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F1rst Wrestling “Wrestlepalooza”
Minneapolis, MN
Jan 13-14
Night 1:
Brandon Gore def. Riley Jackson
Dark Sheik def. Free Range Kara.
The band Dillinger Four played a short set, it ruled.
Devon Monroe comes out to cut a promo, Was supposed to face Bryan Keith tonight but has a chance to do something big in AEW and they’re happy for him. Jake Parnell (no longer WARHORSE) interrupts to talk about how chasing the dream got him nothing. Impromptu match for the Wrestlepalooza title
Devon Monroe def. Jake Parnell after interference from Lorebin Cometh (Darin Corbin and Heavy Metal Lore). Top Flight make the save, Monroe/Parnell fight to the back and Top Flight vs. Lorebin Cometh is made.
Another Dillinger Four set. They played “doublewhiskeycokenoice” and I love that song so that rules.
Jah-C, Thunderfrog, “The Lifeguard” Shane Black, Deputy Rob Justice, Arik Cannon, Badger Briggs in a six person match. Huge heat on Justice because he’s a cop (understandable). At one point Justice got pushy with the ref, leading to the ref dropping the cop with a Stone Cold Stunner. In the confusion Jah-C won with a roll up while holding the rope. Ref stunned the cop one more time to make the crowd go wild.
Burlesque performance from Dick Von Dyke. Crowd chanted “We Love D***”. Pro wrestling, man.
Main event: Lucha Libre 4-Way. Arez v Gringo Loco v Latigo v Aramis. Announcer: “this is a Lucha Libre 4-way, so I shouldn’t have to tell you this, but: If they’re coming your way, get the f*** out of the way.” Dueling “Gringo Loco/F***ING SUCKS” chants. Match starts with Aramis attempting a sportsmanlike handshake but literally everyone flips him off. He gets a handshake from the ref and is overcome with emotion leading to everyone else jumping him. Ridiculously fast Lucha action throughout. Arez won after pinning Aramis with what I assume is a second rope variation of his finisher. Excellent match.
People to watch: Arez, Aramis, Devon Monroe, Badger Briggs
Night 2
Shane Black v Matt Honey v Heavy Metal Lore v Jordan v Ryan Cruz v Big O’Possum. Everyone got time to shine but Jordan won with an Alabama Slam followed by a double stomp to pin Shane Black.
Burlesque performance from Deena Rose and Petty Treason. Crowd digged it.
Zamaya v Free Range Kara v Dark Sheik v Badger Briggs. Badger won by stomping Zamaya into the mat (think Taya’s curb stomp, not Seth’s)
Short set by Tightwire. Unfamiliar with them but they seem like a pretty cool pop punk band.
Darin Corbin and Jake Parnell (still not WARHORSE [editor’s note: WARHORSE IS DEAD. LONG LIVE GRUMPY JAKE]) v BUSSY (Effy and Allie Katch). BUSSY easily the most over people of the night. Lots of butt based offense. Heels eventually got Effy isolated for extended beatdown, hot tag to Allie Katch and place erupts. Match ends with Parnell/Corbin doing a double team clothesline high-low on Effy for the pin. Best match of the night thus far, Allie Katch was mvp and Parnell’s character shift is working wonders.
Dante Martin v Brian Keith. Dueling chants eventually turn into a “Both these guys” chant before the match even starts. Excellent back and forth match ending with the hometown hero Dante pinning the Bounty Hunter. They hug after the match and BK gets a hero’s send off. Really feels like he’s moving on to a bigger stage and everyone was happy for him.
Tightwire set #2. The first set they asked everyone to pretend they were heels so when they came back they got showered in boos. Lots of fun playing to the rasslin crowd and the songs they play are damn good.
Jah-C v Rylie Jackson v Arik Cannon v ORANGE CASSIDY. Crowd goes wild because OC wasn’t announced for a match. Match eventually turns into suplex city after everyone starts suplexing anything that moves. At one point the ref suplexes Rylie Jackson, leading to Cannon and Cassidy confusingly high fiving the ref. Suplex City ends when OC counters with the stun dog. After further shenanigans OC pins Cannon for the dub. OC gets a mic and cuts a promo about how much he wanted to come here even though he doesn’t like doing things or being cold. Puts over F1rst Wrestling and Arik Cannon huge for being the reason he is where he is now. Crowd chants “KISS!” And OC just fuckin plants one on Arik’s lips then shrugged, you love to see it.
Another burlesque performance, this time from Phoenix De La Rosa, crowd loved it.
Main event is the team of Darius Martin/Devon Monroe/Brandon Gore v Latigo/Arez/Gringo Loco. Fast paced hard hitting action, too many cool moments to count. At one point a pin was broken up with a god damn Canadian destroyer. Good guys win after Darius and Gore do what I can only describe as a doomsday device Canadian destroyer followed by Devon Monroe hitting a twisting top rope splash.
People to watch: Jake Parnell in his new not-Warhorse character, BUSSY always rules, Brian Keith, Darin Corbin is a god damn natural at heel heat.
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