Now, as promised, a special comment about the Glory Pro Wrestling: Resurgence show on Sunday, March 25th at the Improvement Hall in Swansea, Illinois.
DISCLAIMER: I'm biased. Deal with it.
Glory Pro decided to revive the Pro Wrestling Resurgence brand for its smaller-scale shows, giving the up-and-coming Midwest talent a platform to shine. After having already set up the Gateway To Glory Tournament to determine an opponent for "The Zombie Princess" Jimmy Jacobs on May 6th, they announced that the winner would also become the new Resurgence Champion. That belt had been left vacant since previous champion Donovan Dijak departed for NXT, but it could turn into a good "midcard" title for Glory Pro as well as a headlining belt on the Resurgence-branded events. They had a really good turnout for the event, all things considered.
Your ring announcer was Ben Simon; your referees were Charlene McKenzie(first female ref in the St. Louis area, to the best of my recollection) and C-Lo Banks.
Mance Warner, "The Neon Icon" Justin D'Air, & Aaron O'Ryan vs. Barackus, Leone Mephisto, & Roy "The Strangler" Lewis: This was my first time seeing Warner or O'Ryan; I'd heard a lot of hype about Mance, who is an IWA Mid-South regular and their reigning Heavyweight Champion. O'Ryan was an unknown to me, but he has an impressive physique and intensity. The rulebreaking trio isolated D'Air for a good portion of the match, but O'Ryan and Mance finally entered the fray and cleaned house. Mance took out Mephisto with a knee trembler and leveled Lewis with a LARIATOOOOO before pinning Mephisto in 7:37.
"The Human Bottle Rocket" Cole Radrick vs. "Proficient" Sage Philips, Gateway To Glory/Resurgence Title Tournament: This was my first time seeing either guy live, though I'd seen a match video or two of Radrick; he had competed for Resurgence in the past. Given the tournament format, I figured the first-round bouts would be on the short side...hopefully we'll get to see more of the competitors down the line. Radrick scored the win with a middle-rope springboard Diamond Cutter(a la Will Ospreay) in 5:46.
Air Wolf vs. "Project" Pat Monix, Gateway To Glory/Resurgence Title Tournament: I think Monix worked for Pro Wrestling Championship Series in the past year or so; Air Wolf was making his Midwest debut after turning a lot of heads on the national independent scene, including an appearance in CHIKARA's Young Lions' Cup Tournament. Monix caught Air Wolf off guard with an immediate suicide dive before he could even enter the ring...from there, he attempted to keep the match grounded. Our first ceiling tile victim actually took place as a result of a simple bodyslam in the ring...whoops. Monix's tactics resulted in a shoving match with official Charlene McKenzie; those never go well for rulebreakers, regardless of gender. Air Wolf fought back to win with a standing moonsault Uranagi(aka standing Spanish Fly, aka C-4) in 8:25.
Donovan Danhausen vs. "Can't Miss" Xavier Walker, Gateway To Glory/Resurgence Title Tournament: Walker has competed in the area as one-half of "Super Future" with Palmer Cruise; he was the largest competitor in the tournament by a comfortable margin. Danhausen has become a familiar face(paint and all) on the Midwest circuit, but he had a tall order ahead of him on this night. Walker controlled a lot of the match with his size and power edge, but Danhausen had a slight experience edge and that made the difference in the end. Danhausen edged out the victory with a bridging O'Connor Roll in 6:28.
"The Diamond Tiger" Kobe Durst vs. Edvin Kudic, Gateway To Glory/Resurgence Title Tournament: The match had been scheduled to be a battle of Pride tag team partners Kudic and Matt Kenway, but Kenway's knee surgery put him on the shelf for the time being. The young Canadian Durst had appeared for Glory Pro in the past, but he was gunning for a consistent roster spot along with the rest of the tournament field. On this night, the tournament's Bosnian representative would have the upper hand by grounding Durst, getting the tapout win via sleeper and bodyscissors in 5:58.
The Viking War Party("The Wildman From The Ozarks" Alex Herzog & "The Warhorse" Jake Parnell) vs. The Space Pirates(Space Monkey & Shane Sabre) vs. No New Friends(Kevin Lee Davidson & "The Millenial" Danny Adams): A lot of unique personalities were involved in this triple threat tag bout. While the Vikings officially parted ways at the end of 2016, the various combinations still team on occasion(including Frank Wyatt). Parnell has been claiming that "Jake Parnell" died when Gary Jay injured him with the turnbuckle hook, leaving only The Warhorse. It's always a treat to see Space Monkey in the St. Louis area. The finish saw a showdown between the biggest men in the match; K.L.D. put away Alex Herzog with the spinebuster in 8:26.
Intermission~! Official Ben Simon Concession Count(tm): One bottle of root beer. (It's funny to see people do a double-take when they think I have a bottle of regular beer.)
"The Human Bottle Rocket" Cole Radrick vs. Donovan Danhausen, Gateway To Glory/Resurgence Title Tournament: Both guys had tough fights in the first round, but only one could advance to the finals. Radrick was able to hit his middle-rope springboard Diamond Cutter but Danhausen rolled out of the ring to escape defeat. Later in the bout, Danhausen delivered a cradle DDT but Radrick got a foot on the bottom rope. One of the competitors would have to bring out heavier artillery to achieve victory...on this night it was Radrick as he hit a pumphandle Michinoku Driver for the win in 7:31.
Air Wolf vs. Edvin Kudic, Gateway To Glory/Resurgence Title Tournament: With the success of his submission game in round one, Kudic utilized the same strategy in an attempt to ground Air Wolf. However, the game plan backfired as the masked man proved proficient on the mat as well, scoring the flash pin with a modified sunset flip in 9:13! It was down to Air Wolf and Cole Radrick in the finals!
Jake Something vs. "The Mad Dragon" Hakim Zane for the Crown Of Glory Title: Zane has been getting some national exposure on TNA/GFW Impact as Rohit Raju...he won a six-way match at the first anniversary show to earn this title shot. Something captured the gold from Myron Reed in October and retained it in a triple threat with Paco Gonzalez and Curt Stallion at the anniversary event. I'd call this my favorite match of the night; the two seemed to know each other very well as they were able to avoid and counter each other's signature maneuvers. It came down to Zane ducking the low lariat from behind and locking on the Crippler Crossface, only for Something to power out of the hold straight into his Fire Thunder Driver(sitout Tombstone) for the win in 12:57. Most tremendous!
Before the main event, the fans seemed to want an encore of C-Lo's performance of The Worm from the SIUE show. He delivered as advertised, adding a Spinerooni while he was at it. C-Lo is OVAH~!
Air Wolf vs. "The Human Bottle Rocket" Cole Radrick, Gateway To Glory/Resurgence Title Tournament: Both guys pulled out all the stops in the tournament final...Air Wolf pulled off an impressive re-entry shooting star press while Radrick somehow managed to deliver a Canadian Destroyer onto the ring apron! Both men showed their resilience as well, able to withstand those maneuvers and keep on fighting. Either man would have made a worthy champion, but it was Air Wolf who emerged victorious after the C-4 in 12:40! Your NEWWWWW Resurgence Champion is Air Wolf!
The return date for the Resurgence brand is May 20th in Swansea, Illinois with Air Wolf making his first defense of the title against former champion Everett Connors...but the masked man has also punched his ticket for Glory Pro earlier in the month to face Jimmy Jacobs!
I'm still a bit behind on my commentaries but I should be caught up in due time...in the meantime, April looks like this:
-Saturday 4/7: Southern Illinois Championship Wrestling in Millstadt, IL; World Powerhouse Wrestling in Jerseyville, IL
-Saturday 4/14: Mid-Missouri Wrestling Alliance in St. Louis, MO(South Broadway)
-Sunday 4/15: Wrestling Over Everything in Centreville, IL
-Saturday 4/21: Dynamo Pro Wrestling in St. Louis, MO(Concordia Turners Gym); SICW in East Carondelet, IL; Rampage Championship Wrestling in Pontoon Beach, IL
-Saturday 4/28: Pro Wrestling Championship Series in Alton, IL
That's my special comment for this, the eighteenth wrestling show I've attended in the year 2018. Good night, good luck, and #yaywrestling.
-PB, Watching Wrestling Wrong Since 1991
P.S. We are all marks.
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