From Larry Goodman:
The talent roster WrestleMerica has assembled and the stories they are telling got me curious to revisit a promotion I used to attend with great frequency. It turned out to be quite an eventful evening. I believe this company is onto something.
WrestleMerica has been around since 2014. It's lineage runs through Rampage Pro in Warner Robins, with deeper rooots to to AWN in Fort Valley. Luke Gallows was the original owner. Charles Anschutz, the originator of Southern Fried Championship Wrestling briefly owned a piece of the company. Joey Mercury ran it under the Bulletproof banner for two memorable shows in 2017 with Cody Rhodes as THE attraction. Dennis Gale bought the company and owned it until health issues forced him to the sideline in 2022. Gale's right hand man, Bob Smith became the face of the company. Concurrently, WrestleMerica lost the use of the Academy Gym in Barnesville due to renovations and moved their base of operations to Forsyth. The move was supposed to be temporary but the company never returned to their original home base.
The WrestleMerica Championship became the first major title in the career of "The Michaelangelo of Freaks" Christian Taylor, a Rookie of the Year nominee in 2024 and GWH's Most Improved Wrestler of 2025. Taylor pinned WrestleMerica Champion KJ Impala in tag match Impala's downfall was debuting Riley Judahr's rise from a bodybag to mess with his mind.
Brick Slaughterhouse (JT Paradox & Herculon Rage) has taken WrestleMerica by storm and caputured the tag team championship on a card where that championship was not scheduled to be defended.
Bob Smith regained control of WrestleMerica from Zac Edwards and his first order of business was to make the tag team title match on the spot.
Jay Alpha Miller has it in for former Liberty Champion Jacob Johnson. Jacob Ashworth is making noise about a title shot. Michael Solar is also up to no good.
Attendance at Monroe County Recreation was down (150) from WrestleMerica's usual level and the building felt cavernous with a crowd of that size. At the top of my wish list fo for this promotion is a more intimate venue that fits within their budget.
The show opened with a live feed of an incident taking place in the lockerrom. Backbone attacked Dominic Stuckey to knock him out of the box for their six person tag later in the evening. Sal Rinauro came to Dom's aid just before he went through the curtain for the opening match.
(1) Flag Match: Sal Rinauro (with Ryan North) defeated Rosario Grillo in 8:05. US Flag in Sal's corner, Italian flag in Grillo's corner. Sal stole a child before the match. The kid loved it. This match had a nice flow and lots of action. Rinauro was a step ahead of Grillo for almost the entirety of the match. Grillo kicked Sal in the nuts right in front of referee Jessie B. The crowd got on Jessie. Sal countered the Bob de Napoli. Grillo leapt off the ropes and ate a superkick Sal tossed Grillo over the top rope and to the shock of nobody, captured the US flag.
Rinauro was interviewed by announcer Ben Masters. As a rib on North, Rinauro claimed tomorrow was North's 21st birthday and had the crowd sing happy birthday to him.
(2) Jacob Johnson defeated Liberty Champion Caleb Scott via DQ in 7:25 when Jay Alpha Miller attacked Johnson. Johnson' power frustrated the hell out of Scott, who was left with no choice but resort to nefarious tactics. Johnson had just planted Scott with the New Jersey Throwdown (World's Strongest Slam) when Teflon attacked.
Scott was happy to escape with the title. Miller laid Johnson out with the Second Amendment but that wasn't enough to satisfy Teflon. Miller returned to the ring for seconds.
(3) For Control of WrestleMerica: Paul Wolfe & Bob Smith & Dominic Stuckey defeated Backbone ("Marvelous" Michael Stevens & Zac Edwards & Shane Curtis) in 11:08. Smith regained control of WrestleMerica from Edwards. The energy level in the building elevated. Stuckey was announced. Stuckey did not appear. The babyfaces were at a severe handicap since Smith is not a wrestler. Wolfe was doing it all until the numbers game prevailed. Bob briefly evaded Backbone, then Backbone beat Bob's ass. A comedy of Backbone errors led to Bob eventually making it to his corner where Stuckey was now waiting to tag in Backbone went after Dom's knee. Bob gave Marv a stunner but got knocked out by Zac. Former WrestleMerica President Tyson Dean slugged Edwards when the ref wasn't looking and Stuckey covered for the 1.2.3.
Dean's return to settle the score with Zac spiced up the finish. Backbone worked magic with Bob.
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| Photo by Joshua Harrison-Williams |
President Smith said he could not changes matches that had already been made but he had the power to add matches. Ergo, Backbone had to defend their tag team championship right now.
(4) Brick Slaughterhouse (Herculon Rage & JT Paradox) defeated Backbone to win the WrestleMerica Tag Team Championship in 23 seconds. Before Backbone knew what hit them, Brick Slaughterhouse laid Curtis out with a double team manuever and Rage pinned him.
The celebration was on. Brick Slaughterhouse was super over. Their act is pure testosterone and this crowd was eating it up.
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| Photo by Joshua Harrison-Williams |
(5) Jacob Ashworth defeated Duncan Avecilla in 7:30. Avecilla was the clear fan favorite but there wasn't a bunch for them to cheer about. Ashworth worked over Avecilla's knee, the knee gave out and Ashworth put him away with Ashes to Ashes.
The match was pitch perfect for building a top contender.
Ashworth was interviewed by Masters. Ashworth said he was unstoppable and the fans should be worshiping him as a wrestling god. He vowed to win the gauntlet match on August 8 to determine the number one contender for the Liberty Championship and win the title in October.
(6) Brick Slaughterhouse defeated Seyden Twins (Brock & Brady) to retain the WrestleMerica Tag Team Championship in 8:54. Seyden Twins (former MMA fighters based out of Tybee Island) were prowling around ringside looking for things to steal like my clipboard.
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| Photo by Joshua Harrison-Williams |
Brick Slaughterhouse picked up right where the left off before intermission. JTP blew right through Brady's lariat and blasted him with shoulder blocks. An eye poke turned the tide in the twins' favor.
Michael Solar was lurking around, chopping it up with somebody on his cell phone like he was Ari Gold. Rage got pissed. Solar claimed he was just watching and did not interject himself in the match.
The match broke down with all four compeititors in the ring. Seyden Twins applied sleeper holds in stereo. Brick Slaughterhouse made themselves a Seyden Twin sandwich. Rage pinned Brady with an assisted powerslam.
Paradox and Rage have chemistry and the fans in Forsyth love 'em.
(7) Christian Taylor & Crowgan Shoals defeated Blue Chipper University (WrestleMerica Champion KJ Impala & Hayden Seal) in 15:35. Taylor scored the pinfall on Seal to become the new WrestleMerica Champion. Impala engaged the crowd in a Fro chant Taylor and Impala were instantly at each others throats and had to be separated by their partners. BCU worked together to neutralize Taylor but the freak squad was nevertheless able to isolate Seal. Taylor choked Seal with Crowgan's whip. The ref failed to see a legal tag (for the second match in a row). Impala was seething with frustration. Seal's powerslam on Crowgan made an impression. Tag made. Impala hit Six Deep on Taylor and the match was a roller coaster ride of big moves the rest of the way.
Crowgan went to the dressing room and retured with a body bag. Something or somebody was moving around in the bag. Impala unzipped the bag and out popped Judah. Impala was shocked and amazed and pinned by Taylor.
Taylor, Crowgan and Judah appear to have formed a faction of odditiies.
A kick ass main event with everyone working especially hard. Taylor's urelenting intensity is unparelled except for maybe Hakeem Young. Babyfaces here, heels at 1FW, either way, Impala and Seals are a rock solid team.
NOTES: WrestleMerica returns to Monroe County Recreation Complex on August 8 with Paved with Good Intentions featuring a gauntlet match to determine the number one contender for the Liberty Championship...Stuckey suffered a strained LCL at the July 4 PCW show and will be limited to tag team duty in the short-term...The referees were Jessie B and Mason Pike.
