SHW Still Here 7 -- Canton on November 14

Photos by Peter Sigmund From Larry Goodman: SHW outdid themselves with Still Here 7 . This was a highly anticipated show -- the company'...

Photos by Peter Sigmund

From Larry Goodman:

SHW outdid themselves with Still Here 7. This was a highly anticipated show -- the company's seventh anniversary, their debut at a new venue, twin cage matches inside a steel cage, one of the involving SHW owner Gary Lamb -- and it exceeded any and all expectations.

Two new champions were crowned. Alexander Lev defeated Joe Black to become the new SHW Champion and WWE's AJ Styles was on hand to present him with the title. Hunter James regained the JTS Legacy Championship in a spectacular ladder match. 

Lamb suffered the agony of defeat at the hands of "The Kingpin of Georgia" Wrestling and bled like crazy. He also had to endure the effection of a loyal employee to the opposition.

Attendance at Reformation Brewing was 520 mininum. A lot of the SHW's regular were there but they also tapped a whole new audience and they were on fire all night. The outdoor space where the show took place was super loud thanks to the structure over the ring that literally trapped the sound. The vibe incredible and the wrestlers loved it. Nobody seemed to mind the less than ideal temperatures.

The pacing of Still Here 7 was damned near perfect. Conditions being what they were (temps in the upper 40s), it was not a night to run long. The undercard matches were kept short and the top three matches all killed it. All was said and done in two hours and 15 minutes.

There are some unknowns about where SHW goes from here. A date for the next show was not announced. Reformation Brewing is not necessarily a permanent home but it surely worked out great last night. 

(1) Carlie Bravo defeated OXP in 6:28. Bravo got on the mic and hyped up the crowd to crazed state of excitement. Crowd was split, leaning more towards OXP for most of the match. After Bravo kicked out of OXP's springboard DDT, the crowd chanted his name and he hit Gangsta's Paradise for the win.

A superb opening match. They fed off the crowd energy with nothing but fast-paced action. OXP wowed them with his martial arts skills. Bravo brought the major league starpower.

The Skulk (Adrian Alanis & Liam Gray) cornered Bravo in the ring. Dallas Brothers came to Bravo's rescue.

(2) The Skulk (Adrian Alanis & Liam Gray) defeated Dallas Brothers (Aaron & Ethan) in 9:11. These teams have issues. Dallas brothers cleared the ring.The A-Ron chants were as strong as they were at the Action Building. Aaron took heat. Referee Clark DeBennedeto got grief for missing a legit tag. Aaron gave Skulk a flatliner/DDT combo that left all three down. Ethan took the tag and laid Alanis out with a satellite DDT. Dallas Brother were on the verge of victory when Alanis pulled Ethan out of the ring. Ethan in turn  foiled Skulk's finisher and Dallas hooked Alanis with an inside cradie. The bell rang. DeBennedeto ruled no pin had taken place. Skulk then hit their flying body press/vertical suplex combo on Aaron for the win.

After the match, Alanis menaced Bravo at the commentary desk.

Good match. tremendous crowd reactions. They made a quick recovery on the premature bell. They clearly building to a revisit of Skulk vs. Infantry for the tag titles.

(3) Judas  and CT Keys went to a double count in 2:20. A bull of the wood contest spilled out of the ring and they beat hell out each other until the bell rang. Crowd was not happy.  

Judas and Keys continued to fight. A squad of SHW personnel came out with unenviable task of separating the combatants. As the crowd chanted "let them fight", Zack Buchanan took a choke slam from Judas.

This hard-hitting brawl was just an appetizer that got the desired reaction from the crowd. 

(4) Grayson Pierce & Christian Taylor defeated Happy Madness (Sal Rinauro & Sunny Daze) in 1 minute.  Taylor  in psycho mode. The heels jumped the bell. Pierce and Taylor killed Daze with top rope double stomp/DDT and it was over before Happy Madness knew what hit them.

Loved the shock of the finish. A quick clean win over Happy Madness is big elevation for Pierce and Taylor. Rinauro and Daze are bullet proof and can absorb the loss.  

(5) Ladder Match: Hunter James defeated Kyle Matthews and Ashton Starr and Bryce Cannon to  to regain the JTS Legacy Championship in 16:35. Starr looked like a million bucks and he was over huge. Crowd hated Cannon. Babyfaces Starr and Matthews made heels Cannon and James take bumps off a six foot ladder. James took a double suplex on a ladder. The alliance between Mattews and Starr didn't hold up for long. Starr took a nasty catapult into a ladder. Starr was the first to climb for the belt. James cut him off and ruled the roost with a Viperplex and Spanish fly off a bridged ladder. James overshot a 450. All four were down with the crowd chanting for Starr. He gave Cannon a Glam Slam onto a ladder. Starr took a sunset powerbomb off a ladder from Matthews. That looked like a tough impact. Cannon flew off a ladder with cutter on Matthew but subsequently got smoked by James. James managed to get one hand on the belt but paid a dear price via the backdrop onto a bridge ladder shown below. 

Matthews was on rubber legs and took an X Factor off the ladder from Starr. Starr got one hand on the belt. Crowd was stoked for him to win but Cannon made sure that did not happen. Cannon took Starr out with the Keg Stand and set up a 10 foot ladder. 

Cannon climbed up one side. Jamed springboarded and stuck the landing on the opposite side. The babyfaces brought Cannon down with a double powerbomb, which gave James a clear path to the belt.

This was excellent ladder match. They made maximum use of mutliple ladders, and as brutal as a lot of it looked, the competitors came out of it relatively unscathed. Creative has been biding their time with James and the timing was ideal to make him a champion again.

--Intermission to set up the cage for the main events--

(6) Steel Cage Match: Matt Griffin defeated Gary Lamb in 8:25. Griffin came out with a can of twisted tea. Said he had been waiting for this match with Lamb for seven  years and asked if the fans were ready to see Gary left  bloody. The crowd was chanting "Gary" in anticpation of Lamb's appearance. He came to ring with a six pack of beer that he was already well into. 

Match underway, Lamb smacked Griffin in the head with a can of beer and poured another one all over him, then ripped his t-shirt off. Griffin looked disgusting. Lamb connected with a knee lift while pouring a beer on Griffin's head. A couple cage shots later, Griffin was bleeding. Griffin finally got some offense with a kendo stick. He forked Lamb's forehead up something fierce. Blood was pouring down Lamb's face. Soon Lamb's white t-shirt was turning crimson. Lamb got a hold of Griffin's staple gun and stapled dollar bills into his bald head. Lamb gave Griffin a stunner and crawled toward the cage door to get a chain from his facility manager Fay Voyles, the same Voyles who took a spear from Gunner Miller in July.  Voyles tossed the chain over Gary's head to Griffin. Griffin clocked Gary with the chain and pinned him with one foot on his chest.

For what it was, I don't know how this match could have been any better. Lamb is no wrestler but he is a great performer. He got shockingly fantastic color. Griffin showed ass.Neither one shied away from the violence. Voyles turning on Gary was moment. The finish of the match was an incredible scene. Griffin's repuation as the most despicable person in the world remains intact.

(7) Clockwork Orange House of Fun Match: Alexander Lev defeated Joe Black to win the Southern Honor Championship in 21:54.  Ring announer Diana Michel explained that the combatants were not confined to the cage. Lev brought a trash can with him. Black did him one better with a beer keg. Michel poured her heart into her intro for Joe Black. Lev and Black went eye-to-eye as both men did two finger salutes.

Chants for both competiors with the crowd eveny split in their allegiance. Black opened up with stiff chops and punches. Lev responed in kind until he ate a trash can shot from Joe. Black did a number on Lev with the trash can. Lev got a faceful of the fence. Black caught Lev with one his hooking lariats. A "let's go Lev" chant broke out. Black hit the Falcon Arrow for a near fall. Joe introduced Lev to the dog collar from one of the most infamous matches in SHW history (his dog collar match with William Huckaby that was the 2020 GWH match of the year). Dueling chants now. Joe delivered a series of short arm clotheslines. Lev started laughing in Joe's face. Joe was furious. He brought two chairs and a door into the ring. Joe applied a crossface. Joe delivered a clubbing forearm that dropped Lev like a rock. The crow had to be questioning if Lev had anything left. Lev gave Black a hotshot onto the turnbuckle with the chain wrapped around it. Black was lacerated. Black took it out on referee Butterbean by flinging him into the cage. Butterbean was busted wide open. Lev tried to climb out of the cage. Black met him at the top and tried to hang him with the chain. Lev was precariously close to losing his grip on the cage as the crowd chanted "this is awesome". Black took a savage fall off the fence  to the mat. Lev hit the Lev Clash with no ref to count. Second ref Paul Santa entered the cage to make the count. Black kicked out at 2.9. Black speared Lev through the door and Lev kicked out. Sensing Lev's time had come, the crowd broke into a full-throated "Let's go Lev" chant. Black slammed Lev on a steel chair and went for the kill with a diving headbutt of the top. Lev rolled out of the way and used a discus forearm to set up a Lev Clash on the chair and an explosive pop for the three count. 

The appearance of AJ Styles got an instant "holy shit" chant. AJ helped Black to his his feet and handed the title belt to Joe. Black placed the title on Lev's shoulder and Styles raised their hands. Lev was almost overcome with emotion.

A dramatic, compelling title match contested in an electric atmosphere, the call back to the dog collar match, the intensity of the split crowd, the emotion of the postmatch. What more could you ask? It was beautiful. 

Black's title reign (399 days) was the second longest in SHW history and included 10 successful defenses. 

NOTES: Brandon Benefield was the play-by-play announcer. Colr commentators  were Bravo for the first half, Rinauro for the main events...Chianne Michaels and DJ Tonnek assisted with production...Referees were Clark DeBennedeto, Paul Santa. David Weakley and "Butterbean" Ryan Harmon...Herculon Rage helped out in a number capacities...Wrestling luminaries in the house included Darian Bengston, Corinne Joy, Darryl Hall, Stan Robinson, Billy Knight, Nick McDaniel and Myron Fancher...Griffin sarcastically dedicated his match to GWH and Tapped Out.