Photos and write up by editor and owner Brian Kelley
SICW fans by now have to be spoiled. For years Herb Simmons have brought in a who’s who of wrestling greats from years past to go along with their roster of talent that have wrestled around the world. Even with their rich history of huge events SICW may have presented their biggest show in their history.
On October 30th the date had been set to have a trunk –n-treat, a hayride and a meet and greet with wrestling greats Dr. D” David Schultz, “The Mouth of the South” Jimmy Hart, Jerry “The King” Lawler, Sgt. Slaughter, Greg “The Hammer” Valentine, The Rock ‘N’ Roll Express (Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson), Demolition (Ax & Smash), Cowboy Bob Orton and Haku.
Over 800 fans around the country came early to get their autographs. Elite wrestling historians, photographers and fellow promoters were in the house for such an historic occasion. Not only would the stars of SICW be in action but Jerry Lawler, The Rock ‘N’ Roll Express (Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson), and the man many feel is the baddest man to ever set foot into the ring, Haku challenging SICW Classic Champion Attila Khan for the title.
The wrestling night started off with the National Anthem, an introduction of the legends with Dr. Drew Abbenhaus and Herb Simmons to a rocking crowd.
MWR is proud to present with you, photos of the historic night that cumulated into one of the bloodiest, hardest hitting matches that we ever covered when Attila Khan not only survived but conquered Haku in the main event. The outcome sent shockwaves through the wrestling world and within days the NWA signed Attila to meet the NWA World Champion Trevor Murdoch for the title in St. Louis, Missouri on December 1st.
Chris Hargas & Ken Kasa d. Gary Jackson & Gil Rogers
Jerry Lawler d. TROLL
Jayson Breed d. Jake Lawless
Niles Plonk d. Ax Allwardt
Flash Flanagan & The Big Texan d. Rick Ruby & Richard Shaw
Steve Fender d. Bobby D
Billy McNeil d. Sean Vincent by TKO
The Rock ‘N’ Roll Express d. The Professionals – Shawn Santel & Mauler McDarby
Gary Jackson won a dual ring battle royal to become the first SICW Central States Champion.
SICW Classic Champ Attila Khan with Travis Cook d. Haku in a hardcore match.
The War Machine(w/ Travis Cook) d. Richard Shaw with the heart punch (1:15). “Your Canadian Hero” Sean Vincent attacked War Machine afterwards but War Machine fought him off and laid him out with the heart punch.
-Billy McNeil d. “The Mountain Man” Jake Prater after the top-rope elbowdrop to the back (7:13).
-“The Son Of The South” Frankie D d. Rob Kowalski by DQ when Kowalski brought Frankie D’s chair into the ring and shoved the referee (7:20). Frankie D bashed Kowalski with the chair, but the big man shrugged off the abuse and struck Frankie with his own chair.
-“Superstar” Steve Fender(w/ Travis Cook) d. Bobby D with the brainbuster (10:54).
-Ax Allwardt d. “The Butcher” Damian Blade by DQ when Blade threw Ax over the top rope (7:05).
-Mauler McDarby d. “The Real Deal” Chris Kade after Kowalski tripped Kade during a re-entry suplex, holding his foot as McDarby fell on top for the pin (9:56). Cowboy Bob Orton saved his trainee from a post-match attack, setting up a tag match for the March 21st show.
-“The Night Train” Gary Jackson & Gil Rogers d. “The Talented” Ken Kasa & King Christopher Hargas(w/ Travis Cook) to retain the Tag Team Titles. Kasa & Hargas initially won when Hargas hit Rogers with a chain behind the referee’s back and Kasa got the pin (7:14), but Flash Flanagan told the referee what happened and the match was restarted. The champs retained when Rogers kneelifted Kasa into Jackson’s subset flip for the three-count (3:49 of the restart, 11:03 total). Chaos erupted afterwards with Kasa, Hargas, Fender, & War Machine beating down Jackson, Rogers, & Flanagan…they finally took their leave when Billy McNeil hit the ring with a chair.
-“The King Of Chaos” Ricky Cruz d. “Volatile” Curtis Wylde(w/ Wyldefyre & Rob Kowalski) to retain the Classic Title; Tito Santana was the special guest referee. Wyldefyre was ejected from ringside early; when Kowalski blatantly interfered, Tito fought him off before ejecting him as well. When Wylde confronted Tito, Cruz rolled him up for the pin (10:39). Wylde attacked Tito from behind after the bell, but Tito fended him off and put him out with a sleeperhold…leading to Cruz using Wylde’s own hairtrimmers to relieve Wylde of more of his hair.
Even the Greatest Wrestler on Gods Green Earth enjoyed watching Adam Cole interact with his fans.
The Current NWA World Champion Nick Aldis shares stories with Harley Race.
The Big Guy Ryback was a true treat to the fans and was happy to see Harley Race.
-”2.0” Da’Marius Jones d. Jayden Dominic Rose via Paydirt to win the Jr. Heavyweight Title (9:45).
-”The Attraction” Austin Cravens d. Gil Rogers after a fireman’s-carry slam (9:23).
-Lucy Mendez d. Stacey O’Brien with a jackknife cradle to win the Women’s Title (10:37).
–The People’s Tag Team(Kyle Roberts & “The Wrestler For The People” Rex Fults) d. Alpha Omega(Camaro Jackson & Kenny Alfonso) to retain the Tag Team Titles; Rex superplexed Alfonso and Roberts got the pin after the frog splash (12:57).
-”Superstar” Steve Fender d. Brandon Espinosa by DQ when Espy refused to release a hanging armbar in the ropes after the referee’s five-count (9:58). Espy delivered a post-match brainbuster.
-”The Hybrid Ace” Jon Webb d. Jack Gamble with the Sliced Bread #2 to retain the Heavyweight Title (15:31).
-”The National Treasure” Nick Aldis(w/ Kamille Kaine) d. “The Legacy” Leland Race(w/ Harley Race) with the King’s Lynn Cloverleaf to retain the NWA World Title (18:07).
Saturday March 16th SICW action returns to the East Carondelet Illinois community center in 7pm. Two huge Main Events. Call 618-286-4848 to reserve your seats.
-Jon Webb vs. Jack Gamble – Heavyweight Title -Jayden Dominic Rose vs. Da’Marius Jones – Jr. Heavyweight Title
Tag Team Titles – Kyle Roberts & Rex Fults vs. Alpha Omega(Camaro Jackson & Kenny Alfonso)
Gil Rogers & Austin Cravens –
-Stacey O’Brien vs. Lucy Mendez – Women’s Title
-Brandon Espinosa vs. Steve Fender
-Appearing: Ryback, Adam Cole
Yes fans, as unfortunate as it is to have Tommaso Ciampa not be able to attend, his well-being and health is of utmost concern to us as well as others. We ware going to sincerely miss having the opportunity to have him here at our new home here in Lincoln County Missouri
That said, we hope that everyone is as pleased as we are with the replacement of WWE NXT Superstar Adam Cole coming in place of Ciampa.
Tickets are still on sale at nightofchampions.harleyrace.com right now. If you purchased Ciampa Meet and Greets and want to exchange it for Adam Cole Meet and Greets, don’t worry. We are more than happy to exchange it with no transactions needed!
Again – we thank all of our sponsors for making Night of Champions 4 possible!
Jim Trenary Automotive here in Troy, MO (Jim Trenary Ford and Jim Trenary Chevrolet) C.T. Harrison Business Solutions Uncle Eddie’s Kettle Corn Hall Trailer Sales Peoples Bank & Trust
We are less than two weeks away from the 2nd Annual Kris Wyatt Memorial Show in Eldon, MO on October 27th! Tickets are on sale now at Rent-A-Center, $12 for ringside rows and $10 for general admission. The doors of the Eldon Community Center open at 6pm, with the show starting at 7pm.
There will be 7 great matches on the card, including our main event for the NBW Heavyweight Title in a Tables Match, as Kyle Roberts defends against Leland Race, with “Cowboy” Bob Orton as Special Guest Enforcer. Plus, our special guest Laynie Luck will be in action, along with the NBW debuts of Gil Rogers, Alpha Omega, The Professionals and Referee Yali Sapphire along with all of your favorite NBW stars! And don’t forget… We will be crowning the first ever Multi-State Tag Team Champions on this night! Details on that match and more to come this week!
In a hard fought one on one contest, Dak Draper defeated Blaine Meeks by referee stoppage in a no dq match to retain his NWL Kansas City Championship Saturday night, September 2 at the Scottish Rites Temple in Kansas City, Missouri. Draper used at least three different steel chairs in brutal encounter, but his actions after the match ended is what drew the ire of NWL President, Major Baisden. “I am going to work with my full team of advisors in determining what the best course of action is for dealing with Dak Draper’s future in the NWL,” Baised wrote on Twitter.
Draper used two of his Draper bombs but couldn’t pin Meeks, even after using chairs to Meek’s back repeatedly. Meeks put on his cape and hit his finishing move, “comic mischief”, but Draper was able to kick out.
The finish came when Draper used Meek’s own cape, tied to the ropes to choke out the challenger and the referee had no choice but to stop the contest.
Draper who went to the hospital after the match to receive stitches for a cut near his eyes, continued to attack Meeks after the match. Draper wrapped Meeks legs around the ring post and repeatedly hit Meeks with a chair in his already damaged knee.
Looking at the company website, Meeks is not advertised for upcoming shows through September and Draper could be stripped of the title as he is listed on events, but his matches are not advertised as title matches.
The crowd the Scottish Rites Temple was down from normal, estimated at 225 fans as the WWE was at the Sprint Center and likely hurt the normally large crowd.
In other matches, The Besties in the World defeated the Howlettes in a wild brawl to advance to the finals of the NWL Tag Team Tournament,
Jack Foster defeated Michael Strider and Mike Outlaw defeated Niles Plonk.
After the match, a security video played, showing Plonk’s butler, Belvedere was not really injured, which freed Red Cloud from his commitment to serve Plonk.
Also, Thor Theriot defeated Maverick by countout,
Devlin defeated Gil Rogers,Jet Royal defeated Ken Dharma and
Jeremy Wyatt pinned Anthony Guitteriez.
There have many been many, many great wrestling matches so far in 2017. Two of the best occurred in the NWL Saturday night, September 2. The Draper vs. Meeks and Wyatt vs. Guittereiz matches were among the best of 2017 on any level.
Many wrestlers retire from wrestling, but almost all return to the ring at
some point. Ric Flair had an incredible send off at Wrestlemania XXIV,
wrestling his final match on the biggest and grandest stage of them all,
but Flair returned to wrestling less than 2 years later. Nick Bockwinkel
retired in 1987 but wrestled in 1992 and 1993 for special return matches.
The great Verne Gagne retired and came out of retirement numerous
times.
Chris Guy, who wrestles as “Sexy” Ace Steel, never actually retired, but
the pull of wrestling for one of the top independent promotions in the
country, was too much for Ace Steel to ignore. Steel has once again
returned to active wrestling as part of the “Foundation” in the National Wrasslin League. Steel was happy, living a comfortable life in
Springfield, Missouri with his wife working a regular job.
Steel plans to continue with his full time life outside the ring, but as the
NWL has increased the number of their monthly wrestling events, the
call to the veteran Steel was made and his interest piqued. “They wanted
me to come in as a trainer, but I didn’t want to leave my life and pick up
and move again. I am not going to wrestle on every event, but I
definitely will be more active in the ring than I have been.”
Steel worked for Chris Gough, former owner of Metro Pro and current
director of wrestling operations for NWL at Metro Pro Wrestling before
Gough closed Metro Pro Wrestling to work for Major Baisden and the
NWL.
Steel attended a NWL show in Kansas City on July 8 and was so
impressed with the talent, the shows and NWL owner, Major Baisden;
he wrestled on the NWL show in Joplin, Missouri on August 4,
defeating Stevie Richards.
“Ace steel has such a tremendous reputation, both as a worker and as a
trainer. The years we worked together at Metro Pro hatched some of the
best moments we ever had. I was asking him for months to come back to
NWL, and when he told me he was ready, I knew it was going to lead to
great things again. He has joined Jeremy Wyatt and Michael Strider in The Foundation, and they will be a trio that will be hard to overcome”,
Gough explained.
Steel grew up in Chicago and fell in love with professional wrestling. “I
grew up watching the AWA and as soon as I graduated high school, I
started training with Windy City Wrestling.”
Steel debuted for Windy City Wrestling in 1991 and wrestled in
independent promotions for most of the hey day of the wrestling wars in
the 90’s. In 1998, Steel became a wrestler and trainer for St. Paul Championship Wrestling, which later became Steel Domain Wrestling.
Steel became friends with two other Chicago natives who were making a
name for themselves on the independent circuit; Colt Cabana and CM Punk. Steel trained both Cabana and Punk.
“Ace Steel has worked for Steel Domain Wrestling and has incredible
respect in our locker room”, says Steel Domain owner Ed Hellior. “The
last time he was here, I watched him do a coaching session with a couple
of Ken and Shawn’s students. (Ken Anderson and Shawn Diavari). What
I noticed is it’s once thing to be a world class wrestler, but he his an
outstanding coach and teacher. There are a number of great wrestlers,
but it does not mean they can teach. Even Steven Regal (William Regal)
got wind of the session and commented on Ace. “
In 2003, Steel made his first appearance in Japan wrestling for NOAH.
“I couldn’t wait to be in a place where at times wrestling, the pure mat
wrestling techniques and training, were common and the norm,” Steel
told Slam Wrestling. “The Japanese have such a level of dedication and
to workout and train everyday, and get on a bus to the next town was the
best. I’ve been in the ring many times with (Mitsuharu) Misawa, (Yoshinari) Ogawa, (Akira) Taue, KENTA (Kenta Kobayashi), (Naomichi) Marafuji, (Yoshinobu) Kanemaru –– you name it. And each
time learning so much and to gain their respect is awesome. NOAH is
the top Japanese company.”
Steel briefly worked for TNA after its inception, forming a tag team with
Punk and also wrestling in the X Division. After his TNA contract
expired, Steel signed with Ring of Honor, forming a tag team with
Cabana and Punk called the Second City Saints. Steel also has wrestled
for WWE in the past. During a September 27, 2004 edition of Raw,
Steel wrestled as Scott Colton (real name of Colt Cabana), losing a
match to Eugene. As a repayment of the inside rib, Cabana wrestled as
Chris Guy, (Steel’s real name) on an April 10, 2006 episode of Raw.
Maybe Steel’s most memorable performance on Raw occurred on
January 8, 2007, when Steel portrayed Donald Trump in an inter gender
match against “Rosie O’Donnell“.
Steel later was signed to a
developmental contract with WWE and wrestled in both of the WWE
developmental territories at the time, Deep South Wrestling and Ohio Valley Wrestling.
On December 5, 2008, Steel returned to ROH at the “Wrestling at the Gateway” event, teaming with Necro Butcher against Jimmy Jacobs and Delirious. Steel also appeared in the 10-man cage match at the “Caged
Collision” event on January 31, 2009.
Ace Steel once held onto Harley Race’s WLW Championship.
Steel recently turned 44 years old, making him a veteran presence and a
natural locker room leader. “I am really impressed by the guys in the
locker room. They are all really excited to be wrestling for the NWL.”
Jeremy Wyatt cryptically told NWL fans “Foundation” members
Michael Styder and Wyatt had an “Ace” up their sleeve weeks ago.
Steel debuted in Kansas City as a surprise opponent for Gil Rogers on
August 5 and affirmed his affiliation with the Foundation during an
interview later that evening.
Despite being a former Steel Domain Champion and Metro Pro
Champion, some of Steel’s greatest accomplishments have come from
the words of other wrestlers. “Having Regal (William) choose me to
work with him (on Harley Race events) is such an honor. Regal said he
chose me because he trusted me to do what needed to be done” Steel
explained. “Having Ricky Steamboat tell me ‘you made that match worth
watching’ is really special to me.”
For now, Steel is content to wrestle part time for NWL and also loves
training younger wrestlers.
Missouri Wrestling Revival 