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| Photos by Bob McAteer |
Anarchy Wrestling just put Georgia wrestling on notice.
Anarchy MegaClash produced major box office -- 500+, standing room only for the first Anarchy show at the Walton County Boys and Girls Club, almost twice as many as the company's former home at the Landmark Arena could have held and the third largest crowd Anarchy has ever drawn anywhere. For the record, Southern Fried owner David Manders was the promoter of this show.
Mega it was but also designed to lead to bigger things. The direction was clearly more Anarchy Wrestling in Monroe and perhaps in other venues.
The building had a weird and different vibe from the Southern Fried shows. Anarchy has a special allure built on 18 years of history. This crowd was a different animal. People came from far and wide to see this show. I saw many familiar faces in the crowd from Landmark Arena and the Southern Fried shows at 405 Community Court, but a good percentage of the people weren't regulars at either building.
The crowd was intensely engaged in the show, which was briskly pace with a running time of 2:15. I never sensed boredom. They were taking it all in, but they weren't generally loud or bristling with energy for a crowd of 500, and there were times the building was eerily quiet.
Nick Halen defeated Judais in a ladder match to regain the Anarchy Heavyweight Championship. A masked individual attacked Judais near the end of the match to pave the way for Halen's victory.
The Anarchy Tag Team Championship has gone full circle. Sal Rinauro and Seth Delay, the first team to hold the title back in 2005 are the new champions.
My favorite match of the night was the Devil's Rejects Rules featuring a tour de force hardcore performance by Azrael.
The follow up to MegaClash is going to be super interesting. Can Anarchy build on on a seemingly new fan base and the amazing success of this first show in Monroe? Clearly, Anarchy and Southern Fried are cooking something up, what is it?
(1) G-Rated (Sal Rinauro & Seth Delay) defeated Undeniable (Shane Marx & Brian Blaze with Matt Hankins) to win the Anarchy Tag Team Championship in 12:08. Undeniable were decked out for the occasion. Hankins (dressed in an outrageous furry pink pimp coat) apologized to the fans for having to come to a sorry, podunk trash heap like Monroe and for having to choose between buying kerosene for their trailers or tickets to the show. He hoped when they opened their ovens to heat said trailers they would blow up.
Hankins got himself ejected in the first minute. He got into the ring before departing and that did not end will for Mr. Hankins.
Rinauro took the tag and had Undeniable flummoxed for a bit, but they got heat on him as well. Blaze ran into a superkick from Rinauro. Tags made. Hankins ran back to ringside and clocked Delay with his man purse, but Xander Seabolt ran to ringside and whacked Hankins with his tennis racket to prevent further shenanigans and Delay rolled Marx up.
These teams got the most out of the least and crowd ate it all up. They slowed things down and made every big spot count. Loudest pop of the night was for Hankins' ejection. He hasn't lost his playful yet venomous touch on the mic.
(2) Jacob Ashworth defeated Hunter James to retain the Landmark Heritage Championship in 11:22. James came to the ring in a neckbrace. Said he took brainbuster on the stage at SHW the night before and was not medically cleared. Ashworth said not my problem. James wasn't getting out it that easy after all his big talk on social media. In frustration, James ripped the neck brace off and admitted he was medically cleared and blamed the ruse on Triston Michaels.
James hit a 450 but Ashworth kicked out of two pin attempts. Ashworth blocked a brainbuster and tried to mount James on his shoulder but his back gave out. Ashworth had the Cliffhanger scouted and hit Roll of the Dice for the win.
Solid match. The babyface/heel dynamic was strong. Ashworth had the crowd behind him, James' starpower notwithstanding. The bump James took on the electric chair was super scary. Nobody's fault. Just one of those things. Landed right on his head and he was A OK. Ahh, to be young, dumb and flexible.
(3) Azrael pinned Jerry Nelms in a Devil's Rejects Rules Open Challenge at 4:52. Nelms came prepared with a trash can full of plunder. Right off the bat, Azrael no sold cookie sheets to the head from Nelms. Azrael punched a barbed wire crown off of Nelms' head. Nelms was bleeding in no time at all. They sat down in chairs to trade punches. Azrael ripped Nelms' shirt off so he could chop his chest.
Nelms superkicked Azrael out of his chair and sliced Azrael's forehead open with a blade. A river of blood ran down Azrael's face. For the finish, Azrael put Nelms through a steel coffin of chairs with a powerbomb.
Anarchy Commissioner Michael O'Rourke led Warden to the ring as a second challenger.
(4)Azrael pinned Warden in a Devil's Rejects Rules Open Challenge at 5:23. Warden tried to come at Azrael with a motorcycle helmet. Not happening. Azrael's first chop sounded like a gun being fired. Azrael covered Warden's nutsack with a stop sign and whacked the sign with a kendo stick. Somewhere, White Trash was smiling. Like Nelms, Warden had to use a low blow.
Warden hit a corkscrew Vader Bomb and took a blade to Azrael. Warden spilled a bag of tack onto the mat and grabbed the motorcycle helmet. Azrael kicked the helmet into Warden's head, then poured tacks into the helmet and put the helmet on Warden's head. Warden immediately started screaming. Azrael scored a bullseye with a Claymore type kick right into Warden's helmeted head and pinned him.
Azrael nonchalantly celebrated victory by spitting tacks out of his mouth as he walked up the aisle.
The twin hardcore matches ruled. Azrael's work took me back to the raw violence of Anarchy's roots in NWA Wildside. Azrael was there from the start. His punches and chops were as good as it gets. Warden's ring presence has improved dramatically over the last two years. He was busted open hardway from the impact of the thumbtack helmet spot at the end -- bleeding from the forehead, tacks sticking out his scalp.
(5) "Your Messiah" Alexander Lev defeated Najasism to win the 5 Star MVP title in 12:12. Najasism had a bone to pick with Lev coming off their match at Southern Fried two week ago. Naja didn't wait for the bell. Naja was on fire with his vicious streak on full display. After taking several minutes of abuse, Lev wickedly upended Naja and went to work. Naja launched an absolutely hellacious comeback. They went back and forth with near falls. A spinning heel kick sent Lev to the floor. Lev did a running crossbody to a seated Naja, driving him into the barricade. Back inside, Lev tried to roll Naja up using the tights. Naja kicked out and did the same to Lev but he also kicked out. Naja put on the brakes so as not to run into referee Darryl Hall. Lev went for another roll up using the tights and this time, he got the three count.
They had a good match at Southern Fried and this one was even better. The finish was tricky and they made it look good. Naja is a proven star, past the point of needing to hold titles. Since the powers to be wanted to move one of the secondary belts to a heel, Lev was a perfect choice. A more naturally hateable character would be hard to find.
(6) Geter vs. Scott Mayson was ruled a double count out at 9:10. Mayson was working his ass off but didn't appear to have the firepower to cope with Geter mass (announced at 475 pounds). A pair of jawbreakers finally got the monster down. Geter's annoying pest, ERC ran to ringside and pulled Dee Byers out of the ring. That got heat. The combatants brawled outside the ring until Dee Byers counted them out.
Crowd was split but meh at the same time and they booed the finish. I liked the new and more serious Mayson. The build to Mayson finally getting Geter off his feet was really well done. A giant like Geter shouldn't require the help of the like of ERC, so at that point it was clear Mayson was the babyface but it was too little, too late.since they quickly went to the count out. On the other hand, the crowd energy had to nowhere to go but up for the main event.
Jason Boyd introduced Anarchy Commissioner Michael O'Rourke who in turn introduced Anarchy owner Adrian Locklear who in turn introduced David Manders. Manders dropped the hint about more Anarchy in Monroe. It was all back patting, mutual respect and warm fuzzies. HOWEVER...
Something smelled funny. O'Rourke is a shady character. His handshake with Manders was uncomfortably long and vigorous.
(7) Nick Halen defeated Judais in a ladder match to regain the Anarchy Heavyweight Championship in 25:49. Halen jumped the gun but once the bell rang, it was all Judais. Three minutes, in, Nick had done nothing on offense. Judais tried to slide the first ladder into the ring. Halen drove the ladder into Judais with a baseball slide and followed up with a tope. Halen used the ladder as a weapon. As Judais tried to reenter the ring. Halen caught him with a Gamebreaker. Halen set up an eight foot ladder and hit an elbow drop from near the top of the ladder. Nick was "selling" his hip. Halen tried to climb for the belt but Judais launched him off the ladder with El Crucifijo. Out on the floor, Halen ducked a ladder shot from Judais and the ladder nailed Manders squarely in the forehead.
Ashworth, Locklear and Kelly Sexton ran to ringside to check on Manders, who was bleeding from the forehead. Halen tried to capitalize on the extracurricular activity by climbing for the belt again. Judais shoved the ladder over, hotshotting Halen on the top rope.
Judais starting smashing Halen with the ladders. That got a "one more time" chant, one of the few chants of the night. Judais obliged. Halen gave Judais resorted to a llow blow and used one of the ladders on Judais. Both men climbed for the belt. Judais chokeslammed Halen from the ladder. As Judais closed in the belt, Halen missile dropkicked the ladder to knock Judais off.
They battled for control of one of the ladders. Judais ran under one of the ladders to spear Halen on the other side.
Judais was touching the belt when a masked individual wearing a Sexton Alliance hoodie interfered He gave Judais a codebreaker. Halen climbed the eight foot ladder. Though weakened, Judais climbed the 10 foot ladder and caught up with Halen as he was unhooking the belt. Halen konked Judais in the head with the belt a couple of times, knocking Judais off the ladder.
This was a very good ladder match. As in their Thanksgiving match nominated for match of the year, Halen and Judais worked magic around the size difference. There was no shortage of brutality or high spots but they also worked smart and limited the big risks as much as humanly possible. The ladder shot to Manders looked dangerously realistic. It felt like momentum was lost between the Manders incident and the finish and they could have cut about five minutes shorter would have been better. The identity and motivation of the masked individual who sabotaged Judais will obviously be key element of the story going forward.
NOTES: The announce team for the video was John Johnson and Blake Blackwell. I was able to listen in to bits and pieces or their commentary and it was good stuff. Among those in the house and/or backstage were CB Suave, Hakeem Young, Crystal Rose, Todd and Kelly Sexton, the Tapped Out podcast guys, Nick McDaniel and Myron Fancher. Referees were David Weakley, Darryl Hall and Dee Byers. Jason Boyd was the ring announcer. Adam Vance handled the production...Anarchy head of security Rodney Hix got a bloody nose when he was inadvertently hit as Mayson and Geter brawled outside the ring.
