Dynamo Special Comment

Now, as promised, a special comment about Friday's Dynamo Pro Wrestling show at the Loading Dock Bar & Grill in Grafton, Illinois.

DISCLAIMER:  I'm biased.  Deal with it.

Dynamo continues to search for its niche in the heavily-saturated St. Louis wrestling scene, not to mention more steady venues.  This open-air building seems like a great place for wrestling shows in the hot summer months (when smaller buildings can get stuffy and humid).  My route to the show consisted of "drive to Alton + keep going", just as my drive to Alton for St. Louis Anarchy was essentially "drive to Wood River + keep going".  I hadn't made this trek up the Great River Road very often in recent years(other than the time myself and Ben Simon went to Kampsville for World Powerhouse Wrestling); I recall a few family trips to Raging Rivers back in the day.  Once I was past Alton, it was a trip up the Mighty Mississipp(tm) until I got to Grafton...just in time for the show-opening announcements.  It was a fairly lengthy drive(about fifty minutes); myself and Ben Simon agreed that we should carpool to future shows.  I liked the raised walkway setup; it was a throwback to WCW's Clash Of The Champions with the entrance ramp at the level of the ring.

Your ring announcers were Chris Roedel & Luke Roberts; your referee was Scott Ramsey.

"The Neon Icon" Justin D'Air vs. "Lights Out" Adrian Surge, Riot On The River Tournament:  From what I understand, "The Valedictorian" Keon Option is taking a hiatus from wrestling and that has left the Dynamo Pro Tag Team Titles vacant (Option & D'Air were the previous titleholders).  While Surge was the lesser of two evils against Elvis Aliaga a few weeks ago, in this case he was the lesser of two "goods"; D'Air was the clear crowd favorite, but Surge wasn't QUITE a rulebreaker in the strictest sense of the world.  D'Air was brought out to the ring by a woman in her own light-up attire, but she didn't stay at ringside; at the rate D'Air is going, he'll be looking like Christmas Creature(look it up) with lights all over his person.  Given the level of difficulty in some of D'Air's moves, he pulls them off well and I look forward to seeing him against higher-caliber opposition.  Of course, the high-risk style doesn't always pay off; D'Air rolled through his move when Surge avoided an attempted 450 Splash, but Surge caught him with a spinebuster for the win in 7:52.  They did shake hands after the match, so perhaps Surge's attitude change wasn't just a one-time thing.

"The Alternative" Ozzie Gallagher & Frodo "The Ghost" Meyer vs. The Professionals(Shawn Santel & Mauler McDarby):  Speaking of attitude changes, Gallagher was surprisingly in full fan favorite mode for the night; I kept expecting him to turn on his partner but it never came to pass.  However, the edge in tag team experience was firmly in favor of The Professionals; despite my enjoyment of the flippies and such, I appreciate a good old-school tandem.  There's too much negativity in wrestling discussions nowadays; I do my best to appreciate each wrestling product for what it is, for better or for worse.  (No, I don't always succeed at that.)  Frodo was isolated for several minutes, but Gallagher was able to tag in and clean house.  The makeshift duo nearly scored the upset win, but tag experience won the day; McDarby pinned Gallagher in 11:45 after he and Santel hit their back suplex/second-rope elbowdrop combo.  (The referee hesitated on the third count before the bell was rung...whoops.)

Jackal vs. "The Wind Of Destruction" Makaze, Riot On The River Tournament:  It had been a long time since these two had crossed paths one-on-one; it had to be in the days of Gateway Championship Wrestling.  With Makaze's recent attitude change, Jackal was the clear crowd favorite; Makaze stalled in the early going and stood behind a ringside security guard to hurl threats at a fan (reminiscient of "The Human Wrecking Ball" Pete Madden).  Jackal nearly scored the win after the Killswitch #2(turnbuckle-walk Unprettier) but Makaze rolled out of the ring to escape defeat.  The fight spilled out of the ring and Makaze dove off the top rope onto Jackal...even after all his time in the ring, The Wind Of Destruction can still fly.  He followed up with a Russian legsweep into the guardrail before bringing Jackal back into the ring...that made the difference as he advanced in the tournament with the Northern Lights fisherman suplex in 11:05.  It was a fine match and it looked like Makaze and Jackal would make nice afterwards...they embraced, but Makaze took the opportunity to drop Jackal with an STO.

Intermission~!  Official Ben Simon Concession Count(tm):  One bag of Ruffles potato chips and ice water from a free jug.  I've been developing some health problems as a result of too much sugar, so I need to cut back on the soda.

"The Caramel Bear" C.J. Shine & Savanna Stone vs. The Snitch & Rahne Victoria:  A bit of history was made as two of Dynamo's female trainees made their debuts for the promotion.  They had competed against each other a few times in other promotions(specifically Midwest Impact Pro in central Illinois) but they hadn't wrestled in the St. Louis area until this show.  Shine and Snitch have their own rivalry going, as Snitch often hypes his "undefeated record" against C.J.  Snitch had Chris Roedel read an elaborate introduction for the debuting Victoria.  I don't think any of the four participants had that much experience with tag team matches; mixed tag rules are a bit different as the male wrestler can only fight the other male wrestler and vice-versa with the women.  Despite that, Snitch and Rahne made a few quick tags to work over Shine...once Savanna tagged into the fray, she got a rally going against Rahne.  Savanna nearly won after a bulldog but Snitch broke up the pin cover...that allowed Rahne to retaliate with a Flatliner, but Savanna got a foot on the bottom rope.  Shine re-entered the fray with a springboard dropkick on Snitch, Savanna hit Sliced Bread #2 on Rahne, and they got stereo pins(the men were legal) in 11:14!  The post-match celebration saw Shine encourage referee Scott Ramsey to do another cartwheel...I sense biased officiating.

Heavyweight Champion Brandon Aarons vs. Barackus, non-title, Riot On The River Tournament:  This was odd match placement as the titleholder didn't close out the show.  Aarons had to alter his usual strategy since he couldn't use power moves against his heavyweight opponent.  He tried a move off the apron only to be caught and powerbombed into the ring apron...ouch.  I yelled that Barackus was messing up his hair(which was in immaculate condition on this night, as per usual)...so Barackus "borrowed" my Wayne's World cap and wore it as he continued his abuse of the titleholder.  Aarons fought back and ran Barackus into the ringpost; thankfully my hat was returned to me in short order.  The big man controlled most of the bout and got Aarons in the CLAWWWWW~!, but Aarons made it to the ropes to escape defeat.  The ropes saved Aarons again after Barackus hit the Baldo Bomb.  Barackus climbed to the second rope but missed a giant splash...Aarons climbed the ropes but got caught in the clawhold...it took three enzuigiris to free himself and a double-stomp off the top rope finally put Barackus away in 15:18!  Nicely done...the two had a post-match confrontation that indicated that This Feud Must Continue(tm).

"The Hybrid Ace" Jon Webb d. Jayden Fenix, Riot On The River Tournament:  With Surge, Makaze, and Aarons having advanced in the tournament, this match would determine the final semifinalist.  The two have feuded in World League Wrestling over their newly-established Jr. Heavyweight Title held by Webb, but I believe this was their first meeting in Dynamo Pro.  I'm surprised that both men haven't been booked much other than their main home promotions (WLW & Dynamo); Dominick Butler hasn't appeared in the National Wrasslin' League in a while and Webb was rumored to be a part of the promotion as well, but he has yet to appear at all.  The match could have easily gone either way...but Webb picked up the hard-fought win with a moonsault off the second rope in 11:57!

I wish I could say that the drive home was uneventful, but I was stopped by a traffic cop...thankfully, it was just a friendly observation that one of my taillights was out.  I replaced that bulb the following afternoon; it seems like my list of things to do will never quite end.  Of course, my weekend was far from over (despite there being no shows in the immediate area on Saturday night)...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 twenty-fifth 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.