Missouri Wrestling Revival

Personal Reflection:
3XWrestling’s “Final Countdown”
May 16, 2008

by Josh Ray (Owner/Editor)

It isn’t very often that I can get away from Southwest Missouri for a wrestling show these days, mainly because the price of gas is making treks to watch live indy wrestling way too expensive. Fortunately, I had a little money to burn and decided to venture out of my comfort zone to watch a wrestling promotion that I normally wouldn’t be able to see. After a very solid endorsement from a wrestler I respect about a month or two ago, I drove six-and-a-half hours to Des Moines, IA, for 3XWrestling’s “Final Countdown”.

The lineup for the card looked stacked. It was easy to get excited about a card featuring names like Shane Hollister, Egotistico Fantastico, Mark Sterling, Arik Cannon, and Gage Octane. It had to deliver!

3XW’s venue is a place called InPlay. InPlay is located in a great area of Des Moines and left a great first impression. I made it there two hours early and checked out the arcade located in the building, then ate at the restaurant that was on the second floor. The burger I had there cost me six or seven bucks, and was better than most burgers at places like Applebees. I was early. I was entertained. Most of all, I was full!

About a half hour before the doors opened, I was able to chat with some of the 3XW wrestlers and staff. It was a very professional setup and gave me an even better feeling about how the show would run. I couldn’t wait to sit down and enjoy the show.

When the doors opened, we grabbed good seats and checked out the hall where the show would be taking place. It looked really nice, and I think there was enough room for about 120 to 140 people comfortably. They had a merchandise table for 3XW and some of the wrestlers, plus a production table, a table ringside for the announcer and time keeper, a entrance curtain, and a hard camera position. I was pleased to see that they had a cameraman moving around the ring throughout the night, too.

I won’t go play by play and match by match because another guy that attended the show with me is going to. However, I do want to cover some of the things I considered highlights.

Casanova. This guy is a great performer. He had a solid opponent in Brady A. Dezire, but Casanova was a surprisingly good performer with sound wrestling skills and a definite ability to entertain. He was a crowd pleaser, for sure. I wouldn’t mind seeing him in a tag team with Brett Young. That would be too cool!

Full Throttle (Brandon Marino and Aaron Scott). I couldn’t help but be really impressed with these guys. I had never heard of them before so I asked one of the 3XW staff about them. He told me they are from Dynamo Gym in the St. Louis area. The two of them teamed up with Hunter Matthews to face Dingo, Kraig Keesaman, & Kyle O’Reilly. For this tag team two steal the show with men the caliber of the other four, to me that’s saying something. If I remember correctly, Aaron Scott had a devastating European uppercut, and Brandon Marino’s Irish whip could almost be classified as a finishing maneuver. These two were that awesome.

Northstar Express (Darin Corbin and Ryan Cruz). I finally got to see these two in action and they lived up to all of the hype, in my opinion. I’m not cutting down their opponents, though! Krotch and Mad Dog have a great dynamic and really brought out the best in Northstar Express.

Facial hair of the month, quarter, year, and quite possibly decade goes to…

Kraig Keesaman.

Shane Hollister vs Egotistico Fantastico. Hard hitting match that gave me a crash course in what these guys are all about. Both need to be booked often by everyone in the Midwest, and compensated nicely, too.

Same goes for the Gentleman’s Club (Gage Octane, Mark Sterling, and Todd Countryman). These guys easily maintained their most hated status the entire night.

The sound system. Seriously, it’s nice when you can understand what is going on!

Overall, the night really had no low spots. I was impressed by the fact that everybody seemed to really be working together to put on the best show possible. I wish 3XW all the best, and I really hope to catch another show soon!

Let’s hope those gas prices start dropping. It’s sad that the oil companies can make record-setting profits this past year and the indy wrestling scene has to suffer!