From Larry Goodman:
Photo by Charles Felder
Southern Honor Wrestling got their new year off to rollicking great start at SHW 23.
The matches were consistently top drawer, the stories clicked and the SHW faithful were way into what they were seeing. On paper, Southern Honor appeared to be suffering from hotshot disease with three gimmick matches on the card. It did not come across that way in reality. All three matches were effective. Nothing about them felt repetitive or excessive. Violent, yes. Dylan Frymyer had booked for heat with the heels going over in the key matches, and despite last minute adjustments to the lineup, he came out smelling like a rose.
Whatever downturn occurred during the past two months, there was no hint of it last night. Attendance at the Action Building was over 300, which was an astoundingly good number given the COVID situation in Canton got dire enough to shut down the schools. And this was indeed a hot crowd, similar to my last trip to SHW for We're Still Here 2 in October.
One of the few negative was the running time of 2:45, which adversely affected the main event. That may not be long for some shows but with an 8pm start, it is for SHW and their Friday night crowd.
GM/promoter Gary Lamb broke the bad news than none of the Lynch Mob could be there (including the debuting Brandon). Lamb said reports of SHW's demise were greatly exaggerated. SHW was where it happened in Georgia wrestling and he was the only freaking promoter in the state. SHW was no longer concerned about what the podcasters and writers said, their shows were for their fans. Lamb's motto for the year: let's keep it fun in 2021.
What to do
with Lethal Poison (Corey Hollis & Mikal Judas), who were without
opponents? Answer: make the other scheduled tag match a three-way with the
winners getting a title match with Lynch Mob next month.
Out came
SHW Champion David Ali and his monster henchmen Austin Towers. Ali said he ran
Southern Honor and Lamb worked for him. Told the preacher he needed a savior.
It was time to work, not have fun.
Lamb said how about a little of both? For fun, he was adding a special referee to Ali's title match, perhaps himself. For work, he was barring Ali from ringside for Towers' match. Ali grabbed Lamb with evil intent and it was Sunny Daze to the rescue. Lamb added a kicker - Towers was banned from Ali's match.
A terrific opening segment, beginning to end, that flowed seamlessly into the opening match.
(1) Sunny Daze defeated Austin Towers in a tables match (9:40). Match was set up by Daze turning the tables on Towers' attempt to use a table last month. Daze shoved Towers off the apron to put him through a ringside table before the bell, sounded great, looked painful. Daze inadvertently (cough) put himself through a table propped up in the corner when Towers moved so that one didn't count either. Towers hit the Kobiya Kick and tried to toss Daze through a table but it didn't break. Daze then put Towers through the table with a splash off the top rope.
(2) Gunner Miller defeated Brady Pierce (with Corey Hollis & Mikal Judas) in 7:20. Pierce looked like a movie star (see notes below). He also showed more personality than I'm used to seeing from him. Miller embraced the babyface reaction he received from the crowd. I got the sneaking suspicion Pierce wasn't winning because he was getting so much offense. Hollis gave Pierce a motivational lecture that only served as a distraction, as Miller speared Pierce and pinned him with the Jackhammer. Good match. The finish looked great.
Postmatch -- Hollis wanted Miller to join Lethal Poison to wreak havoc on SHW. Hollis was still irate about being left out of the title tournament and at the breaking point with the wrestling business, SHW...and Pierce. Right on cue, Judas chokeslammed Pierce. Hollis told Miller he would either be part of the solution or part of the problem. Miller wasn't feeling it and walked off. Hollis beat Pierce to death with chair to leave him laying. I loved the maniacal intensity of Hollis. Great stuff. The SHW crowd is so ready to cheer Miller as a major hero.
(3) The returning Sean Legacy defeated the debuting Chris Banks in 5:45. Banks cut a promo as the arrogant yankee that was a natural for drawing heat in Canton. Legacy's entrance got the kind of pop that would make SHW want to bring him back. Nothing wrong with Banks' offense. Scary moment when Legacy's foot made contact with the ropes on a shooting star press but he hit the move on the button. Legacy went on to pick up the win with a springboard 450.
(4) Hold My Beer Hanson defeated Cyrus (with Logan Chase) via count out in 6:15. Hanson offered to shake hands. Cyrus' wouldn't release his grip so Hanson smashed a beer can into his face for a hot start. This was a rematch from last month. RobBrod described that match as bug meets windshield. Hanson fared better this time around, not saying he didn't get his ass beat because he most certainly did. William Huckaby strolled onto the ramp to a huge "Waffle House" chant. Cyrus was drawn to Huck and got counted out.
Huck and Hanson shared a toast after the match. Turning Huck was solid booking instincts. I didn't see further upside in him as a heel here, besides which there was an underlying affection in the "Waffle House" chants.
(5) Ashton Starr defeated Vary Morales in a Petty Party Rules Match (16:59). The rubber match of series that saw each outwit the other to win so far. This would be different --a brutal fight to the finish. Starr is evidently out to prove blondes have more fun and that he is even better as heel than he is as a babyface. He's been awesome in both roles at SHW. With former champion Joe Black sidelined, Morales is as over with the fans as any babyface on the roster. Morales went for submission. Starr said no submissions were allowed. Morales did spectacular flip dive off the turnbuckle to the outside and suplexed Starr on the stage. Starr turned Morales' rana off the rail into a head smash into the barricade. Starr said no DQ or count outs either, so let's make this bitch a hardcore match. Earned himself a "we want blood" chant. Starr set Morales on top of bridged ladder inside the ring and gave him a flying apple for a near fall. Starr spilled a mess of Legos onto the mat. Out came Starr's abused associate, Suzie seeking revenge with a kendo stick. Morales got her some and she produced a bag of tacks for him. The crowd popped for the tacks. Geurrero gave Starr the Three Amigos onto the legos. Starr hiptossed Morales onto the tacks for a near fall. Suzie tossed a drink into Starr's face. Starr pulled a push broom out from under the ring and bashed Morales in the cabeza, then pinned him with the scissors kick. It made sense for Starr to win and the loss did nothing to diminish Morales in the eyes of the fans.
(6) Lethal Poison (Corey Hollis & Mikal Judas) defeated Honor Society (Jordan Kingsley & Kevin Ryan with Logan Chase) and Chip Day & Kyle Matthews to become the number one contenders for the SHW tag titles (19:05). The SHW fans know and appreciate superior wrestling ability. On that basis, Day has gotten himself over as Joe Black did before him. This match contained some marvelous wrestling. I stopped taking notes and just watched The sequence between Hollis and Day was tremendous. Judas gave Kingsley a fierce beating. He's the last person on earth I would want to have pissed off at me. The finishing sequence was something else -- Day got his feet up on Hollis' diving headbutt and nailed Honor Society with tornado kicks. Day and Matthews teamed up for superplex/frogsplash combo on Ryan. Kingsley broke up the pin with a swanton. Honor Society did crazy ass dives to the outside that looked a bit ragged, then killed Matthews with a top rope double stomp/package piledriver. Matthews somehow kicked out. Judas chokeslammed poor Kinsgley and heaved him over the top rope onto Ryan and Matthews with El Crucifijo, Day tornado kicked Judas and got Hollis in a heel hook. Kingsley broke that up with a shooting star press. Hollis ended it pinning Kingsley with an Alabama Slam.
This match worked really well in spite of following the hardcore match which was not the plan. It was moved back last minute because Ryan was last getting to Canton from his match at ACTION due to forces beyond his control.
(7) David Ali defeated Owen Knight in a steel cage match to retain the SHW Championship with Dani Jordyn as the special referee (20:15). They pulled a switcheroo, with Lamb teasing he was the special ref before Jordyn was introduced. Jordyn has undergone a stunning physical transformation. She has dropped so much weight that she hardly looked like the same person and definitely did not look like a heel. The show was running long I'll cut to the nitty gritty. Ali KOed Knight with a set of handcuff and tried to cuff him to the cage. Knight fought Ali off and hit a codebreaker for a two count, then tried for his finisher but Ali escaped. Ali and Jordyn got into a tug of war for control of a barbed wire bat. Knight got the bat and almost hit Dani by accident. Ali used the bat on Knight and throttled Jordyn. Knight saved her with a superkick on Ali. Knight did a number on Ali with the handcuffs. Ali was bleeding from the forehead and appeared to be out of it, but still managed to kick out of Knight's finisher. As Knight swung for the fences with the barbed wire bat, Ali cut him off with a low blow. Ali handcuffed Knight's hands behind his back and told Owen he loved him. Handcuffs and all, Knight managed a last gasp near fall with a superkick. Ali hit the defenseless Knight square in the face with a running knee and pinned his quivering body.
This was a compelling and dramatic title match with a lot of history behind it. The insertion of Jordyn as the special ref was a wonderful touch. Along with Ali and Knight, Jordyn was a founding members of SHW"s first heel faction, the New Era. Ali may be an even better actor than he is a wrestler. Knight is getting the finally get the due he's deserved for a very long time. They sold big. I so appreciated that they settling it in the cage with no outside interference and without the hackneyed attempted escape stuff. Unfortunately, some folks bailed during the intermission to set up the cage, so the match didn't have the heat it deserved. The crowd was also split to some degree: majority definitely for Knight but pockets of support for Ali remain.
Cut to a backstage shot of Towers laying in a heap under a wooden palate. Daze appeared and laid Ali out with a Fire Thunder Driver on the stage. The show closed with the crowd cheering as Daze posed with the returning Ravenna Vein.
NOTES: The referees were Jeremie Prater and David
Weakley...The ring announcer was Diana Michel...The commentary team was Brandon
Benefield and Gerard Bonner...Wrestling notables Todd Sexton, Sean Sims, Micah
Taylor, Spi-ral and Tapped Out's Nick McDaniel and GWH Augusta correspondent
Charles Felder...Pierce is stepping away from wrestling to work on the Heels TV
series that is shooting in the Atlanta area.
