From Larry Goodman:
Unless you have a hole in your indy wrestling soul, to know Southern Fried Championship Wrestling is to love it right now.
Todd Sexton is on an epic roll as a booker. He's the King Midas of bookers, every angle he touches is turning to gold.
The angle is only one part of the equation. The Southern Fried roster has been excellent in their execution of same.
One more heated angle was added to the mix during this show. Michael Walker turned on partner Seth Delay because Delay thought it best the former tag team champions part ways due to the difference in the stages of their careers.
The match for the disputed Southern Fried Championship between Jacob Ashworth and CT Keys ended with more controversy. Of course it did. Southern Fried owner David Manders held up the title. Keys and Walker will meet again on April 4 in a no DQ two out of three falls match.
Hunter James and his father, Jamey Dean were in the building together for the first time. Dean was injured and had to be helped to the back at the February 20 show thanks to the Rosario Grillo and the Crusade. This time, the Crusade made sure Dean was carried out.
Attendance at the Walton County Boys and Girls Club Gym was down a little at right around 200. Southern Fried has faithfully run the first and third Saturday this year, no one show months so far.
John Johnson opened the show with a get well card for fallen ring announcer Chianne Michaels. JJ sarcastically said he'd been having sleepless night about what happened to Chianne at the last show (when JJ shoved her into the path of Billy Buck's superkick).
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They got everything they wanted from this segment, which became the theme of the night. It was the stuff great babyfaces and hells are made of. JJ is a certified asshole. James is making all the right moves in the role of the courageous hero and the people love him for it.
(1) Alexander Lev defeated Ashton Martin in 4:37. Lev interrupted his tag line to sucker punch Martin and kick the crap out of him. Martin got a near fall with a blue thunder bomb. That was it for his offense. Lev snuffed out Martin's comebacks beat him a Jimmy Rave combo -- STO to set up Gonorrhea.
Lev told the people they were looking at the next Southern Fried Champion.
Lev has racked up impressive wins on three consecutive shows. He was more blatantly heelish than previously. Staking his claim to the championship was a natural progression. Martin has improved noticeably from when I saw him at Premier a few months ago.
(2) JT Paradox defeated Lucas DeSilva in a three rounds grappling match, 4 takedowns to 2. One minute rounds, one point awarded for each take down. Crowd behnd Paradox large.
Round 1 -- With 10 seconds to go, Paradox put DeSilva on the canvas with an overhead suplex to go up 1-0.
Round 2 -- DeSilva tied it up with a fireman's carry and went up 2-1 with a german suplex.
Round 3 -- DeSilva played defense and tried to run out the clock. In the closing seconds, Paradox scored with three german suplexes to win 4-2.
They did a good job of making this look like authentic contest. DeSilva' background helped immensely. He was a three time Georgia state champion for Collins Hill High School and wrestled at the collegiate level. There's a nice heel/babyface dynamic in play but more subtle than typical pro wrestling.
(3) Crystal Rose defeated Taurain to retain the Nerd U Women's Championship in 3:55. Rose dominated Taurain and pinned her with a wicked variation of the a curb stomp using her knee to do the damage.
This was not the women's match originally booked for the card.
(4) Joey Hyder & Christian Taylor defeated Hunter James in a handicap match via DQ in at 11:05. James jumped on the Crusade right away. That was his best hope in a handicap situation. Hyder got his knees up on Hunter's Viperplex and the Crusade was all over him, using crisp tags, double teams and maximum pressure to wear James down. Jamey Dean took the lead in getting the crowd going with a "Hollywood" chant. James was hanging on by a thread. Every time he got a hint of daylight, James would crawl towards the babyface corner as if an imaginary partner waiting to tag in. James hit the PPS on Taylor but Hyder had made a blind tag and was laying in wait with the Patriot Lock. Dean sprung onto the apron to take the tag from his son. The crowd was going nut as Dean put Hyder and Taylor down with a double dropkick. Hyder was able to get Dean in the Patriot Lock but James quickly intervened with kendo stick shots on Hyder for the DQ.
Hyder put an armlock on Dean, (wearing an elbow brace due the injury he suffered at the February 20 show), while Taylor duct taped James to the ropes. Hyder ragdolled Dean with the Patriot Lock until Dean went out and collapsed on the mat. There were four refs and half dozen security guard at ringside. James did not regain conciousness and was carried out by security.
The crowd was losing their minds when Hunter's father made that hot tag and they timed it perfectly. The whole shebang was incredibly well done by everyone involved. I loved the aggressivness and urgency of the Crusade. The postmatch was pandemonium.
INTERMISSION
(5) Brian Blaze destroyed Seth Stephens in 1:30 while Matt Hankins talked. Stephens got in a couple of powder puff blows before Blaze took his head off with a short arm clothesline.
Meanwhile, Hankins had splain' to do regarding what they did to Classics Champion Dominic Stuckey at the last show. Hankins said he had the angel on one shoulder, the devil on the other, and the angel flew the coop. They had gone for undeniable to unrepentant. The sociopath in him had been unleashed.
Hankins ordered Blaze to give Stephens the gimmick. Blaze dropped Stephens on his head with a package piiedriver. Hankins said not that gimmick the other one. Blaze left Stephens laying with Stuckey's finisher.
Postmatch, Southern Fried owner David Manders headed Hankins and Blaze off in the aisle. Manders said Stuckey would be calling Blaze out on April 4 but leave Hankins at home. Hankins told Manders make sure to have a body bag to clean Stuckey up.
Pitch perfect. Not one second longer than it needed to be. Hankins is a heelish delicacy on the mic. He gets his point across with colorful use of the language and without excess words.
(6) Bobby Moore defeated Nick Halen in 11:56. Obviously, these guys know each other like a book which was amply demonstrated by tit-for-tat wrestling staying within the rules. Halen lost his cool when Moore arm dragged into the turnbuckle and retaliated with a punch in the mouth. They fought on the outside where Halen sent Moore into the post. The intensity only escalated back inside the ring. "Marvelous" Michaels Stevens took a seat at the timekeepers table to observer. Halen connected with the Macho Man elbow drop. Stevens tried to put Moore's foot on the bottom rope but the ring positioning was not quite right. Moore did not kick out. Byers saw Stevens holding Moore's foot in his hand and let the match continue. Halen left the ring to get his hands on Stevens. Stevens ducked out of the way. Halen and Moore slugged each other. Moments later, Halen tried for a victory roll. Stevens intefered and Moore was able to pin Halen.
Halen shot Moore the bird after the match.
The match could only be good. The mirror image stuff was fun. The problems in the camp of the Approved are only getting worse, incited by Consanity represented by Marv. The spot where Byers caught Marv holding Moore's foot was hilarious, at least to me.
(7) Dedicated to Dennis Condrey: Jaden Vain & Xavier Cross defeated Michael Walker & Seth Delay in 7:07. Walker and Delay out to the Midnight Express theme. Vain had ring announcer Blake Blackwell say he was undefeated and the most feared wrestler in Southern Fried. The lights went out momemtarily...Hmm. Walker and Delay worked Vain over with armbars and double teams in classic Midnight Express fashion. Cross turned the tide with a claw slam from the apron. Delay eventually head scissored his way to a hot tag. As Vain was being abused, Cross got knocked off the apron. Cross was royally pissed off and took matters into his own hands. He caught Delay like a small child and and gave him snake eyes. Vain DDTed Delay for the three count.
A sweet goodbye love letter to Condrey. The joy Delay brings to his wrestling is infectious. Cross' claw slam is a keeper against smaller opponents.
Delay said he would turn 41 in two days. It had been a long time since he won a match. He was not retiring, but he and Walker were at different stages of their careers. Delay said they should go their separate ways and part as friends. The crowd protested. They hugged. Walker started to leave the ring, then attacke Delay from behind and planted him with a J Driller. The Southern Fried fans were outraged.
Molten heat. Walker and Delay made magic. Walker's mad/sad facial expression was tremendous as was Delay's earnestness in bringing his team with Walker to an end.
(8) Southern Fried Champion Jacob Ashworth (with John Johnson) vs. former Southern Fried Champion CT Keys was a no contest in 17:07 with the title held up by owner David Manders. JJ commandeered the mic for the main event ring introductions so he could disrespect Keys. Keys had the title belt he held as champion. Ashworth had the belt Manders presented to him when he won the title by forfeit two weeks ago.
Before the bell, Lev came to the ring to say he had next on April 4. Keys knocked Lev on his ass. Ashworth atttacked Keys from behind and the match was officially underway. Keys sent Ashworth packing. They brawlled on the outside. Ashworth was quick to gouge Keys' eyeballs. Key unleashed a trio of explosive running European uppercuts and body slam for a two count. Ashworth grounded Keys to slow him down and went back to the eyes. Ashworth taunted Keys about "playing daddy". Keys broke out a diving European uppercut for the move of the match and got a near fall with his signature sky high uranage. Keys went for the cobra clutch. JJ jumped on the apron to distract.
JJ held onto referee Matthew Daniel for dear life as Xander Seabolt hit the ring and dropped Keys with a sick kick. Keys kicked out at 2.9. Seabolt tried to get the hell to the back but Manders cut him off. During the chaos, Ashworth nailed Keys with a belt shot and covered. Again, Keys kicked out at the last split second, which got a huge reaction. Ashworth tried for Roll of the Dice. Keys tried to counter with the F5 and took out out Daniel. Keys pounced Keys for a visual pin before Bryan Waite slid in to make the count and Ashworth was able to kick out.
Ashworth hit Ashes to Ashes while Keys had him locked in the cobra clutch. Daniel's count reached three at precisely the same moment Waites saw Ashworth tap out. A wild scene ensued with Daniel, Waites, Manders, Keys and Ashworth all arguing back and forth. Blackwell announced the match as a no contest. Ashworth and JJ were out of there with their version of the title. Keys was furious.
Manders said he saw it all on the monitor. The calls by Daniel and Waites occured at the same moment. The title was held up and the title would be decided in a no DQ, two out three falls match on April 4.
They killed it. The closing minutes with the crowd biting on the false finishes was high drama. The crowd was going just as bananas as they did for the James family/Crusade match. The execution of a complex finish that involved a multitude of players was spot on.
NOTES: Adam Vance was solo on commentary...Blackwell stepped into the timekeeper and ring announcer role for the evening...Dee Byers, David Weakley, Bryan Waites and Matthew Daniel were the referees... Azrael. Jessie Cruz and Christine Hilton were among those in the house and visiting backstage.
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