Phot courtesy of David Weakley Jr. From Larry Goodman: Why We Wrestle got a lot out of a little as the company returned to act...
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| Phot courtesy of David Weakley Jr. |
From Larry Goodman:
Why We Wrestle got a lot out of a little as the company returned to action to deal with the fallout from Fright Night.
The new title program marrying Triple Crown Champion Gunner Miller to challenger Jacob Ashworth got off to a rousing start with a Memphis-style verbal confrontation. They followed it up with a heated main event and a finish that left fans begging for more.
Billy Buck’s first match as a heel was a bloody affair that made him come across like a genuine bad ass.
The artist known as Slim J has evidently been put to rest and replaced by Jeremiah the Gladiator.
They did a good job of working around a decided lack of roster depth. Many of the key players were absent. There were but five matches on the card.
Additional follow up on unfinished business from Fight Night was accomplished via a series of video promos. Matches were set up for the November 26 event, which looks like a strong show on paper.
At one hour and fifty minutes, “Survivor’s Remorse” was the shortest night of wrestling in the history of the building with the exception of the show held during an ice storm in January 2000.
Attendance was the in the new normal range for the Church with the usual suspects in the crowd of 65.
(1) Logan Creed defeated Marko Polo in 6:32. Creed punished Polo with chops and punches in the early going. Polo capitalized on an awkward spot where Creed missed a high boot and ended up straddling the top rope. Polo worked on Creed’s arm. The crowd chanted for a comeback and they didn’t have long to wait. Polo kicked out of a chokebreaker and went for his finisher. Creed had it scouted and planted Polo with the full nelson facebuster. Match was OK. The main takeaway was that absence made the hearts of the Cornelia fans grow fonder for Creed.
A Stryknyn postmatch promo from Fright Night was shown on the big screen. Still gasping for breath, Stryk said he had Miller beaten until Iceberg stuck his nose in and challenged Berg to a match on November 26.
Emcee Seth Delay brought Ashworth out to a big pop and a “thank you Jacob” chant. Ashworth thanked the fans for their love and support. Said he had a big obstacle at Fright Night and came of it a better man in life and in the ring. Ashworth said that over the last month, he got rid of the cancer controlling him in more ways than one. As for his future goals…
Jeff G. Bailey led Miller out and said nobody cared about Ashworth’s future. This was supposed to be Miller's time to talk about becoming the champion. Ashworth was subjected to the humiliation of being another man’s slave, something that Miller would never do because he was a man’s man. Bailey brought up the fact that Ashworth’s marriage had gone down the tubes. He was a slave that couldn’t keep his wife and his boy probably didn’t want anything to do with him either He was a coward that beat Nemesis to death with a chair to keep his career alive.
Ashworth told Bailey he needed a chair to sit down in so he could shut up and listen. Ashworth asked Miller why he needed Bailey to do his talking for him. Ashworth said Miller was Bailey’s slave because Bailey told him what to do. Ashworth challenged Bailey to put his boy against him in a match or was Miller a coward? Bailey asked Ashworth what he had done to earn a title shot. Ashworth said he had been at the Church many years longer than Miller and had made a name for himself. Miller smiled and told Bailey to give Ashworth the match.
This was compelling, unscripted talk like they would do at the desk on Memphis TV with Lance Russell. Bailey and Ashworth were both tremendous. Bailey is a formidable opponent in any verbal duel. Ashworth proved to be totally up to the challenge.
(2) Kevin Blue & Chris Spectra & Billy Buck defeated Trevor Aeon & Damien Bennett & Supernatural in 14:31. The heels were introduced at a combined height of 17 feet 6 inches. The fans voiced their displeasure with Buck for turning on Slim J at Fright Night. Match had double heat segments, first on Supernatural and then on Bennett. Spectra has a really nice gourdbuster but his punches look horrible. Buck delivered one particularly vicious chop to Bennett. Aeon was in the process of cleaning house when he caught Buck in the mouth with a boot. It was clear something had badly gone wrong from the way Buck went down. His face was covered in blood that appeared to be coming from his ear but was actually a split lip. Buck recovered in time to participate in the finish, which was a triple team on Aeon. Buck put some extra mustard on his superkick. Match was solid. They did a good job of keeping it on track after Buck’s injury, which added an unexpected layer of drama.
Buck said he was fed up with the fans turning their backs on him. Now he was turning his back on them. Blue said Buck and Spectra were his best friends and Slim J was never coming back. The lights went out…Lights on and Slim J as Gladiator Jeremiah was in the ring. Spectra confronted Jeremiah and got laid out with a hangman neckbreaker. Blue and Buck bailed. The lights went out again…lights on and Jeremiah was gone. The disappearing act was kind of hokey. The great thing about this segment was Buck. The way he brushed off the injury, seething with anger, gave him the aura of a bigtime heel.
Devil’s Rejects video from Fright Night. Brad Cash and Se7en were seen in the dressing room tending to Azrael. Cash said he was good at games and he was coming for Elijah Evans bitch ass.
(3) Dementia D’Rose defeated Brooklyn Creed to retain the WWW Women’s Championship in 6:33. Brooklyn initially looked terrified. Who could blame her with D’Rose screaming in her face? Brooklyn gave it everything she had but her offense wasn’t having much impact on D’Rose. Brooklyn lays in her strikes. She can’t run the ropes to save her life. D’Rose got a near fall with the Earthquake Splash. Brooklyn avoided a second Earthquake and hit an STO for a near fall. When the ref admonished Brooklyn for her tactics, she replied “She’s crazy. I had to do something!” It wasn’t enough as D’Rose picked up the win with a devastating version of Damnesia. Match was as good as it had any right to be given Brooklyn’s inexperience.
Afterward, D’Rose screamed for competition. I wanted to scream right along with her.
On the big screen, we saw Evans with Big F’N Deal (Geter & Brian Blaze). Evans said he wasn’t afraid of Cash or his boys and he would show Cash who the bitch ass was.
(4) Adrian Hawkins defeated Chris “The Hype” Henry in 11:06. A group of ringside regulars stood up and turned their backs for Hawkins entrance. Henry caught Hawkins off guard with a quick series of pin attempts, and bamboozled him with a backflip off the top rope into a flying headscissors. Henry went to work on Hawkins’ arm. Enough was enough. Hawkins ran Henry’s head into the buckles and choked the hell out of him. Hawkins’ frustration escalated as Henry continued to kick out of big moves. Henry hit the Gearshift (starts like a rocker dropper with Henry’s leg around his opponent’s head, then he slams the guy on his back). Hawkins cut off Henry’s comeback with single leg crab. Henry broke the hold and went back to the well with the Gearshift. Hawkins countered with a codebreaker for the win. Good match.
Odinson video promo. Odinson said he made his reputation beating monsters and he was coming back for Cyrus on November 26.
(5) Gunner Miller (with Jeff G. Bailey) defeated Jacob Ashworth via DQ to retain the WWW Triple Crown Championship in 10:17. The crowd reaction for Ashworth was a notch above what Stryknyn gets and that’s saying something. Stryk’s entrance always gets a big pop but the support for Ashworth was more sustained. Ashworth outwrestled Miller and showed impressive firepower until he went for an ill-advised 10 punches of doom. Miller took the wind out of Ashworth’s sails with a major league powerbomb. Miller dismantled Ashworth with shoulder blocks to the gut and took him to suplex city. Ashworth dug deep. They went back and forth trading shots. Miller ended the exchange with a poke to the eyes. Momentarily blinded, Ashworth decked referee Dee Byers. Miller speared Ashworth. Second referee Triston Michaels hit the ring to make the count but Ashworth kicked out. Ashworth hit Roll of the Dice to pin Miller clean as a whistle. The crowd was in ecstasy as Ashworth was handed the title. Byers took the belt back and waved off the decision.
They hit all the right notes. Ashworth showed he could hang with Miller. Miller’s offense was crisp and focused. The crowd bought the Dusty finish, hook, line and sinker.
The showed ended with the crowd chanting for their massively screwed hero.
