It's a popular saying: Real life is what happens when you're making other plans. My plans for the previous weekend were derailed by a stay in the hospital for acute bronchitis(with a side order of high blood pressure). Just about everyone has probably lived their lives with some sense of invincibility...then you get a wake-up call that things need to change. Whether that be sleep habits, diet, housekeeping, or some combination of the three...gotta do better with that.
Missed a few things at the MMWA show at South Broadway: The SBAC debut of Evan Gelistico, the return of Chase King, a turn to rulebreaking for J-Mal Swagg, and the revival of the long-dormant Tag Team Titles. Saw the two tag matches on YouTube, at any rate.
At any rate, attendance was decent for Dynamo's return to Glen Carbon after a six-month absence(soccer season had the venue booked solid). A combination of nice weather and a holiday weekend may have affected the turnout. Crowd energy doesn't always translate well in this venue...it's more spacious than the usual places where I see indy shows, so maybe that's it. Several people returned to action after being absent from the Missouri shows: Jackal, Steven Kennedy, Billy McNeil, Shawn Santel, and Mauler McDarby.
Davey Richards was originally scheduled to challenge Jake Dirden for the Heavyweight Title, but TNA commitments ix-nayed that plan and Dirden faced Jeremy Wyatt in a rematch from the recent Fenton show. Otherwise, the announced lineup was intact.
Your ringside crew was Chris Roedel(who did most of the ring announcing), Luke Roberts(who handled the extra announcements), and Ben Simon(who was apparently a bit under the weather and took it easy as a result). Your referees were Michael Crase and Jay King.
As with Fenton, the show started with some talk-type stuff. Keny G promoted his upcoming stroke benefit which now has a location(the Glen Carbon venue) and a date(Saturday 7/12). He said Santana Garrett(aka TNA's Brittany) would almost definitely be there and he would try to get Scott Hall and Larry Zbyszko as well.
It was probably a good idea to bring people up to speed on recent happenings; Dynamo hadn't been in Glen Carbon since last October. Since then, Dan Walsh lost the title to Dirden and the Tag Team Titles switched from the Bumrush Brothers to the Black Hand Warriors back to the BRBs. On top of that, Ricky Cruz had his attitude change and Travis Cook has been playing tag team roulette in a sense.
Executive Director Mark Bland allowed Jeremy Wyatt's "humble" request for a no-DQ match in the main event...any underhanded tactics by Wyatt would be perfectly legal, but it seemed to play into Dirden's wheelhouse as well.
Jackal vs. Ricky Cruz(w/ Lucy Mendez): Ricky's in full "dude, where's my title shot?" mode, but Bland is telling him to work his way back up the ladder. This was the shortest bout of the night; Jackal's aerial offense went awry and Ricky finished clean with the Cruz Control in 2:11.
Mike Sydal vs. "The Fittest Wrestler On Earth" Mark Sterling: Sterling's had a few WWE tryouts in recent months with another on the way; cool to hear. These two have faced each other a few times in the past(to say the least). Fine bout; Sterling avoided the yoga mat moonsault and won with an Air Raid Crash in 7:17.
"Walking Reality" Dan Walsh vs. "The Alternative" Brandon Gallagher: Gallagher has darkened his hair with only a hint of blueness remaining. Walsh can't really call himself "The Polar Vortex" any more since winter is over. This one had been building since January when Gallagher began sticking his nose into Walsh's business, costing him multiple matches. Gallagher took advantage of Walsh's anger, repeatedly ducking through the ropes and then leaving the ring completely. The proverbial torpedoes were fired in the closing sequence and the ending made sense in the context of the feud; Gallagher successfully got into Walsh's head and escaped with a DQ win as a result in 9:28.
Steven Kennedy vs. "Showtime" Bradley Charles: SBC's nickname is a good indication of his mood for the evening: "Showtime" means rulebreaker, "Sir" means fan favorite. With K.C. Karrington on a break from the in-ring wars, Kennedy seems to be trending in a different direction(as hinted by his promos for the upcoming PWCS show). I figured Kennedy would do a promo to establish this, but SBC took matters into his own hands by attacking him from behind. Good underdog spots for Kennedy out of that...it looked like Charles had things wrapped up, but a last-second crucifix reversal led to Kennedy's win in 6:41.
MsChif vs. Lucy Mendez: Lucy established her role in the early segment with Ricky...not that MsChif was going to get booed. This got more time than I expected, oddly...I don't think I've seen too many of Lucy's matches with her in the rulebreaker role. MsChif got the win with the Desecrator in 14:00(!).
"The Irish Luchador" Billy McNeil vs. "The Littlest Viking" Jake Parnell vs. "Dynamite" Danny Cannon: This was an interesting dynamic compared to the rest of the card as all three men were fan favorites and worked a fast-paced style of match. I wonder if it would be a good idea to reintroduce the Light Heavyweight Title; there are several people on the roster who would fit into that niche. Cannon's not a big guy, but he has a good build and a LOT of intensity...have only seen him a few times. The ending was...unique to say the least and seemed to come out of nowhere, but it was a good case of reality ensuing as it relates to the usual trainwreck spot. Cannon had low-bridged Billy out of the ring and hit a major somersault plancha...Parnell teased his own dive like crazy, went to get his Viking helmet, then stumbled on the ropes and hung himself up. However, that meant he was the lone competitor in the ring as the referee's count reached ten...making Parnell the winner at 6:11.
WWE eventually made all multi-way matches no-countout-no-DQ to solve the problem of who would win if only one person was counted out or disqualified. That came up once when The Rock had a triple threat Intercontinental Title defense with Triple H and X-Pac; Rocky took a walk to get counted out and save his title. However, that left the ring announcer at a loss to name the official "winner". Random side note, but it was somewhat relevant here.
The Bumrush Brothers("The Don Mega" Shorty Biggs & Outtkast) vs. The Professionals(Shawn Santel & Mauler McDarby)(w/ Travis Cook): Within Dynamo, Travis has bounced from the Ken Kasa/Dave Vaughn duo to the Black Hand Warriors(Michael Magnuson & David DeLorean) to the Professionals in the past several months. Kasa is SICW Classic Champion and Vaughn is on a break from wrestling, so they've been absent from Dynamo for a little while. That led Travis to seek other clients and get the Tag Team Titles away from Shorty and Outtkast, if only for a few months. Santel & McDarby sneak-attacked the BRBs after they regained the belts in Fenton, leading to this matchup.
While Santel & McDarby had been aligned for a while in other promotions(MECW), this was my first time seeing them in an official tag match; in fact, this was McDarby's in-ring debut for Dynamo after having been in Santel's corner at previous shows. Really good extended bout here as Santel & McDarby worked well as a unit. As previously noted, the tag team scene in the area has really blown up in recent months. A close finish saw Outtkast small-package McDarby for the pin at 12:17; after that, Shorty hyped Outtkast's House Of Fun championship match at Off Broadway.
"Dirdey" Jake Dirden vs. "The Belt Collector" Jeremy Wyatt, no-DQ match for the Heavyweight Title: It turned out to be a rough night for the officials...I forget who officiated the Gallagher-Walsh match, but both refs took abuse in this one. Wyatt had a visual fall with Michael Crase down, so I guess he has plenty of motivation for another rematch. On the other hand, he intentially belted Jay King so he only had himself to blame when he didn't pin Dirden after the subsequent belt shot. As it turned out, Wyatt lived by the sword and died by the sword...Dirden returned the belt attack in kind for the final win in 19:49.
Quite a few things could stem from the aftermath...Walsh is already feuding with Gallagher and now may have an issue with Wyatt as well. Parnell got involved in the situation and his tag partner Alexandre Rudolph may be brought into things as well. Of course, the next Dynamo show is tomorrow night so we won't have long to wait for the fallout from this show...
I don't have full results from WLW in Richmond on Saturday, but the Facebook page says that Leland Race won the Heavyweight Title from Elvis Aliaga and Jack Gamble joined the Black Hand Warriors...hmm.
Upcoming:
Tuesday: DPW in St. Louis(Off Broadway)
Saturday: SICW in East Carondelet
Friday 5/2: SLA in Alton, IL
Saturday 5/3: DPW in Fenton
Saturday 5/10: DPW in Glen Carbon; MMWA in St. Louis(South Broadway)
Good night, good luck, and #yaywrestling.
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