 |
| Photos by Peter Sigmund |
From Larry Goodman:
The weather Gods did SHW no favors last night for their third outdoor show at Reformation Brewing. The Canton area was deluged with rain right up until bell time. The weather held the crowd down to the number of people that could fit under the covered section of the patio -- 238 was the official number.
SHW 80 was not quite as great as their first two shows at Reformation Brewing. For one thing, the bar was set incredibly high. The other thing was the nature of the show itself. It was about building and setting up for the future after SHW delivered huge payoffs at the last two shows.
This SHW is Dylan Frymyer's baby. Through thick and thin, his booking over the last year has been inspired at its best, rock solid at worst.
SHW fans that expect big moments were not disappointed. Former SHW Champion Joe Black made an unadvertised return with the Amy Haven as his manager.
Alexander Lev retained the SHW Championship after challenger/JTS Legacy Champion Hunter James got faked out by former JTS Champion Bryce Cannon's subterfuge.
The fall out is a high stakes match on April 10 with all the chips pushed to the center of table: SHW Champion Alexander Lev vs. JTS Legacy Champion Hunter James vs. former JTS Legacy Champion Bryce Cannon in a Double Jeopardy match with both titles on the line in separate falls.
SHW heat magnet extraordinaire, Matt Griffin opened the show. Griffin got a "you suck" chant and made ring announcer Diana Michael hold his can of Twisted Tea. Was that any way to treat a six-time award winner? Michel took a swig of Griffin's drink. Griffin said he was going to talk to his lawyers because Lev tried to assault him at last show. Griffin put himself over for making the Skulk the first ever ACTION Tag Team Champions (in 2021)
The Skulk's Championship Celebration. Skulk entered to "We Are the Champions" and took a leisurely stroll around the ring. They joined Griffin in the ring and unfurled the flag pictured below.
This was tremendously entertaining. Heat off the charts. Alanis and Gray picked up right were they left off last month. They are esconced as the team the SHW fans love to hate. The rebranding is a winner. The return of Fluffman and unadvertised return of Matthews got over like gangbusters. The musical selections were straight out of the All-Star Special playbook First time I've ever seen a wrestling segment involving a cake where somebody did not end up wearing it. Hard to imagine a better set up or match that could have been made for Equity's first title defense.
(1) Herculon Rage defeated Rosario Grillo via submission in 8:37. Grillo disrespected Rage, who did a slow burn that exploded with a Pounce. Grillo necked Rage, put the boots to him and poked him in the eye. The crowd got behind Rage. He shook off Grillo's punches and came roaring back. Much to Grillo's dismay, Rage kicked out of the Big Cannoli's Italian shining wizard and proceeded to choke him out with a cobra clutch.
The light bulb has gone on for Rage. He is getting over as a babyface badass. Similar to his match with Michael Stevens last month, Rage was working with a seasoned hand who could help smooth off the rough edges.
(2) Sal Rinauro defeated Christian Taylor in 7:30. Rinauro crawled through the curtain as the genuinely happy-go-lucky babyface Sal. Taylor started beating Sal's ass at the bell but Rinauro bamboozled the psycho. Taylor bailed out to lick his wounds. Rinauro pursued. Taylor cut Rinuaro off and hit a drive-by and a deadlift gutwrench suplex back inside. On the comeback, Rinauro splintered Taylor's tailbone with atomic drops. Rinauro barely kicked out Taylor's World's Strongest Slam...
Rinauro connected with a trio of superkicks to fell Taylor for the three count. Postmatch, Taylor sent Rinauro to la-la land with a giant swing choke.
They've brewed up a nice undercard feud. Rinauro has beaten Taylor twice in a row but Taylor got his heat back bigtime afterward so there must be rematch on tap.
(3) Hyena Hera defeated Airica Demia in 10:17. Demia is out of the Carolinas, trained by Ethan Case at Palmetto Wrestling Academy and is three year into her career. Hera was the runner up for the GWH Female Performer of Year award, finishing one vote behind Anjelica Risk. Hera chopped Demia. Airica gave it back to her double. Hera heeled it up. Demia's best move of the match was a diving back elbow the Hera's mouth. Hera's finisher was like a back-to-back variation of Gori Bomb. It looked devastating and got the biggest reaction of the match.
The babyface/heel dynamic could not have been much stronger. Demia is an appealing babyface portraying a character based on Kawaii anime. Hera is the wicked witch of 1FW. She's very effective at getting heat with her facial expressons and is far the better worker of the two. They kept it fairly basic, not on the level Risk vs. Remi Reade last month.
Hakeem Young promo. Crowd was immediately outraged when Hakeem kicked Michel out of HIS ring. Hakeem said forgive the hostility, he thought he was coming to Canton get an NFL gold jacket and the sweathogs (in Canton?) should be grateful to see him. He was the new killer in SHW.
Of all people, Amy Haven came through the curtain. Joe Black's music hit and the crowd erupted as "The Killerweight" and former SHW Champion appeared. Amy explained: SHW Champion Alexander Lev came to ProSouth last week so she was bringing her ProSouth Champion to SHW this week. Joe received chants f "welcome home" and the familiar "Joe is gonna kill you".
Great segment. Hakeem's promo worked. The pop for Joe Black was as massive as any of you SHW fans would expect. I was surprised by the strength of the reaction to the ProSouth mention and to Amy Haven in particular.
(4) Joe Black (with Amy Haven) defeated "The Body Snatcher" Hakeem Young in 14:50. Joe was eating Hakeem alive in the early going. Joe gave Hakeem
Postmatch, Joe said it felt so good be back. He said Hakeem had a bright future and thanked him for the match. Lev beat his ass a few months ago and AJ Styles helped him up after the match. He came back because there was a lot of new talent looking to prove themselves. "I'm the new OG. Let's see what y'all got."
They put on a dramatic match that built to a surprising finish. At least to me. I somehow convinced myself Joe was going to put Hakeem over. Joe instead won the match and put Hakeem over at the same time. Amy Haven should have been the only clue necessary to tell me this was the reinvented Joe Black. He'wants to help develop young talent. Defeating Hakeem was part of the process.
(5) Equity (Adrian Alanis & Liam Gray) defeated Technically Fluffy (Kyle Matthews & Cody Fluffman) to retain the SHW Tag Team Championship in 10:30. Cute themed offense from Technically Fluffy - a rolling body scissors by Matthews followed by Fluffman's signature steamroller. Gray pulled Matthews out to start to the isolation play on Matthews. Alanis' slingblade backbreaker was something different. Equity did the deal where referee David Weakley so distracted he missed a legit tag. Equity decimated Kyle but his resiliency was not to be denied. He superkicked Alanis for a near fall close enough to get a "that was three" chant. Alanis pinned Matthews with a torture rack dropped into a double knee gutbuster.
The crowd showered Technically Fluffy with applause after the match and chanted "Fluffy".
Fluffman is a natural showman and has honed his craft with Savannah Bananas. A by the number first title defense for Equity, not that there's anything wrong with that. They got the crowd to bite on Matthews superkick near the end. Alanis' finisher looked great.
(6) SHW Champion Alexander Lev defeated JTS Champion Hunter James to retain his championship in 21:04. Great reaction for Lev. As the kids say, he's got The Rizz. The crowd finished his "I am faithful" catch phrase on their own.
The opening minutes was a display of how well they knew each other's games. Lev used a Mutalock to soften up Hunter's leg before he started going for the Calf Crusher. He took his first shot at it just past the five minute mark. Lev took too much time ascending to the top rope and James backdropped him off the top. James grounded Lev. The crowd starting chanting for a Lev comeback. James got a near fall with a judo throw and another with a deadlift german. Lev rallied. He tried for Ghonorrhea. James escaped and Lev had to settle for near fall with an STO. Lev was starting to lose his cool a bit. They did a series of standing switches as a lead into Hunter's Viperplex. James hit the Hollywood Twist and tried to convince Paul Santa he should have counted three.
Cannon's music hit. James' attention was riveted to the curtain. He paid dearly for losing focus. Lev got the Calf Crusher fully applied. Lev inched James to ring center to keep him away from the ropes. James was somehow able to escape and hit the brainbuster on one leg. James crawled for the cover and Lev got a foot on the ropes. James was damaged goods. As they jockeyed for position on the ropes, James got knocked off balance and crotched himself on the top rope. Lev brought James down with a rabbit lariat off the ropes. Lev moved in for the kill with a piledriver and finished James with Ghonorrhea.
Brandon Benefield said he had received a message from matchmaker Jake "The Snake" Roberts and announced the double jeopardy match for April 10 back at Reformation Brewery.
A good match, not their best, nor did it need to be. The finish looked devastating. Some of the transitions were kind of wonky. James was not going to beat Lev and become a double champion. The match that really matters is next month. The set up is interesting. Lev has now beaten Cannon and James at consecutive shows because they screwed each other. They both get another shot at Lev as well as at each other. It is highly unlikely but conceivable that one of them could walk away with both titles. Lev and James are in phenomenal shape. The size differential should have come as no surprise to me since I've seen them both wrestle so many times before but it did.
NOTES: Gerard Bonner returned as Brandon Benefield's partner on commentary. Griffin also put his two cents in...Clark DeBenedetto, Paul Santa and David Weakley were the referees....Diana Michel was the ring announcer...The four person camera crew consisted of Chianne Michaels, JT Paradox and Hayden Weakley...DJ Tonnek was on sound...Darryl Hall, Jay Tyler and Zander Whoric were among those in the house.
