By Patrick Brandmeyer

A new commissioner would be revealed. A massive newcomer would make his in-ring debut. Several championships would be defended. Those were the stories going into the first show of 2014 for the Mid-Missouri Wrestling Alliance.

Brandon Espinosa and Lynn Mephisto continued their habit of kicking off the show. As the two ran their mouths in the usual fashion, they took the time to hurl insults at former senior official Jim Harris in the audience. They were no strangers to the retired referee as Mephisto had manhandled Harris at previous shows. At that moment, ring announcer Ben Simon got a text message from the as-yet-unrevealed new commissioner…the two would have to participate in the night’s battle royal as well as their scheduled tag match.

Da’Marius Jones had a rough night ahead of him as he was the first opponent for the huge Barackus. The super heavyweight had made his first appearance at the December show by costing Dave Osborne his shot at then-champion Espinosa. Jones gave it his best shot but couldn’t overcome the size disadvantage…Barackus dropped him with a clawhold Flatliner and the referee stopped the match, awarding it to the big man by way of a knockout.

Mephisto had an opportunity to regain the Battle Royal Title he lost in December…and earn a shot at Television Champion Jimmy D in the process. However, five other men had the same goal, including defending Battle Royal Champion Stevie K and Mephisto’s own partner Espinosa. This time around, Gary Jackson would not be an outside factor…The Webmaster earned the victory with no questions asked. He took advantage of several instances of miscommunication to eliminate both Mephisto and Espinosa, retaining his title and moving on to a shot at Jimmy D.

With his manager Sean Orleans absent due to a suspension, Jackson Whitechapel had to fly solo against his recent rival Moondog Rover. The lack of focus on Whitechapel’s part may have been his undoing as the fan favorite cruised to victory, getting the pin after a huge spinebuster.

Junior Heavyweight Champion had been dealing with challenges from Ace Hawkins for several months. He scored a tainted victory over Ace in October, then lost to him in a non-title King Of St. Louis Cable Tournament bout in November. Wilder battled Hawkins and Da’Marius Jones in a triple threat matchup in December; the opportunistic “Wolf” got a cheap pin on Jones, but Ace remained in contention.

Hawkins teamed with J-Mal Swagg against the unusual team of Wilder and Flaming Freddie Fury.

The bout started fast as all four men brawled, not giving Ben Simon the opportunity to announce the match stipulation. In the end, Wilder resorted to a low blow on Hawkins and got disqualified…he may have escaped from a worse beating on that night, but cost himself a different opportunity. As Ben announced after the bell, the winners of the match would name the stipulation for February’s Wilder-Hawkins title match! Hawkins wanted a no-disqualification match, thus keeping Wilder from taking the easy way out of another title defense. However, Wilder felt he had already proven himself to be the better man and wanted Ace to put something on the line as well: His Missouri Wrestling Revival “Sexiest Wrestler” award! The February matchup will be title belt vs. award plaque!

Webmaster Stevie K had a shot at double gold as he sought to add the Wild World Of Wrestling Television Championship to his Battle Royal Title. However, Jimmy D wasn’t about to let his third title reign end so quickly…when the going got tough, D took a walk and got counted out to save his title.

Big Dave Osborne seemed to be in a sportsmanlike mood as he took on A.J. Williams. It was a battle of power and size against speed and agility, but an outside factor would decide the outcome. Barackus made another appearance and the distraction led to Osborne falling prey to Williams’ superkick. The big man laid out Osborne with his clawhold Flatliner after the match, making another statement at the expense of the former Heavyweight Champ.

The main event of the evening had bad blood on all sides…new Heavyweight Champion Brian James teamed up with former titleholder Gary Jackson against Espinosa and Mephisto. The referee had trouble maintaining law and order and soon it erupted into a full-scale fight. The official counted all four men out of the ring but that didn’t end the war by a longshot!

Barackus entered the ring and assisted Espinosa and Mephisto in their assault on James and Jackson, revealing his allegiance to the self-proclaimed young guns of the promotion.

Jackson was handcuffed to the ropes as the trio focused their attention on Brian James, but the new commissioner finally revealed himself and ordered a stop to the attack: It was Jim Harris!

Harris acted swiftly, suspending Barackus for a month after his repeated interference in matches. He announced that Espinosa would get a title rematch with James in February, but it would be his ONLY rematch for the gold. Finally, he announced that he had a surprise for Mephisto…and we would all have to wait until the February show to find out what that surprise is!

February 8th is already shaping up to be a major event with two titles on the line…new Commissioner Jim Harris has already made his first step in restoring law and order to the MMWA!