Now, as promised, a special (partial) comment about Saturday's Southern Illinois Championship Wrestling show at the Community Center in East Carondelet, Illinois.
DISCLAIMER: I'm biased. Deal with it.
As previously noted, I opted against Pro Wrestling Resurgence due to the ticket price, so I made my way to SICW instead. Dynamo ended around 7:50 and the other two local shows for the evening were scheduled to begin at 8...someone suggested to me that Dynamo ran long by design; I guess it's possible, but who knows. I knew I would be arriving late but just wasn't sure when I would get there...I arrived near the end of the third match, but hopefully I'll be able to catch up on the particulars via Wrestling Explosion. I hung out with Doug Byrd and Dale at the merchandise table for most of the show.
Your ring announcer was Drew Abbenhaus; your referees were Nick Ridenour, Jay King, & Denny Thomas.
Bobby D vs. "The Enforcer" Jimmy D: I somehow suspect this may not make it to television, so the particulars of the match may be lost to the ages. All I know is that Bobby won by pinfall in 5:11 (thanks Drew & Doug).
Karim Brigante vs. "The Freestyle Phenom" Jay Howard(w/ Roy Lewis & "The Natural" J.A. Fair): I feel like I'm doomed to eternally miss Fair's official appearances on wrestling shows; I've crossed paths with him at shows in the past, but never when he's actually booked. I look forward to seeing this one as it was probably a good one, judging by the participants...guess I'll find out in due time. Reportedly Brigante scored the victory after a roaring elbow in 6:13 (again, thanks Drew & Doug).
"Your Canadian Hero" Sean Vincent & Johnny Blade vs. "Volatile" Curtis Wylde & "Unstable" Dave Vaughn(w/ Wyldefyre): Given the nicknames, that rulebreaker team seems like a surprisingly good fit. Vincent and Vaughn have the current feud, but the history between Vincent and Wylde is extensive and well-documented. Blade ran afoul of Vaughn in July in more ways than one, as Vaughn scored a cheap win over him via low blow. Vincent & Wylde brawled out of the building...THAT would have been a fine time for me to walk in the door if I'd arrived a few minutes later. Wyldefyre tripped up Blade and Vaughn capitalized with the double-underhook DDT for the win in 9:49.
Intermission~! Official Ben Simon Concession Count(part deaux): Mountain Dew, cheeseburger, and Pepsi(thanks Doug). This would be why I am classified in the vernacular as "fat".
Moondog Rover vs. Waco(w/ Big Daddy): Circumstances beyond his control have left Big Daddy reaching for proteges, it would seem. Ax Allwardt is champion of Heath Hatton's Stride Pro Wrestling and is making that his top priority; Bubba Troll is out with injury issues and Vaughn was cut loose from the stable a few months back. Of course Moondog remains OVAH~!. but the impeccably-attired Big Daddy had to be sure his new charge made a strong impression. Moondog nearly won with his version of the World's Strongest Slam, but a distraction by the manager allowed Waco to get the rollup pin with a handful of denim in 5:47.
"Night Train/Gorgeous/Great One" Gary Jackson vs. Big Jim Hoffarth vs. "The Tokyo Monster" Kahagas(w/ Travis Cook): This match would determine the next challenger to the Classic Title. I could have sworn a previous TV show had set up a Hoffarth vs. Wylde & Wyldefyre handicap match of some kind, but I guess I was mistaken. Kahagas had made a splash in his SICW debut with a surprising clean win over the veteran mainstay Jackson. This one was surprisingly short; Kahagas had Jackson cornered, but sidestepped as Hoffarth charged with an avalanche. The big man hit Gary by mistake, leading to Kahagas disposing of Hoffarth with a roundhouse kick to the head before pinning Jackson in 5:55. Kahagas is the new number-one contender to the Classic Wrestling Championship and he appears to have the number of Gary Jackson.
"Ironman" Ken Kasa & "Dead Sexy" Daniel Gunner vs. Brandon Espinosa & "The Icon" Chris Hargas(w/ Travis Cook): Oddly, this was the only one of the three matches featuring Travis' charges where he provided his own introductions. Espy and Hargas added their two cents; Hargas has shown a lot of improvement on his mic work in recent months. Kasa has been feuding with Travis Cook's Organization in general and Hargas in particular, culminating in last month's 30-Minute Ironman Match victory over Hargas. Kasa got Cook in the ring for five minutes and humiliated him by pulling down his pants, revealing his trademark Spongebob Squarepants boxer shorts...bwahahaha. As a result, Travis promised a reward to either of his proteges if they did some damage to Kasa in this tag match. The TCO were a slightly more cohesive unit in this one, having done a lot of damage in recent months with the spike piledriver...when they teased the double-team move on Gunner, the referee warned them against it only to be blatantly decked by Espy. That drew a disqualification in 9:53 as Espy and Hargas delivered the spike piledriver...Gunner had to be stretchered out of the ring, leaving Kasa to vow revenge for his partner's injury.
Intermission numero dos~! I believe SICW has its annual Swansea show on the horizon...will need to see how the schedule shapes up for October, but that may be the weekend of Dynamo's Ready Room show.
Miss Monica Passeri vs. Paloma Starr: Despite being a fan favorite in her previous SICW apperance(vs. Lucy Mendez), Paloma was a rulebreaker on this night. Notably, Brigante and Monica are fan favorites here...both have struck me as being extremely friendly and courteous in person. Monica had some clothing issues as her T-shirt was ripped, so she was covering herself for a good portion of the matchup. This actually led to a fan throwing her a jacket at one point! Curtis Wylde & Wyldefyre made their way to ringside for a closer look at the bout; Monica overcame both opponent and wardrobe malfunction as she won with an X-Factor(sitout faceslam) in 8:07. The Wyldes cornered Monica afterwards, as apparently Wyldefyre has exclusive rights to female presence in this promotion...that brought out Karim Brigante to back up his lady and set up a mixed tag match for September 17th. Wylde threatened to send them back to Italy by getting their work visas revoked...and that somehow turned into an official stipulation for the matchup. However, the Wyldes will be booted from SICW if THEY lose...huh. Wyldefyre hasn't been in a lot of official matches; her previous action took place at South Broadway almost ten years ago against Jennifer Starr, so it'll be interesting to see how she does in next month's mixed tag.
Ron Powers vs. Attila Khan(w/ Travis Cook), no-DQ match for the Classic Title: These two traded falls in last month's best-of-three-falls six-man tag, setting up this bout. The referee checked Khan for weapons and found his fork, only to Travis to remind him of the stipulation so it was all for naught. As you might expect from the personalities involved, they didn't wait long before throwing fists and brawling out of the ring. This scared the bejeezus out of some kids in my section, who were left crying and wanting to go home! I dare say that Chuck Taylor(err, DUSTIN) has nothing on these two. Chairs flew, Khan bled, and miraculously they made it back to the ring. Travis instructed Khan to wedge a metal garbage can between the turnbuckles, but the momentary loss of focus allowed Powers to avalanche him from behind. Khan was sandwiched between his opponent and the trash can and turnbuckles, giving Powers the opening to finish with the RKO in a brisk 4:34!
Chaos erupted after the bell as Brandon Espinosa and Chris Hargas hit the ring to attack Powers along with Khan. Ken Kasa and Gary Jackson joined the fray, as did Kahagas...ending the show with a staredown between Powers and Kahagas, who will face each other for the title on September 17th. So two matches are set up for the next East Carondelet show...
Post-show, I met up with Brian Kelley(Missouri Wrestling Revival plug~!), Ben Simon, and Jay King and Steak 'N' Shake...being on the diet that I am, I had the Bacon Lover's Cheeseburger and fries. I only had water to drink...I'm not a barbarian, after all. Ben provided the rundown for Pro Wrestling Resurgence's event at Pop's in Sauget(which I drove past on the way into St. Louis and Steak 'N' Shake)...hopefully I'll get a chance to watch the Moose vs. Kevin Lee Davidson match at some point in the future.
Next weekend: St. Louis Anarchy has a Friday/Saturday double-shot in Alton, Illinois; visiting competitors include former NXT wrestler Martin Stone, Chip Day, Aaron Epic, and Aaron Solow. World League Wrestling has their big summer show in St. Peters, Missouri on Saturday with Mark Henry and Hurricane Helms in the house. Capping off the busy stretch, Pro Wrestling Resurgence makes its first stop in Swansea, Illinois on Sunday with Michael Elgin vs. Brandon Espinosa as the main event.
That's my special comment for this, the thirty-fifth 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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