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This felt like an important show for ProSouth. Starting the
new year with six title matches involving four different companies was a bold
idea.
It was not the kind of show regular viewers are accustomed to seeing. But bell-to-bell, F*ck It, We Ain't Playin' was one of ProSouth's best.
It established that when the occasion calls for it, this company can put on a solid wrestling show without the gimmickry and gaga, if they've got the right talent.
This was the not the most suspenseful of ProSouth shows. To
a certain extent, Ace Haven tied his hands creatively with all the title
matches. The state of the championships, both internal and external, made for a
virtual forgone conclusion that none would be changing hands. Still, the show
produced a raging heel turn by Chris Crunk and set up further adventures
between two exceedingly disturbed individuals, Tyler Cullprett and Reynolds...and my favorite wrestler, Roma Miller scored the biggest win of his career.
ProSouth had their strongest crew of officials ever booked for the occasion -- Matthew Gibson was joined by two-time Georgia referee of the
year, Darryl Hall and SHW's Jeremie Prater.
In the production department, Zac Rinehart's camerawork continues to stand out. The crowd was cranked up too high in the audio mix, making it difficult to hear commentators Shane Noles and Faith Dorn over the din.
(1) Brandon Whatley defeated Shane Mako and Hold My Beer Hanson to retain the ProSouth All-Out Championship in 4:49. A decisive with a capital D win for Whatley -- He ducked Mako's clothesline to spear Hanson in the corner, laid Mako out with the Rockbottom and pinned Hanson with the scissors kick.
(2) "Mr. 1985" Ricky Cagle defeated former All-Out
Champion Cameron Keast to retain the New Era Open Championship in 9:29. I hated
Keast's new mask. He's the"Tragic Prince" and tragedy masked worked..
It was a challenging match up credibility wise in that Keast was giving away a
lot in the size and strength departments. Keast used a cravate to wear Cagle
down. Cagle broke Keast's momentum with a nifty TKO counter and fired up. Keast
escaped Cagle's hammerlock DDT and got a near fall with a running knee, a
glancing blow at best. Cagle then planted Keast with the hammerlock DDT.
(3) Trever Aeon defeated the debuting Sonny Daze via
submission in 8:54. This was an OK match with a very quiet crowd. They probably didn't know what to make of
Daze The fact that Aeon is a heel hasn't stopped the ProSouth from cheering him
in the past but that didn't happen here. Daze's appearance in the inaugural AEW
Double or Nothing battle royal was highlighted in the commentary. One thing
about Daze - his ring speed is surprisingly good for a guy with his physique. Aeon
won it with a Gothplex into to a bridging facelock.
(4) Reynolds defeated Anarchy TV Champion Tyler Cullprett via DQ in 4:12. Cullprett in a suitcoat, Reynolds with his head shaved. With so many shaved heads in wrestling, Reynolds looked more distinctive with hair. Reynolds speared Cullprett, prompting the appearance of Attempted Murder (Alister & Dorian Crowe) on the ramp to provide distraction. Cullprett grabbed his umbrella. Reynolds did what any self-respecting masochist would do, he invited Cullprett to hit him. Cullprett bashed Reynolds in the skull with the umbrella for the DQ. I like the way Cullprett and Reynolds match up and hope this was a taste of things to come.
The violence continued after the match. Attempted Murder
laid referee Matthew Gibson to waste. Cullprett called for a table. The League
of Terribles put Reynolds through it with a three man powerbomb.
The Glass Ceiling (Ace Haven & Dameon Ceretone) issued
an open challenge to not just any ProSouth team, but essentially any team on
the face of the earth. Ace noted that Black Lariats Matter (Joe Black & William
Huckaby) weren't there. Ceretone said Huck made it personal and they handled
him and issued a challenge to Black to go one-on-one.
(5) Glass Ceiling (Ace Haven & Dameon Ceretone) defeated Southern Strong Style (Jay 2Strong & Proc Johnson) in to retain the ProSouth tag titles in 11:48. A fun match that never got silly, well maybe once. The finishing sequence was fairly complex, which has been Southern Strong Style's bugaboo in some past matches. Not here. For a babyface/babyface match at ProSouth, they really had the crowd energized and the match raised the standing of SSS in the eyes of the fans. That said, I'm not thrilled with the Glass Ceiling's cutter buster as a finisher. For a granular and highly instuctive breakdown of the positives and negatives of this match, check out Stephen Platinum's video.
The postmatch had issues. The lights went out as the teams shook hands but only for a second. Attempted Murder entered the ring with chairs, in broad daylight if you will. SSS had to stand their like fools and take it as Attempted Murder whacked them with chairs. Glass Ceiling gained possession of the chairs. The brothers Crowe blinded Glass Ceiling with the double mist and left them laying with twin finishers.
(6) David Ali pinned Eric Silva with a top rope elbow drop to retain the Southern Honor Wrestling Championship in 12:25. SHW announcer Brandon Benefield joined Noles on commentary and acquitted himself well. Ali is in phenomenal shape. The match struck the right balance -- Silva's work was crisp and he got sufficient offense, but the champion still went over strong with a big burst at the finish.
Ali had words for Owen Knight after the match. Knight
challenges Ali for the SHW title at the Action Building in Canton next Friday
night... Southern Honor promoted on the ProSouth livestream...very interesting.
(7) Roma Miller scored an upset win over Chris Crunk in
8:45. This was a highly motivated Roma. Noles said it had to be a big
night when Roma busts out a bulldog. With the crowd behind him, Crunk came back strong. The key
moment -- Crunk accidentally kicked referee Darryl Hall in the right hand. Hall
sold it big. Crunk hit a rack drop facebuster. Hall had to switch hands
mid-count, which gave Roma an extra second to kick out. Crunk hit a GTS, kicked
Roma's face in and confidently called for a german suplex. Roma reversed into
his finisher, a wonky looking neckbreaker dropped into an X Factor. Crunk
clearly got a shoulder up before the three but Hall called for the bell.
Crunk went berserk. Said he was sick of this shit. Since swearing is verboten at ProSouth, it got an audible reaction and signaled this was different from the usual. Hardy egged Crunk on telling him he got screwed. Crunk demanded a restart. Hardy said he didn't have that power. Crunk stormed the announcer's booth and trashed one of the monitors. The babyface dressing room responded with a sense of urgency. Whatley led the charge and knocked Crunk on his ass with a hard shove. Ace told Crunk to go home. Crunk defiantly exited through the front door.
This was great, as in straight out of Memphis TV. Crunk was awesome. The turn itself was fantastic and he foreshadowed it beautifully. Crunk was a babyface in his prior run. It was natural for the fans to cheer him when he returned but he's been a little too full of himself. The thing with Hall's hand was an inspired idea and Hall brought it to life. I musty say, Roma rose to the occasion.
(8) Austin Towers defeated Ben Buchanan to retain the ProSouth Championship in 10:01. The intros for this match showed ProSouth production to be at a whole 'nother level. The big fight feel was present despite Buchanan's chances of wining were might slim. Noles paid tribute to Danny Hodge in his mention of Buchanan becoming an Alabama state high school champion in 2019. Buchanan attacked the arm. Towers went to Hell's Gate (Logan Creed's move!) to counter. Buchanan escaped and ratcheted up the pressure with submissions. Towers hit a full nelson slam despite the damage. As they rose up selling, Noles said the crowd didn't want either one to lose. He was so right. Buchanan evaded the Kobiya kick and muscled the 7 footer up for gutwrench suplex. Towers kicked. Buchanan swung wildly and Towers got him on the button with the Kobiya. I wished that had gone a bit longer. a reaction I don't often have for a ProSouth match.
How bout that? A babyface v babyface title match with no BS as the ProSouth main event and it worked Towers is beyond his years in understanding what to do and when to do it. Blew my mind that shy of 20 years old, Buchanan presented himself this way at ProSouth, in an entirely different way at Anarchy and both are compelling.
Towers was checking his arm as referee Gibson handed him the title. Towers slapped hands with Buchanan and that was that. If you're waiting for another shoe to drop, you'll have to wait until next week.
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