Not a lot to talk about from this past week, really. The next few weekends will be really busy around here with multiple shows on the same nights. On top of that, my twenty-year high school reunion will be in the first weekend of October, so I'll have to figure out my plan of attack for those few days.
Your ring announcer was Drew Abbenhaus, your referees were Keith Smith Jr. and Jay King.
Big Jim Hoffarth & Farmer Billy Hills vs. Christian Rose & Ax (Allwardt): This was Rose's SICW debut. Hills went with the overalls instead of the spandex he wore in his previous appearance...probably a good choice. Rose attempted to emulate Hulk Hogan's bodyslam of Andre the Giant when he went up against Hoffarth...probably NOT a good choice. In the end, Hoffarth chokeslammed Rose for the win in 9:27.
"Dirdey" Jake Dirden vs. Bull Bronson: Bronson was flying solo with manager Travis Cook barred from the building. This would fall under the Gorilla Monsoon definition of the "irresistable force meeting the immovable object"; Dirden had a similar encounter with Barackus at the Dynamo show in Eureka. With a fan favorite holding the title, it's sensible to build up the rulebreaker side of the roster...Dirden stayed strong despite the loss. If a 400-plus-pound guy falls on you in mid-superplex, you're probably gonna stay down...and that's exactly what happened in 9:28. Not sure what business Bull had on the top rope in the first place, but it worked out for him so who am I to say anything?
"Night Train/Gorgeous/Great One" Gary Jackson vs. Mohamad Ali Vaez: This was more angle than match as Vaez got the microphone beforehand and spoke some not-'Murican, prompting Gary to interrupt for some enlightenment about the merits of This Great Country Of Ours(tm). It was also more of a fight than a wrestling match, resulting in a relatively quick no-contest in 5:00. The referee tried to establish some level of control and that resulted in some mutual ref abuse and the bout being thrown out. This feud...MUST CONTINUE~!
Promoter Herb Simmons interviewed "The Birdman" Koko B. Ware. Koko told the story about his wife finding his original macaw Frankie in a pet store and how that was a selling point when Vince McMahon brought him into the WWF. (He told the same story on the Ringsyders podcast on the Missouri Wrestling Revival podcast...shameless plug!) He went out of his way to talk to the younger fans in attendance, encouraging them to follow their dreams. Koko seemed like a really down-to-earth guy and it was very cool to get his autograph.
On a personal note, Koko was in the opening match on the first live wrestling event I ever attended in March of 1993. Gary Jackson worked that show as well and I also got Gary's autograph on my event program. I'll need to look up Koko's Memphis work as I've heard he was a great heel there. He also had one of the best brainbusters in wrestling(known as the "Ghostbuster"). One of my main memories of Koko was the High Energy tag team with one of my all-time favorites, Owen Hart.
Herb also brought out Gary and they talked about how he and Koko got their start in the business around the same time...they nearly formed a regular tag team in those days and Herb teased that they should team up in SICW sometime. Hmm...
Bobby D & Shiloh Jonze vs. "The Money" Matt Cage & "All About Me" Mallaki Matthews: Cage & Matthews had an extended personalized introduction for Drew to read...nicely done. Jonze is another OVW competitor; saw him once or twice on Ring Of Honor's TV show when ROH and OVW had a working relationship. The two tag matches were the only unannounced bouts on the card; always interesting to see who's on the show. Jonze hit Mallaki with a Trouble In Paradise-style flying roundhouse kick out of nowhere, getting the win in 7:35.
"The Man Of Tomorrow" Daniel Eads vs. Flash Flanagan: I say it a lot: Selling is such a lost art that when someone does a good job of it, the fan's first instinct is to wonder if the wrestler is legitimately hurt. Eads is still fairly new to the wrestling game and has been working with some more experienced competitors lately: Ricky Cruz, Cage, and now Flanagan. It seemed to take a few minutes before they got on the same page, but things clicked once the leg injury came into play. Eads appeared to tweak his knee on the landing from a double-axhandle off the top rope, then aggravated it further with an inverted atomic drop; after that point, Flanagan focused his attack on the leg. Eads survived a figure-four leglock and was able to hit a Superman Punch out of nowhere, but couldn't make the pin cover right away and it only got a two-count. Flanagan took out the leg again and hooked an anklelock; Eads didn't surrender, but the referee declared Eads unable to continue in 14:16.
Flanagan wasn't done as he assaulted Eads' bad leg with his kendo stick and then a steel chair...that drew out Classic Champion Heath Hatton and Flanagan retreated. Flash told Heath point-blank that he was wondering what it would take to get his attention...Flanagan obviously has his sights set on the championship once again, so he got on Hatton's radar by doing some damage to his protege.
Red River Jack(w/ "The Famous" Big Daddy) vs. "The King Of Chaos" Ricky Cruz: This was another bout that was set up to establish the story. Jack blatantly interfered in Ricky's title shot at Hatton last month, resulting in Cruz's long-awaiting title opportunity going up in smoke. Ricky took out Jack's leg at one point, but that didn't last too long. Jack survived Ricky's superkick finisher and went for his Double-R-J(Diamond Cutter/RKO), but Ricky bailed out of the ring and deliberately got counted out at 9:06. Cruz got the mic and started talking about how "you shouldn't be here," then finally clarified himself: "I know it's you, RON."
I'd done the same math that Ricky had: Red River Jack was an alias once used by King King/Bruiser Brody when he wrestled under a mask, Ron Powers was known as a Brody protege, and Ron lost to Ricky in a loser-leaves-town match earlier this year. However, from my observation, this new masked man doesn't APPEAR to be Ron Powers...I could be wrong, of course. Ron is technically only gone for the remainder of the calender year and could potentially make a comeback in 2015, but we'll see.
Heath Hatton vs. "Ironman" Ken Kasa for the Classic Title: This was Kasa's rematch for the title after Hatton ended his thirteen-month reign in July, but manager Travis Cook was banned from the building. Travis' absence was noticable in terms of the crowd noise for the match; it's hard to argue with what he brings to the table as a ringside presence. Kasa got to the ropes to escape the Crippler Crossface this time around, then used a metal baton hidden in his boot to do extra damage(how Memphis can you get? :)). The referee was knocked down and Hatton pulled off Kasa's boot to get the weapon for himself, but Kasa stopped him with a low blow...that resulted in a close near-fall. The match ended with an odd countout finish as Kasa teased a uranagi off the apron onto the timekeeper's table below, but Hatton escaped the setup and speared Kasa off the apron. That resulted in Kasa hitting his head on the table and not being able to beat the ten-count, so Hatton retained via countout win in 15:55. Hatton retained, but the door is open for another Kasa rematch since Heath didn't beat him decisively.
After the match, Flash Flanagan attacked the worn-out Hatton...Daniel Eads limped to the ring to help out(SELLING~!) but Flanagan was just leaving. It looks like Hatton-Flanagan will be the main event for next weekend's Fairmont City show...
Next Saturday will be busy with three shows: SICW in Fairmont City, MMWA in Herculaneum, and WLW in Troy, Missouri. The following Tuesday will be Dynamo's return to Off Broadway.
So far, October looks like this:
-Friday 10/3: St. Louis Anarchy in Alton, IL
-Saturday 10/4: Dynamo Pro Wrestling in Fenton, MO
-Saturday 10/11: Dynamo in Glen Carton, IL; MMWA in St. Louis, MO(South Broadway); SICW in Swansea, IL
-Saturday 10/18: SICW in East Carondelet, IL (One Man Gang appearing)
-Saturday 10/25: PWCS in Granite City, IL
Good night, good luck, and #yaywrestling.
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