Now, as promised, a special comment about Saturday's Proving Ground Pro show at the VFW Hall in Taylor Springs, Illinois.
DISCLAIMER: I'm biased. Deal with it.
My choices for Saturday were Proving Ground Pro and the Mid-Missouri Wrestling Alliance at the South Broadway Athletic Club in St. Louis, MO. MMWA was a shorter drive and lower personal cost, but I had been meaning to check out PGP for a while; they normally run in Petersburg, IL and this was their first outing in Taylor Springs. It was about an hour drive and a lot closer than they normally run to my default location, so it proved to be worth the trip. There's some appeal to driving through the country and small towns...though my allergies have decided to kick my ass this summer, so that part wasn't it.
It was a relatively small venue, but the fans in attendance were having a good time. I saw a few familiar faces in the house, including Angelus Layne and "The Incredible Primal Prodigy" Matt Kenway (Look At Him After Dark) who did video commentary.
Your ring announcer was Cody Springer; your referees were Scott Ramsey and a guy I didn't recognize.
Louis Lyndon vs. "The One-Man Riot" Frank Wyatt: I hadn't seen Wyatt in quite a while; I think he was still a member of the Viking War Party at the time. This was a bit of a style clash, but it worked with the smaller Lyndon trying to knock the big man down. It took a lot of effort but a moonsault press off the second rope finally got the job done. Wyatt sought refuge on the floor, but "Mr. '70s Kung Fu" suicide-dove into a flying DDT on the floor! He threw Wyatt back into the ring and got the pinfall in 8:30...not sure if I'd ever seen a "dive" directly result in a pinfall.
Savanna Stone vs. Rahne Victoria: Dynamo's lady trainees went to battle once again on this night. It was similar to their bout the previous night at Dynamo Pro, but a bit smoother in certain parts; there's no substitute for experience, as they say. Savanna lost her grip on the Sliced Bread #2 at the end, but still got a good pin cover for the victory in 8:15. I suspect they'll meet again...
Mario Crivello & Johnny Alves vs. The Boys From Jollyville(T-Money & Nasty Russ Myers) for the Tag Team Titles: It was my first time seeing Crivello & Alves; the Jollyville duo were the clear crowd favorites in this one. The rulebreaking champs did a fine job of isolating Myers for several minutes, but the big man T-Money finally got the tag and cleaned house. However, he made the mistake of tagging Myers back into the fray to finish things...despite that, the challengers seemed to have things well in hand. The titleholders resorted to subterfuge as Crivello brought one of the title belts into the ring, distracting the ref long enough for Alves to bring in the OTHER belt and whack Myers from behind. Crivello scored the pinfall in 11:47 and the champs' reign continued...
A.J. Gray vs. "The Mad Dragon" Hakim Zane: I recognized Gray's name but this was my first time seeing him; I had seen Zane a handful of times in the past, including his appearances in TNA and at Glory Pro. Zane's current catchphrase: "My mother called me Son/Sun because I shine like one!" Gray is more agile than he appears as he pulled off a major plancha at one point. Zane won via shenanigans as he pulled the referee in the middle of the fray, then used the distraction to deliver a jumping knee strike. Zane finished with a double-stomp off the top rope in 11:10.
"The Lone Star" Curt Stallion vs. "The Bad Wolf" Blake Edward Belakis for the Cutting Edge Title: Stallion had a full weekend of heavy-hitting action. I think Belakis would be a good fit for Glory Pro; he seems like he would fit their style very well. Stallion had defeated Belakis for the title in June and this was the rematch. Belakis sidestepped Stallion's first attempt at a suicide dive, causing him to crash-land into the ringside chairs. Later in the match, Stallion's second dive attempt was a bit more successful. Belakis resorted to bringing a railroad spike into play...it was never officially used, but the shenanigans gave Belakis an opening to go on offense. He nearly scored the win after a palm strike and a modified Burning Hammer, but Stallion somehow survived. However, two more palm strikes were enough to seal the deal and Belakis regained the Cutting Edge Title in 15:16!
Intermission~! Official Ben Simon Concession Count(tm): Pepsi and Mountain Dew.
"Hot Fire" Myron Reed vs. Jake Something for the Glory Pro Wrestling Crown Of Glory Title: Like Stallion, Reed had a full weekend...this was a different sort of challenge as he was up against a larger and stronger opponent. The man from "Somewhere" has been impressive in his Glory Pro outings and has been turning a lot of heads in recent months. The match was highlighted by a dive exchange between the two; Something is very agile for his size, but it's tough to match Reed in the high-flying department. Reed wasn't going to win by his conventional tactics; he stunned Something with a superkick and got the flash pin with a backslide in 10:14. I suspect this won't be the last time Something will compete for the Crown Of Glory Championship...
Alpha Class("The Millenial" Danny Adams & Paco Gonzalez) vs. Super Future(Palmer Cruise & Xavier Walker): Cruise & Walker are big dudes who primarily compete in Michigan; they're relative newcomers to the ring wars, from what I gather. Danny and Paco are former PGP Tag Team Champions but have drifted apart in recent times; they attempted to get on the same page to compete for the GPW United Glory Tag Team Titles, but they lost to The Besties In The World(Davey Vega & Mat Fitchett) in the tournament final. Adams snapped and challenged Paco to a one-on-one bout in Glory Pro, but they were contractually obligated to team up on this night. As a result, the Alpha Class members were not on the same page...each man was intent on proving his superiority to his partner, but it happened to the detriment of their teamwork. They had a chance to score the victory in the later moments of the match, but egos finally took over and Adams walked away from the bout. Paco went after him and threw him back into the ring, then gave him a taste of his own medicine by walking away from the match himself. Adams' loss of focus proved costly as he walked into Super Future's version of The Revival's Shatter Machine(Flapjack-into-Codebreaker); that gave Walker the pinfall over Adams in 7:29. The Alpha Class partners would face each other twenty-four hours later at Glory Pro...
"The Caramel Bear" C.J. Shine vs. "The Real-Life Ben Affleck" Alex Daniels: Shine has been making an impact in Proving Ground with some impressive wins in recent months; fans informed me that the "pinky-up" gesture is a thing for him in PGP. I hadn't seen Daniels prior to his Glory Pro appearances, but he's been very entertaining with his movie shoutouts; he even sports multiple T-shirts with Affleck's face on them. Shine wanted a dance-off to start the bout, but Daniels simply showed off his plethora of shirts as he removed them with increasing fanfare. Shine is getting more comfortable in the ring over time and playing to his strengths; I look forward to seeing what his future holds. Shine won a competitive bout after the springboard dropkick and spinebuster in 9:16...I'd call it an upset in the grand scheme of things, but Shine's been on a roll in PGP as of late.
A previous opponent of Shine's had a statement to make as Barackus made his way to the ring to attack him; Shine had upset Barackus in a match in June and the big man was looking for revenge. He dropped Shine with two Baldo Bombs, then dragged a merchandise table to ringside and drove Shine through it with a frog splash off the ring apron! Barackus' music played continuously throughout the beatdown in the spirit of New Jack in ECW...nice touch.
"The Leader Of The Pack" Stephen Wolf vs. "Buck Nasty" Bucky Collins for the vacant Franchise Title: "The Money" Matt Cage had won the title from Wolf in June, but he surrendered the title as he was retiring from the ring. (I'm disappointed that no one in the St. Louis area booked Cage for his retirement tour.) As a result, the top prize in PGP was up for grabs as Wolf attempted to regain what was once his. Bucky slowed the pace and focused his attack on Wolf's neck, but Wolf was able to stay in the match and rally. The match broke down into a battle of strikes and Wolf encouraged Bucky to hit him harder, but Bucky took a hard left and surprised Wolf with a kiss on the lips! That stunned Wolf enough to take him out of his game and Bucky unleashed an offensive flurry, ending with a crucifix bomb to win the title in 17:26!
Bucky taunted Wolf with his newly-won championship and stepped on him as he exited the ring, but Wolf got a hold of his foot and pulled him back into a pump knee strike...that sent the fans home happy to close the show.
It was cool to meet some new people and see them in action...hopefully this will be my first of many trips to see Proving Ground Pro. I hit the road relatively quickly as the next day would be a busy one...I stopped at Taco Bell on the way home for a chicken quesadilla and cheesy potato burrito, but the drive-thru line was long and a customer or two took forever to get their orders for whatever reason. Such is life.
Of course my weekend was still not quite over...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-second 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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