ACTION wrestling presented “Right on the Money” from Newnan Georgia on May 21st, and this show was exactly that, right on the money. It was a show that served many purposes, the most important being that ACTION wrestling raised over $6000 for the Newnan High School football and wrestling teams. In addition the show was a celebration of sorts for the cast and crew of the wrestling themed T.V. drama “Heels.” Many members of the cast and crew, including director Peter Segal, were sitting ringside in a special “Heel’s section. Paid attendance was over 700 and the fans were treated to some of the absolute best, if not the absolute best, wrestling in the Southeast.
This event was held at Newnan County High School, and this was a GREAT venue for professional wrestling. Action’s presentation looked nice, with lots of ringside seats and bleacher seating available. The acoustics in the gym itself were absolutely amazing, and they made the crowd sound like a room of well over a thousand people. Surprisingly for a charity show, these fans were loud and into everything, it was very clear that the majority of the fans were familiar with ACTION wrestling, or at least had knowledge of professional wrestling. The fans were treated to a show that featured 25 outstanding in ring performers in 8 matches that clocked in at a tight 2 and half hours. The fans definitely got their money's worth tonight. Was Major League Wrestling’s Suplex Assassin Alex Kane able to dethrone Violence is Forever member Kevin Ku for the Action championship? Did A.C. Mack keep up his incredible momentum and keep his beloved IWTV World Championship, or “Iris” as he has affectionately named it, in his possession? Or did Alan Angels, number 5 of AEW’s Dark Order, give Iris a new home on the west coast?
Marcus Mathers VS. Damyan Tangra
Mathers is out first, he gets some cheers from the crowd, but quickly denies a few fans of a fans shake to establish he is a heel. He further infuriates the fans by making ring announcer Scott Hensley get on the mic and remind the fans that “Mathers is from the Northeast, which he calls the better side.” This gets a “Southeast First” chant started from the already rowdy crowd. Action fan favorite Damyan Tangra is out and gets a standing ovation from many in attendance. Mathers threatens to leave if the crowd chants “Southeast First” again. This was a technical exhibition, both men showed off their grappling abilities in the evenly matched contest. The ring work was crisp and clean and the really played to the crowd, letting them know they were involved in the show. Mathers hits a suplex and quickly kips up to land a stunner on Tangra. After Tangra kicks out at 2 and half, Mathers climbs to the top rope. He is met by an uppercut from Tangra who then attempts to climb the ropes as well but catches a punch and a kick from Mathers who then slams him to the mat. Mathers climbs to the top rope again with an absolutely BEAUTIFUL 360 flip into Tangra. Marcus Mathers wins by pin. Referee: Aaron Noyes
THOUGHTS: Damyan Tangra is extremely over at ACTION and continues to impress me every time I see him. I had never seen Mathers wrestle in person before but I was VERY impressed with him. He did a great job of working the crowd in the beginning and his execution and selling stood out. This was a solid way to open the show. After this match I realized how impressive the work rate at ACTION wrestling is, especially watching it in person.
Kavron Kanyon VS. Spectre VS. Ashton Starr VS. King Garuda VS. Rico Gonzalez
Every wrestler received a warm pop from the crowd but by far the biggest pop of the match (and one of the biggest of the whole night) went to Ashton Starr. This was a very quick match that only lasted a couple of minutes and never let the pace die for a moment. Every wrestler was given a few seconds to hit a couple of spots and show the crowd what they could do. Ashton Starr wins by submission with a sharpshooter. Referee: Gina
THOUGHTS: A quick match of no consequence to get people on the card. The fans really got into the chaotic excitement of the match. I was impressed most by Rico Gonzalez and the unbelievable pop that Ashton Starr got. I hope ACTION wrestling was paying attention to that.
Jaden Newman VS. Billie Starkz
The Special Ring Announcer for this match was Cadillac Jack from 92.5 The Bear in Atlanta. Jaden Newman is out first and we get the first true heel pop of the night. He is not liked by anyone at Action wrestling. He is accompanied by his entourage for the night Carson Dilbeck, Pete Youngblood, and a very reluctant Erron Wade wearing a neck brace. Billie Starkz is greeted with a huge round of cheers and she looked very excited as she took time to greet fans. Newman gets thrown out of the ring early and refuses to get back in, causing Starkz to chase him around the ring. Newman pushes Wade in front of Starkz and the momentary distraction allows Newman to land a punch of Starkz, outraging the already hot crowd. Newman dominates the majority of the match and any offense Starkz is able to get in, is only met by something more effective by Newman. Newman is vicious in his attacks on Starkz, everything looking stiff and throwing her around by her hair. Starkz attempts a flip of the top rope but misses. Jaden Newman wins by pin. Referee: Darryl Hall
THOUGHTS: I think both of these performers are fantastic in the ring. A lot of the time I’m not usually a fan of intergender or “mixed” wrestling matches, but I found myself loving every moment of this one. This match was the first one of the night to truly have some heat. The performers did a great job of suspending belief and making the match extremely believable. Based on what I saw, how can Billie Starkz not be considered a favorite to win the Scenic City Invitational?
Jaden Newman gets on the mic and says since Pete Youngblood is already at the ring, it’s time for him to do what Erron Wade couldn’t, and that is beat Matt Sells.
Pete Youngblood VS. Matt Sells
Matt comes out, and as always everyone is in love with Matt Sells. How could you not be if you are a fan? He does his normal entrance and heads off through the crowd, the fans are eating this up and you can see the irritation growing on the face of Pete Youngblood. Match starts with Sells getting fired up but gets kicked by Youngblood. Youngblood attempts to shoot Sells in the ropes, Sells reverses, flips Youngblood over his shoulder, stands behind him, puts Youngblood’s head between his knees. Sells the falls forward and thrusts Youngblood’s face into the mat. Each time the crowd counting along. Sells didn’t stop at 10 or 20, but Sells performed 50 consecutive thrusts as the crowd loudly counted each one. After catching his breath Sells hit another 10 thrusts and attempted a pin fall. Youngblood gains some momentum and hits Sells with a nice looking punch and Sells takes a Flair face bump. Youngblood misses a splash and Sells takes the opportunity to wrap his knees around Youngblood’s head and drive it into the mat again and proceed with another round of pelvic thrusts. The match is very evenly contested from this point with each man trying to one up the other. Youngblood gets an advantage and climbs to the top rope. Billie Starkz runs out and begins brawling with Dilbeck and Newman. The momentary distraction is enough for Sells to regain his composure and he catches Youngblood with a punch as he comes off the top rope. Sells once again wraps his knees and around Youngblood’s head and drives it into the canvas. This time Sells could only get to an 8 count before Youngblood passed out. Matt Sells wins by referee stoppage. Referee: Darryl Hall Jaden
Newman is clearly upset by the recent events that transpired. He takes out his anger of Erron Wade, beating him down and taking off his neck brace and giving it to Youngblood. Newman helps Youngblood to the back. After Sells celebrates in the ring, he helps Erron Wade to the back. THOUGHTS: Just a perfect time for a comedy match and it was very well done. Matt Sells character work is some of the best out there. He truly understands his gimmick. In the end Starkz gets some revenge. Newman gets what is coming to him, it opens the door to many possibilities for what is next for Erron Wade, and Matt Sells gets the W. Match accomplished a lot while changing the flow of the show slightly for the good.
Alex Kane VS. Kevin Ku (C) for the ACTION Wrestling Championship
MLW’s Alex Kane is through the curtain first and gets an instant pop. This is a man who gets respect everywhere he goes and his presence just walking to the ring makes him stand out. Ku gets a very decent pop as well. I really love the boxing style introductions for this one. A lot of slow grappling at the start, it’s clean, it’s impressive and it made Ku look like he can contend with the bigger Kane. Ku bests Kane on a shoulder tackle and catches a retaliation kick from Kane and sends him to the ground. Ku climbs to the top rope, Kane stumbles to his feet and bumps into the referee sending the ref into the ropes causing Ku to lose his balance. This brings out a lot of boos from the fans. Kane attacks Ku who is still one the ropes, the two exchange punches until Kane slams Ku violently hard into the apron. So hard the entire building gasped. Kane then spends the next several minutes taking Ku on a self guided tour of Suplex City. The 3rd act becomes a slug fest between the two with Kane still hitting impressive suplexes. Ku, realizing submission might be his only way of winning this match, breaks out a series of arm bar submissions that Kane fights out of each time. Kane attempts a suplex but picks up Ku with too much momentum sending him over Kane’s back. Ku hits a couple of kicks and a big right jab. Ku is relentless with the submissions, but Kane manages to break out of an arm bar, and gets a rope break on an ankle lock. Kane hits a huge clothesline but only gets a 2 count. Ku hits a running knee, Kane gets a 2 count, Ku reverses the pin into an arm bar. Kevin Ku wins by submission and retains the ACTION Wrestling Championship. Referee: Aaron Noyes
THOUGHTS: Any other promotion this is probably the match of the night, but the best was still yet to come. This match was outstanding. The story Kane and Ku told was great and this is a match worth going out of your way to watch. The quickness and execution from both of these men was very impressive.
The Hollywood Heels (Brady Pierce and J. Spade) VS. Hawx Aerie (Luke Hawx and P.J. Hawx)
This was a match designed to pay tribute to the cast of crew of “Heels” who were in attendance, and they were acknowledged before the match. The Hollywood Heels are out first. It’s hard to judge what the Action wrestling fans' reactions were to each team because the “Heels Section” was cheering extremely loud for both teams. P.J. and Spade start off the match, it’s very back and forth with P.J. ultimately winning out. Each man makes the tag to his partner, giving us Pierce and Luke. A “Luke” chant breaks out as the two big men begin to brawl. Pierce uses a slight strength advantage to take temporary control of the match, but Luke fights back and uses his slight speed advantage to regain control for the faces. Both men make tags as the smaller men grapple. P.J. gets thrown into the opposite corner and is attacked by Pierce why the referee isn’t looking. Hollywood Heels cut off the ring and use quick tags to keep the upper hand on their side. Spade tags in Piece and holds P.J. in position for a running kick. P.J. ducks and Pierce catches Spade with the kick. Luke finally gets the hot tag and the crowd explodes. Pierce feeds Luke multiple times, the crowd popping for each one. Full chaos ensues and bodies are flying everywhere. During the melee Luke makes a tag to P.J. without Pierce seeing. Pierce delivers a spine buster to Luke, but stands up just in time to be hit by a flying body from P.J. Hawx Aerie wins by pin. Referee Gina
THOUGHTS: Just another match with an outstanding work rate and execution level. Very cool moment for the actors and staff of Heels. The Brady Pierce and J. Spade both work as stunt doubles on the show. Luke Hawx works as the stunt coordinator, and P.J. is his son. You could feel the emotions coming from the “Heel’s Section” during the match. I am really glad those involved in the show who were in attendance got to experience this moment.
-intermission-
Liam Gray, Adrian Atlanis, and Damion Turner VS. Bobby Flaco, Brogan Finlay and David Finlay
The heels are out first. They begin their entrance, stop and return to the back back, and enter again. Whatever the reason, the fans did not like this and the heels had instant heat when they came back out. Atlantis has words for a baby, yes an actual newly born baby, and had to be restrained by Turner. I think he even motioned for the security to throw the baby out. When it was all said and down the baby got one of the bigger pops of the night. The faces are out next and these three men together get the biggest pop of the night. The faces shined early and often in the match. Each getting a chance to abuse a heel much to the delight of the fans. Flaco takes a clothesline to the outside by Atlanis allowing Gray and Turner to double team him while the ref was distracted changing the course of the match. The heel team cuts off the ring and uses a series of quick tags while Flaco takes all the punishment. Flaco finally fights free at tags in Brogan who cleans house. We also get some Finlay brothers double team spots which really pop the crowd. Flaco is tagged back in and the heels take back control of the match. Flaco makes a tag to Brogan, but Brogan eats an instant clothesline from Atlanis. Flaco comes in, jumps to the top corner, tight walks the rope and delivers a stunner on Atlanis. This leaves David Finlay and Tuner in the ring and Finlay hits a big spinning power slam on Turner, David Finlay flies in from the top rope and lands on Turner. David Finlay, Brogan Finlay and Bobby Flaco win by pin. Referee: Aaron Noyes
THOUGHTS: This was a fan service match. Bobby Flacco, Brogan Finlay, David Finlay and Damion Turner all graduated from Newnan County High School. This marked the first time ever that NJPW/Impact wrestler David Finlay has teamed with his younger brother. Although once again the work rate was very high for this match, it was clear that David Finlay is just one a whole different level from the others. This match reminded me of an AEW tag match in both the good and the bad. The good in that the execution and entertainment value were exceptionally high, bad because a lot of spots were never given a chance to rest with the audience and it was very difficult to tell who the legal competitors were during some of the match. This was a special moment for the Newnan HS grads, they all seemed to have SEVERAL friends and family members in attendance.
Alan Angels VS. A.C. Mack (C) for the IWTV World Championship
Angels is out first, a lot of fans attempt to cheer for him, but he shuts that down quickly. The Champ is out next, and its clear he gets a different level of respect from the fans than anyone else on the card. A.C. looks great carrying multiple championship belts to the ring, which he has named, Iris, Olivia, and Unity. Angels gets on the mic and insults the Georgia and fans people from the south in general, and says when he wins he is taking the belt back to California with him where real wrestlers live. A.C. takes the mic and instantly “A.C. Mack” chants break out. For A.C. can do his intro he is attacked by Angels and the match is underway. A.C. fights back and hits a running knee on Angels sending him from the apron to the floor. The two then brawl on the outside. A.C. makes a lap around the ring, Angels ducks his kick but A.C. has a second one ready that connects. A.C. makes another lap around the ring, this time connecting fully with his kick and Angels goes flying and sells like it Shawn Michaels facing Hulk Hogan. The match returns to the ring where A.C. charges Angels in the corner but gets his leg caught in the rope when Angels moves. Angels then goes to the top rope and comes down on his knee and a silence over takes the crowd. Angels then begins a brutal assault on A.C.’s knee, clearly seeing this as his advantage. Angels really slows the pace of the match down. Anytime A.C. attempts to fight back, Angels almost instantly takes out the knee. You can feel the flowing of emotions throughout the entire building. A.C. manages to produce some offense, but clearly the hurt knee is slowing him down. The referee will not allow A.C. to attack Angels while he is in the ropes, this allows Angels to regain control of the match. At this point the crowd is hanging on every single move these two men make. The two exchange a series of punches and super kicks. Eventually they have no effect on A.C., he charges Angels but Angels thinks quick and takes out the knee of A.C. sending him to the mat. Angels grabs A.C. sits on him and hooks A.C. legs, hooking his arms in the ropes as well. The referee sees this and refuses to count the pinfall, Angels is infuriated and refuses to let go of the pin attempt and demands the referee count. The referee kicks Angels hand off the ropes, A.C. flips Angels over. A.C. Mack wins by pin and retains the ITWV World Championship. Referee: Darryl Hall
After the match A.C. and Angels stare each other down in the ring. Before anything can happen, Marcus Mathers enters the ring and low blows A.C. and Angels slides out of the ring. The majority of the faces rush out of the locker room, some chance Mathers to the back, others attend to A.C. and help him to his feet as the crowd erupts for their ITWV Champion.
THOUGHTS: Easily the match of the night. The story telling and ring psychology were top level here. The match was booked fantastically and it was very believable that A.C. could lose. THIS IS A MUST WATCH MATCH. A.C. is starting to put together a nice little title run. There is a connection that A.C. has at Action that I do not see with anyone else at any other promotion, and that is the connection he seems to have with the youth in the audience. It seemed like every kid was going crazy for A.C. Mack, some even had signs. He seems to have become a hero of sorts for that crowd and the love they have for him is remarkable. I have never been a fan of the referee involving themselves in a match like this. I used to say the only exception was Earl Hebner because as a kid in my eyes he had earned that right. I feel the same way about Darryl, he is the only referee I am okay with doing this in a match.
It’s been said by pundits in the past that ACTION has the best bell to bell wrestling in the state, and after attending this show live it is hard to argue with that. The work rate of every match is just on a different level that almost any other match you are going to see in the state. I’m not saying they are the best overall show in Georgia, I am not saying they are the most entertaining (you guys be the judge of that) but if you are in love with work rate, and clean technical wrestling then Action wrestling is definitely for you. I thoroughly enjoyed this show, the atmosphere was great, it was full of sentimental moments for many in attendance, and it raised over $6000 for a really good cause. Notable people were in attendance from the cast of “Heels” including: Director Peter Segal, Chris Bauer (Will Bill), Allen Maldonado (Rooster Robins), Robby Ramos (Diego Cottonmouth), Trey Tucker (Bobby Pin), the actor who plays "The Dad" on the show, as well as MANY others. Scott Hensley was the ring announcer, referees were Darryl Hall, Aaron Noyel, and Gina. The commentators were Dylan Hales and “Jumpin” Johnny Mosley. Action Wrestling returns to Tyrone Georgia on June the 10th. Bell time is 7:30 Check out ACTION wrestling on Facebook for more information. This show is currently available on IWTV.LIVE and the IWTV app. Attachments area
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