Now, as promised, a special comment about Saturday's Dynamo Pro Wrestling show at the Stratford Inn in Fenton, Missouri.
DISCLAIMER: I'm biased. Deal with it.
This Dynamo show had a decent turnout, but the fans' energy level seemed subdued at times. I don't know how to explain it...it could have been a few different things. One could suggest oversaturation as it was the fourth Dynamo show in five weekends. Also, very little was announced beforehand; I found out about Outtkast vs. Elvis Aliaga a few days before the show and learned about Aarons vs. K.L.D. on the day of the event. I'm not asking for a full lineup, but a match or two would be nice; in particular, the tag match involving the Heavyweight Champion could have used a bit of hype. Just one fan's opinion, as usual.
Your ring announcer was Chris Roedel, your assistant ring announcer was Luke Roberts, and your referees were Jay King and Patrick Hook.
The show started with a ten-bell salute to Hayabusa. I wasn't as familiar with the masked high-flyer as I would have liked to be; his heyday was during the days when you had to tape-trade to see Japanese wrestling. He didn't have much exposure in North America other than one pay-per-view appearance in Extreme Championship Wrestling. I liked what I saw and the guy was truly an innovator among high-flyers...the Falcon Arrow became one of my favorite finishers and he also invented the Phoenix Splash(moonsault-into-450). He suffered a horrific neck injury when a Lionsault went bad and he landed on his head...but he slowly regained mobility to the point that he was able to enter a wrestling ring under his own power not too long ago. He influenced a lot of current independent wrestlers, particularly in the cruiserweight division.
"The Valedictorian" Keon Option vs. "The Millenial" Danny Adams: The show kicked off with a battle of fan favorites; Adams only recently changed his ways in Dynamo, despite being a rulebreaker elsewhere. Option showed some subtle signs of heelishness but neither guy went totally over that line. Adams did a nice job of focusing his attack on the arm, but Option countered an armbar attempt into a rollup pin in 11:00. They did the Mutual Respect(tm) thing afterwards.
Jackal vs. "The Alternative" Ozzie/Rocket Gallagher: Gallagher wore Rocket Mapache's stolen mask to the ring and had another ringside confrontation with Sadie Blaze...it's good to see him in a storyline of substance after being directionless for so long. Jackal was out for revenge on behalf of his Bite Club tag team partner and attempted to reclaim the mask from Gallagher's corner ringpost on a few occasions, only for Gallagher to cut him off each time. Gallagher survived Jackal's Killswitch #2(turnbuckle-walk Unprettier), but then Jackal missed a frog splash and Gallagher pinned him with a handful of tights in 5:24. Gallagher got the mask and taunted Sadie with it (Sadie being familiar with the importance of the mask, given his alter-ego of Makaze), but that was the cue for Jackal and a hoodie-clad Rocket to double-team Gallagher. Rocket reclaimed his mask, but Gallagher insisted that the issue was not over...
"The Don Mega" Shorty Biggs vs. Jayson Khaos(w/ C.J. McManus): I half-expected these two to do the kneeling-with-hands-behind-head positions in stereo, as both had done that pre-match routine in the past. (IT'S FUNNY CUZ THEY'RE BLACK~!) A few fans chanted "We Want Billy", but Billy McNeil was not in the house on this night. Khaos went uncharacteristically aerial at one point, but Shorty avoided the moonsault off the second rope(!) and mounted a comeback. Shorty has always been one of the more underrated talents in the area and he showed his technical skill with a reverse figure-four leglock(a la Jamie Knoble's Trailer Hitch)...Khaos was tapping out, but C.J. had the referee's attention. The distraction was enough of an opening for Khaos to hit the Unprettier, winning in 9:15...aww. C.J. had some choice words for his absent protege Billy McNeil, but Shorty ran them out of the ring...Shorty had some comments of his own, but I had trouble hearing some of the mic work in the building so I'm not quite sure what all was said.
High Level Enterprise(Jack Gamble & Jon Webb) vs. The Black Hand Warriors(Michael Magnuson & Jayden Fenix) for the Tag Team Titles: H.L.E. are running out of worlds to conquer, especially with Missouri licensing in play. To be fair, I think this was their first encounter with THIS particular incarnation of the 'Warriors. I'm not sure what should be next for them, barring the import of a team from South Broadway or World League Wrestling. There are enough guys in the midcard who could be due for a heel turn to freshen them up...I guess we'll see. Given the history between the two sides, there was a surprising amount of comedy spots in the early going...including Magnuson's tights being pulled down to expose a pink thong. Riiiiight...even Fenix seemed taken aback by that revelation. At any rate, the battle spilled out of the ring and Webb took out everyone with a somersault plancha off the top rope...it boiled down to Webb and Fenix fighting on the top rope and Webb hit a one-man Spanish Fly for the victory in 13:44. Woo.
Intermission~! Had a water and a Coke(thank you, Keith Smith), plus a basket of French fries...but then Ben Simon was there to personally verify this weekend's Concession Count(tm).
Brandon Aarons vs. Kevin Lee Davidson(w/ Tony Sasser): This was a rematch from The Ready Room where K.L.D. got the win. Had seen Sasser in K.L.D.'s corner a few times but hadn't known his name before this point. The audience was EXTREMELY partisan in this match, despite Davidson being the heel. They traded a lot of huge moves, including a particularly nasty-looking released German suplex from K.L.D. (I'm pretty sure Aarons' hair slightly cushioned in the impact, but not by much.) Aarons slipped on the ropes at one point and Davidson worked through it, delivering a Hellevator for a close near-fall. Aarons somehow managed to deliver TWO half-nelson suplexes on his larger opponent. One of my colleagues had an issue with the bigger moves not being match-enders and I can see how that would be a sticking point for some people, though I don't pay it as much mind as others might. Davidson delivered a Regal Roll, but made a lazy cover and Aarons crucifixed him for the three-count in 13:31. Afterwards, K.L.D. did a straightforward promo about appreciating the fan support and wrestling in Europe for the first time...he raised Aarons' hand after the match, but then took him out with a cheap shot. Ha ha. In response, Aarons maneuvered into a schoolboy trip of K.L.D., then superkicked Sasser to another mixed reaction from the audience. All righty then.
MWR Missouri Champion "The King Of Chaos" Ricky Cruz & Mike Outlaw vs. Heavyweight Champion "Dirdey" Jake Dirden & Brandon Espinosa: These teams had an impromptu encounter in January with Outlaw rolling up Dirden for a quick pinfall, but this time the sides were slightly more prepared. As you might expect, egos clashed on the heel side as Espy technically earned the top-contender's spot and has yet to receive a one-on-one shot at the title. Just like in the four-corner title match in February, things got out of hand on more than one occasion...Dirden tried to bring in the title belt but the referee took it away from him. With the official's attention elsewhere, Dirden stunned Outlaw with a blatant low blow and finished him off with a chokeslam in 15:40. Ricky and Outlaw cleared the ring afterwards for the moral victory.
It seems like the focus is back on Dirden vs. Cruz...and I'm wondering if a heel turn for Outlaw would do him some good. He won the title, lost it through dubious circumstances, and has yet to receive a fair one-on-one shot at the gold since that time. Outlaw could easily stay in the Heavyweight Title picture...but maybe a change of pace is in order.
Outtkast vs. "The Filipino Warrior" Elvis Aliaga for the D-1 Title: The D-1 Championship has been the main event of recent shows as this was Outtkast's third title defense since winning it (considering the Wood River match with Dirden had both belts at stake). Lucy Mendez was conspicuous by her absence and I pondered a "We Want Lucy" chant, but thought better of it. These two had traded wins in previous singles bouts and Aliaga was the third party in the D-1 Title tournament final, though he wasn't involved in the decision as Outtkast pinned Jayden Fenix for the win. They had a solid main event...Elvis' main taunt was yelling out his name "ALIAGA!" Maybe he's part Pokemon? *ducks thrown objects* I felt bad that the only Falcon Arrow of the night(Aliaga's T.C.B.) only got a two-count. Aliaga tried to bring the D-1 belt into play, but it didn't work out as well as it did for Dirden; Outtkast avoided the attack and rolled up Elvis for the pin in 12:20. That's the ballgame!
Anywho, the rest of March looks like this:
-Saturday 3/12: Mid-Missouri Wrestling Alliance in St. Louis, MO
-Saturday 3/19: World League Wrestling in Troy, MO
-Saturday 3/26: Dynamo Pro Wrestling in Wood River, IL; Southern Illinois Championship Wrestling in East Carondelet, IL
That's my special comment for this, the ninth wrestling show I've attended in the year 2016. Good night, good luck, and #yaywrestling.
-PB, Watching Wrestling Wrong Since 1991
P.S. We are all marks.
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