After the previous balmy outing in Granite City, St. Louis Anarchy found a new air-conditioned venue in Alton, IL. They had a good line outside the building when I arrived...many of the fans had contributions for the fans-bring-the-weapons match.
In terms of in-ring action, SLA sets the bar very high with their mix of local talent, Texas(ACW) regulars, and national standouts. They do a good job of catering to their particular audience as the fans were hyped up for most of the show. "Finisher spam" occurs fairly often on these shows but I don't usually see the audience get burned out on it. I realize I am becoming an old bitter rasslin fan, but I don't mind that sort of thing for the most part.
Didn't know anything about the two guys in the pre-show match that weren't Alexandre Rudolph. Aaron Solo is from California(according to his Twitter) and Darren Dean is a trainee of Davey Richards(which I guessed from the kick combo finish). The post-match events were...unusual. No idea who the hypnotist manager was(Jacob Dangle?) but it gives Rudolph something to do in SLA.
Bolt Brady was clearly supposed to be the face in the "official" opener, but the fans like Corbin WAY too much...bwahahaha. Al Canal and his daughter are big Darin Corbin fans. We got a "Christian Values" chant...wow.
Good of them to acknowledge Mat Fitchett's injury, though this show went even longer due to the multiple talking segments. The intermission ran fairly long as well due to the beer pong...they ARE never brief(RIP Adam Starr).
Yeah, I'd have to call it an upset that "Mojo Bravado" defeated the Hooligans. I'd heard rumblings of SLA starting up their own Tag Team Titles so we'll see if that comes to fruition.
Speaking of championships, the scheduled Angel Blue vs. Serenity match for the ACW Joshi Title didn't take place...didn't see either lady at the show.
Johnny Gargano is one of several indy standouts rumored to be headed to WWE Land...if that's the case, good for him. Have only seen a few of his matches but he's a talented guy from what I have witnessed. Always cool to see Arik Cannon as well...he's been a regular for SLA in the past year and a half.
Lots of creative weaponry in Childs vs. Gelistico...a toy guitar, a plastic Ghostbusters lunchbox, a log, etc. A tiki torch broke on impact and a piece of it hit me...ow. At least two cheese graters were used with the expected results...though the blood didn't flow quite as much as it did in the main event. Thumbtacks were involved in the finish...bad landing for Evan, who I agree is a bit underrated in these circles.
As the night continued, I almost forgot about Richards-Perkins being on the card. I joked with friends about whether they had only booked Davey to kick a Crave Case out of Greg Jovi's hands. :-D
Vega and O'Reilly have fought a few times in the past...they seem to match up well with each other. Vega's another guy that's kinda underrated and will hopefully get some spotlight on a bigger stage soon. He's come a long way from being "that guy who teams up with Johnny Vinyl".
Have missed seeing Dingo in the ring...he hasn't been wrestling as much but it sounds like he'll be returning to a more regular schedule in the near future. Was psyched for the match with A.C.H. as soon as it was announced and it definitely delivered. Cringed when A.C.H. hit that finishing cradle DDT(immediately thought about Dingo's old neck injury)...he seemed to be okay later.
More buildup to Richards vs. Vega...should be tremendous. I suspect we'll hear a few "Let's Go Davey" chants.
The main event was insane...lots of plunder used including a few broken tables. We finally saw a German suplex off the ring apron and through a table(Gerald James being the recipient) and I wasn't in a good spot to see it...AK~! Both guys bled a ton...it took a few tries to break the final table and Walsh finally resorted to using the turnbuckle hook to get the win. I don't know if they were trying to turn someone in the equation...but Dorian Victor wasn't too happy with "Gary's Mom" after the match.
At any rate, tremendous show...I believe they said the next event would be in September with Walsh vs. Corbin seemingly set up. Of course, the weekend wasn't over...to be continued~!
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