Glory Pro Special Comment

Now, as promised, a special comment about the Glory Pro Wrestling show on Friday, October 19th at Pop's Nightclub in Sauget, Illinois.

DISCLAIMER:  I'm biased.  Deal with it.

This show was initially scheduled for late August but was pushed back to October.  The main event was an interesting match idea on paper...I think my exact reaction was "...okay, sure, why not?"  Sean Waltman was one of my earliest favorites in wrestling, breaking the mold of the World Wrestling Federation's "land of the giants" and paving the way for smaller competitors to succeed.  Marcus Alexander Bagwell was the perennial underdog fan favorite for several years in WCW, but he truly hit his stride as the arrogant "Buff" after joining the New World Order.  As for Scott Norton, he was a powerhouse in both New Japan and WCW (he was one of the earliest "gaijin"(foreigners) to hold the IWGP Heavyweight Title).  He probably would have been a monster rulebreaker if WCW didn't have a couple hundred people on the payroll at the time.  Time flies, but wrestling fans still fondly remember those days in the Monday Night Wars.  In another added guest appearance, Road Warrior Animal was in the house...very cool.  (It turns out that he lives in the area nowadays; I imagine he moved here when his son was drafted to the Rams.)

Your ring announcer was Ben Simon; your referees were C-Lo Banks and Sean O'Brien(not the local comedian).

The show kicked off with local radio personality Tony Patrico(from 105.7 The Point's Rizzuto Show) hyping the fans, joking about how it was the first time he'd ever entered a wrestling ring.  He brought out Animal as Glory Pro's new talent scout; Animal announced that Bandido had been signed for the first show of the year on January 6th.  Neat.

Ben Simon informed the fans on several absences due to travel problems:  Jake Something, Hakim Zane, The Hierarchy(Murder One & Adrian Armour), & Xavier Walker.  Hopefully we will see The Hierarchy back in the area down the line.

"Hot Fire" Myron Reed & "The Leader Of The Pack" Stephen Wolf vs. The Riegel Twins(Logan & Sterling) for the United Glory Tag Team Titles:  This was originally scheduled to be non-title, but the new champs felt like the sporting types and were cool with putting the gold on the line.  Both Riegels got haircuts, denying me a chance of being able to tell them apart...it's turned into a weird running gag that one of them will inform me after the show about who was involved in the decision.  The Riegels came close to a win with a Doomsday Buff Blockbuster on Wolf (in a nod to Bagwell's presence on the show, perhaps).  However, the champs endured and came back to score the win...Reed & Wolf delivered a Tombstone/superkick combo on Logan(I'm told), then Reed scored the pin with a springboard 450 Splash in 10:03.  Tremendous way to kick off the action!

Farmer Billy Hills vs. Barackus:  Sometimes being there for the show can lead to an opportunity...such was the case for Hills(who I'd seen previously in Southern Illinois Championship Wrestling and Cape Championship Wrestling) as he substituted for Jake Something.  This led to an unusual situation for Barackus as he was facing an opponent of comparable or even greater size and power...it was a different sort of HOSS BATTLE~! than it would have been with Something, but I hope we get that match down the line as well.  Barackus took control, but missed a frog splash off the second rope...Hills went to the top rope himself, but Barackus rolled out of the way of the incoming elbowdrop.  Barackus went to the turnbuckles once again and climbed all the way to the top; this time the frog splash connected and Barackus got the win in 7:51.

Paco Gonzalez & Savanna Stone vs. Jake Lander & "The Little Blue Dragon" Tootie Lynn Ramsey:  Paco vs. Lander had been originally scheduled, but Savanna and Tootie were added to make it an intergender tag.  While all four were fan favorites, Paco/Lander and Savanna/Tootie had many competitive bouts with each other and each side was hoping to score a statement victory.  I've heard a lot of positive things about Lander and I hope to see more of him in 2019.  The highlight of the match occurred when the fight spilled out of the ring and into the crowd...as Paco fought with Lander and Tootie, Savanna climbed the stairs to the upper balcony and dove onto everyone with a plancha!  The match eventually made its way back to the ring and Paco picked up the win for his team with the fireman's-carry Michinoku Driver on Lander in 10:05.

The Gym Nasty Boys(Timmy Lou Retton & White Mike) vs. Alpha Omega(Camaro Jackson & Kenny Alfonso) vs. The Boys From Jollyville(T-Money & Nasty Russ Myers):  This was scheduled to be a four-corner tag match with The Hierarchy.  The Gym Nasty Boys made a good impression at Pro Wrestling Resurgence earlier in the year.  The Boys From Jollyville had an alliance with Crown Of Glory Champion Curt Stallion and Barackus at one time, but we haven't seen them work together in a while.  Any of these three teams could have picked up the victory and moved into contention for the United Glory Tag Team Titles...in this style of match, one quick fall could be all it takes.  The Gym Nasty Boys were able to isolate Nasty Russ long enough to hit their uranagi/backcracker combo, allowing Retton to get the three-count in 6:42.

"The Big Mustache On Campus" Mikey McFinnegan vs. Markus Crane, street fight:  I barely recognized Crane when I saw him at All-American Wrestling a couple of years ago; I first saw him at Metro East Championship Wrestling quite some time before that.  He's become a deathmatch kind of guy in recent years and that's how this particular bout shaped up to be.  I didn't know what to expect out of Mikey in this environment, but he showed his toughness here.  A lot of plunder came into play, including chairs, a trash can, a golf club, a lemon(?), and beer.  The two battled on the top rope with the wreckage piled beneath them...and Crane delivered a top-rope powerslam onto the chairs and trash can on the mat!  That finally put Mikey away in 13:25.

Intermission~!  Ben brought out Vicious & Delicious(Scott Norton & Buff Bagwell) for a promo to lead into the break.  Official Ben Simon Concession Count(tm):  My compatriot Zach was nice enough to let me bum a few slices of his pepperoni and breakfast pizzas...thank you much, as always.

D.J. Shiima Xion vs. Air Wolf:  D.J. Z had been scheduled to face "The Mad Dragon" Hakim Zane; Air Wolf had been scheduled for a six-way matchup.  Air Wolf has been extremely impressive for his young age, though he's struggled to come up with wins outside of Resurgence.  He had little time to prepare for a seasoned competitor like D.J. Z, whose resume includes the X-Division and Tag Team Titles in Total Nonstop Action/Impact.  He gave him a great fight, at any rate...but D.J. Z was looking to rebound from his recent loss of the United Glory Tag Titles.  In the end, it took a flying DDT off the top rope to put Air Wolf away, giving D.J. Z the victory in 9:06.

"The Husky Heartthrob" Kody Rice vs. "Gifted" Chase Holliday vs. Edvin Kudic vs. "Rich Homie Juice" A.J. Gray:  This was scheduled to be a six-way match; Xavier Walker was absent and Air Wolf was moved to the match with D.J. Z.  Brandon Aarons was scheduled for the match and was in attendance but did not compete.  Holliday was in the house and got a spot on the show as a result, similar to Billy Hills.  Rice made a great impression in his first appearance in the St. Louis area, getting "Please Come Back" chants afterwards.  As I noted with the triple threat tag match, these multi-way matches can often come down to whoever takes the best opportunity...in this case, Gray picked up the win with a Steiner Screwdriver(vertical suplex-into-sitout Tombstone) on Holliday in 9:20.

Crown Of Glory Champion "The Lone Star" Curt Stallion vs. "Mr. Fun Size" Marko Stunt, non-title bullrope match:  While Marko scored an impressive victory over Maxwell Jacob Friedman at the previous Glory Pro event, it wasn't QUITE enough to earn him a title shot so quickly.  However, a non-title victory over the titleholder would definitely put him in line for a future opportunity...but Stallion wasn't going to make it easy for him by any stretch of the imagination.  This match was decided by pinfall or submission instead of the tag-four-corners rule...your mileage may vary on which you prefer, thought I suppose the possibility of an upset was more likely with the latter.  Marko has become known for his surprising resilience for his size; people have seen quite a few instances of Marko snatching victory from the jaws of defeat as opponents tend to underestimate him.  An upset nearly did occur as Marko managed to block Stallion's signature flying headbutt with the bullrope's cowbell, scoring a close near-fall.  Marko attempted to springboard off the middle rope as a follow-up, but Stallion met him in mid-air with a step-up headbutt and that sealed the deal in 13:09.

The New World Order(Sean Waltman, Scott "Flash" Norton, & Buff Bagwell) vs. No New Friends(Kevin Lee Davidson, "The Millenial" Danny Adams, & Mike Outlaw):  While the NNF trio were technically the rulebreakers of the match, both sides had their supporters in attendance.  The NWO trio haven't been as active in recent years, but they know how to work smarter within a tag match; I don't think Bagwell took any bumps in this bout.  (I had wondered if he would, given his history of neck problems.)  Waltman did the lion's share of the selling for his side and I believe he could still go out there and have a kickass singles match with some of the best.  Norton tagged in for a house-cleaning rally but was stopped by a huge bodyslam from K.L.D.  Waltman came in with his own rally and I was in unashamed fanboy mode when he unleashed his trademark spinning heel kicks.  Waltman finished off Davidson with the X-Factor in 10:25 to wrap up the show.

Afterwards, I did get the chance to chat with Buff Bagwell and Sean Waltman.  I talked with Buff about some of his earlier WCW days, including the tag team with 2 Cold Scorpio which brought him his first major championship (they defeated The Nasty Boys for the WCW Tag Team Titles).  I also noted how popular the Buff Blockbuster has become in wrestling, though a lot of people don't acknowledge him as the innovator of the move (simply calling it the "Blockbuster").  It's too bad things played out the way they did in the WWF/WCW "Invasion".

I waited as long as I could for the chance to meet Waltman...the guy's been just about everywhere in wrestling.  I'm sure he hears it all the time, but he inspired a whole lot of smaller wrestlers (especially on the independent scene) to pursue their dreams.  The average size in wrestling has decreased over the years and we've seen a lot of people make it to the big stage(WWE) that we never would have expected to be there.  (As I write this, the most recent feud for the WWE Title was Daniel Bryan vs. A.J. Styles!)  I think size is still A factor, but it's no longer THE factor as it once was.  I didn't get much chance to talk to Norton...the brief time that I did, he was holding Waltman's dog(who Waltman brings with him everywhere).  I can appreciate a dog person.

At any rate, it was a fun night out at Pop's...contrary to popular belief, I haven't made that many trips to Sauget.  I'll leave it at that.

January looks like this:
-Saturday 1/5:  Strictly Nsane Pro Wrestling in Crossville, IL
-Sunday 1/6:  Glory Pro Wrestling in Collinsville, IL
-Friday 1/11:  St. Louis Anarchy in Alton, IL
-Saturday 1/12:  Mid-Missouri Wrestling Alliance in St. Louis, MO
-Saturday 1/19:  Dynamo Pro Wrestling in DeSoto, MO; World League Wrestling in Troy, MO; Southern Illinois Championship Wrestling in East Carondelet, IL
-Saturday 1/26:  Dynamo Pro in St. Louis, MO(Concordia Turners); SICW in Cahokia, IL

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