From Larry Goodman:
At CEW the outcomes are pre-determined but the competition to be the best in the ring is real. The crowd at VFW Post 660 in Savannah was on fire as per usual.
Trial By Fire was to have been headlined by Bryce Cannon vs. Dax Anthony in a Three Stages of Hell match. Cannon got banged up in a match in Florida and wasn't ready to go. Both of the tag team matches had to be changed last minute. None of those things deterred CEW from putting on another great show.
Brandon Benefield and Maestro on commentary. Clark DeBennedeto and Mike Fullilove were the referees. Diana Michel was the ring announcer.
The show opened with a "Boss Daddy" Simon Sermon and his new toy, CEW Champion Michael Walker in a verbal jousting session with Hunter James and Randall Reno. Sermon raged. He called the poster false advertising but the CEW bossman was exposed as a weak leader. James scoffed at Sermon's threat to fire him. James said he had drawn more money for Sermon than anyone and further infuriated him by calling Walker another Chip Skyler. James called for a ref and wanted to do the match on the spot. Reno playfully sprayed Sermon in the crotch with his water bottle. The heels jumped the babyfaces but quickly retreated. "I'm not scared. I'm just not ready," says Simon.
This was a great way to build anticipation for what was now the main event. Wonderful ensemble work by all four. James is in rarefied air as a babyface in this building and Reno got the rub. Reno is incorrigible.
(1) Allen Brothers (Steve & Robert Allen with Mason Allen) defeated Fallen Angels (St. Julius & Lord Goodwill) to retain the Tag Team Turmoil Championship in 10:29. Savannah's torrid love affair with Allen Brothers shows no signs of letting up. Julius and Goodwill were are entertaining heels and pretty much made the perfect opponents for the Allen's first title defense. Julius has a beautiful frog splash. Robert rocket launched Goodwill into Steve's cutter for the win.
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Chad Sky Walker approached the "Savannahmal" Young Mighty Joe in the jungle outside the venue and tried to make friends with the beast. Duke Patterson approached Skywalker seeking opportunities "not following you into the woods or anything." Sky Walkers' advice: find the biggest jackass (sneezing the word "Simon") and run in on him.
(2) Christian Taylor defeated Justin Kindred in 10:16. Taylor kicked out the debuting Kindred's finisher and had him beaten after a pair of lariats. But Taylor would not allow the pin and put Kindred away with a widowmaker. The thing was the crowd was getting behind the Taylor during the match. The CEW fans know and love a badass psychopath when they see one.
(3) Young Mighty Joe vs. Chad Sky Walker (with Sherriff Scratch) was a no contest (10:46). Booker Mosley's mad vision of how to fix a hole in the card was fully realized by two great performances. The way Sky Walker and Joe morphed the scenario from tag team partners to opponents in a singles match was magic. Then they went out and had an extraordinarily creative match that ended with Scratch putting Joe in handcuffs and escorting him out of the building. The heat was put on referee Fullilove.
(4) Dax Anthony defeated Duke Patterson in 4 minutes. Anthony Anthony pinned Patterson with one foot after a Curtains Down (TKO) on a steel chair. Destroyed Patterson even worse after the match. They played their cards right thanks to a killer performance by Dax. Holding the Three Stages of Hell with Cannon off until the October show only made it more special.
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(5) Kevin Kantrell and "Teflon" Jay Alpha Miller wrestled to a 15 minute draw. Excellent match. Teflon's arrogance knows no bounds. Crowd chanting for Kantrell out of a double down. The brought it in the strike exchange. Kantrell had the Kantrell Rules crossface locked in as the time expired. Teflon tapped right after the bell. Crowd wanted five more minutes. Miller was fixated on his US flag. "A man possessed by his patriotism" was how Benefield put it. Miller shook Kantrell's hand...and choked him out.
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Booking a draw was a good call to showcase just how good both of these guys are. Either one of them taking an L at this juncture would have been counterproductive.
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(6) Zach Mosley defeated CT Keys in 16:57. Mosley was balls to the wall right from the opening bell and took Keys to the mat with submissions. CT powerbombed his way out of a cross armbreaker and transitioned to a Boston Crab and ankle lock. The crowd chanted for Mosley to tap. The back and forth down the stretch was hellacious. In the end, Mosley scored the pin with Wheel of Fortune. His victory got a mixed reaction. They embraced in a show of sportsmanship after the match.
They tore it up. The split crowd added to the intensity. With neither Pepperbottom or Cannon on the card, and in light of the way Keys handled Mosley with relative ease in July, Mosley had something to prove and EY needed a win. Keys may have been more over after the loss than he was before.
(7) Hunter James & Randall Reno defeated CEW Champion Michael Walker & "Boss Daddy" Simon Sermon in 14:03. Heat off the charts. Walker was avoiding Walker like the plague. Simon wound getting his ass beat. Heel skullduggery led to heat on Reno. James finally got his hands on Walker and was eating his lunch. Sermon clubbed James from behind has he went for the Viperplex. Sermon and Walker screwed up and Reno pinned Sermon with a rocker dropper.
Boss Daddy's complaint that Reno was not the legal man fell on deaf ears (neither one of them were legal) . Walker was still the champion. Reno challenged Sermon to go one-on-one on October 26. James said if Reno won, he should get a shot at Walker.
Saturday Night at VFW Post 660 Canteen & Grill:
Bryce Cannon vs. Dax Anthony - 3 Stages of Hell (First Blood, Tables Match, Death Match)
Tag Team Turmoil Title Match: Allens Brothers (c) v. Supastarz
Coastal Chaos Title Match: Hakeem Young (c) vs. Young Mighty Joe
Reno vs. Sermon
James vs. Sal Rinauro
Mosley vs. Taylor
Kantrell vs. Ryan Rembrandt
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