Photo courtesy of Daniel Moore From Larry Goodman: Matt Sells won Arik Royal’s $2500 in the main event at ACTION Wrestling. In th...
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| Photo courtesy of Daniel Moore |
From Larry Goodman:
Matt Sells won Arik Royal’s $2500 in the main event at ACTION Wrestling. In the process, Sells saved himself from being shaved bald per the stipulation and ended his losing streak at 80 matches in 449 days.
This show was a rip roaring great time, a superb combination of serious wrestling and pure entertainment. Definitely worth checking out on Independentwrestling.TV when it drops.
The Roger Spencer Community Center was packed to the max, a complete sell out of 280 tickets. It’s old news, but I’ll say it again in case you missed it – the vibe the ACTION crowd creates in this building is tremendous. It’s quite the combo -- hardcore fans that come to see great wrestling, tons of wide-eyed kids with boundless enthusiasm and new converts continually added to the mix. The last two matches sent the crowd home in a state of bliss.
(1) O’Shay Edwards defeated Suge D to retain the Prime Time Pro Wrestling Championship in 10:15. Suge was making a big production out of EVERYTHING. Dissed O’Shay with bitch slaps and tried to screw with his mind. O’Shay put him down with one forearm, then hit a 20 count stalling suplex. Suge was selling EVERYTING hugely. Suge went to the joint manipulation and worked over O’Shay’s arm. Edwards popped the crowd with an Oklahoma Stampede with extra flourishes. Suge went for a submission on the arm. O’Shay powered out and pinned him with his swinging side slam. This was fun and different from the rest of the show. The show was off to a fine start.
Interesting show of respect – slaps before the first bump. O’Shay tweeted “I usually don't have my dessert first...But I finished the Sugar. Bring on the Beef (Garvin at tonight’s SCI Rumble).
Al Getz introduced “martial artist extraordinaire” Kung Fu Janela as the bodyguard for the $2500 in cash, which was display in packets of $1 bills. Getz said Janela watched season 1 of Cobra Kai on Youtube to prepare for the job.
(2) Nolan Edwards defeated Eel O’Neal (with Mr. Gator & Breaux Keller & Isiah Frazier) in 6:20. Mr. Gator, the promoter of Prime Time Pro (Washington DC) cut a promo before the match. Apparently, O’Neal didn’t get the memo and worked on Nolan’s arm. Nolan is out of Tennessee and has started making a name for himself in the Midwest. He wrestles like a guy that has a lot more than 1 ½ years of in-ring experience. The way he sold his arm while on offense was impressive. Edwards countered O’Neal’s O’Connor roll with a prawn hold to pick up the win. The finish caught the crowd by surprise and got an excited pop.
The PTP guys jumped Edwards after the match. Bobby Flaco and Kavron Kanyon made the save leading to an impromptu match…
(3) Breaux Keller & Isiah Frazier (with Mr. Gator) defeated The Rednexicans (Bobby Flaco & Kavron Kanyon) in 5:45. Flaco was flying EVERYWHERE. He’s fallen in love with double jump moves. As Kanyon was set up for a package piledriver, Gator distracted referee Aaron Noyes. Keller then gave Kanyon a low blow and pinned him. The distraction spot was wonky. Match was amateur hour compared to the rest of the show and did Flaco no favors. The PTP crew lack authenticity as heels.
Gator said as the best looking bald promoter in wrestling, he had a message for the second best looking bald promoter in wrestling – find us competition or we’re going elsewhere. I vote for the latter.
(4) Team SUP (Bret Ison & Jaden Newman & Kevin Ku) defeated Team ACTION (AC Mack & Alan Angels & Shawn Dean) in 12:40. Fallout from SUP’s interference in Mack’s match at the January show. Mack called his team ACTION’s first line of defense. The two teams wasted no time squaring off and throwing hands. Match broke down with all six brawling outside the ring. Ku chopped the post so hard you could hear the clunk. Ison brutally planted Angels on the ring frame. SUP got heat on Angels, highlights being Ku’s curbstomp and Ison’ long distance fallaway slam. Angels made a Superman comeback that left the entire SUP team flat on their backs. Dean ran wild with the hot tag. Both teams made last split-second saves for a team member decimated by a triple team move. A chaotic finishing sequence saw Mack and Ison in the ring with Ku and Newman beating up Dean and Angels on the outside. Ison escaped the Mack 10 and pinned Mack after a pair of savage knee strikes to the face. Match was a whirlwind of violence that had the crowd on fire.
Postmatch -- fans chanted ACTION for their heroes as CEO Matt Griffin came to ringside to console his team.
(5) Manders defeated JD Drake in 9:58. Drake dissed Iowa which is easy picking right about now. Buffoonery from Drake and manly chops from Manders in the early going. On the outside, Manders tried for a round the world move and got killed by that cool deal where Drake bounces his opponent off the ropes and clocks him with a forearm on the rebound. Drake’s offense looked brutally realistic. He threw the hardest, loudest chop of the night, his senton got an “OHHH!” from the crowd and the kicks to the spine were ridiculous. When Manders kicked out a double stomp at one and reversed Drake’s suplex, the crowd could smell his comeback coming. Manders got a close near fall with a powerslam. Drake answered with a Saito suplex and a cannonball, but crashed and burned on the moonsault. Shortly thereafter, Manders leveled Drake with a lariat for the pin.
Hell of a hoss fight. Drake was the single best performer on the show - work, facial expressions, the way he drew the crowd in everything he did. Manders looked good but Drake was in another league.
Hell of a hoss fight. Drake was the single best performer on the show - work, facial expressions, the way he drew the crowd in everything he did. Manders looked good but Drake was in another league.
(6) Benjamin Carter defeated B-Boy in 19:03. Carter accepted B-Boy’s handshake. Carter has a speed advantage over virtually any opponent. B-Boy slowed him down with a stiff shoulder block. Carter told B-Boy to bring it. Not the smartest move to make. B-Boy about knocked him the f### out with a forearm. B-Boy did a La Magistral cradle transitioned to a modified ankle lock. Sweet move. B-Boy gave Carter a DVD into the turnbuckes. They traded on their knees and B-Boy knocked Carter out again. B-Boy applied a cobra clutch. Carter managed to break the hold, but got tossed full speed over the top rope as B-Boy used his momentum against him. B-Boy threw Carter into the post. Didn’t seem to faze Carter, as he busted out a flip dive to to floor with blazing quickness. Back inside, Carter got a near fall with a running SSP. A collision of headbutts put Carter down instantly. B-Boy wobbled for a long time before going down. B-Boy hit a beauty of a Tiger Driver for a near fall, then a cutter as Carter came off the top rope for a super close near fall. They went and back and forth walloping each other with strikes until both were down. Carter did Canadian Destroyer and superkick for near falls. Carter kicked out of a tombstone piledriver. Carter did a tope into a DDT on the floor. B-Boy came within in an eyelash of being counted out, then hit a brainbuster out of nowhere. Had the crowd coming out of their seats. B-Boy tried for another Tiger Driver and Carter reversed him with a roll up for the three count,
B-Boy dd everything in his power to make Carter. The match told a great story. Carter withstood B-Boy’s vaunted strikes and anything the 20 year-veteran could throw at him. The build of false finishes was tremendous and had the uniqueness factor going for it as ACTION fans hadn’t seen a match with all that. Carter has unparalleled speed and incredible athleticism, though still rough around the edges as a pro wrestler.
B-Boy dd everything in his power to make Carter. The match told a great story. Carter withstood B-Boy’s vaunted strikes and anything the 20 year-veteran could throw at him. The build of false finishes was tremendous and had the uniqueness factor going for it as ACTION fans hadn’t seen a match with all that. Carter has unparalleled speed and incredible athleticism, though still rough around the edges as a pro wrestler.
Postmatch – longest standing ovation I’ve witnessed at ACTION. Carter hugged B-Boy and raised his hand and the crowd chanted “thank you, B-Boy”.
(7) Sells’ Hair vs. Royal’s $2500 in cash: Matt Sells defeated Arik Royal in 21:37. The $2500 and a bronze electric razor set were prominently displayed at ringside. Crowd bananas for Sells' entrance as usual. Sells was rocking Performer of Year tights with a Goodman trophy on the back. Sells with a palm strike for flash near fall at the opening bell. The “Matt” chant was massive. Sells on fire. He caught Royal in the Rat Trap and drove him into the seat with a tope. Back inside, it was all Royal. A group of kids started a “Miller Lite” chant. Sells almost pinned Royal with a stunner. Royal had Sells going to lala land with a sleeper when he broke the hold and grabbed a scissors from ringside. Referee Darryl Hall took the scissors away and Sells hit an RKO for great false finish. Royal rolled out with Sells in pursuit. They ended up on the cramped stage area and teased the powerbomb onto to the table spot from Royal’s match with Fred Yehi. Royal heaved Sells from the stage to the ring apron. That bump was sick. Royal jumped off the stage driving Sells into the floor. Sells had no right to kick out of Royal’s pin. But he did. Royal hit Space Jam. Sells kicked out. Another Space Jam and another kick out by Sells. Crowd was going nuts sensing a miracle was about to happen. Springboard stunner, a regular stunner and a palm strike for the 1-2-3.
The place went up for grabs with wrestlers rushing into the ring to congratulate Sells and fans in a state of euphoria.
For unrelenting drama and electric atmosphere, it doesn’t get much better than this on any level in pro wrestling. I fully expected to see Sells’ get his head shaved to keep the losing streak going and was shocked by the finish..In hindsight, it couldn't go that way in light of the response Sells gets in this building.
Sells said he wasn’t used to being in the main, much less standing tall with his hand raised or being the guy to give the speech to send the crowd home happy. He was starting the celebration early. and proceeded to “make it rain” by tossing a package of one hundred $1 bills into the crowd like confetti. It was quite the scene with kids (and some adults) scrambling like crazy to get those $1 bills.
NOTES: ACTION’s next shows are March 20 at Sandy Creek High School and April 24 at Newnan High School…Georgia wrestling luminaries in the house included Murder One, Chip Day, Lee Johnson, Donnie Howell and Kris Zellner…Murder and O’Shay were chopping it up…The announce team for IWTV was Dylan Hales and Steve McCash.
