HRW Special Comment

Now, as promised, a special comment abount Sunday's High Risk Wrestling show at the Belle-Clair Fairgrounds in Belleville, IL.

DISCLAIMER:  I'm biased.  Deal with it.

The lineup experienced a bit of shuffling due to several absences from the announced card.  There was a notice at the ticket table that Andrew Everett, Trevor Lee, Silas Young, and Mark Sterling weren't there for a variety of reasons(injuries, travel problems, etc.)...I appreciate that level of honesty.  The original match listing had Everett vs. Lee vs. Louis Lyndon, Blake Belakis vs. Silas, and Sterling teaming with Moose against Mike Outlaw & Dark Mon.

Attendance wasn't that good, sorry to say.  Running a show on Easter Sunday meant that a lot of people were otherwise engaged for the holiday.  Who knows if the upcoming change of scenery(Cahokia) will make a difference.  The people in the building had a good time, at any rate.

Your ring announcer was Brian Thompson, your video commentators were Brian Thompson & Steve Murphy, and your referees were Jason Pemberton, Nick Ridenour, & Jay King.

Curt Stallion vs. John E. Rock vs. Alexander S. Kirk:  Have only seen Stallion a few times; he's originally from Texas but lives in the area and was trained by Michael Elgin.  Rock is a member of the World League Wrestling roster; he worked heel in this matchup despite being a fan favorite in WLW.  Kirk wrestles in Indiana; I hadn't heard of him before this show.  A good portion of the match saw the two heels gang up on Stallion...Stallion made El Big Comeback and got the pin on Rock after a solo Spanish Fly(!) in 7:23.  Nicely done.

Dark Mon(w/ Magic Man) vs. Moose(w/ Beautiful Bobby Eaton):  It was unusual for Moose to wrestle twice, but I imagine the New Midnight Express(Bad Brad Charles & Tenacious Tyler Cook) were supposed to be in the spot against Dark Mon & Outlaw.  Had never seen Dark Mon before; he's a BIG guy, even taller than Moose with a cool look; apparently he wrestles in Georgia.  Both guys can throw impressive dropkicks for their size.  Moose somehow managed to survive two MASSIVE chokeslams from the big man.  Eaton's distraction was the deciding factor as it allowed Moose to hit the spear for the win in 9:20.

Mike Outlaw vs. "3G" Eric Wayne:  I recognized Wayne's name but this was my first time seeing him in a match; he previously competed for All-American Pro Wrestling and is a third-generation competitor.  Local wrestling fans know Mike Outlaw by now, particularly as Dynamo Pro Wrestling's current champion.  Magic Man came out midway through the match as he was apparently scouting for new talent...Outlaw overcame the experience disadvantage, fighting out of a superplex attempt to win with the High Noon(top-rope elbowdrop) in 7:24.  Magic Man spoke with Outlaw afterwards...more on that as it develops.

Jonathan Gresham(w/ Cthulhu-themed ring attire) vs. Trevor Murdoch:  Gresham was a heel and Murdoch was a face at the previous show, but Murdoch seemed to cop an attitude right out of the gate.  That turned Gresham into the fan favorite by default (on top of the severe size disadvantage).  Murdoch controlled the match as a result and seemed like he wasn't taking Gresham too seriously...however, that backfired on him as Gresham reversed a pinning combination into a sunset flip for the flash pin in 6:15.

I'm always interested in seeing different wrestlers from around the country...I've heard a lot of buzz about Ace Perry, Team I.O.U., and John Wayne Murdoch but I've never seen them at a live show before.  All of them are booked for the next HRW show on May 24th at their new venue in Cahokia.  It'll also be my first time seeing Flip Kendrick at a live show.

Intermission~!  Touched base with "The Human Wrecking Ball" Pete Madden while he was in town...always a blast to talk to him.

Louis Lyndon vs. Blake Edward Belakis:  I've become a big fan of Belakis in recent times.  This was my first time seeing Lyndon at a live event, though I'd seen quite a few of his matches on AAW's YouTube show.  He's got a unique style with some very innovative maneuvers...he and Belakis worked well together with the contrast to Blake's no-nonsense hard-hitting approach.  The match was for the next shot at the HRW Title held by A.C.H....either possible bout would be a lot of fun to watch (MAGGLE).  If I had to pick a favorite match of the night, it would have been this one...very slick finish with Lyndon tilt-a-whirling into a dragon sleeper-with-bodyscissors for the tapout in 9:33.

Kongo Kong vs. Moose(w/ Bobby Eaton):  Kongo is the current IWA Mid-South Heavyweight Champion and, like many other people on this show, it was my first time seeing him at a live event.  It was another battle of big men and the match played out in a similar fashion to Moose's earlier bout with Dark Mon.  Kongo hit a huge splash off the top rope for a near-fall as Moose got a foot on the bottom rope.  They teased the same finish as the Dark Mon match with Eaton's distraction leading to Moose's spear, but Kong kicked out at 2 1/2.  Moose lost his cool and attacked Kong with a chair for the DQ in 8:25...so much for that.

Bolt Brady vs. "The Yoga Monster" Mike Sydal, anything-goes match:  All outside parties were barred from ringside as Eaton and company had helped Sydal defeat Brady at the previous show.  This stemmed from Sydal turning on Brady in a tag match against the newly-formed New Midnight Express.  Sydal attacked Bolt from behind as he made his entrance and they fought on the floor in the opening minutes of the matchup...chairs and a kendo stick came into play as well.  There was a funny moment as Sydal nearly lost his temper after Bolt kicked out of a pin attempt, but Sydal immediately went into a yoga pose to calm down...heh.  Brady won the blowoff match with the Tesla Coil(Angel's Wings into a lungblower) in 10:19...Moose hit the ring to attack, but Outlaw & Dark Mon ran him off as Magic Man kept Eaton at bay.  Once again, a show ended with a preview of coming attractions...

The upcoming weeks look like this:
-Saturday 4/11:  MMWA in St. Louis; WPW in Jerseyville
-Friday 4/17:  SLA in Alton
-Saturday 4/18:  SLA in Alton; SICW in Millstadt; WLW in Troy.
-Saturday 4/25:  SICW in East Carondelet

Good night, good luck, and #yaywrestling.

P.S. We are all marks.