This newer promotion had a slightly better turnout than the last one; good to see the word is getting out. The setup was different as well; the show was set in a smaller section of the Expo Center, so there wasn't as much wide open space in the event area.
The lineup was shuffled a bit; the original listing had Arik Cannon vs. Ace Steel, Bolt Brady vs. Vic Capri vs. Blake Belakis, and Shane Hollister vs. Christian Rose in a singles match. These were changed to Capri facing Steel for a shot at A.C.H. later in the night, Tony Kozina taking Capri's place in that triple threat bout, and Cannon being added to the Hollister-Rose match for another triple threat. Hope we eventually get to see Cannon-Steel as I was looking forward to that one.
Your ring announcer was Brian Thompson, your referees were Brian Stoltz and Nick Ridenour, and your video commentators were Ben Simon & Patrick "Presumably No Longer An Intern" Brandmeyer.
If you want to check out the previous show online, go here:
http://highriskwrestling.pivotshare.com/
Mike Outlaw, Sir Isaac, & Nicholas The Titan vs. Davey Vega, "The Maniac" Paco Gonzalez, & "The New Hotness" Danny Adams: This was the dark match and took place about fifteen minutes before the scheduled start time of 4 PM, so we didn't call the action. Outlaw, Isaac, and Nicholas were the fan favorites here with Vega and the Elgin proteges as the heels. Nicholas was the only one in the match who I wasn't familiar with; he wrestles out of Ohio. Solid outing by all involved; Paco got hit with a series of big moves, ending in a Macho elbow from Nicholas for the three-count in 7:51.
Bolt Brady vs. Tony Kozina vs. Blake Edward Belakis: Brady was the fan favorite here despite his heel turn in an alternate universe(St. Louis Anarchy). At different times, Belakis and Kozina bided their time outside the ring while the other two fought. Three-way matches tend to be no-countout-no-DQ anyway(in order to avoid one person being counted out/DQed and trying to figure out who "wins" out of the remaining two), so it made sense. With the more relaxed rules of HRW, it was an especially good tactic. (To recap: No countouts; DQs are automatic and ONLY in the event of outside interference, foreign object usage, or deliberatly striking the referee.) Brady fought the odds and pinned Kozina after his Angel's Wings/lungblower combo(called the Tesla Coil, if my half-assed Google search is any indication) in a time of 7:36.
Justice Jones vs. Samson Walker: This was a case where I should have done a bit more research before my commentary gig as I wasn't too familiar with either man. Jones wrestles in the Chicago area and has been appearing a bit for AAW. Walker had a cup of coffee with Ring Of Honor in 2011-2012 and primarily wrestles in Puerto Rico nowadays. Both are big boys and this was a solid power battle with Jones as the fan favorite. Jones delivered an impressive dropkick off the second rope at one point. Walker CHEATED TO WIN~! with a rollup and feet on the top rope for leverage in 7:51...don't know if that was necessarily "rulebreaking" in the HRW environment, but one could certainly call it unethical. The two traded words and then fists after the bell...looks like this issue isn't over yet.
"Icepick" Vic Capri vs. "Crazy" Ace Steel: As previously noted, the winner would challenge A.C.H. for the Heavyweight Title later in the show. I recognized Capri's name but admittedly hadn't seen many of his matches; he's a sixteen-year veteran who primarily competes in the Chicago area. Steel is the current WLW Heavyweight Champion and was one of the Second City Saints in ROH with C.M. Punk and Colt Cabana. Steel came out as the heel and snapped at the ring announcer for using the "Crazy" nickname. Capri won a good match with Sliced Bread #2 in 11:16 and they shook hands afterwards.
reDRagon(Kyle O'Reilly & Bobby Fish) vs. Uhaa Nation & Moose(w/ Magic Man): O'Reilly & Fish made a big entrance to Taylor Swift's "You Belong With Me"...tremendous. They had their ROH Tag Team Title belts in tow and said they were glad to be here in "Bellevue, Indiana". They did the old open-challenge deal and Moose came out, saying Magic Man could conjure up the ideal tag team partner for him. Magic Man brought out a big box and worked his, well, magic...revealing Uhaa Nation. I saw Nation a handful of times at High Voltage Wrestling shows, but he's become a major player on the national independent scene with Dragon Gate USA. Moose was a former football player who was signed by Ring Of Honor as a hot prospect; he's been very impressive in his short time as a wrestler.
This was the longest match of the show as the "Moose Nation" team initially dominated with its size and power advantage, but the tag experience of reDRagon allowed them to turn things around and isolate Moose for a while. Nation got a hot tag, pier six, bonzo gonzo...Nation hit a Death Valley Driver on O'Reilly followed by a major standing moonsault, but Fish broke up the pin by BELTing Nation for the cheap DQ in 18:56(!). Good guys stood tall at the end of it as O'Reilly & Fish escaped with their belts that I don't THINK were on the line...ah well.
Brian Thompson did a brief interview with the visiting Beautiful Bobby Eaton, who said he was bringing a "new Midnight Express" to the next show on Sunday, December 28th. Bob Holly and Bart Gunn could not be reached for comment.
Insert intermission: HERE.
"The Anarchist" Arik Cannon vs. "The New World Man" Shane Hollister vs. Christian Rose: Cannon and Rose were both looking to rebound from losses at the first HRW show(Cannon to Dustin Bozworth, Rose in a tag match with Matt Cage against The Hooligans). Hadn't seen Hollister in this area in a while(he works St. Louis Anarchy on occasion). They established things pretty quickly as Hollister and Rose double-teamed Cannon on several occasions...of course THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE so the alliance didn't last. The endgame saw Cannon rally and fend off both opponents, only to get rolled up by Rose with a handful of tights in 9:23. Good times.
A.C.H. vs. "Icepick" Vic Capri for the Heavyweight Title: A.C.H. won a triple threat match with Bolt Brady and C.J. Esparza at the previous show, then went on to win a three-way dance with Blake Belakis and Nick Brubaker to become the first champion. He had a slight advantage in being the fresh competitor after Capri had already wrestled, though Capri had a decent amount of time to rest between his matches. It started out as a face/face matchup(SPORTSMANSHIP~!), but Capri gradually moved into the subtle heel role against the more popular A.C.H. I don't know the whole story about A.C.H. missing the Ring Of Honor show in Toronto, but the issues don't seem to be significant; he had a strong showing in the Champions vs. Allstars match at their Saturday show. He's still identified as originally being from Texas despite moving to the St. Louis area a while back. At any rate, another good matchup; A.C.H. showed some versatility as he won with a rolling prawn cradle and bridge in 11:42. SPORTSMANSHIP~! ensued afterwards.
"Unbreakable" Michael Elgin vs. Uhaa Nation(w/ Magic Man): This was the advertised main event; like Capri, Nation wrestled twice but had some rest time between his bouts. Both men were fan favorites here as Magic Man never got directly involved; it was a great display of both power and agility for both guys. As someone who hasn't seen a lot of his recent work, I was really impressed by Uhaa Nation and hope to see more of him in the future. I was fortunate to see Elgin at two shows this past weekend; I've been a fan of his for a while and thought he came dangerously close to "can't win the big one" status in ROH. I like TEH WORKRATEZ~! as much as lot of people, but sometimes a fan just wants to see the "good guy" beat the "bad guy"; that's something that will never get old. Match quality is fine, but it's up to the promoters to give meaning to the matches and their outcomes. Otherwise, what reason is there to care about the outcomes?
Okay, that was a bit of a tangent...heh. Uhaa Nation is a big dude who can pull off a standing shooting star press, something you'd normally expect out of a smaller competitor. (The move was popularized by Amazing Red and, in this neck of the woods, Matt Sydal.) Both men threw their best shots at each other...I'm fine with that in moderation, though a show full of those kind of matches can be tiring for a fan. Elgin finally sealed the deal after the turnbuckle powerbomb/spiral bomb combo in 15:27...cue handshake and respectful promos from both. Elgin said he'd been wanting to face Nation in the ring for a long time, but this was their first one-on-one meeting.
The wrestling scene in this area has been very busy lately, as evidenced by the crowded Saturday we just had. As the number of area promotions increases, it's important for each one to establish its own identity and audience. Thankfully, things should be a bit simpler for the next month and a half.
Upcoming shows:
-Saturday 10/18: SICW in East Carondelet, IL (One Man Gang)
-Saturday 10/25: PWCS in Granite City, IL
-Saturday 11/1: DPW in Fenton, MO
-Saturday 11/8: MMWA in St. Louis, MO
-Saturday 11/15: SICW in East Carondelet, IL
-Saturday 11/22: MMWA-SICW in Cahokia, IL (benefit for John Blackheart & Big Momma Love)
Good night, good luck, and #yaywrestling.
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