ACTION Forever -- Tyrone on April 26

  Photo by Allie McPhetridge From Larry Goodman: ACTION Wrestling celebrated their 6th anniversary in phenomenal fashion at ACTION Forever. ...

 

Photo by Allie McPhetridge

From Larry Goodman:

ACTION Wrestling celebrated their 6th anniversary in phenomenal fashion at ACTION Forever.

It's my show of the year to this point. ACTION superfan Ben Zani, who has seen virtually every show  in Tyrone said it was top five in company history, maybe top three. ACTION may have put on better shows, none I've seen had more truly great matches  combined with such compelling storytelling.

One Called Manders is the new ACTION World Champion. Manders ended the reign of former MLW World Champion Alex Kane at 140 days in a thriller of an opening match. 

Mustafa Ali made his world stop at ACTION by successfully defending the  TNA X Division World Championship against Landon Hale in a match filled with superb athleticism. Ali brought world class greatness to the fans in Tyrone.

The IWTV World Championship changed hands until it didn't. Adam Priest was announced as the new champion after defeating Krule in a "regular" wrestling match, only to see the decision reversed.

Matt Sells got his head shaved, or more accurately, shaved his own head in the middle of the ring after calling it quits to save partner Jaden Newman. The Good Hand (Suge D & Kevin Ryan) are the new ACTION Tag Team Champions.

The Roger Spencer Community Center was as packed to the gills -- standing room only around 300 total in room.

The show livestreamed with Dylan Hales and Mose on commentary. 

Priest was in the ring with Scott Hensley as the show went live on IWTV.  He said Krule had never beaten him in a regular pro wrestling match and that was the stipulation tonight. If Krule beat him, he was leaving ACTION for good.

(1) One Called Manders defeated Alex Kane (with Suge D & Kevin Ryan & Tyler Stevens & Kasey Owens) to win the ACTION World Championship in 14:34. Before the match, Suge said Good Hand had an unmarked grave waiting for Manders. The crowd was on their feet for Manders' entrance. 

Right from the jump, Kane speared Manders for a near fall. Kane went on to dominate the opening minutes. Manders gave Kane a hotshot to the gut. Kane evaded Manders' first lariat. Kane intermittently attacked Manders' right arm to take away the lariat. Kane was on a roll. Manders slipped out of his Olympic Slam and connected with a northern lariat and had Kane pinned with an Oklahoma Stampede. Suge pulled referee Darryl Hall out of the ring. Hall ejected Good Hand from ringside. Kane's title reign was clearly in grave jeopardy. A tremendous series of back and forth false finishes got a "this is awesome" chant. After a cavalcade of suplexes by Kane, the end appeared to be near. Manders pulled out a Northern lariat and a kill shot lariat to take the title. The building exploded for the title change. 

Ejecting Good Hand was nice piece of business to foreshadow the title change. Switching the title in a great match in the opener got the show off to one hell of a hot start. I thought the poor saps that had to follow it were in for a rough time. I thought wrong.

(2) Buff & Fluff Connection (Sean Legacy & Cody Fluffman) defeated Slime Szn (J Spade & Bu Ku Dao) in 8:49. And now for something completely different. Buff & Fluff super over as usual. Slime Szn are veteran Luke Hawx guys. They did a chicken fight chain wrestling spot to kick things off. Slime Szn gave Legacy a double team Meteora but Fluffman broke up the pin. Buff & Fluff teamed up on  a pop up punch and Legacy pinned Dao. 

An entertaining match in a lighthearted vein was the perfect juxtaposition to the opener.Legacy turned his ankle on the finish and had to limp his way to the back but was OK after the show.

(3) Darian Bengston defeated Dex Royal in 9:15. Good match with Bengston's unique chain wrestling skills and Royal's striking game on display. Crowd quiet but studying the match. Bengston hit broke out his double jump phoenix senton. Royal got a close near fall with a springboard splash. Bengston beat him with his flying clothesline.  Royal's nasty attitude notwithstanding, he receive appreciative applause on his way to the back. 

(4) Out Of This World (Arik Royal & BK Westbrook & Ellie Envy) defeated Squatting Dragons (Erron Wade & Kody Manhorn) & Rachel Armstrong in 12:19. The shine built to a triple dropkick on Royal followed by Armstong's top rope splash. Manhorn could not countenance hitting Envy and paid dearly. He took an ungodly beating. Royal almost killed Manhorn with a press slam into the turnbuckles.  Wade hit a 450 on Royal but Envy pulled referee Sanderson out of the ring. Wade's leg gave out on a tornado kick and Royal pinned him with a Kobe off the top rope. 

Having the women in the mix worked. Envy can hang with the men. She was seriously laying her stuff in and has a wicked Bossman slam. Armstrong is a dynamo and her size make her an appealing underdog. 

(5) The Good Hand (Suge D & Kevin Ryan) defeated Matt Sells & Jaden Newman in a Texas Tornado match with no DQ and no count outs to win the ACTION Tag Team Championship where the loser of the fall lost his hair (12:50). The heel babyface dynamic could scarcely have been any stronger. Instant wild action. Ryan wore the babyfaces out with a steel chair. The heels executed Van Terminators in stereo. The babyfaces buried Suge and Ryan under a ladder and smashed the ladder with chair. Newman splashed the ladder like a complete maniac. The crowd chanted for tables. Sell and Newman applied dual submissions. Steven and Owens hit the ring to make it four against two. The crowd hated that. Sells did the Terry Funk ladder spot. This was great. Everyone in good hand took stiff looking shots and bumped big.  Alex Kane interfered and took Sells to suplex island. Newman cleaned house on Good Hand with a chair. The crowd again chanted for tables.  

In the end, the numbers were too insurmountable for the Sell and Newman to overcome. Suge and Ryan hit the Violator 420 on Newman. Suge produced a hammer from somewhere and was unmercifully destroying Newman with the hammer. Sells couldn't take it any more and quit. 

Suge relished the opportunity to clip cut off Sells' hair. He stated with scissors and called for the razor. Sells gabbed the razor and deprived Suge of the pleasure by doing the job himself. Sells was filled with rage. He left without his hair but with his pride intact.

I loved the ECW tribute aspects of the match, although the crowd never did get those tables. The head shaving was something. I'd never seen a head shaving where the babyface shaved his own head. 

(6) Mustafa Ali defeated Landon Hale to retain the TNA X Division Championship in 15:47. Crowd wasn't against Ali but their hearts were with Hale. Rapid fire, chain wrestling exchange to a stalemate. Ali told Hale he wasn't good enough and dominated the action for several minutes.  The crowd got behind Hale. BIG clothesline got him back in the match. He tried for the SPO driver (his finisher) but Ali escaped and tried for a springboard cutter and Hale caught him midair with dropkick. Ali dropped Hale from the top rope with gordbuster. Brutal. Ali did a tope that sent both men clean through the front row of chairs. Ali went for the 450. Hale moved but Ali immediately applied a crossface. Hale got a nosebleed. Ali smeared the blood on his chest. Ali hit a sunset powerbomb. Hales' near fall came after a top rope Spanish fly. They traded forearms. Hales tried for the SPO Driver and Ali countered into a jackknife pin for the three count.

Every bit as good as anyone could have hope for. The crowd gave them a standing ovation. The chances of Hale winning were extremely slim to begin with and with the X Division title on the line there was no way, so they were smart to limit the times Hales tried to pin Ali.  Hales was kept strong in the sense Ali had to resort to counter move to beat him. 

Ali put Hale and ACTION Wrestling over on the mic. Ali said he had been to some amazing companies like ACTION during his world tour but they didn't always have worthy opponents for him. "That sir, does not apply to you." Ali gave Hale the ring. Hales was moved by the moment and was embraced by promoter Matt Griffin on his way to the back.

(7) Krule defeated Adam Priest via DQ to retain the IWTV World Championship in 14:09. No matter how many times I see it, Krule's entrance is spellbinding. The power of Krule ruled early. Priest appeared to have no chance. Based on their history, both men instinctively looked under the ring for weapons.  Priest got untracked in a big way with tornado DDT to the ring apron, then a hotshot off the top rope, then a dragon screw to set up a figure four leglock. Krule made the ropes. Krule applied a figure four and Priest had to go to the ropes. Krule absorbed a plethora of chops and sent Priest down with one chop. Krule's foot got hung up in the ropes. Priest capitalized with a  german suplex and went up top for an Alabama Jam but Krule kicked out. 

Krule brought Priest off the top rope with two thurmbs to the eyes. Priest DDTed referee David Sanderson. Only a blind man could have mistaken Sanderson for Krule. Referee Darryl Hall took over. When Priest kicked out of Scorched Earth and it looked like another title change was in the offing. Priest escaped Krule's choke slam and pinned him clean in the middle with the DDT. 

Priest was announced as the champion. The building was in an uproar as Sanderson waved off the finish and Krule was announced as the winner by DQ.

Priest went off on Dylan Hales and Matt Griffin. He shoved Hales. The crowd wanted the match restarted. Hales gave them the next best thing -- a rematch inside a steel cage when ACTION returns to Tyrone on June 21.

I love this match because of how different it was from their previous matches and all of the matches on the show. The crowd bit hard on the Dusty finish and it actually suceeded in sending the fans home happy with the prospect of a cage match at the next show. Mind boggling there's never been a cage match here in six years.

NOTES: ACTION's next show is  May 16 (a Thursday night) at Line Creek Brewing in Newnan with O'Shay Edwards vs. Stevens and the return of Anthony Henry announced...ACTION returns to Tyrone on June 21...Sells, Royal, Hales, Hall, and Hensley were all part of the first ACTION show on April 27, 2018...Robert Gibson (Hale's trainer) did a meet and greet before the show...Saraya Saber was on the rover camera...Michael Solar also assisted with production...Notable wrestling personalities in the house and backstage included Al Getz, Jameson Shook, Ryan Rembrandt, Bret Wolverton, Brandon Benefield, Carmen Michael and Brayden Toon.