From Larry Goodman: Empire Wrestling presented their quarterly supershow “Long Cold Winter” in Rossville Saturday night in front...
Empire Wrestling presented their quarterly supershow “Long Cold Winter” in Rossville Saturday night in front of a full house of over 250 fans.
The show was without one third of the triple man event due to the illness of champion Bobby Hayes. That match wasn’t really missed because the other two main delivered big time.
Empire has demonstrated a willingness to push the envelope on their big shows. “Long Cold Winter” took it to the extreme with a gory death match that was as sick as they come.
The topper was an 8 way ladder match for the Empire Cruiserweight Championship that was a spellbinding spectacle to behold.
I enjoyed this show as I have each of the major Empire events that I have had the pleasure of attending. That said, this was my least favorite among them due to the uninspiring undercard and dearth of quality wrestling. I suspect I'm in the minority. The show seemed to be very well received by the Empire fans.
The pre-show featured a funny video vignette showing the weigh in for the ladder match. Commissioner Dan Wilson had each of the eight competitors step on the scale to make sure they were under the 215 pound limit. Ryan Vega incited a brouhaha by talking trash about the other competitors. During the commotion, Lionel Lucas Lazarus gimmicked the scale so his man Lamar Philips could make weight. Philips appeared wearing only a towel and weighed in at 191. Wilson couldn’t believe it. Baniac got on the gimmicked scale and weighed 77 pounds. “Damn boy, eat a sandwich”, said Wilson.
(1) Gunner Miller beat Rush in 4:15. Rush is so hateable as the disgruntled veteran who takes exception to the young punk wrestlers that think they’re something, and Miller was number one on his shit list. Miller didn’t wait for the bell to open a can of whoop ass, giving Rush a painful tour of the arena. Once inside the ring, they hauled out the heavy artillery. Miller’s suplexes were impressive. A series of counters moves built to Miller winning with a spear. Good way to get things started. The crowd was really up for this match.
(2) Double Dragons (KT & Keith Hamill) defeated Empire Tag Team Champions Livewire Entertainment (Mr. Sports Entertainment & Corey Coxx) by DQ in 11:50. Livewire’s opening comedy spots were fun. It went downhill from there. Dragons worked over Mr. Sports’ knee and switched without tagging when the ref wasn’t looking. Livewire had the Dragons in trouble so their partner in White Rose, Ryan Vega came out to distract the ref. Dragons used a chair on Coxx and leveled him with a double superkick. Mr. Sports E got a hold of the chair and was caught red handed by referee Jonathon Chastain. Livewire Entertainment retained the titles on the DQ. This match did get me excited about seeing a rematch.
(3) Empire owner Drew Delight defeated Logan Alvey in 10:40. Once upon a time, Alvey was way over as a babyface in Empire. Not anymore. He has got to do more with his facial expressions and body language. Delight’s heel persona was the best thing about the match. He was consumed with frustration when Alvey kicked out of his superkick and started yelling at Alvey to stay down. The crowd was dead for Alvey’s comeback. He used a series of double sledge moves that did not look good. When Alvey tried for his Rockbottom finisher, Delight raked his eyes and pinned him with a Scorpion Deathdrop. A subpar match.
Afterward, Delight ordered a kid in the crowd to raise his hand.
Steve Dave accompanied Bobby Moore to the ring and said the wrestling Gods were smiling down on Ace Rockwell. If Ace could beat his man Moore the powers that be at Empire could no longer ignore him. This didn’t make a lot of sense since Rockwell was already scheduled to face the champion. Rockwell attacked Moore.
(4) Ace Rockwell defeated Bobby Moore (with Steve Dave) in 11:10. Dave’s antics played a big role here. Rockwell had Dave collared but Moore cut him off. Rockwell fought off Moore’s choke slam and eventually hit Aces High (RKO) but Dave put Moore’s foot over the rope. Rockwell got the Scorpion Deathlock applied. Dave grabbed Moore’s arms to bring him to the ropes but got dragged inside the ring instead. Dave slapped Rockwell, who wanted to give him the Aces High, but Moore intervened with a discus elbow for a near fall. Moore gave Rockwell an STO on the ramp. Rockwell managed to beat the 10 count and hit Aces High for the win. Match was OK. They didn’t click as well as I thought they might.
Rockwell said it was quite convenient that Hayes was sick today because he was going to lose his title tonight. Rockwell said Hayes had a problem and that problem was going to be there every week. “I’m going to knock your ass out and I’m taking the belt.”
Announcer Gabe Walters warned families with children to use parental discretion regarding the Compound Death match. He was not exaggerating.
Video vignette- Double Dragons confronted Commissioner Reverend Dan Wilson about his tag team champions getting disqualified. The Rev said he saw them use the chair, but admitted they were correct about being entitled to a rematch under the “bylaws”. Rev said he would think about it.
(5) Tank defeated Stryknyn in a Compound Death Match at 10:45. As sick as this match was, these were was not random acts of violence. It was the culmination of a four month story sparked when Stryknyn showed up out nowhere to lay Tank out with the FFD. Stryk was in for the most hellish payback you would ever want to see. A cheese grater and a pizza slicer quickly came into play, leaving both men bleeding profusely from forehead wounds. Tank took a back bump onto a barbed wire board. Tank suplexed Stryknyn into a bed of tacks, splashed him on the tack then double stomped a barbed wire board on his face and chest while he laying in the tacks. Stryk was bleeding from his face, chest, arms and back. Tank poured a box of salt on Stryknyn’s wounds and hiptossed him onto a barbed wire board. The finish was grisly. Tank chokeslammed Stryknyn on a light tube set across two steel chairs. The tube exploded sending shards into Stryk’s back. Tank then wrapped barbed wire across Stryk’s mouth and he tapped. Say what you will, this match had the element of true danger lacking in most pro wrestling these days. Stryknyn is one of the
Livewire Entertainment confronted Wilson, saying they had the Dragons beaten if not for the chicanery. Wilson made a tag title cage match for February 20.
(6) Chris Ganz defeated former champion Ryan Vega and Johnny Viper and Joey Lynch and Baniac (with Muji Bear) and Lamar Philips (with Lionel Lucas Lazarus) and Matt Fortune (with Steve Dave) and Chase Jordan and Chris Ganz to win the Empire Cruiserweight Championship in a ladder match at 22:35. This was one of the more creative ladder matches I’ve ever seen. And it had story. Most of the stuff they tried worked and they did well with maintaining a visual focus amid the maelstrom. For the most part, they avoided situations where someone had a chance to get the belt and was obviously choosing to do something else. Everyone involved had a good shot at the belt at one time or another. Lynch and Jordan got the loudest pops coming out. The three brothers (Lynch, Fortune and Baniac) worked together…until they didn’t. A dive sequence ensued that built to progressively greater acts of insanity. Jordan topped it off with a leap off the entrance way. Lynch did a blockbuster on Ganz that simultaneously catapulted Fortune into a bridged ladder. At one point, Lazarus and Dave climbed up the ladder. Ha ha. They set two 8 foot ladders side-by-side. Jordan put Philips in a crossface across the top of both ladders. Jordan had the belt but Baniac stopped him. Baniac turned the ladder upside down like he couldn’t figure it out, then spun around hitting guys with the ladder as they tried to get in the ring. Guys started springboarding from the ropes to standing positions on the ladder. That was visually very cool. Baniac had the belt but the sight of Lazarus holding Muji Bear distracted him. Ganz got a hand on the belt, but the ladder was pulled out from under him and he was left hanging from the rafters. Viper speared Ganz with a leap off the top rope. Vega was within inches of grabbing the belt when the lights went out. Lights on and a masked man was standing on the other ladder opposite Vega. The hool lifted revealing matchmake Andrew Alexander for a big pop. The back story that White Rose had been beating Alexander down for months. Alexander used one of the ladders to give Vega a hellacious beating. Baniac splashed Philips through a ladder bridged from the ring frame to the guard rail (not before throwing Muji Bear on top of him). Lynch and Jordan battled on top of the ladders. Jordan took a sick back bump off the top of the ladder. Fortune gave brother Joey a low blow to take him out. It came down to Fortune and Ganz at the top of the ladders in a tug of war over the belt. Fortune fell and Ganz held on to win.
