From Larry Goodman: Peachstate Wrestling Alliance celebrated their 6th Anniversary at the VFW Fairgrounds in Carrollton, GA with a sh...
Peachstate Wrestling Alliance celebrated their 6th Anniversary at the VFW Fairgrounds in Carrollton, GA with a show headlined by a two ring War Games pitting Team PWA (Exotic Ones plus two) against the Southern Cross faction led by the dastardly Dewitt Dawson.
Although they absorbed a hellacious beating in the process, Southern Cross emerged victorious via chicanery regarding their mysterious masked team member. The masked guy guy turned out to be a return to the dark side by Exotic One Tommy Too Much, who went absolutely berserk and asphyxiated fellow Exotic One Simon Sermon with a plastic bag.
Attendance was 300, the best number PWA has put on the board since the March 22 event featuring Jeff Hardy that drew a record crowd of 660. They were far from the rowdiest crowd I've seen at the Fairgrounds, which has seen more than it's fair share of nutty fan behavior, but the aftermath of the main event brought out the best (or worst) in them, depending on how you look at it.
It was a very good show overall -- five matches and each of them offered something different as a good circus should. The War Games was obviously the centerpiece and it came through with a heated, compelling finish. The body of the match was OK. The two ring War Games presents a difficult challenge in terms of how to stage the key spots so they stand out. A mass of bodies beating on each other in generic fashion becomes a blur and isn't all that interesting.
PWA promoter Shane Noles opened show with a heaping helping of War Games hype, and the announcement that the loser of the match between Adam Jacobs vs. Ace Haven would face Fred Yehi on June 28 in a type of match that had never taken place in the 45 year history of the building. Noles then introduced a new tag team said to be undefeated in the state of Georgia.
The Young Lions (Lex Lee & Kevin Coffman) entered the ring. They’re good looking kids with decent size and charisma. Lex is the son of “Nature Boy” Paul Lee. Coffman reminded me a bit of Matt Taven. They previously appeared here in April as participants in a Junior Scramble match.
Lee said they were destined to win the PWA tag titles (currently held by Southern Cross). Dawson came out to dispute that claim, stating the Lions hadn’t been off the tit long enough to demand a dad gum thing and that when it came to title shots, all roads led through Dawson. But Lee persisted until the champions appeared. Dawson said he was feeling so good about the War Games that he decided to use the Lions as a tune up. Leading to…
(1 Young Lions (Lex Lee & Kevin Coffman) defeated Southern Cross (Shane Marx & Casey Kincaide) to win the PWA Tag Team Titles in 17:25. The opening minutes saw Southern Cross dismantled Lee’s knee. Lions got untracked with double team offense that was rough around the edges. Their topes in stereo looked good. At their current stage of development, Lion’s selling and bumping looks better than their offense. The crowd was getting behind them fairly well though. Southern Cross got heat on Coffman, who used a missile dropkick to set up the hot tag. Marx cut off Lee’s house cleaning with a spinebuster, and Southern Cross set up for a catapult combo move. Lee countered with a sunset flip that was botched but saved it with a quick roll up on Kincaide. The shocking title change got the big pop they were looking for, but the booker is pushing it to put the titles on guys this green. It will be interesting to see how well the crowd buys into Lions as champions.
The crowd chanted “You got beat” at Southern Cross. Marx is great with his facial expressions in situation like this and he did not disappoint.
(2) Jimmy Rave defeated Stitch Sypher in 20:23. They opened with Rave putting Sypher through his paces on the mat. Definitely not Sypher’s strong suit but not a problem with Rave as the guide. Rave stalled and complained, and it was surprising to me that the crowd was more for Sypher than they were against Rave. Rave took a backdrop over the ropes and landed on the ring frames between the two rings set up side-by-side for the War Games. Ouch. Rave crawled under the ring and tried a sneak attack from the other side. But Sypher clotheslined Rave over the top and followed with a flip dive as pretty as you’re ever going to see. Sypher also hit a sweet top rope splash for a near fall. He was born to fly. The story of the match was Sypher’s resiliency. He kicked out Move That Rocked the World and the shadow STO before succumbing to a shining wizard.
Afterward, Sypher got a nice round of applause for his effort. It was the type of match that increases the stature of the loser in the eyes of the fans.
The returning Ultimate Dragon cut a promo, claiming that he bought the time. Dragon got “go away” heat complete with the “What?!” chant. Dragon asked what kind of anniversary show it would be without the man that won the first match in PWA history and was the first PWA Junior Champion? Answer from the guy sitting in front of me – a good one. Dragon challenged the undefeated wrestler in the back to find out what a real match was like.
(3) Odinson vs. Ultimate Dragon was ruled a double count out at 3:32. Odinson is a thick, powerhouse beast, like a green version of former Georgia star Orion Bishop, except not on Bishop's level as an athlete. Dragon attacked before the bell. Odinson rightfully shrugged off Dragon’s weak blows and blasted him with a shoulder tackle. Dragon persisted with a barrage of kicks and thrusts. Odinson was stunned but didn’t go down until Dragon used a side Russian legsweep. Odinson popped up and tried for a powerslam but Dragon slipped away. The low point was Odinson having to sell Dragon’s shitty spinkick off the ropes. The action spilled out side where they traded blows until referee Jeremy Black counted them out.
Postmatch, Dragon whacked Odinson’s back with a chair a couple of times. Odinson got pissed and challenged Dragon to a rematch and Dragon hightailed it out of there. I’m definitely not a member of the Ultimate Dragon Fan Club, but this was OK so long as Odinson beats his ass clean on June 28.
(4) Ace Haven (with Amy Haven) defeated Adam Jacobs in 4:10. A heel vs. heel match between former partners. Referee Tristan Michaels found knucks in Ace’s boot and a chain in his tights. Wouldn’t you know it? He found the identical stuff hidden in Jacobs’ gear. Jacobs addressed the crowd. “We’re friends so just shut up and let us handle our business.” Jacobs made a no-cheating pact with Ace. Mutual hair pulling ensued. Jacobs had a proposal: If Ace would lie down and let Jacobs pin him, he would give Ace the first shot after he beat Kevin Blue for the PWA Junior Title. Ace laid down. Jacobs made a nonchalant cover and Haven reversed it at the count of two. This was way more entertaining that it reads thanks to Jacobs. For my money, Adam Jacobs is one of the best heels in the state of Georgia. His instincts are spot on. It was the right spot on the card for comedy and it worked beautifully.
Noles announced that Jacobs’ consolation prize was taking Yehi on in a 10 round boxing match on June 28. The crowd popped huge for this. Noles promised to have judges from the Georgia Athletic Commission on hand for the occasion. Jacobs capped it off by throwing an epic fit.
(5) Southern Cross (PWA Heritage Champion Geter & Shane Marx & Casey Kincaide & Romeo defeated Team PWA (Rick Michaels & Simon Sermon & Tommy Too Much & Joey Kidman & Zach Daniels) in the War Games at 25:23. Geter and Kidman worked the first five minutes. I feared an ugly train wreck but this was actually just fine. For possibly the first time in War Games history, the babyfaces won the coin toss and ended up with the advantage for the lion's share of the match. Sermon was next and Geter took a beating from the former champion. There were some serious low blows here. A record for low blows may have been set in this match. Romeo was next. Four way action ensued. Tommy Too Much entered and absolutely wore Romeo out. Kincaide entered. The cavalcade of low blows continued with a top rope diving headbutt to Geter’s groin by TTM. Daniels hit the ring like a house of fire with something for every heel. Sermon did a ropes walk kneedrop on Geter. Marx was next. Michaels did his fire breathing entrance. It’s spectacular, but a sense of urgency seemed more appropriate for a War Games and why the hell would the powers that be turn the lights off with a match in progress? Michaels did a variation of the flip, flop and fly on Southern Cross. The music hit for the masked man. Time stood still. Sermon said he had promised to unmask this guy and told Dawson to get him out there or to get in the ring himself. Dawson said the masked man was closer than he knew. Behind Sermon’s back, Tommy Too Much donned a black mask and took off his boot. Sermon and Michaels both bled after taking boot shots to the head. With the numbers suddenly against them, all of the babyfaces were left laying. TTM put a plastic bag over Sermon’s head and choked the life out of him. Michaels called it quits and threw his body over Sermon.
The carnage continued. Romeo decked two dimwit refs. TTM went back to choking Sermon, this time with a towel. Marx finally pulled him off. TTM went to the back but not for long. He was soon back choking Sermon with the towel like a madman possessed. Select ringside fans were starting to lose it. Security had to get involved to keep them from going after Romeo. Noles came to ringside and threatened to terminate the employment of Southern Cross if they didn’t leave the ring, and that finally got them out of there. Noles said that if necessary, he would scour the entire state to find men to fight Southern Cross. PWA personnel swarmed around an unconscious Sermon to close out the show.
