Now, as promised, a special comment about the Pro Wrestling Championship Series show on Saturday, June 16th at the Spaulding Hall Club in Alton, Illinois.
DISCLAIMER: I'm biased. Deal with it.
My tripleheader weekend continued with PWCS and Stage Two of their fifth season. No one stable really broke out from the pack like the Ego Busters did in 2017, so it's still anybody's ballgame. With each stable holding a season championship to its credit, the trophy is truly up for grabs.
Your ring announcer was Chris Kaelin; your referee was Jason Pemberton. Starting scoreboard: Resurgence/Blacklist 2-1, Submission Squad/Ego Busters 1-2.
"Dirdey" Jake Dirden vs. Thomas Shire: No time was wasted as we got right to this free-agent battle of the big men. Shire tried to get the advantage with his technical knowledge, only to discover that Dirden was no slouch in that department...it was still his main advantage in this bout as the two were practically equal in size and power. Shire even managed to pick up Dirden in a torture rack and spin him around before letting him drop to the mat (a la Antonio Cesaro)! While Shire had another impressive showing in a recent string of them, Dirden came out on top in 12:15 after delivering the spear.
Everett Connors & Evan Gelistico(Submission Squad)(w/ Shawshank) vs. "Lights Out" Adrian Surge & Rasheed Ali(Ego Busters)(w/ Greg Jovi & Shane Sanders): The Ego Busters didn't reveal Surge's tag team partner until the show, which is usually a great way for fans to overinflate their expectations as to the identity of the mystery person. Other than Ali in the place of Christian Rose, this tag match represented the final four in the season championship match in January. Ali rarely travels alone and Sanders wasn't shy about getting involved, something which tipped the scales in the favor of his team; Sanders targeted Connors outside the ring, allowing Ali to low-blow Gelistico in the chaos and roll him up for the tainted pin in 6:27. (Ego Busters 2-2, Submission Squad 1-3)
"Dominican Dynamite" Marti Belle vs. "The Empress Of Evil" Rahne Victoria: These two crossed paths a few times in the National Wrasslin' League in singles and tag team competition. (Marti & Savanna Stone defeated Rahne & Carolina Rodriguez in January at an O'Fallon, MO show.) Rahne had a competitive showing despite the experience disadvantage, using underhanded tactics to her advantage...but Marti's no stranger to those tactics herself. Marti took Rahne down with her version of Jeff Jarrett's Stroke(Russian legsweep into a faceslam), then locked on a Koji Clutch for the tapout in 9:55.
Mike Outlaw(Resurgence) vs. "The Bone Collector" Dominic Garrini(Blacklist): Garrini's grown on me in the handful of times I've seen him locally...he's only about two years into his pro wrestling career and he's already getting a lot of exposure in EVOLVE and other notable independent promotions, so he seems to be in high regard at an early stage of his career. This was his toughest test to date in the St. Louis area against the former Dynamo Pro Heavyweight Champion...Outlaw gave him a run for his money, but Garrini finally got the tapout win in 11:26 with a triangle hold and a series of elbow strikes to the head. (Blacklist 3-1, Resurgence 2-2)
"The Mile-High Magnum" Dak(ota) Draper(Submission Squad) vs. "The Raging Bull" Maverick Mantell(w/ Greg Jovi)(Ego Busters): Jovi(or Drew Gold, if you prefer) took over management of Maverick when he went rulebreaker in the National Wrasslin' League...while that partnership came to an abrupt end toward the end of that promotion's existence, they seem to have patched things up. This was a battle between the longest-reigning NWL Kansas City Champion and the longest-reigning NWL St. Louis Champion...unfortunately, that didn't necessarily translate for the Alton fans who were not overly familiar with the two men. It may take some time for those unfamiliar with the NWL to warm up to them, I suppose...the match itself was very good, at any rate. Draper nearly won with the Mile-High Doctor Bomb but Jovi pulled the referee out of the ring to stop the count. Jovi then tripped up Dak at a key moment, leading to Maverick hitting the LARIATOOOOO~! for the surprise win in 18:05. Losses were rare for Draper in the NWL and I don't think he had EVER lost in this area, so it was a shocker in that regard. (Ego Busters 3-2, Submission Squad 1-4)
Intermission~! Official Ben Simon Concession Count(tm): Mello Yello and root bear. My compatriot Zach offered a few pieces of his baked potato pizza...the Spaulding Hall Club has a unique variety of pizza toppings, I have discovered.
Mighty Micah vs. "8-Ball" Eddy Only vs. Josh Bishop vs. Shane Sanders: Micah made his St. Louis-area debut in the "Worst Royal Rumble" in April and actually lasted until the end before being eliminated by Jake Dirden. Sanders had appeared for the NWL and also teamed with Rasheed Ali at the PWCS show in April. Bishop had appeared in the area a few times, usually in multi-way matches; this was Only's Midwest debut and he made a good first impression. It's tough to evaluate wrestlers in multi-way schmozz matches such as this one, but it's a good place to "get your (stuff) in". Micah pinned Only after a Fameasser in 6:49.
Paco Gonzalez(Resurgence) vs. Matt Kenway(Blacklist) for the Gateway Heritage Title: Kenway wasn't shy about utilizing his backup on the night as Dominic Garrini blindsided Paco in the aisle, clipping his knee. Kenway nearly crash-landed on the floor when his feet got caught on the rope during a suicide dive. Despite that, Kenway focused his attack on the leg with a figure-four leglock, then scored a close near-fall after a powerbomb. Kenway came surprisingly close to scoring the victory, but Paco managed to edge out the victory with the fireman's-carry Michinoku Driver in 13:40! Kenway snapped and destroyed Paco's knee with a chair after the match...I suspect this issue is far from over. (Resurgence 3-2, Blacklist 3-2)
Savanna Stone(Resurgence) vs. Angelus Layne(Blacklist): On the heels of a big win at Dynamo Pro the previous night, Savanna faced an uphill battle; Angelus had a distinct advantage in both strength and experience. Savanna seemed to have difficulty dealing with a larger opponent and I talked to a few fans who were surprised by how one-sided the match seemed to be. It made sense given the above factors, at any rate. Savanna withstood a ton of punishment, even surviving a Death Valley Driver into the turnbuckles (aka Blu-Ray, since, you know, it's better than a DVD). However, a hanging neckbreaker sealed the deal for Layne in 8:22. (Blacklist 4-2, Resurgence 3-3) Savanna will have a chance to even the score at St. Louis Anarchy next weekend...
"The Stiff Robo Ginger" Gary Jay(Submission Squad) vs. "The Millenial" Danny Adams(w/ Greg Jovi)(Ego Busters), last-man-standing match: Adams didn't take any chances, sending Jovi to the backstage area before the match and getting the jump on Gary with a chain. It took several minutes before the brawl even made it into the ring and they even fought outside in the parking lot! Once they finally made it back to the ring, a steel chair came into play as Gary rammed Danny's throat into the edge of the weapon, but Danny retaliated by fastballing the chair into Gary's face. Adams followed up with a hanging Eye Of The Hurricane onto the chair which nearly kept Gary down for the ten-count...when that didn't work, Adams set up and executed a major superplex. It finally boiled down to a mid-ring fight as the two traded forearm smashes...stereo forearms left both men down on the mat. They teased a draw(which was how both men were eliminated from the championship elimination tag in January), but this time Gary was able to get to his feet while Adams stayed down for ten, making Gary the winner in 18:00! (Submission Squad 2-4, Ego Busters 3-3)
After the match, an irate Jovi ranted on the microphone and fired Adams from the Ego Busters, then vowed to have a LOT more to say at the St. Louis Anarchy show on July 13th...stay tuned, I suppose.
Final scoreboard for the night: Blacklist 4-2, Ego Busters/Resurgence 3-3, Submission Squad 2-4. Things are still pretty close, but that could change in a hurry in August...I've heard some interesting rumors about what's in store for Stage Three but we'll have to wait and see what transpires...
While I was at the show, I had the chance to meet Iowa wrestler Valentina Loca...I'd heard a lot about her exploits in that state, including a feud and subsequent tag team partnership with Rahne Victoria. She's a trainee from the Black & The Brave Academy so that's a positive right there...I look forward to seeing her make her way to this area's rings very soon.
I'm gradually catching up on my commentaries and I've still got one more show from this particular weekend to recap...hopefully I'll get that hammered out in the next few days.
The rest of July looks like this:
-Friday 7/13: St. Louis Anarchy in Alton, IL
-Saturday 7/14: Mid-Missouri Wrestling Alliance in St. Louis, MO; Wrestling Over Everything in Centreville, IL
-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)
That's my special comment for this, the thirty-fifth wrestling show I've attended in the year 2018. Good night, good luck, and #yaywrestling.
-PB, Watching Wrestling Since Since 1991
P.S. We are all marks.
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