Dynamo Special Comment

Now, as promised, a special comment about Saturday's Dynamo Pro Wrestling show at the Sports Academy in Glen Carbon, Illinois.

DISCLAIMER:  I'm biased.  Deal with it.

R.I.P. Lucas, 2005-2016.  He seemed to be better after his recent bout with heartworm troubles, but he was acting strangely last night in my room so I picked him up onto my bed so he would be comfortable.  Around 4 AM, I petted him and realized that he had stopped breathing.  I guess he was a bed hog to the end...har har.  I guess it was just old age...I'm heartbroken for my other dog since the siblings were practically inseparable.  I remember my mom picking out the girl dog online and commenting to me that another dog from the litter was available...at that moment, I knew she was bringing two dogs home.  Those two kept me grounded at times when my mind was in a bad place and I'll forever be grateful to them for that.  Rest well, buddy.

Dynamo has been in an odd place in recent months with two of it regular venues becoming major question marks.  The Stratford Inn closed up shop in mid-May and The Ready Room will be used by Pro Wrestling Resurgence for its debut show next Saturday.  As a result, a return to Glen Carbon was a near-necessity for the promotion; indie rasslin is a tough sell over the summer, so many groups have lighter schedules anyway.  Dynamo will be back in Wood River in the near future as well.

It was a very busy Saturday as several other shows were taking place across the bi-state area, severely limiting Dynamo's roster for the night.  Heavyweight Champion Jake Dirden was at the debut show for Cape Championship Wrestling in Cape Girardeau(as was Davey Vega).  Ricky Cruz and Kevin Lee Davidson were in Sedalia for New Breed Wrestling.  Brandon Aarons was in Lebanon for NWA Central States Championship Wrestling.  Also missing from the show were D-1 Champion Outtkast and Shorty Biggs, along with Danny Adams.  As a result, the show was headlined by the Tag Team Title bout between High Level Enterprise and The Professionals.  The attendance was fine, though not overly strong; on a positive note, the fans were invested in the show and reacted well to everything.

Your ring announcer was Chris Roedel, your assistant ring announcer was Luke Roberts, and your referees were Richard White and Scott Ramsey.

Paco Gonzalez vs. Brandon Espinosa:  Espy garnered some "publicity" this past week for something he said during his Mid-Missouri Wrestling Alliance match with Mike Outlaw; feel free to look it up if you want to know the details.  When it comes to wrestling(and comedy), political correctness can often take a back seat but time and place should probably be considered.  Oddly, I didn't think of it as a big deal...and it didn't seem to affect the match to any major level (from what I saw on YouTube).  Unfortunately, tensions in this country are at an all-time high and people usually go to this sort of show to take their minds off the day's current events.  Not QUITE sure what I'm trying to say here, but I'll be surprised if this whole deal doesn't blow over fairly quickly.

Anywho...wrestling match, yay!  The MWR Missouri Title belt was not in the house since it was an Illinois show.  This was a fine opener...I'm pretty sure these two have crossed paths in the past, but don't hold me to that.  Paco nearly scored the upset after delivering the Death Valley Driver, but Espy shoved the ref into the ropes as Paco climbed the turnbuckles.  That was enough of an opening for Espy to hit the brainbuster for the win in 8:48.  Thanks to the Dynamo show's earlier start time, Espy had plenty of time to make it a doubleheader night with Southern Illinois Championship Wrestling...heh.

"The Cowboy" Ric Maverick vs. "The Primal Prodigy" Matt Kenway (Look At Him):  The young rookie Kenway has been making a good impression in his recent outings; we'll be watching his career with great interest.  I was particularly interested in this bout(among others) since it meant the younger guys would have a chance to shine; that's the nice thing about lower-key shows like this one and the ones in Wood River.  It's good to establish a finisher for an up-and-coming wrestler...the gap in the pecking order may be large, but there's always the realistic possibility of an upset if the underdog can execute his big move.  (That's one of the downsides of this era of constant finisher kickouts...)  Maverick got the tapout win via cobra clutch in 5:25.

Jackal vs. "The Alternative" Ozzie Gallagher:  Jackal's haircut continues to frighten and confuse me.  Even Gallagher was commenting on how often this matchup has occurred in the past few years.  Gallagher has been branching out on the national indie scene, including a win over former WWECW competitor Colin Delaney in Outlaw Wrestling's foray into Tennessee and appearances at Full Impact Pro in Florida.  In all fairness, Gallagher has a point; he has been on a good run of success lately.  Perhaps a shot at the D-1 Title is in his future?  Jackal hit a messy-looking Killswitch #2(turnbuckle-walk Tomakazi) but Gallagher's foot was under the bottom rope so Jackal couldn't get the pinfall.  Gallagher delivered a low blow that went unseen by the official, then rolled up Jackal with a handful of tights for the cheap win in 7:58.

C.J. Shine vs. The Snitch(w/ Sophie Darling):  This was another battle of young lions in Dynamo Pro and it may have been one of my favorite matches of the night for that reason.  Both guys have shown a lot of potential; in particular, Shine has been showing far more personality in recent months.  These guys got notably more time than the previous bouts and I think they made the most of it; I haven't seen Snitch enough to get a good read on him, but he seems to be a solid guy.  Shine got on a roll but Sophie distracted the ref, allowing Snitch to get the rollup pin while holding the ropes at 9:35.  (Two cheap rollup finishes in a row?)  C.J. got some payback afterwards with a belly-to-belly suplex, then took a selfie over Snitch's prone form.  (He said no photography!)

Intermission~!  Official Ben Simon Concession Count(tm):  One root beer, plus a water after the show.  Not much this time around.  Saw Justin D'Air in attendance on crutches; don't know his specific injury as I didn't get a chance to talk to him.

Mike Outlaw vs. Billy McNeil(w/ C.J. McManus & Jayson Khaos):  These two crossed paths late last year at a show I missed, so that didn't count(nyah).  McManus and Khaos got a little too eager to interfere and were ejected from ringside; Billy seemed to be okay with that turn of events.  They had a good match, albeit short and surprisingly decisive; Outlaw got the pin after the High Noon(top-rope elbowdrop) in 6:50.

Afterwards, C.J. and Khaos came back out to the ring...and McNeil, frustrated over recent losses, suddenly snapped and blindsided the referee!  Ladies and gentlemen, we have a heel turn.  Khaos and McNeil put the boots to the new ref Scott Ramsey(so THAT'S why he was there), ending with Billy delivering an advanced curbstomp.  Ref Richard White entered the ring in an attempt to restore order, taking his life into his own hands by doing so...but the newly-united Midnight Society decided their work was done.  The story of McNeil's association with his old friend C.J. had been that Billy didn't want to cheat, but he clearly had more success when rules were broken...so now he'll do things C.J.'s way.

Makaze vs. Jayson Khaos(w/ C.J. McManus & Billy McNeil):  Billy may need less colorful attire(and maybe a scarier version of the monkey mask) if he's gonna be a bad guy.  Odd trivia note:  Out of the wrestlers who competed on the first independent wrestling show I ever attended(GCW in May of 2000), only two are active today:  Makaze and Khaos(formerly D'Mon G).  (There is a minor asterisk on that if you count then-referee Sean Vincent.)  With the proverbial chains off, Billy was all too happy to interfere on Khaos' behalf.  In retaliation, Makaze set up a top-rope Frankensteiner on Khaos only to switch directions and dive off the top rope onto McNeil and McManus.  Makaze got a near-fall with the Blizzard Suplex(Northern Lights/fisherman suplex) as the referee ruled that Khaos' shoulder was off the mat, then finished with a second-rope version of the Osaka Jam in 8:20.

High Level Enterprise(Jack Gamble & Jon Webb) vs. The Professionals(Shawn Santel & Mauler McDarby) for the Tag Team Titles:  These teams traded the belts earlier in the year and this was Santel & McDarby's opportunity to regain the titles.  Chris Roedel announced that Gamble & Webb were not in the house and "substitutes" would defend the championships in their place...and that brought out "Empresa De Alto Nivel", "La Apuesta" & "Juan La Telarana".  (Literally "High Level Enterprise", "The Bet(Gamble)" and "Jon The Spider Web".)  It was obviously Gamble & Webb under the masks as they had their usual ring attire; Santel & McDarby even pointed out the obvious identifying tattoos(Jon Webb has his name "WEBB" on his upper back).  At any rate, the fans were entertained by Gamble & Webb playing luchadors for the evening...they had a good solid tag match, as these duos work well together.  The end game when Webb superkicked McDarby as he was held on Gamble's shoulders, leading into Gamble hitting a fireman's-carry Michinoku Driver for the win in 12:36.  Afterwards, the "luchadors" unmasked to reveal...surprise!...Jack Gamble & Jon Webb.  All righty then.

Chris & Luke announced upcoming dates for Wood River (August 20th) and Glen Carbon (September 17th)...the calendar is looking very crowded nowadays.  Next weekend has Dynamo at NatsuCon in Collinsville, IL on Friday and the debut of Pro Wrestling Resurgence on Saturday at The Ready Room in St. Louis, MO.  There's nothing in the immediate area in the last weekend of July, though Metro Pro has a show on Saturday the 30th in Kansas City, KS.

That's my special comment for this, the thirtieth 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.