MMWA Special Comment

Attendance was a bit down compared to recent South Broadway shows...not a BAD turnout but not at the level they had been drawing.

Really good opener between LMC and Stevie K.  Stevie's had some impressive outings since returning to action in the Broadway promotion and LMC may be an early rookie-of-the-year favorite.

Mitchell vs. Mauler was short and to the point, as it probably should have been.  Think that was Wayne's first win...and he switched from the all-white ring attire to trunks that somehow managed to look even MORE like boxer-briefs.

Before the Jackson-Sterling match, they announced that the winner would face Rhino at the June 11th show...nice.  That left the question of whether the championship would be at stake, but that ended up as a moot point since the match went to a double countout and Sterling got the "random draw" nod to face Rhino.  After the match, Phil E. Blunt challenged Jackson to a title match, saying that he was never pinned to lose the belt a year and a half ago(it was a triple threat match where Dave Vaughn pinned Jackson)...I do recall Blunt getting a one-on-one shot at Vaughn but it had a DQ finish.  Old feuds die hard...

Vaughn-Espinosa was GREAT, one of my favorite live-viewing matches of 2011 so far.  Had a feeling it would go the distance but they had good enough near-falls that it was still in doubt.  Espy got a near-fall after hitting Vaughn with his own spear, then Vaughn tried his own knockout punch and got a near-fall himself.  Delayed covers led to close near-falls after a top-rope spear(!) by Vaughn, another spear later in the match, and Espinosa's frog splash.  Vaughn got him in a Liontamer but Espinosa managed to escape the hold and whiffed on the KO punch as the time limit expired.  More of this!  That match deserved more of a crowd reaction than it got at the end and I felt like I was giving a one-man standing ovation.

Static-Archer was a fine matchup, though they had a tough act to follow(as well as intermission).  I'd been saying for a while that Static's modified Colt 45 should be a finisher and then he actually did finish with it last night.  With a face as Jr. Heavyweight Champion, good to push the contending heels.

Slight surprise on the Tag Team Title change, especially with a thrown-together team getting the belts.  Wonder if Waco & Jimmy D will want a title shot?...or maybe just Bodily Harm?  Probably the low point of the night in terms of the in-ring quality, but it was good to see them do SOMETHING with the tag belts.

Odd choice of finale, though Ace Hawkins is very popular with the promotion's fans.  Some continuity as Ace fought David Osborne in a face/face matchup last month at South Broadway with Hawkins winning clean, so Osborne went heel(starting with last week's matchup with LMC in Belleville).  Another continuity note:  This time when Ace went for his finisher, Osborne shoved the ref into the ropes to knock Ace off balance, giving him the opening to finish with the running powerslam.

Very strong show, particularly the first half.  The open-door policy seems to have paid off as the in-ring product has improved dramatically over the past few years.  Good for them...

Next weekend is actually very busy with St. Louis Anarchy in O'Fallon, IL, MECW in Wood River, and SICW in East Carondelet with Dory Funk Jr....should be interesting.