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| August 18, 2006
The first night of Pro Wrestling Evolution’s Southern Heritage Invitational tournament was an entertaining train wreck of a show. As is often the case with PWE, it was a show more promising on paper than what it actually delivered. Always some good matches. Always some bizarre happenings. Expect the unexpected with PWE. Rarely, if ever, in the state of Georgia has so much fine, indie wrestling talent appeared in front of so few. Low Ki, Claudio Castagnoli, Ricky Reyes, Altar Boy Luke, Salvatore Rinauro, Kory Chavis, Biohazard and Ace Rockwell, all for a paid crowd of less than 100 at the Canton National Guard Armory. It must be my twisted fascination with seeing how they’re going to screw up next that keeps me coming back for more. I mean, where else are you going to see a three-sided cage match? (1) Caleb Conley beat Biohazard via countout in around 8 minutes to advance in the tournament Face vs. face. The place was like a morgue. Technically, it was fine but they made zero connection with the audience. Biohazard had Conley in the Prey for Death (an inverted bridging cobra clutch). Amen Rios came down to ringside and Biohazard chased him to the dressing room (Rios did a number on Bio’s knee at the June show). This got no reaction, as it cried for further explanation. At least have Biohazard call Rios out before the match or explain his actions in the postmatch. Nothing fancy, just throw us a bone. (2) In a first round tournament match, Kyle Matthews and Andrew Alexander went to a 15 minute draw The heel tag team champions, Hollywood Brunettes, had to face each other due to a quirk in the booking of the tournament. It turned out to be fifteen minutes of silent misery. Just a bunch of meaningless spots, many of them poorly executed, and nobody caring. Finish saw Alexander hit a backcracker from a shoulder mount. As ring announcer Jen Holbrook counted the time down, Alexander made the cover, but Matthews was in the ropes. The bell rang with two seconds to go. Senior Official Ken Wallace came out to announce who would move on in the tournament, and I was hoping he would have the cojones to eliminate both of them. No such luck. Instead, both guys advance. Alexander then cut a promo on the crowd. He talked about going to Chicago with Tank for an IWA Mid-South show (as a spectator). He said those fans appreciated wrestling, not Sports Entertainment. Alexander said the PWE fans were killing his love for the business, and he hoped they all rotted in hell. Fans didn’t care a whole lot about this either. (3) Altar Boy Luke beat Steve Anthony in 7:03 to advance in the tournament This was a vast improvement over the first two matches. Luke looks like a different guy from his NWA Wildside days, as he’s packed on a good 25 pounds of muscle. Fans connected with him right away. They went back and forth and crowd actually popped a bit when they squared off. They did a nice lucha sequence off a knuckelock. Anthony hit a trio of northern light suplexes for a near fall. Anthony started to heel by getting on the ref. Luke came back with a suplex, a dragon screw legwhip and a swinging neckbreaker for a near fall. They traded blows. Anthony hit a short powerbomb for a double down spot. Luke hit a spinning roundhouse kick for a near fall. Anthony cut him off with a high knee and did a Finlay Roll. Anthony signaled for a 450, but Luke ran up the ropes and hit a german suplex, with Anthony taking a full rotation bump. Luke won it with a top rope legdrop. Luke wanted to address the crowd after the match but they couldn’t get the mic to work. (4) Salvatore Rinauro beat Adrian Hawkins to advance in the tournament (13:18) One look at Rinauro’s heelish facial _expression as he came down the aisle, and you knew this match was destined to take things to a another level. Hawkins has improved a ton, and Rinauro was tremendous at leading him through a match where they did less and got a hell of a lot more out of it. Rinauro got heat right away. They did a comedy sequence where Hawkins outwitted Rinauro. Rinauro used a headstand to escape from a headscissors, but not before Hawkins blocked it a few times. Rinauro heeled. Hawkins came back with babyface fire and hit a monkey flip for a near fall. Sal took a time out and posted Hawkins’ shoulder when the opportunity presented itself. Rinauro worked the shoulder with a divorce court and a bridging hammerlock. Hawkins countered a hammerlock slam with a Russian legsweep. Both men down. Hawkins on the comeback trail with a springboard back elbow and a huracanrana for a near falls. Hawkins shoulder gave out on a suplex attempt, and Rinauro nailed him with a superkick for a nice false finish. Hawkins roared back to hit a Twist of Fate for a near fall. Hawkins went for a flying bodypress and Rinauro rolled through for the pin. (5) Ace Rockwell pinned Claudio Castagnoli at 12:02 to advance in the tournament These guys hail from two of the coolest hometowns in pro wrestling, The United Bank of Switzerland and Bukkake, Florida. Castagnoli’s heeling was awesome. Castagnoli claimed his hair was being pulled and pulled Rockwell’s hair. Castagnoli used an old-fashioned Biel throw. Castagnoli mauled Rockwell and choked him with his boot. Castagnoli was cruising. Castagnoli did his rendition of “Das Wunderkind” Alex Wright’s dancing, which was the comedy (intentional at least) highlight of the evening. Castagnoli applied a sleeper with his feet on the ropes for extra leverage. When a fan called him on it, Castagnoli said he was a dirty liar. Castagnoli grabbed the ropes and stepped on Rockwell’s throat. He told the ref that he was just trying to keep his balance. Rockwell frustrated Castagnoli by rolling away from three consecutive elbow drops. Rockwell came back with a rolling neck snap for a two count, but Castagnoli tossed him up and let him free fall onto his face. Castagnoli landed a big European uppercut for a long two count. But Castagnoli ate a boot charging in, enabling Rockwell to hit an Aces High off the middle rope for a near fall. Castagnoli turned Rockwell’s flying bodypress into a press slam Michinoku Driver for a near fall. Castagnoli hit a top rope elbow drop, but Rockwell managed to kick out of that as well. Moments later, Rockwell caught Castagnoli with an O’Connor Roll for the three count. (6) Bobby Hill won a battle royal in to earn a spot in the tournament (8:20) This was a chance for one the second-tier guys to rise to the occasion. The field consisted of Lamar Phillips, Hooligans, Regular Guys, Jay Clinton, Jason Hampton, Maul and Casey Cage. It came down to Maul and Clinton squaring off against Regular Guys. Clinton accidentally hit Maul. The monster dumped Clinton. Hill pulled the ropes down to eliminate a charging Maul. Regular Guys started to wrestle and then Tyler Smith eliminated himself to give his partner the win. (7) Kory Chavis and Chad Parham ended as a disputed double pin finish with both men claiming to be the Unified (Anarchy and PWE) champion (12:39) They opened with some smooth work on the mat. Parham stretched Chavis with a submission. Not liking the direction this was heading, Chavis uncorked a forearm. Parham responded with a clothesline over the top and followed Chavis to the outside. Parham smashed Chavis into a door. Chavis went down like a ton of bricks and Parham pounded him from the mount. Parham paused to break the ref’s count, and Chavis seized the advantage with a European uppercut that sent Parham flying into the seats. Back inside, Chavis popped the crowd with the Dark City Bomb. It was Chavis dishing out the punishment until Parham hit his trademark senton backsplash. Both men slow to rise. They traded heavy blows. Parham connected with an enzuigiri to the back of the Soul Assassin’s head. Parham landed a top rope double stomp on Chavis’ back for a near fall. Parham tried for the Texas Cloverleaf but couldn’t get it locked in. Chavis hit the Spinesplitta for a one count only. Parham went for the Cloverleaf again. Ref Chris Ganz got bumped when Chavis kicked Parham off. Jackknife cradle by Parham but no ref to count. They did simultaneous belt shots for a double knockout. Wallace joined Ganz in the ring and they both made three counts. Wallace signaled that Chavis was the winner, while Ganz said it was Parham. Wallace ran to the back with both belts. Parham and Chavis brawled at ringside until security broke it up. Parham had a sitdown with a woman in the first row about her behavior. (8) Ricky Reyes (with Chavis) beat Low Ki to advance in the tournament (12:46) This was a first time ever singles match between Ki and Reyes. The story of the match was Chavis, as the Evolution Wrestling Champion doing everything in his power to prevent Ki from winning and thereby earning a shot at his title. Ki appeared to have Reyes’ number. Chavis distracted and Reyes capitalized with a jumping knee. Reyes gave Ki a beating with the help of liberal outside interference from Chavis. Ki would rally, mostly with stiff strikes, but each time Reyes would cut him off. Finally, Ki delivered a series of 20 Kobashi style chops and decked Reyes with an elbow to the top of the head. Ki followed up with a springboard roundhouse kick. Ki teed off on Reyes with three stiff kicks to the chest for a near fall. Ki signaled for the top rope double stomp. Chavis got up on the apron and Ki brought him in the hardway. Ref Ken Wallace tried to step in, and Ki tossed him halfway across the ring, knocking him for a loop. The diversion gave Reyes time to recover and roll Ki up using the ropes for extra leverage. Ki got on the mic and said this did not make the good people of PWE happy. Ki said it was the third time he had been screwed and that the fans deserved a better champion than “Chavez.” Josh Wheeler showed up. Ki ripped Wheeler for scratching his head and not knowing what to do. Ki told Wheeler to clean up his act and give him what he deserved. Wheeler had no response. (9) Jacob Ladder & Darrin Childs (with Rachael Putski) beat Murder One & Tank in a three-sided cage match in 14 minutes This was the kind of extreme insanity that you can only see on an indie wrestling show. You had four sick minds involved here. Make that five. Match was set up at July show when M-1 bloodied Ladder up bigtime with a sharp stick. It was supposed to be a no ropes cage match, but the promotion was unable to locate a 16 foot cage anywhere in the state of Georgia, so they had to improvise with an 18 footer. M-1 came out while the cage was being set up and told Tank he didn’t want to die, so he wasn’t getting in there. Ladder and Childs attacked. They started to brawl all over the building with only two section of the cage in place. All M-1 and Tank were busted open after taking shots into the fence. A staple gun came into play. Tank stapled flyers into Ladder’s head. Ladder appeared to bleeding hardway from one of the staple holes. M-1 stapled a dollar bill onto Childs. Guys were taking shots into the cage with only the ring crew holding the fence in place. They finally manage to get a third side of the cage set up. Tank suplexed Ladder through a table that had been set up at ringside. A bag of tack was spread onto the canvas. M-1 gave Childs the Blazing Lariat into the tacks. Tank stapled a dollar bill to Ladder’s tongue. Ladder was screaming in agony as he wandered around ringside with his tongue hanging out of his mouth. Ladder stapled Tank in the gonads. Tank took three bumps into the tacks and got up looking like a human pin cushion. Tank set up two chairs in the middle of ring and traded punches and headbutts with Childs. Tank blasted Childs with a chairshot, putting him down and out. M-1 dragged Putski into the ring and put her through a table with a top rope powerbomb. Ladder wasted Tank with a chairshot. Childs then hit a slice ‘n dice elbow drop on M-1 for the pin. Hollywood Brunettes attacked Ladder and Childs. Soon, it was four against two. Ref Joe Dollar was left laying in a pool of blood. They stood Childs and Putski up and taped them to the bottom ring rope on the open side of the cage. Then, they taped Ladder to the ropes in a tree of woe position in between the other two. It took an entire roll of duct tape to get the job done. Tank gave them a round of staple gun shots, including one into Putski’s forehead. She let out a blood curdling scream and began to weep. Tank bid the crowd adieu with the following. “Does anybody in Canton, Georgia like to suck balls?” NOTES: The tournament continues on tonight’s shows with the winners of Friday night’s qualifying matches joining Kid Ego Jr. and top seed Adam Jacobs in the field, along with a number of wildcard entrants. The format at press time was to be four-way quarterfinal matches and then one-on-one match ups for the semis and finals. Tonight’s show also has Chavis vs. Elix Skipper in a rematch of one of my favorite PWE matches…Austin Creed from NWA Anarchy and UCW was in the house. |
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