Now, as promised, a special comment about last Sunday's Wrestling Over Everything show at the River's Edge Community Center in Centreville, Illinois.
DISCLAIMER: I'm biased. Deal with it.
My busy weekend wrapped up with WOE in Centreville, a much shorter drive than either Grafton or Troy MO. I only knew a couple of matches ahead of time so I wasn't too sure of what to expect at this event...as it turned out, it was an enjoyable show as I was in the company of Luke Roberts and Larry Nickel for the evening.
Your ring announcers were Chris Kaelin & Moe Romero-Kennedy; your referee was Jason Pemberton.
The Landlord and Interstate Champion Da'Marius Jones had a war of words to start the show...Jones was upset about being left off the card and Landlord changed his mind rather quickly about putting him in a match. He ordered a game of "musical chairs" to determine Jones' challenger; the participants were LaMarcus Clinton, Justin D'Air, Richard Faith, Shane "The Pain Train" Petrokovich, and Benjamin J. Trust. The full-contact version of the game was oddly entertaining and didn't overstay its welcome, including such comedy spots as Trust jumping on a chair and being knocked to the mat(since he STOOD on the chair instead of sitting, it didn't count and he was eliminated). Eliminations: Trust, Shane, Faith, D'Air. L.M.C. won the "match"(it had opening and closing bells) in 3:31 and earned himself another title shot later in the evening.
Money & Gold(Taylor Champion & Trystan Brady Shadeux) vs. The Sabotage Squad(Krispy 2 Pop & John Boi): The Squad defeated Champion & Shadeux at the June show so it was payback time...hostilities boiled over as the teams brawled on the floor before the opening bell. Luke has been closer to the wrestling business than myself and knew Krispy from his days in Mid-America Xtreme (among other promotions); in his view, Krispy was the star of the match. The bout had a handful of rough moments but turned out to be decent; the finish saw Champion deliver an inverted atomic drop on Krispy to set up a superkick by Shadeux, then Champion rolled through into a jackknife cradle for the pinfall in 8:46. Once they get their Tag Team Titles going again, we'll probably see these two teams battle some more.
The Big Texan vs. Richard Faith vs. Johnny Blade: It was tough to find a fan favorite in this match, though Texan often gets cheered in the absence of a clear "face". Since it was a triple threat match, it was no-countout-no-DQ by definition so a steel chair was introduced into the proceedings. This turned out to be better than expected; Faith is another guy who's flown under the radar in this area, in my opinion. In a surprise finish, the match ended in a ten-minute time-limit draw...I don't think I'd ever seen a multi-way match end in that manner.
Prince Moses vs. Benjamin J. Trust: Trust is a new face in the Midwest wrestling scene; so far I've only seen him at Dynamo and WOE. This was a good matchup as they seemed to play off each other well (the high-flying Moses against the more ground-based Trust). They came dangerously close to our second time-limit draw in a row, but Trust let his frustration get the better of him and bailed on the match for the countout loss in 9:52. I suspect they'll meet again...
Brandon Espinosa vs. Khayman, submission match: This was the first meeting between the former MMWA Jr. Heavyweight Champions in a decade...despite that history, the stipulation seemed to be added out of the blue. Espinosa has finished matches with the cross-armbreaker in recent memory, but I don't recall Khayman using too many submission holds...his move of choice was the Crippler Crossface on this night. I don't think this was the right gimmick match for this crowd as they weren't into the action...submission matches require some degree of buildup, I think. The stipulation takes away the drama of flash pin attempts and near-falls, so that can affect the match on some level. Hopefully it won't be another ten years before they face each other again...Espinosa finally cinched in the cross-armbreaker in the middle of the ring for the tapout victory in 8:54.
Intermission~! Official Ben Simon Concession Count(tm): Mountain Dew and Dr. Pepper.
"2.0" Da'Marius Jones vs. LaMarcus Clinton(w/ The Landlord) for the Interstate Title, no-holds-barred match: Landlord had promised to stay seated in his ringside chair and not interfere in the match. Landlord kept his promise, technically speaking...they had a solid bout and Jones got a pinfall in 11:32 via Paydirt. BUT WAIT...Landlord said that he makes the rules and the match would continue because, well, he said so. Jones was understandably upset about this as he had just won the match totally cleanly...at that point, The Sabotage Squad hit the ring to attack Jones. They delivered an inverted atomic drop/lariat combo, then held him for a blatant punt to the groin by L.M.C.(as the referee was seemingly under Landlord's orders to not call for the DQ). L.M.C. hit big move after big move: Swanton bomb, split-legged moonsault, frog splash, and finally the 450 Splash...he finally covered for the merciful pin in 15:10 to win the Interstate Title!
"The Neon Icon" Justin D'Air(w/ Lady D'Air) vs. Shane "The Pain Train" Petrokovich: Shane talked to the fans before the match, saying that he and his #PROSTATUS partner David X had gone their separate ways. He was recovering from a recent death in his family and hoped for the fans' support as he pursued his singles career. That created a divided crowd as D'Air was also a fan favorite for the night...he had a slight experience edge in this one. I thought the match was solid enough...I know it's the "cool thing" to hate on anyone out of the Cottage Hills Wrestling Alliance and I don't have as discerning an eye as others who are closer to the business, but that's my perspective. Shane made the same mistake as others before him when he underestimated D'Air's aerial range...he rolled to the adjacent corner as D'Air scaled the ropes, but D'Air still nailed him with the Van Terminator-style dropkick as he was seated in the corner! That was enough for the win in 4:54...it looked like we would see some post-match Mutual Respect(tm), but Shane snapped and decked D'Air with a clothesline. Losing a match after essentially dedicating it to your departed relative is not an easy thing to stomach...
Leone Mephisto vs. "The Infamous" Tyler Copeland for the Heavyweight Title: It had been almost exactly a year since Mephisto won the Wrestling Invades America Heavyweight Title from Kevin Lee Davidson...since that time, he defeated tournament winner LaMarcus Clinton to unify that title into the newly-established WOE Championship. In the full history of the promotion(under each of its names), Copeland had never held a championship despite being one of its founding members...he had been a rulebreaker for most of that time, but he became a fan favorite after a falling-out with The Landlord. The crowd was solidly behind Copeland and they had a really good main event matchup...Mephisto had fought a lot of outside contenders in the past year while Copeland had to scratch and claw his way up the ladder to get his opportunity. In the end, Mephisto's temper got the better of him and he brought a chair into the ring...the referee tried to stop him from using it but was unable to do so. Mephisto swung the weapon, but Copeland avoided it and the chair rebounded off the top rope to hit him in the head...Copeland took advantage with the TKO and won the title in 11:36! A big post-match celebration ensued as Copeland thanked the fans for their support...that wrapped up the show as Landlord watched the new champion in the ring.
That wrapped up my four-show weekend...I was feeling it by the end. I guess I'm not as young as I used to be (I am turning 40 next month!). I certainly didn't mind only having one show on the docket for the following weekend...though those plans would get a lot more interesting as Saturday approached. Of course, that is once again another story for another time.
The rest of August looks like this:
-Saturday 8/19: Southern Illinois Championship Wrestling in East Carondelet, IL
-Sunday 8/20: Glory Pro Wrestling in Alton, IL
-Friday 8/25: Dynamo Pro Wrestling in St. Louis, MO(Concordia Turners Gym)
-Saturday 8/26: National Wrasslin' League in St. Peters, MO
-Sunday 8/27: Pro Wrestling Championship Series in Alton, IL
That's my special comment for this, the fortieth 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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