After a 2 months with no shows Powerslam Pro is back. Thanks to a screw up on my part I thought the doors didn't open till 6:30pm. So Blake and I left a little later than we should have. But as always thanks to Reggie Matthews we had floor seats waiting on us. We got to the McComb High School at about 6:15pm. Ran into Jon-Paul,who remembered us from the Last Rites show in Brookhaven back in August of last year. Talked with him for a few before Reggie came over. Bullshitted with him for about 10 minutes and then went off to go get us some seats. Since I knew I had at least 2 friends coming up from NOLA we were trying to find 4 seats next to each other. While looking for seats ran into Stephen and his two sons. Turns out they had went to WWE Elimination Chamber. Sounds like they had fun.
Cause we got there so late,all the front row seats were full. So we grabbed a couple in the second row. Well I kept calling my buddy to let him know I had grabbed his ticket. He finally answered his cell and told me he will be here in 10 minutes. So we got someone to save our seats and walked outside to meet him.
Collin and his buddy Damen show up about 10 minutes before bell time. We head inside and ended up sitting in the next to last row of the floor seats. The show starts off with Brent and the Commissioner in the ring and they do a nice tribute to Percy Pringle III/Paul Bearer. Talking about how much Percy did for the wrestling business. Then there was a moment of silence for Percy. Was a nice tribute to one of the best managers ever.
Then it was time for the first match. Kool Jay Steele is out first. This will be the first time I have seen him wrestle live. But he did do a run in and attacked Reggie at the last Powerslam Pro show.
Jay walks around ringside and the crowd boos the hell out of him. All four of us are wondering who is opponent is gonna be. Then "Eye of the Tiger" hits the speakers and we go wild.
Stud Matthews comes out.
Stud hits the ring takes of his headband and puts it on the ref. The crowd goes nuts for Stud. I love his 80s era Hulk Hogan gimmick. It is mega over and even though it seems most of this crowd has never been to a Powerslam Pro show before they love Stud.
Really fun back and forth match. With Stud doing all the Hogan mannerisms and moves. I marked the hell out when he did an Ax Bomber. Stud goes for the legdrop of doom,and after 2 attempts he manages to pin Jay. Great match to start the show off. It got the crowd hyped up and set the pace and mood for the rest of the show. After winning Stud went out into the crowd and thumb wrestled some of the kids. It is little touches like that that make Stud and Powerslam Pro stand out.
Match 2 Lukas Frost managed by Hardbody Harper vs Purple Haze Davey Hendrix
Frost and Harper are out first. Seems Lukas has cut his hair and it really changes his look.
Now Purple Haze I had never heard of ,but Collin and his buddy had seen him at some shows in NOLA. This ended up being a great high flying match. With both Frost and Haze working their asses off. As always Harper is outside the ring cheating and jawjacking with the fans. After a nicely paced match Frost ends up winning. But Purple Haze had a great match and the crowd seems to have loved him. I really hope he comes back to the next Powerslam Pro show.
Match 3 Blake Stevens vs Ling Pham
Blake comes out first,and he is another guy who I have never seen before. I make a joke about how he looks like my buddy Collin. Then Sensasian Ling Pham comes out. Having seen him back in December I know how good he is. And the crowd seems to really like Ling.
They lock up and we get a fast paced match. Ling is pretty damn good. Reminds me in some ways of a young Ultimo Dragon.
After a really well done match Ling gets the pin.
Match 4 The Outlaw Matt Lincie vs Sgt Sorroco
Outlaw comes out first and the crowds hates him so much. I notice he has a new singlet. Which has no purple on it. So that means we can't make Purple Cowboy jokes. Oh well. Then Sgt Sorroco comes out and all the fans love him. I love the part where Outlaw drops both the straps on his singlet. I keep waiting for him to do a Lawler style fistdrop. Both guys put on a fun match. With lots of action from both of them.
Sadly Sgt ends up getting pinned by the Outlaw. But it was still a fun match.
Well Brent comes to the ring and tells us it is time for a new edition of the Champagne Lounge with Shane Champagne. Shane comes out to the ring.
Shane gets in the ring and tells us he has a special guest for the Champagne Lounge tonight. All the way from North Korea is The Great Mystic.
After a few minutes of Shane and Mystic talking in what I believe to be fake Korean and us trying to start a "Where's your NUKES?" chant,music hits the speakers. And out comes Reggie Matthews and Wes Adams. They are wearing New Orleans Saints Jerseys and green pants.
Shane and Mystic leave the ring. Shane grabs the mic and says they will only get back in if Reggie and Wes take off the Saint's jerseys. Which they do to reveal they have on McComb High School jerseys on under them. The crowd goes nuts. That is when I realize that McComb's colors are green and yellow. The bell is rung and Mystic takes off his gi. And I turn to Collin and tell him "Look The Gigolo showed up!"
Yeah I know most people reading this won't get the joke. But sometimes you have to throw in some inside humor.
It turns out to be a great tag match. With Mystic doing most of the work for his team.
The highlights are Wes yanking off Shane's wig. Mystic catching Reggie with a super stiff kick and busting his nose open. And then Reggie and Wes going outside the ring. Reggie puts on Shane's wig and Wes puts on Mystic's hood.
After a hard fought match Reggie and Wes win.
Brent comes out and tells us it is time for intermission. Collin and his buddy head outside for a bit. Blake and I go talk to Sgt Sorroco.
Then we walk over and talk to Reggie some. We get Reggie to sign the covers of the Powerslam Pro DVDs we bought at the last show.All the face wrestlers are out and signing autographs. And they are swamped with kids. Seems most of the kids at the show have bought the kid's replica belts and the paper Rey Jr masks. I see Wes and talk to him for a minute. He tells me to come meet him at the gimmick table. We go over to it and he autographs the dvd covers for us. This is another thing I love about indy wrestling,how the guys interact with the crowds. You don't see say John Cena coming out at intermission and talking to the fans. But at every Powerslam Pro show I have been too it happens.
Well intermission ends and Brent hits the ring. So it is time for the 6th match.
Match 6 Hotshot Blake Wilder vs Vordel Walker
Wilder comes out first. I am slightly disappointed he didn't were his gold and white boots. Mainly cause those boots made him look like a Power Ranger. Vordel comes out and the crowd cheers the hell out of him. This will be the first time I have seen Vordel live. But I have seen lots of his matches on DVD or Youtube. Both guys lock up and go back and forth.
Vordel has control of the match. But then Wilder hits a nice stiff looking kick.
Wilder ends up cheating to win. And Vordel is pissed.
Match 7 Calvin Rose vs Luke Hawx for the Powerslam Pro title
Calvin won a chance to face Luke at December Double Shot part 2. Calvin and Hardbody Harper are out first. Then Luke comes out. He does a great bit where he wheels a fan in a wheelchair to ringside and pretends like the fan is holding him back.
Luke finally gets in the ring and it is obvious he is a huge crowd favorite.
The match ends up being a wild brawl that goes all over the gym.
Rose throws Hawx over the side and Luke hits the wooden bleachers really hard.
They end up brawling all around the ring. And in one of the highlights of the night a guy in the front row stands up and punches Calvin right in the back. Finally they get back into the ring and we get some stiff ass punches and moves. Calvin goes for a pin and Harper holds down Luke's leg. So the ref makes the 3 count and Calvin is the new Powerslam Pro Champ. Luke gets up and starts yelling about how he was cheated out of the title. The Commissioner comes out and tells Luke he didn't see it and the ref's word is final. Luke is obviously pissed.
Luke says he wants to punch the ref. The Commissioner tells Luke if he lays a hand on the ref Luke will be suspended for one show. Luke ask the crowd if he should hit the ref. The crowd shouts YES!!!!! So Luke slaps the ref hard. Well we all think this is the end of the show and lots of the crowd is getting up and getting ready to leave. But the Commissioner gets on the mic and tells us "There is no way we can end the show like that. So how about a Battle Royal?" The crowd gets very excited.
Match 8 Battle Royal with Ling Pham,Blake Stevens,Sgy Sorroco,Kool Jay Steele,Purple Haze,Outlaw Matt Lincie,Studd Matthews,Lukas Frost ,Rumble O'Reily,The Great Mystic and Shane Champagne
Now sadly my batteries in my camera died right after the Battle Royale started.
The highlights are the Outlaw eliminating at least 5 people. And then the last 3 people in the ring are Frost,Outlaw and Stud. Stud starts getting double teamed by the two heels. But he "Studs UP!" and makes a great comeback. Stud gets Outlaw out onto the ringmat. And Frost messes up and eliminates Outlaw. Then Stud throws Frost over the top rope. The crowd explodes with cheers. It seems Stud is mega over with the crowd and really it makes sense. He has one of the best gimmicks I have seen in an indy in years. After the match,most of the wrestlers come out and we go around talking to some of them and get pictures.
I see Hardbody Harper and walk over to talk to him. And get a great picture with him.
We see Stud at ringside surrounded by kids. After all the kids get autographs and pictures ,Collin,Blake and I go to get a picture with Stud.
Stud points out that we are all pointing but him. So he says "Ok we gotta take another picture.
I jokingly dub us the "Studamaniacs!" Well I walk over and go thank Reggie for the great show and he tells me to wait around for a bit he wants to talk to me.
We head out into the lobby and are just bullshitting. When all of the sudden someone puts me into a full nelson. Reggie had snuck up behind me. He tells us about the next two shows. Next months is in Hattisburg and then the May show will be in Liberty. Then Reggie tells us about getting his nose busted open and a great story about a guy at another show getting busted way open at a show he worked years ago.
We walk outside and Jon-Paul comes out and we stand out there talking to him for over an hour. With lots of great stories told. Finally we all head out to get something to eat. Hit up Arby's and spent over an hour just eating and bullshitting wrestling,movies and strangely Robert E Howard Conan the Barbarian stories.
As always Powerslam Pro puts on great shows for a great price. They are family friendly. If they are running a show anywhere near you please go. You will get a great show and all the talent is super friendly. Thanks again to everyone at Powerslam Pro and the McComb High School for a great night of wrestling action.
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