SICW Special Comment

Now, as promised, a special comment about Saturday's Southern Illinois Championship Wrestling show at the Community Center in East Carondelet, Illinois.

DISCLAIMER: I'm biased. Deal with it.

Admittedly, I had a long day on Saturday so I was worn out before this show even started. As such, I may not have been in the best of moods that evening and I apologize if I was a wet blanket for anyone. SICW had a strong turnout for this show after attendance had declined a bit in previous months...well, no need to worry about competing with postseason baseball any more...

Your ring announcer was Drew Abbenhaus; your referees were Denny Thomas, Terry Riley, & Jay King.

Drew brought one of the concession stand workers to ringside and she announced that she had been declared cancer-free after a long battle with the disease. As someone whose family has been hit hard by "the big C", that's a very cool thing to hear.

In what has become a monthly tradition, Morgan sang the National Anthem...nicely done.

Travis Cook came out and acknowledged his absence from the September show...he said he was dealing with personal family issues and had been re-evaluating his life. He left it at that, leaving fans wondering if they were seeing a change of heart out of Travis Cook...scary prospect.

Promoter Herb Simmons presented Brian Kelley & Dubray Tallman of Missouri Wrestling Revival with a plaque to acknowledge their contributions to the independent wrestling scene. As Dubray showed off the plaque to the ringside fans, Brian got down on one knee and took out a ring...they had been a couple for several years and Brian finally popped "the question". Dubray said yes...congratulations to the newly-engaged couple! I'm the last person who should comment on relationships and I should probably leave it at that...heh.

Bubba Troll vs. "The Enforcer" Jimmy D & "Dead Sexy" Daniel Gunner: Jimmy D traded in his Red Sox apparel for Cubs gear, something I'm sure will be a trend for STL-area heels for the next year or so. That seemed to make Troll the fan favorite by process of elimination; Gunner's gone back and forth on the face/heel ledger in recent months. Drew had a rare brainfart as he was away from the timekeeper's table when the match ended, meaning the bell rang a bit late...whoops. Troll got the fall on D after the sitout Tombstone in 4:50(?).

Herb and MMWA promoter Tony Casta conducted the St. Louis Wrestling Hall Of Fame induction for the late Ed Smith and Bill Apter. Ed Smith was a bit before my time, sorry to say, but his son Keith and grandson Keith Jr. have been a big part of the local wrestling scene. Several members of his family(including Keiths Sr. & Jr.) were on hand to accept the award. Bill Apter was known for his wrestling journalism in the so-called "mark mags" and also on the 1wrestling.com website. It was very cool to meet him...Tom Simon asked about my comedy while I was at the table and Bill said that he could tell that I was a comedian. Thanks...I think...?

"Your Canadian Hero" Sean Vincent & Keith Smith Jr. vs. "Volatile" Curtis Wylde & Ax Allwardt(w/ Wyldefyre): The first half of the show had a lot of talking and angles, I noted...unusual for your standard SICW event. The Vincent-Wylde feud led to Vincent winning a strap match in September, forcing the Wyldes to be Vincent's "servants" for a weekend; that meant the "high rollers" were cleaning horse stables at Vincent's ranch, much to their chagrin. Keith Jr. and Ax fought to a time-limit draw a few months ago, so their issue isn't settled. This match didn't seem to click for me for whatever reason; not sure why. The rulebreaking team wasn't on the same page and Ax took a walk after Wylde accidentally bumped him off the ring apron. That left Wylde on his own and Vincent pinned him after the Death Valley Driver in 10:40...woo.

Post-match, Wylde yelled at Wyldefyre and grabbed her by the hair...that brought Vincent back into the ring to confront his rival. However, it was a SWERVE~! as Wyldefyre took out Vincent with a low blow from behind and Curtis followed up with the Wylde Ride(Flatliner). Wylde challenged Vincent to a no-DQ rematch at the Swansea show on November 14th (though it now sounds like that match will take place on the 21st in East Carondelet).

"The Old School Warrior" Chaz Wesson vs. Barackus: "The Iceman" Howard Moritz was absent for unknown reasons, denying Chaz the opportunity for payback after his trophy attack in September. Barackus answered the open challenge, putting Wesson in the unusual position of being the underdog against a larger opponent. Barackus dominated a lot of the match, but Chaz fired back with his signature chops and dropkicks. Barackus turned things around, but slipped on the ropes when he went for a Vader Bomb...ak. Wesson took advantage with a cross-bodyblock off the top rope for the win in 4:40.

Intermission~! I tend to indulge when I'm moody, so this night's concessions added up to a cheeseburger and three sodas(Pepsi, Mountain Dew, and Orange Crush). The diet has been postponed, as always.

Travis came out with Attila Khan and heaped praise upon Bill Apter, wishing him an early happy birthday and leading the fans in singing "Happy Birthday" to him. He even encouraged Apter to show off his own singing skills...not bad. Travis did the old "we're not worthy" bow to Apter(I call gimmick infringement)...but it was another SWERVE~! as Travis dropped Apter with a low blow and ordered Khan to attack. Travis threw the cake in Apter's face for good measure, thus fulfilling the time-honored wrestling tradition in that regard. "Night Train/Gorgeous/Great One" Gary Jackson attempted to help, but Khan lowered the boom on him and delivered two piledrivers(with Travis adding a spike to the second one). Gary was stretchered out of the ring, thus putting the kibosh on the scheduled Jackson-Khan matchup...

Bobby D vs. Brandon Espinosa(w/ Travis Cook): Travis crowed about Espy's consistent placement in the Pro Wrestling Illustrated's PWI 500 listing...hey, Barry Hardy's been on there pretty regularly as well. Anywho, Espinosa focused on the arm, as has been tradition in recent months. D attempted a one-armed comeback but it wasn't quite enough as the Ds went 0-for-2 on the night; Espinosa used the Alberto Del Rio takedown into the cross-armbreaker for the tapout in 8:44.

"Relentless" Shane Rich vs. "The Icon" Chris Hargas(w/ Travis Cook): Hadn't seen Rich in quite some time; he primarily competed for All-American Pro Wrestling and Pro Wrestling Collision in central/southern Illinois. Always enjoyed his work and had hoped to see him in this neck of the woods more often; AAPW ran in Mascoutah a few times but never drew well for whatever reason. I thought he had a fine showing, though it could have been better...he had Hargas set up for the TKO, but Travis distracted the ref and Hargas delivered a low blow behind the official's back. After that, Hargas got the win with that feared lucha finisher, El Cheapo De Rollup, in 9:06.

Travis gloated about being able to do whatever he wanted...that brought out Director Of Affairs Cowboy Bob Orton who announced that Cook and Attila Khan were SUSPENDED indefinitely! Cue "goodbye" song...and Orton beat up Hargas for good measure. (Orton still has the cast on his arm from that unfortunate yardworking accident...)

"Ballistic" Brent Myers vs. "The Tokyo Monster" Kahagas: The fans didn't see the returning Myers as having much of a chance here, sorry to say. Kahagas randomly attacked the ring attendant who was handling his entrance attire; as a result, there was a delay before the match could officially get underway. Kahagas picked up the win after a pumphandle Michinoku Driver (reminiscient of Salvatore Rinauro/Matt Sydal's Phoenix Fury Legdrop) in 4:39.

The show was running a bit late, so there was no second intermission before the main event...good call.

Flash Flanagan vs. Ron Powers for the Classic Title: Flanagan came out to the tune "Go Cubs Go" with a huge "W" flag and was announced as "now hailing" from the great baseball town of Chicago. Hey, cheap heat is still heat. These two have feuded since Flash entered the promotion and I don't think Powers has scored a decisive win over Flanagan in that time. Flash is the only two-time SICW Classic Wrestling Champion and Powers was one of the longest-reigning holders of that belt. Powers got involved in Flanagan's title defense against Heath Hatton in September, indirectly costing Hatton the match...Hatton was not in attendance for this bout.

It was a solid main event, then the OVERBOOKING TORPEDOES~! were fired; Powers accidentally clotheslined referee Denny Thomas when Flash ducked out of the way. Flanagan wasted no time in taking a cheapshot with his kendo stick as a result...the action continued and Flash tried to leapfrog Powers out of the corner, but Powers caught him with a mid-air RKO. Jay King hit the ring just in time to see Powers cover Flanagan and he made the three-count in 9:02! New champion?...nope, cue the Dusty Finish. Denny Thomas recovered from Powers' inadvertent attack and disqualified him for striking an official, awarding the match to Flanagan.

Chaos broke loose after the decision was announced; Kahagas attacked Powers as Flanagan escaped with his title. Kahagas seemingly blamed Powers for his previous injury (which was caused by Red River Jack knocking him out with his arm cast)...but Red River Jack(w/ Big Daddy) made an appearance to run him off. (Yes, it's interesting that R.R.J. and Cowboy Bob have the exact same arm injury...) Big Daddy was in the wrong place at the wrong time as Kahagas attacked him on the floor, hitting him a few times with a chair before order was restored. (Big Daddy seemed to be more shaken up by the assault than anything else, strangely...)

I made a post-show trip to Denny's with the usual crew(Brian, Dubray, Drew, Gary Weiss, Ben Simon) along with Jay King and Timothy Miller. Since I indulged at the show itself, I went with pancake puppies and water to drink...yes, I know you care.

Anywho, my CHIKARA excursion takes place in a few days and goes through the weekend. Locally, Dynamo Pro Wrestling will return to Glen Carbon, IL on Saturday; High Level Enterprise(Jack Gamble & Jon Webb) will defend their newly-won Tag Team Titles against The Black Hand Warriors(Michael Magnuson & Dave DeLorean) in a street fight.

November looks like this:

-Friday 11/6: Pro Wrestling Epic in Brownstown, IL; World Powerhouse Wrestling in Jerseyville, IL
-Saturday 11/7: Dynamo Pro Wrestling in Fenton, MO; Mid-Missouri Wrestling Alliance in St. Louis, MO
-Friday 11/13: St. Louis Anarchy in Alton, IL
-Saturday 11/14: St. Louis Anarchy in Alton, IL; Southern Illinois Championship Wrestling in Swansea, IL
-Saturday 11/21: Southern Illinois Championship Wrestling in East Carondelet, IL
-Saturday 11/28: Wrestling Invades America in Swansea, IL; World Powerhouse Wrestling in Collinsville, IL

Good night, good luck, and #yaywrestling.

-PB, Watching Wrestling Wrong Since 1991

P.S. We are all marks