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| Photo by Allie McPhetridge |
Anthony Henry is the new ACTION Champion after defeating Adam Priest in stunning fashion last night in Tyrone.
With Priest tied up in the ropes and unable to defend himself, Henry delivered three consecutive superkicks, then pinned Priest with the champion's DDT finisher less than eight minutes into the match.
This was a rematch of their title bout in July that ended in a double count out. It was the third meeting between the two men this year. All three have been fantastic matches, contested at the pinnacle of independent wrestling.
Henry and Priest will battle for the title again on January 20th in a no ropes match.
What's not a new story is that ACTION presents wrestling as sport like no other promotion in Georgia. The card was stacked and lived up to its name, with top to bottom excellence in the ring.
Alex Shelley and Suge D knocked it out the park. Shelley evened the score with Suge in a rematch that was three years in the making and was beaten down after the match.
Violence Is Forever and Masha Slamovich retained their respective titles in the other championship matches on the show.
The feud between fellow Newnan High graduates and former BNB teammates Bobby Flaco and Brogan Finlay raged on.
Attendance at the Roger Community Center was a full house of 225. The tightly packed seating arrangement at the venue contributes to a great atmosphere for wrestling. Though, I must say this was not the loudest or rowdiest crowd I've been a part of in that building.
Darryl Hall was the ironman referee for the evening. Hall officiated all eight matches.
The show streamed live on IWTV with Dylan Hales and Mose on commentary.
Full results below:
(1) Arik Royal & BK Westbrook defeated Ashton Starr & Rico Gonzalez in 9:29. An "all these guys" kind of vibe to it. Great action. The crowd in Tyrone has taken to Gonzalez big time and received frequent "Rico" chants. Match was a showcase for Westbrook's skills and he was super impressive, best I've seen from him. The finish was an assisted Kobe off the ropes by Royal on Starr.
(2) Bobby Flaco defeated Brogan Finlay 7:25. Now this match had heat. The people were hating on young Brogan. Flaco rode his motorized scooter into the building. Finlay attacked him in the aisle and tossed him into the wall. Flaco gathered himself and beat Finlay's ass. The kids in the audience were madly cheering Flaco. Flaco used Finlay' momentum to roll through on a wheelbarrow to score the pinfall. Finlay decked Flaco after the match and left with heat being heaped upon him.
(3) AC Mack defeated Matt Sells in 8:42. Described to me at the battle for the heart of Tyrone. Mack said it was his first time in his ring without his "babies" and vowed to build back up. The crowd recited his intro with him, word-for-word. His weight is now up to 226. Sells intro got a big reaction but not at the crazed level it usually gets because he had the damn luck of facing Mack.
AC tired of of Sells' fun and games and got down to business. Sells twice caught Mack in the Rat Trap for near falls and got a close near fall with the palm strike. Mack superkicked Sells who fired up strong style and ate a second superkick. Sells slapped Mack across the face and told him to suck it. Mack ended Sells with the Mack 10. Match was a welcome change of flavor that made it standout from the rest of the show.
(4) Alex Kane defeated "The Bounty Hunter" Bryan Keith in 10:27. Keith is a Texas indy star and has been getting IWTV shots with Freelance in Chicago. He was smaller in person than I expected from seeing him on tape. He carries himself like a larger man. Kane was built much thicker and was the superior wrestler. Crowd wasn't feeling this match early, as the outcome appeared to be a forgone conclusion. Keith makes great use of body language and facial expressions. Kane took Keith to suplex island. The tenor of the match changed after Keith kicked out of Mark of Kane. Keith reeled off a series of near falls, the big one coming off a Tiger Bomb. But Kane dashed hopes of an upset with an exploder suplex into the turnbuckles. Keith received a mild "please come back" chant.
(5) Alex Shelley defeated Suge D in 19:29. Suge on the mic prematch. Said he had already beaten Shelley before and maybe if he beat him in this building, the ACTION fans would love him like Mack and give him the love he wanted, was owed and deserved. Fat chance.
They grappled. Shelley was stretching Suge. A group of young boys relentlessly chanted "let's go Alex". Completely wore out the people attempting to do a dueling chant for Suge. Shelley did a tremendous job of playing to the crowd and specifically to the group of boys. The action moved outside the ring. Suge made it his playground. Back inside, they got into a long exchange of stiff strikes. It kept building and the intensity shifted the match into another, higher gear from which it never looked back, taking the crowd along for the ride. Suge trapped Shelley in a variation of the Indian deathlock. Shelley headbutted his way out of it. Suge up throwing hands. Shelley appeared to have nothing left but fired up a comeback out of the blue. Shelley got the Border City Stretch applied. Suge made a desperate scramble to get his feet around the ropes. Shelley chopping Suge to death. Suge with an X Factor to flip the script. Suge from a leglock to a Fujiwara armbar and Shelley got a foot on the ropes. Shelley back to the Border City Stretch. Countered by Suge. Shelley with Shellshock for the win. An amazing match. Shelley is a larger than life pro. Suge was at the top of his game.
What happened afterward was just as compelling. With grudging acceptance of defeat, Suge offered to shake hands. Shelley accepted. Suge embraced Shelley...and SPOILED the heart warming moment by laying Shelley out. The crowd had bought in and was so pissed. Kane hit the ring and The Good Hand put the boots to Shelley until Kane's former partner, Damyan Tangra made the save in his Shelley and Tangra shook hands. Nice rub for Tangra.
Heat on top of heat. The respect thing thing is way overdone in indy wrestling and would have been so disappointing from Suge.
(6) Violence Is Forever (Kevin Ku & Dominic Garrini) defeated Culture Inc (Eli Knight & Malik Bosede with Nick Holiday) to retain the ACTION Tag Team Championship in 12:37. Culture Inc is super over here. The ACTION fans have total respect for VIF. They love Culture Inc. Culture was off to a rousing start before VIF got heat on Knight. Hot tag to Bosede and a split-legged moonsault on Ku for a near fall. Ku came right back with a tiger suplex and kick in the face for Knight. Down the stretch, both team had the match won with great looking double teams if not for last split-second saves. Culture Inc had Garrini beaten with a blockbuster/moonsault combo if not for the save by Ku. VIF tried for Chasing the Dragon but could not convert and all four were in. In the midst of mass confusion, Bosede caught Garrini with an inside cradle for a visual fall. Ku then turned the pile so Garrini was on top and referee Hall made the three count.
A quality, competitive match telling the story that VIF could not beat Culture Inc with their vaunted double teams and had to use a bit of chicanery to hang onto their championship.
(7) Masha Slamovich defeated Billie Starkz to retain the ETU Championship in 11:09. Masha's first defense of the ETU title. Slamovich projects a presence much larger than her physical stature and packs amazing power for her size. Starkz exudes warmth and personality. Her babyface appeal tugs at the heartstrings like NXT era Bailey. Slamovich dished out a fierce beating, just brutalizing Starkz. After eating two urakens, Starks landed a heel kick and both women were down. They jockeyed for position on the ropes and Slamovich ended up taking a huge flat back bump. Starks hit a Gori Bomb for a near fall. Starkz went up top for the swanton but Slamovich had her knees up. and cracked Starks in the head. Whatever Starkz was trying for, Slamovich turned it into a victory roll and put Billie away with the package piledriver.
A physical match to say the least. Seeing Slamovich live at Battleslam, AAW and ACTION has made me a huge fan of her work.
Ring announcer Scott Hensley told the fans they just saw two women who would have action figures in the future.
(8) Anthony Henry defeated Adam Priest to win the ACTION Championship in 7:48. This was world class level. Priest came through the front door to and surprised Henry with a belt shot before he knew what hit him. The fight spilled into the crowd for several minutes intense and wickedly brutal, not at all your run-of-the-mill arena brawl. ACTION CEO Matt Griffin was on the case. Match underway, Henry kicked Priest in the back and the thud was sickening. Priest ran the ropes building to a lariat. His ring speed was absolutely incredible. A superplex gone awry saw them go sideways and land mangled on the ropes. Never seen a spot like that before, if it was a "spot". They went back-and-forth with german suplexes, three a piece. Henry tied Priest him up in the ropes and took target practice with superkicks. Priest collapsed. Henry DDTed Priest to take the ACTION title, using the champion's own move against him. .
An awesome finish -- shocking in its timing and decisiveness.
Hensley announced a no ropes rematch for the return date in Tyrone -- January 20.
NOTES: Notable wrestling personalities in the house included Irving West, Andey Ripley Saraya Saber, Nasty Leroy. and Amber Young..ACTION's other referees were participating in community event in Red Bank along with other folks from TWE...Tangra's t-shirt read "First Pro Wrestling Seminar in Bulgaria --- 9/24/2022.
