Dynamo Special Comment

Now, as promised, a special comment about Saturday's Dynamo Pro Wrestling show at The Ready Room in St. Louis, Missouri.

DISCLAIMER:  I'm biased.  Deal with it.

Thanksgiving weekend was unusually busy this year; independent promotions usually shy away from the holidays.  As it turned out, there were three shows in the area on Saturday; Wrestling Invades America has traditionally run on Sundays, but they had an event in Swansea on Saturday.  Also, World Powerhouse Wrestling had a show in Collinsville...from the sound of things, each of the weekend shows had good draws.  (On a semi-related note, I was unaware that WIA's Nicholas Newman and MMWA's Prince Moses were one and the same...now we know and knowing is half the battle.)

This was Dynamo's debut at the local concert venue...as a few people put it, this was what Dynamo had hoped for Off Broadway to be.  With a more appealing weekend slot and more potential for "walk-by" interest from people in the Grove neighborhood, they got quite a few new eyes on the product.  Street parking was available, but I didn't want to risk the possibility of missing a "residential parking only" sign so I coughed up the four dollars for a secure lot.  Saw my comedian friend Tree Sanchez afterwards; knew she was a wrestling fan but she hadn't been to an indie show before.  Also caught up to a familiar face in attendance:  Dingo!  Hadn't seen him in a long time; always cool to see him around the shows.

Your ring announcer was Chris Roedel, your assistant ring announcer was Luke Roberts, and your referee was Patrick Hook.

"The Dirdey Intelligent Monster" Jake Dirden vs. "The Cowboy" Ric Maverick:  Dirden was fresh off his brief suspension from competition and vowed that he wasn't done with Heavyweight Champion Ricky Cruz by a longshot...hoo boy.  I wasn't that aware of Maverick's backstory, but he had wrestled in the area several years ago and only recently returned to action.  This opener was a glorified squash as Maverick couldn't mount much offense against the big man; Maverick fought back after Dirden's first chokeslam, but Dirden hit a second chokeslam and finished with the Asiatic Spike in 5:04.  Dirden continued to assault Maverick after the bell until co-promoter Crystal Yount ordered security guards to eject Dirden from the building.  In particular, one security guard rivaled Dirden in height and size...wonder if he'll play a bigger role down the line.

"Young & Dangerous" Evan Morris vs. Jayson Khaos(w/ Shawn Reel), D-1 Title Qualifier:  Speaking of returns to action, the former Shawn Almighty made his official comeback to the wrestling scene in the corner of the artist formerly known as D'Mon G.  The duo will apparently be known as The Midnight Society...I like the name and look so far.  Khaos is still working off the ring rust; he hadn't wrestled since his Gateway Championship Wrestling stint that ended in 2004.  The winner would advance in the competition for the newly-created D-1 Title; the winners of three six-way dances advance to a three-way finale for the championship.  (Jayden Fenix and Elvis Aliaga advanced at previous shows.)  I wasn't sure who would win this one as the momentum shifted several times and Reel interfered on a few occasions...Morris got the victory with a TKO onto the knee in 7:34.

Justin D'Air vs. Varik Morgan, D-1 Title Qualifier:  Morgan is a rookie who recently started at the Mid-Missouri Wrestling Alliance; this was his Dynamo debut.  I was impressed by his performance, but I'm admittedly a huge mark for focused limb work in a match; Varik worked on the leg to keep the high-flyer grounded.  D'Air had trouble climbing the ropes due to both the leg damage and the ceiling beams, allowing Morgan to cut off his rallies...D'Air missed the 450 Splash and Morgan nearly scored the upset with a Whiplash/Cradle Shock, but D'Air kicked out at 2 1/2.  Morgan cut off D'Air on the turnbuckles, but D'Air fought out of a superplex attempt and delivered the Buff Blockbuster for the win in 8:22.  Nicely done!

The Bumrush Brothers("The Don Mega" Shorty Biggs & Outtkast) vs. The Bite Club(Rocket Mapache & Jackal) vs. "The Alternative" Ozzie Gallagher & Bahamut:  Having seen more match videos from the first Wood River show, I recognized The Snitch's cornerman "The Informant" as Bahamut under a different name; his official in-ring debut was at the 4 Hands Brewery show against Ric Maverick.  The match was oddly structured with two fan favorite duos and one rulebreaking team...Gallagher was the established personality on that team as Bahamut has just been a silent big guy.  One of the spots of the night saw Jackal hang onto a ceiling beam to deliver a flying rana on Gallagher!  All three teams are jockeying for position in the tag team ranks with High Level Enterprise(Jack Gamble & Jon Webb) awaiting their next challengers; it was the former champs who came out on top as Outtkast pinned Gallagher after Kast dropkicked Gallagher into a Samoan Drop by Shorty in 14:10.  Gallagher immediately blamed his teammate for the loss...and Bahamut laid him out with a Blackhole Slam.  Ouchie.

Billy McNeil vs. Ace Hawkins, D-1 Title Qualifier:  I don't think these two had crossed paths before(maybe in IHW?).  The Midnight Society came out to watch the matchup but didn't interfere at all...hmm.  These two had a good competitive matchup; Billy's toned down his style in recent years, but you'll still see something "ridiculously dangerous" on occasion.  The bout was longer than expected; McNeil won with a splash off the top rope in 15:53(!).  That puts Evan Morris, Justin D'Air, and McNeil in the next six-way dance en route to the crowning of the first D-1 Champion.

Intermission~!  Per Ben Simon, your concession report:  One Coca-Cola(thank you, Timothy Miller) and one pair of Reese's peanut butter cups.  All righty then.

"The Millenial" Danny Adams vs. Brandon Espinosa:  Espy claimed that Mike Outlaw had car problems and couldn't make it to the show...heavily insinuating that he knew more about said car problems than he was letting on.  Adams was in the unusual position of being a fan favorite for the night, but he was announced as hailing from south St. Louis so that helped his cause.  During the match, Jake Dirden made his way back into the building (having bought a ticket, bwahahaha) but tried to remain as inconspicuous as a 6'7" guy could possibly be.  Adams had control late in the bout, but Espy blatantly bashed him with a chair for the DQ in 10:11...BOO~!  Espinosa sought to do more damage, but Outlaw hit the ring in his street clothes for the save.  Outlaw did a fired-up promo about how he somehow had FOUR flat tires and suggested that Espy had something to do with it...if Espy wants to use low blows(as he did in Fenton) and chairs, how about a no-DQ match at the next show?  That'll work...  (The date of the next show was a slight surprise, as I'll get to shortly...)

Heavyweight Champion "The King Of Chaos" Ricky Cruz vs. Kevin Lee Davidson for the Missouri Wrestling Revival Missouri State Title: Cruz's Dynamo Heavyweight Championship was not at stake as K.L.D. had not earned a shot within the ranks of DPW. K.L.D. is the current MMWA Heavyweight Champion and became the undisputed Heavyweight Champ of Wrestling Invades America earlier in the evening; it was a busy night for a few people who worked both Dynamo and WIA on Saturday. These two had a good bout at the 4 Hands Brewery show, but this was destined for a non-finish with Dirden's presence at ringside. I didn't catch the name of the guy who was in K.L.D.'s corner; I think he was associated with one of the show sponsors (EDIT: Chris Roedel tells me his name was Jamie Sasser). Hopefully I'll get to see what these two can do in a full-length main-event bout in the near future, but I guess the non-finish was the diplomatic solution(since K.L.D. holds other belts in the area). Dirden raised a ruckus from his spot in the crowd and that drew Ricky's attention as he was rallying...the locker room quickly emptied to separate the two, causing a no-contest in 4:57(BOO~!).

Crystal Yount blew a gasket as this was the second time Dirden had disrupted a show's main event...Ricky was furious and challenged Dirden to face him, saying he would put every championship in his possession at stake.  He even dropped an F-Bomb in the middle of it all...eep.  Crystal, facing the possibility of the issue not being settled otherwise, said the match was on for the next show:  January 9th.  The fans weren't too happy with the wait between shows...but Ricky and Jake kept going after each other and the wrestlers and security had to work overtime to separate them!

I don't know much about why the scheduled December 5th show was cancelled and I don't know how much I would be at liberty to discuss...I'll simply say that it's a complicated situation and hopefully it will be resolved ASAP.  At any rate, Dynamo may have found another good venue for their shows...it's good to see their reach expanding lately.

Post-show, myself and Drew Abbenhaus met up with Brian Kelley and Ben Simon(who were at WIA) and went to Denny's for the traditional post-show face-stuffing...with a paid comedy gig in my recent past, I indulged a bit with the Moons Over My-Hammy.  Only had water to drink; don't want to overload on caffeine.

At any rate, December looks like this:

-Saturday 12/5:  Mid-Missouri Wrestling Alliance in St. Louis, MO; Metro Pro Wrestling in Kansas City, KS
-Sunday 12/6:  Pro Wrestling Championship Series in Alton, IL
-Saturday 12/12:  Southern Illinois Championship Wrestling in East Carondelet, IL

That's my special comment for this, the sixty-sixth wrestling show I've attended in the year 2015.  Good night, good luck, and #yaywrestling.

-PB, Watching Wrestling Wrong Since 1991

P.S. We are all marks.