Southern Fried King's Road --- Monroe on December 3

From Larry Goodman: SFCW's final show of 2022 was a good one, the shame of which was the lack of people there to see it.  King's Roa...

From Larry Goodman:

SFCW's final show of 2022 was a good one, the shame of which was the lack of people there to see it. 

King's Road put the pieces in place for a major show on January 7, and was structured just right to spotlight the key angles and stories. 

Southern Fried Champion CT Keys and Will Kaution had the best match of the night in the main event.  The opening match had the most heat just because...

Come January 7, Mikal Judas and Xavier Reyes will blow off a feud that has raged for months in a Last Rites match. Keys will defend the Southern Fried Championship against Kaution, Billy Buck and Adrian Hawkins a fatal four way. The build for both has been outstanding.

Attendance at the Walton County Boys & Girls Club Gym was around 140. Running against a Georgia football game is the worst of times for any promotion in this part of the state. Over the past two years, attendance has settled into the range of 200-250.

SFCW has now been sub 200 for three straight, two of them running against Georgia football and the other on Thanksgiving night. I have a feeling things change on Jan 7.

                                                                                                                                                                      Triston Michaels came to ring smirking and laughing. Made me want to slap him and I know I had company. Triston ordered ring announcer Rick Richards to exit and proudly admitted he accepted a bribe from JBE.

Triston introduced JBE . Massive crowd baiting ensued. Dr. Joseph E . Brock was so pleased. JBE was back where they belonged and welcomed his beloved protege Triston into the fold. Made my stomach turn 

Cue up the music of Southern Fried Champion CT Keys. The champion took his sweet time making his way to the ringside and said he was going to show mercy out of respect to Jagged Edge. 

TSF (Rosario Grllo & Hunter Knott) was next out accompanied by Kat Spencer. Rosario Grillo ran his mouth spouting fake news about TSF getting screwed. 

The return of Mikal Judas got a huge pop. He patted the title belt as he blew past Keys to do battle with arch enemy Reyes. JBE and TSF dog-packed Judas 4 on  1. That brought Happy Madness and Billy Buck out to even the odds...and we had ourselves an eight man tag. 

(1) Hunter James & Xavier Reyes & Rosario Grillo & Hunter Knott (with Dr. Joseph Brock & Triston Michaels & Kat Spencer) defeated Mikal Judas & Billy Buck & Happy Madness (Sal Rinauro & Sunny Daze) in 17:30. Crazy match. Judas and Reyes absent at the bell. James taking abuse as only he can. Judas returned and took a tag. He was about to kill Grillo but saw Reyes coming. They brawled into the parking lot and were followed out by by half the people in the building. Heat on Sal. Hot tag to Daze for a Blackhole Slam on Grillo. Distraction by Reyes caused the advantage to swing the other way. Brock was looking more haggard by the minute The heels got heat on Buck with all these people at ringside. Huge rally by Buck, Judas back on the apron with fans clamoring for a tag. Judas was about to launch Knott into orbit with El Crucifijo when Reyes came into view and the chase was on. Triston pulled Hall out after Sal hit Move That Rocked The World. Sal brainbustered James, then gave TSF a double Lethal Injection  But Sal went after Spencer and fell victim to a TSF double team. 

Judas and Reyes started going at it for the umpteenth time. As the other wrestlers tried to pull them apart, exasperated matchmaker Bill Behrens guaranteed this would end on January 7 -- No DQ, No count out, must be a winner.

Underline and exclamation point on the main event for Jan 7. One hell of an ambitious undertaking -- so many moving parts, so many chances for something to mess up and nothing did. This was ensemble work at its finest. The visual of the heels with three people in their corner and zero for the babyfaces was spot on. 

(2) Zach Mosley defeated Matt Sells in 6:10. What did I do to deserve a Matt Sells match on back-to-back nights? Fun stuff. I enjoyed the wackiness of the Attitude Era tribute (tease of People's Elbow, use of Mr. Socko by Mosley and Hulk Hogan routine by Sells). 

Bryce Cannon showed his face and got on the apron, only to collide with Mosley. Sells ate a hotshot and was pinned after a curbstomp from Mosley. 

Exotic Youth put the boots to Sells. Luka Daniels got a big pop for making the save. Cannon said the big leagues must have gone to Daniels' head..Segue to the next match....

(3) Luka Daniels (with Matt Sells) defeated Bryce Cannon (with Mosley) in 4:50. Cannon now hails from his daddy's yacht. Perfect. Cannon did a variation of Flair's flip bump and body slam off the top routine. Mosley spilled Daniels over the ropes. While referee Brandon Todd was dealing with that situation, Sells gave Cannon a stunner. Daniels splashed Cannon from the top rope to pick up the win. 

Worked for me. Short and sweet was the way to go here. 

Adrian Hawkins arrives with early Christmas gifts of codebreakers for Mosley and Cannon and calls out Halen to handle their unfinished business but gets MARV instead.

(4) Adrian Hawkins defeated MARV in 2:55 via DQ due to interference by Nick Halen. MARV out to "Take My Breath Away" and a new gimmick. No idea what he's going for with this. Hawkins was bleeding from the mouth in the opening minute after taking a superkick. Hawkins took a brutal looking Bret Hart chest bump into the buckles and Halen hit the ring to gut Hawkins with a steel chair.

Hawkins cut off Halen's attack with a codebreaker against the chair, then viciously waffled Halen's back with a trio of chairshots before locking in the sharpshooter. The refs ran to ringside waving their arms. Hawkins paid them no mind. Behrens got in the ring. Hawkins decked Behrens and reapplied the sharpshooter. Todd Sexton entered the ring pleading with Hawkins to stop. Hawkins cranked the hold one more time before releasing it. Seconds later, a still enraged Hawkins was all over Halen applying the sharpshooter for the third time. Halen was tapping like mad. Sexton finally got Hawkins to release the hold for good. As a crippled Halen was being helped to the back, . Hawkins attacked with another codebreaker and slung Halen into the barricade. Sexton returned with Happy Madness and Buck as reinforcements. Halen had to be carried out by security. 

It was all so exquisitely excessive. I can't enough good things about Hawkins intensity. He hit all the right notes as a babyface who had been wronged  and was seeking revenge. Halen sold his ass off. It was another place on the show where attention to detail by the booker and performers added to the realism. 

(5) Tetchi Makuji (with Dr. Brock & Triston Michaels) pinned "The Flying 'Fro" Michael Walker with a powerbomb in 2 minutes. Makuji had no use for Triston. The Japanese Assassin was like a wild man once the bell rang. Walker was human cannon fodder. 

(6) Jaden Vain defeated Grappler #1 (with Grappler #2) in 7:45. The Grapplers set out to  confuse referee Brandon Todd as to who was who. Vain was supposed to have a singles match with #1. Since they look identical (well almost), the Grappers switched in and out with impunity behind Todd's back.  #1 took the flying crotch bump onto the middle turnbuckle. He must have learned that from David Young. Todd finally caught on and actually ejected Grappler #1. Stryk Nyn march down the aisle intent on doing damage to #1. This distracted Grappler #2 who was rolled up by Vain.  

Postmatch, Grapplers bonked Stryk with Vain's briefcase (the one allegedly containing the $ he won from Makuji. Why hasn't Jaden deposited the cash in the bank?) and ran off with the briefcase, but not before poking Todd in the eyes. Stryk raised Vain's hand. 

The Grapplers entertain me. I like the idea of Stryk and Vain as a team if that's the direction.

(7) Kat Spencer (with Rosario Grillo & Hunter Knott) defeated Brooklyn in 6:08. Spencer has size and big arms. Huge pop for Brooklyn's entrance. Match was mainly Brooklyn taking punishment and fighting up from the bottom. In the end, Brooklyn planted Spencer with a uranage. Impressive given the size difference. TSF jumped onto the apron. Brooklyn dispatched with them but Spencer cut her down with a spear.

Well, this was pretty terrible. Spencer is painfully green. She needs to get more reps but  this may not be the place for her to get them. Brooklyn was ridiculously over as a babyface. She was kissing babies for chrissake.  But it's not like she was going to be able to carry Spencer to a good match. TSF was a huge help with their rabble rousing at ringside, taunting the fans and Brooklyn. 

Brooklyn was facing grim odds after the match but Happy Madness rode to her rescue. 

John Johnson plugged January 7 and handled the intros for the main event. JJ said Carlie Bravo would defend the Classics Championship. I think it was JJ who clued the fans in the match was called Last Rites.

(8) CT Keys defeated Will Kaution retain the Southern Fried Championship in 12:07. Right out of the gate, Kaution scored several quick two counts on the champion, Keys bailed  and took advantage of the situation when Kaution came out after him. Keys heeled. Match was see-sawed in the the finish and it was all good. Keys put Kaution in the torture rack but Kaution slipped out. Referee Darryl Hall got squashed in the corner. Referee Todd came out to take over for Hall just as Keys was going for his chain. Kaution hit the Kaution Cutter. Keys kicked out at 2 and 3/4. Kaution picked up the chain and was admonished by Todd. Keys shoved Kaution into Todd.. With TWO refs down, Keys used the belt on Kaution and put him back in the torture rack. Hall recovered saw Kaution was out and called for the bell. 

This was a solid main event that had the feel and build of a title match backloaded with bells and whistles. The crowd was up for it. (the way the seond half was laid out really helped). It was the best Kaution has looked in the ring since his return. Keys is carrying himself like a top heel and the company's champion. 

Buck hit the ring the to tell Hall Keys used the belt. Keys and Buck brawled. Hawkins came to the ring and they played a little ping pong with Keys, who took a powder leaving his title belt behind. Hawkins and Buck each ended up with a grasp n the belt and neither wanted to let go. 

SFCW Owner David Manders entered the ring and took control of the belt. Manders said Buck deserved a rematch with Keys. Keys never beat Hawkins and he sure as hell didn't beat Kaution. Manders ordered a fatal four way for the championship on January 7.

NOTES: Jagged Edge and Proc Johnston missed the show due to illness...Crystal Rose was backstage...Jacob Ashworh was also backstage. He said he knee injury was an aggravation of an old football injury. He's on the mend is not not going to need surgery...Darryl Hall is the only Southern Fried referee who doesn't get booed...Jynnyfyr Wynns was the third referee.