Now, as promised, a special comment about Friday's Pro Wrestling Resurgence show at Pop's Nightclub & Concert Venue in Sauget, Illinois.
DISCLAIMER: I'm biased. Deal with it.
The turnout was surprisingly modest for this show, given the names on the lineup; the curse of warmer weather will affect many wrestling events in the next few months. Pop's has hosted several wrestling events, including the Insane Clown Posse's Juggalo Championship Wrestling shows in the area. Mike Gordon's FIST Combat promotion ran a few times at Pop's; I got to see both Sabu and Tracey Smothers at those events.
Promoter Sean Orleans addressed the fans briefly before the show officially began; it got underway a bit later than scheduled(around 7:15).
Your ring announcer was Sarah Rose; your referee was Brandon Tolle.
A.C.H. vs. Paco Gonzalez: I didn't expect this match to occur so early in the show. A.C.H. sported a Davey Vega "Miracle Worker" T-shirt and kept teasing its removal as the match progressed. A.C.H. also acted a bit more cocky than usual, perhaps to unify the fan support behind the underdog Paco; he even threw a Jack Adonis-worthy bagtag at one point! Paco gave him a tremendous fight, but A.C.H. finished with the brainbuster in 8:03. (He jokingly demanded that Tolle give him an extra three-count to be sure it was over, probably as a callback to last week's Glory Pro show.) Cue SPORTSMANSHIP~!...or not, as A.C.H. walked away when Paco moved to accept the offered handshake.
"The Warhorse" Jake Parnell vs. Aaron Dzinic(w/ "The Incredible Primal Prodigy" Matt Kenway (Look At Him) for the Zero-One U.S.A. Jr. Heavyweight Title: Parnell's been a fighting champion to say the least; he had two matches at last week's Cinco De Mayo Festival for Dynamo Pro, not to mention his travels elsewhere in the country. Dzinic was up for the challenge, but he was outmatched on this night in terms of experience. Parnell won after the double-stomp to the back off the top rope in 3:48; afterwards, he had a post-match confrontation with Kenway that seemed to be a preview of coming attractions...
"The Miracle Worker" Davey Vega vs. Brandon Espinosa vs. "The Incredible Primal Prodigy" Matt Kenway (Look At Him) vs. "The Millenial" Danny Adams: Despite Adams clearly being in rulebreaker mode, he was VERY popular with the fans in attendance. On the opposite side of the spectrum, people HATED Kenway. The match had tag rules in effect with two men legal at any time and the other two in the corners; however, it also seemed to function under "lucha rules" (meaning that if any legal participant touched the floor, one of the other two could enter the ring and declare himself legal). The wrestlers weren't shy about their verbage in this one, prompting a chant of "Family F***ing Show!" We also got a four-way nogginknocker that left everyone down. Vega came out on top with the solo version of the Braineater(brainbuster onto the knee) on Kenway in 11:06.
"Unbreakable" Michael Elgin vs. "The Lone Star" Curt Stallion for the Dynamo Pro Wrestling D-1 Title: Stallion has been putting in the work to get better, traveling all over the country to compete. However, he had a tough test ahead of him against his trainer; I believe this was Elgin's first defense of the D-1 Championship. Not many people can survive for long in an all-out slugfest against the former Ring Of Honor Heavyweight Champion, but Stallion proved his resilience in this war. He withstood several variations of Elgin's signature powerbomb, stunning his mentor. Stallion fired back and seemed within an eyelash of capturing his first St. Louis-area championship, but Elgin finally put him away with the spiral bomb in 15:35. Elgin praised his student after the bout; I'm sure this won't be the last time the two stand across the ring from each other.
Intermission~! Official Ben Simon Concession Count(tm): One Pepsi. Oddly, my T-shirt purchase of the night was a pretty cool Bret Hart shirt that someone had available at the merchandise tables. Bret was one of my first favorites but I never had a Hitman T-shirt(though I did have the sunglasses). Chatted with several people at the tables, including A.C.H. (who is making his first appearance in New Japan Pro Wrestling's Best Of The Super Juniors Tournament).
Jason Roberts & Evan Gelistico vs. "Lights Out" Adrian Surge & Cornelius Wyverstone: This was an odd match since it turned out to be "parejas incredibles"(lucha phrase for good guy/bad guy tag teams). Gelistico came out as an on-the-spot replacement for "The Natural" Ryan Good, who was absent for unknown reasons; Evan was in street clothes(including a Su Yung T-shirt) and complained about not being on the original show lineup. Roberts slipped on the ring steps as he tried to enter the ring, but he goofed around with it and then rolled into the ring to "Holy $#!+" and "You Deserve It" chants...bwahahaha. Side note: Roberts seems WAY too young to be using Pink Floyd entrance music. While Wyverstone wasn't exactly fan-friendly, he and Surge were not on the same page...on the other side, Gelistico stayed out of the action and only tagged into the fray at opportune times. Wyverstone showed unexpected agility with a bit of Undertaker-style ropewalking. I'm a big fan of Roberts' technical style and I'd like to see him against some of the more notable mat tacticians on the national scene. Roberts had Wyverstone caught in a headscissors crucifix hold, but Gelistico tagged himself into the match and got the submission win with the mandible claw in 14:16. Post-match, Surge trash-talked Wyverstone and walked away from his partner.
13-Man Resurgence Rumble: Entrance intervals were about 90 seconds; the winner would earn a future shot at the PWR Title. The bout started with Frodo "The Ghost" Meyer at #1 and "Lights Out" Adrian Surge at #2; Evan Gelistico was #3 and his strategy was to stay out of the line of fire as much as possible. #4 was Cornelius Wyverstone and he made a beeline for his now-former tag partner Surge, eliminating him fairly quickly. #5 was Richard Faith, adding a heavyweight to the field. #6 was Sarge, a Kansas City wrestler in fatigues who I didn't recognize; he did get some "U.S.A." chants. #7 was "The Incredible Primal Prodigy" Matt Kenway (Look At Him) and the fans were still not fond of him. #8 was Aaron Dzinic and The Pride members joined forces to eliminate Faith.
#9 was Barackus, who wasted no time in clearing things out; Sarge and Frodo were gone in short order, along with Kenway. #10 was Brandon Espinosa, but the size factor was against him and Barackus eliminated him surprisingly quickly. Dzinic was the next to go at the hands of Barackus, but Wyverstone was surprisingly able to eliminate the big man. However, Gelistico pounced on the opportunity to dump out Wyverstone. Deacon Cash was #11, Jason Roberts was #12, and "The Millenial" Danny Adams was #13 to round out the field. The final four were Cash, Roberts, Adams, and Gelistico; Roberts, who made it to the finals of the PWR Title tournament, seemed to be on the verge of victory as he managed to eliminate Cash and then Adams. However, Gelistico's lay-low strategy paid dividends as he caught Roberts off guard, throwing him out of the ring for the Rumble win in 18:38! That means Gelistico has a guaranteed future shot at the PWR Title...though he can't just "Money In The Bank" his shot, as promoter Orleans informed us.
Everett Connors vs. Joey Ryan for the PWR Title: Ryan came out to "Escape" by Jack Johnson, causing me to wonder who DOES like piña coladas and getting caught in the rain. Despite his recent Glory Pro Wrestling appearance, Connors was in full Justin Beiber fanboy mode on this night. Ryan gave out his Blow Pop to a fan before the match...that seems unsanitary. I've seen Ryan in several incarnations, starting with Wrestling Society X(remember that?). He more recently attained fame with a YouPorn sponsorship(...never heard of it...) and overpowering opponents with his mighty, er, male member. In his opening move, he offered Connors a chance to touch it...but he had to preempt that by asking the young-looking Connors about his age. (Connors' answer probably didn't help his cause: "OLD ENOUGH!")
Connors went for a low blow in the early stages of the match, but hurt his own arm in the process...draw your own conclusions. The match itself was really good outside of the comedy spots...a collision resulted in Connors Flair-Flopping right into Ryan's groin and hurting his own head, something which seemed to revitalize the "King Of Dong Style". Ryan pulled out the "Ballsplex"...think straitjacket German suplex, but with hands locked around something other than the waist. (It's more of a signature move of his regular tag team partner Candice LeRae.) Connors tried to turn the tables by forcing Ryan to touch HIS junk, but it didn't work out so well...Ryan finally got his initial wish and threw Connors with his lower extremity, causing Connors to faceplant into the mat! Connors withstood the onslaught and brought in his secret weapon, a bag full of...thumbtacks? No, it was Gummi Bears...your guess is as good as mine. He attempted to deliver a Beiber Driver(hanging piledriver) onto the candies but Ryan powered out of the move, scoring a close near-fall after a superkick. Connors finally resorted to subterfuge to hang onto his title, rolling up Ryan in the corner with feet on the ropes in 10:12!
Ryan was disappointed about the loss, but told the fans that he's had a lot of fun at St. Louis wrestling shows and encouraged the audience to continue supporting independent wrestling. Thus was the show...woo.
Since I seem to be falling behind on these commentaries, I'll put up the upcoming schedule now. It looks something like this:
-Saturday 5/20: Southern Illinois Championship Wrestling in East Carondelet, IL; Wrestling Over Everything in Centreville, IL
-Sunday 5/21: National Wrasslin' League in St. Louis, MO
-Friday 5/26: Glory Pro Wrestling in Alton, IL
-Friday 6/2: Dynamo Pro Wrestling in Grafton, IL
-Sunday 6/4: NWL in St. Louis, MO
-Saturday 6/10: Pro Wrestling Championship Series in Alton, IL; Mid-Missouri Wrestling Alliance in St. Louis, MO
-Sunday 6/11: Wrestling Over Everything in Centreville, IL
-Saturday 6/17: World League Wrestling in Troy, MO; SICW in East Carondelet, IL
-Sunday 6/18: NWL in St. Louis, MO
-Sunday 6/25: Pro Wrestling Resurgence in Swansea, IL
Of course, last weekend wasn't quite over yet for me, 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 twentieth 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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