 |
| Photos by Kylee Marie |
Since 2017, the Rumble event has been the precursor to the Scenic City Invitational. The winner of the Rumble match earns a spot in the SCI field.
Chattanooga area wrestler Erron Wade was this year's winner, joining an accomplished list of past winners -- Bobby Flaco, Billie Starkz, AC Mack, Corey Hollis and Tank.
Tank and Paul London were also announced as entrants for the SCI. Tickets are now on sale at sciwrestling.com.
This year's Rumble was held at East Hamilton High School. Of the SCI shows I've attended in high school gyms, this was one of my favorites. They had a big crowd (500) but it that wasn't it. The tendency has been for the enthusiasm of the casual fans in the bleachers to wane as the night wears on. Not this group. They started hot and stayed hot almost all night long.
The wrestlers entered from the stage which worked well visually. Sound was OK. Readers of my reports know my love of gymnasium lighting so there was that.
Co-bookers Scott Hensley and Matt Griffin did a nice job of laying out the show for maximum effect. The mix of match types worked. It had a little something for all kinds of tastes. The show ran a little more than two and half hours with no intermission.
The show streamed live on IWTV with Dylan Hales and John Mosley on commentary.
Hill and Hale displayed sportsmanship after the match. They pulled off a high wire act and took god care of each other. It was the only match on the show of this type. Good thing because nobody was going to top it.
(2) The Good Hand (Suge D & Kevin Ryan with Tyler Stevens & Kasey Owens) defeated Buff & Fluff Connection (Sean Legacy & Cody Fluffman) to retain the ACTION Tag Team Championship in 10:45. A spicy blend of good wrestling and sports entertainment. Another town conquered by Buff & Fluff, no small thanks to the Good Hand. Buff and Fluff brought the ass weapon of mass destruction came into play.
The Good Hand isolated Fluff. A big clothesline by Fluff led to the tag and Legacy's patented double missile dropkick.Fluff few through the air with the greatest of ease.
Post-match, Good Hand kicked the crap out of Buff and Fluff. The appearance of Lobo Okami got a big pop. He put the fear of God into Good Hand and they all ran off including Stevens, which looked completely ridiculous.
(3) Darian Bengsten defeated Hunter Drake to retain the TWE Championship in 8:51. Bengsten does things a little bit differently from everybody else. Drake being so unbearably arrogant and so tiny got incredible heat. And even more infuriating, his work is crisp. Bengsten slammed Drake on his neck out of a full nelson. They were nose-to-nose as they came to their feet Bengsten scored a close near fall with a Whisper in the Wind. Drake caught Bengsten mid-ring with a Spanish fly and declared he was the TWE champ but his sitout powerbomb didn't quite get the job done. Neither did Bengsten's Tiger Driver. Bengsten sat Drake on the top rope and planted him flatliner style (never seen that before), then finished him off with a flying clothesline.
Good match. It was easy to see why Bengsten had done so well as the TWE Champion.
(4) Tank (with The Reverend) defeated Bojack in 6:40. Rev's intro for Tank was great. Rev's intros are always great. I loved the way this match was laid out. Tank went over for reasons that would become obvious. Bojack was kept strong in a losing effort.
Tank couldn't budge the brick wall that his Bojack with three shoulder blocks. Bojack knocked Tank down and out of the ring with one. Tank sat down and got pummeled by Bojack. They battled in the bleachers. Tank was eating chops. He gave Bojack a headbutt and bit his hand. Back inside, Tank used a leg kick to get Bojack off his feet and applied a spinning toe hold. They went back and forth with stiff forearms shots. Tank landed a spinning backfist and pinned Bojack with a Saito suplex.
They did a show or sportsmanship. Rev put Bojack over on the mic.
Rev said one mountain Tank was yet to climb was winning the SCI tournament. He was 53, the same age as Terry Funk was when he won the ECW Championship and he wanted one more shot. SCI's Scott Hensley made it official.
(5) Adam Priest defeated Derek Neal in 12:56. Priest wanted to keep it clean. Neal wasn't having it and slapped him. Priest retaliated and shifted into high gear with a plancha off the turnbuckles. They brawled on the floor. Neal hit a giant superplex and both men sustained damage. Neal was working on Priest's back. Priest took a nasty bump on his neck on Neals' sitout powerbomb. Priest applied a figure four. Neal slung the ref on top of Priest to break the hold. They traded blows on their knees. Priest got a close near fall with a release german flowing into a top rope splash and both were down again. Neal crashed to the mat after a missed corner dropkick and Priest immediately went for the DDT.
This my favorite match of the night. They changed speeds. The deeper they got into the match, the bigger they sold. It was a war of attrition. The damage had accumulated such that one mistake by Neal cost him the mach in the end.
(6) Krule defeated Arik Royal in a no DQ match to retain the IWTV World Championship in 11:12. Krule got a star reaction, ominous, very different from anybody else on the show.
Krule upended Royal on the ring apron and did a number on Royal with the ring frame. Back inside, Royal broke out a spinwheel kick. They traded exploder suplexes. Krule shrugged off Royal's chops and put him down with one open hand. Royal resorted to a low blow to open the door for a powerbomb near fall. But Krule kicked out of the Kobe and chokeslammed Royal.
Priest hit the ring and propped a table up in the corner. Krule sent Priest crashing through the table. Royal hit a springboard Kobe. When Krule kicked out of second Kobe, the handwriting was on the wall. One Scorched Earth and it was over.
Krule went up into the bleachers. Kids crowded around him to get into the camera shot.
Really good action. Not much heat for the body of the match. The crowd needed to find their second wind, and this was the third match in a row with an abundance of strikes and brawling. Business picked up with Priest's arrival and they heated up for the finish.
(7) Erron Wade won the 30 man rumble to earn a spot in the SCI tournament field and the right to choose his opponent in the opening round (49:08).
Order of entrants:
1. Nick Iggy
2. Landon Hale
3. Damon Striker
4. Joey Hyder
5. Kasey Owens (with Suge D & Kevin Ryan)
6. Andres Reyes
7. Rob Killjoy
8. Mortar
9. Lucas Chase
10. Kenny Kalix
11. Luminary
12. Anakin Murphy
13. Skunk
14. Trey Havoc
15. Tyler Stevens
16. Jay-Villa
17. Kody Manhorn
18. Analog
19. Josh Locke
20. Jay Alpha Miller
21. Buttercream
22. Erron Wade
23. Saraya Saber
24. Bojack
25. Cody Fluffman
26. Dylan Crossley
27. Kindred Alan
28. Lutha X
29. Sean Legacy
30. Diego Hill
A mix of wrestlers skilled at their craft and guys that didn't know shit from shinola. They didn't hold to strict times between wrestler entrances and they kept them coming at a brisk pace. The lesser lights got 15-30 seconds of fame before the next wrestler entered. Skunk didn't even get that. Havoc and Miller looked the most like real pro wrestlers. Brutal in the ring but the crowd Buttercream was given mic time to do his schtick. Since it was a benefit show, Buttercream tossed deodorant and mouthwash into the crowd. He also gave away books with titles for punchlines.. Kids were swarming him to get those books.
There was a nice early exchange between Killjoy and Hale. The eliminations picked up when Stevens entered the match and exited a number of people fast. The confrontation between Stevens and Bojack got a reaction. So did Bojack being the one to eliminate Stevens. The 30 man mess boiled down to the right people at the end and the closing minutes were compelling. Killjoy eliminated Legacy. Owens' Good Hand brethren saved him and got Hill out of the match. Squatting Dragons (Wade & Manhorn) eliminated Fluff. After much angst, the TWE group banded together to eliminate Killjoy. Owens turned on Manhorn and he was out. Wade got revenge for his partner by eliminating Owens. Down to Killjoy and Wade and it was really good. Wade clotheslined Killjoy over the top to win.
The true beauty of the finish was Wade was not told he was going to win. His emotional reaction was real. The excitement of the fans that knew him was real.
NOTES: Kim Skiles, Patrick O'Malley and Kat Carter were the referees....Notable personalities in the house included Conrad Thompson (in support of Buttercream), Al Getz (who gave me my first opportunity to write about pro wrestling), Andrew Alexander and Dezirae Lawrence (DO Photography)
