Southern Fried Shindig 2025 -- Monroe on June 7

  From Larry Goodman: This year's Shindig show was the stuff legends are made of.  Thunderstorms, high winds and a possible tornado pass...

 

From Larry Goodman:

This year's Shindig show was the stuff legends are made of.  Thunderstorms, high winds and a possible tornado passed through Monroe about an hour before bell time. The power went out at Walton County Boys and Girls Club. 

The building was packed with 400+. Nobody was leaving. Nobody was complaining. There was no way of knowing when the lights would come back on. The decision was an easy one. The show must go on. 

Up and down the card, everyone went out and killed it. This wasn't just a good show under the circumstances, Shindig turned into something very special. The crowd was white hot for every match. Southern Fried pulled off the impossible, which was a tribute to the professionalism and dedication of the Southern Fried locker room and as Bill Behrens noted, their belief in the art form. 

There was still a good hour and half of daylight. The natural light in venue is minimal but enough to see and  it actually got lighter closer to sunset. 

Darkness had fallen by the time the main event Penitentiary match was supposed to  go into the ring. The show must go on. A high power flash light was used to illuminate the ring a ringside area encased in chicken wire, creating a surreal environment and  a unique and unforgettable experience for competitors and all those in attendance. I finally got my wish of seeing a Southern Fried show with dramatic lighting.  

John Johnson shouted the ring introductions and for the most part, made himself heard. 

Pre-show dark match (haha): Jaden Vain & Jay Shaw & RC Daniels vs. Christian Taylor & JT Paradox & Zack King. Match only went a couple of minutes and I didn't see it. I do know the crowd cheering for Shaw and Paradox has a nice release german and Disturbed smashed all of them. 

(1) Chip Day defeated Bryce Cannon in 8:15. The crowd was totally behind Day. Cannon was in command after his corkscrew neckbreaker. Day's rising knee in the corner turned the momentum and his shining wizard had Cannon rocked. Day applied a leg submission that was tough to make out in the dim light. Cannon made it to the ropes. Cannon clocked Day with his frat paddle shot as referee Matthew Daniel ducked out of the line of fire. I bought a ticket for  Cannon's Keg Stand and the crowd popped huge when kicked out. Day turned on the jets and pinned Cannon with a tornado kick. An excellent opener under any circumstances.  They got terrific reactions for a match between talents not part of the regular Southern Fried roster. 

(2) Seth Delay & Michael Walker defeated Najasism & Nate Mansions to retain the Southern Fried Tag Team Championship in 13:13. Naja and Mansions didn't let a lack of entrance music stand in the way of getting heat. Naja wanted no part of Delay. The babyfaces isolated Mansions, who got his titties twisted. Naja capitalized on a misstep by Walker. He curbstomped Fro and paused to do that disgusting little dance of his. Excess mouth running earned Naja an enzuirgiri in the mush from Walker. Delay finally got his hands on Naja. He ended up with his head buried in Mansions' crotch. For the finish, Walker gave Mansions the Fronado DDT and the Froggy bow. Naja tried to break up the pin with a frog splash and Walker was more than happy to let Naja land on his partner. You know the crowd ate up every bit of it. 

(3) Griff Garrison defeated Carlie Bravo in 12:10. What a surprise, the major leaguers went out and had a major league quality match, circumstances be damned. Garrison was super over. Mixed reaction for Bravo. Carlie worked on Garrison's leg. Out of the double down, Bravo tasted Garrison's Hoganesque big boot. Garrison got two with a Phantom Driver and shocked Bravo by kicking out of Gangstas Paradise. Garrison couldn't get Bravo up for the rack bomb due the knee damage. Garrison evaded the scissors kick and pinned him with a lethal forearm shot. 

Photo by Angela Hinton

(4) Jacob Ashworth (with Joseph Brock) defeated Will Kaution in an I Quit Match to regain the Georgia Heritage Championship (12:47). They delivered everything a Southern Fried fan could have asked for in the blowoff of a feud that had raged for nine months. Hell yeah, it was violent. Ashworth said he was going to open Kaution up. A chair was wickedly put to use. Kaution did a Mick Foley elbow drop to the floor. Kaution grabbed Brock by the tie and threatened to do bodily harm to the good doctor. But Kaution ended up only with the tie as it was a clip on. Ashworth used Brock's shoe and Kaution's finisher but Kaution refused to quit. Ashworth started pounding Kaution's face with his fists.

Ashworth was crying he pounded Kaution until he quit. The match was a cathartic experience for Ashworth. He was very close with his girifriend's grandfather who passed away the day before.

Southern Fried owner David Manders had to pull Ashworth off of Kaution. The crowd chanted "Jacob" as the three men raised their hands in unison. 

(5) Sal Rinauro (with Madsteet, Sunny Daze & Michael Stevens) defeated CT Keys via DQ to retain the Southern Fried Heavyweight Championship in 3:39. The sun was setting. The light was fading fast. The result was the shortest Sal Rinauro match on record. With no sound system, the crowd supplied an imitation of Keys' entrance music. That was pretty awesome. 

Keys Pounced Sal and took Madstreet out with a flip dive at light speed. Keys kicked out of Sal's belt shot. Madstreet got on the apron. Delay and Walker came out to pull them down and those four brawled to the back. Sal was beside himself. He tried to submit Keys with the heel hook. That didn't work. He connected with a superkick and Keys kicked out. Sal handed Keys his chain and spit on him. Keys couldn't contain himself and clocked Sal with the chain. 

Keys completely lost his shit. He knocked out referee David Weakley and obliterated three of the dark match guys (Vain, Taylor and Paradox) with his signature moves.

Sexton Alliance came to the ring. Todd asked the people if they wanted to see the main event. Who was he kidding? The crowd was all in for the match. The question was would they be able to see anything. 

(6) Penitentiary Match: Sexton Alliance (Todd Sexton & Judais & Nick Halen & Billy Buck & Adryan Hawkins & Bobby Moore with Kelly Sexton) defeated The Crusade (Hunter James & Pat Roach & Rosario Grillo & Joey Hyder & Tayo & Dominic Stuckey) in 22:20.  Harley Kae took the job of holding a high powered LED flashlight in position for the entire match. Somebody close to the situation observed that the lighting or lack thereof made the visual more like a prison yard riot. 

Todd and Hunter squared off center ring, then the six on six battle lines formed alongside them and the situation degenerated into pandemonium -- twelve combatants brawling with furious anger inside the barricades fenced with chicken wire and barbed wire along the top. A train of finishing moves ensued inside the ring. 

It was an incredible scene of total chaos and mayhem. I could hear a lot stuff that I couldn't see. People were getting clobbered with baking pans and walloped with trash can lids.  Judais destroyed a trash can lid on somebody.  Kelly was swinging for the fences with the kendo stick on any Crusade member in her vicinity. Grillo brought a ladder into the ring. Buck took a nasty backdrop on the ladder. James used the ladder as ramp for a knee strike on Buck. Buck wore the ladder and spun around ala Terry Funk. It looked like Hyder got nailed hardway with the edge of the ladder. It turned out Hyder was OK but he later ended up being put through the timekeeper's table. Sexton Alliance got Crusade in six-way submissions. Kelly tried to submit Roach. Todd and Halen went to work with the kendo stick. The scariest spot of the match was Halen taking a backdrop from the top of ladder. That could have been ugly but Halen landed safely. Hawkins did a coast to coast dropkick into Grillo who was wearing a trash can. 

I was told they were able to pull off almost every spot that had been planned. One that didn't work was the door spot Crusade set up in the ring. The door busted before anybody could be put through it. 

Judais choke slammed James and Sexton Alliance surrounded him. Todd and Halen zip tied James to the chicken wire and gave him a taste of same medicine he gave to Kelly at the go home show. They made him choose who was going to get the axe -- Stuckey or Tayo. James picked Dom but payback was hell for Tayo. Moore ripped off his eye patch and extracted retribution by whacking TaYO in the eye with the ring bell hammer. Judais launched Todd onto Stuckey with El Crucifijo. Halen applied the finishing touch with an elbow drop off the top rope for the three count.

Sexton Alliance celebrated. The photo below happened.

Photo by John Johnson

James wasn't physically destroyed but he was humiliated. Halen was in his face taunting him while he helplessly tied to the chicken wire. The show ended with James making his way up the aisle in the darkness, the crowd chanting "Crybaby" in his ear.

NOTES: Adam Vance and his production crew captured the show on video. Matt Sells was on color commentary alongside Vance for Bravo/Garrison...Dee Byers, David Weakley and Matthew Daniel were the officials...Jagged Edge was backstage as was Bill Behrens. It was great to see Behrens back at Southern Fried for the first time in a long time...Rumor has it The Penitentiary Match may have been Todd Sexton's last match. We've heard that before.