Post by cavedweller73 on Jun 19, 2011 22:01:24 GMT -5
This show had a strange history. Back a few months ago, PWP announced that El Generico was booked as a special guest. However, a few weeks later, they announced that he had a scheduling conflict and couldn't make it. So, they booked Claudio Castagnoli in his place. Somewhere along the way, Generico can back into the picture and then they were saying that both Generico AND Castagnoli were going to be there. However, just a few weeks ago, they announced that now Castagnoli was out, but Generico was still going to be there. So basically, the show turned out the way it was planned in the first place. Considering the fact that I've only seen Generico in person once (at an ROH show in Indianapolis back in 2009) and seeing him work small indy shows in the mid west is rare I figured this show was worth me checking out. So, I did.
I made my way to Mt. Vernon. The show was held in a part of town that I'd never seen before....and there was a good reason for that. The main parts of Mt. Vernon aren't anything like the parts you see when you're driving on I-64 heading to St. Louis. It was pretty run down. The building was an old warehouse-looking building in the middle of a neighborhood. When I got to the place, I wasn't sure I was at the right place, so I drove around the building. I knew I was at the right place when I saw Matt Cage and El Generico (without his mask) in the back. The inside of the place smelled like wood (from the wooden bleachers) and gasoline. It kinda reminded me of this really crappy band I used to play in up in Washington, IN. We used to rehearse in a garage that smelled exactly like that.
The crowd was small, but actually not too bad considering that I've seen videos of matches from there in which there isn't more then about 10 people watching. Best guess, I'd say there was maybe 40-45 people there. Here's what happened:
Cole James vs. AT Brooks
James wasn't in very good shape and needed to wearing a shirt...if for no other reason then to cover up the goofy-looking tattoo that for some reason, said "old school" written across his belly. Brooks still looks like he weighs about 150 soaking wet. I did notice during the match that the ceiling in that place was really low. So, no big top rope moves on this show. They need one of those short rings like Chikara used to use. Anyway, the match wasn't anything special. Just a typical match with James working the heel and AT as the face. In the end, AT hit James with an ace crusher-like move and got the pin. Some people were chanting "one more time!" so after the match, Brooks hit him with another one.
Ray Lee vs. Komatose
Lee was an older guy with sorta long hair and a big gut. Komotose (I'm guessing on the spelling of that) was a really skinny white guy in a mask who's obviously watching a lot of Delirious matches. Lee worked the crowd pretty well, but the match was horrible. They blew an armdrag spot right off the bat and then, pretty much most of the match revolved around armdrags, armbars and headlocks. Pretty boring stuff. Komatose looked to legit hurt his knee on a running double knee smash in the corner. Not soon after that, he got a quick, roll-up pin on Lee.
Jaysin Static vs. Chase King
I've seen Static's name on message boards a lot, but had never seen him in person. He kind of looked like a cross between Shank Barzini and Devon Moore...only he was a bit heavier than both of those guys. I'd never heard of or seen King before. He sorta looked like a smaller, black Samoa Joe....with about .000001% of Joe's talent. And that's not really saying that King is that bad, it's just that Joe is that good. Anyway, the match was decent, but nothing special. Both guys worked back and forth, but in the end, King went for a cross-body off the ropes (he had to duck down to not hit the ceiling) and Static rolled through and flipped him over of the quick pin. Not a completely terrible match, but I'd like to see more of both of those guys, especially Static.
PWP U.S. title match
Brandon Espinosa (c) vs. El Generico
Why this wasn't the main event is beyond me. You can always tell when something special is happening when other workers are watching a certain match. I saw Matt Cage and Pierre Abernathy behind me wanting to watch Generico. Generico came out first and looked about the same as he always does. I marked out like a moron for him! Ha ha!! Espy (as Espinosa is called) is another guy I've heard a lot about but had yet to see. I know that he works in OVW and pops up in IWAU sometimes. The guy is almost the spitting image of Jimmy Jacobs. He even walked and talked like Jacobs. He tried to yell at some kids on his way to the ring...you're no Chuckie T, dude! Before the match started, they announced that the special ref for the match would be Jaysin Static. I guess him and Espy have been having some sort of a feud. There was some stalling at the beginning of the match, but Generico worked the crowd perfectly. Once the match got going, both guys fell to the outside. Generico jumped off the ring apron onto Espy. Espy then grabbed a flip-flop from the little kid sitting next to me and offered it to Generico. Generico took it and chopped him with it before giving it back to the girl. For some reason, another kid had a skateboard so Generico picked it up, run to one side of the room and then skated towards Espy and hit him with a clothesline. Once both guys were back in the ring, the match got serious with Espy working over Generico. Generico fought back and hit him with some WICKED chops. Static was doing the typical "guest ref counting slow for the heel and fast for the face" spots as the action went back and forth. With the low ceiling in that place, the chances of seeing "brain busta" were slim, but Generico did hit Espy with a Yakuza kick in the corner....and yes, I marked out! At one point, Espy had Generico down and Static was counting the pin slowly. When Generico kicked out, Static said it was only a two count. Espy and Static then started pushing around each other. Static went to give Espy a Yakuza kick but he moved and Static kicked Generico. Espy jumped on him and even with the slow count, got the pin. When Generico got up, he got into a shoving match with Static. I was hoping for an impromptu match, but instead, they announced that on August 14, Espy would have to put his title on the line....against EL GENERICO again!!! Cool! Count me in for that show! I'd really love to see then do a match that would last about half hour or so. We all know that Generico could do it and even though I don't know much about him, I think Espy could pull it off, even if Gernerico had to carry him. Generico is another one of those guys who could put on a great match with a mop. Anyway, as for this match, it was really, really good....I just wish it had lasted longer.
The Submission Squad (Evan Gilestico, Pierre Abernathy & Gary Jay) vs. The Kentucky Buffet (Matt Cage and Alex Castle) & Aiden Young
The Submission Squad was really working the crowd. I gotta admit that Evan Gilestico isn't the greatest wrestler around, but he sure is entertaining. I don't know what has happened to him, but Gilestico had these huge bruises on both of his upper arms. The match started off with Abernathy and Castle squaring off....which is a good thing since we can get the two worst wrestlers in the match in there first and then move on. Cage and Gilestico were in next but once Young was in, they really worked him over the most. Nothing of real note happened during all of this. Young just pretty much played the "Ricky Morton" role. The "hot tags" of the match happened when Abernathy and Castle were tagged back in. When they got in, Jay and Gilestico attacked Cage and Young on the outside, while in the ring, Castle locked Abernathy in a figure-four. Abernathy was able to roll Castle over and reverse it and Castle tapped out. Not a great match, but it was fun for what it was.
Main Event
Scott "The Wrestler" Parker vs. "Farmer" Billy Hills
After seeing El Generico and a wild six-man match....um, THIS is the main event?
? My brain pretty much shut down during this match! All I can say about this is I haven't a clue in the world why Parker is allowed within 10 feet of a wrestling ring. He blew two spots....once dropping Hills on his face and nearly breaking his neck and then, he botched taking a clothesline from Hills and darn near broke Hills' arm. The dude is just downright unsafe! In the end, Hills hit Parker with an atomic bomb-like move and got the pin....and that's all I gotta say about THAT!!!
After the show, El Generico was at a table, selling T-shirts. I went up to him and shook his hand and bought a shirt. I then said, "Man, it's an honor to get to meet you. You're by far, one of the best in the business." He got all humble and said, "I don't know about that, but thank you." What a cool guy!!!
I made my way to Mt. Vernon. The show was held in a part of town that I'd never seen before....and there was a good reason for that. The main parts of Mt. Vernon aren't anything like the parts you see when you're driving on I-64 heading to St. Louis. It was pretty run down. The building was an old warehouse-looking building in the middle of a neighborhood. When I got to the place, I wasn't sure I was at the right place, so I drove around the building. I knew I was at the right place when I saw Matt Cage and El Generico (without his mask) in the back. The inside of the place smelled like wood (from the wooden bleachers) and gasoline. It kinda reminded me of this really crappy band I used to play in up in Washington, IN. We used to rehearse in a garage that smelled exactly like that.
The crowd was small, but actually not too bad considering that I've seen videos of matches from there in which there isn't more then about 10 people watching. Best guess, I'd say there was maybe 40-45 people there. Here's what happened:
Cole James vs. AT Brooks
James wasn't in very good shape and needed to wearing a shirt...if for no other reason then to cover up the goofy-looking tattoo that for some reason, said "old school" written across his belly. Brooks still looks like he weighs about 150 soaking wet. I did notice during the match that the ceiling in that place was really low. So, no big top rope moves on this show. They need one of those short rings like Chikara used to use. Anyway, the match wasn't anything special. Just a typical match with James working the heel and AT as the face. In the end, AT hit James with an ace crusher-like move and got the pin. Some people were chanting "one more time!" so after the match, Brooks hit him with another one.
Ray Lee vs. Komatose
Lee was an older guy with sorta long hair and a big gut. Komotose (I'm guessing on the spelling of that) was a really skinny white guy in a mask who's obviously watching a lot of Delirious matches. Lee worked the crowd pretty well, but the match was horrible. They blew an armdrag spot right off the bat and then, pretty much most of the match revolved around armdrags, armbars and headlocks. Pretty boring stuff. Komatose looked to legit hurt his knee on a running double knee smash in the corner. Not soon after that, he got a quick, roll-up pin on Lee.
Jaysin Static vs. Chase King
I've seen Static's name on message boards a lot, but had never seen him in person. He kind of looked like a cross between Shank Barzini and Devon Moore...only he was a bit heavier than both of those guys. I'd never heard of or seen King before. He sorta looked like a smaller, black Samoa Joe....with about .000001% of Joe's talent. And that's not really saying that King is that bad, it's just that Joe is that good. Anyway, the match was decent, but nothing special. Both guys worked back and forth, but in the end, King went for a cross-body off the ropes (he had to duck down to not hit the ceiling) and Static rolled through and flipped him over of the quick pin. Not a completely terrible match, but I'd like to see more of both of those guys, especially Static.
PWP U.S. title match
Brandon Espinosa (c) vs. El Generico
Why this wasn't the main event is beyond me. You can always tell when something special is happening when other workers are watching a certain match. I saw Matt Cage and Pierre Abernathy behind me wanting to watch Generico. Generico came out first and looked about the same as he always does. I marked out like a moron for him! Ha ha!! Espy (as Espinosa is called) is another guy I've heard a lot about but had yet to see. I know that he works in OVW and pops up in IWAU sometimes. The guy is almost the spitting image of Jimmy Jacobs. He even walked and talked like Jacobs. He tried to yell at some kids on his way to the ring...you're no Chuckie T, dude! Before the match started, they announced that the special ref for the match would be Jaysin Static. I guess him and Espy have been having some sort of a feud. There was some stalling at the beginning of the match, but Generico worked the crowd perfectly. Once the match got going, both guys fell to the outside. Generico jumped off the ring apron onto Espy. Espy then grabbed a flip-flop from the little kid sitting next to me and offered it to Generico. Generico took it and chopped him with it before giving it back to the girl. For some reason, another kid had a skateboard so Generico picked it up, run to one side of the room and then skated towards Espy and hit him with a clothesline. Once both guys were back in the ring, the match got serious with Espy working over Generico. Generico fought back and hit him with some WICKED chops. Static was doing the typical "guest ref counting slow for the heel and fast for the face" spots as the action went back and forth. With the low ceiling in that place, the chances of seeing "brain busta" were slim, but Generico did hit Espy with a Yakuza kick in the corner....and yes, I marked out! At one point, Espy had Generico down and Static was counting the pin slowly. When Generico kicked out, Static said it was only a two count. Espy and Static then started pushing around each other. Static went to give Espy a Yakuza kick but he moved and Static kicked Generico. Espy jumped on him and even with the slow count, got the pin. When Generico got up, he got into a shoving match with Static. I was hoping for an impromptu match, but instead, they announced that on August 14, Espy would have to put his title on the line....against EL GENERICO again!!! Cool! Count me in for that show! I'd really love to see then do a match that would last about half hour or so. We all know that Generico could do it and even though I don't know much about him, I think Espy could pull it off, even if Gernerico had to carry him. Generico is another one of those guys who could put on a great match with a mop. Anyway, as for this match, it was really, really good....I just wish it had lasted longer.
The Submission Squad (Evan Gilestico, Pierre Abernathy & Gary Jay) vs. The Kentucky Buffet (Matt Cage and Alex Castle) & Aiden Young
The Submission Squad was really working the crowd. I gotta admit that Evan Gilestico isn't the greatest wrestler around, but he sure is entertaining. I don't know what has happened to him, but Gilestico had these huge bruises on both of his upper arms. The match started off with Abernathy and Castle squaring off....which is a good thing since we can get the two worst wrestlers in the match in there first and then move on. Cage and Gilestico were in next but once Young was in, they really worked him over the most. Nothing of real note happened during all of this. Young just pretty much played the "Ricky Morton" role. The "hot tags" of the match happened when Abernathy and Castle were tagged back in. When they got in, Jay and Gilestico attacked Cage and Young on the outside, while in the ring, Castle locked Abernathy in a figure-four. Abernathy was able to roll Castle over and reverse it and Castle tapped out. Not a great match, but it was fun for what it was.
Main Event
Scott "The Wrestler" Parker vs. "Farmer" Billy Hills
After seeing El Generico and a wild six-man match....um, THIS is the main event?
? My brain pretty much shut down during this match! All I can say about this is I haven't a clue in the world why Parker is allowed within 10 feet of a wrestling ring. He blew two spots....once dropping Hills on his face and nearly breaking his neck and then, he botched taking a clothesline from Hills and darn near broke Hills' arm. The dude is just downright unsafe! In the end, Hills hit Parker with an atomic bomb-like move and got the pin....and that's all I gotta say about THAT!!!After the show, El Generico was at a table, selling T-shirts. I went up to him and shook his hand and bought a shirt. I then said, "Man, it's an honor to get to meet you. You're by far, one of the best in the business." He got all humble and said, "I don't know about that, but thank you." What a cool guy!!!