This would qualify as my longest drive to a wrestling show in several years(just under an hour)...I drove past Stratford Inn in Fenton on the way there. Used to go to Six Flags with the family and the kid in me REALLY wanted to drive past the amusement park, but the route didn't go in that direction.
This was a fundraiser for the local football team, so the audience was almost all children. It was an outdoor event but the forecast called for the rain, so the ring was set up in a barn near the cornfield maze. It rained steadily for a good portion of the night but finally cleared up by the end of the show.
Your ring announcer was Jeff Vernetti(with Luke Roberts & Chris Roedel handing extra announcements), your timekeeper was Ben Simon, and your referees were Jay King and Patrick Hook.
Mike Outlaw vs. Paco Gonzalez: The show started with a face/face battle between two of the newest wrestlers in the area. Outlaw gives out his bandanna to ringside fans before his matches; always a nice touch for a fan favorite. Fine matchup here; both guys have a lot of potential and I'll be watching their careers with great interest. Outlaw missed the Macho Elbow and Paco got the win with the frog splash in 9:17.
Brandon Aarons vs. "Ironman" Ken Kasa(w/ Travis Cook): Think this was Kasa's first Missouri match in a little while...hope this means I'll be seeing more of him at area shows. Now that he's no longer SICW Classic Champion, his schedule may expand a little bit. Kasa missed the John Wu Dropkick and Aarons got the upset win with the close-range superkick in 8:23. Travis claimed it was an illegal kick to the throat...and the sun was in his eyes. Bwahahaha.
The Bite Club(Rocket Mapache & Jackal) vs. "The Alternative" Brandon Gallagher & El Sanchez: Don't see El Sanchez too often in recent years...I will refrain from speculation regarding his identity. Mapache & Jackal are coming off a near-win of the Tag Team Titles in Fenton...they eliminated The Black Hand Warriors(Michael Magnuson & David DeLorean) to end their title reign, but they were subsequently defeated by Heavyweight Champion Ricky Cruz & Brandon Espinosa. The finish seemed a bit awkward as Gallagher was down for a long time while the good guys figured out how to end things. Mapache hit a Macho Elbow and Jackal followed up with a splash off the top to pin Gallagher in 10:44.
"Dirdey" Jake Dirden vs. Barackus: This was Barackus' Dynamo debut in a battle of the big guys. Haven't seen Dirden against larger opponents too often and I thought this played out well for what it was. Barackus has mostly fought smaller opponents as well (other than his recent series with Dave Osborne at MMWA), so it was a good test for both guys in that regard. Dirden powered out of Barackus' clawhold and Barackus held out in the Asiatic Spike for a long time...he backed Dirden into the turnbuckles, but Dirden hung onto the hold and took him down. The referee finally called for the bell at 11:23(!) as Barackus passed out in the hold.
Outtkast vs. Tag Team Champion Brandon Espinosa: With Cruz-Shorty as the only announced match for the show, it made sense for their tag partners to do battle. Cruz & Espinosa had trouble getting along in the early part of the four-way dance for the belts, but Espinosa managed to pin Kast to eliminate the Bumrush Brothers. Espinosa's bulked up in recent months and I did note that Outtkast had trouble picking him up for his trademark Spineshank(running over-the-shoulder backbreaker). Outtkast had his issues with Ricky for a while there, so Ricky got personally involved to ensure Espinosa's victory. Distraction, pull of the tights on the finishing rollup, AND extra leverage provided by the outside party...now that's a heel finish (in 8:07). Notably, that was the ONLY heel win of the night...attribute it to the kid-friendly nature of the show, perhaps.
Heavyweight/Tag Team Champion "The King Of Chaos" Ricky Cruz vs. "The Don Mega" Shorty Biggs for the Heavyweight Title: Had been interested in this singles match since their brief encounter in the four-way tag match. Shorty was way over with the younger crowd and Ricky stalled a lot to cement his role...heh. Thought they worked together pretty well...Shorty went to the top rope for a potential Def Jam(top-rope legdrop) and Espinosa ran in for the DQ at 12:35. Outtkast came back out for the save and they set up an impromptu (non-title) tag match...
Tag Team Champions Ricky Cruz(Heavyweight Champion) & Brandon Espinosa vs. The Bumrush Brothers(Shorty Biggs & Outtkast), non-title: The match started with some comedy spots, including the infamous "booger spot"...I'm not sure if I should explain that but I will. Shorty smeared a booger on one of the turnbuckles and they did a sequence where each guy tried to rub the other's face into said turnbuckle(treating the evasions like it was an exposed turnbuckle or something). It finally paid off when Shorty sidestepped a charging Ricky Cruz and Ricky ran face-first into that turnbuckle...bwahahaha. Outtkast pinned Espinosa after a Samoan Drop/flying boot combo with Shorty in 6:56, avenging his earlier loss...the good guys won to close out the show. This could set up Shorty challenging for Ricky's title again in the future as well as the BRBs going after the Tag Titles once again.
Dynamo's had a very busy schedule this year with several new venues...they have a show in Glen Carbon in two weeks and then they're back in Fenton two weeks after that. By coincidence, it'll be the second year in a row that Dynamo has a wrestling show on my birthday...heh.
More on this past weekend in indy rasslin in the next comment...stay tuned. Same Pat-time, same Pat-channel...or something.
Good night, good luck, and #yaywrestling.
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