NWL Special Comment

Now, as promised, a special comment about Friday's National Wrasslin' League show at the Elks Lodge in O'Fallon, Missouri.

DISCLAIMER:  I'm biased.  Deal with it.

I had originally been scheduled for a comedy show on Friday evening, but that show was rescheduled so I drove straight from work to O'Fallon for the latest installment of the NWL.  Positioning the shows on a proper weekend night has been a definite boost to attendance as they drew a really good crowd.

Your ring announcer was Ben Simon; your referees were Adam Kennedy and Michael Crase.

Jet Royal vs. Thomas Shire(w/ Drew Gold):  Shire assisted Maverick and Gold with their dirty work at the previous O'Fallon show; so Gold introduced him as his new protege here.  I see Jax Royal in attendance at shows, but is there any timetable for his return?  Jet seems to have settled into a singles push lately (with occasional tag team ventures alongside Anthony "Sharkbait" Gutierrez).  Shire had a definite edge in size and power as well as experience, to say nothing of Gold's presence outside the ring.  Of course Jet had the advantage in the category of flippida-flippida-flippidas (I think that's how the theme music goes).  Jet nearly set up the shooting star press, but Shire kept the ref occupied while Gold crotched the Royal on the top rope.  Shire delivered an atomic facebuster but only got a two-count after that.  Shire's repertoire seems to be a mix of the Real Americans tag team(mostly Jack Swagger with a few hints of Antonio Cesaro)...he got Royal up in a spinning torture rack but Jet managed to escape his grasp, sliding down the back into a sunset flip and rollup for the flash pin in 8:10.

Thor Theriot vs. Anthony "Sharkbait" Gutierrez vs. Matt Kenway (After Dark):  This Kenway bears a striking resemblance to "The Billion-Dollar Brother" Emmett DuBois' accountant Clayton Fox...except that guy had brown hair.  This was originally scheduled to be a singles match between Theriot and Kenway but Sharkbait was added at the last minute.  Kenway had another strong showing (on the heels of his impressive performance against Mike Outlaw at Pro Wrestling Championship Series a few weeks ago).  Theriot was taken out of the game long enough for Sharkbait and Kenway to settle things between themselves.  It looked like Sharkbait was going for a standing C-4(backflip uranagi) but didn't get enough rotation, resulting in a rough landing that was still enough to keep Kenway down for three in 5:00.

The Besties In The World("The Miracle Worker" Davey Vega & "The Dirty Rook" Mat Fitchett) & "Takedown" Javy Torres^H^H^HPaco Gonzalez vs. Top Shelf Entertainment("The Connoisseur" Niles Plonk, Everett Connors, & Rasheed Ali):  One more NWL name change has fallen by the wayside...while Ben introduced him as Javy Torres, the Besties corrected him.  There was no sign of Buddy Shepherd on this night...does this mean the end of the Buddy System?  *sob*  Connors' new song "I Am Him" is...a thing that exists.  After a missed show or two and a few cancellations, I finally got to see Niles Plonk in person...he's got a great character, though sadly Belvedere did not make the trip with him.  This match was as action-packed as expected despite the Top Shelf team's attempts to slow the pace...we did get to see Plonk's Grape Stomp and Corkscrew Elbowdrop when he was in control.  The good guys rallied and the fans were definitely wanting to see the vaunted "Total Taker"...they got their wish with a little bit extra.  Fitchett hoisted up Ali for the Tombstone and Vega perched Connors in position for the Last Ride portion of the move, then Vega and Paco delivered a double chokeslam on Plonk while Fitchett executed the Total Taker!  That was enough for Fitchett to pin Ali in 15:40...most tremendous.

"The Monarch" Jeremy Wyatt vs. Mike Outlaw for the Kansas City Title:  For the sake of accuracy, they've been calling the K.C. belt the "NWL Championship" for the last little while.  To their credit, while that championship has become THE top belt in the promotion, they still make an point to position the Spirit Of NWL Title as the main event on the O'Fallon shows.  Outlaw got a great hometown(home region?) reaction while Wyatt "endeared" himself to the fans as only he can.  These two crossed paths once before in NWL competition with Wyatt picking up the victory.  They had a really good match with Wyatt focusing his attack on Outlaw's arm.  Outlaw made the comeback and was able to avoid Wyatt's Coronation piledriver, so Wyatt finished things up with his old Lightning Spiral finisher for the win in 13:55.

Intermission~!  Official Ben Simon Concession Count(tm):  Hot dog and a bottle of water.  Hey, I didn't have time for dinner between work and the show.  Roscoe Leech was manning the concession stand as per tradition.

"The Mile-High Magnum" Dak(ota) Draper vs. Christian Rose:  Rose entered the match with every intention of attacking Draper's knee...Wyatt had done a number on it in a title match the previous weekend in Overland Park, Kansas.  (CONTINUITY~!)  Draper blew off the injury report as delivered by his opponent, though he did have a slight limp at times during the bout.  Rose stuck to his game plan and was able to keep the larger man off his feet, but Draper was able to use some aerial tactics to turn the tide.  Rose managed to deliver an impressive Styles Clash(!) for a close near-fall, but Draper fought back to win with the Mile-High Doctor Bomb in 9:50.

Jack Foster vs. "The Raging Bull" Maverick(w/ Drew Gold), no-holds-barred match:  HOSS FIGHT~!  This was a rematch from the previous O'Fallon show which ended in a DQ thanks to Shire's interference.  Maverick wasted no time in bringing the plunder into play, though the full garbage can meant that the ring had to be cleaned up afterwards.  They brawled to the backstage area at one point...the fans in attendance didn't see anything that happened in that sequence, but the YouTube video had the footage.  Things nearly went awry for Drew Gold when he accidentally hit his own man with a chair, but Shire ran interference AGAIN only to get speared by Foster.  Foster nearly chokeslammed Gold through a table, but Maverick stopped him with a low blow(no-DQ!) and finished with a sitout fireman's-carry slam(a la Evil's Darkness Falls) in 13:35.  I suspect this issue may not be over...

"Dominican Dynamite" Marti Belle & Savanna Stone vs. Carolina Rodriguez & Rahne Victoria:  This was the first non-mixed tag match in the careers of both Savanna and Rahne; it was also Rahne's NWL debut.  One wouldn't have known from watching the match; I've seen some indie tag matches where the participants weren't well-versed in the proper flow of a tag match, but I thought they both did very well here.  Marti regularly teamed with Mia "Jade" Yim in TNA as members of The Dollhouse and also held the SHINE Tag Team Titles with Jayme Jameson, so she brought a good amount of tag team experience to the table.  I had wondered if the respective egos of Carolina and Rahne could coexist, but they managed to work fairly well together.  The fan favorites picked up the win when Marti speared Rayne for the three-count in 10:54.

"The Stiff Robo Ginger" Gary Jay vs. Leonel Howlett for the Spirit Of NWL Title:  Gary set the stipulations for the championship at the previous show:  No-countout-no-DQ across the board.  It was odd for the champion to be introduced first, but the reason became apparent when Leonel attacked him from behind as he made his entrance.  Leonel delivered a powerbomb into the ringpost before the match even began, leaving the main event in doubt for a moment...but Gary managed to get himself together well enough to proceed with the match.  Gary had bandaged ribs from the previous weekend in Overland Park when Maverick powerbombed him off the apron and through a ringside table (CONTINUITY~!).  There wasn't QUITE as much plunder usage as in the no-holds-barred match earlier in the evening, but quite a bit of the match took place on the floor...Leonel delivered a Death Valley Driver into the corner of the guardrails at one point!  Leonel came very close to capturing the title on more than one occasion; Gary Jay withstood the assault and emerged victorious after a flying Flatliner off the second rope and double-stomp to the back of the head in 13:42!

A good time was had by all as the NWL continues its run across the Midwest...while I consider them a Kansas City promotion that occasionally runs in the St. Louis area, they put on quality shows and have built a good audience in O'Fallon, Missouri.  Their return date to the Elks Lodge is March 16th...more information on that show as it becomes available, as always.

My weekend was far from over, but that's another story for another time...tune in next time:  Same Pat-Time, Same Pat-Channel!

That's my special comment for this, the fourth wrestling show I've attended in the year 2018.  Good night, good luck, and #yaywresting.

-PB, Watching Wresting Wrong Since 1991

P.S. We are all marks.