Now, as promised, a special comment about the Proving Ground Pro show on Saturday, June 30th at The Boar's Nest in Athens, Illinois.
DISCLAIMER: I'm biased. Deal with it.
Both options for June 30th were lengthy trips: Either PGP or Cape Championship Wrestling. I would have been able to carpool with Ben Simon, but I chose Proving Ground Pro for the evening and carpooled with Jason Cline and his son. Attendance at the show got somewhat awkward when Michael Elgin was added to the lineup, but it didn't really affect my perception of the show to any great extent. Take that however you wish.
The Boar's Nest is a bar, but the show was held outside on the patio; there was a roof over the proceedings so we had some shade; I initially wondered if we entered the wrong bar door when we went in and found ourselves among the wrestlers...heh.
Your ring announcers were Sarah Rose and Robby Leach; your referees were Jason Pemberton and some other dude who I didn't know.
Savanna Stone vs. "The Little Blue Dragon" Tootie Lynn Ramsey vs. Sophie King vs. "The Southwest Spitfire" Valentina Loca for the Zero-1 USA Women's Title: Originally Savanna was scheduled to defend against Holidead(who had to cancel a few days before the show) and Tootie and Valentina were to compete in a triple threat bout with Rahne Victoria(who was out with a minor injury). As a result, the women were all put in this four-corner bout with the belt on the line; as is tradition in these multi-way title matches, the champion is at a disadvantage as she doesn't have to be pinned or made to submit to lose her title. I think it was the first time that Valentina had worked with any of the three women, though she'd done an angle with Savanna at a previous show. Only Sophie worked as a rulebreaker in this one, which made for an awkward dynamic. Despite that, the action was really good; I've seen Savanna and Tootie in particular have some strong one-on-one bouts in recent months. The finish saw Savanna even the score with Sophie, scoring the rollup pin in 6:56 to retain her title.
Paco Gonzalez vs. Gyasi: I'd seen Gyasi a few times at Zero-1 and PGP; I believe he's a Black & Brave Academy trainee. Paco was clearly the guy with the fan support on this night; the closer one gets to Paco's hometown of Chicago, the more popular he seems to get. Paco had a slight edge in experience and agility, but Gyasi resorted to underhanded tactics to score the win...Paco had him set up for the fireman's-carry Michinoku Driver, but Gyasi got out of the move and rolled him up with a handful of tights(HEEL~!) in 9:31.
Tyler Matrix vs. Logan James vs. "The Millenial" Danny Adams: I had heard a lot of positive reviews of newcomer Logan James but this was my first time seeing him in action. The match got off to a quick start as Adams jumped Matrix in the aisleway, which brought out James to kick-start the contest. Once the match officially began, it was a relatively short bout...of course in multi-way affairs, anyone can steal a fall at just about any moment. In this case, experience won the day as Adams pinned James after an elevated inverted DDT in 5:11.
The Dixieland Destroyer & Duke Cornell vs. The Top Guys(Adam Slade & Kevin Giza): I had seen Slade & Giza at Glory Pro shows in the past year; they're both entertaining characters. I hadn't seen the masked Destroyer in a VERY long time; given recent current events, he has toned the Stars & Bars motif of his attire WAY down. I had only seen Cornell a handful of times, usually as part of the Guns & Beer team with Bo Gott and Joey Anderson. Slade & Giza had trouble dealing with the significant size difference in the early going, but they finally managed to isolate Cornell for a while. Destroyer got a tag and cleaned house, but made the mistake of tagging Cornell back into the match to finish things. The Top Guys managed to get Destroyer out of play just long enough for Giza to roll up Cornell with feet on the ropes(HEEL~!) for the pin in 8:26.
"Unbreakable" Michael Elgin vs. "The Indestructible" Calvin Tankman: Cue HOSS BATTLE~! Elgin has dropped weight in recent times but it hasn't taken away from his upper body strength...something he would need against a massive opponent like Tankman. On top of that, both guys are capable of leaving their feet when the situation calls for it...in fact, Elgin pulled off a flying rana off the second rope with the aid of one of the overhang beams. Tankman took control with his sheer size and went for a Vader Bomb(R.I.P. Big Van Vader), only for Elgin to powerbomb him down from the turnbuckles! Elgin went for the cover after that, but only got 2 1/2. Elgin made several attempts to lift Tankman into his signature sitout powerbomb...he finally got him up in a double-underhook powerbomb and followed up with a running senton for the win in 10:38!
Promoter Jesse Matthews addressed the fans at this point, announcing that former Franchise Champion "Dirdey" Jake Dirden would return to Proving Ground Pro at their next show in July. I suspect he'll want his title back...
Intermission~! Official Ben Simon Concession Count(tm): Two Pepsis.
Jake Lander vs. Mike Outlaw for the Cutting Edge Title: Previous titleholder Firelord Draconis had retired and vacated the title in April; Lander defeated Gyasi and Paco Gonzalez in a four-man tournament in May to become the new champion. A lot happened in the closing stretch of a very good match; it looked like Outlaw was on the way to a title win after he hit his Go 2 Sleep variation and the mafia kick, scoring the pinfall in 9:20...but the referee had been bumped just prior to that sequence and missed Lander's foot being on the bottom rope. A second official told the first what had happened and the match was restarted...Lander kicked the belt out of Outlaw's grasp(it looked like the belt hit Outlaw in the process), then delivered a rolling Death Valley Driver and close-range superkick for the win in 0:20 of the restart (9:40 total) to retain his title. There was plenty of controversy to go around in this one and I'm sure Outlaw will be looking for a rematch.
Barackus & Mo Atlas vs. Scott Keyes & Dan Liplock: The basic story of the match was that the new team of Barackus & Atlas(since dubbed "The Heavyweight Club") were on the same page and Keyes and Liplock, well, WEREN'T. Barackus was the only competitor in the match who I knew fairly well; Atlas is nearly his equal in terms of sheer size. That meant a long night for the opposing team; on top of that, Liplock seemed intent on looking out for his own interests while Keyes attempted to play things straight. The issues between the team members led to their downfall as Barackus pinned Keyes in 6:50 after a running cross-bodyblock(OOF). Post-match, Keyes and Liplock argued and finally came to blows, ending with Keyes decking Liplock before leaving the ring.
"The Leader Of The Pack" Stephen Wolf vs. Kevin Lee Davidson for the Franchise Title: K.L.D.'s size and power seemed to make him the favorite on paper, but Wolf had been a strong champion in central Illinois and I was not expecting a title change going into this show. It was just a matter of how Wolf would fight...going aerial seemed to be his best bet, as trading strikes with the much larger K.L.D. didn't seem like an effective tactic. The two worked very well together and I'm sure this won't be the last time they cross paths. (I recall two similar competitors named Marcellus Gaines and Todd Letterman facing each other a while back...) On that note, Davidson delivered the Endzone Spike(pumphandle Michinoku Driver) but Wolf shockingly kicked out at two-and-a-half. Wolf had one last gasp of offense, but got caught in K.L.D.'s spinebuster and that was enough for the three-count and a NEWWWWW Franchise Champion in 11:36! With the big man on top of Proving Ground Pro, it'll take a truly special kind of opponent to knock him off his throne...
I'm not QUITE as behind as I once was...I made it through June! WOO~! The summer isn't as slow as it normally is, as there's a lot happening in July and August...see you around.
Upcoming shows:
-Saturday 7/21: World Wrestling Entertainment in St. Louis, MO(Chaifetz Arena); Southern Illinois Championship Wrestling in East Carondelet, IL
-Sunday 7/22: Glory Pro Wrestling in Collinsville, IL
-Saturday 7/28: Dynamo Pro Wrestling in St. Louis, MO(Concordia Turners Gym)
-Friday 8/3: Dynamo Pro Wrestling in Grafton, IL
-Sunday 8/5: Glory Pro Wrestling: Resurgence in Swansea, IL; Southern Illinois Championship Wrestling in St. Louis, MO(Archie Moore Ave.)
-Saturday 8/11: Mid-Missouri Wrestling Alliance in St. Louis, MO
-Sunday 8/12: Wrestling Over Everything in Centreville, IL
-Saturday 8/18: World League Wrestling in Troy, MO; SICW in East Carondelet, IL
-Friday 8/24: St. Louis Anarchy/Pro Wrestling Championship Series in Alton, IL
-Saturday 8/25: SICW in Swansea, IL
That's my special comment for this, the thirty-ninth 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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