From Larry Goodman: SFCW absolutely knocked it out of the park at Shindig V, a sensational show from beginning to end. Somewhere,...
SFCW absolutely knocked it out of the park at Shindig V, a sensational show from beginning to end.
Somewhere, Charles Anchutz was looking on with a smile on his face.
Titles changed hands via two great title matches. Ike Cross is the new SFCW Heavyweight Champion. Slim J and Markus Kross are the new SFCW tag champs. The pops when the babyfaces triumphed were the loudest ever in the building.
Cross has to be in the conversation for the next Georgia wrestler to get a major contract. I dare say there isn't a promotion in the state that wouldn't want him in a heartbeat.
Cross has to be in the conversation for the next Georgia wrestler to get a major contract. I dare say there isn't a promotion in the state that wouldn't want him in a heartbeat.
But it wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows. Corey Hollis, the man who prides himself on living rent free in the heads of his opponents, joined forces with one Mikael Judas. The utterly despicable actions of Judas caused nuclear heat heaped upon them.
It will be interesting to see what the future holds for The Approved.and the Phase One Trophy. Approved entered Shindig V with all the gold and left with none. Cross relinquished the trophy to get the title shot.
Southern Fried is clearly top tier among Georgia’s independent promotions and the proof was in the pudding at Shindig V. I can’t say enough about Todd Sexton’s work as booker and the morale and work ethic of the talent roster he has built.
New owner Dave Manders had to be thrilled with the results at the boxoffice (425). The fan response was off the charts. No SFCW crowd has ever exhibited the sustained level of excitement and decibels like they did last night.
The first half of 2018 has been embarrassment of riches for Georgia wrestling with several great shows: AWE’s “Oh Lort!”, Anarchy Wrestling’s “Hardcore Hell” and “Shindig V” stand in my mind.
The Hall of Fame ceremony preceded the show. Iceberg was inducted by Clint Stephens. Bill Behrens was inducted by Rick Michaels. Buddy Burke was inducted by Grady Odom. Charles Anschutz was inducted by Rusty Biggs, Terry Lawler and Chris Nelms with Charles’ son, Ryan accepting the plaque. I’ll get into more of the details in a news and notes later this week. The ceremony was very well done. There were many poignant moments, especially during the induction for Charles. The newsworthy item was Buddy Burke announcing that he was coming out of retirement to accept Lobo’s challenge at the SFCW Original Recipe event on June 30.
(1) NCW Heavyweight Champion Alan Angels defeated Kevin Blue in a non-title match at 9:46. The pop for Angels intro spoke to the cross-promotional nature of Georgia indy wrestling fans these days. Angels showing the ability to take whatever Blue could throw at him and keep coming back for more. Angels rallied using stick and move tactics to bamboozle Blue. Angels got a near fall with a really sweet frogsplash. Blue hit the uranage for two. Blue’s trash talk came to a screeching halt as Angels hit a standing sliced bread and a tornado kick before finishing with a corkscrew stunner. This was a strong technical opener. The reaction for Angels indicated he could be in for a push if that’s a direction they want to go.
(2) Billy Buck & Jenna Van Muscles defeated Francisco Ciatso & Stormie Lee in 11:04. Van Muscles was chomping at the bit for revenge. The shine built to a spot where cowgirl Van Muscles rode Ciatso and Lee like they were bucking broncos. Ciatso mule kicked Buck in the groin to start the heat. After Ciatso did a belly flop miss of the ropes, the hot tag was made. Van Muscles speared Stormie and had her pinned. Ciatso pulled Van Muscles up by her hair. Buck hit the Buckshot on Ciatso and he was pinned by Van Muscles. Huge pop for the finish as justice was served.
Ring announcer Rick Richards said Gunner Miller wasn’t there so the scheduled three-way match was now a singles.
(3) Logan Creed (with Brooklyn Creed) defeated Mikael Judas via DQ in 8:30. No time wasted here. They monsters were trading bombs right from the opening bell. Logan’s lariat slammed into the post when Judas ducked. Judas seized on the opening. Judas rocked Logan with a trio ofYakuza kicks. Logan came back with an avalanche fallaway slam. Both down with the crowd chanting for Logan. Judas tried for the single leg crab. Couldn’t get but did hit a pumphandle side slam for a near fall. Logan caught Judas with the gogoplata. Judas reversed into the single leg crab. Logan powered out and choke slammed Judas. Judas went to the outside and picked up a chair. As Logan charged, Judas cracked him in the head with the chair prompting the DQ call by Triston Michaels. Great stuff. More of this please.
Postmatch - Judas wasted Logan with nine chairshots to the body. It was gut wrenching to watch. Don't want to think about being on the receiving end. Judas then gave referee Triston a chair edge to the gut. Brooklyn was now in the ring begging Judas to back off. Judas swung the chair at Brooklyn. Logan pushed Brooklyn out of harm’s way and took a chairshot to the head. Brooklyn was cowering in the corner. Judas gently set the chair in front of Brooklyn, stepped over Logan’s body and exited the ring…but he wasn’t done yet. Judas clocked Todd Sexton and laid out two security guards before finally heading to the back. The crowd broke out a massive “Logan” chant as he struggled to his feet. It was something to see a monster like Logan get so much sympathy, then again, Judas was the embodiment of evil.
Johnny Nixx said he hoped everyone was enjoying the show because he didn’t give a damn. Nixx was on crutches due to a leg injury. Nixx announced the debut of his new talk show would be July 7 and his guest would be the SFCW Heavyweight Champion.
(4) Marcus Kross & Slim J (with Griff Garrison & Bill Behrens) defeated The Approved (Bobby Moore & Kenji Brea) to win the SFCW Tag Team Championship in 11:43. Kross was on fire right from the opening bell. His striking looked stiffer and more realistic than it has up to this point. Slim and Kross teamed up for a standing moonsault/standing SSP combo. Moore got Garrison’s crutch and used it on Kross. Approved isolated Kross for several minutes. From the moment Slim J took the hot tag, this match was incredible. It was one of those frenzied sequences that usually falls apart at some point because they’re going so fast and doing so much except this was stellar. There were two false finishes where the crowd totally believed the match was over – Slim’s flying reverse DDT and Kross’ frogsplash. Brea was tapping but referee David Weakley’s attention was drawn to Moore slugging Garrison. Behrens then slugged Moore for a monster pop. Kross dove onto Moore as he had a hold of Behrens. Brea missed the top rope double stomp on Slim and Slim pinned him with Anger Management. The pop blew the roof. Loudest I’d ever heard at SFCW…but the main event was yet to come.
Brock said the fans wanted to see Jagged Edge destroy Chris Nelms but they didn’t deserve it. Brock introduced a new member to JB Enterprises as Jagged’s replacement in the form of AC Mack. Mack did his signature self-introduction, which is automatic heat.
(5) JB Enterprises (Drew Blood & Tetchi Makuji & Brian Kane & AC Mack with Dr. Joseph Brock III) defeated 6:05 Crew (Chris Nelms & Justin Legend & Xander Ramon & Rick Michaels) in an elimination match in 22:48. 6:05 Crew took turns on Blood. I loved Rick’s old school Jerry Lawler punches. Then it was Mack’s turn to take punishment. JB Enterprises isolated Legend and mercilessly worked over his knee. Blood eliminated Legend via submission when he passed out in the figure four. Ramon eliminated Mack with a uranage after reversing out of the Mack 10. Makuji and Ramon went at it. The action spilled to the outside and both were counted out. There’s clearly a Makuji/Ramon feud in the works and I don't think they did themselves any favors. Less is more applies. Nelms and Michaels did corner squash moves on Kane and Blood that left them with sore groins and asses. Brock tried to use his shoe. Michaels grabbed the shoe and gave Blood and Kane the stinkface with the shoe, then got DQed for using the shoe as a weapon. That left Nelms one against two. Nelms initiated meetings of the minds between Brock and his men, but went for one meeting to many and fell victim to a JB Enterprises double team.
JB Enterprises were about to a number on Nelms with a chair when Rick Michaels made the save. Blood said the 6:05 Crew’s time slot has been canceled.
The match has some entertaining moments but they went too long and the show lost some momentum. The next match got it back pronto.
(6) Corey Hollis defeated Jacob Ashworth in a streetfight in 14:31. Hollis had a patch covering the eye injured in that hellacous steel cage I Quit match with John Skyler two weeks ago. Ashworth entered through the front door and appeared on the top row of the bleachers. They brawled through the crowd. Ashworth brought a chair in the ring. The crowd chanted for him to use it. Ashworth wedged it into the corner instead. Hollis used his favorite offensive maneuver – the field goal kick to the nuts. Hollis whipped Ashworth head first into the chair and used the chair on Ashworth’s knee in an attempt to cripple him. He was getting tremendous heat as he began taunting Ashworth on the mic “You’re nobody like these people…You’re running out of hope…You’re behind in child support like every father in here.” Ashworth’s comeback was wicked. Hollis spit in Ashworth’s face. Ashworth hit a full nelson slam, a Vader bomb and finally tried to use the chair but Hollis kicked his bad knee. Ashworth powerbombed the bejeezus out of Hollis but he managed to kick out. Ashworth piled at least 15 chairs in the middle of the ring. Fans were throwing chairs in to help. Ashworth was looking to superplex Hollis into the chairs when Judas hit the ring. Judas gave Ashworth El Crucifijo (crucifix powerbomb) onto the pile of chairs and forced referee Harold Martin to make the three count. The heat for this match was insane. The bump Ashworth took was ungodly. I didn’t think the Southern Fried fans could hate Hollis any worse coming out of this match than they did going in. I was wrong.
Hollis and Judas had a chair around Ashworth’s neck when Logan Creed made save. Ashworth said Hollis beat him but he wasn’t done. It will be Ashworth vs. Hollis in a steel cage match on July 7.
(7) “The Untouchable” Ike Cross defeated Adrian Hawkins (with Bobby Moore & Kenji Brea) to win the SFCW Heavyweight Championship in 15:16. Hawkins entered surrounded by security, like eight guys. He was wearing a white suit with a black shirt. Rick Richards did a fantastic job with the introductions, really gave it a big match feeling. Referee Weakley’s prematch review of the rules was drowned out by an “Adriana” chant. Staredown at the opening bell. Alternating chants of “Adriana” and Let’s go Ike”. Electricity in the air. Slow build early with Hawkins taking time outs to break Ike’s momentum. Cross bumped like he was shot out of cannon on Hawkins’ hotshot stunner. Hawkins had no luck trying to untie one of the turnbuckle pads and sent Moore to the back for scissors. Meanwhile, Hawkins took shortcuts to cut off Ike’s air supply. Hawkins used the scissors to cut the pad off and expose the turnbuckle. Cross hit a springboard corkscrew stunner and both were down. Ike nipped up. Comeback time. Spear coming but Hawkins ducked out to the apron. Cross knocked Hawkins to the floor and did a tope con hilo that popped the crowd huge. Back inside, Hawkins used Cross’ momentum to send him into the exposed buckle and hit the Codebreaker. The crowd went bonkers when Cross kicked out. The Approved distracted the ref so Hawkins could blast Cross with the belt. That had to be it but Cross kicked out again for another ecstatic crowd reaction. Weakley ejected The Approved. Hawkins was doomed. Hawkins kicked out of a spear, so Cross went up top for the Superfly Splash. It missed. Hawkins hit another Codebreaker and Cross popped up an speared him again for the pin.
Great match. The fans had seen pretty much everything except what Hawkins and Cross gave them – a championship style bout with all the bells and whistles. The false finishes were mind blowing. It should be noted the match wasn’t built on angles. It was two guys beating everyone in their respective paths until the inevitable showdown. I had my doubts about Hawkins as champion. Not only was he up to the handling the spot,the title was elevated during his reign.
The pop may or may not have been louder than the tag match but it went on forever. The fans couldn’t get enough of Cross. Sexton presented Cross with the title. All of the babyfaces came to ringside to join the celebration. Ike was joined in the ring by his fiancee Kristin, his brother, Chris Bullett (King Heru) and his wife, Queen Mayot. It was pure joy across the board, as real as it gets. Moments like this can’t be manufactured. Cross was obviously moved and in no hurry for it to end.