Southern Illinois Championship Wrestling 1/21/2024

Southern Illinois Championship Wrestling 1/21/2024

Last week's show is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2024/01/southern-illinois-championship.html

Drew Abbenhaus and Lucky P. Larson are the commentators. Larson says despite all the change in the world, he still manages the SICW tag champs. The LA Hustlers take on Billy McNiel and Curtis Wylde tonight. 

Shogun vs Steve Fender

Fear the karate of Shogun

Shogun is billed as being from "The Far East" and Larson says, "good sushi". Steve backs up Shogun then Shogun does karate motions. Steve flurries on him with punches and stomps. Larson said it's because Shogun said something to him in Japanese and said Steve didn't appreciate it. Steve body slams him and puts him in a figure four variation. Steve wins by submission.

It was a very short squash. Larson was really funny on commentary here.

Drew and Larson talk about the feud between Devastation Incorporated and Night Train. We go to footage from Bellevue, Illinois of Night Train vs Atila Khan in a cage.

Cage Match, Special Ref: Danny Boy - Atila Khan vs "Night Train" Gary Jackson

 

Khan hits leg drops then falling headbutts him. Train flying lariats him then is hit with maybe a spike of some sort. Train's head is banged off the cage then his face is raked. Train bangs Khan's head off the buckle then is lariated.

Khan chokes Train and eye rakes him. We get a big "USA" chant going and Khan gutwrenches him at 10 minutes. Khan gets on the 2nd rope and misses a headbutt drop. Train hulks up and hits some punches. Train gets on his back and pulls his hair then Khan spits something in Train's eyes.

Khan goes to spike Train then the ref Danny Boy. Danny stops him, they shove each other and Danny decks him. Khan slams Train but Train cradles him and gets the win. Khan's feet were on the ropes and Danny kind of fast counted him.

We only saw a little of this. We didn't see Train get much offense in here with Khan being in control for most of this. What we saw didn't look great but they were selling and trying to do the basics right here.

Khan's manager, Stephen E gets in the ring after. He pushes Danny Boy then Danny lariats him.

 

Stephen E is interviewed. He said the show last week was a disaster and said Payton Ayres was cheated last week. He said Danny Boy made the 3 count and didn't need to. He said it wasn't fair. He said Danny cheated him out of the cage match and said he needs to stick his nose in someone else's business. He said he is stressed and his blood pressure is at its peak. He said he still has not heard from Herb Simmons about an offer he made and he said his investors are getting impatient. He said there will be hell to pay if his calls aren't answered.

He said Payton Ayres will get his rematch from next week on February 9th. He said he wants a different referee next time. Herb Simmons comes in. He said the finish was questionable and said he resents Stephen's demands. He said he thinks the fans would like to see Ayres/Big Texan rematch and said the special guest ref will be Danny Boy. He said Danny Boy better call it down the middle and the way he wants. He said he will knock him down if he gets in the way and may contact his lawyer.

Wrex Amadeus vs Big Texan

Larson sings "Amadeus" when Wrex is announced. He asks who let Frank Zappa in the ring. Texan hits shots to the gut and bangs Wrex's head off the buckles. Texan hits big chops then hiptosses him. Texan hits a hiptoss and pulls his arms back. Texan side slams him for 2 and Wrex neckbreakers him. Wrex misses a pump kick and Texan lariats him. Texan gets the win.

It was a short squash and there's not a lot to say about it.

Big Texan is interviewed. He said there was no fumble in his last match, just a lariat and a pin. He said anytime anyone wants a shot at him, bring it on.

Johnny Joe Black vs Payton Ayers with Stephen E

 

Ayers pushes him back then pushes him down. Larson calls Black "Jack Black" and says this place is filled with celebrities. Black headlocks Ayers and Ayers blocks a headlock takeover. Black hits the headlock takeover on the 2nd attempt. Ayers misses a corner splash. Black side headlocks him then Ayers lariats him for 2. Larson says the lariat was a message to Big Texan.

Ayers chinlocks Black. Ayers catches a crossbody and powerslams him. Ayers then wins it.

This was another short squash. This wasn't that good with Black and Ayers having trouble moving each other around.

Black is buried under the Saudi flag after.

The Promoter's Corner

They talk about a rubber match between Giant Baba and Jack Brisco from August 8th, 1975. They mention them trading the title with each other and we have some clips of their rubber match.

The finish

Brisco got the win here with a backdrop. What we saw looked good with Baba being able to move around well. Brisco was a good seller. It was nice to hear some commentary over it. They piped in some cheers here but the clip was short and some guy kept yelling "ayyyy" in it.

Wrestling at The Chase May 10th, 1981 - Bruce Reed vs Bobby Jaggers

Reed is Butch Reed. Reed armdrags him and Jaggers says his hair was pulled. Jaggers works the arm then Reed rolls and upkicks him out of it. Reed reverses a hammerlock. Reed flips him by the arm then legdrops the arm. Reed then armlocks him. Reed irish whips him and back body drops him.

Reed armlocks him then shoulders him over. Reed charges at him and is thrown out. Jaggers pulls his neck over the top and hits knee drops and stomps. Jaggers elbows him in the nose then knee drops him. Jaggers neckbreakers him and facelocks him.

Jaggers hits some knee drops for 2. Jaggers chinlocks him with 3 minutes left in the time limit. Reed hits shoulderblocks then is knee'd in the gut. Reed hits Jaggers off the ropes with a minute of time remaining. Reed sunset flips Jaggers for 2. Jaggers slams him then misses an elbow drop. Reed cradles him for 2 then back slides him for 2. The time limit then expires.

Jaggers and Reed shoulderblock each other and both go down after.

I thought it was obvious it was going to a draw with them not really trying to win this one despite limited time remaining. Everything they hit look good but it wasn't a real exciting match.

Curtis Wylde and Wildfire are interviewed. He said he and The LA Hustlers are at war. He said they put Jason Breed on the shelf but said he has a partner who has his back in Billy McNeil. They talk about how Lucky Peter Larson might get involved and they say it'll be 2.5 vs 3 tonight as Wylde says Wildfire is more of a man than Larson is.

Curtis Wylde and Billy McNeil vs The LA Hustlers ("Roughshot" Lamont Potts and "The Notorious" Bradley Diggs)

SICW legend Ron Powers is on the mic

Potts is the smaller Hustler and Diggs is the bigger one. SICW legend Ron Powers, is on commentary here. Billy hammerlocks Potts and gives Potts over to Wylde. Wylde knee drops Potts while in the hammerlock and armdrags him. Billy drops the knee on Potts' ribs and armbars him.

Diggs double axe handles Billy. Larson chokes Billy behind the ref's back. Diggs slams Billy and Potts slingshot swantons Billy. Billy sunset flips Potts and Diggs tries to keep Potts up. Diggs hits Billy from behind then Potts backbreakers Billy.

Potts elbows Billy in the head then Billy does a rolling spear on Potts. Wylde gets the hot tag in and beats up on The Hustlers. Wylde sends Potts' head into Diggs' gut. Someone named Kowalski comes in and rams Wylde into the post, causing Billy to get crotched on the ropes. Billy takes a boot into a russian leg sweep (The Hustle and Flow) and Billy gets pinned.

The heels and faces were good here. We had a dirty finish but at least it is leading to something. It wasn't a classic but it made sense and I enjoyed it.

Overall thoughts: SICW has an hour long show but because of their taping schedule and various limitations with being an indy, they really only have about a half hour of footage. So we end up getting old school matches here to fill extra time. While the older matches can be fun, they don't really help the promotion out and it's not must see stuff. 

I do like the way the promotion is set up. Larson and Drew were good on commentary. They keep kayfabe and run a territory era style show which I like. The wrestlers get how to be good faces and heels and know what they need to do, though they can't always do it in the cleanest way. I don't think I'd recommend this one to the average person, but if you have an open mind and understand what they are going for here with a limited budget, I'd recommend it.