TBP Special Comment

Now, as promised, a special comment about the "Beard Productions" show on Friday, June 1st at the Knights Of Columbus Hall in Cahokia, Illinois.

DISCLAIMER:  I'm biased.  Deal with it.

I heard about this show the day that it happened; Tony Esteem had posted about it on Twitter but I had missed those messages.  Ben Simon contacted me to ask if I would be going, so I decided to check it out...it would definitely prove to be a unique experience and Ben joined me for the evening.  I hadn't been to the Cahokia venue in several years...NWA Central States Championship Wrestling ran there once and Mid-America Xtreme had shows at the venue on a regular basis.

Your ring announcer was Chris Roedel; your referee was Luke Roberts(who hadn't worn the stripes in a long time).

The night started with a beer chugging contest with three contestants...I think two were podcast hosts and a third was an older fan(who ended up winning).  Dynamo Pro Heavyweight Champion "The Wind Of Destruction" Makaze was in the house as a judge for both the beer chugging competition and the boxing and mixed-martial-arts bouts.

Kyle Hammer vs. Jimmi LaFleur:  I've seen Hammer recently at Outlaw Wrestling, Pro Wrestling Championship Wrestling, and Strictly Nsane Pro Wrestling...I first knew him as a ring announcer for St. Louis Anarchy but he's made the transition to an active competitor.  In that regard, he actually had a slight experience edge on relative newcomer LaFleur and got into his head with his trash-talking.  Hammer scored the victory after a DDT in 6:46.

"The Spanish Red Devil" Ricky Rodriguez vs. Tony Esteem:  These guys have been on opposite sides of a recent tag feud with Ricky aligning with the veteran Jackal and Esteem teaming with LaFleur.  Ricky has struggled to pick up wins thus far, but the fans usually get behind him as an underdog.  It looked like Esteem was setting up for the win with his headlock driver finisher, but Ricky countered nicely with a belly-to-back suplex into a rollup for the flash pin in 7:19.  LaFleur hit the ring to help Esteem beat down Rodriguez after the match (I guess Kyle Hammer wasn't available for a save), doing damage with a chair before finishing with their sideslam/top-rope elbowdrop combo.

Intermission~!  Official Ben Simon Concession Count(tm):  Mountain Dew and pizza.  I also bought a 50/50 raffle ticket, though I didn't win...one of these days...

Brandon Dalton vs. Jason Thompson, boxing challenge:  I don't think Luke Roberts has officiated too many boxing matches(or MMA bouts for that matter).  Ben Simon(who's far more familiar with the rules of those sports) was decidedly unhappy with the uncalled rule infractions in both bouts...both guys seemed to have trouble keeping their boxing gloves on their hands and they ended up duct-taping them.  Thompson won by second-round knockout when the referee stopped the match.

Jack Tate vs. Collin Reagin, mixed martial arts challenge:  This didn't seem drastically different from the previous match...it seemed like most of the audience at the show was there to see these two matches.  I THINK these guys do a podcast but don't hold me to that.  At any rate, there was more than just punching obviously and it went longer than the previous bout...Tate got the tapout victory with a guillotine hold in the third round.

This was a different sort of show and I didn't know what to expect out of the second half...I imagine my colleagues who are better versed in boxing and MMA would be more qualified to speak on those bouts.

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