Now, as promised, a special comment about the Pro Wrestling Championship Series show on Friday, October 5th at the Spaulding Hall Club in Alton, Illinois.
DISCLAIMER: I'm biased. Deal with it.
The unfortunate side effect of running shows in Alton every month is that the building seemingly got burned out to an extent (attendance was noticably down for the September show, as I saw via Powerbomb.tv). Also, with St. Louis Anarchy positioning itself as the more important of the two groups, PWCS has suffered in terms of attendance. I'm not usually one to headcount, but this event had MAYBE fifty fans in attendance...ouch.
Your ring announcer was Chris Kaelin; your referees were Steve Reagans & Greg Peebles.
Starting scoreboard: Blacklist/Ego Busters 5-4, Resurgence/Submission Squad 4-5. The entire season saw the win-loss records stay relatively close to each other, so any stable had a legitimate chance of making it to the championship match.
Mighty Micah vs. "Lights Out" Adrian Surge(Ego Busters): If Micah won this match, he would take Surge's place in the Ego Busters stable. Surge didn't take Micah too seriously and paid for his cavalier attitude on a few occasions. Despite that, it seemed like Surge would score a decisive victory...but Micah countered a spinebuster attempt and small-packaged Surge for the flash pin in 9:41! (Hmm, the newly-crowned Dynamo Pro Heavyweight Champion losing to a Kansas City rookie in the opener? I imagine someone backstage got a good laugh out of that...)
Dallas Cayde(Submission Squad) & Shane Sanders(Resurgence) vs. Big Chris Mac(Blacklist) & "Privilege Personified" Rasheed Ali(Ego Busters): This tag match was set up as featuring members from each stable being forced to team up...they had to win to improve their group's standing. Ali came out with Sanders in his corner, but was shocked when Sanders was announced as the Resurgence representative...they'd had some tension in the past, but now they were set to be across the ring from each other. Ali fully expected Sanders to not fight him...Sanders wasn't exactly on the same page with Cayde, so Mac and Ali had slightly better teamwork than their opponents. The finish saw Ali miss a blind tag on the other side and roll up Cayde, only for Sanders to come in and roll up Ali for the three-count in 9:16! Ali confronted Sanders over his apparent betrayal, only to receive a powerslam in response...ladies and gentlemen, we have a face turn. (Resurgence/Submission Squad/Blacklist/Ego Busters 5-5)
Mike Outlaw(Resurgence) vs. "The Wildman From The Ozarks" Alex Herzog(Blacklist): I wondered whether Dynamo's singles champions would go 0-2 for the night, though at least in this case Outlaw and Herzog were about even on the PWCS totem pole. Herzog's size and power advantage were coupled with his experience edge...while Outlaw had more recent singles success, he had a lot of factors going against him in this one. On top of that, trying to win a striking contest with a pure brawler like Herzog is a tough prospect. With all that in mind, the outcome wasn't QUITE as big of an upset as it seemed to be on the surface...I imagine a lot of people expected Outlaw to win, but it was Herzog who scored a huge victory with his chokelift Flatliner in 7:12! (Blacklist 6-5, Submission Squad/Ego Busters 5-5, Resurgence 5-6)
"The Dirty Rook" Mat Fitchett(Resurgence) vs. Matt Kenway(Blacklist): With the standings so close, every win and loss was critical on the final evening of competition. Kenway pushed his size advantage and focused his attack on the ribs of Fitchett...but Fitchett fought back and got a close near-fall after a spear. Fitchett seemed to be on his way to a win, but Greg Jovi ran out to cheapshot Fitchett behind the official's back...that led to Kenway winning with a fireman's-carry double-knee gutbuster in 9:45. (Blacklist 7-5, Submission Squad/Ego Busters 5-5, Resurgence 5-7) After the match, Jovi ran his mouth about Fitchett as well as Davey Vega's contract with the Ego Busters...Fitchett wanted Vega freed from the stable so The Besties In The World could join forces in PWCS again. Jovi said he would release Vega from his Ego Busters contract, but only if Fitchett could win his match at the season finale on December 2nd...an Anarchy Rules match against Greg Jovi himself! I can only assume that Jovi is going through some serious training for that grudge match, seeing as how his previous foray into competition(vs. Makaze) didn't turn out so well...
Intermission~! Official Ben Simon Concession Count(tm): Coca-Cola, root beer, few slices of buffalo chicken pizza(thanks Zach!), and Mello Yello.
Evan Gelistico(Submission Squad) vs. "Dirdey" Jake Dirden(Ego Busters): Gelistico knew going into this matchup that he was the underdog against the towering monster...but that didn't meant he was going to simply lay down. He put up a great fight against the big man, using just about every trick in the book in an attempt to gain an advantage...but Dirden was just too much for him. Dirden delivered several crushing headbutts in a row and the official stopped the bout in 12:02, declaring Evan knocked out and unable to continue. (Blacklist 7-5, Ego Busters 6-5, Submission Squad 5-6, Resurgence 5-7)
Reilly MaGuire vs. Roy "The Strangler" Lewis: This was a free agent showcase and it felt like they were essentially sent out to die, as neither was well known to Alton crowds. Lewis worked on MaGuire's arm when he was in control, but it wasn't quite enough to tip the scales in his favor; MaGuire won with his version of the Rainmaker(windup short-arm lariat) in 9:34.
"Li'l Hollywood Hills" Everett Connors(Submission Squad) vs. Thomas Shire(Ego Busters): At the previous Mega Ticket season finale, Evan Gelistico encouraged Connors to make a bigger impact by winning his high-profile matches...he proceeded to mostly lose those matches this year. *shrug* This was a good time for him to reverse his fortunes with the fate of the Season Five Championship in the balance. Shire had a breakout year with some impressive performances, including a huge win over Kevin Lee Davidson at the SLA show in July. Shire had the advantage in most of the tangibles, but The Submission Squad needed a big win to keep themselves in contention. Connors was able to take the big man down with a knee clip and stayed in the fight despite the size difference...Shire overpowered him on more than one occasion, but Connors scored the important win with a modified Stone Cold Stunner in 9:58! (Blacklist 7-5, Ego Busters 6-5, Submission Squad 6-6, Resurgence 5-7)
Paco Gonzalez(C)(Resurgence) vs. "The Monarch" Jeremy Wyatt(Submission Squad) vs. "The Millenial" Danny Adams(Blacklist) vs. "The Miracle Worker" Davey Vega(Ego Busters) for the Gateway Heritage Title: Not only did the gold hang in the balance, but also the final fate of the season championship...with only one squad able to earn a win and the other three being tagged with losses, the outcome could have gone in any number of directions. The title had gone from Vega to Adams to Paco earlier in the year...only the self-proclaimed "Belt Collector" had yet to hold the championship. In a nod to Fitchett's earlier arrangement with Greg Jovi, Vega wore his Besties jacket to the ring. It seemed like Wyatt was the only one who the fans truly hated, though Adams wasn't quite a full fan favorite. Interestingly enough, Danny and Paco briefly joined forces in a nod to their tag team past as Alpha Class...of course, the alliance didn't last long as THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE. The battle spilled out of the ring and Adams ran Wyatt's head into the wall, leaving a hole...the venue owner was probably wondering "why me?" at this point. Finishers flew near the end of the bout with the other participants breaking up pins, but Wyatt was able to maneuver Paco into position for the Coronation piledriver for the win in 11:34 to win the Gateway Heritage Title! In hindsight, it made sense for Wyatt to win the title as he would defend it at the SLA show in Overland Park, Kansas...
Final Season Five scoreboard: Blacklist/Submission Squad 7-6, Ego Busters 6-6, Resurgence 5-8. The Squad's three wins on the show did make the difference...The Blacklist had the commanding lead at the halfway point of the show, but it was just a matter of who would oppose them. Going into the season finale, it would be Submission Squad(Season Four Champions) vs. Blacklist(Season One Champions) as well as Fitchett vs. Jovi.
Hey, I made it to October. Sweet. Wait, it's the end of November already?...
December looks like this:
-Saturday 12/1: World League Wrestling in Troy, MO
-Sunday 12/2: Wrestling Over Everything in Centreville, IL; Pro Wrestling Championship Series in Alton, IL
-Saturday 12/8: Mid-Missouri Wrestling Alliance in St. Louis, MO
-Saturday 12/15: Dynamo Pro in St. Louis, MO(FUBAR); Southern Illinois Championship Wrestling in East Carondelet, IL
-Sunday 12/16: Pro Wrestling Force in Springfield, IL
-Saturday 12/22: Dynamo Pro in St. Louis, MO(Concordia Turners Gym)
That's my special comment for this, the sixtieth 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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