Attendance seemed to be SLIGHTLY down from previous months...the weather's getting nicer, plus they set up May as a big show. It'll be the Wrestling At The Chase anniversary show with Bobby "The Brain" Heenan appearing...when I posted about Heenan being there, I was hearing from people who I didn't know were wrestling fans! That building will be packed next month...
This almost seemed like a "placeholder" show to set up next month; there were a surprisingly high amount of DQ finishes(three plus a time-limit draw out of eight matches).
Your ring announcer was Ben Simon, your referees were Jay King and Keith Smith Jr.
Joker vs. Ax (Allwardt): Joker is trending toward fan-favortism after shaking Gary Jackson's hand at the Caseyville show; this match seemed to solidify that. Ax got a little too aggressive with his choking and drew the night's first disqualification at 5:36...perhaps a rematch will be in order.
"Dirdey" Jake Dirden vs. Flash Flanagan: These two have crossed paths a few times; their first bout in Belleville ended in a DQ, then Dirden pinned Flanagan in a tag match with a slight assist from Ron Powers and a steel chair. It looks like Kasa will be occupied with Gary Jackson for a while, so Dirden needed something else to do...resulting in a rare loss(albeit by screwjob). Flanagan blocked a rollup and held the ropes for the cheap win in 8:14...gosh darn it, they'll have to wrestle again to settle this.
"The Man Of Tomorrow" Daniel Eads vs. Mallaki Matthews: Eads is getting a good push in SICW. This was Mallaki's second SICW appearance and it looks like he'll be in the rulebreaker role. Solid bout; Eads won by countering an aerial move with a version of the Superman Punch in 7:17. Punches as finishers are a minor pet peeve in the sense that closed fists aren't usually legal in wrestling...they don't usually draw DQs except in the most extreme cases of biased officiating, but it's just something that fell by the wayside in the wrestling business. The Big Show's main finisher is the PUNCH; Johnny B. Badd used to finish with the "Tutti-Frutti" left hook as Jesse Ventura griped about how it should be illegal. :)
"The Don Mega" Shorty Biggs vs. "Money" Matt Cage: Was interested to see how these guys' styles would mesh...they had a pretty good match and even went to a ten-minute draw, so it looks like they'll meet again down the line. I do not have a problem with this. Cage teased overtime before walking away...bwahahaha.
Big Jim Hoffarth vs. Frankie "The Thumper" Wyatt: Jay King's terrible horrible no-good very-bad stretch of officiating duty continued as he got squashed between the two super heavyweights for the double DQ in 4:18. Owie. Looks like this battle of the behemoths will happen again in the near future...
"Ironman" Ken Kasa(w/ Travis Cook) vs. "Night Train/Great One/Gorgeous" Gary Jackson for the Classic Title: This was pushed as a championship that Gary has never held...at least not since SICW started its own championship after the split from the MMWA. Kasa's had a long reign and is starting to show signs of weakness: He barely got past Dirden last month, needed Travis' help to retain against Heath Hatton in Caseyville, and would have lost here if not for Travis' blatant interference to cause the DQ in 12:16. Odd to put the title match this early in the show, but the finish needed SOME kind of follow-up...the rematch was announced for May with Travis handcuffed to Big Daddy. Big Daddy was a bit before my time on this indy scene, but he was known as one of the top rulebreaking managers in the area...heard some great stories about him. The aftermath teased potential conflicts with Eads and Shorty as well...Kasa's plate will be full in the near future.
Heath Hatton vs. "The Iceman" (Howard Moritz): This was my first time seeing Moritz; he's worked Metro Pro and NWA:CSCW prior to this. Thought he did a fine job in the rulebreaker role against Hatton. Heath is another guy who's gunning for Kasa's title and he's developed a pretty good fanbase in this area. Hadn't seen him finish with the LeBell Lock before, so that was new...it got the tapout in 9:16.
Ron Powers & "The Old School Warrior" Chaz Wesson vs. Ricky Cruz & Bull Bronson: Cruz & Bronson were enemies not that long ago...things change, obviously. The loser-leaves-town setup happened out of nowhere...according to promoter Herb Simmons, it'll be no-DQ on top of that so there must be a winner. Hard to see either guy leaving...maybe someone will put on a mask? Maybe someone will take a break and return down the line? That's merely speculation on my part, of course...and no, I have NO idea who's winning. It does seem like Travis manipulated things to his advantage, getting rid of at least one major challenger to Kasa's title...but Cruz only agreed to the stipulation if he was GUARANTEED his title shot after winning. Powers rolled up Cruz for the win in 14:04...will Ricky go bye-bye? We'll see next month...
Already set for next month: Kasa-Jackson(Travis cuffed to Big Daddy), Powers-Cruz loser-leaves-town, and a battle royal. Good times...
Upcoming:
-Friday 5/2: SLA in Alton, IL(Chris Hero & Alex Shelley on the card, among others)
-Saturday 5/3(afternoon): MMWA in St. Louis, MO(outdoor show)
-Saturday 5/3: Dynamo in Fenton, MO
-Saturday 5/10: Dynamo in Glen Carbon, IL; MMWA in St. Louis, MO(South Broadway)
-Saturday 5/17: SICW in East Carondelet, IL(Bobby Heenan appearing)
-Saturday 5/31: PWCS in Granite City, IL
Good night, good luck, and #yaywrestling.
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