From Larry Goodman: Chattanooga Pro ran their debut event in East Chattanooga featuring the opening round of a tournament to crown...
Chattanooga Pro ran their debut event in East Chattanooga featuring the opening round of a tournament to crown their first pure open weight champion.
The show was held in building owned by Community of Christ Church where EWA runs shows on the 3rd Friday of every month. Attendance was around 80.
There was a lot to like about Chattanooga Pro, a project of Chris Crunkk. The talent roster is a combination of Chattanooga’s finest and the WWA4/NCW mafia. I enjoyed all of the tournament matches. The main event - Gunner Miller vs. O’Shay Edwards was probably the best of the bunch.
I really liked the venue and the professional presentation. The room felt full enough with 80 and can accommodate 200 if need be. The dressing room was cordoned off by pipe and drape. They had an entrance way with CP insignia, light stands, a video screen and CP t-shirts on sale.
Crowd reactions were reasonably strong all night long. Nothing off the charts. It felt to me like the tournament wasn’t as dramatic or impactful as it could have been due to having so many (4) non-tournament matches.
The major problem – it wasn’t clear until the end of the show that the tournament would be a two event process and the return date (March 9), which should have been hyped all night long, was treated as classified information.
Things got off to a rough start in the pre-show, which was a Q & A with Tank conducted by Scott Hensley, as the mic kept cutting out.
Ring announcer Joey Gambino apologized for the technical difficulties and introduced the tournament.
(1) AWE Georgia Wrestling Crown Champion and PWX iTV Champion aka “Chippy Two Belts” Chip Day defeated “King” Bailey Blake in 11:06. Seemed like a waste of Day’s presence for him not to be in the tournament. Match was OK. Bailey showed a lot of comedic heel personality. Day outwrestled Bailey including a Cena STF and killed him with strikes. Bailey knocked Day to the floor, injuring his foot. Crowd got behind Day. Chip was gimpy after missing off the top rope and Bailey hit a headlock driver for a near fall. Day won it with a flying kneedrop to Blake’s neck.
Blake wanted another shot at somebody. Tank answered. Crowd was hoping for match but that wasn’t happening. Swing and a miss by Blake. Tank with a spinning backfist and toss over the top rope. Tank started to help Blake to the back…and decked him again. Good stuff.
(2) The Movement (Chip Hazard & Talon Williams) defeated Mike Xcellence & Devin Airre in 6:56. The referee was Jason Dobbs, who formerly wrestled as Ryan Vega. Dobbs is an excellent referee. Good match showcasing Movement’s double teams. Xcellence interfered and Aire slammed Williams off the top to start the heat. Hazard pinned Aire after another of Movement’s signature double teams.
(3) Kenji Brea defeated Chris Crunkk in 8:41 to advance in the tournament. Crunkk was wearing a “Jaden Newman sucks” t-shirt. Exaggeration of weights comes with the territory in pro wrestling, but announcing Brea at 204 was ridiculous. Crunkk got heat for stalling. Chain wrestling early. Burst of offense from Brea. Crunkk taunted Brea as he dished out punishment. Brea got a near fall with a wicked springboard stomp to the head. Crunk with a slingshot stomp and a springboard kick for near falls before Brea got the win with the Almas hammerlock DDT.
(4) TWE Heavyweight Champion, TWE Pure Champion and NCW Heavyweight Champion AC Mack defeated Alan Angels in 9:25 to advance in the tournament. Mack ran down his title credentials and claimed to be The Captain of the Anarchy building as Gunner Miller looked on. His weight of a "whopping" 207 was just as ridiculous as Brea but it's part of his schtick. The fast-paced open was a nice contrast to the previous match. Mack asserted himself as they fought outside the ring. Angels’ masochistic streak was in full effect as he delighted in getting hit. Angel’s maniacal psychiatric patient character scores points for uniqueness. The crowd took a liking to him or maybe it was the hate for Mack. Anyway…Mack did his spinaroonie into the climbing enzuigiri. He went for the Mack 10 but couldn’t get it. Angels popped the crowd with a standing Spanish fly. Angels kicked out of an inverted front suplex and talked back. Mack silenced Angels with a superkick and finished with the Mack 10. A few iffy spots when they were going too fast for their own good but a fine match overall.
(5) Ashton Starr defeated Chase Jordan and Tony Midas and Adrian Akyel and Dani J and Cody Steele in a scramble match at 10:56. Midas was entertaining. Starr and Dani J impressed with their ringwork. Steele is big but awkward and not very imposing. After towers of doom in stereo, Dani squared off with Steele. A train of big moves ensued until Starr hit the scissors kick on Dani.
Conscious King Heru (formerly Chris Bullett) came to the ring with Goddess Mayot. Heru cut a long and winding promo that failed to connect. Heru fancies himself as a supreme being. Starr was on the wrong track and needed Heru’s guidance. I guess. There was reference to Starr’s fur coat and PETA. Crowd was deathly quiet and seemed not to care. The best thing about the segment was the hotness of Goddess Mayot.
(6) Nicole Pain defeated Innovate Wrestling TV Champion Lenny Stratton in 10:20. Stratton revealed that he was married to Pain. I wished he hadn’t have done that. He told her to cook dinner and find him somebody to wrestle worth his time. Technically, this was as good or better as any match on the show. Pain looked great. Problem was it felt like a routine rather than an actual contest. Tough to suspend disbelief for a large man doing power moves and stiff strikes on a small woman. Pain kicked out of a burning hammer piledriver and pinned Stratton with a sunset flip off the ropes.
Crowd was quiet during the match but recognized a great performance from Pain and applauded her big time afterward.
(7) Ike Cross defeated Matt Lynch in 9:51 to advance in the tournament. Matt got the loudest entrance pop of the night. Cross was running his mouth and getting heat, though he’s a natural babyface. He’s too damn likeable to be heel. Good match dominated by Cross to a shocking degree, like 80/20. Cross ate a dropkick and bailed. Matt went for tope. Cross clocked him but good and took control. Matt hit a nice bridging german suplex for a hope spot near fall. Cross chopped Matt in all four corners. Matt came back with a Samoan drop but missed a moonsault. Cross got in the ref’s face so he could donkey kick Matt in the nuts, and that was all she wrote.
(8) Anarchy Triple Crown Champion Gunner Miller defeated O’Shay Edwards in 10:43 to advance in the tournament. Gunner chant at the get go. Edwards was not impressed and claimed to be the stronger of the two. Miller ate Edwards up with chops, hit a pair of Stinger splashes then a pair of overhead belly to belly suplexes. Edwards went to the outside on rubber legs. Edwards wanted no more but Miller had lots more in store for him. Edwards dropped Miller face first on the apron to turn the momentum. Edwards was feeling it, talking trash as he gave Miller a beating. Miller’s comeback looked terrific. He hit a spinebuster slam and threw up the C. Edwards returned the favor with a spinebuster of his own. Miller kicked out of Edwards’ one arm cover. Edwards hit a bridging german suplex and Miller kicked out again. Edwards slapped him. With fire in his eyes, Miller pounced Edwards and hit the Jackhammer for the pin. Match had the best energy of the show and was different from the rest. Two true heavyweights pounding away on each other. They meshed well. Miller’s Wrestler of the Year award speaks for itself. Edwards has improved so much. He’s gotten really good with the exaggerated heel selling and Miller was a guy to sell for.
I initially reported that former Anarchy Women's Champion Harlow O'Hara was there. It was a case of mistaken identity on my part. The woman in question was Morgana Moon. LG
I initially reported that former Anarchy Women's Champion Harlow O'Hara was there. It was a case of mistaken identity on my part. The woman in question was Morgana Moon. LG
NOTES: Joey Lynch and Jay Clinton were in the house...The other referee was Jay Pipp…Hazard saved the day with a working microphone…This group has a good ring. It’s the one that used to belong to Empire.