From Larry Goodman:
HonorFest served as the bridge from Rumblejack to SHW's anniversary event, Still Here 8 (October 16 with a special 7:30 bell time).
Threads from the Rumblejack lead to multiple matches being set up for the anniversary show: Joe Black vs Trayvon Ali of the Pantheon; Rosario Grillo vs. Herculon Rage in a Flag Match; Ravenna Vein vs. Corinne Joy -- First Blood and JTS Legacy and SHW tag title defenses some kind of ways.
Champion Alexander Lev's title defense against Rumblejack winner Carlie Bravo at the anniversary show got cooked a bunch more. Neither was advertised to wrestle at HonorFest. They wound up on the same side in a trios match and Carlie was standing over the champion before the night ended.
That HonorFest was a very good show in the ring almost goes without saying at this point. SHW at Reformation Brewing has been stellar in that regard.
Attendance was 325. The usually rabid SHW crowd was not that. This show was a lot, so loaded with content to get from here to there that it ran longer than usual (two hours and 20 minutes) on a hot, humid night.
The appearance of the Good Brothers (Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson) received a rousing ovation. Gallows hyped the state of pro wrestling in Georgia in general and the hotbed that is SHW in particular. "Canton, you're too sweet." Gallows introduced Gary Lamb for another big pop.
Lamb said eight years ago, SHW was a dream. A year ago, the City of Canton threw them SHW of the Action Building (that line got a "fuck you Canton" chant from the crowd). Lamb gave props to Reformation Brewing and put Dylan Frymyer over huge for the work he has done as booker and promoter of SHW since then.
Lamb said SHW was 100% Dylan's baby but they were going to promote one final show together in Ball Ground, GA on December 11 at the old Ball Ground gym, which is the new home of Action Church. All proceed will go to the Shriner's for Christmas. Lamb promised to take it to whole nother level.
Gods of Honor (Matt Griffin & Adrian Alanis) spoiled the moment. Lamb exited and invited Griffin to be in Ballground on December 11. Griffin objected to the verbal abuse he was receiving. Some heels are the type fans secretly love. In Canton, Griffin is hated to his rotten core. Griffin claimed Gods of Honor thirsted for competition not the wanton violence he was subjected to in the Rumblejack and accepted Lamb's invitation.
Lev interrupted Griffin. The SHW fans loved that. Lev referred to Gods of Honor as parasites. The crowd immediately latched onto it and chanted "parasites". Lev said Alanis had been carrying Griffin's ass and it was his job as champion to get rid of guys like them.
CT Keys made his way to the ring to interrupt Lev. Said he left SHW in good spot and now "fan boy" was the champion. What a said state of affairs. Keys said he elimiminated James Storm and QT Marshall from the Rumblejack (was one of the final four) so how about putting the title up?
Lev said Keys stopped showing up for a year, got soft. Things got harder. Keys needed to get in line.
Gods of Honor jumped on Lev while Keys stood back and watched. Bravo and Dean arrived on the scene to rid the ring of Keys. God of Honor skedaddled unscathed. Dean proposed a trios match. Brandon Benefield got word from the back that the match had been made for the main event.
Pretty much everything about this segment landed. Keys added an interesting twist and he cut a sinister promo on Lev.
(1) TreyVon Ali (with Aloysius Skipper Jenkins III & Elliott Shock) defeated Justin McKenzie in 10:07. McKenzie took a ferocious beating. Ali was kicking his ass. He got dog packed by the entirety Pantheon. Ali planted McKenzie with a falcon arrow and rocked his world with a pop up punch. The crowd got behind McKenzie who valiantly fought up from the bottom and got a close near fall with a swanton bomb. Skipper distracted the ref while Shock grabbed McKenzie's leg. Ali choke slammed McKenzie for the win and gave him another one after the bell.
Postmatch, Pantheon was in the ring with evil intent. Beloved former SHW Champion Joe Black entered with a spear for Shock. Skipper and Ali took a powder before Joe got his hands on them.
Black cut a blistering name-dropping promo on the Pantheon. He called Skipper a poor man's Suge D and another North Carolina reject like William Huckaby riding his coattails. O'Shay Edwards bitched out and left him with Ali. Black took note of the "anal beads" Shook was wearing. Point being Ali had a date with destiny on October 16.
(2) Pick Your Poison: Ravenna Vein defeated Vivian Cross in 8:13.
Cross' work has gotten more fundamentally sound Her best move of the match was a picture perfect tornillo Vader Bomb. Vein was set to finish Cross off when Corinne Joy's music hit. No Joy but the distraction almost cost Vein the match. Cross kicked out of Sweet Pandemonium but her spear got the job done.
(3) Il Cartello Grillo (KJ Impala & Hayden Seal) defeated Aaron Dallas & Sal Rinauro in 11:48. The Aaron Dallas love at SHW never ceases to amaze. Sal stole another child. Kid looked slightly traumatized.
Rinauro used Cartello's aggression against them in the early going. Stinger splashes from AD, then a stint of tandem offense before Impala pulled Dallas out and posted him. Cartello isolated Sal. Dallas' hot tag offense was over like gangbusters. Impala made a blind tag and caught Dallas unaware with Six Deep and Cartello smoked Rinauro with a running knee sandwich. But Dallas rode to the rescue again. Cartello was in trouble when Grillo appeared with a Bop de Napoli for Sal on the floor. Cartello then hit their powerbomb/suplex combo to pin Dallas.
Postmatch, Rinauro was about to get his neck Pillmanized by Il Cartello Grillo when Herculon Rage hit the ring with fire in his eyes. Il Cartello fled to ringside. Rage said Grillo cost him the Rumblejack and he was not going to stop coming for him until Grillo beat him in the ring.
Douche bag in chief Grillo (now calling himself Mr. Rumblejack because he lasted an hour and 18 minutes) accepted and said it would be a Capture the Flag match.
An introductory video for Better Together (Ori Gold & Hadar Horvitz) was shown on the big screen.
Diana Michel announced Vein's stipuation for her match with Corinne Joy at Still Here 8. First Blood was a no brainer.
(4) Krule defeated Christian Taylor via DQ in 8:08. What ignited in the Rumblejack between these monsters continued here. Unhinged does not begin to describe it.
Taylor is a beast. He has the size and strength to credibly match up with Krule. They battled deep into the crowd. Taylor kept applying a rear naked choke. At one point, Krule dove into a section of seats to get Taylor off his back. Back inside, Krule gave Taylor a fallaway slam. Taylor got Krule up for Personality Disorder (widowmaker). Both men took a pit stop. Krule hit a sitout choke slam. Taylor applied the rear naked choke. Krule fell back onto Taylor to break the hold. Taylor sat up and put a plastic bag over Krule's head and referee Santa called for the bell.
Krule appeared to be out cold. Taylor looked back from the curtain and was in disbelief when Krule sat up. Krule stormed through the curtain in hot pursuit.
All very well staged. Krule is bringing out the best in Taylor.
(5) Hakeem Young defeated Kyle Matthews with JTS Champion Bryce Cannon as the special referee 11:41. Cannon's physical enforcement of the five count rule infuriated Hakeem. Matthews focused his attack on Young's right arm to neutralize the Thrashing. Hakeem was selling the arm like mad and started going after Kyle's arm. Young's second Vader bomb failed to connect. Bonus points for a trio of Polish hammers by Matthews during his comeback. When Matthews kicked out out of Hakeem's Vader double stomp, Hakeem brandished Cannon's GTS title belt.
Cannon got the belt away from Hakeem but inadvertently clocked Matthews with it. Cannon made a very deliberate count allowing Matthews to roll a shoulder at the last split second. Young got in Cannon's face about the count. Matthews superkicked Hakeem and confronted Cannon about the belt shot. Young tried to spear Matthews and got Cannon by mistake. Matthews had Hakeem tapping out to a crossface but Cannon was in no shape to count. Matthews went to revive Cannon and got nutshotted by Hakeem, who then connected with the Thrashing, pain be damned, and referee David Weakley slid in to make the three count.
Hakeem laid Cannon out with a piledriver and posed over the champion's body with the GTS belt.
The finish was quite the roller coaster ride. Nothing was made official for Still Here, though headed in the direction of a triple threat.
(6) SHW Champion Alexander Lev & The Infantry (Carlie Bravo & Shawn Dean) defeated Gods of Honor (Adrian Alanis & Matt Griffin) & CT Keys in 16:44. Match opened with Bravo and Alanis wrestling. There was a fun sequence with Bravo pissing Keys off by repeatedly smacking him in the back of the head. Infantry did a number on Keys. Lev tired of Infantry freezing him out and tagged himself in. Lev and Keys went at it hard with the crowd getting behind Lev. The heels were able to isolate the SHW champion. Lev DDTed Griffin to get to his corner. Bravo ran wild on the tag team champions. Dean's BBC (Bronco Bustin' Cap) for Griffin got a big pop. Infantry smoked the Gods with double teams but Keys saved them and kicked off a chain of big moves with an F5 on Bravo. Griffin ended up as the last man standing. Bravo laid him out. Alanis tried for a belt shot on Bravo. Lev cut Alanis off and dropped him on his head with a piledriver. Bravo followed with Disrespect for the three count.
Great stuff in the service of advancing the the title match at Still Here and future possibilities. I really liked the visual of Alanis in with Bravo during the opening minutes. Looked major league. Paths opened for Gods vs. Infantry, Keys vs. Lev, Bravo vs. Keys, Joe & Lev vs. Infantry, etc.
A pregnant pause happened while the SHW belt was located. Bravo presented the title to Lev and The Infantry raised Lev's hand. Griffin sneaked into the ring and shoved Lev into Dean. Bravo didn't see what happened and went after Lev. Dean and Joe Black tried to break it up.
Chaos ensued with the Pantheon, Il Cartello Grillo, Rage, Dallas, Krule and Taylor all making cameos. In the end, Bravo left Lev laying with Disrespect. Joe Black and Amy Haven came to Lev's aid to close the show.
NOTES: Good Brothers did a meet and greet before the show...By popular demand, CT Keys has unretired and is now semi-retired at best...Brandon Benefield and Don Miguel was the commentary team...Diana Michel was the ring announcer...Paul Santa, David Weakley and Wayne Silver were the referees...Jaryn McGinnis was one of the videographers...Tony Miller was doing backstage interviews...Ethan Dallas was backstage...Young Boy Cooper and Young Boy Sam gave their fearless leader Griffin a bunch of crap as he came to the ring.
