Photos courtesy of Jeff Coogler From Larry Goodman: After all the ballyhoo and allure surrounding the Pride flag vs. US flag mat...
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| Photos courtesy of Jeff Coogler |
After all the ballyhoo and allure surrounding the Pride flag vs. US flag match, the bout never took place…at least not yet. There was still no shortage of fireworks and behind-the-scene drama.
AJ Steele got screwed by his job and had to cancel late. PWC came up with a hell of a plan B, one that amplified the angle and seemed to mollify the crowd. The match morphed into a falls count anywhere between Simon Sermon and Tommy Too Much that featured tremendous mic work and an astonishing finish that generated mega heat.
Tyson Dean also canceled off the show due to issues with the National Wrestling Alliance. David Lagana of the NWA contacted PWC with a cease and desist regarding the poster billing Tommy Too Much as the reigning and defending NWA Georgia Champion, which he was at the time Billy Corgan purchased the NWA. According to PWC, Lagana actually wanted them to cancel the show. Too Much came out as billed as the PWC Champion at the show.
The Twitter storm about the issue was filled with ridicule of the show and criticism of the flag angle. In August, the flag match was nixed when local government authorities took exception to the poster depicting the pride flag and the US flag. Authorities reversed course after their decision was called into question, claiming the cancellation stemmed from concerns about gay bashing.
The reality is there’s nothing anti-gay about the angle at all. It’s a political angle and was always intended as such.
No doubt, PWC made the best out of an extremely difficult situation. Still, it’s problem when the top two babyfaces on the card (Steele and Dean) aren’t there and Bull Buchanan wasn’t there as advertised for the first show.
The top two matches had old school heat to burn. Question is, did the people go away so mad they were definitely coming back to see the heels get comeuppance or so mad they weren’t coming back at all?
The fantastic finish of the main event was in stark contrast to some
squishy, unsatisfying conclusions in the undercard. Here’s a bit of
psychology for all my non-Patreon subscribers: primacy-recency theory
applies to pro wrestling. Other factors being equal, endings matters
most, beginnings matters second most and the middle blurs together.
The show drew 225-250 paid. The show was going to be in the black regardless of ticket sales. Promoter Rick Chagnon is an ace with getting sponsorships.
Cue up “Sweet Dreams Are Made For Me” and the entrance of Simon Sermon in business attire. Sermon said if history proved anything at all about him, it was this: he was a man of his word and he was guaranteeing the rainbow flag would fly over the Upset County Civic Center tonight. He got rid of Bull Buchanan and his boy and the mayor, the sheriff and county commission had been powerless to stop him.
One more thing --- if the wrong person was holding one of his rainbow flags, Sermon was coming into the crowd to smack their face.
(1) Eddie Honcho defeated JC Kelly in 7:20. Crowd got a kick out of Eddie shaking his rotund physique. The belly hanging over his tights is part of his appeal .Not much in the way of athleticism here. Honcho made good choices with his offensive maneuvers. a swift kick to the gut…the Banzai Drop to the back…a stink face for a near fall. A fuzzy looking ending saw Honcho counter Kelly’s finisher and drop all his weight on him.
(2) The Kodiak and Mike Pain went to a 8 minute draw that lasted 6:08. This match was every bit as exciting as watching paint dry. I was told Kodiak pulled a hamstring in the first 60 seconds. It was game over. Kodiak’s 300 pounds of muscle were immobilized. Pain worked the leg. Kodiak kicked out of Paini's top rope splash.
They did three long, drawn out double downs. Pain was choking and raking away as the time limit expired.
They tried to rile people up for five more minutes and got a half-hearted response at best.
(3) Shane Noles defeated Romeo by DQ in 11:11 to earn a shot at PWC Champion Tommy Too Much on November 9. Romeo did not have his trusty French flag, for reasons that would become obvious later on. Fans still chanted “USA”. Noles had Romeo on the run but came up lame. Romeo worked over the bad knee. Romeo took a huge crotch bump on the turnbuckle to set up Noles’ comeback. Noles had earlier used a Hoganesque leg drop and went to the big boot here. Romeo caught Noles with a spinning neckbreaker and had him pinned with flying double knees to the gut, but Noles got a foot over the ropes. Romeo relentlessly kicked at Noles’ leg until referee Mike Muse called for the bell.
Postmatch -- Romeo tried to continue his attack and took a spinebuster from Nole for his troubles. Tommy 2 Much came to ring and lorded it over Noles that he had the title without saying a word. The lukewarm DQ win, the lack of response to Too Much, suffice to say, Noles did not come out of this looking like a strong title challenger.
(4) Fry Daddy defeated Matt Gilbert in 11:30. They got off to a great start, the match was decent and the finish was lousy. At the get go, the match had the feeling of a real contest. Gilbert got a “you suck” chant before he did anything truly heelish. He’s dropped a lot of weight. Story was Gilbert’s mounting frustration with his inability to make significant headway. Fry mounted a lariats-on-parade comeback. Gilbert countered the Cutline with a flatliner for a close near fall but no water on the pool for his frogsplash. Fry’s finisher was I think supposed to be a slingblade. It looked messed up.
(5) Royal Flush (Drew Hendrix & Stoney Hooker) defeated PWC tag team champion s Southside Trash (Randy & Rowdy) in what was revealed as a non-title match in 11:07. I had no idea the fans hated trash to such a degree. Rowdy’s mic work was completely drowned out by the jeering. Referee Mike Muse called for the bell with the teams jawing away. Royal Flush cleared the ring and showed the titles to the crowd. Hooker wrestled Hendrix as a heel on the first PWC show. The crowd had no problem getting behind them as a babyface team. Hooker is a natural. He has barely wrestled in the last two years and was the best worker on the show. SST isolated Hooker with all kinds of cheating behind the ref’s back. Hendrix got knocked off the apron and almost ended up in Michel’s lap. Hooker made a valiant fight for the hot tag. Hendrix cleaned house and Rowdy was pinned after sidewalk slam/leaping leg drop combo. This was way better than the horribleness of the tag match on the first PWC show.
Michel announced the bout was not signed as a title match. True, the match was advertised as an open challenge with no mention of the titles being on the line. The belts were returned to the Trash. Hooker demanded a title match on November 9. Rowdy said you got it. Fans booed this heavily.
Pride Flag vs. US Flag: Simon Sermon vs. AJ Steele never happened. Steele’s music hit but no AJ. Sermon reminded the fans that he was a man of his word. He saw timekeeper Mike Money holding a mini-gay flag and smacked him out of his chair.
Sermon called Steele a coward. Sermon said unless you were straight, white or Republican, the US flag didn’t represent you. Sermon invited anybody in the crowd to replace Steele. Tommy 2 Much’s music hit…
The mic work that followed was magic and it was all adlib. Tommy said he didn’t care about Steele of if he was on the side of the road changing 18 bald tires, but he did care about Sermon bashing the USA. Tommy said he served six years in the Marines to defend Sermon’s right carry the Pride flag. What he could not abide was Sermon putting the Pride flag above the US flag.
Sermon made it personal. Addressing Too Much as Thomas Edward Pitts, Sermon said Tommy hadn’t been the same since he married his fat wife and had two dirty mouth kids. Tommy said he bet Sermon didn’t know where his husband was and toot-tooted like a train. Sermon said step in so I can whip your ass all over the building. Tommy said the only way that could happen was a falls count anywhere match. Sermon said I want you to have that match. POW!
(6) Falls Count Anywhere: Simon Sermon (with Merica Strong) defeated Tommy Too Much in 8 minutes. The crowd was loving this. Sermon took Tommy to the timekeeper’s table and Money smacked him across the face for a great pop. Tommy ran Sermon into the wall and took him to the bleachers. Tommy then led Sermon around ringside so fans could chop him. Tommy stuck a mini-Pride flag up Sermon’s ass for another great pop.
Sermon got a spray can out of his corner. As Sermon and Tommy struggled for control of the can, referee Darryl Hall got sprayed in the eyes. Tommy nailed Sermon with a flying clothesline and covered. A blinded Hall made the three count. Romeo hit the ring and blasted Tommy with his French flag. Hall’s vision returned just in time to see Sermon on top of Tommy and raised Sermon’s hand.
The show ended with the crowd in an uproar as Sermon took a victory lap with the Pride flag and Romeo waved the French flag over Tommy.
NOTES: Raunchy (Drew Golden) was not with Southside Trash due to surgery on a life-threatening brain tumor. He’s got a tougher fight ahead of him than any wrestling match…Bill the Butcher and Bryce Cannon were visiting backstage…Pete Noles was working the gimmick table…Bill Dromo’s daughter, Tanya Matthews worked security…Correction to my report on the first PWC show: Hendrix is out of South Carolina not Florida…Joey Roberts aka Big Steele is brnging OSW to Thomaston on October 19 with Ron Simmons, Teddy Long, Mr. Hughes and Tommy Rich advertised.
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