Photo Courtesy of Fan Aucoin From Larry Goodman: Viral Pro Wrestling’s Holiday Havoc was a good show with a number of good match...
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| Photo Courtesy of Fan Aucoin |
Viral Pro Wrestling’s Holiday Havoc was a good show with a number of good match and plenty of variety. It didn’t have s truly memorable great match to make it special.
Perhaps that wasn’t what the powers that be had in mind, as they were clearly intent on setting up compelling scenarios for their first show of 2020.
Viral typically features intriguing match ups that can’t be seen anywhere else in Georgia and that was certainly true last night.
VPW looks and feels like a professional operation. Their production values are second only to Southern Honor as Georgia promotion go. This was a well-paced show. It started on time, had no notable dead spots and was done in 2 and ½ hours.
Attendance at the Sweetwater Gym was 225. I find the crowds in Thomson to be somewhat subdued compared to what I’m used to in other places around Georgia. Seems like a venue that should be really loud but rarely does the dial on the volume get turned all the way to the right.
The Young Professor (the winner of AWE’s top manager contest) turned up as VPW’s new ring announcer and did an outstanding job. His red sequin shoes were over.
(1) In a pre-show match, “Forever Young” Devin Cruise defeated Aaron Berry in 5:25. Berry was wearing a “Baller Berry” basketball jersey. He sure as hell looks more like a football player. Berry was billed at 290, 85 pounds more than Cruise. Zero reaction for their entrances but the crowd responded well the match, which wasn’t bad at all. Berry’s power stuff looked decent. Cruise leapfrogged Berry’s spear and scored the pinfall with an Attitude Adjustment. The fans were pleasantly surprised by Cruise going over.
(2) 3rd Generation Sensation” Samantha Starr pinned Aria Blake with a DDT at 5:10. Starr said this wasn’t children’s wrestling and asked Blake if her parents knew she was there. The truth hurts. Blake is so tiny, nothing but skin and bones. Starr’s a husky blonde so another match where the size differential was huge, this time in favor of the babyface, not the recipe for success. VPW is in the same boat as every other promotion in Georgia in so far as not having a women’s division. The crowd reacted with silence to a match that was not good and rather pointless.
Enter James Caleb Kitchens with Unknown members Owen Knight and Montana Black to chants of “you sold out”. Kitchens said the only thing the Unknown had sold out was this building and introduced “The Revolutionary” Darius Lockhart. The grand entrance by the VPW Champion generated pretty fair heat.
VPW owner Joshua Hancock ordered the Unknown to get out of the ring and said Black’s match was starting now.
(3) Montana Black (with James Caleb Kitchens) defeated Arik Royal in 8:55. Hoss fight all the way. Black clobbered Royal as he tried for a running knee off the apron and posted him. Black on offense until Royal busted out a flying headscissors, Royal’s exploder suplex popped the crowd and got a “one more time” chant. Royal obliged. Royal called for Space Jam. Black had it scouted and nailed him with a sick kick for near fall. Black goozled Royal, who escaped and hit Space Jam. Kitchens jumped onto the apron and was pulled down by some unknown person. He may as well have come out of the crowd. The well kept secret was the guy was Royal’s manager. Black capitalized on the distraction with a black hole style face plant.
Good match except for the finish. A nobody getting involved was so strange. After seeing Royal’s stellar work as a heel for ACTION, it was surreal seeing him as a babyface, and I much prefer him in the opposite role.
(4) The Monster Squad (Billy Brash & Joshua Cutshall) defeated Dirty Blondes (Michael Patrick & Leo Brien) to retain the VPW Tag Team Championship in 11:35. The fans were more into this than anything so far because they care about Monster Squad. Cutshall has taken his outlandish personality to new heights. He sold Patrick’s punch like he was having a seizure, then broke into a Memphis strut, then suddenly wanted to shake hands and have a wrestling match. Patrick was dumbfounded. Brash did a corner headstand to bamboozle Brien. It was all Monster Squad until the 6 minute mark when Blondes double clotheslined Cutshall to start the heat. Blondes pulled shenanigans behind the back of referee Ray Boring but collided leading to a Morton roll for the hot tag to Brash. A screw up by the Blondes set up a Brash chokeslam for a most excellent false finish. The actual finish saw the Blondes try to use their cowbell and screw up yet again. Brien konked Patrick and Cutshall pinned him.
The best Chris Mayne promo ever was shown on the video screen. Mayne explained his actions at Trick or Trauma to help Wade Adams defeat Sixx. Mayne blamed Sixx for the beginning of his downfall at VPW. Moreso, blamed the VPW office for allowing the prodigal son to return. While Sixx was trying to destroy VPW, Mayne was the mastermind saving it. He gifted VPW with his mind and helped the promotion become one of the best in Georgia and what did they do? They spit in his face. The fans were the worst of the bunch because they allowed it to happen. They cheered him when he beat Sixx and booed him when his best friend stabbed him in the back. “You SOB’s turned your back on me, and I came back to rain on everybody’s (bleep)ing parade”. Mayne vowed to destroy any inkling of Sixx wanting to be in the ring ever again (when they meet on February 8 at Battle Lines).
Mayne’s cussing got bigtime heat, like it would never get in Cornelia or Canton.
(5) VPW Outbreak Champion Owen Knight (with James Caleb Kitchens) escaped with his title via an intentional DQ loss to Jon Davis in 8:50. Knight talked trash and tried for a shoulder block. He bounced off Davis and bumped. Davis gave Knight three consecutive bodyslams. Shades of Pez Whatley. Knight seized on a brief opening, pausing to sell the effects of Davis’ offense. Knight’s offense was filthy. He got a near fall with the old “permanent smile” move. Davis was doing a slow burn. Spit flew from Knight’s mouth as Davis made his comeback. Davis used a sitout powerbomb for a near fall. Knight answered with a Saito suplex. They picked up the pace with a great back and forth exchange. Knight escaped Three Seconds Around the World with a tijera and hit his finisher. Davis kicked out at one. Knight was in shock as he backed into the corner. What’s a coward to do? Kick his opponent in the dick for the DQ.
This match flirted with greatness. Pro wrestling would be better off if more heels sold as big as Knight does and he’s great with facial expressions and the precision of Davis’ power game is always a treat to watch.
Knight waffled Davis with chair shots after the match. Legacy came to the rescue by spearing Knight. Kitchens wanted to hit Legacy with the chair and took a springboard RKO from Legacy for his troubles. Davis was about to take Kitchens’ head off with the chair when Knight pulled him out of the ring.
Davis said it had been brought to his attention that Legacy had a problem with Knight and his pack of sissies and now he did too. Davis said Legacy’s team just got one stronger. The fans liked this idea a lot.
(6) Lucky Ali defeated Vary Morales in 9:31. The VPW fans hated Ali with a passion. Something about his attitude really rubbed them the wrong way. Morales had a similar challenge to last week at SHW. The fans didn’t know him and he doesn’t look like a babyface, so he had to get over on his work. This wasn’t as good as Morales’ SHW match because his opponent wasn’t in Owen Knight's league as a wrestler but it had great heat thanks to Ali. Too many the shoulder block spots tonight, prominently featuring them in four matches was overkill. Ali taunted Morales with Spanish phrases as he worked him over. Morales turned on the jets with a pair of suicide topes, a pair of german suplexes, a northern lights suplex and a satellite DDT. Morales ate the buckle charging in and Ali pinned him with feet on the ropes. If Ali’s ringwork catches up with his character work, he’s going to be a force.
Ali gave Morales two of his finishers to leave him laying, then returned to the ring to give him another but Chip Day made the save. Applause for Morales as he was helped from the ring.
(7) Ashton Starr defeated Wade Adams in 7:05. Adams was dressed as Santa Claus and passed out presents to some of the fans. They were heel gifts like a toilet plunger and an onion. Starr’s entrance didn’t get much of a reaction. That changed when Adams gave Starr a Christmas dress as a present. Starr put the dress on…and dropkicked Adams in the mush. Starr outwrestled Adams and removed his beard. Starr pulled up the dress to flash Adams with his mangina. Starr with a beautiful flying body press… Santa was losing his pants as he rolled out of the ring. Adams took the Santa suit off and pouted. Adams put the suit over Starr’s face to get the advantage. As Adams tried to use his mini-Christmas tree on a pole as a weapon, Starr dropkicked him in the back of the head and pinned him with backslide into a bridge. ‘Twas an entertaining comedy match with all the comedy at Adams’ expense.
Coming to VPW on February 8 -- Wrestleforce Champion Eric Darkstorm.
(8) Darius Lockhart defeated Sean Legacy and Chip Day to retain the VPW Heavyweight Championship in 10:54. Lockhart is growing on me as a top heel. He immediately took a powder. That got heat and got his mouth shut by tornado kick from Day. Legacy and Day wrestled until pulled Day out. Legacy did a killer flip dive onto both of them and continued with a beautiful sequence of moves on Lockhart inside the ring. Legacy the clear fan favorite here. Lockhart evaded Legacy’s springboard 450. He worked on Day while keeping Legacy out of the ring. Legacy reentered the fray with a springboard double dropkick, then a Michinoku Driver on Day and a springboard RKO on Lockhart for near falls. Lockhart gave Day a dragon suplex for a near fall. The action shifted into high gear leaving all three men down. They traded blows three ways. Day hit his finisher on Lockhart…and got pulled out of the ring by Lucky Ali. Ali tossed Day into a Christmas display and laid him out with a clothesline/backbreaker combo. Lockhart caught Legacy napping and pinned him with Assata Driver.
This was a fine three way. It blended one-on-one action with well worked three way spots that didn’t feel overly choreographed and had a fun finishing stretch. I don’t write this often – I wish they had gone a little longer. Legacy is VPW’s top babyface for good reason and this match added to the allure of his chase to regain the championship from Lockhart.
With Lockhart standing tall, Legacy down in the ring and Day down on the floor, the lights went out….
Enter Hancock to dress down the champion. Hancock said Lockhart always had his cronies around so he was going to even the odds with a 5 on 5 match on February 8 – Team Lockhart vs. Team Legacy.
Legacy was the last to leave the ring as the crowd chanted his name.
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