From Larry Goodman: Why We Wrestle delivered the goods at “Summer of Hate”. Stryknyn and Anthony Henry tore the house down in the ma...
From Larry Goodman:
Why We Wrestle delivered the goods at “Summer of Hate”.
Stryknyn and Anthony Henry tore the house down in the main event to end their feud with Stryknyn retaining the WWW Championship.
The tag team tournament concluded with Billy Buck and James Drake being crowned as the first WWW Tag Team Champions. Like the singles tournament that preceded it, the tag tournament was heavily modified. That said, it did produce a number of excellent matches and the finale may have been the best of the bunch.
No big show in Cornelia worth its salt should be without a healthy level of raw violence. The show last night had that element in spades, and it wasn’t violence for the sake of violence. Both of the gimmick matches were kick ass and had strong stories to back them up. There is no question that the booking has been much better since Dan Wilson came on board infusing a heavy Memphis influence.
Attendance was right at 100, making it the smallest crowd for a major show in the history of wrestling at the Church. Not the smallest gate though as tickets were priced at $20 rather than the $15 price tag for Anarchy’s big shows in recent years. The promotion caught a break with more moderate temperatures yesterday so the building wasn't a sauna.
Preshow: Trevor Aeon & Tracer X defeated George South & Baron Bullard. Aeon pinned Bullard with a sunset flip after X broke up South’s valiant attempt to keep Bullard from keeling over.
Talent Show -- JT Talent introduced his former tag team partner Andrew Pendleton III as his guest co-host reuniting Talent & Money. Talent revealed the launch of the WWW women’s division on August 13. Out came Dementia D’Rose, carving knife in hand, with her manager The Carpenter. Carpenter cut a promo talking about the stupidity and hubris of anyone that would take on the “Truth Machine”. She had carved the names of her unfortunate victims to be on a Carpenter’s baseball bat. The first name that came up was Nina Monet. The crowd popped for the announcement of the first ever women’s division in Cornelia. The timing could not have been better.
Talent introduced Les Thatcher and South and thanked them for what they had done for the wrestling business. The warm fuzzy feeling was immediately trashed by Prince Apollo, proclaiming that he was born with the God given ability to hurt people and rule with his iron pinky. Apollo demanded respect from the “so-called legends” and received a double clothesline from Thatcher and South for his brazen bullshit.
Shadow Jackson returned to a tremendous response. Jackson said doctors told him he should have died in the ring (after suffering a heart attack at a benefit show) and died twice on the table. The doctors told him he wasn't strong enough to come to the show tonight but he called upon what was left of Shadowmania and came anyway. He told the crowd to stop the "Shadow" chant or he would have to interrupt every match and stun everybody. A heart warming piece of business.
Emcee Seth Delay previewed the show. He also asked how many newcomers were in the house. 5 hands were raised.
(1) Will Huckaby defeated Timmy Lou Retton in 6:02. Billed as power vs. finesse, the heel/face dynamic was between the North Carolinians was in force. Retton tried to end it with a moonsault. Huckaby got out harm’s way. Retton managed to land on his feet but Huckaby planted him with a powerslam for the 1-2-3.
(2) Lynch Mob (Joey & Matt Lynch) defeated Get Along Gang (CB Suave & Gil Quest with Marvelous Marko) in 9:15. Lynch Mob was eating Quest’s lunch with combo moves until Marko tripped up Matt. Matt went through the legs to make the hot tag. Joey hit a moonsault on Suave and Quest made the save. GAG hit a crossbody/stalling vertical suplex combo on Matt and Joey broke up the pin. The finish saw Marko pull the wrong guy’s leg and Matt rolled up Suave. Good stuff. I wouldn’t mind seeing Joey and Suave in a singles match.
Postmatch – Get Along Gang administered the old-fashioned sore losers beatdown on Lynch Mob.
(3) Gunner Miller (with Jeff G. Bailey) defeated Mikael Judas in 10:53. Judas was in great shape as always, maybe a little leaner. Judas punished Miller’s shoulder. Miller paid him back in kind. Judas ducked a flying shoulder block and knocked Miller off the apron into the rail. Judas was momentarily distracted by Bailey but Miller wasn’t able to capitalize. Judas tried for El Crucifijo. Miller reversed out of it and stunned Judas with a running knee. Miller tried for the CTE but Judas cut him off with a high boot. Miller countered a Judas choke slam and broke out the suplex attack. Damn impressive on such a large man. Judas rolled out of the ring. Bailey told Miller to go after him. Back inside, Miller was lying in wait with the spear but Judas kicked out. Miller went for a Stinger splash and KOed himself on the turnbuckle. Moments later, Judas nailed Miller with a high boot but Bailey grabbed Judas’ leg and hung on while Miller covered. Really good match for a first meeting. I look forward to the rematch at SCI.
Afterward , the crowd chanted for a pissed off Judas.
(4) Billy Buck & James Drake defeated Dark City Fight Club (Jon Davis & Kory Chavis) and Hooligans (Devin & Mason Cutter with Uncle Leo) to become the first WWW Tag Team Champions in 15:05. The story was Hooligans and DCFC taking turns isolating Buck and Drake. Hooligans are quite the brawlers and they’ve got some impressive combo moves. Devin throws great punches. Based on the quality of his work, Davis is deserving of success at a higher level. Drake showed great fire attempting to fight his way out of the Hooligan’s corner. The inevitable backstabbing broke down the cooperation between Hooligans and DCFC. Drake hit a DDT that Davis sold beautifully. Buck cleaned house with bionic elbows and Samoan drops. The closing minutes was a train of stellar big moves. In the end, Drake surprised Davis with a roll up. Referee Shane Potea did the babyfaces no favor by fast counting the pin as if they needed help to win. Setting the finish aside, this was the best match of the first half of the show.
(5) Grindhouse Match (Fans Bring the Weapons): Devil’s Rejects (Se7en & Brad Cash with Reverend Dan Wilson defeated Southern Bastard Crew (Bobby Moore & Cyrus the Destroyer & Wade Adams with Logan Chase) in 14:02. Weapons galore. You name it, they used it. Silly string, a wheelbarrow, barbed wire bat, cheese grater, a skateboard wrapped in barbed wire, a hammer and a plunger all came into play. Cyrus put Se7en in the wheelbarrow and ran him into the guardrail. Moore used a hacksaw on Cash’s forehead to draw blood. Se7en was on fire. He manhandled Adams and hit a killer bicycle kick on Moore only to get speared by Cyrus. SBC handcuffed Cash to the ropes. The Rev decked Chase for a big pop and got the key to unlock Cash. The lights went out. Lights on and founding Reject Azrael was in the ring! Azrael used a sick move to drop Moore on his head but was pulled out of the ring by Cyrus. For the finish, Cash gave Adams a lariat into a bed of tacks. With non-stop mayhem and the feeling that things were out of control, the match lived up to high hardcore expectations.
Postmatch – Adams didn’t make the cut as a member of the Crew. Moore gave Adams the STO from hell into the tacks and Cyrus planted him on the tacks with a black hole slam. Fans chanted for tables but didn’t get them.
Delay called for BRIEF intermission and it was.
(6) Kevin Blue defeated Slim J by DQ in 3:30. Match was over before the fans knew what hit them. Slim attacked Blue before the bell. An intense brawl ensued until Slim completely lost his composure and knocked the ref down. They made the right call by not doing a regular match given how personal things had gotten at the last show (i.e. Blue accusing Slim of being meth junkie. Slim alleging that Blue’s wife was a ring rat). A taste of what’s to come was all that was needed, and they didn’t take anything away from the specialness of the main event.
Video recap of Ashworth Nemesis feud.
(7) Georgia Bullrope Match: Nemesis defeated Jacob Ashworth in 11:05 to save his WWW career and make Ashworth his slave. The crowd response for Ashworth’s intro was second only to the one for Stryknyn. The opening minutes turned into a fight for survival for Nemesis as Ashworth was pounded lumps on him. Ashworth was bleeding from forehead after Nemesis sent his head into the post but he came roaring back. Nemesis resorted to a low blow. Ashworth conked Nemesis with the cowbell a couple of times and Nemesis was bleeding. Ashworth whipped Nemesis with the cowbell and choked him wit the bullrope. Nemesis whipped Ashworth with a belt. Ashworth gave Nemesis a brutal shot into the rail. Nemesis kicked Ashworth in the head as he reentered the ring. The crowd got behind Ashworth. They went back and forth with stiff shots. Ashworth inadvertently slugged referee Potea with the cowbell. With the ref down and out, Nemesis sprayed a rag with ether and sent Ashworth to la-la land. The crowd chanted for Ashworth but he was dead to the world. Match had all the brutality that this feud called for. Losing via an ether rag did no damage to Ashworth’ standing and put even more heat on Nemesis if that’s possible. It’s going to be wild to see how this deal plays out with Ashworth as his white slave.
Postmatch – A huge chant erupted for Ashworth as he struggled to regain his bearings.
Video recap of feud between Stryknyn and Henry.
(8) Stryknyn defeated Anthony Henry (with Amber Young) to retain the WWW Heavyweight Championship in 18:57. Not only is Stryk over like rover, he’s a legit badass. He was still banged up from wining the bare knuckles championship at Night of the Juggalos (more on that in the upcoming news and notes post). Henry was fresh off the biggest win of his career, a clean victory over Roderick Strong. They opened with an intense lock up followed by stiff back and forth strikes. The striking in the match was hellacious. Amber grabbed Stryk’s leg to give her man the advantage. Henry has loads of stuff in his moveset, and unlike so many indy guys, it all looks good. Stryk caught Henry with a rockbottom as he flew off the ropes and applied the Tourniquet. Henry forced Stryk’s shoulders to the mat to make him release the hold. Stryk withstood some wicked shots and hulked up. His leaping leg drop missed and Henry hit a Codebreaker of the ropes for a near fall. The action spilled to apron and Henry gave Stryk a Kryptonite Krunch on the ring frame. It looked devastating but Stryk is indestructible. Stryk kicked out of a frogsplash and the crowd got behind him huge. Stryk escaped from the Vertebreaker. Spear! Henry kicked out. 15 minutes gone. Stryk went for the spear again and Henry hooked him with an inside cradle. Henry with a brainbuster and another kick out and another chant for the champion. Stryk had Henry pinned with the F5 but Amber put his foot on the ropes. Referee Dee Byers ejected Amber from ringside. They fought up from their knees trading vicious slaps. Crowd was going nuts at this point. Stryk absorbed a rapid-fire barrage of blows to hit the F5 and spear Henry for the win. Great match with an amazing finishing sequence.
Why We Wrestle delivered the goods at “Summer of Hate”.
Stryknyn and Anthony Henry tore the house down in the main event to end their feud with Stryknyn retaining the WWW Championship.
The tag team tournament concluded with Billy Buck and James Drake being crowned as the first WWW Tag Team Champions. Like the singles tournament that preceded it, the tag tournament was heavily modified. That said, it did produce a number of excellent matches and the finale may have been the best of the bunch.
No big show in Cornelia worth its salt should be without a healthy level of raw violence. The show last night had that element in spades, and it wasn’t violence for the sake of violence. Both of the gimmick matches were kick ass and had strong stories to back them up. There is no question that the booking has been much better since Dan Wilson came on board infusing a heavy Memphis influence.
Attendance was right at 100, making it the smallest crowd for a major show in the history of wrestling at the Church. Not the smallest gate though as tickets were priced at $20 rather than the $15 price tag for Anarchy’s big shows in recent years. The promotion caught a break with more moderate temperatures yesterday so the building wasn't a sauna.
Preshow: Trevor Aeon & Tracer X defeated George South & Baron Bullard. Aeon pinned Bullard with a sunset flip after X broke up South’s valiant attempt to keep Bullard from keeling over.
Talent Show -- JT Talent introduced his former tag team partner Andrew Pendleton III as his guest co-host reuniting Talent & Money. Talent revealed the launch of the WWW women’s division on August 13. Out came Dementia D’Rose, carving knife in hand, with her manager The Carpenter. Carpenter cut a promo talking about the stupidity and hubris of anyone that would take on the “Truth Machine”. She had carved the names of her unfortunate victims to be on a Carpenter’s baseball bat. The first name that came up was Nina Monet. The crowd popped for the announcement of the first ever women’s division in Cornelia. The timing could not have been better.
Talent introduced Les Thatcher and South and thanked them for what they had done for the wrestling business. The warm fuzzy feeling was immediately trashed by Prince Apollo, proclaiming that he was born with the God given ability to hurt people and rule with his iron pinky. Apollo demanded respect from the “so-called legends” and received a double clothesline from Thatcher and South for his brazen bullshit.
Shadow Jackson returned to a tremendous response. Jackson said doctors told him he should have died in the ring (after suffering a heart attack at a benefit show) and died twice on the table. The doctors told him he wasn't strong enough to come to the show tonight but he called upon what was left of Shadowmania and came anyway. He told the crowd to stop the "Shadow" chant or he would have to interrupt every match and stun everybody. A heart warming piece of business.
Emcee Seth Delay previewed the show. He also asked how many newcomers were in the house. 5 hands were raised.
(1) Will Huckaby defeated Timmy Lou Retton in 6:02. Billed as power vs. finesse, the heel/face dynamic was between the North Carolinians was in force. Retton tried to end it with a moonsault. Huckaby got out harm’s way. Retton managed to land on his feet but Huckaby planted him with a powerslam for the 1-2-3.
(2) Lynch Mob (Joey & Matt Lynch) defeated Get Along Gang (CB Suave & Gil Quest with Marvelous Marko) in 9:15. Lynch Mob was eating Quest’s lunch with combo moves until Marko tripped up Matt. Matt went through the legs to make the hot tag. Joey hit a moonsault on Suave and Quest made the save. GAG hit a crossbody/stalling vertical suplex combo on Matt and Joey broke up the pin. The finish saw Marko pull the wrong guy’s leg and Matt rolled up Suave. Good stuff. I wouldn’t mind seeing Joey and Suave in a singles match.
Postmatch – Get Along Gang administered the old-fashioned sore losers beatdown on Lynch Mob.
(3) Gunner Miller (with Jeff G. Bailey) defeated Mikael Judas in 10:53. Judas was in great shape as always, maybe a little leaner. Judas punished Miller’s shoulder. Miller paid him back in kind. Judas ducked a flying shoulder block and knocked Miller off the apron into the rail. Judas was momentarily distracted by Bailey but Miller wasn’t able to capitalize. Judas tried for El Crucifijo. Miller reversed out of it and stunned Judas with a running knee. Miller tried for the CTE but Judas cut him off with a high boot. Miller countered a Judas choke slam and broke out the suplex attack. Damn impressive on such a large man. Judas rolled out of the ring. Bailey told Miller to go after him. Back inside, Miller was lying in wait with the spear but Judas kicked out. Miller went for a Stinger splash and KOed himself on the turnbuckle. Moments later, Judas nailed Miller with a high boot but Bailey grabbed Judas’ leg and hung on while Miller covered. Really good match for a first meeting. I look forward to the rematch at SCI.
Afterward , the crowd chanted for a pissed off Judas.
(4) Billy Buck & James Drake defeated Dark City Fight Club (Jon Davis & Kory Chavis) and Hooligans (Devin & Mason Cutter with Uncle Leo) to become the first WWW Tag Team Champions in 15:05. The story was Hooligans and DCFC taking turns isolating Buck and Drake. Hooligans are quite the brawlers and they’ve got some impressive combo moves. Devin throws great punches. Based on the quality of his work, Davis is deserving of success at a higher level. Drake showed great fire attempting to fight his way out of the Hooligan’s corner. The inevitable backstabbing broke down the cooperation between Hooligans and DCFC. Drake hit a DDT that Davis sold beautifully. Buck cleaned house with bionic elbows and Samoan drops. The closing minutes was a train of stellar big moves. In the end, Drake surprised Davis with a roll up. Referee Shane Potea did the babyfaces no favor by fast counting the pin as if they needed help to win. Setting the finish aside, this was the best match of the first half of the show.
(5) Grindhouse Match (Fans Bring the Weapons): Devil’s Rejects (Se7en & Brad Cash with Reverend Dan Wilson defeated Southern Bastard Crew (Bobby Moore & Cyrus the Destroyer & Wade Adams with Logan Chase) in 14:02. Weapons galore. You name it, they used it. Silly string, a wheelbarrow, barbed wire bat, cheese grater, a skateboard wrapped in barbed wire, a hammer and a plunger all came into play. Cyrus put Se7en in the wheelbarrow and ran him into the guardrail. Moore used a hacksaw on Cash’s forehead to draw blood. Se7en was on fire. He manhandled Adams and hit a killer bicycle kick on Moore only to get speared by Cyrus. SBC handcuffed Cash to the ropes. The Rev decked Chase for a big pop and got the key to unlock Cash. The lights went out. Lights on and founding Reject Azrael was in the ring! Azrael used a sick move to drop Moore on his head but was pulled out of the ring by Cyrus. For the finish, Cash gave Adams a lariat into a bed of tacks. With non-stop mayhem and the feeling that things were out of control, the match lived up to high hardcore expectations.
Postmatch – Adams didn’t make the cut as a member of the Crew. Moore gave Adams the STO from hell into the tacks and Cyrus planted him on the tacks with a black hole slam. Fans chanted for tables but didn’t get them.
Delay called for BRIEF intermission and it was.
(6) Kevin Blue defeated Slim J by DQ in 3:30. Match was over before the fans knew what hit them. Slim attacked Blue before the bell. An intense brawl ensued until Slim completely lost his composure and knocked the ref down. They made the right call by not doing a regular match given how personal things had gotten at the last show (i.e. Blue accusing Slim of being meth junkie. Slim alleging that Blue’s wife was a ring rat). A taste of what’s to come was all that was needed, and they didn’t take anything away from the specialness of the main event.
Video recap of Ashworth Nemesis feud.
(7) Georgia Bullrope Match: Nemesis defeated Jacob Ashworth in 11:05 to save his WWW career and make Ashworth his slave. The crowd response for Ashworth’s intro was second only to the one for Stryknyn. The opening minutes turned into a fight for survival for Nemesis as Ashworth was pounded lumps on him. Ashworth was bleeding from forehead after Nemesis sent his head into the post but he came roaring back. Nemesis resorted to a low blow. Ashworth conked Nemesis with the cowbell a couple of times and Nemesis was bleeding. Ashworth whipped Nemesis with the cowbell and choked him wit the bullrope. Nemesis whipped Ashworth with a belt. Ashworth gave Nemesis a brutal shot into the rail. Nemesis kicked Ashworth in the head as he reentered the ring. The crowd got behind Ashworth. They went back and forth with stiff shots. Ashworth inadvertently slugged referee Potea with the cowbell. With the ref down and out, Nemesis sprayed a rag with ether and sent Ashworth to la-la land. The crowd chanted for Ashworth but he was dead to the world. Match had all the brutality that this feud called for. Losing via an ether rag did no damage to Ashworth’ standing and put even more heat on Nemesis if that’s possible. It’s going to be wild to see how this deal plays out with Ashworth as his white slave.
Postmatch – A huge chant erupted for Ashworth as he struggled to regain his bearings.
Video recap of feud between Stryknyn and Henry.
(8) Stryknyn defeated Anthony Henry (with Amber Young) to retain the WWW Heavyweight Championship in 18:57. Not only is Stryk over like rover, he’s a legit badass. He was still banged up from wining the bare knuckles championship at Night of the Juggalos (more on that in the upcoming news and notes post). Henry was fresh off the biggest win of his career, a clean victory over Roderick Strong. They opened with an intense lock up followed by stiff back and forth strikes. The striking in the match was hellacious. Amber grabbed Stryk’s leg to give her man the advantage. Henry has loads of stuff in his moveset, and unlike so many indy guys, it all looks good. Stryk caught Henry with a rockbottom as he flew off the ropes and applied the Tourniquet. Henry forced Stryk’s shoulders to the mat to make him release the hold. Stryk withstood some wicked shots and hulked up. His leaping leg drop missed and Henry hit a Codebreaker of the ropes for a near fall. The action spilled to apron and Henry gave Stryk a Kryptonite Krunch on the ring frame. It looked devastating but Stryk is indestructible. Stryk kicked out of a frogsplash and the crowd got behind him huge. Stryk escaped from the Vertebreaker. Spear! Henry kicked out. 15 minutes gone. Stryk went for the spear again and Henry hooked him with an inside cradle. Henry with a brainbuster and another kick out and another chant for the champion. Stryk had Henry pinned with the F5 but Amber put his foot on the ropes. Referee Dee Byers ejected Amber from ringside. They fought up from their knees trading vicious slaps. Crowd was going nuts at this point. Stryk absorbed a rapid-fire barrage of blows to hit the F5 and spear Henry for the win. Great match with an amazing finishing sequence.
