PWCS Special Comment

Now, as promised, a special comment about last Saturday's Pro Wrestling Championship Series show at the Spaulding Hall Club in Alton, Illinois.

DISCLAIMER:  I'm biased.  Deal with it.

It was an eventful week in St. Louis wrestling, but I'll focus on the immediate area's events; Saturday had the choice of PWCS or the Mid-Missouri Wrestling Alliance's monthly offering at the South Broadway Athletic Club.  MMWA was finally scheduled to crown a new Heavyweight Champion after months of vacancy, but plans changed as the tournament final was postponed until the July show.  I made my way to the familiar venue in Alton for Stage Two of PWCS' fourth season...that building has seen a lot of memorable events.

Starting scoreboard:  Ego Busters 3-0, Blacklist 2-1, Submission Squad 1-2, Resurgence 0-3.  That's not very resurgent...meanwhile, the defending champions were riding an undefeated streak out of Stage One.

Your ring announcer was Tito McGee; your referee was Jason Pemberton.

"The Warhorse" Jake Parnell(Resurgence) vs. Brandon Espinosa(Submission Squad):  Everett Connors said that he was in charge of the Squad with Evan Gelistico and Gary Jay "on vacation"; he said that he dismissed Austin Blackburn from the group and brought in Espy to replace him.  This was a rematch from the recent Dynamo Pro event at the Cinco De Mayo Festival; as this match did not take place in Missouri, Espy's MWR Missouri Title was not a factor.  It was not a good night for finishers as Parnell survived Espinosa's brainbuster.  Parnell's was a bit more effective as he hit the double-stomp off the second rope to the back, scoring the pinfall in 7:30...that put Resurgence on the board and left them tied with the Squad at 1-3.

"The Wind Of Destruction" Makaze(Blacklist) vs. "Lights Out" Adrian Surge(w/ Greg Jovi)(Ego Busters):  These two are on opposite paths in Dynamo Pro with Surge trending toward fan favoritism and Makaze going in the rulebreaking direction; despite that, they were in their more traditional roles here.  Jovi did all he could to antagonize long-time enemy Makaze, distracting him from the task at hand; that allowed Surge to deliver a spinebuster for a close near-fall.  Makaze came back with a legdrop off the second rope and Jovi distracted the ref, but the interference backfired and Makaze hit an inverted DDT for his own close two-count.  Makaze attempted to press his advantage, but Surge lured him into the corner and double-legged him into a rollup pin with feet on the ropes in 11:19.  They kept it fairly basic and it was still a very good matchup with the fans invested in the outcome.  Blacklist dropped to 2-2 and the Ego Busters widened their lead to 4-0.

"The Dirty Rook" Mat Fitchett(Resurgence) vs. Darin Corbin(Submission Squad):  Always cool to see Corbin in this neck of the woods.  His banter game was on point as he noted that Fitchett is hardly a "rook" any more.  When a fan attempted a "you can't wrestle" chant, Corbin started taking requests and executed a vertical suplex...however, he denied the fan who wanted a Tombstone.  Near-falls were exchanged after a Fitchett crucifix bomb and a Corbin spear, but Fitchett got the duke in 11:51 after a top-rope Frankensteiner followed by the flying knee strike.  Resurgence improved to 2-3 and the Submission Squad dropped to 1-4.

After the match, Sarah Rose presented Fitchett with the Missouri Wrestling Revival Future Star award...Fitchett said he could talk about a LOT of things that have happened lately...but he'll stick to his issues with Gateway Heritage Champion Davey Vega.  He pondered whether he and Vega would still be friends(perhaps even besties or blood brothers holding tag team championships) in another universe...har har.  However, he wanted a piece of him in PWCS and called Vega out of the ring...instead, he got manager Greg Jovi.  Jovi claimed that Vega still valued their friendship, but he knew that he needed to side with Jovi in order to get his hands on the championship trophy again.  Jovi said that Fitchett would NEVER touch that trophy again...but he got a little too close to the ring and Fitchett rushed him in time to grab it out of his hands!  As it turned out, Fitchett left the ring with TWO awards on this night...

Paco Gonzalez(Resurgence) vs. Everett Connors(Submission Squad):  Speaking of alternate universes, I feel like these two could be great "buddies" in another life.  *ducks thrown objects*  Connors was in Bieber mode, leaving Paco as the fan favorite of the two.  Despite that, the two had a fairly sportsmanlike bout...this match went longer than any of the other matches for the evening.  Both guys have elevated their game to become significant players in this wrestling scene; I'm sure more people will be hearing about them in due time.  Paco incredibly survived the Bieber Driver(hanging piledriver) and Connors survived Paco's frog splash...yup, bad night for finishers.  Connors finally pulled out the win in 18:29(!) with his new torture rack Diamond Cutter finisher...that pulled the Squad out of their funk for the evening, boosting them to 2-4.  The Resurgence dropped to 2-4 and a tie with the Squad.  The two shook hands and embraced after the match(BUDDIES~!)...but Danny Adams of the Ego Busters attacked both men!  Adams laid out Paco with a steel chair and then took out Connors with a fisherman driver...given events in another universe(where Adams is more of an "underground" competitor), things seem to be aligning in an odd manner.  (I think the Anti-Monitor's anti-matter wave may have consumed that universe, but perhaps another will appear in its place.)

Intermission~!  Official Ben Simon Concession Count(tm):  Root beer and a bottle of water.

"The Dad Bod" Sean Orleans vs. "The Incredible Primal Prodigy" Matt Kenway (Look At Him After Dark)(Submission Squad):  Kenway's spot in the Submission Squad was at stake in this matchup against Orleans' entire PWCS career; Orleans' recent run in the St. Louis area has been a roller coaster ride of near-misses, but his fan support has been steadily growing.  Orleans nearly won with a Stone Cold Stunner but Kenway survived; then it looked like Kenway had it wrapped up with a Tombstone but Orleans miraculously kicked out.  Adrian Surge ran out to distract the ref, leaving a chair on the ring apron...Kenway attempted to use it, but Orleans avoided it and the chair rebounded off the top rope to hit Kenway in the face!  Orleans capitalized with a tilt-a-whirl into an Emerald Flowsion(!) to finally pick up a win in 9:07!  Orleans is now a member of the Submission Squad team...Surge was upset as Orleans air-guitared on the chair to the beat of his theme music.  Bwahahaha.

"The Anarchist" Arik Cannon(Blacklist) vs. "The Millenial" Danny Adams(w/ Greg Jovi)(Ego Busters):  It had been a while since Cannon last competed in the St. Louis area (almost a year).  Since then, he's been very active on the independent circuit and even made a WWE appearance on 205 Live as "(A) Bryan Kendrick".  As one of Greg Jovi's prime contenders in the Ego Busters, Adams was full of confidence and determined to make a name for himself as he did in the St. Louis Invitational Tournament against Colt Cabana.  Adams focused on Cannon's arm after The Anarchist hit the ringpost shoulder-first...he got the most heel heat of the night when he told A.J. Awesome "Your show sucks!"  Cannon rallied, but Adams nicely countered a rollup into an armbar submission and Cannon had to get to the ropes.  Jovi's interference backfired AGAIN on this night as Adams knocked his manager off the apron, allowing Cannon to deliver a close-range superkick for a near-fall.  Adrian Surge ran out to check on his manager and the referee was occupied with his presence, leading to Gateway Heritage Champion Davey Vega hitting the ring to deliver a low blow on Cannon!  After that bit of subterfuge, Adams got the cheap win in 14:31...The Ego Busters remained undefeated at 5-0 while The Blacklist dropped to 2-3.

"The Iron Demon" Shane Mercer vs. Aaron Dzinic vs. "The Unholy Father" Richard Faith vs. Chris Mac:  Faith and Mac were the two surprise entrants in this matchup; Mercer has made a name for himself in IWA Mid-South but this was his debut in the St. Louis area.  Faith has been active in other promotions; I hadn't seen Mac since the last Outlaw Wrestling show in this area.  Mac is shockingly agile for a 400-pound man; he even hit his standing moonsault in this matchup.  Mercer's intensity was impressive and I hope to see him back in this area again.  His highlight move was a moonsault fallaway slam off the second rope (similiar to Billy McNeil's "Super Karate Monkey Death Car" move).  Dzinic seemed like the odd man out among heavyweights, but he scored the surprise win in 6:38 with a Penalty Kick on Faith!

"The Miracle Worker" Davey Vega(w/ Greg Jovi)(Ego Busters) vs. "The Wildman From The Ozarks" Alexandre Rudolph(w/ chainsaw)(Blacklist) for the Gateway Heritage Title:  Rudolph challenged Vega to a "bar fight" before the bell; the two sat in chairs and duked it out (despite Jovi's protests).  The fight continued on the floor until Vega delivered a tornado DDT on the floor; THEN Jovi wanted the opening bell to be rung for a potential countout.  Rudolph beat the count, but Vega turned his attention to a leg attack in order to keep the big man down on the mat.  Vega's best chance may have been after a Death Valley Driver onto the ring apron, but Rudolph somehow escaped defeat on that occasion.  Rudolph brought the onslaught in a late offensive flurry, scoring near-falls after a chokeslam and then a chokebreaker.  A Goozleplex(half-throttle released German suplex) scored him another close two-count.  Rudolph set up for a moonsault for some reason, but Vega cut him off and left him hanging from the ropes in the Tree Of Woe.  Vega delivered a running double-stomp with Rudolph in that position, then finished with the buzzsaw kick in 11:23 to retain his title.  The Ego Busters had established a commanding lead with a 6-0 record, dropping Blacklist to 2-4...the other teams were in a dubious three-way tie for second/last in that regard.

The show was over, but the ring announcer had one more announcement:  Vega's next title defense at the August show(specific date not announced yet) would be against The Submission Squad's Gary Jay!  That should be a burner of the barns, so to speak...

Since I'm posting this on Saturday afternoon, I should probably note the weekend shows right now.  I'll be carpooling with Ben Simon to World League Wrestling in Troy, MO with Big Van Vader in the house; the main event will feature "The Legacy" Leland Race defending his recently-regained Heavyweight Title against "The Fittest Wrestler On Earth" Mark Sterling.  Also tonight, Southern Illinois Championship Wrestling returns to East Carondelet, IL with "The Icon" Chris Hargas defending his newly-won Classic Wrestling Title against "Your Canadian Hero" Sean Vincent.

My weekend wasn't quite over, 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-seventh 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.