'13' was anything but unlucky for SCW

After a couple months away, I knew I couldn't skip 13, the SCW thirteenth anniversary event. With a longer list of announced matches than usual, it promised to be a solid endeavor for the Davenport area's only professional wrestling company.

Image credit: SCW.

The show kicked off with Matt Cage, an SCW veteran and well-known Midwest star, as he battled Alex Taylor. Taylor debuted just a few months ago and I have to be honest that I was hard on him in the last couple reviews. He's vastly approved since his last appearance and really showed some babyface fire against Cage. And unlike all the previous shows I've seen him at, Taylor picked up a huge upset win over Cage to kick off the show. It would be far from the only upset of the night.

Eddie Machete seems lost since his feud with Connor Braxton ended, though he continues to put on great matches. Things were no different as he took on House of Truth graduate Xavier Wallace in the second match. Xavier quickly got over with a few solid moves, but this match was pretty much all Machete as Eddie countered everything Wallace had. He hit a wicked curb stomp to take the pin over the SCW newcomer.

The battle royal that followed featured several stars I didn't know (including a couple new Black & Brave graduates), a few recent grads and a couple veterans in Steven Youngblood and Tank Roberts. Youngblood worked a comedy spot early on where his manservant kept his feet from touching the ground, but it really went no where. JT Energy really seemed to be the standout of the match, even if he didn't really seem to have a chance of winning. Ultimately Tank Roberts picked up the win and a future Quad Cities Cup title match.

What I could find online of the other House of Truth graduate to join SCW on Saturday was so-so at best. But Dominique Fabiano definitely had credentials behind her. She put on a very solid match with Black & the Brave graduate Violet Parker. Parker picked up the win with a Widow's Peak (always a great move to watch). I would love to see Fabiano back, but I honestly think SCW needs to give in and let Violet just wrestle with the boys. She definitely needs to get more repetitions in and there's no reason to keep her benched when she's the same size as some of the young male wrestlers coming out of the Academy.

Looking back at SCW Revival 2016

This weekend offered a new night of Scott County Wrestling as the company presented their annual Revival event. Much like WWE's Payback, this show was about setting up a new era for the company. Marek Brave is taking a few months off after his storyline injury at last month's show and with a new heavyweight champion in the promotion, things are a-changing.

Mason Beck is really good at these crazed looks.
Image credit: @SCWPro on Twitter

One thing that didn't change was Violet Parker forced to sit on the sidelines again. Violet was to face Zahra Schreiber this month, but Zahra took a Detroit booking instead, moving her SCW debut to June. Without that big debut, the company had a bit of money open and they used it to bring in an SCW veteran.

Bucky Collins made his return in the opening match. Once an SCW regular, Bucky is now working mainly for Funky Munky Wrestling on the Illinois side of the Quad Cities. But he made his return to battle the always excellent Johnny Wisdom in the opener. Their battle for the Quad Cities Cup pushed both men to the limits in a technical showdown, but ultimately it was a foot on the ropes that helped Wisdom retain.

Four of the five new students that opened last week's show took part in a tag match next. Dante Leon and Gyasi D'Wayne took on J.T. Energy and Mike Heights. Leon and D'Wayne played the faces while Energy came off as a smarmy clubber forced to team with the angry-for-no-reason Heights. Dante Leon seemed to get the most ring time here, but it was D'Wayne and Energy that look like the standouts of this class to me. Ultimately, the face team picked up the win.

SCW head Sean Morrow came to the ring next to report Brave would be out for at least the summertime. This brought out SCW champion Mason Beck who called Brave the past and himself the present. Connor Braxton, fingers still bound up from his injury last month, came out to challenge Marek Brave in turn. Braxton called himself the future and said he deserved the next title shot. Shane Hollister arrived next, saying he was the past, present and future of SCW and saying he was deserving of the shot. Braxton and Hollister were put in a number one contender's match for the main event, while Beck was given an opponent for right now, a man he beat down months before: Ross "The Hoss" Reznik.

In a non-title match against the champion, the young Reznik seemed like the underdog in this, despite towering almost as high as Brave. The two men made this out to be a hoss fight, though Reznik still needs to perfect his lariat if he's going to use that nickname. Ultimately it was a Beck Bomb that put the young Mr. Reznik away.

A four way match seemed to be the "everyone else here" battle of the night as Tank Roberts, The Secret Ninja, Ript Studwell and Biff Malibu (wrestling for the first time in a few months despite being at every show) all battled it out. Studwell worked his scrawny strongman gimmick well, while Tank and Biff worked as the giants towering over the others. The Ninja biffed his one offensive move as he failed a springboard move and fell on his face. Tank Roberts picked up the win and put this one to bed in short order.

The final match before intermission was a tag title battle as Adrian Alexander and Bodie Van Zandt took on the full force of Zero Gravity, Brett Gakiya and CJ Esparza. Zero-G are a team to see wherever they travel, two super-small guys with high flying moves as far as the eye can see. This one was filled with false finishes, enough to make me think Zero Gravity would win back the SCW tag titles. But Alexander and Van Zandt's cheating came into play yet again as they took Gakiya down for the victory. (During intermission, I at least helped cheer them up by buying their new shirt.)

Image credit: ProWrestlingTees.com.

The second half kicked off with Chris Hayden and Alex Taylor. I'm still not sure what to make of either men, but Taylor continues to get better at his high flying style. The end of the match came quick, with Taylor winning, but it seemed like Hayden might have botched a kickout.

The company faces a quandary with Eddie Machete. After losing last month's main event, he needs to rebound, but all their titles are held by heels at the moment, keeping Eddie out of any title picture. They solved this for a month at least by putting him in a match against perennial fan favorite Krotch. The two men put on a clash of styles on the show, though nothing quite as strong as the battle between Krotch and Shane Hollister last month. Eddie Machete picked up the win with a shoutout to his co-trainer, hitting a curb stomp for the win.

A three way tag team elimination match was the semi-main event of the night featuring the teams of Latin Thunder and Sentai, Steven Youngblood and Wilhelm, and Bobbi Dahl and Raveboy. This was the first time I saw Wilhelm in action, and he mostly worked as the base for a lot of moves. Thunder and Sentai were the first men eliminated, a bit too quickly for my taste. This allowed the rivalry between the other two units to continue. Ultimately Dahl and Raveboy picked up the win with a very cool wheelbarrow suplex and codebreaker combo on Youngblood.

Connor Braxton and Shane Hollister are two of SCW's brightest talents and they showed it in the main event. The two men threw everything at each other, with both men kicking out of the other's finishers. They kept things bouncing between each man in control, always a challenge when a much smaller heel takes on the bigger face. Ultimately the battle spilled to the floor. Even as I thought the match was heading towards a double count out, Connor quickly rolled in at the nine count to get the win.

The show came to an end with a staredown between Braxton and Beck. The company returns on June 10th with Unbroken, a card I will miss do to a pesky family vacation. Braxton versus Beck has been announced, though I suspect Zahra vs Violet will be announced soon. Dahl and Raveboy versus the tag champs seems likely as well. If you're anywhere near the Quad Cities area, I recommend you give SCW a shot. It's worth the trip each and every month.

SCW "Luck is for Losers" in review

For the first time in way too long, I made it to a Scott County Wrestling show in nearby Walcott, Iowa. The tiny village of less than 1500 still seems a strange place to have a thriving little independent wrestling company, but SCW continues to put on great shows to the delight of just over 100 fans every month.

I have kept up with the basic couple of plot threads since my last SCW show. Mark Storm fell out of power with the company, though he still manages Johnny Wisdom and does color commentary. Shane Hollister turned on Marek Brave, but didn't get the title. Eddie Machete (the former Eli) turne don Connor Braxton after a payoff by Storm, costing them the titles and starting an ongoing war. Mason Beck returned to the company and ran roughshod in his quest to take on Brave for the SCW Heavyweight belt.

A look back at SCW Unbroken

I had the pleasure of attending my third SCW show in Walcott, Iowa over the past weekend. Unbroken presented a different experience from previous SCW shows with a limited roster of regulars and a few guest stars out of the Kansas area. (Just enough for a car full, hmm.)

Mark Sterling does not look like that at all anymore.

The show opened with a ten bell salute for Dusty Rhodes, a fitting tribute for the American Dream, but also a little sad when you consider several other great classic stars passed in the six weeks between shows. But I suppose Dusty means more to a lot of folks than the likes of Buddy Landel.

Connor Braxton and Eli Machete, the SCW Tag Team champions, kicked off the show but tonight they were not at the Walcott Coliseum for a title match, but in solo action. Braxton kicked off the show as he took on Johnny Wisdom of The Sindicate.

Now Wisdom definitely plays a heel, but his comic chops are good enough to sell against just about anyone. He put on a crisp, hard-hitting battle with Braxton and not even interference by Steven Youngblood could help him score the victory.

Wisdom and Youngblood waylaid Braxton and Machete after the match, but this was only the start of another match on the card as Machete took on Youngblood. Eli sold an injured foot for the entire match (and the rest of the show) which allowed Youngblood to mount a lot of offense. Machete came back more than once to look like he would pick up a win, but Youngblood proved too much for him. The end of the match was harmed more than a little by John G not counting the three count at any level of normal speed, which leaves me to believe that Machete may actually have been hurt and the finish changed.

Adrian Alexander and Bodie Van Zandt came to the ring and laid a smackdown on Braxton and Machete again. They made it clear they were angling for the SCW Tag Team titles.

Match three was the visiting Jeff O'Shea, a super talented young high flyer out of Omaha, against the devious Black & the Brave turncoat Fabian. The announcers weirdly hyped Fabian's undefeated streak during the match—he won his first outing and last show ended in a double countout—which seemed a bit early for such talk. But while Jeff looked golden against the face-painted weirdo, the announce team telegraphed the finish as Fabian planted O'Shea for the finish.

Krotch versus Mark Sterling closed out the first half of the show. Sterling was here at the invite of The Sindicate's leader Mark Storm to take on the fan favorite Krotch. Sterling celebrates his crossfit training now, which earned him a few boos in the land where Seth Rollins is king, but he earned even more boos when he brutally assaulted Krotch. But while Krotch probably gave up a hundred pounds at least to Sterling, he's built far more on balls than brains. No matter what Sterling hit him with, he wouldn't stay down. Ultimately, he scored with a flash roll up to beat Sterling 1-2-3. But Sterling wasn't done there. He leveled Krotch to make sure he wouldn't be interfering in the main event.

After the intermission, Alexander and Van Zandt took to the ring again. They were making their tag team match debut against two stars new to SCW, the King Brothers. Jake and Brian King, two very big guys that regularly work for Metro Pro Wrestling out of Kansas City. They work a real rough and tumble style that didn't mesh quite as well as one might hope against the far smaller heel team. But both teams did get to show off a lot of talent. Alexander and Van Zandt hit an awesome double team move (an Eat Defeat / Facecrusher combo) to pick up the win. I checked in with the team on Twitter to learn the name of the move. Bodie answered  that it was called the Old Yeller "as we will be putting people down like dogs with it."

The only match with a title on the line hit the semi-main event spot as Bobbi Dahl defended his Quad Cities Cup against Biff Malibu. This was a true battle of the big men and the two guys had a lot of fun with it. In the wake of Friday's Supreme Court decision the effeminate Dahl got a lot of play out of his love for other men with far more fan support than usual. But the match came down to some hard hitting action for the last few minutes before Dahl planted Malibu for the pin.

The main event was the big showdown pitting The Sindicate's Tank Roberts and the SCW champion Nevin Knoxville against Shane Hollister and Marek Brave. With the explosive history between these two units, people were going to throw down hard. That's just what happened as the action spilled all over the Coliseum. The match was utterly brutal, but it would ultimately be shady tactics by The Sindicate that scored them the victory for the second month in a row.

SCW Commissioner Sean Morrow hit the floor after the screw job finish and made an ultimatum. Mark Storm would put complete control of the company on the line in a match at Red, White and Bruised or the entire rest of the roster would start a new promotion. Storm had no choice to set up the match for July 10th whether he liked it or not.

Overall, another great show from SCW. While I missed the advertised Latin Thunder and a few of the other stars from the last couple shows (Bucky Collins, Mallaki Matthews and J.J. Garrett were all missed), the show put on a very solid show with its regulars and four guest stars.

Sadly, their next show is scheduled directly against the Hall of Fame show in Waterloo on July 10th, so I am not sure I will make it to Red, White and Bruised. But if you're in the Eastern Iowa area and want to see some great action, go check them out. You will be glad you did.