WIA Special Comment

EDIT 9/23: Forgot a match...whoops.

Now, as promised, a special comment about Sunday's Wrestling Invades America show at the Improvement Hall in Swansea, Illinois.

DISCLAIMER: I'm biased. Deal with it.

This was originally scheduled to take place at Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville, but the plans fell through and they moved the event to the Swansea venue. The show had the unfortunate stumbling block of running at the same time as WWE's Night Of Champions pay-per-view, on top of everything else. As such, the turnout was a bit lower than the previous Swansea event, though the fans were enthusiastic for most of the event.

WIA has been a bit polarizing in these circles with previous events getting less-than-stellar reviews. I feel like the in-ring quality has improved, though the storylines can be overly complex at times. (I freely admit that I'm unfamiliar with the early days of this promotion; I didn't attend one of their shows until last December.) I'm sure there's a balance between too many storylines and not enough storylines...angles are a tough thing to do on the independent scene when fans aren't privy to everything that happens.

Your ring announcer was Jeff Callahan; Jason Pemberton was the only one of the three referees that I recognized. (EDIT 9/23: One of the other refs was Chris Collins.)

Jeff started the show with a ten-bell for his father(and the grandfather of his son Donald, aka Robert Dorsey).

Nicholas Newman, previously the sidekick of General Manager (Trystan) Brady Shadeux, came out to voice his desire to become a wrestler himself. He seemed to be acting like a face, especially when Brandon Espinosa(established heel) came out and insulted him. Espy punctuated his statements with a microphone cheapshot, then locked on the cross-armbreaker until Kevin Lee Davidson(his scheduled opponent) ran him off. Shadeux made his entrance, seemingly paying little attention to Newman, and announced that Heavyweight Champion Jonathan Napier had suffered a concussion the night before. Thus, the scheduled Full Metal Mayhem match between Napier and Gavin Alexander was off and the K.L.D. vs. Espy match would crown an "interim champion".

Just as myself and Ben Simon were wondering what Alexander thought about being shut out of the title picture, Gavin made his entrance and he was SERIOUSLY ticked off. At some point in the past, Napier betrayed Alexander to join The Empire and Gavin was seriously wanting some payback(with the championship being a nice perk in the deal). He cornered Shadeux with a bunch of barbecue skewers in hand and threatened to get all stabby if he didn't get some compensation...he wanted to beat up The Empire and didn't care how many of them he had to face. This led to a handicap match being set up for later in the event.

Davey Richards vs. Tony Kozina: This was an interesting match for this particular show...it helped that both live in the St. Louis area. It seems like Davey's been doing more independent dates recently. Kozina's had bad luck with entrance music lately as he got some kind of hip-hop tune and griped about it all the way to the ring. Kozina was in klutzy mode as he stumbled around a bit in the early going, including a full-fledged trip when Davey did a duck-under as he was running the ropes. Kozina got the microphone and tearfully proclaimed that he just didn't have it any more and was going to retire...he called the locker room out to ringside as he spoke to his protege Richards. Davey said that he respected Kozina's decision and maybe it was time for him to hit the old dusty trail...they embraced as the fans applauded...then Kozina mulekicked Davey in the groin as the referee wasn't paying attention. Bwahahaha.

Kozina ranted at Davey that he made a fool of him on pay-per-view(TNA's recent Gut Check show), then went to the top rope to finish him off...only to slip on the turnbuckle and crotch himself. D-OH! Things settled down into a more standard matchup, though they had several comedy spots that included Kozina's tights being pulled down. Kozina took control and delivered an airplane spin...but he got dizzier than Davey and fell over Davey as he was down on all fours. Davey dazedly rolled backwards onto Kozina and got the pin by sheer accident in 15:25. Definitely a different sort of match than you'd expect, similar to the match they had at High Risk Wrestling earlier this year...but it was fun to watch, Maggle.

Billy McNeil vs. Leone Mephisto: This rivalry extends back to the days of Independent Hardcore Wrestling when McNeil won the title and Mephisto turned on him. Mephisto loudly proclaimed his hatred for old people, particularly the vocal ones in the front row...this led to a spot where Billy held Mephisto for an elderly woman to slap. Whatever you think about him as a person, he's a solid heel character. I'm the type that's okay with some political incorrectness in wrestling if it's a heel doing it, thus emphasizing that it's wrong to say/do those things. Screw SHADEZ OF GREY; most fans want to see good guys beat up bad guys. Billy's been one of my favorites for a long time and it's always cool to see him in the ring; these two worked well together. Mephisto blocked a re-entry sunset flip and held the ropes for the cheap pin in 11:42(HEEL~!).

After the match, Mephisto antagonized the older ringside fans, then turned his attention to Tyler Copeland...he said the Pro Wrestling Epic Heavyweight Title was his for the taking and Copeland should just step aside. Copeland got some fan support for being in opposition for Mephisto, but he quickly dismissed the fans by saying that he didn't care much for them either. Long story short, Copeland wasn't walking away from his title shot...so Mephisto promised to keep a very close eye on the championship match later in the show. They got all "inside baseball" for a bit, talking about the relationship between PWE and WIA and how Mephisto "saw potential" in Copeland when everyone else was writing him off, then Mephisto took credit for WIA's improvement in the past year.

Barackus & Jayson Virtue vs. LaMarcus Clinton & Chase King vs. Chase Daniels & Flaming Freddie Fury vs. Taylor Champion & Jason Allen(w/ Trystan Brady Shadeux), four-way dance for the Tag Team Titles: WIA had announced a gauntlet match to crown its first Tag Champs, but changed it to this format instead. Daniels & Fury's pre-match theatrics lasted longer than their actual participation in the match; Jason Allen quickly pinned Daniels after his version of Stardust's Dark Matter move(sort of a reverse STO) in 0:26. Champion & Allen were the lone heel duo(representing The Empire) and I had them pegged as my favorites to win, but things went awry and Chase King pinned Allen after a side backbreaker by L.M.C./running elbowdrop by King combo in 4:31. Champion was not happy with his partner's incompetence and literally carried him away from ringside. That left us with the two face teams, though Barackus and Virtue seemed to be slightly more fan favorite-ish as L.M.C. & King isolated Virtue for a while. Barackus got a hot tag and cleaned house, but made the mistake of tagging Virtue back into the match for the finish. L.M.C. and King were able to get Barackus out of play long enough to cut off Virtue on the turnbuckles, then deliver a powerbomb/top-rope clothesline combo. That was enough for King to pin Virtue in 9:18 and we had newwwww Tag Team Champions! The former MMWA Tag Champs have gold once again...and the members of the final two duos all shook hands afterwards.

Paco Gonzalez vs. Adam Caster: This was originally scheduled to be Paco vs. Austin Blackburn but it was changed a few days before the show. It looked like a one-sided affair with the former Adam Raw having the edge in size and strength as well as experience. I'm REALLY glad Paco didn't wear his Cubs attire or the fans might not have been so supportive. These guys had a solid competitive matchup with quite a few near-falls for Paco...but Raw got in a mule kick while hanging onto the referee to stop Paco's momentum(HEEL~!). Raw finished with a fireman's-carry powerslam in 9:05...but Paco didn't take the tainted loss lightly and confronted Caster, dropping him with a post-match superkick.

Intermission~! Stuck to root beer(Fitz's~!) on this night and had two bottles of soda. Gary Jackson bought me another root beer later in the night...oh, forgot to mention that Gary Jackson was in the house to watch the show. #namedropper

Darkside vs. "The Enforcer" Jimmy D vs. Clownman Jacko for the Interstate Title: The feud was Darkside-Jimmy D; not sure why Jacko was added. Darkside had fallen out of favor with The Empire and Jacko(in his more psychotic heel character) is a new addition to that stable. About halfway through the match, Jimmy D took down Darkside with a single-arm DDT and he was assisted to the backstage area, announced as "eliminated" around the 5:50 mark. Since it was a triple threat match, it didn't really matter too much since a pinfall/submission on anyone would win the match and the belt. Oddly, I saw this particular pairing at PWE about a month ago with the face/heel roles reversed. D and Jacko don't seem to click that well in the ring for whatever reason; not sure why. Jacko hit the Big Top Drop(second-rope senton bomb) but D got a foot on the bottom rope; Jacko went for the move again and this time D rolled out of the way. Jimmy D rallied with a spear, then followed up with a wind-up elbowdrop(nod to Gary Jackson?) for the pin and the title in 11:10.

FIRE THE OVERBOOKING TORPEDOES~! Symon Phoenix(who was screwed out of the Interstate Title by Darkside earlier this year) dragged the already-injured Darkside out from the backstage area and beat him down...he was followed by the other members of The Empire, including Jacko and the returning Landlord(accompanied by Krista, who was dressed as a secretary and handing out "eviction notices"). Somewhere in the middle of it all, Big Jim Hoffarth(who was in the audience the whole time) attacked Jimmy D and they brawled to the backstage area. The Empire beatdown continued for a LONG time and Darkside was handcuffed to the bottom rope for a good portion of it. Landlord enlightened us, then capped off the assault with a Rock Bottom on Darkside. Guess that's a face turn?

Brandon Aarons vs. "Infamous" Tyler Copeland for the PWE Heavyweight Title: Copeland defeated L.M.C. at the most recent PWE show to become the top contender. These guys worked pretty well together and I could see this becoming an extended feud(probably turning into a three-way issue with Mephisto included). Copeland has a case for a rematch since he seemingly had the match won with a TKO, but the referee had been knocked down and there was no one to count the pinfall. Aarons came back with a superkick for his own visual fall, but the ref was still down and Copeland BELTed him. The official recovered to count one...two...NO. Copeland hooked his Last Chancery finisher in the middle of the ring and things looked bad for Aarons, but he just barely reached the ropes to escape. I was wondering if Mephisto would interfere, but Aarons hit the Go 2 Sleep out of nowhere and then followed up with the close-range superkick...that sealed the deal in 8:21 of a really good matchup. Once the match was over, Mephisto hit the ring to attack Aarons...but the members of the guest band Hallow Point hit the ring to run off Mephisto and Copeland. Guess they're big fans of Aarons...heh.

Gavin Alexander vs. Taylor Champion, Clownman Jacko, Symon Phoenix, & Jason Allen(w/ Trystan Brady Shadeux, The Landlord, & Krista): Alexander benefitted from the fact that all but new Empire member Phoenix had already competed on the show. On top of that, The Empire foursome had to tag in and out, forcing them into black-ninja mode. ("How did we all agree we should attack the guy?" "All together..." "And how did we attack?" "One at a time.. ") On top of that, the tension in The Empire finally reached a boiling point as Champion started fighting with Allen, leaving The Empire with only two active participants in the match. As a result, Gavin was able to get the win after a huge lariat on Phoenix in 8:58. Gavin made peace with both Robert Dorsey and Taylor Champion after the match, then gave Jason Allen a swinging uranagi for the hell of it...he's not done with The Empire and will be targeting Tyler Copeland as well as Jonathan Napier. Hopefully this means Champion will get some time to shine...I've been a fan of him from what little I've seen, but he seems to be in the background for the most part.

Kevin Lee Davidson(w/ Nicholas Newman) vs. Brandon Espinosa for the "interim championship": There was no belt for the interim title, but then the championship situation came up at the last minute. It sounds like the interim champion will be recognized as the titleholder until Napier is cleared to return, then Napier will face the interim titleholder to determine the undisputed champion. I joked with Gary that he could do some scouting on both guys in this main event(he's feuding with Espinosa in SICW and is the top contender to K.L.D.'s Heavyweight Title in the MMWA).K .L.D. had his regular wrestling gear at this show as opposed to his bodyguard attire from the MMWA.These guys had crossed paths before, but this was their first one-on-one encounter in the immediate St. Louis area(they were in a triple threat match at the previous WIA show with Da'Marius Jones). Davidson dominated with his size and strength advantage, but Espinosa had the experience edge and targeted the arm after using the ringpost to his advantage. I was wondering if the suddenly-face Newman would double-cross K.L.D., but it didn't happen on this night. In fact, Newman played a vital role in the finish: The referee was knocked down when Espy pulled the ref in the way of a Davidson avalanche, so Espinosa brought in a chair and whacked K.L.D. with it a time or three. Espinosa covered as the referee recovered to count three in 13:48...but Newman video-recorded the chair attack on his smartphone and showed the official what happened. (That's ONE way to do instant replay...) As a result, the ref restarted the bout...and Espy ran right into K.L.D.'s spinebuster for the win in twelve seconds (14:00 total match time)! We have a newwwww WIA (Interim) Heavyweight Champion!

Whew...that was a busy weekend. Next weekend won't be nearly as crowded...World Powerhouse Wrestling is in Kampsville, IL on Saturday and I'm still deciding whether to make that trip. (I think Ben Simon wanted to carpool...) Next Sunday is High Risk Wrestling in Cahokia.

October looks like this:

-Saturday 10/3: Dynamo Pro Wrestling in Fenton, MO; Pro Wrestling Championship Series in Granite City, IL
-Saturday 10/10: WWE in St. Louis, MO; 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 Glen Carbon, IL

I won't be able to attend the Dynamo show in Glen Carbon...that's because my esteemed colleague Michael Langan has decreed that I need a vacation of sorts. To that end, we're going on a four-stop CHIKARA road trip: Thursday 10/22 in Minneapolis, MN, Friday 10/23 in Chicago, IL, Saturday 10/24 in Jeffersonville, IN, and Sunday 10/25 in Columbus, OH. More on this as it develops.

Good night, good luck, and #yaywrestling.

-PB, Watching Wrestling Wrong Since 1991

P.S. We are all marks.