By: Duke Ingraham Let me just make this point from the beginning, this was one of the absolute best wrestling environments I have ever be...
By: Duke Ingraham
Let me just make this point from the beginning, this was one of the absolute best wrestling environments I have ever been in. The fans (except 3 jackasses which I will address at the end of this report) were excited for everything and they were emotionally invested, As soon as you walked into the Landmark arena you could just feel the vibe…the energy, it was contagious, and it was present throughout the entire night. Normally I try to note the crowd energy during each match, just know during every match the crowd was electric, except the main event, the crowd went to a whole new level of excitement and energy that I am not sure if I have ever felt before in that building.
This was a historic night for Anarchy who only seem to improve with every step they take forward. We saw the end of a championship run that lasted 16 months, we saw a reunion of one the most dominant factions in Landmark history, we saw a surprise return of a Landmark legend, and we saw blood…lots and lots of blood. Estimated attendance is 300, it was essentially a sell out with standing room only. Our commentators for the night were John “The Body” Johnson, and Michael Gentry. Referees were Darrell Hall, David Weakley, and Dee Bowers. Ring announcer was Jason Boyd.
COMMISSIONER MICHAEL O’ROUKE PROMO
O’Rouke is introduced and is greeted with a HUGE ovation. He is clearly taken away by the number of people in the building and the energy of the crowd. He says he has good news and bad news. He starts with the good news, saying tonight is a very big night because for the first time in over a decade the Devil’s Rejects will be reuniting in the Landmark Arena. This gets a huge pop from the crowd and a “Rejects” chant. He then moves on to the bad news, he said he promised a no disqualification match but due to medical protocols Jay 2 Strong will not be competing tonight. This also gets a huge pop from the fans. He continues by saying Jay 2 Strong sent a video message to Anarchy. In the video Jay is in bed wrapped up in a blanket. He begins by saying his doctors think he has a bad case of “disrespectaidis” He continues by saying he caught this disease from the mouth breathing fans he encounters. He says due to his condition he is “too weak” to attend a certain show. He finishes by saying he will be back in two weeks, strong than ever, because he is….. and as Jay attempts to say his signature catch phrase “too strong” he instead is interrupted by a coughing spell before he can finish. A too scared chant breaks out in the crowd. O’Rouke says since this match couldn’t happen that he had an idea, that at Hardcore Hell 24 he was adding a ladder match, and the winner of that ladder match would get a shot at the Anarchy Television Championship at the show following Hardcore Hell. He continues by saying to keep things interesting the first participant in that ladder match will be whoever scores the pinfall or submission in the following 6-man tag team match. This gets yet another huge response from the already hyper crowd.
THOUGHTS: It’s hard to find any flaws in this opening segment. O’Rourke was on point, he is fantastic in this role, and the crowd really feels connected to him. Jay’s video was well done, he doesn’t get to speak a lot at Anarchy so this was a refreshing change. Well done all around.
Bryce Cannon and TSF (Rosario Grillo & Hunter Knott) VS. Parker Li, Najasism, and Dominic Stucky. (Whoever scores the pin or submission advances to the ladder match at Hardcore Hell 24)
Cannon is out first complete with sunglasses and paddle, he is greeted strongly by boos, I guess he did not endure himself to the Anarchy faithful during his debut last show. He then calls out TSF and the fans clearly are not happy. They do not like these guys at all. The babyface team received a stunning amount of cheers, like I said this crowd was something special. Match actually begins with a lock-up. The fans immediately get to see Parker Li’s technical abilities on display. Najasism’s turn is next as he shows off some of the best aerial offense in the state. All this happening to TSF while Cannon can only stand on the apron and watch. Cannon does finally get in the ring; he has some nice exchanges with Stucky, only for Stucky to get the better of him. The heels can’t agree on who should get the pin fall, as whoever does advances to Hardcore Hell, the disagreement gives the upper hand to the babyface team. Naja lands a suicide dive to the outside while Parker Li hits a BEAUTIFUL running moonsault off the second rope to score the victory. Parker Li wins by pin.
THOUGHTS: What a fantastic way to open the show, the match was full of energy and never hit a low point. Everyone did their jobs well. Everyone on the babyface team got a chance to show off their skill sets. However make no mistake about it, this match was to get Parker Li over, and he succeeded. The fans have warmed up to him and this kid has a whole lot of serious raw potential. I really hope we get to see more Bryce Cannon in Anarchy, he seems like a great fit. Still waiting to be impressed by TSF in the ring, but I am seeing some major signs of improvement.
The Wall VS. Austin Towers
Wall clearly is not liked by the Anarchy faithful, despite a couple of loses he still has a large amount of heat when he enters. The building erupts when Austin Tower’s music hits, his pop is on the same level as Will Kaution’s and Jacob Ashworth’s. “Austin’s going to kill you” chants rain down as soon as the opening bell rings. Wall is a VERY tall guy, but Towers has 2 or 3 inches on him. The match begins with very back and forth booking featuring a test of strength spot. The action picked up with the two exchanged chops, which judging by his reaction is something Wall deeply regretted. After an exchange of punches and a slap to the face of Towers by Wall, Wall then attempts to lift Towers up on his shoulders, he does achieve this but is unable to hold the big man up. Towers shoots Wall into the ropes and then attempts the same shoulder lift spot, Towers gets Wall up, but the resourceful Wall uses an eye rake to break the hold. Towers gets into position for his finisher on Wall, then Jazar runs in the ring and kicks Towers leg out from under him. Austin Towers wins by disqualification.
Jazar and Wall continue the assault on Towers, garnishing a “cheaters” chant from the fire crowd. Eric Silva enters the ring and Jazar and Wall scurry away.
THOUGHTS: IMO Towers is the most talented big man in the state today. Match worked fine and accomplished what it needed too. It also advances the feud between Left Hand Path and Jazar and Wall. I was surprised how strongly Wall was booked here, essentially being able to hang with Towers move for move, hopefully this will make Wall look stronger and not make Towers look weaker.
Commissioner O’Rouke/The Undeniable Promo
Commissioner O’Rourke appears on the screen and says tonight there will be a match between Eric Silva and Jazar tonight. He continues by saying his real announcement is that he has named a number one contender for the tag team championships, The Undeniable. Shane Marx and Brian Blaze appear on screen and are told their championship match will occur at Hardcore Hell. Shane Marx says it has been a long time since The Undeniable have held tag team gold at Anarchy. He tells The Program that come Hardcore Hell there will be new tag team champions. The Program enters the interview area running their mouths and things escalate quickly when Brian Blaze punches Proc The Croc in the mouth. A brawl breaks out between the four before Scott Mayson enters with a chair and manages to pull The Undeniable off of Proc and Hunter James. O’Rouke has had enough and tells The Program he doesn’t want to see them until the main event and to get out now!
THOUGHTS: A change from the norm at Anarchy. Rarely do they make use of their video screen and when they do I don’t think I have ever seen a “live” backstage segment. It worked well to make the announcements, and gets even more heat on The Program before the main event.
Skrilla The Great VS. Duncan Mitchell
Skrilla is the heel in this match but is welcomed with a 50/50 response from the crowd. Duncan gets a very nice pop. Anarchy loves that Big Duncan Energy. Skrilla starts working on Duncan’s back early and stays in control for the opening part of the match. The pair do a really good job of working all four corners on the ring. Skrilla goes for a top rope elbow but Duncan rolls out of the way and Duncan lands a series of clotheslines while selling his back. We get a couple of near falls, Skrilla goes for his finisher, Duncan reverses, sends Skrilla into the ropes and lands a dropkick. Duncan Mitchell wins by pin.
THOUGHTS: Just another solid match from this talented roster, it is really hard to pick apart anything. Duncan has really endeared himself to the Anarchy crowd. I’d like to see Skrilla have a bigger role in Anarchy than just as a jobber.
Hanson Promo
Hanson, Huckaby and Crystal Rose all come out dressed in solid white, Huckaby with a very menacing mask on that is some kind of a cross between something from Silence of the Lambs, and an animal skull and Hanson in his signature white hat. Hanson gets on the mic and says that Lord Huckaby has seen the light and he has decided to seek a greater power. Hanson says he has helped Huckaby with his personal demons. He continues by saying Huck is a combat veteran and the things he has seen messes with him every day, that the pressure upon that man is great and that he (Hanson) will be the helping hand. He ends by saying slowly Huck…is…Purified. Jacob Ashworth’s music hits. Ashworth gets a hero’s welcome as always, when he climbs in the ring, Hanson returns to the mic and says to Ashworth that Huck is not the person from your past that is going to haunt you, that this is just the beginning. At this point the crowd breaks out into a LOUD “Jacob” chant. Hanson continues by saying once Huck’s mask comes off that there will be no end in sight for Ashworth.
\THOUGHTS: This Hanson stuff is getting very good and very deep. It is by far the most in depth storyline at Anarchy right now. Adding Huck to Hanson’s cult is a great. This promo is a sharp contrast to what most people are used to hearing Hanson say, but only shows how versatile he is becoming, and I applaud him and the booking team.
Lord Huckaby (With Hanson and Crystal Rose) VS. Jacob Ashworth
Hanson takes the mask off Lord Huckaby revealing a white with black vertical stripes face paint. Huck gets the advantage early, beating Ashworth in the back until he is down. Huck then rips off his shirt and begins choking Ashworth with it, Hanson gets involved slapping Ashworth across the face. The onslaught of abuse continues on Ashworth as Huck can seemingly do whatever he wants with Jacob. Giving him monster chops, and pulling on his mouth and nose. The action spills to the outside, Huck grabs a chair, but before he can use it, Hanson calls him off and tells him to put it down. Hanson is clearly in control here. When the men return to the ring, Ashworth avoids Huck as he is running towards him in the corner. This gives Ashworth the advantage, he hits multiple clotheslines on Huck, none of which taking him down, before managing to slam the big man. As Ashworth attempts the pin, the referee is distracted by Hanson Crystal on the apron. Ashworth charges Hanson, he ducks out of the say safely leaving Crystal Rose in harm's way and Ashworth knocks her to the floor, delighting everyone in attendance. Ashworth stares down Hanson but does not see Huck coming up behind him. Huck turns Ashworth around and hits a BEAUTIFUL right cross essentially knocking Ashworth out. Lord Huckaby wins by pinfall.
Hanson quickly returns to the ring to place the mask back on Huck. Huckaby then carries Crystal Rose out of the arena as Hanson acknowledges the crowd before he leaves.
THOUGHTS: A great way to continue this story. Hanson is clearly the one in charge here and his cult only seems to be strengthening. It was a change of pace seeing Huck work as a heel again and embrace the character he is playing. This story continues to impress me, and I don’t think enough people are paying attention to what Hanson is doing here, and to how good this feud between Hanson and Ashworth has been for the past 12 months.
Scott Mayson (c) VS. Joe Black
(For the Landmark Arena Heritage Championship)
The Habersham Hero
Mayson is out first, and the boos literally drown out his theme music. This crowd that has been on fire all night took it up a step during his entrance. Scott pushes his belt around in the baby carriage oblivious to the chorus of hate coming down on him. We see Joe Black on the video screen walking through the back on his way to the ring. Joe makes one lap around the ring but is clearly all business at this moment. Joe enters the ring and ducks a clothesline from Mayson as the bell rings, Joe then lands a clothesline on Mayson nearly turning him a flip. Joe Black wins by pin and is the new Landmark Arena Heritage Champion.
Joe’s music had not even stopped playing from his entrance when he scored the pin. The building erupts for Joe, the Anarchy fans have been waiting for this moment a long time. Joe takes advantage of the opportunity and heads into the crowd to celebrate his new championship. “Joe” chants break out all over the arena. Joe exits the arena and Scott Mayson is left with to realize that his precious child is now gone. What happens next is a temper tantrum that only a two year old could rival. Scott pounds the mat and tells the crowd to shut up as he appears to be crying. He attempts to stand up, only to trip over his own two feet and falls face first back onto the canvas. The crowd starts chanting “cry baby” as Mayson insists he isn’t crying but wipes away tears at the same time. Mayson flops around the ring like a toddler who is refusing to go to time out. He finally exits the ring, crawling to his stroller and insists once again he is not crying before running to the back.
THOUGHTS: WOW. I did not see this coming, with the way The Program was being booked leading into Hardcore Hell I never thought Mayson would lose the belt, and I never thought it would be in a squash match. According to John Johnson the match lasted just 5.75 seconds. A great moment for Joe in the Landmark Arena. Scott had a lot of friends and family in attendance who looked absolutely shocked when Scott lost the match. Scott did such an amazing job after the match, playing off the crowd, and even managing to get some real tears out. Interesting to see if losing will affect The Program at all. I personally want to congratulate Scott Mayson on a great championship run. Scott defeated Todd Sexton (cleanly I may add) in October of 2020. Scott then ran with an idea creatively of naming the belt, and treating it like a child. He even went shopping in local stores in Habersham County with the belt in the baby stroller as if it was his child. Scott became much more comfortable with this adaptation of his character, and I feel like we witnessed some of the best work of this career during this run. Scott is one of the best comedic wrestlers in the state and is an outstanding performer. He deserves credit here for making something magical happen.
-INTERMISSION-
Nick Halen Promo
Nick enters the ring to chants of his name all over the building. He says since Christmas night when he aired all of his grievances against Anarchy and the people in charge that he had the privilege to wrestle young and hungry talent and guys who are considered legends in this building, guys like Billy Buck, and I have beaten them all. For 336 days, my shoulders have not laid on this mat in this ring. He continues with a deeply personal story, he says in 2021 he lost everything. He lost his house, he lost all his money, he even lost his wife. But coming out there and performing in front of the fans who pay their hard earned dollars is everything to him. He says that performing for the fans is all he has left. A “you still got it” chant fills the building. A picture comes up on the screen of Nick wrestling when he was 15. He says in the picture, the guy he is wrestling is Sal Rinauro. He says Sal has always been with him to show him how to do things the professional way. He says the only thing he has never done in his career is beat Sal Rinauro. He says he wants to wrestle the best wrestler in the state at Hardcore Hell, not Judas, not David Ali and damn sure not Will Kaution. He wants to wrestle Sal Rinauro at Hardcore Hell. Commissioner O’Rouke comes on the screen and tells Nick he will do everything to make this right.
THOUGHTS: Solid promo by Nick, personally I think he deserves at title shot at Hardcore Hell but I would be lying if I said I wasn’t excited about at Nick Halen Sal Rinauro match at Hardcore Hell.
Jazar VS. Eric Silva (with Austin Towers)
The fans quickly let Jazar know their distaste for him. Eric Silva seems to be an instant fan favorite at Anarchy. Fans really seem to like him. The match is booked about as evenly as possible. The two men want to brawl but we mostly just get a series of punches and headbutts. Silva attempts his finisher but its blocked by Jazar, Silva attempts it again and nails it this time. Eric Silva wins by pin.
Wall comes to the ring in an attempt to attack Silva but instead ends up eating a Kobiyah kick from Towers.
THOUGHTS: This was far from a mat classic and honestly probably could have been a little shorter but it did a nice job of setting up a future tag match between these guys.
Will Kaution Promo
The Anarchy Heavyweight champion is introduced by John “The Body” Johnson. He recapped what happened last show and turned the mic over to Will. Before Will can finish a sentence. Landon Hale comes to the ring, saying Will has an open challenge for the championship and he is accepting the challenge.
Will Kaution VS. Landon Hale
(For some reason my phone did not record this match so I can’t give an in depth breakdown) This was a well booked match that allowed both guys an opportunity to showcase their skills. Great technical wrestling was on display during the whole thing. It was fairly evenly booked with Kaution seemingly just a little bit stronger. Kaution got a chance to show off his aerial moves as well. As both me are laying outside the ring after an EXCEPTIONAL suicide dive by Kaution. Geter slowly walks down towards the ring. He throws Hale into a barricade. Referee Hall calls for the bell.
Geter rolls Kaution into the ring telling him to get up. Geter corners Kaution and holds him in the corner. Geter’s giant bear claw of a hand around Will Kaution's face is a daunting sight. Fans are literally pleading and begging for Geter to stop. Geter tells Kaution to quit moving before he hurts him. Geter tells him to listen. He says he did what he did because Kaution parades around like he is a champion. He says to be champion is more than coming out getting the fans to lick all over your ass. It’s in the back where it counts. It’s in the back where you earn it, and you didn’t earn it. You were the last flavor left on the shelf. Kaution begins to fight back but he is defenseless against Geter’s hold on him. Geter releases the hold to a sea of “you suck” chants. Will Kaution slowly and cautiously leaves the ring.
THOUGHTS: The match between Kaution and Hale was easily the best technical match of the night. We got about 10 minutes of this match. I would love to see another 15 minutes of it. Given the right stage these two could tear down the house. The segment with Geter was done fantastically. The visual of Geter fully in control of Kaution as he struggled to move in the corner is something that the fans will remember. This is a side of Geter we are not used to.
The Program (Proc “The Croc Johnston and Hunter James with Scott Mayson) VS. The Devil’s Rejects (Tank and Azrael with Rev. Dan) in a “Reject’s Rules” match.
The Program is out first and you can already feel the energy in the room boiling. The crowd wants too see these guys bleed so bad. Scott Mayson is clearly still pouting after his loss and is in no mood for any hijinks. The moment Rev. Dan led the Devil’s Rejects into the Landmark Arena again is one of those moments as a wrestling fan I will never forget. You could feel the energy, you could feel the history, you could feel the importance of the moment. The pop has to rank up there with some of the loudest ever in the building. Dan gets on the mic and says it is good to be home and he introduces The Devil’s Rejects. Proc and Hunter stall outside the ring before entering the ring. They are imminently scared back outside the ring at the first sign of aggression out of Tank and Azrael. As The Program head for the exit Tank gets on the mic and tells all the kids to cover their ears before telling The Program it smells like pussy in here. It’s not until Tank threatens to break one of Hunter’s trophies that The Program finally gets back into the ring. They look scared to death.
Chants of “Rejects” and “Azrael's going to kill you” fill the building. Scott Mayson tries to get the crowd to be quiet but quickly retreats back to his own corner when he comes close to Rev. Dan outside the ring. At this point hardly anyone is sitting down in the building. Tank and Proc pair up as do Azrael and Hunter. Azrael lands some great looking punches on Hunter, sending him out of the ring. Azrael and Hunter brawl outside the ring with Az giving Hunter some nice sounding chops against the railing. Inside the ring Tank is choking Proc with a chain. Proc gets the advantage over Tank and wraps the hits Tank with the chain busting him open. Az chases Hunter down with a chair on the outside until Hunter sprays something into Azrael’s eyes. Hunter gets a belt and zip tie. He uses the zip tie to bind Azrael’s hands to the ring post, meanwhile Proc continues to punch Tank in the head with the chain wrapped around his fist. Hunter whips Azrael with the belt to no effect. He hits him harder, and again, only this time Azrael breaks the zip tie turns the tide, beating Hunter with the belt, leaving some major welts.
Tank then positions Proc on the ropes and uses a scythe to carve up his forehead. Blood is gushing. It is a great sight to see. Proc’s selling of seeing his own blood was top level. Tank then gets the skewers. I’m starting to feel bad for Proc here knowing what is coming. Sure enough Tank jams the skewers into Proc’s head getting most of them to stick, leaving Proc looking like some type of bloody porcupine. The crowd is absolutely losing their minds at this point. A “holy shit” chant breaks out. Tank then puts the remaining skewers in Hunter’s shoulder. Hunter then takes a nasty chair shot from Azrael as Tank hits Proc in the family jewels with a crutch. Rev. Dan then retrieves one of Hunter’s trophies from ring side and hands it to Tank. Tank does the only thing he can with the trophy, shoves it right into Proc’s crack. The crowd is going mental at this point. Proc gets thrown outside the ring as Rev Dan continues to harass Scott Mayson. Hunter gains an advantage on Azrael and lays some punches on him until Tank makes the save, cutting Hunter’s head with barbed wire during the process. Tank then returns to the outside and beats Proc with a belt like a government mule before biting him in the forehead. Tank finishes with a series of headbutts until Proc is on the ground.
Azrael lays into Hunter with a sheet pan across the head. Tank hits Proc in the jewels again, this time with a mannequin head. Hunter takes a couple of shots from a hockey stick from Azrael. One to the gut, and another one the face. Tank then took the hockey stick and made sure Hunter would be singing an octave higher from now on. Azreal and Proc engage in a chop war, these were HARD chops and really seemed to give both men a boost of adrenaline to the end of the match. The two then sit in chairs across from each other exchanging punches. Tank asks Azrael if he can get in on that, and the two switch out and Proc and Tank exchange punches. Tank gets up and throws his chair at Proc, knocking him over. Azrael throws Hunter into the barricade and finally lays his hands on Scott Mayson sending him stumbling over the ring steps. Tank and Proc take each other out with a double clothesline while Azrael and Hunter brawl on the floor.
The lights go out. It is completely dark in the Landmark arena. The fans are going crazy. When the lights come back on Hunter James is laid out on the outside of the ring and Azrael is completely gone. Tank and Proc look confused. Tank then sees Hanson’s solid white hat laying in the corner. He goes to pick it up and is jumped from behind by Proc. The two exchange head butts, Tank pulls Hunter into the ring. Proc lands a spear on Tank and both Proc and Hunter cover him. The Program wins by pin.
The crowd is stunned to say the least. No one knows what happened to Azrael and they can not believe The Rejects lost. Rev. Dan gets on the mic and the lights begin to blink, he tells The Program they have made a fatal mistake and now they must pay. The Devi’s Rejects' music hits but we see a family name appear on the screen. It’s a true rejects reunion as Landmark legend Iceberg returns to the ring. The building reaches its loudest point during this time, probably its loudest point in years. The Program hurry to the back.
Tank, Iceberg and Dan hug in the ring and the reunion is complete. Tank gets on the mic and says thank you to Cornelia Georgia. That he never thought Iceberg and himself would be able to stand in that ring together again but Rick Michaels made it happen. He thanked the fans for 25 years in that building.
THOUGHTS: Holy cow there was a lot going on here. The match itself was done great. It was exactly how a Rejects Rules match should be. Seeing Tank, Azrael and Dan together gave me chills. The crowd knew this was something special and they provided an unbelievable atmosphere. Props to Proc and Hunter for taking all the abuse they did. These guys really stepped in up a notch and it shouldn’t go unnoticed. It is very interesting that Hanson’s hat appeared in the ring as Azrael disappeared. Is Hanson on a mission to slowly take out past Anarchy stars one by one? The fans didn’t like the loss, but seeing Iceberg more than made up for it. This was an incredible match that I have a feeling many people will be talking about for a long time.
Anyone who was at the show is probably wondering why I haven’t mentioned the jackass fans except in the beginning and why I left them out of the report until now. It’s because they don’t deserve to be acknowledged in reference to this amazing show, but I will use this opportunely to address the situation. There was a group of 3 guys, late teens to early 20’s who really annoyed some fans and wrestlers during the show with their comments. Multiple times during the night fans were telling them to shut up. They interrupted Nick Halen’s promo multiple times, as well as becoming a distraction during matches. The final line was crossed when one of them decided to yell “Tank sucks” when Tank was on the mic at the end of the show. This was one of the most memorable moments of the fans' lives, and probably their careers and these fans have to ruin the moment by making the situation about themselves. Of course Tank was not happy about this and confronted the fans. One fan would not back down and kept trying to go after Tank, a regular at Anarchy tried to calm the situation only to be pushed by one of the “fans.” They even put their hands on the security guards. Tank was very angry and if not for the security team this could have ended very badly for this guy and his friends. They were kicked out of the building and asked never to return. It appears they were drinking as well. I just personally want to say hats off to Rodney and the rest of the security team for handling the situation before Tank (of all people) had too.
This is probably the longest review I have ever written, but there is a good reason. People need to understand how good this show was. If you take nothing else away please take away that The Devil’s Rejects reunion finally happened and it lived up to anything you could imagine, and understand that this was one of the best wrestling atmospheres I have ever been in, you can ask anyone there, it was something special. The boys know it, the staff knows it, and Anarchy and everyone involved in this show should be damn proud. Anarchy returns in two weeks with the final show before Hardcore Hell 24.
