Monroe City Card

Wasnt posted here so decided to post it myself. Now due to circumstances beyond my control, I havent made it to the previous shows, so I may be a bit out of the loop despite trying to keep up with results on here.

GRUDGE MATCH
"Headliner" Chris Michaels vs "Natural" Chase Stevens - I hope this turns out better then it looks. See Chris wrestle at CCW more times then I can count and he bored the crowd to sleep. Although I did see him work a damn good match about 2 years ago up in Princeton.

"Wild Eyed Southern Boy" Tracy Smothers vs The Metal Master - I hear Tracy seems to be in better shape these days, so good for him, but aside from a short comedy match can this really deliver?

Steve-O vs Matt Boyce - Who and who?

TAG TEAM MATCH
"Wild Thing" Will Owens & Mike Posey
vs
Cory Hollis & Chrisjen Hayme - Hayme is a good choice. Seen him on IWA-MS here and there and he was pretty solid but who are these other guys?

Chris Thomas vs "Platinum" Chris Phoenix - Meh, I havent seen Phoenix work but Thomas, never really impressed me. He wasnt horrible or anything, just seemed rather average.

Shank "The Freak" Barzini vs JP Lightning - Cant go wrong here.


Now I was looking forward to making it to the Monroe City show. Its a nice little Venue there but a bit out in the middle of nowhere. Walt ran once here, and I think it was the last time he ran there. If I remember correctly, it was a pretty poor turn out. Not to sure I am looking to try to get a ride out there or not.

Honestly, for a small, "out in the middle of nowhere" kind of show, this really isn't as bad a card as it could be. However, that being said, outside of the Shank vs. JP match, there really isn't much that makes me want to check it out. There are a few names on there that I'm clueless about. I've never seen Chris Michaels before, but I've also never heard anything good about him either. And yes, Tracy Smothers did look somewhat better at the last show at the Armory, but I agree I'm not sure how much a match between him and Metal Master can deliver. Isn't Mike Posey the guy who worked as a ref in WWE and I think in TNA who now wrestles down in the Alabama/Georgia area? I'm guessing him and Hayme are traveling together from down south. Speaking of Chrisjen Hayme, there's a name I didn't expect to see. I've seen him at lots of shows I've attended over the last few years...IWA-MS, IWA-DS, CZW (He worked one of the pre-show matches in Lafayette) and IPW. He's a pretty solid worker. I've seen him pull off some decent high-flying moves, BUT he can be a bit sloppy at times. If MECW is going to book him in the future, they should consider bringing in Jesse Emerson to work a match against him. Those two work matches against each other all over the place and always put on pretty decent matches. I've never heard of the other two guys in that match.

Personally thats what I dont get..first show, the center. Second show, tone things down a little and run the armory. Understandable, and now its off to the middle of nowhere? Why not Vincennes or Princeton? Your talking pretty much a straight shot out of 41 and driving maybe 5 min or so through town to get to the venue. On the other hands this is literally in the middle of nowhere. I have been to the venue and there I dont think theres a single gas station or grocery store in town.

I don't know this for a fact or anything, but I believe that some of the people on the "inside" of MECW have done shows in Monroe City before. So my best guess is that they know whoever it is that owns or runs the building and they got a good deal to run a show there. You're right about Monroe City not having a gas station or a grocery store. It's just a dot in the road between Vincennes and Petersburg really. In fact, to get there from Evansville, it's almost better to take highway 57 up to Petersburg and then turn left at highway 61, towards Vincennes. Going up 41, you have to take 241 and that's a very small, curvy, two-lane road that goes through farmland and cornfeilds.

Fans began arriving early for Main Event Championship Wrestling's debut show at the Blue Jean Center in
Monroe City, IN. Doors were scheduled to open at 6:30pm, but anxious wrestling fans began lining up outside the entrance at 6:00pm in anticipation of the "Experience."

Earlier that afternoon, MECW arranged a Meet-and-Greet for fans with popular MECW star Chase Stevens at the Washington Subway restaurant (a corporate sponsor) where "The Natural" interacted with wrestling fans, signed autographs and posed for pictures - a unique part of the MECW "Experience." (Note: Between the MECW Meet-and-Greet in Washington on Saturday afternoon and the show Saturday evening in Monroe City, Chase Stevens worked a benefit show in Evansville. I don't know about you, but that makes for a whirlwind of a day when the ride initiated from Nashville early Saturday morning.)

When the arena doors finally opened at 6:30pm for the Experience, ringside seats and arena bleachers filled steadily until few, if any, bleacher seats remained when the event went LIVE at 7:30pm. Show sponsors are Subway "Eat Fresh!" and Max 96.7 WFML "Max Knows Music!" and Memories 107.9 WAMW "Classic Hits!"

Local teenage musician Tyler Hardwick of Loogootee opened the Experience with a guitar solo of the National Anthem. A ten-bell salute and moment of silence followed for Monroe City resident Shannon Holland, who was tragically killed earlier this July in a car accident after being hit by a drunk driver. Mrs. Holland's young son remains in critical condition at an Indiana hospital.

It's now showtime and the crowd of over 200 is hot and ready to go as the opening bout features JP Lightning (180 - City of Lightning) versus Steve O (220 - Nashville, TN). Both wrestlers receive good crowd reaction with Steve O getting the better end of the pop. This face vs. face match-up displayed some good action with Steve O getting the best of JP in the end, gaining the pinfall.

The next match pitted "The Wild-Eyed Southern Boy" aka "Sellout, Sycho, Smasher, Smokey" Tracy Smothers (243 - Springfield, TN) flanked by his "illegitimate daughter" Isabella Smothers (Mickie Knuckles) and sidekick The Muscle against The Metal Master (205 - Indianapolis, IN). Smothers entered the arena first, commandeered the mic and showed his affection to the MECW crowd by labeling them "Monroe City Morons." The Sellout threatened to take the Smothers family back to the great state of Tennessee if "anyone chants 'Tracy Sucks' one more time!" After working the crowd into a frenzy and threats of "killing everyone in the building" and "ultra-mega mass homicide," the match gets underway. This match had some nice work with some comedy dance moves from Tracy along the way. The Metal Master had his hands full with heavy interference from Isabella Smothers and The Muscle throughout. MM locked the Crippler Crossface on an interfering Isabella Smothers, but MM's shortsightedness left the door open for The Sellout to blast MM across the back with a rebel flag. Referee Billy Blaze finally recovers from a ref bump and makes the three count. Your winner is Sellout Sycho Smasher Smokey Smothers, Isabella Smothers and The Muscle.

Time for the night's first intermission - Plug for MECW's return to the Evansville Armory on Saturday August 14th featuring Big Sid Vicious. MECW offers $5.00 pre-sale discount for the August 14th show. Front Row Seats - $15.00 General Admission - $10.00. Plug for mecwpro.com for more information on future shows and the latest news on anything MECW.

A strict 15-minute intermission and we're back to the MECW Experience. The next match has "Bad Boy" Chris Thomas (202 - New Orleans, LA) taking on fan favorite "Platinum" Chris Phoenix (270 - Washington, IN), accompanied by Violent Impact tag partner Jason Briley. Phoenix was overpowering Thomas for a good portion of the match and displayed tremendous athleticism for a big man by going to the top rope on different occasions. However, the sneaky Thomas took advantage of a referee distraction, pulled a bag of powder out of his trunks and showered a cloud of it in Phoenix' eyes. Thomas quickly rolled Phoenix up for the 1-2-3 to the dismay of the fans and Jason Briley, who was pleading his case to the referee at ringside. After the match, Thomas attempted to strong-arm referee Billy Blaze, shooting him into the ropes, but Blaze reverses and nails Thomas coming off the ropes with a perfectly executed dropkick to the head

The next match featured Matt Boyce (205 - Little Rock, AK) w/ Christopher Love (Bert Prentice) versus "No Mercy" Tommy Mercer (230 - Cleveland, OH). Boyce's manager Christopher Love, effeminately dressed for success in a black cowboy hat and a glitter star surrounding his right eye, took the microphone and berated every woman in the crowd, calling them "fat", "ugly" and offering makeup tips to improve their horrible looks. After prancing around the ring like a country diva and drawing the scorn of every MECW fan, Christopher Love decided to comfort his protege'. Tommy Mercer then makes his way to the ring. Mercer and Boyce had a nice match - Mercer always having to keep one eye on Love outside the ring - but when it seemed Mercer had the match won after hitting Boyce with his finisher, the Smothers family storms the ring and attacks Mercer. Smothers grabbed the mic and announces that he wasn't there to help Boyce because Boyce would "kill" Mercer without his help, but instead was there to serve notice to the former US army soldier Tommy Mercer. Smothers said that he hates the USA, hates Monroe City and hates the state of Indiana (because by the grace of God he was the independent republic of Tennessee). Smothers challenges Mercer to a match when MECW returns to Evansville on August 14th at the Armory. Mercer accepts then leaves the ring greeting his fans.

Second intermission - Plug August 14th MECW show and discount presale tickets. Plug final chance to visit the merchandise stands. Plug mecwpro.com for the latest MECW news. Tease a possible monthly return to Monroe City on a monthly basis?

It's now time for the main event of the evening and the fans are amped up for this Grudge Match.
"Headliner" Chris Michaels (225 - Franklin, Ky) vs. "The Natural" Chase Stevens (220 - Washington, IN).
Michaels attempted to slow the pace, using his veteran psychology to lure Stevens out of his game plan. After
Stevens looked to be gaining the upperhand, Michaels grabbed a handful of trunks and scored the pinfall. Stevens and the crowd tell the referee of Michaels' cheating tactics. Referee Billy Blaze decides to restart the match. Michaels immediately walked into a Death Valley Driver and Stevens scored the victory. As the fans celebrate, MECW Executive VP AC West comes out, asks for the mic and informs everyone that the second fall was not sanctioned by MECW and that referee Billy Blaze's first decision was official. Therefore, the winner - "Headliner" Chris Michaels. Stevens is irate and takes the mic, shocked by the executive decision of AC West. After calling West a "little midget" and not respecting his authority, Stevens vows to face Michaels again and beat him to a pulp, but after a very long day Stevens is now ready go have a few beers with friends at the Antique (cheap plug.) Michaels calls Stevens a crybaby and claims that he has already defeated Stevens many times in the past, offering Stevens to go cry in his beer.

Announcement - due to overwhelming support and attendance for the debut Experience in Monroe City, MECW will return to the Blue Jean Center on Saturday August 28th!

Goodnight and Drive Safely!