From Larry Goodman: Photos Courtesy of Harold Jay Taylor The November 1 Peachstate Wrestling Alliance event was primarily a set up f...
From Larry Goodman:
The November 1 Peachstate Wrestling Alliance event was primarily a set up for their big holiday show, Thanksgiving Turmoil on November 29. In that respect, last night’s show was effective in achieving its mission.
Two key matches for the holiday show were put in motion – a three way match featuring a special appearance by TNA star Ethan Carter III with PWA Heritage Championship and the NWA Georgia Heavyweight Championship both at stake, and a grudge match pitting PWA owner Shane Noles against the most hated man in PWA, Tommy Too Much.
The matches took a backseat to story development last night with the exception of the match for the Georgia Junior Championship where the match was the story. Ace Haven regained the title by defeating Jimmy Rave in a match that exceeded my wildest expectations. Haven has never looked better. For Rave, it was another stellar performance in his heartening comeback.
Attendance at the VFW Fairgrounds was 135. That’s a very poor crowd by PWA standards. The fall season has not been kind to Georgia indy promotions in general. My football season theory will be put to the test in a couple of months. If attendance doesn’t pick up in the new year, there will be more than a few unhappy promoters.
Ring announcer Tristan Michaels opened the show with a moment of silence for Carol Brown, a loyal PWA fan who had recently passed away. This was Tristan’s second event as ring announcer (replacing JB Lementary). He had some nervous stumbles in the opening but got more comfortable as the show progressed.
(1) Morgan Davis defeated “Pump Yo Brakes” Steve Goins in 7:24. Davis on fire until PYB unceremoniously deposited him on the floor to stymie a premature attempt at his standing sliced bread finisher. PYB worked over the knee. On the comeback trail, Davis got a near fall with a springboard move that barely made contact after he slipped on the ropes. Davis’ knee gave way on the sliced bread and PYB went for his pumphandle whatever, but Davis countered with the standing sliced bread for the pin. The caliber off the work was well below current PWA standards and likely the match would have been shit on by an Anarchy crowd. On the plus side, the match got a decent crowd response because they did a good job of what matters most at this venue - playing to the crowd. That said, it was a missed opportunity to get somebody over that the promotion can actually do something with.
Newly installed commissioner Rick Michaels announced Carter for Thanksgiving Turmoil, noting that he was undefeated in TNA.
Rick was interrupted by disgruntled former PWA Heritage Champion and worst person in the PWA world, Tommy Too Much. TTM believed that he was still the rightful champion (he had the tights to prove it) and it took Rick, Tristan, Simon Sermon, 14 lumberjacks, and a sucker punch from masked PWA owner Shane Noles to take the belt off of him. TTM called Noles out to explain. Noles said TTM had a valid point since he doesn’t interfere in matches but TTM was a special case. Noles blamed TTM for the Exotics quitting the company before the 5th anniversary show and making him look like the bad guy by giving in to their demands. Fast forward to the last two shows, TTM had threatened to jump to UIW and take the Heritage title with him, so Noles was forced to do what was best for his business. “Maybe we just had a little too much of Tommy”, said Noles.
Rick said he had Too Much scheduled against Sermon for Thanksgiving Turmoil but was changing it to Too Much vs. Noles, and since that left Sermon without a match, Rick made Sermon the special referee. Rick assured Sermon that he would get his title match in December. Noles said he didn’t want or need Sermon’s help and expected him to call it right down the middle. They took a risk by doing such a long talk segment but it worked. It made sense and the hatred between Noles and Too Much resonated like the real deal. Noles' wrestling appearances should be saved for special occasions like this. The match announcement got a much louder pop than the reveal of the appearance by EC III.
(2) NWA Georgia Junior Champion Fry Daddy defeated Stryknyn in 7:49. Stryknyn is part of Jimmy Rave’s faction (now joined by Tank) and was subjected to a prematch bitch slap from Rave. Aggressive offense from Fry Daddy had Stryk bailing. This is really old school to the point of being irrelevant to fans these days, but it still bothers me when the babyface is first to use a closed fist without provocation as Fry Daddy did here. Daddy’s slingshot move went awry thanks to a punch in the face from Stryk, who then controlled the body of the match. Daddy caught Stryknyn with a superman punch for a double down. Daddy’s comeback near falls were filled with extra flourishes. Stryk cut him off with a waterwheel slam and was in the process of scraping Daddy off the mat, when Daddy hit a stunner out of the blue. Good fast-paced match. Daddy got over really well with the PWA fans. He’s got charisma and showmanship going for him, and his work is a lot better than it was a year ago. Daddy’s lack of size presents an obstacle that few wrestlers are able to overcome in so far as advancing past midcard status.
(3) Steve Stiles (with Wicked Nemesis) defeated Dusty MacWillliams in 10:50. This was billed as a tag match, the other half of Sevenfold Saints, Clyde Braddock got booked elsewhere. Dusty’s entrance routine included tying his kerchief around a little baby’s neck. Wicked Nemesis tried to spoil the feel good moment by screaming that the kid should to be quarantined for Ebola. Dusty busted out some fairly impressive arm drags early on. MacWilliams had Wicked by the hair and didn’t see Stiles coming to kick his head in. It turned into a see saw affair with repeated eye rakes by Stiles to get out of trouble. In the end, MacWilliams fought off Wicked’s interference on his signature moonsault, but Wicked managed to pull Stiles out of the way, causing MacWilliams to crash and burn. Stiles then hit the Best Dropkick Ever for the pin. Bit of style clash but not too bad. I was digging Stiles as heel. He’s good with the facial expressions a body language, and Dusty’s fallaway slam and spinebuster both looked impressive. Match didn’t lack for heat as the people in Carrollton hate Wicked Nemesis with a passion.
(4) Ace Haven (with Amy Haven) defeated Jimmy Rave (with Stryknyn) to win the Georgia Junior Championship in 17 minutes. Referee Jeremy Black caught Stryk taking matters into his own hands and ejected him from ringside. Rave protested and was met by a baseball slide, and Ace had Jimmy on the run. Back inside, they traded arm drags. Ace with a push up dropkick and a spinwheel kick. Rave with a shadow STO, vicious chops and a cobra clutch that temporarily grounded Ace’s air game. Ace rallied back with more flying maneuvers. Rave dropped Ace in his tracks with the STO on the ring frame – the move that never fails to get a reaction. Ace hit an RKO out of nowhere. Stryk hit the ring to interfere, but was driven back to the dressing room by Fry Daddy. The distraction bought Rave enough time to kick out just before the three count. Ace reeled off some vicious chops of his own. Ace got crotched on the top turnbuckle when Rave shoved the ref into the ropes. When Ace kicked out of the superplex, the crowd popped big and started chanting his name. Rave went back to the cobra clutch but Ace broke the hold. Rave came out on the short end of the ensuing struggle the top rope as Ace was not to be denied. Ace hit an RKO off the top for the win. No brainer choice for best match of the night. It was better than the match where Rave beat Ace for the title. Ace wasn’t in Rave’s league in that match. That wasn’t the case here, as this was the possibly the best Ace Haven match ever, and certainly the best one I’ve even seen. Rave continued his string of great matches, doing all the right things to make Ace’s star shine. Taking the title off of Rave hopefully leads to bigger and better things for his faction.
Rick Michaels announced he had a contract for Swinger vs. Dean, but EC III also wanted a shot at the title, so at Thanksgiving Turmoil it would be Dean vs. Swinger vs. EC III for the PWA Heritage Championship.
(5) PWA Heritage Champion Johnny Swinger & Simon Sermon defeated NWA Georgia Heavyweight Champion Tyson Dean & Tommy Too Much in a streetfight at 17:02. Typical streetfight stuff. They went all over the building making liberal use of those corrugated metal walls that sound so great. Early on, Swinger and Too Much paired off. Sermon paired off with Dean. Wild brawling doesn’t particularly play to Dean or Swinger’s strengths. The best action came between Sermon and Too Much after they switched partners. Sermon took a fan’s cane to TTM’s groin and clocked him with a box fan. They went over the concession stand where Sermon smushed a bowl of mustard into Tommy’s face. Tommy used a broom on Sermon’s esophagus. The spot that got the big pop -- Sermon dumping TTM head first into a full trash barrel, then rolling it along the floor with TTM’s legs sticking out. Sermon pinned Dean after a DDT onto a chair.
Postmatch, Too Much clocked Sermon with a chair and was fixing to suffocate him with a plastic bag (like he did when he turned on the Exotics after the War Games) but Noles made the save. TTM put the bag over Noles’ head. Sermon stopped the assault but not before Noles was out cold lying face down in the middle of the ring. Easy for me to say, but I thought the save came too quickly for max believability of the damage.
Michaels added a couple of extra twists for Thanksgiving Turmoil. Too Much would be fired if he lost, and Dean’s NWA Georgia title would be on the line along with the PWA title in the three way. How Michaels had the authority to make an NWA title match wasn’t explained. Given the way fans have been trained not to bother themselves with such details, I doubt many cared.
Photos Courtesy of Harold Jay Taylor |
Two key matches for the holiday show were put in motion – a three way match featuring a special appearance by TNA star Ethan Carter III with PWA Heritage Championship and the NWA Georgia Heavyweight Championship both at stake, and a grudge match pitting PWA owner Shane Noles against the most hated man in PWA, Tommy Too Much.
The matches took a backseat to story development last night with the exception of the match for the Georgia Junior Championship where the match was the story. Ace Haven regained the title by defeating Jimmy Rave in a match that exceeded my wildest expectations. Haven has never looked better. For Rave, it was another stellar performance in his heartening comeback.
Attendance at the VFW Fairgrounds was 135. That’s a very poor crowd by PWA standards. The fall season has not been kind to Georgia indy promotions in general. My football season theory will be put to the test in a couple of months. If attendance doesn’t pick up in the new year, there will be more than a few unhappy promoters.
Ring announcer Tristan Michaels opened the show with a moment of silence for Carol Brown, a loyal PWA fan who had recently passed away. This was Tristan’s second event as ring announcer (replacing JB Lementary). He had some nervous stumbles in the opening but got more comfortable as the show progressed.
(1) Morgan Davis defeated “Pump Yo Brakes” Steve Goins in 7:24. Davis on fire until PYB unceremoniously deposited him on the floor to stymie a premature attempt at his standing sliced bread finisher. PYB worked over the knee. On the comeback trail, Davis got a near fall with a springboard move that barely made contact after he slipped on the ropes. Davis’ knee gave way on the sliced bread and PYB went for his pumphandle whatever, but Davis countered with the standing sliced bread for the pin. The caliber off the work was well below current PWA standards and likely the match would have been shit on by an Anarchy crowd. On the plus side, the match got a decent crowd response because they did a good job of what matters most at this venue - playing to the crowd. That said, it was a missed opportunity to get somebody over that the promotion can actually do something with.
Newly installed commissioner Rick Michaels announced Carter for Thanksgiving Turmoil, noting that he was undefeated in TNA.
Rick was interrupted by disgruntled former PWA Heritage Champion and worst person in the PWA world, Tommy Too Much. TTM believed that he was still the rightful champion (he had the tights to prove it) and it took Rick, Tristan, Simon Sermon, 14 lumberjacks, and a sucker punch from masked PWA owner Shane Noles to take the belt off of him. TTM called Noles out to explain. Noles said TTM had a valid point since he doesn’t interfere in matches but TTM was a special case. Noles blamed TTM for the Exotics quitting the company before the 5th anniversary show and making him look like the bad guy by giving in to their demands. Fast forward to the last two shows, TTM had threatened to jump to UIW and take the Heritage title with him, so Noles was forced to do what was best for his business. “Maybe we just had a little too much of Tommy”, said Noles.
Rick said he had Too Much scheduled against Sermon for Thanksgiving Turmoil but was changing it to Too Much vs. Noles, and since that left Sermon without a match, Rick made Sermon the special referee. Rick assured Sermon that he would get his title match in December. Noles said he didn’t want or need Sermon’s help and expected him to call it right down the middle. They took a risk by doing such a long talk segment but it worked. It made sense and the hatred between Noles and Too Much resonated like the real deal. Noles' wrestling appearances should be saved for special occasions like this. The match announcement got a much louder pop than the reveal of the appearance by EC III.
(2) NWA Georgia Junior Champion Fry Daddy defeated Stryknyn in 7:49. Stryknyn is part of Jimmy Rave’s faction (now joined by Tank) and was subjected to a prematch bitch slap from Rave. Aggressive offense from Fry Daddy had Stryk bailing. This is really old school to the point of being irrelevant to fans these days, but it still bothers me when the babyface is first to use a closed fist without provocation as Fry Daddy did here. Daddy’s slingshot move went awry thanks to a punch in the face from Stryk, who then controlled the body of the match. Daddy caught Stryknyn with a superman punch for a double down. Daddy’s comeback near falls were filled with extra flourishes. Stryk cut him off with a waterwheel slam and was in the process of scraping Daddy off the mat, when Daddy hit a stunner out of the blue. Good fast-paced match. Daddy got over really well with the PWA fans. He’s got charisma and showmanship going for him, and his work is a lot better than it was a year ago. Daddy’s lack of size presents an obstacle that few wrestlers are able to overcome in so far as advancing past midcard status.
(3) Steve Stiles (with Wicked Nemesis) defeated Dusty MacWillliams in 10:50. This was billed as a tag match, the other half of Sevenfold Saints, Clyde Braddock got booked elsewhere. Dusty’s entrance routine included tying his kerchief around a little baby’s neck. Wicked Nemesis tried to spoil the feel good moment by screaming that the kid should to be quarantined for Ebola. Dusty busted out some fairly impressive arm drags early on. MacWilliams had Wicked by the hair and didn’t see Stiles coming to kick his head in. It turned into a see saw affair with repeated eye rakes by Stiles to get out of trouble. In the end, MacWilliams fought off Wicked’s interference on his signature moonsault, but Wicked managed to pull Stiles out of the way, causing MacWilliams to crash and burn. Stiles then hit the Best Dropkick Ever for the pin. Bit of style clash but not too bad. I was digging Stiles as heel. He’s good with the facial expressions a body language, and Dusty’s fallaway slam and spinebuster both looked impressive. Match didn’t lack for heat as the people in Carrollton hate Wicked Nemesis with a passion.
Photos Courtesy of Harold Jay Taylor |
(4) Ace Haven (with Amy Haven) defeated Jimmy Rave (with Stryknyn) to win the Georgia Junior Championship in 17 minutes. Referee Jeremy Black caught Stryk taking matters into his own hands and ejected him from ringside. Rave protested and was met by a baseball slide, and Ace had Jimmy on the run. Back inside, they traded arm drags. Ace with a push up dropkick and a spinwheel kick. Rave with a shadow STO, vicious chops and a cobra clutch that temporarily grounded Ace’s air game. Ace rallied back with more flying maneuvers. Rave dropped Ace in his tracks with the STO on the ring frame – the move that never fails to get a reaction. Ace hit an RKO out of nowhere. Stryk hit the ring to interfere, but was driven back to the dressing room by Fry Daddy. The distraction bought Rave enough time to kick out just before the three count. Ace reeled off some vicious chops of his own. Ace got crotched on the top turnbuckle when Rave shoved the ref into the ropes. When Ace kicked out of the superplex, the crowd popped big and started chanting his name. Rave went back to the cobra clutch but Ace broke the hold. Rave came out on the short end of the ensuing struggle the top rope as Ace was not to be denied. Ace hit an RKO off the top for the win. No brainer choice for best match of the night. It was better than the match where Rave beat Ace for the title. Ace wasn’t in Rave’s league in that match. That wasn’t the case here, as this was the possibly the best Ace Haven match ever, and certainly the best one I’ve even seen. Rave continued his string of great matches, doing all the right things to make Ace’s star shine. Taking the title off of Rave hopefully leads to bigger and better things for his faction.
Rick Michaels announced he had a contract for Swinger vs. Dean, but EC III also wanted a shot at the title, so at Thanksgiving Turmoil it would be Dean vs. Swinger vs. EC III for the PWA Heritage Championship.
(5) PWA Heritage Champion Johnny Swinger & Simon Sermon defeated NWA Georgia Heavyweight Champion Tyson Dean & Tommy Too Much in a streetfight at 17:02. Typical streetfight stuff. They went all over the building making liberal use of those corrugated metal walls that sound so great. Early on, Swinger and Too Much paired off. Sermon paired off with Dean. Wild brawling doesn’t particularly play to Dean or Swinger’s strengths. The best action came between Sermon and Too Much after they switched partners. Sermon took a fan’s cane to TTM’s groin and clocked him with a box fan. They went over the concession stand where Sermon smushed a bowl of mustard into Tommy’s face. Tommy used a broom on Sermon’s esophagus. The spot that got the big pop -- Sermon dumping TTM head first into a full trash barrel, then rolling it along the floor with TTM’s legs sticking out. Sermon pinned Dean after a DDT onto a chair.
Postmatch, Too Much clocked Sermon with a chair and was fixing to suffocate him with a plastic bag (like he did when he turned on the Exotics after the War Games) but Noles made the save. TTM put the bag over Noles’ head. Sermon stopped the assault but not before Noles was out cold lying face down in the middle of the ring. Easy for me to say, but I thought the save came too quickly for max believability of the damage.
Michaels added a couple of extra twists for Thanksgiving Turmoil. Too Much would be fired if he lost, and Dean’s NWA Georgia title would be on the line along with the PWA title in the three way. How Michaels had the authority to make an NWA title match wasn’t explained. Given the way fans have been trained not to bother themselves with such details, I doubt many cared.