Now, as promised, a special comment about the Southern Illinois Championship Wrestling show on Saturday, September 16th at the Community Center in East Carondelet, Illinois.
DISCLAIMER: I'm biased. Deal with it.
The attendance was noticably down from the previous month where they had special guest Manny Fernandez...at least it meant more elbow room and an atmosphere that wasn't too stuffy. Despite that, promotions like SICW and the Mid-Missouri Wrestling Alliance tend to draw on off-nights what a lot of independent promotions only wish they could get.
Your ring announcer was Drew Abbenhaus; your referees were Shaft, Nick Ridenour, and Jay King.
The night started with Steve Davis(of the "Memories Of Elvis" show) singing the National Anthem. After that, Drew brought out Larry Matysik for the television commentary and then segued into a ten-bell salute for two recently-departed wrestlers: European competitor Otto Wanz and noted midget wrestler Beautiful Bobby Dean(who had competed all over the Midwest against his eternal rival Little Kato). I'd seen at least a couple of the Dean-Kato matches at live events; the fans have always enjoyed the outings when the "mighty midgets" are in action.
Keith Smith Jr. & Purple Passion vs. The Big Texan: This was an odd pairing for this handicap match as Keith Jr. is about the same size as Texan...normally you'd expect it to be two smaller guys who would get manhandled by the heavyweight. (Passion isn't exactly a small competitor either.) Texan's slimmed down a bit in recent times...and he's been exploring the space lately, so to speak. When both opponents sought refuge on the floor, Texan climbed to the second rope and dove off onto them with a huge plancha! Texan brought Passion back into the ring and hit a released dragon suplex(!), then finished him with a splash off the second rope in 9:04. Where'd he learn THOSE tricks?
Moondog Rover & "Your Canadian Hero" Sean Vincent vs. Bubba Troll & Ax Allwardt: Ax has bleached his hair, which is an...interesting new look. Troll's still on his "try to bodyslam me" kick...Moondog did slightly better in that department than Vincent, but neither was able to complete the slam. Vincent and Ax fought to a time-limit draw at a recent show, so they have a developing issue. It turned into the proverbial pier-six brawl at the end and Ax dropped Vincent with the piledriver, scoring the win in 10:43.
Intermission~! Official Ben Simon Concession Count(tm): Pepsi, cheeseburger, and Mountain Dew.
Bodily Harm("The Enforcer" Jimmy D & Bobby D) vs. "Volatile" Curtis Wylde & "Unstable" Dave Vaughn(w/ Wyldefyre): Vaughn was returning from a recent concussion...he got a haircut and seemed to be more level-headed than usual. Notably, he shook hands with his opponents at the start of the bout and took a more technical approach to the contest...something which didn't sit well with his partner. (I'm not sure what this says about the concussion he received, but oh well.) At any rate, Wylde and Wyldefyre took umbrage with his sportsmanlike approach and Wyldefyre finally slapped Vaughn, leading to Bobby D rolling him up for the pin in 10:23. Drew interviewed Vaughn after the match and he said that he wanted to get back to doing things the right way...Wylde approached him and seemed to want to "part amicably", but took a cheapshot as Vaughn exited the ring...that brought the Ds back out for the save. Wylde and Vaughn both got chairs and it looked like Vaughn had the opening to pull a double-cross, but instead he used his chair to swat Wylde's out of his grasp and the Wyldes retreated. Ladies and gentlemen, we have a face turn.
Heath Hatton vs. Cowboy Marc Houston(w/ Big Daddy): Both men were hoping to move up the ladder into title contention; Hatton is a former champion who lost his recent title shot at Chris Hargas, while Houston had an impressive showing in the title tournament before being eliminated by Flash Flanagan. Hatton attempted to slow the big man down by targeting the leg, but Houston cut him off with his trademark lariat. The fight eventually spilled out of the ring and both competitors were counted out in 9:08...I suspect we haven't seen the last of this pairing.
Waco vs. Johnny Blade(w/ Big Daddy): The match had been scheduled to be Blade vs. "Night Train/Gorgeous/Great One" Gary Jackson, but Jackson was absent so Waco took his place. Any resemblance between Waco and "The New Raging Bull" is completely coincidental, I am told. While Waco tends to score some upsets in SICW competition, it seemed like the outcome wasn't really in doubt here...Blade attacked the leg to set up the figure-four leglock, eventually scoring the submission with his finishing hold in 8:04. Blade refused to release the hold after the bell for a LONG time, resulting in a decision reversal...so Waco got the win after all (via disqualification).
Intermission numero dos~! I should be more patient with my concession stand visits as they tend to slash prices toward the end of East Carondelet shows...
Flash Flanagan & "Ironman" Ken Kasa vs. Classic Champion "The Icon" Chris Hargas & Superstar Steve Fender(w/ Travis Cook): This was a star-studded main event with the current SICW Classic Champion, two former champions, and a man who has held gold all over the Midwest in Fender. Notably, it marked the second month in a row that Hargas had not defended his title...he didn't even have a match at the August show. With three SICW shows scheduled for October, the titleholder's list of enemies may come back to bite him in the near future. Hargas' recent theme music has been "BLKKK SKKKN HEAD" by Kanye West...interesting choice given who his manager is. (Because Travis is bald...yeah, we'll go with that.) They had a really good match...all four guys are good at what they do, so that seemed to be a given. The finish saw Hargas attempt the F-5 on Kasa, but Kasa crucifixed him for the flash pin in 17:32! That seemed to set up Kasa for the next title shot at Hargas, but the line of contenders is a busy one with Flanagan, Jackson, Hatton, Houston, Blade, and Texan all in good positions.
I have honestly lost my desire to do these commentaries...since online wrestling discussion has turned into an eternal argument about whose "fake fighter" is the best, I've worked on tuning out of discussions with other wrestling fans. I barely even call myself a "wrestling fan" any more. Maybe things will change in the near future, but other aspects of life may have to take precedence.
So far, October looks like this:
-Friday 10/6: High Risk Wrestling in Warsaw, MO
-Saturday 10/7: World League Wrestling in Troy, MO; Southern Illinois Championship Wrestling in Swansea, IL; Mid-Missouri Wrestling Alliance in St. Louis, MO(South Broadway Athletic Club
-Saturday 10/14: World Powerhouse Wrestling in Madison, IL
-Sunday 10/15: Glory Pro Wrestling in Alton, IL; Wrestling Over Everything in Centreville, IL
-Saturday 10/21: Proving Ground Pro in Taylor Springs, IL; SICW in East Carondelet, IL
-Saturday 10/28: Dynamo Pro Wrestling in St. Louis, MO(Concordia Turners Gym); SICW in Caseyville, IL
That's my special comment for this, the forty-ninth wrestling show I've attended in the year 2017. Good night, good luck, and #yaywresting.
-PB, Watching Wrestling Wrong Since 1991
P.S. We are all marks.
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