Photos Courtesy of Rob Brodhecker From Larry Goodman: Peachstate Wrestling Alliance’s second show of the year was OK. Not a...
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| Photos Courtesy of Rob Brodhecker |
From Larry Goodman:
Peachstate Wrestling Alliance’s second show of the year was OK. Not as good as their first.
The circumstance weren’t exactly ideal. Former PWA Heritage Champion Jimmy Rave was sick as a dog. His main event match with Shane Marx surely was not what it would have been if Rave had been at 100%. The other match I was most looking forward to, Sal Rinauro vs. Fry Daddy, never happened because Rinauro canceled. Suffice to say, the inring execution was nothing to write home about.
The storyline directions are a bit murky at this point. Rick Michaels has a track record of success in booking his way out of such murkiness in the past. His master plan is yet to be revealed.
We learned that the controversy surrounding the vacated PWA Heritage Championship will be resolved by – drum roll please – a tournament. This on the heels of a tag team tournament two weeks ago.
The best thing to come out of the evening was a hot opener that set up a highly anticipated mixed tag match – AJ Steele and Pandora vs. Tommy Too Much and Merica. The PWA fans want to see T2M and Merica get a royal ass kicking, and they know Steele and Pandora can get the job done.
Newly crowned PWA Tag Team Champions, Beautiful Bald Besties were not booked for this show. PWA is blessed with a number of worthy challengers, and a new contender was added into the mix in the form of Get Along Gang (CB Suave & Marko Polo).
Attendance at the VFW Fairgrounds was 258 paid, almost identical to what they drew two weeks earlier. They weren’t dead by any means, but this crowd didn’t have the feverish, nutty heat that sometimes happens in Carrollton.
Bill Behrens, PWA’s authority figure du jour, said that in the seven year history of the company, the PWA Heritage Championship had never been vacant until now. Behrens announced a 16 man tournament to determine the new champion starting on March 5. Behrens said Rave and Rinauro would be in the tournament with Rave as the number one seed.
NWA Georgia Heavyweight Champion Tommy Too Much, Simon Sermon and Merica interrupted. T2M told Behrens there wasn’t going to be a tournament because he had already defeated everyone in the locker room including Rave. T2M demanded to be given the belt right then and there.
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| Photos Courtesy of Rob Brodhecker |
That brought AJ Steele, Tyson Dean and Pandora to the ring. Steele told T2M that he didn’t beat anyone without “his” help, pointing to Merica. Put Bruce Jenner out on the floor and we will kick your asses right now. It was on.
(1)Tyson Dean & AJ Steele (with Pandora) defeated Simon Sermon & NWA Georgia Heavyweight Champion Tommy Too Much (with Merica Strong) in 10:54. Sermon sold his sweet ass off for Steele and Dean. They played ping pong with Sermon via Piper eye pokes. Funny stuff. Sermon and T2M got heat on Dean choking him with a tag rope. When Dean came back with a spinebuster on T2M, Merica jumped in the ring to give Dean a low blow. Time stood still while Merica waited for Pandora to cut her off. The crowd popped huge for the catfight. In the midst of the chaos, Dean pinned T2M clean with the spinning neckbreaker. Crowd was hot for it and this was a solid, old school tag match other than the timing glitch on the low blow.
Being despicable sore losers, T2M and Sermon tried to suffocate Dean with a plastic bag. Steele came to Dean’s rescue before serious damage could be done. Steele said how about T2M and Merica vs. Pandora and himself on February 20? The crowd cast their vote with a major “Yes!” chant.
(2) Andrew Aries (with Scott Aries) defeated Fry Daddy in 8:06. Andrew offered to shake hands and grabbed a side headlock instead. Fry wasn’t deterred for long. His offensive flurry was fine. Scott interfered to give his brother the opening he needed. Andrew’s Russian leg sweep was sound, but his clothesline missed by a foot. Fry sold it for a near fall then ducked a second clothesline that missed by about the same amount. Fry fought off more outside interference to make a gallant comeback. In the end, Fry got duped by Scott’s distraction and Andrew pinned him with feet on the ropes. This match had enough clunky moments that it didn’t do either of them any favors. Fry is over enough not to be tarnished by it if he gets a strong win the next time out. Andrew has a good look but precious little experience. He lacked the ruthless aggression the situation called for and was overexposed in a singles match.
(3) Iceberg defeated Pain in 6:51. Pain got the early advantage, throwing his massive weight around to great effect. Pain planted Berg with a powerslam and a belly to belly suplex. Berg never really got untracked. Pain cut Berg off with a superkick and went up for a Vader Bomb. It missed and Berg simply covered him for the 1-2-3. The layout of this match puzzled me. Iceberg was coming off winning a violent feud with Dusty MacWilliams. What purpose did it serve for Berg to squeak by an opponent that doesn’t appear to figure in future plans.
(4) Why We Wrestle Tag Team Champions Get Along Gang (CB Suave & Marko Polo) defeated Trending Now (Ace Haven & Charles Zanders with Amy Haven) in 10:11. Ace came out flying and looked good doing so. The tide turned when Ace knocked GAG down (not the plan) with a slingshot crossbody dive and they rudely deposited him back into the ring. Zanders put on the brakes to avoid running into Amy and ate a double superkick from GAG. The rest of the match saw GAG give Ace a beating and repeatedly knock Zanders off the apron to keep him from tagging in. When Ace tried for sliced bread on Suave, Polo broke it up and gave Ace an Oklahoma Stampede into the opposite turnbuckle for the best spot of the match. Showing great resilience, Ace hit a bulldog/clothesline combo on GAG. But Polo again took Zanders out, and GAG finished Ace off with a Polo powerbomb across Suave’s knee. I liked this match a lot. The story was clear and compelling and more than made up for a few iffy spots. GAG’s teamwork was impressive.
(5) Shane Marx (with Dewitt Dawson) defeated former PWA Heritage Champion Jimmy Rave in 17:37. Once upon a time, they were uber heels here, but the PWA fans ended up with a begrudging soft spot for Marx and Dawson. The fans love Rave that much more as their uncrowned champion. It was pretty much 50/50 until Rave took his signature bump over the top rope. Marx methodically wore Rave down. Marx ascended to the top rope. Rave met him at the top with a superplex and both were down. Rave hit the shadow STO for a near fall, but Marx was able to reverse for a near fall of his own. In the midst of a heated, fast-paced exchange, Rave puked in the middle of the ring. Each man fought off the other man’s finisher. Sermon’s music played. Rave looked towards the dressing room and Marx got the three count with a rolling reverse cradle. Good not great. I didn’t love the finish. Rave had been sick all week and probably had no business being in the ring at all.
Postmatch, Sermon ran out and attacked Rave.
Marx was torn about what to do. He thought about it before making the save. Marx and Rave shook hands. Dawson said they were both bonafide champions and we were looking at the tournament finals.
