A Live Wrestling Event by CSW

Remember, Remember the Fifth of November….

Central States Wrestling has become a big part of “getting out of the house” for my son and I each month. For anyone that reads this blog on a regular basis, you would know that I am always looking for good, family-friendly entertainment to take him to, and something like this has been a great find! I’ve gone to indy wrestling shows for decades now, but I honestly believe CSW has the best product of any of the local ones I have personally attended. So far, we have only attended four shows by CSW, but already feel like seasoned veterans and love the atmosphere of every show. The crowd is both energetic and diverse, leading to some great conversations while the show is going on, and the shows have been amazing so far. The wrestlers are amazing with kids in the audience, even when their job is to be a bad guy and make them mad.

If interactions with the talent is something you are looking for, CSW has ample opportunities for meeting wrestlers, buying items at the gimmick table, getting photos done and more. I love getting pictures and autographs of the wrestlers, and my son has had a blast meeting some of his favorites in the past so far. If you attend one of these, make sure to bring some cash, as you will definitely want to have it on hand.

This show was bound to be an interesting one largely due to a change in venue. Previously CSW ran in Overland Park, Kansas at the Camelot Ballroom, but had such an insane turn out for the last show that they booked the National Guard Armory in Kansas City, Kansas as a well-needed upgrade. They had well over 500 in attendance for that show, which is crazy considering I have gone to NXT and TNA Wrestling house shows with less draw in this same area. The National Guard Armory holds a lot of significance for the historic namesake for CSW, as helmed by Bob Geigel and Harley Race in the territory days, as it was one of a handful of major Kansas City venues they ran shows in. The most notable venue was probably Memorial Hall, which would be awesome to see a show run in our modern era just for the nostalgia alone. With this being a modern revitalization of CSW, tapping into such a big part of Kansas City History is a HUGE deal. A venue such as this is only fitting and makes everything feel that much more important. It also allows the company to expand, and I can’t wait for the upper level to be full at a future show!

For more CSW reviews:

CSW Rise of an Outlaw

CSW Horsemen Country

If you want other wrestling shows, I would recommend Fite.TV. You can get some FITE credits (10 dollars I believe) with the following code: “6m6lyyn”. I’m sure there are other ways to watch some of these, but FITE has a solid interface and has been worth it so far.

For anyone wanting to watch this, it’s free on YouTube below:

The Card:

• “The Raees” Arjun Singh Defeated Mighty Micah
• “The Kings Road Slayer” Derek Neal Defeated Mike Outlaw
• The Howletts Defeated “Spitfire” Davey Vega & “The Bounty Hunter” Bryan Keith
• Dan The Dad vs. “The Black Diamond” Luke Langley
• Scott Taylor vs. Anakin Murphy
• “The Big Strong Boy” Ethan Price Defeated Luigi Primo
• Main Event – A Fatal Four Way To Crown A New Central States Champion “The Mile High Magnum” Dak Draper Defeated “The Monarch” Jeremy Wyatt, Moonshine Mantell w/ Greg Jovi, and “The Quad-Fatha” Camaro Jackson.

My Thoughts:

As I’ve stated before, my methodology for this is to avoid giving arbitrary star ratings or anything resembling the typical ratings people give in wrestling reviews. I usually go through the show and pull a half-dozen or so things that I thought were significant or that I liked. You might think some of my choices are dumb and that’s okay – we all like different things!

(My apologies for crappy pictures I took during the show, my phone does not do well with low-light)

The Venue:

I talked about this a lot above, but The KCK National Guard Armory is a solid upgrade for this company, and I can’t wait to see if they can fill it up eventually! There’s an entire upper level in addition to the floor seating area, and I’m sure, if packed full, it could easily handle 1000 fans.

“The Raees” Arjun Singh is Somebody to Watch:

This was the second time I’ve seen Arjun Singh wrestle (that I know of), and so far he is pretty impressive as a no-nonsense heel with an insufferable manager as aggravating as Roscoe Leech. From what I can gather, winning this match is a stepping stone to making him a contender for one of the main titles, something that should be pretty good. He cut a solid promo and seems to have “the look” that should take him far.

Love Me Some Comedy Wrestlers:

While some get all mad because their favorite podcaster has told them not to have fun during wrestling, I love comedy wrestling if done well. So far I have seen Luigi Primo twice, and he is easily one of the most over guys at any of these shows. Get gets the crowd fired up, and is always funny. If matched with an equally hilarious performer like Ethan Price, and you have a solidly fun match. Luigi wasn’t able to best “The Big Strong Boy”, but vows to get a win at the next show. The rematch ought to be solid!

The Howletts Always Impress Me:

There’s a reason why you always see the crowd of any CSW show peppered with “The Tribe” shirts, and that’s because Anaya and Hoodie Howlett (with Coash Frass) are a big part of Kansas City wrestling, and are beloved by the crowd. And it’s not just them, I have NEVER seen a group of wrestlers that are as good with the fans as the CSW workers, and they always make it a a point to make all the kids in attendance leave with a smile. Specifically, The Howletts have become some of my son’s instant favorites, ever since Hoodie handed him his ring-worn shirt at one of the shows. He’s had pictures taken with them, and even had Anaya photobomb another unrelated picture at a recent show. It’s a spectacular atmosphere that you can’t get from any of the larger companies. Going into the next show, all he talks about (when it comes to wrestling) is the fact that he hopes they win their next big match, otherwise he’s worries “they can’t be friends anymore.”

Roscoe Leech Getting his Comeuppance Will be Amazing:

Of course The Premiere had to butt into the match between The Howletts and “Spitfire” Davey Vega & “The Bounty Hunter” Bryan Keith as is the tradition. their manager, Roscoe Leech, got physical and started attacking everyone involved in the match. This was fitting since they were already beat down from a hard fought match, I am almost positive he wouldn’t have done that when everyone was at full strength! With the announcement of the next show being a steel cage themed show, the long-term storyline involving The Tribe/ The Howletts vs The Premiere is finally coming to a head. Fans have witnessed month after month of cowardly attacks by Roscoe and his goons on The Howletts and finally he may face repercussions from it. At Deal With the Steel IV, the major stipulation is that if The Tribe wins Coach Frass Azab gets to face Roscoe one-on-one in the cage after the match. If they lose, well, that’s it for this insanely popular tag team. This is going to blow the roof off of the National Guard Armory!

Shame on You!

What a crazy surprise it was to find out that Central States Wrestling had acquired the ability to have the actual CSW belt from the past. I won’t pretend to know who had the belt previously, but I think it was in use in Kansas up until very recently, but it’s going to be great to have it back. Dak Draper has been on a roll with his high profile matches at events like NWA Hard Times in new Orleans, and this title reign definition will cement him as one of the main draws of this area. The main event was pretty awesome, and I was glad that guys like Moonshine Mantell and Camaro Jackson got to get all their stuff in and look like a million bucks in the process. The main event scene for CSW is shaping up to be nothing short of amazing going into 2023.

Conclusion:

This was an awesome show as always, and even though there was a new venue, the show went off with minimal problems. I am very glad I took a random chance last summer and started attending these, it has been a highlight of my year. Central States Wrestling has put back into Kansas City what has been missing from the local wrestling scene – the community aspect. I’m sure I likely missed some great wrestling in the past twenty years because I mostly attended shows that were basically training camps or TV-based product, but this year has done a lot to rectify that situation. So far, the other fans have been amazing, the staff are great, and the product is top notch. I will likely do a top ten matches list like I did last year, and no-joke I think at least one CSW match will be making the list, and it’s usually all TV stuff. Literally one week from now will be Deal With the Steel IV, a match that has been billed as being their biggest show of the year. So far, the card looks absolutely awesome, and I’m sure there will be some crazy surprises to keep the crowd coming back throughout 2023. I just hope the weather stays relatively chill, because I absolutely do not want to miss it. Join me again next week, as I cover that show likely with yet more of my poor photography skills!

“Deal With The Steel IV, takes place on Saturday, December 10th, 2022 at the Kansas City, Kansas National Guard Armory located at 100 S 20th Street, Kansas City, KS 66102. Doors will open at 6pm with a 7:05pm bell time. Click Here For More Info