Now, as promised, a special comment about the Glory Pro Wrestling show on Sunday, July 22nd at Wild Country in Collinsville, Illinois.
DISCLAIMER: I'm biased. Deal with it.
I've fallen behind on these commentaries...I don't have as much spare time as I once did, for one thing. Also, to be blunt, I've grown tired of keeping track of the thinner-skinned people in this area. (Some make it pretty clear and I'll leave it at that...if you think I'm talking about you, there's a pretty good chance that I am.) I've gotten to the point where I just try to "let it be" with regards to wrestling on all levels.
This was a different sort of show for Glory Pro as the biggest name in attendance was a visiting legend: Jake "The Snake" Roberts. I started watching wrestling in 1991, so some of my first wrestling memories involved Jake double-crossing The Ultimate Warrior and then crashing the wedding reception of "Macho Man" Randy Savage & Elizabeth. The ensuing feud between Savage and Roberts had some of the darkest moments in the otherwise kid-friendly WWF product at the time, including Jake's king cobra biting Savage's arm as he was tied up in the ring ropes! He was one of the best talkers in the game during his prime days...saw quite a few fans who were definitely there to meet Jake The Snake.
Your ring announcer was Ben Simon; your referees were Clark Feldman & C-Lo Banks.
Edvin Kudic, Camaro Jackson, & Jastin Taylor vs. "The Gifted" Chase Holliday & Super Future("Can't Miss" Xavier Walker & Palmer Cruise): Looking at Kudic in this match, all I could think was "one of these things is not like the others..." Holliday's enthusiasm did not rub off on his partners, despite his best efforts. Taylor was the only one of the six with whom I was unfamiliar. Chaos broke loose in the end, leading to Kudic decking Cruise with a rolling elbow so Jackson could score the pin in 7:49.
Air Wolf vs. Paco Gonzalez vs. "The Swerve" Shane Strickland: The main card started off with a great triple threat battle between the Resurgence Champion, one of the St. Louis area's fastest-rising competitors, and a guy who has blown up across the country in the past year or two. It did what any good opener is supposed to do as it was fast-paced and energetic to fire up the crowd. Any of the three could have realistically won here, but Paco needed the win to rebound from May's elimination tag match loss; he scored the three-count on Air Wolf with the fireman's-carry Michinoku Driver in 9:56.
The Riegel Twins(Logan & Sterling) vs. No New Friends(Kevin Lee Davidson & Mike Outlaw): While NNF are a rulebreaking group on paper, some fans seemed to gravitate toward the familiar hometown team over the visiting Kansas City duo. Despite that, the Riegels won over some of the more skeptical onlookers...once they gain experience and develop a more well-rounded game, they'll be making an impact on the national scene. A Riegel even pulled off a reverse rana on K.L.D.! However, No New Friends turned the tide and double-teamed one of the Riegels into oblivion...Outlaw scored the pinfall in 9:08 after K.L.D.'s spinebuster.
Savanna Stone vs. "The Party Unicorn" Laynie Luck: The only time I saw these two cross paths was in a triple threat at Dynamo Pro with Miss Monica Passeri. This wasn't as high-profile a women's match as previous Glory Pro shows, but it's notable that in this case Savanna was the more established competitor and Laynie was the relatively fresh face on the scene who was hoping to make an impact. It played out as a battle of fan favorites, though Savanna was the clear winner of the popularity contest due to familiarity. Savanna won a competitive match with a uranagi in 10:40...would "Stone Bottom" be too easy of a move name there?
Mance Warner vs. "All Ego" Ethan Page: Warner was subbing for "The Mad Dragon" Hakim Zane...thanks to their pre-match verbage, it turned into a United States-vs.-Canada battle. Mance had a long list of nicknames that Ben Simon somehow managed to rattle off without a hitch. I talked to a couple of friends who weren't familiar with the two; they referred to Warner as "indie Stone Cold", which I kinda get as their promo styles are very similar as well as their brawling styles. Page had a clear advantage in size and power, but Mancer was fighting for his country and refused to give up. In what I considered a bit of an upset, Warner got the tapout with the Crippler Crossface in 10:59! Afterwards, the two made peace in the name of North America...all righty then.
"The Diamond Tiger" Kobe Durst vs. Barackus vs. "The Little Blue Dragon" Tootie Lynn Ramsey vs. Clayton Gainz vs. "The Cajun Kid" Sage Cainan vs. "The Master Of Hairflips" Brandon Aarons vs. "The Leader Of The Pack" Stephen Wolf: This was scheduled to be an eight-way match with Tyler Matrix included, but he couldn't make it to the show for unknown reasons. Tootie's participation stood out as she was the only woman in the match, but she had a standout performance in the eyes of many of the fans. Some of these guys had made good impressions at Resurgence shows and made it to the main card on this night as a result. Once everyone started flying around, Kobe and Tootie one-upped everybody when Tootie jumped on Kobe's back and Durst delivered a suicide dive into Barackus with Tootie still on his back! I personally feel like multi-way schmozz matches have jumped the shark; they're an easy way to get a bunch of people on the show with only one person having to take a fall. At any rate, Wolf picked up the victory with the Blue Thunder Bomb on Cainan in 11:38...nice to see SOMEONE does that move and wins with it.
Intermission~! Official Ben Simon Concession Count(tm): One Pepsi.
A.C.H. vs. "Rich Homie Juice" A.J. Gray: This was one of the most anticipated matches of the night as the athletic heavyweight Gray took on a man who has become a world-renowned competitor. While A.C.H. worked a more aggressive style in an attempt to get the fans behind Gray, the audience support was fairly evenly divided. The match took its toll on both guys and Gray nearly scored the upset on a few occasions, but A.C.H. finally won with the Buster Call(brainbuster) in 22:46!
The Space Pirates(Space Monkey & Shane Sabre) vs. The Boys From Jollyville(T-Money & "Nasty" Russ Myers: Both teams have been established in Glory Pro/Resurgence and a win here would go a long way toward establishing future contenders to the United Glory Tag Team Titles (D.J. Shiima Xion & Everett Connors were absent on this night). Space Monkey is a crowd favorite wherever he goes, but The Boys From Jollyville are on the opposite side of the spectrum due to their association with Curt Stallion. As The Space Pirates were introduced, they were showered with bananas as a gift to Space Monkey...the monkey quickly gathered the fruits and stockpiled them in the corner. As the match progressed, Space Monkey went to the bananas for a recharge of his energy...things broke down near the end as all four men brawled. The teamwork of the Jollyville duo finally made the difference as T-Money planted Space Monkey with an Alabama Slam...Nasty Russ launched a flying elbowdrop off the top rope and cleared practically the entire length of the ring in the process! After that, T-Money got the pin in 10:35 as Myers held off Sabre.
Aaron Solow vs. "The Millenial" Danny Adams: A few fans thought it'd be funny to chant "Mr. Bayley" at Solo...dude has his own career, guys. I don't think the fans gave Solow much of a chance against one of the charter members of No New Friends. I recall seeing Solow for the first time in a regular tag team with fellow Davey Richards protege(at the time) Darren Dean(R.I.P.). Nowadays, he teams with Ricky Starks as "Extra Talented"...hopefully we can see that tag team in this area sometime. The momentum swung back and forth until Solow reversed a small package for the upset win in 9:30...and almost immediately Kevin Lee Davidson and Mike Outlaw hit the ring for the post-match attack! Things looked bad for Solow, but A.C.H. and "The Dirty Rook" Mat Fitchett(who wasn't even on the card for the night) hit the ring to run off the trio.
"Hot Fire" Myron Reed vs. "The Warhorse" Jake Parnell: After Parnell's pair of wins over "The Stiff Robo Ginger" Gary Jay at Glory Pro shows this year, he was granted this opportunity to earn a Crown Of Glory Title shot...his opponent was the former titleholder Myron Reed, who was seeking his rematch for the title he had lost to Jake Something in October. The advantage in speed and agility went to Reed; Parnell had a slight edge in size and experience. Parnell has been doing a lot of traveling, often fighting Gary Jay on the road...the two would even do battle at a recent EVOLVE show in Illinois. Parnell had momentum on his side, withstanding Reed's offensive assault and scoring the hard-fought win in 15:25 with the second-rope double-stomp to the back of the head! Interesting that The Warhorse is getting a title shot at a show titled "Horsepower"...
Jake Something(w/ Myron Reed, Paco Gonzalez, & Stephen Wolf) vs. "The Lone Star" Curt Stallion(w/ Barackus & The Boys From Jollyville) for the Crown Of Glory Title: The referee took the initiative and ejected all of the extra parties from ringside before the opening bell. Stallion was riding the momentum of his pinfall over Something in the elimination tag match in May. Despite Something's advantage in size and power, Stallion refused to back down from the imposing champion. The playing field changed when the referee was knocked down...Something delivered a sitout Bossman Slam but there was no official to make the count. T-Money and Nasty Russ re-entered the scene with chair in tow, but Something threw both men out of the ring...Stallion had a moment to regain his bearings, taking out Something with the flying headbutt...for a close near-fall! Something saw the chair in the ring and the official still dazed, so he prepared to use the weapon...but it backfired as Stallion delivered another flying headbutt to knock the chair back into Something's face! Stallion made the pin cover and that was enough for the win in 14:40...ladies and gentlemen, we had a NEWWWWW Crown Of Glory Champion! The Boys From Jollyville and Barackus hit the ring to celebrate with the titleholder and that wrapped up the show...
(So the title match at "Horsepower" will be Stallion vs. Warhorse...amazing how that worked out. Bwahahaha.)
I fully planned to join the post-show party at Hotshots...however, I went to the one in O'Fallon IL instead of the one in Edwardsville. Whoops...I had gotten a soda at the bar and didn't feel like only paying for THAT with a credit card, so I got a burger and fries to eat before heading home for the night. Oh well...
Hey, I got one done. Score. Only...(checks)...nine to go. -_-
September looks like this:
-Friday 9/7: Dynamo Pro Wrestling in Columbia, MO
-Saturday 9/8: Mid-Missouri Wrestling Alliance in St. Louis, MO(South Broadway)
-Sunday 9/9: Wrestling Over Everything in Centreville, IL
-Friday 9/14: Dynamo Pro Wrestling in Grafton, IL; St. Louis Anarchy in Alton, IL
-Saturday 9/15: World League Wrestling in Troy, MO; Southern Illinois Championship Wrestling in East Carondelet, IL; World Powerhouse Wrestling in Collinsville, IL
-Friday 9/21: Dynamo Pro Wrestling in St. Louis, MO(Concordia Turners)
-Saturday 9/29: SICW in Swansea, IL
That's my special comment for this, the forty-fourth 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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