ProSouth F*ck It 6-7 -- January 9

Photos by Gina Jones From Larry Goodman: F*ck It has become annual January event for ProSouth. It has traditionally been a strong in-ring sh...

Photos by Gina Jones

From Larry Goodman:

F*ck It has become annual January event for ProSouth. It has traditionally been a strong in-ring show and this year's two for the price of one edition lived up to it predecessors.

AJ Black (GWH Most Improved Wrestler of the Year nominee) gave Joe Black all he could handle in an excellent the main event and an extended the champion to an 18 minute match. 

Chris Crunk returned to ProSouth as a late replacement for Leon Ruffin to take on Justin McKenzie, who has a sizable chip on his shoulder.

Brother Azriel and "The Tex Mex Terminator"Julian Balderas did some high caliber meat slapping.

The narrative focus was the return of the evil, diabolical  version of Mike Quackenbush for an eight man tag match against Chosen Ones next week. 

It would not be ProSouth unless one or both teams was in disarray. Ace recruited DRP to be the fourth member of the Chosen Ones. But before the night was over, DRP was on the DL and  the All-Out Championship was back in the hands of Christian Garrett thanks to more  subterfuge by Scott Adams. 

Cameron Keast is being subjected to some weird technological mind control by Amy Haven and Joe Black. This compelled Cam to throw a fireball in Ace's face and defect to Quackenbush's team.

The Mongrel is playing mind games with Brother Azriel. Money Power Respect cheated their way to a successful tag team title defense in a trios match, as the peculiar world that is ProSouth Wrestling turns.

Congratulations to Wicked Nemesis on 20 years in the wrestling business. Wicked teamed with Brandon Whatley on commentary. Mathias Darkthorne was the ring announcer. The officials were Matthew "Bucky" Gibson and Joseph Void. Jessie was the ringside videographer.

(1) Ace Haven (with Cameron Keast) defeated "Sleazy C" Caeden Ooten (with Harley Haven) to retain the YouTube Championship in 6:39. Wicked said Amy Haven was with her new man Joe Black. Ace worked on the right arm in an effort to incapacitate Ooten's number one weapon. Harley hiptossed Ace into the barricade. That is not a typo. Ace's comeback had Ooten reeling. C answered with the double underhook suplex for a close near fall and immediately clutched his right arm.  Moments later, Ace had Ooten pinned with Endgame. Harley jumped onto the apron to distract the ref. Whatley left commentary to pull Ace out of the ring and plant him on the ring frame (thank you Dave Prazak). Keast went after Whatley. DRP ran into the ring. Ooten had DRP up for the LGC when Ace rolled him up. Ooten was in the ropes as Void counted three.

The C and Harley act has throwback wrestler/manager chemistry.  After being in the doldrums for a spell, Ooten has gotten back on track of late. He was selling like Terry Funk for Ace's comeback. Harley's hiptoss looked shockingly good in large part due to dad. Dollars to donuts, Ooten and Harley dispute the decision.

Chosen One asked his kingdom if they wanted DRP to join Chosen Ones for the match next week. The crowd chanted "DRP" and the deal was done.

(2) Money Power Respect (Steven Calozzi & Trey Jordan & KJ Valentine Bloodborn (Alexander Lincoln & Joe Wood) & "Birdboy" Oliver Green) to retain the ProSouth Tag Team Championship in 10:37. It was bound to happen eventually. Whatley mistakenly referred to Alexander Lincoln as "Abraham Lincoln", who was the first Republican president of the United States. Marinate on that for a moment.

Bloodborn put Birdboy to good use as a weapon. Wood sent him over the top rope with a Woodchipper onto MPR. Blood Born was reigning supreme. Calozzi was overpowered and outwrestled by skin-and-bones Green. Calozzi finally threw Green out of the ring so Jordan and Valentine could put the boots to him. Bloodborn got their hands on Calozzi. Jordan spear-chucked Valentine over the top rope to save their fearless leader. Led of with Jordan's brutality, MPR beat the bejeezus out of Green. 

Blood Born ran wild with the hot tag. Lincoln kicked Calozzi right in the face and covered. Valentine broke up the pin and went back and forth with Lincoln. Valentine ended up on the apron. Lincoln went to suplex Valentine back to the inside. Calozzi grabbed Lincoln's legs and held on. Valentine landed on his head but was able to roll on top of Lincoln to secure a three count.  

MRP is an eclectic mix of character that has somehow gelled to form a compelling faction. Not a bad match all things considered. The finishing sequence was kind of a mess. Whatley said Valentine was OK because he was moving which was not all that reassuring. Gibson's ring positioning was spot on to block his line of sight to the cheating on the finish. Jessie's tracking shot of MPR before the match was outstanding.

Backstage, Justin McKenzie said Leon Ruffin did not make it to Piedmont. He didn't drive three hours to go without a fight and whoever his opponent may be, he was going to break the mold.

(3) Justin McKenzie defeated Chris Crunk in 12:02.  Crunk posed a key question: Was Justin a 40 miler without a future or was he the next big thing? McKenzie said he was about to show Crunk exactly who he was.

McKenzie was a step ahead of Crunk until he got outfoxed by his far more experience opponent. Crunk slowed the pace and snuffed out any hint of McKenzie momentum. Whatley said this was a full circle moment, recaling that Crunk teamed with McKenzie at this event one year ago. McKenzie's rally had Crunk looking dazed and confused. McKenzie dropped Crunk on his head with a slingshot DDT but Crunk kicked out. Crunk hit a torture rack driver and McKenzie kicked out. They traded strikes. McKenzie crashed and burned coming off the ropes and Crunk set him up for the kill. Crunk double stomped McKenzie's back from the top and thrust kicked him in the mush. McKenzie looked like he was out but rolled a shoulder at the last split second. Crunk went up top again. McKenzie stunned Crunk with a Pele and brought him off the ropes with a Spanish Fly. Crunk got a shoulder up but way was worse for wear. 

McKenzie's poison rana was the beginning of the end. He hit a Canadian Destroyer and pinned Crunk with Sliced Bread 69. 

Good match. McKenzie's finishing sequence looked devastatng. This was not the feather in his cap beating Ruffin would have been but  a clean win over a veteran  of Crunk's stature is no small thing.

(4) Julian Balderas defeated Brother Azriel in 7:07. They tested each other's staying power in the face of massive impact. Balderas was the first to go down. Az dropped a Butcher elbow. Balderas was out at one. Balderas' first major offense came on a middle rope springboard crossbody, good for a two count. Balderas continued to dish out punishment. Balderas body slammed Az and made it look easy. They exchanged forearms. Az fired up. 

Az planted Balderas with a uranage and signaled for the Woodgrain. The ring was suddenly bathed in dim red light. The Mongrel's music played. The Mongrel did not appear but the Azriel fell for the distraction. Balderas gave Az a low blow and pinned him with Project Mayhem (a triple jump reverse top rope splash).

Robust hoss fights are not something ProSouth fans are used to seeing, much less two weeks in a row. Az had his hands full with Balderas, who is scary strong. The Az vs. Mongrel rematch is a matter of when not if. 

A ProSouth Plus segment taped after last week's show aired. Darkthorne tried to get a word from Scott Adams, who didn't want to talk about what happened. Christian Garrett walked in said what happened was he lost his championship and Adams was fired.

(5) Christian Garrett defeated DRP by disqualification to regain the All-Out Championship in 5:27.  DRP was sending Garrett to lala land with a guillotine choke. A round mound in a blue hoodie (obviously Adams) entered the ring. Adams pointed his finger at DRP and slapped Garrett. Referee Void called the bell. 

I guess it was too much to ask for DRP to have a run of good matches as babyface champion. That's not how ProSouth rolls.

Garrett and Adams gave DRP the beatdown. Adams pulled out a mallet and said he was going to lobotomize DRP. He kicked the mallet out of Adams' hand. Garrett nevetheless did something to leave DRP with blood all over his face and neck. McKenzie, Vougan, Birdboy and Wood all came out to chase off the villains and carry DRP to the back. Whatley said DRP was not going to be OK for next week. 

Drama  and intrigue for the Quackenbush match. Wicked said the blood on DRP was strawberry jam and that is how it looked. Those were some incompetent babyfaces to let Adams and Garrett get away unscathed. 

(6) Joe Black (with Amy Haven) defeated AJ Black via submission to retain the ProSouth Championship in 18:00.  AJ went hold for hold with Joe in the early going. 

Joe took a time out to assess the situation and consult with Amy. The commentators said AJ had to wrestle a perfect match. Joe lured AJ to the ropes and hyperextended his elbow. AJ had made his first mistake. AJ's missile dropkick was good for a one count only. AJ cut off Joe's top attempt. The walloped each other at ringside. AJ reversed Joe's snap suplex on the floor. Both men suffered the effects. Joe was looking for the Rave apron STO. AJ blocked it. Joe switched to a hotshot TKO. The damage was done. Joe took full advantage of AJ's vulnerability with a barrage of offense. Joe got a two count with the falcon arrow. AJ rallied. He hit Less Than Zero. Joe didn't go down and came right back with a fighting spirit flatliner into the turnbuckle. AJ kicked out Joe's back splash senton. Joe was still in control but his frustration was mounting. Joe delivered a brainbuster. AJ kicked out again and launched a full-fledged comeback: Ripcord lariat for two. Shadow flatliner for another two count. Joe answered AJ's release german with a bridging german for a near fall. They traded shots until Joe put AJ down with a lariat. Joe set up for a Tower of London. AJ countered with a backslide and dropped Joe with a jumping neckbreaker. Amy got on the apron to divert AJ's attention and Joe hit the Tower of London. Still not enough. Out of the blue, AJ caught Joe with a cutter.  Both men were slow to rise. A fierce strike battle ensued. AJ ducked Joe's kill shot almost got Joe with a roll up. A pair of spinning backfists and a codebreaker from AJ had Joe looking up at the lights. AJ ascended the ropes for a frog splash.

 

Amy put Joe's foot on the ropes.Aj blocked Joe's low blow. But Joe's discus forearm rocked AJ's world. Joe locked AJ in a crossface. As soon as Joe racheted up the pressure, AJ tapped out.

Great stuff. If you had any question about why Joe Black was nominated for wrestler of the year or why AJ was nominated for most improved, watch this match. It had the sense of legit struggle, a real contest. This was an all out effort from AJ. He pushed Joe to the limit. Joe had to change up and expand his moveset to deal with AJ's formidable skills and tenacity. 

Chosen Ones came on stage. Ace demanded an explanation from Amy for her actions. McKenzie charged into the ring on his own and ate a lariat from Joe. Ace and Cam followed  McKenzie in ready to do battle. Amy told Joe no more and he joined her ringside. They threw up a salute that seemed to be some type of signal. Cam

The collar around Keast's neck activated, began to flash and glow an eerie green color. Cam attacked Ace with a running knee. The collar glowed red and Cam threw a fireball in Ace's face. The collar went green. Came departed the ring in robot mode.

Quackenbush appeared on screen. He said January is the cruelest month unless everything is going according to plan. His team was complete: Ooten, Whatley and now he has Cam.