HRW Special Comment

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

DISCLAIMER: I'm biased. Deal with it.

I don't think it was announced to the live audience, but this was the end of HRW's stint in Cahokia. It sounds like they'll be moving their shows to western/central Missouri...state licensing may be a factor there, but hopefully they can build a better audience in a new location. HRW lowered their ticket price to $10 for this show after struggling to draw at previous events...it definitely produced a better turnout than usual, though it could have been even better.

A tournament was held to crown new Tag Team Champions; unfortunately, there has not yet been a linear title change in this promotion. A.C.H. was the first champion, vacated the title due to lack of defenses, then Blake Belakis won the vacant championship by beating Louis Lyndon. The Hooligans(Devin & Mason Cutter) were the first Tag Champs, vacated, reDRagon(Kyle O'Reilly) beat The Colony(Fire Ant & Silver Ant) for the vacant titles, then THEY vacated the titles.

Your ring announcer was Brian Thompson; your referees were Richard White, Nick Ridenour, & Jay King. Your unadvertised special guest was "Beautiful" Bobby Eaton.

Tag Team Title Tournament: Magic Inc.(Mike Outlaw & Justin D'Air)(w/ Magic Man) vs. A.J. Williams & LaMarcus Clinton: Dynamo vs. South Broadway! I was looking forward to this one and they had a really good opener. I don't think Williams and L.M.C. had teamed up before this, but Outlaw and D'Air have joined forces on several occasions. Wouldn't mind seeing these guys cross paths again in the near future, either in singles or tag matches. Magic Man stole L.M.C.'s wig(GASP~!), leaving our hairsprayed hero out of sorts. Williams got D'Air in an O'Connor Roll, but Outlaw broke it up with the Mafia Kick and D'Air got the pin on A.J. in 8:19. Woo.

Tag Team Title Tournament: The Riegel Twins(Logan & Sterling) vs. Adam Caster & Tony Kozina: Caster was subbing for "The Last Real Man" Silas Young whose absence was not explained; Young had been banned from ringside for the main event since he had interfered in Blake Belakis' previous title defenses. It was all I could do to not describe the team by saying "I shall call him...Mini-Me." (Sorry, Tony.) The Riegels were a late replacement for the team of Heath Hatton & "The Man Of Tomorrow" Daniel Eads; I was surprised Hatton & Eads were booked for HRW in the first place, given their connection to nearby Southern Illinois Championship Wrestling in East Carondelet. (That was probably why they eventually cancelled, I would imagine.) The Riegels are from the Kansas City area; I had heard a few interesting things about their home promotion, but that's another story for another time. They are identical so I had to use the Bella Twin Method to keep them straight("Come on, Logan!"). Caster & Kozina were stiff enough that I identified Sterling by the red handprint on his back...ouch. The Riegels are pretty new but they showed potential here...it's just a matter of gaining experience and working with different people. Caster pinned I'm-pretty-sure-it-was-Sterling after his new fireman's-carry powerslam finisher in 8:18.

Tag Team Title Tournament: Team I.O.U.("The Down-South Dandy" Nick Iggy & "The Music City Mutt" Kerry Awful) vs. "The Blue-Eyed Devil" Tripp Cassidy & "Never Say Die" Josh Crane: Iggy & Awful were on a three-match winning streak heading into this show, so they had the momentum advantage out of the tournament field; they're an entertaining pair and I hope to see more of them in the near future. Cassidy & Crane have teamed up in the past but not in this area; they're two of the newer faces that I've seen through HRW. I appreciated seeing some different people at these shows; it's too bad they didn't draw well enough to remain in the greater St. Louis area. The more established team got the duke as a miscue between Cassidy & Crane led to their downfall; Awful pinned Cassidy in 7:18 after boosting Iggy into an advanced curbstomp.

John E. Rock vs. "The Fittest Wrestler On Earth" Mark Sterling: This was an open challenge by the debuting Sterling; he was scheduled to appear for HRW before this, but he sustained an injury at the previous night's Metro Pro event in Kansas City. I've seen Rock a few times, mostly in World League Wrestling; he brought a can of energy drink to the ring and was a bit too hyper for Sterling's liking. Sterling challenged Rock to a pushup contest, but it was a ploy to lure Rock into position for a cheapshot elbowdrop...which missed. Bwahahaha. They had a good solid match from there; Sterling blocked a sunset flip and held the ropes for the pin in 10:15(HEEL~!).

Intermission~! I indulged a bit with a slice of pizza as well as two root beers. The pizza had some garlic taste to it, which convinced me to throw a bit of garlic powder on the next frozen pizza I heated up at home. Results were mixed in that regard.

Monster Chaos vs. Karim Brigante(w/ Miss Monica Passeri): Hadn't seen Chaos before; I'd heard he was relatively new to The Biz. He's definitely a big boy, about a head taller than Brigante(who's a tall guy himself). I've become a quick fan of Brigante as he's looked impressive in his first few Midwest outings. Monica wrestled in Italy prior to moving to the U.S. with Karim, so hopefully we'll see her in the ring in the near future. It's a broken record on my part at this point, but it'd be nice to see more female competitors in this area. Brigante focused his attack on the leg to slow the big man down and keep him on the mat...Chaos made the powerhouse comeback but Karim kept taking out the leg. Chaos had to resort to a rollup out of nowhere to win in 9:05 and limped away from the ring area.

Tag Team Title Tournament Final: Team I.O.U.("The Down-South Dandy" Nick Iggy & "The Music City Mutt" Kerry Awful) vs. Magic Inc.(Mike Outlaw & Justin D'Air)(w/ Magic Man) vs. Adam Caster & Tony Kozina: The match had an interesting rule: The first pinfall/submission would win the match, but a team COULD be eliminated by disqualification if they broke up a pin more than once in the matchup.  Outlaw & D'Air were clear fan favorites with Caster/Kozina as clear rulebreakers with I.O.U. somewhere in the middle.  Given the rules, there were a lot of blind tags as you couldn't win the titles without being legal in the ring.  A couple of teams used up their saves, which added a bit to the drama.  Things broke down near the end and Outlaw and D'Air hit major dives to the floor...they were able to isolate Kozina long enough for D'Air to superkick Kozina into Outlaw's German suplex for the win and the belts in 11:07!  WOO~! 

Gauntlet Match:  Heavyweight Champion Blake Edward Belakis started the match with red-tinged facial hair and red liquid splashed on his chest...that's what happens when you drink Kool-Aid too fast.  *runs*  Sugar Dunkerton and "Beer City Bruiser" Matt Winchester were both scheduled for the gauntlet but were M.I.A. for unknown reasons.  I'm not a big fan of stacking the deck against a heel, personally.

"The Midwest Jackass" Dale Patricks was Blake's first opposition and gave him a good fight, but fell to the palm strike in 5:16.  Next out was Jeremiah Plunkett, who I'd never seen before; he primarily wrestles in Tennessee and has held several regional championships in the National Wrestling Alliance.  Belakis pulled out the win with another palm strike in 9:30.  Next out was "The Yoga Monster" Mike Sydal...the New Midnight Express was NOT mentioned, even with Bobby Eaton in the house.  Belakis was starting to wear down and Sydal came close to scoring the win, but Blake rolled him up with a handful of tights(HEEL~!) in 14:28.  "Dirdey" Jake Dirden was a surprise entrant and someone Belakis knows very well from their battles in central Illinois.  Dirden dominated their exchange, but was disqualified in 19:32 for choking in the corner...D-OH!  Last out was "Diamond Cut" Ace Perry...he'd be the underdog under normal circumstances, but Belakis had taken a lot of abuse from multiple opponents.  Blake focused his attack on Ace's arm, but Ace made the comeback despite the damage...Perry got near-fall after near-fall with a lot of fans expecting a changing of the guard.  However, one more last-ditch palm strike allowed Belakis to hang onto his title by the skin of his teeth in a total of 26:08.  Whew!

HRW's run in the greater St. Louis area was a turbulent one for a variety of reasons:  Ticket prices, the Sunday afternoon scheduling, and running in the back yards of other area promoters.  All in all, I had a good time at their events(and got to do commentary for the first few) and wish promoter Frank Thurman the best of luck with his endeavors...

Plans for this coming weekend have changed for me...there are two good wrestling shows on Saturday night as Dynamo Pro Wrestling returns to the Stratford Inn in Fenton, MO and Pro Wrestling Championship Series has Stage Four of its second season at the Downtown Dugout in Granite City, IL.  I was having difficulty choosing between the two...can't go wrong either way, honestly.  However, I have a great opportunity ahead of me...I have my first hosting weekend at the Westport Funny Bone!  I am emceeing the shows from tonight through Sunday for headliner Ryan Singer...hope to see you there for one of those shows!

Local wrestling in October looks like this:

-Saturday 10/3:  Dynamo Pro Wrestling in Fenton, MO; Pro Wrestling Championship Series in Granite City, IL
-Saturday 10/10:  Mid-Missouri Wrestling Alliance in St. Louis, MO
-Sunday 10/11:  Outlaw Wrestling in Centralia, IL
-Saturday 10/17:  Southern Illinois Championship Wrestling in East Carondelet, IL
-Saturday 10/24:  Dynamo Pro Wrestling in Granite City, IL

Good night, good luck, and #yaywrestling.

-PB, Watching Wrestling Wrong Since 1991

P.S. We are all marks.