Southern Fried Ultimate Battleground 2024 -- Thanksgiving Night in Monroe

From Larry Goodman: Bobby Moore won Ultimate Battleground 2024 to achieve the distinction of winning two of Southern Fried's battle roya...

From Larry Goodman:

Bobby Moore won Ultimate Battleground 2024 to achieve the distinction of winning two of Southern Fried's battle royal extravaganzas. 

Moore came into the night with a serious knee injury  and was unlikely to participate in Ultimate Battleground, much less win it. 

In the end, Sexton Alliance and Approved set their differences aside and stood united against the Crusade, in no small part due to the female energy of one Kelly Sexton. 

Hunter James and Bill Buck stole the show in one of the best ladders matches the state of Georgia has seen in recent years, It was spectacular and brutal and more than a little reckless. In the end, former Classics Champion Buck got screwed out of recapturing the title thanks to the nefarious plan cooked up by "Guiding Light" Triston Michaels. 

Ultimate Battleground drew Southern Fried's best crowd of the fall season. For once, they weren't running head-to-head against Georgia football. 

The video quality of this show (Adam Vance and Xander Seabolt on commentary) is outstanding. I will got to my grave wishing Southern Fried could do something about the lighting. 

The Approved (Nick Halen & Adryan Hawkins & Bobby Moore & Rob Adonis) made their way down the aisle to open the show. Halen said Approved was not interested in a Sexton Alliance reunion but would do whatever to get rid of James and the Crusade.

Halen put Approved over like gods.

James led the Crusade (Michaels, Pat Roach and Tayo) to ringside.  Dominic Stuckey sneaked into the ring behind Approved and clipped Moore's knee. Stuckey was welcomed into the fold. Crusade was in ecstasy. Moore needed help getting to the dressing room.

James brought the charisma. Stuckey is a quality get for Crusade.

(1) "The Fro" Michael Walker defeated the debuting Grayson Pierce in 6:51. Walker's lucha arm drag sent Pierce out of the ring. Walker tried to follow up and got dropped face first on the apron, then slung into the barricade. Pierce reentered with a slingshot senton and stayed in control until Walker hit a missile dropkick, Both were down and the  babyface rally was on. Walker turned Pierce inside out with a discus lariat for a two count. Pierce went to his aerial game and got big near fall with a swanton bomb. Walker evaded a curb stomp from Pierce, went to an Air Walker dive and   Pierce with the Fronado DDT.

A solid opener with a lot more flying than Southern Fried fans are used to seeing. Walker has looked good in both of his Southern Fried appearances. Pierce is a significantly better wrestler than he was at the start of 2024. 

John Johnson drew names of two competitors for the next match -- the winner would enter number 20, the loser would enter number one.

(2) "The Crown Jewel" Pat Roach (with Triston Michaels) defeated Todd Sexton in 7:55. Todd didn't wait for the bell. They brawled. Roach zeroed in on Todd's knee and applied a single leg crab. Todd got Roach in a cross armbreaker and switched to a gogoplata. Roach reversed it with an STF and Todd had to go to the ropes. Todd rocked Roach's world with a flying knee.  Roach applied a choke submission but Todd was able to hook the ropes with his foot. Todd superkicked Roach. Michaels interfered and Roach capitalized with a lariat to score the pinfall.

Good match, part brawl, part mat grappling. A win over Todd cemented Roach as the #2 guy in Crusade. Roach might have legit been knocked loopy by the  flying knee.

Postmatch: Todd locked Triston in the crossface. Roach saved Michaels by putting Todd to sleep. Judais marched to the ring.

(3) Will Kaution defeated Seth Delay in 7:03. Mason Andrews was the guest ring announcer for this match. Vance brought up Kaution's unprovoked attack on Jacob Ashworth during the intermission at Crossroads. Delay suplexed Delay over the top rope to the floor. Scary looking spot but Kaution was OK. Back and forth counters ended with one of Delay's signature moves - the cradle DDT. Kaution kicked out and pinned Delay with a pop up cutter. 

Kaution needed the momentum of a win over a quality opponent for his unfinished business with Ashworth.  I'm curious what the future holds for Delay, who was the only wrestler on the card that did not participate Ultimate Battleground.

(4) Hunter James (with Triston Michaels) defeated Billy Buck in a ladder match to retain the Classics Championship in 23:40. Buck was beating that ass from the opening bell. James took a back flip bump over the top rope to move the action to the ringside area. Buck catapulted James into a ladder  leaning against the ring. James landed on the rungs. It could have been way worse for him. James set Buck on the timekeeper's table and climbed near the top of an eight foot ladder. He would have died diving onto the table. Buck stopped the insanity by shoving James off the ladder onto the top rope. Buck hit a twisting springboard dive that cleared the barricade to land on James. You read correctly. Billy Buck did that.  A see-saw brawl ensued until James backdropped Buck onto a ladder set up in the corner. Looked gnarly but Buck was relatively unscathed. James tried to scale the six foot ladder to get the belt. Buck cut him off and sent him careening off the ladder. Buck crotched James on the edge of a ladder and took him for a painful ride. They climbed opposite side of the six foot ladder. James tried for a superkick. They both crashed and burned. James took a picture perfect belly flop on a moonsault attempt off the ladder. Buck did sadistic, twisted stuff to James' knee with the ladder. James spilled Buck off the ladder. Buck was clutching at his neck. James lowered his kneepad to reduce the pressure and limped over to the ladder to set it up. James climbed but his placement was off center and Buck pulled him down. Triston got in a tug of war with Buck over a different ladder. James gave Buck an STO onto a bridged ladder. 

Buck gave James a death valley driver off the apron onto a bridged ladder. James sold like his back was on fire. Buck superplexed James off an eight foot ladder. Both men were wrecked. Triston tried to climb for the belt but didn't get very far. Buck grabbed him James tried to rescue Triston but Buck was step ahead of him.

Buck put James down with the Buckshot and climbed. As he was reaching for the belt, a wrestler in a black hoodie pulled Buck off the ladder, paving the way for James to hang onto his precious gold. 

The wrestler in the hoodie and newest member of Crusade was revealed as Joey Hyder. 

This was the kind of match where Jim Ross would say these men will never be the same. It was built around key big spots with transitions so seamless that it didn't feel like a collection of spots. Buck and James have chemistry to burn, tremendous give and take.The extensive use of the six foot ladder was mad genius. The spots on the smaller ladder looked dangerously precarious. Also aided suspension of disbelief -- at no point did it look like either Buck or James could reach the belt and was purposely not doing so. 

Matt Griffin and David Manders. Griffin ran his mouth. Said the fans in Monroe deserved better and claimed he could triple the attendance over what former friend Manders was doing. Manders came to the ring seeing red. He was not happy about this turkey showing up for Thanksgiving two years in a row, floating on a free ticket and told Griffin to go back to Tyrone. Griffin had more to say. Manders covered up the mic and dropped him with a right to the jaw. 

Griffin was egotistical and obnoxious, like he is everywhere that is not ACTION Wrestling. No manager in Georgia has gotten major heat in so many places as Griffin this year.  Manders was in his own skin on the mic. He has become a better babyface character than I would have ever imagined.     

(5) Bobby Moore won the 20 man Ultimate Battleground Battle Royal in 34:30. 

Order of entrants: 1 and 2) Judais and Todd 3) Jay Shaw 4) Grayson Pierce 5) Nicky Hyde 6) Adryan Hawkins 7) Rob Adonis 8) Lucas DeSilva 9) Xander Seabolt 10) Terry Lawler 11) Tayo (with Triston Michaels) 12) Joey Hyder (with Triston) 13) Will Kaution 14) Nick Halen 15) Michael Walker 16) Jacob Ashworth 17) Dominic Stuckey (with Triston) 18) Bobby Moore 19) Christian Taylor 20) Pat Roach (with Triston) 

The early portion of the match was essentially a singles match between Sexton and Judais with the occasional time out to eliminate an inferior competitor. Todd somehow gave Judais a Samoan Drop. Judais speared Todd. Business picked up with the entrance of Approved members Hawkins and Adonis to do battle with Technical Destruction. Seabolt was announced as entrant #9 and stripped down to his ring gear to hit the ring with a flurry of offense. Judias eliminated the Approved presence in the match. Todd eliminated Judais. Would tempers flare? Nope. They did their traditional high 5. Terry Lawler and Todd shared a ring for the first time in their careers. Todd bowed down to the pay homage to the Southern Fried original and GWH Hall of Famer. Lawler did the flip, flop and fly. Seabolt had the pleasure of eating a fist sandwich from Lawler. Crusade made their presence felt with the entrances of Tayo and Hyder, while James joined Adam Vance on commentary. Halen hit the ring with babyface fire and cleaned house. Halen and Todd shook hands in an apparent truce between Approved and Sexton Alliance...then Halen eliminated Todd. James got cute on commentary and asked if the Approved were feeling Usey in their track shoes. Crusade members eliminated Fro and Lawler and had full control of the situation as Moore limped down to the ring to even the odds. Taylor appeared to be in the camp of Crusade but sided against them. Roach cleaned house for Crusade as the final entrant. Crusade rid the ring of Taylor and Triston kicked him in the ribs. Ashworth got splashed by Roach and tossed out. Kaution brawled to the back with Jacob.  

Final four was boiled down Approved (Halen and Moore) vs. Crusade (Roach and Stuckey). Roach took care of Halen, leaving Moore against two Crusaders hell bent on destroying his knee. Crusade screwed up. Moore eliminated Stuckey. James came to ringside to fire up Roach. Moore knocked Roach off the apron with a discus forearm and looked shocked to find himself the winner.

The Crusade surrounded Moore and tore into him like a pack of dogs. Sexton Alliance evened the odds. Moore wanted to help but Approved had other ideas. Kelly Sexton headed Approved off and turned them around.  Approved joined forces with Sexton Alliance to drive Crusade out of the ring.

Approved squared off with Sexton Alliance. Moore extended his hand, then all three member of Approved offered to shake on it. Sexton Alliance turned their backs and left the ring. Kelly got in Todd's grill. She told all of them to do the right thing. The unification was a fait de accompli. As they exchanged warm fuzzies, the camera cut Rob Adonis standing in the aisle.

A masterpiece of  storytelling by Todd Sexton, perfect for the holiday season. I loved the comeback story of an underrated and underappreciated Bobby Moore. But will Sexton Alliance live happily ever after? Todd and Judais stuff was fun but will we get a real singles match between them? And what becomes of odd man out Adonis?

Prologue: Judais got the crowd to sing happy birthday to Todd (Judais' excuse was Manders asked him to do it).

JJ announced that Southern Fried Championship Wrestling returns to the Walton County Boys & Girls Club on December 28.