Now, as promised, a special comment about last Sunday's Glory Pro Wrestling show at the Spaulding Hall Club in Alton, Illinois.
DISCLAIMER: I'm biased. Deal with it.
It was a full weekend of wrestling with afternoon shows on both Saturday and Sunday...this one had been built up for a while and Michael Elgin had promised a major announcement about the anniversary show in February. He had dropped some major hints that set expectations very high...would it live up to the hype? The turnout told the story as Glory Pro had another packed house in Alton...cue my claustrophobia.
Your ring announcer was Kevin Harvey; your referees were C-Lo and Richard White.
The Pride("The Incredible Primal Prodigy" Matt Kenway(Look At Him After Dark) & Aaron Dzinic) vs. Super Future(Xavier Walker & Palmer Cruise): Walker made his Glory Pro debut in August; I had first seen him and Cruise at Proving Ground Pro in July against Alpha Class. They had the size advantage over the upstart duo of Kenway and Jeremy, err, Dzinic. While the fans were still not fond of Kenway, Dzinic got a good reaction for his late-match rally. The Pride's teamwork made the difference as Kenway picked up Cruise in electric-chair position, then dropped him forward into a Diamond Cutter by Dzinic...Dzinic got the pinfall after that in 8:30.
"Unbreakable" Michael Elgin & "Pretty Reckless" Everett Connors vs. The Boys From Jollyville(T-Money & Nasty Russ Myers) vs. No New Friends(Kevin Lee Davidson & "The Millenial" Danny Adams) for the United Glory Tag Team Titles: Elgin & Connors scored a surprise title win over Davey Vega & Stephen Wolf(subbing for the injured Mat Fitchett) in August, but their first title defense would be no walk in the park. Adams played some mind games as he shouted at Elgin "You're not my real dad!" K.L.D. and Adams seemed to have the momentum heading into the bout, but the Boys From Jollyville had a lot to prove after coming up short against The Besties In The World in July. As for Elgin & Connors, they were looking to prove that their title win over a makeshift team was no fluke. One of the highlights of the match saw T-Money deliver a POUNCE on Connors, sending him flying over the top rope onto the other four men! The champions got it together for the win as Elgin powerbombed Adams, setting him up for Connors to deliver a legdrop off the top rope for the victory in 14:58!
Savanna Stone vs. Kylie Rae: This was a qualifying match for a women's tournament known as the Making Towns Classic, organized by Papa Hales and "Making Towns Guy" from Twitter. Savanna was sporting new gear for the weekend and this was a big opportunity for her...I wasn't too familiar with Kylie Rae, but she comes out to the classic Pokemon theme and has Pikachu-themed gear, so I'm good with that. Given that Savanna(and Rahne Victoria) only have six months of experience and Savanna is only seventeen years of age, she's already doing extremely well and the sky's the limit for her potential...I look forward to seeing what she and her cohorts can do. Savanna showed a bit more of an "edge" in this match, which I hadn't seen before...it showed me that she'd be capable of filling a "rulebreaking" role down the line. Despite that, she scored the upset win with a floatover rollup out of the corner in 8:37 to qualify for the Making Towns Classic!
"The Stiff Robo Ginger" Gary Jay vs. "The Warhorse" Jake Parnell: These two have been battling for months, including an epic time-limit draw over Parnell's Zero-One USA Jr. Heavyweight Title. This bout wasn't quite as long as that one, but they brought the heavy artillery as the fans expected. In the end, the former St. Louis Anarchy Champion emeged victorious with his trademark sliding forearm smash in 8:21...but things haven't quite been settled between the two as they'll meet again at the Glory Pro anniversary show in February.
D.J. Shiima Xion vs. Shigehiro Irie vs. "The Leader Of The Pack" Stephen Wolf vs. Tyler Matrix: This could have gone in any number of directions. Irie made it to the finals of the original Crown Of Glory Title tournament and had quickly become a crowd favorite. D.J. Z's resume is well documented, particularly as a former TNA X-Division Champion...his light-up gear always leads me to joke "Your move, Justin D'Air". Wolf had several impressive outings in Glory Pro, leading to him becoming a more consistent member of the roster. Matrix's outings had been a bit more understated as he had been unable to secure victories in the deep talent pool of the company. Of course, in this style of match just about anyone can steal a quick fall so it's anybody's ballgame. That held true on this night as Matrix scored a surprising victory, pinning Irie after a Death Valley Driver onto the knee in 10:33.
Shane Strickland vs. "The Mad Dragon" Hakim Zane: Strickland had been an independent standout for some time, but gained national exposure for his time as the masked Killshot in Lucha Underground. I've found it interesting that Lucha Underground performers are pretty open about their masked identities...it's a badly-kept secret that Ricochet was Prince Puma, plus Jeff Cobb and Strickland openly sell Matanza Cueto and Killshot(respectively) merchandise. The Hell Of War Match between Killshot and Dante/A.R. Fox was a spectacle to behold and I highly recommend it if you haven't seen it. Zane was determined to spoil Strickland's St. Louis-area debut, but the King Of Swerve was not to be denied...one of the highlights of the match was Strickland delivering his flying double-stomp from the ropes with Zane seated in a chair on the floor! Strickland picked up the win with his JML Driver(half-nelson Michinoku Driver) in 20:41...outstanding.
Going into intermission, Elgin came back out to announce the goings-on for the anniversary show in February. First of all, current TNA/GFW X-Division Champion Trevor Lee would make his Glory Pro debut; he had competed for St. Louis Anarchy in the past. Next up, Savanna Stone's impressive performance earlier in the night had earned her a big match at the anniversary show: A one-on-one bout with current SHINE Champion Lufisto! As for the big matchup for the show, Elgin had hinted that one of the participants would be Penta El Cero Miedo, but he was not available for the show. His second choice, Rey Fenix, was not available for the show either...but the third time was the charm as A.R. Fox would be making his second Glory Pro appearance. His opponent? None other than former IWGP Heavyweight Champion Tetsuya Naito! The line formed for advance tickets in a hurry...and they're going fast, so get yours before they're gone! (Given that Naito is set to main-event Wrestle Kingdom against current titleholder Kazuchika Okada, Naito could very well be the champion going into the Glory Pro anniversary show!)
Intermission~! Official Ben Simon Concession Count(tm): Root beer and bottle of water.
The Besties In The World("The Miracle Worker" Davey Vega & "The Dirty Rook" Mat Fitchett) vs. The Lucha Brothers(Penta El Cero Miedo & Rey Fenix): Glory Pro has been good about putting the title match on last, regardless of the names that are on the lineup...still, it was a surrpise to see this bout at this point on the card. The two teams started throwing bombs right out of the gate and rarely slowed down...the accolades of all four men are well-documented, of course. Fenix is the current All-American Wrestling Heavyweight Champion and Penta holds the AAW Heritage Title; the two were also the reigning Pro Wrestling Guerrilla Tag Team Champions at this time. On top of that, Penta was the Gift Of The Gods Champion of Lucha Underground (en route to capturing their main title from Prince Puma this past week at Ultima Lucha Tres). Vega & Fitchett have been tag team partners for a long time, but it's tough to get two people closer than brothers(as Fenix and Pentagon are). The Besties survived some of the best that Fenix and Penta had to offer, but a flying double-stomp from Fenix added some oomph to Penta's package piledriver on Fitchett...that allowed Penta to score the hard-fought pinfall in 13:07.
"The Dad Bod" Sean Orleans vs. Brandon Espinosa: This has been building since the inaugural Glory Pro show when Espy dispatched Orleans in short order, making the statement that Orleans did not belong there. Orleans gained a measure of revenge by humiliating Espy at the big show in July with a schoolboy trip and rollup in five seconds flat. The two had attacked each other repeatedly at Glory Pro shows this year and the stipulations were set for this bout: If Orleans won, he got to shave Espinosa's head; if Espy won, Orleans would be forced to become Espy's manager. This one was not going to end quickly like their previous bouts...it was definitely more story-driven than a lot of the other matches on the card. Orleans nearly pulled out the win on a few occasions, but an untimely ref bump meant that no one was there to count when Orleans got the schoolboy trip and rollup. As the official recovered, Espy delivered a blatant low blow...the brainbuster followed and Espinosa edged out a cheap win in 12:30. After the match, Espinosa ordered Orleans(as his new manager) to raise his arm and hold the ropes for him to exit the ring...
Paco Gonzalez vs. Mark Haskins vs. "The Lone Star" Curt Stallion: Paco defeated Danny Adams in the dog collar match at the previous show while Stallion scored the victory over Fred Yehi, allowing them to advance to this bout with a future Crown Of Glory Title shot on the line. United Kingdom standout Hawkins was added to the show after the match had already been set, so he was added to the bout. I was honestly not that familiar with Haskins prior to this, but he made a strong first impression on the Midwest here. Paco managed to keep Hawkins out of it long enough to finish Stallion with the fireman's-carry Michinoku Driver in 10:59, earning himself a future title shot!
MsChif made her traditional appearance to do the ring introductions for the title match...
"Hot Fire" Myron Reed vs. Jake Something for the Crown Of Glory Title: Reed brought inaugural champion Jason Kincaid's reign to a surprisingly quick end, then defended it against Rey Fenix, A.R. Fox, and Alex Daniels at Glory Pro shows. Something earned this shot by winning a triple threat match with Kevin Lee Davidson and Jeff Cobb...he had quietly been impressing onlookers at Glory Pro shows this year. These two crossed paths at Proving Ground Pro in July with Reed edging out a win, but this was a higher-profile bout with a larger audience on hand. Both guys brought the heavy artillery as expected...Reed even managed to survive Something's usual finisher, the sliding lariat to the back of the head. Reed nearly pulled out the victory, but Something delivered a sitout Tombstone to finally capture the title in 16:48!
Something had little time to celebrate as Jason Saint brought out his monster Barackus...the duo had set their sights on the title months ago. However, the appearance was a feint as the Boys From Jollyville attacked Something and Reed out of nowhere! The beatdown ensued...Paco ran out to help even the odds, but a masked man ran into the fray to join the side of Saint's crew. As the newly-formed stable stood tall, Saint dramatically pulled off the man's mask...revealing him to be Curt Stallion! Stallion had come so close to earning a title shot and came up short against Paco, so he sold his soul to the devil to get ahead...
That was quite an eventful show...and I'm still behind on my commentaries, go figure. I had a therapist appointment on Friday night so I had to skip the WWE house show in town, but I did attend the Proving Ground Pro show on Saturday in Taylor Springs, Illinois. Southern Illinois Championship Wrestling had its monthly event in East Carondelet, IL this past Saturday and featured "Ironman" Ken Kasa dethroning "The Icon" Chris Hargas to become a two-time Classic Wrestling Champion.
The upcoming weeks look like this:
-Saturday 10/28: Dynamo Pro Wrestling in St. Louis, MO(Concordia Turners Gymnasium); SICW in Caseyville, IL
-Sunday 10/29: DPW in St. Louis, MO(4 Hands Brewery)
-Friday 11/3: Pro Wrestling Epic in Brownstown, IL
-Saturday 11/4: World League Wrestling in Troy, MO; SICW in East Carondelet, IL
-Sunday 11/5: National Wrasslin' League in O'Fallon, MO
-Saturday 11/11: Pro Wrestling Championship Series in Alton, IL; DPW in St. Charles, MO; Mid-Missouri Wrestling Alliance in St. Louis, MO(South Broadway Athletic Club)
-Sunday 11/12: Wrestling Over Everything in Centreville, IL
-Friday 11/17: Outlaw Wrestling in Alton, IL
-Saturday 11/18: SICW in Swansea, IL
That's my special comment for this, the fifty-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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