Now, as promised, a special comment about the Outlaw Wrestling show on Friday, September 15th at the Fireball Bar & Grill in Alton, Illinois.
DISCLAIMER: I'm biased. Deal with it.
I drove straight from work as this show started at 7 PM; the venue wasn't too hard to find once I was in Alton. Now that I have a smartphone with built-in GPS, things are a bit smoother in that regard (yeahhhhh, should have had that for my pizza delivery job). It was a relatively small side room of the bar in which the show took place...it was a unique setup that I enjoyed and the product had a more adult vibe to it with the hardcore-style bouts and the rougher language. If you're looking for a product that's not quite as "PG" as the others, this would be a good one to check out.
I didn't get the ring announcer's name; your referees were Max Recon, Doug Markham, and Kyle Grissom.
Uncle Leo Cutter addressed the fans to start the show. The Heavyweight Title was vacant as Bull Bronson was taking a hiatus from wrestling, so the belt would be up for grabs in a six-man tournament. Unfortunately the sound system was out of commission for the show, so no one had theme music and the ring announcer didn't have a microphone (he initially tried to use a megaphone but that proved to be worse!).
"The Wildman From The Ozarks" Alexandre Rudolph vs. "Deadly" Dale Chitty, Heavyweight Title Tournament: The whole show was essentially no-DQ, but this match and one other in particular had a lot of plunder in play. There were no tables but a wooden plank or two came into play...and they were destroyed in short order. A box fan was used as a weapon...haven't seen THAT in a while. The finish saw Rudolph chokeslam Dale onto...pinecones?!? That's a new one...Rudolph got the pin after that in 6:41.
Jeremiah Plunkett vs. Frank Wyatt, Heavyweight Title Tournament: Wyatt is a bit removed from his days in the Viking War Party. I hadn't seen Plunkett before this show; I'll need to look up more of his matches. This was relatively short but solid while it lasted, Wyatt won with a piledriver on 3:34.
Tripp Cassidy vs. Shad Satu, Heavyweight Title Tournament: Satu's a big boy; I hadn't seen him before but I recognized his name from IWA Mid-South match listings. I saw Tripp a handful of times at High Risk Wrestling and I believe he travels regularly with The Carnies(Nick Iggy & Kerry Awful). Despite the size disadvantage, Cassidy scored the victory after a Shining Enzuigiri in 4:20.
"The Big Mustache On Campus" Mikey McFinnegan, Jake Garvin, & Marko Stunt vs. The Diamond Dogs(Luke Langley & Graham Bell) & Kyle Hammer: I previously knew Hammer as manager Winston McNastybones, which was an outstanding wrestling name; he's been working out and entering in-ring competition in recent times. I'd never seen Garvin or Stunt before but I'd seen their names around; Stunt is TINY, to the point where the people around me were wondering if he was a midget or an underaged kid. At one point, he climbed a ladder to the ceiling and hung from there to flip onto the opponents in the ring with a version of the shooting star press! The rulebook was out of the window for most of the night anyway, it seemed. The good guys picked up the victory when Stunt provided Zakk Sawyers' side of the old Roscoe Eat Lisa finisher, delivering a Stone Cold Stunner to add momentum to McFinnegan's Code Red on Bell. That got the three-count in 11:00.
Intermission~! Official Ben Simon Concession Count(tm): One Pepsi.
"The Alternative" Ozzie Gallagher(w/ Kenny Jones) vs. "The Warhorse" Jake Parnell for the Gunslinger Title: Gallagher became the first Gunslinger Champion at an Outlaw Wrestling show about two years ago; the promotion has been in limbo since that time, though I think they had a show or two in Tennessee. This match was an oddity as two other wrestlers joined the fray without fanfare and were just allowed to become participants and title challengers: "The Neon Icon" Justin D'Air and Cash Borden(w/ Marli Knox). I think it had originally been advertised as a triple threat with Gallagher-Parnell-Borden, then was changed to the Gallagher-Parnell singles match. D'Air was the first one to be eliminated as he was pinned by Parnell in 7:43 after the double-stomp off the second rope to the back of the head. Gallagher pounced on the opportunity to eliminate Parnell after a released German suplex in 8:00. The three eliminations happened rapid-fire as Gallagher and Borden had a quick exchange, ending with Borden delivering a double-underhook DDT for the win in 8:28 to capture the Gunslinger Title!
The Hooligans(Devin & Mason Cutter)(w/ Uncle Leo Cutter) vs. The Horde(Ruben Steel & Calavera): Steel & Calavera are a team out of Texas who bear a resemblance to New Japan's Guerrillas Of Destiny(Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa) with their face paint. This was essentially a tornado tag street fight as the plunder came into play early and often. The weapons included a vacuum cleaner and a shovel, among other things. We also got the traditional Hooligans "bar fight" where the participants sat in chairs and traded punches. Road signs came into play as well and one played into the finish...Mason pinned Calavera after the Hooligans hit their wheelbarrow/second-rope DDT combo onto one of the signs in 10:08.
"The Wildman From The Ozarks" Alexandre Rudolph(w/ chainsaw) vs. Frank Wyatt vs. Tripp Cassidy, Heavyweight Title Tournament: The former Viking War Party teammates Rudolph and Wyatt were focused on each other, often ignoring Cassidy's presence in the match. The main event was surprisingly short, but all three men had already competed in the evening...Wyatt pinned Rudolph after the piledriver in 6:35, capturing the vacant Heavyweight Title! Uncle Leo personally congratulated him and that wrapped up the show.
I'm ALMOST caught up...stay tuned for SICW, folks. That's another story for another time...so tune in next time: Same Pat-Time, Same Pat-Channel.
That's my special comment for this, the forty-eighth 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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