Now, as promised, a special comment about last Sunday's Wrestling Over Everything show at the River's Edge Community Center in Centreville, IL.
DISCLAIMER: I'm biased. Deal with it.
I got the start time right; bonus. Said hi to Gary Jackson and Mark Bland who were also in attendance; Gary occasionally takes in the WOE shows as a spectator. General Manager Darkside was once again missing in action, meaning that Landlord had to relay his messages via phone/text message. The ring was set up diagonally with respect to the walls, which was an odd view of the action...I joked that someone must have played WWF WrestleMania Challenge for the NES recently. (I guess WCW SuperBrawl Wrestling for the SNES works as a reference too...)
Your ring announcer was Moe Romero-Kennedy; your referee was Jason Pemberton; your video commentators were Chris Kaelin & The Landlord.
Brandon Espinosa vs. Deacon Cash: Cash jumped Espy before the opening bell, just to make sure we knew who to cheer. Cash was coming off one of the biggest wins of his career the previous night at the Mid-Missouri Wrestling Alliance show, cleanly pinning Gary Jackson. Espinosa's focus has been divided in recent months as he attempts to focus on advancing his career beyond the Midwest, but he's never opposed to earning some glory close to home. Cash went for his signature lariat, but Espy countered and caught him in the cross-armbreaker for the tapout in 11:36. After the match, The Landlord informed Espy that Darkside had granted him the next shot at the Heavyweight Title on May 20th...all righty then.
Jake Prater vs. Noah: Noah bore a striking resemblance to David X and I mistook him for David X at first; as it turns out, they're brothers. Prater has been on a path of destruction in WOE lately and this was no different, as he put away the upstart with a huge powerbomb in 1:24.
"The Infamous" Tyler Copeland & Benjamin Ulysses Trust vs. The Sabotage Squad(Krispy 2 Pop & John Boi): In a stunner, Copeland rolled up John Boi for a flash pin in 0:51...but the Squad called it a fluke and demanded an immediate no-DQ rematch. As you might expect, things broke down from there...John Boi even took out his aggression on Hardcore Andy(who was working security) with a chair! Presumably the clock was continued from the initial bout as it was called a 10:00 draw...by my timer, we got about 8:09 of the restart so that adds up. Landlord announced that the teams would face each other again on May 20th in a street fight so there would be an undisputed winner.
David X vs. "The Supreme" B.T. Daramola: While B.T. had the advantage in size and experience, David X was able to outmaneuver him in the early minutes of the bout...that was enough of a frustration that B.T. simply took a walk for the countout in 3:44. That was random...even more random was the surprise appearance by Everett Connors who beat down David X and took selfies after the fact. That's the most random grudge match ever...
Miss Monica Passeri vs. Harley: I hadn't seen Harley before; she competes in the Springfield, Illinois area from what I understand. While Monica was the more established competitor in this area(currently holding the World League Wrestling Women's Title), Harley scored a bit of an upset victory via Flatliner in 7:02. Harley continued to dish out punishment after the match, prompting Karim Brigante to come to the aid of his lady.
Intermission~! Official Ben Simon Concession Count(tm): Mountain Dew and bottle of water.
"The Unholy Father" Richard Faith(w/ Harley) vs. "K.B. Violence" Karim Brigante for the Interstate Title: Due to the beating dished out earlier in the show, Monica was not in Brigante's corner as usual. Without her presence to counteract Harley, the deck was stacked against Karim on this night...a well-timed low blow behind the referee's back allowed Faith to retain via Blackhole Slam in 6:02. Monica came out after the match, but the Faith/Harley duo was just leaving...and Landlord announced a mixed tag match for May 20th.
"The Gypsy Warrior" Orion Creed vs. "The Notorious" P.T. Beckham: Creed was a nice surprise on the show. He gave Beckham a good fight, but Beckham's angling for another title shot at Mephisto so the outcome seemed inevitable. Beckham cut off Creed on the turnbuckes before finishing with the advanced curbstomp in 5:44.
Leone Mephisto vs. Billy McNeil for the Heavyweight Title: These two have a ton of history dating all the way back to Independent Hardcore Wrestling where they feuded over the championship; they also traded the Interstate Title in this promotion. Billy had a scary moment where he landed badly on a flying headscissors and took some time to recover, but he seemed okay later in the bout. Unfortunately this was not his night all around as P.T. Beckham stormed the ring and decked both champion and challenger with the title belt, leading to a DQ win for Mephisto(since he was struck first) in 11:03. Unfortunately this story got a pre-emptive conclusion earlier this week as Mephisto announced that he was forfeiting the WOE Heavyweight Title...presumably he won't be back, leaving the championship situation up in the air.
"2.0" Da'Marius Jones & LaMarcus Clinton vs. "Category 5" Corey Storm & Mickey Midas for the Tag Team Titles: Both challengers are regulars for IWA Mid-South; Midas started his career as Mickey Muscles and teamed with his brother Myron Reed in The Brotherhood. It's been notable that the Tag Titles have main-evented the shows in recent times over the Heavyweight Championship. I hadn't seen Storm before; I think he worked WOE in the past but I wasn't there to see him. I had seen Midas at least once at Glory Pro. They had a really good main event that was slightly marred by the involvement of the Sabotage Squad...their inference backfired in the end, leading to Jones pinning Midas in 9:53 after he and L.M.C. hit a Flatliner/Buff Blockbuster combo. Krispy and John Boi jumped the champions afterwards, but Storm & Midas came to their defense and fought off the Squad...cue Mutual Respect(tm) to close out the show.
I'm writing this after having attended the Pro Wrestling Championship Series show this evening, so I've got two more shows to write about...a non-profit journalist's job is never done, I suppose.
May looks like this:
-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: Mid-Missouri Wrestling Alliance 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-second 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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