From Larry Goodman: Georgia Premier Wrestling drew 650 for “No Limits” last night at the Pickens County Middle School. It wa...
From Larry Goodman:
Georgia Premier Wrestling drew 650 for “No Limits” last night at the Pickens County Middle School.
It was a testament to the star power of Jeff Hardy, who has now drawn the largest crowds in the history of two both GPW and Peachstate. The line for Hardy’s autograph was endless.
After a lackluster series of matches to open the show, Cyrus and Gunner Miller knocked it out the park to send the show into intermission on a high note.
Impact Wrestling starpower carried the day from there.
Crazzy Steve was over to a shocking degree in his match with GPW Southern States Champion Torque.
The people came to see Hardy, and his match with Georgia native and fellow Impact star Caleb Konley gave the fans precisely what they needed to send them home happy.
Like the 2016 No Limits event featuring AJ Styles, the show will undoubtedly prove to be a major feather in the cap of GPW, headed by Darrell Morris and Woody Hullender, although my sense was the local talent didn’t fare quite as well this year.
(1) Ray Ray defeated Shaggy (with Hatter) in 7:47. These guys have issues. Since going down the rabbit hole with Hatter, Shaggy has turned into a nasty character. Hatter slammed Ray on the floor. Shaggy fled from Ray’s 619 but a barrel roll plancha took out both Shaggy and Hatter. Ray hit a top rope splash for a close near fall then pounded Shaggy’s face like a frustrated heel before finishing with a missile dropkick. Match was passable but not the first impression you want to make with this crowd. Neither of the combatants look like bonafide professional wrestlers and referee Jonathan Chastain is barely old enough to drive.
(2) Jessica Leigh (with Logan Chase) defeated Black Widow in 8 minutes. Leigh has developed a more robust heel presence. She got more oomph in her facial expressions and body language. Widow didn’t strike me as much of a babyface. Chase interfered as he did many times over the course of the evening. Widow used a sidewalk slam and stretched Leigh with a mat submission. They traded forearms until Leigh went down. Widow hit a german suplex and pinned Leigh with a sloppy sunset flip off the ropes. Match was OK but a little tough to watch after seeing Dementia D’Rose and Aja Perrera last week in Cornelia.
They did a nice piece of business to hype the “Together We Fight” mixed tag tournament on March 11. Things got heated between Chase and Leigh. That brought Torque and Cyrus to the ring. Chase redirected their ire towards Widow. That brought Johnny Rokk, Tiffany Roxx and Joey Sparkz out. Rokk challenged Chase and his crew to an 8 person tag match. Chase said people would have to pay to see him put on his tights next week in Canton (where announcer Scott Hensley said Cyrus & Chase would square off with Widow & Sparks in the opening round).
(3) The Movement (Talon Williams & Chip Hazard) defeated The All-Stars (#1 and #2) to win the GPW Tag Team Championship in 8:09. All-Stars are two masked fat guys in black body suits ala Assassins. They attacked from behind and the bell rang with all four in the ring. Rules, what rules? All-Stars worked over Williams’ shoulder after he inadvertently speared the post. The crowd energy reached its low point of night. They did the routine where one All-Star ended up unwittingly pumphandling the other’s arm. It wasn’t set it up well at all and fell completely flat. Nothing worse than bad wrestling comedy. Hazard cleaned house, ran the All-Stars into each other and pinned the fatter All-Star. Crowd came to life for Hazard’s comeback and the title change but this was not a compelling match.
(4) Cyrus (with Logan Chase) defeated Gunner Miller in 11:55. Major league power and size on display here and the fans got into it. Cyrus missed a MASSIVE high crossbody for the first big pop. Chase interfered liberally throughout. Cyrus gloried in his early success. The crowd popped for Miller’s spinebuster slam. Miller’s CTE knocked Cyrus out of the ring. Cyrus kicked Miller low when referee Tony Hunter was out of position but missed a diving headbutt and Miller speared him for near fall. When Miller tried to come off the top, Cyrus turned it into a fallaway slam. Miller brought Cyrus off the ropes with a powerbomb. Cyrus hit a power slam off the top thanks to interference by Chase. Miller went for another CTE and there was Chase up on the apron. Miller put on the brakes and Cyrus caught him with a Black Hole Slam. This bout was high impact to the nth degree, and it had the good vs. evil dynamic with Miller over strong as a babyface. The seasoning Miller garnered over the last year is really starting to pay dividends.
Hardy was back out during the intermission.
(5) Tank defeated Cletus in 10:00. Big pops for both. Tank said what he was going to do to Cletus was nothing compared to what the Patriots were going to do to the Falcons. That got heat but didn’t stop fans from cheering Tank during this butt-ugly brawl. Tank had fun with a couple of old ladies, selling big for their shenanigans. Cletus took a suplex and an elbow drop on the floor. Back inside, Tank plastered Cletus with a cannonball forcing him to grab the ropes. Tank clocked Cletus with a hammer for the pin.
Cletus said he wasn’t done yet and picked up a chair. Tank punched the chair with the hammer, busting Cletus open the hard way. Security foolishly stepped in and got their asses handed to them by Tank.
The above match certainly added variety, enjoyable in a preserve entertainment kind of way.
(6) Torque (with Logan Creed) defeated Crazzy Steve via DQ to retain the GPW Southern States Championship in 15:18. It was crazy how over Steve was with the crowd frequently chanting his name. Torque stalled. He’s a cocky little SOB. Steve made him pay with a snap suplex on the floor. Steve fell for Chase’s distraction. Torque went to work on Steve. Chase facially resembles Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart and his suit was the same color as Neidhart’s tights. Crowd was on fire for Steve’s comeback, which included the multiple corner clotheslines and a slingshot plancha. Torque back with a northern lights but missed a frogsplash. Chase finally got his comeuppance when Steve decked him for a huge pop. Torque knocked Steve into referee Chastain, giving the kid a bloody nose. Steve hit a fireman’s carry drop for a visual pin with no ref to count. Torque clocked Steve with the title. The second ref ran down to make the count. Steve kicked out and pinned Torque with an inside cradle. Steve was announced as the new champion. The crowd was thrilled until referee Chastain reversed the decision and DQed Steve for slugging him. Match was fine. Steve didn’t need to do anything all that special and the response to him as a babyface was mind boggling.
The crowd was hot about the referee’s decision. They continued to chant for Steve, who took a bow before heading to the back.
The took a brief second intermission before the main during which referee Chastain walked through the crowd holding his bloody nose.
(7) Jeff Hardy defeated Caleb Konley in 13:59. Crowd was nuts for Hardy’s entrance as chants of “Delete” and “Let’s go Hardy” abound. Konley escaped an early Twist of Fate. Konley pulled the rug out on a handshake and punched Hardy in the face. Konley mocked the Delete gimmick as he heeled. They traded “Whoo!” chops. Hardy did his baseball slide through the ropes. Konley crotched Hardy into the tree of woe and put the boots to him. Konley with a pescado. Konley inadvertently chopped the post but turned the tables and posted Hardy. Back inside, Hardy did the double leg drop to the groin/basement dropkick combo. Konley slipped out of the Twist of Fate and tried for one of his own but Hardy blocked it. Konley went for a quebrada and was met in midair by a Hardy dropkick for a “this is awesome” chant. After Hardy kicked out of Konley’s double jump moonsault, Konley donned some Hardy-style armbands for a swanton bomb attempt. No cigar. Hardy used the Twist of Fate to set up the swanton bomb for the pin. A satisfying match with both men hitting signature moves and a nifty little story that saw an envious Konley try and fail to beat Hardy at his own game.
Postmatch – Brother Nero sang “Obsolete”, thanked the fans of Jasper and gave props to Konley.