Now, as promised, a special comment about Sunday's Pro Wrestling Championship Series show at the Spaulding Hall Club in Alton, Illinois.
DISCLAIMER: I'm biased. Deal with it.
Due to my comedy commitment, I missed Stage Four in October (DVD review forthcoming once I get the video). Relevant events: Danny Adams(Ego Busters) pinned Mike Outlaw(Blacklist) in the opening tag match, setting up their one-on-one bout here at the finale. Zakk Sawyers looked strong in his matchup with Mat Fitchett, surviving a ridiculous amount of punishment in the process...so he was rewarded with a shot at the St. Louis Anarchy Championship at this "co-promoted" event. K.C. Karrington edged out a win in the four-corner captains' battle, putting Chaos Nation on top of the scoreboard with the Resurgence at a close second. That meant our championship match would feature those two stables.
For a Sunday show, they had a REALLY strong turnout and the fans were on fire for the majority of it. It was the season finale plus it had the added attraction of Colt Cabana being on the show...with all due respect to Jim Cornette, perhaps sometimes funny can make money. I didn't know how many casual fans would be familiar with Kikutaro or Grado, but they got a lot of love at the merchandise tables. (They were traveling with Colt for several U.S. indie shows.) While it was pushed as a joint show with St. Louis Anarchy, the only real "Anarchy" elements in place were the venue and Gerald James' title defense. Davey Richards vs. Tony Kozina was announced for the show but didn't happen; no explanation was given, though a few fans voiced their "sentiments" when the main event was introduced without any sign of the previously-announced bout.
Your ring announcers were Tito McGee and (for the SLA Title match) Kyle McNeil. Your referees were Sean Orleans & Brandon Tolle.
Paco Gonzalez vs. Christian Rose: Rose had been associated with the Ego Busters at previous shows, but both men are essentially free agents. They had battled in other promotions and were in a four-corner match at Wrestling Invades America earlier this year, but this was my first time seeing them live in a one-on-one meeting. If you're a social media person, I highly recommend Rose's Twitter(@BitterLunatic)...bwahahaha. The match could have realistically gone either way at times, though I would have pegged Rose as the slight favorite. Rose won a good competitive opener with the No-Leaf Clover(Liontamer-style Boston crab) in 11:19.
The Viking War Party("American Viking" Alexandre Rudolph & "Littlest Viking" Jake Parnell) vs. The Troy Athletic Club("Freestyle Phenom" Jay Howard & "Strangler" Roy Lewis)(w/ "The Natural" J.A. Fair): This was scheduled to be a six-man tag with "The Gordiest Viking" Frank Wyatt teaming with his stablemates against all three of the T.A.C. That trio has been doing well in Anarchy Championship Wrestling in Texas, particularly Howard who had a standout match with A.C.H. recently. Lewis is a new WLW trainee and has had a baptism by fire with several time-limit draws against then-Heavyweight Champion Leland Race; I had previously only seen him in a battle royal at WLW's August show. Howard & Lewis had a solid showing in the sense that they made it out of the match in one piece, though it was a close call for Lewis. They managed to isolate Parnell for a while, but Rudolph finally cleaned house. Lewis took a sick dropkick from Rudolph while slumped in the corner, then got obliterated by the Vikings' powerbomb/top-rope double-stomp combo to give Parnell the three-count in 11:05.
Kikutaro vs. Pierre Abernathy: Notably, Pierre worked twice on this show as he was also in the main event. I was honestly not too familiar with Kikutaro, who previously worked as Ebessan...the fans quickly discovered that this was NOT a "family show" as the colorful language was plentiful, especially from the visiting guest stars. Pierre was announced as weighing in at "enough". They went to a slow-motion sequence in the early going, then Kikutaro dropped to the mat VERY quickly after a sleeperhold. Pierre went for the quietest pinfall attempt ever, pulling a bedsheet and pillow from under the ring and making him comfortable...but Kikutaro woke up and raised his shoulder at two. A series of mule kicks to the groin ensued and everyone felt the pain, even referee Brandon Tolle...ow. Pierre got Kikutaro in another sleeperhold and the arm dropped once...twice...but NOT a third time. Kikutaro got back to his feet, tried to pump himself up to escape the hold...and then tapped out in 11:22. Okay then...even Pierre was surprised that he had won.
Colt "Boom Boom" Cabana vs. "The Rebel" Jeremy Wyatt: This match actually had some backstory as Wyatt cost Cabana his match to Dan Walsh in January. Wyatt gave Cabana the option to just lay down...he's a smart (Jewish) businessman and can have more time to work the merchandise table. Moreover, Wyatt had wrestled a grueling Ironman Match the night before in Kansas City(80 minutes!) and he felt like having an easy night as well. To the delight of Wyatt's sworn enemy(the red-haired kid in the front row), Cabana not-so-politely turned down that offer...though he did get distracted by the pizza guy making a delivery to someone else at the merch table. Wyatt joked that Colt could have all the pizza he wants if he wins...and the match was on. Cabana has a unique style that borrows from European wrestling as well as standard American wrestling/comedy fare...his matches are just FUN, despite that being a dirty word to some people. Colt won an excellent match with a folding press in 15:48...then grabbed the microphone and rattled off his pizza order as he walked to the backstage area. He kept on going...and going...rescinding certain ingredients due to his heritage...until Wyatt limped to the backstage area and beat him up(also heard over the house mic). Har har.
Intermission~! This intermission was decidedly NOT brief(nor was it advertised to be) as the merchandise lines were long for our trio of visitors. Concession count(for Ben Simon's benefit): Two root beers, plus Ben's leftover pizza.
Mike Outlaw(w/ Makaze) vs. "The Millenial" Danny Adams(w/ Greg Jovi): The Blacklist/Egobusters feud resulted in this matchup; Jovi would win Makaze's mask if Adams won, but Makaze would get five minutes in the ring with Jovi if Outlaw won. The fans didn't seem to be invested in this matchup as much as the others on the card...maybe it was a case of a PWCS storyline being resolved in front of a St. Louis Anarchy audience. While Jovi did double-cross both Makaze and Steven Kennedy earlier in the year, I don't think he had the same level of managerial hatred from the fans as someone like Travis Cook. It was a good match; it just didn't have the same crowd heat as other matches on the show. Outlaw won with the Mafia Kick in 9:37...security guards(Hardcore Andy~!) prevented Jovi from running away and Makaze got a hold of him, dragging him around the ring and forcing him to apologize to the fans for his actions.
Makaze vs. Greg Jovi: The actual match was short and sweet; Kyouhen(Sharpshooter) and out in 0:15. Well, that settles that...hopefully.
Gerald James vs. "Zesty" Zakk Sawyers in a best-of-three-falls match for the Heavyweight Title: Kyle McNeil took over as ring announcer for this match. In the most awkward moment of the night, Zakk hugged a larger fan during his entrance and onlookers could only watch in amusement and embarrassment as the fan's jeans slowly fell to the floor. Oops? The start of the match was awkward as Zakk dropped James with a running boot right away, but the referee had to go through the formality of ringing the bell to officially start the contest. Undaunted, Sawyers took out Gerald with a second running boot and won the first fall in 0:14...okay then. Things settled down into a more standard bout from there...with the requisite craziness on the side. At one point Gerald went for a suicide dive and lawndarted himself into the wall as Zakk moved out of the way! Yikes. Zakk attempted to capitalize by getting Gerald back into the ring and nearly won with a Diamond Cutter, but Gerald reversed the pin attempt into a crucifix on the mat for the second fall in 6:51. The two traded some serious strikes as Gerald attempted to go for another knockout victory...Zakk had a couple of near-wins and even kicked out after James' Michinoku Driver. James went nuts on his challenger and repeatedly elbowed him in the side of the head(a la The Goat Who Shall Not Be Named) until the referee stopped the match, awarding him the deciding fall by knockout in 12:38. Gerald James' 26-month reign as champion continues...he will have held the St. Louis Anarchy Championship for two full consecutive calendar years at the end of 2015!
Grado vs. Everett Connors(w/ Evan Gelistico, Danny Adams, & Austin Blackburn): My entire Grado-viewing experience has come from his time in TNA, so that perspective may be a bit limited. His full entrance features the entrance theme "Like A Prayer" by Madonna and a lot of dancing...even Hardcore Andy joined in the dance party! Of course, Connors was dead serious(as per his Cause allegiance) and just wanted to win the match...but that approach didn't always work out too well. Outside interference helped Connors gain an edge, as you might expect, but Grado had the experience advantage and mounted a comeback. Grado set up for the People's Elbow, though he spent a LOT of time through his imaginary elbowpad out to the fans and calling for them to throw it back...by the time he got around to dropping the elbow, Connors moved out of the way. Everett foiled an F-5 attempt by landing on his feet, prompting Grado to yell "THAT'S NOT AN F-5!" Connors tried for the F-5 himself but had trouble getting Grado off his feet...Grado muttered that he's NOT that fat, but was able to hit the F-5 on the second try for the win in 10:42. Good clean fun.
Steven Kennedy, "Dirdey" Jake Dirden, Davey Vega, & Mat Fitchett vs. K.C. Karrington, Adam Caster, Evan Gelistico, & Pierre Abernathy, elimination tag match: Vega and Fitchett split from the former Team Anarchy in the previous season; they were scheduled to face The Submission Squad at the Season 1 finale but Evan and Pierre had other engagements. Vega and Fitchett officially defected to The Resurgence stable...Kennedy wanted to bounce back from a poor showing in the first season, but had to deal with the betrayal of his former friend and tag partner K.C. Karrington. K.C. made a surprise return at the first show of Season Two and laid out Kennedy with a low blow and piledriver...redubbing Team Anarchy as "Chaos Nation". Dirden and Adam Raw clashed in a singles bout earlier in the year; it was the first match in a few years for Raw, who would eventually rebrand himself as Adam Caster. This show had an odd balance between The Cause(SLA) and Chaos Nation(PWCS) as Gelistico and Caster are a part of both groups.
Anywho...wrestling match~! Karrington avoided Kennedy, most of Chaos Nation wanted to avoid Dirden. We got the standard trainwreck spot as the Chaos Nation members were outside the ring...Kennedy set up to dive onto them, but Vega and Fitchett beat him to the punch with stereo suicide dives. Kennedy pouted, but then set up for his dive...only to have DIRDEN pre-empt him with a running plancha to the floor. FINALLY Kennedy set up for his big move...only for Karrington to whack him in the back with a chair! That drew a DQ in 11:23...but K.C. wasn't done as he laid out Kennedy with two piledrivers! Kennedy was declared unable to continue due to injury in 12:28...it was a surprise for the captains to be out early, but I guess that feud will continue into Season Three.
In the meantime, there was still a match to win...we got a powerhouse slugfest as Dirden and Caster battled in the middle of the ring. Dirden came out on top of that exchange as he chokeslammed Caster for the three-count in 17:36. However, chaos ensued(no pun intended) and the referee missed Pierre delivering a low blow on Dirden. The official also didn't see Gelistico lay out Dirden with his megaphone, allowing Evan to score the tainted pinfall in 18:01. That left us with Vega and Fitchett against The Submission Squad to settle their score.
The teams had battled the previous night at Metro Pro in a four-way tag match with The Killer City Kings(Jake & Ryan) and The American Bulldogs(Mad Dog McDowell & Jon West), so they picked up right where they left off. Despite the Submission Squad having more experience as a team and pulling out as many dirty tricks as possible, Vega and Fitchett were on the same page. (I do wonder if last month's Rumble finish will result in tension between the two in the long run...) At any rate, they isolated Abernathy and finished him off with stereo close-range superkicks, allowing Fitchett to pin him in 22:29. Gelistico tried to steal a last-ditch elimination and survived the superkick barrage, but the numbers caught up to him and Fitchett got the final pin after a Tombstone/head kick combo in 25:30. The Resurgence are the 2015 Season Two Champions!
Dirden came out to celebrate with Vega and Fitchett as they were awarded the trophy...thankfully no swerve was afoot as Vega and Fitchett made their victory speeches with no interruption. (Kennedy was still MIA due to the earlier piledrivers.) Thus concluded Season Two of PWCS...I give these guys a lot of credit for their long-term booking and I look forward to what Season Three will have to offer.
Upcoming shows were announced: St. Louis Anarchy will have a Saturday/Sunday double-shot on February 13th and 14th. (Valentine's Day? I should be free.) With the success of this Sunday show, it made sense to give Sunday another go-around. The Season Three opener for PWCS will be the following weekend on February 20th and will feature a tournament that will involve some kind of team draft...the last-place Ego Busters will get the first pick, we were told.
The year is almost done...all that's left is Southern Illinois Championship Wrestling in East Carondelet on Saturday the 12th. The steel cage will be dusted off for THREE big matches: Flash Flanagan defends the Classic Title against former champion Ron Powers and top contender Kahagas, both of whom hold recent non-title victories over him. Gary Jackson will attempt to take out Attila Khan with Travis Cook and his Organization locked outside the cage. Finally, Sean Vincent and Curtis Wylde will attempt to settle their rivalry with Wyldefyre (hopefully) kept out of the action.
That's my special comment for this, the sixty-eighth 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.
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