From Larry Goodman: AWE came into 2020 with momentum and kept every shred of it with Set it Off. For women's wrestling, At...
AWE came into 2020 with momentum and kept every shred of it with Set it Off.
For women's wrestling, Atlanta Wrestling Entertainment is the place to be in Georgia.
Aria Blake is the inaugural ROAR Champion.
A star was made in Shalandra Royal.
To my of way of thinking, Murder One's booking instincts have never been better.
To my of way of thinking, Murder One's booking instincts have never been better.
Attendance at The District was 130. Whatever the final number, AWE is capturing the vibe of the city. They don't call it ATLANTA Wrestling Entertainment for nothing. A good time was had by all.
Promoter/ring announcer Josh Wheeler opened the show with a recap of the venues AWE has run -- College Park, Canton, Marietta, Jonesboro, multiple venues in Atlanta proper, the list goes on and on. Hopefully, AWE had found a home for the long-term at the District.
(1) Chip Day defeated Shawn Dean in 12 minutes. Crowd was just getting warmed up. I loved the slow build and the way they established credibility with their wresting. Dean lorded it over the two-time GWC Champion that he was "The Captain". Dean survived Day's heel hook but Day's flying knee to the basal ganglia sealed the deal. The hit all the right notes for an opening match.
Day asked the crowd sink or swim for Dean? Answer was obvious. Day said he was on the warpath to regain the GWC. Day also foreshadowed a match with Alex Shelley.
(2) Fearless Musa defeated Jack Griffin in 8:05. Pinned him with an SSP off the top. Both men built more like basketball players than pro wrestler. Not a safe match. Musa took a God awful suplex to the concrete. Musa's moonsault with a tuck was really keen. He's extremely acrobatic for his length. A fan joined Musa on a receiving end of Griffin's moonsault to the floor. The fan celebrated and didn't sell it at all.
Lest I forget -- the refereeing is top notch -senior official Max Recon, two-time GA referee of the year Darryl Howe and Stan "The Man" Robinson.
(3) A Block ROAR Tournament Match: Shalandra Royal defeated Marti Belle and Dani Jordyn (with 3MP) and Marina Tucker and Katalina Perez to advance to the finals (6:57).
Referee Darryl Howe received a massive "Granda Booker" after Wheeler brought up is recent health issues.
This match as off the chain. Womens' MOY in Georgia until proven otherwise. Nobody loses in a match like this and the crowd was nut for all of it. Tucker beat the tar out of Jordyn. A photo of Belle was revealed inside Jordyn's burn book. Match was elimination rules. Perez ran wild. 3MP interfered and Belle eliminated Perez with a discus forearm. Tucker used Dani's book to take her out of the match, only to get rolled up by Belle. Royal reversed Belle's finisher with a DDT advance.
Belle accosted Wheeler and was told touch me and you're fired!
(4) Troy Hollywood defeated Koto Brazil and Bobby Flaco in 7:50. Hollywood pinned a an unadvertised Brazil with a double knee gutbuster. Aerial pyrotechnics abounded. This was an inspired performance by Hollywood, he was wrestling with confidence and his facial expressions were tremendous. Brazil was a treat. His presence added gravitas to the match. Flaco also looked great but got dinged and had an icepack on his head after the match.
(5) Block B ROAR Tournament Match: Aria Blake (with Hunter Law) defeated Angelus Layne and Amber Rodriguez and Avery Taylor and Siomara in 5:10. Nor bad but nothing remotely close to the A Block match. Layne pinned Rodriguez and Siomara with a double chokeslam. Taylor speared Layne but Blake stole the pin. Blake reversed Layne's glam slam with feet on the ropes. Blake couldn't wrestle her way out of a paper bag but she's oh so easy to hate.
Second half opened with Murder One (bottle of Hennessey in hand) and Joe Black in the ring addressing The Kenway and BP4 (with Canvas) in the balcony. Murder said the heels had 30 minutes to consider their life. Got a huge "punk ass bitch" chant going.
Black got graphic taking about the fecal matter, brains, saliva and other stuff Hierarchy was going to beat out of them.
Black had the line of the night calling Canvas " Fulton Industrial Boulevard pretty". Had Murder literally rolling around in the ring. Great segment.
A promo by Talon Oxyn and Ethan Price morphed into an open challenge...
(6) Talon Oxyn & Ethan Price defeaed Campbell "Like the Sout" Myers & Mike Outlaw in 9:20. Heat on Talon. Hot tag to "Pizza Boy" Price.. Price pinned Myers after a dropkick/release german suplex combo.
Oxyn said they did it without Young Professor who returns on March 15.
(7) Suge D defeated Thomas Shire in 18:15. Dunkerton is on the record stating his goal is to become the first wrestler to win GHW Male Performer of the Year and Technician of the Year in the same year. It's hard to argue with the man after this tour de force.
Match was a prime example of telling a story in the ring. Shire got their only a few minutes before the match so they called almost all of it in the ring. The resulting spontaneity made it that much better.
Suge had the crowd behind him but had an uphill fight against Shire, a larger man who is also a great technical wrestler. Shire bested Suge with amateur style and with his striking game. His chops were brutal. Suge came back with joint manipulation and wasn't above biting. Shire tried for a spinning torture rack. Suge countered with a rear naked choke. Shire hit the torture rack. leaving both men down. Suge rocked Shire's world with a headbutt and got the three count with a pinning combination.
Match got a "that's that good shit" chant from AWE's Spring Street run, so these dudes were definitely on the right track.
Suge said people that thought Georgia Rasslin' began with an R could shove it up their ass. Shire was on the list of people to beat to call himself technical best and offered a handshake. Shire blew him off.
Suge cut an awesome promo on Alex Shelley for their rematch on March 15. Said ROH, NXT and NJPW didn't mean shit in the ATL, the place hustlers come to hustle. "It's what you're doin', not what you did."
3MP addressed the crowd. What a miserable SOB he is. 3MP told the Atlanta hoes to shut up and told Wheeler he needed a favor -- a rematch for Jordyn against that cheater Marin Tucker on March 15.
(8) Murder One & Joe Black defeated The Kenway & Bradley Prescott IV (with Canvas) in 8:49. Crowd was amped. The hate for Kenway was palpable. Right to the heat as the heels shit-canned Black with Murder as the babyface-in-peril. Black cleaned house and had Kenway pinned but BP4 pulled him out of the ring. Canvas got in the ring. Murder restained himself and shoved her down. When a babyface makes a promise, he better make it happen. As promised, Black killed Kenway dead with a lariat for the 1-2-3.
Murder celebrated by downing what remained of a fifth of Hennessey as the crowd chanted "Henny". Black was impressed.
(9) Aria Blake (with Hunter Law) defeated Shalandra Royal to become the inaugural ROAR Champion in 10:52. Royal was over huge, like 90/10 in her favor, much of the support coming from other wrestlers in the balcony. Match was nothing special but the atmosphere was incredible. Blake is too small to be taken seriously as a wrestler but she's an awesome heel. Blake tried to choke Royal out with a camera cord. Royal's not shy about throwing forearm. She had Blake pinned but Law stepped in. Royal slapped a triangle choke on Blake. Law kicked Royal in the head and served her up to Blake on a silver platter with a brainsbuster.
Blake was despicably arrogant after the match. Said I told you bitches I would win.
Suge came to the ring. Said he had an issue with Law and put Royal over with a promo from the heart. Talked about Royal coming in as a last minute sub (for Ruthless Lala) being a Dusty Rhodes Scholarship winner and busting her ass in training at 1FW. A great way to end the show.
NOTES: Georgia wrestling notables in the building included Ashton Starr and his Party Planner from SHW, David Ali, Billy Knight, Ryan Rembrandt, Ravenna Vein, Jeffrey Taylor and pro wrestling aficionado Ben Turpin...DeAndre Jackson had the night off after getting banged up on the Fight Club Pro Wrestling show in Washington DC the night before vs. Darius Lockhart and O'Shay Edwards...The show was taped for IWTV with Danny Danger and Taliaferro on commentary.
