A live professional Wrestling show in St. Joseph, MO

To Read my preview, click HERE.

Tri States Wrestling is a family-friendly wrestling company that largely operates in Northern Missouri but strives to showcase some of the best pro wrestlers in Missouri, Iowa, and Kansas. They are one of the more affordable companies out there, with tickets for children going for as cheap as five dollars at most shows. I have been attending their events since last spring, and they have become one of my main companies I always try to attend if I can. I was wary of this show because it involved me taking a day off from work, but I had the PTO and saw the solid lineup on the poster and decided it was definitely a great day to have off.

Many companies around here are having their first shows of 2024 right around now, largely due to avoiding booking shows when the weather is bad. Earth Wind and Fuego marks just over two months since the shocking conclusion to night two of Rumble for the Rescue Dogs, a show where Dr. Isin pulled the rug out from under Franco Varga and cashed in his “call your shot contract” to win the undisputed TSW Heavyweight Championship. This time, Dr. Isin faced off against a legend in northern Missouri wrestling, The Iceman, a man that so many fans hold in high regard that facing him is nothing short of a tall order. The card featured a tag match, a women’s match, and a match for a “call your shot contract” as well as the explosive main event – “The Biggest Wrestler Ever” Franco Varga verus “The Master of the Tornado DDT” Fuego Del Sol.

This show was being held at a new venue for me, a children’s entertainment company called Timeout Entertainment. It’s essentially a place where kids can have birthday parties filled with inflatables such as “bouncy castles” and play games with their friends. Despite the ceiling being just a tad too low, it was a solid venue, and I’d love to see more shows there. There was plenty of room, and after some upgrades the owner was telling me about, including a new speaker system, it might end up being a pretty exciting place to see music gigs and wrestling shows.

For more about this venue, click HERE

Without further ado, let’s take a look at what went down at TSW Earth Wind and Fuego!

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The Card:

• 1) The Big Dogs (Bert Candy and Tobias Storm) Defeated Chancla Violence (Violencia Y Paz) to retain the TSW Tag Team championships.
• 2) Stormi Renee Defeated Mindy Grace
• 3) “The hypothetical Specialist” Dr. Isin Defeated The Iceman to retain the TSW Heavyweight Championship
• 4) “The Monarch” Jeremy Wyatt defeated “The Realist” Calvin Aldridge – Wyatt won a call your shot contract and will challenge for the TSW Tag Team Championship at the next show on April 19th in Jameson, MO.
• 5) “The Biggest Wrestler Ever” Franco Varga Defeated “The Master of the Tornado DDT” Fuego Del Sol

Here are some match cards:

DISCLAIMER:

I try to go through most, if not all, of the matches and report on what happened and if the match had any significance to any ongoing feuds. You might think some of my opinions are dumb, or the way I review things is dumb, and that’s OK! We can all like different things, that’s what makes something like wrestling so great! I honestly try to stay positive because there is too much negativity in the overall wrestling community (in my opinion) and we can all do better. That isn’t to say I won’t offer opinions or criticisms, but that will apply when warranted. Remember, cut the B.S. and as the old saying goes, “Just enjoy Wrestling!”

My Thoughts:

For the opening bout, TSW rolled out one of the matches I was fairly excited for to start things off. The team of The Big Dogs (Bert Candy and Tobias Storm) defended their TSW Tag Team championships against Chancla Violence (Bruiserdor Violencia and Angel de Paz). Long-time TSW fans might notice that the previous belt holders were a team called Storm Dior, comprised of Tobias Storm and Blaire Dior, but it appears Tobias had to enact the “Freebird Rule” to enlist the big man Bert Candy from the stable they all run in! Hopefully Blaire will be back soon and everything is okay, but Bert was a pleasant surprise.

Chancla Violence is one of those teams I have seen on social media a lot due to being based out of Central Kansas, but since I don’t really go to shows out there, I have been unable to actually see them live. Just like with The Big Dogs, Chancla Violence consists of a huge monster of a man in Bruiserdor Violencia, complemented perfectly by the high-flying prowess of Angel De Paz. You couldn’t really pick a better paired set of teams than these four men.

As you can imagine, everything was fairly evenly matched, but The Big Dogs were able to really feed off of the crowd throughout the match, with loud dog barking chants likely confusing all the children playing on the bouncy castles on the other side of the venue. Highlights definitely involved the times when Violencia and Bert clashed, in what really was the unstoppable force coming up against the immovable object. Bert was eventually able to get the upper hand, resulting in an attempt by Paz to use a weapon comprised of two chanclas (sandals) banded together like nunchucks. Luckily, this never came to fruition, and The Big Dogs secured the big win, retaining their TSW Tag Team championships. This match was fun, humorous, and really got the crowd going. The perfect opener for a wrestling show.

Much like Chancla Violence, Mindy Grace came from central Kansas to this side of the state in the hopes of making a name for herself here in the “Show Me State.” She faced off against Stormi Renee, a fierce competitor who is no stranger to long-time TSW fans, as she had a fairly solid series of matches back in the Fall during the TSW Midwest Tour alongside Shylynn. Stormi and Mindy are no strangers to each other as well, as both have been in contention for the HCW Sunflower Championship at various times and have had their paths cross in numerous ways.

I couldn’t help but notice that Stormi was a little more… cocky… this time around, still doing the right thing, but apparently letting herself be a bit more combative with the referee. Hopefully, fans won’t have to contend with her pushing the rules too bad, but I suppose time will tell. Unfortunately, tragedy struck during this match as Mindy Grace suffered some sort of knee injury and fell victim to a quick pin. As far as fans can tell, it was nothing serious, and when I spoke to Mindy at the gimmick table, she was confident she would be back to make up for what happened. I think I can speak for every fan and wish her a speedy recovery and can’t wait to see her again in a TSW ring.

I’ve witnessed my fair share of split crowds over the years, but I’m hard-pressed to recall a more divided matchup than the one between “The Hypothetical Specialist” Dr. Isin and The Iceman at Earth, Wind & Fuego. I had a lot of trouble figuring out who I wanted to root for, but found that “Isin” and “Iceman” sound so similar, a well-placed mumble would cover all of your bases! This match marked Dr. Isin’s first defense as TSW World Heavyweight Champion, a belt he won back in December via a “call your shot” contract cash-in at the end of Rumble for the Rescue Dogs night two. This match was originally slated to be against Sam Stackhouse, who unfortunately couldn’t compete. With an opening on the card, there seemed to be no better choice than the man who had proudly carried the older version of the title throughout the spring – The Iceman.

Both men brought their A-game to the match, with a few entertaining moments sprinkled in, such as The Iceman tapping into his dancing prowess to get into the head of Dr. Isin. While Dr. Isin may have the steadiest surgical hand that the University of Guadalajara Online has ever produced, but his dancing skills are somewhat lacking. He’s certainly no Fajita Taker, who perhaps stands as the only other competitor in TSW capable of matching The Iceman when he leans into his past as the World Dancing Champion. Fortunately, in TSW, title matches are rarely decided on dancing abilities alone. Dr. Isin managed to overcome the odds and secure a crucial victory, extending his streak to Jameson, Missouri next month.

Unlike the last match, if there was any doubt about the popularity contest between “The Monarch” Jeremy Wyatt and “The Realist” Calvin Aldridge, it was swiftly dispelled. Technical difficulties with Miss Wendy’s microphone, at the beginning of the match, caused the perfect opportunity for the venue to descend into a cacophony of boos and jeers towards “The Monarch”, making Wyatt appear less than popular in St. Joseph, MO. The crowd seemed ready to turn on Wyatt at the slightest misstep, treating him almost like Roman Reigns the night after he pinned The Undertaker – for that night he was, perhaps, the most reviled man in Missouri.

Calvin Aldridge has been popping up a lot at shows I’ve been to as of late, and he is very impressive. He’s one of those guys that oozes charisma, and I absolutely love seeing the crazy athletic stuff he can do. The stakes were high for this match, with the winner earning a “call your shot contract” towards any title match they chose. After a gripping back-and-forth between these former champions, Jeremy Wyatt emerged victorious. Despite another round of thunderous boos, he announced his intention to switch things up and challenge for the TSW Tag Team Championships at the next show on April 19th in Jameson, MO alongside a mystery partner.

Finally, fans were treated to something of an indy dream match as “The Biggest Wrestler Ever” Franco Varga faced off against “The Master of the Tornado DDT” Fuego Del Sol. Both of these men have been tearing up the road all year, with absolutely shocking travel schedules under their belts. I’m just happy that their paths crossed in the Kansas City area! As I mentioned before, I work night shift Monday through Friday and don’t normally get a chance to attend weekday wrestling shows, but seeing the inclusion of Fuego Del Sol on the poster made it an instant buy for me. I knew a matchup between two athletes of the caliber of Franco Varga and Fuego needed to be seen live.

I’m not going to lie, with Fuego Del Sol’s moveset being somewhat in the “high-flying” camp, the relatively low clearance of the ceiling in the venue made me and a number of other people sweat just a little bit. There was a moment when he did a flip off the top rope, and I was fearful for his ankles as he went over – thankfully no legs were harmed. These sorts of conditions breed the best sorts of innovation in wrestling matches, and there were some truly awesome moments in this match. One of the spots of the night included a Spanish Fly from, not the top rope, but the middle rope!

This was a true clash of styles, with Fuego’s aforementioned high-flying lucha skills coming face to face with Franco’s more ground-based moveset. Franco always reminds me of peak ROH / TNA X-Division Samoa Joe with a dash of somebody like RVD, so if you can imagine that, you will understand he is somebody special around here. For a while, it definitely looked like Fuego had the match in the bag, especially after a massive double foot stomp from the top rope, but Franco was able to hit his Falcon Arrow and secure the pin. This was an amazing match and well worth the price of admission to this show.

Conclusion:

TSW Earth Wind and Fuego was a solid show with a great price in an exciting new venue. There was a bit of everything for the fans, and it definitely seemed like everyone was really into the show considering just how loud it got. One of the pluses of having the show at a place like Timeout Entertainment was that all the concessions were handled by the venue, which I’m sure is a nightmare for promoters running any show at, say, an armory. I’ve said this many times, but St. Joseph, MO is an underutilized hotbed for independent wrestling, and fans in the area ALWAYS show up when a show is in town. It was very cool to see Fuego Del Sol and get to talk to him a bit; here’s hoping he returns to the area sometime. Perhaps a rematch is in order?

Join me again in April as Tri States Wrestling is heading to Jameson, MO!