Photos Courtesy of Rob Brodhecker From Larry Goodman: As the end result of a story well told, promoter/commissoner-turned-wrestle...
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| Photos Courtesy of Rob Brodhecker |
As the end result of a story well told, promoter/commissoner-turned-wrestler Shane Noles is the new PWA Heritage Champion.
Noles defeated P-Dogg (Mike Posey) in overtime of a most unusual Ironman match. Noles has improved greatly as a wrestler since moving from the office to the squared circle in late 2015, but the demands of a 30 minute Ironman clearly presented Noles’ most formidable in-ring challenge to date. With the help of an awesome performance by P-Dogg and all the bells, whistles, smoke and mirrors booker Rick Michaels could muster, the match was a success.
In other news, The Kingsmen continued their reign of terror, adding the PWA tag titles to their ill-gotten gains and a new trio of heels emerged.
Attendance at the VFW Fairgrounds was 225. As per usual, the fans in Carrollton were hot all night long.
While the night did not produce any mat classics, the wrestling was more than adequate for a show that long on entertainment value and was thick with plot developments.
The hatred for Behrens was palpable in the building. The master of alternative facts said he had missed the fans and wished them a happy Kwanzaa, then said he had something special to tell Sal Rinauro.
Behrens accused Rinauro of making a baby cry and giving a female fan cheap thrills fondling his breastisies on his way to the ring. Behrens said people had accused him of interfering every time Rinauro wrestled one of his Kingsmen, and while nothing could be further from the truth, he was tired of being blamed for Sal’s losses. Behrens said he would deny the fans his presence at ringside if Sal agreed to one slight rules change -- he had to beat Gladiator in under 10 minutes to win the No Limits Championship. Rinauro readily agreed to the stipulation.
(1)Sal Rinauro defeated Gladiator Jeremiah in 10:47 in a PWA No Limits Championship match where the title was on the line for the first 10 minutes. Rinauro hit a Tiger Driver early. Gladiator kicked out and bailed. Rinauro carried the fight to Gladiator on the outside where he continued to dominate. Jeremiah took over back inside the ring, working on Sal’s knee and cutting off his comebacks. Rinauro avoided Jeremiah’s moonsault and the comeback was on in earnest. Rinauro escaped Screwdriver on the Rocks and reversed a tiger driver to pin Gladiator. Good match.
The crowd popped huge as Jason Boyd announced Rinauro as the new champion. Out came Behrens looking at his stopwatch. He told Boyd to inform the crowd of the official time of the match. Boyd obliged. “You’re a gentleman and a scholar, but you are NOT the Georgia Wrestling History manager of the year,” said Behrens. Gladiator snatched the belt out of Sal’s hand and Behrens announced him as the World’s No Limits Champion.
Rinauro said although he was announced as the winner he surely didn’t feel like a winner. The Kingsmen knew him as a happy go lucky-have a good time-laid back California kid but he had been compiling internal battle scars for two decades. “You have just cut those battle scars so deep they will never heal until I open scars on each and every one of you.”
Pandora said what better way to start 2017 than without Merica Strong. Pandora said Merica was her biggest and strongest opponent but she defeated her just the same, so she needed new competition.
Competition arrived in the form of Brooklyn Creed.
Brooklyn admitted that Pandora had a good year in 2016. “You were the best. The key word is were. I’m the now.” Pandora challenged Brooklyn to do it on February 4 and teh crowd reacted likeThe fans reacted liked they wanted to see it. Brooklyn held up her end with the talk and the snooty attitude.
Brooklyn admitted that Pandora had a good year in 2016. “You were the best. The key word is were. I’m the now.” Pandora challenged Brooklyn to do it on February 4 and teh crowd reacted likeThe fans reacted liked they wanted to see it. Brooklyn held up her end with the talk and the snooty attitude.
(2) Chris Spectra defeated Romeo (with Prince Akbar) in 4:46. An OK match with a good looking finish. Akbar interfered liberally to give Romeo the help he needed. Romeo got his heel on. At the first sign of trouble for the Frenchmen, Akbar jumped up on the apron. Spectra went to punch Akbar but Romeo blocked it. Spectra took command and picked up the win with a flying knee strike. Spectra’s improbable babyface push at Peachstate continues. It’s not like Spectra is super over or anything but he got a respectable pop afterward.
(3) Kevin Blue defeated Jimmy Rave in 10:31. Blue stalled. Rave slid out and duped Blue into chasing after him. Not a smart move on Blue’s part. Blue used the tag rope to tie Rave to the ropes. Now that was a smart move. Blue capitalized. Rave foiled Blue’s superplex attempted and busted out a tornado DDT. Blue responded with a spinning neckbreaker and a palm strike for near falls before getting crotched on the top turnbuckle. Rave hit the superplex leaving both men down. They traded chops. Blued evaded Rave’s signature Dusk Until Dawn maneuver and hit the Air Raid Crash to score the pinfall. This was the quality match you would expect from these guys. Creative presumably big plans for Blue given that he beat the former PWA Heritage Champion clean with his finisher.
Behrens said Kyle Matthews badly wanted to be in the next match but he had suffered a broken nose. Being the caring person that he was, BB said no and substituted Too Much.
(4) The Kingsmen (Tommy Too Much & Logan Creed with Bill Behrens) defeated #Trending Now (Ace Haven & Charles Zanders with Amy Haven) in 6:45 to win the PWA Tag Team Championship. T2M ate one punch and tagged Creed. #Trending Now used teamwork to gain a short-lived advantage on Creed. The monster proceeded to dismantle Zanders. At one point, Zanders got enough daylight to make a tag but Ace was away from the corner messing with T2M. Finally the tag was made. Blue came to ringside and began whispering sweet nothings into Zanders’ ear. Creed decimated Ace with his elevated full nelson faceplant. Zanders didn’t do squat. BB ordered Creed to give T2M the honors and he pinned Ace by planting one foot on his chest. Good match. They got the story across. Creed sold just enough for Trending Now before destroying Zanders.
Zanders’ turn came as a surprise. Judging from his facial expressions, it looked like he was up for a run as a heel. More to be revealed about Zanders' motivations.
Zanders’ turn came as a surprise. Judging from his facial expressions, it looked like he was up for a run as a heel. More to be revealed about Zanders' motivations.
Post-match -- Amy was very upset with Zanders. Seems like she would have rushed into the ring to check on her husband but that didn’t happen. Meanwhile, a fan was getting in T2M’s face on the stage and had to be restrained by security.
AJ Steele came to the ring to explain why he was pissed off. After spending a year chasing T2M and the PWA Heritage Championship, he had KOed Too Much to win the title, only to get robbed in the Rumble match last month. Steele eliminated T2M from the Rumble and left the ring through the second rope to continue the fight. Seeing Steele on the floor, the official ruled him out of the match. Steele asked Jacob Ashworth to set the official straight. Ashworth claimed he didn’t see what happened.
Steele called Ashworth out to give him the third degree. Ashworth claimed he just had a bad night at the Rumble. He was frustrated by being eliminated and having T2M tossed on top of him. Steele decided to move on and be the bigger man. They shook hands and darned if Ashworth didn’t attack Steele from behind. Steele rallied back with a spinebuster slam. Blue and Zanders hit the ring to beat Steele down until Spectra and Haven made the save.
Steele challenged the “silly bitches” to a match. Said silly bitches huddled up then decided to walk out. The match is on tap for February 4.
The Ashworth/Steele stuff was weak. Ashworth’s excuse was too flimsy for a savvy babyface like Steele to buy and his attack on Steele wasn’t all that intense. That said, Blue, Zanders and Ashworth as a unit has possibilities.
(5) Shane Noles (with Wicked Nemesis) defeated P-Dogg (with Prince Akbar) 2-1 in a 30 minute Ironman match at 55 seconds of sudden death overtime to win the PWA Heritage Championship. At the 10 minute mark, Noles connected with a high boot spilling P-Dogg to the floor. This did not end well for P-Dogg. Noles tossed P-Dogg onto the gimmick tables. P-Dogg body-surfed the tables like a pro for the best gimmick table spot ever.
Noles choked P-Dogg with a toy dart gun. Noles dumped P-Dogg into trash barrel and pounded it with a chair. Those wonderful corrugated metal walls of the Fairgrounds came into play…Back inside the ring, P-Dogg was DQed for using chair at 15:30. Noles applied a figure four leg lock. Akbar jumped in the ring and kicked Noles (for what should have been another DQ). Nemesis jumped in and threw a fireball at Akbar. Mason ejected Nemesis from the building. P-Dogg mule kicked Noles, sending him off the apron and through the steel coffin of chairs he had earlier set up at ringside.
Noles was counted out and carried to the back. Commissioner Eddie Layne came to the ring as did Triston Michaels. Michaels said as a senior official, he was awarding the match to P-Dogg. Layne said no you’re not. Triston got in the face of referee Terry Hudgins, who slapped the crap out of him for a big pop.
Commissioner Layne came back to ringside and called for a sudden death overtime. As soon as the bell rang, Noles rolled P-Dogg up for a close near fall. Noles hit a Roughrider, applied an ankle lock and P-Dogg tapped for a monster pop.
P-Dogg reluctantly shook Shane’s hand after the match.
Shane’ postmatch speech was the stuff of a great babyface. With his father Pete looking on from ringside, Shane said he first attended wrestling at the Fairgrounds in 1987. The likes of Tommy Rich, Mr. Wrestling II, Bruiser Brody and Dusty Rhodes had wrestled there. Shane thanked Wicked Nemesis for his guidance. Shane said P-Dogg showed him something with the handshake and said he was a worthy champion, mentioning his ranking in the PWI top 500. Lastly, Shane said the magic about PWA was their fans, and Peachstate was the best wresting company in Georgia because of them.
Behrens and Too Much entered the ring. T2M told Shane he was looking at magic, the most dominant PWA champion for the last year. Too Much said the last time they squared off, Shane was left laying with blood coming out of his face. T2M demanded a title shot on February 4. Shane said you’re on.
The show closed with all of the babyfaces coming to the ring to congratulate Shane.
