WLW Special Comment

Now, as promised, a special comment about Friday's World League Wrestling show at the Race Wrestling Arena in Troy, Missouri.

DISCLAIMER:  I'm biased.  Deal with it.

WLW(originally World Legion Wrestling) has been around a while.  Started by legendary Hall Of Famer Harley Race in Eldon, Missouri, the promotion began in the late '90s and, despite a few dry spells, has been running ever since.  Several people started training at WLW and went on to bigger and better things; it would take a whole separate column to list notable alumni.

My initial experience with WLW was through their short-lived TV show on PAX; that show introduced me to Trevor Murdoch(then Trevor Rhodes), Ace Steel, Matt Murphy, Superstar Steve Fender, and "Miss Natural" Heather Patera(among others).  However, WLW rarely ran in the greater St. Louis area so I was unable to attend shows.  In late 2013, they moved their training center from central Missouri to Troy and began running regular shows at the facility...but those events usually conflicted with other shows that were closer to home for me.  That was almost the case on the 21st, but the show was cancelled due to ice on their parking lot...when it was announced that the event would take place on the following Friday, I planned the trip to attend my first WLW show.

Sometimes the trip to an indie show can be an adventure, especially when it's my first time traveling to a venue and it's dark outside.  My Google Map directions didn't specify the exit at one point and I had to call Ben Simon to point me in the right direction.

The presence of the Hall Of Famer Harley Race is undeniable as he was sitting in the front office as I entered the building and was at the merchandise table for most of the show.  Unfortunately I didn't officially meet him or shake his hand, but my constant mental question was "What do you say to HARLEY RACE?"  The best I could come up with was "Um, hi, Mr. Race, sir."

The lineup was shuffled due to the last-minute schedule change and possibly weather issues.  Absent from the original match listing were Miss Natural(booked in Texas for the weekend), Steve Fender, and Kyle Roberts.  As such, Women's Champion Stacey O'Brien didn't wrestle(though she was in attendance).  WLW shows tend to be shorter with only five or six matches, which I knew ahead of time.

Your ring announcer was Dan Gier; your referee was Richard White.

Seven-Man Battle Royal:  The match consisted of people in other matches on the card; the only exceptions were the current titleholders(Heavyweight Champion Leland Race and Tag Team Champions Jack Gamble & Jon Webb).  You couldn't blink in this one as people were eliminated VERY quickly...it seemed like I would look down to note an elimination and look up to realize that another person was gone.  As such, the eliminators may not be totally accurate.  Order:  A.J. Williams(by Jayden Fenix), Brandon Espinosa(by Dave DeLorean), DeLorean(by John E. Rock), Fenix(by Mike Sydal), Sydal(by Michael Magnuson), and Rock(by Magnuson).  Your winner:  Michael Magnuson in 2:09(!).

Brandon Espinosa vs. A.J. Williams:  This would be Part MCMXVIII in the ongoing series, though I'm pretty sure this was the first time it was face Espinosa vs. heel Williams.  They had a good matchup that may have been cut short by a freak injury; there was a spot where Espy pulled A.J. out of the corner by his legs into a sitout powerbomb and Williams apparently hyperextended his knee.  They tried to forge onward but it became apparent that A.J. would have trouble continuing...Espy quickly wrapped things up with a powerslam out of the Tombstone position in 9:04.

Cue intermission numero uno (as Dan Gier said they were checking on A.J.'s injury).  I had heard that "Beer City Bruiser" Matt Winchester had trained at WLW, but I wasn't aware of his previous ring name until now:  Dinn T. Moore.

"The Yoga Monster" Mike Sydal vs. Dave DeLorean:  The fans heckled DeLorean by insinuating that "You Can't Yoga"...he tried it, but he's not nearly as flexible as Sydal.  (To be fair, very few people are.)  They had a solid smaller face vs. bigger heel matchup, a formula that tends to click pretty well.  Given the lack of true heel tactics in wrestling nowadays, I appreciate when they actually take place...the finish saw DeLorean roll through a cross-bodyblock off the top rope and hold the tights for the win in 13:18.

High Level Enterprise(Jack Gamble & Jon Webb) vs. Jayden Fenix & John E. Rock for the Tag Team Titles:  Notably, this was Fenix's first use of that name in WLW as he had previously gone by Jamell Harris.  I had seen YouTube videos of Rock's matches but this was my first time seeing him live.  WLW's Tag Titles had gone back and forth between HLE and the Black Hand Warriors in the past few years...with Gamble & Webb traveling to Pro Wrestling Noah in a few months, I wondered if they would drop the belts or take them to Japan.  It was essentially a face-vs.-face matchup, though each side showed a few heel tendencies at times...Fenix and Rock isolated Webb for a while, hot tag Gamble, bonzo gonzo and all that.  Gamble and Webb hit a pretty cool double-team finisher(fireman's-carry Flapjack by Gamble into a Codebreaker by Webb), allowing Gamble to pin Rock in 14:41.  They talked up Gamble & Webb's upcoming trip to Japan...woo.

Cue intermission numero dos...a video was played either here or during the previous intermission regarding Trevor Murdoch appearing at the next Troy show(March 21st).

Leland Race vs. Michael Magnuson(w/ Dave DeLorean) for the Heavyweight Title:  Jason Jones had been WLW Champion, but forfeited the belt out of the blue to take a hiatus...he returned under his current name, pushed as the previously-unacknowledged son of Harley Race.  Leland doesn't wrestle much like Harley as he has a more modern-era style, for lack of a better way of putting it.  DeLorean was ejected from ringside after a few minutes when he tripped up Race in front of the referee.  That meant it was one-on-one and the two had a competitive matchup...notable since Magnuson has primarily been a tag team competitor.  Race got the win with a jumping DDT in 14:15...it says something about the current state of wrestling that I was surprised about a DDT actually ending a match!

Cue the postmatch...DeLorean ran back out to help Magnuson double-team Race.  Fenix and Rock ran in for the save...but then Fenix turned on Rock with a superkick, officially joining the Black Hand Warriors as far as WLW was concerned.  (He was already aligned with them in Dynamo Pro Wrestling.)  Cue three-on-two assault until Gamble & Webb hit the ring for the real save.

Post-show food run observation:  Applebee's has really good boneless buffalo wings.

March looks like this:
-Saturday 3/7:  DPW in Fenton, MO; PWE in Pontoon Beach, IL
-Saturday 3/14:  PWCS in Granite City, IL; MMWA in St. Louis, MO
-Saturday 3/21:  SICW in East Carondelet, IL; WLW in Troy, MO

Good night, good luck, and #yaywrestling.

P.S. We are all marks.