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.
First off, best wishes to Dan Walsh as he has decided to retire from the ring due to concussion issues. I met Dan in the GCW days and he was always an entertaning guy in and out of the ring. I got started on the comedy thing after going to a few of his open-mic night performances at the Westport Funny Bone...so yeah, that whole thing is his fault. I also got an interesting story out of the time he randomly chopped me at a bar show at Lloyd & Harry's. Long story short, it knocked the wind out of me but it was still kinda cool. #mark
This would be classified as SICW's "big show of the year" as May is the anniversary of the premiere of Wrestling At The Chase. Several special guests were scheduled to appear, but Mike McGuirk was not in attendance with no explanation given. Unfortunately Larry Matysik was unable to attend the show, but his wife Pat was in the house. Understandably, it was a packed house for the big event.
Your ring announcer was Drew Abbenhaus; your referees were Jay King & Denny Thomas.
Promoter Herb Simmons started the show by acknowledging Barbara Goodish(wife of the late King Kong/Bruiser Brody) and Pat Matysik at ringside, as well as former AWA announcer Mick Karch.
"Dirdey" Jake Dirden, Bobby D, & "Dead Sexy" Daniel Gunner vs. "The Elitist" Brandon Espinosa, "Volatile" Curtis Wylde, & Bubba Troll(w/ Wyldefyre): Hello, match-to-get-as-many-people-as-possible-on-the-show. It was tough to follow the action on this night with so many people in the building...will probably notice a few more details when I do the commentary for the TV show. Chaos erupted at the end with everyone fighting, then Wyldefyre tripped her own man by mistake after Bobby D reversed an Irish whip into the ropes. Bobby D finished off Wylde with a Pedigree in 8:59.
Big Jim Hoffarth vs. Ax Allwardt: Ax was disqualified against Big Jim in March for using his chain as a weapon, then these two were on opposite sides of last month's mixed tag match that ended in a double DQ. At some point in the match, Hoffarth's arm or shoulder was injured; I didn't see if Ax did something to the arm or if it was just a freak thing. Either way, Ax took over from there and the referee actually stopped the match due to the injury in 7:19. The finish was a bit confusing as people wondered if Hoffarth had been disqualified for pushing the referee(he was trying to convince him to let the fight continue). Ax wasn't done as he assaulted Hoffarth with his chain after the bell...but once Ax had left the ring area, Hoffarth vowed to get revenge on him. (EDIT: Hoffarth went for a clothesline on the floor and accidentally hit the ringpost when Ax moved, causing the initial injury.)
"The Old School Warrior" Chaz Wesson vs. Waco: Well, something had to be a short segment on this loaded show. Dropkick, powerslam, and cross-bodyblock off the top rope ended Waco's night in short order in 1:03. Thanks for coming.
"Night Train/Gorgeous/Great One" Gary Jackson(w/ Big Daddy) vs. Barackus: This was Barackus' SICW debut but he was up against a familiar opponent. Big Daddy was notably absent for the April shows but was back for this event; he was in Gary's corner, but he wasn't at ringside for Daniel Eads' match. Take that for whatever it's worth. The big man dominated the veteran, but Gary made the comeback until being cut off by a huge Samoan Drop. Barackus took too much time going for the pin and made an arrogant cover when he did; that allowed Gary to crucifix him for the pinfall in 5:18.
Intermission numero uno~! I'm getting to the point in my life where soda should be avoided, so I went with bottled water for the night. Also picked up a cheeseburger...tremendous.
Herb did a brief interview segment with Stan "The Lariat" Hansen(one of Brody's old tag partners) and Barbara Goodish regarding the night's main event: The Bruiser Brody Memorial Battle Royal. Briefly chatted with Hansen after the show...he was a nice guy. I'll admit to not being as familiar with Hansen's work as I would like to be, but the LARIATOOOOO~! was his trademark for a reason.
Paloma Starr vs. "Queen Of Chaos" Lucy Mendez: These two crossed paths in the aforementioned mixed tag match in April, resulting in a catfight and double DQ; this time around, there were no male tag partners to hold them back. There was a rough spot or two, but it was a solid matchup for the most part; they've faced each other a few times in the past month or so. Lucy tends to get a mixed reaction as a heel since guys don't want to boo the good-looking gal...yeah, I know, five hundred feet means five hundred feet. Anywho, Lucy got the clean win with a hanging DDT in 8:42.
Keith Smith Jr. vs. "Ironman" Ken Kasa(w/ Travis Cook): This match had a couple of intersecting stories. On one side, Keith Jr. was working toward his first one-on-one victory. On the other side, Kasa seemed to be falling out of favor with Cook's Organization since losing the Classic Title; Travis' focus seemed to have shifted to his other charges, particularly Chris Hargas. Kasa pinned Keith Jr. in last month's tag match, as seen on this week's episode of SICW Wrestling Explosion (expertly called by Drew Abbenhaus and yours truly *cheap plug*). In a nice touch, Kasa nailed the John Wu Dropkick right out of the gate(that's how he won last month, Maggle!)...but he didn't go to the pin, opting to make the young punk suffer a bit longer. It was the classic blueprint of the veteran trying to humiliate the rookie, but getting too cocky and making mistakes that allowed the young guy to fight back. Chaz Wesson came out to root for his tag team partner and Travis got up on the ring apron to protest something or other. However, that inadvertently distracted his own man who was wondering what the hell he was doing...that gave Keith Jr. the opening for a football-style leg dive. In a nod to his father's favored finishing maneuver, Keith Jr. locked on the figure-four in the middle of the ring...and with nowhere to go, Kasa finally had to tap out in 10:45!
Things got really interesting after the bell as the Kasa/Cook interaction escalated to a full-blown argument. Travis berated his charge for losing and it got to the point where Kasa shoved him away. Cook brought out a chain and went for a cheapshot, but Kasa saw it coming and backed him into the corner. However, before he could lower the boom, Hargas attacked his now-former friend from behind with a knee clip...ladies and gentlemen, we have a face turn. The two beat down Kasa with Travis putting the chain to good use...the Travis Cook Organization was thus downsized as Hargas locked Kasa in an STF as Travis put the badmouth on him.
"The King Of Chaos" Ricky Cruz & Ron Powers vs. Attila Khan & "The Icon" Chris Hargas(w/ Travis Cook): Hargas was subbing for Bull Bronson. Not sure if the "King Of Chaos" nickname is still in effect since Ricky's a fan favorite again. Haven't been sure whether to acknowledge Ricky's connection to Lucy on commentary, especially since she uses the "QUEEN Of Chaos" nickname...however, that alliance never existed on Earth-SICW so I've opted against it. (How did no one make the "I Love Lucy" reference with regards to Ricky & Lucy? Oh yeah, I'm old.) The history between Cruz & Powers is well-documented(some dork did a whole column on Missouri Wrestling Revival about it), but they were on the same page on this night. Bonzo gonzo at the end and the referee's attention was elsewhere, so KHAAAAAN~! got out his patented whatever-the-heck-his-international-object-of-choice-is and jabbed Ricky in the midsection, then in the throat. That was enough for him to get the tainted pinfall in 8:11.
Intermission numero dos...tough to get to the restrooms when the building is that crowded. There was also quite a gathering outside the door during intermissions as people got fresh air or took smoke breaks.
Flash Flanagan vs. "The Man Of Tomorrow" Daniel Eads for the Classic Title: Flanagan beat down Eads last fall to set up his series with then-champion Heath Hatton, resulting in Flash cheating Hatton out of the belt. With Heath still out of action due to injuries, Eads worked his way up the ladder for a shot at the champ, resulting in this matchup. It's odd how the title has been overshadowed by other things in the past year or so, plus it's changed hands a lot more frequently in that time. Eads gave the titleholder a run for his money, but Flanagan put him away with a double-stomp from the top rope with Eads hung upside-down in the corner...the champ retained in 12:52.
Bruiser Brody Memorial Battle Royal: The main event featured everyone on the card except Flanagan and Eads, Kasa(injured from the earlier attack), Bobby D(because...reasons...), and the ladies. It was tough to keep track of everything in the crowded ring, so I didn't always catch who did the eliminating. Gunner was out first, followed by Barackus(think it was Dirden that got him out) and Wylde. Powers was surprisingly eliminated, but I wouldn't find out until later that it happened due to Travis Cook low-bridging him by pulling down the top rope. Dirden took himself and Troll out of the match with a Cactus Clothesline. Keith Jr. was gone next, then longtime rivals Jackson & Espinosa eliminated each other. Waco was the next one gone...but at this point, Director Of Affairs Cowboy Bob Orton announced that Powers had been illegally eliminated by Travis Cook and could re-enter the match. Wesson went out, then Cruz eliminated Khan only to be pulled to the floor by the Mongolian. It came down to Powers and Hargas, but Powers low-bridged Hargas out of the ring(IRONY~!) and the Brody protege won the battle royal in 8:00!
(EDIT: Eliminations were: Gunner by Troll, Barackus by Dirden, Wylde by Cruz, Powers illegally by Travis Cook, Dirden/Troll eliminated each other, Keith Jr. by Hargas, Jackson/Espinosa eliminated each other, Waco by Chaz, Ax by Chaz, Chaz pulled out by Ax, Khan by Cruz, Cruz pulled out by Khan, Hargas by Powers.)
Stan Hansen and Barbara Goodish presented Powers with the trophy, but Herb had some good news/bad news for him: He had made a decision to settle the Red River Jack situation once and for all. (I had wondered if R.R.J. would be a late entry into the battle royal after Powers was eliminated, actually...) At the June show, it would be Ron Powers teaming up with Red River Jack against two members of the Travis Cook Organization. The plot thickens...Powers seemed to be caught off-guard by that announcement, but said he and the masked man would come out on top at that show.
At any rate, that was my fifth independent wrestling show of the month with three more to go...here's how the next few weeks look:
-Sunday 5/24: High Risk Wrestling in Cahokia, IL (NOTE: A.C.H. is wrestling in Mexico, so the Heavyweight Title has been vacated; Louis Lyndon will wrestle the winner of the Takaaki Watanabe vs. Blake Belakis match to crown a new champion.)
-Saturday 5/30: World League Wrestling in Troy, MO
-Sunday 5/31: Wrestling Invades America in Swansea, IL
-Friday 6/5: Ring Of Honor in Collinsville, IL
Good night, good luck, and #yaywrestling.
P.S. We are all marks.
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