From Jabari McIntyre: Combine (Noun ) com.bine - an event at which scouts from the teams in a professional sports league gather to evaluat...
Combine (Noun)
com.bine - an event at which scouts from the teams in a professional sports league gather to evaluate players in preparation for choosing which players to draft. (Merriam-Webster Dictionary)
Here we are at the Season 2 Premiere of Southern States Pro Wrestling and their Combine Day. A Day in which a lot of Young Talent (And some older talent who are familiar faces at this point) come to Austell, GA. to see if they have what it takes to make the SSPW roster. This year is a little bit different in the fact that there are representatives from other Promotions also there to see what the talent has to offer. Double the number of scouts and fans from last year (Around 100 people this year), everyone got a good look as to what it really takes to get on a roster for good or bad. Let’s get into the Pros and Cons and a few Notes from Combine Day 2!
The Atmosphere:
Pros:
- The Building:
From the moment you walked in, things were a bit different. El Galaxy itself has upgraded a bit with a cleaner open space, brighter lights and even new TV Screens around the Event Space. The Sound was a bit louder; the ring had the lights hitting just right and everything was laid out just right around the ring to let you know you will be entertained throughout the night. Even The Bar looked a bit different.
- Southern States set up:
Southern States has stepped their game up too by taking full advantage of all the space that was given. More chairs around the ring; room for The Pit Area to return and even a new Entrance Way. Murder and Josh seemed to go out of their way to combine (ZING) older elements from Atlanta Wrestling Entertainment with the new Southern States Pro flair.
- The Commentary, Press and Judge set up:
A new Commentary Team of Daven Estacado (El Cadejo, Merchant for Hire) and Rob Weathers tried out for Combine Day and being pretty much ringside also added a good feel to things. There was a Commentary Table; Judge Table with Taliaferro and 3MP; A Press Table with RobBrod, Larry Goodman and I; and of course, the Main Judge Table up top with Sal Rinauro, Gary Lamb and Zach Mosley of the Exotic Youth. Yeah, this was good. '
- The Camera Men
Pros:
Good to see SSPW getting a few people to get pictures and videos of the event. Catching things from all angles and even getting enough for the SSPW Youtube Channel...Things are looking promising.
Cons:
Nothing that I can think of. The presentation looked pretty good from what I saw on the 1st part of the Combine Day YouTube Show.
- The Microphones
Small thing but still noticeable, the mics went in and out and the sound needed to be tweaked just a bit. It was hard catching some of the names and it didn’t get all sorted out till the middle of the show.
Nothing else was wrong for me with the Atmosphere. Well, small gripe, we need a Camera CREW next time if possible. Other than that, everything was on point.
The Crowd:
Pros:
Good to see more people come out and support everyone trying to live out their dreams. 100 is a good start and Murder asked them to let the Wrestlers know exactly how they felt, and they did just that.
Cons:
More people need to come out to see things like this but oh well. Is what it is.
The Judges:
Pros:
So, we have the Old School Vet (Sal Rinauro), The New School Star (Zach Mosley) and The Promoter (Gary Lamb)...along with advice from William Huckaby, Joe Black and Chip Day. Everyone gave great critiques with a lot of Tough Love mixed in. Sal being the Over 20 Year Vet let all the Young Wrestlers that they need to step up, take things seriously and not crap on the business he loves. Gary, the Promoter, encouraged everyone to take more pride in how they look and what he looks for in marketing for his show (See I can say something good about Gary). Zach was their peer IN the game currently, encouraging everyone to take advantage of what is going on now and never let any opportunity slip by again. All 3, with their different perspectives, should be judges on ANY Wrestling Panel from here on out. No exceptions (Yes Especially Gary).
Another Pro, the judges giving One on One advice in the back and keeping the more intimate details of the business where it was supposed to be...Behind the curtain.
Cons:
Outside of the descriptions of “Angry Black Dude”, Generic White Guy and saying, “I don’t really like Women’s Wrestling”, nothing was really wrong with the judges. As stated above, any promotion should want these 3 giving advice anytime they can.
The Wrestling:
Pros:
Let’s get this out the way, there were only a few things that really stood out about the Wrestling and Wrestlers, but we will get to those in the Cons. Those who did well, on the other hand, did enough to keep the crowd entertained and impressed enough to make the roster.
Alexander Moss had a great body and took his gear game seriously. The match with Hunter Knott was OK for a beginning match and just needed a bit more energy.
Deon Summerz, good energy and tried to get the crowd into it.
Raiv aka Baby Huck, good potential and seemingly had the crowd with him.
Donald Jaykes aka The Standout of the first half of the show came out preaching the Good Word and spreading Good Love before bringing out “The Saviour of Southern States Pro, Ichiban. Rev Jaykes, PLEASE keep this going and go full Southern Baptist if you can.
The Kenway!!! Welcome Back to Atlanta!!! Lucky Ali, bout time you showed out and made it to the Southern States Roster!! These two had the match of the night and both looked Crisp and Clean. No movement was wasted, the crowd was into both, and they took advantage of every moment they had. When the Combine Day Part 2 video comes out, make SURE to check for it.
Kaitlin Marie was the standout amongst the Women and even though she should have taken the lead to control the match, she did what she could to keep things flowing. Also, CAN WE GET TO THE YAMMMMMSSSS. SWEETTTT YAMMMMMSSSS. Oh Sorry, don’t know what came over me and why I would sing that when I see her.
Keelin Cole always comes to fight and hits hard. Taking advice from Murder throughout all of last year, Keelin keeps stepping his game up and did what most guys couldn’t do, Finish the match in under 4 min. Marvelous Michael helped make this enjoyable enough to where the crowd wasn’t bored.
Movie Myk looked the part and had the best gimmick of the night. Being a movie director and using all the Hollywood terminology always gets me going and the crowd seemed to like it too. The Slow-Motion bit near the end of the match was a great touch that I don’t think many caught at first but was pretty fun.
Duncan Mitchell and Aaron Dallas. Two of the “Late Round” Draft Picks of last year’s Combine Day 1 took every bit of advice from last year and showed why they were easy picks for this year’s roster. The Crowd loved them, the Judges didn’t have anything too harsh to say to them and it seems Season 2 of SSPW will be built around them a bit more. DiK (Dudes in Kimonos) gave A-Aron and Duncan all they could handle. DiK more than earned their spot on the roster and can’t wait to see them HEEL it up in the months to come.
Taliaferro and 3MP have to be Brothers in a different timeline. They were scouting as always and 3MP seemed to have Duncan and A-Aron on his payroll, however they laid out 3MP. Taliaferro, never letting an opportunity to pester his rival pass by, made sure to let a groggy 3MP know that he got what he deserved. Always love those two however, be warned, there is a Sinister Minister that may be lurking about real soon.
Cons:
Most of the matches were all the same. There were 11 or so matches they had to get in and most guys never did anything to stand out. At all. A lot of the gear looked like guys just walked in from the street. Some of the Wrestling timing was way off and noticeable to even the most casual of fans. 4 Matches stood out as far as being from Fair to Pretty good. Otherwise, there were a lot of missed opportunities. Most of the matches took the full 8 minutes to show a bit of nothing.
The Women’s match should have really ended early when the bottom rope came loose. No one in the match had the presence to end it right there so no one would get hurt. I hope they learn from this and come back to end things properly.
Doing less is more sometimes was the theme of the night and no one seemed to understand this till towards the end of the night. Again, there were a whole lot of guys doing moves but nothing to engage the crowd. Too much “Getting your shit in”.
No need to run down the matches because about 7 of them were the same. Do your shit and keep it moving. “TRY” to impress the judges and forget that the crowd is there. Most of the Wrestling was just BLAH!
Overall Final Thoughts:
For better or for worse, Combine Day 2 did exactly what it was supposed to do. We saw plenty of new faces with a good bit of older people. The judges again were spot on in all of these assessments and hopefully the talent will take everything said and move on to better things. Even if those better things are not to be in the ring but contribute outside of it somehow. Murder One and Josh Wheeler have a dope concept that I know will succeed and they are going to do big things with this formula. Can’t wait to see how Season 2 of Southern States Pro Wrestling turns out!!
Personal Pro: Gary, still won't be coming to your show but Thank You for looking me in the eye and speaking to me.
Con: My beard makes me look different...Dammit I look exactly the same as the LAST 30 times you shook my hands when I came to your shows, but you know what. Eff it...It is what it is lol.
.jpg)
.png)