From Larry Goodman:
Black Friday was more a stop along the way to ProSouth's 12th anniversary show on December 18 than a final destination.
The booking (primarily by Ace Haven) continues to be the strong point of this show. The pacing is greatly improved of late. They're packing a lot of content into two hours. Production quality, specifically the audio, continues to be its most glaring weakness. On that score, this episode was a frustrating step in the wrong direction.
Faith Dorn and James Hardy were back this week as our intrepid announce team. Hardy doubled as ring announcer whilst still hobbling on a crutch from the knee injury suffered a month ago.
(1) "Mr. 1985" Ricky Cagle pinned NEW Tag Team Champions Cody Windham to retain the NEW Open Championship in 7:07. This match could have been right out of 1985, not saying there was anything wrong with that. Windham is a solid talent. He has the length to do his namesake proud,. That's not a typo. Windham somehow won the NEW tag team titles plural. I'm guessing they would like a do over on the finish -- a clunky reversal of a piledriver.
(2) In a meeting of mind games, Eric Silva pinned Reynolds with Collateral Damage in 7:58. Reynolds broke out his martial arts strikes and continued to laugh in Silva's face as he took punishment. There was more juice in Silva's offense. Silva called Reynolds "John " during the match and they had a conversation on their knees. In the end, Reynolds hugged Silva to lower his guard, then tried to pull a fast one. Silva anticipated the skullduggery and hit Collateral Damage but Reynolds kicked out. Reynolds slapped Silva before surrendering to a second Collateral Damage. If this was the final chapter of their program, I'm surprised this match didn't get higher billing. Perhaps the two week COVID break caused a change in plans.
Reynolds revealed the method behind his madness -- his mission was to bring back the fire in "The Ghost" that made him deserving of the ProSouth Championship.
(3) Attempted Murder (Alister Crowe & Dorian Crowe) defeated Proc "The Croc" Johnston & Jay 2Strong in 9:50. This was the second best match on the show behind the main event. The shine put the spotlight on Proc's power. The dueling Gator rolls by Proc and Alister was fun. Attempted Murder were relentless in attacking the body part. Proc and 2Strong were going fo their finisher on Alister when he sprayed Proc with the green mist , then made him tap to a leglock.
The match told a clear, uncluttered and logical story. Attempted Murder upped their game as heels with a sickness of mind that hadn't been there before, especially for Dorian. Proc taking heat and 2Strong cleaning house was a switch that worked.
Marcus Erics introduced himself to viewers that missed his debut in a losing effort against ProSouth Champion Tyler Cullprett last week.
(4) Dameon Ceretone defeated Marcus Erics in 7:47. Ceretone knocked Hardy's crutch out from under him before the match. Cruel move for a babyface but there's a back story -- once upon a time, t Hardy ended Ceretone's All-Out Championship reign. Dorn said Erics was an 8 year vet and had held tag team titles in California. He sure had me fooled. Erics shows flashes of impressive power offense but I can't see him being a player here. Ceretone picked up the win with a jumping knee strike followed by a Death Valley Driver followed by a brainbuster. I think he's better off without the brainbuster against a larger opponent.
Black Lariats Matter (Joe Black & Huckaby) came to the ring.. Huck was rocking the genuine possum fur robe he picked up on Buford Highway. Said the champs would not be wrestling tonight or ever until they got some real competition.
(5) Cameron Keast defeated Brandon Whatley to retain the ProSouth All-Out Championship in 10:44.. Keast beat Whatley clean last week. The prospect of a rematch did not excite me. Keast was snidely telling Whatley he needed to step up. He was faced with an uber aggresssive Whatley in response, a point that was driven home on commentary. Whatley had Keast in serious trouble when Miller came to ringside making a baseless claim that Keast was injured so the ballot counting...er match, should be stopped. They did the finish where Miller grabbed Whatley's leg and hung on out of referee Fields' line of vision, except it didn't quite work out that way.
(6) The Youtube title match between Champion Robbie Vio and Scot Patterson and Shane Mako and Roma MIller never happened. Mako inadvertently (cough) decked Hardy and referee Jesse Fields with belt shots before the match could get underway. All sorts of chaos ensued. As Hardy came to his feet, Miller ripped his crutch away and was beating people with it when Commissioner Amy Haven called the mayhem to halt.
The perverse entertainment factor could be taken to new heights next week, as Amy made a ladder match for the title including everyone in the ring. Taken literally, that would include Hardy.
Next: a talk segment to set up a three way between the fractured Left Hand Path faction. Austin Towers passionately made his case for how he had earned his ProSouth title shot. Trever Aeon took exception and said the title shot had to go through him. Looked like we were going to get an impromptu Towers-Aeon match but the lights went out and Boom! Eric Silva was in the ring to say the title had to go through him. Towers said he would put his title shot on the line in a three-way to settle it. The segment ran 12 minutes and the audio was the drizzing shits the entire time. A baby in the crowd crying could be heard more clearly than any of the people on the mic.
(7) Tyler Cullprett (with Attempted Murder) defeated Ace Haven (with Amy Haven) to retain the ProSouth Championship in 13:57. Best match Cullprett has had for ProSouth in a minute. His execution was crisper and more forceful. He and Ace have good chemistry, and there's no problematic size difference to contend with. The way they sell big for each other is a huge plus,
You might say the finish was a tad overbooked. Cullprett ducked Ace's superkick which caught referee Matthew Gibson right on the button. That's two more ref bumps this week. It's ridiculous how badly that spot is being overused. As was checking on the ref, Cullprett gave him a low blow. That brought Amy into the ring with Cullprett's umbrella but Attempted Murder took it away. Cullprett was about to let Amy have it with the umbrella when Ceretone made the save. Cullprett got away unscathed. No such luck for Attempted Murder. BLM showed up with Huckaby leading the charge to lay out Ceretone. Amy tried to shield Ace from further damage. Huck laid her out with the Right Hand of God. Black was none to happy with Huck. Cullprett returned with the Raindrop on Ace, and Gibson recovered just enough to make the three count.
The
show closed with Ace, Amy and Ceretone all still laying in the ring.
