I had taken off a few months from MPX because I needed it creatively and because of other stuff that required my attention. I brought my own chair for the first time in forever. The entire crowd was packed. There were a lot of people there for the first time. There was a lot of excitement in the air.

Dark match: Claudia vs. Livi la Vida Loca

In a rare treat, I taped this match (mostly because I love to support women’s wrestling) which can be found here. You can judge this for yourself, but I thought it was a fun little match with a story to tell. Livi is pretty entertaining in the ring. While she’s getting to a place where she can work, she’s a good storyteller. I’d like to see Livi branch out beyond MPX to see what else she can do in this state. Texas is a real hotbed, and I think she can contribute in the mix.

Winner: Livi

The guy who is always selling raffle tickets has a name-Ben. He is a host or something. He introduced his broadcast partner for the night-James Hawke. It’s tough to say if there is a more hated person in that company. I almost couldn’t hear him because of the crowd reaction. He’s come a long way from the person I once called “The Crowd Killer.” They were about to make a big announcement and Kyle Davis came out and help up the MPX belt for no reason for way too long. Ben or somebody made the new announcement-a new General Manager. I swear this company has had 4 GM’s this year. But it was great to see who came back as the GM-Kate Karoll. It’s our Kate, just with a differently spelled last name. The crowd went nuts for her. She’s been the most over figure in the company since it started. It was a great moment. I think I might have even smiled, which doesn’t happen often.

Kate announced that Kyle Davis’ contract had come across her desk, and he has a stipulation that he must wrestle once a year. So they began to take a collection to see who he would wrestle. This bothered me a little. I’ve already paid you my money and it’s not good enough to get the best show possible? If they’re wanting to do a donation, why not for the Athena Recovery Fund? Kate began talking again and was interrupted. It was LLP. Kate announced his opponent as being Kenny Steele.

First match: LLP vs. Kenny Steele

He is really quite good on the mic. This guy is quite near a total package when it comes to physique, ring presence & mic work. The major knock he’s going to face is his height. But ACH has proven that height isn’t a career killer. He is a lot better than his amount of experience shows. Kenny Steele came out, and I wrote down who is this guy? A few months ago, he had no idea what to do as a face. He was a totally different wrestler. He was getting very stagnant as a heel. It turns out the face turn worked out very nicely for him. It was a pretty decent match.

Winner: Steele

Second match: Larry Canis vs. “Irresistible” Eric McDonald

Just in case you think you’ve seen it all, here is an example of how irresistible he is. It’s like the late John Tenta doing a handsome stranger gimmick. It’s part of the charm and the utter absurdity of it all. Larry Canis looks like the love child of Pacino’s Serpico and baseball reliever Brian Wilson. This was my first time to see him. I’m not sure if he’s an MPX “original,” but he’s coming along just fine. The crowd loves him, and they even have a “Fear the Beard” chant. The crowd was so into this.

Winner: McDonald

Third match: Rabid Empire (JD Kros & Michael Schaeffer) w/Nigel Rabid vs. Asian Nation (Li Fang & Matt Andrews) w/James Johnson

This is my first time to see Schaeffer, so forgive my spelling if incorrect. Kros is continuing to impress me. He is an air game away from reminding me of Bobby Eaton. I could see him lasting very long as a tag team specialist. I was very impressed with Schaeffer’s work here. He came out wearing an Asian Nation t-shirt. He spent most of the time jawing with the fans.  Li now has a beard that looks pretty awesome. The match flowed well and was paced nicely.

Winner: Nation

Fourth match: Scott McKenzie vs. Zero the Antihero w/Carlos Esquivel

This is my first time to see McKenzie (I believe). The man must have a long history in Texas but not in MPX. He doesn’t carry himself like a rookie. He had nice ring presence and focus. Zero did the move that Kevin Steen does where he does the cannonball flip onto a guy sitting in the corner. After Kate and the yellow chair (which was raffled off tonight), Zero is probably the most over figure in MPX. He gets a “Z the People” chant from the front row. McKenzie did his finisher and put Zero out for the 3 count.

Winner: McKenzie

McKenzie attacked Carlos after the match. He took the mic and cut a very nice, simple promo.

Fifth match: Frankie Fisher (c)  w/Nigel Rabid vs. BC the Money Man

Perhaps it’s just this particular crowd, but Frankie has been monster over. I’m really loving this incarnation of BC. He’s tough, in-your-face. He is so charismatic that even when you hate him, you hate him with a smile. He’s so good on the mic. I think he’d be able to make quite the impact in Texas providing he steps out. Frankie has been working so much on his physique. I think it was 2010 that I first found MPX. I haven’t seen Frankie in this great shape in that time. He is so well-conditioned, a totally different guy. This was a really nice match with a continuation of the Nigel-Frankie storyline.

Winner: Frankie

Sixth match: “The Unholy One” Gregory James vs. “Flawless” Jerome Daniels

I’m going to get to the main event so bear with me if I stop for a bit to focus on this match. The main event we all knew was going to be great. But this match turned out to be the big surprise of the night. Not that I expected these two to have a bad match. But I didn’t expect it to be THIS good. There are some mythical creatures in this world: unicorns, Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy. You can now add a new one to that list: a bad Jerome Daniels match. Plus Greg is one of the best things to come out of the Dallas area in the past 5 years. They both stole the show.

Winner: Jerome

Main event: JT LaMotta vs. Andy Dalton vs. Matt Palmer

I put my notebook down for this. There are moments where I need to stop reporting and just enjoy. I knew this was going to be an epic match. It transcended a match into a momentous experience. I really felt like I was a part of something special. LaMotta, who has been a mainstay of Texas and beyond for a LONG time, had decided this was going to be his last match in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. Palmer and Dalton had done their share of matches with LaMotta, so they were perfect for the ending of his last chapter. It was about as epic of a match as one can see live. Factor in the crowd, emotion and ambiance, I’d have to call this one of the best matches I’ve ever seen live.

Winner: LaMotta

There was a video package and they gave LaMotta the mic. He was honest and very grateful. It was so great to be a part of this moment.

All in all… There was a rabid, wild crowd all night. I can’t think of a bad match all night. There are so many new stories to be told here. McDonald is a sight to behold. The work was very clean overall tonight. It was nice to feel rejuvenated and a new start.

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