MMWA Special Comment

Now, as promised, a special comment about Saturday's Mid-Missouri Wrestling Alliance show at the South Broadway Athletic Club in St. Louis, Missouri.

DISCLAIMER:  I'm biased.  Deal with it.

The calendar year is wrapping up for most independent promotions...Dynamo Pro Wrestling postponed their December event, so the local offering for the evening was MMWA at the beautiful and/or historic SBAC.  I watched the YouTube video of the November show that afternoon to catch up on things.  It was a packed house to say the least; I had to stand for most of the show as literally every chair in the building had a "reserved" note on it.  Saw a few familiar faces in the house, including a couple of other local comedians...sweet.  Shoutouts to Emily Hickner and Matt Rose for stopping by the show.

The power in the building went out for a few seconds around 7:30, but thankfully the lights came back on relatively quickly...eep.

Your ring announcer was Ben Simon; your referees were Brian Stoltz & Nick Ridenour.

The show started with the ten-bell salute for Nick Bockwinkel as well as a recently-departed MMWA fan whose name I didn't quite catch(Bertha Williams, I think?).

The Eternals(Brandon Espinosa & Ace Hawkins) vs. LaMarcus Clinton & Damion Cortess for the Tag Team Titles:  L.M.C. eliminated Ace and Espy in last month's battle royal, so Espy pulled L.M.C. to the floor and beat the holy hell out of him in response.  Clinton brought out his cousin Cortess and they won a subsequent non-title matchup, resulting in this match being signed.

Espy did the standard self-glorifying promo before the match as he and Ace gradually donned more casual attire over their ring gear...the purpose became apparent when they seated themselves in the crowd near the fan favorite aisleway.  (Of note, South Broadway is a rare venue with separate good-guy and bad-guy entranceways...for whatever reason, Gary Jackson and Moondog Rover still use the heel door.)  At any rate, Espy & Ace attacked the challengers as they were approaching the ring...the match barely got started when Espinosa attacked L.M.C. and Cortess with a chair, causing a DQ/no-contest in a whopping 0:08.  (Ben Simon told me that the official ruling was a NC.)  Barackus and Prince Moses made the save; Commissioner Jim Harris ordered an eight-man elimination tag match for later in the show, telling Espy & Ace to find two partners.  (I had trouble hearing the mic work from where I was positioned, so some of the details may be sketchy...)

J-Mal Swagg vs. Brandon Aarons vs. Varik Morgan for the Jr. Heavyweight Title:  Aarons was a fan favorite on this night despite being a rulebreaker in his previous appearance(September).  Morgan upset Da'Marius Jones in November due to Jones pulling him up from a pin attempt, leading to Morgan small-packaging him for the flash pinfall.  They had a solid bout until Jones rushed the ring to attack Morgan, causing a no-contest in 9:25...D-OH!  Glad to see they're getting some undercard stories going, though two non-finishes in a row wasn't a very good trend...

The St. Louis Connection(Andrew "The Wolf" Wilder & "Black Panther" Johnathan Zulu) vs. "Wildchild" Billy Diamond & Clownman Jacko:  Diamond had taken exception to Wilder and Zulu's use of the name "Connection" since he was a part of the Connection stable back in the day.  Diamond and Jimmy D got a screwy win over them in November, so this was their chance at payback.  Jacko was in his "psycho circus" facepaint with no explanation for the heel turn...he's been a heel in several other promotions, at any rate.  This match seemed like a major style clash for everyone involved and they didn't click too well.  Zulu pinned Diamond after a splash off the top rope in 9:25, giving the STL Connection a small measure of revenge.

Intermission~!  Since it was the December show, that meant an appearance by Santa Claus for the kids in attendance...woo.  Concession count(for Ben Simon's benefit):  Two sodas(Mountain Dew & Pepsi).  Had a big dinner(taco casserole for the first time in forever) so didn't feel like getting anything to eat.

LaMarcus Clinton, Damion Cortess, Barackus, & Prince Moses vs. Tag Team Champions The Eternals(Brandon Espinosa & Ace Hawkins), Da'Marius Jones, & A.J. Williams, elimination tag match:  It was noted to me that Jones and Williams had been feuding for most of the year(since A.J. turned on Da'Marius) and they somehow ended up back on the same side...go figure.  Neither guy seems to be much of a team player nowadays, so that may have been a factor in how the match turned out.  I'm a big fan of this type of match in general; Survivor Series was one of my favorite "gimmick" pay-per-views before WWE went to only one or two elimination tags per year.  Commissioner Jim Harris took it upon himself to be the special guest referee...he had to retire from regular officiating due to medical issues, but he stills dons the stripes every once in a while.

They went almost twenty minutes with no eliminations, including the traditional carwreck dive sequence to the floor...even the much larger Cortess got in on the fun!  Varik Morgan appeared at ringside to argue with Jones, allowing Moses to get the dreaded DISTRACTION ROLLUP~! and the first elimination in 19:21.  The rulebreaking team kept Moses isolated, but A.J. lost his temper after Moses slapped him in the face...A.J. pummeled him on the mat and wouldn't let up at the referee's five-count, resulting in a DQ in 22:58.  That left the champs on their own and I wondered if they'd get a fall or two back...however, it was not to be as Hawkins submitted to Barackus' clawhold in 27:03.  That left Espinosa on his own...he tried to take the easy way out by bringing in a chair, but the opponents put a stop to that.  Everyone hit big moves; Moses hit an axe kick, then Cortess delivered a torture-rack neckbreaker.  Barackus dropped Espy with the clawhold chokeslam and L.M.C. put Espy out of his misery with the Macho Elbow in 28:45...it was a clean sweep for the fan favorites!

After the match, Espinosa did a promo to thank the fans for their support of MMWA...it was odd as he essentially said that he was just "playing the bad guy", but he was grateful for the people's support of MMWA.

"Da Bomb" Brian James vs. Moondog Rover for the T.V. Title:  Jimmy D had cost Rover the title to Attila Khan a few months before, so Moondog returned the favor and cost Khan the title to James in November(getting Khan booted from MMWA in the process).  This started out as a battle of fan favorites, but Moondog OVAH~! was clearly the more popular of the two.  As a result, James subtly moved into a more heelish role...for starters, he took cheapshots instead of breaking clean.  James' frustration increased as he was unable to keep Rover down...after avoiding a Moondog avalanche, he rolled him up with feet on the ropes for the cheap pin in 8:28...HEEL~!

Kevin Lee Davidson vs. "Night Train/Gorgeous/Great One" Gary Jackson for the Heavyweight Title:  It's hard to believe that it had been a few years since Gary last held the MMWA Championship; he was SICW Classic Wrestling Champion earlier in 2015.  Gary won a battle royal in November to earn a title shot and K.L.D. appeared to have the match won with his spinebuster finisher, but chose to send a message instead by whipping Jackson with a belt.  This action got him disqualified and led to Commissioner Jim Harris booking a strap match between the two.  While the two were connected at the wrist by the strap, a wrestler had to win by pinfall or submission rather than tagging all four corners.  While Gary has faced and beaten larger opponents in the past, this seemed like an insurmountable obstacle for him to overcome...K.L.D. dominated his veteran challenger for most of the bout.  Davidson pulled out his spinning heel kick, which always looks impressive from a guy his size.  Gary managed to get some momentum, but K.L.D. cut him off with the Regal Roll...for two.  K.L.D. laid back on him for another pin attempt, but Jackson's experience made the difference as he crucifixed him backwards to the mat for the flash three-count in 12:35!  We have a NEWWWWW MMWA Heavyweight Champion...hell, even I don't know how many times he's held that belt!  K.L.D. blew his top after the match, angrily proclaiming that he was "quitting" before leaving the ring area...so was that it for Davidson in the MMWA?  Only time will tell...he does have the mandatory rematch, should he choose to get it.  The new champ wrapped up the show with some parting words for the fans, wishing them a merry Christmas and reminding them about THE RULES~!  (Not the ones trumpeted by The Commission/Cause, of course, but his own set of three/four.)

Fine show from MMWA...there's a lot of up-and-coming young talents in the St. Louis area and I look forward to seeing how they progress.  That's one of the perks of independent wrestling...you can see people grow and improve as they work on their craft.  A lot of people have stood out in 2015 and the future looks bright for professional wrestling in the Midwest.  WOO~!

It was another doubleheader weekend for the local wrestling scene, but part two will have to wait...stay tuned.  Same Pat-Time, Same Pat-Channel.

That's my special comment for this, the sixty-seventh 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.