The Mid-Michigan’s Finest series goes us up north for some wrestling action
By: Austin Gonzales
KALKASKA – On Saturday, Feb. 11 Mr Chainsaw Pro Wrestling welcomed die-hard wrestling fans to the Kaliseum Recreation Complex in Kalkaska for some exciting in-ring action. The event is also available on-demand on IndependentWrestling.tv. The event itself was promoted as MCPW’s “Surprise Party” where every match on the card is a surprise to the audience. The promotion only advertised twelve wrestlers on social media platforms prior to the event.
The Collegiate team had the honor of attending the event to witness upcoming mid-Michigan’s Finest interviewee, Alex Little, perform in the ring.
The event kicked off with a singles match to pump up the crowd between ‘Shogun’ Jackson Stone and Tommy Vendetta of MCPW’s Death Threat Army (DTA) faction. Shogun showed an impressive display of strengths against his smaller opponent. Vendetta would come out on top with a flurry of strikes, a curb stomp and a classic piledriver to earn his victory.
The crowd was electric in this small community center space. If I didn’t know any better, I’d feel like I was in a whole sports arena. As the next match continued, Thoss F’n Guys took on Kevin Kalloway and Sean Tyler, and the crowd stayed hot. Jay Leo and Don Tone of Those F’n Guys played to the crowd as villainous heels to keep them pumping – especially when Tyler and Kalloway picked up the pin fall victory!
The next match is another singles contest. The Great Tiger made his way to the ring, paying homage to Japanese professional wrestling character, Tiger Mask. Unfortunately for The Great Tiger, his tribute to legends wasn’t enough for the massive Devon Ryker. Ryker demolished Tiger to a pin-fall victory, showing utter dominance.
The last match before intermission was an eight-person tag team contest. MCPW owner Mikey Zeroe led a team of Rae Larson, Brutus Atwell and ‘Cannonball’Alex Steele against Thomas Bailey, El Noctambulo, The Green Mamba and The Gazelle. Gazelle is our mid-Michigan’s finest star this evening; under the mask is Alex Little, a Bay City Central high school alumni who started his training in wrestling in 2019, just before the COVID-19 pandemic. The match was a hodgepodge of amazing moves, comedy and fanfare to send the fans happy to intermission. Rae Larson would score the pin fall for her team on Gazelle, but our green masked friend took his loss in stride, dancing with the winning team post-match. Well, it was his unconscious body being Weekend-at-Bernied by the victorious team (and his partner) while the fans cheered on. After the match, MCPW owner Mikey Zeroe announced that Rae Larson will challenge for the MCPW Heavyweight Title on for their March 30 event.
During intermission, wrestlers from the past matches came out and mingled with the audience. Getting pictures, signing autographs and just chatting people up.
When we return from intermission, we come to another tag team match. Chris Moore and Jumal Kyng take on the team of Freedom Ramsay and LaDon Sanders. Everyone in this match went 100% to get the crowd hopping again after a relaxing intermission. During the match, when trying to perform tag team offense, Kyng carried Moore on his shoulders to drop him forward onto their opponent lying on the mat. As Moore got onto Kyng’s shoulders from the top rope turnbuckle corner, Kyng walked forward and Moore fell backwards onto his head. Moore laid in the ring trying to recoup himself while the referee and staff checked on him. Kyng would finish the match seconds later. Luckily, Moore made it to his feet and showed the crowd he was alright.
Mondo Real made his way to the ring for an intergender singles match against the owl themed masked, Stella Buho. Real carried a frying pan to the ring. Boasting about how, to prepare for his match, he cooked up owl eggs for breakfast. Budo kicked Mondo in the head and his eggs went flying everywhere! Budo walked away the winner of this contest.
The semi-main event of the evening is a title match! The Death Threat Army’s KJ Reynolds and Ryan Matthias put their MCPW Tag Team Titles on the line against crowd favorite, Solo and his surprise partner, Kyler Coleman. Coleman is well-hated among the crowd for his pretty-boy posh attitude. But he paired up with Solo tonight as a surprise partner. The DTA would successfully retain their titles not without Solo and Coleman putting on a surprising display of teamwork.
Side note, you would never guess a team called Death Threat Army would make Rascal Flatts’ “Life is a Highway” their entrance song.
After the match, Moore and Kyng would challenge the DTA for tag gold.
The main event of the evening: DTA leader Aaron Orion puts the MCPW Heavyweight Championship on the line against a mystery opponent. To the audience’s surprise, Orion’s opponent was former Impact X-Divison Champion, Rohit Raju. Raju, a Saginaw local, is a veteran in the industry. He has performed for high profile promotions such as All Elite Wrestling and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. Despite his high profile appearance, the crowd was still on the side of local promotion favorite, Aaron Orion. Raju pushed the Flint local to his limits, but it would be Orion who would emerge victorious this night.
Orion celebrated his victory in the ring as he mentally prepares for his next title match on Mar. 30, at MCPW “Armed for Battle” at the Kaliseum.
For more information about Mr. Chainsaw Pro Wrestling, check out the MCPW website!
MCPW will be returning to the Kaliseum on the following Saturday 2024 dates:
– March 30
– May 11
– July 27
– September 7
– November 2