From Larry Goodman:
ProSouth #515 was the go home for the BattleRumble but it was also main evented by an ambitious undertaking for Dameon Cerertone and Cameron Keast, Three Stages of Hell.
Shane Noles and Wicked Nemesis were on commentary. James Hardy was the ring announcer. The referees were Matthew Gibson and the esteemed James Dewberry aka Red Solocup.
(1) Austin Towers pinned Alex Kane with the Kobiya Kick in 5:09. Good match. Towers delivered his offense with the proper authority. He wrestled up to his size and wasn’t taken off his feet until Kane’s Olympic slam just before the finish. Win. Lose or draw, I love me some Alex Kane.
Towers promo - said he was going to win the BattleRumble then he was coming after Eric Silva and the ProSouth Championship. Multiple challengers hot on Silva’s trail have been a consistent theme. Nothing wrong with that.
(2) Trever Aeon pinned Hold My Beer Hanson after a Gothplex and the /Scarmaker in 7:41. A constructive performance from Aeon. The best Hanson has looked in a ProSouth ring. Hanson has an archetypal Southern wrestling gimmick and he knows how to work it. He also has a long way to go in his selling and bumping and tightening up his game in general.
On the fly, Robbie Vio wanted to change the scheduled contender numero uno match for his YouTube Championship into an impromptu three-way for the title. Commissioner Amy Haven made it official.
(3) Vio retained the YouTube Championship over Shane Mako and Scott Patterson in 10:21. Ten minutes of further evidence that the Youtube Championship needs to be put out of its misery. After Mako waffled Patterson's back with a chair shot. Vio kicked the chair into Mako's face and pinned him.
(4) Black Lariats Matter (Joe Black & William Huckaby) defeated Proc "The Croc" Johnson and Jay 2Strong to retain the ProSouth tag team titles in 13:44. BLM gave 2Strong a long and brutal beating. So after 2Strong finally hit a running knee and tagged Johnson, who cleaned house for all of 30 seconds before tagging his worn down partner back in. They set up a spot where Johnson accidentally clotheslined 2Strong. For the finish, Huck gave 2Strong a double powerbomb into a DVD then a stretch muffler with added baseball slide to the face by Black. Wicked laughed on commentary as only a true sadist would.
Huckaby wasn’t done. He verbally abused referee James Dewberry for his delusion of being a pro wrestler Red Solocup. Since All-Out Champion Cameron Keast hadn't beaten it out of him and he had been unable to talk Dumberry out of it, Huck was going o beat it out of him.
Sure enough, Dewberry had his Solocup red ring gear underneath. Huck said he would give "Dumberry" his spot in the BattleRumble if he could beat him. Huck said he had a “humbling experience” in store for Dewberry.
(5) Red Solocup defeated William Huckaby in 1:50 to take Huck's spot in the BattleRumble. Huck was destroying Red but got careless, and Solocup pinned him with a slip on a banana peel roll up with feet on the ropes.
Folks, it doesn't get more 80s Memphis than this. Huck was awesome. Dewberry, yes Dewberry, was pretty great, too. I was told this segment got the loudest reaction of the night from the live audience.
Huck KOed Red with one right hand and was about to Pillmanize his head when Commissioner Amy intervened. She told Huck in no uncertain terms that he would be fired and put in jail if he came within 50 ft of the building next week. What got into Amy? She kicked ass in this segment.
"Tricky" Ricky Cagle noted his match with ProSouth Champion Eric Silva was signed as non-title and challenged Silva put "big blue" on the line. Silva raised Cagle one - both titles on the line. Tricky Ricky said "Action" Mike Jackson taught him the best way to settle a conflict was with a coin toss. Cagle cheated on the coin flip with referee Matthew Gibson made to look like a complete idiot in the process.
(6) Eric Silva vs. Ricky Cagle for the ProSouth Championship was a no contest at 5:15 when Trever Aeon attacked the both of them. A tease and a taste of things to come. At least I hope so, because it was good stuff while it lasted. Aeon attacking them was a fitting way out of the situation.
Commissioner Amy promised lots of surprises for next week's BattleRumble. Wicked interrupted to kvetch about Amy taking Kane away from him and not having anybody in the rumble.
Wicked vowed that he was bringing hell to ProSouth next week. Speaking of the netherworld…
(7) Cameron Keast defeated Dameon Ceretone in the Three Stages of Hell to retain the unified ProSouth All-Out Championship in 30:08. First stage was first blood rules won by Keast when Ceretone bled from the mouth after a legit stiff kendo stick shot. Second stage was no DQ. Keast bled after Ceretone jabbed a sharp object into his forehead. Ceretone gave Keast a brainbuster into tacks to win. Both men were spent going to the third and deciding stage – a ladder match. The finish saw Keast and Ceretone climbing separate ladders. With the titles almost in reach, Keast stabbed Ceretone in the head with a screwdriver sending Ceretone onto a ladder bridged across two chairs below.
A physically grueling and incredibly violent match that called for tremendous effort from both men. I was particularly impressed by Keast’s selling. I think the three stages would have been more effective as three discrete matches on separate shows. That’s not a knock on Ceretone or Keast. It’s my opinion that few wrestlers outside the top echelon of the profession can do a match of this length and keep make it compelling viewing for the entire time.