Now, as promised, a special comment about Saturday's Southern Illinois Championship Wrestling show at the Community Center in East Carondelet, Illinois.
DISCLAIMER: I'm biased. Deal with it.
SICW's monthly event in East Carondelet drew a pretty big crowd. It was already a full house, but a group celebrating someone's birthday arrived a few matches into the show. It produced one of the largest attendance numbers in the building's history, according to the Wrestling Observer newsbite (about 400). Pardon the lack of detail; I had a long weekend and I'm not feeling the best at the moment...
Your ring announcer was Drew Abbenhaus; your referees were Terry Riley & Denny Thomas.
Morgan sang the National Anthem again...nice job.
Promoter Herb Simmons started the show by bringing out a surprise guest: Cowboy Bob Orton! They chatted about a "proposal" Herb had for him and Orton declined; Orton was speaking very softly and I could barely hear him, so I wasn't quite sure what was said at first (I thought he said that he hadn't made his decision yet). He will be appearing at the show in Millstadt on April 18th.
"Your Canadian Hero" Sean Vincent vs. Waco: Vincent had been using the figure-four leglock for a while, but he's changing it up with a new variation of the hold...I think Drew referred to it as the "Mapleleaf Leglock" on SICW Wrestling Explosion. Vincent was able to take out the leg on a few occasions, then get Waco down long enough to apply his submission hold for the tapout in 8:41. I like how the time limits are consistent so the possibility of a draw is there, meaning it can easily be teased without being blatant about it...this match had a ten-minute limit, so the clock was ticking down when the finish happened.
"Dead Sexy" Daniel Gunner vs. Bubba Troll: This was a rare battle of rulebreakers in an SICW ring...the fans seemed to gravitate toward Gunner as the favorite for the night. It didn't last long as Gunner couldn't overtime Troll's size and power advantage...Bubba finished him off with a sitout Tombstone in 2:29.
Big Jim Hoffarth vs. Ax Allwardt: This was more of a fight than a wrestling match, as you would expect from the participants. I don't know if it'll turn into a longer-term feud, but Ax was blatantly disqualified for hitting Hoffarth with his chain in 5:57. Ax choked him down with the chain, but Hoffarth was quick to recover and Ax bailed out of the ring to avoid retribution.
Herb interviewed visiting guest Nikolai Volkoff about his career...Travis Cook continued his long-standing tradition of interrupting these segments and he was accompanied by Bull Bronson and Chris Hargas on this night. He proclaimed his admiration for Volkoff's previous anti-American views, saying that Americans nowadays ARE weak. He asked Volkoff to sing the Russian national anthem for old time's sake, but Nikolai opted for "God Bless America" instead...and Cook's guys attacked him. That brought out Cowboy Bob Orton for the save...
Herb spoke with Orton and Volkoff after that incident...Herb noted that Daniel Eads was unable to attend the show so he had a spot open in the scheduled six-man tag match. Orton noted that he always brings his gear with him and accepted that spot...and he also accepted Herb's proposal, which was a spot in SICW as the Director Of Affairs. It looks like Cowboy Bob will be a more consistent part of the company for the foreseeable future...
Cue intermission numero uno...a LONG intermission since there was a sizeable line for autographs and merchandise from Volkoff. That prompted a decision announced later in the show to schedule pre-show meet-and-greets for future special guests...probably a good idea as this show ran pretty late.
Keith Smith Jr. vs. "Volatile" Curtis Wylde(w/ Wyldefyre): Keith Jr. has been forging his own path in SICW since making his singles debut, but more experienced heels have been getting the upper hand against him. He's been paying his proverbial dues, including a back rake from Wyldefyre that drew a bit of blood from my vantage point. Keith Jr. was able to get Wylde in the figure-four leglock(one of his father's signature moves), but Wyldefyre distracted the referee from seeing the tapout. Keith Jr. confronted her, leading to Wyldefyre delivering a low blow as Curtis drew the official's attention. Wylde capitalized with a rollup and handful of tights for the cheap pin in 8:53...there will be another day for Keith Jr.
"The Old School Warrior" Chaz Wesson vs. Brandon Espinosa: This was a very interesting matchup from my perspective...I don't these two had crossed paths prior to this. Espy showed how far he had come in the business by giving as good as he got from the veteran. The match could have realistically gone either way, but it ended in a ten-minute time-limit draw...gosh darn it, they'll have to wrestle each other again. Gosh darn it.
Cowboy Bob Orton, "The King Of Chaos" Ricky Cruz, & Red River Jack(w/ Big Daddy & Nikolai Volkoff) vs. Attila Khan, Bull Bronson, & "The Icon" Chris Hargas(w/ Travis Cook), best-of-three-falls: Herb made a managerial exception for Volkoff's presence at ringside(since Big Daddy and Cook had manager's licenses). Ricky took the lion's share of the abuse from the Travis Cook Organization trio, then RRJ got the hot tag. Chaos ensued as everyone brawled, then RRJ brought in a chair and whacked Khan as the referee was trying to restore order on the floor. As the referee turned around, Jack threw the chair to Khan and fell to the mat...leading to the official disqualifying Khan for the first fall in 12:10. EDDY~!
The second fall was a bit shorter than the first...I had trouble seeing any of the fan favorite team dropping a decision(RRJ is undefeated and Ricky just turned face). Orton didn't do much until the hot tag near the end...he got the better of a slugfest with the big man Bronson and got the win for his team with an RKO in 17:06. Ironically, the RKO is also known as the ACE Crusher...*ducks thrown objects*
The second intermission WAS brief for obvious reasons...
Bobby D vs. Flash Flanagan: Flash was in a worse mood than usual on the heels of his Classic Title loss in February. He may have overlooked Bobby D who gave him a competitive matchup here...but Flanagan knocked him off the top rope, leaving him hanging upside-down in the proverbial Tree Of Woe. Flash went to the top rope and delivered a double-stomp with Bobby D in that position...that was enough for the victory in 8:22.
"Night Train/Gorgeous/Great One" Gary Jackson(w/ Big Daddy) vs. "Ironman" Ken Kasa(w/ Travis Cook): This one seemed rushed due to the lengthiness of the show...it turend out to be the shortest match of the night. The referee was knocked down and Travis broke up the Texas Cloverleaf with a cane shot to Jackson's back...that allowed Kasa to score a near-fall. The official was still regaining his senses, so Kasa held Gary as Travis climbed to the second rope. However, the champion moved out of the way and Kasa took the cane to the head! Gary decked the manager and covered Kasa for the three-count in a brisk 3:33...all righty then.
Post-show: We were stopped by a train on the way to Denny's and were worried about how long we would sit in our cars as the train came to a complete stop...I used to have that problem a few times when I drove to the 5th & Missouri MetroLink station. Thankfully, it started moving again and the post-show food run proceeded as planned. The chicken loaded potato skillet gets my recommendation...excellent.
Picked up the brand-new 2014 Missouri Wrestling Revival yearbook...nicely done. Shoutout to Brian Kelley & Dubray Tallman for all the work and road hours they put into covering this area's independent wrestling scene.
Next month or so looks like this:
-Friday 3/27: Pro Wrestling Epic in East St. Louis, IL
-Saturday 4/4: Dynamo Pro Wrestling in Fenton, MO
-Sunday 4/5: High Risk Wrestling in Belleville, IL
-Saturday 4/11: Mid-Missouri Wrestling Alliance in St. Louis, MO; World Powerhouse Wrestling in Jerseyville, IL
-Friday 4/17: St. Louis Anarchy in Alton, IL
-Saturday 4/18: St. Louis Anarchy in Alton, IL; SICW in Millstadt, IL (Cowboy Bob Orton appearing)
-Saturday 4/25: SICW in East Carondelet, IL
Good night, good luck, and #yaywrestling.
P.S. We are all marks.
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