From Larry Goodman: It was precisely one year ago that Tommy Too Much found AJ Steele sitting in his front row seat. T2M called Steel...
It was precisely one year ago that Tommy Too Much found AJ Steele sitting in his front row seat. T2M called Steele “Kunta Kinte” and dumped a tub of popcorn over his head. It was on. T2M connived his way into the PWA Heritage Championship. The war raged for a full year without Steele being able to pin T2M’s shoulder to the mat in a singles match.
Until last night.
The payoff came via a marvelously constructed main event that saw Steele take the title and end T2M’s PWA career.
It was quite the eventful evening for the PWA and their fans. All three titles changed hands. The No Limits Championship changed hands twice. A double turn took place in the opener. Two old acquaintances tore the house down.
Attendance was off. At 160 it was the second consecutive show below 200 at Central Elementary Gym.
For my money, PWA consistently puts on the top wrestling show in the state. Peachstate has the most compelling booking, the hottest crowds and the best overall presentation. The devil is in the details and PWA gets most of them right.
Going back a few years, wrestling quality was the weak link at PWA. The locker room has evolved into an embarrassment of riches. It’s mind boggling how much the in-ring has improved. And they have so many veterans that know what to do and when to do it.
Advisor to the Georgia Athletic Commission and asshole-in-chief Bill Behrens accompanied T2M to the ring. Behrens’ hand was bandaged. BB claimed to have suffered a severe injury two weeks ago and apologized if it affected his performance tonight. We heard from our esteemed champion although the crowd did their best to drown him out with an “AJ” chant. T2M said he wanted no one at ringside for the match with Steele including Behrens and he was leaving as champion or I QUIT.
(1) CB Suave defeated Kevin Blue in 12 minutes. PWA No Limits Champion Drew Adler pulled up a chair at ringside to watch. Suave was wrestling clean and showing no signs of the uber arrogance of his early PWA appearances. Blue was wrestling the more aggressive style and showing signs of frustration. When Blue kicked out of Suave’s vaunted corkscrew snapmare driver, Adler slid a chair in to Suave and distracted the ref. Suave couldn’t bring himself to use it and punched Adler instead. Blue had no such reservations. He shoved the chair edge into Suave’s gut and hit a wicked move for a near fall. Blue went for the kill with the Yakuza kick. Suave stepped aside and rolled Blue up. This was a solid match with both men showcasing their best stuff.
Blue shook Suave’s hand before jumping him from behind. Blue laid Suave out with the Air Raid Crash, used a chair on him, then took a seat to get a birdseye view of the agony while the refs tended to Suave. Blue wasn’t satisfied and gave Suave a uranage on the chair. This was a whale of beatdown with Blue coming across sadistic as hell. That said, the fans didn’t react like they were livid at Blue or fully ready embrace Suave. Despite foreshadowing the double turn on the previous shows, it didn’t seem to take…at least not yet.
Prince Akbar said that thanks to the recent gas shortage he was flush with cash. He had started his own music company and was now repping P-Dog. Akbar announced a CD release party for October 22.
(2) P-Dog (with Prince Akbar) defeated Shane Noles (with Wicked Nemesis) in 7:08. Crowd was hot for Shane who was on fire early. P-Dog dropkick Shane’s knee and went to town on it. Dog broke out the Flying Firecrotch Guillotine for a near fall but ended up with his own crotch on fire after a misadventure with the turnbuckles. Noles made a gimpy comeback. Akbar jumped on the apron to interfere. Noles grabbed for Akbar and P-Dog rolled him up. Noles kicked out but P-Dog nailed him with a Roughrider for the pin. Match worked fine for what it was. Noles stayed within his comfort zone on offense and sold big. It made sense for Posey to cut the larger man down to size. I liked that they didn’t settle for the lame roll up off the distraction that tends to make the babyface look weak.
(3) The Gladiator Jeremiah (with Bill Behrens) defeated Corey Hollis in 11:23. Hollis had the early advantage with Gladiator doing a lot of scowling and growling. When Hollis went for a baseball slide to the outside, Jeremiah trapped him inside the ring skirt and beat on him. Gladiator hit a tornado kick off the ropes.
Gladiator was getting the lion’s share of the offense but Hollis kept coming back. Hollis reversed Gladiator’s Screwdriver on the Rocks with a fireman’s carry drop for two. Gladiator upended Hollis on an attempted slingshot move and pinned him with a jumping neckbreaker. Not their best match for reasons to be revealed.
(4) Sal Rinauro defeated Drew Adler to win the PWA No Limits Championship in 11:15. Behrens came out to do color commentary with Eddie Layne. Adler pie-faced Rinauro and attacked him before the bell. Rinauro roared back leaving the champion on rubber leg street. Adler used a convenient short cut to take over. Sal rallied with a series of pinning combinations. Adler cut that off with fist to the face. Rinauro pounded the mat to signal a full-fledged comeback was on the way. Adler countered Rinauro’s sliding clothesline with a submission hold. Rinauro fought it off and busted out the Phoenix Fury Legdrop (it’s a pumphandle driver and not a leg drop at all) for a near fall. Adler was apoplectic when Rinauro kicked out of his falcon arrow. Adler went for it again and ate a stunner. Blinded by rage, Adler tried to hit Rinauro with the title and got caught with an inside cradle. Adler got a shoulder up but referee number 3 (Terry Hudgins) called for the bell. The result was a lukewarm, delayed crowd reaction for the big babyface win. The crossed signals on the finish was real shame because it was a really good match up to that point.
Behrens said he knew Rinauro ((I’ll say!) and he was nothing if not a fighting champion. Ergo, Rinauro would have to put the title up against Gladiator. Behrens said he would give Rinauro 15 minutes to rest before the new champion would be crowned.
Intermission.
The lights went out before the next match. A mysterious voice informed Behrens he would find out who was really in charge on October 22.
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| Photos courtesy of Rob Brodhecker |
The crowd was pissed about the massive screw job and popped big for Rinauro on his way out.
(6) Beautiful Bald Besties (Michael Stevens & Zac Edwards) defeated Violent Gentleman (Andrew Smith & Scott Morgan) to regain the PWA Tag Team Championship in 11:54. Stevens said they took care of Wicked Nemesis and the tag titles were coming home. Besties got heat on Morgan after he messed up coming off the ropes. Besties were murdering Morgan with combos but couldn’t put him away. The crowd got behind Morgan, who was selling like a slug and lacking in urgency to get to his partner. Morgan finally fought off both Besties to make the tag. Smith cleaned house but soon found himself in trouble. Smith kicked out of the Besties’ signature finisher and hit a frogsplash on Edwards but he kicked out. A see saw battle of big moves, close calls and blind tags ensued. In the end, Besties subdued Andrew with an Eat Defeat/Zig Zag combo and he was pinned by Stevens. Match was OK. They had their work cut out for them having to follow Gladiator/Rinauro. Violent Gentleman didn’t go down without a mighty struggle but they got the titles off of them not a moment too soon. Their combo moves looks shaky and there’s nothing special about their chemistry as a team. I wouldn't mind seeing Smith get another shot in a singles match.
(7) AJ Steele defeated Tommy Too Much to win the PWA Heritage Championship and end T2M’s PWA career in 14:47. BOOM! Steele was busted open before the opening bell after a belt
The babyfaces hit the ring to party with Rinuaro. The "AJ" chant was off the chain. T2M loaded Michaels onto his back and headed for the dressing room. He stopped at the entrance way, dumped Michaels to the floor and took a long look at the celebration before disappearing through the curtain.
Steele promised a huge celebration on October 22. "If you bring your ass, Tommy, I'll kick it again. Oh, I forgot. You gotta buy a ticket."
