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| Photos by Peter Sigmund |
From Larry Goodman:
It's Rumblejack season, baby! Kinda sneaked up on me this first year away from the Action Building.
Boom! Rumblejack is SHW's next show. It will take place inside the big white tent at The Mill on Etowah next to Reformation Brewery. A bigger space will be needed than the patio at the Brewery.
I've been like a broken record since Southern Honor started their run at Reformation. SHW 83 was another first rate show with a fired up crowd and more of an adult atmosphere than usual.
It was beautiful night for an outdoor wrestling event. 401 was Faye Vroyles official head count. The run time was two hours on the nose.
The show was loaded with spicy continuation of the pre-existing storylines with one major addition -- an invasion of North Carolinians led by TIM, bent on taking out Joe Black. The Pantheon introduced themselves via one of the most violent angles in SHW history.
Precious little has been defined about the Rumblejack competitors. Black and Herculon Rage both won Rumblejack qualifiers. Rosario Grillo inserted himself in the match. The SHW fans can make educated guesses about many of the participants based on recent events. SHW has two full months for reveals and the night of show surprises are part of the draw.
(1) Rumblejack Qualifier: Herculon Rage defeated KJ Impala (with Rosario Grillo & Hayden Seal) in 7:00. Il Cartello Grillo were constantly distracting and interfering to throw Rage off track, and it looked like they were going to succeed in doing so. Grillo and Seal got on the apron after Rage kicked out Impala's Six Deep. Impala capitalized with the Capo Kick. Rage kicked out again and pinned Impala with an End of Days.
What is this, Baron Corbin tribute night? I don't know what is with Rage and rings, just like last month, a ring board popped up first minute of the match (see photo above). They maneuvered around it without injury and had a good match with a lot of heat.
Il Cartello Grillo laid a beating on Rage after the match, with an elevated stomp as the Since his capo didn't get the job done, Grillo announced he was entering the Rumblejack without any stinkin' need to qualify.
(2) Gods of Honor (Adrian Alanis & Matt Griffin) defeated Top Shootas (Maurice Moss & Trey Da'Rula) to retain the SHW Tag Team Championship in 9:30. Hate heaped on The Gods as they made their way to the ring. Griffin started and ran for his life to tag Alanis in. Top Shootas tandem offense ruled the early going. Shootas broke out the most spectacular move of the night -- criss crossing the ring for stereo suicide dives over the top rope. The crowd went bananas -- Alanis picked up somebody's cane to distract Da'Rula and the champions isolated him. After the hot tag to Moss, Shootas had Alanis pinned with top rope leg drop/sidewalk slam combo but Griffin broke up the pin. Da'Rula seemed float threw the air on a springboard cutter.
Alanis kicked out. The champions foiled a Top Shootas double team. Griffin powerbombed Da'Rula and Alanis pinned him with a diving lariat.
Pretty much pitch perfect -- Heat to die for, Alanis doing the quality work, Griffin hogging the glory. Top Shootas can really fly. Da'Rula's springboard cutter was a thing of beauty and would have been a fantastic false finish except Moss was already in the ring for their double team.
The three show program with Top Shootas has been entertaining and a hit with the SHW crowd. With Liam Gray taking time off for health reasons, Alanis has really stepped it up and shown just how talented he is. Top Shootas have charisma and athletic ability. Hopefully, there is a way forward for them at SHW.
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| Gods of Honor with Mariah and Nicki |
(3) Bryce Cannon defeated Kyle Matthews to retain the JTS Legacy Championship in 8:09. Dueling chants at the opening bell. They wrestled to standoff. Each had their highlight moments (Matthews' pinpoint dropkick, Cannon's Twisted Tea), neither able to sustain an advantage for long. Matthews with a tornado DDT tp set up a frog splash. Soon as Cannon kicked out, Matthews applied a crossface. Cannon fought off the submission and connected with the disaster kick Matthews had eluded earlier and planted Matthews with the Keg stand.
This was a treat. SHW isn't known for great technical wrestling or babyface matches and we got both of them here. It was a match where everything had to be earned. Cannon's first title defense against Parker Li was entertaining. Cannon was facing a serious threat to his title. Georgia's seven-time technical wrestler of the year sharp as tacks. It was chance for Cannon to show a different facet of the in-ring ability. The Tip works whether he's heel or babyface.
Postmatch show of mutual respect with Matthews accepting Cannon's offer to shake hands. Cannon graciously left the ring to Matthews, who was showered with applause and a "Kyle" chant.
In a repeat performance of his what he did to Cannon last month, Hakeem Young blindsided Matthews as he was leaving the ring and knocked him out with the Thrashing. The Bodysnatcher was not satisfied and was about to piledrive Matthews to oblivion. Cannon returned to make the save. Young was getting major flack as he escorted out by security.
SHW fans have developed a healthy hate for Hakeem. The Bodysnatcher has quite the positioning. He's left top babyfaces lying unconscious two consecutive shows.
(4) Corinne Joy defeated Ravenna Vein in 6:12. Joy played to the crowd and played with Vein's mind. Vein set Joy straight with a snap back suplex and a fisherman suplex for two. Joy stomped Vein with her furry boots. The kids in the crowd chanted "you are ugly" at Joy. She was enraged. Vein hit the corkscrew neckbreaker that is one of the best looking move in her arsenal.
The finish was play on the way Joy beat Alexandra Quinn last month -- she did the swing your partner with referee Santa and tried to kick Vein between the legs. Vein had the chicanery scouted. Joy spit blood mist in Vein's eyes and hit the piledriver.
Fun finish with Joy using Vein's blood lust against her. These two know each other all too well as this feud as traversed several promotions. They are 1-1 in SHW so there's more to come.
"Teflon" Jay Alpha Miller informed the civilians he would not be able to raise the national pride because was not medically cleared and brought out "Agent 003" to put an end to the conspiracy.
Disappointed not to see Joe/Teflon but what a great replacement.
(5) Rumblejack Qualifier: Joe Black (with Amy Haven) defeated Chad Sky Walker in 12:15.
When magic happens in a first time meeting, it is pure gold. This match was instantaneously my favorite Sky Walker match outside his work for CEW. The uniqueness of his offense and way of seling, his body language and timing all gelled. Joe was forced to change things up. Joe Black's mastery of match construction has never been more evident. My only misgiving about this segment is that the match was overshadowed by the angle that followed.
TIM and his crew stood as one with Joe and Amy. This lovely moment was shattered when the big beefy member of the squad (Travon Ali) suddenly choke slammed Joe. TIM started beating on Joe, clocked him in the head with his beads. Amy slapped him. TIM headbutted Amy. Joe was bleeding. TIM laced show in the head with a chair and wailed on him with the chair, like ten shots in a row. Joe and Amy were laid to waste.
Aloysius Skipper Jenkins III identified TIM's squad of thugs as The Pantheon ( Elliott Shook, Travon Ali and J'kaami Henry). J'kaami was a tortured, torn soul but stood as one with Pantheon in the end. TIM explained his motivaton - Black was viewed as a God of Georgia wrestling, while Georgia had said no to him including Griffin and ACTION Wrestling, so TIM was going to burn this bitch to the ground.
The extreme level of violence out of nowhere was a shocker. TIM's jealous rage was completely unbridled. The chairshot were so excessive. The SHW fans had no idea who these people were but they know them now. TIM and Joe have had great matches in the past so buckle up for the ride.
(6) Alexander Lev defeated Grayson Pierce (with Christian Taylor) to retain the SHW Championship in 17:07. The strength of the "We Are Faithful" chant when Lev appeared said his absence last month only made the hearts of the SHW fans grow fonder.
They didn't grapple on the mat. They scrapped. This was a fight. Lev's new backbreaker is nasty. Taylor kept sticking his maniacal nose in. Lev bit Pierce's fingers when he mocked his salute. Lev broke out a Jimmy Rave Dusk 'Til Dawn. Pierce countered with a Walls of Jericho. They jockeyed for position on the top rope. Pierce backflipped to his feet. Lev met him with a missile dropkick and both were down. Back and forth pins until Pierce double stomped Lev.
Pierce did an insane tope cutter and was in utter disbelief when Lev kicked out of he Skullpiercer. Pierce tried for the split-legged moonsault that has been a winner for him. Lev got out from under it and hit a Panama Sunrise. Pierce got a foot on the ropes. Referee Paul Santa got knocked down. Taylor tried to brain Lev with Pierce's ammo belt and got a Lev Clash for his troubles. Pierce made no mistake with the ammo belt. Lev weakly rolled a shoulder at the last split second. Pierce went for a top rope double stomp and Lev cradled him on the landing.
They pulled out all the stops. The action in the closing minutes was tremendous and they had the crowd biting on Lev losing the title.
Postmatch, Taylor went after Lev but Pierce stopped him. Pierce begged forgiveness. Lev was wary. Pierce hugged Lev and shook his hand. Lev was stunned but accepted. That's when this happened...
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Then this happened...
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Pierce said he used to be faithful but Lev got popular and ditched his friends. Pierce vowed to break Lev in an I Quit Match.
Lev beat Pierce clean. They need to come up with something extraordinarily despicable to justify an I Quit Match. Do not underestimate Grayson Pierce.
NOTES: Don Miguel debuted as color commentator alongside the venerable Brandon Benefield...Diana Michel was the ring announcer...Paul Santa took a hell of a bump in the main event..Vivian Cross. Young Boy Coop and AWOL helped with ring set up and tear down...For those who might be wondering, Lev was not booked for the NWA show Saturday night at Centerstage.
