WOE Special Comment

Now, as promised, a special comment about Saturday's Wrestling Over Everything show at the Community Center in Caseyville, Illinois.

DISCLAIMER:  I'm biased.  Deal with it.

There seems to be an overabundance of promotions in this area and the unfortunately-acronymed WOE consists of the remnants of two:  Pro Wrestling Epic(which hadn't run a show since last November) and Wrestling Invades Alton/America.  As it turned out, the new boss was the same as the old boss; The Landlord revealed at the end of the final WIA event that he was the owner and promoter of the new group.

On that note, I'm still trying to learn about a newer group in the area called the National Wrestling League; they reportedly ran some matches in Madison, IL this weekend at the Gateway Motorsports Park.  It sounds like they may have some connection to Metro Pro Wrestling as they seem to be based in Kansas City...more information on this group as I discover it.

The show had a modest turnout; I recognized the venue as one where Southern Illinois Championship Wrestling had run a show a few years ago.  Hopefully the ring can be improved over time, as it didn't have apron banners and the ropes seemed loose at times (giving people trouble when they tried to climb the turnbuckles).

Your ring announcer was Chris Kaelin; your referee was Kurt Darling.

The Landlord kicked off the show...as I've often noted, I feel like people go to independent wrestling shows to see something different from what's on television.  At any rate, he announced that the next show(Sunday 10/30 in Swansea) would feature a tournament to crown the first WOE Heavyweight Champion; not sure what that meant for the night's main event, but more on that later.  He noted that he's fully in charge and won't have to deal with Tyler Copeland's influence any more; that brought out Copeland, who was probably wondering if anyone got the license plate number of that face turn.  Landlord conveniently had a few security guards in place to keep Copeland away from him...Hardcore Andy had a busy night in that regard.  Words were exchanged and Copeland managed to briefly take down Landlord and get in a shot or two before security pulled him off.  Landlord told him to worry about his match with Gavin Alexander later in the night...

Billy McNeil vs. "The Millenial" Danny Adams:  HEY, I know these guys.  Billy found himself transfixed by the low-hanging lights in the building...when Adams questioned his focus, Billy noted "There's one RIGHT BEHIND YOU..."  McNeil was one of the people who had trouble on the ropes, so the high-flying was kept to a minimum in this opener; despite that, they had a really good bout.  Adams had an advantage in size, but experience won the day; McNeil scored the victory after a flying tornado DDT off the second rope in 10:00 on the dot.

Moondog Pongo vs. "Da Muscle" Robby McCann:  Hadn't seen much of these guys in a while...I think they were on the first couple of WIA shows I attended.  The longer-time area fans are big fans of Moondogs by any name; Moondog Rover is extremely popular around these parts.  McCann sported Confederate flag logos on his attire, which can be a tricky thing in this area as we're pretty close to the proverbial Mason-Dixon Line.  It wasn't a technical classic, but I suppose it wasn't supposed to be; the fans were into the match and that's what counts, especially considering neither guy is a regular in this area.  McCann delivered a Pedigree, then went to his corner for an international object to load his kneepad(OLDSCHOOL)...he connected with a knee trembler using the loaded kneepad, scoring the ill-begotten win in 10:47.

Nelson Sixx vs. Barackus:  Sixx was one of several people who I was seeing for the first time on the show; he's apparently a regular in the central Illinois area and competes for Proving Ground Pro.  According to YouTube, these two had crossed paths once before in PGP; Sixx was subbing for Chase King.  While Sixx attempted to be the fan favorite in contrast to the rulebreaker Barackus, the fans were more familiar with the big man and seemed to support him a bit more.  Sixx made a good accounting for himself against his larger adversary, but fell to the clawhold Flatliner in 7:02.

"Infamous" Tyler Copeland vs. "The Slaughterhouse Nightmare" Gavin Alexander(w/ Veronica Pain), bodyboard(stretcher) match:  The ring announcer wasn't too clear on the stipulation; as it turned out, one had to push the stretcher through the entry door in order to win.  With Copeland suddenly in the position of being a fan favorite, Alexander became the rulebreaker by default and embraced the more sadistic side of his character.  Gavin was accompanied by his new gothic valet who was adorned with a bloody Bray Wyatt-style sheep mask.  It was essentially a hardcore-style bout and plenty of weapons came into play:  Chair, chain, kendo stick, and even a ladder.  At one point Copeland was laid out on a ladder that was propped up against the ring apron, then Gavin attempted a somersault dive off the apron only for Copeland to move out of the way...the ladder barely survived.  Gavin even brought light tubes into play and both men used them, leaving Copeland bloody...I don't know if that level of violence fit into the format of this benefit show for local firefighters, especially with a lot of little kids in the audience.  (That's just one dork's viewpoint, as always.)  At any rate, they fought their way over to the stretcher as I wondered if Copeland would be able to push the massive Alexander through the door...he was finally able to incapacitate Gavin with a chair long enough to push him out the door in 18:45.  The ring announcer attempted to get a post-match interview, but Copeland was attacked by the debuting Richard Faith and Alexander.  This feud...MUST CONTINUE!

Cue intermission...my Official Ben Simon Concession Count(tm):  Two Coca-Colas and a Hershey bar.  Thanks to Timothy Miller for the first of those frosty beverages, by the way.  During the intermission, WIA Heavyweight/Interstate Champion Leone Mephisto entered the ring to graciously offer the fans an opportunity for a picture with the champ.  Of course, it would cost a modest fee of $100...but hey, you don't get the opportunity to meet a dual champion every day!  The fans' indifference to his offer persuaded him to lower his asking price, but he finally left the ring in frustration over no one taking him up on his sales pitch.  Heh.

LaMarcus Clinton vs. "The Adonis" Brian Valor:  I think Valor had worked WIA in the recent past, but this was my first time seeing him; from what I understand, he regularly wrestles in Tennessee.  The guy's definitely in good shape and did well in the rulebreaker rule in front of an unfamiliar crowd.  In the vein of Samson of Biblical times, I feel like LMC may have lost some of his mojo since he got his hair cut...however, the impressive agility is still there.  While the ropes made it tricky to go aerial, LMC was able to maneuver into position for his Buff Blockbuster finisher...that allowed him to pick up the three-count in 12:58.

"2.0" Da'Marius Jones vs. Richard Faith(w/ Veronica Pain), no-DQ match:  Jones was scheduled to face Adrian Silvers, but Silvers was not there and Jones issued an open challenge for a no-disqualification bout.  The fan favorite/rulebreaker structure was REALLY unclear in this one as Jones was acting extremely arrogant, but Faith had just established himself as an ally to the newly-villainous Gavin Alexander.  Without going too "inside baseball", Faith had wrestled in this area a handful of times under a different identity but this was my first time seeing him in person as this character.  The no-DQ stip was there as an excuse for Veronica to get involved; Jones seemed to have the match won after the Paydirt, but Veronica distracted him and then stunned him with a slap to the face.  Faith capitalized with a Blackhole Slam for the win in 5:13 (thank you, Facebook video)...afterwards, Gavin Alexander made his way to the ring to assist Faith in the beatdown of Jones.  Does this make Jones a fan favorite now?  Guess we'll see...

"The INKredible T@2" Darius Lee vs. Blake Belakis:  I was seeing Lee for the first time on this night; he lives up to his name as he has quite a bit of artwork on his person.  Both guys seemed to come out as fan favorites; I referred to it as "a St. Louis Anarchy match in front of an SICW crowd", if that makes sense.  Lee had more faith in the ropes than I did as he pulled off a nice Lionsault.  Wouldn't mind seeing this match again in front of a more receptive crowd, but it was a lot of fun...this was the only match where the ring announcer mentioned a time limit(though he did make time announcements during the other bouts), so I quickly predicted a draw.  Shockingly, that was exactly how it turned out as the time limit expired at 15:00.  The two mutually decided on a rematch at a future show with no time limit...I'd be okay with that.

WIA Heavyweight/Interstate Champion Leone Mephisto vs. PWE Heavyweight Champion Brandon Aarons, unification match:  With a WOE Heavyweight Champion being crowned at the next show, I don't know what this match truly determined...hopefully the unified PWE/WIA Champ will get the top seed in the tournament or something.  This feud has gone for a LONG time, primarily taking place in PWE.  I referred to Mephisto a few times to people as one of the most underrated guys in the area; he's developed into a really solid rulebreaking character.  However, he's burned a lot of bridges and that's left him with only a handful of places to work.

At any rate, these guys had a really good main event...Shenanigans(tm) ensued when Mephisto tried to throw powder in Aarons' face, but Aarons ducked and the referee was blinded instead.  Aarons delivered a superkick and Hairflip Suplex(half-nelson suplex), but there was no one to make the count since there was only one official for the night.  Mephisto brought in the PWE belt and took out Aarons with it...but it took the official some time to recover and the delayed count only reached two.  Despite that, Aarons was just about done and an Air Raid Crash on the belt finished things in 12:14 (the referee still wasn't totally coherent and missed the use of the belt).  Ladies and gentlemen, we have a newwwww unified PWE/WIA Champion!  Mephisto celebrated with his full set of hardware...ironically, it was Aarons' old enemy Tyler Copeland who checked on him after the match and helped him to his feet.  While the first champion of WOE will be crowned in October, Mephisto closed the book as the final titleholder for both Pro Wrestling Epic and Wrestling Invades America...we'll see if that has an impact on next month's championship tournament!

Lame personal stuff:  I've had a few job interviews but haven't heard any responses yet...I have two interviews scheduled for this week and hopefully my situation will improve in the near future.  Once again, any recommendations are appreciated and I've received a lot of them in the past several weeks.  As I put it:  When your brain has you convinced that there's no way off the island, you don't see how many bridges truly exist.  I can only hope to eventually repay all of those who have lent me a hand in recent times.

October looks like this:

-Saturday 10/1:  World League Wrestling in Troy, MO; Southern Illinois Championship Wrestling in Swansea, IL
-Saturday 10/8:  Mid-Missouri Wrestling Alliance in St. Louis, MO
-Saturday 10/15:  Dynamo Pro Wrestling in Glen Carbon, IL; Southern Illinois Championship Wrestling in East Carondelet, IL
-Saturday 10/22:  Dynamo Pro Wrestling in St. Louis, MO (4 Hands Brewery/afternoon show)
-Saturday 10/29:  Pro Wrestling Championship Series in Granite City, IL
-Sunday 10/30:  Wrestling Over Everything in Swansea, IL

That's my special comment for this, the forty-first 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.