Resurgence Special Comment

Now, as promised, a special comment about the Glory Pro Wrestling: Resurgence show on Sunday, August 5th at the Improvement Association in Swansea, Illinois.

While Glory Pro tends to draw very well, the fans seem to have gotten the impression that Resurgence isn't quite as worthwhile.  That's not saying anything about the show quality, but the bigger names tend to appear on the main Glory Pro events so they draw better.  That can be a tough side to hitching your success on outside talents; your core group of competitors are potentially seen in a lesser light.  I couldn't say what would improve things for Resurgence, but I suppose it's not for me to say as an individual fan.

Your ring announcer was Ben Simon; your referees were Jack Griffin and Steven Bailey.

Ryder Reid & Maverick West vs. Frank Wyatt & Frankie Flynn:  I didn't know any of the guys in the preshow match besides Wyatt; I liked Flynn's look and charater.  Flynn was trained by Johnny Gargano & Candice LeRae, which is a pretty good note on one's resume.  Reid hails from Cleveland so I imagine a carload of guys traveled from Ohio for the show; West's Twitter bio has him as a K.C. guy who works for Kansas City Xtreme Wrestling.  The good guys got the victory when West pinned Flynn after a swanton bomb by Reid in 8:01.

Cornelius Wyverstone vs. "The Hawkeye" Steve Manders vs. "Privilege Personified" Rasheed Ali vs. "The Mercenary" Graham Bell vs. "Fresh 2 Death" Pretty Boy Smooth vs. "Chainsaw" Stephen M. King:  I had seen Manders once at the Zero-One USA show I attended in May; the only competitor I didn't know was Smooth, who made quite an impression with his size and ability.  Bell's bazooka is now rigged to emit flames from the barrel...hope he's careful in buildings with sensitive sprinkler systems.  I don't think we'd seen Wyverstone around here since the last event of the previous incarnation of Resurgence; he's a regular for KCXW.  There was at least one signature big-guy-squareoff between Smooth and King in this one; I'm pretty sure those are contractually obligated.  In the end, Smooth pinned Bell after a full nelson faceplant(Darren Young's old finisher) in 6:43.

Alpha Omega(Camaro Jackson & Kenny Alfonso) vs. The Hysteria("Six-Foot Swole" Cole Radrick & Sage Philips):  Around these parts we usually see Camaro Jackson in singles competition, but Kenny Alfonso was in the house for this tag bout.  With several local promotions hurting for teams, hopefully these duos can move into contention for someone's belts.  This was one of my favorite matches of the night...hopefully we can see more of these guys in this area.  The finish saw Jackson pin Radrick after he and Alfonso hit their version of the Hart Attack (with Alfonso delivering a Slingblade instead of the usual hooking clothesline) in 12:38.

Edvin Kudic vs. Matt Kenway:  This match was originally scheduled for the Resurgence Title tournament earlier in the year, but Kenway was sidelined by an injury.  THE PRIDE EXPLODES~!  Kudic has bounced back and forth between fan favorite and rulebreaker in the past several months, but he was the definite "good guy" here against the seemingly universally-hated Kenway.  Kudic went into the match with a shoulder brace, which can often be a bullseye on an injured body part and this instance was no exception.  Many fans expected Kenway to capitalize on the bad shoulder and come out victorious, but Kudic managed to reverse an O'Connor Roll for the flash pin in 11:42!  Kenway didn't take the loss well as he attacked his former tag team partner after the bell, dropping him with a brainbuster.

"The Master Of Hairflips" Brandon Aarons vs. Tony Esteem:  Esteem has primarily competed for Dynamo Pro and was making his Resurgence debut here against the former Dynamo Heavyweight Champion.  Aarons had recently returned to action after a hiatus of several months but showed no signs of rust...as the joke goes, he must have made a trip to Ring Ziebart.  *crickets*  Yeahhhhh, I'm old.  Esteem pulled out all the stops, getting a near-fall after his signature headlock driver...but Aarons retaliated with the Hairflip Suplex(half-nelson suplex) before following up with the close-range superkick, getting the win in 6:43.

Shigehiro Irie vs. Kevin Lee Davidson:  Cue HOSS BATTLE~!  We hadn't seen Irie in the area in quite a while and hopefully it won't be as long before we see him again.  It was relatively short, but with the artillery these guys were exchanging, it would take the human equivalent of a tank to withstand it all for long (which these two are, now that I think about it).  The finish was particularly memorable as K.L.D. went for his spinning heel kick, but Irie avoided it AND caught him in the sleeper and bodyscissors in one fluid motion!  Davidson tapped out in 5:54...I would be perfectly fine with seeing these two battle again in the future.

Intermission~!  Official Ben Simon Concession Count(tm):  Pizza and root beer(courtesy of Timothy Miller) and birthday cake(courtesy of Sam Johner).  Had a chance to chat with the young lady who briefly competed for Wrestling Invades America as Kandi Kane; there weren't many other women wrestling when she got into things, but things have improved in that category recently.  I also met female wrestler Jinx(who will hopefully be competing in this area down the line).

"The Big Mustache On Campus" Mikey McFinnegan vs. "The Canadian Crusher" A.J. Sanchez:  Sanchez is a big boy.  Mikey ran around the building to greet his fans and 100% surprised me by grabbing me in a big hug when he got to my side of the ring...heh.  This reminded me of Mikey's match with Satu Jinn a few months back where he stalled a bunch to rile up his bigger opponent...on this night, he goofed around with the fans a bunch and even hid under the ring for a short time.  Once the two went toe-to-toe, things shifted slightly in favor of Sanchez...but one can never underestimate McFinnegan when it comes to ring acumen.  Mikey muscled up for the HULK/ANDRE BODYSLAM OF DOOM before finishing with a Shining Enzuigiri in 14:15.

Savanna Stone & "The Little Blue Dragon" Tootie Lynn Ramsey vs. "The Empress Of Evil" Rahne Victoria & Sophie King:  The Midwest women's division was in full force on this night with plenty of history between everyone involved; they didn't even wait for the opening bell as all four women brawled before the match could officially be started.  Things settled down into a standard tag match with some solid action; Savanna and Tootie had a slight edge in terms of team experience, but Rahne and Sophie had fewer qualms about bending or outright breaking the rules.  Sophie's obsession with "breaking stone" led to her bringing a hammer to ringside; once the match broke down and the referee lost control, the weapon came into play as Sophie nailed Savanna in the midsection with it.  That was enough for Sophie to score the tainted three-count in 7:22...this story is far from over, as they say.

James Brady vs. Roy "The Strangler" Lewis:  This was Brady's third match, but his first two occurred earlier in the weekend so he's brand new to in-ring competition.  I sometimes think of Lewis as a "veteran" since I've seen him around shows for so long, forgetting that he's only been an active wrestler for a few years.  At any rate, I wouldn't have known that Brady was so new if I hadn't been told beforehand...both guys did a tremendous job here.  Lewis had control of the bout, but he couldn't quite put Brady away; Brady surprised him with a small package for the upset win in 8:57!

Air Wolf vs. "The Canadian Hercules" Tyler Colton for the Resurgence Title:  Air Wolf has become a popular competitor in this area in a short amount of time...Colton hadn't appeared here very often, so I don't think anyone in the building was expecting a title change despite the significant size and experience difference.  The match was really good but didn't seem to have a lot of crowd interest for that reason...then Colton hit a sitout powerbomb and won the title in 12:39!  I definitely didn't see that coming...I'll be interested to see how things pan out when the next Resurgence show is set up.

Okay, I'm still REALLY behind but I'm making some progress...

Upcoming shows look like this:
-Friday 9/21:  Dynamo Pro in St. Louis, MO(Concordia Turners)
-Saturday 9/29:  SICW in Swansea, IL

-Saturday 10/6:  World League Wrestling in Troy, MO
-Sunday 10/7:  Glory Pro Wrestling in Collinsville, IL
-Saturday 10/13:  Mid-Missouri Wrestling Alliance in St. Louis, MO
-Sunday 10/14:  Wrestling Over Everything in Centreville, IL
-Friday 10/19:  Glory Pro Wrestling in Sauget, IL
-Saturday 10/20:  Glory Pro/Dynamo Pro Wrestling in Chesterfield, MO (Rizzuto Show Eat & Treat) (afternoon); WLW in Troy, MO; Southern Illinois Championship Wrestling in East Carondelet, IL; World Powerhouse Wrestling in Jerseyville, IL
-Sunday 10/28:  IWA Mid-South in Belleville, IL

That's my special comment for this, the forty-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.