By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
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Mr. Chainsaw Pro Wrestling “Battleground”
Streamed on IndependentWrestling.TV
May 11, 2024 in Kalkaska, Michigan at Kaliseum Recreation Complex
Google Maps shows Kalkaska is essentially straight across Lake Michigan from Green Bay, Wis., and it’s a 3.5-hour drive north of Detroit. This is a local hockey arena, and the crowd is maybe 150-200. The arena was dark, but the lighting over the ring was okay. This show was released Wednesday on IWTV. I admittedly know just four wrestlers (Alex Shelley, Chris Sabin, Silas Young, Josh Raymond) in this lineup. To my great surprise, there is no commentary.
1. Devon Ryker defeated Brutus Atwell in a hardcore rules match at 13:23. Atwell is like a combination of Brodie Lee and Ivar, with a long uncombed beard and bare feet and tattered white T-shirt. Ryker is short and rotund; similar in body size to Bronson Reed. They immediately brawled around ringside. Atwell splashed through a table set up at ringside at 6:00. In the ring, Ryker put him on his shoulders and slammed him through a table set up in the corner. Brutus hit a uranage at 9:00. Brutus flipped Devon off the top rope to the mat and they were both down at 11:30. They traded headbutts. Ryker slammed him onto a board in the center of the ring, and he hit a Dominator face plant for the pin. Solid brawl and the crowd was into it.
2. Alex Steele, Rae Larson, and “The Purge” Sean Tyler and Kevin Kalloway defeated Jimmy “The Hype” Shalwin, Mondo Real, and “Those F’N Guys” Jay Leo and Don Tone at 12:52. Steele has a daredevil’s motorcycle helmet on, and he’s dressed like Evil Knievel. I have never seen Rae before, but at first glance I thought it was The Bunny/Allie. Shalwin has a lot of white in his beard and is probably in his late 40s, and a massive gut in his singlet. Those F’N Guys were immediately arguing with teammates Mondo and Shalwin; that’s not a good sign! Rae opened against Leo, who has long, curly hair. The heels worked over Alex Steele, who is no longer wearing his crash helmet. Steele looks like JD Drake.
Suddenly everyone was brawling on the floor. Rae leapt off someone’s shoulders onto a bunch of guys on the floor at 6:00. Shalwin used a playing card to give papercuts between the fingers. The heels began working over Kalloway in their corner. Steele hit a stunner at 10:00. Rae hit a DDT. She hit a splash for a nearfall, but the ref was pulled from the ring. Four guys brawled to the back. It allowed Those F’N Guys to hit a slam on Rae for a believable nearfall, but Steele made the save. Steele hit a rolling cannonball in the corner at 12:30. Rae hit a running kick and an inverted DDT for the pin. This was not good; a lot of old and winded men. Rae looked good in the ring and deserved the win.
3. LaDon Sanders defeated Nate Bock at 7:15. Bock wore a baseball jersey with his name on the back; he’s mostly bald but a big tuft of hair on the back of his head. LaDon is dressed like Disco Stu from The Simpsons in his 70s leisure gear and chains around his neck; he’s also a very young looking Carlito Colon. Bock is bigger and he worked over LaDon’s left knee. Sanders hit a Stundog Millionaire at 4:30. Bock hit a flapjack for a nearfall. Bock went to the top rope, but Sanders shook it so he fell. Sanders put Bock on his shoulders and hit an airplane spin and scored the pin. At least these guys looked younger than 40!
4. Jumal Kyng & Jackson Stone defeated “Motor City Machine Guns” Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin and KJ Reynolds & Ryan Matthias in a three-way tag to win the tag titles at 15:59. This match, of course, is why I watched the show. Sabin’s hair is really short right now. Kyng and Stone are Black and are babyfaces here. Reynolds and Matthias are the champions, and they are younger white kids. Matthias has a thin mustache, and Reynolds is really short and probably still a teen. Shelley opened against Reynolds with some basic feeling-out process reversals. Sabin entered at 2:30 and tied up with Matthias and they had a good exchange, earning a “This is wrestling!” chant.
Kyng (full head of hair and beard; his name is written on his pants) entered and worked over Matthias. Stone (bald and thicker) also beat up Matthias. The Guns hit their team offense on KC Reynolds, then stereo kings on Kyng. Sabin kicked out Reynolds’ left elbow at 6:30 and tied up the kid on the mat. Shelley snapped Reynolds’ arm across his shoulder. Shelley entered and the Guns tied up both white kids on the mat and cranked on their heads until Kyng and Stone made the save. Reynolds hit an enzuigiri on Sabin, who rolled to the floor. Matthias began working over Kyng, and this went on for several minutes. Matthias applied a half-crab, but Kyng reached the ropes at 12:00.
Stone got the hot tag and hit a double back suplex and he was fired up. Sabin made a blind tag and hit a top-rope crossbody block on KC and Matthias. Shelley hit a DDT-and-Flatliner combo at 14:00. Sabin hit a running stunner, and the Guns hit their quick team offense. Sabin got pushed into Shelley, who fell to the floor. Kyng hit a top-rope crossbody block as Stone held Matthias upside down for the pin! New champions! As I fully expected, Sabin and Shelley got some team moves in, didn’t take many bumps, and weren’t involved in the finish. Don’t read that as them not working hard … they showed these four how to work an up-tempo pace that was lacking in the first matches of the show.
5. Josh Raymond defeated Stella Buho in an intergender match at 10:25. It has been more than a decade since I’ve seen the former Josh Abercrombie; he’s now bald and has a curly mustache. (A check of his Cagematch.net results shows he only wrestled three times between 2013 and 2017, but has been fairly active again post-pandemic.) He had a nice run in IWA-Mid South and ROH; I see he beat the Young Bucks in 2009! Stella wore a black mask; her whole outfit screams “owl fan,” and she’s rather thin.
Josh barked at fans in the crowd; he plugged his ears to block the jeers of the crowd. She hit a head-scissors takedown and he rolled the floor at 1:30 to regroup, acting like he was about to have a heart attack. Back in the ring, he tied up her left leg and kept her grounded. The crowd was totally into this and he’s basically done nothing. Raymond hit a Dragonscrew Legwhip at 5:30 and celebrated. He applied a half-crab and sat down on her back, but she managed to roll free and hit an enzuigiri. He rolled her up with a handful of tights for the cheap pin. Okay match.
6. Kyle Coleman defeated Solo in a ladder match to retain the Prince of Chainsaw Crown at 12:02. Kyle is white with short hair but a long ponytail, and a mustache; Solo is Black and of average height. Both appear to be young. A crown — almost a tiara! — was hanging from the roof. Kyle wore a sash across his chest and a child’s magic wand. They immediately got a ladder and brawled in and out of the ring. Solo rammed Kyle into the corner with the end of the ladder at 5:00. Solo leapt off the ladder onto Kyle, but as he landed, he clutched his left knee in pain; he tried to stand up but collapsed. Kyle clotheslined them both over the top rope to the floor, and they were both down at 8:30.
Coleman grabbed some ladders and slammed them against Solo’s damaged knee as they brawled on the floor. In the ring, Coleman climbed the ladder; Solo shook it, Coleman fell, and Solo hit a stunner on the way down. Nice. “Those F’N Guys” from the second match) jumped in the ring and beat up Solo! It allowed Coleman to climb the ladder, literally going over Solo, and pulling down the crown and putting it on. That was entertaining.
7. Chainsaw Cup Champion Silas Young defeated MCPW Champion Aaron Orion in a winner-takes-all match at 16:34. I admittedly wasn’t sure if Silas was active in 2024; a quick check of his Cagematch.net results shows I probably last saw him in September in an ROH match. He came out first and carried a trophy cup. Orion appears to be in his 40s with a short crew cut and he’s a babyface; his look makes me think of former NXT wrestler Alexander Wolfe. Standing switches early on. Silas began stomping on Orion and he hit a guillotine leg drop for a nearfall at 5:00, and he kept Orion grounded.
Orion hit some running back elbows and a running kick, then a crossbody block to the back in the ropes at 9:00. Silas hit a rolling Death Valley Driver. Orion hit a backbreaker over his knee for a nearfall at 11:30, and Silas rolled to the floor. Silas got some nearfalls and he began barking at the referee. Silas shoved the ref; the ref shoved back, and Orion got a rollup for a nearfall. Orion hit a Falcon Arrow for a nearfall at 13:30. Silas hit a running knee to the chest. He placed Orion’s feet on the top rope and hit a swinging neckbreaker for a nearfall. They got up and traded forearm strikes. Orion set up for a Jay Driller, but Silas reversed it, flipping Orion over and onto his back, and scoring the pin! Really good match; these two worked hard in front of a small crowd in the middle of nowhere.
* Backstage, Silas spoke about winning both the cup and the title.
Final Thoughts: I wish we had commentary, just to help introduce all these wrestlers I had never seen before. A strong match by Silas-Orion takes best match. Shelley and Sabin navigated four youngsters through a good three-team tag match. The ladder match was entertaining and takes third. The eight-man tag shouldn’t have been included; it was bad. Otherwise, it was an acceptable show, and the crowd was definitely happy with what they saw.
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