From Larry Goodman: Platinum Championship Wrestling made the most out of the return to their old stomping ground in Avondale Estat...
From Larry Goodman:
Platinum Championship Wrestling made the most out of the return to their old stomping ground in Avondale Estates for Sacred Ground: Chapter 6.
The Academy Theater was the home to PCW’s famous/infamous weekly Friday night shows until the venue closed in October 2012. The building has been reconfigured such that Sacred Ground 6 wasn't confined to the wonderfully dingy, decrepit backroom space that housed the Friday night shows. That did nothing to change low ceiling warning.
Sacred Ground 6 did an awesome job of capturing the unique feel of those Friday night shows. It was wild and crazy with more comedy that past Sacred Grounds. A plethora of personalities from the Academy shows returned, and that aspect of last night’s show worked beautifully. The storytelling, always one of PCW’s strengths, was crisp, clear and effective.
6 have been the most entertaining Sacred Ground of them all. Getting the right feel was critical to the success of this year's show, and they nailed it. Due to multiple issues, PCW was left with a lineup that wasn't likely to produce an abundance of great matches.
Geter won the PCW World Heavyweight Title in the best match of the night, defeating the co-holders of the singles title (I won’t try to explain that here) the Washington Bullets. Suffice to say, they got the utmost out of the convoluted set of circumstances that led to the Williams brothers holding the singles title.
Attendance at what is now known as Tudor Square was a full house of 150. It was a classic raucous Academy Theater crowd – having fun and going along, fully enjoying all the wacky, edgy comedy. One section was reserved for fans that had been bused in from the afternoon show in Porterdale. It helped tremendously that the crowd was more than willing to suspend disbelief, because there was a fair amount of disbelief to be suspended on this show.
Academy Theater Artistic Director Robert Drake was back to do the ring announcing. Drake introduced the referees for the evening - Nathaniel Spivey, Darryl “Grandpa” Hall, William Dabbs, and returning senior official Frank Earl.
A duded up, pumped up Matt Hankins took the fans for a stroll down memory lane with a mix tape old theme music. Marko Polo’s “Magic Mangina” got a pop.
Steven Platinum thanked the fans from Porterdale and sent a “f### you” out to those that slipped in the door without paying. Platinum revealed SG6 would be the only wrestling show ever at Tudor Square because it was history as an event center.
Platinum and Shane Mackey provided the live commentary. I've said it before and I'll say it again: I'm not a fan of live commentary, but in this setting and with Platinum's quick wit and smart mouth, it's adds to the entertainment value.
(1) Timothy McClendon won the Platinum Royale in 7:55. Combatants included David Tita, Damian Sliva, Chris “The Hype” Henry, Erik Jones, Trevor Aeon, Velvet Jones, Haikken, Merica, Dementia D’Rose, Jam, Warhorse 4th period (Marko Polo) and returnees Warhorse 2 (Mason), Eric Walker, Zombie Mascara and Montez (with Jonathan Malik). Malik is still a miserable prick. He accused the fans of sleeping with goats. Montez (aka Curry Kid) reprised his Montez Moment segment from the old Academy shows excoriating his targets at will. As the mayhem got underway, Platinum said the ring looked like Ferguson, Missouri. McClendon was over huge. His timid, half-retarded character was freaking hilarious. The crowd was not happy when Timmy got tossed out. When Haikken got eliminated, Platinum got revenge on his “cousin” as promised. Newly turned heel Aeon was notably showing more chutzpah than usual. Aeon ejected himself from the match. Polo and Bill the Butcher (direct from their streetfight in Porterdale a few hours earlier) joined the fray. Carpenter came to ringside to observe. D’Rose dumped Butcher and Polo out to become the last competitor standing. Carpenter raised D’Rose’s hand. Per Platinum Royale rules, D’Rose had to square off with the wrestler scoring the most eliminations. Don’t ask me how, but McClendon was that guy. With the crowd 110% behind Timmy, D’Rose stomped on McClendon’s gonads untl she was DQed, thus ending the most entertaining Royale in PCW history.
Postmatch, the returning Doctor Melei tended to Timmy’s privates.
(2) “Konkrete Gorilla” Brian Blaze defeated Brian Kane (with Quasi Mandisco) and John Hess in 8:22. Mandisco pointed out that Kane had gotten a major upgrade earlier in the day by getting married. This was the Blaze’s debut as a Gorilla, the babyface thug gimmick previously owned by Jay Fury and Nemesis. Platinum said half the people in the building were happy OJ got away with it. Antagonists Hess and Kane tried to double up on Blaze, who put them down with a sweet double running forearm. Kane watched as Blaze proceeded to light Hess up. Kane picked his spot and the heels took over on Blaze. Platinum noted that Mandisco was wearing white pants after Labor Day to egg on a “fashion faux pas” chant. The inevitable trouble in paradise between Hess and Kane reared its ugly head. Blaze gave Hess a wicked suplex into the turnbuckles and Kane made the save. Kane kicked out of Blaze’s pumphandle elbow drop. A round robin of finishers ensued until Kane crashed and burned on a moonsault, and Blaze decapitated him with a lariat. Good match and a totally successful debut for Blaze’s new character. It was the most convincing performance I have seen from Blaze as a singles competitor.
(3) Lei’d Tapa (with Quasi Mandisco) vs. Miss Rachael was ruled a double count out at 9:05. Platinum pointed out that among other things, Miss Rachael was formerly Dwight Power’s girlfriend. Rachael busted out a a nice Gibson (Ricky) roll in the opening minute, then felt the brunt of Tapa’s formidable power. If that wasn’t enough, Mandisco interjected himself in the match. Rachael tried for a single leg takedown. That wasn’t happening. Rachael wore Tapa down with a barrage of blows. A kick to the knee brought Tapa her knees, and a sliding clothesline finally put her down for a two count. Mandisco jumped up to distract, allowing Tapa to club Rachael from behind. The action spilled to the outside and stayed there. Referee Earl was brain dead for any kind of count. Mandisco gave Tapa a chair and ordered her to obey him. That didn’t sit well with the beast. Rachael also picked up a chair and they made a chair sandwich out of Mandisco. Rachael blasted Tapa with a chair. I think that was the peak moment of the match. Somewhere along the line, Earl finally decided to do the count out. The match was decent. Rachael's great heart and fire makes for a very appealing babyface. Can't say she had great chemistry with Tapa. Not counting them out was counterproductive. Throwing rules out the window only hurts in the long run. They were gonna keep fighting anyway.
D’Rose got involved and it morphed into a wild three-way pull apart brawl. Shane Marx carried Rachael to the back. Tapa dragged Mandisco all the way to back by his leg. The crowd was loving that. Mandisco’s shoe came off, so Tapa beat him with that as well. The postmatch was an awesome setup for the three-way elimination streetfight announced for Porterdale when Tapa returns on November 7.
The second half opened with Platinum honoring Shane Mackey for his contributions to PCW. Mackey had the unenviable task of booking PCW for the first 18 months after Platinum moved to Florida. Platinum said he forgot to tell the plaque guy to change the year, so he added a +1 with athletic tape. That earned Platinum a ‘you fucked up” chant. Mackey thanked all the people that helped him after Platinum left, He said no normal person gets into the wrestling business, and they were the best abnormal people he had ever met.
Jeff G. Bailey ruined the feel good moment, marching to the ring with the Empire title on his shoulder and wanting to know where was his appreciation? Bailey said before his Empire took over on 11/11/11, the PCW garbage didn’t mean diddly. Bailey took credit for making wrestling at the Academy relevant. Bailey said Platinum ran off to Porterdale, so he made his way there and reigned supreme for a full year with his champion Chip Day. Bailey said he was the most important person in PCW history, and the fans were better off merely by being in the same room with him. With each passing moment, the “you suck” chant grew louder. Bailey grabbed the plaque and said he was taking it with him. Platinum and Mackey played ping pong with Bailey’s face until he was a grease spot on the mat. Mackey told Platinum that nobody was perfect. He pointed out that the biggest wrestling company in the world still has Eva Marie on their payroll. Mackey then decked Platinum for all the times he yelled at him.
That left Platinum and Bailey on the mat licking their wounds, but that didn’t stop two great talkers from talking. Platinum said Bailey was the greatest rival of his career and he hated him. “I went to Anarchy and closed that bitch down.” POP. Platinum said Bailey may never be at PCW again, and since he was half Japanese, he did some weird ass shit. Platinum handed Bailey the Empire belt and said he had put his name on plate. Bailey said Casino Riviera wasn’t his name (it was however the first name he used when he broke in). “I hate you Stephen Platinum. I will always hate you, but you’re maybe not the worst Jap I ever met.” The crowd applauded when it was over, recognizing that they had witnessed something special.
(4) The Carpenter (with Dementia D’Rose) defeated Shane Marx in 13:06. Carpenter slapped Marx and got his ass beat as a result. Carpenter bailed out to escape Marx’s formidable right hand that Adam Pearce said was as tough as any he had run into. Carpenter capitalized on interference by D’Rose. Marx nailed Carpenter with that right hand, giving Platinum the right moment for his “jumping Jesus on a pogo stick!” line. Platinum invoked the name of Ole Anderson as Carpenter worked over Marx’s arm. Ole would have been rolling in his grave but he’s too ornery to die. Marx connected with a right hand from his knees, and Carpenter took an awesome swooning, Nestea plunge. D’Rose stuck her nose into it again. But Carpenter missed a diving headbutt, and they traded blows from their knees. Marx scored a knockdown with the right hand to spark his comeback. With the crowd chanting his name, Shane hit a spinebuster for a near fall. D’Rose jumped onto the apron. Marx went to her. Carpenter clotheslined D’Rose when Marx stepped out of the way. Marx speared Carpenter out of his boots and had him up for the Death Valley Driver when he saw Butcher standing in the aisle. Marx froze and Carpenter rolled him up. It was a respectable wrestling match. Carpenter's face was marked up afterward. Carpenter is as nefarious as they come, and it’s common knowledge that Marx is the far superior wrestler, so there had to be chicanery but this was a lousy finish. It was just not believable for Carpenter to pin Marx clean from that position at that juncture just wasn't credible. It did provide story directions going forward.
(5) Danger City Demons (Johnny Danger & Devlin Valek) defeated The Movement (Talon Williams & Chip Hazard) to win the Tag Team Season in 11:11. Movement made it the final by defeating Big F’N Deal at the afternoon show in Porterdale. Demons controlled Talon in the early going. Movement got heat on Danger, murdering him with combo moves. Valek was in the ring protesting when Danger went for the hot tag. Awkward to say the least. The ref counted a near fall on Danger when he obviously was not the legal man. A round of big moves left all four down. As Movement prepared to finish Danger off, Danger blinded Talon with the green mist. Valek pinned Hazard after a slice ‘n dice leg drop. Movement was impressive here. That said, the match was a major drop off from previous Tag Team Season finales.
Hazard was injured on the finish. Nothing appeared amiss in the execution. However, Hazard lost feeling all feeling below the knees. Hazard probably suffered a stinger, and the good news is that he was getting around OK after the show.
6) Geter defeated the Washington Bullets (Jon & Trey Williams) to win the PCW World Heavyweight Championship in 17:56. Geter popped right up after eating a knee to the face and tossed Trey over the top rope right onto to his brother. That prompted the first of many “Geter” chants throughout the match. Geter caught Trey’s dive to the floor and used Trey’s body to block Jon’s tope. Trey pulled the ropes down to spill Geter out. Geter absorbed three suicide topes and stayed on his feet. A fourth double tope finally sent Geter sprawling. Back inside, the Bullets double teamed Geter with a sense of urgency until they screwed up one their signature combo moves. Geter hit a pair of freight train corner splashes. Platinum said he wasn’t going to get his deposit back on the ring. Geter choke slammed Trey, then choke slammed Jon across Trey’s back and pinned Trey. Geter had to pin both Bullets to win. Jon tried to escape via count out, but Geter’s partner Blaze cut him off. Bullets brought the belts into the ring but referee Hall grabbed them away in the nick of time. Geter had Jon pinned with the gargantuan splash, but Trey KOed Hall before he could count three. Senior official Earl hit the ring. Geter kicked out a belt shot from Trey. Bullets hit a double version of the Marion Barry but Geter kicked out again. Jon wedged a chair in the corner. Bullets tried to run Geter into the chair, but Geter shoved Trey’s head into the chair and finished Jon with a sitout piledriver. As they’ve demonstrated numerous times in the past, the Bullets and Geter have incredible chemistry. Making a handicap match this believable was their crowning achievement.
Postmatch -- Standing O and all babyfaces in the ring to celebrate with Geter.
Timmy McClendon said the Platinum Royale winner traditionally gets a title shot, but out of respect (and unspoken fear of losing his life) he was relinquishing his opportunity. Platinum announced a celebration of Geter’s victory for PCW’s return to action in Porterdale on October 17.
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