Photos Courtesy of Corey Nachamkin From Larry Goodman: It was “Jimmy Rave Appreciation Night” at Atlanta Wrestling Entertainment, ...
Photos Courtesy of Corey Nachamkin |
From Larry Goodman:
It was “Jimmy Rave Appreciation Night” at Atlanta Wrestling Entertainment, and those fortunate enough to be in attendance were treated to something special...
A standout singles match the likes of which won’t be seen on any other Georgia indy show this year, a tribute to the talent, professionalism and passion of Rave and special guest EVOLVE Champion Drew Galloway. They went 25 minutes plus for a crowd of less than 100. My sense was the match was no different and no less than what they would have done for a crowd of thousands.
By all accounts, Galloway was a class act all the way. He went above and beyond to give individual attention to fans during the meet and greet. He busted ass in the ring. He has the undeniable presence of a major league star. You would think the unique combination of attributes Galloway possesses would make him everything WWE could ever want. I can only attribute the fact they let him go to the company’s warped backstage politics.
Just as Rick Michaels was Georgia wrestling’s comeback story last year, Rave is fast becoming that guy for 2014. Rave worked the opening match at Peachstate Wrestling Alliance in Carrollton and drove 80 miles arriving in Canton 30 minutes before going to the ring for his first ever match with Galloway. You would have never known it from what transpired. Rave was up to the task and then some. Afterward, Rave’s chest was a mass of welts from the beating he absorbed.
AWE’s last show was fine for the wrestling but fell short on entertainment. Galloway vs. Rave provided plenty of each.
This was event number three for the fledgling promotion, their second in Canton, GA at the Old Buffington School Gym. I love the venue but I have my doubts that AWE will ever be able to draw much of crowd at that location.
This show put AWE on the map. For however long they can stay financially viable, AWE has made my short list of Georgia indy promotion that are worth keeping any eye on. They’re doing something different. They aspire to greater things. They may go down in flames, but whatever happens, they’re going to keep it interesting.
My head count was 85 – a clear improvement over last month but a clear money loser for promoter Josh Wheeler. AWE had some sponsors this time around so hopefully that helped to stem the bleeding to some extent. None of the matches except the main had sustained heat. The crowd hated on some of the heels, but it was an uphill fight to get them to back the babyfaces. They would pop for spots and that was about it.
(1) End Zone (aka James Dylan) (with El Famoso Mysterioso) defeated the “Argyle Assassin” Drew Game in the Monstrosity Championship Wrestling feature match at 5:15. End Zone is not so inspired hunchback version of the hilariously deluded football star character Cru Jones did in early NWA Wildside. End Zone was making a tackling dummy out of Game until he slammed into the post on a missed spear. Finish saw End Zone pop up from Game’s fisherman suplex and spear his ass.
Chip Day called out that backstabber Jimmy Rave and got Corey Hollis instead. Hey Chip, didn’t you read the poster? Hollis called Day a complainer. Day called Hollis a messenger boy. Hollis said he was the second biggest star on the show and they had a lot to settle.
(2) Chip Day defeated Corey Hollis in 21:27. After some shenanigans (spitting in Corey’s hat, verbal jousting with ROH references), they got down to business. Hollis took over with the first of many crafty underhanded tactics. Heel or not, Hollis popped the crowd with a picture perfect dropkick. Not your typical small town rasslin fans in attendance tonight. The match was chock full of stiff striking and impressive moves for near falls. In the end, Day escaped from Hollis’ standing sliced bread and hit the Northern Lights Bomb for the pin. They were given plenty of time and had their usual good match, easily the second best on the show. This was a tough crowd that was only reacting to big spots.
Postmatch – Day extended his hand and Hollis spit on it.
(3) Owen Knight (with Kiera) defeated Jeremy Foster (with The Priscilla Kelly) in 9:33. These couples had heat stemming from their failed team effort at the previous show. A slap fest erupted and Foster slapped the ever living shit out of Knight. Kiera (her ass cheeks must have been poured into that pencil skirt) interfered to give Knight the opening he needed. Foster got his knees up on Knight’s flying leap off the ropes and the comeback was on. Meanwhile, things got heated between Kiera and Kelly. Kiera knocked Kelly down and threw glitter into Foster’s eyes. Knight then pinned Foster with a Cop Killa that looked absolutely devastating. Kiera has attitude to go with the booty, but it’s Kelly that possesses future diva potential owing to her look and height. Knight has no physique and didn’t show much in the ring except for the finisher. Foster clearly has more upside as a pro wrestler if he can find the right character.
(4) “The Violence Artist” Trevor Aeon defeated “Marvelous” Marko in 9:22. Marko was the only wrestler to get an appreciable entrance pop outside of Galloway. Fans evidently remembered him from his run with NGWA at this venue several years back. Marko used an Oklahoma Stampede for a two count, but his slingshot maneuver landed on Aeon’s knees. When admonished for rule breaking, Aeon responded, “don’t tell an artist how to create.” Event host Chris Marks made one of several random 5 minute time calls made during the course of the evening. Either do them consistently or don’t do them at all. Peachstate is the only Georgia promotion I’m aware of that does this right. But I digress. Marko started his comeback with a nicely devised Diamond Dust. Marko had Aeon in trouble but paused when Aeon called for a timeout. How dumb is that? Aeon then nailed Marko with a running Yakuza kick for the 1-2-3. Served him right. Marko is over no problem. Sans promo time, the nature of Aeon’s character is difficult to grasp.
Kevin Pierce introduced Lethal Weapons as the greatest tag team on the planet.
(5) Lethal Weapons (Sylar Cross & Adrian Armour with Kevin Pierce) defeated Heartburn Foundation (Curry Kid & Cream Curry) in 12:40. The kids in the crowd were up dancing with Heartburn Foundation as they entered. The fun was short lived. The Weapons’ cruel destruction of tiny little Cream was tantamount to child abuse. The elevated DDT was especially devastating. The sheer brutality evoked sympathy for the babyface that was the lacking up this point in the show and got the crowd more involved. Cream managed to live to make a tag. Foundation even mounted a bit of offense before Armour killed Kid dead with the discus lariat. When done correctly, extended squashes can be very effective and this one worked.
Murder One hit the ring with a chairshot to head of Cross and gave Armour the Ether onto the chair. Murder proceeded to pull out a gigantic screw and threaten to gut Armour unless his buddies agreed to a match against Usual Suspects (Murder One & AJ Steele). Pierce and Cross were in panic mode and finally agreed to the match. This was right up Murder’s alley - the edgy type of angle he excels at. The sense of danger got the crowd’s attention in a different way. Unfortunately, very few of these fans were at the prior show where Lethal Weapons destroyed Murder in a handicap match, so they had no context for why this was happening. They needed to at least have Pierce reference the issue with Murder in his intro.
(6) DA T’Alien defeated “The Hollywood Kid” Apollo in 10:24. Alien took repeated time outs to regroup. Apollo got fed up and charged, taking a botched clumsy fall through the ropes. Not the stuff great babyfaces are made of. Alien capitalized. Apollo temporarily redeemed himself with an suicide dive ala Hernandez. Apollo’s comeback offense was amateurish. Flip of the coin which looked worse, the rocker dropper or the sharpshooter. Alien won it with a cool variation of the Dominator. Passable at best. Alien has athletic talent to burn, but was exposed wrestling another green guy rather than vet like Kory Chavis who was able to carry him to a good match last month.
(7) Bobby Moore defeated Tommy Penirelli via DQ in 8:37. Moore was pissed at Penirelli for trashing him when he wasn’t there last time (for reasons beyond his control). Penirelli showed no remorse. Moore punched Penirelli in the face and they were off and running, except Penirelli was the only one doing the running. Penirelli hid behind the ref and thumbed Moore in the eye to gain the upper hand. Penirelli worked on Moore’s leg to soften him up for the ankle lock. Moore showed the effects during his comeback…Spear coming…no dice…Penirelli got the ankle lock. Moore powered out. Moore hit the DVD and Penirelli barely rolled a shoulder at 2.9. When Moore coiled for another spear, Penirelli slugged the ref and got the hell out of there. Decent match. Penirelli makes a good chickenshit heel. I’m not sure Moore resonates as the babyface in this deal.
Moore wasn’t going to let Penirelli that easy. They fought on the floor until Penirelli ran away.
(8) In a match for the EVOLVE Championship, Jimmy Rave defeated Champion Drew Galloway via count out at 27:36. This was the match the people came to see. The crowd response was in stark contrast to the rest of the show. The curtain was sold out as well it should have been. Big, big pop for Galloway. Wheeler announced that the EVOLVE Championship would be on the line (match was not advertised as a title match). Galloway accepted Rave’s offer to shake hands. It didn’t take long for Rave to figure out that he was physically overmatched. I think Galloway’s elevated armbar made that abundantly clear. Rave stalled.
Galloway heard a kid calling Rave a chicken and brought him onto the apron to flap his arms. Rave tried the chain wrestling route and came out on the short end there as well. Rave puled hair and asked Galloway if he was made at him. Galloway pulled Rave’s hair with a vengeance. Rave tried to swerve Galloway on a handshake and got his finger stomped. Galloway busted out the AJ Styles leapfrog-dropdown-dropkick sequence. Hell of thing to see a guy 6-5 pull that off. Galloway’s execution of his moveset was such that fans were popping for everything he did. Rave finally got Galloway onto the apron and was able to run his arm into the post. Rave was all over the arm, and Galloway was selling it huge. Further damage was done when Rave moved, and Galloway speared the post. Rave spit in Galloway’s mouth. Galloway went nuts and opened a can of whoop ass on him. Galloway with a top rope clothesline for a near fall.
Rave hit Dusk Til Dawn and had the crossface locked in, but Galloway made the ropes. Galloway slipped and they had to reset for Rave’s superplex. Rave hit it for the only “this is awesome” chant of the night. They came up trading ridiculously stiff slaps and chops. Rave’s high crossbody spilled both men over the top rope. Galloway sustained a cut on his leg. They fought on the floor. Rave made a beeline for the ring when the count neared 10 and beat it. Galloway didn’t. They had limited options on the finish. The count out was probably as good as any of them. It fit Rave's slimy character like a glove. The lack of execution by the supporting cast lessened the impact though. The bell never rang. I could be wrong but I don’t think ref Manson raised Rave’s hand. Ring announcer Joey the Voice correctly called it a count out, but then said the title didn’t change hands because it was a DQ. Oh well.
Galloway said he was proud to put the EVOLVE title on the line anywhere, anytime. He gave Rave his due and asked for five more minutes because the fans deserved a conclusive finish. Rave said this week marked his 15th year as a pro wrestler, and the fans hadn’t done one thing to help him get that far. Rave walked out without another word.
Galloway said there were too many kids to say what he really wanted to say, but everyone knew what Rave was. Galloway said as of now, this was AWE Appreciation Night. Galloway did a variation of his postmatch speech at EVOLVE 31, talking about how Georgia was once a thriving wrestling area and the crowds were going to grow.