Georgia Premier Wrestling Report from Canton on March 9

From Larry Goodman: Georgia Premier Wrestling has got it going on in Canton.  Their show last night at the Old Buffington Scho...

From Larry Goodman:

Georgia Premier Wrestling has got it going on in Canton. 

Their show last night at the Old Buffington School drew the largest, hottest crowd for a regular GPW event I have experienced in that building. Total attendance had to be close to 400. The Chris Jericho concert and the LPWG show that were in Canton last night affected GPW not one bit. The only time GPW has drawn more in Canton was the sellout crowd for the February 5, 2016 show that featured AJ Styles’ final independent wrestling match before going to WWE. The first three rows for the next show are already sold out. 

The main angle, Real GPW led by co-owner Darrell Morris vs. the best good guys co-owner Woody Hullender can muster, was cooking at my last GPW venture six weeks ago. But not like this. This crowd was on fire for everything all night long. They had a lot more passion than I was used to seeing from a GPW crowd. 

The talent roster has been tweaked but nothing major. Match quality is OK but nothing special. GPW Is making an effort to get better wrestling in the mix (Joe Black vs. Chip Day in February, Fred Yehi vs. Torque at the next show). It’s the storytelling, top to bottom, that is clearly stronger. There’s more of a sense that every match is leading somewhere and is part of the bigger picture. 

It continues to boggle my mind that two promotions running shows five miles apart on different nights are drawing big crowds with fan bases that are mutually exclusive. 

Hulllender summoned Glacier to the ring. Glacier was immediately interrupted by Morris (with Lamar Diggs) calling him a has been and a never was. Morris didn’t see Glacier’s teammates (Cyrus the Destroyer, Cuzin Cletus and Logan Chase) coming up behind up. Diggs bailed on his boss. Some bodyguard he is. Morris lumbered into the ring where he was collared by Glacier. Woody told Glacier to let Morris go because he was just trying to weasel his way out of the main event. Morris was joined by “Real GPW” members Jaxon Cassel, Drew Delight and Erik Havok. The teams teased getting physical before Morris said let’s take care of this in the main event. 

Glacier said he had known Woody almost as long as he had been wrestling, and when a friend calls and asks for a favor, you don’t say no.

This segment was a tantalizing appetizer for the main event. The fans had already developed a healthy hate for Morris my last time here. They absolutely despise him now.

(1)Torque defeated Blackheart in 7:03. Pre-match, Torque apologized to referee Jonathan Chastain for slugging him at the last show (after being pinned by Ryan Rembrandt). Torque said going forward, he would take his frustrations out on his opponents, and that’s precisely what he did to Blackheart, dominating the match and beating him with a leg drop off the top rope.

Ridiculous Mohawk aside, Blackheart cracks me up just to look at him. It's like his toungue is always in his cheek. The match was better than you would think. A sunset flip hope spot was nicely done as was Blackheart’s Regal Roll.

(2) Michael Marshall defeated “Rock ‘n Roll Model” Matt Sells via DQ under Watts Rules in 8:01. Marshall explained the stifling Watt Rules -- FOR OUR SAFETY. Sells unnerved Marshall with his duck walk and threatened to throw Marshall’s towel into the crowd. Marshall clocked Sells from behind to take control. On the comeback trail, Sells got a near fall with a shining wizard and went for a stunner but Marshall planted him with a uranage. Sell did a running palm strike and the bump Marshall took popped the crowd. At the crucial moment, Marshall purposely fell over the top rope and Sells was DQed.

This match worked great – the heat was tremendous, the comedy entertained, the wrestling was solid and the finished pissed the people off.

(3) Thunder Blonde defeated Aja Perera in 7:31. Blonde brought a shovel with her intent on burying “The Extraterrestrial” Aja. Perera took it to Blonde early on, leading to a fun spot where Perera sat Blonde in a lady’s lap and chopped her. Perera tried to suplex Blonde on the floor and Blonde turned the tables on her. Blonde kept her offense simple and stiff and heelish. Perera rallied back with a short RKO and a running knee for a near fall. Blonde tried to hit Perera with the shovel but Perera ended up with it. As referee Jonathan Chastain was getting rid of the shovel, Blonde caught Perera with a thrust to throat and pinned her with a Samoan drop.

This was obviously a big win for Thunder Blonde. She’s a rookie with potential and I was curious to see how good a match Perera could get out of her. The answer was pretty good. Blonde is a willing and able bumper and her offense is coming along. Perera was super over. Her in-ring has improved dramatically over the couple of years.

(4) The Syndicate (Elijah Evans IV & TJ Boss) defeated BTB (Rowe Bullock & Brandon Bullock) to retain the GPW Tag Team Championship in 10:14. BTB are an indytastic looking brother act. Crowd was chanting “BTB” for a team they had never laid eyes on before they had done the first thing. The little brother Rowe took the heat, highlighted by Boss’ 300+ pound jumping splash. A valiant fight out of the corner by Rowe went for naught as Boss leveled Brandon to prevent the tag. Tag finally made. Brandon ran wild on Syndicate. BTB hit a neckbreaker/flying bodypress combo on Evans. Boss made the save and that was as close at BTB was going to get to the titles. Boss crushed Brandon with a sky high spinebuster and Evans followed with his signature elbow off the top.

No way, no how, BTB were coming out of this match as champions. That didn’t stop the crowd from getting totally behind them. I’m starting to appreciate what Syndicate brings to the table. They’ve got their timing down and make an effective unit.

The Cruiserweight title match was next. Before the bell, Morris showed his face and decreed the match would be non-title. Morris said he was still the GM and contended Shaggy had done nothing to deserve a title match. Shaggy would have to beat Ryan Rembrandt to earn it. Heat to die for. The people love Shaggy. The hate for Morris took another leg up.

(5) Cuzin Shaggy pinned GPW Cruiserweight Champion Ryan Rembrandt (with Drew Delight) at 9:18 in a non-title match to earn a shot at the title. Thank God for all the emotion, because the crowd paid no mind to how bad this match was. It was the best of times and the worst of times for Rembrandt. His heel personality was coming through stronger than before but his ringwork was way off -- lots of sloppy spots and weak strikes unbecoming of a champion. Shaggy looked OK but he couldn’t do it alone. Rembrandt hit a hammerlock DDT and made the cover but Shaggy got a foot on the ropes. Delight pushed Shaggy’s foot off but the ref was wise to it and refused to count three. I can’t remember the last time I saw that trick get so much heat. Finish was a spinning headscissors counter move, or at least that’s what it was supposed to be. Mattered not. Crowd was thrilled Shaggy won.

Talon Williams entered to a huge “Fight! Fight! Fight!” chant. Morris came out again. The guy is insufferable. Morris said he had a fight for Williams and introduced former partner turned bitter enemy, Chip Hazard as his opponent. Hazard lost a loser leaves GPW match to Williams 6 months ago. Morris said Hazard was reinstated as of now.

(6) “The Messiah” Talon Williams vs. Chip Hazard was a double count out at 2:29. They picked up right where they left off. This was a stiff, believable brawl that the ring could not contain.

(7) Real GPW (GPW Southern States Champion Jaxon Cassel & Drew Delight & Erik Havok & Darrell Morris (with Lamar Diggs)) defeated Team GPW (Glacier & Cuzin Cletus & Cyrus the Destroyer & Logan Chase) in a no DQ match at 19:11. Morris made it a no DQ match on the spot and had Mr. Diggs bring a trash barrel of toys to ringside. Havok was getting offense on Glacier until Glacier unleashed the martial arts attack on the entirety of Real GPW. Morris clumsily bailed out before getting hit. Chase tagged In, and I’ll be damned if the guy didn’t pull off a spinning headscissors. The building was in an uproar. The crowd wanted Morris. They got him for all of two seconds. Delight tagged in and had to deal with Cyrus, which did not end well for him. Glacier jabbed Diggs in the gut with a 2x4 and tossed the trash can in the ring to Cyrus. That led to a Vader bomb onto the can with Delight underneath for the pop of the night. Team GPW continued to beat up on Delight. Eventually, Real GPW was able to isolate Chase in their corner. Morris tagged in. He missed the worst splash in wrestling history. Logan tagged Cyrus and some spectacular house cleaning ensued. Diggs tried to hit Cyrus with brass knucks and got decked. Cyrus squashed Morris in the corner. Chase busted out a flying bodypress on Diggs. Cassel gave Cyrus a low blow. The party was over. Syndicate came to ringside. Evans did his top rope elbow drop on Chase and put dragged Morris on top of him for the 1-2-3.

This match was a rollicking goo time Chase’s offense blew my mind. Who knew? It was great to see Cyrus100% recovered from the biceps injury. He gave notice that he is a force to be reckoned with in Georgia. Glacier was used perfectly. Delight takes a great beating. As the big guy of Real GPW, Havok was positioned as the badass of the group, but he doesn't give off that vibe.  I don’t get that vibe from him. I liked the use of the no DQ stip to allow for limited, judicious use of weapons and a way for Real GPW to come out on top while keeping Team GPW strong.

Cletus got on mic. Said he wished Shaggy luck in getting the Cruiserweight title. He still wanted the tag titles but no longer had a partner. Cletus looked over at Cyrus and said he had found himself a monster. Cyrus said he was in.

The crowd started a “chicken” chant for the cowardly Morris and the Syndicate. Morris’ tender ears couldn’t handle the taunts. He said they weren’t scared of a hillbilly and agreed to the match.

NOTES: GPW returns to Canton on March 23 with Rock ‘n Roll Express vs. Walker County Line, Fred Yehi vs. Torque, The Syndicate (with Darrell Morris) vs. Cuzin Cletus & Cyrus the Destroyer (with Logan Chase) for the tag titles, plus the announcement of a big star coming in April. The first three rows are already sold out…Matt Griffin, Mika Villas and O’Shay Edwards were in the crowd…Woody is recovering from spinal issue related to the wear and tear of wrestling career. Woody estimated he had taken 36,000 bumps, based on 3600 matches and 10 bumps per match.