MMWA Special Comment

Now, as promised, a special comment about the Mid-Missouri Wrestling Alliance show at the South Broadway Athletic Club in St. Louis, Missouri.

DISCLAIMER:  I'm biased.  Deal with it.

SBAC had another full house in November for their monthly wrestling offering.  This was a notable night as I was asked to join the commentary team for the live online feed of the show...I always appreciate the opportunity to call the action and it looks like it may become a regular gig for me with the MMWA.

Your ring announcer was Drew Abbenhaus; your referees were Jay King, Shaft, & Nick Ridenour.  The audio guy had trouble with playing the National Anthem so Drew encouraged the fans to sing it.

"The" Ace Hawkins vs. "2.0" Da'Marius Jones vs. A.J. Williams for the Cruiserweight Title:  Hawkins dethroned Jones for the title in October, but it involved an apparent miscue on the part of Williams that led to Jones' downfall.  I theorized at the time that perhaps Williams saw that his partner was in trouble, engineered the "accident" to give Jones an excuse for the loss, and thus this match resulted to put the 2.0 team in a two-on-one situation against the new champion.  I don't know if that's EXACTLY what went down, but they seemed to be on the same page for most of this match.  Hawkins attempted a top-rope move and was met with a double superkick by 2.0...both covered Hawkins at the same time and the referee made a three-count in 10:35.  Hawkins was no longer the champion, but who was?  This was a stunt they had pulled previously when competing for the Heavyweight Title against Gary Jackson and it ended in the same results...Commissioner Jim Harris announced that the Cruiserweight Title was being held up.  Jones & Williams weren't happy with this outcome at all, but Harris threatened to suspend both of them if they laid a hand on him.

"The Incomparable" Deacon Cash vs. The Big Texan:  I guess Cash is a fan favorite now; the internet show associated with the MMWA has been pushing the Cash-Damion Cortess feud with a storyline involving Cash's father, who was seated in the front row.  The problem on this night was that Cortess was seated RIGHT next to him, with the implication that Cash's father was there against his will.  Of course Cash wasn't the only one with outside issues as Moondog Rover made an appearance, distracting Texan long enough for Cash to clip the knee.  However, Cortess raised a ruckus at ringside again and that led to Cash paying a visit to Chokeslam City, Texas in 4:40.

"Dirty" Ron McDonald & "Switchblade" Garrett Shanks vs. The Professionals(Shawn Santel & Mauler McDarby):  I feel like Shanks' new nickname has been done by someone else recently.  Dirty Ron is Mikey Gordon(formerly Pondula, Poodoo The Cow, and a number of other characters); he's been competing in California in recent years and hasn't been a regular in this area in a while.  Despite that, he seemed to have several enthusiastic supporters in the audience.  Ron and Shanks worked together reasonably well considering it was their first match as a team, but Santel & McDarby have established themselves as a mainstay in the area's tag team ranks.  Ron wasn't above some illegal tactics as he threw powder at one point, but he and his partner had a falling-out when Ron seemed more intent on playing to the fans than tagging into the bout.  Shanks dropped off the apron rather than tag back into the fray, leaving Ron high and dry; The Professionals hit the Irish Melancholy(sideslam/second-rope elbowdrop combo) and Santel pinned Dirty Ron in 12:19.  Shanks attacked McDonald after the match for good measure...all in all, not the homecoming that Dirty Ron had hoped to enjoy.

Intermission~!  Official Ben Simon Concession Count(tm):  Pepsi and Mountain Dew.  Notably, Brian Pillman Jr. stopped by the show and brought some of his merchandise to sell...I got a picture with him around this time.  He was in town for Glory Pro the following day and all that...yes, he looks a lot like his dad.

"The Little Blue Dragon" Tootie Lynn Ramsey vs. Savanna Stone(w/ "The Empress Of Evil" Rahne Victoria):  These two have a great matchup earlier in the year when they were both fan favorites, but it was a different Savanna Stone who made her way to the ring on this night...The Golden Unit was in the house and Tootie was in a potential two-on-one situation.  On top of that, Tootie had the wind knocked out of her early and had difficulty recovering...Savanna and Rahne took their time taunting the ringside fans, confident that they would have an easy night ahead of them.  However, Tootie's martial arts experience came into play...Savanna got a bit too cocky and walked into a superkick from Tootie for the sudden pinfall in 6:02!  Tootie was still hurting after the bell and the referee did his best to protect her from a potential double-team attack by The Golden Unit...

Moondog Rover vs. Khayman(w/ Abigail):  Earlier in the year, Khayman had his issues with referee Shaft...Shaft had repeatedly been distracted by Da'Marius Jones during a match with A.J. Williams, leading to Williams scoring the victory.  In retaliation, Khayman spit mist in Shaft's eyes...and Shaft hadn't forgotten.  He was the official in this matchup as well; Khayman focused his attack on the leg to slow down his larger opponent, but Shaft seemed to be slow-counting Khayman's pin attempts and fast-counting for Moondog's covers.  Despite the officiating, Khayman had things going his way...he delivered a Codebreaker and swanton bomb, but only got a near-fall thanks to Shaft's very slow count.  Moondog went for his bone and whacked Khayman, which was something even Shaft couldn't ignore as he called for the DQ in 11:31.  The Big Texan made his presence known and attacked Moondog, touching off yet another brawl between the two...they were set to settle their differences at the December show in a Texas Death Cage Match!

"Night Train/Gorgeous/Great One" Gary Jackson vs. Barackus:  Gary Jackson Fashion Watch(tm):  Brown jacket and orange trunks.  These two had crossed paths a few times before and Gary's experience made the difference in those encounters, but the big man has gotten smarter over time and faced a wide variety of opponents.  Jackson went toe-to-toe with Barackus on a few occasions and tried to get him down on the mat, but he couldn't keep him down for very long.  In the end, the size and power difference was too much as Barackus dropped him with the Baldo Bomb, then hit a frog splash off the second rope for a big win in 6:54!

"Volatile" Curtis Wylde & Wyldefyre invaded the broadcast position for the night's main event...I stepped away for a little while but was eventually brought back in an attempt to get a word in edgewise.  That was easier said than done...

"Da Bomb" Brian James vs. "The Caramel Bear" C.J. Shine for the Heavyweight Title:  I was a bit distracted during this matchup, as noted, but it was a good competitive bout as Shine has stepped up his game in the past year or so.  He gave the champion a run for his money, but it wasn't quite enough as James retained with the sitout gourdbuster in 10:30.  Wylde got into a brief confrontation with James after the match, perhaps as a preview of coming attractions...

The last few months of 2018 were pretty busy so I've still got a lot of ground to cover...stay tuned, whoever still reads these...

February looks like this:
-Saturday 2/2:  World League Wrestling in Troy, MO
-Saturday 2/9:  Mid-Missouri Wrestling Alliance in St. Louis, MO; Pro Wrestling Championship Series in Alton, IL
-Saturday 2/16:  WLW in Troy, MO; Southern Illinois Championship Wrestling in East Carondelet, IL
-Sunday 2/17:  Pro Wrestling Force in Springfield, IL
-Saturday 2/23:  Cape Championship Wrestling in Cape Girardeau, MO; Zero-One USA in Mattoon, IL
-Sunday 2/24:  Glory Pro Wrestling in Collinsville, IL

That's my special comment for this, the seventieth 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.