By Kari Williams

LWA presented its second annual “Us v. Them” event in O’ Fallon, Ill at the Knights of Columbus hall, featuring Arik Cannon, Claudio Castagnoli and El Generico.

Prior to the show’s namesake matches, Pierre Abernathy—donning a dress, as per a stipulation from his bout at Pro Wrestling Heroes—took on Billy McNeil. With Adam Raw, also in non-traditional attire, at ringside, McNeil fought an uphill battle. Seeing that Raw’s presence at ringside was not enough of an advantage, Abernathy also resorted to illegal tactics. However, McNeil found a way to get one over on Abernathy. As a pre-match stipulation, if McNeil won, Abernathy and Raw had to kiss. Before the kiss could happen, fellow Submission Squad member Evan Gelistico came from the back to stop it.

“The Rebel” Jeremy Wyatt, Dan Walsh, Darin Corbin and Matt Cage battled in a fatal four way. Wyatt and Corbin started the bout, with Corbin gaining the slight upper hand. Walsh and Cage got in the mix as well, creating some competition, and all four men could have easily emerged victorious. Adding some comic relief to the match, Corbin took Wyatt’s ring jacket and wore it while on the apron to provoke Wyatt. In the end, Wyatt got the pinfall on Walsh.

Gorgeous Jordan then came to ringside as “Nightmare” Nick Tyson in an attempt to fool LWA management into letting him on the No Restrictions roster. LWA president Tim Alley was not impressed and forced Jordan out of the building.

Glamour, Inc. (Brandon Aarons and Mike Sydal) put the LWA tag team belts on the line against The Hooligans (Devon and Mason Cutter) in what started out as a brawl in the crowd. When the match got under control and back in the ring, the Hooligans tried to gain control. They did so for a while, but Aarons turned the match around in quick fashion. From there, the four athletes went back and forth with the advantage, with Sydal and Aarons, at times, cheating to get to that point. Nonetheless, the Hooligans ended up wrestling the tag belts away from Glamour, Inc. and becoming two time LWA tag team champions.

Arik Cannon returned to LWA for the first Us v. Them match of the night, as he went toe to toe with Shorty Biggs. Cannon got the early lead, but Biggs was able to turn the tide. As the two men got into it, they took the action to the outside; but back in the ring Biggs looked poised for victory. In spite of this, “Future” Donovan Ruddick emerged from the back and interfered behind the referee’s back, allowing Cannon to win.

LWA Champion “Spitfire” Davey Vega put his belt on the line against Submission Squad member Evan Gelistico. The two quickly took the brawl into the crowd, and Vega held Gelistico while he let fans slap Gelistico. Vega and Gelistico fought from one side of the building to the other, until they finally brought it back to the ring. After going back and forth, Gelistico appeared poised for victory as he planned to hit Vega with a chair. But Wyatt came out to stop Gelistico, getting retribution for the Submission Squad interfering in his title match against Vega earlier in the year. Vega ended up retaining the belt due to Wyatt’s aid.

Ruddick went up against Ring of Honor’s Claudio Castagnoli in the second Us v. Them battle of the night. As in many other bouts, Castagnoli and Ruddick quickly ended up in the crowd. As fans dodged the flailing bodies, the two behemoths held nothing back. Though the fans were divided on who to cheer for, both men put on a tremendous battle. Ruddick got the upper hand after a reversal and secured victory for LWA.

The main event put Gary the Nightowl, recently renamed Gerald James by Dorian Victor (his father) and his mother had his hands full with El Generico during the final Us v. Them bout. Prior to the match, Alley announced that the winner would face Vega for the LWA championship at the Pro Wrestling Heroes event in House Springs, MO on June 12. Generico and James wrestled a main-event worthy match, with both men looking strong throughout. The bout could have gone either way on a number of occasions, but it was Generico that pulled out the surprise win.