Now, as promised, a special comment about last Saturday's Dynamo Pro Wrestling show at the Concordia Turners Gymnasium in St. Louis, Missouri.
DISCLAIMER: I'm biased. Deal with it.
With the buzz of Dingo's return to St. Louis wrestling competition, Dynamo had a strong turnout for its second event at Concordia Turners. Several familiar faces were in the house, including Pete Madden, Big Bad Ben, Keith Smiths Sr. & Jr., Ricky Cruz, and Coach Chuck Farley. I was not aware that Midwest Renegade Wrestling had held events in the venue many years ago...hopefully it can become the new regular home for Dynamo Pro.
Your ring announcers were Chris Roedel & Luke Roberts; your referees were Scott Ramsey, Ricky Rodriguez, and Richard White.
"The Alternative" Ozzie Gallagher vs. The Snitch: Once again, Snitch hesitated to speak to the fans and had Chris Roedel read his prepared statement. Snith was prepared to offer Gallagher a payoff in order for him to lay down...Gallagher seemed to consider it, but he let Snitch know that he was a bit light in the wallet for such a tactic. The match was fairly short but got the point across; Snitch scored a cheap victory via rollup with feet on the ropes in 3:56. Gallagher made Snitch pay for his transgression with a post-match Champagne Supernova(cradle back suplex).
The ring rattled quite a bit during the opener, so the ring announcers killed some time while adjustments were made on the ring.
Jackal & Frodo "The Ghost" Meyer vs. The Agents Of Chaos(Viktor Von Stein & Xavier Shadowz): I had never seen Von Stein or Shadowz before; research tells me that they compete for Strictly Nsane Pro Wrestling in Illinois, so I imagine they traveled with Adrian Surge. They clearly had the advantage in team experience, though Jackal was the most experienced of the four overall. I liked what I saw of the Agents in their debut appearance and hope to see them back in the area down the line...hey, Dynamo needs to get those Tag Titles going again. (Keon Option was in the house, so hopefully the most recent tag champs will reunite soon.) The teamwork made the difference in this one; all four men fought in the ring at one point, allowing Shadowz to deliver an elevated neckbreaker on Frodo as the referee attempted to regain control. Von Stein finished off Frodo with the good old Legdrop O' Doom in 11:32...nicely done.
"The Human Wrecking Ball" Pete Madden presented the brand-new Dynamo Pro Heavyweight Title belt, which would be awarded to the winner of the night's main event. Champion Brandon Aarons and challenger Dingo got a good look at their upcoming prize...while Aarons was initially trained by Dingo, a lot of time has passed and he didn't seem to be intimidated by his mentor. Once the competitors left the spotlight, co-promoter Crystal Yount brought out the roster to applaud Madden...she said that she and Evil Jim had first seen Madden in the ring at that very venue. As a result, Jim and Crystal were inspired to get into the wrestling business themselves, leading to their participation in MRW, Gateway Championship Wrestling, and now Dynamo Pro. Pete definitely qualifies as one of the coolest people I've met in Midwest wrestling and I appreciate every chance I get to have a conversation with him.
"The Caramel Bear" C.J. Shine vs. Thomas Muños: Muños was making his Dynamo Pro debut; he's a regular in Texas-based Anarchy Championship Wrestling and has also appeared for Pro Wrestling Championship Series (using the alternate ring name "Tank Engine Tommy/Thomas"). Not sure why, but these two didn't click well with each other...oh well, it happens sometimes. Shine avoided a charge into the corner and Muños hit the ringpost shoulder-first, allowing Shine to get the rollup pin in 4:57.
Savanna Stone vs. Rahne Victoria: "The Roman Dynasty" Karim Brigante and Miss Monica Passeri had a last-minute change of plans, meaning the scheduled triple threat match with the ladies became a singles bout. It would have been the first triple threat bout for both of them and also their first opportunity to work with another female competitor (other than the mixed tag in Grafton, they've only had singles matches with each other). They had a fine bout and added a few new maneuvers to their recent game plans...they'll build their games over time and figure out what works best for them, I'm sure. I've seen most of their matches so I don't know what the all-time win-loss record is between the two, so I can't give a score on who's in the lead...heh. What I know for sure: They traded wins in Midwest Impact Pro, Savanna's team won the mixed tag, Rahne won their singles match in Grafton, and Savanna won in Proving Ground Pro. Savanna took home the victory on this night with the Sliced Bread #2 in 7:07...we'll be watching their careers with great interest.
Intermission~! Official Ben Simon Concession Count(tm): Two root beers.
"The Neon Icon" Justin D'Air(w/ Lady D'Air) vs. "Lights Out" Adrian Surge: They turned off the house lights for the D'Airs' entrance...when they came back up, it was discovered that the middle rope had come loose when Surge climbed on the turnbuckles to pose. Whoops. The ring crew got another workout for the night as Surge and D'Air played to the fans before the official start of the match...this included D'Air running to the merchandise stand to throw some of his items to the fans. In contrast to the earlier match, these two seem to work together VERY well; D'Air's turned some heads in the St. Louis area in recent weeks and Surge has been establishing himself as a solid competitor(though I feel like he's best as a full rulebreaker). Surge attempted to slide out of the ring for a break at one point as D'Air climbed the turnbuckles, but D'Air launched a missile dropick from the opposite side of the ring and nailed Surge in the back as he was seated on the ring apron! Despite that spectacular move, Surge picked up momentum heading into his Riot On The River Tournament final; he caught a springboard move and turned it into a spinebuster for the three-count in 12:15.
Brandon Espinosa vs. "The" Ace Hawkins for the MWR Missouri Title, no-DQ match: This stemmed from a disqualification finish in their previous bout in Grafton after Hawkins hit Espy with his own championship belt. The history between the two men extends all the way back to the beginning of Hawkins' career...in that time, the two have been allies, tag team partners, and heated rivals. Espinosa lost the MWR Missouri Title to Barackus in January, only for Hawkins to capture it from the big man in February. The round-robin tournament in the Mid-Missouri Wrestling Alliance ended with a classic ladder match in which Espy regained the title, but the feud was far from over.
The match was tremendous, as you might expect. Several weapons came into play, including a steel chair...but Espinosa accidentally took out the referee with a late-match superkick. The match spilled out of the ring and Ace attempted to suicide-dive onto Espy, but Espy caught him in mid-air for a brainbuster on the floor! Espinosa threw Hawkins back into the ring, but the official was not there to count the pin. The other officials made their way to ringside as one checked on the main ref and the other took over the officiating duties for the bout...Ace was somehow able to rebound and fought out of an attempted brainbuster onto a chair, delivering a somersaulting Ace Crusher onto the set-up chair! Ace continued his offensive flurry and hit the jumping DDT...the referee hesitated on the third count, but nonetheless Ace scored the victory in 18:20 to capture the MWR Missouri Championship!
After the match, Espinosa spoke to the fans...he said that Hawkins beat him fair and square in the no-DQ environment. With the MWR Missouri Title in his rear-view mirror for the moment, he said he planned to focus on traveling around the country to compete. It would be odd to not see a mainstay like Espy at St. Louis-area shows, but a wrestler has to advance his career...best of luck to him!
Brandon Aarons vs. Dingo for the Heavyweight Title: Dingo was Aarons' original trainer when he began his wrestling career...they met a handful of times after that with Dingo scoring the victories. A lot has changed since that time with Aarons building his reputation in the Midwest and Dingo taking a break from the ring wars...now Dingo is returning from his hiatus and Aarons stands atop Dynamo Pro Wrestling, a promotion where Dingo once reigned supreme as the NWA Missouri Champion. Aarons wanted to prove that he could not only hang with his former mentor, but also surpass his teacher on this night.
The opening minutes were the proverbial game of chess as the two attempted to one-up each other, but tempers flared as the match progressed. The fight spilled out of the ring and Dingo stunned Aarons with a back suplex onto the ring apron(#HARDESTPARTOFTHERING)...it was a move that had been used a couple of times earlier in the show to great effectiveness. Aarons somehow survived some of Dingo's best shots, including a dragon suplex and at least two Dingo Drivers. As in his title-winning match with Mike Outlaw, Aarons had to unleash several devastating moves in a row to achieve victory; he turned the tables and hit Dingo with his own namesake 'Driver, then followed up with the Hairflip Suplex(half-nelson suplex) and superkick to finally win in 16:20!
Cue post-match mutual respect...Dingo praised his protege, but said he'd love to face him in the ring one more time. Hopefully that can happen in the near future...Dingo also praised the locker room of up-and-coming talent, saying the future of Midwest wrestling was in places like Dynamo Pro!
I am WAY behind on these commentaries...I didn't go to any wrestling shows this weekend, so hopefully I can catch up soon. Of course that particular 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 thirty-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.
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