Missouri Wrestling Revival

By Kari Williams

LWA started its year with its new incarnation, ushering in the year of No Restrictions and the headlock—at least from the Superfans’ point of view.

Shane Hollister returned to LWA to take on Gary the Nightowl. The action quickly spilled to the outside, with the two dueling until Hollister took it back to the ring. Hollister and Gary put on an impressive match, with counter after counter and nearfall after nearfall. Hollister had seemingly gained the advantage about half way through, but as prepared to on to Gary from the top turnbuckle, Gary ducked out of the way.

Gary the Barn Owl goes for the submission on Shane Hollister (Photo Credit Kari Williams)

This left Hollister prone to a vicious sharpshooter, but Hollister would not give up so easily. Shortly thereafter, Hollister got the win over the Nightowl.

Gorgeous Jordan and Ski Mask Malone went at it, with the stipulation that if Jordan lost, he would never wrestle in LWA: No Restrictions again. Malone’s athletic skill shocked Jordan, and the fans, as he put the Gorgeous one to the test. However, Jordan would not go down without a fight. Perhaps the most memorable point of the match up, when Malone was down and out, Jordan pulled a banana out of his trunks and ate a portion of it before throwing it out to the crowd.

Ski Mask Malone goes to the air to take out Jordan Lacey (Photo Credit Kari Williams)

Regardless of the shock value, Malone still managed to get out a win.

The newly crowned LWA Heavyweight Champion “Spitfire” Davey Vega came out to talk about ridding the LWA of former president Luke Roberts the previous month. As Vega began to address the crowd, Pierre Abernathy appeared on the video screen to challenge Vega for the LWA championship later that night. The video seemed to be a distraction, as Gary the Nightowl and Evan Gelistico showed up in the ring and tried to attack Vega with a steel chair. Adam Raw came to Vega’s aid and confirmed that the title match would take place.

Markus Crane, Krotch and Matt Cage competed in a three-way elimination match. Crane had his two opponents on edge with his unruly antics. Krotch and Crane appeared to form an alliance of sorts, but that quickly faded and it was every man for himself. Shortly after launching over the top rope onto Crane, Krotch was eliminated, and Cage and Crane fought to the end.

Matt Cage shows Marcus Crane and the LWA fans why he is the man to watch out for in 2010.(Photo Credit Kari Williams)

The two took each other to their limits, nearly causing the bout to end in a double-count-out. Though Crane fought valiantly, and the crowd appeared to be on his side, Cage walked away victorious.

Glamour, Inc. (Mike Sydal and Brandon Aarons) challenged the Hooligans (Devin and Mason Cutter) for the LWA tag team titles. In a battle of contrasting styles, Sydal and Aarons had their work cut out for them. The Hooligans’s power game meshed well against Sydal and Aarons faster-pace. Sydal kept Devin and Mason a good distance apart as he cut off the ring and taunted the Hooligans when he nearly allowed them to make a tag. But within minutes the Hooligans turned the tide and had Aarons, now the legal man, reeling from consecutive kicks to the head.

The Hooligan look for a tag as Sydal comes down on him. (Photo Credit Kari Williams)

In the closing moments, Glamour, Inc. recovered enough to put the Hooligans down for the count, bringing the tag belts back to the LWA.

Jeremy Wyatt leap frogs the talented McNeil.(Photo Credit Kari Williams)

This night also featured the return of Billy McNeil to the company. On his first night back, McNeil took on “The Rebel” Jeremy Wyatt. These two stellar athletes put on one of the most technically sound matches of the night. Wyatt antagonized fans to no end by continuously locking McNeil in a headlock.

McNeil put up a fight though, pulling out his impressive, high flying antics. No matter what Wyatt threw at McNeil, McNeil would not back down. They battled back and forth, with the Rebel coming out on top on this exchange, but McNeil’s talent and heart should not be discounted.

Ring of Honor Star Tyler Black came to LWA to challenge “Future” Donovan Ruddick. Ruddick’s proved his dominance and power the moment the bell rang, showing Black that he had a test laid out before him. The bout quickly spilled to the outside, where Black made a comeback. The two behemoths fought from one side of the building to the other, causing fans to scatter in every direction.

Donovan Ruddick and Tyler Black trade blows outside of the ring. (Photo Credit Kari Williams)

Black went so far as to climb on the bar and launch onto Ruddick before they made their way back in the ring. Black’s domination continued for a while, but Ruddick would not let an outsider steal victory. After both had regained the advantage on more than one occasion, Ruddick put Black to rest.

In the main event, “Spitfire” Davey Vega put his newly won Heavyweight Championship on the line against the Submission Squad’s Pierre Abernathy. Abernathy gained the upper hand early on, but a dive to the outside courtesy of Vega turned the tide. They waged war across the building, throwing each other into the brick wall and then some. Abernathy ended up controlling the match when the returned to the squared circle, and just when it looked like he would nail Vega with a chair, he went for a headlock.

Pierre Abernathy had the LWA Champ Davey Vega in deep trouble at times during ther match. (Photo Credit Kari Williams)

Vega was nearly done for, but a burst of strength emerged and Vega locked Abernathy in a sharpshooter, nearly making him tap. Though the submission did not take out Abernathy, Vega still walked away with belt in hand.

Moments after the match Gelistico and Gary ran in to attack Vega, but Raw was anticipating the Squad’s sneak attack and came to Vega’s aid. Just when Raw finished proclaiming that he wanted to rid the LWA of scum, he said the scum he was talking about was Vega. Raw then attacked Vega, and the night ended with Abernathy and Gary raising Raw’s hands, proving their alliance.

LWA returns to the Knights of Columbus Hall in O’ Fallon, IL on March 20 for the second installment of LWA: No Restrictions.