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Deep South Wrestling concluded their summer season with event number three at Six Flags over Georgia Saturday night. The third time was the charm, as it proved not only to be the most entertaining and best attended show of the series, but the best show in the history of the company.
There were no less than 1000 sets of eyeballs on the show at all times, and probably 1500+ total attendance, counting the autograph session and crowd turnover during the course of the evening.
It was no accident that DSW had a much hotter crowd for this show than their first two tries at Six Flags. The talent has gotten tons better when it comes to connecting with the fans, and it paid big dividends. Without exception, the match quality met or exceeded expectations, particularly considering that some of the upper echelon DSW talent was booked elsewhere and several of the wrestlers that did appear on the show had virtually no match experience. And then there was the Flair factor.
Flair was received as the pro wrestling icon that he is in this part of the country. On a personal note, as someone that had the pleasure of seeing almost every match Flair wrestled at the Omni during the 80s and 90s, it sent a chill down my spine to hear that entrance music one more time.
(1) Tommy Suede beat G. Rilla in 4:35. Rilla’s colossal size provides him with a degree of instant credibility. Right at the opening bell, a fan yelled for Suede to “Run!†Not bad advice. Suede couldn’t make a dent in Rilla. Rilla applied a bearhug. When Suede tried a high crossbody, Rilla caught him like a small child, crushed him with a falling slam and pulled Suede up at the count of two. Moments later, Rilla went for a corner splash. Suede stepped aside and G Rilla’s chest tapped the turnbuckles. Suede took Rilla down with a flying bodypress for the three count. Match was fine, but the crowd didn’t buy the finish. They were sold on Rilla’s supremacy, so he needed to knock the wind out of himself on the bump to make it work.
(2) Jake Hager beat Ray Geezy in 8 minutes. Hager did what comes naturally and dominated the opening minutes with amateur style. Geezy got pissed about being outwrestled. With nary an ROH fan in the house, the crowd got restless about the perceived lack of action. They popped when Geezy started to brawl. Geezy staggered Hager with a series of punches and slapped on a rear chinlock. Hager rallied with a southpaw short arm clothesline. Hager slammed Gordy. Hager pulled the straps down. Hager leapfrogged Geezy and went for a hiptoss. Geezy tried for a reversal. Hager blocked it and snapped Geezy to the mat with a snug cradle to score the pinfall. Gordy and Hager shook hands after the match.
(3) Dan Rodimer beat Lawrence Tyler in 7:01. This match really picked up the show. Major props to Tyler, who was so strong as a heel that Rodimer was automatically over as a babyface. Yelling “shut up†and making one’s eyes bulge out doesn’t read like it would be all that entertaining, but Tyler did it in such a way that the crowd was totally into it. Tyler couldn’t cope with Rodimer’s power. Rodimer clotheslined Tyler over the top and chased him around the ring. Simple stuff but Tyler made it funny. Tyler cut Rodimer off as he reentered the ring. Tyler hit a missile dropkick. Tyler’s eyes looked like they were going to pop out his head when Rodimer kicked out. Tyler hit a Rude Awakening for another near fall. Tyler applied a sleeper. Rodimer made his comeback with stiff lariats and a gorilla press free fall, finishing Tyler with a full nelson slam.
(4) Majors Brothers (Brett & Brian) Urban Assault (Cocky Siaki & Eric Perez) via DQ at 11:12. This match also had excellent heat. Both teams revved up the crowd with their ring entrances. Majors jumped the barricade to slap hands with the fans. Siaki picked on a concession guy that looked like Carrot Top. Siaki slapped one of the Majors across the face, and took a flat back bump on the payback. Majors used quick tags to neutralize Assault. At 4:30, Siaki kicked Brett in the back when the ref wasn’t looking, and Perez followed with a lariat. Siaki ran across the ring and knocked Brett off the apron with an uppercut. Back in his own corner, Siaki waved to the crowd. Assault got heat on Brett. The highlights were a senton backsplash by Perez, and a picture perfect leg lariat by Siaki. The hot tag was indeed HOT. Brian downed Assault with lariats and dropkicks. Brain hit a spinebuster on Perez for false finish number one. Brett hit an Edge-o-matic on Perez and Siaki made the save. Heel chicanery enabled Perez to hit a spiral slam on Brian. Brett broke up the pin. Assault doubled up on Brian. They knocked ref Rob Russo down and he called for the bell. Brett cleared the ring brandishing steel chair. Crowd was ultra hot for the finish of this match. I’m looking forward to this feud.
(5) Mike Taylor (with Tracy Taylor) beat Danny Gimondo in 13:05. Once Gimondo had established himself as the heel, they did a lot of comedy. Gimondo showed a different side of his personality here, as he turned into a major buffoon. Stuff like the running the ropes deal where the babyface stops and watches while the heel runs himself into exhaustion. Taylor sat down in a chair and dared Gimondo to get into the ring. Later, Gimondo tried the same thing, but ref Rob Russo had removed the chair, so Gimondo fell on his ass. Gimondo did the fake knee injury and clipped Taylor’s knee when he turned his back. Gimondo posted Taylor’s knee. Taylor launched the big comeback, but missed with a forearm drop. Gimondo hit his running bulldog. But rather than going for the pin, Gimondo summoned Tracy to give him a kiss. Tracy glanced at the crowd to let them know what was coming --a crack across the face and a roll up for the three count.
(6) Shantelle beat Krissy Vaine in 8:12. This was better than any of the women’s stuff you’re likely to see on WWE TV that doesn’t involve Trish Stratus. Shantelle is a fiery, undersized babyface, like a femal Ricky Morton. Her displays of athletic ability had the crowd popping in several occasion. Vaine has the Diva looks, has a well-developed heel character, and she can wrestle. Seems like they both have a bright future, but this is a company that let Gail Kim go, so who knows. Shantelle made an impression on the crowd with a cartwheel into an armdrag, and a lucha style top rope armdrag. Vaine had seen enough. She threw Shantelle down by the hair and choked the life out of her. Vaine set Shantelle across the bottom rope and gave her a running derriere drop to the back. Shantelle got a sunset flip, and Vaine cut her off with a stiff lariat for a near fall. Vaine applied a camel clutch. Vaine told ref Scrappy McGowan to get her compact the corner, so she could check her hair. He did. Vaine said Shantelle was going to tap. She didn’t. Double hair facebuster and both women down. Shantelle with a flying headscissors for a near fall. Vaine tried for a slam. Shantelle countered with a reverse DDT to score the pinfall. Solid finisher.
(7) Bradley Jay beat Tony Santarelli (with Tracy) to retain the DSW Heavyweight Title in 10:57. This was the natural point for an intermission, but the Six Flags shows are run without them. After 90 minutes of action, the crowd was running out steam, and this match suffered the consequences. Nothing wrong with the matwork here either. The crowd just wasn’t into it. Jay hit a gutbuster and attacked the midsection of Santarelli. Jay hung Santarelli upside down and worked over his gut. Santarelli reached up from the tree of woe, grabbed Jay’s head and flipped into a neckbreaker. Santarelli got near falls with a spinkick and a barrage of Kawada kicks. Santarelli escaped Jay’s finisher and went for reverse roll up. Jay kicked out, sending Santarelli into the turnbuckles. Jay hit the Kamikaze Roll for the win.
(8) Gymini (Jesse & Jake) beat Bill DeMott & Freakin Deacon in 8:54. Surprisingly strong crowd response for Deacon. DeMott was handing Jesse his ass. Jesse bailed out and was consoled by his brother. Deacon picked up where DeMott left off. Deacon whipped DeMott into the corner for a great freight train splash on Jesse. Jake kicked DeMott in the head when the ref wasn’t looking and switched in without tagging. Bigtime heat on DeMott. Deacon took the hot tag and cleaned house. Deacon laid out one of the Gymini with the big boot and tagged DeMott, who went to the top for his signature moonsault. But Deacon was distracted by the presence of the love of his life, the homeless lady (Melissa Coates) seen on the TV vignettes, who was wandering around ringside. How she got into Six Flags is one life’s great mysteries. In any case, the other Gymini crotched DeMott on the top turnbuckle. Gymini pinned DeMott with the Crosstrainer.
The DSW television play-by-play guy, Nigel Sherrod was introduced as the guest ring announcer for the main event. MVP was yapping on the cell phone as he made his way to the ring. He’s got star presence about him and his intro got a good response. The crowd treated Flair like a deity.
(9) Ric Flair beat Montel Vontavious Porter in 11:47. Flair was in wrestling mode here. MVP used hair to reverse a side headlock. MVP decked Flair with a shoulder tackle and mocked him. Flair knocked MVP down with a shoulder block. Flair chained a side headlock into a hammerlock, and MVP went to the ropes. MVP punched Flair on the break and backdropped him for a two count. The body of the match saw MVP work on Flair’s arm, and the crowd deep into Flair’s comeback chops. Flair started bleeding from the ear. MVP applied a sleeper. Flair countered with a back suplex, but MVP cut him off with an elbow drop. MVP missed a kneedrop off the middle rope. Flair immediately took MVP to school and applied the figure four. Sensing that the end was near, the crowd came to their feet. MVP held out a good while before tapping. Mega pop for Flair’s win. A good portion of the crowd rushed down to the barricade to close the show by giving Flair a proper send off.
NOTES: DSW has their first show in Griffin, Ga at Rushton Mills on 9/23…Several hundred passed through the autograph line for the DSW wrestlers that included High Impact, Majors Brothers and Shantelle… The first 100 fans in line got autographs from Flair Dave Taylor was at ringside throughout the show…Matt Striker and Derrick Neikirk appeared on the ECW show in Tom’s River, NJ. Oleg Prudius was with the RAW crew in Fort Myers, Fl…Kevin Matthews had surgery for a torn bicep two months ago and is about three weeks away from being cleared to wrestle.
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