Now, as promised, a special comment about Saturday's Mid-Missouri Wrestling Alliance show at the South Broadway Athletic Club in St. Louis, Missouri.
DISCLAIMER: I'm biased. Deal with it.
It was a full house to say the least on this evening...I arrived at the venue at about 7:15(with a scheduled start time of 8:00) and was told that it was already standing-room-only! The building was a legit sellout by the end of the night and I heard that some people had to be turned away at the door...needless to say, I spent most of the night on my feet.
Your ring announcer was Ben Simon; your referees were Nick Ridenour, Jay King, and Shaft.
The sound system was on the fritz for the National Anthem, so Ben encouraged the fans to sing the words...they seemed to know it pretty well. Thankfully the music went smoothly for the rest of the night.
"The Supreme" B.T. Daramola vs. Damion Cortess: My immediate joke about the opener was that it was a match one of these competitors might just win. B.T.'s new ring attire seemed reminiscent of The Godfather. The super-hot crowd helped this match and all of the others for the evening...B.T. won after a bulldog onto the knee in 5:22.
"2.0" Da'Marius Jones(w/ A.J. Williams) vs. Deacon Cash, lumberjack match: Most of the roster in attendance was at ringside for this one. Neither wrestler is what one would call a "good guy", though Jones seemed to have the definite edge in popularity on this night. One highlight saw Cash superplex Jones to the floor into several lumberjacks! Cash nearly regained his title after delivering the lariat, but A.J. pulled the referee out of the ring to stop the count. As the lumberjacks occupied the official's attention, Williams entered the ring to superkick Cash, then joined forces with Jones to deliver a Flapjack/Paydirt combo! That was enough for Jones to score the pin in 10:13 once the ref returned to the ring...so who am I supposed to cheer again?
Tensions were high as the wrestlers all wanted to fight, so the night's scheduled battle royal was kick-started...
Nine-Man Battle Royal: The winner would receive a Heavyweight Title shot at Moondog Rover later in the night. With Commissioner Jim Harris out sick, Ben Simon relayed his messages (presumably he was watching the live YouTube stream). The battered Cash was quickly eliminated by Frodo Meyer. J-Mal Swagg was the next out at the hands of The Big Texan. In rapid succession, Frodo was dumped by C.J. Shine, Shine was tossed by Brian James and Texan threw out Khayman; that left a final four of Gary Jackson, James, Texan, and Jimmy D. Jackson disposed of D, but his old issues with James resurfaced as James threw him out from behind. Texan took advantage of the situation to eliminate James from behind as Jackson pulled him to the floor, winning the battle royal in 3:52!
Intermission~! Official Ben Simon Concession Count(tm): Two bottles of water and a cheesebuger. I've only had two sodas since my root canal on January 4th and one of them was because a fast rood drive-thru accidentally gave me Coca-Cola instead of tea with my order...
"Night Train/Gorgeous/Great One" Gary Jackson vs. "Da Bomb" Brian James: This has been an off-and-on feud for a long time; perhaps we would get SOME closure here? Gary Jackson Fashion Watch(tm): Silver ring jacket and pink trunks. This was a solid match between two local veterans who I've always enjoyed watching. James(who once went by "Flyin' Brian James") can still take to the air these days. Jackson nearly got the win with the Texas Cloverleaf but James made it to the ropes. As the referee was occupied with Gary, A.J. Williams ran down to ringside and slipped an international object to James...James used it to coldcock Jackson and deposited the weapon outside the ring. After that illegal move, James delivered his sitout gourdbuster finisher for the big win in 7:10...and per Ben Simon, James had earned himself a future Heavyweight Title shot as a result.
Khayman & Frodo "The Ghost" Meyer(w/ Abigail) vs. "The Caramel Bear" C.J. Shine & Flaming Freddie Fury: So who were the fan favorites in THIS one? Khayman and Frodo came out the fan favorite entranceway but sure didn't wrestle like fan favorites. Meanwhile Shine was definitely working as a rulebreaker...so the only one who the fans seemed to like was Flaming Freddie. God help us all. Shine was isolated from his corner for a long time but finally made the tag to Fury...then took a walk, leaving the masked man to fend for himself. With the numbers against him, Fury was double-teamed and pinned by Frodo after the wheelbarrow DDT in 10:51.
Moondog Rover vs. The Big Texan for the Heavyweight Title: Moondog beat Texan in December via questionable tactics, holding the ropes for illegal leverage during the pin. I've talked up Texan quite a bit in these commentaries for getting in better shape...I'm going through my own attempts at weight loss so I know it's not an easy road. This was not expected to be a technical classic as the two big guys slugged it out over the richest prize at South Broadway...and chicanery would rear its head in this match's finish as well. The referee was accidentally knocked down and Texan took the opportunity to hit Moondog with his own bone. Texan delivered not one but two big splashes and the referee recovered to count three...The Big Texan is your NEWWWWW MMWA Heavyweight Champion!
"The Enforcer" Jimmy D vs. Johnny Park: Oh yeah, one more match...it was an added attraction since people tend to leave when the show runs late. It was a fairly quick affair to wrap things up...Jimmy D won with a double-underhook DDT in 5:32.
No post-show festivities this time around...I just felt like heading home. I had no chance to chat with Drew Abbenhaus since the building was so full...I had set up shop near the announcers' area so I could see and hear things while not blocking anyone's view. I didn't get much chance to sit down, which is becoming a more appreciated luxury in recent times. The following night was Wrestling Over Everything in Centreville, Illinois...that commentary will be posted (hopefully) in the next few days.
This coming weekend, the National Wrasslin' League returns to O'Fallon, Missouri...I will mostly likely have to go straight from work to the show. Saturday has the choice of Dynamo Pro Wrestling at Concordia Turners Gymnasium in St. Louis, MO or Southern Illinois Championship Wrestling in East Carondelet, Illinois.
That's my special comment for this, the second wrestling show I've attended in the year 2018. Good night, good luck, and #yaywresting.
-PB, Watching Wrestling Wrong Since 1991
P.S. We are all marks.
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