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From Larry Goodman:
The most impressive thing about WrestleMerica is how much better the product is now than it was when it arrived in Forsyth.
The move to Monroe County Rec was supposed to be temporary fix for a few months while the gym floor in Barnesville was being redone. Three years later, Wrestlemerica has developed a new base of operations.
The vibe is more exciting. The roster has developed into a fine blend of talents. The storytelling is on point. Work has been put in on the production.
Halloween Hell is the longest running active show name in Georgia: started by All-Star Wrestling Network in Fort Valley, ported to WrestleMerica when the late Dennis Gale bought AWN.
Attendance at Monroe County Recreation Complex was 217, well ahead of what WrestleMerica was drawing when they first got here.
(1) Paul Wolfe defeated Caleb Scott in 10:40. Former partners turned bitter enemies. Crowd was behind Wolfe all the way. Wolfe kicked out of Scott's Jackhammer. They went back and forth with pin attempts and Wolfe got the duke with a fistful of tights.
No need to be familiar with the back story to glean this feud had resonated with WrestleMerica fans.
(2) Scramble on Elm Street: Christian Taylor defeated Anthony Andrews and Michael Walker and Bobby Moore and Billy Buck and Jacob Johnson in 7:05. Buck and Moore were late replacements for Dax Anthony and Jay Alpha Miller. Moore came out last and sized up the other competitors as a psycho, a Screech, two brokeback cowboys and refugee from a Tupac video. Moore teamed up with the psycho (Taylor) against the others. Walker did an Air Fro dive onto everybody else. A train of big moves culminated with Walker's frog splash on Moore. Andrews pulled Moore out to prevent the pin and Taylor capitalized with a Widowmaker on Walker.
In keeping with the theme, emcee Ben Masters played trick or treat with Taylor: a choice between two bags: one had candy, the other contained a title opportunity. Taylor chose wrong and threw a fit.
Flowed well for a scramble. Taylor's finisher looked devastating.
Luka Daniels defeated "Marvelous" Michael Stevens in an I Quit Match (20). Marv entered flitting around like something out of Mardi Gras parade. Daniels was all business. "Enter The Sandman" blared over the sound system. They brawled like crazy right into the area where Myron Fancher, Nick McDaniel and I were sitting. Stevens made good use of trash cans. Daniels tried to pop Marv's head like a pimple. Stevens gave Luka a shot to the gonads and put him though a table with a powerbomb. Luka took a DVD onto a fiercely sturdy eight foot ladder. Daniels shoved Marv off the ropes and through table #2. Stevens got Pillmanized with the ladder.
Daniels duct-taped Marv's hands together and laid him out on table #3, then climbed the ladder threatening to drop the bomb. Stevens quit. Daniel did the deal off the ladder anyway. The table didn't break so Daniels drove Marv through that sucker with a top rope slash from the opposite side.
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This was pretty fantastic as an I Quit TLC blend. Thank you for the up close personal experience. They pulled out all the stops. Loved the finish -- Marv chickening out of taking the consequence he richly deserved and Daniels dishing it out to him anyway.
(4) Happy Madness (Sal Rinauro & Sunny Daze) defeated WrestleMerica Tag Team Champions Backbone (Zac Edwards & Shane Curtis) in a non-title match (15 minutes). Backbone tried to ambush Happy Madness as they came through the curtain but HM outsmarted them. A wrestler who shall remain nameless in a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle costume came out to help Happy Madness. The Monday Night Football Theme played as the team lined up with Happy Madness on offense. Referee Mason threw a flag on the play. Daze eventually scored a TD and the kids went wild.
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Sal ended up as pictured above. Happy Madness distributed candy to the kids. Edwards took the candy away from some poor kid Sal had befriended. Sal brought the kid into the ring. The kid gave Edwards a stunner. Happy Madness hit Cowabunga. A swarm of kids came streaming into the ring and piled on Edwards.
Zany, nonsensical, surreal, totally kid friendly fun. Sal was having the time of his life.
(5) Bryce Cannon defeated Dominic Stuckey to retain the Liberty Championship in 9:33. Stuckey is a clear fan favorite. Cannon showed low frustration tolerance and brought the belt into the ring with only five minutes gone. Cannon twice fought off the Domino Effect. Stuckey then came within a hair of pinning Cannon with the champion's Keg Stand finisher. Stuckey touched The Tip. Cannon went berserk but could not put Stuckey away. Cannon picked up the title. As referee Clark DeBennedeto was ridding the ring of the belt, Cannon mule kicked Stuckey in the groin and pinned him with the Keg Stand.
Solid match. Crisp execution on the near falls based on their finishers. More to come I'm sure.
WrestleMerica President Tyson Dean announced a unique fatal four-way for November 8: Liberty Champion Cannon vs. Daniels vs. Stuckey vs. the WrestleMerica Champion in a two falls match - first fall for the Liberty Championship, second fall for WrestleMerica Championship.
(6) KayJay Impala defeated CT Keys and Fry Daddy to retain the WrestleMerica Championship in 15:57. Impala's entrance got a big pop. has been a fixture at WrestleMerica for over two years and has held the company's top prize for 185 days. There was no love lost between Keys and Fry, the only four time champion in WrestleMerica history.
Fry powdered out and picked his moments. He worked the crowd as he worked over Impala. The high spot was Fry nailing Keys with a missile dropkick as Keys was being powerbombed by Impala.
Impala pulled the straps down for his comeback. Impala hit the Deep Six on Keys but Fry broke up the pin and put Impala down with the Cutline. Keys rudely pulled referee Pike out of the ring and had Fry pinned with an F5, no ref to count. Second referee DeBennedeto got mowed down by Impala as he tried to take over the officating. A three way slugfest broke out. Keys pounced Fry and tried for the F5 on Impala. The champion slipped away and choke slammed Keys. Fry couldn't get there in time to break up the pin.
No real loser IMO. After eons of being a top babyface here, Fry's work as a heel was one of my favorite things about this show. This was a well worked triple threat, lots of high impact action with all three hitting their stuff and a nice build to the finish.
NOTES: WrestleMerica returns to Monroe County Rec on November 8...Ben Masters was the master of ceremonies...Referees were Clark DeBennedeto and Mason Pike...The team of Bob Smith and Ryan North commentated for the video.
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