The Trials Commence was an improvement over last week's show.
This company is hurting in the talent department right now. Over the last two years, ProSouth was blessed with the emergence of Alex Kane, Austin Towers, Tyler Cullprett and Southern Strong Style, plus the presence of Joe Black and William Huckaby in key spots.
Can Aaron Dallas and/or Marcus Eriks.be difference makers in 2022? They've got big shoes to fill. Dallas is already one of PSW's most popular babyfaces. Eriks was in the best match of this episode.
ProSouth does best with 90 minutes of content per episode unless they've got something really special going on. With the exception of the main event, every match on this show ran long for the story being told.
Referee Lewis Santiago should be signed. He's that good. The other officials on this show were Justin Patterson and "Slim" Dave Thomas. ProSouth's weekly format makes it a great place to get more reps officiating TV type matches.
The handheld camera is critical to the distinctive look of the ProSouth show. Bobcat is following in the footsteps of Mitch Murillo and the immortal Zac Rhinehart. The kid is starting to get the hang of it. A second hard camera angle debuted. which will make a nice addition if the color saturation can be improved so the shot doesn't look like TV wrestling from the 50s.
Noah Howell and Shane Noles were back in the saddle as the broadcast team. Their comments between matches made for better transitions,
(1) JACS defeated Tony Midas (with Brother Azriel) via DQ in 9:43. JACS started to go up for a swanton bomb. He saw Azriel ready to interfere and switched corners to do the move. JACS hit it and had Midas pinned so Azriel blatantly interfered to cause the DQ.
(2) Scott Spade defeated Brandon Whatley in 8:14. Whatley dismantled Spade for the duration until Spade connected with his signature Copenhagen Kick. Whatley rolled out to the floor. Spade had a hell of time lifting him back into the ring. Eric Silva appeared on the entrance ramp. As Whatley was focusing on Silva, Spade surprised him with a roll up.
Silva said he was partly responsible for creating this version of Whatley so he was going to be the one to end it. (Whatley later accepted Silva's challenge in a Plus interview segment).
(3) Brother Azriel (with Tony Midas) defeated Tyrese Murphy in 7:23. Murphy was competitive to a point. Azriel pinned him with a piledriver and laid him out with a jumping splash after the match.
A clean finish. How refreshing.
(4) "TY" Tyler Sutton defeated Aaron Dallas by DQ to retain the All-Out Championship in 12:18. TY sold like he had a bum shoulder and made sure Dallas' shoulder was messed up coming out of it. Sutton pulled the ref's shirt out of his pant for a distraction, then pulled out brass knucks. Dallas axe handled Sutton into oblivion for the 1-2-3 and the crowd went berserk. Somewhere along the line, Sutton planted the knucks on Dallas. Referee Patterson changed his the decision to a DQ. .
Dallas is so over in it's ridiculous. A significant part of the crowd left after this match. NOTE: It turns out Sutton's shoulder legitimately dislocated and slipped back into place during the match.
Trials of Dorian. For Dorian's first trial, ProSouth Champion Cameron Keast (with Harley Haven) introduced Alexander Lincoln. He's got some size. Lincoln and Keast are the New Era tag team champions. Keast said surely Dorian knew he would stack the deck. Keast admitted he learned the hard way -- in pro wrestling it was imperative to think with the head on your shoulders rather than the head in your pants. Keast made an inside baseball reference to Taylor Rae and Tragedy before introducing Dorian's girlfriend Charley Punk as Part II of the trial. Punk said Keast had something she wanted - a spot in League of Terribles.
Dorian defeated Alexander Lincoln (with Cameron Keast & Harley Haven & Charley Punk) in 10:16. The ring was dimly lit for effect. Punk ended up in the ring between Lincoln and Dorian. As referee Thomas was getting Punk out of there, Lincoln and Keast laid Dorian out with the double Key Blade that won them the New Era tag titles. Dorian kicked out. Howell said panic was setting in for the ProSouth Champion. Keast had Thomas so distracted he failed to see Lincoln tapping out to Dorian's submission. Punk pulled Dorian off Lincoln and put him in a full nelson. Harley got the ring with the umbrella. and jabbed Punk in the gut by mistake. Dorian threatened to hit Harley with the umbrella. Harley begged off. In one fell swoop, Dorian speared Lincoln and his girlfriend simultaneously and pinned the big boy.
Disturbing on multiple levels but weirdly compelling. It got all the crowd reaction of a morgue. The finish had a lot of moving parts and did not go smoothly.
(6) Dameon Ceretone defeated Marcus Eriks via submission to retain the Youtube Championship in 14:57. Eriks gave Ceretone more of a match than he bargained for. Eriks turned Ceretone inside out with a clothesline and really went to work on him. Both down after Eriks missed a moonsault. Ceretone kicked the shit out of him. Ceretone with a backcracker for two. Rydeen bomb by Eriks for a nearf fall. Eriks invoked the name of Rhino and coiled for the Gore. Ceretone countered with a roll up and went for the Plungeline. Eriks countered with a blue thunder bomb for a close near fall. Nice sequence. Eriks kicked out of Certone's DVD. Eriks hit a superplex and tried for Falling In Reverse. Ceretone cinched in a Dragon Sleeper and it was lights out.
.A title match that was a worthy main event Shane Noles called it Erik's bast match in a ProSouth ring. I could not agree more. It also made the case that Ceretone has what it takes to defeat Rhino on March 25. Howell and Noles were really good here and the small crowd at least had some life to them.
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