From Larry Goodman: When the Continental Championship Wrestling reunion show took place in 2009, I reported it as the last of the last –...
From Larry Goodman:
When the Continental Championship Wrestling reunion show took place in 2009, I reported it as the last of the last – one final tribute to the golden era of wrestling in Dothan.
Seven years later, the legends were back kicking it at the Houston County Farm Center Annex for the second year in a row. Dennis Gale was the promoter of thes show, a combination wrestling event and fanfest featuring the stars of Continental wrestling from the mid-1980s.
Although the event was steeped in the history of Alabama wrestling, it had a strong Georgia flavor as the undercard was chock full of with some of Georgia’s top indy talent.. Ben Masters was the emcee and had a hand in booking the talent.
There was some interesting Georgia news as well. Turns out the show was not a one shot deal. CCW will be coming to Georgia with in August…and a Georgia wrestling couple chose the occasion to announce that they are having a baby.
Attendance was an easy-to-please crowd of 450. Babyfaces were cheered and heels were hated without exception. Most of the matches were good. The fans appreciated all of them regardless of quality. They seemed happy as a pigs in shit just to see the legends.
The original plan of doing matches outdoors in conjunction with the afternoon fanfest was scrapped at the last minute due to a snafu with the Farm Center. They crammed all of the matches onto the evening show - 14 in all. They had the sense to keep them all short (5-10 minutes) so the show ran just over 3 hours.
Antonio Garza was running his mouth to Masters. Mike Jackson challenged Garza to a singles match with his US Junior Title on the line. Jackson made it clear that Garza was not one of Mexico’s best people. Jackson’s verbiage did Donald Trump proud and made him a babyface stuff in Dothan. A black Iimo pulled into the building. The legends were speculating as to who was inside, possibly Bullet Bob. Out came the “Wrestling Pro” Leon Baxter.
(1)Clyde Braddock defeated Effy Gibbs in 5:15. Gibbs wears fishnet tights and mascara. I wondered what thought were running through Adrian Street’s mind as he looked on. Gibbs has decent size. Interesting character. Not a bad worker. Gibbs suddenly developed an odd fixation on Chic Donovan over at the gimmick table and Braddock rolled him up.
(2) Beautiful Bald Besties (Michaels Stevens & Zac Edwards) defeated Sal Rinauro & Johnny Nixx in 7:15. The crowd was more into Nixx than Sal. Besties got heat on Nixx, who went through the legs to make the hot tag. Zac saved Stevens after he ate Sal’s superkick. The Besties messed up. Nixx and Rinauro went for the 10 punches of doom in stereo. Edwards foiled it and Stevens pinned Nixx with his feet on the ropes. Match was fine.
(3) Special challenge match: Tyson Dean (with Kurt Kilgore) defeated Drew Adler in 5:37. Kilgore cut a promo burying Dothan and putting Atlanta over. Dean and Kilgore were running referee Brandon Brock ragged as they took turns cheating behind his back. Adler with a stellar display of babyface fire on his comeback. His jumping knee strike knocked Dean out of the ring. Kilgore grabbed Adler’s leg and Dean rolled him with a fistful of tights. They did what they could with 5 minutes. Nice round of applause for Adler.
Ben Masters reported that Mr. Wrestling II, Johnny Walker was in a Honolulu hospital with an aortic aneurysm and asked the fans to keep him in their prayers.
(4) Chic Donovan defeated Effy Gibbs via submission in 6 minutes. Gibbs was carrying an 8X10 photo of the Chickster. Gibbs said he was the legend and Donovan was the golden boy loser. Donovan came out to “Sharp Dressed Man”and danced with two large ladies in the crowd. Gibbs bounced to the outside. Donovan brought Gibbs back in the hardway, stuffed the photo in his mouth and tossed him back out. Donovan's lack of mobility was turning this into mission impossible. Gibbs grounded Donovan with feet on the ropes for extra leverage. The ref (not one of the Brock clan) could clearly see it and did nothing. Gibbs was tapping like mad when Donovan applied the figure four. It took the ref forever to signal for the bell. I’m not sure he ever did. A preversely entertaining match. They had a story to tell but the execution left a whole lot to be desired.
(5) Mike Jackson defeated Antonio Garza to retain the US Junior Championship in 10:47. They did more moves than the first four matches combined. Garza attacked Jackson as he came through the ropes. Jackson with a tope! Yes, Jackson did the old school ropes walk. Garza mocked him by doing the same with added hips gyrations. Ben Masters gave the 10 minutes gone call around the 6 minute mark. Jackson clothesline Garza sending both men over and out. Garza hit a Michinoku driver but flexed before covering and Jackson kicked out. The crowd chanted “USA”. Jackson brought Garza off the top with a slam and pulled the strap down. Garza tried to come off top rope and Jackson caught him with a the neckbreaker to end it. Good match. Jackson is amazingly athletic match for his age. Garza was effective as the foreigner heel.
Jackson said he was 66 years old and had been all over the world “but there ain’t nothin’ like coming home.”
(6) Jimmy Golden (with Robert Fuller) defeated Michael Patrick (with Ron Fuller) in 2:03. Age hasn't diminished Robert's mic skills in the least. I love to listen that man talk. Ron said Bob Armstrong was in the hospital with leg problems and sent Patrick to take care of Golden. Ron was surprised Robert didn’t take Bob’s absence as an opportunity to duck out of the match. He said Robert was more like a Tennessee Mule than a Tennessee Stud. Patrick’s partner, Leo Brien came out and tripped Golden. Ron took exception to this and ran Brien out of there. Robert then tripped Patrick and Golden pinned him.
(7) “Wildcat” Wendell Cooley & Frankie “The Thumper” Lancaster defeated The Assassins (I & II & III with Dandy Jack) in 10 minutes. Cooley and Lancaster were wearing Heartbreaker ring gear, a nod to their run in Puerto Rico where they captured the WWC World Tag Team Championships. Both were in great shape, especially Lancaster (age 55). Lots of stalling and shenanigans by the Assassins here. Cooley and Lancaster switched without tagging as they worked over the Assassins, much to the delight of the crowd. Lancaster took a bit of heat and used a low blow to set up the hot tag. Cooley hit the Jawjacker right on the button. Lancaster scored the pin with Larry Brock doing his signature pregnant pause on the third count. Not much to the match which mattered not. The fans got what they wanted.
Postmatch - Assassins got pissed at Jack and threw him into the ring, but he managed to slide out before damage was done.
Sons Brandon and Brian honored their father, Larry Brock was on the occasion of finishing up his 44 year career as a referee. His grandkid presented him with a scrapbook of his career. His sons gave him a framed referee shirt. This was very nicely done and the most poignant segment of the show.
(8) Davey Rich (with Johnny Rich) defeated Tracy Smothers (with Randy Rose) via DQ in 6 minutes. Davey looked like he could still go. Johnny looked like he ate Tommy. Smothers riled up the crowd with his usual bag of verbal tricks. Match was a classic example of getting the most out of doing the least. Rose passed a chain to Smothers. Davey’s comeback had Smothers in trouble. Before Rose could interfere, Davey punched his face. Smothers KOed Davey and covered for the three count. However, referee Brandon Brock found the chain and reversed the decision.
Smothers claimed the ref planted the chain on him and the matter was going to his lawyer Monday morning. He was never coming back to Dothan and threw a chair at the wall on his way out.
(9) Women’s tournament: Awesome Kong defeated Brooklyn (with Logan Creed) by forfeit. Creed announced that Brooklyn would not be wrestling because they are expecting a child in December. “Go buy pictures so we can buy diapers.”
Merica Strong came out and said it wasn’t fair for Kong to advance without a match.
(10) Women’s tournament: Hollywood Heather defeated Merica Strong in 5 seconds. Swing and miss by Merica and Heather rolled her up.
(11) Jimmy Rave defeated Kyle Matthews via submission in 10:07. This was an edited version of the excellence you would expect from two former winners of Georgia’s Wrestler of the Year award. The crowd wasn’t familiar with them and was quiet at first. A Matthews dropkick got the first big pop of the match and it built from there. The crowd gasped on Rave’s apron STO. Matthews barely beat the 10 count. Rave’s superplex also got a big response. For the finish, Mathews came up empty with the frogsplash and Rave hit Dusk Until Dawn. The crowd didn’t recognize the move so the finish lacked punch. Best match of the show for wrestling quality.
(12) Odinson & Logan Creed (with Brooklyn Page) defeated Faces of Death (Andy Anderson & Pain with Merica Strong) via DQ in 5:30. Anderson has the look of a 70s wrestler with the added thickness around the middle. Odinson busted out a dropkick that was damn impressive for such a big guy. Creed rocked Pain, who wouldn’t go down until a flying clothesline did the trick. Merica clipped Creed’s knee to turn the tide. FOD dismantled Creed with barrage of high impact moves. Creed’s sky high powerbomb enabled a hot tag. Odinson was setting up for the F10 when Strong gave him a low blow right in front of the ref.
Ron Fuller and Golden came out with a birthday cake. Ron said it was his brother’s birthday and it was time to lay the longest running feud in wrestling (30 years) to rest. They led the crowd in singing “Happy Birthday”. Robert came out with a big smile on his face and hugged Jimmy and Ron. The Dirty Blondes (Patrick & Brien) and “Cowboy” Dennis Gale) interrupted. Patrick said nobody cared about Robert’s stupid birthday and the party was over. Robert said get in here and we’ll see. The Fuller brothers smashed Brien’s face. They got him good. Brien looked ridiculous. Brien challenged Robert to a match. Robert said he was going to put his gear and kick Brien’s ass. This segment got over like gangbusters. Dirty Blondes more than held up their end.
Masters announced that Continental was coming to Blakely, GA on August 6 with Kiera Hogan vs. Priscilla Kelly. Blakely is only 30 miles away from Dothan.
(13) Awesome Kong defeated Hollywood Heather to win the Continental Women’s Tournament in 6:33. Heather is a Dory Funk product and a big girl in her own right. Kong shrugged off Heather’s dropkicks and overpowered her. Heather ended up getting a fair share of offense with Kong showing more vulnerability than expected. Kong’s splash got a big reaction. Heather put Kong down with a missile dropkick and got a close near fall with a superkick. Kong used the spinning backfist to set up the Implant Buster for the win. Match was OK.
Strong confronted Kong in the ring. They had a wonky staredown. Between Kong's size and Strong's physique, this was visually quite impressive. but it didn’t go anywhere. Strong doesn’t know the nuances that come with experience, how to build tension without getting physical. They needed for someone to step in between them. A risk worth taking and I wouldn't call it a failure because the crowd clearly wanted to see more. Masters hinted at a match down the road.
(14) Robert Fuller vs. Leo Brien (with Michael Patrick & Dennis Gale) was a 30 second no contest. Robert started kicking ass as promised. Patrick and Gale jumped in. Ron and Jimmy came to Robert’s rescue and the Fuller family cleared the ring. This was perfect - just enough physicality to get the job done and achieve the feeling of pandemonium. The crowd was into it.
Ron said he was going to wrestle for the first time in 30 years. Bingo! The match was made for August 6th in Blakely. Ron & Robert & Jimmy vs. Dirty Blondes & Gale.The storytelling in the Fuller/Blondes segments was a nice piece of business. It will be interesting to see how a main event featuring a trio of legends with combined age of 200 years plays out.
NOTES: Notables in the house included Mr. Hughes, Dave Wills and the Wiregrass Wreckers roller girls…Kong and all of the legends were on hand for the afternoon fanfest attended by roughly 100 people.
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