Dynamo Pro Wrestling action was highly contested Saturday night in a series of matches at the Sports Academy in Glen Carbon. (Photos by Dan Brannan) GLEN CARBON - Dynamo Pro Wrestling (DPW) heavyweight champion Mike Outlaw made his first title defense a successful one when he pinned Jon Webb, one half of the current DPW tag team champions, in a main-event triple-threat match at the organization's monthly card Saturday night at The Sports Academy In Glen Carbon. Brandon “Espy” Espinosa, the Missouri Wrestling Revival state champion, was also involved in the title bout.

Outlaw, who won the DPW crown last month in Wood River, altered his regular approach in order to make his initial defense a good one.

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“A triple threat match - they're always difficult because you don't have to get pinned to lose the match.” Outlaw said in a post-match interview. “And being in a match with two guys as good as Jon Webb and Brandon Espinosa, two champions in their own right, I have to go in with a different strategy. I couldn't go in and just try to be the better man, I have to be the smarter man.”

The strategy he employed worked well. A triple-threat match involves all three wrestlers competing against each other at the same time, with either challenger winning the title by pinfall or submission. However, the champion retains his belt by doing the same to either one of his opponents. Outlaw bided his time while both Webb and Espinosa locked horns for much of the latter part of the match.

It didn't start that way, however, as Outlaw tossed Webb outside the ring to open the contest. Espinosa and Outlaw then went at it, exchanging blows. Much of the action occurred outside the ring during the first five minutes, as the trio went after each other. Espinosa provided a highlight with a reverse backflip off the top rope into both Webb and Outlaw to send all three sprawling on the floor.

As the match wore on, Outlaw laid low while Espinosa and Webb tangled with each other. However, all three wrestlers had near-falls on different occasions, kicking out just before the three-count from the referee. Outlaw then waited for his opportunity outside the ring while Webb and Espinosa battled inside, Espinosa getting the better of the exchanges.

Outlaw saw his chance and took it after a heavy exchange between the challengers, getting in the ring and pinning Webb at 17:41 to retain the heavyweight crown.

“I don't know if some of the fans agree with it,” Outlaw said. “Whether they agree with it or not, you cannot argue the fact that I'm still the Dynamo Pro heavyweight champion.”

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Outlaw repeated his pledge to be a fighting champion, open to any and all challengers who wish to compete for his crown.

“It's going to continue, a fighting champion,” he said. “I don't care if you're a champion, I don't care if you're a former champion, I don't care if you're a guy in the bleachers, I don't care who you are. I'm the Dynamo Pro heavyweight champion, and if you wanna fight me, I'm not hard to find.”

In another championship bout, OuTtKaSt reclaimed the D-I title in a rematch against his tag-team partner Shorty Biggs. Biggs had won the championship last month in Wood River and granted his friend a instant rematch, and both wrestlers went at it tooth and nail in an impressive contest. Both wrestlers put it on the line in a evenly-matched contest, but it was OuTtKaSt who came up with the pinfall at 17:16. After the match, while the two congratulated each other, The Filipino Warrior, Elvis Aliaba, invaded the ring and attacked the pair. Aliaba, who had won his bout on the undercard, angrily challenged OuTtKaSt to a title match, which was accepted.

In between title matches, The Alternative Ozzie Gallagher and The Wind of Destruction, Makaze, squared off in a hair vs. mask contest. If Makaze lost, he would be forced to unmask in the ring while Gallagher would have to have his long black hair cut if he lost. The match started with Gallagher being the aggressor, but Makaze soon turned the tables on his opponent, taking things outside the ring and into the crowd, punishing Gallagher with chops. Gallagher fought back with blows of his own, and things soon returned inside the ring.

The match stayed even after that, with both wrestlers scoring near-falls, but never being able to get the three-count needed. The break came when Makaze trapped Gallagher in a Boston Crab hold, putting the pressure on his opponent's knees and back before Gallagher tapped out at 17:48. Gallagher, facing a haircut in the middle of the ring, tried to duck out backstage, but was soon brought back into the ring where Makaze cut off locks of his hair.

In earlier bouts, C.J. Shine pinned The Prodigy Matt Kennay (accompanied by Sophie Darling) at 6:46 to get the card under way. Jackal pinned The Cowboy Ric Maverick with a rolling cradle at 5:16 to win the second match, but Maverick took exception to the fall and punished Jackal before being chased from the ring.

In a tag team bout, Keon Option and Justin D'Air defeated The Midnight Society (Jason Khaos and Billy McNeil) on a pin at 8:38, while Aliaba defeated The Master of Chaos Ricky Cruz on a pinfall at 10:20.

Aliaba and OuTtKaSt will square off for the D-I championship when DPW holds its next card Saturday, Oct. 15 at The Sports Academy. Bell time will be 8 p.m.

 Dan Brannan also contributed to this story.

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