From NWA Southeastern Wrestling : The stars were out and shining brightly at Thomas County Middle School on November 5, in Thomasvil...
The stars were out and shining brightly at Thomas County Middle School on November 5, in Thomasville, GA as NWA Southeastern presented “Drug/Bully Awareness Night”. They did so in hopes of promoting a drug-free and anti-bullying lifestyle for the past, present, and future generations in attendance that could spread to the whole world. With a night of speeches, fun, fellowship, and good ‘ol fashion wrestling designed to entertain and inform the masses, I think the message was well received.
The show opened as it normally does with the National Anthem, performed this evening by the Thomas Co. Middle School band. This was followed by the arrival of TCMS Principal Jamie Thompson, Deputy Sheriff Sgt. Lelia Spires, and Police Chief Jimmy Peeples to speak about bullying, drugs, and the negative effect that they can have on peoples’ lives, young and old. They talked about the positive effect that anti-bullying and not doing drugs can help in a young persons’ life as they go through school and keeping them on the right path into their futures.
They then introduced the special guests for the evening, NFL great Myron Guyton, and former WWE star Ron Simmons. The two men each came down to the ring and talked about what a pleasure it was to be in Thomasville.
However, before Mr. Simmons could continue, he was interrupted by the NWA Deep South Heavyweight Champion, “The Sharp Shooter” Mason Price. He called Ron the past, listing all the accomplishments that the legend had accrued over the years; including the retiring of his football jersey number at FSU, being the first African-American WCW Champion, and being WWE Hall of Famer. Price then stated he was the present and that Ron would just have to sit back and watch him be a star.
This brought to the ring a newcomer to the NWA Southeastern scene. A man known as “Flash-N-Cash” Hayden Price, who has competed in many promotions in the southeast and making a big name for himself in doing so. He came to the ring and talked about the disrespect that Mason was showing a legend of the wrestling business. He said that he wanted the chance to teach the Champion about respect for the wrestling business, past and present.
So, as the special guest General Manager for the evening, Ron Simmons took it upon himself to give Hayden a match with Mason for later in the evening. He then said that the match they would be competing in…would be for the NWA Deep South Heavyweight Title!
Mason Price was visibly upset about this announcement and stormed to the back as Hayden & Simmons left the ring and the show officially began.
The first match of the evening was set to be a three-way dance that pitted “Devastator” Dustin Davis, the Avenger, and a newcomer to NWA Southeastern, AJ Hawkins. All three men made their entrances to the ring, with the Avenger getting a surprisingly huge ovation as the cape-wearing combatant came through the curtain. Late in the bout, all three men fought each other to the outside. In what can only be described as an upset win, the Avenger somehow swooped back into the ring as referee Clinton Emerson counted the 10 and declared the Avenger as the winner. Even under a mask, the Avenger seemed just as shocked by the outcome. Could this be a change for the future of the Avenger?!
Up next, it was set to be a match for the NWA Deep South Cruiserweight Title with “Da #1 Stunnuh’” Dark Rage defending the belt against the enigma known as Danger Dillinger. The challenger came out to the ring in a suit, bowler hat, and a smiling mouth mask. As the match wore on, he methodically moved around the ring attempting to catch Rage off his guard in hopes of securing victory. However, the Champion was too fast for him, hitting him with his signature superkick and continuing his winning ways and title reign.
It was then time for a match that many had been waiting for since it was announced. Originally slated to be Marcus O’Reilly taking on the “Pop Star” Johnny Romano, the match was changed mere days before the event took place as O’Reilly was deemed as “unable to compete” due to injury by doctor’s orders. Thankfully, a fellow fighter for justice, “The Jesus Freak” Logan Stevens made a call to NWA Southeastern management and told them that he would be glad to step in and take on the Pop Star. In what was called a “Jailhouse Match”, the loser of the match would be taken to AND spend the night in a jail cell, whether they wanted to or not. After a bout of words, the match was on, and the two went at it both knowing what awaited them should they be defeated. As Logan seem to get the upper hand, down to the ring strolled the Deep South Tag Team Champions, the Society, to give Ramano a bit of help. Unbeknownst to the referee, a chair was tossed into the ring, and on instinct Stevens caught the chair as to not be hit with the foreign object. As the referee turned back to the action at hand, Johnny fell to the mat and “pretended” to have been knocked out by the now chair-wielding Stevens. The referee called for the bell and awarded the decision to Romano. As two of Thomas County’s police officers got into the ring, Stevens regrettably allowed them to begin placing him in handcuffs as was the stipulation. However, Deputy Sheriff Sgt. Spires stepped into the ring and informed the men to stop immediately. After conferring with the referee for a bit, she got on the microphone and, in keeping with the anti-bulling campaign for which the whole show was about, stated that she and the referee had decided that the match should be restarted due to outside interference. The Pop Star was livid over this reaction, demanding that his hand be raised. Logan took this momentary distraction to slip behind Romano, roll him up, and get the fair win. After the match, Johnny begged and pleaded for Thomas County’s finest to simply ‘let him off with a warning’ instead of taking him to jail. The officers did as instructed, placed the Johnny in cuffs, and dragged him, kicking and screaming, out of the building and off to jail. Following the shady tactics used by Johnny during the match, namely the use of the Society…is it possible they might have had a hand in the injuries that kept Marcus O’Reilly out of action on this night? I’m sure the Hardway Brother's will be back with a vengeance in due time. Also, what will the future hold for the “Jesus Freak” coming off this awesome win?
After a brief intermission, it was announced that they next contest of the evening would be fought as a “Dog Collar Match”. The rules of the match stipulated that the winner would only be decided when one of the combatants hit all four turnbuckle pads in succession. As music filled the arena, it was made clear that two men set to do battle in this match would be the man known as Pure Goodness and “The Desperado” Christian Walker. Both men seemed very uneasy about putting leather collars around their necks and being connected by a long length of steel chain. They two men went at it and beat one another down with the heavy chain. Early in the match, one of Goodness’s followers Cassius Mack attempted to interject himself into the match on his leader’s behalf, but Referee Kyle Dubbya stepped in and stopped him by forcing him away from the ring. As the match continued, Goodness would slap a pad and Walker seemed to sneak up behind the big man and do the same. Finally, Goodness dropped Walker to the mat and prepared to hit his version of the Vader Bomb. As he came off, though, Christian moved out of the way, managed to get to his feet, and slapped the remaining pads to earn the victory on this occasion.
For the NWA Deep South Heavyweight Title, “The Sharp Shooter” Mason Price took to the ring to defend the title against “Flash-N-Cash” Hayden Price. After seemingly being ‘handed’ a title shot on this evening, Hayden proved that he definitely deserved this title shot. The Champion took the fight to Hayden only to have this new Price bring it right back at him. Early in the contest, Flash-N-Cash missed a spear to the corner and sent his shoulder into the post. The Sharp Shooter saw this and used it to his advantage, working the injured body part throughout the rest of the match. Mason used a series of debilitating moves to try and beat Hayden, including a power slam which one Ron Simmons had used to defeat Big Van Vader in the past. Hayden used Mason’s frustration to his advantage, using a flurry of offense to take control, including a running elbow strike that he calls the Flash Drive. Also, paying homage to Ron Simmons, Hayden even used the Hall of Famer’s variation of the Spine Buster. When this was unsuccessful in taking out Mason, Flash-N-Cash picked up Mason in a Fireman’s Carry position, seemingly setting up his Price Check finishing move. Somehow the Sharp Shooter was able to counter the double knees to the gut maneuver, which could surely have cost him the Title, flip Hayden back to his feet, knock him down with a vicious forearm shot, and lock in his bow-and-arrow arm submission. With the injured shoulder of Flash-N-Cash in such immense pain, Hayden was forced to submit for fear of irreparable damage. Did Hayden’s resilience and drive earn the respect of Mason that he was trying so hard to teach the Sharp Shooter about? Only time will tell…
For months, there have been two mainstay tag teams fighting over the NWA Deep South Tag Team Titles; those teams are The Punkadelics and The Society. For months, The Society has managed to scrape away with a victory using their shady tactics. For months, The Punk-a-delics have fought valiantly only to have victory ripped away from them on each occasion. On this night, however, the winds of change were working in the favor of the good guys. As Society member Preston Veston III headed up to the top rope to suplex Punkadelic Vinny off, it was Vinny who countered and sent his adversary sailing backward off and into the arms of his awaiting brother James. James then set up Preston for the brothers’ finishing maneuver, their version of the Heart Attack, in order to secure their victory. The Society’s Street Bandit was forced to look on as his fallen partner lay on the mat with the new champions celebrating inside the ring.
It was then time for the main event, scheduled to be a ladder match for a shot at the NWA Deep South Heavyweight Title at any time in the next 12 months. Three of the competitors entered the match are men who have previously been featured in NWA Southeastern before; those men being the Wounded Warrior, Cassius Mack, & “The Weapon of Sass Destruction” Effy Gibbes. The final entrant is one that NWA Southeastern management scouted from the Georgia independent wrestling scene, Jake Knight; a young up-and-comer who has been wrestling for the past four years, winning titles in other promotions around the state, making his debut in NWA Southeastern on this evening. Four very deserving men all stepped in the ring and prepared to do battle. After a bit of brawling, ladders were quickly brought into the match. Each man attempted to use the ladder to their advantage, as a battering ram and to jump off of, in the case of Warrior & Knight. As all of the men made their separate attempts to climb the ladder, it seemed that there was always someone there to stop them. Late in the match, Cassius headed up the ladder, seemingly with no one to stop him. On the outside, Effy climbed a ladder set up on the floor. Once at the top, Gibbes stepped to the top rope and was somehow able to jump to the ladder in the ring which Mack had climbed to the top of. The two then traded punches to try and knock the other off. It was not until the Feminist Icon landed a headbutt that sent Cassius, and his Title shot aspirations, to the to the floor below. Gibbs, realizing he was all alone, regained his bearings, reached up, and grabbed the briefcase that hung above the ring, earning himself a future NWA Deep South Heavyweight Title Shot sometime in the next 12 months.
As the bell rung and Effy’s music played throughout the building, Ron Simmons made his way down to the ring. With the current champion Mason Price looking on, ‘the past celebrated the current’ as the first African American WCW World Champion raised the arm of the man who has the opportunity to become the NWA Deep South Heavyweight Champion, Effy Gibbes.
The sight of this angered the Champion so much that he and the Society ran down to the ring to take out the man from Talla-Sassy. However, the Punkadelics ran down, evened up the odds, and sent their adversaries out the ring to the back as they helped Effy continue to celebrate his victory as the show came to the close.
When will Gibbes choose to cash in his Title shot briefcase? Could it be as early as later this month in Pavo, GA?
The soonest way to find out is to come out and see, in person, as NWA Southeastern presents “Spirit for Giving” later this month, November 19. The stars will be out to give the fans a show to remember. Will you be there to give them an audience to shine for?!
