BBQ, music and laughter is what you would have walked up to even if you had planned to be one of the first people in line at Metro Pro’Wrestling‘s 6th anniversary show on June 4th. If you failed to drink a strong cup of coffee that morning you might have thought you were outside of Arrowhead Stadium with a bunch of wild fans. Come to find out Metro Pro fans aren’t too different from Chiefs fans in that they are loyal, loud and a little over the top. To no one’s surprise, it was the guys and gals of the Wrestle Talk Podcast and the WWE Universe Worldwide Chapter fantasy wrestling group. I expect that this isn’t the last time we will see or hear about this group. Especially since every Metro Pro show keeps getting better and better and this show was without a doubt better than the last and we are sure the next will be better than this one. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves because we have a lot of ground to cover as we breakdown this show. Just know this writer’s only goal is to make you wish you would have made this show and to get you fired up and exited for the next show coming up in July. So let’s get going!
The show inside the building kicked off with a match between the Math Magician and The Iceman (1/2 of Team Vintage).
This was a fun match where the fans especially the kids enjoyed themselves. Few things are as fun as counting along with the Math Magician when his music hits or even as he attempts to rally for a comeback. As fun as it is to count along with one guy it is just as fun to boo and heckle The Iceman. Who since has gone to “the dark side” has been on a slide. Sadly, (for him and Team Vintage) tonight was no different.
The Mathmagician was able to get the crowd behind him and pull off the big win in a match that lasted 6 minutes and 31 seconds. That was not the last time we would see the The Iceman this night.
Following the opening match the crowned was treated (I use that term loosely) to an appearance by President Michael Strider and his stunning partner in crime, Lucy Mendez. As you can imagine, they were met with a tremendous fan disapproval. Not more than 10 seconds in the ring Strider started bragging about how thanks to him Metro Pro fans would no longer have to see, hear or even have to worry about Jeremy Wyatt, all thanks to him and of course a little help with former ECW champion “The Man Beast,” Rhyno. All those who are familiar with the situation know what for over 2yrs Striders only goal has to rid Metro Pro wrestling of Wyatt, the undisputed fan favorite. It was also pointed out that Strider had a piece of what seemed like toilet paper on his shoe which he had Lucy remove for him in all of his arrogance.
In an attempt to get back to business Strider reminded that crowd that this wasn’t just any show but Metro Pro’s 6th anniversary show and that night we would have the pleasure of seeing him accept the MWR wrestler of the year award on the behalf of the recently fired Jeremy Wyatt. Also that we would get to see some great matches in round 1 of the tournament to crown a new Metro Pro Wrestling champion. And of course that the legendary tag team Demolition would be teaming with fan favorite ‘The Commission’ in the main even match of the night, and a whole lot more. The best part of this segment of the show according to most fans is when it was over.
We then moved on to some more in ring action. First up we had Jon Webb vs Kiyoshi Shizuka.
Where even though Davey Vega was ring side and in Shisuka’s corner, Jon Webb was able to pull off the win in just under 13 minutes. This advances Webb to round two of the Metro Pro Wrestling tournament to crown the new Metro Pro champion and left both Shisuka and Vega with a bad taste in their mouths.
Next we moved into some hard hitting tag team action where we had a team the we will affectionately call “The Beards” Redwing and Jay Howard vs long time bad guys and well known trouble makers the KC Kings. This match as good as should be expected but just as Redwing and Howie had things well in hand the man known as Ace Steele felt like he needed to come out and make his presence felt by hitting Howard over the head with his central states championship. Surprisingly though, that would not be enough as Redwing was able to get the 1,2,3 even though his partner was outside the ring and out for the count at that moment.
New comer Rory Fox caught almost everyone off guard with this energy and skill as he faced Metro Pro’s resident bad guy “The World’s Fittest Wrestler,” Mark Sterling. As you would expect the KC King Brothers were there and they played their usual role of heel-aids by helping Sterling secure the win after several attacks on Rory with referee Michael Case’s back turned. Though he gave a valiant effort this almost 3 on 1 affair, it ended with Mark Sterling getting the win in a little under 9 minutes and 30 seconds.
The match between Kraig Keesaman and Jake Dirden started days before they actually faced off in the ring. A few days earlier there was some back and forth on Twitter on who exactly would come out on top in this match and move on to round two of the Metro Pro’s Championship Tournament. The fans seemed to be split right down the middle and Dirden and Keesaman both confidently asserted that they indeed would be winning this match. To no ones’ surprise by the time the match started we quickly found out that even after all the trash talking Keesaman did on Twitter he still felt to bring his insurance policy The Iceman to the ring with him.
In the end it didn’t matter, Dirden was too much for both Keesaman and The Iceman and put Keesaman away with a in a little over 10 minutes.
After 4 incredible matches since their last appearance President Michael Strider and Lucy Mendez made their way back into the ring this time to except the MWR wrestler of the year award that Brian Kelley himself would be presenting. Just as Brian would reluctantly begin to hand the trophy over to Strider who at this point is nearly foaming at the mouth at the idea of being handed this award, Jeremy Wyatt’s music hits and the crowed in the Turner Rec Center. Wyatt made his way in the ring and did something surprising and turned his attention to Brian Kelley and expressed what most people in attendance that are familiar with MWR and that work that whole crew does already knew. That the work they do is amazing and has been a cornerstone in helping to elevate wrestling in the Midwest to a whole new level. Brian and his wife in particular have spent years traveling all over to show support and uplift that sport that we all love dearly. The crowd was 100% in agreement and Brian was given a well-deserved standing ovation which lasted well over 2 minutes. This really seemed to catch Brian off guard and the look on his face was priceless. Truly a highlight moment of the night and one to be remembered.
Wyatt then turned his attention to Strider and the two locked eyes as they have so many times before. You could cut the tension with a knife at this point.
Wyatt proceeded to inform Strider that he would be accepting the MWR award himself and that he had some new regarding a letter he had in his possession via the Board Of Directors. According to Wyatt this letter guarantees a match No holds barred match at the July 30th show. Not only that, if Strider refused to sign he would lose his job as President and Wyatt would take over that position. After throwing what would be comparable only to the fit of 5 year old spoiled brat, Strider was forced to sign it.
Only to be told a few seconds later by Wyatt that he lied about him losing his job and it was all made up to get him to sign it. This indeed may have been the straw that broke the camel’s back because only a few seconds later Strider removed his shirt and challenged Wyatt to jump back into the ring. Which almost seemed to be exactly what Wyatt was waiting for.
Fists and kicks lashed out and it got so out of hand that the whole locker room was forced to come out and break them up. Flashes of Undertaker vs Brock Lesner went through the minds many as this was all going on inside and outside the ring for what seemed like an eternity.
Once the ring was finally cleared we go the in ring action back underway and there was no time for anyone to catch their breath because the following match included the fabulous Riegal Twins vs the always game KC Wolves. The match was high energy and high flying, first we were treated to a front flip by Sterling Riegal over one of the ring posts right on top of both KC Wolfs then we got an amazing cross body where Logan Riegal, was by the estimation of many over 10 feet in the air!
Once the action got back into the ring the KC Wolfs did the unexpected and resorted to the low blow behind the refs back and the Wolves ended up getting the win.
We also had to other great matches before the main event the delivered the goods. We had a unification match between Steve Fender and Ace Steele.
This match was bring the belts ( Kansas State Championship,) (Central States Championship) together to crown one true champion.
After a lot of hot dogging and fooling with the ref the action got underway and Ace Steele was able to pull off the win with a little help from Redwing to retain the Central States title and to unify it with the Kansas State title.
Next, we had hot up-and-comer and recent graduate from the KC Pro Wrestling Training Center, Bobby Blackshire face off against former Metro Pro champion Derek Stone in a hard fought match where to Savvy Ol’ Vet ended up getting the win.
For the main event of the night we had the legendary Demolition team up with fan favorites “The Commission” to face a team full of stars to include Mike Sydal, Mark Sterling, Davey Vega and Kiyoshi Shizuka
This was a dream come true for many wrestling fans in the crowd. So many remember the legacy that Demolition left in there time in WWF and their title reign which is still the longest tag team championship reign of all time. The match did not disappoint and at one point there opponents couldn’t even decide who should go in the ring because they were so out matched by Demolition and the Commission. Near the end, something incredible happened, Axe and Smash decided to pass the torch to the next generation by helping Pierre and Gelistico set up the DEMOLITION DECAPITATION!
That as it always has been was enough to get the win and close out the show with a bang!
So at the end of the night, as awesome as it was there is still a lot of unfinished business. Lots of questions to be answered. Will this no holds barred match truly be the end of the rivalry between Wyatt and Strider? What other wrestlers will move on to round two of the tournament? Will Cobra Kai be back to defend their tag team titles, and if so, against who? One thing that is without a question is that some of the names that have already been released as scheduled to appear are the who’s who of pro wrestling to include Stevie Richards, Hype Gotti, Kevin Lee Davidson, and Sonjay Dutt. And that’s just what has been announced up to this point. Definitely a great time to be a fan in the Midwest because the local guys keep getting better and the stars that are being brought in are all class acts like Axe and Smash. That’s something that can’t be taken for granted. Nor is your chance to catch the next Metro Pro Wrestling show on July 30th at Turner Rec Center in Kansas City Kansas. See you there!
Rene Martinez, host of the Wrestle Talk Podcast with Joe and Rene
Twitter/Instagram/Snapchat: @WrestleTalkCast
Photo Credit – Brian Kelley Missouri Wrestling Revival
Missouri Wrestling Revival 