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 had another good turnout in Grafton and it looks like the venture to the new locale has been a success; whether it extends beyond the originally-scheduled trio of summer events is unknown.  The promotion has a busy month of July with three shows scheduled, including their debut in Richwoods(west of DeSoto) and their second event at the Concordia Turners Gymnasium in St. Louis.  Finding a niche in the crowded St. Louis wrestling scene of 2017 is a tough prospect, even for a group with the tenure of Dynamo Pro.  Given that we were traveling in the same direction, I carpooled with Ben Simon to this show...despite Ben driving, he was the one who partook in the frosty beverages.

Your ring announcers were Chris Roedel & Luke Roberts; your referees were Jay King & Scott Ramsey.

Outtkast vs. "The Roman Dynasty" Karim Brigante(w/ Miss Monica Passeri), Riot On The River Tournament Qualifier:  "The Wind Of Destruction" Makaze had defeated Jackal in June to advance to the semifinals, but an injury ended his tournament hopes; this match would determine who would face Adrian Surge in the semis in his place.  Monica got involved in the matchup and nearly cost Outtkast the match; Karim took advantage of the distraction to deliver a big boot for a near-fall.  However, Outtkast was able to recover and get a rollup pin out of the corner in 8:12, earning his spot in the semifinals.

"The Neon Icon" Justin D'Air vs. Jackal:  D'Air's nameless valet preceded him to the ring.  Jackal had the experience advantage in a major way here...it was a battle of fan favorites and the audience wasn't too invested as a result.  D'Air blocked an attempted Killswitch #2(turnbuckle-walk Tomakazi) and delivered a Codebreaker, then went to the top rope...Jackal thought he was attempting the 450 Splash and rolled to the adjacent corner.  However, D'Air caught him by surprise with a coast-to-coast Van Terminator-style dropkick!  That sealed the deal for the Neon Icon in 7:28; the two shook hands afterwards.

"The Caramel Bear" C.J. Shine, "The Alternative" Ozzie Gallagher, & Frodo "The Ghost" Meyer vs. The Snitch & The Professionals(Shawn Santel & Mauler McDarby):  I wonder if Gallagher got the license plate number of that face turn.  Shine and Snitch have an ongoing feud, plus The Professionals defeated the makeshift team of Gallagher & Meyer at the previous Grafton show.  Shine's enthusiasm seems to be infectious as he got both of his partners to do cartwheels.  I thought this match played out extremely well; with all due respect to the ladies, I feel like the match positions should have been swapped so that this was the lead-in to intermission.  The good guys cleared the ring, leaving Shine to finish off Snitch with the springboard dropkick in 9:39.  Woo.

Savanna Stone vs. Rahne Victoria:  Dynamo's new female trainees have wrestled a few times elsewhere and were on opposite sides of a mixed tag match at last month's Grafton show.  They're still new and have only worked with each other thus far; when I mention to fans how few matches they've had, they're pleasantly surprised and respond that they wouldn't have guessed that.  While I could tell that the nerves were there, I thought they had a solid outing...perhaps there was extra pressure on them with the match-before-intermission spot (as I noted above, swapping this with the six-man tag in the match order may have worked better).  Rahne scored the win with the Flatliner in 7:20.

Intermission~!  Official Ben Simon Concession Count(tm):  Water and popcorn, both free.  My favorite price range.

Brandon Espinosa vs. "The" Ace Hawkins:  Espinosa wore the MWR Missouri Title belt to the ring despite this bout not taking place in Missouri (thus making the match a non-title affair); the two are scheduled for a title bout at Concordia Turners Gym in a few weeks.  These two have faced each other approximately 12,235 times in their careers (give or take) so they know the drill by now; Espinosa as the fan favorite is still an unusual sight.  The presence of the belt seemed to guarantee that it would come into play...sure enough, Hawkins' frustration boiled over and he BELTed Espy for the DQ in 12:03.  Post-match banter led to their match on July 22nd becoming a no-disqualification affair.

Outtkast vs. "Lights Out" Adrian Surge, Riot On The River Tournament Semifinal:  Surge defeated Justin D'Air in June to advance to the semis.  While Surge has primarily been a rulebreaker in this area, he's been a bit more sportsmanlike in Dynamo Pro lately.  Despite that, Outtkast was the more established fan favorite in the Midwest and the fans seemed to side with him in this important contest.  While Outtkast's toughness is well-documented, Surge was the fresher man as Outtkast had already competed earlier in the night.  Surge scored a hard-fought win after a spinebuster in 14:19 and the two seemed to make nice afterwards; Surge will compete in the tournament final in August, but who will his opponent be?...

Heavyweight Champion Brandon Aarons vs. "The Hybrid Ace" Jon Webb, Riot On The River Tournament Semifinal:  Aarons won a hard-fought battle with Barackus to reach this point while Webb bested long-time rival Jayden Fenix.  This was another battle of fan favorites, but with semi-tweener Surge as the tourney final opponent, it could have gone either way.  Webb nearly scored the win after a moonsault off the second rope, but Aarons got a foot on the bottom rope.  He went to the well again and missed a second moonsault, allowing Aarons to hit a double-underhook neckbreaker and close-range superkick for his own near-fall.  The champion finally picked up the win after a Shining Wizard in 13:12...the two made nice afterwards and Surge made his way to the ring for a staredown with Aarons to close the show.

It was a very busy weekend and it was far from 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 thirty-first 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.