Now, as promised, a special comment about the Southern Illinois Championship Wrestling show on Saturday, April 7th at the St. James Parish Center in Millstadt, Illinois.
DISCLAIMER: I'm biased. Deal with it.
I touched on the National Wrasslin' League/St. Louis Anarchy situation in my previous commentary...it sounds like we'll find out more information at the Pro Wrestling Championship Series event on the 28th when Pierre Abernathy(aka Matt Jackson) addresses the fans. I'm sure everyone has their own views on how things went down in the past year and a half, but I just hope that the talented men and women of the Midwest rasslin scene can continue to thrive and make their mark. There are a lot of different places to work within this immediate area and sometimes you just have to look for your best fit. NWL was definitely a stronger presence in the Kansas City area and I hope that the competitors who live in that region can find a solid home base to ply their proverbial trade. (It appears that Metro Pro is restarting, so there you have it!)
Dialing back to WrestleMania weekend, many wrestling fans were binging on the smorgasbord of show options in New Orleans, Louisiana and the surrounding areas. As for my neck of the woods, there was the longer drive to Zero-One USA and there was a relatively short jaunt to Millstadt for SICW's fundraiser. I crossed paths with a high school classmate while I was there...small world.
Alex Pelman(?) sang the National Anthem and promoter Herb Simmons acknowledged the show's sponsors to kick things off...
Your ring announcer was Drew Abbenhaus; your referees were Jay King, Shaft, and Nick Ridenour.
"Your Canadian Hero" Sean Vincent vs. Bobby D: This was a battle of fan favorites, though Bobby D seemed to have a slight edge in popularity. That didn't stop Vincent from pulling out all the stops, including a suicide dive and a moonsault off the second rope! (Nice to have more ceiling room for aerial moves...) D gave him a good fight, scoring a close near-fall after a sunset flip/powerbomb from the turnbuckles...but Vincent put him away with the Death Valley Driver in 6:46.
Moondog Rover vs. Jake Law: It was my first time seeing Law, who is a regular for USA Championship Wrestling in Tennessee. With the fan support almost always in the Moondog's corner, any opponent has an uphill battle ahead of them...add Rover's unorthodox tactics to the equation and Law had a long night on the agenda. Law was able to use some high-risk maneuvers to gain an advantage for a short time, but a missed moonsault led to Moondog winning with the front powerslam in 8:14. Hope to see Law back again sometime!
Manager Travis Cook claimed that King Christopher Hargas was unable to appear due to injury, thus cancelling the scheduled main event between Hargas and the returning "King Of Chaos" Ricky Cruz. Cruz took this bit of information to mean that no one was standing between him and a potential beating to be dished out on the loud-mouthed manager...but Cook had some backup on his side in the form of the former Bubba Troll, now calling himself Kowalski. Kowalski blindsided Cruz and the two brawled around the ring area before order was restored...Herb ordered Cruz vs. Kowalski for later in the night, saying that Cruz would get Travis Cook in the ring for five minutes if he won. All righty then.
Billy McNeil vs. Shawn Santel(w/ Mauler McDarby): McNeil and Sean Vincent fought The Professionals to a time-limit draw in East Carondelet, so Billy was looking for payback as the duo had attempted to injure his shoulder in that bout. Santel tried to keep him grounded by working on his back...and McDarby wasn't shy about getting in a cheapshot or two. Billy fought back and went to the top rope, but missed a Spiral Tap(!) and Santel locked on the Sharpshooter...McNeil was somehow able to fight out of the hold and even get Santel in a Sharpshooter of his own, but the time limit expired in 10:00. There will be another day for these two sides...
Intermission~! Official Ben Simon Concession Count(tm): Sprite, hot dog, Coca-Cola.
Keith Smith Jr. vs. Mauler McDarby(w/ Shawn Santel): Keith Jr. had defeated both Professionals in singles bouts in the past, but Santel and McDarby aren't the types to handle losses all that well. Despite Santel's presence(and involvement) at ringside, Keith Jr. won a competitive matchup with the top-rope splash in 8:17.
"Ironman" Ken Kasa & "The Wrestling Machine" Dave Vaughn vs. Guerrilla Warfare(The Big Texan & Waco): Two cohesive tag team combinations went to war here...while Kasa & Vaughn hadn't teamed in a while, they were once the top contenders to the Dynamo Pro Tag Team Titles. Kasa & Vaughn dusted off their old teamwork to control the early minutes of the matchup, but the masked Texans turned things around and isolated Vaughn. Kasa finally tagged back into the fray and cleaned house along with Vaughn, ending with Kasa Irish-whipping Vaughn into a spear on Texan. However, the referee got occupied with escorting Kasa out of the ring and Waco broke up the pin cover with a loaded-mask diving headbutt! Once the official's attention was back on the legal men, Texan had Vaughn covered for the three-count in 12:58.
"Night Train/Gorgeous/Great One" Gary Jackson vs. "Volatile" Curtis Wylde(w/ Wyldefyre): This rivalry goes back a few years in SICW...when you get two guys together who are never at a loss for words, egos are going to clash. After a solid bout, the fight spilled out of the ring and Wyldefyre attempted to get involved, but she accidentally hit her own man and Jackson beat the ten-count for the win in 11:36. Naturally, this didn't satisfy either man and a rematch was set up for April 21st...
Intermission numero dos~! Not much else to say here, honestly...especially since a lot of wrestling people aren't fond of marks who don't fall in line.
"The King Of Chaos" Ricky Cruz vs. Kowalski(w/ Travis Cook): As one might expect, the two started brawling on the floor before the opening bell could even be rung...they took the full tour of the gymnasium before making it into the ring. It didn't get much more scientific once the bout officially began; Travis Cook got involved in an attempt to save his own neck, as you might expect. While he was risking a disqualification, things worked out in Cook's favor on this night as Cruz was disqualified in 4:17 for hitting Kowalski with a chain that Cook had passed into the ring. Of course the hostilities weren't quite over yet as the fight continued...Travis called in some old backup in the form of The Professionals to tilt the odds in his favor even more. Thankfully Ricky got help from Keith Smith Jr. as well as Ken Kasa and Dave Vaughn...once order was restored, a tag match was set up for the 21st with Cruz & Smith joining forces against The Professionals!
This show had a strong turnout and also set up several matches for the next show...always a plus. April continued to be a busy month with two shows this past weekend, but those are other stories for another time...so tune in next time: Same Pat-Time, Same Pat-Channel!
Next Saturday has three shows in the area: Dynamo Pro Wrestling returns to Concordia Turners Gymnasium in St. Louis, MO. SICW has an event at its home base in East Carondelet, IL. In an interesting addition to the calendar, Rampage Championship Wrestling(which usually runs further north in Illinois) has a show in Pontoon Beach, IL.
That's my special comment for this, the twentieth 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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