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| Photos by Peter Sigmund |
From Larry Goodman:
The Action Building era of Southern Honor Wrestling came to a close last night in Canton. Condensing seven years of history into a three hour wrestling event is no mean feat. All things considered, booker Dylan Frymyer did a hell of a job.
The show was loaded with the talents from SHW's history and some terrific callbacks. There were also significant developments leading into the November anniversary show at a new venue.
Gary Lamb asked me to note the show was too long. I beg to differ. Leave The Memories Alone did justice to the rich history of wrestling in the Action Building.
The official attendance for the finale was 464. The crowd was on their feet for much of the night. Straight through to the emotional closing video, the show never lost them.
Last minute adjustments to the lineup were necessitated by Davey Richards cancelation on the day of the show. Given Richards' track record the cancelation was unsurprising. Instead of squaring off with Richards in the main event, SHW Champion Joe Black defended his title against six former champions.
The evening opened with a bang, as ring announcer Diana Michel introduced "the loudest mouth in the South" AC Mack. The former SHW Champion the fans once loved to hate did his signature tag line with the crowd eating up every word. Mack listed off his accomplishments, which included at point being the highest ranked independent wrestler in the world. Mack joined Brandon Benefield and Gerard Bonner on commentary for the duration.
(1) FEAR (Logan Creed & Sal Rinauro & Sunny Daze & Ravenna Vein) defeated New Era (Lee Johnson & Alan Angels & Owen Knight & Dani Jordyn) in 13:15. Match was moved to the opening slot due after Richards canceled and turned out to be the right call. This was nostalgic nod to SHW's early days rather than cutthroat competition. Everyone had their moments. A high point was Jordyn squaring off with Ravenna. They never had an actual match in SHW and their segment here came off without a hitch. Rinauro laying a big kiss on Dani got a pop and left a bad taste in Rinauro's mouth. Happy Madness (Rinauro & Daze) hit Cowabunga on Angels and Ravenna pinned him.
The competitors relished a feel good moment in the ring after the match.
Matt Griffin was greeted with the usual hate. Griffin said he had finally succeeded in closing the place down. Seven years ago, SHW was Gary Lamb's shiny new toy but he lost interest and he came in the back door. Griffin introduced the "real GM" for his final match in the building.
(2) Gunner Miller (with Matt Griffin) defeated Matt Lynch in 4:45. Miller pretty much destroyed one-half of the former SHW Tag Team Champions (along with brother Joey). Miller won with a spear and the jackhammer.
(3) Alexander Lev & David Ali defeated Grayson Pierce & Christian Taylor (with The Southern Belle) when Lev pinned Pierce at 8:50. The major story advancement of the evening. Huge pops for both babyfaces. Teaming Lev SHW's Savior with a really nice piece of business. Lev delivered the "we are faithful" line the crowd was craving.
Lev was bleeding hardway in the first minute from the wound he suffered at Premier last Saturday. Definitely not the plan. Pierce and Taylor go the upper hand thanks to Southern Belle. Lev cleaned house wearing a crimson mask but Taylor booted him in the face to foil a Lev Clash on Pierce. Pierce and Taylor teamed up for a gutwrench powerbomb/double stomp combo on Lev. Ali made the save. Belle got on the apron. Pierce collided with her and Lev hit the Clash on him for the win.
(4) Ashton Starr defeated Bryce Cannon to win the JTS Legacy Championship due to interference by Hunter James (8:08). James was out first with no tears to shed about the building's closing. He called Cannon out. Cannon said he requested an original and James didn't fit the bill. That brought Starr out. The bad news: no Petty Party because his PPP got lost in traffic. The good news: a confetti popping cameo by Suzi. Cannon called Starr a has been. Starr said the only thing he has been is that bitch and got an "OG" chant from the crowd. "The ladies" bickered until Cannon chose Starr as his opponent.
SHW's original senior official Todd Fox sprung into action as the referee. Cannon got disrespectful when Fox didn't count three for his cannonball. Fox threw his weight around. Cannon's disaster kick accidentally took Fox out. With Fox out of it, Cannon got a visual fall with the Keg Stand. He picked up his frat paddle but decided not to use it. James hit the ring with brainbuster for Cannon. He gave Starr a shining wizard from the blind side. Starr landed on top of Cannon and Fox came around just in the to make the count.
Interesting developments. Starr winning the title came out of the blue. James has clearly muscled himself into a shot at regaining the JTS Legacy belt. Did my eyes deceive or his Cannon changing his stripes?
(5) Corey Hollis defeated Todd Sexton (CT Keys) in 7:22. Hollis, a former two-time SHW Champion was making his first SHW appearance since the 2023 anniversary show. Sexton's tope accidentally connected with Keys. CT was not happy. Both men were hitting their signature moves. Christian Taylor got on the apron in an apparent attempt to help Sexton. Todd wrapped Hollis up with an inside cradle but Hollis reversed it for the win.
Todd accepted Corey's handshake and all appeared to be copacetic.
Business picked up big time. Keys chokeslammed Hollis and jawed at Todd. Keys laid Todd out with a pair of chokeslams. Judas' music hit. He went nose-to-nose with Keys. It was one of peak moments of intensity during the evening. The refs intervened. Crowd chanted "let them fight". Keys backed off. Judas, Hollis and Sexton hit a pose and got a babyface pop. Sexton brought a sign the ring that read "Todd's not that bad". Had to be a plant.
Michel plugged Nathan Mowery's Blood and Honey 6 deatmatch show on September 21 in Atlanta at Monk's Meadery so I will too.
(6) Lights Out Match: Nathan Mowery defeated Lindsay Snow in 14:57. Not everybody's cup of tea but if you like deathmatch style, this match was right up your alley. Snow is a fearless maniac. She's also totally technically sound as a pro wrestler. Mowery is on his way to becoming a deathmatch God. They bled each other with a gusset plate and worked their way through multiple boxes of light tubes. The call back of the night was Jordyn and Snow teaming up to whip Mowery clean through the drywall (same spot Snow put Jordyn part way through the wall four years ago). Mowery took a hacksaw to Snow's head. Snow hit a picture perfect Michinoku Driver for a near fall. For the finish, Mowery speared Snow into a barbed wire board.
(7) Dallas Brothers (Aaron & Ethan) defeated The Skulk (Adrian Alanis & Liam Gray) in 11:03. Aaron Dallas continues to be amazingly over at SHW. He also looked in amazing shape and wrestled like he had something to prove. Good match. Ethan foiled Skulk's classic combo finisher and AD pinned Alanis with an inside cradle.
Skulk laid AD out after the match. All Star-Special (Wiliam Huckaby & Hold My Beer Hanson) entered to "We Will Rock You" and rocked Skulk's world.
The All-Stars took the crowd back to where it all began for them with a rendition of "Sweet Caroline". Huck said they never let him get on the mic in SHW and they didn't this time either.Gary Lamb promo. A massive "Thank you, Gary" chant momentarily silenced Gary. Lamb ran down a list of stars that appeared for SHW, a company he claimed to have started because his young son was a fan and he got tired of watching shitty indy wrestling with him.
Lamb announced the November SHW show will take place at Reformation Brewing, though that is only a temporary home.
Griffin came to the ring to get in Lamb's face about winning their seven year war. Lamb dropped Griffin with one punch and said "I'll see you in November in a fucking cage." The building exploded.
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(8) Joe Black defeated (in order of elimination) Gunner Miller (with Matt Griffin) and Krule and Alan Angels and Ashton Starr and Owen Knight and David Ali to retain the SHW Championship in 17:15. Black broke the news that Richards wasn't there to wrestle him and proclaimed himself as the American Wolf. Black had a better idea -- he would wrestle the former champions in the back.
Miller, Knight and Angels stated their cases. Angels got called out for claiming to be the first SHW Champion. Angels said that guy was redacted. Ali pointed out he was the longest reigning champion in SWH history. Starr never held the SHW title. why not make it two belts? (RobBrod tells me he did for about 20 minutes) Matchmaker Rinauro said one competitor was missing (creative license Hollis and Judas were also past champions). Enter Krule.
Krule sat up after taking two spears from Miller and made ultra short work of The Captain with Scorched Earth. Everybody else in the match ganged up on Krule and piled on to pin him. 2:30 in and two competitors were already gone.
AC Mack jumped into the fray with a Mack 10 for Angels. That was a moment. Starr pinned Angels. Knight ended Starr's storybook return with the Clock Out. Black had Owen on the verge of tapping out with the crossface. Ali broke it up, escaped Clock Out and pinned Knight with a phantom driver.
10 minutes gone, down to Ali and Black, and so it should be. Pierce and Lev launched an attack on Ali and Black. Lev hit the ring and battled into the lobby with Pierce. Taylor used a chair on Ali. Huckaby ran in and planted Taylor. Huckaby and Black buried the hatchet (2019 GWH feud of the year and their 2020 Dog Collar match was match of the year). Black and Ali went at it hard - stiff forearms, kicking out of each other's finishers. As Ali came off the top, Black leveled him with a lariat and pinned him with the spear.
I don't see how Richards vs. Black could have been better for this occasion than what these guys did. Black and Ali finished it off strong.
The final in-ring scene was a preview of the November show at Reformation Brewing -- Black had a polite staredown with Alexander Lev.
On this night, the SHW fans were in no hurry to leave. They stood to watch a beautifully done video that recapped countless iconic moments and players throughout SHW's history, wanting to drink in the last lingering moments.
NOTES: John Laurinaitis was in the house. Laurinaitis was at ACTION Wrestling several months back...Other notable wrestling personalities on the building in one capacity of another included Spectre, Clint Stephens, Pastor Jaykes, Andrew Alexander, Ryan Rembrandt, DJ Tonnek, Nick McDaniel and Myron Fancher, Kelly Sexton, Shean Christopher and Dezirae Lawrence...Paul Santa, David Weakley Clark t and Todd Fox were the referees.
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