From John Johnson: Sometimes the magic of professional wrestling comes from the greatest artist of the times painting their visions on a 16x...
From John Johnson:
Sometimes the magic of professional wrestling comes from the greatest artist of the times
painting their visions on a 16x16 canvas that inspires generations to someday become artist. On
a windy March Saturday the artists became inspired by the unconditional love of one of their
youngest muses. Mason Andrews, an 8-year-old fan who follows Georgia wrestling with a
watchful eye and a keen understanding of the art of professional wrestling, watched as the very
best in Georgia created the magic that his imagination captured while playing with his wrestling
figures. While one can argue their have been bigger and more historic events in Georgia, one
cannot argue from an emotional standpoint this one has greater significance than most.
The Royston Dome was home for the Mason Wrestling Federation’s Rasslin in Royston event.
200 plus fans packed The Dome to join a proverbial who’s who of Georgia wrestling’s talent
pool to show appreciation for this young fan. Mason is a super fan of Georgia wrestling, so
much so that he created his own list of his top wrestlers. By the end of this evening, Mason
would have a chance to etch his name next to one of his favorites,
Hunter James/Scott Mayson/NIck Halen w/Triston Michaels and Kelly Sexton def. The
Grapplers/Xander Seabolt
Todd Sexton was announced as the special guest referee for this six man match-up. The
Grapplers and Xander Seabolt came out with the Georgia Six-Man Tag Team Championships.
Hunter James and Triston Michaels were the next out followed by Scott Mayson and lastly NIck
Halen who stopped short on the ramp to bring out The 1st Lady of Southern Fried
Championship Wrestling, Kelly Sexton. This was everything you would expect from the
competitors involved. Nick Halen and Hunter James brought the impressive athleticism while
Scott Mayson brought the pure brawling. As a side note, Scott Mayson and Xander Seabolt
have been involved in a feud in Royston Dome’s home promotion SCA. However in the past few
weeks, Seabolt filed a TPO against Mayson that ultimately led to Mayson’s firing from SCA. The
night before at the SCA event, a familiar looking masked man made his debut, The Broad River
Brawler. On this night though, Scott Mayson was there as a booked talent of the MWF. He
managed to get his hands sparringly on Seabolt. Todd Sexton was not having any of the
shenanigans of the Grapplers as he caught them several times trying their signature switching.
In the end the action would break down with all six men getting involved. The Grapplers would
attack Todd Sexton. It would turn into finishers on parade as WC of the Grapplers would find
himself on the receiving end of James, Mayson, and Halen’s best shots, but it would be Kelly
Sexton who got the pin.
Billy Buck def. CT Keys
This was a showcase match-up featuring between two men who recently joined the elite list of
Southern Fried Triple Corwn winners. Billy Buck, the Southern Fried Classic champion faced off
against one-half of the SFCW tag team champions, CT Keys. A brief history lesson here, it was
2 years ago that Billy Buck and CT Keys locked up in a SFCW ring for the Southern Fried
Heavyweight Championship. While no titles were on the line in this match-up an equally
important big bucket of pride was. Billy went for the Buckshot very early on in the match, but CT
Keys ducked it. Keys used his power advantage to take control of the match. Buck fought back
with his signature heart and determination that has been a staple for 22 years. When things
seemingly got out of hand for Keys he went for his chain. The referee quickly blocked that
attempt and as he was removing it from the ring, Keys went into his tights for brass knuckles.
He hit Buck with them and secured a pinfall. As the referee was raising Keys’ hand, he noticed
the knucks and ordered the match restarted. As the bell rung to restart the match Buck hit a
perfectly placed Buckshot to the jaw of Keys and scored a pinfall victory.
Kyle Phillips def. Adrian Hawkins
This was quite possibly one of the more interesting match-ups signed for this event. Adrian
Hawkins a near 20 year veteran of pro-wrestling was taking on the arrogant, young Kyle Phillips.
Phillips who appears for SCA is a former SCA Friday Night Champion, while Hawkins is on the
verge of a Southern Fried Wrestling Championship match with Judias. Of course, Hawkins is
also another name on that elite list of Southern Fried Triple Crown winners. Hawkins experience
was on display early on in this contest, but Phillips kept finding ways to stay in the match-up. In
the end it would be perhaps the shock of the night as Kyle Phillips scored a pinfall victory over
Hawkins.
Jacob Ashworth def. Bobby Moore for the MWF Heavyweight Championship
Find me two other guys who redefine toughness like Bobby moore and Jacob Ashworth. I think
that would be a tough task to pull off. Nonetheless, Ashworth and Moore locked it up to
determine who would win the Mason Wrestling Federation Heavyweight Championship. This
was a fight from the opening bell. It was a back and forth battle with both men hitting big shots
and coming with in inches of victory. In the end it was Ashworth hitting the Ashes to Ashes on
Moore and gaining the win and the
MWF Heavyweight Championship.
Azrael/Crystal Rose def. The Unrated (TJ Trigger/Austin Thorne)
The husband and wife duo of Rose and Azrael were paired off against the arrogant duo of the
Unrated. A little history here as it was Rose and Azrael that trained Trigger and Thorne at The
Landmark Ludis. Very early on it was apparent that the teachers were in control, but soon the
students found an opening. At one point in the match after a low blow on Azrael, Trigger used a
cheap shot to take Crystal off the apron. This brought in Rose and Azrael’s son, Leo to the ring.
As he stood their facing The Unrated, he low blowed Trigger. This prompted Throne to grab Leo
and violently grab him. Rose by this point was back in the ring and Azrael got to his feet. In the
end the husband and wife duo were victorious. The family celebrated in the ring.
Frosted Faith (Alexander Lev/Stevie Frost) def. Happy Madness (Sal Rinuaro/Sunny
Daze), The Undeniable (Shane Marx/Brian Blaze)w/Matt Hankins, and The All-Star Special
(Jay 2 Strong/Hold My Beer Hanson) to win the MWF Tag Team Titles
Frosted Faith, Alexander Lev and Stevie Frost, were the odd team out in this match-up. While
both men have seen success in singles action across the state, they had never teamed with one
another until this evening. They were facing 3 of the most decorated and tenured teams in
Georgia. The Undeniable, multiple time Anarchy and Southern Fried Tag Team Champions
entered first with their usual flare for the dramatic. Their entrance was abruptly cut short, which
infuriated Matt Hankins. Next out was All-Star Special, fromer Southern Honor tag team
champions. The fans sang along with Bon Jovi’s Livin’ on a Prayer as Hanson and 2Strong
made their way to the ring. Next was the team of Anarchy’s 5-Star MVP Champion Alexander
Lev and former SCA Heavyweight Champion Stevie Frost. And finally the team of Happy
Madness, former Southern Fried andSouthern Honor tag team champions. It was the usual
antics of Sal Rinuaro as he hoisted the man of the honor (or kid of the hour) Mason Andrews on
his shoulders and gave him a lap around the ring. Once the match started, it was an all-out war.
This was an elimination style match. The first team eliminated was All-Star Special despite their
best efforts. The next team to find the exit door was The Undeniable. It was down to Frosted
Faith and Happy Madness. Rinuaro and Daze used their experience as an established team to
throw off the younger competitors. However, it was a lapse in judgement after hitting the
Cowabunga on Frost who was not the legal man, that allowed Lev to scoop in and pin Rinuaro
with a school boy roll up. This shocking upset, led to Frosted Faith become the inaugural MWF
TagTeam Champions.
Anarchy Announcement
Right before the main event, Jonathan Feltner entered the ring to thank the fans for coming out
and what the night meant. He was very candid in what had happened prior to SCA and The
Royston Dome establishing themselves this past September. He talked about what wrestling
has meant to Royston and how saving that building gave him a chance to give back to all of
wrestling. He then called out Anarchy owner Adrian Locklear. Both men were very
complimentary of each other as they discussed adversity and how they both know what it has
meant. The discussion turned to the recent turmoil for Anarchy Wrestling. Anarchy had lost their
home, The Landmark Arena. Despite having events in different venues throughout Georgia,
they just didn’t have a home. Jonathan Feltner said that was about to change and turned
everyone’s attention to the video screen. There, a video played talking about home and how
starting this summer The Royston Dome was going to be home for Anarchy Wrestling. This
brought out a huge reaction from the crowd. Both men shook hands and the Anarchy banner
was raised between the two men. Things just got very interesting in Georgia.
Mason Andrews won The Royston Rumble to become The MWF World Champion
The Royston Rumble was the main event and it started with Tower and Jay Shaw. Every minute
a new competitor would enter the fray. It didn’t take long for Tower to eliminate Jay Shaw. As
Tower stalked around the ring Alex Kytel was introduced as the next competitor. He too didn’t
last very long. Nicky Hyde was the next one in against Tower and like the other 2 before him
found himself on the end of an early exit. The next one in was an unexpected entrant as the
pint-sized Benny Bicardi entered the Rumble. Benny took his time getting to the ring and once
there took even longer getting in. Benny very sheepishly went up to Tower and kicked him in the
shin. It had zero effect on the 7 foot monster. Benny again went in very cautiously and kicked
the other shin to the same result. As Tower seemingly had enough and he went after Benny, Jacob Ashworth would enter the ring. Tower and Ashworth went at it, and the ring began to pile
up with competitors. Kyle Phillips, TJ Trigger, Austin Thorne, James Boulevard, Nick Halen,
Xander Seabolt and others entered. At one point Trigger and Thorne eliminated Boulevard. In
SCA there has been some controversy over who the actually tag team champions are.
Boulevard claims he and his partner Joe Street are the champions while Trigger argues he and
Thorne are the champions. Boulevard realized both belts were on the table and grabbed them
Trigger eliminated himself to grab “his” tag title from Boulevard. The action continued until we
got down to Nick Halen and Xander Seabolt. This is when the final entrant was announced.
“Money” Mason Andrews, MMA, was coming to enter The Royston Rumble and he was
accompanied by Scott Mayson. Nick Halen picked up Money Mason and assisted him with a
kick that eliminated Seabolt. It was now down to Mason and his favorite wrestler Nick Halen.
Nick explained that his catchphrase may be “Who’d you pay to see”, but tonight the folks paid to
see Mason Andrews. He went on to explain they had two choices, they could fight it out to see
who would win, or Halen could just go over the top rope and eliminate himself. Halen chose the
latter and eliminated himself, giving Money Mason Andrews the win and the MWF World Title. It
was an amazing sight and one that left the capacity crowd in the Royston Dome happy.
Pro-wrestling is indeed this amazing thing. It brings together folks of different backgrounds and
bounds them together. Once together this melting pot of humanity can create some magical
moments. All too often though the melting pot boils over because there is too much ego or
distrust involved. However, on a night like tonight, the egos are sifted out, placed not on the
back burner but where they belong, in the garbage. The artists remember why they fell in love
with the art to begin with. They present a new canvas and an amazing piece of art is created.
On this beautiful spring evening in northeast Georgia, an 8-year-old’s love and appreciation for
pro-wrestling led to a new appreciation from the men and women who create the art he loves.
They came together to create a memory this young man will never forget. I am sure 10 years
from now, as he prepares to leave for college, he will recall this evening with his family and with
his friends and look back with great fondness of what he inspired to be created. Thank you
Mason Andrews, you are indeed, MONEY!!!!
