ProSouth Valentine's Day Massacre Live -- Piedmont AL on February 13

Photos by Adrenaline Shot Photography From Larry Goodman: Is This Valentine's Day Massacre or is this the Twilight Zone? Where are we? -...

Photos by Adrenaline Shot Photography

From Larry Goodman:

Is This Valentine's Day Massacre or is this the Twilight Zone? Where are we?

- Mathias Darkthorne

This I had to see live and a lot of ProSouth fans evidently felt the same way. The ProSouth Palace was filled up. It just so happens the Valentine's Day Massacre 2026 also set the ProSouth record for livestream viewers.

It was one of the best shows in company history, certainly it was their most cinematic. ProSouth Wrestling, where performance artists come to play. If you are not a regular watcher, this video is worth checking out.

Valentine's Day Massacre blew away lofty expectations for a show with a ridiculous number of gimmick matches.

Yes, the Buried Alive Match was a spectacle. Where else than ProSouth do you get a chance to see a human being dive off a 20 foot roof and get burned alive in a fiery grave and possibly return from said grave as Zombie Dragon?

Nothing that had occured between Brother Azriel and Mongrel could have prepared the ProSouth fans for the surrealness of the Kill Field match. Brother Azriel's standing at ProSouth is at another level as a result.

A bloody Tex Mex Streetfight between Christian Pierce and Julian Balderas was the war to end all wars.

It was also a night of great surprises: 

A babyface turn and a heel turn that nobody saw coming. 

ProSouth most storied faction returned on the 10th anniversary of their formation. 

(1) Brother Azriel defeated The Mongrel (with Windigo) in the Kill Field (9:30). A second ring was set up outside building - no ropes, just plywood decking and canvas. The ProSouth Palace in located in a desolate industrial park on the outskirts of town. The area behind the building looks like the wilderness.

Windigo shrieked. The combatants emerged from behind the building with Mongrel dragging Az across the dirt toward the ring. Mongrel whipped and choked Az with a tree branch. Mongel tried to choke Az into lifelessness on the bare ground with an assist from Windigo. Mongrel gave the crowd gathered along the fence an up close personal view then took him the woods and abused him with a stake of some kind. Az was taking a ferocious beating. Mongrel found a random steel chair he found laying around. Mongrel smashed into a huge oak tree on an attempted cannonball. Az gave Windigo the Woodgrain (piledriver) onto the gravel. Mongrel was overcome with grief and went wild on Az. They got in the ring. Mongrel jumped on Az's back and tried to choke him out. Az fell backwards. The ring collapsed. Az extended an arm and climbed out the hole and stood up a fraction of second before Joseph Void's count reached ten.

This match captured my imagination like few matches do. The use of the natural environment outside the ProSouth Palace was unlike any pro wrestling match I had every witnessed. There were some Mongrel chants. They had to have some sympathy for the guy.  Windigo sold the Woodgrain like she died. 

The return of the Left Hand Path. Mathias Darkthorne, Trever Aeon and Eric Silva  were in the ring with a warning for ProSouth. Darkthorne said it was  10 years ago that LHP began at ProSouth. They had done their thing on separate paths but ProSouth was  home, and you don't let that milestone go past without something special happening. He wasn't going to say when, where or how but he and his brothers were going to do what they do -- drag somebody kicking and screaming down the Left Hand Path.

What a pleasant surprise this was. With so benefit of so much mic experience at ProSouth, when the situation calls for it, Darkthorne is a better promo than ever.

(2) DRP (with Bubba Cagle) defeated Christian Garrett in an I Quit match to regain the All-Out Championship via guillotine 10:10.  Scott Adams was conspicuous by his absence in Garrett's corner. "New champ" chant at the bell. Stiff punches exchanged. DRP attempted a ropes walk and got wickedly crotched by Garrett. The fight spilled to the floor. Garrett took a chair shot to the back. Garrett threw DRP over the barricade. DRP DDTed Garrett off the barricade. Chants of "DRP" and "this is awesome". Garrett sat DRP in a chair and booted him right in the mouth. DRP was in trouble. Garrett told Cagle to throw the towel in. DRP fired up. Garrett got dropped on his neck by DRP's ripcord release german. DRP started working for a guillotine choke but Garrett fought his way free. DRP elbow dropped a chair onto Garrett from the top rope. That did neither one of them any favors. They beat the crap out of each on their knees. Garrett applied a crossface. DRP reversed it with Cattle Mutilation and switched to the guillotine choke. 

Adams came to the ring with a mic and a towel in his hand. Adams said he was not some puppet doing a song and dance. He was going to rewrite the script. Adams threw in the towel, raised DRPs hand and presented him with the title belt.

This was a kick ass match, the best Christian Garrett match I have seen, hard-hitting, everything looked clean and crisp and the crowd was on fire. The story leading into the match was a great misdirection play. Had Adams' promo last week been halfway audible, his turn would have been more nuanced. More will be revealed.

(3) Blood Born (Joe Wood & Alexander Lincoln) vs. Brandon Whatley & ??? (with Amy Haven) was a non contest. Amy came onstage to intro Whatley's mystery partner and extended two fingers. Like a snake in the grass, Wood turned on his brother with the Human Torpedo, the Woodchipper and applied a full nelson until Lincoln was a helpless mess. As his crippled-up brother made his way out of the ring, Wood laid Lincoln out on the floor with another Human Torpedo.

Wood and Whatley left with Amy as new members of The Process.

Never saw this turn coming either.  A huge letdown to the ProSouth fans no doubt. I loved Wood's ruthlessness and the fact that Amy recruited a heater for The Process. I later learned Joe had exhibited telltale signs of a turn with a subtle change in the hand gesture he does as part of his intro. 

(4) Christian Pierce defeated Julian Balderas in a Tex Mex Streetfight (18:21). Pierce bashed Balderas in the head with the can of Michelob Ultra he carried into the ring. They were off and running with all kinds of fuckery being used --  baking pan, chairs, trash can and lid, a cowbell - you get the idea. Pierce put the trash can over Balderas' head and cannonballed him in the corner. Pierce may have come out on the short end of that one. 

Pierce bled after taking a trash can shot to the head. Pierce gave Balderas a chair shot to the head. Balderas, I think got his hands up just in time. They pounded each other silly. Pierce bridged a ladder across two chairs and leg dropped one end of the ladder which sent the end into the face of Balderas like a teeter totter. Pierce tried to vault over the ladder from the top rope with a double stomp. Balderas got out of the way and speared Pierce out of his cowboy boots. Balderas went for Project Mayhem (triple jump Vader bomb) but did not get all of it. Balderas tried to remove the straps holding the canvas place in order to expose the boards in one of the corners. Time stood still as the straps would not cooperate. They decided to move on. Pierce dug a screwdriver into the head of Balderas and he bled. Balderas gave Pierce a sitout fireman's carry slam on the outside. But Pierce was the first to get back in the ring and caught Balderas with a draping DDT on a chair to end it.

The violent beauty of this streetfight was the extremes they went to were 100 %  by the all that went down that get them to the match. Pierce got his win but had to pay a huge physical price. The teeter tottter leg drop was the most creative ladder spot I've seen in a while. I felt bad for them when they had the problem with the straps on the canvas. That spot goes bad as often as it works. The match had such great momentum and that derailed it. Be that as it may, this was a killer streetfight. 

(5) Lights Out Match: Justin McKenzie defeated Tragick (with Amy Haven)  in 11:09. The lights went out at the opening bell. The ring was lit only by the flashlights on some fans' cameras. Tragick was eating stuff from McKenzie who then went under the ring. The light on Tragick's collar went haywire and started flashing different colors. Tragick pulled McKenzie out from under the ring and took control of the match. McKenzie again went under the ring. He pulled out a flashing white light an shined it at Tragick. The white light temporarily messed Tragick up. McKenzie set up a table with a white top (the better to see it in the dark) at ringside. McKenzie The table broke on its own with Tragick on it. McKenzie set the table against the barricade and put Tragick through it with a shotgun dropkick. That looked brutal. Tragick's extraordinary recuperative powers took hold. He got McKenzie in the Captain's Hook (bulldog choke). McKenzie crawled toward a backpack in the corner with a light in it but he didn't get it. McKenzie told the crowd to turn their flashlights off.  The only light was the green light on Tragick's color. McKenzie did a tope suicida and pinned him after a  destroyer from the top (pictured below).

Post-match: Tragick's collar light turned red. He threw a fireball in McKenzie's face. McKenzie was screaming. Void threw water on McKenzie's face and helped him to the back.

This match played better on the livestream. Live it was too dark to fully appreciate and needed commentary to explain what the hell was going on. The light changing colors was confusing. McKenzie's tope in the pitch black was tremendous and they made a great adjustment when the table broke. It was an interesting experiment that I wouldn't call a fail but my least favorite match of the night. 

(6) Caeden Ooten (with Harley Haven) defeated AJ Black in 11:40. The babyface crowd reaction for AJ started with his entrance and had staying power. C made a snakry comment about of AJ's use of the "Pretty Boy" moniker (from his grandfather Doug Somers). 

AJ took C to school with his wrestling. AJ also did an escalara dive to the outside and a release german back inside the ring. C got untracked with a springboard punch in the face. C's punch and kick offense took hold. On the comeback, AJ got a close near fall with a short arm clothesline. Harley slid a chair in. As referee Becca removed the chair, C went for a low blow but AJ was wise to it and kicked out of C's Loaded Gun Complex finisher.

As AJ went to the top rope, Harley grabbed his leg. AJ booted Harley away. Ooten capitalized on the distraction an avalanche Loaded Gun Complex.

This was really good straight up wrestling match between two young stars. They were hampered by the loose condition of the ropes. AJ's chest bump looked great and is a fairly unique bump these days. Harley's timing on the interference finish was perfect and she took a bump her dad  was probably proud of. AJ kicked out of C's finisher and got beat due to outside inteference.

(7) Buried Alive: Joe Black (with Amy Haven) defeated Ace Haven in around 18  minutes.  Ace  ironically came to the ring in tribute mode wearing a classic Undertaker hat. Joe's forehead was adorned with a single devil's horn that miraculously remained in place throughout the match. 

Ace gave Joe the Jimmy Rave STO on the floor and construced an iron coffin at ringside. Ace teased puttingJoe through the steel coffin with a Pedigree off the apron. Joe can thank his lucky stars that did not happen. They exchanged wickedly stiff shots. Joe tore Ace's shirt off and chopped him until his chest was beet red with welts. They battled into the bleachers. Joe went for the kill shot to the base of the brain. Ace slipped away. Joe waved off a chair fired at his head and glared at Ace. Back inside, Joe backdropped Ace
over the top rope onto a bridged section of barricade.That was good for a "holy shit" chant. Joe gave Ace a falcon arrow into the iron coffin.

 

Joe carried Ace out of the building to where security guy Jamie had dug a six foot grave. Joe dragged Ace into the grave but Ace escaped. The other members of The Process attacked Ace. McKenzie and Oliver ran out to defend Ace. Ace reappeared  standing on the roof of the ProSouth Palace. 

Ace dove off the roof and it was all hands on deck below. The impact of Ace' body landing on them made a sick thudding sound.  The livestream cut out due an equipment glitch. Katie Lindsey's rover camera picked up the action a short time later. The full version is available on the ProSouth YouTube channel.  Ace started screaming at Amy about being her husband. "See if he (Joe) can do it on his own". Amy instead did this.

Joe's kill shot sent Ace tumbling into the grave. Joe pointed at Tragick. His light went red.  Amy threw the YouTube belt in the grave. Tragick used a torch to light the grave on fire. Joe ordered a druid who was conveniently standing by to bury Ace. The druid dumped a wheelbarrow of dirt into the grave. Joe laughed like a maniac. Zombie Dragon emerged from behind the grave. The Process looked freaked out. Fade to black.

I watched the video of this match and it could not do the live experience justice. The action inside the ring was brutal. Joe subjected Ace to the full Joe Black treatment and Ace responded in kind. The look on Joe's face when he shrugged off the chair sent a chill down my spine. Amy  is evil incarnate. Ace's dive off the roof was a  side quest seemingly unrelated to the match, not that a little thing like that was going to stand in his way. It's his company. Thanks to great team effort and lot of luck, nobody got hurt. But since Ace did come out that craziness unscathed. Perhaps in the fantasy world of ProSouth, it is in the realm of possibility that he could be burnt to a crisp, buried alive and return as a reanimated corpse.

NOTES: Wicked Nemesis and Mathias Darkthorne did the commentary. Darkthorne ring announced...ProSouth has found themselves a solid second referee in Becca... Rose Gold and the returning Ayden Andrews were visiting backstage...Ooten suffered a minor elbow injury on the finish but was OK after receiving treatment backstage....Aeon and Silva were help up in traffic caused by a police shooting incident and arrived at the building just in time for their promo...Zombie Dragon is back from China for a short stint in the states.