Now, as promised, a special comment about the Dynamo Pro Wrestling show on Saturday, April 21st at the Concordia Turners Gymnasium in St. Louis, Missouri.
DISCLAIMER: I'm biased. Deal with it.
Lately my weekends have been overtaken by a lot of sleep, meaning that I won't get out of bed for good until mid-to-late afternoon. As such, I don't always have time to get stuff done before it's time to head out to the evening's rasslin...like, say, eating something of substance. Long story, but hopefully I can get things back on the rails in due time...especially given my commentary duties for Dynamo Pro.
A lot of the matches weren't announced until a day or two before the show; the majority of the focus was put on the ladder match main event. In the fine tradition of "card subject to change", the participants in that bout were shuffled around as well...both Jon Webb and Edvin Kudic were unable to compete in their qualifying match so they were replaced by Keon Option and Orion Creed. Brandon Espinosa double-booked himself and was at Cape Championship Wrestling for the night, so he surrendered his spot to Jake Parnell. Brandon Aarons had beaten Adrian Surge to qualify for the ladder match, but was unable to attend this show and Surge took his place by default.
Your ring announcer was Chris Roedel; your referee was Scott Ramsey; your video commentators were Luke Roberts and Patrick Brandmeyer.
The show began with the roster coming out (fan favorites at ringside, rulebreakers on the stage) for a ten-bell salute. Recently passing away: Johnny Valiant, Paul Jones, and Bruno Sammartino. The three gentlemen were a bit before my time as a consistent wrestling fan, sorry to say, though Bruno's legacy practically goes without saying.
In a notable bit of honesty, "The Warhorse" Jake Parnell came out to let the fans know that he was unable to compete for the night due to Missouri blood work not being finalized. He said that he picked three competitors to battle in a triple threat match for the final slot in the ladder match.
"The Mercenary" Graham Bell vs. "The Gypsy Warrior" Orion Creed vs. Roy "The Strangler" Lewis, D-1 Title Tournament: Bell and Creed were both getting second chances, having lost previous qualifying bouts to Jayden Dominic Rose and Keon Option respectively. Lewis and Creed have some recent history with Creed getting the better of Lewis on a few occasions. With those two focused on each other, it may have tipped the scales in Bell's favor...he scored the pin on Lewis after a kneedrop variation of the advanced curbstomp in 8:02.
Jackal & "The Spanish Red Devil" Ricky Rodriguez vs. Tony Esteem & Jimmi LaFleur: As it turned out, this was a glorified handicap match as Esteem wasn't cleared to compete...he stayed at ringside with his arm in a sling and got in a few cheapshots, but he was never officially in the ring for this one. While LaFleur's debut appearance in the ring was a competitive one given the circumstances, the numbers caught up to him and Jackal put him down for three after he and Ricky hit a modified Total Elimination(legsweep/spinning heel kick combo) in 7:24.
"The Hybrid Ace" Jon Webb vs. "The Heartthrob" Jaden Roller: I saw Roller on WWE Raw this past Monday in St. Louis as part of No Way Jose's conga line. He's got the size and physique to get on their radar...hopefully that's a positive sign for his future. Webb had the edge in speed and experience, having held championships all over the Midwest; in fact, he's the current World League Wrestling Heavyweight Champion! After a really good contest, Webb picked up the win via Asai DDT in 6:50.
The Agents Of Chaos(Viktor Von Stein & Xavier Shadowz) vs. Outtkast & "The Caramel Bear" C.J. Shine for the Tag Team Titles: After the Agents cost Outtkast his D-1 Title qualifying match the previous month to The Snitch, Outtkast found a tag team partner to challenge for the Tag Titles. Outtkast had been a GCW and Dynamo Pro Tag Champ with Shorty Biggs in the past, so he had plenty of tag team experience in his corner. While Outtkast and Shine worked fairly well together in the early going, a minor miscommunication between the two allowed the champions to take over. Shine was isolated for a while but finally made the tag to the most experienced competitor in the match. Outtkast cleaned house and the challengers appeared set to capture the titles, but they got their signals crossed again...and Shine turned on his partner out of nowhere, dropping him with a TKO! Shine left him for dead and Von Stein covered for the anticlimatic pinfall in 11:48...is this a full-fledged turn to the Dark Side of The Force for Shine? He's shown that side of himself in other promotions...and given his occasional team-up with The Snitch, who has recently aligned himself with the Agents, perhaps there are some common denominators at play here...
Intermission~! Official Ben Simon Concession Count(tm): Hot dog, Coca-Cola, Mountain Dew.
Savanna Stone vs. Tootie Lynn Ramsey vs. Miss Monica Passeri: With the previous partnership of Savanna and Tootie, this shaped up to be a potential two-on-one situation against the lone rulebreaker Monica (who was another member of No Way Jose's conga line on Raw). However, only one competitor could score the win and that led to a bit of tension between the two friends...Monica took advantage, focusing her attack on Savanna's arm with Tootie left laying outside the ring. Once Tootie re-entered the fray, it was anybody's ballgame...Savanna took out Tootie with a spear, but Monica tilt-a-whirled into a Fujiwara armbar takedown on Savanna. With Tootie in no position to break up the hold, Savanna had no choice but to tap out in 8:22...after the match, it looked like Savanna and Tootie patched things up.
"K.B. Violence" Karim Brigante vs. Jack Gamble for the MWR Missouri Title: Karim was alongside Monica in No Way Jose's conga line on Raw. Jon Webb's strong performances in the Midwest seem to have overshadowed his long-time tag team partner to a degree, but that doesn't mean that Gamble can't compete on a high level against top-notch competition. I don't think the fans really bought into Gamble as a legitimate threat to the championship at first, but as the match progress, the people started to buy in. The match got a good amount of time and Gamble had several very close near-falls, but Brigante finally put him away with the pop-up forearm smash in 13:31.
Mike Outlaw vs. "Lights Out" Adrian Surge vs. "The Valedictorian" Keon Option vs. Jayden Dominic Rose vs. The Snitch vs. "The Mercenary" Graham Bell, ladder match for the vacant D-1 Title: The title had been in limbo for about a year as "Unbreakable" Michael Elgin defeated Outtkast for the belt in February of 2017...but he only defended it once at a Pro Wrestling Resurgence event against Curt Stallion. The title was finally declared vacant a few months ago and a series of qualifying matches took place for this ladder match. Snitch attempted to protect himself by hiding bubble wrap under his T-shirt(similar to Makaze's tactic last month with the metal plate under his gear, only slightly less effective)...once it was discovered, the padding was removed and Snitch was back on even terms with everyone else. Surge had a great opportunity to win the match, but Heavyweight Champion "The Wind Of Destruction" Makaze ran out to give him a low blow before disappearing as fast as he entered. With several competitors out on the floor, Rose and Snitch seemed to be the final two in the running...Rose got to the top of the ladder and got a hold of the belt, pulling it down as Snitch attempted to dump him off the ladder. Rose took a tumble over the top rope into the ringsiders and Snitch had his eye on the belt, but the referee ruled at 18:58 that Rose was the winner since he pulled down the title! The finish was a bit messy, but we have a NEWWWWW D-1 Champion in Jayden Dominic Rose!
Post-show, I met up with Brian Kelley and Ben Simon at nearby Marco's Pizza to mooch off the breadsticks and Pepsi...it was another successful meeting of the Midwest Wrestling Illuminati. (Err...wait...forget I said that...)
I'm finally working on kicking whatever's been ailing me...I'm not usually an energy drink guy, but the Red Bull I had at lunch was a BIG help. I've got to take better care of myself instead of letting my head issues drag me down into a self-fulfilling prophecy. Also, I've got a VERY busy weekend ahead of me...and I still have one more commentary before I'm caught up at the present time.
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); World Powerhouse Wrestling in Collinsville, IL
-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-third 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.
No comments:
Post a Comment