Now, as promised, a special comment about the Dynamo Pro Wrestling show on Saturday, November 25th at the Concordia Turners Gymnasium in St. Louis, Missouri.
DISCLAIMER: I'm biased. Deal with it.
Independent promotions don't run on Thanksgiving weekend too often; as it turned out, I had two choices. I went with the option closer to home, though I hope to make it to Cape Championship Wrestling at some point down the line. I was once again a part of the video commentary team; apparently we had some audio problems last month, which was news to me. Heh.
Your ring announcer was Chris Roedel; your referees were Jay King and Scott Ramsey; your video commentators were Luke Roberts and Patrick Brandmeyer.
Jackal vs. Roy "The Strangler" Lewis: I think Lewis has used that nickname at least once in the past(borrowed from the legendary Ed "The Strangler" Lewis), but he seems to be fully embracing the mentality nowadays. I joked off-microphone that he looked as though he had strangled somebody for booze money. Gone are the days of him just being happy to be there...that only got him so far and he's now adopted a win-at-all-costs attitude. Lewis had been following the St. Louis wrestling scene for many years before officially stepping into the ring as a competitor...with this new "edge", 2018 could be a big year for him. Of course, he had his hands full with the former Gateway Championship Wrestling Light Heavyweight Champion(as well as a co-holder of the Dynamo Tag Titles with Jake Dirden)...Jackal is the eternal underdog due to his size, but he has always found ways to come out on top. However, Lewis had Jackal well scouted and blocked his signature Killswitch #2(walk-up Tomakazi), then locked on a cobra clutch and took Jackal down to the mat for the big win in 7:30!
Frodo "The Ghost" Meyer vs. Ricky Rodriguez: Ricky made his in-ring debut at last month's 4 Hands Brewery show, putting forth a good effort against the veteran Heavyweight Champion Makaze. As Luke noted on commentary, Rodriguez showed tremendous ring presence for someone of his experience level. At this early stage of his career, he's going to take a few lumps but he will hopefully learn as he goes and keep gaining experience. With two matches in the books, so far so good. I haven't seen Meyer too often in recent months, though he's become a regular at the Mid-Missouri Wrestling Alliance alongside tag team partner Khayman...I do my best to keep tabs on South Broadway via YouTube. Frodo overcame a spirited effort by the rookie, picking up the win with the wheelbarrow DDT in 5:53.
Savanna Stone vs. The Snitch: Snitch's extended pre-match soliloquy(delivered under protest by Chris Roedel, as has become tradition) alleged that no man in the locker room can defeat him. This tends to result in a non-male opponent answering the open challenge, and so it came to pass. Intergender matches aren't quite as common around these parts as they once were(when MsChif and Daizee Haze fought the guys for the sake of variety)...they're a tough thing to do well, but I really liked this match. It was a testament to both wrestlers as Snitch held up his end well, clipping Stone's knee and focusing his attack on the leg. Snitch cut off a late rally, but couldn't put Savanna away and lost his focus by arguing with the referee...this allowed Stone to get the rollup pin in 9:55! Snitch seemed to lighten up and offered a post-match handshake, but Savanna saw the sneak attack coming and ducked the incoming clothesline...she laid him out with the Sliced Bread #2 to cap off a productive night for herself.
Aaron Dzinic vs. "The Filipino Warrior" Elvis Aliaga: It had been a while since I'd seen Aliaga around these parts. Dzinic is flying solo in Dynamo and he had a tough task ahead of him against the former World League Wrestling Heavyweight Champion. Aliaga focused his attack on the leg, slowing down his less experienced opponent...Dzinic managed to rally and hit his version of the Detonation Kick, but Aliaga got a foot on the bottom rope. Elvis caught Dzinic in an anklelock, then took him down with a grapevine to get the submission in 11:03...looks like Aliaga is adding a submission game to his arsenal.
Intermission~! Official Ben Simon Concession Count(tm): Bottle of water, cheddar and sour cream Ruffles, Kit-Kat bar, can of Sprite, and a leftover hot dog. (Keep in mind, I was working this evening...)
The Agents Of Chaos(Viktor Von Stein & Xavier Shadows) vs. Keon & Neon("The Valedictorian" Keon Option & "The Neon Icon" Justin D'Air) vs. High Level Enterprise("The Hybrid Ace" Jon Webb & Jack Gamble) for the Tag Team Titles: The Agents upset Option & D'Air for the Tag Team Titles at 4 Hands Brewery in October; Option & D'Air had initially won the belts from Webb & Gamble slightly over a year ago. This one broke down in a hurry with six men battling it out, including several high-risk planchas to the floor...Webb nailed a somersault plancha, but D'Air one-upped him with a double-jump springboard into a somersault dive! Of course, the much larger Von Stein changed the complexion of the match with his mere presence. The decision can go any number of ways in this style of match, especially since the champions can lose the titles without taking the fall. In the end, Shadows hit his elevated neckbreaker on Gamble and Von Stein finished with the Legdrop O' Doom in 15:50.
"Lights Out" Adrian Surge vs. "The Heartthrob" Jaden Roller: Surge had his usual "lights out" entrance, except Roller was looking toward the entranceway as Surge entered the ring from behind...nice. Surge surprised Roller with a spear to kick-start the matchup...while I expected Roller to target the previously-injured leg, he instead focused his attack on the ribs when he gained control of the bout. While Roller was able to avoid and counter Surge's spinebuster on several occasions, Surge finally managed to hit his signature move for the win in 10:59.
"The Wind Of Destruction" Makaze vs. "The Master Of Hairflips" Brandon Aarons for the Heavyweight Title, no-DQ match: In October, Makaze threw a fireball in Aarons' face behind the referee's back to end his nearly-year-long title reign. That led to this no-disqualification rematch and Aarons came prepared with steel chair in hand. Things broke down in a hurry as the ring bell and multiple tables were used...then Jaden Roller made his presence known to tilt the odds in favor of the champion(no-DQ!). Roller delivered an axe kick on Aarons, but Adrian Surge finally ran out to chase off Roller. Things were back to one-on-one and Makaze sent a message to our guest commentator Dingo by delivering a fisherman buster onto a set-up chair! My favorite commentary line from the night was the observation that the ring area looked like Makaze went to Ikea for Black Friday...bwahahaha. Makaze hit a top-rope Death Valley Driver onto one of the set-up tables, but he wasn't content to just win the match...he went under the ring for a toolbox and came up with lighter fluid and a lighter! I thought he was going to douse the table, but he sprayed the fluid on Aarons HIMSELF...and that got Dingo out of his seat to rush the ring with a chair in hand. The referee had finally had enough, throwing the match out at 15:00 for Aarons' own safety. There will be another day for these two...and at Dynamo's next show on December 16th, it'll be Aarons & Surge against Makaze & Roller.
A lot of crazy stuff has happened in the St. Louis wrestling scene in the past few days...I may or may not touch on that in due time. It's not easy to focus on the positives, which is what I TRY to do...especially since some people are really thin-skinned about criticism. Oh well, such is life. I'm behind schedule as usual...I went to the beautiful and/or historic South Broadway Athletic Club for the Mid-Missouri Wrestling Alliance show this past Saturday, so that will be next on the agenda. This coming weekend has Southern Illinois Championship Wrestling in East Carondelet, Illinois on Saturday, then the National Wrasslin' League in O'Fallon, Missouri on Sunday.
That's my special comment for this, the sixty-first 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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