It's Shindig season.
The high school seniors downtown were decked out in their prom finest on a beautiful Saturday night.
For SFCW, the living in Monroe ain't too bad right now. Day before the show, the free show at the brewery downtown running against them canceled due to the prospect of bad weather. Attendance at 405 Community Court was pushing 300.
Booker Todd Sexton knows what the Southern Fried fans want and he gives it to them on a regular basis. Strikes Back was a case in point. This was a hot show in front of hot crowd and extremely well paced. They ran without an intermission and the event was in the ring before the two hour mark.
The Approved (Nick Halen & Adrian Hawkins) are the new tag team champions and they were not even scheduled to be in the tag team championship match.
The deposed tag team champions, Judais and CT Keys imploded and will settle their differences (maybe) in a match for the Southern Fried Championship at Shindig.
The war between Halen and Southern Fried owner David Manders is the gift that keeps on giving. The next chapter will unfold in an eight man tag match at the go home show for Shindig on May 18.
Will Kaution was back and that was bad news for Classics Champion Billy Buck.
Najasism also returned ready to wreak havoc as the Hoochie Daddy.
Here's the rundown...
Keys hjiacked ring announcer Rick Richards' intro and called for "Judy" to bring him his chain. Judais came out, tossed the chain into the ring and headed back up the aisle. Keys asked for an apology. Judais went back toward the ring looking peeved. The Approved's music hit. Nick Halen & Adrian Hawkins & Bobby Moore attacked Judais. Keys jumped in to help him. Bill Behrens and the refs ran down there to restore order. A "let them fight' chant broke out. Segue to the opening match....and out came the Grapplers in Star Wars get ups.
(1) The Grapplers (#1 & #2 & Xander Seabolt) defeated The Approved (Nick Halen & Adrian Hawkins & Bobby Moore) in 10 minutes or so. Halen and Seabolt took most of the abuse for their respective teams. Grappler #! and Halen knocked noggins. Grapplers tried the switcheroo play but Moore stooged it off. Approved got heat on Tubby..er Seabolt and I could not believe my ears when a "let's go Seabolt" chant erupted. The match broke down to six way chaos outside the ring. Grappler # 1 and one of the Approved brawled to the dressing room and back to ringside. The returning Grappler unmasked revealing Southern Fried owner David Manders. Halen stood in the ring looking gobsmacked and got rolled up by Seabolt.
Don't see how this could have played out any better than it did. Manders under the mask was a hoot for everyone except Halen and Approved.
Halen lost his mind after the match and destroyed a bunch of furniture.
(2) Kenway defeated Dominic Stuckey in 6:40. They made sure to erase any doubt which one them the crowd liked. Kenway took a shot into the turnbuckle and bled copiously from the laceration he suffered in Canton the night before. Dom worked on Kenway's neck. Kenway hit a major league clothesline and pinned Stuckey with a jumping piledriver.
The blood injected some unintended gnarliness. They barely scratched the surface. I'd like to see this match run back somewhere.
(3) "Your American Hero" Joey Hyder (with Alexander Lev) defeated "Prince of Chaos" Tayo in 1:50. Lev is an absolute heat magnet in this building. Tayo surprised Hyder with his aerial attack. Hyder bailed to regroup with Lev. Tayo tried to come out after him and Hyder wrapped him up in the ring. Back inside, Hyder used a Finlay Roll to set up a standing moonsault to pick up the win.
Spot on for quick showcase of Hyder's talent. The heat Lev and Hyder get fully justifies their push.
(4) Billy Buck defeated Alexander Lev (with Joey Hyder) to retain the Classics Championship in 8:44. Buck mocked Lev's catch phrase. He cut off Hyder's first attempt to interfere and was eating Lev alive with chops. On the outside, Hyder interfered behind the back of referee Dee Byers back. Lev gave Buck a running crossbody into the barricade. Lev got heat on Buck. A "Let's go Billy" chant wasn't far behind. Byers caught Hyder in the ring with Buck's title belt and ejected him. Buck reeled off a series of signature moves. Lev used Byers as a diversion to regain a short-lived advantage. Buck got a near fall with a DDT and hit the Buckshot for the win.
My favorite match of the show. Buck is rising to the occasion as the Classics Champion with inspiring babyface fire and energy. He overcame all the chicanery Le and Hyder could throw at him Both of the important singles matches on this show (this one and Kross/James) flowed really well.
Kaution and Jaxon Carter hit the ring after the match. Kaution gave Buck the Kaution Cutter and the cousins beat Buck down until Kenway made the save. Buck saw Kenway holding the belt and ripped it out of his hands. They ended up shaking hands and it was all good between them...for now.
The way things were left, it looked like the fallout would be Buck & Kenway vs. Kauton & Carter.
(5) Kat Spencer (with Rosario Grillo) vs. ??? never happened...but something happened. Grillo ran his insufferable mouth with the crowd doing their dead level best to drown him out. Grillo insisted on calling Spencer the first lady of Southern Fried. Todd Sexton's music hit. Todd entered the ring with revenge on his brain. Grillo was slightly freaked out. Todd pummeled Grillo and stomped a mudhole in him, the then confronted Kat but was hesitant to strike her. Grillo clipped Todd's knee and Kat speared him. Grillo gave Todd the stomp. Kat and Grillo posed over Todd's crumpled body.
Another fire segment. Grillo is so much fun to hate. He gave Halen and Kaution a run for their money as worst person in the Southern Fried universe. After what Kat did to Kelly Sexton at the last show, Todd coming out to confront this lovely couple was beautiful. He sold Kats spear like total devastation. For a women's title with a shaky foundation this was some great smoke and mirrors.
(6) Jacob Ashworth defeated Rob Adonis via DQ in 5:10. A collision of big men. 50/50 while it lasted. Approved came to ringside in mass and attacked Ashworth as he was about to give Adonis the roll of the dice.
Fine as a vehicle to get to the post-match angle while keeping both strong.
All four of Approved starting beating on Ashworth. Manders sprinted to the ring and rolled in to save Ashworth. I saw Manders do this with my own eyes and would never lie. The number were too much. Happy Madness (Sal Rinauro & Sunny Daze) evened the odds. Approved retreated to ringside.
Manders said he had an idea that would fix the Approved's wagon -- an 8 man tag match on May 18. The Approved huddled up to discuss. Hawkins said OK but only if Manders put Approved in the title match tonight. Manders said let the men talk. Manders conferred with the babyfaces and said, "You got it".
A wonderful turn of events. Approved beating on Ashworth and Manders got tremendous heat. The eight man for May 18 was juicy enough on it's own. Adding Approved to the tag title match was an unexpected twist that sidestepped a babyface v babyface main event.
(7) Hunter James (with Triston Michaels) defeated Marcus Kross in 10:33. Hunter came out dressed in black and attempted to orchestrate a 10 bell salute for Xavier Reyes whose wrestling career is said to be in jeopardy due to injury. Triston started ringing the bell. The crowd started a "Viva Xaxier" chant (just as Reyes suggested in his Facebook promo). Kross's music hit.
Kross got a close near fall with a forward rolling cradle right off the bat. This upset James. He bailed. Kross got tired of waiting. He had a baseball slide dropkick and punishing leg kicks in store for James. Hunter begged off... and threw his jacket in Kross' face to create space. Triston interfered. James seized on the opening with a crossface and the Prettiest Power Slam. Kross had to fight up from the bottom. James kept cutting him off. Escapes, counters and a wicked series of kicks by Kross set up a springboard roundhouse kick for a near fall.
Kross was on the top rope for the big finish when Najasism appeared in the aisle wearing black sweats and a COVID mask. James brought Kross off the top rope with a brainbuster for the three count.
Naja entered the ring calling Kross the worst tag team partner he ever had and a piece of garbage. Kross tried to go after Naja but Naja beat Kross down with the mic. Naja stripped down to his leopard print shorts and Hoochie Daddy t-shirt and gyrated around the ring saying he was back at Southern Fried to win titles.
This figured to be the best singles match of the show and it did not disappoint. It flow well and relentlessly built to the moment Naja appeared. The poster said Naja would address his recent actions and he did so with this disgusting display. This put Naja's Southern Fried character in sync with what he's doing at PCW.
(8) The Approved (Nick Halen & Adrian Hawkins) defeated Champions Judais & CT Keys) and Happy Madness (Sal Rinauro & Sunny Daze) to win the Southern Fried Tag Team Championship in 31:47. "Adriana" and "Disapproved" chants abounded. The opening minutes pitted Rinauro against the champions. The Approved intentionally stayed out of the fray. Around six minutes in, Approved got brought in the hard way but not for long. Judais and Daze got in together for some hoss fight action. The Approved pulled Judais out of the ring. The Approved got their first burst of offense of the match against Rinauro. Daze served as a platform for Rinauro's flip dive to the outside. Sal was looking to go Goldberg with a jackhammer on Halen. Hawkins said hell no to that.
Judais and Keys gave Approved three body slams in stereo, the teamed up for a pop spear on Hawkins. Moore and Adonis came to ringside and yanked Hawkins out of the ring. Ashworth and Manders ran in to check Moore and Adonis. Meanwhile, Judais inadvertently speared Keys as Hawkins got out of the way. Judais double chokeslammed Approved. Keys punched Judais. Keys and Judais got into a slugfest. They spilled out of the ring and brawled their way to dressing room. Rinauro and Halen went back and forth with pin attempts. Rinauro hit a Tiger Driver and Hawkins broke up the pin. Happy Madness took over on Approved with a slew of big moves. Sal's knee gave out. It looked serious. Head of security Rodney Hix came to check on him. As Sal tried to hobble to his corner, Hawkins tacked his bad knee and laid him out with the Unprettier. Daze broke up the pin but was left to go it alone. Hawkins hit a Codebreaker on Sunny and Halen followed with a top rope elbow drop for the pin.
The wild and woolly closing minutes was great stuff. Sal's selling of the knee was super believable. Approved got their asses handed to them and still won the match. Overall, the match would have been just as effective if not more so at 20 minutes in length. 32 minutes should be reserved for only the most special occasions. This wasn't that special.
Judais demanded a match with Keys at Shindig and said Todd would make the match if he was on the right side.
Good match. It would have been just as effective if not more so at 20 minutes in length. 32 minutes should be reserved for only the most special occasions. This wasn't that special.
NOTES: Southern Fried has a show at Food Truck Friday in Auburn, GA on May 10. at 6:15 pm...Keys vs. Chip Day was also announced for May 18...Referee David Weakley was backstage after having a very rough week. His mother passed away and he was injured at work, such that is on crutches and awaiting the results of an MRI on his knee...Hawkins has now been a Southern Fried tag team champion on three occasions. Hawkins and Moore are two time champions...Adam Vance and John Johnson provided the commentary for the video release...Darryl Hall and Dee Byers were the referees...Rick Page was on the rover camera.
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