ACTION Wrestling kicked off their 2023 with a buzzworthy show in Lords of Chaos, one that fully lived up to the name.
Adam Priest defeated Anthony Henry in a no ropes, no DQ match to become ACTION Wrestling Champion for the second time and avenge two consecutive losses to Henry.
The match had one of the most extreme finishes ever in Tyrone. Priest put Henry through a ringside table with an Alabama Jam launched from near the top of a 12 foot ladder.
Priest and Henry have now met four times in singles matches. Every one of those of matches has been beyond great. Their match at Lords of Chaos was the most high profile match in Georgia this month and received national play (see article from The Ringer)
Culture Inc defeated inaugural ACTION Tag Team Champions The Skulk in a semi-main that received a standing ovation. The win set up a third title match versus the current title holders, Violence Is Forever on March 10.
The Roger Spencer Community Center was packed with the largest crowd in ACTION history, which had to be in the neighborhood of 350. This crowd was on fire all night long. The electricity in the building came through
One of ACTION's strong suits is how they nail match times. They almost never let a match go too long for the story being told. The running time of Lords of Chaos was 2 hours and 15 minutes (minus intermission). No match on the undercard went over 10 minutes.
The show streamed live on IWTV with Dylan Hales and Mose (Johnny Moseley) on commentary.
(1) Jaden Newman & Noah Hossman (with Carson Dilbeck & Erron Wade) defeated The Re-Ups (Ashton Starr & Rico Gonzalez) in 8:48. The hazing and abusing of trainee Wade commenced before the heels even got to the ring. Gonzalez took a brutal bump over the top rope to the floor and took a lot of punishment in general. Starr cleaned house. Gonzalez made a blind tag and almost pinned Newman witha double stomp but Hossman made the save. Finish was a top rope elbow/side slam combo on Gonzalez.
Strong heel/face dynamic to open the show. As a team, Newman and Hossman are insufferable jerks and got loads of heat.
(2) Brogan Finlay defeated O'Shay Edwards via submission in 9:46. Finlay worked on Edwards' shoulder. Edwards was looking to finish with the Kaiju Driver. Finlay raked O'Shay's eyes and got back on weakened shoulder to set up a top rope elbow drop. Edwards kicked out but Finlay immediately grabbed a Fujiwara armbar. Edwards was forced to tap in short order.
The biggest singles win of the 20-year old Finlay's short career. Loved the finish and the way it caught the crowd by surprise.
The Good Hand (Suge D & Alex Kane & Kevin Ryan) entered the ring and appeared to be looking for trouble with O'Shay, then allowed him to leave without incident and actually applauded Edwards on his way out.
A strange and interesting turn of events.
(3) Damyan Tangra vs. Alex Kane (with Suge D & Kevin Ryan) was ruled a double count out at 6:30. Kane attacked as Tangra was trying to take his shirt off. This was stiff stuff with lots of counter moves by former partners who know each other well. Kane dove through the ropes onto Tangra. They brawled at ringside until the "Shiny Shoes" Aaron Noyes counted them out.
They fought towards the back after the match. Kane clearly got the better of it and had Tangra beaten down.
Plenty of intensity in the ring. Felt like they legit hated each other. Crowd not quite as hot as for the first two matches. They booed the hell on the finish and should primed for a rematch. Surprised to see the heel get the better of of the babyface after the match with zero help from his partners.
(4) Billie Starkz defeated Bobby Flaco in 8:10. Babyface vs. babyface with both being huge fan favorites in the building so the crowd was left in a quandry. With Starkz on the apron and Flaco seated on the top turnbuckle, Flaco took Stark to the floor with a tornado DDT. Looked dangerous as hell, but Flaco protected Starkz well and her head hit neither the ring frame or the floor. Flaco was back on the top rope when Finlay ran to ringside and crotched his former partner. Starkz dropped Flaco on his head with an electric chair driver to score the pinfall.
That finishing sequence was nuts. Man vs. woman was fine here because they worked well together and size differential was not an issue. The fallout would appear to be more of Flaco vs. Finlay as ACTION has two feuding former partner stories going.
AC Mack and Suge D preceded their match with a great promo segment. Mack talked about how he had become the most decorated champion this region had seen in a very long time -- ACTION Champion for almost 3 years, winner of the 2021 SCI, the first openly gay champion in all of pro wrestling, IWTV World Champion and the highest ranked independent wrestling the world (per PWI) -- and how all that made Suge D a little jealous.
Suge D honored Jay Briscoe with a story about being in a match opposite Jay 10 years ago, came face-to-face with those eyes and feeling fear. Jay gave him the hardest clothesline he'd ever felt in his life. After the show, Suge admitted to Jay that he froze. Jay said, "when it's your time in the middle of that ring, ain't nobody stopping you but God." Mack was just a man and Suge was going to keeping beating on Mack until he lived up to Jay's words "until God comes to stop me."
(5) AC Mack defeated Suge D (with Alex Kane & Kevin Ryan) via DQ in 9:33. Mack had things going his way early. Suge found a spare ring hook and wanted to use it but Mack cut him off. A brutal suplex on the unpadded floor turned the match in Suge's favor. Suge was putting to Mack outside the with his sycophants cheering him on in a sickening manner. Mack sparked a rally with a backdrop on the ring apron and started hitting his signature moves. Mack went for the Mack 10. Suge countered and bashed Mack with the ring hook for the DQ.
I enjoyed the match. -- compelling action with both men selling large BUT...the sports presentation went out the window. It was ridiculous to a strict count out in match 3 and then allow these guys to be out of the ring for 90 seconds with no consequences.
The Good Hand put a hurting on Mack until Matt Sells hit the ring with chair. Good Hand bailed. Sells chased Suge clean out of the building with the chair.
Enter TWE Champion Derek Neal. He attacked Mack from behind and laid him out with a fishermanbuster. With a a tinge of Terry Funk on the mic, Neal said he won a tournament to be best in The South (2020 New South HOSS Tournament), held the biggest gold belt in The South (the New South title) and if wasn't for politics he'd having been doing this very thing three years ago. Neal vowed Mack had not seen the last of him.
Positioned as the evil outsider, Neal was getting nuclear heat by the time he finished talking. As if Mack didn't have enough problems with Suge, now he's got this asshole to deal with.
(6) Culture Inc (Eli Knight & Malik Bosede with Nick Holiday) defeated The Skulk (Adrian Alanis & Liam Gray) in 14:55. Way too much happened to go into detail. Standout sequence by Gray exploding with a superkick to Holiday and an enzuigiri to Knight, then hitting a slice leg drop and slingshot elbow on Bosede to start the heat. Some spot on production work cutting back and forth between twin battles on the apron -- Bosede and Gray on one side, Knight and Alanis on the opposite side. Gray and Knight got destroyed. Culture Inc had Alanis beaten with a top rope double stomp/DVD combo but Gray threw Holiday into the ring to break the count. Skulk was looking to end Knight with a Jay Briscoe Doomsday Device tribute but Culture Inc foiled the move and won with a Bosede 450/Knight top rope splash for a double pin.
Afterward, Holiday cut a tremendous promo, throwing down the guantlet to VIF for a title match in March.
Great match. Superb athleticism and creativity in the ring from both teams with a pinch of recklessness to spice it up.The fans in Tyrone love Culture Inc. and went wild when they won. Hales called the match Bosede's best performance in the building. Knight is the star of the team IMO. VIF has made two successful title defenses against Culture Inc but barely escaped with their championship in December. I believe the third time will be the charm for Culture Inc.
(7) Adam Priest defeated Anthony Henry in a no ropes, no DQ match to become a two-time ACTION Wrestling Champion (17:18).
ACTION gave it the big title match treatment - a great video package and commentators hyping what was about to happen as the ropes were being removed. Hales made the point that ropes played an integral in their December match where Henry won the title.
Pure grappling at first. This made for really interesting watching done in a ring with no ropes. Priest sent Henry to the floor and came barreling off the canvas with a dive. Like throwing somebody into the orchestra pit, Hales said. The already intense atmosphere ramped up. Priest snap suplexed Henry on the floor. The action moved to the cramped stage where production is set up. Priest came flying off the stage collapsing Henry through a table. Priest hit Henry at a weird angle and the molded table did not break. Henry shot Priest into the ring post with a chair wrapped around his head. Henry seated Priest in a chair for a leg lariat, then went for an around-the world- maneuver, which Priest cut off by whacking Henry's ankle with a chair. Priest fired a chair at Henry from across the ring, clipping him in the ear. Back on the canvas, Priest was looking to DDT Henry onto a chair. Henry reversed with a tombstone piledriver on the canvas by Henry, clutching at his knee which delayed his pin attempt. Priest seized on the knee problem with a figure four leg lock. They rolled to floor with the figure four intact. Henry fired a chair at Priest to break the hold, powerbombed him on the apron then hauled a table into the building that had been conveniently located in the parking lot. Back on the canvas again, Henry gave Priest a Gotch piledriver and J Driller for near falls. Priest's neck was toast and he sold it huge but he somehow managed to hit an Alabama Slam on Henry. They battled onto a 12 foot ladder (said to be 18 feet in classic pro wrestling exaggeration) Henry had set up at ringside. Priest got the upper hand and flew off the ladder to put Henry through the table with an Alabama Jam.
An awesome match on multiple levels. It's arguable whether or not it was the best of their four matches but it was definitely the wildest. The extreme lengths they went to was a natural progression of the stakes and the story. The match was briliiantly laid out to highlight the no ropes aspect and the big spots, culminating in a memorable finish. Chairs were used almost as transitions. The atmosphere in the building added to the drama. A critical element was the fact the match was built on a foundation of technical excellence, which gave it a sense of realism vs. coming off like a stunt show. If you have not seen this match, you need to.
Afterwards, Henry said he'd always given Priest respect and said soon he'd be next up. The only problem was the best wrestler to come out of Georgia since AJ Styles and Jimmy Rave was standing in his way. Maybe they would meet in an ACTION ring, maybe not, but he hoped they would have a match on a larger stage because "sir, you are the best around." Henry raised Priest's hand a left the stage to the champion.
Priest said before headed back to Alabama -- "Go Dawgs...and Roll Tide!"
Henry could not have put Priest over in stronger terms. ACTION could not have sent their fans home happier.
ACTION's next live event will be March 10 at Madras Middle School in Newnan. ACTION will be back in Tyrone on April 28 for their five year anniversary event which will be a mystery show.
