Now, as promised, a special comment about last Friday's Glory Pro Wrestling at the Spaulding Hall Club in Alton, Illinois.
DISCLAIMER: I'm biased. Deal with it.
Glory Pro has become a "super indie" in the Midwest in a short period of time; some fans are already putting it in the same category as groups like All American Wrestling and Pro Wrestling Guerrilla. It's very cool to have a promotion in the St. Louis area on that level; fans are legitimately traveling here from other parts of the country for these shows. It was another packed house in Alton on Friday night with several new faces in action, including the St. Louis-area debuts of the powerhouse Keith Lee as well as Rey Fenix of Lucha Underground fame.
Your ring announcer was Kevin Harvey, your referees were Jay King and Brandon Tolle, and your video commentators were Ben Simon and Trina The Marky Smark.
The Sauciest Men Alive(Lukas Jacobs & Kevin Giza) vs. Adam Slade & Jacob Creed: Before this match, Michael Elgin acknowledged that his recent training camp had so many standouts that he wanted to give them all spots on the show. I hadn't seen any of the four prior to this, but they had a fine bout to warm up the crowd...in particular, Slade stood out to me as the loudmouthed rulebreaker. The teamwork between Slade and the big cowboy Creed finally broke down, leading to Jacobs rolling up Slade for the pin in 5:34.
The Besties In The World("The Miracle Worker" Davey Vega & "The Dirty Rook" Mat Fitchett) vs. The Fraternity("2 Frat" Channing Decker & "The Home Run King" Trent Gibson), United Glory Tag Team Title Tournament: With Keon Option absent in recent months(thus putting Dynamo Pro's Tag Team Titles on the shelf as he and Justin D'Air haven't defended them in a while), these would become the only active Tag Team Titles in the area. It's quite the sight to see the fans rocking out to The Besties' Savage Garden theme. Gibson tried to use his fraternity paddle as a weapon, but Vega & Fitchett cleaned house and he didn't get a chance to hit anyone; Vega pinned Gibson in 8:18 after the Brain Eater(brainbuster onto the knee)/flying knee strike combo with Fitchett.
Alpha Class("The Millenial" Danny Adams & Paco Gonzalez) vs. Zero Gravity(Brett Gakiya & C.J. Esparza), United Glory Tag Team Title Tournament: While all of the tournament teams but the Fraternity have been semi-regulars in the St. Louis area, none of them had held tag team gold in this region. Gakiya and Esparza had just recently begun competing in the St. Louis area again; despite their size, they've always been known for their aerial attacks. Adams and Paco held the Tag Titles in Proving Ground Pro, but have alternated between being allies and rivals at different times. They seemed to be on the same page, but Adams went into action with a chip on his shoulder; he wanted to show that he was worthy of the same kind of praise as Paco. Zero Gravity impressed the fans with their high-flying arsenal and they also had the edge in overall experience, but Alpha Class came out on top on this night. Paco pinned Gakiya with a fireman's-carry fisherman driver in 10:59...Paco scoring the win may not have sat well with Adams, in retrospect.
"The Ballsy Badass" Shotzi Blackheart vs. "The Bubblegum Princess" Alexia Nicole for the Phoenix Of RISE Title: Neither name would be overly familiar to casual fans, but they made a strong first impression on the Midwest fans. Alexia is tiny and very cute, but she can back it up in the ring. Shotzi has green hair and brings an enthusiastic attitude to the ring...she is the second holder of RISE's championship, having beaten Angel Dust for it in March. Hopefully this will be the start of more nationally-known female wrestlers competing in the Midwest; it would be cool if another of the area promotions started a women's championship (the only one with an active women's title is World League Wrestling). Shotzi won with a top-rope senton bomb in 7:10 to retain her title...woo.
Kyle O'Reilly vs. "The Lone Star" Curt Stallion: Stallion was under pressure to score a win after coming up short at the first two Glory Pro Shows (against Shigehiro Irie and Sami Callihan, respectively). Weird mindset, but it turns out that wins and losses matter(GASP!) and he can't get a title shot if he doesn't start winning. With that in mind, the audience support was divided as O'Reilly had a lot of fans but others wanted to see Stallion pick up the victory. He came close but, alas, it was not to be; Kyle got the tapout win via cross-armbreaker in 17:14.
Rumble-Style Gauntlet Match: This was the same deal as the previous show, only with twelve entrants (plus the time intervals were specified to be thirty seconds). The winner would get a future shot at the United Glory Tag Team Titles with a partner of his choice. Things got crowded at one point and I feel like I mixed up some of the eliminated parties, so apologies if that was the case and I will edit/correct if necessary. "The Dad Bod" Sean Orleans and "The Stiff Robo Ginger" Gary Jay started the match, something which didn't seem to bode well for Orleans. They were followed by Jason Roberts, "Risky Business" Everett Connors, Logan James(who participated in Elgin's training camp), and Brandon Espinosa. Espy made a beeline for Orleans and beat the hell out of him, but his loss of focus led to Connors surprising him with a close-range superkick for the first elimination. The ring filled up with Tyler Matrix, "The Warhorse" Jake Parnell, Mickey Muscles(Myron Reed's real-life brother and Brotherhood tag team partner), and "The Incredible Primal Prodigy" Matt Kenway(Look At Him). Kenway was quick to pounce on an opportunity, eliminating Roberts after a swinging fisherman buster. The final two entrants were Aaron Anders(Elgin camp attendee) and Aaron Dzinic. Orleans managed to roll up Anders for an elimination, but Logan James came off the top rope with a frog splash while Orleans was down on the mat...that led to Dad Bod's elimination. Almost immediately after the pinfall, Espinosa re-entered the scene and brutalized Orleans at ringside, laying him out with a brainbuster on the floor! Orleans stayed down for a LONG time and had to be assisted from the ringside area once the match had concluded.
Eliminations were rapid-fire from there. Parnell took out Logan James with a double-stomp from the top rope to the back of the head. Gary Jay pinned Muscles after the sliding forearm smash. Matrix eliminated Kenway after a wheelbarrow faceplant. Gary scored another elimination by pinning Dzinic after a running double-stomp to the back of the head, then took out Matrix after a lariat. That left the final three as Gary Jay, Jake Parnell, and Everett Connors and any of the three could have won it. Connors eliminated Parnell with a Shining Wizard and battled it out with Gary Jay...Connors got the final win in 18:45 after a torture rack dropped into a Diamond Cutter!
Intermission~! Official Ben Simon Concession Count(tm): Mello Yello(I literally had zero cash on me, so thanks to Timothy Miller for his generosity.
"The" Ace Hawkins vs. Barackus(w/ Jason Saint): Saint spoke his mind about his new charge and threw out an open challenge, which was answered by the debuting-in-Glory Pro Hawkins. This may have been a competitive match under different circumstances, but not on this night...Barackus destroyed him in 1:24, finishing with the Baldo Bomb. They can't all be competitive sprints, y'all...
"Unbreakable" Michael Elgin vs. "Limitless" Keith Lee: I first saw Lee in Ring Of Honor in the "Pretty Boy Killers" tag team with Shane Taylor; they steamrolled the unfortunate Alpha Class in a preshow match at a Collinsville event. Since leaving ROH, he's become a breakout star on the indies with exceptional agility for a man of his size (6'2", 290 lbs.). Elgin is another heavyweight who can move very well for his size...but it was a rare case of him facing a larger and possibly stronger opponent. Lee ran the ropes and jumped up to deliver a perfect rana on Elgin...HOW DOES THAT EVEN. Elgin showed his power with an exploder suplex and a delayed vertical suplex, then some rolling German suplexes. He also delivered a Canadian Destroyer off the ropes which looked brutal(in a good way). Lee delivered a huge pop-up powerbomb but Elgin incredibly kicked out at ONE. Elgin fired back with a huge lariat, but couldn't manage to put away the big man. Lee went on to win the hoss war in 16:48 after two fireman's-carry Jackhammers...most tremendous. The fans showed their appreciation for both combatants as Elgin joked about his recent losing streak in Glory Pro...har. Hopefully Lee will return to the St. Louis area in the near future.
The Besties In The World("The Miracle Worker" Davey Vega & "The Dirty Rook" Mat Fitchett) vs. Alpha Class("The Millenial" Danny Adams & Paco Gonzalez), United Glory Tag Team Title Tournament Final: Championship Committee Head MsChif introduced the match...yes, the fans are still wondering if/when she'll return to the ring. Amazingly, neither team has held tag team gold in this area...and with Dynamo Pro's Tag Title situation up in the air, this made Glory Pro the only St. Louis promotion with active tag team championships(World League Wrestling and Mid-Missouri Wrestling Alliance both have vacancies with their tag titles). It was essentially a battle of fan favorite teams, though more tension surfaced between Danny & Paco...Danny wanted the glory for himself and tried to hog the ring time for his side. While the teammates were able to get on the same page at times, Adams' overconfidence was his own undoing. The Besties were able to isolate Adams; Vega pinned him in 20:21 after he and Fitchett hit the Brain Eater/flying knee strike combo. The Besties In The World are your NEWWWWW United Glory Tag Team Champions! Cue Savage Garden...
Adams was furious over the loss and got into a scuffle with Paco, blaming him for the loss and saying that Paco ruined HIS big moment. Vega and Fitchett kept the two separated, but Adams was still fired up...he did a great bitter promo in which he challenged Paco to a one-on-one match at the July 9th show!
"Hot Fire" Myron Reed vs. Rey Fenix for the Crown Of Glory Title: This match was scheduled before Reed's championship victory over Jason Kincaid, so it became a title bout. As you might expect, it was an insane high-flying affair...whether it was your cup of tea or not with regards to professional wrestling, it was a ton of fun to watch. Both guys showcased their aerial arsenals to great effect...Glory Pro has been using a wrestling ring that's built lower to the floor, giving the fliers more room to take to the air. Reed had a steep mountain to climb with Fenix's experience advantage, but he finally put away the luchador with a top-rope Spanish Fly in 10:36! Fans threw money into the ring(a la Penta El Cero Miedo) for both guys...this was a good time, Maggle. Real-life brothers Fenix and Penta will both be on the docket for October...perhaps the Lucha Bros will challenge for the United Glory Tag Titles? (Hint hint.)
I'm way behind on these commentaries and this is being posted after this evening's Dynamo Pro show in Grafton, Illinois...that commentary will be written in due time. June will be a very busy month and I hope to attend a whole lot of the rasslin shows...woo.
The upcoming schedule looks like this:
-Sunday 6/4: Ring Of Honor in Collinsville, IL; National Wrasslin' League 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
-Friday 6/16: NWL in St. Louis, MO
-Saturday 6/17: World League Wrestling in Troy, MO; Southern Illinois Championship Wrestling in East Carondelet, IL
-Sunday 6/18: WWE Money In The Bank in St. Louis, MO
-Sunday 6/25: Pro Wrestling Resurgence in Swansea, IL
That's my special comment for this, the twenty-fourth 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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