Empire Wrestling presents the first “The Scenic City Invitational”: emanating from the Empire Arena in the Chattanooga suburb of Rossvil...
Empire Wrestling presents the first “The Scenic City Invitational”: emanating from the Empire Arena in the Chattanooga suburb of Rossville, Georgia. This is a two night, the first of its kind for this region, a 16 man tournament modeled on the Ted Petty Invitational.
The tournament got off to a fabulous start on night one featuring a match of the year candidate in Jimmy Rave vs. Anthony Henry, and a breakout match for Georgia wrestler Jason Collins, victorious over ROH star Caprice Coleman.
Attendance was 150. Definitely not the usual Empire crowd with a greater proportion of hardcore wrestling fans.
Introductory video - The tournament winner is to receive the Greg Hullender Trophy named for the highly respected wrestler/promoter known as Big Wood. The tournament is designed to be a blend of technical wrestling and brute force, national stars and hometown heroes.
Pre show photo op with the entire field of 16. Moose was late due to traffic and came in last in his street clothes, looking like the star of the show.
Ring announcer Scott Hensley announced a 50/50 drawing to benefit referee Graham Long whose daughter was born with Spina Bifida.
(1) Corey Hollis defeated Joey Lynch in 14:45. Two of a kind – short of stature, yet powerfully built and really technically sound. Crowd was all about local favorite Lynch and Hollis helped them along with his irritating tactics. Lynch almost went headfirst into the ringside support post on a tope. I don’t even want to think about it. A headbutt sent Lynch off the apron and Hollis was all over him. Back inside, Hollis kept cutting Lynch off. Crowd got behind Lynch, back with a kick variation of the GTS for a two count. Lynch took too miuch time going to the top. Hollis hit a back suplex off the top with Lynch taking a full rotation bump for the most memorable spot of the match. Lynch kicked out and the crowd chanted his name. They traded big near falls, Hollis got an ankle lock but Lynch made the ropes. Lynch got the deathlock on. Hollis tapped but referee Long didn’t see it. Hollis then poked Lynch in the eyes, and crushed him with the back elbow for the pin. Great way to start the show.
Crowd chanted "you tapped out" at Hollis.
(2) Ace Rockwell defeated Mark Vandy in 10:16. Vandy is lanky, mega-bearded bald guy out of Indiana who holds victories of Kevin Nash and Colt Cabana. Vandy had about as much chance of winning this tournament as Yujiro Tanahashi has of winning the G1. When Vandy went for the big boot, Rockwell put him in an airplane spin. Vandy blocked the Rockwell’s finisher it and connected with the big boot for a near fall. Vandy went back to the big boot and Rockwell countered with the Ace crusher. It was OK. No suspense here.
Vandy accepted Rockwell’s handshake after the match.
(3) Moose defeated KT Hamill in 12:16. The crowd as right on time with the Moose chant and Hamill was pissed about it. Frustration set in early for KT as he felt the power of the Moose. Hamill chop blocked Moose’s knee to get the big man on the mat, and worked the body part with a single leg crab and a dragon screw legwhip. At one point, Moose’s knee gave out as he zeroed in Hamill. Moose reversed a suplex attempt to spark a comeback, but Hamill dodged the spear. The big spot of the match saw Hamill try for a slingshot rana to the outside. Moose wouldn’t go down and powerbombed Hamill on the ring apron. Hamill barely beat the count. The end was near. Hamill missed a something or other off the top rope and got speared out of his boots. Good match. Moose did his thing. Hamill did a great job of getting the crowd to dislike him.
Moose went directly to the merch table and put on a Scenic City Invitational t-shirt.
(4) Kongo Kong defeated Tank in 9:15. A collision of 350+ pound monsters. Tank is way over in Empire and got the biggest entrance pop thus far. Neither man budged for a shoulder block. Tank looked a bit stunned. He clotheslined Kong over the top and they brawled on the outside. Tank took a shot in the support post. Back inside, Kong applied a nerve hold. The one he did from a standing position looked more like neck massage. Tank finally got Kong off his feet with a clothesline and choked him with his wrist tape. Tank’s headbutts did as much damage to himself as they did to Kong. Kong tried to slam Tank. That wasn’t happening. They awkwardly transitioned to a Tank superplex. Tank misfired and got leveled by a discus lariat, and Kong finished him with a top rope splash that looked tremendous. Kong has some holes in his game. No doubt that he moves well and does some impressive shit for such a huge guy.
Postmatch - Kong scared a woman in front row out of her wits and a “Thank you Tank”
chant.
Intermission with the Coleman, Gunner and Moose at their merchandise tables.
(5) Jason Collins upset Caprice Coleman in 16:36. They opened with matwork and swapping of hammerlocks – a nice way to establish that Collins could hang with the ROH star on a technical level. The action moved to the outside where Coleman did his baseball slide around the ringpost and unleashed a barrage of body blows. Collins had the springboard splash scouted and countered with a hotshot to take over. Collins ran his mouth as he dished well executed punishment. Collins was eventually penalized for excessive arrogance. Both down after a tornado kick by Coleman. Collins ducked ‘Coleman’s haymaker and got caught with a left. Coleman’s leaping huracanrana got a big reaction as did the springboard huracanrana. Collins answered with a half nelson suplex/superkick combo for a near fall. Coleman busted out the trio of northern lights suplexes. Dueling chants broke out. Collins evaded a flashy, flippy move by Coleman who appeared to take a bad bump on his neck. Collins immediately hit a cradle back suplex and pinned Coleman with his feet on the ropes. The most compelling match of the night for pure athleticism. Coleman had his work shoes on. Collins was fully up to the task. It didn’t have the story of Rave vs. Henry, but man oh man, did they every pull off some spots.
(6) Gunner Miller defeated Chip Day in 8:58. Miller is a huge local favorite stemming from his football career at UT Chattanooga. It doesn’t hurt one bit that he has the look and athletic tools of a major league prospect. Day surprised Miller with an all-out attack right at the opening bell. The action spilled to ringside. Day took the ring out of Miller’s sails with a sick, thudding kick to the chest. Miller rallied back with high impact moves that had Day suffering. The momentum again turned when Miller ate the turnbuckle on a missed spear. Day dominated with arsenal of strikes. Miller with an explosive comeback including a press slam and a flying shoulder block. Day went to the eyes to regain the advantage. Day was in shock when Miller kicked out of Day of the Dead (double knees off the top). Day flew from the top again and Miller speared him in midair for a fantastic finish. Good match. Miller looked much better here than he did last month at Empire’s “Crazy From the Heat”. Day doesn’t have bad matches period.
(7) In the match of the night, Jimmy Rave submitted Anthony Henry at 21:28. Henry must live in the gym. The physique on that guy. They opened with grappling. Henry was exasperating Rave with his mat skills. Rave opened up his bag of mind games garnering a “you’re a sissy” chant. Henry stayed focused. They did an elaborate, imaginative sequence of moves built around knuckle lock. Great stuff. Henry took over with a Mutalock and a bow and arrow. Rave kicked out of the Kryptonite Krunch. Henry kicked out of the Shining Wizard. Rave hit the STO on the ring frame – that move always gets a reaction and this one looked especially devastating. Henry barely beat the 10 count. Rave gave Henry a superplex that landed past midring. Rave bailed after taking some stiff chops and Henry uncorked a killer tope on him. Henry gave Rave an inverted DDT on the ring frame for bookend tease of a count out finish. Henry did a dazzling, spinning inverted Gori Special and picked Rave off the top rope with a huracanrana. Henry hit a picture perfect frogsplash but Rave kicked out. Rave was dead weight when went to pick him up. Rave rolled to the floor. The ref went to check on him. It was all a ruse to get Henry to lower his guard. Rave locked in the crossface. Rave almost made the ropes but Rave maneuvered back to ring center and Henry tapped. One my top ten list of for this year. Rave added to the extraordinary body of work he has compiled thus far during 2015. His performance was off the charts, but without Henry’s technical skills and athleticism, it’s not a great match. It was a prime example of telling a story in the ring. For interesting choices and making a match flow seamlessly, Rave is on the elite level.
Postmatch – a mad show of mutual respect between the competitors and a lengthy standing ovation. Henry appropriately yielded centerstage to Rave, who was on the verge of tears.as the crowd continued to shower him with appreciation for a masterful performance.
The 50/50 drawing was held with $194 raised for Graham Long.
(8) Gunner defeated “The Marathon Man” Chrisjen Hayme in 16:43. Marathon man ticked Gunner off and showed his sprinting abilities in the opening minutes. They did a running the ropes gag for more buffoonery from Hayme. The fun and games came to an end. Gunner did a 20 count stalling suplex. Hayme held on for dear life to avoid the PTSD powerbomb. Hayme ran Gunner into the post to get the upper hand. Sleazy offense ensued from Hayme with a pair of sick kicks for near falls. A shoulder block collision left both men down. Hayme escaped from another PTSD but Gunner planted him with a Rockbottom for a near fall. Hayme with a top rope double stomp to the back for two. Hayme went aerial again only to get spienbustered by Gunner. A “let’s go Gunner” chant erupted. Hayme ran Gunner’s head into a chair that he had wedged between the ropes earlier in the match. But Hayme crashed and burned on a 450 splash and Gunner ended his evening with the PTSD. Hayme’s chickenshit heel act was highly entertaining. The comedy was a nice change of pace from the rest of the show, and they weren’t going to top Rave/Henry for a serious match. The crowd got impatient with Gunner giving Hayme as much offense as he did. Maybe it was just me, but I never got the feeling they thought Hayme could actually win.
Match ups for night two:
Collins vs. Hollis
Rockwell vs. Gunner
Rave vs. Miller
Kong vs. Moose
The winners meet in a four-way elimination match to determine the winner of the tournament.
