Missouri Wrestling Revival

By Kari Williams

As the second show of the night for the MMWA wrestlers, some of them pulled double duty to please the fans at South Broadway Athletic Club. Depsite the show starting late due to the earlier show in Dupo, the wrestlers delivered exactly what the fans wanted to see, with a few surprise returns mixed in.

Heavyweight Champion Gary Jackson and his arch-rival Shaft, with Travis Cook, clashed in the main event. Shaft took the coward’s way out on this exchange, attacking Jackson from behind to start the match. His dastardly antics continued, as Cook interfered, giving Shaft the distinct advantage.

Shaft send the Champ flying.(Photo credit: Mike Van Hoogstraat)

The war made its way to the outside for the second time, and Jackson got his revenge and took over.

Gary Jackson can brawl with the best of them. (Photo credit: Mike Van Hoogstraat)

The Champ sets himself up for a victory.(Photo credit: Mike Van Hoogstraat)

The champion looked poised for victory, and the Connection must have sensed this, because Junior Heavyweight Champion Dave Vaughn ran into the ring and attacked Jackson while Cook distracted the referee. All hell broke loose, as Phil E. Blunt, Cook and Shaft assaulted Jackson.

Dave Vaughn and Phil E Blunt assist fellow Connection member on the beat down on the Champ. (Photo credit: Mike Van Hoogstraat)

Just when it looked like nobody would come to Jackson’s aid, Commissioner Keith Smith ran from the announcer’s table to do some damage. Even MMWA Promoter Tony Casta got in the mix, as he delivered an old school flying headscissors to Shaft.

MMWA Promoter Tony Casta thrilled the fans when he excuted a perfect flying head scissors on Shaft. (Photo credit: Mike Van Hoogstraat)

Smith revealed that he has become a licensed wrestler in the state of Missouri, and showed The Connection, the papers to prove it.

Fan favorites Johnny Courageous and A.J. Williams put on, arguably, the best match of the night prior to the main event. Courageous tried to eliminate Williams’ key moves by viciously attacking both the arm and the leg.

Johnny Courageous tries to slow down the fast and furious AJ Williams.(Photo credit: Mike Van Hoogstraat)

Not one to be deterred, Williams fought with everything he had, even going so far as to attempt a moonsault within the first five minutes.

OOPPS Nobody home AJ !!(Photo credit: Mike Van Hoogstraat)

These two men took each other to the limit. Despite Courageous trying to remove the possibility of the superkick from Willilams’ arsenal, Williams continued to put Courageous to the test. The match ended in controversy, as both men had the other’s pinned to the mat.

You make the call. (Photo credit: Mike Van Hoogstraat)

Blade wrestled Vaughn, accompanied Travis Cook, in a non-title match. Blade controlled the better part of the bout, but that is not to say that Vaughn was overmatched. After Blade connected with an elbow drop from the top rope, Cook began to look worried.

Blade looked strong early in this non title match when he hit a elbow drop from the top rope.(Photo credit: Mike Van Hoogstraat)

Vaughn may have felt that his title could be in jeopardy in the future, if Blade were to win the match—and that lit a fire under Vaughn, who maintained the lead from the momet he connected with a belly to belly suplex.

You can tell on Blades face that he was in trouble after a powerful belly to belly suplex. (Photo credit: Mike Van Hoogstraat)

However, the fans distracted Vaughn, if only for a moment, which almost caused Blade to get the quick win. Vaughn rapidly regained focus and defeated Blade with the spear in just under 10 minutes.

Blade was not happy about his loss and lmade it clear to the connection.(Photo credit: Mike Van Hoogstraat)

During intermission, wrestlers came to ringside to sign autographs and take pictures with fans.

MMWA wrestlers took time to meet the fans during intermission. Blade takes time to autograph a poster for a young fan. (Photo credit: Mike Van Hoogstraat)

Destiny Diamond had the chance to make up for her shortcomings against Alexis in Dupo, as the two went at it again, with the belt on the line. Alexis started the match off with the early advantage, but Diamond quickly took over, using nearly every illegal tactic possible. From this point on, both women worked hard to either maintain or regain control. Alexis refused to let her belt slip away, and Diamond wanted nothing more than to finally earn the belt. Diamond pulled out a win in 7:21 with a tornado DDT. After the match, Alexis appeared to have injured her neck. She was helped to the locker room.

Destiny Diamond controls Alexis early in the match. (Photo credit: Mike Van Hoogstraat)

A battle royal took place, featuring Vaughn, Shaft, Williams, Blade, Courageous, Jaysin Static and Core. Bodies flew in every direction, and eliminations occurred at a rapid pace, with Core and Static simultaneously taking each other out, as was the same for Courageous and Williams. Shaft and Blade were eliminated next, respectively, leaving Vaughn as the sole winner.

Dave Vaughn wins a Battle Royal much to Travis cooks approval. (Photo credit: Mike Van Hoogstraat)

Static and Core wrestled for the second time this night in the opening contest. Fans distracted Core from the get go, causing Static to try and steal a quick victory. In this back and forth battle, the two went in and out of the ring. In one of the pivotal moments, Static prepared to launch onto Core, who stood on the outside of the ring, but Core saw Static coming and got him caught up in the ropes. That one misstep by Static allowed Core to take the advantage. But Static’s resiliency forced him to continue, and he pinned Core, gaining retribution for his earlier loss.

Core gives Jaysin Static a hand in the opening contest.(Photo credit: Mike Van Hoogstraat)