PWCS Special Comment

Now, as promised, a special comment about Saturday's Pro Wrestling Championship Series show at the Downtown Dugout in Granite City, Illinois.

DISCLAIMER:  I'm biased.  Deal with it.

It was another Saturday with two area shows as Dynamo Pro Wrestling had their second annual fundraiser in Eureka, Missouri.  My decision was primarily based on PWCS being closer to home, plus Dynamo has three shows scheduled for August so I'll see them at least once this month.

PWCS had a good turnout, though the fans seemed lethargic due to the summer heat.  There was no air conditioning in the building, but they did have several large fans to keep the air circulating.

The main story from the previous event was Greg Jovi proposing a truce between the Ego Busters, Blacklist, and Resurgence to deal with K.C. Karrington's Chaos Nation.  Jovi was concerned that Karrington's goal was the destruction of the promotion(since Jovi is not only the manager of the Ego Busters but also the promoter of the organization).  Steven Kennedy agreed to the truce since he and Jovi were long-time friends, but Makaze wasn't so trusting...as a result, the matches for the night were set up as Ego Busters vs. Chaos Nation and Blacklist vs. Resurgence.

Your ring announcer was Tito McGee; your referees were Austin Heiberg & Aaron Roy^H^H^HRoy Lewis.

Austin Blackburn vs. Curt Stallion:  A last-minute lineup change stemmed from the cancellation of Hype Gotti, who had defected from the Ego Busters to Chaos Nation.  Stallion had been scheduled to face Gotti as part of the Ego Busters; this was changed to Stallion facing the debuting Blackburn on the preshow.  Both men are Elgin trainees and have received good opportunities from Ring Of Honor as a result.  Stallion worked heel to solidify Blackburn as the underdog fan favorite.  Blackburn scored his first win in STL-area competition, getting the pin after a Twist Of Fate in 5:54.  After the match, K.C. Karrington hit the ring and cornered Blackburn, "asking" if he wanted to represent Chaos Nation for the night...of course, it was more of a demand than a friendly request.  Blackburn agreed under severe duress.

The show officially started with a ten-bell salute for Rowdy Roddy Piper.  I may not be the best person to speak on Piper's influence on the wrestling business; I didn't get hooked on wrestling until he was semi-retired and doing commentary in the WWF.  WrestleMania VIII was the first Mania I watched live and Piper vs. Bret Hart was one of my favorite examples of storytelling in a wrestling match.  Of course, his gift of gab was his main strength and his Piper's Pit segments were as famous as his matches.  If you're a newer wrestling fan, do yourself a favor and look up his greatest hits.

Starting scoreboard:  Resurgence 3-2-1, Blacklist 3-3, Chaos Nation 3-3, Ego Busters 2-3-1.

Steven Kennedy & "Dirdey" Jake Dirden(Resurgence) vs. Makaze & Nate Redwing(Blacklist):  Makaze wore a helmet to the ring due to his recent concussion, but the referee told him that he couldn't wear it in the match.  This match featured the team captains and the resident heavy hitters of each group, though it was still a battle of fan favorites.  Makaze defeated Kennedy at Stage 3 of Season 1, causing The Resurgence to be mathematically eliminated from that season's competition.  Kennedy showed some heelish tendencies as he intentionally struck Makaze in the head a few times while taunting him("How's your head?").  Kennedy was isolated from his partner for a while, but Dirden finally got the tag and cleaned house.  Dirden sideslammed Redwing to set up Kennedy's winning moonsault in 10:47...well done.  (Resurgence 4-2-1, Blacklist 3-4)

Mike Outlaw(Blacklist) vs. Mat Fitchett(Resurgence):  The crowd energy was a problem with the heat in the building, but the multiple face-vs.-face matches probably didn't help matters.  These two had a solid bout that could have been even better, but  it was just the first chapter between them.  Fitchett seemingly had things in hand after delivering the cradle piledriver(JERRY LYNN~!), but Evan Gelistico & Pierre Abernathy came out to heckle Fitchett with the aid of a megaphone.  Well, Evan was shilling his T-shirts at the merchandise stand, but their purpose was clear...Outlaw recovered enough to get the #distractionrollup in 15:15.  (Blacklist 4-4, Resurgence 4-3-1)

Austin Blackburn(w/ K.C. Karrington)(Chaos Nation) vs. Gary Jay(w/ Greg Jovi)(Ego Busters):  The face/heel dynamic was interesting here.  Blackburn was representing the obviously-heel Karrington, but he was pressured into the spot and was sympathetic as a result.  Gary Jay is usually a heel, but the Ego Busters were targeting the "greater evil" of Chaos Nation.  Despite Blackburn's token offense, this was a pretty one-sided bout...while he took some chops from Stallion in the opener, Gary absoutely lit him up here.  Gary's chops are notorious...just ask Dasher Hatfield.  You wouldn't know it from his appearance, but he's one of the stiffest workers in indie wrestling...it's come up with people like The Hooligans who have been in the ring with some heavy hitters, and they'll say that "Barnowl" hits the hardest.  Blackburn rallied but Gary finished him with the Michinoku Driver in 8:19.  (Ego Busters 3-3-1, Chaos Nation 3-4)  Gary shook Blackburn's hand and raised his arm after the match...Gary's had a hand in Blackburn's local training, if I'm not mistaken.  Of course, K.C. wasn't as happy about his "recruit"'s performance and kicked him in the ding-ding before storming to the backstage area.

A.C.H. vs. "The Blue Chip" Danny Adams:  Always cool to see A.C.H.  My section of the crowd was particularly vocal in their heckling of Danny Adams, insinuating that he has anger management problems.  To be fair, the man doesn't know who his father is...err, see PWE.  They had a really good match with a definite face/heel dynamic; Adams focused his attack on the arm for a good stretch of the bout.  A.C.H. finally got the win with a brainbuster in 16:11.

Intermission~!  I made a quick run to the gas station as I was pretty close to empty.  Odd factoid:  My first car had a broken gas gauge so the needle never went above a quarter-tank or so...I had to guess when I needed to fill up.  It was a Ford Mustang that I essentially got for free since my sister got a different car around the time I turned sixteen.  Ah, memories.

Concession tally:  Two bottles of water.  Had to stay hydrated, plus didn't want to risk aggravating my toothache from the day before.  (It seems to have subsided, but I'm still due to address that whole "root canal" concern on my dentist's part...blarg.)

Mat Fitchett & "Zesty" Zakk Sawyers(w/ Greg Jovi)(Ego Busters) vs. The Submission Squad(Evan Gelistico & Pierre Abernathy)(w/ megaphone)(Chaos Nation):  This was scheduled to be Roscoe Eat Lisa against the Submission Squad, but Zakk said that "The Big Mustache On Campus" Mikey McFinnegan was absent for personal reasons.  He requested that it become a one-on-one matchup against either Gelistico or Abernathy, but the Submission Squad members insisted that he was getting what he signed up to do.  At that point, Steven Kennedy brought out Fitchett who was more than happy to get his hands on the guys who cost him his earlier matchup.  Fitchett talked about how Evan and Pierre had pulled the "Eddy Guerrero" trick on himself and Davey Vega at a previous show...Evan retorted that he and Sawyers would both be dead after this match, so they'd have something in common with Eddy.  Ouch.

The usual anti-Fitchett contingent of fans was apparently absent from this show as Fitchett got positive crowd reactions for both of his matches.  Sawyers took the abuse, Fitchett got the hot tag, bonzo gonzo.  The Submission Squad members tried to pull the Eddy trick with a chair again, but this time the referee showed amazing aptitude and didn't buy it.  In the confusion, Fitchett KOed Gelistico with an oddly-convenient coconut(PIPER~!) and got the pin in 11:42.  (Ego Busters 4-3-1, Chaos Nation 3-5)

Davey Vega(Resurgence) vs. Jojo Bravo(Blacklist):  This was another battle of fan favorites, though Jojo proclaimed the fans to be honorary Blacklist members.  Vega seemed to be the subtle heel in this one, though it never really tilted decisively one way or the other in that regard.  The fans weren't very loud in this one as the support was divided between the two.  They exchanged pinning combinations until Jojo edged out the win with an Oklahoma roll in 13:11.  MUTUAL RESPECT~!  (Blacklist 5-4, Resurgence 4-4-1)

Jeff Gant & Tank Engine Tommy vs. "The Fittest Wrestler On Earth" Mark Sterling & "Superior" Adam Rich(w/ kettle bell):  This was Sterling's PWCS debut and he couldn't have found a more fitting tag team partner.  Sterling recently won the 3XW Heavyweight Title from longtime friend/rival Jeremy Wyatt.  I hadn't seen him in this area in a while, but I think he's working some upcoming Dynamo shows.  Rich defeated newcomer Tommy at the previous PWCS show.  The end came when Rich took out Tommy with a weight plate and Sterling blocked a sunset flip by Gant, getting the tainted pin by holding the ropes in 7:18(HEEL~!).

"The Rebel" Jeremy Wyatt(w/ Greg Jovi)(Ego Busters) vs. K.C. Karrington(Chaos Nation):  While I had seen it a few times in videos from 3XW and Metro Pro, it was still surreal to see Wyatt as the fan favorite in a matchup.  These two feuded in the Lethal Wrestling Alliance in 2009, resulting in Karrington defeating Wyatt for the LWA Heavyweight Title.  (For those who came in late, the LWA became St. Louis Anarchy in 2011.)  A lot has changed since that time, especially for Karrington.  Some fans were a bit reluctant to support Wyatt; he had been a rulebreaker for a LONG time in this area.  Wyatt sent Jovi to the backstage area; I didn't catch why.  This was solid but, to be fair, they had done better with each other; it would have been hard to top the title change from 2009 when they went around 40 minutes.  The fight spilled out of the ring and Karrington rammed Wyatt into the ringpost, then beat the ten-count back into the ring for the cheap win in 11:45.  I guess a win is a win in this competition...  (Chaos Nation 4-5, Ego Busters 4-4-1)

Fireworks broke loose after the match as Karrington zip-tied the dazed Wyatt's hands together and set up to do more damage...Jovi attempted to stop him personally, but K.C. threatened to lay him out before Kennedy and Makaze hit the ring for a standoff.  Jovi apparently decided that the truce was over and took out his "allies" with stereo low blows from behind...ouch.  Wyatt freed himself and brawled with K.C. through the crowd and out of the sight of the fans...but we were left with an understandably-upset pair of wrestlers in the ring.

Jovi had taken his leave and Makaze was angry with Kennedy for trusting the manager...that resulting in a pull-apart fight as respective stablemates Vega and Redwing had to hold their captains back.  Their history dates back to Dynamo Pro as Kennedy defeated Makaze at the GCW Reunion Show in December 2012, winning the battle of the first and last GCW Light Heavyweight Champions.  Makaze evened that store in PWCS as noted above, so I guess we're due for a rubber match...

Final scoreboard:  Blacklist 5-4, Resurgence 4-4-1, Ego Busters 4-4-1, Chaos Nation 4-5.  We've still got one more show before the finale, so it's anybody's ballgame at this point.  The Blacklist moved ahead of The Resurgence to the top spot and The Ego Busters got out of the cellar.  Chaos Nation will need a big night in October if they hope to be in the championship bout.

The rest of August looks like this:
-Saturday 8/8: Dynamo Pro Wrestling in Fenton, MO
-Saturday 8/15: Pro Wrestling Epic in Pontoon Beach, IL(afternoon); Mid-Missouri Wrestling Alliance in St. Louis, MO
-Sunday 8/16: Outlaw Wrestling in Centralia, IL
-Friday 8/21: St. Louis Anarchy in Alton, IL
-Saturday 8/22: St. Louis Anarchy in Alton, IL; Southern Illinois Championship Wrestling in East Carondelet, IL
-Saturday 8/29: Dynamo Pro Wrestling in Glen Carbon, IL; World League Wrestling in Troy, MO

Good night, good luck, and #yaywrestling.

P.S. We are all marks.