicked out of the pin attempt!  Reed cut off Fox as he went to the well once too often, hitting his version of the Spanish Fly to win in 16:37!  Cue Mutual Respect(tm) and that was our night at the wrestling matches.

Glory Pro had an official post-show party at Hooters in Fairview Heights, so Jeff Milovich rode with me to that venue.  Oddly enough, it was only my second time at a Hooters restaurant...the first time was on an Althoff Catholic High School class trip and we went to the one in Union Station.  (Yes, true story.)  I drove Jeff home to north St. Louis county so he was cool enough to pay for my food...I got boneless buffalo wings and curly fries with water to drink (I AM TRYING TO CUT BACK ON SODA, SERIOUSLY).  We were joined by Trina The Marky Smark as well as Sam Johner and Sarah Rose...the wrestlers gradually got there as well as the fan turnout was pretty decent.  Cody, Elgin, Marufuji, Dijak, Reed, and Fox were there along with K.L.D., Adams, Paco, and Connors.  A good time was had by all.

Whew...I had a good time, how about you?  This past weekend saw Dynamo's scheduled Friday show in Richwoods, MO cancelled due to a venue power outage.  Saturday's options were the National Wrasslin' League in St. Peters and Southern Illinois Championship Wrestling in East Carondelet, IL (still awaiting results from SICW).  I went to three shows last weekend and am just now catching up, so the commentary on NWL will probably be a day or two.

Upcoming weeks look like this:
-Saturday 7/22:  Dynamo Pro Wrestling in St. Louis, MO(Concordia Turners Gym)
-Sunday 7/23:  Pro Wrestling Resurgence in Swansea, IL
-Saturday 7/29:  World Powerhouse Wrestling in Collinsville, IL
-Friday 8/4:  Dynamo Pro Wrestling in Grafton, IL
-Saturday 8/5:  Southern Illinois Championship Wrestling in Hillsdale, MO(afternoon); World League Wrestling in Troy, MO
-Sunday 8/6:  Wrestling Over Everything in Centreville, IL
-Saturday 8/12:  Mid-Missouri Wrestling Alliance in St. Louis, MO
-Saturday 8/19:  SICW in East Carondelet, IL
-Sunday 8/20:  Glory Pro Wrestling in Alton, IL
-Saturday 8/26:  National Wrasslin' League in St. Peters, MO
-Sunday 8/27:  Pro Wrestling Championship Series in Alton, IL

That's my special comment for this, the thirty-third wrestling show I've attended in the year 2017.  Good night, good luck, and #yaywresting.

-PB, Watching Wrestling Wrong Since 1991

P.S. We are all marks.