Stroke “Ain’t” No Joke Review
by Paul Langdon
Dynamo Pro Wrestling’s Stroke “Ain’t” No Joke benefit show not only provided pulse pounding entertainment for the whole family, but helped to raise money for the American Stroke Association.
A little over three months ago former wrestler “TNT” Kenny Garret suffered a stroke at the age of 46. In an interview with 89.5 the Wave Garret recalled the life-changing thought that he, “the guy who’s always got something to say… all of a sudden couldn’t say anything.” He’s managed to bounce back considerably well and is talking and walking again. But his realization of what could’ve happened lead to another epiphany, he said, “7 days later I actually walked out of the hospital and I said to myself: I’ve got to help these people, I’ve got to make people aware of this, this is something I need to get behind, and I can make a difference.”
He worked with Dynamo Pro Wrestling (a St. Louis based wrestling company with a history of charitable work) to put together a benefit show called Stroke “Ain’t” No Joke, where a portion of the proceeds would be donated to the American Stroke Association.
The show went off without a hitch this past Saturday at the Sports Academy in Glen Carbon, Illinois. With an estimated 200-250 spectators in attendance and a collection of both locally and internationally recognized wrestlers donating their time and talents in the ring, Stroke “Ain’t” No Joke proved to be a roaring success.
While every match that night was impressive, there are a few that stand out as being exceptionally exciting.
Jordynne Grace, a hard-hitting girl from Texas went to-to-toe with Kenny’s own daughter Santana Garrett, who currently wrestles on TNA Impact (a nationally televised weekly cable program) under the name Brittany. While Garret was certainly the more well known of the two, Grace held her own against the technically skilled and, at times, explosive style of Garret the majority of the match. In the end, Garret came out victorious, winning via pin fall, but only after an intense display of intestinal fortitude from both competitors.
Another mentionable match was a four-way dance between Davey Vega, Mike Outlaw, Steven Kennedy, and Dan Walsh with the High Voltage Livewire Championship on the line. Walsh has held this title for 5 years (a feat not often seen in modern professional wrestling), and he made it a point to vocally remind the audience of this throughout the entire match. Vega, a surprise addition to the card, served up his signature brand of precise, but still high impact, attacks. But despite this, Walsh managed to keep his title after pinning Outlaw, and his reign as the Live Wire Champion continues.
My personal favorite match of the night was between the inhospitable Gary Jay and the fun-loving Billy McNeil. McNeil has recently taken to wearing a gorilla mask to the ring and acting like an ape during the slower parts of his matches (it’s a performance that kids love and most of the audience finds hilarious). However, Jay didn’t find his opponent’s antics the slightest bit amusing. Despite the entertaining back and forth between these wrestlers, it was one of the more brutal matches of the night. Throughout the match, Jay would deliver some of his notorious chops to McNeil’s chest, leaving the struck flesh beet red. McNeil would go on to DDT Jay on the ring apron (which happens to be the hardest part of the mat, with the steel frame of the ring directly below it).
There was pin attempt after pin attempt by each competitor, but neither man was willing to stay down for the three count! When McNeil came down from the top rope with a frog splash across Jay’s torso, many people believed the match to be over. But Jay forced his shoulder up right before the referee’s hand slapped the mat for the third time. McNeil wasn’t going to slow down his assault, but his speed and unwavering will to act proved to be his downfall as he was caught by the viper-like reflexes of Gary Jay who quickly flipped his opponent upside-down and drove his skull into the mat with a Michinoku Driver. With that lightning fast maneuver, McNeil was out; Jay went for the pin and brought an abrupt end to one amazing match.
The main event of the evening went through a number of changes. It was originally supposed to be between the current Dynamo Pro Champion “The King of Chaos” Ricky Cruz and his old trainer, Pablo Marquez. But Marquez couldn’t make it due to family circumstances. During the Intermission Dynamo Pro’s Executive Director of Operations, Mark Bland, made this announcement only to be cut off by one of Ricky Cruz’s associates, Travis Cook (possibly the most despised manager in all of Dynamo Pro). Cook thought it hilarious that his friend Cruz wouldn’t have to wrestle that night, but Bland wasn’t going to let that happen. On the spot, Bland declared that Cruz would have to face off against “DirdEY” Jake Dirden.
Jake Dirden is a mountain of a man who’s had a number of negative run-ins with Cruz in the recent past. In an interview with 89.5 the Wave, Dirden expressed a passionate hatred of Cruz for taking his championship title a few months back and attempting to cut off his notably long beard. That same animosity he showed on-air at the Wave lead to an explosive attack at the very beginning of their match that quickly spilled into the audience and made its way around the arena. Once Dirden threw his rival back over the barricade and the action resumed where it belonged, the tag team of Jeremy Wyatt and Mark Sterling (The Kansas City Killers) ran out and jumped Dirden. Fortunately, Outkast and Shorty Biggs (The Bum Rush Brothers) came to the aid of their friend and for a few moments it was absolute chaos!
Bland returned to the ring and ordered that the match be restarted as a 3-on-3 tag match. Cruz and the Kansas City Killers worked well as a team; distracting the referee to cheat while keeping their opponent isolated within their corner. Altogether, it was an intense matchup, which seemed to work in favor of Cruz’s team. However, when Dirden catapulted himself into Ricky Cruz, sending them both tumbling over the top rope, it created opening for the Bum Rush Brothers to pin Sterling while all the other participants were sprawled around the outside of the ring. In the end, Dirden and the Bum Rush Brothers won the match, but Cruz let them know his reign of chaos wasn't over yet.
Dynamo Pro’s Stroke “Ain’t” No Joke certainly had a lot of action in the ring, but it also provided audience members with useful facts about strokes and featured a table covered in free literature about the subject. With a portion of the proceeds going towards the American Stroke association and the impressive turn out for the event, everyone there knew this particular show was something special.
For more information about building healthier lives, free of cardiovascular diseases and strokes you can check out www.strokeassociation.org, for more updates from 89.5 the Wave’s friends at Dynamo Pro Wrestling you can visit www.facebook.com/DynamoPro, and for exclusive Wave interviews you can go to www.facebook.com/TheWaveSTL.
