WLW Special Comment

Now, as promised, a special comment about the World League Wrestling show on Saturday, May 5th at the Race Wrestling Arena in Troy, Missouri.

DISCLAIMER:  I'm biased.  Deal with it.

I wasn't sure if I'd be able to go home between the Dynamo Pro matches at the Cinco De Mayo Festival and WLW...as it turned out, it was more efficient to go straight to Troy from Cherokee Street.  Myself and Ben Simon carpooled as usual as we continued our nefarious plans for Midwest wrestling domination...MWAHAHAHA!  Err...anywho, moving on now.

Sadly, Ultimo Dragon's appearance scheduled for June 2nd has since been cancelled...it would have been cool to see him in person.  Nonetheless, gears are turning as it relates to WLW's recent storylines...more on that as we proceed.

Your ring announcer was Dane Horst; your referee was Martin Kattich.

The show kicked off with Kyle Roberts and Superstar Steve Fender being called out to the ring.  Roberts and Scott Steiner had won the Tag Team Titles from Fender and Brandon Espinosa at the Night Of Champions event, but management had reviewed the match video and reversed the decision after the fact, returning the titles to Fender & Espy.  This was due to Steiner not being cleared to officially participate in the match, as well as the use of a steel chair in the finish.  Whether Steiner & Roberts' title reign "counts" in the official championship history is a matter best left to the Internet nitwits, I suppose.  Espy wasn't around to claim his title belt, but Fender was more than happy to hold onto it for him.  Fender attacked Roberts as everyone was taking their leave, but Karim Brigante arrived to run him off.  Roberts only partially appreciated the support, especially since he and Karim were scheduled for a match against each other...and on that note, we had our opener.

"K.B. Violence" Karim Brigante vs. Kyle Roberts for the MWR Missouri Title:  A sombrero came into play in the early going(Cinco De Mayo, you know), but things got serious pretty quickly despite the two both being fan favorites.  This happened to be the only match of the night where the time limit was announced and then noted during the bout, for reference.  Brigante nearly picked up the win after his signature pop-up forearm smash, but Roberts got a foot on the bottom rope.  When he attempted the move again, Roberts countered with a mid-air rana for a close near-fall.  Roberts fought out of a superplex attempt and hit the frog splash, but the 15:00 time limit expired to make it a draw.

Jr. Heavyweight Champion Jayden Dominic Rose vs. "The Wrestler For The People" Rex Fults, non-title:  Rex didn't quite make the weight limit for a title shot at Rose, it would seem.  While Rose had the edge in speed and experience, Rex had raw power and size on his side.  Rex seemed to have things going his way, but Jaden Roller made a grand entrance to antagonize his rival...thanks to the distraction, Rose capitalized with a roundhouse kick to the head and won in 10:51.  Cue verbal exchange between the two, leading to Rex challenging Roller to face him right then and there...

"The Wrestler For The People" Rex Fults vs. "The Heartthrob" Jaden Roller:  It didn't seem like a wise move for a worn-down Rex to challenge a totally fresh Roller, but Rex was motivated to redeem himself after back-to-back losses to The Heartthrob.  In fact, he had an assist from "The Mouth Of The South" Jimmy Hart at Night Of Champions and STILL couldn't get the job done (though Roller's tactics were questionable in the result of that bout).  Rex refused to stay down and took Roller far past what he was likely expecting...Jaden finally had enough and took a walk for the countout loss in 11:57.  That set up a lumberjack match for the June 2nd show...

Intermission~!  Official Ben Simon Concession Count(tm):  Hot dog(pretty much my dinner for the night), bottle of water, Mountain Dew, Pepsi.

Miss Monica Passeri vs. Stacey O'Brien for the Women's Title:  The championship had been dormant for a while as Monica was back in Italy for several months; she had ended Lucy Mendez's ten-month reign last August.  Stacey didn't come out when her music was played, so they rang the bell and the referee started a ten-count for a potential forfeit...however, Stacey entered the ring from the other side(she may have been hiding under the ring; I didn't catch how she appeared) and attacked Monica from behind, throwing her shoulder-first into the ringpost.  The official checked to make sure Monica could continue, but as soon as he signaled for the match to continue, Stacey hit a Codebreaker for the quick win in 1:22...we have a NEWWWWW WLW Women's Champion!  Hopefully this means that they'll do more with the belt, but it was disappointing to see the match go as short as it did.

Heavyweight Champion "The Hybrid Ace" Jon Webb vs. Tag Team Champion "Superstar" Steve Fender:  I thought this had been announced as a title match, but it was clarified before the bell that it was non-title...I'm not sure why, as Fender is a former Heavyweight Champion and would be considered a worthy challenger.  They got a good amount of time, at any rate; Webb focused on the arm in the early going, but Fender turned the tide and attempted to slow down the champion by attacking the ribs.  Webb rallied but was cut off on the top rope by Fender who delivered a belly-to-belly superplex followed by a swandive headbutt off the top...he nearly scored the win, but Brandon Espinosa's music hit and Fender was distracted (he'd earlier claimed that Espy was "running late").  That allowed Webb to get the rollup pin in 21:37...it was a good match, but the champion didn't look all that strong.  I guess you go the underdog route when the top champion is on the smaller side, though...

At any rate, the weekend rolled on...more on that next time around:  Same Pat-Time, Same Pat-Channel.

June looks like this:
-Saturday 6/2:  World League Wrestling in Troy, Missouri
-Saturday 6/9:  Mid-Missouri Wrestling Alliance in St. Louis, MO(South Broadway Athletic Club)
-Friday 6/15:  Dynamo Pro Wrestling in St. Louis, MO(FUBAR)
-Saturday 6/16:  Pro Wrestling Championship Series in Alton, IL; Southern Illinois Championship Wrestling in East Carondelet; IL; World Powerhouse Wrestling in Collinsville, IL
-Sunday 6/17:  Glory Pro Wrestling/Resurgence in Swansea, IL
-Sunday 6/24:  Wrestling Over Everything in Centreville, IL

That's my special comment for this, the twenty-seventh 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.