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Heavy On Wrestling
South St. Paul, Minnesota at SSP High School
Report by Jason Powell
1. Wildcat beat Rob James. A good opener with the James doing a nice job of drawing heat, while Wildcat is a fun, popular, masked babyface. This was a fundraiser for the local wrestling team, so I didn’t know what to expect from the crowd in terms of whether it would be locals or diehards. Most of the fans were familiar with Wildcat and his chant, which told me the local independent fans were out in full force.
2. Darin Corbin beat Kody Rice. Rice performs an overweight Rick Rude type of schtick. I was actually hoping he’d take the mic an tell all the tone, in shape, Minnesota muscle heads to keep the noise down while he showed their ladies what a real man looks like.
3. Cooter Bocephus pinned Shawn Daivari. The fans cheered for Daivari, who used some mic work to turn them against him. Bocephus came out with an American flag and got the fans to chant USA. Bocephus won by sticking a rubber chicken up Daivari’s ass, making him smell chicken, and then rolling him up. No, I’m not kidding. Just when I thought I’d seen every finish… Oh, and the tights stayed on, so fortunately there was no actual penetration.
4. Ariya Daivari beat Beer City Bruiser to retain the WrestlePalooza Title. Ariya also had to work to turn the crowd against him. He cut a good promo about how he busted his ass for years on the independent scene, and now that he’s in the WWE Cruiserweight Division the fans want to get on the bandwagon. Bruiser told him that Smackdown is better than Raw, and said Vince McMahon could kiss his ass. The fans got behind Bruiser with “Smackdown is better” chants. Funny. Daivari won after a REF BUMP!!! by Rob Page. While they were able to get the fans to root against Daivari, I couldn’t help but think it would have been better to let the fans cheer for the hometown boy made good, especially since Bruiser easily could have turned the fans against him simply by playing up his Milwaukee roots. Sure, it may have been a little odd with Shawn playing a heel in the previous match, but I don’t think anyone would have minded. Hey, WWE, how about Ariya as a babyface feuding with his heel brother on 205 Live?
5. Arik Cannon beat Silas Young. A good match with the always popular Cannon getting the win. It’s been a while since I’ve seen Cannon and I didn’t even recognize him with his hair and “hipster beard” as Young described it. Cannon asked for a handshake afterward. Silas obliged, then attacked him and left him lying because that’s what a Real Man does. Young is always a blast. He also has some great merch.
6. Cody Rhodes pinned Colt Cabana. A great atmosphere for the main event with Colt getting a really good reaction, and Cody getting an even better reaction. The live crowd loved these guys. There was a really good back and forth flurry to start, which drew applause from the fans. There was some comedy with referee Page, who made a miraculous recovery from his bump two matches earlier, sparing referee Jay Soltis from working back to back matches. In fact, Page’s healing powers are so strong that he was able to execute a terrible cartwheel at the prompting of Cabana. Colt also removed Page’s glasses, put them on, and then missed Cody by a mile with two kicks. He took off the glasses and told Page that he’s blind. Fun stuff. Cody got the win after the second CrossRhodes of the match. Cody and Colt shook hands and played to the crowd afterward. Colt left the ring to give Cody a chance to shine solo. Cody knelt down and kissed the ring. Cody and Colt are two pros and had the fans with them every step of the way. This was their first time working against one another, and it was a treat to see in person.
Notes: Baron Von Raschke was present and signed autographs at one of the merch tables… Minnesota’s ambassador of independent wrestling Mick Karch was the timekeeper… Future WWE Champion Freddy Kinney was in the house along with his father Hater Dave… Attendance appeared to be north of 400… HOW is the same group that promoted the Jerry Lynn retirement show, and I’ve been impressed by each show I have attended. The show was listed for a 6:00 start time, but actually started at 7:00 instead. It worked out nicely, though as the merch tables seemed to be doing well, and there was no mid-show intermission, so the main event ended around 9:00 p.m. Overall, a good time and a well paced show. It’s good to see the Minnesota independent scene has a passionate group of followers.
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