Dynamo Special Comment

Now, as promised, a special comment about the Dynamo Pro Wrestling show on Saturday, August 25th at the Sports Academy in Glen Carbon, Illinois.

DISCLAIMER:  I'm biased.  Deal with it.

In a month where Dynamo had three shows, we knew zero matches going into the night.  It was an unfortunate situation, especially when it comes to a venue where Dynamo had admittedly struggled to draw in the past.  The main focus was the hype for the upcoming Riot On The River Tournament finals as well as the Makaze-Adrian Surge feud over the Heavyweight Title...how we would get there would be addressed over the course of the night.

Your ring announcer was Chris Roedel, your referee was Scott Ramsey, and your video commentators were Luke Roberts & Patrick Brandmeyer.

"Li'l N8" Nathen Edwards vs. "The Mercenary" Graham Bell vs. The Snitch vs. "The American Bully" Kyle Hammer vs. Ezra Zealous vs. Billy McNeil, six-way dance:  Amidst several relative newcomers to the Dynamo mix, we had two of the remaining four competitors in the Riot On The River Tournament as McNeil and Snitch would meet in the semifinals.  This was as chaotic as you might think, though it lasted quite a while before any eliminations took place.  Hammer scored the first elimination, pinning Zealous in 10:57 after the Kyledriver(Mick Foley-style piledriver).  Bell took out Hammer with a gourdbuster onto the knees and eliminated him in 11:21.  It looked like we would get a bunch of rapid-fire eliminations, but then several more minutes passed before another pinfall occurred.  In a surprise, McNeil was the next to go as Edwards scored an upset pinfall after his version of the Death Valley Driver in 17:42.  Bell took out Edwards with his kneedrive curbstomp in 20:04, leaving The Snitch and Bell as the unlikely final two...but Snitch took the opportunity to quickly roll up Bell with a handful of tights in 20:07 for the final win!  The masked man may have been in the right place at the right time, but he picked up some valuable momentum heading into the final stretch of Riot On The River.

Tag Team Champions The Agents Of Chaos(Viktor Von Stein & Xavier Shadowz) vs. "Lights Out" Adrian Surge & Jackal, non-title:  With "Mr. Mustache" Ricky Rodriguez not in attendance for the night, Jackal teamed up with recent ally Surge instead.  Surge had crossed paths with the Agents on several occasions prior to this, especially since they had run interference on behalf of Heavyweight Champion Makaze.  Surge and Jackal were on the same side in a recent six-man tag, but this was their first outing as a two-man unit...the team experience may have been the deciding factor in this one.  Von Stein's recent path of rage(to borrow a phrase) gave his team some added momentum as well...the champs isolated Surge long enough to hit their fireman's-carry Flapjack/Diamond Cutter combo, allowing Von Stein to pin Surge for the win in 7:45.  While Surge had scored a recent non-title win over Makaze, he had struggled to sustain any momentum since that time...and it was usually either Makaze or his cronies who had a hand in his recent woes.

Outtkast vs. Reilly MaGuire:  The rookie MaGuire had a tough test ahead of him in the form of the local veteran and multi-time titleholder.  He's looked solid in the handful of outings I've seen, but some things will simply take some time to fall into place.  MaGuire gave Outtkast a good fight, but missed a moonsault off the second turnbuckle and Outtkast put him away with the Case Study in 6:33.

"The Valedictorian" Keon Option vs. Tony Esteem:  D-1 Champion Mike Outlaw joined the commentary team for this matchup; he knows Option very well as they started their careers around the same time.  Jimmi LaFleur made a fashionably late entrance, but his assistance wasn't quite enough to tip the scales in Esteem's favor; Option scored the quick pin with a modified crucifix on the mat in 5:12.

Camaro Jackson vs. Jimmi LaFleur(w/ Tony Esteem):  With LaFleur already in the ring area, his match logically came next.  Unfortunately for Jackson, that meant Esteem remained at ringside and the numbers game was not in his favor.  At one point Esteem delivered a cheapshot behind the referee's back and LaFleur followed up with the reverse Stunner, but Jackson somehow kicked out at 2 1/2.  Jackson fought the odds but they caught up to him in the end...as Jackson attempted a re-entry sunset flip, LaFleur knelt down to block and held onto Esteem for illegal leverage as the ref made the three-count in 7:48.

Intermission~!  Official Ben Simon Concession Count(tm):  A post-show Pepsi courtesy of Jimmi LaFleur (thanks!).

Brady James vs. "The King Of Chaos" Ricky Cruz:  James previously competed with his real name reversed as James Brady, but has since switched it back.  He had looked impressive in his early outings, but on this night he was up against a former Dynamo Pro Heavyweight Champion and SICW Classic Champion (to say nothing of the championships he has held internationally).  Cruz spoke on his disdain for the level of competition across the ring, but James nearly caught him napping on more than one occasion.  James somehow managed to kick out after Cruz's pop-up Diamond Cutter, a move that Cruz has used to win matches in the past.  The experience edge would be a bit too much for James to overcome as Cruz finally put him down with the superkick in 5:18...then delivered a post-match Cruz Control(swinging fisherman buster) for good measure.

"The Empress Of Evil" Rahne Victoria vs. Sophie King(w/ The Snitch) for the Women's Title:  With Savanna Stone and Tootie Lynn Ramsey out of town, we had a rare battle of rulebreakers over the newly-minted championship.  Sophie was Snitch's first manager(going by Sophie Darling at the time), so he accompanied her to the ring on this night.  That put Rahne in the odd position of being the pseudo-fan favorite for the evening and she expanded her repertoire a bit, including a nicely-executed rana.  Sophie attempted to slow the pace by focusing her attack on the champion's arm, but Rahne retained her title via spinebuster in 8:45.

"The Wind Of Destruction" Makaze vs. "The Caramel Bear" C.J. Shine for the Heavyweight Title:  Shine scored an upset win over Makaze about a year and a half ago, so he knew he was capable of beating the champion despite being the underdog.  Of course, that was a very different Makaze...this one was capable of just about anything to hang onto his title, including some underhanded and downright dangerous tactics.  Makaze focused on slowing the pace to his liking, but Shine was able to rally with a re-entry Diamond Cutter for a near-fall.  Shane pushed his advantage and got another close two-count after a flying knee strike.  Makaze cut him off and delivered the Northern Lights fisherman suplex, but Shine surprisingly kicked out at 2 1/2.  At that point the champion seemed to snap, bringing in a leather strap and choking out the challenger until he was disqualified in 9:09...of course while Shine won the match, the title did not change hands on the DQ.  Adrian Surge hit the ring with a strap of his own to run off the champion...but Makaze returned with the locker room's rulebreakers as backup.  Surge had plenty of his own backup, of course, as the fan favorites made their appearance and everyone had to separate the champion and contender as they brawled!  Surge challenged Makaze to a lumberjack strap match at the next Concordia Turners show(September 21st)...Makaze didn't want to accept, but co-promoter Crystal Young said that the match would happen or Makaze would be stripped of the title!

Quite a bit was set up for coming attractions and not just the Riot On The River Tournament...I'll get to those events in due time.  Life stuff is taking precedence at the moment as my credit cards are becoming a bit less than useable...I may have to ix-nay any major road trips for the time being unless I can bum rides.

At any rate, here's what's coming up in the next month and a half or so:
-Sunday 10/28:  Rampage Championship Wrestling in Granite City, IL

-Friday 11/2: Pro Wrestling Epic in Brownstown, IL
-Saturday 11/3:  WLW in Troy, MO; SICW in Swansea, IL
-Sunday 11/4:  DPW in St. Louis, MO(4 Hands Brewery)
-Saturday 11/10:  MMWA in St. Louis, MO
-Sunday 11/11:  Glory Pro in Collinsville, IL; Wrestling Over Everything in Centreville, IL
-Friday 11/16:  St. Louis Anarchy in Alton, IL
-Saturday 11/17:  SICW in East Carondelet, IL
-Saturday 11/24:  MMWA in Lemay, MO

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