Now, as promised, a special comment about the Mid-Missouri Wrestling Alliance show on Saturday, April 14th at the South Broadway Athletic Club in St. Louis, Missouri.
DISCLAIMER: I'm biased. Deal with it.
Some combination of allergies and weather changes seemed to wipe me out this past weekend...any time on Saturday or Sunday that I wasn't at a wrestling show, I was probably in bed. Taking better care of myself seems to be edging upwards on my personal priority meter...and if it means de-prioritizing professional wrestling, that's what it'll have to mean. Age and sedentary living decisions will catch up to anybody, I suppose.
I stopped for gas and cough drops on the way to the show and got to the venue later than usual...the line was out the door when I arrived, so I made a call to Ben Simon to check on whether I'd be able to get a ticket. I crossed paths with several familiar faces including "Evil" Jim Yount, Crystal Yount, Sadie Blaze, Mike Outlaw, and Drew Abbenhaus...always nice to be in good company for the evening. Of course, I didn't stay in one place for very long due to the lack of a dedicated seat...I also dressed a bit warmly for the evening as the crowded venue meant a stuffy atmosphere.
Your ring announcer was Ben Simon; your referees were Jay King, Shaft, and Nick Ridenour.
A lengthy segment kicked off the show as the St. Louis Wrestling Hall Of Fame was expanded to include the independent scene...and its first two entrants in that regard will be MMWA promoter Tony Casta and SICW promoter Herb Simmons. There are quite a few good candidates for this particular section of the STL Hall Of Fame, including Gary Jackson and Ron Powers. This meant that the opening match didn't start until around 8:30...
Frodo "The Ghost" Meyer(w/ Khayman & Abigail) vs. "The Caramel Bear" C.J. Shine(w/ The Snitch): Shine and Snitch are an odd team on paper, but they seem to know each other well enough to operate as a cohesive unit. Frodo was returning from injury; his absence meant that Khayman was left in a handicap match situation in March where Shine & Snitch got the victory. The outside parties(other than Abigail) got involved on a few occasions, but this meant that the referee's eye was not on the action as Frodo had Shine pinned after his wheelbarrow DDT finisher. As the official was occupied with a skirmish between Snitch and Khayman, Shine stunned Frodo with a mule kick to the Universal Weak Point and finished with a TKO in 8:41. I suspect this issue is far from over...
"Night Train/Gorgeous/Great One" Gary Jackson vs. "The Incomparable" Deacon Cash: This was another continuation from the previous month as Cash was looking to avenge his previous loss to the multi-time Heavyweight Champion. Cash has dropped quite a bit of weight with the side effect of his ring attire looking a bit loose...hopefully he gets that resized. While he still throws a lot of suplexes, he may have to alter his style to accomodate his smaller size. Gary Jackson Fashion Watch(tm): Blue and gold robe, gold trunks with fringe. It was another competitive matchup between two of the top guys in the MMWA, but this time the result was different as Cash scored the upset with a sunset flip out of the corner in 11:38! Cash wasted no time in gloating about his victory, as you might expect...
Moondog Rover vs. "The Party Wave" Johnny Park: This was said to be the rest of an open challenge by Park, something which rarely goes well for the rulebreaking types. While Park stayed in the fight for longer than expected, he was simply overpowered on this night; Moondog OVAH finished with the front powerslam in 7:50.
Former local competitor Bishop Stevens said a few words to the fans...he was known in this area as "Atomic Dog" Steve Sharp (Kevin X's brother) and was MMWA Heavyweight Champion at one time. I also saw him work a WWF dark match as Ali Stevens. I only saw him once or twice in Gateway Championship Wrestling so I admittedly didn't know him that well, but nowadays he's an actor and has a movie or two coming out. Cool for him...hey, if you can make a living without getting yourself banged up, more power to you.
Intermission~! Official Ben Simon Concession Count(tm): Cheeseburger, bottle of water, Sierra Mist. (I literally had nothing to eat that day before going to the show...)
"2.0" Da'Marius Jones vs. "The Spanish Red Devil" Ricky Rodriguez for the Cruiserweight Title: It was tough to tell who the fan favorite was supposed to be in this match, as Jones is technically a rulebreaker but still has a lot of fans at South Broadway. Ricky was set up for the underdog role, except that he was a relative unknown against the more established Jones. Rodriguez focused his attack on the arm of the champion, but Da'Marius made the comeback to win with a gourdbuster in 6:54. Afterwards, Commissioner Jim Harris informed Jones that his opponent for May would be a familiar foe: Brandon Espinosa! As Ben Simon noted, the title would be on the line if Espy made the weight limit for the championship...
"The Supreme" B.T. Daramola vs. "The Enforcer" Jimmy D, strap match: This stemmed from the show-ending bout in March where B.T. won by disqualification...it was under "tag four turnbuckles" rules. B.T. won a decent brawl in 7:39 by the above conditions...Jimmy D didn't take the loss well and attacked afterwards with the strap, but Ricky Rodriguez hit the ring to run him off.
Savanna Stone vs. "The Little Blue Dragon" Tootie Lynn Ramsey: The previous encounter between these two at Dynamo Pro was interrupted by Rahne Victoria, but this time they got to battle it out to a conclusion. Both were fan favorites which made for an interesting match flow...over the course of the bout, they won over a sometimes-skeptical crowd. I heard "this is wrestling" and "this is awesome" chants during the match! Savanna finished with a Samoan Drop in 8:36, but Tootie gave her a tough fight...I'm sure it won't be the last time these two cross paths.
The Big Texan vs. "Da Bomb" Brian James for the Heavyweight Title, falls-count-anywhere match: Texan captured the title from Moondog Rover in January; James defeated Damion Cortess in March to earn this championship opportunity. These two have battled in the past and traded wins, but things were different in the no-DQ environment. Despite the stipulation, the match didn't leave the ring for very long and I don't recall too many weapons coming into play. Texan has been attempting to diversify his offense, but he doesn't really NEED to do a whole lot more than overpower his opponents...sometimes this can backfire and it happened here. When Texan climbed the turnbuckles for an attempted aerial move, James was able to powerbomb him down to the mat, scoring the surprise win in 9:36 to recapture the MMWA Heavyweight Title!
After the 50/50 drawing (once of these days I'll win a 50/50 raffle...I entered the one in Millstadt when the prize was a few hundred dollars), we got our extra bonus match...
Khayman(w/ Frodo "The Ghost" Meyer & Abigail) vs. The Snitch(w/ "The Caramel Bear" C.J. Shine): Of course this extended from the night's opener when the tag team partners did battle. Khayman seems to work in a rulebreaking style despite being a fan favorite, but I think the team wearing the "HEEL" T-shirts had license on that position in the two matches for the evening. Both cornermen got involved and Frodo was able to hit his wheelbarrow DDT behind the referee's back. Khayman capitalized by locking on the Fujiwara armbar for the tapout in 9:09...thank you and good night!
Once again, I'm behind on my commentaries. Life has gotten busy lately...also, the local scene has blown up with news and drama in the past few weeks. It's getting increasingly difficult to figure out what CAN be said without raising the ire of some thin-skinned individuals. Unfortunately that's the nature of the business and isn't likely to ever change. I'd rather each promotion focus on its own matters and let the fans and their ticket money decide who's doing things "right" or "wrong"...but other people prefer to cling to old grudges from 10-15 years ago. Oh well.
Upcoming commentaries: Wrestling Over Everything from Sunday the 15th in Centreville, IL; Dynamo Pro Wrestling from last night in St. Louis, MO.
The next few weeks look like this:
-Saturday 4/28: Pro Wrestling Championship Series in Alton, IL
-Friday 5/4: Dynamo Pro Wrestling in Glen Carbon, IL
-Saturday 5/5: Dynamo Pro Wrestling in St. Louis, MO(afternoon/Cinco De Mayo Festival); World League Wrestling in Troy, MO(evening);
-Sunday 5/6: Glory Pro Wrestling in Collinsville, IL
-Saturday 5/12: MMWA in St. Louis, MO
-Saturday 5/19: Southern Illinois Championship Wrestling in East Carondelet, IL
-Sunday 5/20: Glory Pro/Resurgence in Swansea, IL; Wrestling Over Everything in Centreville, IL
That's my special comment for this, the twenty-first 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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