NWL Special Comment

Now, as promised, a special comment about Thursday's National Wrasslin' League show at the Casa Loma Ballroom in St. Louis, Missouri.

DISCLAIMER:  I'm biased.  Deal with it.

First off, congratulations to two gentleman who have competed in the St. Louis area for being a part of this year's Top Prospect Tournament in Ring Of Honor:  "The Lone Star" Curt Stallion(trainee of "Unbreakable" Michael Elgin) and Raphael King(who now competes primarily in the southeastern U.S.).  Also congratulations to Everett Connors(aka NWL's Skyler Beckett) for being an entrant in CHIKARA's Young Lions' Cup at National Pro Wrestling Day this Saturday.  Best of luck!

A significant news item from the past week or so:  SICW Classic Champion Ron Powers has retired from in-ring competition after the death of his father, leaving the title vacant.  A sixteen-man tournament will begin at their February show.  Powers attended the first NWL show in St. Louis and he was notably seated at the commentary table for this event, so one could potentially put two and two together on that series of events and I'll leave it at that.

There was a big attendance dropoff between the first and second NWL St. Louis shows; it was somewhat expected, but it didn't look good from the perspective of the floor.  Most of the fans were in the balcony, leaving the floor seats rather empty until people began to move downstairs.  The curiosity factor got people in the door for show one; now it's up to NWL to build its audience.  Now that some storylines are in place and the St. Louis Title tournament is beginning, they're announcing some matches ahead of time which will help with the promotional side of things; at least give fans SOMETHING in that regard.

Your ring announcer was Ben Simon; your referees were Michael Crase & Jason Pemberton.

The Party Crashers(Boulder & Spike)(aka Roscoe Eat Lisa(Mikey McFinnegan & Zakk Sawyers)) vs. The Anti-Social Network(Tommy Flagg & August Marshall)(aka Christian Rose & Austin Blackburn):  Boulder defeated Marshall at the first NWL show, setting up this tag team bout...CONTINUITY~!  The Party Crashers had the definite edge in tag team experience, but Flagg has been part of several very successful tag teams in his career.  A fan noted to me that a lot of rulebreaking types hate the fans, but the Anti-Social Network members seem to be AFRAID of the fans on some level.  Flagg & Marshall showed some fine teamwork in their own right, but Boulder & Spike's continuity made the difference; Boulder got Flagg in position for a Code Red and Spike gave Flagg a Stone Cold Stunner, causing Flagg to recoil directly into the Code Red to give Boulder the three-count in 7:25.

NWL President Major Baisden made his now-traditional visit...I think the fans are warming up to the POWERPOINT~!  After going over the details of the ticket deals, he presented the brackets for the St. Louis Title Tournament.  I didn't get all of the details(CURSE YOU, OBSESSIVE-COMPULSIVE DISORDER~!), but here's what I know:  Bracket A has Skyler Beckett vs. Todd Letterman(which took place that evening) and Javy Torres(aka Paco Gonzalez) vs. Marcellus Gaines(to take place at the next NWL STL show on February 9th).  Bracket B has Jay Lutz vs. Christian Adonis(which also took place later in the evening) and Davey Gibson vs. Cornell Douglass.  Bracket C has Maverick vs. Dominick Butler and Dez Wellston vs. Adam Ryan; Bracket D has Coco Rumble vs. Emmett DuBois(aka Dorian Victor) and...then DuBois interrupted before I could write down the final first-round match.  (CURSE YOU, OCD~!).  DuBois(accompanied by his accountant Clayton Fox) complained about his first-round matchup, seemingly recovered from his cramp problem at the first show...that brought out Rumble himself to claim a lack of testicular fortitude on DuBois' part.  Major decided that maybe they could just face each other later in the evening...and suddenly DuBois' cramps flared back up.  (Remember when Dorian Victor faced Samoa Joe in the Lethal Wrestling Alliance?  Pepperidge Farm remembers.)

DuBois loudly called for someone to take up the fight in his stead and promised to make it worth someone's while...and that brought out Drew Gold on behalf of Marcellus Gaines.  Major decided to make a Holla Holla Tag Match Playa(tm) and said that DuBois and Gaines would face Rumble and a partner of his choice in the night's main event.

On the big screen, Marti Belle interviewed Maverick about his experiences in the St. Louis area...he's a big fan of the town, it would seem.  There's a drinking game in here somewhere about the number of cheap pops on these shows...

Maverick(aka Moonshine Mantell) vs. Cal Stark(aka Chip Day):  Stark seemed to be up for any challenge as he faced the rulebreaker Todd Letterman at the first show and faced the fan favorite Maverick here.  This was the only match of that night that didn't seem to click for whatever reason; Maverick was clearly positioned as a fan favorite, but Stark didn't do a lot of outright rulebreaking.  Both guys are talented enough, so maybe call it an off-night and move on.  Maverick had a busy weekend as he wrestled on the Texas Wrestling Academy showcase at EVOLVE(as Mantell), then was among the security guards who attempted to restrain Seth Rollins at NXT Takeover.  Maverick won with the Gory Bomb in 8:55.

Back to the big screen:  General Manager Matt Jackson(aka Pierre Abernathy, not the Young Buck) was approached by Clayton Fox and a man claiming to be Emmett DuBois' personal physician; the doctor claimed that DuBois was once again not cleared to compete.  Jackson was in disbelief, but it appeared that a replacement for DuBois was in order...

Dominick Butler(aka Jayden Fenix) vs. "The Bull City Boss" Cornell Douglass(aka Murder One):  Douglass defeated Skyler Beckett in short order at the first NWL STL show while Butler lost a close bout to Christian Adonis; this was more competitive than Douglass' first outing.  Butler's luck did not improve and he didn't even have a ringside distraction to blame this time around; Douglass won with the heart punch in 5:36.

Intermission~!  In a good example of NWL listening to fan feedback, several people asked about the lack of intermission at the first event and they decided to do an intermission this time around.  Several wrestlers congregated at the merchandise table to meet with the fans; that's a positive part of the independent wrestling experience as there's more interaction with the competitors.  Official Ben Simon Concession Count(tm):  One Coca-Cola(thanks to Shawn Santel since I forgot to bring cash with me :P).

After intermission, ring announcer Ben Simon received some sort of manifesto in a package and read it aloud to the fans; this was a followup to something that happened at the first show where Major received a package containing a boot.  More on this as it develops.

The Blood Brothers(Davey Gibson & Matthew Grundy)(aka Davey Vega & Mat Fitchett) vs. The Underground(Adam Ryan & Jackie Lee Bosch)(aka Danny Adams & Jake Parnell):  With the amicable split of the Viking War Party, I feel like Alexandre Rudolph and Parnell/Bosch are poised for breakout years in 2017.  Like the opener, this was a battle between a longer-term tag team and a pair of guys who had only recently joined forces(but had tag team experience with other partners).  Gibson and Grundy are definitely positioned as a major part of the company, whether it be in tag team competition or singles(Gibson's in the St. Louis Title tournament; unsure about Grundy unless he's in the one first-round match that I didn't catch).  Once again superior teamwork was the deciding factor as Grundy dropkicked Ryan as Gibson held him upside-down from the turnbuckles, setting up Gibson's superbomb to give Grundy the pin in 8:27.  Bosch was NOT happy with his partner for screwing up the match...

Skyler Beckett(aka Everett Connors) vs. "The Five-Star Phenom" Todd Letterman(aka Kevin Lee Davidson), St. Louis Title Tournament:  This looked like a complete mismatch on paper in terms of, well, everything.  Letterman scored a decisive win over Cal Stark at the first St. Louis show while Beckett(as noted above) didn't fare quite so well.  Beckett seemed to have something to prove after his previous showing and gave Letterman far more of a fight than expected...he had reportedly turned down the mentorship of the good Buddy Shepherd two weeks before, so he probably wanted to show that he could win on his own.  A literal slipup may have proven costly as Beckett slipped on the top rope as he attempted a springboard move; that gave Letterman the opening to finish with the pumphandle Michinoku Driver in 8:28.  Letterman will face the winner of Javy Torres vs. Marcellus Gaines in the quarterfinals.

As Beckett recovered from the match, Buddy Shepherd made his grand entrance and this time he imparted his wisdom on us.  He was disappointed that Beckett turned him down at the previous show, but he was now giving him the opportunity to redeem himself.  A few fans got a Hallelujah chant going(I confess to nothing).  Despite his sterling persuasion, Beckett turned him down once again (which actually got some boos!)...Buddy said that Beckett would come around on February 9th(match?) and would feel the power of the Buddy System inside of him.  HA HA!  Double entendres!

"The Hanover Hooligan" Jay Lutz(aka Gary Jay) vs. Christian Adonis(aka Elvis Aliaga)(w/ Carolina Grizelda Esmeralda Rodriguez, aka Lucy Mendez), St. Louis Title Tournament:  Adonis defeated Dominick Butler at the first show while Lutz fell to Coco Rumble.  I was interested in this matchup as the two hadn't crossed paths to my knowledge, but they had a really good bout.  Adonis called for Rodriguez to throw in her shoe for an assist(who throws a shoe?), but she TOTALLY overshot to the point where it nearly landed in the front row on the other side of the ring.  That brief loss of focus allowed Lutz to capitalize with a kick to the knee and sliding forearm, winning the match in 8:15!  Adonis was understandably upset with Carolina afterwards...

"Super Soul" Coco Rumble(aka Sugar Dunkerton) & Dez Wellston(aka Mike Outlaw) vs. "Greatness" Marcellus Gaines(aka Stephen Wolf) & Clayton Fox(aka Matt Kenway)(w/ Drew Gold, aka Greg Jovi):  I had been thinking that Javy Torres would be Rumble's partner(given their previous matchup), but Rumble had a hometown boy in mind.  Fox subbed for his boss Emmett DuBois but proved less than competent, frustrating his partner Gaines.  Gaines used a few more wrestling-oriented moves as Gold praised him as a multi-faceted fighter.  By the end of the matchup, Gaines and Gold were fed up with Fox and walked out on him...Coco dropped him with the Krush Groove(Zigzag) and Wellston finished with the top-rope elbowdrop(tentatively called the Wellston Drop but we're working on a Soldier-oriented name) in 14:47.  Woo.

Post-show, I joined Ben Simon and Steve Murphy at Yaquis On Cherokee for pizza.  Woo.

NWL Kansas City's title tournament has begun as well; Blaine Meeks(Bolt Brady) and Dak Draper(Sammy Six Guns) advanced at their most recent show by beating Chad Barstow and Ray Briggs(Bobby Blackshire), respectively.  Full brackets will be made available once I have access to them, of course.

February looks like this:
-Saturday 2/4:  World League Wrestling in Troy, MO
-Thursday 2/9:  NWL in St. Louis, MO
-Saturday 2/11:  Mid-Missouri Wrestling Alliance in St. Louis, MO; World Powerhouse Wrestling in Jerseyville, IL
-Sunday 2/12:  Wrestling Over Everything in Swansea, IL
-Saturday 2/18:  Southern Illinois Championship Wrestling in East Carondelet, IL
-Sunday 2/19:  Glory Pro Wrestling in Alton, IL
-Thursday 2/23:  NWL in St. Louis, MO
-Saturday 2/25:  Dynamo Pro Wrestling in Alton, IL

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