-Commentators: Michael Cole, Byron Saxton, & John Bradshaw Layfield.
-Dolph Ziggler(w/ Lana Perry) d. Alexander Rusev(w/ Summer Rae) by DQ when Summer broke up the pin after the Zigzag (10:47 aired). Lana fought with Summer after the match.
-Beat The Clock Challenge: Becky Lynch(w/ Paige Knight & Charlotte Flair) d. Alicia Fox(w/ Women's Champion Nikki Bella & Brie Bella) with the Dis-Arm-Her (3:21).
-Ryback d. The Big Show with the Shellshock to retain the Intercontinental Title (7:20); Mike Mizanin did commentary and briefly distracted Show before the finish.
-Beat The Clock Challenge: Charlotte Flair(w/ Paige Knight & Becky Lynch) d. Brie Bella(w/ Women's Champion Nikki Bella & Alicia Fox) after the Natural Selection(low-altitude somersault Cutter) (1:40).
-Kevin Owens d. Antonio Cesaro with the pop-up powerbomb (12:34 aired).
-Braun Strowman(w/ Bray Wyatt & Luke Harper) d. Dean Ambrose(w/ Roman Reigns) by DQ when Strowman shoved Reigns and Reigns attacked him (3:07). Strowman manhandled both Reigns and Ambrose afterwards with Harper only coming in at the end to help with cleanup.
-Beat The Clock Challenge: Paige Knight(w/ Charlotte Flair & Becky Lynch) vs. "The Boss" Sasha Banks(w/ Naomi Night & Tamina Snuka) ended in a draw (1:40). Team Bella came out to pose with the Women's Title belt after the match; Charlotte gets the title shot at Night Of Champions.
-The Dudley Boys(Buh-Buh Ray & D-Von) d. Tag Team Champions The New Day(Big E Langston & Kofi Kingston)(w/ Xavier Woods)(non-title) when D-Von pinned Kofi after the Dudley Death Drop (9:20 aired). The Prime Time Players(Titus O'Neil & Darren Young) did commentary.
Monday, August 31, 2015
Anarchy Wrestling TV #499
-Commentators: Brett Wolverton & John "The Body" Johnson.
-"The Real" Slim J & Fred Yehi won a four-corner match with "Wild" Billy Buck & "Hit For Hire" Bobby Moore, The Big F'n Deal("Wrestling's Most Dangerous Weapon" Geter & Brian Blaze), and The Silent Kill Syndicate("The Angel Of Death" Azrael & "The Undead Luchador" Supernatural) to retain the Tag Team Titles; Yehi pinned Supernatural after Geter dropped his Team Platinum stablemate with a sitout Tombstone (joined in progress; 12:25 aired).
-Kevin Park d. Marko Polo with a straitjacket German suplex (joined in progress; 4:28 aired).
-"The Encore" Kevin Blue d. Young Lions' Champion Jeremy Foster after a corner boot to retain the T.V. Title (7:34 aired).
-"The Modern Classic" B.J. Hancock, Lars Manderson, & "The Italian-American Bad Boy" Tommy Penirelli d. Shadow Jackson, Logan Creede, & Jacob Ashworth(w/ Agent/Attorney Jeff G. Bailey); Kevin Blue interfered, allowing Hancock to roll up Ashworth with a handful of tights (9:12 aired).
-Team Platinum continued the abuse, which brought out "The Lethal Dose" Stryknyn to fight with Penirelli. Next out were(in order): Brian Blaze, Bobby Moore, Supernatural, "The Violence Artist" Trever Aeon, Slim J & Fred Yehi, and Geter. Hancock offered Bailey a "free shot" and Bailey slapped him...Hancock set up for a piledriver, but LIGHTS OFF LIGHTS ON and "The Priest Of Punishment" Mikael Judas was in the ring to chokeslam Hancock. Anarchy held the high ground and Bailey yelled at the troops to rally together against Team Platinum. Bailey wanted to see Team Anarchy destroy Team Platinum in a Wargames cage match at Hostile Environment...Bailey vowed to make Stephen Platinum bleed at that event.
-"The Real" Slim J & Fred Yehi won a four-corner match with "Wild" Billy Buck & "Hit For Hire" Bobby Moore, The Big F'n Deal("Wrestling's Most Dangerous Weapon" Geter & Brian Blaze), and The Silent Kill Syndicate("The Angel Of Death" Azrael & "The Undead Luchador" Supernatural) to retain the Tag Team Titles; Yehi pinned Supernatural after Geter dropped his Team Platinum stablemate with a sitout Tombstone (joined in progress; 12:25 aired).
-Kevin Park d. Marko Polo with a straitjacket German suplex (joined in progress; 4:28 aired).
-"The Encore" Kevin Blue d. Young Lions' Champion Jeremy Foster after a corner boot to retain the T.V. Title (7:34 aired).
-"The Modern Classic" B.J. Hancock, Lars Manderson, & "The Italian-American Bad Boy" Tommy Penirelli d. Shadow Jackson, Logan Creede, & Jacob Ashworth(w/ Agent/Attorney Jeff G. Bailey); Kevin Blue interfered, allowing Hancock to roll up Ashworth with a handful of tights (9:12 aired).
-Team Platinum continued the abuse, which brought out "The Lethal Dose" Stryknyn to fight with Penirelli. Next out were(in order): Brian Blaze, Bobby Moore, Supernatural, "The Violence Artist" Trever Aeon, Slim J & Fred Yehi, and Geter. Hancock offered Bailey a "free shot" and Bailey slapped him...Hancock set up for a piledriver, but LIGHTS OFF LIGHTS ON and "The Priest Of Punishment" Mikael Judas was in the ring to chokeslam Hancock. Anarchy held the high ground and Bailey yelled at the troops to rally together against Team Platinum. Bailey wanted to see Team Anarchy destroy Team Platinum in a Wargames cage match at Hostile Environment...Bailey vowed to make Stephen Platinum bleed at that event.
WLW Special Comment
Now, as promised, a special comment about Saturday's World League Wrestling show at the Troy Buchanan High School in Troy, Missouri.
DISCLAIMER: I'm biased. Deal with it.
It's safe to say that this show had a lot of hype behind it. With "Nature Boy" Ric Flair in the house, a bigger venue was necessary for the "Night Of Champions" event. I even saw a billboard for the event on the highway as I was driving to the show! The week-long training camp saw attendees from across the country and even Canada...they had several special guest trainers including Tom Pritchard, Naomichi Marufuji, Hirooki Goto, and Gedo. I didn't see any of them on Saturday, but Bobby Eaton was in attendance at the merchandise table. They had a few hundred people in the high school gymnasium...sweet. With more matches on the lineup, the show had an earlier start time of 6 PM.
Had the opportunity to meet a few newcomers to the St. Louis wrestling scene...this region is literally drawing wrestlers from all over the world. I spoke with Karim Brigante and Monica Passeri, who have been training with WLW and previously competed in their home country of Italy. They'll be debuting for both Southern Illinois Championship Wrestling and High Risk Wrestling in the near future. I also met Australia native Wam Bam Bellows(quite the wrestling name there!)...he's wrestled all over the world and made his SICW debut the previous weekend. Look forward to seeing what they have to offer. Saw several familiar faces in attendance though they didn't wrestle: Dustin Bozworth, Michael Magnuson, Eathon Wright, Cancun Kid, and Lucy Mendez. Also spoke with Gary Jackson during the second intermission.
Your ring announcer was Brian Thompson; your referees were Richard White & Brandon Schmitt.
The show started with Harley Race and Ric Flair coming out to the ring area as Flair spoke to the fans in attendance. Unfortunately I didn't get to directly meet him...I actually got his autograph back in 1999 when WCW Slamboree was coming to town. Harley is now in a motorized wheelchair but is probably still tougher than most of us. Flair told some road stories about himself and Harley, particularly Harley proving his toughness to the locker rooms in Japan! Very cool to see Flair in person, at any rate...he jokingly grabbed Stacey O'Brien in a headlock on the way out.
Battle Royal: I knew four of the seven participants: Mike Outlaw, Justin D'Air, Jack Gamble, and "Young & Dangerous" Evan Morris. Roy Lewis(who had been a ref for Pro Wrestling Championship Series) was making his Midwest in-ring debut after having his first handful of matches in Texas and (I think) Memphis. The remaining two competitors were in town for the training camp: Josh Calisto from Minnesota and "Gentleman" Jake O'Brien from Oklahoma. (I didn't clearly hear the ring announcement so they may have given him a different last name...market confusion with Stacey and all.)
Lewis got an initiation of sorts as he took a beating from the other six entrants...he got in a swinging fisherman buster on Gamble, but Gamble dumped him to the floor shortly thereafter. O'Neil tossed Calisto, but the remaining four wrestlers ganged up on the larger Gentleman to get him out. Morris tried to throw out Outlaw and D'Air, but both held on to the top rope and skinned the cat to double-headscissor Morris to the floor. Morris blew a gasket and pulled Outlaw to the floor in response...heel turn, perhaps? That left Gamble and D'Air...my money was on Gamble as the most "tenured" WLW competitor, but D'Air picked up the win in 10:03 after eliminating Gamble.
Brandon Espinosa & "Kickin'" Kyle Roberts vs. Kevin Lee Davidson & Hannibal: K.L.D. had wrestling gear for the first time in this area(he usually has the bodyguard attire at Mid-Missouri Wrestling Alliance shows). Hannibal is a Canadian competitor who has a passing resemblance to Damien Sandow. Espy really loaded up on the eye shadow for the night...err. This was a good solid tag match with a good contrast in styles(speed vs. size). Roberts pinned Hannibal after he and Espinosa hit stereo frog splashes from opposite turnbuckles on Hannibal and K.L.D.(respectively) in 10:08. (This show had long matches; no match went under ten minutes.)
Trevor Murdoch & Brian Breaker vs. Moonshine Mantell & Josef Von Schmidt: Mantell is from Texas, Schmidt is from Connecticut. Haven't had a good evil German in wrestling since...what, Alex "Berlyn" Wright? J.V.S. has an eyepatch because he's EVIL~! Hadn't seen Breaker in a while; he worked a few matches for SICW before his brief NXT stint as Brandon Traven, but he was a WLW regular for a while and held their Heavyweight Title. Mantell cheated by taking a swig from his jug and spitting the contents(look at his name and take a wild guess) in Murdoch's eyes. Anywho, another standard solid tag bout here...neat finish as Breaker picked up Mantell in powerbomb position and Murdoch added a clothesline off the top rope. That allowed Murdoch to get the three-count in 12:35.
Intermission~! Concession count: One 20-ounce bottle of Mountain Dew. I swear I saw water fountains in the general area of the gym; should have gotten my beverage sustenance from there. (Yes, I keep track of this stuff while I figure out my personal diet. Been binging way too much on junk food.)
Jon Webb vs. "The" Ace Hawkins: Not sure why, but these two didn't seem to click for whatever reason. Almost positive this was their first one-on-one meeting. Don't know if it was necessarily bad, just not as good as I was thinking it could be. hopefully they'll lock horns again in the near future and give it another go. Webb won with his second Sliced Bread #2 of the match in 12:30...maybe it could have worked better with less time?
Stacey O'Brien vs. "Miss Natural" Heather Patera, best-of-three-falls for the Women's Title: Miss Natural holds the record with seven reigns as WLW Women's Champion(her first title win was in 2002!); Stacey is on her sixth reign. These two have traded the belt on a few occasions and the feud is just about even; after Stacey won a close battle at the most recent Troy show, Miss Natural challenged her to this two-out-of-three-falls bout. They blew through the first two falls quickly, which seemed like a waste of the stipulation...oh well. Miss Natural got a rollup with feet on the ropes(Flair Pin~!) in 1:41, then tried to bring in a chair only to be stopped the ref. That led to a backcracker by Stacey for the second fall in 3:52. Things settled down into a standard match from there; as noted, they know each other REALLY well. The finish came abruptly as Stacey climbed the turnbuckles and Natural pulled her feet out from under her; she hit her head on the top turnbuckle HARD and stayed down. I couldn't tell if it was a storyline injury or if she was legitimately knocked loopy (one of my friends said it was legit)...either way, the referee backed Miss Natural away from her opponent and finally called for the bell at 12:00. As a result of the stoppage, Miss Natural is now the eight-time Women's Champion...all righty then.
Elite Aggression("Superstar" Steve Fender & "Dangerous" Derek McQuinn) vs. The Black Hand Warriors(Dave DeLorean & Jayden Fenix) for the Tag Team Titles: This stemmed from DeLorean and Fenix winning a four-team tournament for the vacant championship, only for Fender to cash in a "guaranteed title shot" contract on them. Fender & McQuinn defeated the worn-down champions for an easy victory, but this time they were on even footing. This was another matchup that didn't seem to gel as well as it could have; maybe it was tag team burnout after two other tag bouts on the show. Maybe it could have told the same story with less time than it got(it was one of the longest matches on the show)...just one dork-who's-never-been-in-the-ring's opinion.
There were plenty of close near-falls for each side...DeLorean took out McQuinn with a somersault dive off the apron, leaving Fenix in the ring with Fender. Fender got out a chain while the referee was checking on the two on the floor, but swung and missed. The reversal sequence ended with Fenix getting an O'Connor Roll for the surprise pin in 21:12...new Tag Champs? Not quite...Fender planted the chain on Fenix's person somewhere in that exchange. Fender & McQuinn protested that Fender had been hit with an international object...once the chain was found, the decision was reversed and the champs retained. This feud...MUST CONTINUE~!
Cue intermission numero dos...
"The Legacy" Leland Race vs. "The Exclamation Point" Steve Anthony for the Heavyweight Title: Anthony was a mainstay in WLW several years ago; he's the current NWA Jr. Heavyweight Champion after beating Jushin "Thunder" Liger at the Cauliflower Alley Club get-together in Las Vegas. I had only seen Anthony one other time at a live show; he faced Steve Fender on one of the early High Voltage Wrestling shows. The main event was my personal favorite match of the show as they worked well together. This was the only match of the night with an announced time limit and the only one where the ring announcer kept tabs on the elapsed time; that seemed to telegraph the finish.
I go by the philosophy that something matters in wrestling ONLY if the promotion says it matters. As such, when I personally time matches on my cellphone's stopwatch, it's for my own reference more than anything. If an official match time is given by the ring announcer or the official result listing online, then I defer to that. Myself and Ben Simon were the only people who really noticed that the thirty-minute time limit took slightly over twenty to expire...the Tag Title match was actually longer by a few minutes in real time. In other words, this is nothing but nitpicking on my own part and it doesn't really matter in the big picture. There have been times when The Mad Conservative Crimefighter would raise holy hell on the spot in such a situation, but I don't think that's necessary.
The closing sequence saw Anthony hit his trademark 450 Splash only for Race to kick out at ONE(one of those new FIGHTING SPIRIT~! things that's becoming cool). Race hit his full nelson faceplant finisher(Darren Young's old Heatwave move) but only got a two-count. A reversal sequence in the final seconds ended with Race hitting his finisher for a second time...he crawled over to cover, but the time limit expired before he could get the pinfall. This was where it looked sketchy as the ring announcer counted down "10...9...8...7...6...5...4...3...*Race makes cover* 2-1-ding ding" to ensure the finish came off as planned. Timing such an ending for a draw finish is a difficult thing to do, to be fair...it's a lost art since very few wrestling promotions even have time limits any more, let alone draw finishes. At any rate: Official time 30:00, real time 20:30.
Match over, time for the aftermath: Recent Race enemies Fender & McQuinn attacked the champion, ganging up on him until Anthony could BELT him down. Trevor Murdoch hit the ring with a chair and the rulebreakers bailed...cue red flag as none of the trio were struck by Murdoch. Race slowly got back to his feet...WHAM, Murdoch chaired him in the head. Ladies and gentlemen, we have a heel turn.
The bad guys dished out a four-on-one beatdown as Harley Race made his way to ringside; Murdoch said that they were the "WLW originals" and the new guys had been "trained wrong", so they're reclaiming their territory. DeLorean and Fenix hit the ring but the numbers weren't in their favor and they were beaten down as well(no Magnuson?...). Murdoch challenged anyone from the locker room to deal with them...but they got EVERYONE in the active locker room. The numbers finally turned against the WLW originals and they took some abuse from the top fan favorites to send the fans home happy. Whew!
Post-show: Denny's, Grand Slamwich...ended up taking half of it home to re-heat the next day. Bobby Eaton and Brian Thompson sat two tables away from us...Bobby's a really quiet guy but a nice dude.
All in all, it was a fun time...the purpose of such a show is to get more eyes on the product and it definitely accomplished that. I like the storyline they set up and it'll be interesting to see where they go with it. Perhaps Miss Natural will be on the side of the "originals" with Stacey on the other side? Where does Magnuson stand as it relates to his teammates? Will more "originals" resurface as part of the angle? We shall see...
September looks like this for me:
-Saturday 9/5: Dynamo Pro Wrestling in Fenton, MO
-Sunday 9/6: Dynamo Pro Wrestling in St. Louis, MO (4 Hands Brewery)
-Saturday 9/12: Mid-Missouri Wrestling Alliance in St. Louis, MO
-Saturday 9/19: Southern Illinois Championship Wrestling in East Carondelet, IL
-Sunday 9/20: Wrestling Invades America in Edwardsville, IL
-Sunday 9/27: High Risk Wrestling in Cahokia, IL
Good night, good luck, and #yaywrestling.
P.S. We are all marks.
-PB, Watching Wrestling Wrong Since 1991
DISCLAIMER: I'm biased. Deal with it.
It's safe to say that this show had a lot of hype behind it. With "Nature Boy" Ric Flair in the house, a bigger venue was necessary for the "Night Of Champions" event. I even saw a billboard for the event on the highway as I was driving to the show! The week-long training camp saw attendees from across the country and even Canada...they had several special guest trainers including Tom Pritchard, Naomichi Marufuji, Hirooki Goto, and Gedo. I didn't see any of them on Saturday, but Bobby Eaton was in attendance at the merchandise table. They had a few hundred people in the high school gymnasium...sweet. With more matches on the lineup, the show had an earlier start time of 6 PM.
Had the opportunity to meet a few newcomers to the St. Louis wrestling scene...this region is literally drawing wrestlers from all over the world. I spoke with Karim Brigante and Monica Passeri, who have been training with WLW and previously competed in their home country of Italy. They'll be debuting for both Southern Illinois Championship Wrestling and High Risk Wrestling in the near future. I also met Australia native Wam Bam Bellows(quite the wrestling name there!)...he's wrestled all over the world and made his SICW debut the previous weekend. Look forward to seeing what they have to offer. Saw several familiar faces in attendance though they didn't wrestle: Dustin Bozworth, Michael Magnuson, Eathon Wright, Cancun Kid, and Lucy Mendez. Also spoke with Gary Jackson during the second intermission.
Your ring announcer was Brian Thompson; your referees were Richard White & Brandon Schmitt.
The show started with Harley Race and Ric Flair coming out to the ring area as Flair spoke to the fans in attendance. Unfortunately I didn't get to directly meet him...I actually got his autograph back in 1999 when WCW Slamboree was coming to town. Harley is now in a motorized wheelchair but is probably still tougher than most of us. Flair told some road stories about himself and Harley, particularly Harley proving his toughness to the locker rooms in Japan! Very cool to see Flair in person, at any rate...he jokingly grabbed Stacey O'Brien in a headlock on the way out.
Battle Royal: I knew four of the seven participants: Mike Outlaw, Justin D'Air, Jack Gamble, and "Young & Dangerous" Evan Morris. Roy Lewis(who had been a ref for Pro Wrestling Championship Series) was making his Midwest in-ring debut after having his first handful of matches in Texas and (I think) Memphis. The remaining two competitors were in town for the training camp: Josh Calisto from Minnesota and "Gentleman" Jake O'Brien from Oklahoma. (I didn't clearly hear the ring announcement so they may have given him a different last name...market confusion with Stacey and all.)
Lewis got an initiation of sorts as he took a beating from the other six entrants...he got in a swinging fisherman buster on Gamble, but Gamble dumped him to the floor shortly thereafter. O'Neil tossed Calisto, but the remaining four wrestlers ganged up on the larger Gentleman to get him out. Morris tried to throw out Outlaw and D'Air, but both held on to the top rope and skinned the cat to double-headscissor Morris to the floor. Morris blew a gasket and pulled Outlaw to the floor in response...heel turn, perhaps? That left Gamble and D'Air...my money was on Gamble as the most "tenured" WLW competitor, but D'Air picked up the win in 10:03 after eliminating Gamble.
Brandon Espinosa & "Kickin'" Kyle Roberts vs. Kevin Lee Davidson & Hannibal: K.L.D. had wrestling gear for the first time in this area(he usually has the bodyguard attire at Mid-Missouri Wrestling Alliance shows). Hannibal is a Canadian competitor who has a passing resemblance to Damien Sandow. Espy really loaded up on the eye shadow for the night...err. This was a good solid tag match with a good contrast in styles(speed vs. size). Roberts pinned Hannibal after he and Espinosa hit stereo frog splashes from opposite turnbuckles on Hannibal and K.L.D.(respectively) in 10:08. (This show had long matches; no match went under ten minutes.)
Trevor Murdoch & Brian Breaker vs. Moonshine Mantell & Josef Von Schmidt: Mantell is from Texas, Schmidt is from Connecticut. Haven't had a good evil German in wrestling since...what, Alex "Berlyn" Wright? J.V.S. has an eyepatch because he's EVIL~! Hadn't seen Breaker in a while; he worked a few matches for SICW before his brief NXT stint as Brandon Traven, but he was a WLW regular for a while and held their Heavyweight Title. Mantell cheated by taking a swig from his jug and spitting the contents(look at his name and take a wild guess) in Murdoch's eyes. Anywho, another standard solid tag bout here...neat finish as Breaker picked up Mantell in powerbomb position and Murdoch added a clothesline off the top rope. That allowed Murdoch to get the three-count in 12:35.
Intermission~! Concession count: One 20-ounce bottle of Mountain Dew. I swear I saw water fountains in the general area of the gym; should have gotten my beverage sustenance from there. (Yes, I keep track of this stuff while I figure out my personal diet. Been binging way too much on junk food.)
Jon Webb vs. "The" Ace Hawkins: Not sure why, but these two didn't seem to click for whatever reason. Almost positive this was their first one-on-one meeting. Don't know if it was necessarily bad, just not as good as I was thinking it could be. hopefully they'll lock horns again in the near future and give it another go. Webb won with his second Sliced Bread #2 of the match in 12:30...maybe it could have worked better with less time?
Stacey O'Brien vs. "Miss Natural" Heather Patera, best-of-three-falls for the Women's Title: Miss Natural holds the record with seven reigns as WLW Women's Champion(her first title win was in 2002!); Stacey is on her sixth reign. These two have traded the belt on a few occasions and the feud is just about even; after Stacey won a close battle at the most recent Troy show, Miss Natural challenged her to this two-out-of-three-falls bout. They blew through the first two falls quickly, which seemed like a waste of the stipulation...oh well. Miss Natural got a rollup with feet on the ropes(Flair Pin~!) in 1:41, then tried to bring in a chair only to be stopped the ref. That led to a backcracker by Stacey for the second fall in 3:52. Things settled down into a standard match from there; as noted, they know each other REALLY well. The finish came abruptly as Stacey climbed the turnbuckles and Natural pulled her feet out from under her; she hit her head on the top turnbuckle HARD and stayed down. I couldn't tell if it was a storyline injury or if she was legitimately knocked loopy (one of my friends said it was legit)...either way, the referee backed Miss Natural away from her opponent and finally called for the bell at 12:00. As a result of the stoppage, Miss Natural is now the eight-time Women's Champion...all righty then.
Elite Aggression("Superstar" Steve Fender & "Dangerous" Derek McQuinn) vs. The Black Hand Warriors(Dave DeLorean & Jayden Fenix) for the Tag Team Titles: This stemmed from DeLorean and Fenix winning a four-team tournament for the vacant championship, only for Fender to cash in a "guaranteed title shot" contract on them. Fender & McQuinn defeated the worn-down champions for an easy victory, but this time they were on even footing. This was another matchup that didn't seem to gel as well as it could have; maybe it was tag team burnout after two other tag bouts on the show. Maybe it could have told the same story with less time than it got(it was one of the longest matches on the show)...just one dork-who's-never-been-in-the-ring's opinion.
There were plenty of close near-falls for each side...DeLorean took out McQuinn with a somersault dive off the apron, leaving Fenix in the ring with Fender. Fender got out a chain while the referee was checking on the two on the floor, but swung and missed. The reversal sequence ended with Fenix getting an O'Connor Roll for the surprise pin in 21:12...new Tag Champs? Not quite...Fender planted the chain on Fenix's person somewhere in that exchange. Fender & McQuinn protested that Fender had been hit with an international object...once the chain was found, the decision was reversed and the champs retained. This feud...MUST CONTINUE~!
Cue intermission numero dos...
"The Legacy" Leland Race vs. "The Exclamation Point" Steve Anthony for the Heavyweight Title: Anthony was a mainstay in WLW several years ago; he's the current NWA Jr. Heavyweight Champion after beating Jushin "Thunder" Liger at the Cauliflower Alley Club get-together in Las Vegas. I had only seen Anthony one other time at a live show; he faced Steve Fender on one of the early High Voltage Wrestling shows. The main event was my personal favorite match of the show as they worked well together. This was the only match of the night with an announced time limit and the only one where the ring announcer kept tabs on the elapsed time; that seemed to telegraph the finish.
I go by the philosophy that something matters in wrestling ONLY if the promotion says it matters. As such, when I personally time matches on my cellphone's stopwatch, it's for my own reference more than anything. If an official match time is given by the ring announcer or the official result listing online, then I defer to that. Myself and Ben Simon were the only people who really noticed that the thirty-minute time limit took slightly over twenty to expire...the Tag Title match was actually longer by a few minutes in real time. In other words, this is nothing but nitpicking on my own part and it doesn't really matter in the big picture. There have been times when The Mad Conservative Crimefighter would raise holy hell on the spot in such a situation, but I don't think that's necessary.
The closing sequence saw Anthony hit his trademark 450 Splash only for Race to kick out at ONE(one of those new FIGHTING SPIRIT~! things that's becoming cool). Race hit his full nelson faceplant finisher(Darren Young's old Heatwave move) but only got a two-count. A reversal sequence in the final seconds ended with Race hitting his finisher for a second time...he crawled over to cover, but the time limit expired before he could get the pinfall. This was where it looked sketchy as the ring announcer counted down "10...9...8...7...6...5...4...3...*Race makes cover* 2-1-ding ding" to ensure the finish came off as planned. Timing such an ending for a draw finish is a difficult thing to do, to be fair...it's a lost art since very few wrestling promotions even have time limits any more, let alone draw finishes. At any rate: Official time 30:00, real time 20:30.
Match over, time for the aftermath: Recent Race enemies Fender & McQuinn attacked the champion, ganging up on him until Anthony could BELT him down. Trevor Murdoch hit the ring with a chair and the rulebreakers bailed...cue red flag as none of the trio were struck by Murdoch. Race slowly got back to his feet...WHAM, Murdoch chaired him in the head. Ladies and gentlemen, we have a heel turn.
The bad guys dished out a four-on-one beatdown as Harley Race made his way to ringside; Murdoch said that they were the "WLW originals" and the new guys had been "trained wrong", so they're reclaiming their territory. DeLorean and Fenix hit the ring but the numbers weren't in their favor and they were beaten down as well(no Magnuson?...). Murdoch challenged anyone from the locker room to deal with them...but they got EVERYONE in the active locker room. The numbers finally turned against the WLW originals and they took some abuse from the top fan favorites to send the fans home happy. Whew!
Post-show: Denny's, Grand Slamwich...ended up taking half of it home to re-heat the next day. Bobby Eaton and Brian Thompson sat two tables away from us...Bobby's a really quiet guy but a nice dude.
All in all, it was a fun time...the purpose of such a show is to get more eyes on the product and it definitely accomplished that. I like the storyline they set up and it'll be interesting to see where they go with it. Perhaps Miss Natural will be on the side of the "originals" with Stacey on the other side? Where does Magnuson stand as it relates to his teammates? Will more "originals" resurface as part of the angle? We shall see...
September looks like this for me:
-Saturday 9/5: Dynamo Pro Wrestling in Fenton, MO
-Sunday 9/6: Dynamo Pro Wrestling in St. Louis, MO (4 Hands Brewery)
-Saturday 9/12: Mid-Missouri Wrestling Alliance in St. Louis, MO
-Saturday 9/19: Southern Illinois Championship Wrestling in East Carondelet, IL
-Sunday 9/20: Wrestling Invades America in Edwardsville, IL
-Sunday 9/27: High Risk Wrestling in Cahokia, IL
Good night, good luck, and #yaywrestling.
P.S. We are all marks.
-PB, Watching Wrestling Wrong Since 1991
Sunday, August 30, 2015
Weekend wrestling
ROH TV
-Commentators: Kevin Kelly & Steve Corino.
-Jay Briscoe d. Adam Page(w/ B.J. Whitmer & Colby Corino) by DQ when Colby hit Briscoe with one of Whitmer's crutches and then Page threw a chair at Briscoe's head (2:08). After the match, Page dropped Briscoe on a pile of chairs with the Rite Of Passage(behind-the-back piledriver); Mark Briscoe ran off The Decade, but the damage had been done.
-Caprice Coleman d. Cedric Alexander(w/ Veda Scott); Veda tried to pass in the wrench, but Stokely Hathaway cut her off and Moose showed up to take away the wrench. That led to Coleman getting the win with the Skysplitter(top-rope Rough Ryder) (5:45 aired). Prince Nana congratuated Moose and Stokely on their actions and handed an envelope to Coleman...
-Cheeseburger d. Brutal Bob Evans by countout; Evans set up to sideslam Cheeseburger off the apron and through a table on the floor, but Cheeseburger escaped the move and hit Evans with a palm strike, causing him to fall through the table. Evans was unable to beat the twenty-count after that (5:02).
-Heavyweight Champion Jay Lethal(w/ Truth Martini) d. Todd Hanson after two Lethal Injections(rope-handspring Cutters) to retain the T.V. Title (8:59 aired); Bobby Fish did commentary. Lethal had words with Fish(next challenger for the T.V. Title) after the match, which brought out Kyle O'Reilly(future challenger for the Heavyweight Title) and Roderick Strong(NEXT challenger for the big belt).
-Next week: Lethal vs. Strong for the Heavyweight Title, plus The Addiction(Christopher Daniels & Frankie Kazarian) vs. The Young Bucks(Matt & Nick Jackson) for the Tag Team Titles.
SICW Wrestling Explosion
-Since Charter Cable replayed the previous week's episode last Sunday, SICW aired the tribute-clip episode this Sunday afternoon.
3XW All Stars Of The Midwest Episode 28
-Commentators: Jeremy Jacobs & Brady A. Dezire.
-"The Modern-Day Moolah" Malia Hosaka d. Stacey O'Brien after a double-chickenwing faceplant (9:13).
-"The Fittest Wrestler On Earth" Mark Sterling d. "The Rebel" Jeremy Wyatt in a dog collar/ladder match to win the Heavyweight Title. Sterling had blatantly struck the referee and Pure Wrestling Champion "The Fashionista" Marek Brave interfered by yanking Wyatt off the ladder, causing him to fall through a table. Wyatt had his hands on the belt and it dropped from its hook into the hands of Sterling; the referee recovered to see Sterling with the belt and called for the bell (44:12). Brave, Commissioner Todd Countryman and Connor Braxton celebrated with Sterling after the match.
-After they left, Wyatt officially announced that it was his last match in 3XW...he's not retiring just yet, but he's wrapping things up. Sterling re-entered the ring and shook hands with Wyatt to close the show.
-Commentators: Kevin Kelly & Steve Corino.
-Jay Briscoe d. Adam Page(w/ B.J. Whitmer & Colby Corino) by DQ when Colby hit Briscoe with one of Whitmer's crutches and then Page threw a chair at Briscoe's head (2:08). After the match, Page dropped Briscoe on a pile of chairs with the Rite Of Passage(behind-the-back piledriver); Mark Briscoe ran off The Decade, but the damage had been done.
-Caprice Coleman d. Cedric Alexander(w/ Veda Scott); Veda tried to pass in the wrench, but Stokely Hathaway cut her off and Moose showed up to take away the wrench. That led to Coleman getting the win with the Skysplitter(top-rope Rough Ryder) (5:45 aired). Prince Nana congratuated Moose and Stokely on their actions and handed an envelope to Coleman...
-Cheeseburger d. Brutal Bob Evans by countout; Evans set up to sideslam Cheeseburger off the apron and through a table on the floor, but Cheeseburger escaped the move and hit Evans with a palm strike, causing him to fall through the table. Evans was unable to beat the twenty-count after that (5:02).
-Heavyweight Champion Jay Lethal(w/ Truth Martini) d. Todd Hanson after two Lethal Injections(rope-handspring Cutters) to retain the T.V. Title (8:59 aired); Bobby Fish did commentary. Lethal had words with Fish(next challenger for the T.V. Title) after the match, which brought out Kyle O'Reilly(future challenger for the Heavyweight Title) and Roderick Strong(NEXT challenger for the big belt).
-Next week: Lethal vs. Strong for the Heavyweight Title, plus The Addiction(Christopher Daniels & Frankie Kazarian) vs. The Young Bucks(Matt & Nick Jackson) for the Tag Team Titles.
SICW Wrestling Explosion
-Since Charter Cable replayed the previous week's episode last Sunday, SICW aired the tribute-clip episode this Sunday afternoon.
3XW All Stars Of The Midwest Episode 28
-Commentators: Jeremy Jacobs & Brady A. Dezire.
-"The Modern-Day Moolah" Malia Hosaka d. Stacey O'Brien after a double-chickenwing faceplant (9:13).
-"The Fittest Wrestler On Earth" Mark Sterling d. "The Rebel" Jeremy Wyatt in a dog collar/ladder match to win the Heavyweight Title. Sterling had blatantly struck the referee and Pure Wrestling Champion "The Fashionista" Marek Brave interfered by yanking Wyatt off the ladder, causing him to fall through a table. Wyatt had his hands on the belt and it dropped from its hook into the hands of Sterling; the referee recovered to see Sterling with the belt and called for the bell (44:12). Brave, Commissioner Todd Countryman and Connor Braxton celebrated with Sterling after the match.
-After they left, Wyatt officially announced that it was his last match in 3XW...he's not retiring just yet, but he's wrapping things up. Sterling re-entered the ring and shook hands with Wyatt to close the show.
Saturday, August 29, 2015
Saturday WLW Results From Troy, MO
-The show started with "Nature Boy" Ric Flair(accompanied by Harley Race) speaking to the fans in attendance...he told some interesting stories about his travels with Harley.
-Justin D'Air won a battle royal. Eliminations: Roy Lewis by Jack Gamble, Josh Calisto by "Gentleman" Jake O'Brien, O'Brien by the remaining four competitors, "Young & Dangerous" Evan Morris by Mike Outlaw and D'Air, Outlaw illegally pulled to the floor by Morris, Gamble by D'Air (10:03).
-Brandon Espinosa & "Kickin'" Kyle Roberts d. Kevin Lee Davidson & Hannibal; Roberts pinned Hannibal after he and Espinosa hit stereo frog splashes on their opponents (10:08).
-Trevor Murdoch & Brian Breaker d. Moonshine Mantell & Josef Von Schmidt when Murdoch pinned Mantell after a powerbomb/top-rope clothesline combo (12:35).
-Jon Webb d. "The" Ace Hawkins with the second Sliced Bread #2 of the match (12:30).
-"Miss Natural" Heather Patera d. Stacey O'Brien in a best-of-three-falls match to win the Women's Title. Miss Natural won the first fall via rollup with feet on the ropes (1:41). Stacey evened the score when the referee stopped Miss Natural from using a chair, allowing Stacey to hit the backcracker for the second fall (3:52). Miss Natural won the third fall by referee stoppage when she pulled Stacey's feet out from under her on the second rope, causing her to hit her head on the turnbuckle. Stacey stayed down after that bad fall and the referee declared her unable to continue, awarding the match and the championship to Miss Natural (12:00).
-Elite Aggression("Superstar" Steve Fender & "Dangerous" Derek McQuinn) d. The Black Hand Warriors(Dave DeLorean & Jayden Fenix) by reversed decision to retain the Tag Team Titles. The referee was occupied with DeLorean and McQuinn on the floor as Fender got a chain out of his tights, but Fenix reversed an O'Connor Roll into his own pinfall (21:12). However, Fender claimed to have been hit with the chain and the referee found it on Fenix's person, overturning his original decision.
-"The Legacy" Leland Race fought NWA Jr. Heavyweight Champion "The Exclamation Point" Steve Anthony to a time-limit draw to retain the Heavyweight Title. Race kicked out after Anthony's 450 Splash and Anthony survived Race's full nelson faceplant; Race hit his finisher for a second time, but the time limit expired before he could get the three-count (announced as 30:00; about 20:30 in real time).
-After the match, Steve Fender & Derek McQuinn attacked Race and Anthony hit him with his own title belt. Trevor Murdoch hit the ring with a chair and the trio retreated to the floor...but then Murdoch turned around and bashed Race with the chair. Murdoch declared himself and the other three to be "WLW originals" who would do away with the newer guys who were "taught wrong" in recent years. DeLorean & Fenix ran into the ring to fight but the numbers caught up to them. Murdoch dared anyone in the locker room to deal with them, but he got the ENTIRE locker room in response...they dished out some punishment on the foursome to close the show on a high note!
-Justin D'Air won a battle royal. Eliminations: Roy Lewis by Jack Gamble, Josh Calisto by "Gentleman" Jake O'Brien, O'Brien by the remaining four competitors, "Young & Dangerous" Evan Morris by Mike Outlaw and D'Air, Outlaw illegally pulled to the floor by Morris, Gamble by D'Air (10:03).
-Brandon Espinosa & "Kickin'" Kyle Roberts d. Kevin Lee Davidson & Hannibal; Roberts pinned Hannibal after he and Espinosa hit stereo frog splashes on their opponents (10:08).
-Trevor Murdoch & Brian Breaker d. Moonshine Mantell & Josef Von Schmidt when Murdoch pinned Mantell after a powerbomb/top-rope clothesline combo (12:35).
-Jon Webb d. "The" Ace Hawkins with the second Sliced Bread #2 of the match (12:30).
-"Miss Natural" Heather Patera d. Stacey O'Brien in a best-of-three-falls match to win the Women's Title. Miss Natural won the first fall via rollup with feet on the ropes (1:41). Stacey evened the score when the referee stopped Miss Natural from using a chair, allowing Stacey to hit the backcracker for the second fall (3:52). Miss Natural won the third fall by referee stoppage when she pulled Stacey's feet out from under her on the second rope, causing her to hit her head on the turnbuckle. Stacey stayed down after that bad fall and the referee declared her unable to continue, awarding the match and the championship to Miss Natural (12:00).
-Elite Aggression("Superstar" Steve Fender & "Dangerous" Derek McQuinn) d. The Black Hand Warriors(Dave DeLorean & Jayden Fenix) by reversed decision to retain the Tag Team Titles. The referee was occupied with DeLorean and McQuinn on the floor as Fender got a chain out of his tights, but Fenix reversed an O'Connor Roll into his own pinfall (21:12). However, Fender claimed to have been hit with the chain and the referee found it on Fenix's person, overturning his original decision.
-"The Legacy" Leland Race fought NWA Jr. Heavyweight Champion "The Exclamation Point" Steve Anthony to a time-limit draw to retain the Heavyweight Title. Race kicked out after Anthony's 450 Splash and Anthony survived Race's full nelson faceplant; Race hit his finisher for a second time, but the time limit expired before he could get the three-count (announced as 30:00; about 20:30 in real time).
-After the match, Steve Fender & Derek McQuinn attacked Race and Anthony hit him with his own title belt. Trevor Murdoch hit the ring with a chair and the trio retreated to the floor...but then Murdoch turned around and bashed Race with the chair. Murdoch declared himself and the other three to be "WLW originals" who would do away with the newer guys who were "taught wrong" in recent years. DeLorean & Fenix ran into the ring to fight but the numbers caught up to them. Murdoch dared anyone in the locker room to deal with them, but he got the ENTIRE locker room in response...they dished out some punishment on the foursome to close the show on a high note!
Friday, August 28, 2015
Show results
Friday CHIKARA results from Reading, PA:
-Fire Ant d. Argus.
-Los Ice Creams(El Hijo Del Ice Cream & Ice Cream Jr.) d. Frightmare & Blind Rage.
-"Mr. Touchdown" Mark Angelosetti d. Amasis.
-Juan Francisco De Coronado & The Proletariat Boar Of Moldova d. Orange Cassidy & Swamp Monster.
-Dasher Hatfield d. Oleg The Usurper.
Friday PWG results from Reseda, CA featuring the Battle Of Los Angeles Tournament:
-Brian Cage d. Aero Star.
-Biff Busick d. Andrew Everett.
-Will Ospreay d. Mark Andrews.
-Jack Evans & Angélico d. The Inner City Machine Guns(Ricochet & Rich Swann).
-Trevor Lee d. Trent Barreta.
-Pentagon Jr. d. Drago.
-Matt Sydal d. Fenix.
-Mount Rushmore 2.0(Adam Cole & Tag Team Champions The Young Bucks(Matt & Nick Jackson)) d. Euro Trash(Zack Sabre Jr., Tommy End, & Marty Scurll).
Saturday ROH results from Atlanta, GA:
-"P-Dog" Mike Posey d. Slim J.
-Cedric Alexander d. Corey Hollis.
-The Kingdom(Michael Bennett & Matt Taven) d. Takaaki Watanabe & Will Ferrara.
-War Machine(Todd Hanson & Raymond Rowe) d. Matt Sydal & A.C.H.
-Michael Elgin d. Adam Page by coutout.
-Mark Briscoe d. The Romantic Touch.
-Roderick Strong d. Caprice Coleman.
-Jay Briscoe vs. Moose ended in a no-contest.
-Jay Briscoe & Moose d. Cedric Alexander & Adam Page.
-Adam Cole & reDRagon(Kyle O'Reilly & Bobby Fish) d. Heavyweight/T.V. Champion Jay Lethal & Tag Team Champions The Addiction(Christopher Daniels & Frankie Kazarian).
Saturday PWG results from Reseda, CA featuring the Battle Of Los Angeles Tournament:
-Marty Scurll d. Rich Swann.
-Jack Evans d. Angélico.
-Chris Hero d. Timothy Thatcher.
-Fenix & Aero Star d. Drago & Pentagon Jr.
-Tommy End d. Drew Gulak.
-Mike Bailey d. Drew Galloway.
-Zack Sabre Jr. d. Ricochet.
-Mount Rushmore 2.0(Tag Team Champions The Young Bucks(Matt & Nick Jackson) & Super Dragon) d. Biff Busick, Andrew Everett, & Trevor Lee in a Guerrilla Warfare Match.
Sunday PWG results from Reseda, CA featuring the Battle Of Los Angeles Tournament:
-Jack Evans d. Brian Cage.
-Chris Hero d. Biff Busick.
-Marty Scurll d. Trevor Lee.
-Zack Sabre Jr. d. Pentagon Jr.
-Mike Bailey d. Tommy End.
-Will Ospreay d. Matt Sydal.
-Heavyweight Champion Roderick Strong, Super Dragon, & Tag Team Champions The Young Bucks(Matt & Nick Jackson) d. Fenix, Angélico, & The Inner City Machine Guns(Ricochet & Rich Swann).
-Chris Hero d. Jack Evans.
-Mike Bailey d. Will Ospreay.
-Zack Sabre Jr. d. Marty Scurll.
-Drew Galloway, Drew Gulak, Chuck Taylor, Trent Barreta, & Aero Star d. Tommaso Ciampa, Timothy Thatcher, Mark Andrews, Andrew Everett, & Drago.
-Zack Sabre Jr. won a three-way dance with Chris Hero and Mike Bailey to win the tournament.
-Fire Ant d. Argus.
-Los Ice Creams(El Hijo Del Ice Cream & Ice Cream Jr.) d. Frightmare & Blind Rage.
-"Mr. Touchdown" Mark Angelosetti d. Amasis.
-Juan Francisco De Coronado & The Proletariat Boar Of Moldova d. Orange Cassidy & Swamp Monster.
-Dasher Hatfield d. Oleg The Usurper.
Friday PWG results from Reseda, CA featuring the Battle Of Los Angeles Tournament:
-Brian Cage d. Aero Star.
-Biff Busick d. Andrew Everett.
-Will Ospreay d. Mark Andrews.
-Jack Evans & Angélico d. The Inner City Machine Guns(Ricochet & Rich Swann).
-Trevor Lee d. Trent Barreta.
-Pentagon Jr. d. Drago.
-Matt Sydal d. Fenix.
-Mount Rushmore 2.0(Adam Cole & Tag Team Champions The Young Bucks(Matt & Nick Jackson)) d. Euro Trash(Zack Sabre Jr., Tommy End, & Marty Scurll).
Saturday ROH results from Atlanta, GA:
-"P-Dog" Mike Posey d. Slim J.
-Cedric Alexander d. Corey Hollis.
-The Kingdom(Michael Bennett & Matt Taven) d. Takaaki Watanabe & Will Ferrara.
-War Machine(Todd Hanson & Raymond Rowe) d. Matt Sydal & A.C.H.
-Michael Elgin d. Adam Page by coutout.
-Mark Briscoe d. The Romantic Touch.
-Roderick Strong d. Caprice Coleman.
-Jay Briscoe vs. Moose ended in a no-contest.
-Jay Briscoe & Moose d. Cedric Alexander & Adam Page.
-Adam Cole & reDRagon(Kyle O'Reilly & Bobby Fish) d. Heavyweight/T.V. Champion Jay Lethal & Tag Team Champions The Addiction(Christopher Daniels & Frankie Kazarian).
Saturday PWG results from Reseda, CA featuring the Battle Of Los Angeles Tournament:
-Marty Scurll d. Rich Swann.
-Jack Evans d. Angélico.
-Chris Hero d. Timothy Thatcher.
-Fenix & Aero Star d. Drago & Pentagon Jr.
-Tommy End d. Drew Gulak.
-Mike Bailey d. Drew Galloway.
-Zack Sabre Jr. d. Ricochet.
-Mount Rushmore 2.0(Tag Team Champions The Young Bucks(Matt & Nick Jackson) & Super Dragon) d. Biff Busick, Andrew Everett, & Trevor Lee in a Guerrilla Warfare Match.
Sunday PWG results from Reseda, CA featuring the Battle Of Los Angeles Tournament:
-Jack Evans d. Brian Cage.
-Chris Hero d. Biff Busick.
-Marty Scurll d. Trevor Lee.
-Zack Sabre Jr. d. Pentagon Jr.
-Mike Bailey d. Tommy End.
-Will Ospreay d. Matt Sydal.
-Heavyweight Champion Roderick Strong, Super Dragon, & Tag Team Champions The Young Bucks(Matt & Nick Jackson) d. Fenix, Angélico, & The Inner City Machine Guns(Ricochet & Rich Swann).
-Chris Hero d. Jack Evans.
-Mike Bailey d. Will Ospreay.
-Zack Sabre Jr. d. Marty Scurll.
-Drew Galloway, Drew Gulak, Chuck Taylor, Trent Barreta, & Aero Star d. Tommaso Ciampa, Timothy Thatcher, Mark Andrews, Andrew Everett, & Drago.
-Zack Sabre Jr. won a three-way dance with Chris Hero and Mike Bailey to win the tournament.
Rasslin flood
WWE Smackdown
-Commentators: Rich Brennan, Jerry Lawler, & Jimmy Uso.
-The Dudley Boys(Buh-Buh Ray & D-Von) d. The Ascension(Konnor O'Brian & Rick Viktor) when Buh-Buh pinned Konnor after the Dudley Death Drop. Tag Team Champions The New Day(Big E Langston, Kofi Kingston, & Xavier Woods) came out to protest the Dudleys' use of tables, but that didn't stop them from superbombing Viktor through a table.
-Kevin Owens d. "The Man That Gravity Forgot" Adrian Neville with the pop-up powerbomb (4:40 aired).
-Charlotte Flair & Becky Lynch d. The Bella Twins(Women's Champion Nikki & Brie) when Charlotte pinned Brie with the Charlotte's Web(bridging rollup) (3:16); "The Boss" Sasha Banks, Naomi Night, & Tamina Snuka did commentary.
-Intercontinental Champion Ryback & Dolph Ziggler(w/ Lana Perry) d. The Big Show & Alexander Rusev(w/ Summer Rae) when tension between tag team partners led to Show PUNCHing out Rusev and walking away; Ziggler pinned Rusev after that (6:52 aired).
-Sheamus O'Shaunessy d. Dean Ambrose with the Brogue Kick after a distraction by The Wyatt Family(Bray Wyatt, Luke Harper, & Braun Strowman) (7:54 aired). Roman Reigns came out to help Ambrose after the match, but he was laid out by Strowman's head-and-arm guillotine hold.
WWE Main Event
-Commentators: Tom Phillips & Jimmy Uso.
-The Prime Time Players(Titus O'Neil & Darren Young) d. Los Matadores(Fernando & Diego)(w/ El Torito) when Young pinned Diego after the Gut Check(fireman's-carry double-knee gutbuster) (7:56 aired).
-Jack Swagger d. Adam Rose with the Patriot Lock(anklelock) (2:15).
-Stardust d. Johnny Fandango via Crossrhodes after using his own face paint to temporarily impair Fandango's vision (8:50 aired).
TNA XPlosion
-Commentators: Josh Mathews & Jeremy Borash.
-Tigre Uno d. Manik after the Phoenix Splash (8:37 aired).
WWE Superstars
-Commentators: Rich Brennan & Xavier Woods.
-Zack Ryder d. Heath Slater with the Rough Ryder (4:44).
-Los Matadores(Fernando & Diego)(w/ El Torito) d. The Ascension(Konnor O'Brian & Rick Viktor) when Torito's distraction allowed Diego to hit the backcracker on Viktor for the upset win (6:40 aired).
-Commentators: Rich Brennan, Jerry Lawler, & Jimmy Uso.
-The Dudley Boys(Buh-Buh Ray & D-Von) d. The Ascension(Konnor O'Brian & Rick Viktor) when Buh-Buh pinned Konnor after the Dudley Death Drop. Tag Team Champions The New Day(Big E Langston, Kofi Kingston, & Xavier Woods) came out to protest the Dudleys' use of tables, but that didn't stop them from superbombing Viktor through a table.
-Kevin Owens d. "The Man That Gravity Forgot" Adrian Neville with the pop-up powerbomb (4:40 aired).
-Charlotte Flair & Becky Lynch d. The Bella Twins(Women's Champion Nikki & Brie) when Charlotte pinned Brie with the Charlotte's Web(bridging rollup) (3:16); "The Boss" Sasha Banks, Naomi Night, & Tamina Snuka did commentary.
-Intercontinental Champion Ryback & Dolph Ziggler(w/ Lana Perry) d. The Big Show & Alexander Rusev(w/ Summer Rae) when tension between tag team partners led to Show PUNCHing out Rusev and walking away; Ziggler pinned Rusev after that (6:52 aired).
-Sheamus O'Shaunessy d. Dean Ambrose with the Brogue Kick after a distraction by The Wyatt Family(Bray Wyatt, Luke Harper, & Braun Strowman) (7:54 aired). Roman Reigns came out to help Ambrose after the match, but he was laid out by Strowman's head-and-arm guillotine hold.
WWE Main Event
-Commentators: Tom Phillips & Jimmy Uso.
-The Prime Time Players(Titus O'Neil & Darren Young) d. Los Matadores(Fernando & Diego)(w/ El Torito) when Young pinned Diego after the Gut Check(fireman's-carry double-knee gutbuster) (7:56 aired).
-Jack Swagger d. Adam Rose with the Patriot Lock(anklelock) (2:15).
-Stardust d. Johnny Fandango via Crossrhodes after using his own face paint to temporarily impair Fandango's vision (8:50 aired).
TNA XPlosion
-Commentators: Josh Mathews & Jeremy Borash.
-Tigre Uno d. Manik after the Phoenix Splash (8:37 aired).
WWE Superstars
-Commentators: Rich Brennan & Xavier Woods.
-Zack Ryder d. Heath Slater with the Rough Ryder (4:44).
-Los Matadores(Fernando & Diego)(w/ El Torito) d. The Ascension(Konnor O'Brian & Rick Viktor) when Torito's distraction allowed Diego to hit the backcracker on Viktor for the upset win (6:40 aired).
Thursday, August 27, 2015
TNA Impact
-Commentators: Josh Mathews & "The Pope" D'Angelo Dinero.
-Eric Young d. Sgt. Chris Melendez with a rollup and feet on the ropes (3:16); Melendez's prosthetic leg was on the line.
-Tigre Uno won a triple threat match with Sonjay Dutt and D.J. Shiima Xion to retain the X-Division Title when he pinned Xion after a springboard frog splash (4:48).
-The American Wolves(Davey Richards & Eddie Edwards) d. The Revolution(Abyss & Manik) to retain the Tag Team Titles; James Storm interfered but Mahabali Shera ran him off. Davey pinned Manik after the powerbomb/backcracker combo for the win (6:23).
-Brooke Tessmacher vs. Velvet Sky for the Women's Title ended in a no-contest when The Dollhouse(Mia "Jade" Yim & Marti Belle) attacked both women (3:53). Rebel ran in to help, but turned on Velvet to join the Dollhouse. Taryn Terrell(who had her hand broken by Gail Kim and Velvet in a backstage segment) addressed Velvet from the ImpactTron...
-"The It Factor" Bobby Roode won a four-corner match with "The Destroyer" Bobby Lashley, Ken Anderson, and Cowboy James Storm when he pinned Storm after the Death Valley Driver (9:30 aired).
-Promoter Dixie Carter officially offered Jeff Jarrett the authority figure's position...but they were interrupted by Drew Galloway. Bully Ray and Drew had been attacked in the backstage area by unknown assailants in recent weeks...Drew had looked for an explanation for both attacks and found security footage of the getaway cars. The same name was on both rental cars: Jeff Jarrett. With Bully Ray out of commission, he was able to maneuver into a position of power in TNA. With Drew out of the way, one of his Global Force Wrestling wrestlers had a better shot of claiming the King Of The Mountain Title. Jarrett swore on his family that he had nothing to do with it...Drew asked who was behind it all and Karen Angle-Jarrett confessed that it was her. Jarrett said he never asked her to do this...but then he kicked Galloway in the groin from behind. The GFW wrestlers stormed the ring to gang-attack Drew...TNA wrestlers tried to join in the fight but the numbers were against them. That left the Global Force Wrestling crew standing tall at the end of the show.
-Next week: Ethan Carter III vs. Matt Hardy for the Heavyweight Title, plus P.J. Black vs. Bobby Roode for the King Of The Mountain Title.
-Eric Young d. Sgt. Chris Melendez with a rollup and feet on the ropes (3:16); Melendez's prosthetic leg was on the line.
-Tigre Uno won a triple threat match with Sonjay Dutt and D.J. Shiima Xion to retain the X-Division Title when he pinned Xion after a springboard frog splash (4:48).
-The American Wolves(Davey Richards & Eddie Edwards) d. The Revolution(Abyss & Manik) to retain the Tag Team Titles; James Storm interfered but Mahabali Shera ran him off. Davey pinned Manik after the powerbomb/backcracker combo for the win (6:23).
-Brooke Tessmacher vs. Velvet Sky for the Women's Title ended in a no-contest when The Dollhouse(Mia "Jade" Yim & Marti Belle) attacked both women (3:53). Rebel ran in to help, but turned on Velvet to join the Dollhouse. Taryn Terrell(who had her hand broken by Gail Kim and Velvet in a backstage segment) addressed Velvet from the ImpactTron...
-"The It Factor" Bobby Roode won a four-corner match with "The Destroyer" Bobby Lashley, Ken Anderson, and Cowboy James Storm when he pinned Storm after the Death Valley Driver (9:30 aired).
-Promoter Dixie Carter officially offered Jeff Jarrett the authority figure's position...but they were interrupted by Drew Galloway. Bully Ray and Drew had been attacked in the backstage area by unknown assailants in recent weeks...Drew had looked for an explanation for both attacks and found security footage of the getaway cars. The same name was on both rental cars: Jeff Jarrett. With Bully Ray out of commission, he was able to maneuver into a position of power in TNA. With Drew out of the way, one of his Global Force Wrestling wrestlers had a better shot of claiming the King Of The Mountain Title. Jarrett swore on his family that he had nothing to do with it...Drew asked who was behind it all and Karen Angle-Jarrett confessed that it was her. Jarrett said he never asked her to do this...but then he kicked Galloway in the groin from behind. The GFW wrestlers stormed the ring to gang-attack Drew...TNA wrestlers tried to join in the fight but the numbers were against them. That left the Global Force Wrestling crew standing tall at the end of the show.
-Next week: Ethan Carter III vs. Matt Hardy for the Heavyweight Title, plus P.J. Black vs. Bobby Roode for the King Of The Mountain Title.
Wednesday, August 26, 2015
WWE NXT
-Commentators: Rich Brennan & Corey Graves.
-Enzo Amore, "Big Cass" Colin Cassady, & The Hype Bros(Zack Ryder & Mojo Rawley) d. Jason Jordan, Chad Gable, Scott Dawson, & Dash Wilder when Enzo pinned Gable after he and Cass hit the Rocket Launcher (9:06 aired).
-Backstage: General Manager S. William Regal announced that the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic would begin on next week's show. "The Man That Gravity Forgot" Adrian Neville volunteered to compete in the tournament and Regal granted his request.
-Backstage after Takeover: NXT Champion Finn Bálor said that he proved Tokyo was no fluke...he deserves to be the champion.
-Backstage: Devin Taylor interviewed Charlotte Flair & Becky Lynch about tonight's main event.
-Eva Marie d. Carmella Van Damme with the Sliced Red #2 (4:08).
-Backstage: Tyler Breeze said that he may have lost, but he still looks good while Jushin "Thunder" Liger has to wear a mask. He has another idea for Mr. Regal to put himself on the map...
-Backstage: Devin Taylor interviewed Emma Tayla & Dana Brooke about the main event.
-Backstage after Takeover: An emotional Bayley Rose talked about winning the NXT Women's Title...and her family joined in the interview to embarrass her a bit.
-Backstage: Devin Taylor interviewed Regal, but he was interrupted by Baron Corbin as he wanted into the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic. Regal announced that Corbin would team with Rhyno against The Ascension(Konnor O'Brian & Rick Viktor) on next week's show.
-Backstage after Takeover: Kevin Owens had no comment on his loss and walked away from the interviewer.
-Bull Dempsey d. "The Drifter" Elias Samson after the Whoopee Cushion (4:36).
-Backstage after Takeover: Samoa Joe talked about his win over Baron Corbin and the great crowd in Brooklyn.
-Coming soon: Nia Jax.
-Backstage after Takeover: Apollo Crews was happy to be in front of a huge crowd for a successful debut on his birthday.
-Backstage after Takeover: Devin Taylor interviewed Wesley Blake, Buddy Murphy, & Alexa Bliss after their loss of the NXT Tag Team Titles to The Vaudevillains("The Artiste" Aiden English & Simon Gotch). Alexa was angry about the involvement of "Blue Pants" Leva Bates and vowed to deal with her on next week's show.
-Emma Tayla won a four-corner match with Charlotte Flair, "The Total Diva" Dana Brooke, and Becky Lynch when she pinned Becky after the Emma-mite Sandwich(cross-bodyblock on opponent slumped in corner) (9:35 aired). After the match, Charlotte speared Emma, then took her down with the Natural Selection(low-altitude somersault Cutter)...Dana attacked Charlotte from behind, but Becky hit Dana with an exploder suplex and locked Emma in the Dis-Arm-Her while Charlotte put Dana in the Figure-Eight Leglock(bridging figure-four).
-Enzo Amore, "Big Cass" Colin Cassady, & The Hype Bros(Zack Ryder & Mojo Rawley) d. Jason Jordan, Chad Gable, Scott Dawson, & Dash Wilder when Enzo pinned Gable after he and Cass hit the Rocket Launcher (9:06 aired).
-Backstage: General Manager S. William Regal announced that the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic would begin on next week's show. "The Man That Gravity Forgot" Adrian Neville volunteered to compete in the tournament and Regal granted his request.
-Backstage after Takeover: NXT Champion Finn Bálor said that he proved Tokyo was no fluke...he deserves to be the champion.
-Backstage: Devin Taylor interviewed Charlotte Flair & Becky Lynch about tonight's main event.
-Eva Marie d. Carmella Van Damme with the Sliced Red #2 (4:08).
-Backstage: Tyler Breeze said that he may have lost, but he still looks good while Jushin "Thunder" Liger has to wear a mask. He has another idea for Mr. Regal to put himself on the map...
-Backstage: Devin Taylor interviewed Emma Tayla & Dana Brooke about the main event.
-Backstage after Takeover: An emotional Bayley Rose talked about winning the NXT Women's Title...and her family joined in the interview to embarrass her a bit.
-Backstage: Devin Taylor interviewed Regal, but he was interrupted by Baron Corbin as he wanted into the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic. Regal announced that Corbin would team with Rhyno against The Ascension(Konnor O'Brian & Rick Viktor) on next week's show.
-Backstage after Takeover: Kevin Owens had no comment on his loss and walked away from the interviewer.
-Bull Dempsey d. "The Drifter" Elias Samson after the Whoopee Cushion (4:36).
-Backstage after Takeover: Samoa Joe talked about his win over Baron Corbin and the great crowd in Brooklyn.
-Coming soon: Nia Jax.
-Backstage after Takeover: Apollo Crews was happy to be in front of a huge crowd for a successful debut on his birthday.
-Backstage after Takeover: Devin Taylor interviewed Wesley Blake, Buddy Murphy, & Alexa Bliss after their loss of the NXT Tag Team Titles to The Vaudevillains("The Artiste" Aiden English & Simon Gotch). Alexa was angry about the involvement of "Blue Pants" Leva Bates and vowed to deal with her on next week's show.
-Emma Tayla won a four-corner match with Charlotte Flair, "The Total Diva" Dana Brooke, and Becky Lynch when she pinned Becky after the Emma-mite Sandwich(cross-bodyblock on opponent slumped in corner) (9:35 aired). After the match, Charlotte speared Emma, then took her down with the Natural Selection(low-altitude somersault Cutter)...Dana attacked Charlotte from behind, but Becky hit Dana with an exploder suplex and locked Emma in the Dis-Arm-Her while Charlotte put Dana in the Figure-Eight Leglock(bridging figure-four).
Comedy Part 596: Hey Guys, I'm Feeling A Bit Better
Location: Hey Guys Comedy
Emcee: Andrew Hagan
After: Holly Laws
Before: Kathy Zeman
Took a pass on the Westport Funny Bone last night since I was under the weather...was still feeling a bit run down this evening, but I had some new material to try out. I riffed on a line used by an earlier comic and that seemed to go over well. One of the totally new jokes worked, the other still needs some fine-tuning. At any rate, it was good to get on stage and perform...hopefully I'll feel better in the next few days. Next up for me will most likely be the Westport Funny Bone open-mic on Tuesday.
Emcee: Andrew Hagan
After: Holly Laws
Before: Kathy Zeman
Took a pass on the Westport Funny Bone last night since I was under the weather...was still feeling a bit run down this evening, but I had some new material to try out. I riffed on a line used by an earlier comic and that seemed to go over well. One of the totally new jokes worked, the other still needs some fine-tuning. At any rate, it was good to get on stage and perform...hopefully I'll feel better in the next few days. Next up for me will most likely be the Westport Funny Bone open-mic on Tuesday.
Tuesday, August 25, 2015
SLA Special Comment (Part 2)
Now, as promised, a special comment about Saturday's St. Louis Anarchy "Circus Maximus Part 2" show at the Knights Of Columbus Hall^H^H^HSpaulding Hall Club in Alton, Illinois.
DISCLAIMER: I'm biased. Deal with it.
Did most of the pontificating in Part 1, so let's get right into it...
Your ring announcer was Sean Orleans; your referees were Brandon Tolle, Austin Blackburn, & P.J. Drummond.
The show started with a promo by members of BOSS: Heavyweight Champion Gary Jay, Jeremy Wyatt, Christian Rose, Jordan Lacey, Dorian Victor, and Greg Jovi. They had a rough night on Friday but this night would be different, yadda yadda. Dorian addressed a "weak link" in the group...and Jovi bailed out of the ring and ran away screaming because he thought they were talking about him! They went over the previous night's results and teased going after Wyatt(since he dropped the fall in the main event), but then turned around and attacked Jordan Lacey for his loss to the upstart Donovan Danhausen. At that point, Jovi hilariously ran back to the ring and celebrated("IT'S NOT ME!"). Not sure what Lacey does from here...guess we'll see.
"The Money" Matt Cage vs. "Zesty" Zakk Sawyers: These two haven't interacted in St. Louis Anarchy, but they had a brief alliance in Pro Wrestling Collision when Zakk was an underling for Team Overkill(Cage & Christian Rose). Alex Castle came out to bad-mouth Cage a few minutes into the match, but nothing came of it. Sawyers worked on Cage's arm and hand, something that eventually paid off when Cage hurt himself while executing his Money Clip finisher(fireman's-carry into a roundhouse right). That allowed Zakk to get the flash pin via rollup in 14:05(!). We got the mutual respect thing afterwards, but then Castle attacked Cage with a chair as he was exiting. Castle delivered another kick to the groin and Pedigree in the ring, then decided to enlighten us...he felt like Cage was leaving him behind by getting solo bookings in bigger promotions like EVOLVE and Full Impact Pro. He thought Cage was acting like he was too good for their tag team...see, good turns make sense in the mind of the person who turns. Castle stuck around since he was in the next matchup...
Donovan Danhausen vs. Ricky Starks vs. Justin D'Air vs. Mike Outlaw vs. "The Big Mustache On Campus" Mikey McFinnegan vs. Alex Castle: This was as schmozzarific as you'd expect from a multi-way match like this. It was D'Air's debut for the promotion...he and Outlaw did a few sequences together since they've had some one-on-one bouts. His ropewalk spot didn't come as well as it could have...curse that low ceiling! Castle/McFinnegan/Starks actually got together for a Shield-style triple-team spike powerbomb on Danhausen, only to immediately turn on each other...heh. Castle got the pin on Danhausen after the Pedigree in 7:06.
Angelus Layne vs. "Dirty" Andy Dalton: This promised to be...something. That "something" turned out to be an extended sexual harrassment on Dalton's part...eep. Thankfully, Angelus made him pay for that...I'm pretty sure that was the first time a "Kill The Rapist" chant had ever happened at a wrestling show. Angelus finished with the spider-style German suplex off the top rope in 7:36...Dalton attacked after the bell for the second night in a row, but this time Outlaw made the save to stop a piledriver attempt.
The Viking War Party("American Viking" Alexandre Rudolph & "Littlest Viking" Jake Parnell) vs. Mr. Danny Adams & Mr. Everett Connors of The Cause(w/ Mr. Evan Gelistico & Mr. Adam Caster): Viking War Party = brawl all over the place with weapons galore (plus fans running for cover). Despite the presence of the other Cause members at ringside, the Vikings came out on top; Rudolph powerbombed Adams, then held him upside-down as Parnell jumped off the second rope to dropkick a chair into Adams' face...OW. That allowed Rudolph to pin Adams in 10:00.
"The Psycho Killer" Tommaso Ciampa vs. Christian Rose: After being a heel by default on Friday, Ciampa was the clear fan favorite in this one. Ciampa's shown a lot more personality in recent indie appearances since leaving Ring Of Honor...he wiped himself with Rose's ring jacket, much to Rose's dismay. As a recent fan of Shinsuke Nakamura, I appreciated the "BOM AYE" logo on his kneepad...heh. He was one of the MVPs of the weekend as both of his matches got great feedback from the fans in attendance. One advantage of indie double-shots is that psychology from the first show can carry over to the second, and it worked in this particular case. Rose targeted the leg a few times, but it didn't really pay off until the ending: Ciampa pulled down his kneepad and went for the knee trembler(the move that won him the previous night's match), but Rose avoided it and Ciampa appeared to injure his knee on the turnbuckle. That allowed Rose to get him in the No-Leaf Clover(Liontamer-style Boston crab) in the middle of the ring...scoring a surprising tapout victory in 20:03! PSYCHOLOGY~! Ciampa got a great ovation after the matchup.
Intermission~! Had either one or two root beers on this night...living dangerously, I know.
Steve O. Reno vs. Sugar Dunkerton: This was a battle of fan favorites that turned into a string of comedy spots. Reno used a groin-stretching hold similiar to one he used against Mikey McFinnegan on Friday and Dunkerton's ad-libbed complaints about the hold's, er, effectiveness were hilarious. Reno proclaimed that he was also a two-sport superstar, donning a headband and miming a tennis serve. He went to the top rope in an attempt to deliver the dreaded "Tennis Elbow", but Dunkerton kept rolling away from his corner...bwahahaha. They had a slow-motion sequence as well...this wasn't for the purists, I would imagine. I expected Dunkerton to win in his SLA debut, but Reno scored a slight upset with the Blue Thunder Bomb in 15:29(!). Chatted with him briefly, it sounded like he had a good time and hoped to return soon. Woo.
Jojo Bravo vs. "The Rebel" Jeremy Wyatt(w/ Greg Jovi): Goodie, face vs. heel. These two crossed paths in Pro Wrestling Championship Series as they were on opposite sides of the Season One finale. Jojo eliminated Wyatt with a flash pin in that matchup and even used the same victory roll sequence for a good false finish in this one. Wyatt spent a lot of the match jawing with a little kid in the front row...bwahahaha. During his entrance, he trash-talked one of the guys next to me and joked about him hanging out with the Wayne's World guy whose hair is OBVIOUSLY a wig...err... (Oddly enough, I have been asked if this is really my hair. Yes, I'm overdue for a trim.) At any rate, they had a good matchup that ended with the Lightning Spiral, giving Wyatt the three-count in 12:21. Afterwards, Wyatt argued with the kid at ringside again, then ran away when the kid advanced towards him. *snicker*
Mat Fitchett vs. "The Madman" Paco Gonzalez: Paco goes to school at Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville and a lot of his college buddies usually come to the shows to see him. Apparently they were being particularly obnoxious on this night, so that turned the fans FIERCELY pro-Fitchett and anti-Paco for the night. (I was on the opposite side of the ring so I'm going by other accounts.) The two worked a face/face matchup despite the partisan crowd with several really good near-falls for Paco...the dueling fan support got really heated at times with chants along the lines of "F Those Fratboys". The finish didn't help the situation as Fitchett hit the cradle piledriver and Paco appeared to get a shoulder off the mat at three, but the referee called it a pinfall anyway in 12:20. Some of the "fratboys" moved close to the ring as if to cut off Fitchett's exit and one of them threw a plastic cup at him...that convinced the SLA crew to politely(?) encourage the group to leave. They made a big production out of leaving the building, jawing with fans on the way out...wrestlers had to leave the dressing room to ensure that they all left the premises. Fun times? (Given past experience, they probably would have left after Paco's match anyway...)
The Hooligans(Devin & Mason Cutter) vs. Mr. Adam Caster & Mr. Evan Gelistico of The Cause for the Tag Team Titles: Mr. Adams & Mr. Connors didn't come to ringside with their stablemates, which was a red flag right out of the gate. Big ol' brawl once again, but Adams & Connors ran in when it looked like the champs were on their way to another victory. It took a quadruple-team Shield-style powerbomb with a neckbreaker added, but Gelistico pinned Mason in 9:14 and we have NEWWWWW Tag Team Champions! The Hooligans dropped the belts in only their second defense, but I'm sure that story is far from over...
Promoter Pierre Abernathy brought out Paco Gonzalez to speak to the fans; he was a bit soft-spoken, but the fans chanted "Sorry Paco" for their venom in his earlier matchup. He apologized for his friends' attitudes and actions and all seemed to be smoothed over, thankfully...
Gerald James(w/ Dorian Victor) vs. Davey Vega for the Heavyweight Title, no time limit: These two went to a sixty-minute draw at Yuletide Terror, thus the stipulation on this rematch. It didn't take long for this one to get out of hand...Vega took out Victor with a suicide dive, then planted James with a dive into a DDT that left him bloody. Vega attempted to powerbomb James into the wall, but James countered with a rana that sent him head-first into the wall...eep. Vega made a comeback in the ring and nearly scored the win with the Sharpshooter, but Gerald made it to the ropes. The fight spilled out of the ring again and this time Vega delivered the powerbomb into the wall, then powerbombed him into the ringpost...ouch. Vega's brainbuster onto the knee only got 2 1/2 on this occasion. Gerald hit the Michinoku Driver, but Vega was running on adrenaline(or FIGHTING SPIRIT~!) and jumped right up...he quickly hit another brainbuster onto the knee, but GERALD jumped right up...he dropped Vega with one shot(think it was a palm strike) and collapsed on top of him...for the pin? That finish seemed to come out of nowhere(at the 23:15 mark)...weirdness.
If Vega's not the one to end Gerald James' title reign, I have no idea who it WILL be...the next shows are in November, so he'll pass the TWO-YEAR mark as champion! Someone told me that Johnny Gargano is still owed a title shot, so I guess that's a possibility. D.J. Shiima Xion is scheduled for the next double-shot, facing Vega on the Friday show.
The upcoming weeks look like this:
-Saturday 8/29: World League Wrestling in Troy, MO (Ric Flair, Tom Pritchard, Naomichi Marufuji, Gedo)
-Saturday 9/5: Dynamo Pro Wrestling in Fenton, MO
-Sunday 9/6: Dynamo Pro Wrestling in St. Louis, MO (4 Hands Brewery)
-Saturday 9/12: Mid-Missouri Wrestling Alliance in St. Louis, MO
-Saturday 9/19: Southern Illinois Championship Wrestling in East Carondelet, IL
-Sunday 9/20: Wrestling Invades America in Edwardsville, IL
-Sunday 9/27: High Risk Wrestling in Cahokia, IL
Good night, good luck, and #yaywrestling.
P.S. We are all marks.
-PB, Watching Wrestling Wrong Since 1991
DISCLAIMER: I'm biased. Deal with it.
Did most of the pontificating in Part 1, so let's get right into it...
Your ring announcer was Sean Orleans; your referees were Brandon Tolle, Austin Blackburn, & P.J. Drummond.
The show started with a promo by members of BOSS: Heavyweight Champion Gary Jay, Jeremy Wyatt, Christian Rose, Jordan Lacey, Dorian Victor, and Greg Jovi. They had a rough night on Friday but this night would be different, yadda yadda. Dorian addressed a "weak link" in the group...and Jovi bailed out of the ring and ran away screaming because he thought they were talking about him! They went over the previous night's results and teased going after Wyatt(since he dropped the fall in the main event), but then turned around and attacked Jordan Lacey for his loss to the upstart Donovan Danhausen. At that point, Jovi hilariously ran back to the ring and celebrated("IT'S NOT ME!"). Not sure what Lacey does from here...guess we'll see.
"The Money" Matt Cage vs. "Zesty" Zakk Sawyers: These two haven't interacted in St. Louis Anarchy, but they had a brief alliance in Pro Wrestling Collision when Zakk was an underling for Team Overkill(Cage & Christian Rose). Alex Castle came out to bad-mouth Cage a few minutes into the match, but nothing came of it. Sawyers worked on Cage's arm and hand, something that eventually paid off when Cage hurt himself while executing his Money Clip finisher(fireman's-carry into a roundhouse right). That allowed Zakk to get the flash pin via rollup in 14:05(!). We got the mutual respect thing afterwards, but then Castle attacked Cage with a chair as he was exiting. Castle delivered another kick to the groin and Pedigree in the ring, then decided to enlighten us...he felt like Cage was leaving him behind by getting solo bookings in bigger promotions like EVOLVE and Full Impact Pro. He thought Cage was acting like he was too good for their tag team...see, good turns make sense in the mind of the person who turns. Castle stuck around since he was in the next matchup...
Donovan Danhausen vs. Ricky Starks vs. Justin D'Air vs. Mike Outlaw vs. "The Big Mustache On Campus" Mikey McFinnegan vs. Alex Castle: This was as schmozzarific as you'd expect from a multi-way match like this. It was D'Air's debut for the promotion...he and Outlaw did a few sequences together since they've had some one-on-one bouts. His ropewalk spot didn't come as well as it could have...curse that low ceiling! Castle/McFinnegan/Starks actually got together for a Shield-style triple-team spike powerbomb on Danhausen, only to immediately turn on each other...heh. Castle got the pin on Danhausen after the Pedigree in 7:06.
Angelus Layne vs. "Dirty" Andy Dalton: This promised to be...something. That "something" turned out to be an extended sexual harrassment on Dalton's part...eep. Thankfully, Angelus made him pay for that...I'm pretty sure that was the first time a "Kill The Rapist" chant had ever happened at a wrestling show. Angelus finished with the spider-style German suplex off the top rope in 7:36...Dalton attacked after the bell for the second night in a row, but this time Outlaw made the save to stop a piledriver attempt.
The Viking War Party("American Viking" Alexandre Rudolph & "Littlest Viking" Jake Parnell) vs. Mr. Danny Adams & Mr. Everett Connors of The Cause(w/ Mr. Evan Gelistico & Mr. Adam Caster): Viking War Party = brawl all over the place with weapons galore (plus fans running for cover). Despite the presence of the other Cause members at ringside, the Vikings came out on top; Rudolph powerbombed Adams, then held him upside-down as Parnell jumped off the second rope to dropkick a chair into Adams' face...OW. That allowed Rudolph to pin Adams in 10:00.
"The Psycho Killer" Tommaso Ciampa vs. Christian Rose: After being a heel by default on Friday, Ciampa was the clear fan favorite in this one. Ciampa's shown a lot more personality in recent indie appearances since leaving Ring Of Honor...he wiped himself with Rose's ring jacket, much to Rose's dismay. As a recent fan of Shinsuke Nakamura, I appreciated the "BOM AYE" logo on his kneepad...heh. He was one of the MVPs of the weekend as both of his matches got great feedback from the fans in attendance. One advantage of indie double-shots is that psychology from the first show can carry over to the second, and it worked in this particular case. Rose targeted the leg a few times, but it didn't really pay off until the ending: Ciampa pulled down his kneepad and went for the knee trembler(the move that won him the previous night's match), but Rose avoided it and Ciampa appeared to injure his knee on the turnbuckle. That allowed Rose to get him in the No-Leaf Clover(Liontamer-style Boston crab) in the middle of the ring...scoring a surprising tapout victory in 20:03! PSYCHOLOGY~! Ciampa got a great ovation after the matchup.
Intermission~! Had either one or two root beers on this night...living dangerously, I know.
Steve O. Reno vs. Sugar Dunkerton: This was a battle of fan favorites that turned into a string of comedy spots. Reno used a groin-stretching hold similiar to one he used against Mikey McFinnegan on Friday and Dunkerton's ad-libbed complaints about the hold's, er, effectiveness were hilarious. Reno proclaimed that he was also a two-sport superstar, donning a headband and miming a tennis serve. He went to the top rope in an attempt to deliver the dreaded "Tennis Elbow", but Dunkerton kept rolling away from his corner...bwahahaha. They had a slow-motion sequence as well...this wasn't for the purists, I would imagine. I expected Dunkerton to win in his SLA debut, but Reno scored a slight upset with the Blue Thunder Bomb in 15:29(!). Chatted with him briefly, it sounded like he had a good time and hoped to return soon. Woo.
Jojo Bravo vs. "The Rebel" Jeremy Wyatt(w/ Greg Jovi): Goodie, face vs. heel. These two crossed paths in Pro Wrestling Championship Series as they were on opposite sides of the Season One finale. Jojo eliminated Wyatt with a flash pin in that matchup and even used the same victory roll sequence for a good false finish in this one. Wyatt spent a lot of the match jawing with a little kid in the front row...bwahahaha. During his entrance, he trash-talked one of the guys next to me and joked about him hanging out with the Wayne's World guy whose hair is OBVIOUSLY a wig...err... (Oddly enough, I have been asked if this is really my hair. Yes, I'm overdue for a trim.) At any rate, they had a good matchup that ended with the Lightning Spiral, giving Wyatt the three-count in 12:21. Afterwards, Wyatt argued with the kid at ringside again, then ran away when the kid advanced towards him. *snicker*
Mat Fitchett vs. "The Madman" Paco Gonzalez: Paco goes to school at Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville and a lot of his college buddies usually come to the shows to see him. Apparently they were being particularly obnoxious on this night, so that turned the fans FIERCELY pro-Fitchett and anti-Paco for the night. (I was on the opposite side of the ring so I'm going by other accounts.) The two worked a face/face matchup despite the partisan crowd with several really good near-falls for Paco...the dueling fan support got really heated at times with chants along the lines of "F Those Fratboys". The finish didn't help the situation as Fitchett hit the cradle piledriver and Paco appeared to get a shoulder off the mat at three, but the referee called it a pinfall anyway in 12:20. Some of the "fratboys" moved close to the ring as if to cut off Fitchett's exit and one of them threw a plastic cup at him...that convinced the SLA crew to politely(?) encourage the group to leave. They made a big production out of leaving the building, jawing with fans on the way out...wrestlers had to leave the dressing room to ensure that they all left the premises. Fun times? (Given past experience, they probably would have left after Paco's match anyway...)
The Hooligans(Devin & Mason Cutter) vs. Mr. Adam Caster & Mr. Evan Gelistico of The Cause for the Tag Team Titles: Mr. Adams & Mr. Connors didn't come to ringside with their stablemates, which was a red flag right out of the gate. Big ol' brawl once again, but Adams & Connors ran in when it looked like the champs were on their way to another victory. It took a quadruple-team Shield-style powerbomb with a neckbreaker added, but Gelistico pinned Mason in 9:14 and we have NEWWWWW Tag Team Champions! The Hooligans dropped the belts in only their second defense, but I'm sure that story is far from over...
Promoter Pierre Abernathy brought out Paco Gonzalez to speak to the fans; he was a bit soft-spoken, but the fans chanted "Sorry Paco" for their venom in his earlier matchup. He apologized for his friends' attitudes and actions and all seemed to be smoothed over, thankfully...
Gerald James(w/ Dorian Victor) vs. Davey Vega for the Heavyweight Title, no time limit: These two went to a sixty-minute draw at Yuletide Terror, thus the stipulation on this rematch. It didn't take long for this one to get out of hand...Vega took out Victor with a suicide dive, then planted James with a dive into a DDT that left him bloody. Vega attempted to powerbomb James into the wall, but James countered with a rana that sent him head-first into the wall...eep. Vega made a comeback in the ring and nearly scored the win with the Sharpshooter, but Gerald made it to the ropes. The fight spilled out of the ring again and this time Vega delivered the powerbomb into the wall, then powerbombed him into the ringpost...ouch. Vega's brainbuster onto the knee only got 2 1/2 on this occasion. Gerald hit the Michinoku Driver, but Vega was running on adrenaline(or FIGHTING SPIRIT~!) and jumped right up...he quickly hit another brainbuster onto the knee, but GERALD jumped right up...he dropped Vega with one shot(think it was a palm strike) and collapsed on top of him...for the pin? That finish seemed to come out of nowhere(at the 23:15 mark)...weirdness.
If Vega's not the one to end Gerald James' title reign, I have no idea who it WILL be...the next shows are in November, so he'll pass the TWO-YEAR mark as champion! Someone told me that Johnny Gargano is still owed a title shot, so I guess that's a possibility. D.J. Shiima Xion is scheduled for the next double-shot, facing Vega on the Friday show.
The upcoming weeks look like this:
-Saturday 8/29: World League Wrestling in Troy, MO (Ric Flair, Tom Pritchard, Naomichi Marufuji, Gedo)
-Saturday 9/5: Dynamo Pro Wrestling in Fenton, MO
-Sunday 9/6: Dynamo Pro Wrestling in St. Louis, MO (4 Hands Brewery)
-Saturday 9/12: Mid-Missouri Wrestling Alliance in St. Louis, MO
-Saturday 9/19: Southern Illinois Championship Wrestling in East Carondelet, IL
-Sunday 9/20: Wrestling Invades America in Edwardsville, IL
-Sunday 9/27: High Risk Wrestling in Cahokia, IL
Good night, good luck, and #yaywrestling.
P.S. We are all marks.
-PB, Watching Wrestling Wrong Since 1991
Tough Enough + This Week In Wrestling
Tough Enough Finale
-Alicia Fox d. Mandy Rose with the axe kick (2:41).
-Alicia Fox d. Sara Hope via axe kick (2:26).
-Antonio Cesaro d. King Of The Bayou Z.Z. with the Crippler Crossface (1:51).
-Antonio Cesaro d. Josh The Yeti after the Neutralizer (2:33).
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WWE(www.wwe.com)
Main Event this week has:
-The Prime Time Players(Titus O'Neil & Darren Young) vs. Los Matadores(Fernando & Diego)
-Johnny Fandango vs. Stardust
-Jack Swagger vs. Adam Rose
NXT this Wednesday has:
-Charlotte Flair vs. Becky Lynch vs. Emma Tayla vs. Dana Brooke
-Enzo Amore, Colin Cassady, & The Hype Bros(Zack Ryder & Mojo Rawley) vs. Jason Jordan, Chad Gable, Scott Dawson, & Dash Wilder
-Carmella Van Damme vs. Eva Marie
-Bull Dempsey vs. Elias Samson
Superstars this week has:
-Los Matadores(Fernando & Diego) vs. The Ascension(Konnor O'Brian & Rick Viktor)
-Zack Ryder vs. Heath Slater
Smackdown on Thursday has:
-Dean Ambrose vs. Sheamus O'Shaunessy
-Ryback & Dolph Ziggler vs. Alexander Rusev & The Big Show
-Adrian Neville vs. Kevin Owens
-The Dudley Boys(Buh-Buh Ray & Devon) vs. The Ascension(Konnor O'Brian & Rick Viktor)
-Charlotte Flair & Becky Lynch vs. The Bella Twins(Nikki & Brie)
Night Of Champions is on Sunday 9/20:
-Seth Rollins vs. Sting - WWE Title
WWE has a house show in St. Louis on Saturday 10/10.
TNA(www.tnawrestling.com)
Impact on Wednesday has:
-The American Wolves(Davey Richards & Eddie Edwards) vs. Abyss & Manik - Tag Team Titles
-Tigre Uno vs. Sonjay Dutt vs. D.J. Shiima Xion - X-Division Title
-Brooke Tessmacher vs. Velvet Sky - Women's Title
RING OF HONOR(www.rohwrestling.com)
ROH TV this week has:
-Jay Lethal vs. Todd Hanson - T.V. Title
-Jay Briscoe vs. Adam Page
-Caprice Coleman vs. Cedric Alexander
-Cheeseburger vs. Brutal Bob Evans
Next show is Saturday 8/29 in Atlanta, GA:
-Adam Cole & reDRagon(Kyle O'Reilly & Bobby Fish) vs. Jay Lethal & The Addiction(Christopher Daniels & Frankie Kazarian)
-Mark Briscoe vs. Cliff Compton
-Jay Briscoe vs. Moose
-Matt Sydal & A.C.H. vs. War Machine(Todd Hanson & Raymond Rowe)
-Roderick Strong vs. Caprice Coleman
-Takaaki Watanabe & Will Ferrara vs. The Kingdom(Michael Bennett & Matt Taven)
-Michael Elgin vs. Adam Page
-Corey Hollis vs. Cedric Alexander
NEW JAPAN PRO WRESTLING(www.njpw.co.jp/english)
Information on upcoming World Pro Wrestling shows will be posted when it becomes available.
LUCHA UNDERGROUND(www.elreynetwork.com/originals/lucha)
Information on upcoming shows will be posted when it becomes available.
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ST. LOUIS ANARCHY(www.slawrestling.com)
Next show is Friday 11/13 in Alton, IL:
-Davey Vega vs. D.J. Shiima Xion
SLA has a show on Saturday 11/14 in Alton, IL.
DPW(www.dynamoprowrestling.com)
Next show is Saturday 9/5 in Fenton, MO:
-The Black Hand Warriors(Michael Magnuson & Dave DeLorean) vs. High Level Enterprise(Jack Gamble & Jon Webb) - Tag Team Titles
-Appearing: Michael Elgin, Matt Sydal
DPW has a show on Sunday 9/6 in St. Louis, MO(4 Hands Brewery):
-Appearing: Matt Sydal, Davey Richards, Angelina Love
SICW(www.sicw.org)
SICW has a show on Saturday 9/19 in East Carondelet, IL:
-Malia Hosaka vs. Lucy Mendez
MMWA(www.southbroadwayac.com)
Next show is Saturday 9/12 in St. Louis, MO:
-Moondog Rover vs. Attila Khan - T.V. Title No-DQ Match
PWCS(www.pwcswrestling.com)
Next show is Saturday 10/3 in Granite City, IL:
-Steven Kennedy(Resurgence) vs. Makaze(Blacklist) vs. K.C. Karrington(Chaos Nation) vs. Jeremy Wyatt(Ego Busters)
HIGH RISK WRESTLING(www.facebook.com/hrwstl)
Next show is Sunday 9/27 in Cahokia, IL:
-Blake Belakis vs. Sugar Dunkerton vs. Jeremiah Plunkett vs. ? vs. ? vs. ? - Heavyweight Title Gauntlet Match
-Tag Team Title Tournament: Team I.O.U.(Nick Iggy & Kerry Awful), Mike Outlaw & Justin D'AIr
PRO WRESTLING EPIC(www.prowrestlingepic.com/)
Information on upcoming shows will be posted when it becomes available.
METRO PRO WRESTLING(www.metrowrestling.com)
Next show is Saturday 10/10 in Kansas City, KS:
-Mike Sydal vs. Nate Redwing - Kansas Title
-Appearing: Jim Cornette
3XW(www.3xwrestling.com)
Next show is Friday 9/4 in Des Moines, IA:
-Mark Sterling vs. Devin Carter - Heavyweight Title
-Marek Brave vs. Kraig Keesaman - Pure Wrestling Title
-Trevor Murdoch & Derek Stone vs. Black Wrestlers Matter(Jon West & James Grizzle)
-Devin Thomas vs. Eli Machete
-Nate Redwing vs. Conner Braxton
-Gary Gram vs. Stephen M. King
WLW(www.harleyrace.com)
Next show is Saturday 8/29 in Troy, MO:
-Leland Race vs. Steve Anthony - Heavyweight Title
-Elite Aggression(Superstar Steve Fender & Dangeorus Derek McQuinn) vs. The Black Hand Warriors(Dave DeLorean & Jayden Fenix) - Tag Team Titles
-Stacey O'Brien vs. "Miss Natural" Heather Patera - Women's Title Best-Of-Three-Falls Match
-Appearing: Ric Flair
GATEWAY ELITE WRESTLING(www.facebook.com/TheGatewayElite)
Information on upcoming shows will be posted when it becomes available.
OUTLAW WRESTLING(www.facebook.com/outlawwrestling01)
Next show is Sunday 10/11 in Centralia, IL:
-Alexandre Rudolph vs. Chris Mack
WRESTLING INVADES AMERICA(wrestlinginvamerica.wix.com/wrestlinginvamerica)
Next show is Sunday 9/20 in Edwardsville, IL:
-Jonathan Napier vs. Gavin Alexander - Heavyweight Title
-Brandon Aarons vs. Tyler Copeland - PWE Heavyweight Title
-Darkside vs. Jimmy D vs. Clownman Jacko - Interstate Title
-Billy McNeil vs. Leone Mephisto
CENTRAL STATES CHAMPIONSHIP WRESTLING(www.facebook.com/nwaccw)
Information on upcoming shows will be posted when it becomes available.
WORLD POWERHOUSE WRESTLING(sites.google.com/site/worldpowerhousewrestlingstl/home)
Next show is Saturday 9/26 in Kampsville, IL:
-Xavier Frost vs. Scar vs. Uriah Eleazar - Heavyweight Title
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DRAGON GATE USA/EVOLVE(www.wwnlive.com & www.dgusa.tv)
Information on upcoming shows will be posted when it becomes available.
PRO WRESTLING GUERRILLA(www.prowrestlingguerrilla.com)
Next show is Friday 8/28, Saturday 8/29, and Sunday 8/30 in Reseda, CA featuring the Battle Of Los Angeles Tournament:
-Tournament Participants: Will Ospreay, Marty Scurll, Timothy Thatcher, Mike Bailey, Chris Hero, Biff Busick, Mark Andrews, Brian Cage, Ricochet, Tommy End, Trevor Lee, Pentagon Jr., Drew Gulak, Angélico, Trent Barreta, Andrew Everett, Fenix, Rich Swann, Jack Evans, Drago, Matt Sydal, Aero Star, Zack Sabre Jr., Drew Galloway
-Night One: Tommy End, Zack Sabre Jr., & Marty Scurll vs. Roderick Strong & The Young Bucks(Matt & Nick Jackson)
-Night Two: Biff Busick, Andrew Everett, & Trevor Lee vs. Super Dragon & The Young Bucks(Matt & Nick Jackson)
CHIKARA(www.chikarapro.com)
Next show is Friday 8/28 in Reading, PA.
HOUSE OF HARDCORE(www.houseofhardcore.net)
Information on upcoming shows will be posted when it becomes available.
SHIMMER(www.shimmerwrestling.com)
Next show is Saturday 10/10 in Cicero, IL.
SHIMMER has a show on Sunday 10/11 in Berwyn, IL.
SHINE(www.shinewrestling.com)
Next show is Friday 9/4 in Ybor City, FL:
-Santana Garrett vs. Allysin Kay - SHINE Title
IWA MID-SOUTH(iwamidsouthwrestling.webs.com)
Next show is Saturday 9/5 in Charlestown, IN.
AAW(www.aawrestling.com)
Next show is Friday 9/18 in Merrionette Park, IL:
-Louis Lyndon vs. Matt Cage - Heritage Title
ACW(www.anarchychampionshipwrestling.com)
Information on upcoming shows will be posted when it becomes available.
Missouri Wrestling Revival: http://www.missouriwrestlingrevival.com/
St. Louis Wrestling: http://www.saintlouiswrestling.com/
St. Louis Wrestling Community: http://community.livejournal.com/stlwrestling/
Leave a comment or e-mail: patrickab7@yahoo.com
-Alicia Fox d. Mandy Rose with the axe kick (2:41).
-Alicia Fox d. Sara Hope via axe kick (2:26).
-Antonio Cesaro d. King Of The Bayou Z.Z. with the Crippler Crossface (1:51).
-Antonio Cesaro d. Josh The Yeti after the Neutralizer (2:33).
-----
WWE(www.wwe.com)
Main Event this week has:
-The Prime Time Players(Titus O'Neil & Darren Young) vs. Los Matadores(Fernando & Diego)
-Johnny Fandango vs. Stardust
-Jack Swagger vs. Adam Rose
NXT this Wednesday has:
-Charlotte Flair vs. Becky Lynch vs. Emma Tayla vs. Dana Brooke
-Enzo Amore, Colin Cassady, & The Hype Bros(Zack Ryder & Mojo Rawley) vs. Jason Jordan, Chad Gable, Scott Dawson, & Dash Wilder
-Carmella Van Damme vs. Eva Marie
-Bull Dempsey vs. Elias Samson
Superstars this week has:
-Los Matadores(Fernando & Diego) vs. The Ascension(Konnor O'Brian & Rick Viktor)
-Zack Ryder vs. Heath Slater
Smackdown on Thursday has:
-Dean Ambrose vs. Sheamus O'Shaunessy
-Ryback & Dolph Ziggler vs. Alexander Rusev & The Big Show
-Adrian Neville vs. Kevin Owens
-The Dudley Boys(Buh-Buh Ray & Devon) vs. The Ascension(Konnor O'Brian & Rick Viktor)
-Charlotte Flair & Becky Lynch vs. The Bella Twins(Nikki & Brie)
Night Of Champions is on Sunday 9/20:
-Seth Rollins vs. Sting - WWE Title
WWE has a house show in St. Louis on Saturday 10/10.
TNA(www.tnawrestling.com)
Impact on Wednesday has:
-The American Wolves(Davey Richards & Eddie Edwards) vs. Abyss & Manik - Tag Team Titles
-Tigre Uno vs. Sonjay Dutt vs. D.J. Shiima Xion - X-Division Title
-Brooke Tessmacher vs. Velvet Sky - Women's Title
RING OF HONOR(www.rohwrestling.com)
ROH TV this week has:
-Jay Lethal vs. Todd Hanson - T.V. Title
-Jay Briscoe vs. Adam Page
-Caprice Coleman vs. Cedric Alexander
-Cheeseburger vs. Brutal Bob Evans
Next show is Saturday 8/29 in Atlanta, GA:
-Adam Cole & reDRagon(Kyle O'Reilly & Bobby Fish) vs. Jay Lethal & The Addiction(Christopher Daniels & Frankie Kazarian)
-Mark Briscoe vs. Cliff Compton
-Jay Briscoe vs. Moose
-Matt Sydal & A.C.H. vs. War Machine(Todd Hanson & Raymond Rowe)
-Roderick Strong vs. Caprice Coleman
-Takaaki Watanabe & Will Ferrara vs. The Kingdom(Michael Bennett & Matt Taven)
-Michael Elgin vs. Adam Page
-Corey Hollis vs. Cedric Alexander
NEW JAPAN PRO WRESTLING(www.njpw.co.jp/english)
Information on upcoming World Pro Wrestling shows will be posted when it becomes available.
LUCHA UNDERGROUND(www.elreynetwork.com/originals/lucha)
Information on upcoming shows will be posted when it becomes available.
-----
ST. LOUIS ANARCHY(www.slawrestling.com)
Next show is Friday 11/13 in Alton, IL:
-Davey Vega vs. D.J. Shiima Xion
SLA has a show on Saturday 11/14 in Alton, IL.
DPW(www.dynamoprowrestling.com)
Next show is Saturday 9/5 in Fenton, MO:
-The Black Hand Warriors(Michael Magnuson & Dave DeLorean) vs. High Level Enterprise(Jack Gamble & Jon Webb) - Tag Team Titles
-Appearing: Michael Elgin, Matt Sydal
DPW has a show on Sunday 9/6 in St. Louis, MO(4 Hands Brewery):
-Appearing: Matt Sydal, Davey Richards, Angelina Love
SICW(www.sicw.org)
SICW has a show on Saturday 9/19 in East Carondelet, IL:
-Malia Hosaka vs. Lucy Mendez
MMWA(www.southbroadwayac.com)
Next show is Saturday 9/12 in St. Louis, MO:
-Moondog Rover vs. Attila Khan - T.V. Title No-DQ Match
PWCS(www.pwcswrestling.com)
Next show is Saturday 10/3 in Granite City, IL:
-Steven Kennedy(Resurgence) vs. Makaze(Blacklist) vs. K.C. Karrington(Chaos Nation) vs. Jeremy Wyatt(Ego Busters)
HIGH RISK WRESTLING(www.facebook.com/hrwstl)
Next show is Sunday 9/27 in Cahokia, IL:
-Blake Belakis vs. Sugar Dunkerton vs. Jeremiah Plunkett vs. ? vs. ? vs. ? - Heavyweight Title Gauntlet Match
-Tag Team Title Tournament: Team I.O.U.(Nick Iggy & Kerry Awful), Mike Outlaw & Justin D'AIr
PRO WRESTLING EPIC(www.prowrestlingepic.com/)
Information on upcoming shows will be posted when it becomes available.
METRO PRO WRESTLING(www.metrowrestling.com)
Next show is Saturday 10/10 in Kansas City, KS:
-Mike Sydal vs. Nate Redwing - Kansas Title
-Appearing: Jim Cornette
3XW(www.3xwrestling.com)
Next show is Friday 9/4 in Des Moines, IA:
-Mark Sterling vs. Devin Carter - Heavyweight Title
-Marek Brave vs. Kraig Keesaman - Pure Wrestling Title
-Trevor Murdoch & Derek Stone vs. Black Wrestlers Matter(Jon West & James Grizzle)
-Devin Thomas vs. Eli Machete
-Nate Redwing vs. Conner Braxton
-Gary Gram vs. Stephen M. King
WLW(www.harleyrace.com)
Next show is Saturday 8/29 in Troy, MO:
-Leland Race vs. Steve Anthony - Heavyweight Title
-Elite Aggression(Superstar Steve Fender & Dangeorus Derek McQuinn) vs. The Black Hand Warriors(Dave DeLorean & Jayden Fenix) - Tag Team Titles
-Stacey O'Brien vs. "Miss Natural" Heather Patera - Women's Title Best-Of-Three-Falls Match
-Appearing: Ric Flair
GATEWAY ELITE WRESTLING(www.facebook.com/TheGatewayElite)
Information on upcoming shows will be posted when it becomes available.
OUTLAW WRESTLING(www.facebook.com/outlawwrestling01)
Next show is Sunday 10/11 in Centralia, IL:
-Alexandre Rudolph vs. Chris Mack
WRESTLING INVADES AMERICA(wrestlinginvamerica.wix.com/wrestlinginvamerica)
Next show is Sunday 9/20 in Edwardsville, IL:
-Jonathan Napier vs. Gavin Alexander - Heavyweight Title
-Brandon Aarons vs. Tyler Copeland - PWE Heavyweight Title
-Darkside vs. Jimmy D vs. Clownman Jacko - Interstate Title
-Billy McNeil vs. Leone Mephisto
CENTRAL STATES CHAMPIONSHIP WRESTLING(www.facebook.com/nwaccw)
Information on upcoming shows will be posted when it becomes available.
WORLD POWERHOUSE WRESTLING(sites.google.com/site/worldpowerhousewrestlingstl/home)
Next show is Saturday 9/26 in Kampsville, IL:
-Xavier Frost vs. Scar vs. Uriah Eleazar - Heavyweight Title
-----
DRAGON GATE USA/EVOLVE(www.wwnlive.com & www.dgusa.tv)
Information on upcoming shows will be posted when it becomes available.
PRO WRESTLING GUERRILLA(www.prowrestlingguerrilla.com)
Next show is Friday 8/28, Saturday 8/29, and Sunday 8/30 in Reseda, CA featuring the Battle Of Los Angeles Tournament:
-Tournament Participants: Will Ospreay, Marty Scurll, Timothy Thatcher, Mike Bailey, Chris Hero, Biff Busick, Mark Andrews, Brian Cage, Ricochet, Tommy End, Trevor Lee, Pentagon Jr., Drew Gulak, Angélico, Trent Barreta, Andrew Everett, Fenix, Rich Swann, Jack Evans, Drago, Matt Sydal, Aero Star, Zack Sabre Jr., Drew Galloway
-Night One: Tommy End, Zack Sabre Jr., & Marty Scurll vs. Roderick Strong & The Young Bucks(Matt & Nick Jackson)
-Night Two: Biff Busick, Andrew Everett, & Trevor Lee vs. Super Dragon & The Young Bucks(Matt & Nick Jackson)
CHIKARA(www.chikarapro.com)
Next show is Friday 8/28 in Reading, PA.
HOUSE OF HARDCORE(www.houseofhardcore.net)
Information on upcoming shows will be posted when it becomes available.
SHIMMER(www.shimmerwrestling.com)
Next show is Saturday 10/10 in Cicero, IL.
SHIMMER has a show on Sunday 10/11 in Berwyn, IL.
SHINE(www.shinewrestling.com)
Next show is Friday 9/4 in Ybor City, FL:
-Santana Garrett vs. Allysin Kay - SHINE Title
IWA MID-SOUTH(iwamidsouthwrestling.webs.com)
Next show is Saturday 9/5 in Charlestown, IN.
AAW(www.aawrestling.com)
Next show is Friday 9/18 in Merrionette Park, IL:
-Louis Lyndon vs. Matt Cage - Heritage Title
ACW(www.anarchychampionshipwrestling.com)
Information on upcoming shows will be posted when it becomes available.
Missouri Wrestling Revival: http://www.missouriwrestlingrevival.com/
St. Louis Wrestling: http://www.saintlouiswrestling.com/
St. Louis Wrestling Community: http://community.livejournal.com/stlwrestling/
Leave a comment or e-mail: patrickab7@yahoo.com
Monday, August 24, 2015
WWE Raw
-Commentators: Michael Cole, Byron Saxton, & John Bradshaw Layfield.
-Tag Team Champions The New Day(Big E Langston & Kofi Kingston)(w/ Xavier Woods & trombone) d. The Lucha Dragons(Sin Cara & Kalisto)(non-title) when Big E pinned Kalisto after the Midnight Hour(Big Ending/second-rope flying DDT combo) (2:45 aired). The Dudley Boys(Buh-Buh Ray & Devon) made a surprise return after the match and cleaned house on the new champs, finishing with a 3-D to put Woods through a table.
-Roman Reigns & Dean Ambrose d. Bray Wyatt & Luke Harper by DQ when Braun Strowman made his debut by overpowering Reigns and Ambrose (7:45 aired).
-The Bella Twins(Women's Champion Nikki & Brie) & Alicia Fox d. Paige Knight, Charlotte Flair, & Becky Lynch when Alicia pinned Paige after the axe kick (joined in progress; 10:37 aired).
-King Wade "Bad News" Barrett & Stardust were scheduled for a tag team match, but Stardust turned on Barrett for losing at SummerSlam. "The Man That Gravity Forgot" Adrian Neville made the save but Stardust got away before Neville could hit the Red Arrow(corkscrew shooting star press).
-Jon Stewart said that he cost John Cena his SummerSlam match last night because he didn't want him to match Ric Flair's title reign mark. However, Ric Flair said that he was okay with Cena reaching his title reign mark. John Cena came out to confront Stewart, who was apologetic about his actions and tried to talk his way out of the situation...but he still got an F-U from Cena.
-Randy Orton, Intercontinental Champion Ryback, Antonio Cesaro, & Dolph Ziggler(w/ Lana Perry) d. Sheamus O'Shaunessy, The Big Show, Kevin Owens, & Alexander Rusev(w/ Summer Rae); Show accidentally PUNCHed Sheamus and Orton pinned Sheamus after the RKO (10:59 aired). Owens & Rusev turned on Show for losing and beat him down...after they left, Ziggler superkicked Show and Ryback & Cesaro military-pressed Show(!) into an RKO by Orton.
-WWE/U.S. Champion Seth Rollins made a speech in preparation for the unveiling of his bronze statue...but the curtain was pulled back to reveal Sting instead. Sting got the better of the fight with Rollins and got a good look at the title belt as he stood tall in the ring...
-Tag Team Champions The New Day(Big E Langston & Kofi Kingston)(w/ Xavier Woods & trombone) d. The Lucha Dragons(Sin Cara & Kalisto)(non-title) when Big E pinned Kalisto after the Midnight Hour(Big Ending/second-rope flying DDT combo) (2:45 aired). The Dudley Boys(Buh-Buh Ray & Devon) made a surprise return after the match and cleaned house on the new champs, finishing with a 3-D to put Woods through a table.
-Roman Reigns & Dean Ambrose d. Bray Wyatt & Luke Harper by DQ when Braun Strowman made his debut by overpowering Reigns and Ambrose (7:45 aired).
-The Bella Twins(Women's Champion Nikki & Brie) & Alicia Fox d. Paige Knight, Charlotte Flair, & Becky Lynch when Alicia pinned Paige after the axe kick (joined in progress; 10:37 aired).
-King Wade "Bad News" Barrett & Stardust were scheduled for a tag team match, but Stardust turned on Barrett for losing at SummerSlam. "The Man That Gravity Forgot" Adrian Neville made the save but Stardust got away before Neville could hit the Red Arrow(corkscrew shooting star press).
-Jon Stewart said that he cost John Cena his SummerSlam match last night because he didn't want him to match Ric Flair's title reign mark. However, Ric Flair said that he was okay with Cena reaching his title reign mark. John Cena came out to confront Stewart, who was apologetic about his actions and tried to talk his way out of the situation...but he still got an F-U from Cena.
-Randy Orton, Intercontinental Champion Ryback, Antonio Cesaro, & Dolph Ziggler(w/ Lana Perry) d. Sheamus O'Shaunessy, The Big Show, Kevin Owens, & Alexander Rusev(w/ Summer Rae); Show accidentally PUNCHed Sheamus and Orton pinned Sheamus after the RKO (10:59 aired). Owens & Rusev turned on Show for losing and beat him down...after they left, Ziggler superkicked Show and Ryback & Cesaro military-pressed Show(!) into an RKO by Orton.
-WWE/U.S. Champion Seth Rollins made a speech in preparation for the unveiling of his bronze statue...but the curtain was pulled back to reveal Sting instead. Sting got the better of the fight with Rollins and got a good look at the title belt as he stood tall in the ring...
Anarchy Wrestling TV #498
-Commentators: Brett Wolverton & John "The Body" Johnson.
-"The Italian-American Bad Boy" Tommy Penirelli(w/ B.J. Hancock & Lars Manderson) d. "The Lethal Dose" Stryknyn after hitting him with a chain to stop a spear attempt (7:27). Shadow Jackson, Logan Creede, & Jacob Ashworth saved Stryknyn from a post-match piledriver.
-"The Violence Artist" Trever Aeon d. Stitch Osiris after the DDT (6:53 aired).
-Ironman Challenge: "The Technician" Todd Sexton d. Raphael King(w/ Devyn Nicole & Nina Monet); Dementia D'Rose & Aja Perrera came out mid-match to back up Sexton. C.B. Suave attempted to interfere, but accidentally blinded King with body lotion; Sexton finished with a Go 2 Sleep followed by a close-range superkick (5:45). The heels did a four-on-three post-match beatdown and Suave revealed that he'll be Sexton's next opponent in the Ironman Challenge.
-"The Priest Of Punishment" Mikael Judas d. Jeff Lewis Neal to retain the Ironman Title (6:44 + 5:46 aired).
-Next week: Shadow/Creede/Ashworth vs. Hancock/Manderson/Penirelli, plus "The Encore" Kevin Blue vs. Young Lions' Champion Jeremy Foster for the T.V. Title.
-"The Italian-American Bad Boy" Tommy Penirelli(w/ B.J. Hancock & Lars Manderson) d. "The Lethal Dose" Stryknyn after hitting him with a chain to stop a spear attempt (7:27). Shadow Jackson, Logan Creede, & Jacob Ashworth saved Stryknyn from a post-match piledriver.
-"The Violence Artist" Trever Aeon d. Stitch Osiris after the DDT (6:53 aired).
-Ironman Challenge: "The Technician" Todd Sexton d. Raphael King(w/ Devyn Nicole & Nina Monet); Dementia D'Rose & Aja Perrera came out mid-match to back up Sexton. C.B. Suave attempted to interfere, but accidentally blinded King with body lotion; Sexton finished with a Go 2 Sleep followed by a close-range superkick (5:45). The heels did a four-on-three post-match beatdown and Suave revealed that he'll be Sexton's next opponent in the Ironman Challenge.
-"The Priest Of Punishment" Mikael Judas d. Jeff Lewis Neal to retain the Ironman Title (6:44 + 5:46 aired).
-Next week: Shadow/Creede/Ashworth vs. Hancock/Manderson/Penirelli, plus "The Encore" Kevin Blue vs. Young Lions' Champion Jeremy Foster for the T.V. Title.
SLA Special Comment (Part 1)
Now, as promised, a special comment about Friday's St. Louis Anarchy "Circus Maximus Part 1" show at the Knights Of Columbus Hall^H^H^HSpaulding Hall Club in Alton, Illinois. (Same venue, new name.)
DISCLAIMER: I'm biased. Deal with it.
With SLA running less frequently than usual, they've switched to consistent double-shots for the weekend(Friday and Saturday). That left me with a tough choice on Saturday between SLA and Southern Illinois Championship Wrestling, as I hadn't missed an East Carondelet show in quite a while. I'm in a position where I want to see everything possible, but sometimes there are two or even three shows on the same night within a reasonable distance. In a sense, I guess it's a nice problem for wrestling fans to have...variety can be a good thing. I didn't know if I should have felt more obligated to go to SICW as one of their television commentators.
The audience turnout was pretty good for both shows and the fans were enthusiatic for just about everything, something which definitely helped the shows. I think Saturday had a few more fans since it had the title bout for the weekend, plus Saturday shows tend to draw better than Fridays from my experience.
Your ring announcer was Sean Orleans(who did a fine job despite a bit of heckling from the Anarchy faithful). Your referees were Brandon Tolle, P.J. Drummond, and Austin Blackburn.
Ricky Starks vs. Bolt Brady(w/ Greg Jovi): Got used to seeing Brady as a fan favorite, so it's a bit weird to see him as a rulebreaker here. Starks hasn't really been a regular around here, though he appeared at the previous Anarchy double-shot. He's the current titleholder in Anarchy Championship Wrestling in Texas, for reference; he recently unified their Heavyweight and Hardcore Titles. I would have leaned toward Bolt to win here as a push for the BOSS stable, though I don't know if Starks' championship status in the sister promotion made a difference in that regard. This was a solid opener as they kept things grounded for the most part; to be fair, that's sort of a necessity with the lower ceiling in the venue. Starks won with Angel's Wings in 9:59(thank you Sean Orleans for announcing match times) to start off a rough night for BOSS.
Jojo Bravo vs. "The Madman" Paco Gonzalez: This was a battle of fan favorites, though Jojo is more established in the promotion. These bouts in SLA seem to turn into FIGHTING SPIRIT~! battles with a lot of fast-paced, high-impact offense and near-falls. Both guys are definitely capable of more grounded affairs, particularly Jojo from what I've seen of him in Pro Wrestling Championship Series. This was probably a bit more grounded than your highest-octane Anarchy affairs, I will say. Bravo won with the Samurai Driver(Ki-Krusher...WA-SHING~!) in 7:11.
Steve O. Reno vs. "The Big Mustache On Campus" Mikey McFinnegan: This was shaping up to be another face/face matchup with a bit of comedy thrown in, but they shared a beer before the matchup and McFinnegan got mad at Reno for stealing a drink from his beer can. Frosty beverages are serious business in St. Louis Anarchy, something that would come up again later in the show. Even with the setup, it shaped up to be a battle of fan favorites for the most part. Mikey nearly got counted out by Brandon Tolle while stealing drinks from ringside fans, then walked into a Blue Thunder Bomb for the Reno victory in 7:33. He protested that he was distracted, but he and Reno made nice afterwards.
"The Money" Matt Cage vs. Alex Castle: KENTUCKY BUFFET EXPLODES~! More importantly: Fan favorite vs. rulebreaker~! Cage started off the match with a huge suicide dive when Castle tried to bail out of the ring...that was a popular match-starter for the weekend, I noticed. They brawled on the floor for several minutes before finally getting back between the ropes. They had a good intense grudge match; Castle notched the cheap win via kick to the Universal Weak Point(tm) and Pedigree in 7:37. This feud MUST CONTINUE~!
The Viking War Party("American Viking" Alexandre Rudolph & "Littlest Viking" Jake Parnell) vs. Adam Caster & Evan Gelistico of The Cause(w/ Danny Adams & Everett Connors): As with The Commission in Metro Pro Wrestling, the Cause members specifically go by proper names: Mr. Caster, Mr. Gelistico, Mr. Adams, & Mr. Connors. Caster is the artist formerly known as Adam Raw...he had said that he once cared about the fans, but they didn't care about him when he and Gerald James destroyed their bodies in a 10,000 Thumbtacks Match two years ago. Gelistico seems to bring the megaphone with him at all times nowadays...heh. This was as wild as you'd expect and Blackburn got a baptism by fire as the official; best be prepared to head for higher ground any time the Vikings are on the warpath. The finish saw Parnell isolated by The Cause as Adams whacked him in the head with The Rulebook(tm)...that allowed Caster to finish with a wheelbarrow suplex in 13:45.
Intermission~! Had one can of root beer, then my esteemed comedy colleague Al Canal bought me a second soda a bit later in the show. Hadn't talked to him in a while.
Donovan Danhausen vs. Gorgeous Jordan Lacey(w/ Greg Jovi): This seemed to be set up as an easy win for Lacey over a new competitor. They seemed to have some early rough spots but brought it together over the course of the match. Danhausen avoided a blind charge into the corner by floating over into a rollup, scoring the flash pin in 4:47! That made BOSS 0-2 on the night...
"Zesty" Zakk Sawyers vs. "The Psycho Killer" Tommaso Ciampa: This was Ciampa's SLA debut; he's still using the Talking Heads song for his theme music, which is cool by me. Ciampa established himself as a heel for the night by dumping beer into a nearby trash can...THAT CAD~! Smart Mark Video posted the match on their YouTube channel, if you're interested in viewing it for yourself. This was as hard-hitting an affair as you'd expect out of a Ciampa match, but Sawyers earned respect by hanging in there with the former Ring Of Honor Television Champion. One of the sickest spots occurred when Ciampa lifted Zakk in vertical suplex position outside the ring, then rammed him upside-down into the ringpost! Really liked this matchup...Ciampa pulled down the kneepad to set up his knee trembler, scoring the win in 16:23. Cue MUTUAL RESPECT~! afterwards.
Mike Outlaw vs. "Dirty" Andy Dalton: Dalton was substituting for Sugar Dunkerton who apparently double-booked himself (he wrestled at another show on Friday, but did compete for SLA on the Saturday show). Really liked Dalton's character which can be summed up as "unsanitary"...heh. Hadn't seen him in a while; think he worked for one of the earlier Central States Championship Wrestling shows a few years back. This was Outlaw's debut weekend for SLA; there were some fans in the attendance who knew him from his other work in the area, so he got a good reaction from the audience. This was the most traditional face-vs.-heel singles bout of the night, if not the weekend. Outlaw got the flash pin with a small package in 8:42, but Dalton attacked him after the bell and laid him out with a piledriver. Outlaw managed to get up and return to the dressing room area under his own power...this issue isn't quite settled.
The Hooligans(Devin & Mason Cutter) vs. Danny Adams & Everett Connors of The Cause(w/ Adam Caster & Evan Gelistico) for the Tag Team Titles: This was the first title defense for the inaugural champs since winning the tournament at the previous double-shot in April. The Cause debuted by attacking the brothers Cutter after their title win, plus they had the momentum from Caster & Gelistico's win earlier in the night. This was another wild brawl with all four members of The Cause involved in the matchup; Blackburn again drew the short stray as the official. Lots of weapon play in this one; I noticed that Tolle was assigned to the more straightforward matches of the weekend while Blackburn and Drummond got the bouts with more potential to get out of hand. At any rate, The Cause got some good heel heat as I expected. They're a great heel stable for this promotion as they push for actual enforcement of The Rules(tm). Wonder if they'll recruit Tolle as their Bill Alfonso in the near future? The Anarchy fans already hate that guy. (Actually, I noticed that Blackburn officiated all four of their matches for the weekend...hmm...) Anywho...Devin pinned Adams after their wheelbarrow/second-rope jumping DDT finisher in 15:24 and the champs retained. However, Gelistico challenged the Cutters to face himself and Adam Caster the following night...Devin & Mason accepted, match set.
Davey Vega, Mat Fitchett, & Angelus Layne vs. Heavyweight Champion Gerald James, "The Rebel" Jeremy Wyatt, & Christian Rose(w/ Greg Jovi): Dorian Victor was absent on this night, so Jovi was at ringside for this one. This show had the interesting format of lumping the strongest characters into the one six-man tag match on top, leaving room to establish different people on the undercard. At one point, the BOSS trio "borrowed" the house microphone to do running commentary on their abuse of Fitchett; Rose and Wyatt had a particularly good time with it. I've become a big fan of Angelus Layne in recent times; really cool gal to chat with and she's really good in the ring. She's been turning heads in Texas recently and has worked for SHIMMER quite a bit; hopefully she'll get the attention of the right people in the near future. Vega got the hot tag, bonzo gonzo, Vega pinned Wyatt after the brainbuster onto the knee in 22:02. Woo. Lots of I Want Da Belt posturing set up for the following night's title bout...
Stay tuned for part two...Same Pat-Time, Same Pat-Channel.
Good night, good luck, and #yaywrestling.
P.S. We are all marks.
-PB, Watching Wrestling Wrong Since 1991
DISCLAIMER: I'm biased. Deal with it.
With SLA running less frequently than usual, they've switched to consistent double-shots for the weekend(Friday and Saturday). That left me with a tough choice on Saturday between SLA and Southern Illinois Championship Wrestling, as I hadn't missed an East Carondelet show in quite a while. I'm in a position where I want to see everything possible, but sometimes there are two or even three shows on the same night within a reasonable distance. In a sense, I guess it's a nice problem for wrestling fans to have...variety can be a good thing. I didn't know if I should have felt more obligated to go to SICW as one of their television commentators.
The audience turnout was pretty good for both shows and the fans were enthusiatic for just about everything, something which definitely helped the shows. I think Saturday had a few more fans since it had the title bout for the weekend, plus Saturday shows tend to draw better than Fridays from my experience.
Your ring announcer was Sean Orleans(who did a fine job despite a bit of heckling from the Anarchy faithful). Your referees were Brandon Tolle, P.J. Drummond, and Austin Blackburn.
Ricky Starks vs. Bolt Brady(w/ Greg Jovi): Got used to seeing Brady as a fan favorite, so it's a bit weird to see him as a rulebreaker here. Starks hasn't really been a regular around here, though he appeared at the previous Anarchy double-shot. He's the current titleholder in Anarchy Championship Wrestling in Texas, for reference; he recently unified their Heavyweight and Hardcore Titles. I would have leaned toward Bolt to win here as a push for the BOSS stable, though I don't know if Starks' championship status in the sister promotion made a difference in that regard. This was a solid opener as they kept things grounded for the most part; to be fair, that's sort of a necessity with the lower ceiling in the venue. Starks won with Angel's Wings in 9:59(thank you Sean Orleans for announcing match times) to start off a rough night for BOSS.
Jojo Bravo vs. "The Madman" Paco Gonzalez: This was a battle of fan favorites, though Jojo is more established in the promotion. These bouts in SLA seem to turn into FIGHTING SPIRIT~! battles with a lot of fast-paced, high-impact offense and near-falls. Both guys are definitely capable of more grounded affairs, particularly Jojo from what I've seen of him in Pro Wrestling Championship Series. This was probably a bit more grounded than your highest-octane Anarchy affairs, I will say. Bravo won with the Samurai Driver(Ki-Krusher...WA-SHING~!) in 7:11.
Steve O. Reno vs. "The Big Mustache On Campus" Mikey McFinnegan: This was shaping up to be another face/face matchup with a bit of comedy thrown in, but they shared a beer before the matchup and McFinnegan got mad at Reno for stealing a drink from his beer can. Frosty beverages are serious business in St. Louis Anarchy, something that would come up again later in the show. Even with the setup, it shaped up to be a battle of fan favorites for the most part. Mikey nearly got counted out by Brandon Tolle while stealing drinks from ringside fans, then walked into a Blue Thunder Bomb for the Reno victory in 7:33. He protested that he was distracted, but he and Reno made nice afterwards.
"The Money" Matt Cage vs. Alex Castle: KENTUCKY BUFFET EXPLODES~! More importantly: Fan favorite vs. rulebreaker~! Cage started off the match with a huge suicide dive when Castle tried to bail out of the ring...that was a popular match-starter for the weekend, I noticed. They brawled on the floor for several minutes before finally getting back between the ropes. They had a good intense grudge match; Castle notched the cheap win via kick to the Universal Weak Point(tm) and Pedigree in 7:37. This feud MUST CONTINUE~!
The Viking War Party("American Viking" Alexandre Rudolph & "Littlest Viking" Jake Parnell) vs. Adam Caster & Evan Gelistico of The Cause(w/ Danny Adams & Everett Connors): As with The Commission in Metro Pro Wrestling, the Cause members specifically go by proper names: Mr. Caster, Mr. Gelistico, Mr. Adams, & Mr. Connors. Caster is the artist formerly known as Adam Raw...he had said that he once cared about the fans, but they didn't care about him when he and Gerald James destroyed their bodies in a 10,000 Thumbtacks Match two years ago. Gelistico seems to bring the megaphone with him at all times nowadays...heh. This was as wild as you'd expect and Blackburn got a baptism by fire as the official; best be prepared to head for higher ground any time the Vikings are on the warpath. The finish saw Parnell isolated by The Cause as Adams whacked him in the head with The Rulebook(tm)...that allowed Caster to finish with a wheelbarrow suplex in 13:45.
Intermission~! Had one can of root beer, then my esteemed comedy colleague Al Canal bought me a second soda a bit later in the show. Hadn't talked to him in a while.
Donovan Danhausen vs. Gorgeous Jordan Lacey(w/ Greg Jovi): This seemed to be set up as an easy win for Lacey over a new competitor. They seemed to have some early rough spots but brought it together over the course of the match. Danhausen avoided a blind charge into the corner by floating over into a rollup, scoring the flash pin in 4:47! That made BOSS 0-2 on the night...
"Zesty" Zakk Sawyers vs. "The Psycho Killer" Tommaso Ciampa: This was Ciampa's SLA debut; he's still using the Talking Heads song for his theme music, which is cool by me. Ciampa established himself as a heel for the night by dumping beer into a nearby trash can...THAT CAD~! Smart Mark Video posted the match on their YouTube channel, if you're interested in viewing it for yourself. This was as hard-hitting an affair as you'd expect out of a Ciampa match, but Sawyers earned respect by hanging in there with the former Ring Of Honor Television Champion. One of the sickest spots occurred when Ciampa lifted Zakk in vertical suplex position outside the ring, then rammed him upside-down into the ringpost! Really liked this matchup...Ciampa pulled down the kneepad to set up his knee trembler, scoring the win in 16:23. Cue MUTUAL RESPECT~! afterwards.
Mike Outlaw vs. "Dirty" Andy Dalton: Dalton was substituting for Sugar Dunkerton who apparently double-booked himself (he wrestled at another show on Friday, but did compete for SLA on the Saturday show). Really liked Dalton's character which can be summed up as "unsanitary"...heh. Hadn't seen him in a while; think he worked for one of the earlier Central States Championship Wrestling shows a few years back. This was Outlaw's debut weekend for SLA; there were some fans in the attendance who knew him from his other work in the area, so he got a good reaction from the audience. This was the most traditional face-vs.-heel singles bout of the night, if not the weekend. Outlaw got the flash pin with a small package in 8:42, but Dalton attacked him after the bell and laid him out with a piledriver. Outlaw managed to get up and return to the dressing room area under his own power...this issue isn't quite settled.
The Hooligans(Devin & Mason Cutter) vs. Danny Adams & Everett Connors of The Cause(w/ Adam Caster & Evan Gelistico) for the Tag Team Titles: This was the first title defense for the inaugural champs since winning the tournament at the previous double-shot in April. The Cause debuted by attacking the brothers Cutter after their title win, plus they had the momentum from Caster & Gelistico's win earlier in the night. This was another wild brawl with all four members of The Cause involved in the matchup; Blackburn again drew the short stray as the official. Lots of weapon play in this one; I noticed that Tolle was assigned to the more straightforward matches of the weekend while Blackburn and Drummond got the bouts with more potential to get out of hand. At any rate, The Cause got some good heel heat as I expected. They're a great heel stable for this promotion as they push for actual enforcement of The Rules(tm). Wonder if they'll recruit Tolle as their Bill Alfonso in the near future? The Anarchy fans already hate that guy. (Actually, I noticed that Blackburn officiated all four of their matches for the weekend...hmm...) Anywho...Devin pinned Adams after their wheelbarrow/second-rope jumping DDT finisher in 15:24 and the champs retained. However, Gelistico challenged the Cutters to face himself and Adam Caster the following night...Devin & Mason accepted, match set.
Davey Vega, Mat Fitchett, & Angelus Layne vs. Heavyweight Champion Gerald James, "The Rebel" Jeremy Wyatt, & Christian Rose(w/ Greg Jovi): Dorian Victor was absent on this night, so Jovi was at ringside for this one. This show had the interesting format of lumping the strongest characters into the one six-man tag match on top, leaving room to establish different people on the undercard. At one point, the BOSS trio "borrowed" the house microphone to do running commentary on their abuse of Fitchett; Rose and Wyatt had a particularly good time with it. I've become a big fan of Angelus Layne in recent times; really cool gal to chat with and she's really good in the ring. She's been turning heads in Texas recently and has worked for SHIMMER quite a bit; hopefully she'll get the attention of the right people in the near future. Vega got the hot tag, bonzo gonzo, Vega pinned Wyatt after the brainbuster onto the knee in 22:02. Woo. Lots of I Want Da Belt posturing set up for the following night's title bout...
Stay tuned for part two...Same Pat-Time, Same Pat-Channel.
Good night, good luck, and #yaywrestling.
P.S. We are all marks.
-PB, Watching Wrestling Wrong Since 1991
Sunday, August 23, 2015
WWE SummerSlam
-Commentators: Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler, & John Bradshaw Layfield. Host: Jon Stewart.
-Sheamus O'Shaunessy d. Randy Orton after two Brogue Kicks in a row.
-The New Day(Big E Langston & Kofi Kingston)(w/ Xavier Woods) won a four-corner match with The Prime Time Players(Titus O'Neil & Darren Young)(C), The Lucha Dragons(Sin Cara & Kalisto), and Los Matadores(Fernando & Diego)(w/ El Torito) to win the Tag Team Titles; Titus hit Fernando with the Clash Of The Titus, but Kofi had blind-tagged himself into the match and kicked Titus away before stealing the pin on Fernando.
-Dolph Ziggler(w/ Lana Perry) fought Alexander Rusev(w/ Summer Rae) to a double countout.
-"The Man That Gravity Forgot" Adrian Neville & Stephen Amell d. King Wade "Bad News" Barrett & Stardust when Neville pinned Barrett after the Red Arrow(corkscrew shooting star press).
-Ryback won a triple threat match with The Big Show and Mike Mizanin when he pinned Miz after Show's PUNCH.
-Roman Reigns & Dean Ambrose d. Bray Wyatt & Luke Harper when Reigns pinned Wyatt after the spear.
-Seth Rollins d. John Cena to retain the WWE Title and win the U.S. Title. The referee was knocked down and Jon Stewart ran in with a chair, but he hit Cena in the midsection with the weapon. Rollins delivered a Pedigree on the chair and covered for the pin as the referee recovered to make the count.
-Paige Knight, Charlotte Flair, & Becky Lynch won a three-way dance with The Bella Twins(Women's Champion Nikki & Brie) & Alicia Fox and "The Boss" Sasha Banks, Naomi Night, & Tamina Snuka. Brie pinned Tamina after a tornado Bella Buster(X-Factor), then Becky pinned Brie after a pumphandle suplex into a uranagi.
-Kevin Owens d. Antonio Cesaro with the pop-up powerbomb.
-The Undertaker d. Brock Lesnar(w/ Paul Heyman). Taker tapped out to the kimura, but the referee was out of position to see it; the timekeeper rang the bell and the referee waved it off, allowing the match to continue. In the confusion, Taker delivered a low blow behind the referee's back and took Lesnar down in the Hell's Gate until Brock blacked out in the hold.
-Sheamus O'Shaunessy d. Randy Orton after two Brogue Kicks in a row.
-The New Day(Big E Langston & Kofi Kingston)(w/ Xavier Woods) won a four-corner match with The Prime Time Players(Titus O'Neil & Darren Young)(C), The Lucha Dragons(Sin Cara & Kalisto), and Los Matadores(Fernando & Diego)(w/ El Torito) to win the Tag Team Titles; Titus hit Fernando with the Clash Of The Titus, but Kofi had blind-tagged himself into the match and kicked Titus away before stealing the pin on Fernando.
-Dolph Ziggler(w/ Lana Perry) fought Alexander Rusev(w/ Summer Rae) to a double countout.
-"The Man That Gravity Forgot" Adrian Neville & Stephen Amell d. King Wade "Bad News" Barrett & Stardust when Neville pinned Barrett after the Red Arrow(corkscrew shooting star press).
-Ryback won a triple threat match with The Big Show and Mike Mizanin when he pinned Miz after Show's PUNCH.
-Roman Reigns & Dean Ambrose d. Bray Wyatt & Luke Harper when Reigns pinned Wyatt after the spear.
-Seth Rollins d. John Cena to retain the WWE Title and win the U.S. Title. The referee was knocked down and Jon Stewart ran in with a chair, but he hit Cena in the midsection with the weapon. Rollins delivered a Pedigree on the chair and covered for the pin as the referee recovered to make the count.
-Paige Knight, Charlotte Flair, & Becky Lynch won a three-way dance with The Bella Twins(Women's Champion Nikki & Brie) & Alicia Fox and "The Boss" Sasha Banks, Naomi Night, & Tamina Snuka. Brie pinned Tamina after a tornado Bella Buster(X-Factor), then Becky pinned Brie after a pumphandle suplex into a uranagi.
-Kevin Owens d. Antonio Cesaro with the pop-up powerbomb.
-The Undertaker d. Brock Lesnar(w/ Paul Heyman). Taker tapped out to the kimura, but the referee was out of position to see it; the timekeeper rang the bell and the referee waved it off, allowing the match to continue. In the confusion, Taker delivered a low blow behind the referee's back and took Lesnar down in the Hell's Gate until Brock blacked out in the hold.
Weekend wrestling viewing
WWE Superstars
-Commentators: Rich Brennan, Byron Saxton, & Jimmy Uso.
-Curtis Axel d. Adam Rose with the corkscrew snapmare driver (2:53).
-The Ascension(Konnor O'Brian & Rick Viktor) d. "R-Truth" Ron Killings & Johnny Fandango when Konnon pinned Fandango after the Fall Of Man(legsweep/flying European uppercut combo) (7:02 aired).
ROH TV
-Commentators: Kevin Kelly & Steve Corino.
-The Briscoe Brothers(Jay & Mark) d. The Bloodbound Warriors(Grey Wolf & Red Scorpion) when Jay pinned Scorpion after a lariat (4:20). The Decade(B.J. Whitmer, Adam Page, & Colby Corino) came out and Page reiterated his challenge to Jay Briscoe from a few weeks ago...though they emphasized that it wouldn't happen tonight.
-Roderick Strong d. Donovan Dijak(w/ Truth Martini & J. Diesel) after the Sick Kick(flying boot) (8:24 aired). Heavyweight/T.V. Champion Jay Lethal attacked Strong after the match, but Strong fought off The House Of Truth with the help of War Machine(Todd Hanson & Raymond Rowe).
-The Addiction("Almighty" Christopher Daniels & Frankie Kazarian)(w/ Chris Sabin) d. Future Shock(Adam Cole & Kyle O'Reilly) to retain the Tag Team Titles; The Kingdom(Michael Bennett, Matt Taven, & Maria Kanellis-Bennett) interfered against O'Reilly, but Cole caught them in the act and chased Maria back to the dressing room. However, that left Kyle alone in the ring and Kazarian pinned O'Reilly after the Celebrity rehab(Kazarian belly-to-back suplex flipped into Daniels Codebreaker) (12:30 aired). The Addiction trio beat down O'Reilly after the match until Bobby Fish ran in to help; that brought out The Kingdom and The Young Buck(Matt & Nick Jackson) for a four-team brawl.
-Next week: Jay Lethal vs. Todd Hanson for the T.V. Title, plus Jay Briscoe vs. Adam Page.
SICW Wrestling Explosion(as seen on YouTube; Charter Cable replayed last week's episode)
-Commentators: Drew Abbenhaus & Patrick Brandmeyer.
-Flashback to October 1985: Dick Slater(w/ Dark Journey) d. Tommy Rogers with the sleeperhold.
-Flashback to the 1950s: June Byers d. Cora Combs after a back bodydrop.
-Flashback to January 1982: Ric Flair d. Dusty Rhodes; Gene Kiniski as the referee. Dusty went for a bodyslam, but Flair had damaged his knee and Dusty lost his balance, causing Flair to fall on top for the pinfall.
3XW All Stars Of The Midwest Episode 27
-Commentators: Jeremy Jacobs, Brady A. Dezire, Gage Octane, & Brian Ash.
-Black Wrestlers Matter("The Fury" Jon West & James Grizzle) d. Jaysin Strife & Ray Stryker when West pinned Stryker after a frog splash (10:01). Strife walked away from the ring and left Stryker in a two-on-one situation(due to frustration over Stryker tagging himself into the match at one point), but Derek Stone & Trevor Murdoch made the save.
-Mad Dog McDowell d. "Ravishing" Ryan Slade in a Dog Pound Challenge(dog collar match where the loser had to eat dog food) when he countered a Ry-Plex(fisherman suplex) attempt with a small package (9:22). Slade attacked McDowell after the match and "Rockstar" Jimmy Rockwell(whose injury Slade was trying to "avenge") entered the ring to embrace Slade, but then dropped him with a Codebreaker and McDowell followed up with the Rabies Shot(Protobomb). After that, "dinner" was served...bwahahaha.
-"The Fashionista" Marek Brave d. Kraig Keesaman to win the Pure Wrestling Title; Connor Braxton distracted Keesaman and Commissioner Todd Countryman ordered him away from ringside. However, Countryman threw powder in Keesaman's eyes and Brave delivered a superkick and Pedigree for the win (17:50).
-Commentators: Rich Brennan, Byron Saxton, & Jimmy Uso.
-Curtis Axel d. Adam Rose with the corkscrew snapmare driver (2:53).
-The Ascension(Konnor O'Brian & Rick Viktor) d. "R-Truth" Ron Killings & Johnny Fandango when Konnon pinned Fandango after the Fall Of Man(legsweep/flying European uppercut combo) (7:02 aired).
ROH TV
-Commentators: Kevin Kelly & Steve Corino.
-The Briscoe Brothers(Jay & Mark) d. The Bloodbound Warriors(Grey Wolf & Red Scorpion) when Jay pinned Scorpion after a lariat (4:20). The Decade(B.J. Whitmer, Adam Page, & Colby Corino) came out and Page reiterated his challenge to Jay Briscoe from a few weeks ago...though they emphasized that it wouldn't happen tonight.
-Roderick Strong d. Donovan Dijak(w/ Truth Martini & J. Diesel) after the Sick Kick(flying boot) (8:24 aired). Heavyweight/T.V. Champion Jay Lethal attacked Strong after the match, but Strong fought off The House Of Truth with the help of War Machine(Todd Hanson & Raymond Rowe).
-The Addiction("Almighty" Christopher Daniels & Frankie Kazarian)(w/ Chris Sabin) d. Future Shock(Adam Cole & Kyle O'Reilly) to retain the Tag Team Titles; The Kingdom(Michael Bennett, Matt Taven, & Maria Kanellis-Bennett) interfered against O'Reilly, but Cole caught them in the act and chased Maria back to the dressing room. However, that left Kyle alone in the ring and Kazarian pinned O'Reilly after the Celebrity rehab(Kazarian belly-to-back suplex flipped into Daniels Codebreaker) (12:30 aired). The Addiction trio beat down O'Reilly after the match until Bobby Fish ran in to help; that brought out The Kingdom and The Young Buck(Matt & Nick Jackson) for a four-team brawl.
-Next week: Jay Lethal vs. Todd Hanson for the T.V. Title, plus Jay Briscoe vs. Adam Page.
SICW Wrestling Explosion(as seen on YouTube; Charter Cable replayed last week's episode)
-Commentators: Drew Abbenhaus & Patrick Brandmeyer.
-Flashback to October 1985: Dick Slater(w/ Dark Journey) d. Tommy Rogers with the sleeperhold.
-Flashback to the 1950s: June Byers d. Cora Combs after a back bodydrop.
-Flashback to January 1982: Ric Flair d. Dusty Rhodes; Gene Kiniski as the referee. Dusty went for a bodyslam, but Flair had damaged his knee and Dusty lost his balance, causing Flair to fall on top for the pinfall.
3XW All Stars Of The Midwest Episode 27
-Commentators: Jeremy Jacobs, Brady A. Dezire, Gage Octane, & Brian Ash.
-Black Wrestlers Matter("The Fury" Jon West & James Grizzle) d. Jaysin Strife & Ray Stryker when West pinned Stryker after a frog splash (10:01). Strife walked away from the ring and left Stryker in a two-on-one situation(due to frustration over Stryker tagging himself into the match at one point), but Derek Stone & Trevor Murdoch made the save.
-Mad Dog McDowell d. "Ravishing" Ryan Slade in a Dog Pound Challenge(dog collar match where the loser had to eat dog food) when he countered a Ry-Plex(fisherman suplex) attempt with a small package (9:22). Slade attacked McDowell after the match and "Rockstar" Jimmy Rockwell(whose injury Slade was trying to "avenge") entered the ring to embrace Slade, but then dropped him with a Codebreaker and McDowell followed up with the Rabies Shot(Protobomb). After that, "dinner" was served...bwahahaha.
-"The Fashionista" Marek Brave d. Kraig Keesaman to win the Pure Wrestling Title; Connor Braxton distracted Keesaman and Commissioner Todd Countryman ordered him away from ringside. However, Countryman threw powder in Keesaman's eyes and Brave delivered a superkick and Pedigree for the win (17:50).
WWE NXT Takeover: Brooklyn
-Commentators: Rich Brennan, Byron Saxton, & Corey Graves.
-Jushin "Thunder" Liger d. Tyler Breeze with the running Ligerbomb (8:39).
-Coming soon: Nia Jax.
-The Vaudevillains("The Artiste" Aiden English & Simon Gotch)(w/ "Blue Pants" Leva Bates) d. Wesley Blake & Buddy Murphy(w/ Alexa Bliss) to win the NXT Tag Team Titles when Gotch pinned Murphy after the Whirling Dervish(Gotch European uppercut to the back of the head followed by English swinging neckbreaker) (10:14).
-Apollo Crews d. Tye Dillinger after a gorilla press and standing moonsault (4:43).
-Samoa Joe d. Baron Corbin with the Kokita Clutch (10:22)
-Shown in the audience: Kan(n)a!
-Bayley Rose d. "The Boss" Sasha Banks after a reverse top-rope Frankensteiner and the second Belly-To-Bayley Hugplex of the match to win the NXT Women's Title (18:16). Charlotte Flair & Becky Lynch congratuated Bayley after the match.
-Finn Bálor d. Kevin Owens in a ladder match to retain the NXT Title after delivering the Coup De Grace from the ladder onto Owens (21:38).
-Jushin "Thunder" Liger d. Tyler Breeze with the running Ligerbomb (8:39).
-Coming soon: Nia Jax.
-The Vaudevillains("The Artiste" Aiden English & Simon Gotch)(w/ "Blue Pants" Leva Bates) d. Wesley Blake & Buddy Murphy(w/ Alexa Bliss) to win the NXT Tag Team Titles when Gotch pinned Murphy after the Whirling Dervish(Gotch European uppercut to the back of the head followed by English swinging neckbreaker) (10:14).
-Apollo Crews d. Tye Dillinger after a gorilla press and standing moonsault (4:43).
-Samoa Joe d. Baron Corbin with the Kokita Clutch (10:22)
-Shown in the audience: Kan(n)a!
-Bayley Rose d. "The Boss" Sasha Banks after a reverse top-rope Frankensteiner and the second Belly-To-Bayley Hugplex of the match to win the NXT Women's Title (18:16). Charlotte Flair & Becky Lynch congratuated Bayley after the match.
-Finn Bálor d. Kevin Owens in a ladder match to retain the NXT Title after delivering the Coup De Grace from the ladder onto Owens (21:38).
Saturday, August 22, 2015
Saturday SLA Results From Alton, IL
-The BOSS stable(Heavyweight Champion Gerald James, Jeremy Wyatt, Christian Rose, Jordan Lacey, Greg Jovi, & Dorian Victor) started the show by addressing the fans; they said they had a rough night on Friday but would rebound. Victor said they had to deal with a weak link in the group...Greg Jovi panicked as he thought he was the "weak link", but the group turned on Jordan Lacey for his loss on Friday.
-"Zesty" Zakk Sawyers d. "The Money" Matt Cage; Sawyers damaged Cage's hand during the match. Cage delivered the Money Clip(fireman's-carry into a roundhouse right), but hurt his hand in executing the move and Zakk rolled him up for the pin (14:05). Alex Castle(who came out to yell at Cage during the match) attacked Cage with a chair as he was exiting the ring area, then kicked him in the groin before delivering a Pedigree. Castle accused Cage of leaving him behind when he competed for bigger promotions and thinking he was "too good" to be in a tag team with him.
-Alex Castle won a six-way match with Ricky Starks, Justin D'Air, Mike Outlaw, "The Big Mustache On Campus" Mikey McFinnegan, and Donovan Danhausen when he pinned Danhausen after the Pedigree (7:06).
-Angelus Layne d. "Dirty" Andy Dalton after a spider-style German suplex off the turnbuckles (7:36). Dalton attacked Layne from behind after the match, but Mike Outlaw made the save before he could deliver the piledriver.
-The Viking War Party("American Viking" Alexandre Rudolph & "Littlest Viking" Jake Parnell) d. Danny Adams & Everett Connors of The Cause(w/ Adam Caster & Evan Gelistico); Rudolph powerbombed Adams, then held him upside-down for Parnell to deliver a chair-assisted dropkick off the second rope. Rudolph pinned Adams after that (10:00).
-Christian Rose d. "The Psycho Killer" Tommaso Ciampa; Rose avoided the knee trembler and Ciampa hit his knee on the turnbuckles, leading to Rose getting him in the No-Leaf Clover(Liontamer-style Boston crab) for the upset tapout win (20:03).
-Steve O. Reno d. Sugar Dunkerton in a match that featured Reno attempting a "Tennis Elbow" and a slow-motion segment. Reno got the win with the Blue Thunder Bomb (15:29).
-"The Rebel" Jeremy Wyatt(w/ Greg Jovi) d. Jojo Bravo with the Lightning Spiral (12:21).
-Mat Fitchett d. Paco Gonzalez with the cradle piledriver (12:20).
-Adam Caster & Evan Gelistico of The Cause d. The Hooligans(Devin & Mason Cutter) to win the Tag Team Titles; Mr. Adams & Mr. Connors interfered and helped Caster & Gelistico deliver a quadruple team spike powerbomb/neckbreaker combo on Mason. Gelistico pinned Mason after that to win the belts (9:14).
-Gerald James(w/ Dorian Victor) d. Davey Vega to retain the Heavyweight Title. The war of attrition led to a bloody James delivering the Michinoku Driver, but Vega got to his feet on sheer adrenaline and dropped James with the second brainbuster to the knee of the match. James has a similar rush of adrenaline and got to his feet as well, dropping Vega with a huge palm strike and collapsing on top of Vega for the three-count (23:15).
-"Zesty" Zakk Sawyers d. "The Money" Matt Cage; Sawyers damaged Cage's hand during the match. Cage delivered the Money Clip(fireman's-carry into a roundhouse right), but hurt his hand in executing the move and Zakk rolled him up for the pin (14:05). Alex Castle(who came out to yell at Cage during the match) attacked Cage with a chair as he was exiting the ring area, then kicked him in the groin before delivering a Pedigree. Castle accused Cage of leaving him behind when he competed for bigger promotions and thinking he was "too good" to be in a tag team with him.
-Alex Castle won a six-way match with Ricky Starks, Justin D'Air, Mike Outlaw, "The Big Mustache On Campus" Mikey McFinnegan, and Donovan Danhausen when he pinned Danhausen after the Pedigree (7:06).
-Angelus Layne d. "Dirty" Andy Dalton after a spider-style German suplex off the turnbuckles (7:36). Dalton attacked Layne from behind after the match, but Mike Outlaw made the save before he could deliver the piledriver.
-The Viking War Party("American Viking" Alexandre Rudolph & "Littlest Viking" Jake Parnell) d. Danny Adams & Everett Connors of The Cause(w/ Adam Caster & Evan Gelistico); Rudolph powerbombed Adams, then held him upside-down for Parnell to deliver a chair-assisted dropkick off the second rope. Rudolph pinned Adams after that (10:00).
-Christian Rose d. "The Psycho Killer" Tommaso Ciampa; Rose avoided the knee trembler and Ciampa hit his knee on the turnbuckles, leading to Rose getting him in the No-Leaf Clover(Liontamer-style Boston crab) for the upset tapout win (20:03).
-Steve O. Reno d. Sugar Dunkerton in a match that featured Reno attempting a "Tennis Elbow" and a slow-motion segment. Reno got the win with the Blue Thunder Bomb (15:29).
-"The Rebel" Jeremy Wyatt(w/ Greg Jovi) d. Jojo Bravo with the Lightning Spiral (12:21).
-Mat Fitchett d. Paco Gonzalez with the cradle piledriver (12:20).
-Adam Caster & Evan Gelistico of The Cause d. The Hooligans(Devin & Mason Cutter) to win the Tag Team Titles; Mr. Adams & Mr. Connors interfered and helped Caster & Gelistico deliver a quadruple team spike powerbomb/neckbreaker combo on Mason. Gelistico pinned Mason after that to win the belts (9:14).
-Gerald James(w/ Dorian Victor) d. Davey Vega to retain the Heavyweight Title. The war of attrition led to a bloody James delivering the Michinoku Driver, but Vega got to his feet on sheer adrenaline and dropped James with the second brainbuster to the knee of the match. James has a similar rush of adrenaline and got to his feet as well, dropping Vega with a huge palm strike and collapsing on top of Vega for the three-count (23:15).
Friday, August 21, 2015
Friday SLA Results From Alton, IL + Other Show Results
-Ricky Starks d. Bolt Brady(w/ Greg Jovi) after the Angel's Wings (9:59).
-Jojo Bravo d. Paco Gonzalez with the Samurai Driver(Ki-Krusher) (7:11).
-Steve O. Reno d. "The Big Mustache On Campus" Mikey McFinnegan via Blue Thunder Bomb (7:33).
-Alex Castle d. "The Money" Matt Cage after a kick to the groin behind the referee's back, followed by a Pedigree (7:37).
-Adam Caster(fka Adam Raw) & Evan Gelistico of The Cause(w/ Danny Adams & Everett Connors) d. The Viking War Party("American Viking" Alexandre Rudolph & "Littlest Viking" Jake Parnell) when Adams hit Parnell with The Rulebook as the referee's attention was elsewhere, allowing Caster to finish with a wheelbarrow suplex (13:45).
-Donovan Danhausen d. "Gorgeous" Jordan Lacey(w/ Greg Jovi) via floatover rollup out of the corner (4:47).
-"The Psycho Killer" Tommaso Ciampa d. "Zesty" Zakk Sawyers after a knee trembler (16:23).
-Mike Outlaw d. "Dirty" Andy Dalton via small package (8:42). Dalton dropped Outlaw with a post-match piledriver.
-The Hooligans(Devin & Mason Cutter) d. Danny Adams & Everett Connors of The Cause(w/ Evan Gelistico) to retain the Tag Team Titles when Devin pinned Adams after The Hooligans' wheelbarrow/second-rope flying DDT double-team (15:24). After the match, Gelistico challenged The Hooligans to face himself and Adam Caster for the Tag Titles on tomorrow night's show.
-Davey Vega, Mat Fitchett, & Angelus Layne d. Heavyweight Champion Gerald James, "The Rebel" Jeremy Wyatt, & Christian Rose(w/ Greg Jovi) when Vega pinned Wyatt after the brainbuster onto the knee (22:02).
-The next double-shot of shows was announced as taking place on November 13th and 14th.
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Friday ROH results from Philadelphia, PA:
-reDRagon(Kyle O'Reilly & Bobby Fish) d. Donovan Dijak & J. Diesel.
-Cedric Alexander d. Dalton Castle.
-War Machine(Todd Hanson & Raymond Rowe) d. The Kingdom(Michael Bennett & Matt Taven).
-The Addiction(Christopher Daniels & Frankie Kazarian) d. The Young Bucks(Matt & Nick Jackson) to retain the Tag Team Titles.
-T.V. Champion Jay Lethal d. Roderick Strong to retain the Heavyweight Title.
-Michael Elgin d. Silas Young.
-A.C.H. d. Caprice Coleman.
-The Briscoe Brothers(Jay & Mark) & Hirooki Goto d. Kazuchika Okada & Roppongi Vice(Rocky Romero & Trent Barreta).
-Matt Sydal d. Yujiro Kushida.
-Takaaki Watanabe won a four-corner match with Moose, Adam Page, and Will Ferrara.
-Shinsuke Nakamura d. Adam Cole.
Saturday SICW results from East Carondelet, IL(credit to Ben Simon):
-Bobby D fought "Dead Sexy" Daniel Gunner to a time-limit draw (10:00).
-Ax Allwardt d. Wam Bam Bellows after a DDT (6:15).
-"The Iceman" Howard Moritz d. The Mathmagician with an elevated DDT (10:38).
-Ron Powers d. Waco after an elbowdrop off the second rope (4:22).
-"Volatile" Curtis Wylde(w/ Wyldefyre) d. "Your Canadian Hero" Sean Vincent by countout after Wyldefyre hit Vincent with her loaded purse (9:25).
-Heath Hatton d. "The Icon" Chris Hargas(w/ Travis Cook) after a spear (10:30).
-"The Old School Warrior" Chaz Wesson d. Bubba Troll with a cross-bodyblock off the top rope (6:50).
-Flash Flanagan fought Ron Powers to a no-contest to retain the Classic Title when Brandon Espinosa & Chris Hargas attacked both men (4:45). (Kahagas was unable to compete after being knocked out by Red River Jack's cast earlier in the night.)
-"The King Of Chaos" Ricky Cruz & "Night Train/Gorgeous/Great One" Gary Jackson fought Attila Khan & Brandon Espinosa to a no-contest when Khan and Cruz both brought weapons into the match(Khan's fork, Ricky's chair) (9:23).
Saturday ROH results from Brooklyn, NY:
-Will Ferrara d. ?.
-Adam Cole d. Tag Team Champion Christopher Daniels.
-War Machine(Todd Hanson & Raymond Rowe) d. The Killer Elite Squad(Lance Archer & Davey Boy Smith Jr.).
-Gauntlet Match: Dalton Castle d. Adam Page, Castle d. Tag Team Champion Frankie Kazarian, Silas Young d. Castle, Young d. Bushwhacker Luke Williams by countout, Moose d. Silas Young, Moose d. Donovan Dijak, Cedric Alexander d. Moose, Takaaki Watanabe d. Alexander.
-Matt Sydal, A.C.H., & The Young Bucks(Matt & Nick Jackson) d. The Kingdom(Michael Bennett & Matt Taven) & Roppongi Vice(Rocky Romero & Trent Barreta).
-Hirooki Goto d. Michael Elgin.
-The Briscoe Brothers(Jay & Mark) d. The Time Splitters(Alex Shelley & Yujiro Kushida).
-Kazuchika Okada d. Roderick Strong.
-Heavyweight/T.V. Champion Jay Lethal & Shinsuke Nakamura d. reDRagon(Kyle O'Reilly & Bobby Fish).
Saturday Anarchy Wrestling results from Cornelia, GA:
-C.B. Suave & "P-Dog" Mike Posey d. Slim J & Fred Yehi to retain the Tag Team Titles.
-Azrael won a Hostile Rumble with Supernatural, Kevin Park, Raphael King, Dylan Cook, Marko Polo, Jeff Lewis Neal, Dany Only, and Odinson.
-Mikael Judas d. Todd Sexton to retain the Ironman Title.
-Jacob Ashworth won a four-way dance with Kevin Blue(T.V. Champion), Trever Aeon, and Jeremy Foster(Young Lions' Champion) to win both titles; Aeon pinned Foster, Blue pinned Aeon, and Ashworth pinned Blue for the win.
-Billy Buck d. Jagged Edge in a bullrope match to win the Heavyweight Title.
-Shadow Jackson, Bobby Moore, Stryknyn, & Logan Creede(Judas was injured earlier in the show and unable to compete) d. B.H. Hancock, The Big F'n Deal(Geter & Brian Blaze), Lars Manderson, & Jon Williams in a Wargames cage match.
-Jeff G. Bailey d. Stephen Platinum in a cage match.
Sunday ACW results from Austin, TX:
-Zak & D.G. Taylor, Chuey Martinez, Shane Stratmore, & Frankie Fisher d. Hooligan Ace, Pretty Boy J, El Classico, Donnie Giovanni, & Reggie Lincoln.
-Sky DeLacromisa won a four-way dance with V.G. Allin, J.A. Fair, and Roy Lewis.
-Dallas Starr, Jay Howard, & Li'l Tony d. Johnny Swole, Curt Stallion, & Mad Tigre.
-Rey Ortiz, Johnny Axxle, & Tank Engine Tommy d. Mr. B, Chuckie, & Ricky Romida.
-Jessica James won a four-way dance with Angel Blue, Livi Loca, and Baby Dumplins.
-The Unholy Complex(Gregory James & Jason Silver) d. Stable 97(Shawn Vexx & Killah Kash) to retain the Tag Team Titles.
-Ricky Starks d. Raymond Rowe to retain the Heavyweight Title.
-Jojo Bravo d. A.C.H. to retain the T.V. Title.
-Steve O. Reno d. Dick Money to retain the U-30 Title.
-Cherry Ramons d. Junior Garza.
-Darin Childs won a four-way dance with Jeff Gant, Jack Jameson, and Barrett Brown.
-Jay Howard won a six-way dance with Li'l Tony, Johnny Axxle, Dallas Starr, Rey Ortiz, and Tank Engine Tommy.
-Athena d. Su Yung to retain the Joshi Title.
-Jojo Bravo d. Paco Gonzalez with the Samurai Driver(Ki-Krusher) (7:11).
-Steve O. Reno d. "The Big Mustache On Campus" Mikey McFinnegan via Blue Thunder Bomb (7:33).
-Alex Castle d. "The Money" Matt Cage after a kick to the groin behind the referee's back, followed by a Pedigree (7:37).
-Adam Caster(fka Adam Raw) & Evan Gelistico of The Cause(w/ Danny Adams & Everett Connors) d. The Viking War Party("American Viking" Alexandre Rudolph & "Littlest Viking" Jake Parnell) when Adams hit Parnell with The Rulebook as the referee's attention was elsewhere, allowing Caster to finish with a wheelbarrow suplex (13:45).
-Donovan Danhausen d. "Gorgeous" Jordan Lacey(w/ Greg Jovi) via floatover rollup out of the corner (4:47).
-"The Psycho Killer" Tommaso Ciampa d. "Zesty" Zakk Sawyers after a knee trembler (16:23).
-Mike Outlaw d. "Dirty" Andy Dalton via small package (8:42). Dalton dropped Outlaw with a post-match piledriver.
-The Hooligans(Devin & Mason Cutter) d. Danny Adams & Everett Connors of The Cause(w/ Evan Gelistico) to retain the Tag Team Titles when Devin pinned Adams after The Hooligans' wheelbarrow/second-rope flying DDT double-team (15:24). After the match, Gelistico challenged The Hooligans to face himself and Adam Caster for the Tag Titles on tomorrow night's show.
-Davey Vega, Mat Fitchett, & Angelus Layne d. Heavyweight Champion Gerald James, "The Rebel" Jeremy Wyatt, & Christian Rose(w/ Greg Jovi) when Vega pinned Wyatt after the brainbuster onto the knee (22:02).
-The next double-shot of shows was announced as taking place on November 13th and 14th.
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Friday ROH results from Philadelphia, PA:
-reDRagon(Kyle O'Reilly & Bobby Fish) d. Donovan Dijak & J. Diesel.
-Cedric Alexander d. Dalton Castle.
-War Machine(Todd Hanson & Raymond Rowe) d. The Kingdom(Michael Bennett & Matt Taven).
-The Addiction(Christopher Daniels & Frankie Kazarian) d. The Young Bucks(Matt & Nick Jackson) to retain the Tag Team Titles.
-T.V. Champion Jay Lethal d. Roderick Strong to retain the Heavyweight Title.
-Michael Elgin d. Silas Young.
-A.C.H. d. Caprice Coleman.
-The Briscoe Brothers(Jay & Mark) & Hirooki Goto d. Kazuchika Okada & Roppongi Vice(Rocky Romero & Trent Barreta).
-Matt Sydal d. Yujiro Kushida.
-Takaaki Watanabe won a four-corner match with Moose, Adam Page, and Will Ferrara.
-Shinsuke Nakamura d. Adam Cole.
Saturday SICW results from East Carondelet, IL(credit to Ben Simon):
-Bobby D fought "Dead Sexy" Daniel Gunner to a time-limit draw (10:00).
-Ax Allwardt d. Wam Bam Bellows after a DDT (6:15).
-"The Iceman" Howard Moritz d. The Mathmagician with an elevated DDT (10:38).
-Ron Powers d. Waco after an elbowdrop off the second rope (4:22).
-"Volatile" Curtis Wylde(w/ Wyldefyre) d. "Your Canadian Hero" Sean Vincent by countout after Wyldefyre hit Vincent with her loaded purse (9:25).
-Heath Hatton d. "The Icon" Chris Hargas(w/ Travis Cook) after a spear (10:30).
-"The Old School Warrior" Chaz Wesson d. Bubba Troll with a cross-bodyblock off the top rope (6:50).
-Flash Flanagan fought Ron Powers to a no-contest to retain the Classic Title when Brandon Espinosa & Chris Hargas attacked both men (4:45). (Kahagas was unable to compete after being knocked out by Red River Jack's cast earlier in the night.)
-"The King Of Chaos" Ricky Cruz & "Night Train/Gorgeous/Great One" Gary Jackson fought Attila Khan & Brandon Espinosa to a no-contest when Khan and Cruz both brought weapons into the match(Khan's fork, Ricky's chair) (9:23).
Saturday ROH results from Brooklyn, NY:
-Will Ferrara d. ?.
-Adam Cole d. Tag Team Champion Christopher Daniels.
-War Machine(Todd Hanson & Raymond Rowe) d. The Killer Elite Squad(Lance Archer & Davey Boy Smith Jr.).
-Gauntlet Match: Dalton Castle d. Adam Page, Castle d. Tag Team Champion Frankie Kazarian, Silas Young d. Castle, Young d. Bushwhacker Luke Williams by countout, Moose d. Silas Young, Moose d. Donovan Dijak, Cedric Alexander d. Moose, Takaaki Watanabe d. Alexander.
-Matt Sydal, A.C.H., & The Young Bucks(Matt & Nick Jackson) d. The Kingdom(Michael Bennett & Matt Taven) & Roppongi Vice(Rocky Romero & Trent Barreta).
-Hirooki Goto d. Michael Elgin.
-The Briscoe Brothers(Jay & Mark) d. The Time Splitters(Alex Shelley & Yujiro Kushida).
-Kazuchika Okada d. Roderick Strong.
-Heavyweight/T.V. Champion Jay Lethal & Shinsuke Nakamura d. reDRagon(Kyle O'Reilly & Bobby Fish).
Saturday Anarchy Wrestling results from Cornelia, GA:
-C.B. Suave & "P-Dog" Mike Posey d. Slim J & Fred Yehi to retain the Tag Team Titles.
-Azrael won a Hostile Rumble with Supernatural, Kevin Park, Raphael King, Dylan Cook, Marko Polo, Jeff Lewis Neal, Dany Only, and Odinson.
-Mikael Judas d. Todd Sexton to retain the Ironman Title.
-Jacob Ashworth won a four-way dance with Kevin Blue(T.V. Champion), Trever Aeon, and Jeremy Foster(Young Lions' Champion) to win both titles; Aeon pinned Foster, Blue pinned Aeon, and Ashworth pinned Blue for the win.
-Billy Buck d. Jagged Edge in a bullrope match to win the Heavyweight Title.
-Shadow Jackson, Bobby Moore, Stryknyn, & Logan Creede(Judas was injured earlier in the show and unable to compete) d. B.H. Hancock, The Big F'n Deal(Geter & Brian Blaze), Lars Manderson, & Jon Williams in a Wargames cage match.
-Jeff G. Bailey d. Stephen Platinum in a cage match.
Sunday ACW results from Austin, TX:
-Zak & D.G. Taylor, Chuey Martinez, Shane Stratmore, & Frankie Fisher d. Hooligan Ace, Pretty Boy J, El Classico, Donnie Giovanni, & Reggie Lincoln.
-Sky DeLacromisa won a four-way dance with V.G. Allin, J.A. Fair, and Roy Lewis.
-Dallas Starr, Jay Howard, & Li'l Tony d. Johnny Swole, Curt Stallion, & Mad Tigre.
-Rey Ortiz, Johnny Axxle, & Tank Engine Tommy d. Mr. B, Chuckie, & Ricky Romida.
-Jessica James won a four-way dance with Angel Blue, Livi Loca, and Baby Dumplins.
-The Unholy Complex(Gregory James & Jason Silver) d. Stable 97(Shawn Vexx & Killah Kash) to retain the Tag Team Titles.
-Ricky Starks d. Raymond Rowe to retain the Heavyweight Title.
-Jojo Bravo d. A.C.H. to retain the T.V. Title.
-Steve O. Reno d. Dick Money to retain the U-30 Title.
-Cherry Ramons d. Junior Garza.
-Darin Childs won a four-way dance with Jeff Gant, Jack Jameson, and Barrett Brown.
-Jay Howard won a six-way dance with Li'l Tony, Johnny Axxle, Dallas Starr, Rey Ortiz, and Tank Engine Tommy.
-Athena d. Su Yung to retain the Joshi Title.
Main Event + XPlosion
WWE Main Event
-Commentators: Rich Brennan & Jerry Lawler.
-Charlotte Flair(w/ Becky Lynch) d. Alicia Fox(w/ Women's Champion Nikki Bella & Brie Bella) with the Figure-Eight Leglock(bridging figure-four) (8:28 aired).
-Stardust d. Jack Swagger with the Crossrhodes (4:35); King Wade "Bad News" Barrett did commentary.
-Tag Team Champions The Prime Time Players(Titus O'Neil & Darren Young) d. The Ascension(Konnor O'Brian & Rick Viktor)(non-title) when Titus pinned Viktor after the Clash Of The Titus (7:07 aired).
TNA XPlosion
-Commentators: Josh Mathews, Jeremy Borash, & Drew Galloway.
-Amazing Kong d. Brooke Tessmacher with the Implant Buster(double-underhook faceplant) (5:28 aired).
-Commentators: Rich Brennan & Jerry Lawler.
-Charlotte Flair(w/ Becky Lynch) d. Alicia Fox(w/ Women's Champion Nikki Bella & Brie Bella) with the Figure-Eight Leglock(bridging figure-four) (8:28 aired).
-Stardust d. Jack Swagger with the Crossrhodes (4:35); King Wade "Bad News" Barrett did commentary.
-Tag Team Champions The Prime Time Players(Titus O'Neil & Darren Young) d. The Ascension(Konnor O'Brian & Rick Viktor)(non-title) when Titus pinned Viktor after the Clash Of The Titus (7:07 aired).
TNA XPlosion
-Commentators: Josh Mathews, Jeremy Borash, & Drew Galloway.
-Amazing Kong d. Brooke Tessmacher with the Implant Buster(double-underhook faceplant) (5:28 aired).
Thursday, August 20, 2015
Impact + Smackdown
TNA Impact (Turning Point)
-Commentators: Josh Mathews & "The Pope" D'Angelo Dinero.
-Ken Anderson d. Bram Cameron in an "Open-Mic Challenge Match"; Anderson's customized microphone was hung above the ring and whoever got it would be able to use it in the match. Anderson won after knocking out Bram with the microphone (9:08).
-James Storm(w/ Abyss & Manik) and Mahabali Shera had a confrontation...Shera seemed to get Manik's attention, but the ensuing fight saw The Revolution members beat down Shera with Manik hesitantly joining in.
-Gail Kim won a handicap cage match against The Dollhouse(Mia "Jade" Yim & Marti Belle) when she pinned Marti after the Eat-The-Feet (8:16 aired).
-Drew Galloway d. Eli Drake in a no-DQ match after an Air Raid Crash off the turnbuckles and through a table (9:43).
-Matt Hardy d. Tyrus Clay after two Twists Of Fate (2:16). Heavyweight Champion Ethan Carter III laid out Hardy with his title belt after the match.
-Ethan Carter III d. King Of The Mountain Champion P.J. Black with the One-Percenter(headlock driver) to retain the Heavyweight Title (8:15).
-Next week: The American Wolves(Davey Richards & Eddie Edwards) vs. The Revolution(Abyss & Manik) for the Tag Team Titles, Brooke Tessmacher vs. Velvet Sky for the Women's Title, and Tigre Uno vs. Sonjay Dutt vs. D.J. Shiima Xion for the X-Division Title.
WWE Smackdown
-Commentators: Tom Phillips, Jerry Lawler, & Jimmy Uso.
-Intercontinental Champion Ryback vs. The Big Show(non-title) ended in a double countout when Ryback rammed Show through the ringside barricade into the timekeeper's area (4:12).
-The New Day(Big E Langston, Kofi Kingston, & Xavier Woods) d. Los Matadores(Fernando & Diego) & El Torito; Big E hit Torito with the Warrior Splash and Xavier tagged in to get the pin (5:14 aired).
-"The Man That Gravity Forgot" Adrian Neville d. Bo Dallas with the Red Arrow(corkscrew shooting star press) (1:54).
-Brie Bella(w/ Women's Champion Nikki Bella & Alicia Fox) won a non-title triple threat match with NXT Women's Champion "The Boss" Sasha Banks(w/ Naomi Night & Tamina Snuka) and Becky Lynch(w/ Paige Knight & Charlotte Flair) when pinned Becky with an O'Connor Roll and handful of tights (3:44 aired).
-Roman Reigns, Randy Orton, Antonio Cesaro, & Dean Ambrose d. Bray Wyatt, Sheamus O'Shaunessy, Kevin Owens, & Luke Harper when Ambrose pinned Harper after the Dirty Deeds v2.0(double-underhook DDT) (11:59 aired).
-Commentators: Josh Mathews & "The Pope" D'Angelo Dinero.
-Ken Anderson d. Bram Cameron in an "Open-Mic Challenge Match"; Anderson's customized microphone was hung above the ring and whoever got it would be able to use it in the match. Anderson won after knocking out Bram with the microphone (9:08).
-James Storm(w/ Abyss & Manik) and Mahabali Shera had a confrontation...Shera seemed to get Manik's attention, but the ensuing fight saw The Revolution members beat down Shera with Manik hesitantly joining in.
-Gail Kim won a handicap cage match against The Dollhouse(Mia "Jade" Yim & Marti Belle) when she pinned Marti after the Eat-The-Feet (8:16 aired).
-Drew Galloway d. Eli Drake in a no-DQ match after an Air Raid Crash off the turnbuckles and through a table (9:43).
-Matt Hardy d. Tyrus Clay after two Twists Of Fate (2:16). Heavyweight Champion Ethan Carter III laid out Hardy with his title belt after the match.
-Ethan Carter III d. King Of The Mountain Champion P.J. Black with the One-Percenter(headlock driver) to retain the Heavyweight Title (8:15).
-Next week: The American Wolves(Davey Richards & Eddie Edwards) vs. The Revolution(Abyss & Manik) for the Tag Team Titles, Brooke Tessmacher vs. Velvet Sky for the Women's Title, and Tigre Uno vs. Sonjay Dutt vs. D.J. Shiima Xion for the X-Division Title.
WWE Smackdown
-Commentators: Tom Phillips, Jerry Lawler, & Jimmy Uso.
-Intercontinental Champion Ryback vs. The Big Show(non-title) ended in a double countout when Ryback rammed Show through the ringside barricade into the timekeeper's area (4:12).
-The New Day(Big E Langston, Kofi Kingston, & Xavier Woods) d. Los Matadores(Fernando & Diego) & El Torito; Big E hit Torito with the Warrior Splash and Xavier tagged in to get the pin (5:14 aired).
-"The Man That Gravity Forgot" Adrian Neville d. Bo Dallas with the Red Arrow(corkscrew shooting star press) (1:54).
-Brie Bella(w/ Women's Champion Nikki Bella & Alicia Fox) won a non-title triple threat match with NXT Women's Champion "The Boss" Sasha Banks(w/ Naomi Night & Tamina Snuka) and Becky Lynch(w/ Paige Knight & Charlotte Flair) when pinned Becky with an O'Connor Roll and handful of tights (3:44 aired).
-Roman Reigns, Randy Orton, Antonio Cesaro, & Dean Ambrose d. Bray Wyatt, Sheamus O'Shaunessy, Kevin Owens, & Luke Harper when Ambrose pinned Harper after the Dirty Deeds v2.0(double-underhook DDT) (11:59 aired).
Comedy Part 595: Hey Guys, I Hosted Tonight
Location: Hey Guys Comedy
Emcee: Me
Feature: Landon Meyer
Headliner: Matt Bergman
Went to Hey Guys to watch the Thursday night show since I've got plans for the next two nights...I was asked if I could host and that was cool by me. It's good to be available for opportunities when they present themselves and I've had several recent hosting spots at Hey Guys as a result. I mixed some old standby jokes in with the new material and had a pretty good set...the audience wasn't that big but they had a good time. It was cool to introduce Landon for his first feature weekend at the club...glad he's getting that opportunity.
Emcee: Me
Feature: Landon Meyer
Headliner: Matt Bergman
Went to Hey Guys to watch the Thursday night show since I've got plans for the next two nights...I was asked if I could host and that was cool by me. It's good to be available for opportunities when they present themselves and I've had several recent hosting spots at Hey Guys as a result. I mixed some old standby jokes in with the new material and had a pretty good set...the audience wasn't that big but they had a good time. It was cool to introduce Landon for his first feature weekend at the club...glad he's getting that opportunity.
Wednesday, August 19, 2015
Comedy Part 594: Hump Day Hahas
Location: Valley Park Funny Bone
Emcee: Jack Schurk
After: Erik Carlson
Before: Ben Johnson
Went up pretty late in the show again(second-to-last) and didn't have notes with me, but I feel like I did well this evening. I combined two older jokes into one bit and I think it worked out pretty well. Have a few ideas in mind, but still have to figure out where to take them. Won't be at Westport next week since I'll be recording the TV commentary for SICW, so next up for me will be Hey Guys Comedy's open-mic on Wednesday.
Emcee: Jack Schurk
After: Erik Carlson
Before: Ben Johnson
Went up pretty late in the show again(second-to-last) and didn't have notes with me, but I feel like I did well this evening. I combined two older jokes into one bit and I think it worked out pretty well. Have a few ideas in mind, but still have to figure out where to take them. Won't be at Westport next week since I'll be recording the TV commentary for SICW, so next up for me will be Hey Guys Comedy's open-mic on Wednesday.
Wednesday wrestling viewing
Journey Into CHIKARA Episode 4
-Commentators: Mike Quackenbush & Leonard F. Chikarason.
-Eddie Kingston d. Jaka after the second spinning Backfist To The Future of the match (6:28).
-Das Bruderschaft Des Kreuzes(Jakob Hammermeier, Soldier Ant, & Pinkie Sanchez) d. The Colony(Fire Ant, Silver Ant, & Worker Ant II) when Hammermeier made Worker tap out to a three-quarter scorpion deathlock(thank you, Quack) (20:25).
WWE NXT
-Commentators: Rich Brennan, Byron Saxton, & Corey Graves.
-General Manager S. William Regal started the show with the contract signing for the NXT Women's Title match between champion "The Boss" Sasha Banks and Bayley Rose. Bayley was ready for a potential sneak attack, but Sasha said she wasn't worth it...that led to Bayley fighting with Sasha in the aisleway and referees separating the two.
-Debuting on Saturday: Apollo Crews.
-Tyler Breeze d. Rob Ryzin after the Supermodel Kick (0:37). After the match, Breeze put a Jushin "Thunder" Liger mask on Ryzin and addressed him as if he was Liger...then pulled him to his feet to deliver the Beauty Shot(spinning heel kick). Breeze pulled the mask off Ryzin and dropped it in the aisle, then stepped on the mask on his way out of the arena.
-Enzo Amore, "Big Cass" Colin Cassady, & The Hype Bros(Zack Ryder & Mojo Rawley)(w/ Carmella Van Damme) d. Jesse Sorensen, Aaron Solo, John Yurnet, & That Guy when Enzo pinned Solo after the Rocket Launcher (3:09).
-Backstage: Devin Taylor interviewed a quartet of interested onlookers: Jason Jordan, Chad Gable, Scott Dawson, & Dash Wilder. They'll face Enzo/Cass/Ryder/Mojo in an eight-man tag next week.
-Samoa Joe d. Steve Cutler with the Kokita Clutch (0:32). Baron Corbin attacked Joe as he was making his exit...the fight ended up in the ring where Corbin laid out Joe with the End Of Days(mid-air Flatliner).
-Next week: Bull Dempsey returns, new and improved (vs. Elias Samson).
-NXT Tag Team Champions Wesley Blake & Buddy Murphy(w/ Alexa Bliss) d. Angelo Dawkins & Sawyer Fulton(non-title) when Blake pinned Fulton after the frog splash (3:41). The Vaudevillains("The Artiste" Aiden English & Simon Gotch) interrupted their victory celebration, but Alexa walked up to them and slapped them again.
-Also next week: Carmella vs. Eva Marie, plus Charlotte Flair vs. Becky Lynch vs. Emma Tayla vs. Dana Brooke.
-Kevin Owens had some words about his NXT Title ladder match with Finn Bálor at Takeover: Brooklyn. Owens climbed the ladder to finish up his promo, but Bálor appeared on the turnbuckles and stared him down. The two fought it out with Bálor getting the upper hand, but Owens retreated from the ring before Bálor could hit him with the ladder.
-Commentators: Mike Quackenbush & Leonard F. Chikarason.
-Eddie Kingston d. Jaka after the second spinning Backfist To The Future of the match (6:28).
-Das Bruderschaft Des Kreuzes(Jakob Hammermeier, Soldier Ant, & Pinkie Sanchez) d. The Colony(Fire Ant, Silver Ant, & Worker Ant II) when Hammermeier made Worker tap out to a three-quarter scorpion deathlock(thank you, Quack) (20:25).
WWE NXT
-Commentators: Rich Brennan, Byron Saxton, & Corey Graves.
-General Manager S. William Regal started the show with the contract signing for the NXT Women's Title match between champion "The Boss" Sasha Banks and Bayley Rose. Bayley was ready for a potential sneak attack, but Sasha said she wasn't worth it...that led to Bayley fighting with Sasha in the aisleway and referees separating the two.
-Debuting on Saturday: Apollo Crews.
-Tyler Breeze d. Rob Ryzin after the Supermodel Kick (0:37). After the match, Breeze put a Jushin "Thunder" Liger mask on Ryzin and addressed him as if he was Liger...then pulled him to his feet to deliver the Beauty Shot(spinning heel kick). Breeze pulled the mask off Ryzin and dropped it in the aisle, then stepped on the mask on his way out of the arena.
-Enzo Amore, "Big Cass" Colin Cassady, & The Hype Bros(Zack Ryder & Mojo Rawley)(w/ Carmella Van Damme) d. Jesse Sorensen, Aaron Solo, John Yurnet, & That Guy when Enzo pinned Solo after the Rocket Launcher (3:09).
-Backstage: Devin Taylor interviewed a quartet of interested onlookers: Jason Jordan, Chad Gable, Scott Dawson, & Dash Wilder. They'll face Enzo/Cass/Ryder/Mojo in an eight-man tag next week.
-Samoa Joe d. Steve Cutler with the Kokita Clutch (0:32). Baron Corbin attacked Joe as he was making his exit...the fight ended up in the ring where Corbin laid out Joe with the End Of Days(mid-air Flatliner).
-Next week: Bull Dempsey returns, new and improved (vs. Elias Samson).
-NXT Tag Team Champions Wesley Blake & Buddy Murphy(w/ Alexa Bliss) d. Angelo Dawkins & Sawyer Fulton(non-title) when Blake pinned Fulton after the frog splash (3:41). The Vaudevillains("The Artiste" Aiden English & Simon Gotch) interrupted their victory celebration, but Alexa walked up to them and slapped them again.
-Also next week: Carmella vs. Eva Marie, plus Charlotte Flair vs. Becky Lynch vs. Emma Tayla vs. Dana Brooke.
-Kevin Owens had some words about his NXT Title ladder match with Finn Bálor at Takeover: Brooklyn. Owens climbed the ladder to finish up his promo, but Bálor appeared on the turnbuckles and stared him down. The two fought it out with Bálor getting the upper hand, but Owens retreated from the ring before Bálor could hit him with the ladder.
Outlaw Special Comment
Now, as promised, a special comment about Sunday's Outlaw Wrestling show at the Community Youth Center in Centralia, Illinois.
DISCLAIMER: I'm biased. Deal with it.
Outlaw Wrestling is a new promotion run by The Hooligans out of Centralia, about an hour east of the greater St. Louis area. I had somewhat lame reasons for passing on their inaugural show a few months ago(longer drive, plus Sunday being my typical "unwinding" day). I was invited to be a guest on the Sergio Revenge internet radio show(http://station.voscast.com/54a8689c55fbd/) and carpooled with Sergio to the event, so it was nice to get a ride to a show instead of driving the whole way. Hopefully we did the show justice and added some insight along the way...with my radio and commentary experience, I think I was able to contribute a bit.
They had a good turnout for the event...the gymnasium got really warm at times, especially when it filled up with more people. I heard that was a thing at the first show in the venue as well.
(NOTE: Match lengths are approximate as I had trouble hearing the bell at times.)
Your ring announcer was Rolan Greene; I didn't know the names of the two referees.
The Hooligans(Devin & Mason Cutter) vs. The Firm(Dustin LeVay & Slade Sludge)(w/ Winston McNastybones) for the Full Impact Pro Tag Team Titles: The Cutters added to their already-impressive resume of tag team championships by defeating The Savages(Eddie Graves & Teddy Stigma) the previous weekend in Florida. Given FIP's affiliation with EVOLVE, perhaps this means that they'll be on the radar of some significant players on the national independent scene. The Facebook match graphic had Sludge's partner as "Dustin Starr" and I identified him as such until being corrected the following day...guessing they're just alternate names for the same guy. "Winston McNastybones" gets the award for most spectacular wrestling manager name, for the record. Sludge is painfully skinny-looking and I compared him to a white version of Ring Of Honor's Cheeseburger(only taller).
Anywho: Wrestling match! I quickly discovered that Outlaw Wrestling operates under an ECW-style mentality as the rules are extremely relaxed; weapons and other illegalities came into play in several matchups whether they were announced as no-DQ/hardcore or not. While the match started out as a chaotic brawl with chairs coming into play, it eventually settled down(somewhat) into the normal tag bout formula. They had a couple of good false finishes with the two challengers trying for dogpile pins(which were counted). I was seeing The Firm for the first time(along with many others on this show), so I may not have a good read on them just yet. (A bit of research tells me that Sludge competed once for St. Louis Anarchy as Slade Reithemeyer, so I saw him once before in an eight-man tag.) The Hooligans won with a new finisher as Mason did a double-stomp off the top rope to add oomph to Devin's sitout Tombstone on LeVay...ouchie. That scored Devin the pinfall in 10:32.
Lethal Injection(Brad & Briar Mercury) vs. Danny Adams & Randy Ray: Had seen Ray on Crimefighter's Nose Bleed Seats YouTube show but this was my first time seeing him in person. Had never seen Lethal Injection before; their tights had a thermometer motif with "MB" on the side(Mercury Brothers?). (Thanks to Devin Cutter for filling me in on some names, BTW.) The Mercurys are from Arkansas and I want to look up more of their matches on YouTube soon. They had the Rockers vibe about them with the fast-paced style and tandem offense; myself and Sergio actually referred to them as the "Shawn Michaels" and "Marty Jannetty" of the team on the broadcast (though Brad had short hair). Adams bailed on his partner out of nowhere, leaving Ray to be pinned by Briar after a pretty cool finisher (wheelbarrow pickup by one into an advanced curbstomp by the other) in 7:15.
Cash Borden(w/ garbage can) vs. Hellspawn vs. Weylin The Mangler(w/ thumbtack bat), hardcore match: I misidentified the large masked gentleman as "Waylon The Maimer" on the broadcast(it wasn't always easy to hear the ring announcer); found a whole lotta nothing about him online. It was billed as a "Legos-And-Army-Men Hardcore Match" and those were the contents of Borden's can o' plunder...anyone who has ever stepped on either of those items can sympathize. Hellspawn was a masked competitor billed from South America; his Facebook says he's from Chile and now hails from Mexico. The Cagematch website has a match history for him in both Mexico and Chile, so I'll say that he's legit in that regard; will need to look up more of his work. He recently competed for the Insane Clown Posse's Juggalo Championship Wrestling and was in the U.S. for that reason. Had never seen any of these three before this show, but I did recognize Borden's name from central Illinois shows; he was definitely the fan favorite as several people had signs for him.
It can be tough to gauge a person's talent in a multi-way match, especially one like this with a lot of bells and whistles. Many weapons came into play, as you'd guess. The Legos and Army Men were spilled out onto the mat for some rather painful landings on the part of the match participants. Borden is another guy I'll need to look up...as I said, I was "going in cold" with regards to a lot of people on this show. I wasn't sure if it would be Cash or Hellspawn coming out on top, but Cash is the main regular of the three as he competed on the first show. Borden got the win with a double-underhook DDT on Weylin(onto the debris in the ring) in 9:20.
Intermission~! They had to clean up the mess from the previous match, understandably. The heat and my consistent yammering meant I had to load up on hydration...I had three cans of soda, one bottle of water, and a hot dog(with Sergio footing the bill for some of that).
Manimal vs. "The Alternative" Ozzie Gallagher: This was Gallagher's return to the ring after a recent back injury. I hadn't seen Manimal in a long time; he had a match with Chaz Wesson at Independent Hardcore Wrestling(Mephisto's previous promotion) several years ago. He's got a style similar to Moondog Rover, except with more of a "caveman" motif. Manimal dominated a lot of the bout, but Danny Adams ran interference to cause a distraction. That allowed Gallagher to hit Manimal from behind with his own bone and score the cheap(?) win in 6:51. (If the weapons in the other non-hardcore matches were fine, a ref distraction may not have been necessary...heh.)
"American Viking" Alexandre Rudolph vs. "Zesty" Zakk Sawyers vs. "The Bad Wolf" Blake Belakis: This was billed as a contenders' match for the next shot at the Heavyweight Title. Hey, I know all of these guys! I've known Rudolph since he was a regular LWA "Superfan", eventually becoming a full-fledged wrestler with Dynamo Pro and other promotions. He's been branching out quite a bit, including a six-man tag in Jersey All-Pro Wrestling where the Viking War Party faced The Hooligans and Necro Butcher. Belakis is the current High Risk Wrestling Heavyweight Champion and occasionally competes for St. Louis Anarchy; he's wrestled for EVOLVE and Full Impact Pro as well. Sawyers has become more of a regular with Anarchy in recent times; he was once a flunky for Team Overkill(Matt Cage & Christian Rose) in Pro Wrestling Collision. This was a really good matchup; Sawyers and Belakis kept trying to work together against the larger Rudolph only to repeatedly double-cross each other(THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE~!). They got it together long enough to take out Rudolph with a Conchairto on the floor, but The Viking finally got back into the ring to clean house. Rudolph took down Sawyers by chokeslamming him off the top rope, but Belakis stunned The Viking with a palm strike and covered Sawyers...for two and a half. It sure didn't LOOK like a kickout, but the ref called it a near-fall...not sure what happened there. Either way, Belakis grabbed the nearest chair and wiped out Sawyers with it...THAT got the legitimate pinfall in about 19:00(there was a lot of hesitation between the pin and the closing bell).
Jeff Gant vs. Big Chris Mack: Mack's a big boy, billed at over 400 pounds. That made him over twice the size of Gant, who probably didn't venture from Texas to the Midwest for nights like this. Gant got in some token shots but this was pretty one-sided; Mack left his feet for a cannonball on Gant as he was slumped in the corner. Mack dragged Gant to center ring and delivered a 400-pound standing moonsault(!) for the win in 2:16. The post-match saw Mack demand better competition...something which caught the ear of Alexandre Rudolph. Rudolph challenged Mack to face him at the next show(October 11th) and the big man wasn't as quick to step up to someone closer to his size...
The Goon Squad(Deadly Dale & Idol Bane)(w/ Luscious Leo) vs. The Viking War Party("The Gordiest Viking" Frank Wyatt & "The Littlest Viking" Jake Parnell) for the Tag Team Titles: The Goons upset The Hooligans at the inaugural show to become the first Outlaw Tag Champs. They helpfully had their names on their attire so I could tell them apart. I hadn't seen Wyatt in a while; he was a regular for Southern Illinois Championship Wrestling for a little while and was dubbed "Frankie The Thumper" by Larry Matysik. Parnell started out as a rookie for Dynamo Pro and was a "Gentleman" for a while, but he earned Rudolph's respect in a series of matches and Rudolph decided to introduce him to the ways of the Viking. The Hooligans and Viking War Party have battled across the country, including several memorable bouts in the Midwest. I had always seen the Rudolph/Parnell combo of the Vikings, so this was my first time seeing Wyatt with the group.
This was another wild bout as they fought all over the gymnasium, using several unique weapons like vinyl records, a construction barricade, a ladder, and a flat-screen TV! Parnell used the ladder to climb onto the basketball hoop in the gym before diving off the side of the hoop frame onto the Goon Squad. The Goons finally resorted to drastic measures to win, knocking Parnell out of the ring before Dale choked out Wyatt with a plastic bag over his head for the "submission" win in 15:05. Rudolph ran off the champs, but the damage was done.
Bull Bronson vs. "The Big Mustache On Campus" Mikey McFinnegan(w/ Zakk Sawyers) for the Heavyweight Title: Bronson beat Sawyers to become the inaugural titleholder, so the other member of the Roscoe Eat Lisa tag team was trying his luck. Bull was the fan favorite in this one, which was a change of pace; I'm used to seeing him as a rulebreaker in other promotions like SICW and Collision. Due to the environment, Zakk interfered pretty freely and it was essentially a two-on-one situation. McFinnegan let Sawyers fight on his own at the previous show and he was unsuccessful, so I guess they felt like they needed to double-team the big man to beat him. Zakk blatantly broke up a pin attempt after Bronson hit a Vader Bomb(the move that won him the title in the first place), but Bronson fought off the assault and finished off McFinnegan with a sitout powerbomb in 15:27. Woo.
All hell broke loose after the match as LeVay and Sludge attacked Bronson with McFinnegan and Sawyers joining in the assault. That brought out The Hooligans...which brought out The Goon Squad...which brought out The Viking War Party...and the locker room emptied for a huge brawl! Everyone fought all over the gymnasium and out the doors to close the show...I was a bit worried about Hardcore Andy(who was working security) as he was accidentally struck in the chaos and was down on the floor for a minute or two...he said he was okay once he got back to his feet, so hopefully it wasn't anything serious.
Thus ended a long weekend...I appreciate Sergio Revenge for having me on the show as a guest. Got a Butterfinger Blizzard on the way home because I'm an aspiring fat guy, or something. :P
Anywho, this coming weekend has a double-shot for St. Louis Anarchy in Alton, IL. Unfortunately Little Guido(who was scheduled to wrestle on the Saturday event) cancelled earlier today, but they should still be good shows. Also, SICW has its monthly show in East Carondelet, IL on Saturday...tough choice there. The summer wraps up on Saturday the 29th with World League Wrestling in Troy, MO...they'll have several special guests in the house, including Tom Pritchard, Naomichi Marufuji, Gedo, and some guy named Ric Flair.
Starting off September, Dynamo will have a rare double-shot as they return to Fenton, MO on Saturday the 5th and then debut in a new venue(Four Hands Brewery in St. Louis, MO) on Sunday the 6th. Oddly, it's the third year in a row that Dynamo has had a wrestling show on my birthday...bwahahaha. Davey Richards & Angelina Love had been scheduled to appear on both shows, but now they'll only be appearing at the Sunday event. Matt Sydal will be making a homecoming of sorts, appearing at both shows...on top of that, Michael Elgin will be returning from Japan to appear at the Saturday show in Fenton. Good times...hope to see you at the rasslin shows.
Good night, good luck, and #yaywrestling.
P.S. We are all marks.
DISCLAIMER: I'm biased. Deal with it.
Outlaw Wrestling is a new promotion run by The Hooligans out of Centralia, about an hour east of the greater St. Louis area. I had somewhat lame reasons for passing on their inaugural show a few months ago(longer drive, plus Sunday being my typical "unwinding" day). I was invited to be a guest on the Sergio Revenge internet radio show(http://station.voscast.com/54a8689c55fbd/) and carpooled with Sergio to the event, so it was nice to get a ride to a show instead of driving the whole way. Hopefully we did the show justice and added some insight along the way...with my radio and commentary experience, I think I was able to contribute a bit.
They had a good turnout for the event...the gymnasium got really warm at times, especially when it filled up with more people. I heard that was a thing at the first show in the venue as well.
(NOTE: Match lengths are approximate as I had trouble hearing the bell at times.)
Your ring announcer was Rolan Greene; I didn't know the names of the two referees.
The Hooligans(Devin & Mason Cutter) vs. The Firm(Dustin LeVay & Slade Sludge)(w/ Winston McNastybones) for the Full Impact Pro Tag Team Titles: The Cutters added to their already-impressive resume of tag team championships by defeating The Savages(Eddie Graves & Teddy Stigma) the previous weekend in Florida. Given FIP's affiliation with EVOLVE, perhaps this means that they'll be on the radar of some significant players on the national independent scene. The Facebook match graphic had Sludge's partner as "Dustin Starr" and I identified him as such until being corrected the following day...guessing they're just alternate names for the same guy. "Winston McNastybones" gets the award for most spectacular wrestling manager name, for the record. Sludge is painfully skinny-looking and I compared him to a white version of Ring Of Honor's Cheeseburger(only taller).
Anywho: Wrestling match! I quickly discovered that Outlaw Wrestling operates under an ECW-style mentality as the rules are extremely relaxed; weapons and other illegalities came into play in several matchups whether they were announced as no-DQ/hardcore or not. While the match started out as a chaotic brawl with chairs coming into play, it eventually settled down(somewhat) into the normal tag bout formula. They had a couple of good false finishes with the two challengers trying for dogpile pins(which were counted). I was seeing The Firm for the first time(along with many others on this show), so I may not have a good read on them just yet. (A bit of research tells me that Sludge competed once for St. Louis Anarchy as Slade Reithemeyer, so I saw him once before in an eight-man tag.) The Hooligans won with a new finisher as Mason did a double-stomp off the top rope to add oomph to Devin's sitout Tombstone on LeVay...ouchie. That scored Devin the pinfall in 10:32.
Lethal Injection(Brad & Briar Mercury) vs. Danny Adams & Randy Ray: Had seen Ray on Crimefighter's Nose Bleed Seats YouTube show but this was my first time seeing him in person. Had never seen Lethal Injection before; their tights had a thermometer motif with "MB" on the side(Mercury Brothers?). (Thanks to Devin Cutter for filling me in on some names, BTW.) The Mercurys are from Arkansas and I want to look up more of their matches on YouTube soon. They had the Rockers vibe about them with the fast-paced style and tandem offense; myself and Sergio actually referred to them as the "Shawn Michaels" and "Marty Jannetty" of the team on the broadcast (though Brad had short hair). Adams bailed on his partner out of nowhere, leaving Ray to be pinned by Briar after a pretty cool finisher (wheelbarrow pickup by one into an advanced curbstomp by the other) in 7:15.
Cash Borden(w/ garbage can) vs. Hellspawn vs. Weylin The Mangler(w/ thumbtack bat), hardcore match: I misidentified the large masked gentleman as "Waylon The Maimer" on the broadcast(it wasn't always easy to hear the ring announcer); found a whole lotta nothing about him online. It was billed as a "Legos-And-Army-Men Hardcore Match" and those were the contents of Borden's can o' plunder...anyone who has ever stepped on either of those items can sympathize. Hellspawn was a masked competitor billed from South America; his Facebook says he's from Chile and now hails from Mexico. The Cagematch website has a match history for him in both Mexico and Chile, so I'll say that he's legit in that regard; will need to look up more of his work. He recently competed for the Insane Clown Posse's Juggalo Championship Wrestling and was in the U.S. for that reason. Had never seen any of these three before this show, but I did recognize Borden's name from central Illinois shows; he was definitely the fan favorite as several people had signs for him.
It can be tough to gauge a person's talent in a multi-way match, especially one like this with a lot of bells and whistles. Many weapons came into play, as you'd guess. The Legos and Army Men were spilled out onto the mat for some rather painful landings on the part of the match participants. Borden is another guy I'll need to look up...as I said, I was "going in cold" with regards to a lot of people on this show. I wasn't sure if it would be Cash or Hellspawn coming out on top, but Cash is the main regular of the three as he competed on the first show. Borden got the win with a double-underhook DDT on Weylin(onto the debris in the ring) in 9:20.
Intermission~! They had to clean up the mess from the previous match, understandably. The heat and my consistent yammering meant I had to load up on hydration...I had three cans of soda, one bottle of water, and a hot dog(with Sergio footing the bill for some of that).
Manimal vs. "The Alternative" Ozzie Gallagher: This was Gallagher's return to the ring after a recent back injury. I hadn't seen Manimal in a long time; he had a match with Chaz Wesson at Independent Hardcore Wrestling(Mephisto's previous promotion) several years ago. He's got a style similar to Moondog Rover, except with more of a "caveman" motif. Manimal dominated a lot of the bout, but Danny Adams ran interference to cause a distraction. That allowed Gallagher to hit Manimal from behind with his own bone and score the cheap(?) win in 6:51. (If the weapons in the other non-hardcore matches were fine, a ref distraction may not have been necessary...heh.)
"American Viking" Alexandre Rudolph vs. "Zesty" Zakk Sawyers vs. "The Bad Wolf" Blake Belakis: This was billed as a contenders' match for the next shot at the Heavyweight Title. Hey, I know all of these guys! I've known Rudolph since he was a regular LWA "Superfan", eventually becoming a full-fledged wrestler with Dynamo Pro and other promotions. He's been branching out quite a bit, including a six-man tag in Jersey All-Pro Wrestling where the Viking War Party faced The Hooligans and Necro Butcher. Belakis is the current High Risk Wrestling Heavyweight Champion and occasionally competes for St. Louis Anarchy; he's wrestled for EVOLVE and Full Impact Pro as well. Sawyers has become more of a regular with Anarchy in recent times; he was once a flunky for Team Overkill(Matt Cage & Christian Rose) in Pro Wrestling Collision. This was a really good matchup; Sawyers and Belakis kept trying to work together against the larger Rudolph only to repeatedly double-cross each other(THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE~!). They got it together long enough to take out Rudolph with a Conchairto on the floor, but The Viking finally got back into the ring to clean house. Rudolph took down Sawyers by chokeslamming him off the top rope, but Belakis stunned The Viking with a palm strike and covered Sawyers...for two and a half. It sure didn't LOOK like a kickout, but the ref called it a near-fall...not sure what happened there. Either way, Belakis grabbed the nearest chair and wiped out Sawyers with it...THAT got the legitimate pinfall in about 19:00(there was a lot of hesitation between the pin and the closing bell).
Jeff Gant vs. Big Chris Mack: Mack's a big boy, billed at over 400 pounds. That made him over twice the size of Gant, who probably didn't venture from Texas to the Midwest for nights like this. Gant got in some token shots but this was pretty one-sided; Mack left his feet for a cannonball on Gant as he was slumped in the corner. Mack dragged Gant to center ring and delivered a 400-pound standing moonsault(!) for the win in 2:16. The post-match saw Mack demand better competition...something which caught the ear of Alexandre Rudolph. Rudolph challenged Mack to face him at the next show(October 11th) and the big man wasn't as quick to step up to someone closer to his size...
The Goon Squad(Deadly Dale & Idol Bane)(w/ Luscious Leo) vs. The Viking War Party("The Gordiest Viking" Frank Wyatt & "The Littlest Viking" Jake Parnell) for the Tag Team Titles: The Goons upset The Hooligans at the inaugural show to become the first Outlaw Tag Champs. They helpfully had their names on their attire so I could tell them apart. I hadn't seen Wyatt in a while; he was a regular for Southern Illinois Championship Wrestling for a little while and was dubbed "Frankie The Thumper" by Larry Matysik. Parnell started out as a rookie for Dynamo Pro and was a "Gentleman" for a while, but he earned Rudolph's respect in a series of matches and Rudolph decided to introduce him to the ways of the Viking. The Hooligans and Viking War Party have battled across the country, including several memorable bouts in the Midwest. I had always seen the Rudolph/Parnell combo of the Vikings, so this was my first time seeing Wyatt with the group.
This was another wild bout as they fought all over the gymnasium, using several unique weapons like vinyl records, a construction barricade, a ladder, and a flat-screen TV! Parnell used the ladder to climb onto the basketball hoop in the gym before diving off the side of the hoop frame onto the Goon Squad. The Goons finally resorted to drastic measures to win, knocking Parnell out of the ring before Dale choked out Wyatt with a plastic bag over his head for the "submission" win in 15:05. Rudolph ran off the champs, but the damage was done.
Bull Bronson vs. "The Big Mustache On Campus" Mikey McFinnegan(w/ Zakk Sawyers) for the Heavyweight Title: Bronson beat Sawyers to become the inaugural titleholder, so the other member of the Roscoe Eat Lisa tag team was trying his luck. Bull was the fan favorite in this one, which was a change of pace; I'm used to seeing him as a rulebreaker in other promotions like SICW and Collision. Due to the environment, Zakk interfered pretty freely and it was essentially a two-on-one situation. McFinnegan let Sawyers fight on his own at the previous show and he was unsuccessful, so I guess they felt like they needed to double-team the big man to beat him. Zakk blatantly broke up a pin attempt after Bronson hit a Vader Bomb(the move that won him the title in the first place), but Bronson fought off the assault and finished off McFinnegan with a sitout powerbomb in 15:27. Woo.
All hell broke loose after the match as LeVay and Sludge attacked Bronson with McFinnegan and Sawyers joining in the assault. That brought out The Hooligans...which brought out The Goon Squad...which brought out The Viking War Party...and the locker room emptied for a huge brawl! Everyone fought all over the gymnasium and out the doors to close the show...I was a bit worried about Hardcore Andy(who was working security) as he was accidentally struck in the chaos and was down on the floor for a minute or two...he said he was okay once he got back to his feet, so hopefully it wasn't anything serious.
Thus ended a long weekend...I appreciate Sergio Revenge for having me on the show as a guest. Got a Butterfinger Blizzard on the way home because I'm an aspiring fat guy, or something. :P
Anywho, this coming weekend has a double-shot for St. Louis Anarchy in Alton, IL. Unfortunately Little Guido(who was scheduled to wrestle on the Saturday event) cancelled earlier today, but they should still be good shows. Also, SICW has its monthly show in East Carondelet, IL on Saturday...tough choice there. The summer wraps up on Saturday the 29th with World League Wrestling in Troy, MO...they'll have several special guests in the house, including Tom Pritchard, Naomichi Marufuji, Gedo, and some guy named Ric Flair.
Starting off September, Dynamo will have a rare double-shot as they return to Fenton, MO on Saturday the 5th and then debut in a new venue(Four Hands Brewery in St. Louis, MO) on Sunday the 6th. Oddly, it's the third year in a row that Dynamo has had a wrestling show on my birthday...bwahahaha. Davey Richards & Angelina Love had been scheduled to appear on both shows, but now they'll only be appearing at the Sunday event. Matt Sydal will be making a homecoming of sorts, appearing at both shows...on top of that, Michael Elgin will be returning from Japan to appear at the Saturday show in Fenton. Good times...hope to see you at the rasslin shows.
Good night, good luck, and #yaywrestling.
P.S. We are all marks.
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