Now, as promised, a special comment about Saturday's Pro Wrestling Championship Series show at the Downtown Dugout in Granite City, Illinois.
DISCLAIMER: I'm biased. Deal with it.
It was a busy Saturday night in St. Louis wrestling with three shows in the same evening: PWCS, Dynamo Pro Wrestling in Wood River, and Mid-Missouri Wrestling Alliance in St. Louis. It was a tough choice for me, but I went to PWCS for Stage Two of their second season. I may do separate commentaries for the other events if I get to see all or most of them. Now that Dynamo is releasing DVDs of its previous shows, I hope to eventually do reviews of some events that I missed(including the Pittsfield show where Jake Dirden first won the title).
It's generally a good sign when a promotion changes its home base for capacity reasons; the Season One finale was a legit sellout and they were having trouble fitting everyone into the YMCA venue at times. The new building definitely had more space, but there will probably be an adjustment period. In contrast to the previous venue, it seemed like the audience was a bit more subdued; maybe there was an influx of new fans who weren't as familiar with the characters. Somtimes crowd noise doesn't translate as well when there's more space; smaller venues can make smaller audiences sound louder and better. (Good examples include the Granite City YMCA and also the Knights Of Columbus Hall in Wood River.) At any rate, it was a fine turnout for PWCS...
Your ring announcer was Tito McGee; your referees were Austin Heiberg(from Texas) & Aaron Roy(WLW trainee).
Starting scoreboard: Chaos Nation(fka Team Anarchy) 2-1, Ego Busters 1-1-1, Resurgence 1-1-1, Blacklist 1-2.
Mike Outlaw(Blacklist) vs. "The Elitist" Brandon Espinosa(w/ Greg Jovi)(Ego Busters): Outlaw was a late replacement for the injured Makaze. These two faced each other a few months ago at Dynamo; Outlaw retained the Heavyweight Title due to Ricky Cruz's involvement. A lot has happened since that match as Outlaw is no longer the titleholder; in this bout, Ricky was nowhere to be found and Greg Jovi was the outside factor. I was wondering if the score would be evened in this one...they had a good solid opener. Outlaw fought out of a turnbuckle brainbuster attempt and hit the High Noon(top-rope elbowdrop) for the win in 7:17...oh yeah, I suck at predictions. (Blacklist 2-2, Ego Busters 1-2-1)
Tank Engine Tommy vs. "Superior" Adam Rich: This was another open challenge on the part of Rich; for the second show in a row, it was answered by someone with a less than favorable body type in Rich's eyes. Tommy wrestles for Anarchy Championship Wrestling in Texas as Thomas Muñoz. This match was relatively short and Rich won with a DDT in 2:47.
K.C. Karrington made his entrance with The Blacklist's 2014 championship trophy in tow. "The Daywalker" Alex Castle had been scheduled for the next match, but he was not in the house and K.C. dismissed him as being unable to "cut the mustard". That led to Karrington introducing a replacement...
"Dirdey" Jake Dirden(Resurgence) vs. Adam Raw(Chaos Nation): Raw had been scheduled for a triple threat free agent match with Steve O. Reno and Jeff Gant; he hadn't wrestled in about a year. Was looking forward to this battle of powerhouses...they had a relatively short bout, but I feel like they could do even better if they meet again. Raw will be fine after some time at Ring Ziebart. (Wow, how old is THAT reference?) Raw focuses his attack on the leg for most of the bout. Dirden got him in the Asiatic Spike and couldn't get the tapout, so he wore him down with the hold before delivering a chokeslam for the win in 6:04). (Resurgence 2-1-1, Chaos Nation 2-2) They shook hands after the match...but Raw clipped the bad knee before leaving the ring. Gosh darn it, they'll just have to wrestle again...gosh darn it.
Steve O. Reno vs. Jeff Gant: The scheduled triple threat with Raw turned into this singles bout between newcomers from Texas. Both were fan favorites, though Gant played the subtle heel at times. It was an uphill battle as they got a ton of time to work in front of an iffy crowd, but I think they earned some respect by the end of it. Reno randomly won with a giant swing in 11:28(!).
Jojo Bravo & The Viking War Party("American Viking" Alexandre Rudolph & "Littlest Viking" Jake Parnell)(Blacklist) vs. "The Blue Chipper" Danny Adams & Roscoe Eat Lisa("The Big Mustache On Campus" Mikey McFinnegan & "Zesty" Zakk Sawyers)(Ego Busters): The Vikings were their usual rambunctious selves as they attempted to use a chain and their trademark metal spike in the opening minutes of the match. Rudolph's assertion that the referee just allow him to stab his opponent fell on deaf ears. Several people hit planchas out of the ring, but everyone scattered when McFinnegan tried for his own...bwahahaha. Things broke down(moreso than usual) at the end and Parnell pinned Sawyers after the powerbomb/top-rope double-stomp combo with Rudolph in 17:13. (Blacklist 3-2, Ego Busters 1-3-1)
Intermission~! Bottle of water for one dollar, bottle of soda for two dollars? Think I'll go healthy...okay, I got water AND soda. The diet starts tomorrow. I promise. Would I lie?
The Kobra Kai Dojo(Davey Vega & Mat Fitchett)(Resurgence) vs. The Submission Squad(Evan Gelistico & Pierre Abernathy)(Chaos Nation): This had been built up since Season One after disputes over control of Team Anarchy. It was supposed to happen at the season finale in January, but a booking conflict led to the Submission Squad being out of the area for that weekend. Vega & Fitchett defected to the Resurgence team between seasons, setting the stage for this match to happen within the competition. These guys had a fun matchup, as expected...a steel chair came into play, but Pierre pulled the old Eddy Guerrero trick by throwing it to Vega and falling to the mat. When the referee turned around, he saw Vega with the chair and called for the DQ, awarding the match to the Submission Squad...D-OH~! (Chaos Nation 3-2, Resurgence 2-2-1)
Vega nearly took out his frustration on the referee, but elected to go after Pierre instead...but Karrington ran in out of nowhere, hitting Vega with a low blow from behind before dropping him with the piledriver. Vega had to be assisted from the ringside area...
Outtkast(Blacklist) vs. Gary Jay(w/ Greg Jovi)(Ego Busters): Jovi seemed to lack focus in the wake of his stable's losing streak and the turmoil within his promotion...it's a badly-kept secret that he's both character and promoter in PWCS. These two hadn't faced each other in several years, dating back to the later days of the Lethal Wrestling Alliance(now St. Louis Anarchy). This was one of my favorite matches of the night as they seemed to work really well together. Gary got the victory with the Michinoku Driver in 7:16...wish it could have gone longer. (Ego Busters 2-3-1, Blacklist 3-3)
After the match, Jovi called Makaze and Steven Kennedy to the ring for a meeting of team captains. He said that they had no reason to trust him, but they had to work together or K.C. Karrington and his Chaos Nation would destroy the company. He said they needed to watch each other's backs, especially in Kennedy's case since his teammates were all hospital-bound(either injured or checking on those who were). Kennedy hesitatingly shook Jovi's hand, saying he had "one warning" about a potential double-cross. Makaze was even more wary of trusting Jovi...the normally-silent masked man refused the handshake offer, saying "You've gotta earn it."
A.C.H. vs. Curt Stallion: This was one of the final additions to the card and quite a few people were there to see A.C.H. Have only seen Stallion a few times in recent months but he's got a lot of potential. Considering the fans were unfamiliar with Stallion, this match was really competitive and ended up being the longest match on the show. It occurred to me that I had rarely seen A.C.H. in the position of being the favorite in a lengthy matchup. Oddly, A.C.H. was a bit heelish at times but the fans weren't going to boo him on this night. A.C.H. got a hard-fought pinfall with a straitjacket version of the Hero's Grip(German suplex) in 20:36(!)...you might know the move as Adam Cole's Florida Key. Cue handshake...SPORTSMANSHIP~!
Steven Kennedy(Resurgence) vs. K.C. Karrington(w/ trophy)(Chaos Nation): These two were inseparable best friends for years, dating back to their days as the V.I.P.s in Mid-America Xtreme and then the Ego Express in Gateway Championship Wrestling and other promotions. As time passed, each man focused more on singles competition, leading to Karrington holding the LWA and Dynamo Championships. K.C. took a lengthy break from wrestling and Kennedy started to shift toward being a fan favorite...but Karrington made a surprise return at the season opener in February, attacking his "friend" with a low blow and piledriver. That set the stage for this grudge match and their first-ever matchup against each other...I won't lie, this was the main selling point of the show for me personally.
Both guys came out swinging and each pulled out maneuvers that I hadn't normally seen out of them. It made sense since they knew each other so well...each guy would have to come up with something that the other wasn't prepared to counter. Karrington was able to survive most of Kennedy's signature moves, but Kennedy was able to avoid the piledriver throughout the contest. A fight on the turnbuckles ended in Kennedy's favor and he followed up with a moonsault off the top rope for a big victory in 9:38! (Resurgence 3-2-1, Chaos Nation 3-3)
K.C.'s night wasn't done as he struck after the bell with a low blow and piledriver...in the chaos, members of The Blacklist arrived at ringside to reclaim their trophy. Karrington threatened to cripple Kennedy in front of his family if they didn't return "his" trophy to him...they reluctantly left the trophy on the ring apron, but K.C. delivered a second piledriver anyway. Practically the entire active locker room stormed the ring to run Karrington off and Jovi got the trophy...but he amicably handed it to Makaze. That seemed to earn the masked man's good will as the two shook hands to close the show.
Final scoreboard: Resurgence 3-2-1, Chaos Nation 3-3, Blacklist 3-3, Ego Busters 2-3-1. It was a reversal of fortunes from Season One with The Resurgence on top and The Ego Busters in the basement. The next show will be on July 25th.
The rest of May looks like this:
-Saturday 5/16: Southern Illinois Championship Wrestling in East Carondelet, IL; World Powerhouse Wrestling in Hartford, IL
-Sunday 5/24: High Risk Wrestling in Cahokia, IL
-Saturday 5/30: World League Wrestling in Troy, MO
-Sunday 5/31: Wrestling Invades America in Swansea, IL
Good night, good luck, and #yaywrestling.
P.S. We are all marks.
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