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.

Attendance was about the same as the previous event; there will be one more Thursday show before the St. Louis shows officially move to Sundays (starting on March 26th).  The night had a few more rough spots than usual, both in-ring and in terms of video production(with miscued items on the big screen).  Despite that, the storylines and characters are building up well as the tournament and other feuds progress.

The only confirmed quarterfinal was Todd Letterman vs. "Greatness" Marcellus Gaines; the night had three tournament matches scheduled as well as a St. Louis vs. Kansas City bout with the overall score between the cities at 2-1 in favor of K.C.

Your ring announcer was Ben Simon; your referees were Michael Crase & Jason Pemberton.  Marti Belle doubled as backstage interviewer and belt presenter for the tournament matches.

Dez Wellston(aka Mike Outlaw) vs. Adam Ryan(w/ Jackie Lee Bosch)(aka Danny Adams w/ Jake Parnell), St. Louis Title Tournament:  The winner of this match would face Maverick in the quarterfinals on March 9th.  Wrestling logic would dictate good guy-vs.-bad guy matches in tournaments, but we already had a rulebreaker-vs.-rulebreaker match set for the next round.  These two had crossed paths in their past lives, of course.  This feud dates back to the first St. Louis show as The Underground members injured Wellston's tag team partner Neon Iverson(aka Justin D'Air); that put Wellston in a two-on-one situation with Bosch in Ryan's corner.  They had a fine opening contest, ending with Ryan accidentally knocking Bosch off the ring apron and Wellston getting the rollup pin in 11:36.  The Underground went on the attack after the bell, which brought out the recently-recovered Neon Iverson for the save...the reunited Soldiers got the upper hand and stood tall in the ring.

Matthew Grundy(w/ Davey Gibson)(aka Mat Fitchett w/ Davey Vega) vs. Cal Stark(aka Chip Day), St. Louis Title Tournament:  The winner of this match would face "Super Soul" Coco Rumble in the next round on March 9th; again, wrestling logic would favor the rulebreaker(this week) in Stark.  Of course, logic rarely applies nowadays in wrestling or many other walks of life.  Stark's NWL record hasn't been the best and his character has been the most inconsistent; he has alternated between fan favorite and rulebreaker depending on the opposition.  Wouldn't mind seeing a longer match between these two in the future, either in NWL or elsewhere.  Stark attacked Grundy before the opening bell for a fast start to the match...it wasn't a very long bout but it was action-packed from bell to bell.  Grundy won with the flying knee strike in 5:41 to advance in the tournament.

It was time for our biweekly address from NWL President Major Baisden...the PowerPoint has been a tougher sell in St. Louis than in Kansas City, but the fans are starting to appreciate it.  It seemed like a more routine segment as Major pushed the season ticket deals as a part of the NWL Fight Club.  (I thought you weren't supposed to talk about NWL Fight Club...?)  However, Baisden was interrupted by The Anti-Social Network(Tommy Flagg & August Marshall, aka Christian Rose & Austin Blackburn).  Flagg had a list of demands for "Minor":  The return of his missing sunglasses, dimmer lights in the building, moving the fan seating farther back from the ring area, and a bye in the tournament since they weren't entered in the first place.  Major didn't take their words too seriously and Flagg got right in his face, which brought out Maverick to back up the boss.  Major took the opportunity to book a Very Special Handicap Match(tm); hope he's careful because once you book your first handicap match, you never want to stop booking them...

Maverick vs. The Anti-Social Network(Tommy Flagg & August Marshall), handicap match:  I would have personally preferred a one-on-one match between Maverick and Flagg, but such is life.  Maverick attempted to pick up both guys on his shoulders at once, but lost his balance and the ASN beat him down.  At times it appeared that the numbers game would wear down Maverick, but he maintained his undefeated streak; Maverick took out Flagg with a lariat and then dropped Marshall on top of Flagg with the Sure Shot(Gory Bomb), pinning both in a pile in 5:41.

"The Hanover Hooligan" Jay Lutz(aka Gary Jay) vs. Blaine Meeks(aka Bolt Brady):  For scoreboard purposes:  Meeks & Royal Blood(Jet & Jax Royal)(aka Logan & Sterling Riegel) defeated the trio of Todd Letterman, Dez Wellston, & Christian Adonis at the first Kansas City show; Maverick & The Blood Brothers(Gibson & Grundy) beat Dak Draper & Royal Blood at the first St. Louis event.  K.C. took the 2-1 lead at the previous Saturday's event as "The Monarch" Jeremy Wyatt defeated Skyler Beckett.  Both men were fan favorites, but the city loyalties meant that Lutz was the crowd favorite; also, the more casual fans didn't recognize Meeks since it had been a while since he had wrestled in the St. Louis area under his previous name.  I had high expectations for the matchup and I don't think it lived up to that bar, though I'm sure they have a better match in them; it was hardly bad, but I thought it had the potential to be a show-stealer.  Lutz dropkicked Meeks at one point and Meeks stumbled backwards into the referee, knocking him out of the match for a short time.  That gave Dak Draper the opportunity to interfere; he had previously stated that he had no investment in the city rivalry, plus he had previous issues with Meeks.  When Draper hit the ring, he actually targeted Meeks first with his Mile-High Doctor Bomb, then decided to give Lutz the same treatment and put Meeks on top as an afterthought.  The official recovered to count the fall, giving Meeks the win in 9:42 and putting Kansas City at a 3-1 lead in the STL-KC series.  (The most glaring producting error occurred here as the "3-1" graphic came up on the screen slightly before the actual pinfall...clearly video guy Rupert is from Kansas City and his bias led to him jumping the gun on playing the video.  DAMN IT RUPERT, GET YOUR ACT TOGETHER!)

Intermission~!  Official Ben Simon Concession Count(tm):  One Coca-Cola.  Notably soda prices were down to two dollars apiece, which I appreciated.

As the show returned from intermission, a video came up on the big screen with text that simply said "This Is Not Pro Wrestling".  In my personal theory department, I note that the bio quote for Jack Foster(aka Jake Dirden) on NWL's roster page is "I am pro wrestling"...just putting that out there.

The Party Crashers(Boulder & Spike)(aka Mikey McFinnegan & Zakk Sawyers of Roscoe Eat Lisa) vs. "The Five-Star Phenom" Todd Letterman(aka Kevin Lee Davidson) & "The Mile-High Magnum" Dak(ota) Draper:  This occurred as a result of a promo segment; Letterman and Draper proclaimed mutual respect for each other and essentially excluded the rest of the NWL roster in their views.  They threw out an open challenge for a tag match and Boulder & Spike stumbled out to the entrance stage...they were looking for a party, but wound up in the match despite appearing to be, err, less than lucid.  Boulder & Spike survived for a lot longer than expected, but the size difference was too much to overcome despite their superior team experience.  Letterman finished off Spike with the Endzone Spike(pumphandle Michinoku Driver) in 8:54.  The assault continued after the bell until Maverick made the save, clearing out Draper before El Big-Guy Staredown with Letterman...that's a potential tournament final, it should be noted.  Letterman backed off and left the ring at that point, but I suspect they'll cross paths again.

Skyler Beckett(w/ Buddy Shepherd)(aka Everett Connors w/ Evan Gelistico) vs. Christian Adonis(w/ Carolina Grizelda Esmeralda Rodriguez)(aka Elvis Aliaga w/ Lucy Mendez):  Buddy praised his protege's efforts against Jeremy Wyatt the previous Saturday in Kansas City...Shepherd still holds a grudge against K.C. for what happened to his grandpappy.  (Gotta watch out for that tainted lemonahd.)  He thought that Beckett's opponent for the night could use the help of the Buddy System, but Carolina strongly disagreed...while Adonis didn't want anyone speaking for him(dissension in the ranks already?), he was fine with his current situation.  With the parties on the floor, chicanery was bound to ensue...both of Carolina's high-heeled shoes somehow ended up in the ring and the referee made a point to get one of them out of there.  However, Beckett got a hold of the other shoe and knocked out Adonis with it for the pinfall in 7:01, marking his first NWL victory.  (Hulk Hogan can attest to the damage that a high-heeled shoe can do...)

"Super Soul" Coco Rumble(aka Sugar Dunkerton) made his entrance for a scheduled match, but he was attacked from behind by "The Billion-Dollar Brother" Emmett DuBois(aka Dorian Victor) & Clayton Fox(aka Matt Kenway).  They brought out a table and DuBois attempted to powerbomb Rumble through it, but lost his balance in mid-move and dumped Rumble onto the table.  With an assist from Fox, he was able to deliver the powerbomb on the second attempt to drive Rumble through the table...will Rumble be 100% for his tournament match on March 9th?

Davey Gibson(w/ Matthew Grundy) vs. "The Bull City Boss" Cornell Douglass(aka Murder One), St. Louis Title Tournament:  The winner would face Jay Lutz in the quarterfinals.  The Blood Brothers had beaten Douglass and Christian Adonis at the previous show with Gibson pinning Douglass, proving Gibson was capable of defeating the larger opponent...but that was a tag match and this was a one-on-one affair.  They had a really good competitive main event, but the tide turned when an unknown person attacked Grundy at ringside out of nowhere.  That brief distraction was enough for Douglass to capitalize with a version of his signature heart punch, scoring the important victory in 15:34!  The post-match interview on YouTube identified Douglass' associate as "Kastle"; he works elsewhere as Adrian Armour and it was my first time seeing him in person.

After the show, myself and Ben Simon made our now-customary trip(other than the one Whiskey Ring visit) to Yaquis across the street for sausage & pepperoni pizza.  The plans continued for Midwest wrestling domination, need you ask.

That was only the second of my three wrestling shows in the past calendar week...but that's another story for another time.  Tune in next time...Same Pat-Time, Same Pat-Channel.

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