From Larry Goodman: I finally made it out to a 1 Fall Wrestling show, which is kind of crazy since it's only 15 minutes from my ...
From Larry Goodman:
I finally made it out to a 1 Fall Wrestling show, which is kind of crazy since it's only 15 minutes from my house. Michael Marshall runs a 1FW event one Friday each month at his training school in Norcross. The school is co-located with the Hammer Smith Sports performance training center, so it’s a large, first-class facility with a mini-wrestling arena set up in a corner of the building.
The shows are essentially vehicles for One Fall Power Factory trainees to gain experience working matches in front of a live crowd. The more advanced trainees are also working the Georgia Premier Wrestling shows.
Attendance was around 50, largely family and friends of the wrestlers. This show ran long than most because there were nine matches. Marshall is shooting for 2 hours and 15 minutes.
The presence of quality talent like Baron Black, Elijah Evans, O’Shay Edwards, Bshp King, Alan Angels and Chad Sky Walker ensures that no matter how bad the trainee matches may be, there will be some high caliber matches in the mix. Marshall also brings in the occasional name star like Delirious. Impact star Suicide was that guy last night.
I enjoyed the show for what it was. There was enough good stuff to make it a worthwhile experience. Suicide and 1FW Champion Evans killed it, as did Angels vs. Black. Edwards vs. King was also really interesting.
Cody Vance was there fresh off knee surgery for a torn ACL. The injury occurred during a match at the March 2 Pro Wrestling Ego event in Mississippi. Vance will be sidelined for about 6 months.
Jenn Holbrook-Sells has taken over the ring announcing duties here since prior announcer Shalandra Royal is wrestling now. Holbrook-Sells was the ring announcer for NAWA back in the day. I had forgotten how good she is in that role. 2017 Georgia Referee of the Year, Darryl Hall was the senior official.
(1) Bolo pinned JD Munoz in 4:15 with a spear. Bolo was doing a lot of talking and his redneck tendencies were in evidence. Munoz is an early stage trainee. Fans were cheering anything he did that resembled a decent pro wrestling move.
Bolo cut a promo stating the fans were what was wrong with the business. “Cheer me or boo me, you will learn to respect me or fear me.”
(2) Kit Sackett pinned Michael Marshall in 7:15 under Watts Rules. Sackett is another 1FW trainee, who is a little further along that Munoz. Marshall allowed Sells the honor of explaining the Watts rules. Marshall had Sackett beaten with a flatliner but Sackett got a foot on the ropes. Marshall got in the face of referee Justin Law. Law shoved Marshall who fell over Sackett and was pinned.
(3) Fearless Musa defeated Matt Sells (with Bolo) via DQ in 9:17. They worked hard and had a good match. Bolo interfered as Musa was preparing to come off the top rope and referee Hall called for the bell.
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Afterward, Matt and Bolo laid Musa. Sells covered and Bolo made the three count. That’s one way to end a losing streak.
Jenn later announced that Matt would have a return engagement with Musa at the April 12 show with Bolo locked in a shark cage at ringside.
(4) Chad Sky Walker defeated “The Magic Man” Rowe Hicks with a brainbuster in 10:40. Hicks is from Charleston and recently moved to Atlanta to train. He worked the GPW show last Saturday as part of the BTB team. Hicks does magic tricks but Sky Walker wasn’t having it. Sky Walker is so smooth in the ring that it made this match watchable.
(5) “The Empbruh” Baron Black defeated Alan Angels in 12:24. Black snatched the mic said he didn’t like the way Jenn was announcing and ordered more enthusiasm. This was fast-paced, crisp, really well done. Black evaded Angels’ frogsplash and hit a wicked buckle bomb to set up Hammer of Dawn, a double underhook Dominator type deal.
Bshp King came to the ring with the massive chip he's had on his shoulder in 2019. Makes him an interesting promo in a loose cannon kind of way. King said he was not booked which was a problem since he was undefeated in 1FW. King ran down the list of wrestlers on the show he had beaten and said he should be in the title match.
Edwards said King had no beaten him and he was going to hand King the first L of his 1FW career.
(6) Bshp King (with trainee Charlie Ramone) defeated O’Shay Edwards in 12:29. This had all the booking bells and whistles. Solid big man match here. Edwards had King in trouble so Ramone distracted the ref. That allowed King to clip O’Shay’s knee. King changed into his dreaded “Timbs” boots to finish off Edwards but inadvertently decked referee Law. Ramon got In the ring to hold Edwards, who slipped away and Ramone ate a running boot that looked tremendous. Edwards then had King pinned after a swinging side slam but no ref to count. King clipped the knee again. Edwards racked King but the knee gave out and King nailed Edwards with the boot and got the pin using the ropes for extra leverage.
(7) Elijah Evans defeated Suicide to retain the 1FW Championship in 15:15. Evans became the inaugural 1FW Champion via a tournament. This was excellent with loads of great near falls and false finishes. In the end, Evans picked Suicide out of midair and powerbombed him. Caleb Konley is the wrestler most recently known to have adopted the the Suicide persona.
(8) Thunder Blonde vs. Dara Destiny was a no contest in 2:23. Blonde decimated Destiny and brought a chair for the coup de grâce. Royal hit the ring. Blonde proceeded to give Royal a cannonball with the chair over her face. Referee Justin Law never called for the bell so Sells-Holbrook took matters into her own hands.
(9) Winner of the fall gets a title shot: Jaxson Cassel & “The Kayode” Tim Miller defeated Havok Brothers (Erik & Axel) in around 12 minutes when Miller pinned Axel. Lots of vocal Kayode supporters in the crowd. Axel facially resembles Christian Cage. Erik is more advanced as a wrestler. Match had double heat segments, first on Miller, then on Cassel. Cassel hit his finisher on Axel but got pulled out of the ring by Erik and all Miller had to do was make the cover.
Miller gets his title shot at Evans on April 12. It remains to be seen how well that sits with Cassel.
