With as typical a work schedule when one is maintaining two jobs, I get to at least use my Saturdays to chase down wrestling shows with hopes of trying to break into the referee field of performing.
Would I like to do something more creative, i.e. wrestling, performing, or booking)? Yes. But the politics of the business in Peoria (see "Racism Can Play in Peoria. What About Your Local Wrestling?") and my time in the hospitality field has left me bump-free the last four years. DDP Yoga would probably be required to overcome chronological issues. As for booking, the response from readers about babyface Confederate booking, you need to offer something financially to do that. Officiating matches seems to be the only in for me.
Fortunately, my first foray into trying to get booked did not require much gas because Iron Spirit Pro, the first Bloomington/Normal promotion I had heard of since the days of FUW, had debuted in Urbana. Professionally, what I gained from it is an approach in selling my lack of non-gimmick referee experience (I should have sold my time as Danny Daniels's second to show that I knew how the referee has to operate but more importantly, emphasize just wanting tryout matches). As a fan, the show was the best display of indie talent south of I-80 that I have seen in 10 years.
I did not make it in for the majority of the first two contests since my retail shift ended at bell time. The end of Kenway's victory over Adam Slade came off as desperate to draw heat, but that may not be as much on the performers and that this show was a debut in a town where the only cue to who the babyfaces and heels were was entrance music. The crowd felt like a lot of people traveled from adjacent promotions (Zero1 USA in Mattoon, UWC in Homer), so they may have had a better grasp on the product than the locals.
If it was not for the insincere handshake, I would have just assumed a promo before the match would have established the story, and I am the only one who missed out. The conclusion just left me feeling like this was going to be more carny than action. This perception was quickly disproven by following it up with a women's bout between Heather Reckless and Seishin. The passion was there which made up for any shortcomings be it Reckless's height limitations (as a guy who also ran the middle ropes, I know that some extra height may give me some extra coordination) or the Blue Dragon's rushed feel behind her kicks. Again, after the introductions, it was not until the post match call out by the victorious Reckless for the next show (in Normal, but as I said, the fans travel) was when babyface and heel felt established.
Because the crowd seemed very knowledgeable of the talent, the heel face dynamic was hindered in the show's first half conclusion between Kody Lane and Ace Perry. This left me only remembering this match abused the Ace Crusher. It was a great display of talent, but as memorable as a John Walters versus Matt Stryker match. But, I cannot deny the knowledge and the ability of the two performers. It just did not feel like there were any stakes or antagonism to get me involved.
The show returned from intermission with Kenny Alfonso versus Dante Leon. Alfonso did a great job establishing himself as the heel and also brought it to the fans attention that Leon was undefeated. That was when you discovered who was seeing ISPW for the first time as I heard many a, "wish they told us that," amongst the fans. Leon is very talented and athletically gifted, but his sub-Hot Topic level ring gear just turned me off from that. If creative thinks that is the hottest thing the company has, the feeling that Downstate Illinois wrestling has not evolved in the past 14 years since I was established there.
That will be the harshest I get in criticism. If Leon is over with the paying crowd, I cannot disagree with the creative direction, just the effort in his presentation. If he wants better gear, I can be his hook up (blue and white rising sun biker trunks, ROH CM Punk pink and black trunks, blue and green Samoa Joe biker trunks...). It just feels like a politics booking, but that comes from an experience that most fans cannot understand. And it is not necessarily fair for me to be so judgmental because he is far more talented and driven than the guys who left me in that position 14 years ago.
For me personal flashbacks are my biggest problem attending indie shows. It is a good thing that ISPW will eventually do a bar show because I may need a drink special to get me through the show emotionally.
Tripp Cassidy is a name that I have been hearing about and I was impressed with his display versus Orion Creed. Cassidy came off as playing to his fans which was all right, but the bout may have needed a better story to get us behind Creed more who took quite the beating.
The main event tag team bout was very solid. The Lowlifes operate great as a tag team and they were facing off against Brett Gakiya who is one of the two best wrestlers to come out of Blo/No and the powerhouse that the show definitely needed in Gnarls Garvin. This also featured the first promo to try and establish a storyline before the match. In this case, simple would have been better. Throwing in details about dealings with them in other promotions never works and may confuse the fans seeing this product for the first time.
Because I am writing this via hind sight, it may seem like I was down on this promotion, but everything I talked about is stuff that can be worked on. Iron Spirit Pro has a great base of talent and they knew how to get everyone they wanted to show off in the best positions they could. The matches were put together well and they all ended when they needed to. That is a rarity in indie wrestling because someone usually demands that they go long.
I just want to know the product better, and you are not going to get that with just wrestling. These guys are not the Elite, so I cannot say I am enticed to find this Iron Spirit Pro on YouTube. That is especially true when I could not find a hard cam taping the show.
They are not ready for five-star matches as well, and we should not expect them to be. If they were, they should go nuts in the ring and aim for those BS chants. But we are not going to know you for those kind of bouts, so make up for it with gimmicks or promos...or managers (at least I can make up a tape for that).
Iron Spirit Pro is the best wrestling that I have seen Downstate in a decade, and I know it can be more. Hopefully, I will get off early enough to catch their October 12, 2019, show in Normal to see development in becoming the destination promotion the 309 needs.
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