Two promotions kick off a busy wrestling weekend in Eastern Iowa!

This looks like it will be a doozy of a weekend for professional wrestling in the eastern third of Iowa and I don't even have to count the TNA pay-per-view towards that.

SCW has some great posters.

On Saturday evening (June 27), SCW returns to Walcott with Unbroken, which should continue the Marek Brave and Shane Hollister versus The Sindicate storyline. The two men battle it out with SCW champion Nevin Knoxville and Tank Roberts.

Unbelievably that is the only announced match I could find on their social media feeds. They have announced appearances by 3XW and Metro Pro standout Mark Sterling and another Midwest independent star named Jeff O'Shea (who has worked St. Louis Anarchy among others.) SCW stalwarts Krotch and Latin Thunder have also been announced. I would assume the turncoat Black and the Brave students will be in attendance and would be surprised to not see the tag champions, Conner Braxton and Eli Machete (especially since they are on the poster.)

I will say the lack of information from SCW online does sometimes make it hard for me to promote the company to friends and coworkers, just as it makes this preview a bit hard. I can say that after two months of action though, the company does offer a good in-ring product to check out.

Another local independent out of Algona, Impact Pro Wrestling, will come to the Linn County Fair, just a few short miles from Cedar Rapids. They have a Sunday afternoon show scheduled to open around noon.

The main event will be an over the top rope battle royal, because what wrestling show at a fair doesn't feature a good battle royal?

The rest of the card is filled with a title match between Justin Decent and James Jeffries, Aaron Von Baron vs. Chad Strong, AJ Smooth vs. Ryan Slade, Latin Thunder (again!) battling Nicky Free and a mixed tag battle pitting UGLY and Miss Frankie Jay against Sparrow and Kiandra.

Hopefully I will make it out to that show as well for a full report of the action.

So if you're a fellow Iowan, go check out some great wrestling this weekend from two solid shows in the area.

Dan Gable Wrestling Museum events set for July!

One of the highlights of being an Iowa wrestling fan is the annual induction ceremonies at the Dan Gable Wrestling Museum and George Tragos/Lou Thesz Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame. Every summer a new class comes into the Hall of Fame and every year it comes with some great fun for wrestling fans both new and old.

This year the show actually starts on Thursday night instead of the usual Friday with a reception for the folks that splurged on the all access pass and the inductees. It is a chance to get up close and personal with inductees, see a new Rob Schamberger painting unveiled and hear a new audio tour voiced by Jim Ross.

The next day starts with an open tour for pass holders, a wrestling evaluation put on by IPW with Jim Ross and Gerald Brisco in attendance and a reception for Kurt Angle's arrival. (Angle famously missed the event during his induction a couple years back.)

Friday is capped off with an Impact Pro Wrestling event (an Iowa based promotion) that features some interesting guests. Here's the list of announced matches:

• In a very interesting and first time ever main event, Colt Cabana returns to the Hall of Fame show to take on former WWE star Bob Holly.
• New Hall of Famer B. Brian Blair joins forces with James Jeffries and UGLY to take on Aaron Von Baron and the IPW Tag Team Champions Matty Star and Sparrow.
• With his dad in attendance, former Aces & Eights member Wes Brisco takes on local favorite AJ Smooth in the Third Annual Legends Lumberjack match.
• Plus the sixth annual Legends Battle Royal takes place which always features a surprise or two. 

Saturday is all about the induction ceremony. With a ton of events leading up to it, including a Brisco Brothers retrospective, a banquet and a meet-and-greet. That all leads up to the induction of B. Brian Blair, Wade Keller, Beth Phoenix, famed MMA coach Matt Lindland, the late Jim Londos and Midwest legend Greg "The Great Wojo" Wojciechowski. Plus Kurt Angle will finally get to personally accept his own induction with a speech.

The weekend seems to be shaping up to be a great one. If you're in the Iowa area the weekend of July 9th through the 11th, go check it out.

All access passes are available for $100 by contacting the National Wrestling Hall of Fame Dan Gable Museum at (319) 233-0745 or dgmstaff@nwhof.org.