The second match featured Indiana State Championship Dave Allen vs. Johnny Showtime.  Dave Allen had a cheering section of one, a young boy who had a “Dave Allen Fan Club” sign; his parents should be ashamed.  The end of the match was eventful; Johnny Showtime pinned Allen near the ropes, and the ref counted three and called for the bell – but at the same time, he noticed Allen’s foot had been on the ropes, so he ordered the match resumed … and this time, Allen won, to retain his title. (Below left, Showtime kicks Allen in the midsection.)

The ARWPRO Women’s Championship was up for grabs next, with champ Moxie Mollie defending against Melanie Cruz.  The confusion at the end of the Indiana State Championship match was just a warm up for this one. At one point in the match, Melanie Cruz got frustrated and clotheslined the ref.  A second ref came out, and he must not have noticed the transgression, because he allowed the match to continue, and counted to three when Cruz  had Mollie pinned quickly afterwards.  As he announced the winner and new champion, the original ref came back into the ring, asserting that Cruz was disqualified because she had clotheslined him.  The refs started shoving each other!  Moxie Mollie, recovering from a kick to the mush from Cruz, was demanding the match be restarted!  King Bishop was quickly out to restore order; he announced that the title was being held up, with the rematch to take place at the next ARWPRO show on Sept 8 in Lake Station, IN.   (I did not get a picture of this match; I’ll blame my wife, who arrived at the show right at the start of this match, so I was being a good husband and talking to her …. a bit.  Love ya sweetie!).

After intermission, WWF star Eugene came out to entertain the crowd and beat up Nick Cutler.  My wife was impressed with Cutler’s chest hair (in a “wow, is that real?” kind of way, not in a “hubba hubba” kind of way).  Eugene was not, and he got the win.  Below left, Eugene helps a boy in the front celebrate his 5th birthday by having him count the 5 punches he was giving to Cutler.

The next match started out as a battle between ARWPRO Heavyweight Champion Max Holiday defending against Drex Odell, representing The Family.  But it quickly degenerated into a DQ as other members of The Family came out and interfered.  Drex Odell was the only one out there not wearing a black shirt, and I had to remind myself a few times that he was actually part of The Family.  Below right, Odell dodges out of the way at the last second.  Farther below, left, Holiday raises his title.

B.O.W. and The Machine sweated and talked smack at each other through a match that ended with Machine victorious.  The theme of the match was, “It’s hot, count faster, ref!”  Below right, B.O.W. is about to plant Machine into the mat.

The main event of the show started out as Tommy Dreamer vs. Ivan Manson in a Chicago Street Fight.  But as they are known to do, The Family carried on their grudge against Manson by running out and ruining this match, too!  This pissed off Tommy Dreamer, who says he didn’t come all this way for nothing, and the match was turned into a hardcore tag team match between Dreamer & Manson vs. The Family (it was actually 4 on 2, but who’s counting).  Dreamer and Manson came away with the win.  Below left, Dreamer waits for his moment against Odell.

After the match, Tommy Dreamer did a really nice thing and called all kids under 12 into the ring for a big group picture.  It’s all, he says, about making memories for them.

The next ARWPRO show is on Saturday September 8, 7:00pm, at the American Legion Post 100 in Lake Station, IN.