Photos courtesy of Amy Payne From Larry Goodman: History was made in Pell City, Alabama Saturday night, as Global Championsh...
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| Photos courtesy of Amy Payne |
From Larry Goodman:
History was made in Pell City, Alabama Saturday night, as Global Championship Wresting presented legends show without any legends.
The legends bookings for GCW’s 7th annual Southern Legends Fanfest fell through after the advertising was already out, so promoter “Maddog” Dan Sawyer went to Plan B, turning GCW’s premier event into a set up show for their event on Christmas weekend. In that respect, the show was a success as two interesting matches are now in place for December 26.
Sawyer relinquished the GCW Heavyweight Championship and the GCW Tag Team Championship (co-held with Micah Taylor) at the September show due to injury and announced title tournaments for both championships. Said tournaments became the focal point for last night’s show. The undercard was changed for the better from what was discussed on GCW Radio earlier in the week. The GCW debut of Jimmy Rave was a late addition. A number of Pro South wrestlers were in the mix.
The paid attendance of 168 at the Pell City Civic Center was half of what Legendsfest drew last year. The 2014 version featured a legends match between Tom Prichard and Wendell Cooley that was an absolute delight and a tremendous main event (Spi-ral vs. Mike Cruz). This year’s show was a collection of passable matches. Not one that was truly compelling. In most cases, there was little suspense about the outcome, and the usually white hot Pell City crowd never got really amped up.
Eddie Layne introduced injured wrestler Leon “The Bull’ Stresser as timekeeper and recapped the situation with the titles. Layne is GCW’s one man announcing and production crew, orchestrating the evening’s festivities from his command post on the stage.
(1)Clyde Braddock (with Wicked Nemesis) won a nine man rumble style battle royal to advance in the GCW Heavyweight Championship Tournament (16:40). Ace Haven (with Amy Haven) started with former Pro South Champion Damien Ceratone. NightProwler, Archangel Gabriel (wearing angel wings), Jack Gunn and Antonio Garza entered at 1 minute intervals. Braddock entered with impact, destroying everyone. Gabriel is so green that he didn’t know how to take Braddock’s belly to belly suplex and almost paid the price for his cluelessness. Trevor Aeon made his grand entrance. He zeroed in on Gabriel and eliminated him. Garza dumped alleged Oklahoma cowboy Gunn. Donnie Primetime entered (no DP III as the III is already taken in GCW) and was promptly eliminated by Ceratone. Ceratone is deceiving. He has the body of an indy nobody, but his work isn’t half bad. Haven and Ceratone teamed up to eliminate Aeon. Haven and Ceretone went out together and battled to the back. NightProwler, the only heel that got notable heat, muscled Garza out. Braddock pulled to ropes down to spill NightProwler for the win. Match was OK. The 1 minute intervals kept it from dragging too badly, and it got the job done in so far as Braddock looked impressive.
Wicked Nemesis cut a promo after the match. In one fell swoop, Wicked put over the event, the title tournaments, his main man Braddock and stable mate Spi-ral. Nemesis is cutting better promos as a babyface than he did as a heel.
(2) Jimmy Rave defeated Tommy Penirelli via submission in 11:34. Rave didn’t get anything close to the reaction he gets in Georgia coming out, but the GCW fans warmed up to him as the match progressed. Rave ate Penirellli up, dominating him on the mat and shredding his chest with chops. The fans started chanting for Rave as Penirelli heeled. Penirelli barely beat the 10 count after Rave’s signature STO on the ring frame. Rave hit Dusk Until Dawn and Penirelli tapped. Penirelli’s offense looked weak. I don’t think the crowd ever took him as a legit threat to beat Rave.
(3) Pandora defeated Stormie Lee (with Francisco Ciatso & Simon Sez & Theodore Tutwiler III) to retain the GCW Women’s Championship in 7:01. Pandora was in control until took a bite of the turnbuckle on a major miscalculation. Lee was all over her with copious assistance from her corner. Lee is a natural in the personality department. She works the crowd like a vet. Her facial expressions are off the charts. However, she struggles mightily with footwork and offensive execution. COD pulled off a nifty spot where Lee applied a surfboard and Sez choked Pandora while Ciatso provided the distraction. She made her comeback and pinned Lee with the help of a fast count by senior official Birney Kiwanowicz. This was a clunky match salvaged by the fact that Pandora is really over and had to overcome COD.
Postmatch, COD held Pandora so Veronica Fairchild could clobber her. Before Veronica could do the deed, Merica hit the ring with a chair, joined by the Aries Brothers. Merica was far from the chair-swinging freak the situation called for. She just doesn’t have the necessary level of experience.
Pandora said she was still the baddest B in pro wrestling, and she felt like she had another bad B in Merica, so how about a tag match? Layne polled the fans and said the ayes have it. That match will happen on December 26.
(4) AJ Steele (with Wicked Nemesis) defeated Maniac O’Malley (with Veronica Fairchild) in 5:48 to advance in the GCW Heavyweight Championship Tournament. Steele dominated and won it with the Steele City Bomb (black hole slam). O’Malley did not look comfortable at all. Crowd was pretty dead. The fun part was Fairchild at ringside baiting the crowd with her selfie stick.
(5) Circle of Disrespect (Francisco Ciatso & Simon Sez with Stormie Lee & Theodore Tutwiler III) defeated Aries Brothers (Scott & Andrew) in 11:17 to advance in the GCW Tag Team Tournament. Tutwiler introduced his partners in crime to the hicks, hillbillies and hayseeds in attendance and asked the sacrificial lambs to enter. He wasn’t exaggerating. Stormie started going at it with the notorious GCW fan Peanut. The Aries do not look like brothers. Andrew has a physique on him. Scott is much smaller. Both are very green. Sez had fun with Scott, pinching his cheek on the break and getting on his knees to bring himself down to Scott’s size. The Aries botched a double dropkick on Sez causing some unintended hilarity. I’m not sure how they managed to do it, but Andrew dropkicked Scott out of the ring by mistake. Not to be denied, Scott climbed back in so the brothers could do the planned double dropkick on Ciatso. COD did a number on Scott. Andrew took the hot tag and scored a near fall before COD put the brothers out of their misery. Sez clotheslined the living hell out of Andrew.
(6) Muddbone defeated Charles Zanders in 11:15 to advance in the GCW Heavyweight Championship Tournament. The mystic Muddbone wasn’t too keen on selling for Zanders, who has potential as the whitest of white meat babyfaces. Muddbone absorbed Zanders’ dropkicks and took a TO. Zanders hit a crazy backflip dive to the outside that finally put Muddbone down. Back inside, Muddbone leveled Zanders with stiff clotheslines and had his way with him for the rest of the match. Muddbone’s finisher was a wicked elevated face plant deal. The ref could have counted to 50. Given the way he was used as cannon fodder, I’m guessing Zanders doesn’t fit into GCW’s plans.
(7) Spi-ral (with Wicked Nemesis) defeated “The Real Rockstar” Tommy Gage in 11:25 to advance in the GCW Heavyweight Championship Tournament. Spi-ral displayed his technical prowess and hit some killer aerial moves, but the clash of styles was problematic. They never got in the groove. It was my first time seeing Gage in action. He struck me as more of a brawler. I can see him having decent matches with a different type of opponent, but he’s not a main-eventer. Spi-ral flew off the ropes and caught Gage with a spear, then finished him with an incredible top rope splash.
Rave came to the ring. He said he had heard nothing but great things about Spi-ral for the last few years and challenged him to a match on December 26. That match could be something special.
NOTES: GCW radio returns to the airwaves on December 15 at 8pm central on the Beyond Ringside Network…Going forward, GCW will resume their regular schedule of running Pell City on the 4th Saturday of each month. GCW didn't run in October because Sawyer was tied up with his work as coordinator for the Sloss Fright Furnace haunted house. Sawyer had a role in AMC's Walking Dead and was recently cast in Guardians of the Galaxy 2...YJ from Jimmy Ox’s Ring Rentals had his hands full in the opening match. The 2x8 boards used for the ring flooring had swelled due to all the rain.
