Southern Fried Fair Warning Video Review -- September 6

From Larry Goodman: It goes without saying that Fair Warning was a solid show in the ring. I can't remember a Southern Fried show over ...

From Larry Goodman:

It goes without saying that Fair Warning was a solid show in the ring. I can't remember a Southern Fried show over the last few years that fell short in that area. 

The eight person main event was fun. Hunter James worked his magic with JT Paradox in a Classics Championship title defense. I enjoyed Jay Alpha Miller's debut against Dominic Stuckey. Ditto CT Keys vs. Zack Buchanan.

The major new development was the massive heat Nick Halen now has with Adonis/Disturbed due to the devastating damage the split personality inflicted on fellow Approved member Adrian Hawkins at  Night of Grudges. 

Kat Spencer became the first woman in Southern Fried history to compete head-to-head against men. 

The other key storylines kept the chains moving forward.

Crowd looked about the same size as the August 16 show (200+). Adam Vance was a solo act on commentary. Blake Blackwell was the ring announcer. David Weakley, Bryan Waites and Dee Byers were the officials.

Southern Fried has one more show prior to Crossroads on October 18. Hear The Thunder on October 4 features two title matches: Judas vs. Sal Rinauro (c) for the Southern Fried Champion and Fro Cool (Michael Walker & Seth Delay) (c) vs. Jacob Ashworth & Billy Buck for the tag titles, plus Dominic Stuckey runs a Crusade gauntlet.

The show opened with Fro Cool in the ring. Walker talked about how great it was to be reunited with his partner. They were joined by Madstreet (Michael Stevens & Sunny Daze), entering to a "you suck" chant while Stevens questioned why the number one contenders were stuck in an eight person match. The appearance of the Crusade (Hunter James, Rosario Grillo and Kat) added more heat. Grillo said those titles belonged to the Crusade not the jabronis that stole them and there was nothing Madstreet could do about it. Madstreet and Crusade attacked Fro Cool. Buck and Ashworth hit the ring and the heels were sent packing. The babyface teams shook hands.

(1) Dominic Stuckey defeated Jay Alpha Miller in 8:48. Stuckey countered the Second Amendment with a kick upside the head and pinned Miller with a butterfly cutter. 

Stuckey exited out the front door after the match.

An interesting first time meeting that did  not disappoint. Stuckey's stature as a threat to Hunter James stayed on track.

Rob Adonis addressed the Southern Fried faithful. Adonis said he was the footage of what happened to Hawkins two weeks ago. He vowed to work with the Approved to find out the perpetrator. 

An enraged Halen marched into the ring and snatched the mic of Rob's hand. He was sick of Rob feeding the the Approved and the fans a line of BS. Today was his best friend Adrian Hawkins' birthday and Adrian was laying in his bed unable to walk. He knew Adonis was behind that mask. Halen said The Approved saved his life and he would do whatever to protect it. Adonis said Halen was wrong and he was going to pray for him. Halen said you better pray I don't break my foot off in your ass.

Halen was ready to fight. Adonis turned his back and left the ring. Halen said he was too worked up to wait until later for his match...

Great segment. Halen's mic work played like unscripted fire. Adonis is ridiculously oblivious to the obvious.

(2) Christian Taylor defeated Nick Halen via DQ in 9:54. The suspended Bobby Moore was coaching Halen up from his front row seat. Halen dropped his signature top rope elbow on Taylor and locked in the sharpshooter. Disturbed was in the aisle watching. Halen was staring a hole through Disturbed, daring him to make a move as Taylor tapped. Halen refused to release the hold and was disqualified.  

Halen reapplied the Sharpshooter. Disturbed wanted no part of Halen.

The image of Halen and Disturbed as Taylor tapped was the most compelling visual of the show.

(3) Hunter James (with Rosario Grillo & Kat Spencer) defeated JT Paradox to retain the Classics Championship in 13:03. James blasted Paradox with three topes before he knew what hit him. Grillo and Kat were confident James had this and went to the back as James continued to punish his rookie opponent. Paradox mounted a major comeback. Paradox dead-lifted James off the apron and into a vertical suplex and muscled him into position for stalling fisherman suplex. James got a foot on the ropes to avoid being pinned. James got his feet up on Paradox's Vader bomb and locked in a crossface. Paradox reversed it into an ankle lock. James got to the ropes. Paradox reapplied the ankle lock. James powered out, wincing in pain. James used the Hollywood Twist as the set up for the brainbuster.

Way better of a match than it had any right to be, so competitive down the stretch that the outcome was no longer a forgone conclusion.

James confronted Moore after the match. Stuckey entered from the front door with a microphone in his hand. James hugged his title belt like it was a baby in his arms. Stuckey gave props to Paradox for a hell of match but he was glad  because now it would be  "Hollywood and the Hitmaker for the Classic Championship." James said hell no. Stuckey taunted him. "You can't do it alone? You can't do it without the Crusade?" James listed off his Southern Fried credential and said James couldn't get out of South Georgia to save his life until the Crusade made him relevant. Stuckey could have him but he would have to go all of Crusade first.

This felt personal. The claustrophobic confrontation by the rail added to the intensity. 

James got into it with Moore again. It was a trap. Tayo jumped Moore from behind. Tayo put on Moore's elbow pad and bashed his skull with a back elbow. Moore fired back. James jumped in to make it two against one until they were finally separated. Owner David Manders was pissed. Tayo and Moore were "uninvited in the first place and Manders threw their asses out. They would get a chance to kill each next time.

(4) CT Keys defeated Zack Buchanan in 9:18. Keys won with the Cutting Edge.

An interesting, quality match that deserved a better crowd reaction than it received.

After the match, Keys made it crystal clear his sights were set on Sal Rinauro and the Southern Fried Championship. 

(5) Todd Sexton (with Judas) defeated Jaden Vain (with Xavier Cross) via DQ in 8:05. Sexton had Vain pinned with a superkick. Cross put Vain's foot on the ropes. Vain DDTed Todd and Judas put his foot on the ropes.  While Vain caused a distraction, Cross speared Sexton. Knowing something was amiss, referee Dee Byers admonished Cross, which gave Judas time to spear Vain. Sexton made the cover and got pulled out of the ring by Cross for the DQ.

Judas and Cross slugged it out. Cross tried to choke slam Judas and ate a superkick from Todd. Judas and Sexton were ready to explode the crucifix bomb on Vain but  Cross pulled Vain to safety. Good thing for Jaden because he didn't know which end was up.

The tit-for-tat build to a inconclusive finish was a nice piece of business. Cross held his own Judas. It's great to see young talent like Cross, Vain and Paradox positioned to succeed.

Blackwell reminded Judas he was challenging Rinauro on October 4 and almost got himself choked out for being a pest. Judas said wrong. He would be WINNING the Southern Fried Championship. Todd said that meant his "one more match" with Judas would be for the title. Judas said not happening. He kept his promises.

(6) Southern Fried Tag Team Champions Fro Cool (Michael Walker & Seth Delay) and Good Ole Boys (Jacob Ashworth & Billy Buck) defeated Rosario Grillo & Kat Spencer and Madstreet (Michaels Stevens & Sunny Daze) in 17:06. Madstreet and Crusade were not on the same page.  Kat speared Buck. Daze mistakenly splashed Kat in the corner as Buck moved out of the way. The match broke down into a chaotic train of major moves. Grillo tried to grab his title belt off the timekeeper's table. Stuckey sneaked up and took the belt out of Grillo's hands, then ran out the front door with Grillo and Kat chasing him. That left Madstreet two against four. Stevens and Daze didn't care for those odds and headed up the aisle. CT Keys came through the curtain wielding a chain. Fro Cool tossed Stevens back in the ring. Buck was waiting with a superkick and Ashworh pinned Stevens with a roll of the dice.

Always nice to see multiple storylines intertwined in one match.

Ashworth said he and Buck just beat the number one contenders so didn't that make them the number one contenders? Buck said Ashworth had a point. The  babyface teams shook hands on a title match.