From Larry Goodman:
Brother Azriel is the new ProSouth Champion. Azriel had been knocking on the door for over two years. It was his sixth title match. Az ended Scott Spade's reign as a double champion at 91 days to become the fourth grand slam champion in ProSouth history (joining Spade, Cameron Keast and Dameon Ceretone).
ProSouth once again proved they can put on a top drawer in-ring wrestling show when they put their collective minds to it. Every match on the card had a clean finish and the babyfaces pitched a 5-0 shutout. When has that ever happened on a ProSouth show?
The Big Weird Tag Match, won by the Chosen Ones was ProSouth's best tag match of the year. The match was a Torneo Cibernetico, common to Mexico and popularized in the US by Chikara where a Cibernetico was done annually in a 16 man format. It's an elimination tag match where members of each team are allowed to tag in only in a pre-designated order.
It was eventful match filled with surprises. Karmegeddon turned on Bubba Cagle and AJ Black (who not officially in the match) but the final touch on his babyface turn.
In the much hyped triple threat bullrope match, Christian Pierce finally exacted retribution from Steven Calozzi.
Black Friday benefited from being short and to the point. The run time was just 94 minutes. The crowd was up and made their presence felt in the audio.
The fallout of this show raises interesting questions. By winning Battle Rumble, Brother Azriel earned a ProSouth Championship match at Anniversary Supershow and now he has the title going into the event Then there's the matter of the Chosen Ones. As a stipulation of the Big Weird Tag Match, they each get the title match of their choosing.
Brandon Whatley (rehabbing from a torn Achilles tendon) was back in the booth alongside Wicked Nemesis. Mathias Darkthorne handed the ring announcing and commentated on the main event. Joseph Void and T-Bird were the referees. Katie Lindsey was the ringside videographer.
(1) AJ Black defeated The Mongrel (with The Windigo) in 7:01. Mongrel aggressively pounded the crap out of AJ with wicked strikes for almost the entire match. Out of nowhere, AJ hit Less Than Zero and followed up with a missile dropkick. Windigo shrieked. Mongrel sat up and goozled AJ for a spinning choke slam. AJ kicked out at 2 and 15/16. Mongrel set Black on the top turnbuckle looking for a superplex. AJ bit Mongrel in the head and pinned him with a flying crossbody.
My trepidations about this match proved to be unfounded. They got just what they needed out of it for the story being told. AJ showed tenacity and resiliency and the ProSouth fans were getting behind him.
(2) Hayden Seal defeated Trey Jordan in 6:07. Jordan planted Seal with a big time powerbomb on the ring apron and was generally controlling the action. Vougan came to ringside to pester Jordan, who paid them no mind. Jordan had Seal up for Air Jordan but dropped what he was doing when he finally spied Vougan at ringside. Seal pinned Jordan with a rolling reverse.
Vougan was glowing as they raised Seal's hand after the match. Jordan attacked from behind left Vougan and Seal laying with Air Jordan F5s.
Kinda crude with no semblance of psychology and the finish looked like gargabe but a guily pleasure nevertheless. Seal has the size and athleticism to match up well with Jordan.
(3) Triple Threat Bullrope Match; Christian Pierce defeated Caeden Ooten (with Harley Haven) and Steven Caloz by submitting Calozzi (13:53). Ooten capitalized on the hatred between Pierce and Calozzi to gain an early advantage. They fought into the crowd. Ooten had a rough landing after getting tossed back over the barricade. Back inside the ring, Ooten harpooned Calozzi and Pierce immediately hit Once Bitten on Ooten for a close near fall. Harley started mouthing off. Pierce grabbed Harley by the hair and dragged her into the ring. Harley tried to slap Pierce but he ducked and referee Void got slapped. Void ejected Harley. Pierce and Harley jawed at each other. Calozzi expoited the situation by blasting Pierce with the cowbell and digging it into his head. Pierce's forehead was soon covered in blood. Calozzi clocked Ooten with the bell and put Pierce in a Boston crab. Pierce was losing consciousness. His hand would have dropped for a third time but Ooten caught Pierce's hand. Calozzi got the worst of a tower of doom. The trainwreck of a visual got a "this is awesome" chant. The commentators referred to the blood as rasberry jam. "We are family friendly here." Pierce fired up. They got into a three way exchange of blows on their knees, then tried to choke the life out of each other with the bullrope until they all collapsed in a heap. Pierce bashed Calozzi in the head with the cowbell. But Calozzi made Pierce miss with the cannonball and pulled out his trusty brass knucks. Ooten got clocked with the knucks. Pierce crotched Calozzi with the bullrope and locked in a Boston crab. Calozzi's body went limp. His arm dropped three times and Void called the bell.
Pierce collapsed the mat and needed help getting to the back. Calozzi was unconscious. A frustrated Sleazy C was able to leave under his own power.
All three of these guys worked their asses off and made the match plenty violent enough. I wasn't a fan of including Ooten in the match but they made it work and the finish was great. How ironic that Harley got ejected the one time it was not her fault she got involved in the match.
(4) Chosen Ones (Ace Haven & Cameron Keast & Jistin McKenzie & Ayden Andrews with Amy Haven) defeated Karmageddon (Bubba Cagle & DRP & All-Out Champion Christian Garrett & Scott Adams) in a Torneo Cibernetico (19:40). The opening minutes were used to reinforce the rules and the "batting order" for each team. Adams dropped McKenzie on his head with a move that defies description. Adams wanted Andrews who was batting clean up. The crowd chanted for Andrews to snatch Adams' wig. Adams backed off and tagged Cagle. He hit Fear Street 1985 on Ace, gave Keast a spinning back suplex. Keast rolled but got pinned by McKenzie's forward rolling cradle. Cagle got into with Adams and was beaten down by the other members of Karmegeddon. DRP got the better of McKenzie and Karmageddon was able to isolate Justin unitl his enzuigiri led to a hot tag. The batting orders cycled to DRP and Ace. DRP pinned Ace with handspring stunner into an Eye of the Hurricane. Karmageddon cut the ring in half on Keast. Keast snapped his own fingers to summon Psycho Cam. Amy intervened to redirect Cam and he got rolled up by DRP. McKenzie eliminated Garrett with Sliced Bread 69.
Down to Adams & DRP vs. McKenzie & Andrews. DRP and McKenzie went back and forth until DRP pinned McKenzie with a death valley driver. Adams wanted in with Andrews. Against his better judgement, DRP tagged Adams in. Andrews tore Adams shirt off, shredded his chest with chops and had him pinned but DRP broke it up. DRP handed Adams his grimoire (book of magic). Adams hit Andrews with the book. AJ Black entered the ring. He started to hug Adams, then backhanded his ass. Andrews eliminated Adams with Nail In the Coffin. DRP kicked out of Andrews' pedigree almost got him with a roll up. Andrews pinned DRP with an STO.
Given the added complication of the rules, this match flowed amazingly well. The ProSouth fans were bell to bell electric. DRP was the star of the match. He eliminated Ace. Keast and McKenzie and his offense looked terrific. Any time McKenzie was in with DRP it was really good stuff. The STO as a finisher was a surprise. Andrews got revenge on Adams and AJ's turn put his ProSouth character in alignment with his role at Premier where he is the top babyface.
(5) Brother Azriel defeated Scott Spade to win the ProSouth Championship in 9:21. Spade tagged Az with a series of punches. Az gave Spade one stiff forearm and hit the Woodgrain a minute into the match. Spade managed to roll a shoulder at two. Whatley said Spade had a look of fear on his face. Whatley was not wrong. Az punished Spade in the corner and sent him halfway to Jacksonville with a Beel throw and did the same in the opposite corner. Spade was glassy-eyed but playing a bit of possum. He dropkicked Az's knee to put him on the mat and went to work. But Az regained a standing position. It took three Spade dropkicks to knock Az back off his feet. Spade dropped Az with a superkick on the outside and pleaded with referee Void to count Az out. That was not going to happen. Spade kept firing shots. Az was absorbing everything Spade threw at him. Spade's stunner only staggered Az and his Copenhagen Kick was not enough to put Az away. Spade was losing it. Az delivered his second Woodgrain of the match. Spade got a foot on the ropes. They traded blows. Spade was on rubber legs. Az hit the Last Call fallaway slam. Az ran smack into superkick but did not go down. In an attempt to divert Az's attention, Spade threw the YouTube belt to him but it didn't work. Az gave Spade Woodgrain number three to become the new ProSouth Champion.
I loved this. It was now or never for Brother Azriel and he was not to be denied. They way he allowed Spade's offense to register just enough was spot on. Spade gave a tremendous performance. There was a palpable air of desperation about him. His bag of trick was empty. The hall of fame run was over and he psychologically crumbled in front of the viewers' eye.
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