Brandon Espinosa returns to Stride Pro Wrestling

Espy vs. AT Brooks
Courtesy: Steve Belcher

By Kevin Hunsperger

@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter

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It's been more than a year, but after some late night negotiations, Stride Pro Wrestling General Manager Sam Hunter has inked a deal to bring back Brandon "Espy" Espinosa. The former MWR Missouri Champion will be in Marion this Saturday night. He will face another St. Louis wrestler in Justin D'air. 

Justin D'air

I'm eager to learn more about D'air as this will be the first opportunity I'll have to see him in action. The Neon Icon has quite a pedigree though, wrestling for several promotions in Missouri and Illinois. However, I'm also excited that Espy is coming back. I had to miss the show he wrestled on for Stride in June 2016. But I did get to see him battle "Farmer" Billy Hills in Cape Championship Wrestling last summer.

My first experience with Espy came in All-American Pro Wrestling. He and Ace Hawkins were one of the best tag teams on the indy scene at that time. The duo was extremely popular and had some of the most epic matches in AAPW history against Team Overkill of Matt Cage and Christan Rose. One of my favorite matches remains the ladder match between the two teams at AAPW Zero Hour. The battle lasted nearly 20 minutes and Espy and Ace came out as champions. Even though their team name was Minor Threat, they were major players and top-tier talent.

My AAPW birthday bash in 2012
Courtesy: Jason Wilkey Photography

Another one of my favorite memories from AAPW didn't involve a match at all. Executive Producer and Promoter Chris Hagstrom surprised me on my birthday (we had a taping that night) with a birthday cake. The babyfaces on the roster all joined me and Chris in the ring and sang happy birthday. Espy was front and center for that celebration too. It made this aging commentator feel special for sure.

Don't forget, bell time Saturday night is 6:30 at the Illinois Star Centre Mall in Marion. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for kids. Come dressed in a Halloween costume as we celebrate the holiday too.

Can this Phoenix rise to the occasion?

Scott Phoenix & J. Wellington Beauregard
Courtesy: Steve Belcher

By Kevin Hunsperger

@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter
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Stride Pro Wrestling returns to the CMA Dojo inside the Illinois Star Centre Mall in Marion this Saturday. The show is one week before the release of Rouge One: A Star Wars Story and that's the theme for the night. The new Legacy Championship will be defended for the first time that night.

Jerry Travelstead

Rewind to November 5 and Jerry Travelstead battled Tony Flood in an epic ladder match to crown the new champ. Travelstead ascended and won the gold. A week later, newcomer Scott Phoenix shocked fans when he beat Flood, Luke Chambers and Brian Richardson in a fatal four way to become the number one contender.

Winner
Courtesy: Steve Belcher

Phoenix has been training at the Stride Pro Wrestling school and only has a handful of matches under his belt. He has a lot of potential and with the devious J. Wellington Beauregard in his corner, the sky is the limit. As a member of Damage Inc., I have no doubt Phoenix will rise to the occasion... eventually. 

The champ
Courtesy: Steve Belcher

Jerry Travelstead is no pushover. He too is relatively new to the business. He's a school administrator who has a passion for the wrestling business. Not only did he climb the ladder to success that night in Pinckneyville last month, he's also climbed to stardom in Stride Pro Wrestling. Jerry is a likable guy with the fans and is never afraid to try something new in the ring.

The match set for Saturday night will be a great contest between two men who are hungry and passionate about wrestling. It's exactly what this business needs. I'm excited to see guys like Jerry and Scott living out their dreams and fighting for a championship so early in their careers. 

Be sure to join us for the action. It's Stride Pro Wrestling's Hostile Holiday. Don't forget, we're celebrating the release of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story so dress appropriately. 

Climbing the ladder to success

Tony Flood vs. Jerry Travelstead

By Kevin Hunsperger

@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter
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The first time I remember hearing about a ladder match in wrestling was in 1992 when Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels battled in one for the WWF Intercontentinal Championship. The match wasn't televised, but I think WWF Magazine published pictures of the event. Less than two years later, Razor Ramon and HBK would do battle in one of the most memorable ladder matches in the history of the business.

In those two decades, there have been countless ladder matches. I've even called one during my days with All American Pro Wrestling. Over the weekend I witnessed another one on the indy circuit, featuring "T-Dog" Jerry Travelstead against "The Canadian Saint" Tony Flood. The two were vying to become the first ever Stride Pro Wrestling Legacy Champion. 

Quick backstory Jerry is a school superintendent and principal here in southern Illinois. He's a huge wrestling fan and has held a few benefit shows for his school, Community Consolidated School District 204. Not only has Jerry promoted a few wrestling shows, he's also trained and wrestled several matches. He and Flood, who is an accomplished indy wrestler, have had a grudge brewing for most of the year in Stride Pro Wrestling. 

Flood's moonsault with the ladder

Saturday night's ladder match was nothing short of spectacular. Both T-Dog and Flood put their bodies on the line to show just how determined each is to win the Legacy title. The match took a huge turn when Flood climbed to the top rope with the ladder in his hands and did a moonsault. T-Dog moved just in time and Flood crashed to the mat with the ladder. The crowd let out a collective gasp in the process.

New champion

The battle continued for a few minutes and T-Dog took advantage of Flood being knocked out of the ring and climbed rung by rung to grab ahold of the Legacy Title. He soaked in the cheers of students, family members and fans. Flood, who had visible welts and bruises, had to be helped back by ring crew members. I heard one young fan exclaim "He broke his leg!" I can tell you that's not the case, but clearly, neither man will be the same after this amazing encounter. 

Be sure to join Stride Pro Wrestling on Saturday, November 12 at the Redbird Rumble at Wrest Frankfort High School. Bell time is 7 p.m.

Where Are the Heels?

Joey Ryan at Pro Wrestling Guerrilla
Photo by My 1-2-3 Cents

By Chad Smart
@chadsmart & @my123cents on Twitter

Last Saturday, (July 21) I attended Pro Wrestling Guerrilla’s ninth anniversary show, Threemendous 3. I had a couple of co-workers who decided they wanted to see what the independent wrestling scene was like so I agreed to go with them to the Reseda American Legion Hall in celebration of PWG’s anniversary. My co-workers ended up having to cancel their trip due to other obligations, but since tickets were already bought, I found replacement peeps and went anyway. Initially I wasn’t too excited about the line up. I felt the two title matches would be good but the undercard lacked any real stand out matches. After the show, I was pleasantly surprised at how good the show was with a couple of matches I didn’t expect much from ending up being really impressive. However, I noticed something that has been plaguing the Indy scene for quite some time. There are hardly any heels.

In the eight matches featuring 22 wrestlers, I would say only three wrestlers acted and were treated like heels. Joey Ryan was his usual sleazy, arrogant self, who elicits half cheers and half boos from the audience. Since turning heel a year and a half ago or so, the Young Bucks (Matt and Nick Jackson) have amped up their annoying personalities and get a massive heel response from the crowd. Then you have guys like PWG Champion Kevin Steen, Sami Callahan and Chuck Taylor who by their actions should be considered heels yet they get more cheers from the audience than boos.

Kevin Steen
Photo by My 1-2-3 Cents

I’m not saying wrestling fans should automatically cheer faces and boo heels, I believe in freely being able to treat wrestlers however you choose. I don’t care if WWE has Randy Orton coming out kissing babies, petting dogs and curing cancer, I don’t think I’ll ever cheer him. The bigger issue is it seems very few wrestlers want to be full on heels. Sure they may want to be a cool heel, which is the category I’d put Kevin Steen in, but few wrestlers appear to be full on dastardly heels.

Maybe it’s not entirely the wrestler’s fault. Perhaps the fans are to blame. Because Indy shows are smaller and fans have more interaction with the wrestlers, instead of seeing them as strictly a performer in the ring, they see them as a friend they talk to after the show and this leads to the fans wanting to be supportive, but not critical. One of my biggest pet peeves with independent wrestling matches from the crowd perspective is the overuse of dueling chants. I believe it just about every match at the PWG show there was a “Lets Go Wrestler A,” "Lets Go Wrestler B” chant several times throughout the matches. Granted fans on the Indy level are more die hard wrestling fans than your normal WWE/TNA fan and appreciate the athletic aspect of what wrestlers do more than just wanting to hear a catchphrase or see the top guy. This may lead to wanting to see a good match up over seeing a specific wrestler.

Ladder match
Photo by My 1-2-3 Cents

The problem I have with this though is that if you’re not rooting for a specific wrestler than the matches become unnecessary. Maybe not unnecessary, the matches become meaningless. Who cares who wins or who loses? As long as the match can get a “This is Awesome” chant the fans leave happy. Maybe it’s the old school fan in me, but I miss the days where you had a wrestler you wanted to see get his comeuppance and had a wrestler you wanted to see succeed. While I appreciate a well contested back and forth match and can acknowledge a heel’s talent, is it too much to ask for to have actual real heels in today’s wrestling universe?

I think that’s part of why I enjoy Chikara as much as I do. (Come on, you didn’t think I’d write a blog and not get a Chikara plug in did you?) Between The Swarm, Tim Donst, The Batiri and Icarus, they have guys who relish in being heels and fans enjoying booing them.

Anyway, that’s my take. What do you think? Should heels be more pronounced in today’s wrestling environment? Share your thoughts on Facebook or Twitter.

Mania Memories: New Beginnings

Bret wins the title back (WWE)

By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger on Twitter

Wrestlemania 10 in my view was the start of a new era for the WWF.  Main stay main eventer Hulk Hogan was gone from the company.  Randy Savage was on his way out.  Roddy Piper was merely a special guest referee.

Workhorse Bret Hart proved to be the man that night by wrestling (and losing to) his younger brother Owen in what may be the best opening match in the history of Wrestlemania and later going on to defeat Yokozuna for the World heavyweight title.  I'm not a fan of repeat matches or main events for that matter at Wrestlemania, but the outcome of the match at 10 was much different than at 9, and with Piper as the special guest referee it added something different to the mix.

Close, but no cigar for Luger

Lex Luger had received a shot earlier in the night against Yoko, but lost when the special guest ref for that match, Mr. Perfect, disqualified Luger, thus turning heel.  I had really thought they'd go with a Luger win over Yoko and then have Hart beat Lex in the main event, just to have said Luger had a run as champ.  But that never happened, and Luger's push essentially died that night.

Doink and Dink teamed up against Bam Bam Bigelow and Luna Vachon.  Let's never speak of that match again.  Savage ended up beating Crush in a falls count anywhere match.  This would be one of the Macho Man's final appearance in the WWF/E forever.  Kinda sad to think about that.  Men on a Mission nearly won the WWF tag team titles, beating the Quebecers by disqualification which should tell you something about the state of the tag team situation back in 1994.  Women's wrestling was back on the card for the first time years, with Alundra Blayze beating former champion Leilani Kai.  The Undertaker, who had started his impressive streak 3 years earlier, wasn't on the show.  He was selling the beat down he took at the hands of Yokozuna a couple months earlier at the Royal Rumble.

Shawn comes crashing down (WWE)

Yes, Wrestlemania 10 had a different look and feel than previous Wrestlemanias, and the match that probably set it apart the most was the ladder match between Razor Ramon and Shawn Michaels.  This was the first time a ladder match had been done on WWF television, much less at a pay per view.  Ramon and Michaels put on a contest for the ages, it's a ladder match that has certainly stood the test of time and is one of the best ever.  In the end, Ramon was the winner, walking out with the Intercontinental title. That match, along with Bret's win and Owen's earlier in the night set a new tone for the WWF.  The big man didn't have to be at the helm as champion.  It truly was a new generation.

What are your thoughts of Wrestlemania 10?  Share them here or on Facebook.

It's Money...

Evan Bourne vs. Jack Swagger MITB

By Kevin Hunsperger

Okay, I'm doing some more fantasy booking today with Wrestlemania 27.  Rumor has it that there is not going to be a Money in the Bank match this year.  Personally, I think they should eliminate that pay per view and keep it as a feature of Wrestlemania.  It's a great way to get more guys on the card, and the match usually doesn't suck.

I've seen the list of other rumored matches, so I'm going to throw all that out the window and present my plan anyway.

This would be a ladder match with multiple participants, all cruiserweights and all competing for the reestablished Cruiserweight title.  Watching the Brian Pillman DVD and talking with a friend today inspired me for this.

Here are the participants I would have in the match:  Evan Bourne, Sin Cara, Chavo Guerrero, Tyson Kidd (since they're not reforming the Hart Dynasty), Yoshi Tatsu, and Zack Ryder.  Ideally I'd throw in Justin Gabriel too, but since he's a tag team champ, I believe he should be defending that title.  Same goes for U.S. Champion Daniel Bryan and IC champ Kofi Kingston.

I think a match like this featuring high flyers could usher in a new generation for WWE and put some more focus back on the WRESTLING aspect of the company's name.  Especially with Sin Cara coming in, I'm hoping he gets some face (or mask) time, and reestablishing this division would be a good thing.  My only request:  KEEP HORNSWOGGLE AWAY!

I'm curious what you think about this?  Weigh in here or on My 1-2-3 Cents on Facebook.