Saint Louis Wrestling

By Ben Simon

Ricky Cruz defends his Dynamo Pro Championship against Shorty Biggs on August 8th in the main event of a fundraiser for Eureka’s Junior Wildcats football program.

This is the first wrestling event for Brookdale Farms.  This is an outdoor event with limited seating.  Bring a lawn chair.

Bell at 7.  For ticket information, visit DynamoProWrestling.com.

By Patrick Brandmeyer

Now, as promised, a special comment about Saturday’s Dynamo Pro Wrestling event at the Stratford Bar & Grill in Fenton, Missouri.

It was a rocky road when Dynamo started to branch out to new venues…it began with Off Broadway late last year and continued with Stratford Bar & Grill in January. Sometimes it just takes time for people to discover that there’s wrestling in town…seeing the same thing with the new Hey Guys Comedy Club in Fairview Heights. (Cheap plug!) Over time, the audience has grown for both spots and they had a solid turnout for this event.

With less than a week to promote after the past week’s Off Broadway event, very little was announced beforehand. The scheduled match between D’Arcy Dixon and Lucy Mendez didn’t happen due to Missouri licensing issues, though they did have a brief exchange in the ring. The Dynamo Pro Champion Ricky Cruz didn’t have a scheduled match and was added to the three-way dance for the Tag Team Title along with Brandon Espinosa, making it a four-way.

Your ring announcers were Chris Roedel & Luke Roberts, your timekeeper was Ben Simon, and your referees were Patrick Hook and Jay King.

Paco Gonzalez vs. Danny Adams: Have been seeing these two protégés of Michael Elgin at several shows lately, starting with the pre-show at Ring of Honor in Collinsville. They’ve usually wrestled each other, so it’s safe to say that they’re familiar with each other’s styles. Paco seemed to tweak his knee late in the match and Adams went after the injury; wasn’t sure if it was a bad injury or not, but he seemed okay on Sunday. There were a few cases of big-moves-for-two-counts.

I was a bit irked with the no contest after Jake Dirden attacked both guys at 12:05. The microphones seemed a bit off as I had trouble hearing some of the promos…the message was fairly clear in this case, though. Dirden wanted another shot at Cruz; Crystal Yount said he hadn’t been able to regain the title in his previous rematches AND she didn’t approve of Dirden messing up other people’s matches, so he had to earn another title match by beating recent rival Elvis Aliaga.

Jon Webb vs. “The Bosnian Warchild” Spi-Ral: This was Webb’s return to Dynamo after his first tour of Japan…cool for him. Webb won with a superkick combo ending in a close-range superkick at 7:23 (the only match of the night that went under ten minutes).

Enter Executive Director Mark Bland, starting a trainwreck promo segment that included Travis Cook (w/ Tag Team Champions The Black Hand Warriors), Brandon Espinosa, and Champion Ricky Cruz (w/ Lucy Mendez).  I got a good laugh out of Espinosa griping to Ricky and Lucy on Tuesday about how he doesn’t speak Spanish. I’d be good with seeing Cruz-Espinosa at some point…random to throw them into the Tag Title match. Yay for wacky tag partners who hate each other!

Brandon Aarons vs. “The Alternative” Brandon Gallagher: Gallagher tried to insert himself into the promo segment, but Bland was at his wit’s end and simply blew him off. Gallagher scored two eliminations in the six-way match at Off Broadway but was pinned by Aarons, setting up this bout. The fans were a bit subdued for this one after the lengthy promo segment that preceded it. Gallagher’s been a bit directionless in recent months…he got a DQ win over Dan Walsh, but Walsh hasn’t been around as much to continue that feud. This was the second match in a row to end with a superkick of some kind; Aarons hit the cobra clutch suplex and followed up with a close-range superkick for the victory in 9:04.

Mike Outlaw vs. Jack Gamble (w/ Travis Cook): I was wondering if we’d see another superkick finish here (since that’s one of Gamble’s signature moves). Outlaw’s shown a lot of potential in his first few matches…I’ve seen most if not all of them. Spi-Ral inexplicably got involved, but that brought out Gamble’s former tag partner Jon Webb to even the sides a bit. That distraction led to Outlaw fighting out of a superplex attempt and hitting the Macho Elbow for the upset win in 11:20…nicely done.

D’Arcy Dixon vs. Lucy Mendez: D’Arcy said she wasn’t cleared to compete due to a recent concussion…she got a mixed response to her question about whether to bash Lucy’s face anyway (“YEAH!…but she’s pretty and stuff…I don’t know…”). They had a brief fight that ended with Lucy planting her with a tornado DDT (concussion~!)…D’Arcy had to be assisted to the backstage area and I imagine we’ll see them face each other for real down the line. Call it a no-contest/Sportz Entertainment Finish if you wish, though the match didn’t officially start.

Elvis Aliaga vs. “Dirdey” Jake Dirden: These two have an odd dynamic; Dirden won the first match in January, but much ado was made about the referee calling for the bell “early” when Elvis was seemingly unconscious in the Asiatic Spike. Their second match was a double DQ and their third bout saw Aliaga seemingly on the verge of victory with the TCB (Falcon Arrow) before Jeremy Wyatt interrupted things. They had a good match though it felt a bit long; both guys survived the other’s signature moves. Dirden finally kept him down with the Asiastic Spike after an extended effort…he got the tapout in 17:44(!). They shook hands after the match…Dirden looks like he’s remaining a fan favorite for now.

The Black Hand Warriors (Michael Magnuson & David DeLorean) (w/ Travis Cook) vs. Dynamo Pro Champion “The King of Chaos” Ricky Cruz & Brandon Espinosa (w/ Lucy Mendez) vs. The Bite Club (Rocket Mapache & Jackal) vs. The Bum Rush Brothers (“The Don Mega” Shorty Biggs & Outtkast) for the Tag Team Title: With the Warriors’ schedule being full with WLW events, they had gone about two months between their most recent title win and their first defense at Off Broadway this past Tuesday. Travis complained about his guys being put against multiple teams and was immediately warned by Mark Bland that he’d add MORE challengers if he wouldn’t shut up. Cruz & Espinosa had trouble getting on the same page and that was the main story of the match.

Chaos broke loose between the Bum Rush Brothers and the Cruz/Espy tandem…in the midst of it, Espinosa didn’t quite hit his jumping DDT too cleanly on Outtkast but salvaged a pinfall out of it. The tension between the tag partners finally seemed to hit a breaking point as Espinosa walked away from the ring and Cruz & Lucy followed him to the backstage area…Espinosa tagged out beforehand, so the team wasn’t eliminated via countout. That would be important later. That left the Black Hand Warriors and the upstart “Bite Club” duo…the Warriors have been fighting a lot of upstart challengers in WLW as well, it would seem. I don’t think the two teams had worked with each other; that produced a few rough spots but they got it together for the most part. The remaining challengers were the obvious underdogs and kept on fighting…finally scoring a flash pin elimination when Jackal victory-rolled DeLorean to counter a Doomsday Device attempt. Mapache & Jackal thought they had won the title, but Cruz attacked Mapache at ringside and Espinosa jumped the guardrail, planting Jackal with the jumping DDT for the final win in 21:58(!). Cruz now has double gold in Dynamo and, counting his MMWA Heavyweight Title, Espinosa holds two championships in the St. Louis area.

Good night, good luck, and #yaywrestling.

By Ben Simon

Bang!  Bang!  Bang!

That’s the sound of Dynamo Pro Wrestling blasting out so many events, that it has become the most active promotion in Greater St. Louis.

The action continues this Saturday, August 2, at Stratford Bar & Grill in Fenton.

As of Friday, the headliner is a three-way match for the Dynamo Pro Tag Team Championship.  Magnuson & DeLorean defend their title against Outtkast & Shorty Biggs and Jackal & Rocket Mapache.

After Ken Kasa lost his own title recently, Travis Cook could part with all of his Organization’s gold Saturday, should the Black Hand Warriors lose that match.

Also on the card, Spi-Ral vs. Jon Webb, Danny Adams vs. Paco Gonzalez, and Lucy Mendez vs. D’Arcy Dixon.

Update (2:09 P.M. 8/2/14): Dynamo Pro Executive Director Mark Bland issued a press release today.

Bell at 8.  For ticket information, visit DynamoProWrestling.com.

By Patrick Brandmeyer

Now, as promised, special comments about Saturday’s Southern Illinois Championship Wrestling event at the Community Center in East Carondelet, Illinois and Tuesday’s Dynamo Pro Wrestling at Off Broadway in Saint Louis, Missouri.

It was another packed house at SICW with a well-hyped title match. Ken Kasa had passed the one-year mark of his championship reign and manager Travis Cook had a bottle of champagne all ready to celebrate the milestone. For his part, Heath Hatton was riding a wave of momentum that included an endorsement from Jim Cornette, a battle royal win, and a tapout victory over the champ in last month’s tag team main event.

Your ring announcer was Drew Abbenhaus, your referees were Jay King and Keith Smith Jr.

The start of the card featured an oddly-extended segment…it began with a replaying of Larry Matysik’s over-the-phone acceptance speech for the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in Iowa this past week. The audio wasn’t the best and they finally faded it out. After that, promoter Herb Simmons talked up the new sponsors for SICW Wrestling Explosion as well as the upcoming events (Paul Orndorff will be the special guest for August).

Joker vs. “Dead Sexy” Daniel Gunner: This was Gunner’s SICW debut; according to his Twitter bio, he had previously wrestled in the southeastern part of the country. Thought the match was solid for what it was; Joker won after a superkick in 3:49.

Outtkast vs. JJ Garrett: Another SICW debut; I had previously seen Garrett at PWCS and he mostly competes in Iowa. This was Outtkast’s second appearance for SICW as he debuted last month in a loss to Ax Allwardt. Kast has shown a bit more of his technical skill at these shows; his matches elsewhere are usually brawls and hardcore-style bouts. Outtkast picked up the victory after the Case Study (modified fireman’s carry into a bulldog-ish drop) in 4:00.

Big Jim Hoffarth vs. Frankie “The Thumper” Wyatt & Waco: Waco had apparently been griping about Hoffarth being a lousy tag partner, so Hoffarth told him to find a new partner and he’d face both of them…thus this Very Special Handicap Match™. I’m not too fond of handicap matches in general, mostly since authority figures tend to overuse them in other promotions. If nothing else, it’s refreshing to see the loaded side actually winning as opposed to the outnumbered side taking advantage of a contrived set of circumstances to OVERCOM TEH ODDZ. A cheapshot by Waco set up a big clothesline by Wyatt, then Waco tagged in to hit a Macho Elbow for the win in 5:58. This feud…MUST CONTINUE~!

“Night Train/Gorgeous/Great One” Gary Jackson & “Dirdey” Jake Dirden vs. Flash Flanagan & Ax (Allwardt): Dirden and Flanagan had a few clashes in the recent past. This seemed fairly short for some reason…Flanagan took out Dirden with his kendo stick behind the ref’s back, but Gary rolled up Flanagan for the pin in 7:33. Don’t see Flash lose too often…

Before the first intermission, Herb interviews visiting legend Ox Baker. The guy’s as old-school as it gets and has a unique look with the giant mustache. He was infamous for his trademark heart punch (or “Hurt Punch”) and the move was even blamed for killing two opponents! He said that in his day, when he told fans to “SIT DOWN AND SHUT UP”…they did. I noticed the fans quiet down when he raised his voice to say that quote…bwahahaha.

Bobby D vs. “The Money” Matt Cage: Hadn’t seen Bobby D in a little while. Cage has made two prior appearances for SICW: A loss to Heath Hatton and a time-limit draw with Shorty Biggs. He competes pretty regularly for central Illinois promotions but appears in this area every once in a while. Cage got the win out of nowhere after a jumping leg lariat in 5:17.

Red River Jack(w/ Big Daddy) vs. Mallaki Matthews: Yes, I had a theory as to the identity of Red River Jack…from my observation on Saturday, my guess was incorrect. I don’t know if the masked man is an experienced competitor or someone totally new, but he’s definitely a big boy. For reference: “Red River Jack” was an alias previously used by King Kong/Bruiser Brody when he competed under a mask. Jack made short work of Matthews, finishing with his version of the Diamond Cutter/RKO in 2:38.

“The Man Of Tomorrow” Daniel Eads vs. “The King Of Chaos” Ricky Cruz: Ricky kindly informed Drew of his accolades so that he could repeat them in his ring introduction. These two were the other half of last month’s tag match; Eads played a crucial role in holding off Cruz so that Hatton could get the win over Kasa. This was a proving ground of sorts with the upstart Eads taking on the experienced former champion…Eads had a fine showing and it took not one but two superkicks to keep him down for the count at 12:29. There will be another day for The Man of Tomorrow, to be sure…but Ricky’s gunning for another title shot.

“Ironman” Ken Kasa (w/ Travis Cook) vs. Heath Hatton for the Classic Title: I already covered the history here…Hatton had a close call against Kasa in Caseyville earlier this year, but Travis BELTed him and cost him the match via countout. Travis got more and more involved as the situation grew desperate…Heath speared Kasa and went for the cover, but Cook put Kasa’s foot on the bottom rope. That brought out Big Daddy with Red River Jack in tow…but Kasa got the opening to hook the Iron Maiden Torture Lock. Kasa had won the title with that hold and no one had escaped it, but Heath kept fighting and attempting to roll out of the hold. He was finally able to counterwrestle his way into the Crippler Crossface and Red River Jack held off Travis when he tried to interfere with a steel chair. With no more shortcuts to take, Kasa finally tapped out at 19:12 and his thirteen-month reign as champion came to an end! Hatton celebrated his title win with several young fans to close the show…good for him. WOO~!

Onward to Dynamo at Off Broadway….

The audience is slowly growing at Dynamo’s new venues…Tuesday night is a tough slot for a wrestling event but the fan enthusiasm comes off well in the intimate venue. It’s the polar opposite of the Sports Academy in Glen Carbon where the crowd noise doesn’t come off as well in such a huge building.

Your ring announcer was Chris Roedel (with Luke Roberts handling extra announcements); your referees were Jay King and Patrick Hook. Your sponsors were Stag Beer and Strange Donuts (providing free gooey butter cake and Butterfinger donuts for the night).

Mike Outlaw vs. Danny Adams: Both men are newcomers to the wrestling scene; Adams is a trainee of ROH Champion Michael Elgin and Outlaw is a recent graduate of the Dynamo training school. I’m pretty sure I’ve seen almost all of their matches at this point…they got about ten minutes and had a solid opener. Outlaw gave out a bandanna to a ringside fan…yay for fan interaction. Outlaw became established as the crowd favorite.  Outlaw got the win (his first?) after a Macho Elbow in 9:07.

Brandon Aarons vs. Paco Gonzalez vs. Rocket Mapache vs. “The Bosnian Warchild” Spi-Ral vs. Jackal vs. “The Alternative” Brandon Gallagher: This was an elimination-style six-way, though only two wrestlers were legally in the ring at one time.  Gallagher ate an early superkick from Spi-Ral and then decided to bide his time on the arena floor. I noticed very few actual tags (if any), but it made sense in the bigger picture: Let the other guys wear each other out and then pick up the pieces. Gallagher’s had previous encounters with Aarons, Mapache, and Jackal, so it was in his best interests to stay out of the line of fire…he tripped Jackal to set up Paco’s Oklahoma roll for the first elimination. After that, Gallagher quickly rolled up Gonzalez with a handful of tights for fall number two. They didn’t announce elimination times, but those took place in the first five minutes…things settled down after that as Gallagher locked up with Mapache. Yes, there WAS a “Rabies” chant.

Mapache and Gallagher tangled for a few minutes; that ended when Gallagher blocked a sunset flip for his second elimination of the match. That brought in Aarons as Gallagher was feeling confident, but it didn’t last as Aarons eliminated him with a half-nelson pumphandle suplex. That meant a finale between Aarons and Spi-Ral…Spi-Ral has a unique arsenal with mat wrestling ability, aerial moves, and some martial-arts kicks. He got some good airtime on the top-rope splash that earned him his first Dynamo victory in 14:47.

“Dirdey” Jake Dirden vs. Brandon Espinosa: Despite both being mainstays in the area wrestling scene for the past few years, this was their first one-on-one encounter. Espy had trouble dealing with Dirden’s size advantage in the early going, but a timely distraction by the arriving Lucy Mendez allowed Espinosa to clip the knee. Espy focused his attack on the leg to keep the bigger man down…Dirden made the comeback but that brought out Dynamo Pro Champion Ricky Cruz to personally get involved. Lucy distracted the ref as Cruz got up on the ring apron with the title belt…but he accidentally hit Espinosa with the gold when Dirden avoided the shot. Dirden knocked Cruz off the apron and got the victory with the Asiatic Spike in 10:27…looks like the Cruz-Dirden issue is far from over.

The Black Hand Warriors (Michael Magnuson & David DeLorean) (w/ Travis Cook) vs. The Bumrush Brothers (“The Don Mega” Shorty Biggs & Outtkast) for the Tag Team Titles: These teams have traded the belts a few times in this calendar year…the Warriors’ Dynamo appearances have been scarce in this title reign as they’re also WLW Tag Champs. Travis made an extended pre-match speech, noting the absence of Executive Director Mark Bland and suggesting that he and his crew could get away with whatever they wanted to do. I suspected another title change could happen…while there were several close falls in the finishing stretch, it didn’t quite work out that way. Shorty got his hands on Travis and picked him up on his shoulders, but the referee’s attention was on Outtkast and DeLorean brawling on the floor. That allowed Magnuson to stun Shorty with a low blow and roll him up for the pin. This feud…MUST CONTINUE~!

“The King Of Chaos” Ricky Cruz (w/ Lucy Mendez) vs. “Night Train/Gorgeous/Great One” Gary Jackson for the Dynamo Pro Title: Gary wrestled a handful of times for GCW and MRW before that, but he hadn’t competed for Dynamo until an Off Broadway show a few months ago when he defeated Brandon Gallagher. Ricky and Gary had faced each other a couple of times in SICW when Ricky was the Classic Champion, but both were fan favorites at the time and Cruz is decidedly NOT a good guy any more. Lucy got involved a few times, of course. Jackson had Cruz set up for the Texas Cloverleaf but Lucy distracted the ref…in the ensuing chaos, Ricky mulekicked Jackson in the Universal Weak Point™ and got the pin with feet on the ropes. (Two low-blow finishes in a row, I note.) Didn’t get a match time for this one. After Gary recovered, he challenged Ricky to face him again in a street fight-style matchup…hmm.

So, that ends my run this week.  August is looking like a busy month.

By Ben Simon

“Gorgeous” Gary Jackson has conquered nearly every local promotion in his 30 year career.  He has never been Dynamo Pro Champion.

In fact, up until recently, it was odd to even envision Jackson in a Dynamo ring.  Why, you ask?

Dynamo Pro traces much of its heritage to old Gateway Championship Wrestling (GCW).  GCW was the South Broadway Athletic Club’s (MMWA Wrestling) sworn enemy… and Jackson was the face of the MMWA.

Now, the days of strictly partitioned rosters are over.  Ricky Cruz defends his Dynamo Pro Championship for the 4th time this Tuesday, July 29th at Off Broadway against Jackson.

Also on the card: Dave DeLorean & Michael Magnuson defend their Tag Team Title against Outtkast & Shorty Biggs, Jake Dirden vs. Brandon Espinosa, Jackal vs. Rocket Mapache vs. Brandon Aarons vs. Brandon Gallagher vs. Paco Gonzales vs. Spi-Ral in a six-way, and Danny Adams vs. Mike Outlaw.

Bell at 8.  For ticket information, visit DynamoProWrestling.com.

By Ben Simon

“Ironman” Ken Kasa will defend his Classic Wrestling Championship for a record-tying 13th time this Saturday at the East Carondelet Community Center.

His opponent is #1 contender Heath Hatton.  Hatton’s last few victories have proven his worth.  In May, the Marion, Ill. native scored a major win in a battle royal.  That night also saw acclaimed manager Jim Cornette give his endorsement of the challenger.

Travis Cook, the mouth behind Ken Kasa, has been vocal about his belief that Hatton is a last resort challenger.  Indeed, the champion has passed the challenges of: Wesson, Powers (twice), Cruz, Eads, Dirden (twice), Hoffarth, and Jackson (twice).

This is Hatton’s third shot at Kasa’s gold.  However, Hatton has never looked better and presents a very real threat to the reign of Travis Cook’s meal ticket.

Also on the card: Daniel Eads vs. Ricky Cruz, Gary Jackson & Jake Dirden vs. Ax Allwardt & Flash Flanagan, Big Jim Hoffarth vs. Frankie Wyatt & Waco in a handicap match, and Mallaki Matthews vs. (the debuting) Red River Jack.

Ox Baker, the menacing legend behind the devastating (and deadly) heart punch, will be in attendance.  Baker will be available for autographs.

For advance tickets, call (618) 286-4848.

By Patrick Brandmeyer

Now, as promised, a special comment about Saturday’s Dynamo Pro Wrestling show at The Sports Academy in Glen Carbon, where tons of bets were made with the WhaleBets, Illinois, aka “Stroke Ain’t No Joke”.

“TNT” Keny G (previously the promoter of High Voltage Wrestling) suffered a stroke not too long ago and wanted to put on a benefit event to raise stroke awareness. Several local media outlets did interviews with Dynamo representatives to promote the event. As a result, attendance was definitely better than your average Glen Carbon card.

Not much was announced ahead of time other than Santana “Brittany” Garrett vs. Jordynne Grace and Ricky Cruz vs. Pablo Marquez (one of his old trainers). As it turned out, Marquez had to cancel due to a family emergency so the match was changed to a Cruz-Jake Dirden rematch.

Your ring announcers were Luke Roberts & Chris Roedel, your referees were Patrick Hook, Keith Smith Jr., and Michael Crase.

Executive Director Mark Bland introduced the event and brought out Keny G to speak on his recent experiences…I’ve seen several friends and relatives go through health issues i recent times so I know how important it is to be aware of these things. So now I take care of my health with the right diet and an exercise routine, and I even completement it with protein I get from sites online, using discounts like these over here in this site.

Rocket Mapache vs. Danny Adams vs. “Elegant Assassin” Pierre Abernathy vs. Paco Gonzalez vs. Ballistic Brent Myers vs. Jackal: Adams and Gonzalez are trainees of new Ring of Honor Champion Michael Elgin; they made their debuts in the pre-show match at the recent ROH event in Collinsville. Myers has appeared a few times for SICW and this was his Dynamo debut. Pierre was one of a few representatives from St. Louis Anarchy on the card; he prefers to handle behind-the-scenes matters at SLA but occasionally wrestles for other groups. There were a few style clashes in this one to say the least, it had its fun moments (including some early comedy between Mapache and Pierre). Jackal pinned Myers after the Killswitch #2 in 7:00; Myers was up a bit quickly after the finisher, thinking that he’d won…no dice.

The Bumrush Brothers (“The Don Mega” Shorty Biggs & Outtkast) vs. The Viking War Party (“The American Viking” Alexandre Rudolph & “The Littlest Viking” Jake Parnell): This was presumably to establish the next challengers for The Black Hand Warriors’ Tag Team Titles. That would be pending another appearance by our esteemed champions…Michael Magnuson & David DeLorean have been tough to flag down for title defenses since WLW (where they ALSO hold tag team gold) has been a lot busier as of late. Oddly, I haven’t seen Rudolph and Parnell team up THAT often in this area (though they’ve held tag team gold in other Illinois promotions)…Parnell’s “Littlest Viking” styling seems to fit better when he’s hanging out with Rudolph. The BRBs were crowd favorites. Parnell got the pin on Outtkast in 12:00 after a combo move where Rudolph did a powerbomb as Parnell jumped off the top rope with a flying backcracker…ouchie.

“Showtime” Bradley Charles vs. “The Alternative” Brandon Gallagher: Gallagher’s a more established rule-breaker in Dynamo so SBC was the crowd favorite by process of elimination. Solid matchup. SBC won with a TKO cutter in 7:10.

Santana “Brittany” Garrett vs. Jordynne Grace: Karl Lauer from the Cauliflower Alley Club introduced Brittany, who recently received the “Future Legend” award from the CAC. Previous recipients of that award include: Trevor Murdoch, Takeshi Morishima, Frankie Kazarian, Cheerleader Melissa, “Superstar” Steve Fender, Chris Benoit, and Kurt Angle. Grace has been making a name for herself in IWA Mid-South in recent months, including a bout with LuFisto at their Queen of The Deathmatches event. Santana/Brittany had her first few matches in the St. Louis area with her father Keny’s High Voltage Wrestling…she eventually moved to Florida and has been competing in that area. Her resume includes appearances for the SHIMMER and SHINE promotions; she made a handful of appearances with TNA a few years ago alongside Orlando Jordan, then wrestled on last year’s Knockouts Knockdown PPV. Of course, she has become a regular member of the TNA roster under the name “Brittany” and is currently feuding with Madison Rayne. Despite her recent crowd receptions on Impact, she was the fan favorite in this match against Jordynne. I thought they matched pretty well together; Santana/Brittany won with the Shining Star Press in 6:42. For other promotions, take a look at Wellness Coachs vitamin supplements.

After intermission, Mark Bland announced Pablo Marquez’s absence and said he was looking for someone to “deal with” Ricky Cruz. That brought out manager Travis Cook for his only appearance of the night (none of his regular proteges were in the house)…Cook said that he had taken up a collection with his compatriots to pay the fine for Ricky’s actions at the last Stratford Inn event. Their line of thinking: It was a no-DQ match, so how can you punish someone for “breaking rules” in a match with no rules? However, the conversation gave Bland the idea to book a rematch between Cruz and Dirden for the main event…that’ll do.

“Walking Reality” Dan Walsh vs. Davey Vega vs. Steven Kennedy vs. Mike Outlaw for the HVW Livewire Title: For reference: Walsh won the belt in question at a Dynamo card on October 16, 2010. HVW’s last show was on April 30, 2011 and Walsh didn’t defend the title (he was in a battle royal)…so this was technically his first title defense! I had been thinking that Dynamo has enough people on the roster for a secondary singles title, whether it be a Light Heavyweight Title or something else…I imagine the Livewire Title was brought out of the mothballs just for this event since it was Keny G’s event. Thankfully the title is under the 1,370-day rule so he just barely avoided being stripped of the championship. Outlaw accounted himself well with three more experienced competitors…he’s done well in his first few outings. Vega hadn’t competed for Dynamo since holding the NWA Missouri Title. Walsh won with a new finisher (some kind of shoulder-breaker) in 8:16, continuing his near-five-year reign as HVW Livewire Champion (bwahahaha).

The Kansas City Killers (“The Rebel” Jeremy Wyatt & “The Fittest Wrestler On Earth” Mark Sterling) vs. “The Yoga Monster” Mike Sydal & Brandon Aarons for the Pro Wrestling Phoenix Tag Team Titles: PWP is an Iowa promotion; the KC crew regularly travels to Iowa to compete for 3XW and other groups to stay at the Fairfield Inn & Suites Clearwater Beach hotel. Sydal & Aarons are no strangers to each other…in fact, they held the LWA Tag Team Titles in 2010 after upsetting The Hooligans. The crowd seemed a bit down for this one…I keep trying to figure out the crowd energy at the Glen Carbon shows and have yet to come up with a good explanation.  More open space in the venue than usual? I’m sure individual onlookers have their own opinions. Fine matchup, at any rate; Sterling speared Sydal, Wyatt dropped an elbow from the top rope, and Sterling got the pin in 10:55.

Billy McNeil vs. Gary Jay: Gary wore his “Gerald James” ring attire despite going by his regular ring name here. While these two have competed for the same promotions in the past, I honestly don’t think they’d ever faced each other one-on-one. This match dragged the fans kicking and screaming back in, so good for them. McNeil’s Spiral Tap variant hit raised knees and Gary finished with the Michinoku Driver in 13:18.

Battle Royal: You can go to the results page for the full list of battle royal participants. Several people had double duty with a few extra names, including new Dynamo trainee Sir Isaac. I didn’t know anything about the larger gentleman named Jonah Turk…from what I gather, he’s from Springfield, Missouri. The battle royal also featured a rare appearance by the elusive Armchair Luchador (last seen by yours truly at a Rampage Championship Wrestling card in May of 2009). For some reason, referee Patrick Hook entered the battle royal…and for some OTHER reason, he was thrown out of the ring by fellow official Keith Smith Jr.! I didn’t take down the exact order of eliminations…Turk was out first, but battles royal are tough to follow in general. It came down to a confrontation between recent rivals Walsh and Gallagher…Gallagher managed to eliminate Walsh, but he forgot about Steven Kennedy who dropkicked him out of the ring from behind to get the victory (no time announced).

“Dirdey” Jake Dirden & The Bumrush Brothers vs. Heavyweight Champion “The King of Chaos” Ricky Cruz & The Kansas City Killers: The scheduled Cruz-Dirden match never even got started as the two brawled around the ringside area for several minutes…then when they nearly made it into the ring, Wyatt & Sterling attacked Dirden to create a three-on-one situation. Shorty & Outtkast ran out to help and Mark Bland ordered a six-man tag match…okay then. Things remained unsettled between Cruz and Dirden…we already had a no-DQ match between them and that wasn’t enough to resolve the feud, so what’s next? At any rate, an Outtkast Samoan Drop/Shorty flying boot combo led to Shorty pinning Sterling for the win in 13:33.  So there you have it.

By A.K. Edwards

It may have been Christmas in July at the South Broadway Athletic Club, but the action inside the ring on Saturday night was far from cold.

In what was perhaps the most important event in SBAC history, Team Elitism took on Team Harris, the group representing respected Commissioner Jim Harris, in a Best-of-Seven series that would determine control of the company.

The theme of the night may have conjured up images of an icy winter, but from this writer’s point of view, tempers were flaring red hot from the opening bell. Whether it was Commissioner Harris bickering with the very despicable Sean Orleans ringside during matches, or Brandon “Espy” Espinosa addressing the crowd, trying to convert the masses to The Elitism–you could feel the intensity in the building from match to match.

Orleans and Espinosa, in particular, had plenty of reason to spew their propaganda. If the Elitism won the night, Orleans would take over as commissioner. While he would get the prestigious title and with it the power, Espinosa would undoubtedly benefit as the top dog of Team Elitism. Orleans may be rising his way up the ladder in the MMWA, but if you follow the strings attached to his back you’ll find the real puppet master behind The Elitism movement: Espy.

Espinosa and his band of thugs started the night off quick, winning three of the night’s first seven matches, thus taking a commanding lead in the race for control.

Newcomer Kevin Lee Davidson cast a shadow over the ring in his South Broadway Athletic Club debut, as he picked up the pin for Team Elitism in a tag match to start the night off.

Chase King and LaMarcus Clinton then cheated their way to a cheap victory over Gary Jackson and Johnathon Zulu, to extend the Elitism’s lead to 2-0. The crowd jeered and booed their disapproval of King and Clinton’s devious ways, but it only seemed to make the dangerous tag team that much more focused, and even more anxious to quiet the obviously pro-Harris fans.

In perhaps one of the more memorable matches of the night, and certainly most historic, MMWA Junior Heavyweight Champion Ace Hawkins successfully defended his title against Andrew “The Wolf” Wilder in the first ladder match in South Broadway history.

The action was intense, to say the least, as both men risked both life and limb to position a ladder in the center of the ring and climb up to reach gold. Wilder was inches away multiple times, and he certainly made Hawkins earn the strap. But in the end it was Hawkins, with the help of a low blow and other dastardly tactics, who found himself alone at the top of the ladder, as he reclaimed his Junior Heavyweight Championship gold.

To be honest, it was tough to determine who was in worse shape following the hellacious match, and that’s not even taking into consideration the state of the ladders–which were wrecked.

At that point, it was 3-0 Elitism, and Jim Harris and his crew were in trouble.

Whatever Harris said in the locker room during intermission certainly fired up the troops though, as Team Harris raced back to tie the series at three with a flurry of exciting wins.

First, Da’Marius Jones and A.J. Williams defended their tag titles against big Jackson Whitechapel and Orleans.

Then, it was Moondog Rover who got the best of Mephisto, who was obviously not as comfortable with the concept of a Dog Collar match as fan favorite Moondog was. Despite Mephisto bringing out a rolled up newspaper in an attempt to shame and beat the beast into defeat, it was Moondog who walked away as the TV Champion.

Finally, despite Barackus’ best attempts to wake up his claw and put Dave Osborne to sleep, Big Dave captured the Survivor Championship in a grueling 2-out-of-3 falls match.  Osborne had given Barackus his first defeat.

Tied up 3-3, everything rode on the team gauntlet match to end the night. The winners of the gauntlet, which featured competitors from each team competing one at a time, would determine who walked away from South Broadway with control of the MMWA.

J-Mal Swagg was the first entrant for The Elitism, but he was pinned after a huge leg-drop from Everett Connors of Team Harris off the top rope. Ace Hawkins then appeared in the ring for The Elitism, but he befell the same fate as Swagg, as Connor’s leg drop found him for the 1-2-3.

Down two competitors, The Elitism was obviously desperate as Sean Orleans made his way to the squared circle.

Rather than fight, though, Orleans–true to his loud-mouth nature–grabbed the mic to berate Connors, who was red-hot at the moment. The crafty Hawkins, who was still sulking at ringside, saw the opportunity for yet another Elitism cheap-shot and took it, as he bashed Connors in the back of the head with his Junior Heavyweight Championship title.  Orleans took advantage and went in for the easy pin.

The next member to enter the match for Team Harris was Webmaster Stevie K. The fall saw Orleans trying to run away and plead his way out, as Stevie’s power was too much for him. Outside of the ring, Stevie charged in with a high knee but Orleans moved out of the way, causing Stevie’s knee to collide with the ring post. Orleans took the opportunity to roll in the ring and Stevie was counted out.

The Elitism was now tied 2 to 2 with Team Harris.  The Elitism had regained momentum.

The crowd erupted upon the entrance of the Team Harris’ third entrant.

It was former MMWA Heavyweight champ Shaft, who was given a hero’s welcome into the ring by the crowd; he stalked and pushed the cowardly Orleans around before making the wannabe commish tap out to his ankle lock.

Shaft stood over Orleans victoriously, but that moment was ruined by Espinosa, who surprised Shaft from behind and then drove his head to the mat with a nasty thud that was heard throughout the building.

Perhaps realizing that the tide had turned in his favor, Espinosa took to the mic to preemptively announce the end of the Harris era, as well as predict a win over Harris’ last chance, Brian James.

Despite Espinosa’s strong words, James entered the ring fully backing up Harris, and it looked like he had a shot until a move from Espinosa found James staring at the ceiling with Espy above him ready to strike. Once again though, Espinosa’s confidence, if not hubris, got he best of him as he grabbed the mic from ringside and berated Harris, while pumping up The Elitism, as well as his own ego.

Before the crowd could catch its breath, the rest of the Elitism came running out of the locker room like a plague, and both James and Team Harris found themselves in very got water. Growing more confident by the moment, Espinosa told Harris that his time was up and that he had nobody left to have his back.

At that moment the doors busted open and Team Harris came out to equalize the situation. Both groups stared daggers at each other from outside the ring as Espinosa and James continued their bout. Espy landed a big punch, the Elitism erupted. James mounted a comeback, and team Harris cheered, firmly behind him.

Perhaps it was the spirit of competition that suddenly filled the room or sadly, perhaps it was just my own naivety. Either way, this writer believed, if just for one moment, that the night would end in the ring with a winner that clearly earned his stripes, while the loser could walk away with his head held high.

Ignorance surely is bliss.

Espinosa would tell you it was a coincidence–truth or not, but Brandon threw James into the referee, which sent the official tumbling across the ring, knocked out.

Espy, true to his Elitism nature, saw the opportunity to pounce and barked orders for his crew to attack James. Team Harris wouldn’t allow the injustice to go on, as they were eventually able to clear the ring and restore order back to a one-on-one scenario.

What looked to once again be a fair fight quickly disintegrated back into mischief, as Orleans attacked James from behind, which gave Espinosa all the time he needed to finish both James and Team Harris off with a wicked chair shot. Metal collided with cranium and Brian James went down.  Referee Nick Ridenour recovered to make the count.

It was a truly cold-hearted way for “Christmas in July” to end at the South Broadway Athletic Club.

Because of the stipulations that led to the Best-of-Seven event, Commissioner Harris is now contractually required to resign from his position. Control of MMWA Wrestling now rests in the hands of Orleans, Espinosa, and Timmy Miller (who revealed he was in the group after the match).

One can only fathom what that means for the state of the MMWA, but it certainly can’t be good.

By Ben Simon

Control of the Mid Missouri Wrestling Alliance is at stake on July 12 at the South Broadway Athletic Club in a Best-of-Seven series.  All seven matches pit Brandon Espinosa’s Elitism against the rest of the roster.  The card so far is loaded.

First, Elitism’s Barackus defends the Survivor Title against Dave Osborne in a best-of-three falls match.  No one has come close to defeating Barackus yet.  Osborne says he wants to regain his spot as the dominant “big man” in the promotion.

Former tag champs Chase King & LaMarcus Clinton represent the Elitism vs. “Gorgeous” Gary Jackson & a mystery partner.

Elitism’s Mephisto goes hardcore in a dog collar match where only pinfalls and submissions win.  His opponent: Moondog Rover!  The ‘Dog hasn’t tasted gold yet; he gets his shot at Mephisto’s TV Title.

The MMWA Junior Heavyweight Championship will be defended in the first ladder match at the South Broadway AC.  Andrew Wilder will try to become the king of 220 lbs. or less.  Can he reclaim his title against Elitism’s champ, Ace Hawkins?

The main event is a gauntlet team match where a representative of each group wrestles until one of them is eliminated.  The process continues until all members of one team have been eliminated.  There are no tags.

The Elitism main event team is Brandon Espinosa, J-Mal Swagg, Evan Gelistico, and an unknown.  Their opponents consist of Brian James, Webmaster Stevie K, rookie Everett Connors, and an unknown.

If the unaffiliated locker room (Harris’ boys) wins the majority of matches, The Elitism must disband and all pending lawsuits filed by Sean Orleans against MMWA Wrestling will be dropped.

If The Elitism wins at least four matches, Sean Orleans will be instated as the Commissioner.  Jim Harris will contractually be forced to resign.

Bell at 8.  For advance tickets, call (314) 778-4833.

By Ben Simon

The Sports Academy in Glen Carbon hosts an important fundraiser and awareness event on July 12 called “Stroke Ain’t No Joke.”

When former area promoter “TNT” Keny Garrett suffered a stroke earlier this year, he had the idea to do a benefit card for the American Stroke Association.  Dynamo Pro Wrestling provided the venue to carry out the mission.

The lineup will feature a full night of matches, but just two have been announced so far.

Garrett’s daughter, Brittany, will return to her old stomping grounds to face boisterous Jordynne Grace.  Brittany, based in Florida, regularly competes in TNA Wrestling.

Ricky Cruz was surprised when his opponent was revealed to be his former trainer, Pablo Marquez of Ecuador.  Marquez has wrestled internationally and went by the nickname “Babu” in the WWF.

It is unclear whether the match will be for Cruz’s Dynamo Pro Championship.

What we have now is the most publicized independent card in Greater St. Louis since the GCW Reunion in late 2012.  Ring announcer Luke Roberts has gone on a media blitz, visiting numerous radio and TV stations and meeting with journalists.  Expect a crowd and get there early.

Bell at 7.  For ticket information, visit DynamoProWrestling.com.