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| Photo by Gina Jones |
Here's what went down this week.
The ProSouth Championship picture leading into Anniversary Supershow is in the hands to Ace Haven, Cameron Keast and Caeden Ooten.
Ace will challenge Ooten for the ProSouth Championship on Black Friday. The winner of that match will face number contender Cameron Keast at Anniversary Supershow.
The YouTube Championship was taken off Alexander Lincoln after 28 days in favor of Scott Spade. Ace immediately eviscerated Spade on the mic.
I'm not enjoying this product right now.
The AAC story feels like it has overstayed its welcome unless your tastes runs towards fans endlessly shouting "you shut up" at a group of decidedly mid heels.
There are bright spots -- Brother Azriel's All-Out title run, the implosion of Christian Pierce and Ayden Andrews as a team and the emergence of Julius Pryor as premier talent -- but too many of the matches are recycled or feature not ready for TV talent. There is no tag team division to speak of.
Wicked Nemesis and Mathias Darkthorne soldier on in the announcer's booth. Props to the referee crew of Jeremy Blackson, Joseph Void and Kevin Tubbs for their quick work when the rope broke in the open match. Cory Shattles was the ring announcer. Katie Lindsey on the rover camera.
(1) AJ Black defeated Christian Pierce via count out in 4:27. Before the match, Pierce said Andrews wasn't there yet and when he saw him, that would be his number one priority.
The top rope snapped two minutes into the match. Black backflipped to the floor as the rope broke and made a perfectly safe landing. Ayden Andrews showed his face at ringside. Like a moth to the flame, Pierce chased Andrews out of the building.
The benefit of quick thinking and proper training saved Black from a potentially severe injury when the top rope broke. Would love to this match run back and given some time.
The ref crew moved the bottom rope to the top rope position in less than five minutes. Nice work!
(2) Julius Pryor defeated Roma Miller in 10:01. Roma had things going his way. He evaded Pryor's first attempt at the Pryolyzer. Pryor used a Matrix move and a judo throw to set up another Pryolyzer. This time the move found its mark. Pryor planted Roma with a hanging, spinning stretch muffler. Miller was crippled for the rest of the match. As Pryor launched himself at Miller, Roma caught Pryor midair with a desperation superkick. Pryor faceplanted like he was out. Miller couldn't capitalize because his leg was paralyzed. Pryor gathered himself and went to the top for the Shaolin Fists to pick up the win.
Pryor was clutching his nose as he left the ring. He stopped to jaw at Miller as the refs were helping Roma to the back.
Pryor is something special. Plenty of guys his size are as agile. Very few possess Pryor's extraordinary strength and he's constantly coming up with new ways to highlight that attribute. The selling after the superkick spot (if that was indeed selling on Pryor's part) made for a compelling conclusion.
(3) DNR (Jasper Reid & Samuel Dean) defeated The AAC (AWOL & Tsunami with Douglas Sanders & Patrick Gilbert) in 7:50. AWOL came out with a megaphone. Sanders had two megaphones. The crowd got so loud they succeeded in completely drowning them out. Readers will be spared of the sordid details. DNR won with an approximation of a knee/kick combo to AWOL's head.
Damn this was ugly. Dean's dropkick to AWOL's back was a perverse wrestling entertainment classic. I felt sorry for AAC having to sell for DNR's offense. It's not fair to DNR for them to be this show. They're just not ready.
Post-match: The AAC got in the ring and shouted at the crowd through their megaphones until the refs made them leave.
AAC got the crowd riled up no doubt but this nonsense was horribly unentertaining on the livestream.
(4) Donnie Primetime defeated Joe Wood in 6:40. Gilbert was seated at ringside. Wood wanted to shake Primetime's hand. Primetime told Wood he would have to earn one. Wood opted not to go for the pin after a solid spinebuster and instead covered after a very ordinary powerslam. Donnie generously stayed down to make it a close near fall. When Wood kicked out of Donnie's tornado kick, Gilbert slid a chair into the ring and got his fat ass up on the apron. Gilbert wanted Donnie to use the chair. Primetime refused. Wood went for clothesline. Primetime ducked. Wood connected with Gilbert, knocking him off the apron. Primetime then pinned Wood with the Time Wizard (shining wizard) and shook his hand.
It took a Hurculean effort by Primetime to make this a halfway passable match. Primetime accepted an envelope from Gilbert a few weeks ago. It appears he made the wise decision of rejecting Gilbert's factions of losers.
Returning from intermission, the Gilbert and his AAC wrestlers were in the ring with the crowd shouting at them. Darkthorne said this had been going on throughout the intermission.
YouTube Champion Alexander Lincoln joined the AAC the ring. in Lincoln said he would be successfully defend the YouTube Championship the following night against "legendary" Larry D. Lincoln said Larry D weighed 500 pounds. Therefore, he was going to run through over 500 pounds of ProSouth talent tonight.
(5) Scott Spade won a gauntlet match to become the YouTube Champion ( total time of 8:54). Miller was Lincoln's first challenger. Lincoln submitted Roma with a cloverleaf of sorts in 24 seconds. Lincoln said Roma weighed 86 pounds so he had 420 pounds to go. Dean was next. Sanders grabbed Dean's leg as he slid into the ring and Lincoln pinned him with the Lincoln Log at 1:24. Lincoln said Dean easily weighed 90 pounds, so he had 330 to go. The next guy would be at least 250 pounds. Reid was next, weighing maybe 200. Reid lasted a little longer. Lincoln pinned him with a double arm DDT. Lincoln said he could do this all night. Wood was next. Lincoln wanted not part of his brother who was giving him all he could handle. Lincoln rolled Wood out of the ring so the AAC could beat him up. Lincoln ascended to the top rope for THE MOVE. Jake Franklin hit the ring and dove onto the AAC. Cameron Keast ran out and threw a fireball at Lincoln to knock him off his perch. Wood hit the Woodchipper to pin Lincoln. The crowd went wild as Wood was announced as the new YouTube Champion. Gilbert said he had something for Wood. Spade sneaked into the ring with a Copenhagen Kick on Wood to win the match.
The double swerve of Wood unexpectedly getting his moment of triumph only to have the rug pulled out from under him by Gilbert was a good story. I get making cannon fodder out of people that had already wrestled was part of the joke but it also highlighted how severely limited the ProSouth roster is right now.
As the crowd chanted "please shut up", Spade said during his 15 year journey as a pro wrestler, one person had been in his way. Spade called out Ace Haven and said he even had something they could fight for now.
The Chosen Ones (Ace, Keast and Amy Haven) came to the ring. Spade calmly said he had to prove some things and Ace was standing in his way. Ace said in Spade's hand it was just a microphone, in his hands it was a weapon of mass destruction. Ace said Spade was making him a scapegoat when in reality he was THE GOAT. He may not be the Blue Collar Rockstar, the Grandmaster of a Ninja Academy or the Champion of Champions. Spade said Ace wasn't a champion at all. Ace said he was the King of the South and now a real professional was speaking. It was time for Spade to listen. Maybe Spade would do something at ProSouth if he could stay around longer than three months. "Do you know who he is?" Ace asked the crowd. While Spade had been dicking around for 15 years, he had been building a legacy. Ace said why he should wrestle Spade when wanted to see it. He didn't want Spade or his chump change. Spade said they put the Southern Avenue building on the map.
Ace said Spade was great once and maybe he could be good again for one night but he had his eyes on a different prize. He wanted to wrestle Cameron Keast at Anniversary Show on December 20 and he wanted to walk in to the ProSouth Palace that night as the ProSouth Champion by beating Caeden Ooten at Black Friday, while Spade sat on the sideline.
Ace's tirade as counterproductive as it was entertaining. He completely blew Spade out of the water on the mic. Wouldn't have been surprised if Spade tucked his tail between his legs. Ace also verbally diminished a YouTube Championship that had grown in prestige via Shean Christopher and Ooten's lengthy title reigns.
Ooten and Harley Haven joined the party. Ooten said he owed Ace one for taking Keast away from he and Harley so he would give Ace the match. Ooten said he also owed Spade one because Spade lost for their team (in the Free Cam match). Spade reminded C that he was eliminated in that match first. Ooten said he once had the YouTube belt but he replaced it with a bigger, better one that Spade never had. Ooten said Ace was trash that needed to be taken out FOREVER. Them's fightin' words.
Ace punched Ooten in the mouth. A three way brawl ensued. Ace jumped off the ropes, causing Ooten to knock Spade down. Ace and Ooten slugged it out. Ooten held Ace for a Copenhagen kick but Spade's kick took Ooten down instead. Ace laid Spade out with a cutter to stand tall as the segment came to a close.
I'm not interested in seeing any of the matches this segment put into motion. Subject to change, of course.
(6) Brother Azriel defeated Ayden Andrews and Brandon Whatley to retain the All-Out Championship in 13:50. Andrews and Whatley teamed up against Az. The champion was taking a beating. Az messed the heels up and made a high impact comeback. Andrews and Whatley cut Az down a high low combo. Andrews took Whatley out with a flying knee to end the sham unified effort. Andrews stomped Az to smithereens with Stamp of Atonement but wasn't satisfied. Pierce appeared on the ramp with refs Blackson and Tubbs trying to contain him. Pierced decked Blackson. Tubbs surrendered. Pierce pulled Andrews out of the ring and again chased him out of the building. Whatley and Az slugged it out. Whatley got a near fall with a spinkick and signaled for another scissors kick. Az blocked it and positioned Whatley for the Wood Grain. Pryor jumped in the ring and attacked Az from behind. Pryor and Whatley set up a super duper double team to end Az. Primetime knocked Pryor off the ropes. Whatley took a hotshot from Donnie and Az pinned Whatley with the Woodgrain to retain.
A solid main event between three ProSouth stalwarts. The automatic no DQ rule for triple threat matches is stupid in general, and especially so in a division where the title can change hands on a disqualification. Every triple threat can involve massive interference or weapons or anything else under the sun.
