SLA Special Comment

Now, as promised, a special comment about the St. Louis Anarchy show on Friday, July 13th at the Spaulding Hall Club in Alton, Illinois.

DISCLAIMER:  I'm biased.  Deal with it.

When the National Wrasslin' League closed up shop, it wasn't long before St. Louis Anarchy decided to get back in the game.  It was established that the promotion would have a working relationship with Pro Wrestling Championship Series(as it did before) and the Gateway Heritage Title(previously the SLA Title) would be defended in both promotions.  Time will tell whether the Tag Team Titles or any other championship will return to circulation.  As it was, the show had a lot of hype behind it and it showed in the attendance; they packed the house with a lot of enthusiastic onlookers.

Your ring announcer was Sarah Rose; your referees were Nick Chinn & Adam Kennedy.

Logan James vs. Mighty Micah vs. "The Tragedy" Slade Porter vs. Mathias Waterman vs. Shane Sanders:  This was the "dark match" and introductions started EXACTLY as the door opened...I was pretty far back in line, so I completely missed the match by the time I made it into the venue.  NOOOOO MY OCD...thankfully Ben Simon filled me in on the details and Micah posted the match video online.  It started in progress so I don't have the exact match, plus the camera dipped down from the ring RIGHT when the finishing move was executed.  I will have to take Ben's word for it; Logan James pinned Porter(who's gone from a fratboy to an opera buff) with a Michinoku Driver in about 7-8 minutes.  Don't recall any significant highlights, but it had solid action and I look forward to seeing more of everyone involved.

"Li'l Hollywood Hills" Everett Connors performed "I Am Him" live...he heard a few "David X" chants but brushed them off.  It's good to see that the song rights have carried over from the NWL.  Hopefully this will be in the DVD extras or something.

Pierre Abernathy kicked off the show for a teased major announcement, but he said it wasn't about him and quickly handed the microphone over to "The Dirty Rook" Mat Fitchett.  St. Louis Anarchy would be joining forces with PWCS for a joint show on Friday, August 24th...but the big news was that Fitchett's longtime Internet nemesis DAVID ARQUETTE would be there.  They had encountered each other at an independent show during WrestleMania weekend and Arquette even had a match recently, but Fitchett had been calling him out on social media for a few years.  Fitchett said that he would see Arquette in the ring and deal with him personally...no match was specificed at the time, but it was seemingly set for 8/24!  (Sadly, Arquette cancelled on the show mere days after this event...I don't know the whole story first-hand, but it's too bad this couldn't happen.  Whatever the so-called match quality, it would have been an entertaining piece of business and gotten a lot of attention for the Midwest wrestling scene.)

Leonel "Hoodie" Howlett vs. "The Monarch" Jeremy Wyatt:  These two had traditionally been on the same side in the NWL, so this was their first one-on-one meeting...Hoodie got a pretty positive reaction at PWCS the previous month, so he was the crowd favorite here against long-established rulebreaker Wyatt.  Wyatt had been very close to retiring before the NWL came calling, but that run gave him new motivation in his career.  Howlett showed that he's more than just a brawler, focusing his attack on Wyatt's leg in the early stages of the bout.  Wyatt retaliated by going after the arm to negate Hoodie's power advantage.  Howlett was primarily known as a tag team competitor for a long time but he's had some impressive performances in singles competition against the likes of Jimm,y Jacobs, Eddie Kingston, and even Haku.  He nearly beat Wyatt with a Rock Bottom, then Wyatt got his own near-fall after the Lightning Spiral.  In the end it came down to Wyatt's experience edge as he was able to take Hoodie down in a double-armbar submission(a la Rings Of Saturn)...Howlett couldn't tap out but the referee called for a stoppage in 13:01!

Roscoe Eat Lisa("The Big Mustache On Campus" Mikey McFinnegan & "Zesty" Zakk Sawyers) vs. The Riegel Twins(Logan & Sterling):  Several competitors held up cups of beer over the entrance aisle for the returning and reuniting duo of Roscoe Eat Lisa.  Zakk had seemingly quit the business about a year ago, but he returned to wrestling fairly recently and patched things up with Mikey.  (Mikey and Marko Stunt are the Cape Championship Wrestling Tag Team Champions, but Zakk subbed for Marko in a recent title defense under the now-widely-popular Freebird Rule.)  The Riegels were looking to make a good impression outside of the NWL...I'm sure they would have been Tag Champs there if they hadn't been bitten by the injury bug.  This was full blast from bell to bell...now that the Riegels don't have their individual names on their gear, I'll have no idea who's who unless I hear one call out to the other during a bout.  (Former NWL play-by-play man Ben Miller called the match for Powerbomb TV and he seems to be one of the only people who can tell them apart, so I should probably leave it to him.)  Given the pace of the match, it couldn't have lasted all that long...Mikey pinned hell-if-I-know Riegel after the Stone Cold Stunner-assisted Code Red in 5:39.

Familiar music played in the building and we were greeted by an unexpected guest:  Buddy Shepherd!  His very close personal long-time friend Evan Gelistico said on social media that he couldn't make it to the show, but Buddy made no such statements and he was happy to be in the building.  As is often the case in wrestling, promos like this tend to be interrupted...in this case, it was by SLA original Adam Caster, who had retired from in-ring competition a few years prior.  The friendly conversation turned hostile as Caster took credit for training all of the SLA favorites like Gary Jay, Pierre, and Evan...he then said that he had a new protege who was better than all of them.  That prompted Matt Kenway to attack Buddy from behind, leaving him laying in the ring.  Kenway and Caster took their leave, but Buddy was furious and let them know about it with some colorful language that I didn't think Buddy knew.  He challenged Kenway to a match at the September 14th show...in a twist on a familiar stipulation, it would be a "Buddies Bring The Weapons" Match!

"Li'l Hollywood Hills" Everett Connors vs. Anthony "Sharkbait" Gutierrez:  Connors made quite an entrance in a rainbow-colored jacket with his hair in cornrows.  The fans quickly decided Connors was their favorite in this one, but Sharkbait impressed a lot of fans who hadn't seen him before.  Sharkbait had mostly been a fan favorite in the NWL, but he could have potential as an arrogant bad guy...he definitely showed shades of that attitude here.  Sharkbait pulled off an impressive combo, hitting a standing backflip uranagi and transitioning straight into the triangle hold for the tapout in 9:55...nicely done.

Savanna Stone vs. Angelus Layne:  This was a rematch from PWCS in June where Angelus scored a dominant victory; the bout was originally scheduled to be Angelus vs. Marti Belle, but Marti had to cancel due to another opportunity.  Angelus was very popular in her previous run in St. Louis Anarchy, meaning that Savanna's reception wasn't as positive as it normally is.  Angelus was embracing her recent rulebreaking streak from PWCS, but it was still a fairly divided crowd.  As noted with previous bouts against Angelus and Sophie King, Savanna may need to formulate new strategies for stronger opponents...she connected with a few high-risk maneuvers, but there was no way she could go punch-for-punch with someone as tough as Angelus.  Unfortunately for Savanna, this match ended the same as the first one as Angelus finished with a hanging neckbreaker in 7:18.

The Besties In The World("The Miracle Worker" Davey Vega & "The Dirty Rook" Mat Fitchett) vs. The Carnies("The Ringmaster" Nick Iggy" & "The Dogfaced Gargoyle" Kerry Awful):  Sarah announced "The Imaginary Friend" Tripp Cassidy in the Carnies' corner, but I didn't see him...Ben Simon theorized that he was truly "imaginary" on this night.  The match started with a psychological game known as "taking the other team's entrance attire hostage".  On top of that, Fitchett had a number for his pizza order and had to tell Pizza Ebert(the fan nickname for the venue's food server) to hold it for the end of the match.  Fitchett came out with a title belt, which I was informed was the Gordie Boggs Championship(named after David Arquette's character in Ready To Rumble)...I was told it's on the line 24/7 like the old WWF Hardcore Title.  This was a first-time match between these teams, both of which have interesting partner contrasts:  Vega's technical acumen with Fitchett's aerial ability, plus Iggy's straightforward style with Awful's brawling ability.  We saw a ton of close calls for either side with the tag team partner breaking up pinfalls...The Besties' Brain Damage(brainbuster to the knee/flying knee strike combo) didn't end the match and neither did the Carnies' dropkick-assisted Michinoku Driver.  In the end, Fitchett showed impressive strength by lifting Awful into Tombstone position, then holding up Iggy when Vega stacked him up for the Last Ride...cue TOTAL TAKER and Fitchett pinned Awful for the win in 21:15!

We got some post-match mutual respect as Pizza Ebert came back out to give Fitchett his pizza...but then the pizza guy blindsided Fitchett with the pizza pan and pinned him for the Gordie Boggs Championship!  I can honestly say that I did not expect this turn of events going into the evening's festivities...

Intermission~!  Official Ben Simon Concession Count(tm):  Root beer and Coca-Cola.

Mike Outlaw vs. "Privilege Personified" Rasheed Ali(w/ Shane Sanders):  Of note, Ali's expensive entrance shirt was on the line in this one.  Sanders got involved at opportune moments, as per his recent history.  This seemed like a more straightforward bout to ease the fans back into the action...Ali is doing very well, considering his limited experience.  Sanders' involvement finally backfired and Outlaw won with the mafia kick in 8:56, taking home the newest addition to his wardrobe.

Kevin Lee Davidson vs. Thomas Shire:  Cue HOSS BATTLE~!  It was unusual to see K.L.D. as a fan favorite since he's been a rulebreaker in most other promotions around here.  We saw great power and agility out of these two heavyweight competitors.  While Shire had only recently been making a name for himself in the Midwest, he actually had a significant experience edge on Davidson since he debuted in 2007.  The momentum shifted several times, but Shire muscled K.L.D. up into a Death Valley Driver for the shocking upset win in 10:54!

Paco Gonzalez vs. "The Professional Lowlife" Christian Rose(w/ Quinn MacKay) for the Gateway Heritage Title:  With all of the high-profile bouts on this show, the championship was nearly an afterthought in the match announcements.  I don't know anything about Quinn, though I would LIKE to know...*gets whacked*  Rose rudely pushed Sarah Rose down, just to make sure we all knew who to boo.  We were told that each champion gets to pick his own title match stipulation and Paco's choice was the presence of two referees...oddly enough, after that was made a thing, the second referee stayed in the backstage area for most of this one.  Rose is one of my favorite wrestling personalities, both in the ring as a rulebreaker and out of the ring on social media.  The match went swimmingly until the referee was knocked down, meaning there was no one to check for a submission when Rose hooked the No-Leaf Clover(Liontamer-style Boston crab).  Ref two arrived just as Paco countered the hold into a victory roll, but Quinn pulled the official out at two.  Rose came back with a backslide and feet on the ropes, getting the three-count in 12:17 to win the Gateway Heritage Title!  BUT WAIT...the original referee saw the feet on the ropes and told the second one what had happened, leading to the bout being restarted.  A furious Rose went back on the attack and attempted an O'Connor Roll, but Paco reversed it and held the tights(fight fire with fire) for the real win in 0:51 of the restart (13:08 total)!

"The Stiff Robo Ginger" Gary Jay vs. "The Warhorse" Jake Parnell, best-of-three-falls match:  This was promoted as the final battle in this long-standing feud, something which started in Zero-One USA over their Jr. Heavyweight Title and included Gary doing some serious damage to Parnell's face with a turnbuckle hook.  After his robe had been previously misplaced at an east-coast independent show, Parnell had it back for this event.  Gary brought out a turnbuckle hook in an attempt to replicate the previous damage, but didn't get to use it right away.  Gary ended up bloody after a suicide dive hit nothing but chairs and floor.  Parnell notched the first pinfall in 13:14 after the double-stomp off the middle rope to the back of the head.  Gary evened the score in 21:48 by countering a half-nelson suplex attempt into a victory roll for a flash pinfall.  Things got even crazier from there as the referees were abused for trying to enforce the rules...chairs came into play, then tacks, then even MORE chairs...in fact, the fans filled the ring with chairs!  The two battled on the top rope, ending with Gary delivering a massive superplex into the chair-filled ring!  Gary got the final fall after that in 30:55 to end the feud!

As the two warriors laid in the middle of the ring, Greg Jovi suddenly made an appearance with a microphone, ranting against Anarchy and all it stood for.  Before the fans even processed what was happening, Christian Rose(w/ Quinn) and Thomas Shire hit the ring to beat down Gary and Parnell!  "Dirdey" Jake Dirden made a surprise appearance and made his way to the ring...but he turned out to be on the side of Jovi's crew as he assisted in the beatdown!  That was how a wild and crazy night ended in St. Louis Anarchy's return!

Whew...there was a lot to process with this show...as previously mentioned, the David Arquette appearance was not meant to be, but Anarchy and PWCS still have a lot of great shows set up for the rest of the year...Midwest rasslin is going strong in 2018!

August looks like this:
-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 forty-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.