WrestleMerica Report from Barnesville on February 9

From Larry Goodman: So I went to the other rumble, the Rumble for the Gold in Barnesville, one of those Middle Georgia towns ti...

From Larry Goodman:

So I went to the other rumble, the Rumble for the Gold in Barnesville, one of those Middle Georgia towns time forgot. And that's the way the people of Barnesville want to keep it. 

Downtown Barnesville provided the perfect backdrop for the Southern Gothic darkness of the HBO series Sharp Objects.

 

Point being that in many ways, WrestleMerica is the wrestling product time forgot. The mindset of promoter “Cowboy” Dennis Gale was molded by wrestling in the Pensacola territory in the mid 80s. His partner, Ben Masters promoted the famed Peach State Wrestling in this area  during the early 90s. 

WrestleMerica is not for everyone. It surely works great in Barnesville and has a certain charm an old timer like myself can enjoy – little things like separate entrances for heels and faces…heels never appearing in front of the crowd except during their match, much less selling merch…never give the fans too much and make sure you hook them for the next show…and if you’re a babyface, you damn well better sell.

The important stuff on last night’s show – the rumble and the title match – worked out beautifully. The middle of the card wasn’t all that thrilling. I don’t do ratings, but a knowledgeable WrestleMerica fan that never misses a show gave it a B-.

Attendance at the Academy Gym was close to 300 with loads of kids chanting for the babyfaces all night long. Heel rooters are few and far between in Barnesville. This is not a jaded crowd.

Ryan North came out in that ridiculous pink sequin suit, getting heat and talking trash about who was going win the Rumble and the opportunity to lose to his double champion, Mikael Judas. He was there to observe. Little did he know what was in store...

(1) Fry Daddy won the 20 person Rumble for the Gold in 38:45 to earn a shot at the WrestleMerica/Bulletproof Double Championship.

This was a very entertaining, multi-faceted Rumble. Ben Masters did a great job of putting it together. The crowd was into it from bell to bell.

Order of entrance: Simon Sermon and Dominique Stuckey, Jaxon Slade (formerly Ashton Slaughter), Brent Banner, Proctor Johnson, Drew Adler, Michael Stevens, Bryce Cannon, Eddie Honcho, Dementia D’Rose, Ryan North, Owen Parker, Bill the Butcher, Carpenter Worthy, Mac Davis, The Storm, Clyde Braddock, Pure Goodness and Fry, and Mike Pain.

Order of eliminations: Johnson (gone so fast I blinked and missed it), Banner by Sermon, Honcho by D’Rose, Cannon by D’Rose, D’Rose by Adler, Slade and Sermon, North by Parker, Parker by Butcher, Sermon by Butcher, Carpenter by Davis, Davis eliminated himself, Adler by Storm, Stevens by Storm, Storm and Butcher simultaneously, Braddock by Goodness, Slade by Stuckey, Stuckey by Slade, Pain by Goodness, Goodness by Fry with an assist from Pain.

Highlights:

* D’Rose – her work with Honcho and Cannon (Michael Stevens trainees), was superfun stuff and super over with the crowd. She no sold a chairshot that ass, eliminated the jabronis and destroyed North’s face with her backside. It took three guys to eliminate her.

* Stuckey starting the match and lasting 37 minutes. His work is improving and the fans love this kid.

* Slade went almost as long. He’s a John Saxon trainee without a lot of experience but with huge upside.

* North – inserted into the match by Ben Masters, North wrestled in a turtle neck and converse high tops. He took the ass to the face from D’Rose and had the crap slapped out of him by Parker.

* Butcher headbutting everyone in sight.

* Pure Goodness – nastiest scowl in pro wrestling and you’ve got to love that name for a heel.

* Fry Daddy -- The pop for his entrance…coming with an inch of touching the floor before saving himself…teaming up with Pain to eliminate Goodness at the end.

The contract signing for the rematch between former referee Owen Parker and North was next. 

Emcee Ben Masters said North fooled everyone by beating Parker in their first match and to get North to agree to a rematch, Parker would have to put his Georgia wrestling career on the line. And how would the stip be enforced in other promotions? Best not think too hard about stuff like that.  Parker admitted North wasn’t worth it but agreed to sign the contract. North said he had the brains because he didn’t go to school in Georgia and Parker was in for a fight, pointing out that it took two wrestlers to get him out of the Rumble. Masters then revealed the additional stipulations – if North lost he would have to put on a weasel suit and Gale would be the special referee.

(2) Simon Sermon & Jaxon Slade defeated Dominique Stuckey & Clyde Braddock in 8:55. Huge heat without doing a thing due to the hate for Sermon and the Dom love. Sermon was egging on the kids in the bleachers something fierce. They went right to the heat with the heels beating on Stuckey unmercifully. Stuckey hit a blockbuster on Slade/forced DDT on Sermon to get to his corner. Braddock, however, jumped off the apron and took a seat at ringside. Braddock watched as Sermon pinned Stuckey with the Manchester Driver.

Braddock returned to the ring to crush Stuckey with a fireman’s carry slam and spinning belly to belly suplex. Master scolded Braddock for being late to the show because it was unprofessional. Braddock said he was tired of being a good guy and was better at being a bad guy anyway. Braddock was speaking the truth.

(3) Mike Pain vs. Bill the Butcher (with Carpenter Worthy) was declared a no contest at 6:49. A battle of monsters with the crowd was behind Pain huge. For me, it’s tough to see Pain as a monster without the mask. They battled on even terms, thanks to copious interference by Carpenter. Pain’s punches and Butcher’s selling of them was the best thing about the match. Pain had Butcher pinned after a splash off the top rope, but Carpenter pulled Pain out of the ring. Pain throttled Carpenter. Butcher used a chair on Pain. It was out of control so referee Kyle Carver ruled it a no contest. Carver is a good ref but he’s larger than many of the wrestlers.

The brawl continued until Carpenter inadvertently gutted Butcher with the chair and got decked by Pain. A rematch wouldn’t be the worst thing. It wouldn’t be one my favorite things either.

(4) The Storm pinned Drew Adler with a top rope elbow in 15:39. This looked like it would be a good match – two big guys with physiques, skills and athleticism. It was dull as dishwater. Not technically bad. They did some Impressive power moves (Storm’s exploder suplex and Adler’s powerslam into a fallaway slam come to mind), but they had zero chemistry and the match never got out of first gear. Try as he might to get the crowd behind him, it wasn’t happening for Storm. If they were feeling the crowd, they would have taken it home well before 15 minutes.

(5) Fry Daddy defeated Mikael Judas (with Ryan North) via DQ in 14:28. Judas retains the Double Crown Championship on the DQ. Chants of “weasel” and “Fry” abound. Fry showed he wasn’t about to be intimidated and took it to the champion, who showed early vulnerability. North provided all the distraction Judas needed. Judas dismantled Fry for the rest of the match, focusing his attack on the back and gut. Fry was a mess. Looked like he wanted to die, but he never gave up and the fans never quit on him. At the crucial moment, Fry escaped a chokeslam and reeled off a codebreaker, a backcracker and a springboard elbow drop. The crowd absolutely, positively thought their guy had won the title. As good a false finish as you’d ever want to see. Fry went for the Cutline. Judas escaped and obliterated referee Kyle Carver. Judas went for El Crucifijo (crucifix powerbomb). Fry grabbed the ropes to escape and hit a Cutline off the top. Second referee Nathaniel Spivey was there to make the three count. Fry was announced as the new champion.

Carver overruled Spivey and DQed Judas for hitting him. It was the quintessential Dusty finish – a great tool when done well and used sparingly.

Judas chokeslammed Fry three times. Carver tried to intervene and took a choke slam for his troubles. Judas scraped Fry off the mat and gave him the crucifix powerbomb.

Pain made the save and said he would get Judas and North on March 9 (in a handicap match in Dothan, AL).