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| Photos by Rockstar Sports Photography |
Classic City Wrestling pulled off another successful show at brand new venue.
The issue was in doubt at the listed bell time of 8 pm. 30 minutes later, Terminal West was packed with 200+. Weekend traffic in the entertainment district of Westside Atlanta is a bitch.
CCW served up top drawer independent wrestling along with the ethereal rock music of Wieuca to an audience that was 90% casual wrestling fans and won them over with ease. Not the type of folks to be sitting at home on a Saturday night watching Wrestlemania.
They had few preconceived notions and sized up the wrestlers and each match as it came. They reacted to the impact, the bumps and the visually spectacular elements of the presentation. Their interest in buying merch was almost nil. Of the five CCW events I have attended, this one had the best pacing. The running time was about 2:40. The crowd energy never lagged. CCW kept them involved at high level by keeping it moving and giving them something different in every match.
Emcee/co-promoter Cole Taylor opened the show in his inimitable fashion. Wieuca had the room rocking before the first match got into the ring.
(1) Duncan Avecilla (with Dominic Stuckey & Desmond Chastain) defeated Matt Sells in 11:50. Sells doing his best Sandman imitation was the right way to kick off this show. Avecilla was not being a nice person. He worked over Sells' fingers and wrist to neutralize his palm strike. Sells gave the Double Shot a springboard cutter and a stunner but could not secure the three count. Avecilla backed the ref into the corner so he could mule kick Sells in the groin, then hit a flying knee for three count. Pretty much a perfect opener for this circumstance.
Zach Mosley promo to set up the main event. Mosley had a heavy heart. The main event of was off because Bryce Cannon's calf muscle was ripped had been ripped from his ankle bone. That brought Owen Knight onstage. Mosley said he was doing Knight a favor because he was owed payback Macon and how could he trust Skrilla as his partner anyway? Knight had to admit Mosley had a point about Skrilla. Knight accepted Mosley's invitation to fight. Cornelius Out of nowhere,, Pepperbottom clipped Knight's knee. Skrilla came to Knight's rescue. EY fled the ring. Knight inserted Pepperbottom in Cannon's place. EY took to the stage and threw a hissy fit. Timing is everything and this segment had it.
(3) Dominic Stuckey (with Desmond Chastain) defeated Chip Day in 12:26. The feeling tone turned serious when this match got underway. This was more intense. There was a sense something different was going on here. Iceberg, Murder One and Joe Black were looking on.
Stuckey was on edge. He was running his mouth as they wrestled. Day took Dom down and used wrist control. They traded hard slaps in the face. Day's tornado kick sent Stuckey out of the ring. Chastain stepped in. Stuckey got Day's knee hung up in the ropes and dropped an elbow on it from the top. Said this was his house. Day dropped Dom with a roundhouse. Stuckey had Day's missile dropkick scouted and applied a sharpshooter. Day's stiff reply got a "CCW" chant. Stuckey superkicked Day for a near fall and told him he did this to himself. Day hit a shining wizard, a kneedrop to the base of the neck and a brainbuster. Stuckey was toast. Chastain put his foot on the rope at two. While the ref admonished Chastain, Avecilla ran in with a field goal to Day's gonads and put Stuckey on top of him.
Best match of the show IMO, definitely the most interesting. Chip Day is a treasure of Georgia Wrestling, period, end of story.
(4) Midnight Premier (Marcus Menos & Nate Mansions) defeated Spectre & Samuel Frye in 6:45. Chaotic, sloppy, reckless (without being dangerous) and uproarious fun with a performance by Wieuca simultaneously whipping the crowd into a frenzy. Mansion did a dive off the stage. Menos did one off the bar. Menos went coast-to-coast with a missile dropkick on Spectre and Mansions scored the pinfall.
(5) Dave Stage & Reka Tehaka defeated Nathaniel Vanderbilt & Rose Gold in 10:18. The wheels for this couple vs. couple match were set in motion at the CCW's January show in Athens. Few of these fans had a clue about that but it was clear this match was going to get over as soon as they did the ring entrances. Gold and Vanderbilt were utterly obnoxious. and vaguely disgusting. I've slowly come to appreciate how good Vanderbilt is in his role. The mustached barefoot muscleman and the Polynesian badass were over in an instant. Stage couldn't countenance hitting Gold and she knew it. Gold had no problem giving Stage a low blow. Rehaka took the hot tag and headbutted the hell out of Gold and Vanderbilt. Stage and Rehaka kissed. Rehaka gave Gold a Samoan drop. Stage speared Vanderbilt for the three count.
Musical interlude by Wieuca.
(6) Robert Martyr defeated Najasism via submission in 20:06. Naja came up lame and Martyr targeted the injured knee. Naja's boot came off midway through and wrestled the balance of the match in his socked foot. Martyr was all over the knee with all kinds of submissions. This crowd wasn't much for chats. Naja got one. Naja popped the crowd with a Gori Bomb. They traded submissions leading into the finish. Naja almost had Martyr with a sharpshooter. Naja hit 450 and was in agony as he covered Martyr, who got a foot on the ropes. Martyr got in something like a reverse sharpshooter with tremendous torque and Naja tapped.
Postmatch-- Martyr called the Georgians were belligerent and ignorant but he had to admit Naja was one of the best and just beat his f'n ass. Martyr wanted to shake Martyr's hand. Naja flipped him the bird instead.
NOTES: Along with the return date to the 40 Watt Club in Athens, CCW will also return to the Capitol Theater in Macon on June 1...Paul Santa and Richard Buznego were the referees...Notable wrestling personalities on hand included Iceberg, Terry Lawler, Joe Black and Takuri...Mosley was exaggerating about the severity. However, Cannon did miss the show due to an injury.
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