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Photographs by Thomas Crone
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There’s a bit of an invisible thread between the South Broadway Athletic Club, deep in the heart of Soulard, and the East Carondelet Community Center, in a corner pocket of Dupo, Ill. In both venues, monthly professional wrestling cards bring out a regular core of attendees. There’s just a bit of bleed-over, with some of the same faces in the audience, in the ring, and behind the scenes. But there’s also a distinct feel to each experience, with unique qualities that don’t transfer from one hall to the other.
The Southern Illinois Championship Wrestling promotion finds a home at the East Carondelet CC, a smoke-free, remarkably clean, VFW-style venue on a country road, just a few minutes’ drive from Dupo’s main drag. The building holds about 250 for wrestling cards, with chairs fanning out in roughly three directions from the stage; the fourth side holds just a pinch of seating, with the promotion’s single camera operating from a short scaffold. Near that media hub, the wrestlers emerge from their inner sanctum, the dressing room that’s off-limits to everyone but those working the card.
This past Saturday evening, the SICW threw a bout featuring most of the elements that fans of independent wrestling promotions come to expect. There was a wild, everybody’s-in-the-ring, six-man, tag-team bout. There were championship belts on the line. A couple of in-ring interviews took place, including one with former WWF performer Hillbilly Jim. Tables and chairs were broken, or at least bent. Fans drank dollar drafts and ate popcorn, no small amount of which was dropped on the floor as the action spilled from the ring and into the seats. And, true of any quality card, the storylines were kicked into motion for the next few months, as narratives were referenced, made current, then revealed for the upcoming, January 18 card.
For example, longtime area star Ron Powers grappled this past Saturday with rival Flash Flanagan. The bout wasn’t the first between the two and it won’t be the last: next month, the two will have a match to finally settle the score, with Ricky Cruz serving as guest referee; it was a move announced ringside by promoter Herb Simmons and it was met with disdain by Flanagan, clearly uncomfortable with Cruz’s role in January’s rematch, while Powers seemed pleased. Such is life in an indie promotion, where the headliners rotate through grudges, reconciliations and battles with the occasional touring pro. This time out, the formula worked: the audience loved it.
Powers has been a mainstay on the local scene, with stints in national promotions over the years as well. These days, he says that there’s only one promoter that he’ll work for: Simmons, who calls the SICW shots with longtime area legend Larry Matysik, best-known as both the host of Wrestling at the Chase, and the right-hand man of the famed promoter Sam Muchnick. Together, they and a small core of workers put on the shows; in their case, the cards are run with a surgical precision, with everything from ring-entry music, to the appearance of Santa Claus, well-prepped.
Of course, it’s the wrestlers who ultimately control the room’s emotional heat. Powers is as good as any at that part of the gig. Active since joining the SBAC’s promotion in 1986, Powers has kept his body together despite a thousand knocks. Asked to describe his chronic aches ’n’ pains, Powers ticks off “my shoulders, my ankles, my knees. Anything with a joint is sore.”
The injury list is partially of his doing, of course. A barrel-chested, bull of a man, Powers relies on naturally heavy hands to inflict shots that he says are legendary among local fighters.
“In the business, a hard hit is called ‘a potato,’” he says. “And they call me Mr. Spuds. Write that down: in this business, when you hit someone hard, it’s called a potato. And they call me Mr. Spuds.” Duly noted.
The guest stars—well, they have a role to play, too. On Saturday, that meant the SICW importing Hillbilly Jim, who noted in a short, pleasant pre-match chat that he’s long-enjoyed fighting in St. Louis. And it’s the small pro shows that he says carry the torch for the wrestling he grew up taking part in; like Powers, he also said that it’s the presence of Simmons and Matysik that had him in town on a snowy, nasty Saturday night in mid-December. His presence was felt by the crowd, who paid $10 a head during the first intermission, to either get a signed photo from the skyscraping former WWF star, or a personalized photo with him. Seemed that both options were popular, as a line stretched three-quarters of the way around the ring. All for a few moments with a man who performed at Wrestlemania III, still the largest indoor match in history.
This night’s crowd, well, it was considerably smaller than the 94,000 at that long ago, WWF event, held at Detroit’s Pontiac Silverdome. But the atmosphere, several folks suggested, was just as lively, just as real in the small-scale setting of an ECCC.
We were there with a camera. Shots from the night are found below.
If your desire more info isn’t satisfied here, check the promotion’s website, full of breaking news and videos. See: saintlouiswrestling.com.
Photographs by Thomas Crone
