From Larry Goodman:
The seating area at the Bus Barn was sold out. It's a small room in which sound reverberates. Every match had good heat. It's very much a family atmosphere. The compact two-hour show CEO Matt Griffin presented was right in synch with the venue.
There's been something of a changing of the guard since the last time I was at an ACTION show (April for their 8th anniversary). It was interesting to see who's over on both sides of the fence. Don Miguel (in a suit no less) debuted as the new ring announcer, replacing the retired Scott Hensley. CJ Lawler joined Rob Weathers as the new color commentator.
The first half of the show was almost pure wrestling. No complaints here.
Shit got wild in the last two matches as the the Halloween season extended another week at the Bus Barn.
Corinne Joy pinned ACTION World Champion Darian Bengston in the main event trios match. Three matches were set up for Bangers 7 on December 4 in Tyrone.
(1) KJ Valentine & Alexander Quinn defeated Jay O'Neal & Jerelle Jones in 6:00. This match was added based on their performances in the Next Up showcase. Jones came in from Virginia. O'Neal and Jones are not large men. Quinn was muscling those dudes around, impressive stuff. Valentine kicked out of O'Neal's frog splash. Valentine and Quinn foiled the good guys' finisher and put O'Neal away with a top rope double stomp/DVD combo.
I'd say everyone in this match raised their stock.
(2) Stunt Marshall defeated Tyson Malrick in 7:22. Fan service in the best sense of the term. Marshall got a big reaction and was dishing out more than Malrick could handle. Malrick was despicable, heel 101, every cheap tactic in the book. Marshall started beating Malrick to the punch, hit an X plex for a near fall and connected with the Power Slam for the win. Fun match.
Marick sold like he was dead. ACTION personnel entered the ring. Don Miguel was saddened to report Malrick had a pulse. Malrick was dragged like dead weight all the way through the curtain.
This bit put a big smile on this crusty old writer's face.
(3) Oldman Youngboy defeated Kasey Owens in 8:18. Owens is way over as a babyface. They shook hands. Mat-based technical grappling was the deal. This was a match ACTION fans expected he would win. My appreciation for his ability grows every time I see him in the ring. Youngboy can wrestle. They were going for submissions and threw in some amateur style stuff. Owens never could fully lock in the crossface chickenwing. Youngboy secured the win with a snazzy pinning combination.
Owens said he and Youngboy were 1-1 and proposed the rubber match for Bangers 7.
(4) JT Paradox defeated Sal Rinauro in 10:08. The always enigmatic Sal was the babyface. Paradox was surly. Referee Jesse Morales intervened in the weirdness of the confrontation with a spinaroonie for the first sizable pop of the match. Sal raised Jesse's hand. That just pissed JTP off. He imposed his will with his power game. Sal set up the Lethal Injection. Not happening. JTP had Sal positioned for a crucifix bomb that might have killed him, Sal countered and hit the Lethal Injection but it was not enough to put Paradox away. Sal could not pull off the Tiger Bomb, same move JTP slipped away from earlier in the match. Sal switched to a sunset flip. Paradox dropped down and pinned Sal using the ropes.
The match got over well enough. To me the whole was less than the sum of the part. Paradox gave the crowd not one single thing to like about him as a heel. That was great.
(5) "The Wall" Tyler Stevens defeated Christian Taylor in 8:46. The pop for Wall's entrance was impressive. Taylor is so strong he's a handful for much larger men....take Stevens for example.
No give at all in the opening lock up. Wall scored the first knockdown. His chops were fierce. Taylor cut off the ass whipping he was taking on the outside by posting Stevens and delivering a drive by. Taylor hit a draping DDT for two. Taylor was now in maniac mode. Stevens rallied huge and broke out a monster choke bomb but Taylor kicked out. Taylor drove Stevens to the mat with a clothesline. Stevens kicked out of that. Taylor almost got Stevens up on his shoulders for the Widowmaker before Stevens beat him with a sitout powerbomb.
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The most physical match of the night. He's a top of the card level babyface at ACTION.
INTERMISSION
(6) No DQ: Jamesen Shook vs. Emersyn Jayne was ruled a no contest at 12 minutes. Of Scottish origin, Jayne is the wrestler Mercedes Mone defeated to win the Discovery Wrestling Championship and a long time star on the UK scene, Jayne is on an extended North American tour and has been working CMLL events in Mexico. Shook concocted the no DQ stipulation on the fly. Said he had developed a rep at ACTION for taking things to the next level, so how about no rules? Crowd gave it a thumbs up. Jayne was game.
Jayne was ducking Shook's shots and effectively moving him around the ring. Shook's chair to the dome on Jaynes tope attempt drastically changed the complexion of the match. Shook put a hurting on her. Jayne answered with a drop toehold to a chair, a release german and connected with the tope. Crowd firing up.
Jayne carried a pair of leftover jack-o-lanterns into the ring. They fought for control of jack-o-lantern #1. Shook stuck his fingers through the pumpkin and poked Jayne in the eyes. Shook smash-landed on the pumpkin. Jayne put jack-o-lantern #2 on Shook's head and smashed it with a chair. A willing and able front row fan help Jayne hoist a door into the the ring. Jayne sent them both crashing through a door bridge. As Jayne covered Shook, Joy attacked her.
This was one of those matches I appreciate more in retrospect than I did watching it live.
Grayson Pierce and Herculon Rage pounced on Shook. Crowd heaping hate on NSFW. Joy was about to brain Jayne with a chair shot. Shook intercepted it and NSFW skedaddled.
Jayne said she would also be Bangers 7 and wanted Joy 1-on-1.
(7) Not Safe For Wrestling (Grayson Pierce & Corinne Joy & Herculon Rage) defeated Three Certified Vampire Baddies (ACTION World Champion Darian Bengston & The Thirst (Kelsey Raegan & Ravenna Vein) in 16:10. NSFW tried to burn "Dracula" Bengston with "holy water". Bengston sold the effects. Thirst told him to just stop. Everyting was going the way of the vampires in the early going. Pierce found himself face-to-face with The Thirst and backed off. The vampires administered headscissors to Rage while hanging upside down like sleeping bats.
The match proved to be not safe for Vein, who was inadvertently injured her ribs taking a bad bump on a normal wrestling spot. She tried to go but was obviously in a bad way and could not get back on the apron after tagging out. The wrestlers and ACTION personnel reacted quickly to get Vein to the back. It was a handicap match from that point forward. NSFW isolated Bengston and gave him a triple team powerbomb. Bengston took a beating. The crowd started chanting his name... Raegan ran wild with the hot tag, building to a two-for-one neckbreaker and a Ushigiroshi on Joy for near falls.
Pierce hit a flip dive over the post and shoved 14-year-old security guard/wrestler in training Cameron Mack down. Back inside, Raegan bit Joy's neck. Pierce tried to save Joy and Bengston bit his neck. Rage broke that up. Bengston blinded Rage with the blood mist. Joy caught Bengston unaware with the Joy Ride.
The vampire gimmick was entertaining. Concern for Vein's status brought the crowd energy down during the middle portion of the match but they got them back for what was quite the finishing sequence. They did a good job of rolling with the injury situation. Three heels against two babyfaces was not much of an issue since the heels were going over in the end.
After the match... Tough guy that he is, Pierce tried to further intimidate Mack. Mack dropped Pierce with a well-placed superkick for a huge pop to end the show.
NOTES: The return date for the Line Creek Brewing Bus Barn is January 22...The officials were Darryl Hall, Jesse Morales and Kevin Blicker...Talent was bemoaning the closing of the pizza and barbecue restaurants in the building that houses Line Creek Brewing... A food truck was on site instead...Neji Ichiban, Rodney Rocket and Ted Teddy were among those visiting backstage.
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