Now, as promised, a special comment about the Dynamo Pro Wrestling show on Saturday, December 16th at the Concordia Turners Gymnasium in St. Louis, Missouri.
DISCLAIMER: I'm biased. Deal with it.
The rebuilding year for Dynamo Pro wrapped up at their new "home base" this past weekend. They're built a solid audience at Concordia Turners and hopefully that fanbase will continue to grow in 2018. I jumped the gun on the Tag Team Titles earlier this year and was mistaken, but I heard from a good source that the D-1 Championship will be reactivated in the new year...so we can add that to a revived tag team division and the fledgling women's division.
Your ring announcer was Chris Roedel; your referees were Richard White & Martin Kattich. Your video commentators were Luke Roberts and Patrick Brandmeyer.
Frodo "The Ghost" Meyer vs. Aqua Bandito: This was Bandito's Dynamo Pro debut but he didn't fare too well against Frodo The Ghost in this "pre-show" match; thanks to this, the festivities started a bit early at about fifteen minutes before the official belltime. Frodo knocked his opponent down in the corner and did a Vader Bomb-style pump into a knee smash on his opponent; it appeared as though Bandito kicked out right at three, but the referee's hand hit the mat and that was the finish in 3:30.
"The Gypsy Warrior" Orion Creed vs. Roy "The Strangler" Lewis: Creed was a fan favorite in his Dynamo debut after previously being a rulebreaker in World League Wrestling; he has looked impressive in the early stages of his career. Lewis picked up a big win over Jackal in November and hoped to gain more momentum on this night. This one could have easily gone either way and Lewis nearly caught Creed in the cobra clutch that got him the win in November...however, Creed turned the tide and delivered an inverted swinging neckbreaker that ended in a Stone Cold Stunner! That scored him the hard-fought victory in 11:00, putting him on the map in Dynamo Pro.
Jackal vs. Tag Team Champion Viktor Von Stein: We hear the David vs. Goliath analogy in wrestling a lot, but it was very appropriate here as the former GCW Light Heavyweight Champion crossed paths with the massive heavyweight Von Stein. While Jackal had an edge in speed and agility, he also had a huge experience advantage and was able to capitalize on his larger opponent's mistakes. Von Stein seemed to take his opponent lightly and was content to manhandle Jackal with his size and power...but he let Jackal hang around for too long and paid for it. Jackal delivered his flipping low DDT and a frog splash, then got the flash pin with a jackknife cradle in 6:10.
Outtkast vs. The Snitch: As usual, The Sntich had Chris Roedel deliver his pre-match rant...he's still protesting the battle royal from 4 Hands Brewery and was carrying a sign: "Days With No Title Shot". He had another open challenge, which didn't work out well for him the previous month...this time around, he got the former D-1 Champion in his return to action. Snitch has been accounting himself well in recent months, despite how his win-loss record looks...on this night, he went toe-to-to with a tough local veteran and held his own. It's hard to believe that I've been watching Outtkast compete for about fifteen years (give or take a few sabbaticals on his part). Snitch focused on the leg for most of the match, but Outtkast was able to make a comeback and land his signature dropkick off the second rope. A slight ref bump allowed Snitch to land a flying clothesline off the middle rope for a close near-fall, but Outtkast fought back to win with the Case Study in 10:40. I saw no ring rust on the part of Outtkast...it looks like he's ready to fight the top contenders once again!
"The Valedictorian" Keon Option vs. Tag Team Champion Xavier Shadows: "The Neon Icon" Justin D'Air recently moved out of the area, so it looks like Option will be flying solo for the moment. Time will tell if Option finds a new tag team partner to re-target the Tag Team Titles he once held. Option was in the giving mood, entering with a gift bag to give presents to the ringside fans. This one didn't go long as Viktor Von Stein quickly made his presence known, making his way to ringside with a metal folding chair in hand. This distraction allowed Shadows to hit a low blow behind the referee's back, then get the cheap rollup pin in 3:04. Once Option recovered, he vowed to the fans that he would rebound in 2018...
Ricky Rodriguez vs. Tony Esteem: Two newcomers to the wrestling world crossed paths in this bout; both made their professional debuts fairly recently in Dynamo Pro. Rodriguez had a fine showing against Makaze at 4 Hands Brewery in October, while Esteem debuted that same weekend in a tag match alongside Snitch against Brandon Espinosa & Jackal. I joked on commentary that Esteem might best be defeated by throwing Nair on him...the man sports some impressive chest hair along with his vaunted beard. These two will be a big part of Dynamo Pro's rebuilding process in the upcoming year. Esteem isn't above cutting corners...a timely eye rake allowed him to finish with a headlock driver(a la Ethan Carter III's One-Percenter) in 5:38.
Intermission~! Official Ben Simon Concession Count(tm): Root beer and water.
Aaron Dzinic vs. Brandon Espinosa: Espy talked about how Dzinic was a training partner of his under the same teacher, but he would just have to beat him like he's beaten the rest of them. Dzinic scored an upset win over then-Dynamo Pro Heavyweight Champion Brandon Aarons at a Pro Wrestling Resurgence show earlier this year, but he's still looking for his first big win under the Dynamo banner. Dzinic survived a lot of punishment in this one, even kicking out of a pin after Espinosa's signature brainbuster...he came back with his Detonation Kick but was unable to capitalize with a pin attempt. In the end, Espy was able to catch him in the cross-armbreaker for the hard-fought tapout win in 11:56.
Savanna Stone vs. Tootie Lynn Ramsey: Savanna was in the unusual position of having the experience advantage over Tootie, who was making her professional wrestling debut. The fan favorites had a feeling-out process for about two minutes, but then Rahne Victoria decided to make an appearance. She reminded everyone that she had beaten Savanna at the October Concordia show(ignoring the fact that Savanna won the rematch the following day at 4 Hands), then complained about being left off both the November show and this event in favor of Savanna. Co-promoter Crystal Yount decided to add Rahne to the match to make it a triple threat bout...
Savanna Stone vs. Tootie Lynn Ramsey vs. Rahne Victoria: Rahne was in a tough spot with both opponents wanting a piece of her, so she did her best to duck out of the line of fire as often as possible. It was a baptism by fire for Tootie to make her debut in a triple threat matchup; I think it was several months before Savanna or Rahne participated in that style of bout. All in all, I thought she did a fine job for her first in-ring appearance...I am looking forward to seeing how she does in the near future. Plenty has already been said about Savanna...and I think Rahne gets less hype than she deserves by comparison, as she's following a different path as a rulebreaker. Suffice it to say that the future of women's wrestling in the St. Louis area looks very bright, from my perspective. One of Tootie's highlights was a roundhouse kick that probably had Rahne rethinking her decision to interject herself. The finish saw Savanna hit the Sliced Bread #2 on Tootie(and the move looked the best I've ever seen it), only for Rahne to dump Savanna out of the ring and steal the pin on the rookie in 6:19 (booyaka?). Tootie got a nice ovation for her debut performance.
"The Master Of Hairflips" Brandon Aarons & "Lights Out" Adrian Surge vs. Heavyweight Champion "The Wind Of Destruction" Makaze & "The Heartthrob" Jaden Roller: All four men had issues with each other on different levels...Aarons and Surge even had a few matches earlier in the year but they're on the same side now. Of course, both want to be the Heavyweight Champion and their paths may cross in the race for contention. One has to wonder if the same thing would occur if Roller found himself in contention for Makaze's title...alliances can be short-lived when you're a titleholder. Surge's usual "lights out" entrance was highlighted by Surge wielding a toy lightsaber in honor of the opening weekend for The Last Jedi...I still haven't seen it but it'll happen soon.
The competitive bout saw the fan favorites take control near the end...Surge hit the spinebuster on Roller and Aarons followed up with the close-range superkick, but Makaze blatantly pulled the referee out of the ring and decked him! Roller took the opportunity to sneak in a low blow on Aarons and Makaze got a toolbox from under the ring...the previous month he had lighter fluid and a lighter, but this time he simply went for the direct approach and brought out a hammer to assault Aarons. However, miscommunication reared its ugly head as the champion accidentally took out his partner Roller with the weapon. As a second official made his way to the ring, Aarons leveled Makaze with a superkick, then went to the top rope to deliver a flying double-stomp...that allowed Aarons to get the three-count thanks to the second referee in 16:32! Aarons is in position for another title shot down the line...we'll see what 2018 has in store for The Master Of Hairflips.
Post-show saw what may become a regular tradition for shows at Concordia as I met Ben Simon, Brian Kelley, and Drew Abbenhaus at Marco's Pizza nearby...I park in their lot most of the time anyway, so it's basically within walking distance. I just had a couple of slices of sausage and mushroom pizza as well as some Pepsi...not bad, coming from someone who's not normally a mushroom guy.
All-American Wrestling on the 30th has a stacked card once again and I'm still deciding whether I want to make travel plans...updates as warranted, I suppose. I'm getting to the age where I'm appreciating my downtime a bit more, as this current holiday weekend would attest. We shall see...I'll probably do some kind of year-end gimmick either way.
That's my special comment for this, the sixty-fifth 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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