From Larry Goodman: NWA Alternative Pro Wrestling presented Freedom Fight 2012 , the peak show of the year on the APW calendar, featu...
From Larry Goodman:
NWA Alternative Pro Wrestling presented Freedom Fight 2012, the peak
show of the year on the APW calendar, featuring a role reversal rematch from
last year between Stryknyn and Anthony Henry and a special appearance by Ricky Morton.
Attendance at the Pops Horton Gym was close to 200. With few exceptions,
they were hot all night long, although I could have lived without the “Yes!”
chants.
It was encouraging to see a promotion do their biggest show of the year
and for it to be so well received without any gimmick matches, no blood,
minimal use of foreign objects and all clean finishes. APW is doing a stellar job of developing stories that are compelling enough to stand on their own merit.
Untouchable Talent (Jeremy Vain & JT Talent) came out to a big pop.
Vain said the ladies match wasn’t happening because the women had issues. Vain
said he had one woman to deal with and if he could avoid the others for the
rest of his life that would be a good thing. Vain added that management had
hired a ring girl and introduced lovely Laura. Talent said he had no problem
with Laura whatsoever. Vain didn’t either. This was an entertaining way to open
the show. The chemistry between Vain and Talent was fun to watch.
(1) Don Matthews pinned Kevin Blue with the lariat at 1:13. Blue
Introduced hisself as a beacon of light and the only hope APW has, and said he
could beat any APW star past or present. He got past in the form of the
Matthews, who is carrying more weight these days but he
still moves well for a big guy.
(2) Dustin Knight defeated “Alabama Ambassador” Jacoby Boykins in 8:22.
Knight is so over here that he’s like a completely different wrestler than at
NWA Anarchy. There was no need to know the back story to understand this match
because they made it clear it in the ring – Knight was out for payback for
Boykins injuring his shoulder. Boykins used his massive size advantage to
destroy Knight with power moves, using a bear hug to take the air out of
Knight’s comeback. Knight got the crossface but Boykins powered out of it with
a Samoan Drop. The finish saw Knight slip out of Boykins’ grasp for a jumping
neckbreaker and hit a top rope leg drop for the pin. Good match. It’s tough to
suspend disbelief with such a huge size difference, but they work so well
together that they were able to pull it off.
“Unstoppable” Shadow Jackson addressed the crowd. Jackson said for weeks
they had been listening to Yasir Akbar and his crony, Brandon Parker, talk
about how no American could stand up to them, and he was going to whip the
foreign thugs. The heels attacked Jackson and Morton ran down to make the save.
Morton said some fans were probably wondering who that man from the old days
is. Morton said he was the last one with a wrestler’s mullet and he loved it.
Morton asked the fans if they wanted to see him team up with Jackson. That was
a no brainer. Morton said it wasn’t about the old way or the new way, there was
the right way and they were going to show it to the fans.
(3) Scott Mayson pinned Kameron Kade with his feet on the ropes at 5:40.
This stuck out like a sore thumb on an otherwise totally respectable pro
wrestling show. Fans took the opportunity to head to the concession stand.
Mayson stunk it up with bad timing, weak strikes lousy ring positioning, and
that’s not the half of it. Did anybody train this guy? Kade had a good look,
but he’s facing a severe vertical challenge, and he wasn’t up to carrying
Mayson.
Heavy Metal (Shane Hexxon & Calli Cannon) defeated APW Tag Champions
Precious Metal (Ballenger & Revolution) and Just 2 Dudes (Jamie Cruz & Chris
Spectra) and Untouchable Talent (Jeremy Vain & JT Talent) in an elimination
match to regain the APW Tag Team Title in 16:51. Interesting back story to this
match with trust issues across the board. Vain was having doubts about Talent
because of the way they lost the titles. However, Talent appeared to be
innocent of any intentional wrong doing. The heels had problems of their own.
Revolution and Ballenger were lackey members of Heavy Metal, but they lucked
into the titles and declared themselves to be Precious Metal. Early on, there
was a cheesy looking four way collision of heels that looked pretty ugly. The metal teams
worked on Cruz. Dudes did a cheesy battering ram routine. Vain brought
his moonsault out of the mothballs. Revolution used a belt shot on Cruz and he
was pinned by Ballenger. Talent immediately pinned Ballenger with the Bail Out.
Vain was in peril at the hands of HM and when he finally got a chance to tag, Talent walked
out on him. The crowd didn’t react much to this. Evidently they were too
stunned by the swerve. Hexxon then pinned Vain with a piledriver. This was a
good match when Vain, Talent or Hexxon were in the ring. Hexxon has major
upside as a heel. He’s got the size, the look of a psychopathic felon and he
can work.
(5) Seth Delay defeated James Boulevard to retain the APW North Georgia
Championship in 9 minutes. Boulevard previously held the title and the contract
of Skirra Corvus. He used and abused Corvus before firing him, then lost the
title to Delay. This was a see saw battle. Boulevard did some comical selling
when he came off the top and ate Delay’s boot. Delay busted out the bolo punch.
The pace picked up down the stretch. Delay kicked out of Boulevard’s superkick.
Boulevard capitalized on a ref bump with a mule kick to the nuts. Boulevard
then hit a german suplex with a bridge, but Delay got his shoulder up and
Boulevard didn’t. The fans were surprised when Delay was announced as the
winner, but that was nothing compared to the state Boulevard was in.
Boulevard demanded a rematch. Delay said he had twice proven who the
real king of Royston was, but since Boulevard liked playing king to Corvus, he
was the one demanding a rematch – his title versus Boulevard’s contract. I
marveled at how smooth and relaxed Delay was on the mic. He had the people
eating out of his hand.
(6) Ricky Morton & Shadow Jackson defeated Yasir Akbar & Brandon
Parker in 9:40. Parker and Akbar did a good job as the hapless heels and they
fed Morton well on the hot tag. Morton’s big move was a high kneelift. Jackson took the heat. Best thing here was a crisp combo of strikes by Parker for a near fall. A strong “let’s go Shadow” chant signaled it was time for the 1031 and the hot tag was made. All four in. Akbar missed the straps
down fist drop on Ricky and Jackson pinned him with the stunner. So simple and
it worked like a charm.
(7) Stryknyn defeated Anthony Henry via submission to retain the NWA
Southern States Championship in 20:29. Stryknyn is more over as the babyface champion than Henry ever was. Brutal back and forth to start. Henry spit
water in Stryk’s face to gain the advantage. Stryk did a twisted version of the
Garvin stomp. When Stryk tried to use his belt on Henry, Byers took it away,
but Stryk was wearing two belts. Stryk did an insane long distance dive to the
floor. He was lucky not to blow his knee out. Stryk damaged his leg tumbling
over the ring steps. Henry went after the injury with Stryk trying to protect
it like a wounded animal. Henry tortured Stryk with leg submission. Stryk’s
selling was tremendous here. At 12 minutes in, Stryk mustered up a spinebuster
and launched a comeback. Henry tried for the cloverleaf but Stryk reversed into
an Anaconda Vise. Henry snapped Stryk’s neck of the top rope and went up for
missile dropkick, but Stryk planted him with a powerbomb for a near fall.
Stryk’s leg was giving him fits. Henry got the cloverleaf fully applied. Stryk
twice reached the ropes only to have Henry pull him back to ring center. The
third time Byers made Henry release the hold. The fans started a “crybaby
Henry” chant. Stryk hit an Alabama Slam and tried for the spear, but Henry cut
him off and dropped him on his head with a german suplex. Stryk kicked out for
a great false finish. Henry kicked out of the spear for another falsey. They
battered each other with stiff blows, until Stryk hit a uranage and locked in
the Anaconda Vise. Henry tried to roll through but there would be no escape,
and he was forced to tap.
Comparing this match to the one last year is comparing apples to oranges. Last year's match was surprisingly great. This time greatness was expected. The 2011 match was blood and guts inside a steel cage and they did a smart thing by not trying to top it. This was a wrestling match with more nuance, which was just fine in its own right, because both are better
wrestlers than they were a year ago.
.jpg)
.jpg)
