Now, as promised, a special comment about last Saturday's Pro Wrestling Championship Series show at the Spaulding Hall Club in Alton, Illinois.
DISCLAIMER: I'm biased. Deal with it.
PWCS had a solid turnout for its first show of 2017 and first event of Season Four; with the St. Louis Invitational Tournament as one of the main attractions, there was no scoreboard for the night. Several fans were happy about wrestling's return to the Alton venue after the closing of St. Louis Anarchy, feeling that the National Wrasslin' League didn't have the same vibe. PWCS always had a close connection to Anarchy, so becoming its spiritual successor was a natural step.
Your ring announcer was Sarah Rose; your referees were Jason Pemberton & Brian Fox (thanks to Jason for filling me on the other official's name as I hadn't seen him before).
Gary Jay vs. Everett Connors(w/ cardboard cutout of Justin Bieber), St. Louis Invitational Tournament Quarterfinal: Bieber was held together with tape after his unfortunate demise at the hands of Jake Parnell (literally) at the Season Three finale. This was an interesting choice for the opening contest and the two went full throttle for most of it, including multiple suicide dives. Connors put up an impressive fight against the former St. Louis Anarchy Heavyweight Champion, but Gary picked up the win with the sliding forearm smash in 11:36.
Paco Gonzalez vs. Jason Roberts, St. Louis Invitational Tournament Quarterfinal: Two of the Midwest's most promising up-and-coming competitors squared off in this first-round matchup. I'm a fan of Roberts' more grounded and technical style. It does get a bit repetitive when EVERYONE's doing the standard aerial moves (I lost count on the number of suicide dives for the night); it's especially glaring with the tournament format when guys wrestle more than once in a night. The big-picture perspective is that since "indie wrestlers" tend to be smaller, they usually HAVE to do spectacular high-flying maneuvers to draw the casual fan's attention. At any rate, soapbox mode off. Fine matchup, will be watching their careers with great interest; Paco won with a turnbuckle-walk tornado DDT in 8:35.
Makaze vs. "The Wildman From The Ozarks" Alexandre Rudolph, St. Louis Invitational Tournament Quarterfinal: Rudolph has added a new touch to his entrance: A (non-bladed) chainsaw! That earned a few "Chainsaw Viking" chants from the fans. Since both men are part of the Blacklist stable, the veteran Makaze sought to test the younger Rudolph as the match progressed. While Rudolph had the obvious edge in size and power, Makaze was the faster and more experienced of the two...he took advantage of Rudolph's overaggression to gain the edge. However, Rudolph was too much for The Wind Of Destruction on this night; he took down Makaze with a flying headbutt to score the wind in 4:50. After recovering, Makaze encouraged Rudolph to maintain that aggression and win the whole tournament.
Evan Gelistico & Austin Blackburn(w/ Shawshank the inflatable dolphin) vs. The Carnies("The Down-South Dandy" Nick Iggy & "The Music City Mutt" Kerry Awful): The match was essentially a battle of fan favorite teams and the crowd support was evenly divided. Shawshank was OVAH and comedy spots ensued with the dolphin being "affectionate" toward Iggy & Awful. The Submission Squad tandem used a lot of great double-team maneuvers, including a Dudley Death Drop and a tree slam/second-rope backcracker combo on Iggy. Awful was able to turn the tide for his side, leading to several near-falls being exchanged. Awful took Blackburn out of the match by running him into the ringpost, leading to Iggy pinning Gelistico with a backslide in 10:45. Everyone seemed to make nice after the match, but Awful teased a piledriver on Shawshank...that somehow led to the dolphin giving Awful a Canadian Destroyer. (No, really.)
Colt "Boom Boom" Cabana vs. "The Millenial" Danny Adams(w/ Greg Jovi), St. Louis Invitational Tournament Quarterfinal: Cabana made his entrance with a local favorite: The pizza guy who strongly resembles Roger Ebert. Sarah Rose even announced him as "Pizza Ebert" and the two delivered a fan's order. Adams was riding the momentum of being the last man standing in the Season Three finale; Cabana was 1-1 in PWCS competition, losing to Dan Walsh and defeating Jeremy Wyatt. Colt is always fun to watch for me as he combines comedy with his unique technical style. For his part, Adams tried to counter with his own technical approach as he focused his attack on Cabana's arm...of course Jovi got in his cheapshots at every opportunity. Cabana chased Jovi around the ring, but that gave Adams the opportunity to kick the middle rope into Colt's groin as Jovi distracted the ref. Adams did more damage to the arm, finally forcing Cabana to tap out to a reverse short-arm scissors in 11:53! After the match, Cabana conferred with Hardcore Andy at ringside, asking him to do his job as a ringside security guard and prevent Jovi from interfering for the rest of the night.
Intermission~! Official Ben Simon Concession Count(tm): Root beer and Coca-Cola.
Gary Jay(w/ Evan Gelistico) vs. "The Wildman From The Ozarks" Alexandre Rudolph, St. Louis Invitational Tournament Semifinal: This was a rematch from a St. Louis Anarchy show last year. Rudolph teased ring announcer Sarah Rose with his chainsaw...eep. Gary had the longer first-round match, but he also had more rest before his second bout of the evening. The experience and cardiovascular edge went to Gary Jay in this case; his striking prowess carried him to victory as he won with the sliding forearm in 6:11.
Paco Gonzalez vs. "The Millenial" Danny Adams(w/ Greg Jovi), St. Louis Invitational Tournament Semifinal: These two have been fighting each other since the beginnings of their careers; I first saw them face each other in a dark match for Ring Of Honor. On top of being perpetual rivals, they've also been a successful tag team as Alpha Class so they know each other VERY well. As one might expect, Jovi got involved in the matchup...that led to Hardcore Andy chasing him around the ring, but Jovi was a bit faster. However, Jovi got careless when he stopped to get in another cheapshot on Paco...that allowed Andy to get a hold of him and personally escort him to the backstage area. The competitors traded signature moves, but it took a hanging version of Adams' trademark reverse Stunner to put away Paco in 13:45.
"Unbreakable" Michael Elgin vs. "Dad Bod" Sean Orleans: Elgin had issued an open challenge and his trainee Orleans accepted...Orleans wanted to test himself against his world-renowned mentor despite the overwhelming odds against him. Even Elgin didn't seem to be taking the opposition seriously as he offered Orleans a chance to back out of the bout. Orleans declined that generous offer, though he may have regretted that decision in the early stages of the match. Elgin repeatedly overpowered and manhandled Orleans, leaving his chest scarred and bloody after multiple chops...but Orleans refused to stay down, showing a surprising amount of heart and toughness. The fight spilled out of the ring to the floor and Elgin powerbombed Orleans into the wall, TWICE...but Orleans somehow managed to beat the ten-count to re-enter the ring. (I talked to Orleans after the show and he honestly didn't remember that there were TWO powerbombs into the wall.) Since most of the night's matches had an announced twenty-minute time limit, I actually wondered if Orleans would hold Elgin to a draw...he came very close. Elgin finally put Orleans down for good with the sitout powerbomb in 16:22...he said he was upset over Orleans making him work so hard, but also proud...cue Mutual Respect(tm), but then Elgin mowed him down with a clothesline for messing with his sleep time. Ouch.
Gary Jay vs. "The Millenial" Danny Adams(w/ Greg Jovi), St. Louis Invitational Tournament Final: This was a rematch from a previous PWCS event where they fought to a double-knockout finish, giving Adams a huge credibility boost that led into his big win in the Season Three championship match. In a one-night tournament like this one, it says a lot about who can vary up their offense...Bret and Owen Hart were good about that in the 1993 and 1994 King Of The Ring Tournaments, usually winning with different moves. (Bret didn't even win any of those matches with the Sharpshooter in '93.) I thought Adams did a better job of that than Gary, with all due respect, as he won with different moves in his first two matches. At any rate, the tournament final was relatively short compared to their previous bouts as they were both worn down...Gary picked up the win with the sliding forearm smash in 5:36 to earn the medallion. WOO~! (I feel like the tournament win should get you a title shot or something...perhaps it'll happen down the line.)
Davey Vega vs. Mat Fitchett for the Gateway Heritage Title: The championship is a continuation of the St. Louis Anarchy Heavyweight Title's lineage in PWCS; Vega won the title from Fitchett at the final Anarchy show in a triple threat match with Gary Jay, so this was Fitchett's rematch. I honestly don't remember seeing them face each other one-on-one before, though I feel like it had to have happened at some point. The familiarity factor was in overdrive as their careers have been parallel to each other, starting with Dynamo Pro Wrestling and then moving on to St. Louis Anarchy and elsewhere. Both men challenged for Gary Jay's title in classic bouts and they were the final two in a thirty-man Anarchy Rumble about a year ago, which Fitchett won; he went on to end Gary's two-plus year reign on top.
While there's a definite oversaturation of the "high-octane/big moves/near-falls" style in wrestling nowadays, I'm a big fan of matches that tell a story and this was a great example of that. Tie that into what you're doing, even on a small scale, and you'll hook the fans into the match. At the end of the day, only one person can be on top and championships can cause people to take extreme measures to keep them. The action escalated as the match progressed and each guy went deeper into his arsenal in an attempt to secure victory. The turning point came when Vega kicked out of a pinfall attempt and Fitchett accidentally bumped into the referee, taking him out of the match for a few moments. In that short time span, Vega seemed to give in to desperation and blatantly kicked his longtime tag team partner in the groin. Vega seemed shocked by his own actions, but as the referee recovered, Vega chose to go for the win and finished off Fitchett with a buzzsaw kick in 22:24! That finish prompted more questions than answers...is this a definite change of attitude on Vega's part or simly a snap judgment that he instantly regretted? Either way, Vega left the ring without checking on his partner...so no Mutual Respect(tm) at the end of this main event.
I don't know if the Gateway Heritage Title will be exclusive to PWCS, but it definitely adds a new wrinkle to the team competition as wrestlers will be pursuing individual glory as well as group success. On top of that, Vega and Fitchett are both members of the Resurgence stable as it stands right now, so Vega's actions may have long-term repercussions in that light...
I don't want to put a great deal of emphasis on what occurred right before and after the main event regarding Sarah Rose's altercation with a fan, but I'll simply say that fans should not make uninvited contact with any performer on a wrestling show. World Wrestling Entertainment has that disclaimer at the start of their live events for a reason; it can be tough to enforce at independent shows when there's no guardrail between the fans and the ring area, not to mention a limited amount of ringside security. Just be sensible and respectful; that's all people ask.
Last weekend was oddly void of area wrestling shows(though a few area people made the trip to Proving Ground Pro)...but there was the National Wrasslin' League's second St. Louis event this past Thursday. Yes, I am VERY behind on these commentaries, but the NWL commentary will be happening in the near future...I think.
That's my special comment for this, the second wrestling show I've attended in the year 2017. Good night, good luck, and #yaywrestling.
-PB, Watching Wrestling Wrong Since 1991
P.S. We are all marks.
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