MMWA Special Comment

Now, as promised, a special comment about Saturday's Mid-Missouri Wrestling Alliance show at the South Broadway Athletic Club in St. Louis, Missouri.

DISCLAIMER:  I'm biased.  Deal with it.

Didn't feel like making the longer drive to World League Wrestling in Troy, Missouri, so I spent my Saturday evening at the beautiful and/or historic SBAC.  Temperatures were unseasonably warm and I had absolutely no problem with that, but the venue got pretty stuffy at times...Broadway tends to pack in a pretty good crowd since it's a popular social spot.

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

Deacon Cash vs. "2.0" Da'Marius Jones for the Cruiserweight Title, no-holds-barred match:  Cash retained against Jones in October, getting disqualified due to manhandling the referee...that led to this stipulation rematch.  Neither guy is particularly well-liked by the fans, but Jones kick-started the affair by attacking Cash from behind as he made his entrance.  Cash seems to have dropped some weight and looked really good here; he's held the title for most of 2017.  Jones speared Cash into the guardrail, then the plunder came into play in the form of a steel chair and a baking pan.  However, the chair usage backfired as Jones avoided a swing, causing the chair to rebound off the top rope into Cash's face...Jones capitalized by rolling up Cash for the pin in 13:09 to win the championship!  I thought both guys brought a ton of intensity and tore the house down here...be sure to check it out on YouTube if you haven't seen it!

An irate Cash attacked Jones after the bell, which brought out Jones' tag team partner A.J. Williams to stop him with a superkick.  Jones followed up with Paydirt, but the 2.0 tandem weren't quite done with Cash as Jones delivered a one-man Conchairto on the fallen former titleholder!  So...who are we cheering for again?

Khayman & Frodo "The Ghost" Meyer(w/ Abigail) vs. Damion Cortess & J-Mal Swagg:  This was initially set up as a handicap match with Cortess on his own, but everyone brawled before the official start of the match and Swagg joined the fray on the side of Cortess...this led to Commissioner Jim Harris calling for an impromptu tag bout (playa).  I need to get definitive word on the spelling of Khayman's name...it was "Kahyman" when I first saw him several years ago, but it was listed as "Khayman" when he made his recent return.  Abigail is Khayman's daughter dressed up in creepy baby doll attire, adding an interesting vibe to his presentation...the former MMWA Jr. Heavyweight Champion has switched from a total facepaint look to a mask/paint combo similar to Pentagon Jr.  Things broke down near the end as Swagg hit Frodo with a low blow behind the referee's back, but Khayman surprised him with his own Zigswag and cut off Cortess as Meyer got the pinfall in 5:47.  Swagg's night didn't get any better as Cortess dropped him with a spinebuster for losing the match.

"Night Train/Gorgeous/Great One" Gary Jackson vs. A.J. Williams:  Gary Jackson Fashion Watch(tm):  Red vest and Santa hat for the holidays, along with blue trunks.  These two had crossed paths several times in the past and had tremendous matches(unsurprisingly).  A.J. is one of those guys who I'd like to see branch out from South Broadway more often.  Gary is a veteran who every young competitor should get a chance to work with at some point, in my humble opinion.  A missed kneedrop by Williams gave Jackson an opening to attack his leg, slowing down the high-flyer and wearing him down for a potential Texas Cloverleaf.  (Yay simple but effective psychology~!)  A.J. fought back into the matchup, but Gary blocked a tornado DDT attempt and double-legged A.J. to the mat for the Cloverleaf...that got the tapout in 9:15!  Cue THE RULES~!

Intermission~!  Official Ben Simon Concession Count(tm):  Cheeseburger, two Pepsis, some extra popcorn from my compatriot Zach, and a 7-Up.  2018 may be my first year of attempting a weight-loss resolution...whether I stick to it is another matter.

Savanna Stone vs. Johnny Park:  Park came out with an arrogant attitude, issuing an open challenge...those rarely go well for the "bad guys".  In fact, a drunk guy in the crowd threw off his shirt and wanted to take him up on the challenge before ringside security stopped him!  With Rahne Victoria out of town, Savanna accepted the challenge for her second intergender match in as many weeks (and, as I was told, her second intergender match ever).  There was a significant height difference between the two, so Savanna had an uphill battle...I personally liked the Snitch match better, but this was still a solid outing.  Savanna won with the Sliced Bread #2 in 5:33...all righty then.

"The" Ace Hawkins vs. Hollis Giroux for the MWR Missouri Title:  This was a battle of rulebreakers, but the fans were more familiar with Hawkins...devil you know vs. devil you don't know and all that.  Giroux had racked up several wins at South Broadway in the past few months, so he had the momentum on his side.  Hawkins, for his part, had been traveling and defending his title...including a time-limit draw with WLW Heavyweight Champion Leland Race earlier that evening!  The match was decent but I think both are capable of better...to be fair, as noted, Hawkins had a long night.  Hawkins won when Giroux got hung up in the ropes and Ace delivered a slingshot somersault Ace Crusher, picking up the win in 10:07 to retain his title.

Moondog Rover vs. The Big Texan for the Heavyweight Title:  This was not a technical classic, nor was it expected to be; it was two big guys slugging it out for the top prize in the MMWA.  Texan's weight loss and in-ring improvement has been noted in this whiny blog on several occasions...it still catches a person off guard when he comes off the ropes and you expect the standard big splash, but instead he delivers a somersault senton!  I was surprised when Moondog retained against Gary Jackson in November and thought Texan had a good shot at winning here...but when Texan attempted a re-entry sunset flip(!), Moondog blocked it and held the ropes for the cheap win in 11:11!  Moondog tends to show little regard for the rules on a good day and it's a losing battle to convince fans to boo him...he's had a pretty long title reign and I had been wondering if he was due for it to end, but he'll go into 2018 with the gold intact.

The rest of December looks like this:
-Saturday 12/9:  Southern Illinois Championship Wrestling in East Carondelet, IL
-Sunday 12/10:  National Wrasslin' League in O'Fallon, MO
-Saturday 12/17:  Dynamo Pro Wrestling in St. Louis, MO(Concordia Turners Gymnasium)

That's my special comment for this, the sixty-second 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.