Now, as promised, a special comment about Saturday's Pro Wrestling Championship Series show at the Spaulding Hall Club in Alton, Illinois.
DISCLAIMER: I'm biased. Deal with it.
It was a full wrestling weekend; while much of the attention was on the National Wrasslin' League's first Sunday offering in St. Louis, the official start to Season Four of PWCS could not be overlooked. The Alton venue has become a hot spot since the days of St. Louis Anarchy, hosting events under the banners of PWCS and Glory Pro Wrestling. The show had a solid turnout, perhaps a bit down from the usual crowd, but the fans in attendance were engaged in the action.
Several teams had reorganized; offscreen Resurgence captain Steven Kennedy had not retained Gateway Heritage Champion Davey Vega after his questionable tactics against partner Mat Fitchett in January. As a result, Vega was picked up by Greg Jovi and the returning championship stable of the Ego Busters. Since it was the start of the season, we had a clean slate: Ego Busters 0-0, Resurgence 0-0, Blacklist 0-0, Submission Squad(fka Chaos Nation, fka Team Anarchy) 0-0.
Your ring announcer was Tito McGee; your referees were Richard White & Jay King.
Austin Blackburn(Submission Squad) vs. "Lights Out" Adrian Surge(Ego Busters) vs. Matt Knicks vs. Aaron Dzinic: This was a roster challenge match, as Blackburn or Surge would lose his spot in his stable if one of them was pinned or made to submit. I assume that this stipulation only applied if one of the unaffiliated wrestlers scored the fall, as opposed to the possibility of Blackburn defeating Surge or vice-versa. Knicks was making his return to the St. Louis area after a long absence; he had previously competed for St. Louis Anarchy in late 2013 and early 2014. In the end, Surge retained his spot by rolling up Dzinic with a handful of tights in 7:00.
Ego Busters General Manager Greg Jovi gloated about his stable's victory in Season Three, then brought out Gateway Heritage Champion Davey Vega to address his actions at the previous show. (Vega had retained his title against partner Fitchett after a desperate low blow with the referee down.) Vega said that he didn't like Jovi, but he would make the alliance work as long as Jovi made sure he held onto the title. Those words caused a furious Mat Fitchett to rush the ring as Vega and Jovi headed for higher ground, but fellow Ego Buster Danny Adams took the opportunity to attack Fitchett from behind and kick-start their scheduled bout...
Mat Fitchett(Resurgence) vs. "The Millenial" Danny Adams(w/ Greg Jovi)(Ego Busters): Adams has been on a roll in PWCS; he was the sole survivor for his stable in the Season Three finale, then defeated Colt Cabana and Paco Gonzalez in the same night of the St. Louis Invitational Tournament before falling to Gary Jay in the finals. Fitchett was hoping to rebound from not only his loss to Vega in January, but The Resurgence's near-miss in the aforementioned season finale bout. He was seemingly on the way to victory, but Vega reappeared to distract Fitchett after he hit the flying knee strike. That made the difference in this matchup as Adams was able to recover, winning with his trademark reverse Stunner in 10:02. That put the defending champion Ego Busters on the board at 1-0, leaving Resurgence at 0-1.
"The Wildman From The Ozarks" Alexandre Rudolph(w/ chainsaw)(Blacklist) vs. "Pistol Danger" Evan Gelistico(w/ "The Incredible Primal Prodigy" Matt Kenway (Look At Him) & Shawshank the inflatable dolphin)(Submission Squad): A war of words ensued before the match, leading to a mid-ring showdown between the chainsaw and the inflatable dolphin as the wrestlers and fans rallied behind their inanimate object of choice. Once the official action got underway, it was a battle of Rudolph's size and power against Gelistico's experience; their history goes back to the early days of the Lethal Wrestling Alliance when Rudolph was still an LWA Superfan. Rudolph attempted a suicide dive onto Kenway at ringside and Gelistico took the proverbial bullet for his tag team partner; in the end, Rudolph's intensity was too much to overcome and he scored the victory after a flying headbutt in 7:37. The Blacklist was on the scoreboard at 1-0 while the Submission Squad dropped to 0-1.
"Stiff Robo Ginger" Gary Jay(Submission Squad) vs. "The Bride Of Frankenstein" Angelus Layne(Blacklist): These two had crossed paths twice before; once in a six-person tag and once in a St. Louis Anarchy title defense by Gary. I am a bit iffy on intergender matches nowadays and it depends heavily on the participants, but this turned out to be a really good match in my eyes. It made me wish we could have seen Gary Jay vs. MsChif back in the day. Neither competitor was pulling any punches and Layne was not immune to the effects of Gary Jay's notorious chops. Gary scored the victory with the sliding forearm smash in 8:44; this evened up the Submission Squad and the Blacklist with 1-1 records.
Intermission~! Official Ben Simon Concession Count(tm): Root beer and Mello Yello. My compatriot Cearan McGrath also offered me a piece or two from his buffalo chicken piza...much apprecated. The return date was announced for June 10th in Alton, IL with Arik Cannon and Darin Corbin returning to PWCS...woo.
"Dad Bod" Sean Orleans(Ego Busters) vs. "100% Heel" Christian Rose: This was a roster challenge match as Orleans was drafted by the Ego Busters stable, but Rose could deprive him of his spot with a win. Given Orleans' start as a slimy loud-mouthed rulebreaker, the shift to underdog fan favorite has been overwhelmingly effective; I would compare it to Sean Vincent's change in attitude in the Gateway Championship Wrestling days. I don't think I'd ever seen argyle-patterned ring attire before, though I think evil-teacher-era Matt Striker dabbled in that. Rose came out to "Middle Fingers" by Missio(a song that's regularly played on 105.7 The Point nowadays) and had the ring announcer introduce him as the creator of unskippable YouTube videos and a huge fan of Nickleback and Roman Reigns. Bwahahaha. Orleans had bandaged ribs after his rough recent outings against "Unbreakable" Michael Elgin and Brandon Espinosa(in Glory Pro). Orleans was also at a disadvantage in experience, among other categories. Orleans had a few close calls, particularly his near-fall after a Stone Cold Stunner...but Adrian Surge and Greg Jovi made their way to ringside to get involved. Their motives were unclear as Surge passed a chair into the ring for Orleans to use, but Orleans didn't want to win that way...that may have cost him the match as Rose took advantage of the momentary respite to take Orleans down in the No-Leaf Clover(Boston crab). Orleans tapped out in 10:06, losing his spot in the Ego Busters to Christian Rose. "I just keep on throwing middle fingers in the air..."
Roscoe Eat Lisa("The Big Mustache On Campus" Mikey McFinnegan & "Zesty" Zakk Sawyers)(Resurgence) vs. Beauty & The Beast("Sensational" Stevie Fierce & "Death Machine" Rob Matter)(w/ Greg Jovi)(Ego Busters): Fierce & Matter scored a big win over Evan Gelistico & Pierre Abernathy in October and hoped to continue their momentum against the final St. Louis Anarchy Tag Team Champions. It had been noted to me recently that Dynamo Pro Wrestling is the only St. Louis-area promotion with active Tag Team Titles; World League Wrestling, the Mid-Missouri Wrestling Alliance, AND Wrestling Over Everything all have vacancies in their Tag Championships. I can only assume that the NWL will establish Tag Team Titles down the line as they've made an effort to establish the tag team division. (The injury to Mason Cutter of The Hooligans probably hasn't helped as they were one of the most prominently-featured tandems in the area.) As PWCS doesn't have active championships(other than the grandfathered-in-from-St.-Louis-Anarchy Gateway Heritage Title), I don't think that's in the cards for this promotion. At any rate, McFinnegan and Sawyers' suspiciously-similar substitutes Boulder & Spike have flown under the radar in NWL. It looked like R.E.L. was on the way to victory, but some subterfuge led to a reversal of fortunes...they had Matter set up for their spike Air Raid Crash finisher, but Fierce pulled Zakk out of position and Matter countered the situation with a sunset flip on McFinnegan. Fierce provided an illegal assist from the arena floor and Beauty & The Beast got the three-count in 9:31. That put the Ego Busters in the lead at 2-0 while the Resurgence stable dropped to 0-2.
"The Wind Of Destruction" Makaze(Blacklist) vs. Everett Connors(Submission Squad): I don't know if I would call this a clash of styles, but it was different from your standard match featuring either guy individually. It was paced well for its position on the show...it was tough to pick a winner, but the captain of the Blacklist stable was hoping to rebound after being eliminated in the first round of the Invitational Tournament. Makaze won a competitive bout with the Northern Lights Perfectplex in 7:00. Blacklist improved to 2-1, Submission Squad dropped to 1-2.
"The Miracle Worker" Davey Vega(w/ Greg Jovi)(Ego Busters) vs. Paco Gonzalez(Resurgence) for the Gateway Heritage Title: Paco scored a pinfall on Vega in a tag match at Pro Wrestling Resurgence last August, so the possibility of an upset was realistic. However, Vega's more aggressive attitude and Jovi's presence at ringside created a different environment on this night. Vega seemed to be playing it straight for most of the bout as he didn't outright break the rules...Paco scored several close-near falls as the match heated up. However, the referee was knocked down at a crucial moment and Vega once again took the opportunity to deliver an undetected low blow. From there, Vega unleashed a series of kicks ending with a buzzsaw-style kick to the head...that secured him the victory in 18:00. The Ego Busters had as strong a night as they could have hoped, going 3-0, retaining the Gateway Heritage Championship, and replacing Sean Orleans with Christian Rose in their ranks. Meanwhile, the Season Two-champion Resurgence stable ended up in the cellar at 0-3. Final scoreboard: Ego Busters 3-0, Blacklist 2-1, Submission Squad 1-2, Resurgence 0-3.
I acknowledge that I have been behind schedule on these commentaries...I am working tomorrow night so I won't be able to attend any local indie shows. For those in the area, you can check out either World League Wrestling in Troy, MO or the Mid-Missouri Wrestling Alliance in Lemay, MO.
Of course, PWCS was only the beginning of my previous weekend, but that's another story for another time so tune in next time...Same Pat-Time, Same Pat-Channel.
That's my special comment for this, the twelfth 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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