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UPPER MIDWEST WRESTLING NEWSLETTER
No. 205
August 1, 2001
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Results/Upcoming shows

World All-Star Wrestling Alliance
7/14 Huron, SD
at Huron Arena, 7 p.m.
Jay Steel defeated Sheldon Maxwell to start things off. ... Jayson Vaine defeated Tommy Gunn, even after a wicked chair shot left Vaine bleeding quite bad. ... Che Physique defeated Miss Natural with much delite from the croud. ... The Farmer and Matt Burns defeated Dakota and Derrick Dukes. The Farmer up to his same old tricks had to cheat to win what was a very exciting tag match. ... Matt Burns was defeated by Jason Bates "The StreetFighter" after the Farmer attempted a chair shot to The StreetFighter and inadvertantly hitting Matt Burns. In the 10-man over the top battle royal and in the end, Dakota was the last man left in the ring.

AWA Superstars
7/25 Harrington, Delaware
at the Delaware State Fair
Jerry "The King" Lawler & Diva Adara James b New Mean Street’s Danny Dominion & Helena Heavenly (with Jimmy Hart) ... Brian "Grandmaster Sexay" Christopher b New Mean Street Posse’s "Sexy" Ace Steele ... Sgt. Slaughter b Corporate Stooge (Jonnie Stewart) ... George "The Animal" Steele & Dick The Bruiser Jr. (Tim Replogle) b Los Conquistadors ... "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan b Disco Inferno ... Doink The Clown b Golga ... AWA World Champion Eric Priest b Patriot (Danny Dominion) ... ECW’s Julio Dinero b B.J. Whitmer ... Former Nitro Girls, now D5 also appeared. Attendance: 2442 (2162 paying $52,591)
-AWA Entertainment Inc.

American Wrestling Organization
7/28 Faribault, MN
National Guard Armory, 7 p.m.
Am-a-teur: Noun
French, from Latin amator--lover, from amare--to love.

The much discussed but little seen AWO promotion opened their Saturday show when Big Daddy Dolan came out, followed by Shimdog and Kaos. Their promo was interrupted by MPW wrestlers Ian and Ashley Xavier, and Shifty. Sheriff Johnny Emerald was also present wearing his gimmick but stood in the back. Shifty said that they were there to show them what pro wrestling is all about, and asked, "Can you give me a match?" Big Daddy Dolan, who looks like he wears a 6X, took off his shirt and the MPW group fled in terror. This card used the big MPW ring. Folding tables formed a barrier between the ring and the seats. The audience seemed almost exclusively female: moms, sisters, and girlfriends. The guy who introduced the matches was older, and wore a tie. He had the look of a school teacher; almost like Mr. Kotter in charge of the Sweathogs.

1.) Stunning Mike Stanley defeated Billy "Boy Scout" somebody and Stroker Ace (w/ Playboy Aaron Corbin) to win the "Boy Scout's" Atlantic Title. The dressing room the wrestlers used looked for all the world like a big ice fishing shack. This trio didn't wear wrestling shoes or wrestling costumes. Through most of the match two of the guys would wrestle while the third rested. "Boy Scout" was thrown hard into the steel ring steps. Stunning Mike pinned "Boy Scout" after Stroker Ace hit that one with a steel chair. After the match Stroker Ace beat up his ring slapper (Playboy). Big Daddy Dolan had to call SMS back to the ring to accept his belt. Stanley wore a dragon print shirt and apparently had a Mikey Whipwreck low self-esteem gimmick going.

2.) American Justice pinned Playboy Aaron Corbin (w/Stroker Ace). AJ wore a flag style do-rag. PAC looked like one time "Brat Packer" Anthony Michael Hall. The pair made a stab at mat wrestling with a pair of hip tosses early on. Later, when PAC came flying off a top turnbuckle to land with his head on a ringside table, a voice of motherly concern from the audience exclaimed, "Are you OK, honey?" AJ won with a stunner. After the match, Stroker Ace threw PAC into the steel ring steps. PAC by this time was favoring a hurt ankle but toughed it out to complete the next segment.

3.) Playboy Aaron Corbin defeated Shifty by DQ. Shifty and the Xaviers came out. Ian wore a shirt that said "I see dumb people." During a sunset flip, PAC pulled down Shifty's trunks to reveal thong underwear. At the end, Ashley tried to hit PAC, but hit Shifty instead, and the referee called for the DQ. After the match, MPW punked out PAC, notably with a big splash by Ian Xavier. AWO ran in to clean house. Playboy Aaron Corbin joins the illustrious list of those who hold a win over Shifty.

4.) Gator defeated Shimdog by submission. Griz was the referee for this one. Gator wore camo pants and the only pair of wrestling boots seen on an AWO worker. For readers familiar with hanky code, Gator flags white left. Shimdog looks a little like Big Daddy Hoofer. Griz ref'ed wearing sunglasses. After a flying elbow, Gator hung Shimdog in the Tree of Woe, and hit a slide kick into a chair covering that one's face. Afterward, Shimdog showed blood from the forehead. The finish was confusing when Gator applied the Tazzmission, and Griz started a DQ count. Gator broke the hold, got up, said something to Griz, reapplied the Tazzmission, and Shimdog tapped out.

5.) The Psychopathic Rydas (Suiside and Necromaster) defeated Wil E. Meane and Revelation to capture the Tag Team Titles. There were four guys on the Rydas side. The two who wrestled wore white Jason style hockey masks with black accents, and orange getups that read "Smiths Grove Sanitarium" on the back. One had 666 on the front of his shirt, the other WWSD. With them was another guy in a navy jumpsuit and a dark hockey mask, and a handler who wore a white lab coat and stethoscope. On the other side Revelation wore a black T-shirt and blue denim shorts, while Wil E. Meane had a kind of vampire gimmick with a black ruffled shirt and crushed red velvet pants. His footwear appeared to be beach socks secured with electrical tape. The referee was a girl who didn't look a day over fifteen. 666 hit a floatover DDT. WWSD connected for a senton upon Meane. Don't ask me who pinned who. One of the Rydas hurt his ankle during the match.

6.) Griz and Kaos fought to a no contest when the MPW contingent interfered. Griz came out with a baseball bat and a broom. He has a shaved head and looks older and larger than most of the AWO troupe. Kaos was smaller with blond hair and a do-rag, and appeared to know a lot of moves. Kaos hit a standing huracanrana (frankensteiner) early on. Later, a long haired guy identified as Nightstalker ran in to attack Kaos. He and Griz joined together to dispatch him. Kaos tried to slam Griz but dropped him on his head instead. Griz responded with as fallaway slam that looked more like a "rollaway slam." Next, he hit a top rope headbutt for a two count. Kaos tried the body slam again with better results, and followed up with a senton bomb. At the end Kaos got in a Spicolli Driver and a springboard body splash and looked to be the winner when MPW including Sheriff Johnny Emerald ran into the ring. The AWO locker room responded to empty the ring, which set up an 8-person tag match the next night in Albert Lea. After the card, many in the crew assembled outside Faribault Armory to enjoy cigarettes.

The AWO has been publicly criticized for not being real professional wrestlers, for being nothing more than a backyard fed, without training or skill. Maybe they are. Maybe they don't wrestle as well as Ace Steel. Well, Verne Gagne never wrestled as well as Ace Steel either. Their shortcomings are obvious. They need real boots and real tights. They need to get stronger. They need more training. But it would be unfair to demean their efforts. It would be more fair to call these guys amateur wrestlers, because they obviously love what they are doing. Their love of wrestling showed through more clearly than anything else. I've never seen a show that was more enthusiastic and less jaded. These guys were wholly into their performance, every second of it. They are without pretense and sham. They are exactly as they appear to be. And you've got to love them for that.
doc d'X

Packerland Pro Wrestling
7/28 Appleton, WI
At the Checkered Flag
"The Heartbreaker" Tim Lash (H) Defeated James Mercy (F) after Lauden Payne interfered giving Mercy "The Around the World" and turning heel.

Terry Allen (H) (with Bigtime) Defeated Steve Boz (F) in a very technically sound match up.

Lisa Wild (F) defeated Angel(F)
The crowd was clearly behind Angel's good looks.

Pleasure and Pain (Lone Wolf and Mad Max Mastiff) defeated The Dark Riders (Connan and Wilton) to become the NEW PPW Tag Team Champions, after Cobra and Lauden Payne put Connan out of the equation.

"The Crazed Ninja" Poison (F) beat Mitch Blake "The Flury" (H) to hold on to the PPW Hardcore Championship

In a special Hot Oil match up Drusala (H) pinned Sapphire (F) after the guest referee Trilogy spanked Sapphire with a super spank.

Tony "The Annihilator" (F) beat Cobra (H) in a 4 corner Las Vegas Strap match by disqualification to retain the PPW Championship. Cobra almost refused to wrestle till Tony's connections inside the company made it a go.

Assassin (F) Wisconsin State Champion vs. "The Evolution" Lauden Payne (H) PPW Lightweight Champion vs. "The Perverted Hero" Trilogy (F) in a 3 way 2 fall main event. In a grueling match Lauden Payne came away with the first fall and Assassin came away with the second. Trilogy clearly made the 2nd pin after hitting Assassin with a pedigree on top of the fallen Lauden Payne, who took 2 powerbombs from Assassin. Trilogy was robbed by the ref. Assassin might just be the most popular wrestler in Appleton.

Plymouth Championship Wrestling
7/28 Sioux City, Iowa
at the Castle on the Hill
The commissioner comes out with the returning valet Desire. Chris Canada is called out to find out his opponent for the Beat the Champ contest. Desire draws a name, Canada slaps the hat out of the Commissioner's hand, and Desire slaps Canada right across the face. Desire than announced that the opponent was Faygo.

The commissioner also demanded Kalifornia was to be given his title belt back, Canada said that a contract for a Stevie Wallace vs. Maxx Kalifornia match had to be made. Kalifornia excepted and got the belt back.

Match 1: Big Money Showtime defeated Travis Deal and Terrence Turtle. Travis Deal eliminated Terrence Turtle and Big Money Showtime defeated Travis Deal with a Shooting Star Press.

Match 2: Casa Nova defeated UCW's Jon Douglas. Casa Nova had a handful of tights with the quick roll up on Jon Douglas.

Match 3: "Legacy" Jake Holmes defeated Inferno w/Militia. "Legacy" Jake Holmes hit Inferno with a moonsault for the win.

Match 4: The Wild Ones defeat Sheldon Maxwell & Jason Vayne. Ricky Sprague hit the Roll the Dice on Jason Vayne for the win.

Match 5: Chris Canada defeated Faygo in a Beat the Champ contest TV Title match. Chris Canada hit Faygo with the Vertibreaker on a bunch of chairs.

Match 6: Maxx Kalifornia defeated "The Answer" Shawn Stevens w/ Millenium Militia in a PCW World Heavyweight Title Match. Maxx Kalifornia hit the Faultline on Stevens for the win. The Millenium Militia attacks Kalifornia after the match, and the Wild Ones and "Legacy" Jake Holmes came out and made the save. Shawn Stevens took the Blue Monday (Michinoku Driver) from Wilcox, followed by the Ocean Sprague Splash by Ricky Sprague and a moonsault from Holmes.

Douglas came out with chair in hand and held back the PCW wrestlers from any further damage to Stevens. Douglas than turned around and waffled the Militia's wrestler with the chair and revealed a PCW Shirt under his UCW shirt.

Independent Wrestling
7/28 Danbury, WI
Mitch Paradise beat Magnus Maximus ... Derrick Dukes & ? beat Wild Bill Irwin and Matt Burns ... Scotty Zappa beat Rikki Noga ... K-Train beat P.R. Morgan ... Blood beat Tony DeNucci ... Miss Natural beat Lacey ... Chi-Town Thug beat Lenny Lane & Primetime.

All American Wrestling
7/29 Eau Claire, WI
Eau Claire Civic Center, 7 p.m.
Match one: J-Rock beat Primetime Lumpkin and Ryan Rogue in a three-way dance.
We arrived late and didn't see this match.

Match two: Weird Cookie pinned Michael Mercedes Armoni.
They played music throughout this match. It wasn't my taste in tunes. This was a gimmick match between a manager (Cookie) and MMA. They brawled outside for a while. MMA hit a nice senton on his way back into the ring. Cookie hit a tornado DDT. Cookie was strangely over. Finish came when Armoni went to spray something in Cookie's eyes, but accidentally sprayed MMA instead. Cookie rolled him up for the pin.

Match three: Todd "The Natural" Borchardt pinned Big Dog Dave Rose to retain the hardcore title.
Some crazy stuff in this one including The Natural being suplexed into a ladder. The finish came when Rose climbed a ladder and was powerbowed through a hollow core door set up on chairs.

Match four: Tony DeNucci beat Magnus Maximus to win the AAW title.
Real good match. They cleared out my section when DeNucci reversed a whip and Magnus flew into dozens of chairs. Late in the match, Ratt Pack members Klaw, Venom and Des came out and Venom pulled out Magnus' leg and DeNucci landed on top and scored the victory. The Fearsome Foursome made the save.

Match five: Horace the Psychopath with Rain and the Midnight Man beat Travis Lee, who has moved to Smalltown, USA.
This was a totally different style of match than I've seen these two work before. It was like a fast-paced TV match. Good things included a springboard cross body block by Travis and an Asia moonsault. They did a ton of false finishes. The finish came when Horace hit a DDT and pinned Lee. This was Horace's first match in Eau Claire as a heel and the crowd was split in its reaction.

Match six: Venom and Klaw with Desmond McKye and Ratt beat Mike "The Bull" Gueke and Mad Wolverine.
Finish came when Wolverine received the hot tag and cleaned house. Wolverine ended up going over the top and the Ratt Pack beat on him. Gueke took out Jocko for Venom. Some guy jumped in and got Jocko put on him.They end up hitting Gueke with a chair. A table got brought into the ring and Venom put Wolverine through the table for the win. The Natural made the save.

Match seven: George "The Animal" Steele pinned Angel Armoni.
Armoni tried to strike up a friendship with Steele early. Steele ended up "eating" a turnbuckle. There wasn't much action in this, but they had the crowd going. Armoni asked for Steele to take off his shirt and as he did, Armoni jumped him. Finally, Steele took off the shirt, hit Armoni with a foreign object and pinned him. The crowd just sat there, thinking there was more to come, but the show was over.

Notes: They were selling Polaroids with Steele for $10. Gary Michael Cappetta was there selling his book. He introduced the main event and got the crowd pumped up.
-Tim Larson

All-Star Championship Wrestling
8/2 Luxemburg, WI
Kewaunee County Fair
"God's Gift to Women" Kevin Krueger vs. Big Daddy Loker ... Adrian Lynch vs. King Kong Bundy ... Sam Hayne vs. Kamikaze Ken Anderson.

French Lake Wrestling Association
8/3 Litchfield, MN
at the Meeker Co. Fair at Meeker Co. Fairgrounds, 7:30 p.m.
FLWA has been signed Nick Bockwinkle to appear. ... Main Event FLWA Heavyweight Title Match: Lenny Lane vs. Scotty Zappa. ... Rikki Noga vs. Tony DeNucci ... Lacey vs. Autumn Hayze w/ McCoy Counterfeit ... Bozo Suit Match: Buck ZumHofe vs. High Roller STX (If STX loses, Mago must wear a Bozo suit.) ... Also on the card: Dr. Darin Davis, Drej w/McCoy Counterfeit, Iron Mike America, J.B.Trask, Terry Fox, Chi-Town Thug, Dan Jesser, The Hater.

All-Star Championship Wrestling
8/3 Kiel, WI
at the Gravel Pit

Minnesota Independent Wrestling
8/4 Fridley, MN
at the Main Event Bar
Nick Bockwinkle to make an appearance. Robbie Thunder vs. Judge Jesse with McCoy Counterfeit and Autumn Hayze ... Drej vs. Travis Sharpe ... Playboy Pete Huge vs. Lauden Payne ... Chi-Town Thug vs. Lenny Lane ... K-Train & Big Daddy Hoofer vs. The Lost Souls (JB Trask & Johnny Parks).

Powerhouse Pro Wrestling
8/4 Hustisford, WI
at the Firemen's Picnic, 7pm
In action: Former WWF Star Demolition AX vs Nick Fury...(PHPW Heavyweight Champion) "Maniac" Matt Mauler vs Corporal Holly in a table match...(PHPW Tag Team Champions) Big Daddy & Ray Knight vs Hot Stuff Inc. plus 5 other matches

Wrestle America 2000
8/4 Plato, MN
Cancelled

Pro Wrestling America
8/5 So. St. Paul, MN
in parking lot by Buckboard Bar on Concord
Cancelled

Ultra Championship Wrestling
8/10 Rapid City, South Dakota

National Federation of Wrestling
8/10 Ladysmith, WI
at the Rusk County Fair

World All-Star Wrestling Alliance
8/10 Richardson, ND

Plymouth Championship Wrestling
8/11 Sioux City, Iowa
at the Castle on the Hill

Wrestle America 2000
8/11 Minneapolis, MN
Grumpy's on Washington, 7:30 p.m.
Date changed to 8/18

World All-Star Wrestling Alliance
8/11 Prescott, WI

World All-Star Wrestling Alliance
8/12 Spring Lake Park, MN
Monte's Sports Bar. This is an outdoor show.
Bush Whackers

French Lake Wrestling Association
8/12 Maple Grove, MN
at Alleygaters, 2 p.m.
Cancelled

Steel Domain Wrestling
8/17 Red Wing, MN
at the Red Wing Armory, 7:30 p.m.

All American Wrestling
8/17 Eau Claire, WI
Eau Claire Civic Center, 7:30 p.m.

Mid American Wrestling
8/17 Kenosha, WI
at Dairyland Greyhound Park, 6 p.m.
Admission is just $1. Ian Rotten vs. Chris Hero ... Dino Bambino vs. winner of Colt Cabana vs. CM Punk ... Cabana vs. Punk ... Jason Dukes & Frankie DeFalco vs. Matt Longtime & Chuckie Smooth ... Dysfunction Kurt Krueger vs. Derek St. Holmes, Esq. ... Skull Krusher vs. Farmer Vic.

Steel Domain Wrestling
8/18 West St. Paul, MN
at the West St. Paul Armory, 7:30 p.m.

Pro Wrestling America
8/18 Minneapolis, MN
Grumpy's on Washington, 7:30 p.m.

All-Star Championship Wrestling
8/24 Gays Mills, WI
Crawford County Fair
Bushwackers

All-Star Championship Wrestling
8/25 Denmark, WI
at the Circle Tap
Bushwackers

Plymouth Championship Wrestling
8/25 Sioux City, Iowa
at the Castle on the Hill

Independent Wrestling
8/25 Orrock, MN
Autograph session with Nick Bockwinkle, Mad Dog Vachon, The Crusher, Larry "The Axe" Hennig, Jumpin Jim Brunzell, Kenny Jay and more. Six matches including Lenny Lane, Mitch Parradise, Magnus Maximus, Nailz, Dan Jesser, Matt Burns, The Hater, the midgets and Curt Hennig. Present by Mensing Promotions. Belltime, 7 p.m.

All American Wrestling
8/26 Wausau, WI
Wausau Labor Temple, 6 p.m.

Powerhouse Pro Wrestling
8/30 Mineral Point, WI
at Iowa County Fair

National Federation of Wrestling
8/31 Weyerhauser, WI
Booster Days

Minnesota Independent Wrestling
9/1 Columbia Heights, MN
Boomerangs
This is a combination wrestling and Muay Thai show.

Powerhouse Pro Wrestling
9/1 Stevens Point, WI
at Skipp's Bowl

National Federation Of Wrestling
9/1 Exeland, WI
Trout Festival

All-Star Championship Wrestling
9/1 Two Rivers, WI

Mid American Wrestling
9/2 Muskego, WI
at KP's Classics

French Lake Wrestling Association
9/2 Mayer, MN
at Bootleggers Bar
Cancelled

All American Wrestling
9/7 Eau Claire, WI
Eau Claire Civic Center, 7:30 p.m.
Night of Champions Awards Banquet. This is not a wrestling card. It is an award banquet for wrestler awards, fan of the year, and more.

All-Star Championship Wrestling
9/8 Fon Du Lac, WI

Minnesota Independent Wrestling
9/8 Fridley, MN
at the Main Event Bar

Ultimate Wrestling
9/9 West St. Paul, MN, 8 p.m.
Shoot fighting show produced by Brad Kohler. Don Frye scheduled for a personal appearance.

Pro Wrestling America
9/10 Minneapolis, MN
Bandana Joe's on 5th and Hennepin, 7:30 p.m.

Pro Wrestling America
9/16 New Prague, MN

Iron-Range Championship Wrestling (ICW)
9/22 Hibbing, MN
at the Hibbing Memorial Arena, 7 p.m.
Appearing: The Goon, "Blitzkrieg Kid" Bobby Bambino, "Tasty" Travis Lee, Mitch Paradise, "Sheik" Adnan, ICW champion, T-Rex and much more. All ticket proceeds to benefit the American Cancer Society.

All American Wrestling
9/30 Wausau, WI
Wausau Labor Temple, 6 p.m.

October/November
Mid West Championship Wrestling
10/6 Oscaloosa, Iowa

All American Wrestling
10/20 Wausau, WI
Wausau Labor Temple, 7:30 p.m.

American Wrestling Organization
10/26 and 27 Albert Lea, MN
National Guard Armory, 7 p.m.
Super 16 Lightweight Tourney with CM Punk, UCW's Gryphon, Shawn Stevens and some AWO wrestlers.

Pro Wrestling America
10/27 Hopkins, MN.

NOTE: You never know when promotions are going to cancel. Before traveling a long distance, be safe and try to double check that the card is still on.

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Midwest notes
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Who's who finished
Tim Larson's Who's Who in the Upper Midwest is finished. The 32-page magazine features about 300 profiles of who's who in the Upper Midwest along with 170 photos. In addition, the magazine has feature stories on Eric Hammers and Nick Mondo along with a few other items. It is sure to be a collector's item. To order your copy, send $5 and your address to:
Tim Larson
PO Box 202
Waconia, MN 55387.

Around the horn
Combat Zone Wrestling last Saturday in Sewell, NJ before 325 fans had Nick Gagne beat Nick Mondo to win Iron Man title. ... The IWA ran a couple of cards. One saw former Minnesota independent wrestler Mitch Ryder in action. Here are the results: IWA Mid South Wrestling in Charlestown, IN: C.M. Punk won three-way over Mitch Ryder and Mark Wolf, Ace Steel b American Kickboxer, Adrian Serrano NC Necro Butcher, Bull Pain b Dysfunction, Suicide Kid NC Tarek the Great, Corporal Robinson b Rollin Hard, Colt Cabana & Cash Flo b B.J. Whitmer & Chris Hero, Jon Howard & Mitch Page b Ian Rotten & Brent Blades in a match with Bart Gunn (Mike Barton) as special ref. ... IWA on July 25 in Charlestown, IN: Dysfunction b Colt Cabana, Corporal Robinson b Mark Wolf, Adrian Serrano b American Kickboxer, Ian Rotten NC Jon Howardd, Brent Blades b Mitch Page, Suicide Kid b Necro Butcher to keep Mid South title ... All Pro Wrestling last weekend in Vallejo, CA before nearly 500 fans saw Adam Pearce beat Michael Modest. Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer said it was very good wrestling, ungodly bad finish, either a ref miscue or perhaps worse, a planned ref miscue, not sure which but either way it left flat what up to that point was a very good match to tell a story that Pearce is a championship contender. Very much of a Japanese feel to the matches which was deliberate. Even though crowd didn't register some of the submissions that the guys were selling, particularly the armbar and heel hooks, crowd did get into much of the old-style combined with modern Japan style psychology.

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TV Report
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NAWF Television
NAWF Pro Wrestling All-Stars tv 07-28-2001
This week's show started with a recap of last week's angle, when Matt Longtime had a fan carry his bags to the arena. This week, we see the fan filing Matt Longtime's nails. Longtime was not happy with the job that the fan did, so he attacked him and left him laying on the concrete.

Interview: El Groovy
The interview was conducted by NAWF's ring announcer Andy Arbuckle. All of Arbuckle's questions were answered with the Spanish word "Si." That led to the first match of the afternoon which was:

El Groovy vs. Matt Longtime.
No more plain blue tights for Matt Longtime, he now has plain black tights. Early on, El Groovy and Longtime worked comedy spots, including the one where El Groovy wanted a test of strength, but he kept switching between the right and left arm in the air. Of course, Longtime fell for it. When Longtime went for the same tactic against El Groovy, the results were not the same. Longtime then resorted to stomping, choking, and other rough tactics to take control of the match. El Groovy started a comeback, but his momentum was stopped by Longtime's superkick, probably the best in the Upper Midwest. Longtime controlled the action for the next few minutes using a bear hug. What the tv cameras could not see was Longtime giving the crowd the middle finger behind El Groovy's back. El Groovy was able to break the bear hug with a mule kick, followed with a Mil Mascaras-esque flying headbutt and a nice dropkick. El Groovy went to the top rope and hit a nice dropkick. El Groovy went for a backslide, but Longtime spun through it, and delivered his high-angle DDT for the pin. His finisher really needs a name.
Your winner: Matt Longtime.

Following an interview with Ryan Rogue and Brandon Blaze that led to the next matchup:

Ryan Rogue and Brandon Blaze vs. Derek St. Holmes Esquire and Mason Diggs.
The match started off quick, with St. Holmes and Diggs being knocked out of the ring. Blaze followed them out with a variation of an Asai moonsault/reverse crossbody. Rogue went to the top and dove to the outside with a cross body onto St. Holmes and Diggs. Rogue and Blaze then hit a nice double team move: a combination reverse falling DDT and top rope elbow drop. The advantage switched when St. Holmes pulled down the top rope and Rogue flew outside the ring. Rogue then got posted, very stiff might I add, on the outside of the ring. Inside the ring, St. Holmes used a wide array of submission holds on Rogue's leg. Diggs' kept the advantage, also working over Rogue's leg, using one of my favorite moves to watch, Curt Hennig's jumping shin buster/knee drop. Diggs went for a Lionsault onto Rogue, but Rogue moved. Diggs was able to land on his feet. Diggs went for an over-the-shoulder powerslam, but Rogue slid off and hit a nice reverse DDT. The tag was made, and Blaze came in the ring, the proverbial house afire. All 4 men ended up being in the ring at the same time. The end came when Diggs tried to hit Blaze with The Book of Knowlede, but he hit St. Holmes instead. Diggs then got the total elimination from Rogue and Blaze, leading to a 3 count.
The winners: Brandon Blaze and Ryan Rogue.

To close out the show, they showed clips of what led to next week's main event: Jake "The Milkman" Milliman vs. Eric Freedom in a steel cage. Good episode this week.
-Tracy Thom
thomfamily@msn.com

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Good places
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Chris Dady's Minnesota wrestling website:
http://www.minnesotawrestling.com.
Check out this site, which offers good columns and a message board for local
discussion.
---------------------------------------------
Dr. Darin Davis
http://www.drdarindavis.com
(The good doctor has a year's worth of the Upper Midwest Wrestling
Newsletters in an archive.)
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