Now, as promised, a special comment about the Mid-Missouri Wrestling Alliance show on Saturday, December 8th at the South Broadway Athletic Club in St. Louis, Missouri.
DISCLAIMER: I'm biased. Deal with it.
If I remember right, this show was originally supposed to include "The Little Blue Dragon" Tootie Lynn Ramsey vs. Kenny Alfonso, but the state inspector cancelled the bout due to questions about whether the Missouri State Athletic Commission allowed intergender matches. Thankfully that issue was eventually set straight, but it meant Alfonso drove from Kansas City to St. Louis and didn't get to wrestle. Ugh.
Your ring announcer was Drew Abbenhaus; your referees were Jay King, Nick Ridenour, & Shaft. Your video commentators were myself, Johnny Elias, and Jam.
The night began with a ten-bell salute for Larry Matysik. MMWA promoter Tony Casta, Southern Illinois Championship Wrestling promoter Herb Simmons, and Gary Jackson all said a few words about their friendships with Mr. Matysik.
Bobby D vs. "Rough Cut" Rick Ruby: I didn't expect this to be a technical classic, but Bobby D has surprised me on occasion. Ruby's size advantage nearly paid off in his favor as he scored near-falls after a big splash and an enzuigiri(!). Bobby D fought back and got the big man out of the ring, but Ruby avoided the incoming somersault plancha...he tried to get D back into the ring, but D was able to slingshot into a re-entry sunset flip for the pin in 9:49.
"Magnificent" Mark Morgan vs. Barackus: Barackus was still in the mood to make a statement on his path to the Heavyweight Title...Morgan's MMWA debut didn't go very well for him as a result. The big man finished in short order with a Blackhole Slam and sitout chokebomb 3:25.
"Night Train/Gorgeous/Great One" Gary Jackson & Khayman(w/ Abigail) vs. The Professionals(Shawn Santel & Mauler McDarby): The Gary Jackson Fashion Watch for the night: Red jacket and Santa hat with red and yellow trunks. In previous months, referee Shaft had made decisions in Khayman's matches that seemed to come off as biased against him but could have easily been dismissed as circumstantial. However, this case was drastically different; Khayman went to the top rope with the intent to launch a swanton bomb onto Santel, but Shaft pulled his leg to crotch him on the top rope! Santel took advantage of the situation to hook Khayman in a three-quarter nelson and Shaft fast-counted the pin in 9:55. After the match, Shaft decided to formally accept Khayman's challenge for a match...and Khayman said it would be the first-ever casket match in MMWA history! It was scheduled for the January show, but that event was cancelled due to severe winter weather so it was pushed back to February.
Intermission~! Official Ben Simon Concession Count(tm): Pepsi, Mountain Dew, French fries.
"Your Canadian Hero" Sean Vincent vs. Waco(w/ "Volatile" Curtis Wylde & Wyldefyre): This was scheduled to be Vincent vs. Wylde, but Wylde came out with a kneebrace and cane and claimed an injury to back out of the match. The history between Vincent and Wylde in SICW has been well-documented and I imagine things may never be fully settled between the two, given the egos of both competitors. Despite the change of opponent, Vincent was able to score a relatively quick win with his version of the Indian Deathlock(called the Mapleleaf Leglock) in 3:16. Wylde attacked Vincent with his cane after the bell(showing no signs of his claimed knee injury), but Gary Jackson & Mark Morgan hit the ring to run him off.
"Da Bomb" Brian James vs. "The King Of Chaos" Ricky Cruz for the Heavyweight Title: Cruz had made his Midwest wrestling debut in the MMWA, but he hadn't competed at the South Broadway Athletic Club in several years. He made his name across several promotions, holding the SICW Classic Title as well as the Dynamo Pro Wrestling Heavyweight and Tag Titles...but he had not held gold in this promotion. It was set up to be the toughest challenge of James' title reign as the competitors seemed to be evenly matched in many respects. However, they would not reach a decisive finish on this night...Barackus was unhappy about Cruz "jumping the line" into a title shot and attacked James, causing the champion to technically win by DQ in 12:06. All three men fought each other until Waco ran out to assist Barackus...that unusual alliance led to James & Cruz joining forces to clear the ring. That set up a tag match for the January show (though it would be pushed back due to that show's cancellation).
"The Caramel Bear" C.J. Shine vs. Ezra Zealous: These two have mostly competed for Dynamo Pro in recent times, but often make their way to the MMWA as well...they're both the types to get experience wherever they can, and that seems to be a good work ethic to have. Zealous nearly won after a forward roll into a jumping DDT, but Shine won a competitive match with the knee trembler in 10:54.
Moondog Rover vs. The Big Texan, Texas Death Cage Match: These two have battled many times over the past several years, but this was set to be the final blowoff to their long-standing feud. It was the first time I had ever done commentary for a cage match, so that was a personal milestone for me. The stipulation meant that if a wrestler was pinned or made to submit, he had a ten-count to get back to his feet...if he was able to do so, there would be a thirty-second rest period before the action officially resumed. They didn't even wait for the opening bell before brawling outside the ring and it took some time before they could get them inside the walls of the cage to start things.
Falls as I remember them(the two active officially traded off duties between falls): Rover pinned Texan after Texan missed a top-rope splash. Texan pinned Rover after an elbowdrop. Rover pinned Texan after a big splash. Texan pinned Rover with a top-rope cross-bodyblock(!). Rover pinned Texan after an elbowdrop. Texan pinned Rover after the big splash. Texan pinned Rover after another elbowdrop. By the time it was all over, both men were bloody and Texan's mask had been partially ripped. The end saw Texan knock out Moondog with his own bone before scoring the final fall...Rover was unable to answer the ten-count and Texan was declared the winner in 31:35(!). I felt like it was a good brawl and the fans were into it, though I felt like it might have been better in a shorter timeframe. As always, that's just me.
Two to go and I'll be finished with 2018. Whaaaaat.
That's my special comment for this, the seventy-eighth wrestling show I 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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