WPW Special Comment

Now, as promised, a special comment about Saturday's World Powerhouse Wrestling show at the American Legion Hall in O'Fallon, Illinois.

DISCLAIMER:  I'm biased.  Deal with it.

This would have been the weekend for the Mid-Missouri Wrestling Alliance's monthly offering at the South Broadway Athletic Club, but Mardi Gras took precedence and left us with a rare month without an MMWA event.  Several central Illinois promotions cancelled their Saturday night shows due to winter weather conditions.  I had not been to a WPW show in a good while, so I made the short drive to O'Fallon, IL for this one.  As it turned out, I had done a comedy show in this venue a few years back so I remembered the building.  I also had good company as I hung out with Big Bad Ben and Outtkast for most of the show.

Your ring announcer was Jason Halbert(who apparently doubled as the evil authority figure for the night); your referees were Gideon Morbid and two guys I didn't know, one of whom wore a fedora during his matches.

Marcellus Knyght vs. "The Notorious" P.T. Beckham vs. "Ruthless" Rich Davis(w/ valets) for the No Limits Title:  I'll fully admit to not being up on the current storylines in WPW.  Knyght was the main fan favorite and Davis was the main rulebreaker with Beckham somewhere in between.  Davis' ladies got in cheapshots at times when one of the opponents was down on the floor...since multi-way matches tend to be no-DQ by default nowadays, there wasn't much the official could do about it.  However, the interference would prove to be his downfall as one of the ladies hit Davis with a chain by mistake, leading to Knyght finishing him off with a Skyhigh-style sitout spinebuster in 11:48.

Heavyweight Champion The Searcher(w/ Judge Chipster) came out to enlighten the fans...the latest rulebreaker faction in the company(in the tradition of The Legion and The Independent Icons) has been "The Fallen", comprised of Searcher, Scar, and "The Butcher" Damian Blade.  However, Xavier Frost and his associates had put Scar and Blade on the shelf with injuries, leaving the champion on his own for the moment.  Frost has an upcoming title shot, but that night he was defending against Victor Cortez.  As always, Searcher was confident in his chances of winning.

Keith Smith & Keith Smith Jr. vs. The Sabotage Squad(Krispy 2 Pop & John Boi):  I had read that Keith Jr. was wrestling for WPW, but it was a surprise to find out that Keith Sr. had returned to in-ring competition alongside his son.  As expected, chops were dished out by both Smiths...the Squad's bodysuits could only provide so much protection on this night.  The Squad was able to get some sustained offense on Keith Jr., but it didn't last...the Smiths cleaned house and Keith Jr. got the pinfall on Krispy after a fireman's-carry double-knee gutbuster in 8:06.

Battle Royal For The Vacant U.S. Title:  Damian Blade was the previous titleholder, but the championship had been vacated due to the injuries inflicted by Xavier Frost and Victor Cortez at a previous event.  The participants were:  Tag Team Champions Pretty Young Things Inc.("Hot Chocolate" Curtis Payne & Playboy Double H)(w/ Pimpin' Al Blundy), The Sabotage Squad, Chico Es Loco, No Limits Champion Marcellus Knyght, Jake Prater(w/ Ivan Strokgenovf), Keith Smith, Keith Smith Jr., and The Enforcer(a guy I hadn't seen and mistakenly identified as Alexander Steele at first; I'm told he's from the Cottage Hills Wrestling Alliance).  I thought Ivan would be in the battle royal as well, but he never entered the ring so that gave us a field of ten.  Payne has noticably lost a good amount of weight, looking as svelte as I've seen him in a while.  Early in the bout, it seemed like some guys were just standing around instead of trying for eliminations...I couldn't tell you the nature of battle royal experience from a wrestler's perspective, but that would seem to be a primary goal.  Order of elimination:  Enforcer, Knyght, Prater, Krispy, John Boi, and Keith Jr.(accidentally eliminated by his father).  That left the tag champs, Chico, and Keith Sr....Payne and Playboy worked together but were eliminated to leave Keith and Chico.  However, Keith decided to voluntarily vault over the top rope and drop to the floor, eliminating himself to give Chico the win and the title in 9:45.  Keith said that he didn't care about winning titles at this point in his career and he wished Chico well in defending his championship...leading to a tense confrontation between Chico and the PYT faction.

Intermission~!  Official Ben Simon Concession Count(tm):  One root beer.  The bar area was downstairs from the room where the wrestling was taking place, meaning that you had to leave that room if you wanted a beverage.  Food was available on site, at any rate, but I didn't feel like getting anything for once.  (Yes, I've gotten fat, I'm aware.)

Xavier Frost(w/ Victor Cortez & Miss Hyde(?)) vs. Tony Angel:  I didn't clearly hear the valet's name, but she seemed to be specifically be with Cortez.  Frost seemed to have found the weight that Payne lost.  Frost had won a recent match for a future Heavyweight Title shot, so he was looking for momentum against the veteran Angel.  However, it was not to be as the referee was accidentally knocked down, allowing Searcher to hit the ring and whack Frost with the title belt from behind.  Angel took advantage of the situation to score the cheap win in 6:04 once the referee revived.  Frost was understandably upset about how things had played out, vowing revenge once he got Searcher in the ring with the title on the line.  He noted that the next WPW show would feature the contract signing for the match and said Searcher could name whatever stipulation he wanted.

Pretty Young Things Inc.("Hot Chocolate" Curtis Payne & Playboy Double H)(w/ Pimpin' Al Blundy) vs. "The Russian Bear" Ivan Strokgenovf & "The Predator" Jake Prater for the Tag Team Titles:  I hadn't seen Prater in action until fairly recently at Wrestling Over Everything; he and Ivan made an imposing tag team combination, but the champs had experience on their side.  I hadn't seen Playboy in a very long time...he's always been good at raising the ire of the fans.  Prater noticably did the lion's share of the work, taking the abuse from the titleholders before making the hot tag to Ivan.  The official(Morbid) was knocked down in this one as well, leading to Blundy attempting to interfere...but Ivan and Prater turned the tables and cornered the manager.  Ivan held Blundy for Prater to strike, but Blundy slipped out of Ivan's grasp and Prater accidentally hit his partner.  Playboy brought in one of the title belts and leveled Prater with it, allowing Payne to get the three-count in 14:08.  (Two ref bump and belt shot finishes in a row?)

The Searcher(w/ Judge Chipster) vs. "The Latin Assassin" Victor Cortez(w/ Xavier Frost & Miss Hyde) for the Heavyweight Title:  Despite having been in the business for a long time, Searcher still has uncanny agility for a man his size...though he doesn't seem to be throwing the suicide dives like he once did.  Things broke down near the end of the bout and Miss Hyde tried to stop Chipster from using his gavel as a weapon(while the referee was occupied with Frost).  It didn't quite work out and Searcher hit Cortez with the gavel for the tainted win in 11:41.  BUT WAIT~!  The official discovered the weapon after the fact and reversed the decision, giving Cortez the disqualification victory...but the championship remained with The Searcher.  All hell broke loose afterwards as Frost got involved in the situation, leading to several wrestlers running out to join the fray.  The challenge was made for an impromptu eight-man tag...

Xavier Frost, "The Latin Assassin" Victor Cortez, "The Russian Bear" Ivan Strokgenovf, & "The Predator" Jake Prater(w/ Miss Hyde) vs. Heavyweight Champion The Searcher, Tag Team Champions Pretty Young Things Inc.("Hot Chocolate" Curtis Payne & Playboy Double H), & Tony Angel(w/ Judge Chipster & Pimpin' Al Blundy):  I suspect the issues between PYT and Ivan/Prater are not quite over yet.  Unsurprisingly this broke down into another wild fight, during which Searcher and Cortez were left in the ring...and Cortez was able to take Searcher down into a Crippler Crossface, getting the surprise tapout in 10:25!  The good guys stood tall to cap off the show...Frost said the title was coming home with him in the near future, but noted that Cortez would get the first shot after that.  Cue Home Sweet Home by Motley Crue, that's a wrap.

My weekend wasn't quite over yet, but I had a bit of a miscue on the start time of WOE...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 eighth wrestling show I've attended in the year 2018.  Good night, good luck, and #yaywrestling.

-PB, Watching Wrestling Wrong Since 1991

P.S. We are all marks.