HRW Special Comment

Now, as promised, a special comment about Sunday's High Risk Wrestling show at the VFW Hall in Cahokia, Illinois.

DISCLAIMER:  I'm biased.  Deal with it.

I've enjoyed HRW shows, but the story seems to remain the same:  Good wrestling, not-so-good attendance.  Even though they lowered their ticket price from $20 to $15(it was as high as $25 for the loaded December 2014 show), they drew about the same amount of people as the previous month's show.  The people in attendance had a good time, at any rate...if I had the solution, I'd probably be putting on wrestling shows myself.  (For the record, I measure my sanity level by the fact that I have not yet seriously thought about that possibility.)  There's so much media out there that it's difficult to find the best method of advertising.

Your ring announcer was Brian Thompson; your referees were Jay King, Nick Ridenour, & Brian Stoltz.

The show started with a ten-bell salute for Dusty Rhodes, Tommy Rogers, Buddy Landell, & Cora Combs.

Flip Kendrick vs. Justin D'Air:  Haven't seen too many of Kendrick's matches; he had a cup of coffee in TNA as Flip Casanova.  They had a fun face/face match though the fans weren't too loud for it...this was Kendrick's first appearance in the area and they may not have been too familiar with him.  D'Air hit a major running plancha in the early going, then Flip returned fire with a major-airtime Asai moonsault...nice.  Would like to see these guys meet again at some point.  Kendrick won with a move similar to Slim J's flying inverted DDT off the top rope(sitting out with the move) in 8:44.

Promoter Frank Thurman came out for some announcements.  First of all, the Tag Team Titles were vacant due to reDRagon(Kyle O'Reilly & Bobby Fish) not having competed for HRW in several months.  Back in December, I wondered if The Colony(Fire Ant & Silver Ant) would have been a better choice to hold the belts since they'd be more likely to be available for future shows.  (O'Reilly & Fish are all over the place these days with Ring Of Honor and New Japan commitments, among others.)  He said that a decision hadn't been made about crowning new champs...I imagine the belts could have gone into the scheduled tag match for the night, but that was the only card alteration of the show(more on that later).  There hasn't been a "linear" title change yet in HRW, just vacancies.

Frank also announced an upcoming deal with Roku to air HRW matches...hopefully that'll get the promotion some exposure.  Lastly, he mentioned that Magic Man was not at the show due to illness...hopefully we'll see him around again in the near future.

Mike Outlaw vs. Tony Kozina:  Kozina had more standard theme music this time around, causing a few ringside fans to remark on the lack of little baby ducks...heh.  Kozina has an interesting reputation on the independent circuit(Google it) but I've had a few cordial encounters with him.  That included a Twitter exchange when I asked about the names of his trainees from an MECW show.  All RESPECT~! quips aside, I've been enjoying his work as the grumpy veteran grappler.  It's hard to believe that Outlaw is only a year into his wrestling career...he's come a long way in that time, particularly with his recent mic work.  I still remember the first match of his that I saw:  It was in SICW against his future Dynamo rival Jake Dirden.  It was a good rookie face/veteran heel dynamic for this matchup...Kozina got Outlaw in the anklelock and he refused to surrender.  Outlaw couldn't quite make it to the ropes, but countered the hold into a victory roll for the flash pin in 9:16.  We got the mutual RESPECT~! post-match, but Kozina warned Outlaw that he wouldn't catch him off-guard again.

"The Sicilian Psychopath" Tommaso Ciampa vs. "The Beer City Bruiser" Matt Winchester:  Bruiser was in the most recent ROH Top Prospect Tournament; Ciampa recently left that promotion.  Both guys were very vocal with the crowd and Bruiser's crowd interaction was particularly funny.  It was a definite departure from the usual ultra-serious demeanor for Ciampa...always neat to see something different like that(see also Davey Richards' outing from the previous show).  Crowd interaction is an important thing, especially when you're in front of an unfamiliar audience.  Ciampa's theme music for the night was "Psycho Killer" by The Talking Heads...interesting choice but oddly fitting.  Notably, both guys competed for World League Wrestling in the past; Winchester worked as Dinn T. Moore at the time.  Ciampa's name rang a bell when he first appeared for ROH and it was because I had seen his name on the WLW lineups; admittedly, "Tommaso" isn't a very common name.  At any rate, these two worked really well together and I enjoyed this match a lot...didn't think Ciampa would be able to get Bruiser up in his Project Ciampa finisher(powerbomb-into-backcracker).  Winchester was able to take control with his size, but missed a Vader Bomb-style elbowdrop and Ciampa finished with a kneepad-down knee trembler in 9:49.

Intermission~!  Two cans of soda for the night; wanted to get a burger, but they were out of them by the time I decided to get one.  D-OH!

Team I.O.U.("Limitless" Nick Iggy & "The Music City Mutt" Kerry Awful) vs. "The Madman" Paco Gonzalez & "The Millenial" Danny Adams:  Iggy & Awful were scheduled to face The (Tryout Show) Rejects(Reed Bentley & John Wayne Murdoch), but they were M.I.A.  They were probably a bit sore from IWA Mid-South's King Of The Deathmatches tournament earlier in the weekend.  I don't often see Paco wrestle as a rulebreaker, but he and Adams have teamed up regularly in other promotions(including ROH).  I.O.U. have grown on me in the two times I've seen them at HRW; they're good at connecting with the audience.  There were some good comedic moments early in the bout...history would indicate that it's not a good idea to talk about Danny Adams' parents(see also PWE).  Anywho:  Iggy face-in-peril, hot tag Awful, bonzo gonzo.  Paco & Danny hit a pretty sweet double-team move on Iggy:  Diamond Dust by Paco into a reverse Stunner by Danny.  Awful broke up the pin attempt or that could have easily been an upset.  I.O.U. recovered to clean house as Iggy dropkicked Paco as Awful held him in slam position, adding extra torque to the ensuing Michinoku Driver.  That allowed Awful to pin Paco in 11:30...nicely done.

"The Supercharged Superstar" Bolt Brady vs. "The Last Real Man" Silas Young, number-one contenders' match:  Silas mocked the Wayne's World hat...I am displeased.  This was similar to Outlaw-Kozina with the contrast of the flashy young face against the no-nonsense veteran heel.  Silas actually isn't THAT old but he just looks the part...I think it's the mustache.  Young kept Brady grounded for most of the match, trash-talking all the way...Bolt finally rallied, but Silas made sure he earned his disqualification:  Ref shove, low blow, AND chair abuse after that.  Brady won by DQ in 11:37, but he probably didn't feel like a winner...

Blake Edward Belakis vs. "Mr. '70s Kung Fu" Louis Lyndon for the Heavyweight Title:  These guys had really strong matches at two previous HRW events.  Lyndon beat Belakis to earn a title shot at then-champion A.C.H., but the title ended up vacant and Belakis defeated Lyndon to capture the belt.  Blake bleached his sideburns and looks...unique, I'll say.  Fans seem to think he looks like a "creepy Jesus".  Blake took control by focusing on the arm, one of his primary tactics in recent times.  Lyndon has some unique unorthodox moves and is a lot of fun to watch.  Endgame happened as Belakis brought the belt into the ring; the ref took it away from him, but Blake got in a low blow while the referee wasn't paying attention.  He hooked Lyndon in his double-underhook guillotine hold, but Louis escaped by running him into the ropes, causing both to tumble out to the floor.  A reversal sequence led to Lyndon hitting his bad shoulder on the ringpost; Blake capitalized with a shoulderbreaker and got the double-underhook guillotine for a second time in the middle of the ring.  Lyndon didn't tap but passed out and that was the ballgame in 15:53.

Post-game:  Belakis laid out Lyndon with a palm strike, then wrapped a chair around his arm to do more damage.  Bolt Brady tried to help out, but he was blindsided by Silas Young...so we've got some intersecting issues here.  Silas griped about how Bolt "made him come out" while he was still getting dressed...ha!

The next High Risk Wrestling show is on Sunday 7/26, presumably with Belakis vs. Brady for the title.  They announced that Ace Perry, Dale Patricks, and Tripp Cassidy would be back...goodie.

Thus ended a busy month of June...I saw seven shows in person, as well as the MMWA event via YouTube.  I went to Ring Of Honor and saw Matt Sydal for the first time in forever, along with a few other familiar faces.  I made my first super-lengthy road trip to a wrestling event in Indianapolis and saw a CHIKARA show for the first time...to give you an idea of how little I've traveled in my life, that was the first time I had ever been out of the Central Time Zone!

I recorded my third month of television commentary for SICW, appearing on camera for the second month's worth of show opens...it's been a lot of fun, though my camera presence and delivery could use a bit of improvement.  Myself and Drew Abbenhaus are both laid-back individuals, so some contrast might help in that regard.  It's a work in progress and I appreciate promoter Herb Simmons giving me the opportunity...but it's not quite the same without Larry Matysik behind the microphone.  Get well soon, Larry!

July looks like this:

-Saturday 7/11:  Dynamo Pro Wrestling in Glen Carbon, IL; Mid-Missouri Wrestling Alliance in St. Louis, MO
-Tuesday 7/14:  World League Wrestling in Troy, MO (Fairgrounds)
-Wednesday 7/15:  World League Wrestling in Troy, MO (Fairgrounds)
-Saturday 7/18:  Southern Illinois Championship Wrestling in East Carondelet, IL
-Saturday 7/25:  Gateway Elite Wrestling in Lake Ozark, MO; World Powerhouse Wrestling in Collinsville, IL
-Sunday 7/26:  High Risk Wrestling in Cahokia, IL

Good night, good luck, and #yaywrestling.

P.S. We are all marks.