UAPW from September, PWI 500

There was only a two-week break between the re-launching of Universal All-Pro Wrestling and its September event, but that allowed it to keep its momentum going as it appears UAPW is serious about keeping pro wrestling in Toledo.

The card was kept fresh with a balance of returning and new talent, headlined by a two-versus-one handicapped match in the main event – Trey Miguel v. Sam Beale and Jason Hotch. Once again, solid performances were had by everyone on the card, with a mix of styles and match types between multi-person, tag, one-versus-one and handicapped matches.

Refreshingly, the matches continue to be straight-forward with no gimmicks yet. This will be nice as rivalries grow and things become more intense, as then match types such as street fights, cage matches and the like will mean more once they finally happen. If UAPW keeps on a stretch of traditional matches, then these specialty matches will really stick out once they finally happen.

In fact, there is a fixture that hangs from the ceiling above where the ring is located in St. Clements Hall. I believe this is for some sort of chandelier or similar lighting fixture, but both times people were convinced something may be hung from that fixture to provide for a ladder match. If it actually works, maybe we’ll see this one day, but I welcome for the opportunity to let things breathe so rivalries can build up to that point.

The night culminated in a disqualification in the main event after a hotly-contested match, but at least this leads to the main event of the Oct. 13 UAPW event: Zachary Wentz will make his UAPW debut and team with Trey Miguel to pit a part of The Rascals against the newly-aligned Jason Hotch and Sam Beale.

As expected, Miguel, Hotch, Beale, Gisele Shaw, Taylor Rising and Mad Man Fulton put on excellent matches. Again, I’d like to spend time highlighting a few of the other talent in the hopes more people check out their work:

“The Driver” Joe Demaro
Demaro participated in a “bonus” fatal four-way match that also included The Kenny Urban, Moonshine and Rod Lee. Demaro is a Detroit-area wrestler that really provided a technical flair to this bout.

I’ve seen Urban and Moonshine wrestle before, and I’m very happy Urban has found his footing with the “Fear and Loathing in Professional Wrestling” team and the goose mascot. “Sucka Free” Rod Lee also added a lot of style to this matchup and seems like someone who would be able to put together fun matches with other wrestlers.

Looking up Demaro, I see he has a lot of impressive experience, putting in his fifth year in the independents according to his Cage Match.net profile. This includes matches in Texas, Michigan, Illinois, New York and more.

“The Driver” has a good look, and he gets added to my list of wrestlers I’d like to see in a one-on-one matchup so I can really see him go.

Saint Brothers
While not officially billed as the “Sons of Michigan,” I got surprised by the introduction of “Amazing” N8 Mattson. In my time watching PWO/PRIME Wrestling, the pairing of Mattson and Benjamin Boone always stuck out to me, with the two wrestlers really repping the mitten state in a promotion that was very Ohio-centric.

Obviously, Mattson and Boone were able to hold up their side of this tag match, but The Saint Brothers were announced as having their debut match. They still seem quite young, so they many chances to soak up a lot of experience under the guidance of wrestlers like the Sons of Michigan. However, they seem to be taking to wrestling well, as, if I hadn’t been told this was their debut match, I would have thought they would have at least a couple of live matches under their belts.

I can only go by Twitter profiles, but the team appears to consist of Skull and Bones-trained wrestlers Corey and Chase. They were able to deliver some heat on Boone, so they were able to hold up their end of the match as the heel team.

Stay healthy and good luck on your wrestling careers Saints!

Ashton Day
I knew Jason (Page) Hotch would eventually find success, and he has seemingly done that with his IMPACT contract earned through the Gut Check program. With Hotch getting his recognition, Ashton Day has positioned himself as my “wrestler to watch for,” and it seems he may be on that path with an AEW appearance against Powerhouse Hobbs.

My first look at Day came during Mega Championship Wrestling’s run in Sandusky earlier this year, going back-to-back dates in defending the promotion’s heavyweight championship against Kidd Bandit at Colossalcon, and then against Casey Carrington at the Rockin’ Horse Rumble. You can catch GemuBaka highlights from the Day-Carrington street fight in the site’s clip video from Rockin’ Horse Rumble.

At the MCW event, Day stood out as someone who a promotion would want their championship on, and he didn’t fail to deliver an intense street fight in match where Carrington also impressed.

In fact, people near me in the crowd commented on Day’s presence at the UAPW show. He made people who didn’t know who he was acknowledge him – that is the presence Day carries with him to the ring.
Day was matched up with local favorite Mad Man Fulton, and you can tell Day has experience because he was able to play the height disparity like a fiddle – he played it as a disadvantage in bits at the beginning of the match with a humorous test of strength battle, but then flipped it to his advantage in bits such as delivering a crowd-pleasing rolling Death Valley Driver on the giant Mad Man Fulton to show he does have power on top of his athleticism.

Day was able to “stand tall” at the end of the match, egging Mad Man Fulton on to deliver several chokeslams, that resulted in Day continuing to get back to his feet and taunting Fulton even further. After the September UAPW show, I get the feeling the crowd in attendance now knows what I already knew with the potential Day has in pro wrestling.

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This show also marked the first live show attended by my older son, and he had a blast getting to experience in-person pro wrestling. He says his number-one favorite wrestler is Mad Man Fulton, and that is followed very closely by Trey Miguel. Even though the premise of pro wrestling has been explained to him, he for some reason still believes Jason Hotch and Sam Beale were going into business for themselves and legit trying to injure Trey in a shoot after their match. I don’t get it, but that has cemented Hotch and Beale as the ultimate heels in his mind. At the least, the UAPW show left an impression on him and he was excited to talk about it at school the next day.

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PWI 500

In other pro wrestling news, Pro Wrestling Illustrated recently released its annual PWI 500, marking the top 500 professional wrestlers over the previous year. Congratulations to some of the pro wrestlers I’ve featured on sites/in videos over the past years, which include Tommy Vendetta (475), Matt Cross (464), Victor Benjamin (463), Akira (429), Mickie Knuckles (384), Jake Crist (335), Cole Radrick (320), Kevin Ku (296), Atticus Cogar (279), Billie Starkz (263), Sheamus (126), Alex Shelley (70) and Trey Miguel (49).

Some of my wrestling coverage was for other sources, so I will have to eventually do a few throwback pieces that explain my interactions with wrestlers such as Sheamus and Alex Shelley. Congrats to everyone on the PWI 500, and may your rank be even higher next year!