Now, as promised, a special comment about the Wrestling Over Everything show on Sunday, June 24th at the River's Edge Community Center in Centreville, Illinois.
DISCLAIMER: I'm biased. Deal with it.
This was an interesting evening to say the least. It was the only local wrestling show for the weekend with nothing in the immediate area on Friday or Saturday. I went to the building about a half-hour before bell time to find that the doors were not yet open; a handful of fans were waiting outside. I found out that only a couple of people were there to set up the ring, so the show would be starting late. I killed time by filling up on gas and then checking out the nearby Cahokia Walmart. Picked up a Mountain Dew Baja Blast and a Transformer(Tailgate) BECAUSE I'M AN ADULT, DAMMIT. I got back to the venue and the doors opened right before a few fans were preparing to head home. The attendance was light as it was, unfortunately, and the show had more than a few no-shows out of the announced lineup.
Your ring announcer was Moe Romero Kennedy; your referee was Jason Pemberton.
The show started with Heavyweight Champion Da'Marius Jones calling out Barackus for a confrontation...I felt like they should have gotten right to the action instead of stalling things out with more talking, especially after the fans had already waited a lot longer than expected for the event to start. No physicality took place...Jones said they could do this RIGHT NOW, but Barackus said he would wait until later. (After Leone Mephisto forfeited the Heavyweight Title and quit the promotion, Jones won a six-way ladder match in May to capture the title.)
"The Supreme" B.T. Daramola vs. "K-Dos" Kyle King: I hadn't seen King in a while; he has a unique look with the shaved head and gigantic sideburns. The originally-scheduled match was King against LaMarcus Clinton(first no-show of the night). The finish was an interesting combo from King: "See No Evil"(eye poke), "Hear No Evil"(ear clap), "Speak No Evil"(reverse Stunner)...it scored him the victory in 7:31.
The Big Texan vs. Jake Prater vs. "The Notorious" P.T. Beckham: These guys were originally scheduled for a two-on-three handicap match that had Texan teaming with Interstate Champion Richard Faith against Beckham, Prater, and Noah(David X's brother, I am told)...that brought our no-shows up to three, including a current titleholder. The winner would get a next shot at the Interstate Title...Beckham picked his spots and mostly let the two heavyweights battle it out. The strategy paid dividends when Beckham was able to separate the big men long enough to hit the advanced curbstomp on Prater for the win in 7:28.
"The Infamous" Tyler Copeland came out, saying that he was scheduled to face Benjamin Ulysses Trust but he wasn't there(no-show number four). He was disappointed by that fact and challenged Trust to face him at the next show.
The Sabotage Squad(Krispy 2 Pop & John Boi) made their entrance...they had captured the WOE Tag Team Titles from Da'Marius Jones & L.M.C. in May at a show I missed (Jones went on to win the vacant Heavyweight Title that same night). They were scheduled to defend their titles against a team called The Kings Of Kaos, but they weren't there(no-shows five and six)...the Squad members claimed that they were scared. They said ANOTHER team had been set up to face them for the night, but they backed out because they were "too dangerous". (In a manner of speaking, that was the case.) Just for the hell of it, they decided to fight each other...
Tag Team Champion Krispy 2 Pop vs. Tag Team Champion John Boi: They started out sportsmanlike, but gradually went for the cheaper tactics as the match progressed...they had no qualms about turning up the violence against each other, despite being Tag Champs together. They fought out of the ring and were both counted out in 5:35, then made nice afterwards. (Shouldn't they have been more concerned about potentially injuring each other, thus putting their title reign in jeopardy once they have challengers again? Ah well...)
Intermission~! Official Ben Simon Concession Count(tm): Bag of Lays potato chips...already had my soda before the show. The return date was announced as Saturday, July 14th, but that would eventually be cancelled.
"Li'l Hollywood Hills" Everett Connors vs. Deacon Cash: Connors was scheduled to face David X in a match that he had done multiple Facebook promos to build up, but David X was not there...as Connors made his way to the ring, Cash attacked him from behind to kick-start an impromptu bout. Much has been made of David X's non-appearance; he apparently competed at a different show that was broadcast live on Facebook that evening. Connors and Cash didn't mesh all that well at times, but they got it together in their short bout; Connors won with a legdrop off the second rope in 4:57. Connors vented on the microphone after the match about how David X got him hooked on smoking cigarettes...I'm just going to move on at this point. (Oh yeah, no-show number seven.)
"The Little Blue Dragon" Tootie Lynn Ramsey vs. Harley James: Harley had scored an upset win over Miss Monica Passeri at WOE in April; she and Richard Faith had been scheduled for a mixed tag with Karim Brigante and Monica in May, but that match was eventually cancelled. I liked this match a bit better than the Harley-Monica match, personally; sometimes certain people just work better together than others. Tootie scored the victory with the knee trembler in 5:48; she's looked really good in the early stages of her career and I look forward to seeing how her career progresses.
"2.0" Da'Marius Jones vs. Barackus for the Heavyweight Title: These two have battled a few times in the past, mostly in the Mid-Missouri Wrestling Alliance. They had a pretty good matchup to cap off the show...Barackus nearly won with a Vader Bomb(R.I.P. Big Van Vader) but Jones got a foot on the bottom rope to escape defeat. Barackus wasted far too much time when he had things going his way, leading to Jones getting a small package out of nowhere for the flash pin in 11:24. (It looked like Barackus' far shoulder was off the mat, but referee Pemberton wasn't in position to see that.)
Jones had little time to celebrate before being attacked by Deacon Cash...Landlord chimed in, passing along the message from General Manager Darkside that Jones would defend against Cash at the July(now August) show. I'm one of those types who thinks wins and losses should matter, so I don't see how Cash should get a title shot after losing earlier in the night...but oh well.
This show had a lot going against it, as noted...the attendance was super light as well. They've got a lot of work to do to turn things around...for the sake of the wrestlers, hopefully they can do it. We'll see in August, I suppose.
The rest of July looks like this:
-Saturday 7/14: Mid-Missouri Wrestling Alliance in St. Louis, MO
-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-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.
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