By Jared Smith

Photo Credit Billy Russ

Saturday night, July 16th, will forever go down in history as the debut show for Cape Championship Wrestling. With a crowd nearing capacity at the Osage Center in Cape Girardeau, promoter Ken Murphy greeted everyone with excitement and enthusiasm as he announced CCW to everyone in attendance, as well as an announcement of a huge surprise and that a champion would be crowned before the night was through. Local morning show DJ, Hunter Hendricks, was also announced as the acting General Manager for the night and former WWE Tag Team Champion Trevor Murdoch was doing a meet and greet with the fans, although he was still out of action with an injury.

The first match of the night featured Sexxy Sarge, accompanied by his manager Jeff O’Dell, taking on Brandon Barbwire in a CCW Championship Title Tournament match. Jeff O’Dell ranted about how it was a travesty that he was not invited to be a part of CCW and went out on his own to be there. Although Sarge tried to shimmy and shake his way to victory, Brandon was able to secure a win, advancing to the finals of the tournament.

Billy Russ Photography

However, Sarge got the last words in, as he attacked Brandon Barbwire after the bell while Jeff O’Dell cheered on his client.

Match two featured Farmer Billy Hills, accompanied by Sarah Summers, taking on hometown favorite Jason “The Fury” Vaughn in the next semi-final round of the CCW Title Tournament. After a fair deal of mouthing by Billy Hills to the fans and to Jason Vaughn, the match got underway.

In a very stiff match, it went back and forth until Billy Hills secured the victory by leveraging the pin with his feet on the ropes, sending him to the Championship Tournament final against Brandon Barbwire in the main event.

Match three featured a young wrestler, Hollis Giroux, coming down from Kansas City to take on national sensation Davey Vega, who in recent time has been featured very prominently in the St. Louis area, often with his tag team partner Mat Fitchett.

Billy Russ Photography

In a very exciting match featuring a blend of power and quickness, the match was even until the final minutes, when Davey took the momentum and the win in the match in what many voted the match of the night.

At intermission, promoter Ken Murphy came out to let everyone know that the next show for CCW will be on August 27th and will feature one of the top names in the world…RICOCHET!!! The Paducah, Kentucky native will be in the house working for Cape Championship wrestling. What an announcement! Two shows in and CCW has pulled in one of the hottest names in the world!

Billy Russ Photography

The fourth match started with Genesis coming to the ring, where he began running down the city of Cape Girardeau. That didn’t last long, as GM Hunter Hendricks came to the ring to show how much the crowd did not appreciate him, and to show him how little we liked his rant, he had a surprise for him who just so happened to be The Missouri Mad Man, Jake Dirden! Jake Dirden is known by many in St. Louis, across the country from many promotions, as well as internationally through work in Japan. Needless to say, Jake Dirden is a big, mean man and he came out to shut up Genesis. Genesis was able to hobble Jake, by attacking his knee throughout the match.

That only served to anger the big guy, as he was finally able to take down Genesis with his Asiatic Spike.

Up next, the women took the stage in the fifth match of the night. It featured the masked Diamond Doll, taking on hometown favorite Lil Bit. In a match where Diamond Doll had the size advantage, Lil Bit was able to use her speed to elude her masked opponent. Diamond Doll was able to slow down Lil Bit and bully her, however, in a great finish, Lil Bit was able to overcome the size deficit and take the win.

Billy Russ Photography

After the match, Diamond Doll was so enraged that she attacked Lil Bit during the celebration, locking her in a very tight camel clutch, prompting the referees to come out and force Diamond Doll to finally break the hold.

Billy Russ Photography

And now, the final match of the night for the Cape Championship Wrestling title!! Billy Hills and Brandon Barbwire squared off in a great main event! Brandon, visually sore from his post match attack, stood strong against the Farmer, as both competitors traded blows. Sarah Summers made her presence felt throughout the match, taking the opportunity to choke Brandon on multiple occasions.

As the match drew to a close, Jeff O’Dell and Sarge came to ringside to assist Billy Hills in a new alliance. However, The Fury Jason Vaughn ran to ringside to even the odds. As the action escalated both in and out of the ring, with the aid of multiple distractions, Brandon Barbwire hit Billy Hills with his finish to take the win and the title!

However, the action was not finished as everyone ended up in the ring. Vaughn and Barbwire attacked Sarge and Hills when suddenly, Brandon Barbwire turned on Jeff Vaughn and it became a 3-on-1 attack in the ring, while Jeff O’Dell cheered on from the outside. Jeff O’Dell announced that this was the formation of The Pinnacle of professional wrestling. However, the tide turned when none other than Jake Dirden ran to the ring to save Jason Vaughn!! Once the ring had cleared out, GM Hunter Hendricks came back to the ring in what would be another big announcement. He set up a grudge match between Jason Vaughn and Billy Hills for August 27th BUT THEN, he also set up a CCW title match between Brandon Barbwire and The Missouri Mad Man Jake Dirden! What a way to end the night!

Also, I can’t go without mentioning a big moment that happened. Among all the happiness, excitement and enthusiasm was a much more somber and bittersweet moment. Osby Tomlin, a 9 year ring veteran, laid his boots and his Kult of Kayfabe Championship title in the middle of the ring on Saturday night as he was forced to retire from his passion of wrestling.

Billy Russ Photography

Osby was injured last month in a match, resulting in a compression fracture in his neck. This forced him to make the unfortunate decision of leaving his love of wrestling to allow himself to heal up and plan for the future with his family. Thank you, Osby, we’ll sure miss you.

Don’t miss out on the next Cape Championship Wrestling show, August 27th, featuring Billy Hills vs Jason Vaughn, Jake Dirden vs Brandon Barbwire for the Cape Championship Wrestling title and international superstar Ricochet, plus much more!! See you then!