Barry Allen From Scott Hensley: The wife and I made the hour drive to Athens, TN for our first Ego Pro show. Ego Pro is the br...
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| Barry Allen |
The wife and I made the hour drive to Athens, TN for our first Ego Pro show. Ego Pro is the brain child of Barry Allen(no, not the Flash...). I got off to a bad start with this promotion because their poster only said “Athens National Guard Armory” - which I'm sure all the locals know the location of. I figured trusty ol' Google Maps would take me to the “Athens National Guard Armory” but I was wrong. After driving to two incorrect locations, we found an address for a recruiting station near the airport and went to it, which happened to be the right place. The armory has plenty of parking in a gravel lot behind it and plenty of seating, as most armories do. Unfortunately, the show ran close to 3 hours and 45 minutes and the armory is the type of building that sound just dies in. The PA was extremely difficult to understand and so unfortunately there was a lot of mic work that fell on deaf ears.
We missed the first couple of segments and matches but I was told that Tyler Sutton delivered a speech about his most recent shoulder injury and mentioned the harsh possibility of not ever being able to compete again. He was interrupted by JD Rollins. Tiger Kid made the save; and then Kid and Rollins had a match in which Kid pinned Rollins.
2) “It's Complicated” Draven Lee & Hair Band d. Bailey Blake & Shawn Stevens by pinfall after a top rope elbow.
These guys were all about the same size, which made it appear pretty equally matched. The moves themselves weren't bad but there wasn't a lot that connected with the crowd. Blake & Stevens were the heels here but it wasn't really established until deeper into the match and at that point, it appeared to me that people had lost interest. They did some blind tag spots and the old school working of the crowd did get the crowd's attention for a minute or two but then it was confusing because at one point the babyfaces were doubleteaming the heel, as the heel tried to get in and was held back by the referee. Just seemed strange to me. These guys all worked hard and are pretty athletic, which would be a theme. Draven Lee hit a top rope elbow and Hair Band picked up the pin.
3) Shawn Rage d. Chris Carlton by pinfall after a swanton.
Carlton worked the crowd as a heel and made sure they knew who to cheer for. What these guys did was okay but the finish came out of nowhere. In the first minute of the match, Rage launched himself over the rope to the outside but Carlton got up before him, made it into the ring and gave Rage a doublestomp to the back as he got back in. Carlton hit running knees into the corner onto Rage, then did a rolling cannonball flip into him. Carlton continued to work over Rage by choking him. He hit a pump handle suplex on Rage and applied a crossface variation. Rage got to the ropes and Carlton was able to roll it back over. Rage found the strength to fight out, hit a running boot and did a swanton off the top to finish it off and pick up the pin. Nice to see clearer dynamics and more of a formula but it made Carlton look sorta weak to be put away by just a boot and swanton after all the offense he unleashed on Rage.
4) Caleb Courageous d. Tristan Ramsey by pinfall after a reverse zig zag
This was my second favorite match of the night. I've seen Courageous' name on stuff in the McMinnville area for years but don't believe I've ever seen him. He's a veteran cruiserweight who did well with the up and coming Ramsey, whom I've seen have some good matches with Toby Farley. They started out with some good chain wrestling followed up by dueling chops in the corner. Courageous took Ramsey down with a Russian leg sweep. Courageous attempted to springboard himself into the ring but the bigger Ramsey caught him on his shoulders and gave him an airplane spin. Ramsey slammed Courageous to the mat and used his size advantage to do a back splash on top of him. Courageous battled back with a flurry of offense. Ramsey slammed him but Courageous fought back with a standing sliced bread. Ramsey reversed a sunset flip attempt into an Alabama slam into the corner. They battled onto the apron where Courageous brought Ramsey down hard. Back inside, Courageous missed a doublestomp off the top but rolled through and came back with a reverse zig zag, pulling the head and face of Ramsey to the mat to pick up the victory. I hate that this match didn't get more of a reaction.
5) Brother Virgil & Ricky Valentine d. Jayke Murphy & Josh Frozt by pinfall after a stunner
Virgil is a big guy who does a redneck gimmick and Valentine is a fan favorite lover boy type gimmick so it wasn't hard for fans to figure out how to react to these guys with Murphy coming off as a bit arrogant and Frozt keeping a mean demeanor here. Murphy and Valentine started out. It was pretty even until the less experienced Virgil fell victim to Murphy's offense. Frozt with a top rope elbow but Virgil battled back. The big man Frozt hit a spinning heel kick and Murphy took back over with more offense. Virgil found his opportunity for the hot tag when Murphy missed a diving headbutt. Valentine came in with clotheslines and was on fire until Murphy cut him off. Valentine made the tag to Virgil. Murphy grabbed Virgil and Frozt came in to hit Virgil but instead hit Murphy. Virgil tagged back Valentine who hit the stunner on Murphy for the win.
After the match Frozt was not happy with Murphy losing. Murphy wasn't excited about getting punched by his own partner so he tried to kick Frozt, only to have it caught and to have Frozt nail him with a spinning elbow. Murphy rolled to the outside and sat in a chair as the two partners appear to be on the outs.
There was an intermission at this point where I saw some friends from my time in Knoxville, and a few friends from the Chattanooga and Georgia areas.
6) Warren Sanders d. Chase Jordan by pinfall after using a chain
I'm pretty familiar with these guys and they were equally sized up for this match. What they did wasn't bad but once again due to no crowd reaction, it just almost seemed like wasted effort. Jordan had a small fan section and Sanders tried hard to work the crowd with his ongoing smack talk during the match but I think at this point in the show the fans that remained were getting tired. The match started with some chain wrestling, much like Courageous and Ramsey. Jordan pulled off a satellite 'rana when Sanders attempted to scoop him up coming off the ropes. Sanders took over, including a suplex roll through combo and slam, some chokes, and a beautiful bridging pin suplex. Jordan briefly battled back but Sanders held his own and gave Jordan a snapmare then ran the ropes like he was going to do a big dropkick to the seated Jordan but instead grabbed a rear chinlock to mock the crowd's expectations. Sanders kept the chinlock locked on and even reapplied it after Jordan battled out of it. Jordan backdropped Sanders and followed it up with a sitout dropkick. Jordan blocked a superkick from Sanders but Sanders fired again with a lower one that connected and took Jordan down. Sanders used Jordan's positioning to land a curb stomp that got him a 2 count. Sanders put Jordan on the top rope and attempted to go up after him. Jordan headbutted Sanders off and followed up with a frogsplash for 2. Sanders got frustrated and desperate and went to the outside where he got a chair. He threw the chair into the ring and as the referee removed the chair, Jordan leaned out and Sanders nailed him with a chain. Sanders rolled in and the referee got back in and made the three count. The referee took a lot of extra time to get rid of the chair so the finish was somewhat of a bummer.
7) Henry Hoss, Brian Rivers, and Shane Daniels d. The Young Bloodz (Octavius Black, Cameron Martinez, and Spoony Mack) by Count Out
I'd like to have heard the combined weight of the fan favorites here because Henry wasn't the only “hoss” of the group! This was a fun 6 man tag that had a lot of a great spots in it due to some of the size match ups, especially Cameron Martinez being so small and Octavius Black being of comparable size or bigger than his opponents. The match began with Martinez diving over the top rope onto Rivers and Hoss, who reacted like a feather had landed on them. It was nice to see two huge guys not go down for one small guy jumping on them. The Young Bloodz teamed up on Rivers. Daniels cleaned house but Black uppercutted him in the crotch before he could do anymore damage to Mack and Martinez. Martinez and Mack hit a double superkick to Daniels and all 3 worked him over in their corner. Daniels battled back with a suplex and HIT AN OVERHEAD BELLY TO BELLY SUPLEX ON OCTAVIUS BLACK! It was awesome. Martinez came off the top and got caught and slammed by Daniels. Poor Martinez in the land of giants. Black hit a big running boot. Daniels used his last ounce of strength to land a superkick of his own, which took both men down. Daniels tagged in Hoss, who came in with some slugging rights to Black and then slammed the big man. Hoss gave Black and airplane spin and gave him a Samoan Drop. Rivers hit a top rope elbow. Martinez broke up the pin. Rivers and Hoss grabbed Martinez and...are you ready for it?.... chokeslammed him over the top rope to the outside onto Black and Mack. It was pretty crazy to see a guy fly like that. The Bloodz had had enough for one night and decided they were leaving. The bell was immediately rung, which was apparently in error – as a 10 count was administered and the team of Hoss, Rivers, and Daniels were declared winners. Allen came out and there was a lot of mic work which seemed to set up something else between the two teams. The Young Bloodz came back out but just for mic work.
8) Austin Willows d. Eddie Adams by pinfall after interference from Ramsey, Carlton, Blake, and Stevens to win the Ego Pro No Limits Championship.
The night was wearing on at this point probably around the 10:30 mark or later. These guys are both athletic and worked hard but it was like they were working in an empty silo match. They killed each other and pulled off big moves but there was no reaction to any of it. They would have gotten a bigger reaction if they would have done 5 minutes of “he pulled my...tights or hair” nonsense. As a fan, it's hard to feel like the only person who cares. If the regulars don't care then why should I? Adams was the champion and they treated him like a nobody in this situation where I feel like they were sorta set up to fail going on that late to work that style in front of that crowd anyway. At one point when Adams was in control a fan yelled out, “Big Deal! You beat a kid!” so perhaps it was the perception of the younger Willows not being a viable contender? I don't know what happened here but it didn't matter to the people. The finish came when Willows went to clothesline Adams and hit the referee. The group of Ramsey, Carlton, Blake, and Stevens all ran in and pummeled Adams. They group powerbombed him and Willows became the new champion.
After the match Ricky Valentine made the save with a chair. Valentine and Adams had a tense square off but put aside their differences to find mutual respect. A guy did some mic work and I caught something about Valentine and Adams coming out of a bitter, long feud – so that also made me think that Adams vs Willows was somewhat of a heel vs heel match, which could have also explained the absence of appreciation or reaction.
9) Toby Farley d. Menace by pinfall in 15:34 after a rear naked choke was reversed into a pin
These guys are why we bought tickets. It was already 10:50 PM when this match went on though. Farley always puts up a heck of a fight and Menace has some really creative offense. They combined here to put on a clinic of pure wrestling goodness, some hard striking, and creativity as well. The reaction they received wasn't what they deserved but it was tons more than the previous match. Farley and Menace both began with takedowns, counters, and trying to score pinfalls. At one point they both swung kicks and caught the other's foot. They stood for a second and negotiated out putting each other's leg down at the same time– which was an entertaining break from the serious wrestling. They worked each other's arms and Farley became the first man to strike, as he chopped Menace several minutes into the match. They began to trade strikes and from rope to rope. Menace was dumped to the outside. Farley nailed him with a huge punt kick. Menace battled back to take control in the ring. He cartwheeled and nailed a seated Farley with a dropkick. Menace went to the apron and launched himself in with a rolling uppercut and later a German suplex and Yakuza kick in the corner. Farley slammed Menace in a pin attempt and went up top. Menace ran to the top and threw Farley off with an armdrag. Menace hit a back handspring elbow off the ropes. Farley got back in it when he caught Menace on the top rope and suplexed him off, holding on and rolling through to hit a combo with another suplex. Menace attempted to set up Farley for a pump handle slam or suplex of some sort but rolled it down to a pin attempt. Menace hit a spin kick and tried again, landing the slam for a two count. Farley went up and over Menace in the corner but held onto Menace's back and applied a sleeper hold. Menace ran Farley into a corner to get him off. Menace and Farley went into the ropes in an O'Connor roll style but Menace pulled Farley back into a rear naked choke. Farley somehow got free enough to flip his body backwards onto the shoulders of Menace long enough to land the 3 count. Fans did give a postmatch “That was awesome” chant – and it was.
After the match, Austin Willows came to the ring with his new championship. He got in the face of Farley and then his crew of Ramsey, Stevens, Carlton, and Blake all hit the ring. Adams and Valentine hit the ring and handed out stunners and superkicks to end the show.
I posted some harsh comments during this show because I was frustrated with there being no address posted, the sound system that was very difficult to hear, and the apathetic fans around me. I'll just end with this. Criticism was not presented well nor taken well. Here's some constructive criticisms I had however about the show in general that I feel like could create a better show for this one and maybe others:
1. Please put an address on the poster. The address that worked for me was 413 County Road 554, Athens, TN 37303. I have an older GPS and that address was in it.
2. Less is more sometimes. In terms of number of matches, guys booked, total show time, and in a lot of cases what's being done in the ring.
3. If someone looks like a bum and that isn't their gimmick then I don't think they should be up in the ring. If your guy couldn't make it then why not ring announce from a side table and let the professional looking guys be on the “stage”? I watched a guy that I thought was the ring announcer - who turned out to be the owner – get in the ring in jeans and a t-shirt and sit in the corner like Raven. It was apparently a jab at one of the wrestlers in the ring who supposedly also does that but that's not something myself or any new fans would be aware of. You only get one chance at a first impression and it came off as really disrespectful to someone who bought a ticket.
4. If someone just got over big as a heel, they shouldn't go smile and shake hands with fans and sit in the crowd after their match. Let us believe and give us someone to dislike for the right reasons. Keep the heat burning.
5. If the sound system isn't working well then figure out a way to use it as little as possible or as effectively as possible.
6. Think about gear choices. If your underwear is hanging out of your tights or your tights look like they're falling apart; then you look like you don't care. If you don't care then why should anyone else?
7. Read the crowd. If they don't care then wake them up and give them something to care about.
