Now, as promised, a special comment about Saturday's Pro Wrestling Championship Series show at KG's Sportsbar & Banquet Center in Granite City, Illinois.
DISCLAIMER: I'm biased. Deal with it.
After a rare two-weekend gap between area shows, this past Saturday had two events in the immediate Midwest; the Mid-Missouri Wrestling Alliance had its monthly offering at the South Broadway Athletic Club in downtown St. Louis, Missouri. A handful of people worked both shows: Danny Adams, Mike Outlaw, and Evan Gelistico.
Attendance was respectable, but the crowd seemed almost subdued at times. I don't know if it was my swimmer's ear, but it seemed to take some Herculean efforts to get the fans' reactions. Recent events had me in a rather withdrawn mood, but I got to spend most of the show with local comedian friends Al Canal and Chris Smith...it was Chris' first independent wrestling show and he had a good time.
Angelus Layne was scheduled for the PWCS show but had to cancel due to illness; Austin Blackburn replaced her in the match against Adrian Surge. Blackburn had been scheduled to team up with Gelistico and Pierre Abernathy against Steven Kennedy, Zakk Sawyers, & Mikey McFinnegan, but Kennedy was unable to compete...more on that in a second. That six-man tag was changed to standard tag bout.
Starting scoreboard: Resurgence 2-1, Submission Squad 2-1, Blacklist 1-2, Ego Busters 1-2. Things were pretty even after Stage One, but things can change in a hurry...
Your ring announcer was Chris Kaelin(subbing for Tito McGee who was out sick); your referees were Jason Pemberton & Sean Orleans.
Jojo Bravo(Blacklist) vs. "The Millenial" Danny Adams(w/ Greg Jovi)(Ego Busters): I have trouble keeping track of the stables at times; a few switches have taken place in the interims between shows. While Adams had the edge in size and power, Jojo had the experience advantage in this one. Bravo won a hard-fought contest via backslide in 9:58, boosting Blacklist to 2-2 and dropping the Ego Busters to 1-3. (Adams' night would improve as he captured the MMWA T.V. Title from Brian James later that evening.)
Steven Kennedy came out to announce that he was taking an indefinite hiatus from wrestling...it involved brain fluid leaking out of his nose, which doesn't sound good AT ALL (apparently he was at high risk for a concussion). He didn't completely rule out a comeback, but he said it would be a while before he considered a return to action. Head injuries are no joke, as we've seen in recent times with Daniel Bryan and (locally) Dan Walsh. Kennedy is one of those guys that I always hoped would advance past the local level in wrestling, but other factors dictated otherwise...all the best to him for a speedy recovery. If the last-man-standing match with K.C. Karrington(also out of action at the moment) was the swan song, then it was quite a way to go out.
Mike Outlaw(Blacklist) vs. Tommy Muños: Muños had appeared on previous shows as Tank Engine Tommy; he had interrupted a previous free agent showcase match out of frustration over being left off the card. This was his opportunity to get into the mix by usurping Outlaw's spot on The Blacklist, but Outlaw was more than capable of meeting the challenge. These two didn't seem to click too well, unfortunately...not sure why, but that's how it felt as I watched it. It took a few attempts, but Outlaw finally connected with the High Noon(top-rope elbowdrop) to get the duke in 8:38.
Roscoe Eat Lisa("Zesty" Zakk Sawyers & "The Big Mustache On Campus" Mikey McFinnegan)(Resurgence) vs. Evan Gelistico & Pierre Abernathy(w/ Everett Connors & Austin Blackburn)(Submission Squad): R.E.L. have been on a roll as of late, winning a four-team tournament in St. Louis Anarchy to become top contenders to the Tag Team Titles held by The Cause(Gelistico & Adam Caster). Coincidentally, this was a preview of sorts for that upcoming championship bout. The Submission Squad were accompanied by their inflatable dolphin Shawshank...I have quickly learned in my independent wrestling travels not to ask too many questions about such things. The highlight was McFinnegan delivering a springboard moonsault press to the floor onto the Squad while holding Shawshank...I THINK it made sense in context. Gelistico got out brass knuckles, but Pierre stopped him from using the foreign object...R.E.L. turned the tide and Sawyers pinned Gelistico after their assisted Air Raid Crash double-team in 14:30. WOO~! That put Resurgence up to 3-1 and the Squad down to 2-2...more bickering ensued after the match as Pierre accused Gelistico of being a bad influence on the newcomers Connors & Blackburn. Pierre said they had been tag team partners for a long time, but he had asked them repeatedly to fight fair and Evan had repeatedly gone against his wishes. Pierre walked away from his team...but Evan said that they would do things "his way" in the future.
Mat Fitchett(Resurgence) vs. Everett Connors(w/ Austin Blackburn)(Submission Squad): Connors has had some impressive outings recently, particularly his one-on-one match with Brandon Espinosa at Wrestling Invades America. He faced a tough test here against the reigning St. Louis Anarchy Heavyweight Champion; Fitchett is also one-half of the Tag Champs with Davey Vega in both All-American Wrestling and Metro Pro Wrestling. Both guys had a bit more headroom for aerial moves than in the usual SLA venue in Alton. This was one of my favorite matches of the night...note the terminology since match quality can often be in the eye of the beholder. Anywho, Connors got a couple of good near-falls, but Fitchett took it with the cradle piledriver in 12:50. That put Resurgence in a commanding 4-1 lead on the scoreboard with the Squad dropping below .500 to 2-3.
Intermission~! Official Ben Simon Concession Count(tm): Two root beers, the first courtesy of Mr. Al Canal(thank you much, sir).
Davey Vega(Resurgence) vs. Darin Corbin(Submission Squad): I don't think these two had ever officially crossed paths despite being regulars in St. Louis Anarchy. This was Corbin's first St. Louis-area appearance in a few years; he held the SLA Heavyweight Title for almost a year before being dethroned by Gerald James(aka Gary Jay). I saw him at the shows on my CHIKARA excursion last October, though we didn't get any slow-motion sequences on this night. They had a really fun match...at one point Corbin attempted to use Shawshank as a battering ram, only for Vega to understandably shrug it off as if to say "what the hell are you doing?" Corbin is Al's favorite wrestler(as well as his daughter's favorite) and his main reason for attending this show...bwahahaha. Corbin was repeatedly thwarted in his attempts to hit the, ahem, Ginger Snap(snapmare driver)...Vega picked up the win with the brainbuster onto the knee in 15:54. That solidifed the Resurgence's lead at 5-1 and dropped the Squad to 2-4. Despite Corbin's underhanded tactics, the fans were happy to see him back and the two shook hands afterwards.
Makaze(Blacklist) vs. Adam Caster(w/ Greg Jovi)(Ego Busters): These two hadn't crossed paths in a very long time...one would have to go back to the early days of Gateway Championship Wrestling when Adam Raw was Dingo's bodyguard. Caster is currently Tag Champ in two area promotions with different partners(Gelistico in St. Louis Anarchy, Tony Kozina in WIA). There was a fan in attendance with a megaphone(thankfully NOT the interloper from earlier this year) and Makaze borrowed it at one point to tell Jovi to shut up...heh. They kept it technical for the most part; both guys are severely underrated in that department. Caster blocked one attempt at the Blizzard Suplex(Northern Lights/fisherman suplex), but Makaze hit it on the second try for the win in 6:25. This was NOT a good night to be a rulebreaker as the fan favorites had run the table at this point in the show...Blacklist improved to 3-2 and the Ego Busters dropped to 1-4.
Post-match: Makaze called Pierre Abernathy to the ring; they had an issue at the previous show, but he had reviewed the videos and saw that Pierre was on the up-and-up about changing his ways. It had been his stablemates doing the dirty work while Pierre was trying to stop them. Pierre(accompanied by Everett Connors) accepted Makaze's apology and praised him for his career accomplishments before the two shook hands...but then Connors attacked Makaze from behind as he turned to leave the ring. Pierre threw Connors down to the mat, but Makaze didn't see who hit him and decked Pierre...that brought out Jojo Bravo to hold his teammate back as Connors did the same thing to Pierre. It had looked like the issue was settled, but now it's merely heating up.
Austin Blackburn(w/ Everett Connors)(Submission Squad) vs. "Lights Out" Adrian Surge: Blackburn literally carried the banged-up Connors to ringside for moral support. This was an unusual battle of rulebreakers, made even more awkward by Blackburn attempting to play the role of the fan favorite (despite being by the side of his teammates earlier in the evening). Blackburn retained his spot in the Squad with a move I've seen the Young Bucks do; the guy goes into a flying bodyscissors/victory roll, only the opponent gets driven face-and-chest-first to the mat instead. With that, Blackburn got the duke in 6:22.
"The Anarchist" Arik Cannon(Blacklist) vs. "Dirdey" Jake Dirden(w/ Greg Jovi)(Ego Busters): Dirden replaced K.C. Karrington who is still recovering from his last-man-standing match with Steven Kennedy. This was an interesting battle of heavy hitters, especially since Cannon usually doesn't deal with a size disadvantage like this one. Cannon had the experience edge, but SHENANIGANS~! reared their ugly head as Dirden pulled referee Orleans in the way of Cannon's charge into the corner. That brought out Adam Caster to run interference, but Jojo Bravo evened things out and fought him off. (Wouldn't mind seeing Caster vs. Cannon at some point.) Things seemed to reset, but the ref was knocked down AGAIN and Jovi entered the fray with a low blow on Cannon...that enabled Dirden to get the cheap win in 15:10 as Jason Pemberton ran in to count the fall. The Ego Busters salvaged their night with a record of 2-4, while Blacklist settled for a .500 record at 3-3.
Post-match: Jovi asserted his contractual authority over Dirden and demanded that he finish the job on Cannon...but help arrived in the unlikely form of a megaphone-wielding Darin Corbin! The sometimes-partners-sometimes-rivals cleared the ring and hashed things out via dueling megaphones...heh. They acknowledged the fan support for their return(cue "Please Come Back" chant) and said that they may face each other down the line since they're in separate stables, but they'll watch each other's backs in the future. All righty then.
Final scoreboard: The Resurgence(fighting on behalf of their sidelined captain Steven Kennedy) took a commanding lead with a 5-1 record. The Blacklist was in second place at 3-3, while the two rulebreaking stables(Submission Squad and Ego Busters) were left in the basement at 2-4. It's still early in the season, so a lot can happen between now and the Season Three finale...
Next weekend is another local doubleheader: Dynamo Pro Wrestling returns to Glen Carbon, Illinois while Southern Illinois Championship Wrestling has their monthly offering in East Carondelet, IL. The following week, Dynamo will be a part of NatsuCon in Collinsville, IL on Friday; the debuting Pro Wrestling Resurgence has its first show at The Ready Room in St. Louis, Missouri that Saturday.
That's my special comment for this, the twenty-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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