From Larry Goodman:No two ways about it, Kevin Ryan and company knocked it out of the park at Forever Pro Wrestling's inaugural event.
The show drew a stranding room only crowd of 175 to The Spot, which is a basic event space in an industrial park, perfectly suitable for a pro wrestling show. They couldn't have asked for a better crowd, on fire from beginning to end.
I loved the unique blend of talent and variety of matches Forever Pro put together. For readers that have access to IWTV, there were three standout matches worth going out of you way to see, each of them entirely different from the others: Ryan vs. Jay Lethal, Rico Gonzalez vs. Bobby Flaco vs. Brayden Toon and Joe Black vs. Alex Kane (my favorite).
Pre-Show: Damon Striker defeated Erron Wade and Ryan Marx and Jameson Shook and Jason Hampton and Space Cowboy and Troy Carter in 5:28. Mostly two guys in the ring doing a spot without everyone else selling on the outside. I liked Shook's size and sparkling personality. Striker pinned Shook with a package neckbreaker.
Ring announcer Carmen Michael introduced Rocky Shaw as the Commissioner of Forever Pro. After some introductory remarks by Shaw, the festivities got underway...
(1) Chris Crunk defeated Kyle Matthews in 7:55. Crowd liked both these guys but more in favor of Crunk. Matthews appeared to tweak something in his lower back. Crunk targeted Kyle's back for the balance of the match. Matthews countered Crunk's finisher and applied the Hidaka Lock. Crunk was in trouble but Matthew back gave out on his next move. Crunk then pinned Matthews with his pumphandle faceplant. Show of sportsmanship after the match with Matthews giving Crunk props and saying Southeastern wrestling is in good hands. A really nice opener.
(2) Shane Oakley pinned Walker XIII in a no DQ match at 10:35. Both mend competed in ProSouth's Young Lion's Cup. Walker was over big with the crowd. Oakley is Ryan's brother. He's very hateable People in my section were shitting on him pretty good. Oakley played yambag Yahtzee. Walker hit a choke slam which looked like the finish but Oakley rolled out of the ring. Oakley pinned Walker after three chairshots to the head and a twist of fate onto a chair. A little less of this match would have been fine with me.
(3) Bobby Flaco defeated Braydon Toon and Rico Gonzalez in 6:02. Lights out with the spotlight treatment (via flashlight) for Rico's entrance, low tech but effective. Loved the matchmaking. Toon surprises the uninitiated with his prodigious aerial skills because he's built like a power guy. He hit a picture perfect running shooting star press and the crowd exploded. They set up what appeared to be a standard tower of doom and did something completely different and way more impressive. For the finishing sequence...Toon gave Gonzalez a pumphandle powerbomb and powerbombed Flaco on top of him. Gonzalez flattened Toon with his top rope double stomp to the apron. As Rico reentered the ring, Flaco got him with a springboard cutter. All three were over doing innovative, well-executed ensemble work. In short, they nailed it.
(4) Suge D defeated Skrilla the Great to retain the Pan Afrikan Diaspora World Championship in 13:00. Talk about an enthusiastically split crowd. The dueling chants were incessant, leading Suge to shout "Make you up your mind!" Skrilla outwrestled Suge early. Suge grabbed Skrilla by the nose to get the advantage. Suge foiled Skrilla's first attempt at the Skrillride. Skrilla's second attempt scored a direct hit on referee Rivera. Suge clocked Skrilla with the belt, splashed water on Rivera to revive him and covered Skrilla. An OK match. It lacked chemistry and the dueling chants got to where they were distracting.
Michael Hayes' grandson Evan Hayes was introduced to the crowd. It was Evan's birthday. Carmen Michael was about to lead the crowd in "Happy Birthday!" when James Hardy interrupted with Julius Pryor in tow. They confronted Evan. Michael Hayes appeared on the video screen with a warning to Hardy not to mess with his grandson. Hardy tried to smush a birthday cake in Evan's face. Pryor got the cake face and it was a beauty. Evan speared Hardy. The crowd chanted "happy birthday". This segment was right up Hardy's alley. It was entertaining and got over like gangbusters.
Intermission - Lethal out for photos and signing 8X10s with the fans.
(5) Adam Priest (with Matt Griffin) defeated Michael Solar in 6:29. Griffin said Ryan needed to up his battery budget to provide working mics and invited the crowd to feast their eyes on the best wrestler in Georgia. Priest was doing his heel schtick. Solar got two near falls and had the crowd behind him. Priest hit a piledriver and pulled Solar up at the count of two to give him the DDT. Priest ran back to the ring for another DDT after the match. A night off for Priest. Fine for what it was.
(6) Alex Kane defeated Joe Black to retain the ACTION World Championship in 14:55. It was Bomaye all the way early on. Kane took Black down amateur style and forced him to the ropes. Kane countered Black's apron STO with an apron splash. Black looked like a beaten man until he caught Kane with an armbar around 5 minutes in. Black punished the arm. Black unleashed the two most ungodly stiff chops of the night. Black told Kane he ain't no wrestler, he's a fighter. They forearmed the hell out each other. Kane took Black down and they scrapped on the mat. Kane was glassy eyed. Black transitioned from a falcon arrow into a crossface. Kane suplexed out of it and followed up with a pair of release germans. Kane tried for three. Not happening. Black speared Kane for a close near fall. Kane kicked out of Black's lariat. Kane hit an Olympic slam and a release suplex for the win.
Kane said the match was just what he needed. Black honored him with the bead necklace when he won the MLW World Championship. Tonight, he earned them.
Black gave Kane props. Black said he was going to be 37 and didn't have many years left because he didn't want to be ne those guys too hobbled to play with his kids, but he wasn't done yet. Black said Kane made black history. He hoped kids would look up to Kane, as he did to Booker T and Ahmed Johnson. Kane was a fellow king, his brother and a fellow wrestler.
A wonderful moment. Black is one of the most eloquent speakers in the game.
(7) "The Wall" Tyler Stevens & Deity defeated Shean Christopher & Ravenna Vein in 11:20. Could the resilience and sheer determination of Shean and Ravenna overcome the odds against two dominant physical specimens? Ultimately no, but it was a fun ride. Ravenna pulled Deity off the apron and joined Christopher in doing a number on Stevens. Christopher hit a swanton bomb for a close near fall. Christopher went back to the top rope. Deity upended Christopher and posted Ravenna. Deity brought Christopher off the top with a choke slam and Stevens planted him with his finisher.
Deity is British born, originally trained at WWA4 as Ayzali, and this woman is a beast. She was on the tour of Germany with Stevens. With her extraordinary size and power, Deity would have already been going places had she not missed so much time due to injuries.
(8) Jay Lethal defeated Kevin Ryan in 21:25. Streamers for Ryan. The crowd was by no means against Lethal but they were insanely for Ryan. Handshake to start. I marveled at how Lethal controlled the pace, never rushed and made sure that all the big spots registered. Ryan popped the crowd with springboard back elbow. Lethal accused Ryan of trying to embarrass him. Lethal used a quebradora. Another thing about Lethal was how every thing he did was done with precision. Ryan drove Lethal into the third row of seats with a tope. The intensity was ramping up. Lethal did a running Spanish fly. Ryan kicked out of the Lethal Combination.
Ryan brought Lethal off the top with a spectacular Spanish Fly for a "holy shit" chant A five minutes to go call was made. If a time limit was stated, I missed it and the call came between 17 and 18 minutes. Ryan raced to the top rope and hit an Orihara moonsault that had the crowd going nuts again. Ryan got a crossface and ankle lock. Lethal got the figure four and Ryan made the ropes. Ryan got the figure four and Lethal almost tapped. Less than two minutes to go, crowd losing their minds. As the ref was fixing the apron Lethal had clawed askew, Lethal gave Ryan a low blow. A Lethal Injection followed and it was over.
Great all the way through but those frantic closing minutes was another level.
Lethal said Jeff Jarrett was wearing off on him. He had to cheat to win because Ryan was so freaking amazing. Lethal said he wanted one more match. The ball was in Ryan's court.
With a throng of fans pressed against the ring, Ryan in turn gave Lethal props and said "Holy shit, my balls hurt." Ryan talked about the seminal influences that made him a pro wrestler -- the Eddie Guerrero-Rey Mysterio matches and Ring of Honor wrestling, people like Jay Briscoe, Adam Cole and Jay Lethal.
Lethal
NOTES: A return date to The Spot was announced for May 17...RCW's Ben Thrasher helped out with the show as did Griffin..Referees were Josh Cox, Anthony Rivera, Adam Hunter and Patrick O'Malley were the referees...Lethal did a four hour seminar with about 20 wrestling attendance the afternoon of the show...Notable wrestling personalities in the house and backstage included Kim Skiles, Rhome Senju, Spectre and Andy Alexander.
