This Chaos Column is a recap of Wrestling Cares Association “Race for the Ring Wrestling Tournament” Charity Event at VFW Post 3216, Gardena, CA, June 29th 2013. Not even the Air-Conditioned hall could contain the heat of the 2nd WCA show–as if the early summer heat wave here in So Cal wasn’t enough. Again, all the wrestlers & promotional staff hit the ring, as well as hostess Maria Kanellis to open the show, and the national anthem was sung by the same pair of ladies as the last show last April in Downtown L.A. This particular event raised $500 for the Boys & Girls Club of Simi Valley, the current home for MPW–in which its last 2 Heavyweight Champions teamed up in the lone non-tournament tag team match.
Shot of the Night – Wrestling Cares – 06-29-13
All tournament matches are the remaining Round 1 matches, held as 10-min. Ironman matches, with 3-min. sudden death OT. Times posted at the moment of decision are approximate.
1 – Timothy Thatcher def. Oliver John 2-1 in OT
* 5:00 – Oliver John scored a pin with a Backbreaker
* 9:00 – Timothy Thatcher scored a submission with a Modified Ankle Lock
* 1:15 into OT – Timothy Thatcher won w/ the Modified Ankle Lock submission
A strong “old-school” opener between the two Nor Cal wrestlers, who were both representing APW, and fought for the right to fill in the vacant spot left in the wake of the draw by Davey Richards & Kyle O’Reilly last April. The two men exchanged fantastic mat-wrestling moves and holds, with a handful of strikes and slams in between.
2 – Willie Mack def. Brandon Gatson 2-1
* 3:00 – Willie Mack scored a pin with a catch of his opponent to roll into the Chocolate Thunderbomb
* 5:50 – Brandon Gatson scored a pin with the Slingshot Ace Crusher after pulling off a classic Ric Flair move over the turnbuckles
* 8:40 – Willie Mack scored a pin with what kinda looked like a “Chocolate Thunder-Jacknife”, or a Chocolate Thunderbomb with a release
Willie then had to withstand the pain from Gatson’s armbreaker submission in the final minute to secure the win in a battle between the two So Cal regional stars.
3 – Drake Younger def. DJ Hyde 1-0
* 3:00 – DJ Hyde scored a pin with the Lariat
* 6:30 – Drake Younger scored a pin with his signature finisher
* 8:00 – DJ Hyde was DQ’d for failing to stop throwing shots at Drake Younger in the corner upon repeated orders by Referee Jay Stone, losing a point.
The crowd were really hot for Drake Younger, who found some sweet redemption after coming up short the previous night in his bid for the IWL Heavyweight title. Then again, DJ Hyde told Drake in the post-match interview with Jonny Loquasto, that this day “was his lucky day”.
4 – Antonio Thomas def. Alex Reynolds 3-2 in OT
* 3:20 – Alex Reynolds with a rollup into a bridging pin
* 6:50 & 7:30 – Antonio Thomas scored submission decisions, using a side headlock/armbar combination hold
* 9:15 – Alex Reynolds scored a pin with the Codebreaker-like Lungblower
* 4:15 into OT – Antonio Thomas got the win with the side headlock/armbar combination hold
Great match by the two men from the northeast.
* At the end of intermission, WCA’s check for $500 for the Boys & Girls Club of Simi Valley were given to the tag team duo of Lethal Logan X & J.J. Steele, both of whom were representing Millennium Pro Wrestling as the promotion’s previous & current Heavyweight Champion, as well as former tag team champions.
5 – Lone non-tournament tag team action: The Fallen Empire (Ryan Taylor & Mondo Vega) def. Lethal Logan X & J.J. Steele
A wayward Superkick attempt by Logan X that found J.J. Steele’s chin instead of Mondo Vega allowed the EWF duo to hit their “Team F5” on Logan X to allow Ryan Taylor to score the pin.
6 – BJ Whitmer def. Shawn Tempers 2-1
* 2:30 – BJ Whitmer scored a submission decision with what looked like a combination hold centered around a headscissors hold
* 5:30 – Shawn Tempers scored a pin with the Butterfly Suplex
* 8:15 – BJ Whitmer scored a pin with what looked like a Modified Belly-to-Back Suplex
Strong effort from the Tennessee-based Tempers, who was representing Anarchy Wrestling, against the ROH star, of whom I last saw going head-first through the table at ROH Final Battle 2012.
SM – Adam Pearce def. Adam Page by TKO while down 1-2
* :45 & 1:15 – Adam Page rolled up & scored pinfalls, grabbing Pearce’s trunks that were not caught by Referee Jay Stone
* 9:00 – Adam Pearce scored the eventual TKO with the Last Ride Clothesline
Adam Pearce wasn’t that satisfied with the TKO win, and left a word of warning to his Round 2 opponent, Willie Mack.
M – Johnny Gargano def. Chase Stevens 4-3
* :15 – Johnny Gargano scored a pin with the Tornado DDT
* :40 – Chase Stevens scored a pin with the Wheelbarrow Slam
* 3:55 – Johnny Gargano scored a pin with the Superkick to the kneeling Chase Stevens
* 5:30 – Johnny Gargano scored a pin with a Full Nelson hold into a Facebreaker
* 6:30 – Chase Stevens scored a pin with the Death Valley Driver
* 7:15 – Chase Stevens scored a pin with the Brainbuster
* 9:55 – Johnny Gargano scored the final pin, winning the cover battle in the Small Package rollup
Excellent battle throughout. The Southern Wrestling Superstars representative, Chase Stevens, gave it all he had against the DGUSA star, and just came up short. For Johnny Gargano himself, he had Maria Kanellis come into the ring, then saluted the fans into attendance to close out the show.
Great card all around. It was great to see the different styles of wrestling that is seen throughout the nation, co-mingled with familiar regional talents & PWG-caliber stars. If I have to choose a match of the night from this card, I’ll give it to the Gargano/Stevens match that was a worthy main event. 2nd best match, to me, was the Thatcher/John match, followed by the Thomas/Reynolds match.
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