Now, as promised, a special comment about Saturday's Southern Illinois Championship Wrestling show at the Community Center in East Carondelet, Illinois.
DISCLAIMER: I'm biased. Deal with it.
The past month and a half haven't been kind to me health-wise, sorry to say. Flu season has hit me hard and I have a toothache on top of that; I need to stop putting off a trip to the dentist in that regard. It was another full weekend of wrestling with two shows as the year continues to wind down...attendance seems to be down a bit in East Carondelet, if the last couple of shows are any indication, but they tend to bounce back with relative ease.
Your ring announcer was Drew Abbenhaus; your referees were Nick Ridenour, Shaft, and Jay King.
A young man named Terrence sang the National Anthem to kick off the show, then promoter Herb Simmons spoke to the fans along with television commentator "The King Of Chaos" Ricky Cruz. After that, Larry Matysik made his way to the timekeeper's table for his now-traditional call of the action.
"The Enforcer" Jimmy D vs. Waco: I still have a hard time seeing Jimmy D as a good guy when he's such a natural rulebreaker. This opener started off more technical than I would have expected, but Waco is actually fairly underrated in that department. Nothing would be settled on this night as the two battled to a 10:00 time-limit draw.
Keith Smith Jr. vs. Shawn Santel(w/ Mauler McDarby): I hadn't seen the Professionals in any capacity in quite some time, but I always appreciate seeing them in the ring; if SICW had Tag Team Titles, that duo would be a good fit for them. I first saw Truth Martini trainee Santel in this very building about ten years ago, if I remember correctly. Keith Jr.'s size is not to be underestimated, which I realized a few months ago when he was noticably the bigger of the two in a battle with The Big Texan. Santel had a big experience edge, as well as the outside help of McDarby, but Keith Jr. scored the victory on this night with a fireman's-carry double-knee gutbuster(a la Roderick Strong) in 7:40.
Santa Claus paid a visit to give candy gifts to the fans...he seems to get booked for a lot of appearances around this time of year. It seemed like this was the cue for intermission, but we had one more match before that.
"The Wrestling Machine" Dave Vaughn vs. Flaming Freddie Fury: Fury brought a Santa-themed mask along with his usual garb, kindly requesting that referee Jay King wear it for the contest; I felt like this indicated some level of biased officiating, but Jay called it right down the middle as usual. Vaughn had little time for Fury's usual shenanigans, winning in short order with the double-underhook DDT in 3:33.
Intermission~! Official Ben Simon Concession Count(tm): Three bottles of water and a soft pretzel.
Herb brought out manager Travis Cook in an attempt to coax some holiday spirit out of him. Travis was in a bad mood as neither of his proteges("The Icon" Chris Hargas and "Superstar" Steve Fender) were in attendance for the night. Travis is still protesting the sleeperhold in the best-of-three-falls match between Ken Kasa and Hargas, claiming Hargas should have won teh match at that moment...despite Herb's best efforts, Cook trashed the fans before departing. I imagine his mind was elsewhere with a lot of Roy Moore campaign work on his agenda...
"Night Train/Gorgeous/Great One" Gary Jackson & Moondog Rover vs. The Big Texan & Mauler McDarby: Gary Jackson Fashion Watch(tm) for the night: Red Christmas hat with winter earflaps, plus black ring coat and red trunks. Some interpromotional bad blood spilled over to the east side of the river as Moondog had used underhanded tactics to retain the Mid-Missouri Wrestling Alliance Heavyweight Title against Texan the previous weekend. While Jackson and Moondog have been colleagues for years, the makeshift duo on the other side of the ring wasn't quite on the same page; it was odd for Santel and McDarby to be separated in such a manner, but such is life. I wouldn't mind seeing Jackson and McDarby have a singles bout down the line and I suspect that may be in the cards. Jackson small-packaged McDarby for the win in 12:04 as Moondog and Texan brawled on the floor...the end of the match barely registered with the two big guys as their partners had to join the referees and ringside security to separate them.
Bobby D vs. "Big Country" Clint Poe(w/ Big Daddy): Poe went to the Dark Side of The Force in Swansea; he joined his longtime tag partner Cowboy Marc Houston in a two-on-one assault on Classic Champion Ken Kasa. In doing so, he came under the advisement of the veteran manager, though Big Daddy seemed more interested in chatting up ringsiders on this evening. While Bobby D is usually game for a good fight, he was overpowered here as Poe controlled most of the bout; Poe won after two running powerslams in 6:49. Drew got a post-match interview, during which Poe claimed to have received little respect and few opportunities in SICW by being a "nice guy"...so things had to change.
Flash Flanagan vs. Cowboy Marc Houston(w/ Big Daddy): These two have crossed paths a few times in the past year, including the Classic Title tournament in which Flash pinned Houston to advance to the finals. Both were looking to move forward into title contention, but a decisive result would not happen on this night as Clint Poe interfered for the DQ in 9:18. Ken Kasa made the save and the challenge was made for a tag match at the first show of the year(January 20th); promoter Herb Simmons took the match suggestion under advisement pending the outcome of this night's main event.
Intermission numero dos~! No soda on this night, at any rate, and I wasn't feeling up to a post-show food run...
"Ironman" Ken Kasa vs. "Volatile" Curtis Wylde(w/ Wyldefyre) for the Classic Title: Wylde has been outspoken for his entire career, but particularly in SICW where he feels he should have been in main events and championship opportunities all along. While he made it far into the Classic Title tournament earlier this year, this was his first ever shot at the SICW gold; he was up against the two-time titleholder and the man who had the longest title reign in the promotion's history, Ken Kasa. Kasa outwrestled Wylde in the early stages of the contest, but Wyldefyre's distraction allowed her man to deliver a flying roundhouse kick(shades of Kofi Kingston's Trouble In Paradise). Kasa made the comeback and Wyldefyre tried to intervene again, but it backfired as Kasa boosted her up onto her man, then pushed her downward to force her into a Frankensteiner! Wylde managed to hit the Wylde Ride(Flatliner) out of nowhere for a close near-fall...but when Wyldefyre attempted to interfere with her loaded(?) purse, Kasa turned the tables and Wylde was hit with the weapon instead! That was enough for Kasa to score the pinfall in 14:39, retaining his title once again! Wylde was irate over the loss and vented to the fans before storming out of the ring to close the show...
Tomorrow night is Dynamo Pro's final show of the year at Concordia Turners Gymnasium in St. Louis, Missouri. Several of the promotion's younger competitors will have a chance to shine, including the debuting Tootie Lynn Ramsey as she faces Savanna Stone. Newcomers Ricky Rodriguez and Tony Esteem will go one-on-one, plus Heavyweight Champion Makaze will team with Jaden Roller against Brandon Aarons and Adrian Surge. I will most likely be on commentary alongside Luke Roberts...hope to see you there!
Of course I still have another show from LAST weekend to write about...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 sixty-third 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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