Captain Lou’s cooking travel show continues as we hit the South for an interpromotional extravaganza of the HIGHEST ORDER!
MERC © vs. Damian Tangra – TWE Title
Mandalorian-based gimmicks and ninja squad entrances. My journey through the US indies has officially hit a new level of sleaze. Right off the bat, I can tell that Action Wrestling seems committed to the traditional heel vs. babyface thing, which I dig. And judging by those kicks and forearms, the roster seems committed to watching their Pure-O tapes. Dug the flying European cutoffs from THE BULGARIAN BOUNTYHUNTER Damian Tangra.
Rating: Baby Yoda
Landon Hale vs. Eli Knight
These youngsters went for the cutting-edge indie dream match spot-fest and it was a bit uneven, but both showed a lot of potential. The hot crowd and energetic commentary from Twitter’s favorite son Dylan Hales helped smooth over some of the rough edges. Landon Hale spending the entire match selling a floor DDT like it gave him a brain tumor was a bold choice and you know what? I respect it.
Rating: Two and a half flips out of five
Rolando Perez vs. Brandon Williams vs. Donnie Janela
Someone came out to a metal version of Seal’s ‘’Kiss From A Rose’’ and armdrags were blown within the first few minutes. Welcome to independent wrestling. What the match lacked in workrate, it made up for in wild gimmicks. The villainous Short King Rolando Perez slapping people around brought a few laughs. Maybe?
Rating: Ricky Steamboat would cry
Team ACTION (Bobby Flaco, Brogan Finlay & Ashton Starr) vs. Team PWF (Bojack, Diego Hill & BK Westbrook)
Interpromotional warfare always does the strick, even on these random Southern indies. The PWF boys worked as a tight invading unit, large man Bojack doing a lot of damage and making good use of Size Advantage Logistics. On the hometown side, everyone benefitted from being over as fuck and brought appropriate babyfacing to the table. Diego Hill stole the show with 100% major league execution on a bunch of mind-shattering high spots. Big-time structure and big-time heat.
Rating: FUN!
Jon Davis © vs. Drew Adler – PWX Heavyweight Title
Sometimes, the age-old concept of Telling A Story just works, man. Adler cutting off Davis’ brute force by taking out his arm was compelling stuff and gave the match a clear focus from bell to bell. Both of these guys were more experienced than anyone on the card up to this point and it showed. They were able to do a lot with very little. THAT DUDE (this is his actual, official nickname) Jon Davis laying waste to the challenger with chops and body slams was just pure badassery. Like the Southern indie version of a midcard G1 match.
Rating: Rock-solid
Anthony Henry vs. Adam Priest
Kinda wish they hadn’t gone back to the Fuck You spot like 28 times, but there was still a lot to like here. They really beat the shit out of each other, Priest eating most of the ass whooping and taking it like a pro. The two dudes have that snappy, explosive execution that goes hand in hand with the insanely-fast counts of indie refs. Although some of the gimmickier sections (floor spot + exposed turnbuckle spot) could’ve used some tightening up, they always reeled you back in with the stiffness and managed to end things on a high note.
Rating: Liked it
Owen Knight © vs. Kyle Matthews – Southern Honor Title
The thing with these 3 hour-long indie shows is that you become numb to certain spots real quick. THUS, a match featuring lots of superkicks/codebreakers/apron enzuigiris at this point didn’t exactly feel super fresh, but at least you could feel the effort behind it. Dug the energy and charisma from Owen Knight – the Southern Honor Pro top guy adding a layer of personality to a sometimes generic-feeling wrestling match.
Rating: Allright
Violence is Forever (Dominic Garrini & Kevin Ku) vs. Arik Royal & Jaden Newman
Really wanted to like this, as VIF made a big impression on that Black Label Pro show I reviewed. Alas, it didn’t work for me. They had something going early with Ku and Newman doing the Japanese-style sempai/young lion dynamic, but then the structure fell apart in favor of everyone Getting Their Shit In and it became just another match. Big boi Arik Royal getting easily thrown around by VIF without any struggle was a bad look. They could’ve gotten a lot of drama out of the champs having to work around Arik’s size advantage. I might be overthinking this.
Rating: Meh
Alex Shelley © vs. AC Mack – IWTV World title Match
Alex Shelley is so fucking good. Not to take anything away from hometown hero AC Mack, but Shelley put on a wrestling masterclass here. Blending douchebag rock swagger with lucha submissions and Kawada cut-offs, this man delivered the ultimate outsider champ performance.
They anchored the match around an arm subplot and got serious mileage out of it: Mack unable to go through with his finisher because of the pain, Shelley repeatedly going back to it to stay in the driver’s seat. This shit might sound basic, but it pays off huge when it’s executed with care (Case in point: this match).
STRUCTURALLY SPEAKING (*cough*), the layout was air-tight. AC’s big babyface comeback coinciding with the whole roster coming out to show support was the icing on a cake that already add plenty of icing. Off the charts drama near the end – they really made you believe Mack was fucked until the last second.
Loved all of it. Timeless wrestling always finds its way back to reliable concepts such as heroes, villains and Working The Arm.
Rating: GREAT!
