From Larry Goodman:
Todd Sexton's multitude of retirements are a running joke. After he defeated Judas for the first time ever in their one last match, which was everything they could have hope for and more. Todd bid his in ring career adieu by bowing the all four sides of the ring. At that moment I knew, this time it was for real.
I enjoyed this show a whole lot. Ultimate Battleground opened up all kinds of promising story possibilites going forward. A JBE reunion
The only downside was show ran longer than ideal, which took the edge of the the finish of the main.
Ultimate Battleground drew the kind of house that gives hope for the viability of Thanksgiving Night wrestling. I'm guessing 325. That's with front row sold out at $20 and $15 general admission.
Southern Fried owner David Manders opened the show. Manders was fired up. He said he was thankful for the Southern Fried fans. This is what he lived for. As Manders headed to the back, Jacob Ashworth was making his way to the ring for the opening match. Security had to step in to separate them.
(1) Jacob Ashworth defeated Nick Halen via count out to secure the final entrant slot in Ultimate Battleground. Halen must enter first (10:33). Before the bell, Billy Buck stormed toward the ring. He too wanted a piece of Ashworth. Halen talked sense to Buck and slighly cooler heads prevailed.
Halen cut off Ashworth's jump start attempt to hold the high ground. Ashworth used an Eddie Gilbert hotshot to take control. Ashworth grounded Halen and taunted the crowd. "You golden boy ain't shit." Halen finally got something going and tried to pull Ashworth out of the ring. Ashworth sent Halen hard into the barricades. As Halen tried to gather himself, Ashworth left the ring to inflict more punishment such that Halen was unable to beat the 10 count.
Ring annnouncer John Johnson reiterated to Halen that he would have to start first in the Ultimate Battleground. Halen responded by flipping the timekeeper's table over.
Pitch perfect. Ashworth is relishing the opportunity to be the best heel he can be. Halen took heat for almost the entire match and when Nick finally sustained a comeback, Ashworth royally screwed him over to win cheap.
(2) Open Challenge: CT Keys defeated Classics Champion Hunter James and Michael Walker in a triple threat match to retain the Southern Fried Championship in 17:52. Walker was first out to challenge Keys. However, before the match got underway, James appeared in the aisle to throw his hat in the ring. He was the last wrestler to pin Keys and would be the next wrestler to pin the big SOB. That got heat. Keys said OK but Walker was out first so...
James threw his cape over CT's head and superkicked Walker. Walker came right back with three quick pin attempts on the Classics Champion. James and Walker went amateur style until Keys beheaded them with a double clothesine and broke out the corner-to-corner European uppercuts. Walker and James worked together to keep Keys during the middle portion of the match. Walker hit a blockbuster/forced DDT combo that put Keys and James down for two counts. James brainbustered Keys but Walker prevented James from making a pin attempt. James slung Walker into a baseball slide on Keys. On commentary, Vance said if Keys didn't have bad luck, he would have no luck at all. The crowd got behind Keys, who finally got something going with a sky high choke slam on James. Keys used Walker as a human javelin to take James down and blasted him with a pop up European uppercut. James had Keys in a pinning predicament with Viperplex and Walker flew in with a jackknife pin and they both had Keys down for a close near fall. Walker tried to fly and got Pounced midair by Keys. Keys kicked out of 450 from James. Keys hit the F5 on James and locked in the cobra clutch. Walker broke up the submission with a froggy bow. James and Keys rolled out on opposite sides of the ring.
Walker hit Air Fro on Keys and went for the same on James. Christian Taylor came to ringside to push James out of harms way and take the blow. Back inside, Walker countered a Viperplex with a destroyer. James hit a Spanish Fly on Walker. Keys loaded Walker and James onto his back for a double F5 and pinned Walker.
Keys and Walker showed mutual respect after the match. James did no such thing.
.png)
Three of the Georgia's top-tier workers flexing their in-ring skills. They did a lot cool, creative spots. The double F5 finish was something else. Me? I was more interested in seeing a Walker/Keys singles match more than the three way. Besides which there was no way they were going to tell a better triangular story than the match that followed it. Walker took the pin and Taylor took the hit for James. But the Classics Champion still came out on the losing end.
JJ introduced Southern Fried Legend Joseph E. Brock who got an affectionate "nerd" chant. Brock said he was bringing JBE back on December 6, like the whole kit and kaboodle -- Jagged Edge, Tetchi Makuji, Xavier Reyes, Drew Blood and even freaking Brian Kane. James came out and asked what about me? Brock said I fired you. James said he didn't want to be part of the reunion. He wanted to be part of Brock's funeral and retire JBE. James challenged Brock to put JBE against Crusade on December 6. Brock dismissed him.
Brock's appearance was fun nostalgia and the announcement of JBE reunion got a nice pop. James came back at Brock with a good promo. It would have played stronger if James had not just lost his match. Whether or not James has accepted Taylor into Crusade is an open question but it sure looks like they need him.
(3) One Last Match: Todd Sexton defeated Judas with Kelly Sexton as the special timekeeper and Bill Behrens as the special referee (25:04). Todd tried stick and move to maintain separation. That tactic worked until it didn't. Judas shoulder block Todd and gave him a tour of the turnbuckles. Todd took the Jimmy Rave bump over the ropes on a Irish Whip. Judas ordered Behrens not to count and took it to Todd on the floor. Todd caught Judas off guard with a baseball slide and stunned him with a flying knee off the apron. Back inside the ring, Todd came of the ropes and got goozled for the first of many times Todd reversed into a cross armbreaker. Judas sat Todd on the top turnbuckle and patted his head. Todd slapped Judas across the face. Judas gave Todd a pair of fallaway slams. He told Kelly to ring the bell or he was going to break Todd's ribs. Todd broke two goozles and hit a cutter. Sexton reversed a choke slam attempt with a sleeper hold. Todd used Judas' momentum for Samoan drop. Todd came off the ropes and right into a choke bomb. Judas speared Todd. He rolled to the apron and Judas followed him out. Todd planted Judas with a jumping STO. They traded shots back inside the ring. Judas speared Todd who draped an arm on the ropes. Kelly was in tears.
.png)
Judas pulled Todd to his feet and shook his hand. Kelly raised both of their hands. Todd headed out of the ring but Judas stopped him. Judas insisted they do one more high 5. Todd took a knee first but he did the deal. Todd bowed to all four sides of the ring before leaving the ring as pro wrestler for the final time.
This match needed the time it was given. There was an epic story to tell and the longer they went, the more credible a victory by Todd became. It all the nuances of Todd Sexton layout. Kelly was an emotional wreck at the table. Todd had gotten himself in oustanding shape for this final run of matches te year and that paid dividends here because this was a physically punishing match. Judas is the absolute best when it comes to a monster selling for a normal sized wrestler. The interaction between Judas and Kelly added another layer of depth to the in-ring story. With their shared history, Behrens was the perfect choice as the special referee. The silence of the crowd for most of the match was eerie, yet understandable. They did not really want to see either of them lose.
(4) Dominic Stuckey won Ultimate Battleground in 52;29. Competitors in order of entrance: Halen, Adryan Hawkins, Bryce Cannon, Michael Stevens, Rob Adonis, Xavier Cross, Seth Delay, Christian Taylor, Zach Mosley, Jaden Vain, Disturbed, Michael Walker, Bobby Moore, Matt Griffin (with Brontz Griffin), Billy Buck, Pat Roach, Stuckey, Ashworth and bonus entrant David Manders. Stevens tried to eliminate everyone and eliminated no one. Adonis tried to buddy up with Approved. They weren't having it and out Adonis went. Griffin came to the ring with his son. Taylor went psycho on Cannon. He touched the tip and gave him a giant swing. Approved teamed up to eliminate Cannon. Vain was hamming it up big time and had Cross as his heater doing the heavy lifting. Disturbed eliminated Stevens and arch-nemesis Hawkins. Former tag champs Fro Cool (Walker & Delay) eliminated Cross. But Vain took care of Delay. Moore' elimination of Disturbed with a sick kick got one of the loudest pops of the match. Disturbed didn't let a little thing like being officially out of the match from laying people to waste. He tossed Halen through a door and chased a panic-stricken Vain to the back. Griffin said he was back in Southern Fried to stay. He conquered SHW loudmouth Gary Lamb and would soon be challenging for any Southern Fried title he wanted. Buck pummeled everyone in sight and eliminated Mosley. Roach made his presence known by laying in his clotheslines. Stuckey's entrance received a loud sustained pop and promply eliminated Taylor. Ashworth swaggered to ringside. He took his own sweet time about getting into the ring. Vain made a stealth elimination of Buck, who expressed his displeasure with Buckshot that knocked Ashworth and JJ on their asses. "Money" Mason Andrews introduced Manders, who marched to the ring with the crowd chanting his name. Brontz grabbed Manders leg but that wasn't enough to save Griffin from the wrath of the Southern Fried owner.
Ashworth, Halen, Stuckey and Roach were the final four. Stuckey and Ashworth eliminated Roach. He was a sore loser and posted Dom. Halen eliminated Ashworth for a big pop. Ashworth waffled Halen and Stuckey with chair shots and stood tall before calling it a night. With Halen and Stuckey down, Vain came from his hiding place under the ring to reenter the match. Stuckey and Halen teamed up to get rid of him. Stuckey and Halen went at hard for 5-6 minutes with numerous close calls. In the end, Stuckey superkicked Halen to drop him off the apron for the win.
Despite his obvous disappointment, Halen gave Stuckey fist bump and hug after the match.
The reaction to Stuckey; entrance was truly impressive. I love the slow burn of Halen's story arc. He went the distance but it was not to be. Brontz is sadly a chip off the old block. The handwriting was on the wall for Griffin as soon as Mander entered the match. Griffin getting nuclear heat was a given. Vain got almost as much heat. The crowd chanting "no! no! no!" in response to Vain's "Yeah, yeah, yeah" is a thing. Crusade needed a strong presence and Roach was laying those clothesline in. Stuckey's win almost certainly set ups a match with James for the Classics Championship.
NOTES: The December show dates are the 6th and a rare fourth Saturday show on the 27th...Bryan Waites, Dee Byers and David Weakley were the referees...Along with managing the production, Adam Vance was solo on the commentary for the video upload....Jay Shaw was visiting backstage as where many better halves for the holiday -- Harley Kae, Allison Cole, Leann Hawkins, Georgeann Hardin, Zoe Hall Mosley and Sabrina DiMarco...Sal Rinauro was producer and director for the backstage promos.
.png)
.png)
.png)
