Photos Courtesy of Harold Jay Taylor From Larry Goodman...
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| Photos Courtesy of Harold Jay Taylor |
The aptly named “Thanksgiving Turmoil” from Peachstate Wrestling Alliance was a good show in its own right, and even better as a set up for bigger and better things at their next live event – double cage match main events at Christmas Chaos on December 27.
Southern Cross became three-time PWA Tag Team Champions defeating Sevenfold Saints in the best match of the night.
Special guest star Ethan Carter III was unable to wrestle as originally planned due to surgery for a torn bicep. Instead, EC III acted as a special enforcer for the title vs. title match between Tyson Dean and Johnny Swinger, which worked out just as well for storyline purposes. Those that wanted autographs and pics got them.
Truth be told, the EC III appearance likely played was a minor factor in drawing the house of 300+ to the VFW Fairgrounds. The compelling force was at the top of the card – the grudge match between PWA owner Shane Noles and uber heel Tommy Too Much.
The main event of this show had so many moving parts as to risk turning into a steaming pile of Thanksgiving gobbledygook. But all involved played their roles to the max. The stars and the booking of Rick Michaels aligned to produce the desired outcome.
When the smoke cleared, a borderline poetic ending was set into motion for December 27. All of the key players will be center stage for the final act of an Exotic Ones storyline arc that has spanned over two years.
(1) Kevin Blue pinned Stitch Sypher at 11:25. Competitive, fast-paced babyface vs. babyface action. Blue may be in for a push. Syhper was clearly the one favored by the PWA fans. Sypher’s striking has gotten better. He still does a whole lot of flying but his offensive game is more consistent and makes more sense. Blue countered Sypher’s early attempt for Sliced Bread leading to back and forth pin attempts. They pulled off a cool sequence where Syhper countered Blue’s Air Raid Crash with a Gori Special and Blue reversed that with a spinning neckbreaker. In the end, Blue escaped from Sliced Bread and hit the Air Raid Crash for the pin. Solid match. Good way to open the show.
PWA Commissioner Rick Michaels announced that Kyle Matthews would make his Peachstate return at Christmas Chaos teaming with Dusty MacWilliams vs. the winners of tonight’s tag title match.
The return of Dave Wills, former manager of The Exotic Ones, was greeted with a “Porky” chant. Wills said it had been two years since the Exotics reunited and turned on PWA owner Shane Noles. Wills admiteed they had done nasty things like burning Joey Kidman and cutting Chic Donovan’s hair but this was a repentant Porky.
Wills called out Tommy Too Much (accompanied by Shabazz Akbar). Will said he had been filled with hate, devoid of honor and propriety, but had to let it go. Wills advised Tommy to do the same. It wasn’t too late to call off the match with Noles and reunite the Exotic Ones. Things change. The guy that once sold Wills pudding pops stood accused of drugging and assaulting women.
Tommy wasn’t buying in. He wasn’t about to forgive the guy that gave all the other Exotics chances to be singles champions. Tommy kicked Wills on the gut and put a plastic bag over his head while Akbar stood by laughing. “Dave, Is it still real to you?” Simon Sermon ran out with a chair to clear the ring. Tommy said there would never be another Exotics and by the time he was done with Noles, Sermon would be working for him. This segment worked great. The fans hate Tommy with a passion so that part was easy. In order for fans to buy Wills’ change of heart, he had to be good here and he was.
(2) Donnie Primetime defeated Brit Jackson in 4:23. An add-on featuring two participants from EC III’s seminar. Not up to PWA standards and the fans knew it right away. They ignored the match more than outright turning on it. Jackson has short arms for a wrestler. Primetime goes with the ponytail on top of head look. Jackson When Jackson went for a slingshot sunset flip, Primetime sat down on him and grabbed the ropes.
(3) Southern Cross (Shane Marx & Trevor Aeon with Dewitt Dawson) defeated Sevenfold Saints (Steven Stiles & Clyde Braddock with Wicked Nemesis to win the PWA Tag Team Championship in 18:10. Southern Cross left PWA as heels but the crowd embraced them as babyfaces because they wanted to like them all along. Wicked Nemesis broke out the Ferguson reference on the black guys. Last time it was Ebola. He likes to keep his heat seeking topical. This was an outstanding tag match. Southern Cross didn’t miss a beat with Aeon filling the spot vacated by Casey Kincaid. Sevenfold Saints is a team on the rise and could become a real force to be reckoned with in 2015. Braddock’s powerhouse style is the perfect complement to Stiles’ aerial attack. Saints first got heat on Marx and then on Aeon thanks to interference by Wicked Nemesis. Aeon made the tag but Braddock kept the ref from seeing it. Braddock then hit a belly to belly on Aeon forcing Marx to break up the pin. Everything was clicking and the heat lasted just long enough. Hot tag to Marx, who spinebustered the hell out of Stiles and Braddock saved. Dawson slugged Wicked to cut off further interference for the loudest pop of the night. Stiles tried for a flying bodypress, but Marx caught him and hit the Natural Selection (DVD). The pop for the title change blew the roof off as well.
EC III cut a promo to babyface himself with the crowd. His left arm was in a sling. A fan tried to heckle him about not being as good as Angle, but he shut the guy down and moved on to the point – he would be at ringside during the title vs. title match to ensure that nothing rotten went down.
(4) PWA Heritage Champion Johnny Swinger defeated NWA Georgia Heavyweight Champion Tyson Dean via DQ in 15 minutes. Both titles were on the line but no title change on the DQ. When Dean bailed out early on, EC III led the crowd in a “no time out” chant. Dean worked over Swinger’s gut, but went high risk and missed on an elbow drop off the ropes. Comeback time. Dean appeared to land badly on a high backdrop. Dean gave Swinger and low blow and picked up his title belt. It looked like Dean was ready to call it a night, but EC III won the tug of war and told Dean to go fight like man. Back inside, Swinger locked in a sleeper. Referee Jeremy Black went down in a heap after being sandwiched in the corner. Dean pulled out brass knucks and KOed Swinger for the 1-2-3. EC III hit the ring and stooged Dean off. Black found the knucks and reversed the decision. This was a decent match. Their styles meshed well and they told they needed to tell revealing the truly repellent side of Dean’s character.
“As Seen on TV” Nigel Sherrod announced that he had signed a one year deal with PWA. He talked about sharing Thanksgiving Day dinner with Rick and PWA and their fans being his family. Sherrod was hugging anything that moved. His promo was a masterpiece of pandering to the PWA crowd. Not that there was anything the least bit wrong with that. If a guy is going to be there for a year, the fans better love him…or hate him.
(5) Ace Haven (with Amy Haven) defeated NWA Georgia Junior Heavyweight Champion Fry Daddy to retain the PWA Junior Heavyweight Championship in 12:41. Two babyface vs. babyface singles matches on the same show and they both worked. Who would have thunk it? This was fast-paced back and forth similar to the opening match. I liked the opener better because Syhper and Blue were a little crisper with their stuff. Fry Daddy is not Jimmy Rave so this didn’t approach the level of the match where Ace beat Rave for the title. A flip dive by Ace came up short and could have been disastrous but Fry Daddy managed to break his fall. They traded close near falls, Ace with his springboard roundhouse and Fry Daddy with a superman punch. Fry Daddy applied the ankle lock. Ace answered with a tilt a whirl DDT. Ace missed a swanton bomb. Both were down and they came up trading blows. Cutter blocked both ways before Ace got the pin with a rolling reverse cradle.
Postmatch – Stryknyn hit the ring with a spear on Ace. Fry Daddy attacked Stryk to drive him out of the ring. Ace told Stryknyn to get his boyfriend Jimmy out of whatever gutter he was in and get him to PWA on December 27 because he was challenging Rave’s group to a six man tag. Ace said he didn’t have many friends in the back but he would find two. The crowd instantly chanted for one obvious choice – Fry Daddy. Ace said the people had spoken. Ace consulted with Commissioner Michaels about his second choice. Rick said he had the power to do it and made the match for December 27 – Rave & Stryknyn & Tank vs. Ace & Fry Daddy and for one night only the returning “Action” Mike Jackson! (This was a mind blowing choice. In his former heel persona, Ace had a major feud with Jackson that ended with Jackson losing to Ace and leaving PWA in a huff.)
(6) Tommy Too Much (with Shabazz Akbar) defeated Shane Noles when special referee Simon Sermon stopped the match at 12:47. Sermon came to ring wearing an outrageous judge outfit. Noles hid out by concession stand with a piece of metal and attacked TTM from behind as he made his way to the ring. While Noles was beating the bejeezus out of Tommy, Sermon waved to the crowd feigning an ignorant state of bliss. Once inside the ring, TTM whipped out the plastic bag but Noles gave him a suplex before he could use it. This was all before the bell. Sermon searched TTM and allowed Noles to apply a full nelson before calling for the bell. Sermon was hardly impartial. He slow counted every time Noles was being pinned and fast counted Tommy. The action spilled outside the ring. TTM ran Noles full speed into the corrugated metal wall and damn near destroyed a piece of it. They battled into the women’s bathroom. Noles came back into view with his face covered in blood. Back inside the ring, TTM missed a swanton bomb, and Dean ran down to the ring. Swinger ran down from the other side and was headed off by Sermon. Dean capitalized with a knuck shot on Noles. Sermon made a super slow count allowing Noles to roll a shoulder just before the three count. Noles made a last gasp rally with a high boot that looked shockingly great for one near fall and a big splash for another. Tommy gave Noles a DDT. Sermon slowed counted. Another DDT. Another slow count. On the third DDT, Sermon refused to count. Tommy threatened to DDT Noles until his ears bled. Wills came to ringside brandishing a cane and went after Akbar. Meanwhile, Tommy locked Noles in the camel clutch. The crowd chanted for Noles but no miracle was forthcoming, and Sermon decided to end the carnage. This match was better than it had any right to be. By keeping it to 12 minutes, they didn’t overstay their welcome and Sermon’s presence as the special referee was a huge plus.
Sermon refused to raise Tommy’s hand and Tommy attacked him. Meanwhile, Akbar had gotten the cane was doing a number on Will at ringside. Tommy DDTed Sermon and tried to suffocate him with a plastic bag. Sermon broke free and had Tommy set up for the Manchester Driver so Akbar got in the ring with the cane. Sermon dropped Tommy to go after Akbar. Akbar escaped and so did Tommy. Sermon said plastic bags were child’s play and brought out the adult model – a noose. Sermon said the time had come for PWA to see him put an end to this.
That brought Commissioner Michaels to ringside. He called out Dean and Swinger and made a title vs. title rematch for December 27, except this time it would be inside a steel cage. Michaels then came up with the final solution for the feud between Sermon and Tommy Too Much – a steel cage match where the winner must hang the loser. Michaels said he was surprised that Tommy hadn’t brought his best buddy Stoney Hooker into the mix. Michaels said he was making Hooker a special referee for the match and for the first time in PWA history there would be two special referees “and I’m the second”.
