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| Photos by Amy Hawkins |
Kevin Ryan and Terry Yaki had an insane car crash of a match that was equally compelling in an entirely different way.
Work rate is Forever Pro's strong suit. Chip Day vs. Chris Crunkk and Rico Gonazlez were also high caliber matches and there was not a weak match on the card.
Gonzalez is now ensconced as the number one heel and is cruisin' for a bruisin' from Crunkk.
Matt Griffin is right behind Gonzalez on the most hated villain list after his vicious attack on Ryan, the idol of the Calhoun faithful.
Attendance was in the neighborhood of 80 paid, down from May which was down from Forever's debut show in March that drew close to 200. The crowd skewed young and were loudly enthusiastic for every match. I think Forever Pro would be better off starting at 7:30 on a Friday night. Seems like almost everybody gets there early.
Among the many things I found to like about this show, the run time wasn't one of them. (3 hours). Except for Black vs. T.I.M, all of the match than went more than 10 minutes would have been just as good or better with a couple of minutes shaved off.
The show was taped for later release on IWTV with Dylan Hales and Mose on commentary.
(Pre-show) Dante Darko defeated Jason Hampton and Space Cowboy and Troy Carter and Zach Dye and Mr. Sexy and NBY King JT in a scramble match (3:47). Darko won with a good looking version of the spiral tap.
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through the curtain. As Lucas was hunting him, Rico ran back in through another entrance and blindsided Lucas with a kick in the face. Lucas was almost counted out. Rico controlled the body of the match. When Rico crashed and burned on a twisting senton, Lucas took his head off with a lariat. Gonzalez cowered behind the ref and used him as a shield to regain the advantage. Gonzalez broke out the AC Mack diving one foot dropkick into the corner. Lucas tried for the double underhook piledriver. Rico fought it off and reversed it with a huracanrana.
Under the cover of darkness, Crunk sneaked up behind Gonzalez but Rico got escaped. Crunk put Lucas over and said Rico's days were numbered.
Great way to open. Rico is a scumbag of a heel and he was relishing the role. Lucas is too talented not be getting booked on more shows.
Been too long since CMD wrestled in Georgia. It was fun seeing him mix it up with Rinauro and kind of amazing they had never wrestled each other before.
Rinauro and Daze attacked CMD after the bell. The unlikeliest of candidates made the save. Shane Oakley had shown zero redeeming qualities during the first two show but said he would not stand by while a respected individual was taken advantage of...and we had ourselves a tag match.
Highly suspicious but Oakley was convincing enough that the crowd bought it.
(3) Happy Madness (Sal Rinauro & Sunny Daze) defeated CMD & Shane Oakley in 7:42. Sal cheated to set up heat on CMD. Oakley cleaned house and had Rinauro pinned with a blue thunder bomb but referee Hunter ruled Sal was not the legal man. As confusion reigned, Oakley blasted CMD with a kendo stick. Happy Madness hit their finisher on CMD and Daze pinned him.
A travesty of justice. Surely CMD will be seeking revenge.
Rocky Shaw turned the role of commissioner over to Ben Thrasher. Shaw said this would be on an interim basis due to his recovery from surgery and with 26 years of experience in pro wrestling, Thrasher was the man for the job. Thrasher said Billington was unable to appear due to AEW commitments.
(4) Joe Black defeated T. I. M. in 14:40. The tension with thick enough to cut with a knife. TIM told Joe he'd waited 10 years to end all of this. Right off the jump, TIM did backflipped off the apron to his feet. Joe came after him with a tope into a DDT. Black gave TIM the loudest, stiffest chops of the night. TIM caught Black on the button with a flying knee off the apron. Back inside, TIM stomped Black to death in the corner. TIM started screwing around with the mask Black wore into the ring. Black went nuts. He gave TIM a piledriver on the concrete floor. TIM was almost counted out. Back inside, they traded more brutal shots. Black hit a pop up neckbreaker. Where did that come from? TIM rolled through on a moonsault got speared by Black for a close near fall. Black used a southpaw lariat. TIM almost lost Black at the peak on a sitout powerbomb but hit the move. Black gave TIM the kill shot to the base of the skull. TIM kicked out at one. TIM slapped Black across the face. Black got the enough is enough expression on his face and ended it by pulling TIMs arm through his legs and dropping him on his head.
Black told TIM he was proud of him and the man he'd become. Said he was one of the best he'd ever shared a ring with and from his black and gnarled heart he loved him. TIM gave Joe a low blow. As Joe crumbled to the mat, TIM kissed him on the forehead and left wearing the mask Joe wore to the ring.
I loved this - the depth of the story, the interesting choices they made about what to do and when to do it, the level of intensity They captured the crowd with an electrifying opening sequence. There was no point in anybody throwing chops after these guys got through. Their match for VPW coming out of the pandemic was one of my favorites matches of 2021. Black was recovering from an achilles tendon injury and couldn't do what he can now. I wonder how many times I've written that Joe Black was in the best match of the show.
A hoss fight of a different kind. A zany comedy, high energy vibe set this match apart.
Crunkk dodged Day's finisher and went for a Texas cloverleaf. Rico was sneaking up to the ring. Crunkk saw Rico coming but did not see Day's tornado kick coming until it was too late.
The most technical match of the show. Day' showed why he was voted as the the best technical wrestler in Georgia with his dissection of Crunkk's ankle. Crunkk hung right with him and is over like a superstar.
Rico choked Crunkk out with his serape. That earned him a "fuck you, Rico" chant from the crowd.
(7) Jamesen Shook defeated Brandon Williams in 7:15. Shook won with an Iconoclasm out of an electric chair position.
Shook was fresh off winning the ACTION Futures Showcase. With his look, athletic ability and size, Shook is a star in the making. It was fine for a match Williams didn't have ghost of a chance of winning.
(8) Kevin Ryan defeated Terry Yaki in 19:35.
Two gifted fliers going balls to the wall and shit got wild. It was a real plus that nobody died.
Post match, The crowd was ecstatic when suddenly...Griffin hit the ring and wasted Ryan with two ungodly chairshots. I thought the show would end with Ryan writhing in agony, and perhaps being helped to the back by Crunkk. That's not what happened.
Crunkk addressed the crowd with Toon and Ryan alongside him on the apron. He put Toon over, said he would have quit wrestling long ago if not for Ryan, and talked about how wrestling had evolved and Forever Pro wanted to bring the modern style to Calhoun.
Nice speech. A hot angle got diluted.
NOTES: Forever Pro debuts in Chattanooga in August 4 at Sweet Melissa's and has another Chattanooga show at VFW Post 4848 on August 18...Forever Pro returns to the Spot in Calhoun on September 20...Adam Hunter and Josh Cox were the referees...Chianne Michaels and Carmen Michaels shared the ring announcing duties...Notable wrestling personalities in the house included AC Mack, Grayson Pierce, Spectre, Jazzy Yang, Andrew Alexander and Gabe Walters.
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