WLW Special Comment

Now, as promised, a special comment about the World League Wrestling show on Saturday, August 18th at the Race Wrestling Arena in Troy, Missouri.

DISCLAIMER:  I'm biased.  Deal with it.

WLW has begun recording television programs for local-access channels in the Midwest, so the show formats have changed accordingly.  Unfortunately the evening turned out to be strangely short-handed with only a handful of available workers, so several people did double duty...Gateway Championship Wrestling had people in multi-match nights for their old tapings, though WLW only seemed to record two episodes here.  They'll need more of a roster to fill out tapings in the future, even if it means putting newer competitors in the ring as enhancement...it'll give those trainees some valuable ring time and pad out the content by establishing the major players.  (These are just random musings from a non-wrestler, of course.)

Your ring announcer was Ben Simon; your referees were Martin Kattich & Richard White(returning from injury).

"The Legacy" Leland Race kicked off the show by addressing the fans to hype the show and the TV program...I was surprised that he didn't appear as a competitor, but perhaps he's hoping to focus more on matters behind the scenes.

Several wrestlers had passed away at the time so a ten-bell salute was held for:  Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart, Nikolai Volkoff, "Grandmaster Sexay" Brian Christopher, and Brickhouse Brown.

Tag Team Champion Brandon Espinosa started the show by addressing the fans, holding both championship belts; he claimed that Superstar Steve Fender was out sick(I believe he was at Southern Illinois Championship Wrestling for the evening), so he was told to fulfill Fender's obligation by wrestling Kyle Roberts.  Espy had been scheduled to challenge Jon Webb for the Heavyweight Title, but he would get that opportunity at a later date.  As it turned out, Roberts would compete in a three-match gauntlet with Espy as the third opponent...if Roberts won that challenge, he would earn his Tag Title opportunity.  (Since Espy wasn't getting his title shot for the night, the stipulations were apparently a concession by management to compensate.)

Heavyweight Champion "The Hybrid Ace" Jon Webb vs. Austin Cravens, non-title:  Cravens had some prior experience but this was his debut in the Midwest...he had a tough test ahead of him in the form of the reigning titleholder of WLW.  He got in some offense, but the champ wrapped up a relatively quick night of work with a Shining Wizard in 3:24.

Jr. Heavyweight Champion Jayden Dominic Rose vs. "The Wrestler For The People" Rex Fults, non-title:  I get the sneaking suspicion that WLW really needs to bulk up its junior heavyweight division.  I understand wanting to push your own people, but Rose has barely anyone to fight in his weight class (especially with the former champion now holding the big belt).  (The Mid-Missouri Wrestling Alliance has a similar problem with its cruiserweight division.)  This is nothing against Rex at all, who has improved quite a bit in the time I've watched him...in fact, the match turned out to be a really good one.  The two battled to a 15:00 draw which didn't seem to solve anything between them...Rex wanted five more minutes and the referee signalled for the overtime, but no restart bell was rung as I believe Ben was caught off guard or something.  At any rate, Rose immediately took a walk...Rex could have settled for a countout win, but he elected to chase Rose to the back and it turned into (officially) a double countout instead.

Women's Champion Stacey O'Brien had been advertised as defending her title, but no challenger was in the house...instead, she mocked an unknown male trainee with a paper bag over his head and complained about the lack of competition before shoving the trainee down to the mat.  This was a disappointment as I was hoping they had something in mind for the women's division...at least they would go on to bring in some new faces for the division.

Intermission~!  Official Ben Simon Concession Count(tm) was a doozy...I'm trying to remember if I slept late and/or forgot to eat dinner before leaving the house.  At any rate:  Pepsi, hot dog, Lays potato chips, Mountain Dew, bottle of water, and another Pepsi.  My teeth and waistline are not happy about the soda consumption...ugh.

Kyle Roberts vs. Austin Cravens, gauntlet match part one:  If you count the gauntlet as one match, this meant that the show had a whopping three bouts total...ouch.  At least the matches that occurred were good ones, but recording for television may expose how thin the WLW roster seems to be nowadays.  At any rate, Cravens looked good in both of his outings...it was in Roberts' best interest to win quickly and preserve himself, which he did.  Roberts scored the victory with the frog splash in 3:00.

Jr. Heavyweight Champion Jayden Dominic Rose vs. Kyle Roberts, non-title:  I feel like this should be the Jr. Heavyweight Title feud, but perhaps it's a preview of coming attractions; they've had some really good matches in the past and this was no different, albeit in shorter form.  Rose went for his own frog splash but missed the mark, allowing Roberts to finish with a Detonation Kick in 8:14 (cumulative time).

Kyle Roberts vs. Tag Team Champion Brandon Espinosa:  Rose blindsided Roberts on the way out, putting him at an early disadvantage...for his part, Espy brought out the white facepaint as he was prepared for a war.  Espy missed a moonsault off the second rope and Roberts was able to mount a comeback, but a blind charge into the corner hit the ringpost and Espy went after his shoulder.  Roberts was able to recover and deliver a somersault plancha off the top rope, then brought Espy back into the ring for the Detonation Kick...for two.  Espy nailed the brainbuster out of nowhere...for two.  Espy brought in one of the Tag Title belts and the referee took it away, only for Espy to grab the OTHER belt and take a swing...but Roberts ducked out of the way and rolled up Espinosa for the three-count in 22:08 (cumulative)!

The night wasn't quite over as Espy blasted Roberts with the title belt after the bell, leaving him bloody...Rex Fults hit the ring to run him off, preventing more damage from being done and seemingly confirming who Roberts would choose as his tag team partner for the Tag Title match he had just earned!

Post-show, I congregated with Ben Simon and Brian Kelley at the nearby Denny's and I indulged in a meal called the Grand Slam Slugger...hey, it was still baseball season at the time.  *shrug*

Tomorrow night, WWE's NXT brand has a house show at the Family Arena in St. Charles, Missouri and I will be in attendance...woo.  As for this coming weekend, MMWA has its monthly offering at the South Broadway Athletic Club...however, I have a family get-together earlier in the evening and it may be a gametime decision whether I make that my whole night or depart early for the rasslin.  If I miss the show, I'm sure I will catch up with the online video of the event.

Other upcoming shows:
-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:  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-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.