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| Photos by Peter Sigmund |
From Larry Goodman:
Southern Honor Wrestling continued their streak of banger shows at Reformation Brewing. Dylan Frymyer and company have not missed the mark since the move to their new venue last November.
SHW give their fans a sampling of the best Georgia Wrestling has to offer. This show had variety. SHW is striking a balance of storyline continuity and filtering in fresh talent along the way.
Crowd was up big (389) and hot as ever. Referees Clark DeBenedetto and Paul Santa were public enemy #1. There were at least a half dozen "ref you suck" chants.
Circumstances required late adjustments to the card. Champion Alexander Lev being under the weather. His advertised title match with Grayson Pierce had to be scrapped. Liam Gray was also unavailable for Equity's tag title defense. The SHW braintrust cooked up some stellar solutions. Frymyer is booking heat.
A bunch of good stuff was set up for the June 5 show.
The introductory video package included the titillating tidbit that Adrian Alanis did not have a partner tonight. Would he have a partner and who would it be?
Matt Griffin made his grand entrance rocking a "God of Southern Honor" t-shirt, crowd hating on him as usual. Griffin decided to remain silent and handed the mic to Diana Michel. That got a relief pop.
Guy knows how to milk a crowd. Score one for Michel.
(1) Christian Taylor defeated Herculon Rage via submission in 8:30. Taylor has added a strait jacket inscripted with "Deadford Asylum" to his totally derangd act. Brawl at the bell and the ring couldn't hold 'em. Taylor was subjected to the power o of Rage on a one-armed press drop.
Taylor ate a tope. Back inside, Taylor was on the attack. Rage locked in the cobra clutch. Hayden Seal jumped on the apron to distract the ref. KayJay Impala attacked Rage from the opposite side and laid him out with Six Deep. Taylor sent Rage to lala land with a dragon sleeper.
They had to work through significant issues and still kept the match on track. Rage got his bell rung on a dive to the outside. A ring board popped out of place causing a hazardous bulge in the mat.
Rosario Grillo popped up on the big screen to announce the invasion of Il Cartello Grillo invasion to avenge the disrespect he suffered at Rage's hands last month.
Grayson Pierce was a happy man. He handed Grillo's capo Impala an envelope for Grillo. Pierce said he would be champion on June 5 and Lev would not have his insurance policy. Il Cartello Grillo wrappped a chair around Rage's neck but before the Pillmanization could take place, Sal Rinauro and Dallas Brothers made the save.
Rinauro confirmed Lev was not there which meant Pierce had the night off BUT Sal was the decision maker and ordered a six man tag and his decision was final.
A nice piece of business. The SHW crowd loves Dallas Brothers so this was great way to salve the disappointment about not getting to see their hero Lev.
(2) Corinne Joy defeated the debuting "Crash Out Cutie" Alexandra Quinn in 7:50. Crowd liked Quinn. The heel/babyface dynamic was strong right from the get go. Joy slapped Quinn across the face. Getting in a strike battle with Quinn did not end will for Joy. They had a lot of each other's moves scouted. Quinn started to crash out. They traded big near falls, Joy with a piledriver, Quinn with an Attitude Adjustment. Joy spun Santa around so she could kick Quinn between the legs sight-unseen and hit the Joyride for the win.
Took three to tango on that finish. The timing had to be right or it would look ridiculous. They got the crowd to buy into the false finishes before they got there. The flow was glitchy at times. I'd like to see this match run back down the line.
Joy's victory celebration was short-lived. A video of dripping blood covering Joy signaled the return of Ravenna Vein.
(3) Joe Black (with Amy Haven) defeated the debuting Tristan Moody in 8:31. Moody copped an attitude. Black over huge as always. Moody went hold for hold with Joe in the chain wrestling and put an exclamation point on it with a dropkick and rana. Moody threw a chop. Joe ate Moody alive with chops. Moody bailed after Joe launched him with a release german. Joe pursued with more chops and Moody threw Amy in the line of fire. Back inside, Moody unleashed some sternum caver kicks. Joe hit the ropes walk cutter but it was not enough. Moody broke out an X plex, a Lethal Injection and a phenomenal forearm. Joe kicked out off all three and speared Moody for the three count.
This was an excellent straight up wrestling match. Everything Moody does looks super crisp and he was effective as a heel. Moody was chosen by Dragon Gate for a tour of Japan in July and it was easy to see why. Joe Black is doing precisely what he said he was going to do when he returned to SHW.
Amy Haven has been lost in the shuffle of Joe's triumphant return and an undervalued asset. Am I biased? Absolutely. Fact remains the GWH Manager of the Year for 2023 has been given little to do except serve as window dressing for Joe.
Joe put Moody over huge -- mentioned his training under Ethan Case and said he saw something in him that reminded him of PWX. Joe told Moody to show Japan how the Carolina boys get it done and placed the beads around Moody's neck. Joe had the fans come up the ring for some AWE style mat pounding.
Jay Alpha Miller appeared on the big screen and cut a wickedly heelish promo on Joe. This was an exquisite introduction to what Teflon is all about.
(4) Grayson Pierce & Il Cartello Grillo (KayJay Impala & Hayden Seal) defeated Sal Rinauro & Dallas Brothers ( & Ethan) in 11:35. Six way action as Santa called for the bell. Pierce was surrounded and subjected to a triple team. The bad guys were on the run. Pierce got atomic dropped to death. Ethan was isolate Cartello Grillo cleared out the babyface corner to prevent a tag. A comedy of heel errors ensued. Crowd was chanting for A-Ron. He ran wild with the hot tag and stood tall after flatliner/DDT combo on Cartello Grillo. Dallas evaded the Skullpiercer. Sal tagged in and had Pierce flummoxed. The babyfaces did a triple dive complete with a Ray Fenix type tope by Ethan. Dallas Bros hit a Hart Attack. Ethan was set for a leap off the top and got dumped by Pierce, who followed with a 450 for the win.
Pierce made the belt motion and got a "you suck" chant.
Pierce is a perfect asshole as a heel. I think I've written that before. If not, I should have. This match had tremendous action. Aaron Dallas won the most improved wrestlers award in 2023 and is remarkably better now than he was then. Pierce nailed that 450.
(5) Bryce Cannon defeated "Pretty" Parker Li to retain the JTS Legacy Championship in 10:51. Li was doing his stripper gimmick from 1FW complete with the baby oil and the tear away pants. Fans were stuffing dollar bills in his suspenders. Cannon wasted no time pulling the dollar bills out of Li's boot. Lots of gyrating going. Li messed with The Tip. Li's crash and burn crossbody teed up Cannon's comeback. Cannon gave Li a Tip butt and got a close near fall with Twisted Tea. When Li couldn't get the job done legit, he picked up Cannon's frat paddle. While the ref was getting rid of the paddle, Li squirted baby oil in Cannon's eyes. Cannon kicked out of Li's desperate pin attempt and beat him with Spiked Seltzer.
Your sports entertainment match of the night. They got the maximum out of a match where the winner was a forgone conclusion. Li has a highly punchable face. The crowd got in synch with his gimmick to the point he had some rooters. Cannon's babyface turn is taking and the finish looked great.
Cannon said the SHW fans had no love for him in the Action Building and he did not like them either. But the cheating ways of his first JTS title run were behind him. One person he did dirty was Kyle Matthews. Cannon's challenge to dance one more time at the June 5 show was endorsed by the SHW faithful.
Hakeem Young attacked Cannon as he was exiting the ringside area. The Body Snatcher left Cannon laying with the Thrashing. Cannon was completely out of it and had to be helped to the dressing room.
Shock and awe. The segment appeared to be over when Hakeem launched his heinous attack, which was made doubly effective by Cannon's selling.
(6) Equity (Adrian Alanis & ???) defeated Top Shootas (Trey Da'Rula & Maurice Moss) to retain the SHW Tag Team Championship in 13:11. Presented as a pure handicap match. Alanis clipped Moss' knee before bell. Shootas handed Alanis his ass. A couple of minutes in, Moss got spectacular height on a suicide dive over the top. Moss came up limping and Alanis was all over the knee. Moss was unable to continue.
Matched morphed into an intense back and forth between Alanis and Da'Rula. Alanis would have been pinned by Da'Rula's springboard cutter had he not grabbed the rope at the count of two. Alanis answered with a Tiger Bomb for a 2.9 near fall. Heel or face, this crowd was continually pissed off about not getting a three count. Moss returned to take the hot tag and hit a Gamebreaker using the top rope. Alanis kicked out again. Referee Paul Santa got knocked down. Top Shootas killed Alanis with their finisher for a visual fall on the champion.
Matt Griffin sneaked to ringside and clocked both Top Shootas with the title belt. Griffin made a major production out of taking the tag from Alanis and pinned Da'Rula with a powerbomb onto the belt.
The crowd was livid. Griffin and Alanis were in their glory.
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I was wondering how in the blue hell this match was going to have heat with the heel going it alone in a handicap match. It did. Lots. Griffin was exactly righ for the mystery partner, fit like a glove since he claims Equity as his ACTION wrestling guys. Top Shootas have raw talent. They possess basketball style athleticism and matched up well with Alanis. More of this feud please.
NOTES: Brandon Benefield was the play-by-play announcer...Ring wizard YJ Thomasson resolved the problem with the ring board in short order...Vivian Cross was among those in the house...SHW is working on the logistics for the annual Rumblejack show...
