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My 1-2-3 Cents

Slammin’ with Smitty – CCW Year End Review

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Hey all!! Jared back at ya and man have I come back with a purpose this time!! Its time to talk about Cape Championship Wrestling!! Now, I’ll have a bigger post that I’ll put up later with a bit more detail about CCW. If you want more information on your own time before I get around to telling you about it, head on over to http://www.capewrestling.com or Like them on Facebook.

I can talk all day about CCW and at some point, I’m going to! But today is focused. Laser focused with pinpoint accuracy! Well…I don’t know that we’ll go that far because, let’s be serious, there’s NOTHING about me that is 100% accurate. I’m human after all, and a moderately lazy one at that. However, today comes along at the right time to do so. Its my Year End Review of CCW! With 2016 days away from finally being over (which, I think we can all agree has been a pretty rough year all around) and a fresh start on the way, I thought it was a great time to take a chance back to reflect on a great first year of action in Cape Championship Wrestling.

CCW officially fired out of the chamber in July at the Osage Center right here in Cape Girardeau, with a monthly show every month after except for this month, as to allow for Christmas and New Year’s Eve. During my Year End review here, I’m going to talk about my favorite match from each card, then I’m going to pick my favorite match of the year, my favorite talent of the year and then talk about hopes, thoughts and predictions for 2017.

The first card in July featured a 3 match tournament for the CCW belt, which featured talent such as “Sexy” Sarge O’Riley vs Brandon Barbwire and Billy Hills vs Jason Vaughn. We saw the debut of the Pinnacle, being lead by the boisterous (is that too much credit?) Jeff O’Dell, and were swerved in the end, as Jeff O’Dell formed his group with Sarge, Billy Hills, Sweet Sarah Summers and, unexpectedly, Brandon Barbwire, who was crowned the very first CCW champion. Also that night, we had Davey Vega vs Hollis Giroux, Jake Dirden vs Genesis and Lil Bit vs Diamond Doll. This night got the wheels turning and got the CCW crowd familiarized with the talent that would be coming in. Myself, being a big Jake Dirden fan, was beyond ecstatic that he was going to be a part of CCW. I was also very excited to see Davey Vega, Billy Hills and Jason Vaughn. At the end of the night, I was enjoying everyone, both new to me and those I was familiar with! CCW far exceeded my expectations and, even though I already knew that I would support everything they would do, this first show cemented that with me. Looking back at that show, it really is hard for me to pick a favorite match. I loved the Davey vs Hollis match. I really enjoyed the story telling in the matches with Brandon Barbwire, too. So as I think on it now, I think the match with Brandon Barbwire and Billy Hills in the finals of the CCW Title Tournament will be my match of the night for the debut CCW show.

Up next was probably my favorite card of the year for CCW and that was the August show, CCW Homecoming at the AC Brase Arena Building. As a side note, if you get a chance to check out a show at the Arena Building, please do. It has such a vintage, old school feel about it. In fact, Elvis played concerts there, Metallica played live in the 80’s with Cliff Burton, even the Poffo family brought their ICW shows to the Arena Building in the 80’s, featuring Randy “Macho Man” Savage prior to his signing with the then WWF. This show featured my favorite star of the independent scenes, Ricochet, the Paducah, Kentucky native taking on a veteran of the Mid South wrestling scene, Austin Lane, the Best of the Best. We also saw CCW debuts of “Tornado” Tony Kozina, CJ Shine, BT Daramola, Dale Wylde and the Missouri Wrestling Revival Missouri Champion Brandon Espinosa. Obviously, my favorite match of that night was Ricochet vs Austin Lane. That night, I got to meet Ricochet (which, truthfully, it wasn’t the first time as I met him several years ago prior to him becoming the name that he is now) and I also became a fan of Austin Lane. Wow that was quite a match. However, I do have to talk about Billy Hills vs Espy as that was truly a great match in itself with a lot of dramatic sequences. The women, Lil Bit and Diamond Doll, also had one of their best matches in CCW that night as well. And, I can’t go without mentioning the story telling involved with Jake Dirden and Brandon Barbwire in that championship match. So with that second card, we were beginning to see just how great CCW as going to be.

Come September, CCW moved back over to the Osage Center in a card called Best of the Best, as we were treated to Austin Lane vs Brandon Barbwire in a dual stipulation match. If Austin won, he would become the number one contender to the CCW title. However, if Brandon won, he would earn the right to Austin Lane’s nickname the Best of the Best (and, just so Brandon remembers, Austin is from rope to rope, pillar to post the BEST OF THE BEST). Austin Lane also had some help in his corner as one of the craziest people to ever step foot in a ring, PSYCHO, made his CCW debut. Also, we witnessed what became the most important debut in CCW’s short history…THE DEBUT OF BLASTER!!! That alone was worth the price of admission! This night had several great matches. The Diamond Doll vs Lil Bit “I Quit” match was VERY intense, many times my wife and I were gasping with a “holy crap” feel as they just tore into each other. Brandon and Austin exceeded the expectations I had placed on that match, as it offered the full spectrum of entertainment in the ring from funny spots, to high flying moments, to some very dramatic moments. It was a wonderfully done match from the pre-match build up all the way to the final bell. However, the match that night that I’ll pick as the best match was Brandon Espinosa vs Ace Hawkins for the MWR Missouri Championship. Wow, is really all I can say. Two former tag partners putting on one heck of a match for that strap, featuring a plethora (do you even know what a plethora is?) of 2.99999 counts, high flying, hard hitting action. I could do nothing more than stand and applaud afterward as the crowd, fittingly, gave them multiple “this is awesome” chants. Well deserved!

For October, CCW went on the road for the first time to Chaffee, Missouri, home of the Red Devils, for the Red Devil’s Revenge show! This was a fun night, as we had James Ellsworth, yes the WWE superstar, live in the building against Tony Kozina! CJ Shine and Brandon Espinosa squared off in a hard hitting match, we saw the debut of THE Cody Wilson in a triple threat with Hollis Giroux and Jake Dirden, the in-ring debut of Ms Sweet Sarah Summers, the CCW debut of Marni Gras, a great title match with Brandon Barbwire and Austin Lane, and a gritty street fight grudge match with Jason Vaughn and Farmer Billy Hills. Three matches stand out to me on this one, as the MWR Title match with Espy and CJ Shine was a GREAT match to get the night started and was probably the best match I’ve seen CJ Shine in so far. I did feel bad for him, though, as Espy can chop a man’s chest off. Secondly, the title match was simply amazing. The War Child motorcycle group was there to make sure that The Pinnacle wasn’t going to interfere in this match, which was a great addition to that title match. However, the match of the night for me that night was Farmer Billy Hills vs Jason Vaughn. This stemmed from an incident in the summer where Billy Hills (although he won’t admit to doing this) RAN OVER Jason Vaughn in his pick up truck. So these two brutes had it out, beating each other with chairs, kendo sticks, tables, toy ponies (true story, bro) and so much more. The action spilled out of the ring many times, ultimately ending in ring with Jason getting the W and putting an end to this intense feud.

The last show of the year for CCW featured another debut, as CCW debuted in Delta, Missouri for Knockout November! Brandon Barbwire and Hollis Giroux were set to main event with a title match, along with Lil Bit and Sarah Summers squaring off, Austin Lane and Billy Hills in a #1 contenders match, a 4 on 4 Team CCW vs Team Pinnacle match, as well as talk of a mystery opponent, picked by Jeff O’Dell, for Jason Vaughn. However, injuries plagued this card as not only Austin Lane was hurt, but the CCW gold jewel himself, Brandon Barbwire, was ruled out of commission due to some sort of intense training injury. He seemed fine by me. But who am I to really know what happened, right? However, we were still treated to a great show as another Mid South legend, Dell Tucker, made his CCW debut. In the kick off match, another young talent from Kansas City, Phoenix, took on THE Cody Wilson in just an amazing match and a great debut by Phoenix. I had a chance to talk with the young man at intermission and I do hope to see him again in the future. Jeff O’Dell had two big secrets up his sleeve. His mystery opponent for Jason Vaughn was D’Mone, a beast out of Memphis who is built like a brick wall and athletic as he was strong. Also, unbeknownst to us, JEFF O’DELL BROUGHT BACK BLASTER!! Blaster came out to take on Dell Tucker and was quickly dispatched, then stuck around as part of the Pinnacle vs CCW 4v4 match. With this match, the winning team would be able to select their stipulation for the first card of 2017 in January. In the end, team CCW won as Lil Bit pinned Farmer Billy Hills in a surprising upset, resulting in CCW selection the STEEL CAGE as their stipulation for the show in January. Hands down, Phoenix and Cody Wilson had the match of the night for me, but if I picked it #1, 1B would be the 4 vs 4 tag match between CCW and The Pinnacle, setting up January’s show.

 

So, overall, my match of the year for CCW is going to Ricochet vs Austin Lane. But so many great matches happened that I talked about in my ramblings up there. CCW really came out of the gate swinging from their first show and I have to really hand it to Ken Murphy, Jason Wells, Lee Montgomery, Adam Rister and Double H for delivering such a great product in 2016. All of that action only happened in four months!! Can you imagine what 2017 has in store?

Speaking of 2017….
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January is firing off hard and heavy with the return to the AC Brase Arena. Look at that card! Just look at it!! WOW!!! 2017 will be a banner year for wrestling here in Cape Girardeau, with talks of a HUGE show coming up in April that will coincide with the annual Cape Comic Con, which is also put on and promoted by Ken Murphy. This annual event usually features current/former wrestling talents and this year, it sounds like CCW’s April show will be their Wrestlemania equivalent with a lot of hype already surrounding it. So, if you haven’t had a chance to go to a show and are a wrestling fan, get your tickets now!! And, be sure to check out some of these great links to keep updated on everything CCW!

http://www.podzilla1985.com/  (click on the Pro Wrestling Unscripted shows)

http://www.capewrestling.com/

https://www.facebook.com/CapeChampionshipWrestling/

https://missouriwrestlingrevival.com/

http://www.my123cents.com/

http://jitterymonkey.com/category/my123cents/

http://www.ontheropesnetwork.com/

My 1-2-3 Cents

Slammin’ With Smitty – CCW Homecoming

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smitty and ricochet
“The Future of Flight” Ricochet and Smitty.

Cape Championship Wrestling made a splash in its inaugural show in July and this past weekend, they raised the bar once again with their CCW Homecoming show at the historic AC Brase Arena Building in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. The Arena Building was once a tour stop for International Championship Wrestling, which was ran by Angelo Poffo and featured his son’s Lanny Poffo and, oh what was his name…oh yeah, Macho Man Randy Savage! History flows through this building and now, Cape Championship Wrestling calls it home!

The night kicked off with promoter Ken Murphy and GM Hunter Hendricks in the ring, in which Hunter Hendricks noted that The Pinnacle, led by Jeff O’Dell, had been making things rough and that he was going to do his best to ensure that tonight went smoothly. Suddenly, The Pinnacle’s music hit. Jeff O’Dell, Sarge O’Riley, Billy Hills, Sarah Summers and CCW Champion, Brandon Barbwire, came to ringside. In a show of dominance, they cornered Hunter Hendricks, before Jeff O’Dell laid out his group’s plans for dominance for the evening, even saying they would show up in the main event.

The first match of the night featured a very well-traveled and well-respected veteran, “Tornado” Tony Kozina taking on young challenger CJ Shine. CJ Shine tried to use his overly confident (ie, cocky) demeanor to bully Kozina throughout the match. However, once Tony laid in some MASSIVE knife edge chops, the momentum slowly began to turn toward Kozina. Tony hit a vaulting senton bomb, then later hit a springboard bulldog to secure the win!

Up next, BT Daramola took on God’s Gift to Wrestling “Drop Dead” Dale Wylde. Daramola got the crowd behind him early on. Wylde, after he continued to admire himself in his mirror, slowed the pace of the match by grinding the momentum down and controlling the energy of Daramola. Wylde slipped in a few, well, less than honest attacks and ultimately took the win by a quick schoolboy roll up.

Sexy Sarge was up next and in the weeks prior to Homecoming, he had issued an open challenge, stating that if nobody answered it, he would still come down and give the fans a show. His idea of a show would be a tutorial on what he calls “porn star dancing.” Thank the Good Lord above that his challenge was answered while he was in the ring by none other than young star Hollis Giroux!

From Kansas City, MO, it's Hollis Giroux!!!
From Kansas City, MO, it’s Hollis Giroux!!!

Jeff O’Dell, assuming Hollis was out to join The Pinnacle, soon learned that Hollis was out there to stop Sarge’s display. This was a great match with a lot of back and forth action, even some outside interference from Jeff O’Dell. The match ended when O’Dell mistakenly tripped up Sarge while hitting the rops, which led to a Superkick and a victory for Hollis Giroux. After the match, Sarge and O’Dell had words which almost led to Sarge punching O’Dell when suddenly, Drop Dead Dale Wylde ran into the ring to save Jeff O’Dell! After that, O’Dell claimed that Sarge had been replaced by a younger, better looking version, to which Sarge replied that he didn’t need The Pinnacle, that he regretted the decision to join and was now out to reclaim the love from the fans.

Coming back from intermission, GM Hunter Hendricks came out to announce there was a change in the women’s match. Paloma Starr had been booked to take on Lil Bit, however, Paloma was unable to attend due to other obligations. Lil Bit’s new opponent turned out to be none other than her nemesis, Diamond Doll! Lil Bit and Diamond Doll had a match on the inaugural show, which resulted in Diamond Doll attacking Lil Bit after the bell. These two had another intense match with each other, featuring a lot of back and forth offense and flat out brawling. The ending saw Diamond Doll roll up Lil Bit and use the ropes for leverage for the win due to the fact that the ref didn’t see the feet on the ropes! I smell a rubber match coming!

The following match featured a title defense of the prestigious Missouri Heavyweight Championship, featuring champion Brandon Espinosa making his CCW debut against Farmer Billy Hills with Sarah Summers. Farmer got this match after he, seemingly, took out his prior opponent “The Fury” Jason Vaughn in what we will just call an automobile accident.

Farmer Billy Hills with an advantage in this Missouri Heavyweight Championship title match against (c) Brandon "Espy" Espinosa.
Farmer Billy Hills with an advantage in this Missouri Heavyweight Championship title match against (c) Brandon “Espy” Espinosa.

Early on, Farmer used his size and strength to push Espy around the ring. Espy was able to turn the tides with his quickness and his own deceptive strength. Billy began favoring his shoulder midway through, but was still able to weather the storm of power moves, showing his grit and determination.  Suddenly, Jason Vaughn’s music started playing and a bewildered Hills looked at the entrance. This gave Espy enough time to launch an attack that, in the end, resulted in a win from an armbar submission. (Editor’s note – somebody here say “armbar?”) What a performance from both guys and a great title defense from Espinosa!

The co-main event was up next, featuring The Monster, Jake Dirden against CCW Champion, Brandon Barbwire with Jeff O’Dell. Ever since winning the CCW Championship in July, Brandon has developed his boisterous personality, and came into the night with a large chip on his shoulder due to the fact he wasn’t in the main event. Jake Dirden came into the night with one thing in mind, to claim a title and destroy Barbwire. This match was a slugfest, with the champ, Barbwire, taking large amounts of punishment early on. However, Barwire absorbed the damage and turned the tides after throwing Dirden into the ring post outside. Toward the end of the match, Barbwire ran to grab the CCW Title belt and then brought it into the ring as a weapon! Dirden, seeing what was transpiring,  knocked the belt from Barbwire’s hand, then hit The Cure on the belt! It looked like a sure-fire win, however, Jeff O’Dell distracted the referee long enough for Barbwire to be able to kick out of the eventual pin.

Brandon Barbwire needed the aid of the Championship Belt to defend against Jake Dirden. (Courtesy YouTube)
Brandon Barbwire needed the aid of the Championship Belt to defend against Jake Dirden. (Courtesy YouTube)

This ignited the Monster, as he lunged for O’Dell, who was now on the ring apron. Barbwire attacked, but again was hit with The Cure, which again, O’Dell distracted the ref. Dirden went after O’Dell one more time, however, this time the champion was able to hit Dirden with the belt to take the win and hold onto his title.

The Main Event of the evening featured one of the biggest names on the independent wrestling scene across the world, Ricochet! There’s a chance you’ve seen him on Lucha Underground as Prince Puma, or possibly from the match against Will Ospreay, among many others, but he brought his insane talents to Cape Girardeau for a huge match up with the Best of the Best, Austin Lane. Prior to the match, Hunter Hendricks brought out a second referee to stand guard to prevent The Pinnacle from coming to ringside. The match started with some humor as Austin Lane refused to shake Ricochet’s hand, but then business picked up in a hurry as both guys were able to reverse out of a series of chain wrestling holds, in which neither guy was able to gain an advantage, each competitor holding a counter for the other’s move. Ricochet finally gained an advantage outside with a series of chops which led to him being able to hit The People’s Moonsault in the middle of the ring once they returned.

A clip of @kingricochet from the #capechampionshipwrestling show. #indywrestling #wrestling

A video posted by @my123cents on

However, Austin Lane was able to regain his composure and launch a counter attack and at one point, scoring a 2.9999 count. The athletic abilities of these two wowed the crowd. At one point, Jeff O’Dell  tried to interfere, but was caught at the entrance area and sent back. The match ultimately went in the favor of Ricochet, with a wonderful sequence of his Benadryller kick, followed by a high knee to the face, and capped off with a well-executed Shooting Star Press. During the celebration, The Pinnacle ran down to ringside and attacked Austin Lane, which prompted Ricochet to run back out and help his opponent. Hunter Hendricks came out and stated that since Brandon Barbwire was so desperate to get into the main event, that he will be on the next show against 2 TUFF TONY! After that announcement, The Pinnacle was sent back, while Austin Lane thanked Ricochet and the crowd.

Cape Championship Wrestling will be back at the AC Brase Arena Building for their next card on September 24th, featuring 2 Tuff Tony and Brandon Barbwire for the CCW Title, plus many matches still to come! Don’t miss out on another great show in September!

My 1-2-3 Cents

Slammin’ With Smitty – Cape Championship Wrestling Debut

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Saturday night, July 16th, will forever go down in history as the debut show for Cape Championship Wrestling. With a crowd nearing capacity at the Osage Center in Cape Girardeau, promoter Ken Murphy greeted everyone with excitement and enthusiasm as he announced CCW to everyone in attendance, as well as an announcement of a huge surprise and that a champion would be crowned before the night was through. Local morning show DJ, Hunter Hendricks, was also announced as the acting General Manager for the night and former WWE Tag Team Champion Trevor Murdoch was doing a meet and greet with the fans, although he was still out of action with an injury.

The first match of the night featured Sexxy Sarge, accompanied by his manager Jeff O’Dell, taking on Brandon Barbwire in a CCW Championship Title Tournament match. Jeff O’Dell ranted about how it was a travesty that he was not invited to be a part of CCW and went out on his own to be there. Although Sarge tried to shimmy and shake his way to victory, Brandon was able to secure a win, advancing to the finals of the tournament. However, Sarge got the last words in, as he attacked Brandon Barbwire after the bell while Jeff O’Dell cheered on his client.

Match two featured Farmer Billy Hills, accompanied by Sarah Summers, taking on hometown favorite Jason “The Fury” Vaughn in the next semi-final round of the CCW Title Tournament. After a fair deal of mouthing by Billy Hills to the fans and to Jason Vaughn, the match got underway. In a very stiff match, it went back and forth until Billy Hills secured the victory by leveraging the pin with his feet on the ropes, sending him to the Championship Tournament final against Brandon Barbwire in the main event.

vega
Davey Vega winds up for a heavy right hand on Hollis Giroux. (Credit – Billy Russ)

Match three featured a young wrestler, Hollis Giroux, coming down from Kansas City to take on national sensation Davey Vega, who in recent time has been featured very prominently in the St. Louis area, often with his tag team partner Mat Fitchett. In a very exciting match featuring a blend of power and quickness, the match was even until the final minutes, when Davey took the momentum and the win in the match in what many voted the match of the night.

At intermission, promoter Ken Murphy came out to let everyone know that the next show for CCW will be on August 27th and will feature one of the top names in the world…RICOCHET!!! The Paducah, Kentucky native will be in the house working for Cape Championship wrestling. What an announcement! Two shows in and CCW has pulled in one of the hottest names in the world!

The fourth match started with Genesis coming to the ring, where he began running down the city of Cape Girardeau. That didn’t last long, as GM Hunter Hendricks came to the ring to show how much the crowd did not appreciate him, and to show him how little we liked his rant, he had a surprise for him who just so happened to be The Missouri Mad Man, Jake Dirden! Jake Dirden is known by many in St. Louis, across the country from many promotions, as well as internationally through work in Japan.

dirden
A righteous right boot from Jake Dirden delivered to Genesis. (Billy Russ)

Needless to say, Jake Dirden is a big, mean man and he came out to shut up Genesis. Genesis was able to hobble Jake, by attacking his knee throughout the match. That only served to anger the big guy, as he was finally able to take down Genesis with his Asiatic Spike.

Up next, the women took the stage in the fifth match of the night. It featured the masked Diamond Doll, taking on hometown favorite Lil Bit. In a match where Diamond Doll had the size advantage, Lil Bit was able to use her speed to elude her masked opponent. Diamond Doll was able to slow down Lil Bit and bully her, however, in a great finish, Lil Bit was able to overcome the size deficit and take the win. After the match, Diamond Doll was so enraged that she attacked Lil Bit during the celebration, locking her in a very tight camel clutch, prompting the referees to come out and force Diamond Doll to finally break the hold.

Lil Bit puts Diamond Doll in a hold that I can only describe as "OW!" (Billy Russ)
Lil Bit puts Diamond Doll in a hold that I can only describe as “OW!” (Billy Russ)

And now, the final match of the night for the Cape Championship Wrestling title!! Billy Hills and Brandon Barbwire squared off in a great main event! Brandon, visually sore from his post match attack, stood strong against the Farmer, as both competitors traded blows.  Sarah Summers made her presence felt throughout the match, taking the opportunity to choke Brandon on multiple occasions. As the match drew to a close, Jeff O’Dell and Sarge came to ringside to assist Billy Hills in a new alliance. However, The Fury Jason Vaughn ran to ringside to even the odds. As the action escalated both in and out of the ring, with the aid of multiple distractions, Brandon Barbwire hit Billy Hills with his finish to take the win and the title!

beat down
All hell breaks lose after the main event! (Billy Russ)

However, the action was not finished as everyone ended up in the ring. Vaughn and Barbwire attacked Sarge and Hills when suddenly, Brandon Barbwire turned on Jeff Vaughn and it became a 3-on-1 attack in the ring, while Jeff O’Dell cheered on from the outside. Jeff O’Dell announced that this was the formation of The Pinnacle of professional wrestling. However, the tide turned when none other than Jake Dirden ran to the ring to save Jason Vaughn!! Once the ring had cleared out, GM Hunter Hendricks came back to the ring in what would be another big announcement. He set up a grudge match between Jason Vaughn and Billy Hills for August 27th BUT THEN, he also set up a CCW title match between Brandon Barbwire and The Missouri Mad Man Jake Dirden! What a way to end the night!

Also, I can’t go without mentioning a big moment that happened. Among all the happiness, excitement and enthusiasm was a much more somber and bittersweet moment. Osby Tomlin, a 9 year ring veteran, laid his boots and his Kult of Kayfabe Championship title in the middle of the ring on Saturday night as he was forced to retire from his passion of wrestling. Osby was injured last month in a match, resulting in a compression fracture in his neck. This forced him to make the unfortunate decision of leaving his love of wrestling to allow himself to heal up and plan for the future with his family. Thank you, Osby, we’ll sure miss you.

Don’t miss out on the next Cape Championship Wrestling show, August 27th, featuring Billy Hills vs Jason Vaughn, Jake Dirden vs Brandon Barbwire for the Cape Championship Wrestling title and international superstar Ricochet, plus much more!! See you then!