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Mr. Saturday Night's "homecoming" a success

Posted: Feb 27th 2012 By: mikeiles

Over 600 fans packed into the Civic Center in Miami this past Saturday night for Mid-States Wrestling's "Smashlahoma". Some were there because they wanted to see some hard hitting pro wrestling. Some were there to witness the first pro wrestling show in the city in quite a few years. Some were there to see the legends that were scheduled, Hacksaw Butch Reed and Beautiful Bobby Eaton. Some were there to see what all the hubbub was about in regards to Mid-States Wrestling. But there were another group of people there to see the "homecoming" of a local wrestler. That wrestler was "Mr. Saturday Night" Michael Barry.

Michael Barry is originally from Quapaw, Oklahoma which is 10 miles away from Miami. He was the class president of his senior class at Quapaw High School. He has traveled around the country wrestling. But returning to his old stomping grounds to wrestle is something he hasn't been able to do for a while. The closest he has been able to wrestle on a show has been in Spavinaw, Oklahoma (about an hour away). Mid-States Wrestling used to run shows in Pittsburg, Kansas (also about an hour away) but they haven't been there since 2006. Never has Barry been able to wrestle on a show and have a "home field advantage". And that "home field advantage" was very obvious as well. At nearly every wrestling show he appears on, including Mid-States Wrestling shows in their hometown of Harrison, Arkansas, he is one of the most hated wrestlers on the card. However, on Saturday, he was the most beloved.

He started his night by facing Dirty Dutch Hagen, who hasn't been seen wrestling anywhere in Oklahoma since October 2011. As Barry was introduced by ring announcer Mike Iles as "originally hailing from Quapaw, Oklahoma" the cheers were deafening. Barry strode to the ring smiling ear to ear. He got the crowd revved up and both he and Hagen vied for the crowd's adulation, but it was no match. The crowd knew they wanted to cheer for the man from Quapaw instead on the man from Luxembourg, Luxembourg. Barry was "one of their own". As the match started, it became obvious that Barry and Hagen are no strangers to each other as they have wrestled several times in the past. In was a hard hitting match, with both wrestlers using high impact moves. In the end, Barry got the pinfall victory after hitting Hagen with The Rain Maker.

But "Mr. Saturday Night" wasn't quite finished as he was one of the participants in the main event Battle Royal. The villains (Rick Russo, Se7en, Dutch Hagen, Tim Rockwell, & Cast-Iron Cothern) far outnumbered the heroes (Michael Barry, Mitch Baxter, & S. L. U. G. G.) in the Battle Royal itself. That outnumbering got even worse when Barry attacked Dustin Heritage who was still hanging around at ringside after losing the previous match. Barry slammed Heritage into the ringside tables, catapulted him into the ring post, and then threw him into the ring, making Heritage an official participant. The heroes being outnumbered definitely worked against them as the villains used the numbers game to get the advantage. The final four came down to Rockwell, Cothern, Heritage, and Barry. As Cothern tried to pull down the top rope as Rockwell threw Barry towards it, Barry reversed and Rockwell got eliminated, followed immediately by Cothern's elimination. It now came down to Barry and Heritage. The two combatants went at it tooth and nail. Barry got the upper hand and lifted Heritage up for The Rain Maker. As he released, Heritage escaped and hit Barry with a Code Breaker. It looked bleak at that point, until Barry got Heritage up on his shoulders again and unceremoniously dumped Heritage over the top rope for the win. The crowd erupted after the win. Barry then was thrown some of his T-shirts and he threw them to the crowd as the show came to a close.

There has already been talk for Mid-States Wrestling to return to Miami very soon, possibly as soon as this summer. The fans in attendance enjoyed the show and were loud in their cheering throughout the night. If and when they return, the "hometown hero" Michael Barry will probably be grinning ear to ear yet again.

Other News & Notes from "Smashlahoma":

-This show was the first show in Miami that Oklafan has documented since October 5, 1982. On that Mid-South Wrestling show, one match was advertised, Dewey Robertson, Hercules Hernandez, & Kim Duk vs. Mike George, Mark Romero, & Rufus R. Jones. We do not have any results from the show documented either. Although when talking to some local fans, they said they saw several shows in Miami since then.

-To start the show, ring announcer Mike Iles said that he had been working for Mid-States Wrestling since 2005 and has been wanting the company to come to Oklahoma to show the company "Okie hospitality" and because he has always wanted to say to people from his home state of Oklahoma "Welcome to Mid-States Wrestling!!!"

-Darling Dustin Heritage defeated The Canadian Red Devil in the opening match to retain the Independent Wrestling International Title, although he used a handful of tights for leverage. After the match, acting Mid-States Wrestling commissioner Jason Jones announced that was foul play, and said Heritage and CRD would face each other again in the first match after intermission. He also stated that because Heritage had Katy at ringside as a distraction, CRD would have Hacksaw Butch Reed at ringside to level the playing field. In the rematch, Katy continued to interfere but as she got on the apron to hit CRD with the title, Butch came to the rescue. She jumped down and CRD rolled up Heritage for the win and the title. It is the first title won by CRD in Mid-States Wrestling.

-Beautiful Bobby Eaton was inducted into the Mid-States Wrestling Hall of Fame and given the Lifetime Achievement Award. Ring announcer Mike Iles read the induction as Jason Jones and Bob Burk stood in the ring with Eaton. After Eaton left the ring to the back, Iles asked how many fans got goosebumps when The Midnight Express theme song played. The fans cheered their answer back to him.

-The Spine Busters (Tim Rockwell & Cast-Iron Cothern) successfully defended the Southern Tag Team Titles by defeating the team of Brandon Walker & X-Cal. Rockwell & Cothern had their manager Big Stevie Caballero at ringside with them and he and his megaphone came into play at the end. As Walker was thrown into the ropes, Caballero hit him in the back with the megaphone and The Spine Busters picked up the win. But they weren't finished. They brought a table into the ring and double team power bombed X-Cal through it. EMTs were still checking on X-Cal after the show.

-Speaking of tables, the second match of the night was a Tables Match featuring Se7en vs. Mitch Baxter. There were several close calls including both wrestlers having to slam on their brakes before hitting the table. The finish came when Baxter fought out of a possible Superplex into a Sunset Flip to powerbomb Se7en through the table.

-Rick Russo won in his Mid-States Wrestling debut by defeating S. L. U. G. G., although he used a chain behind the referee's back to knockout his opponent and win the match.

-Other Mid-States Wrestling stars that were in attendance and signed autographs during intermission were Brieanna Bringle, former Heavyweight Champion Jake Boulder, and current Heavyweight Champion Gary Gram.

-"Smashlahoma" was video taped for DVD sale. Release date has not yet been announced. The price was announced at $15.

For more information of Mid-States Wrestling go to Facebook.com/MidStatesWrestling.