In Kentucky, the first Saturday in May is usually rainy & people are watching the only horse race they’ll see in a year or sending teenagers off to their school prom. But with the aftermath of The Primus still fresh in the memory of those in the collective conscious; Pro Wrestling Freedom puts on its second show in 2 weeks on this day. As with every show, there are new faces & new sponsors. This show is different: there is now a champion. And as with every new champion, there is a new challenger.
The event starts in its usual fashion: the doors open, the fans buy their tickets, find their seats, go look and see what new merchandise is available, bathroom stops, getting autographs (but don’t ask for autographs in the bathroom—that’s just tacky), seeing if there’s anyone you are wanting or needing to talk to. And with the concession stand now providing products from Dairy Queen, the audience are now given more options if they need anything. And like The Primus, the fans in attendance were treated to a pre-show match with 2 newcomers to the area.
Bob Murdoch vs. Justin Storm This match could be best described as a contrast. Bob Murdoch comes out like a vet who worked shows in Memphis & Dallas back in the days when there were territories. Part Dick Murdoch, part Stan Hansen, Murdoch came out yelling & throwing up the “Hook ’em Horns” sign. Justin Storm came out with some flash, his gear was brighter than Murdoch’s basic black, wore sunglasses & scattered what looked to be confetti. While both guys seemed to be able to work, the one thing that stood out was that you could not only tell Murdoch was stiff, you could hear it & feel it even in the back row. When Murdoch hit Storm, it came with that thud that you hear when soft tissue is clubbed. However, for all his hard hitting offense, he wasn’t able to put away Storm who was able to get the win. Winner: Justin Storm.
At the start of the show, it almost had a concert feel to it this time. What I mean is, the lights dimmed just before the music hit. Because once it did, the show began & the crowd lit up like the start of seeing their favorite band play. So with the theme song playing on the PA, promoter John Bullard & commentators Aaron Rose & Russell Ridenhour come out to the ring for their opening segment to hype the crowd & run down the card. Afterwards, they introduce one of the more popular non-wrestlers in the PWF entourage: the ring announcer Brian Sizemore. Whom once he enters the ring & wields his symbol of office, he begins to introduce the first match of the evening.
Misery & Shinigami vs. Zayne & T Money vs. Iron & Sanchez vs. Alexander & Rush- Elimination Tag Match Alexander & Rush were a substitute team filling in for Conard & Vincent who had to cancel at the last minute due to medical reasons. This match could be described as kinetic & full of spots with everyone shining equally. Two main spots that come to mind are this double team superplex/power bomb combination which makes me wonder whenever I see a spot like that if the ring will collapse like it does in the New York promotion. The other was when it looked like everyone was taking turns to execute suicide dives with the worst of it coming from Maxx Misery who hit the floor with a sickeningly loud thud which led to numerous people tending to him as he was now rendered unable to complete the match. Shortly afterward; Alexander & Rush, Shinigami, & Zayne & T Money were eliminated. Winners: Gregory Iron & Miguel Sanchez. Post match: Father Fear comes out with a returning Muldoon who destroys everyone left in the ring as Fear introduces the bearded behemoth to combine his strength with the absent Dustin Rayz who’s currently on tour. While on the mic, Father Fear says that he is going to destroy John Bullard & everyone around them as they continue their rivalry that been going on since shortly after PWF put on their first show.
Menace vs. Jason Kincaid. A rivalry that has always produced great matches in NWA Smoky Mountain has made its appearance in PWF. Both guys know each other so well & it shows because there appeared to be very little mistakes in the match. Of course, you’d never know if Kincaid makes a mistake since he’s so fluid in the ring. But that being said, Menace is far from a slouch. After a series of exchanges, Kincaid nails Menace with Death from Above which accidentally causes Menace’s mask to come off. After Menace was able to recover, Kincaid was able to put him away. Winner: Jason Kincaid.
After the match, Jordan Kage came out to no fanfare to address the crowd & people he probably thought he’d never have in his career: fans. Kage proceeds to tell people about his history & the fact that even though he’s usually the most hated guys in any promotion he’s at, he had to thank the PWF fans for their support (fact: he has his own cheering section, almost all guys, who wear his official shirt, which is pink, & whose cheers virtually drown out everyone else). This segment led to his former best friend, Bobby Blade, to come out to confront Kage. During their exchange, Blade informs Kage that the reason he & the other members of Flawless turned on him was because they won their match at The Primus, Kage lost his match when meant he was no longer flawless. With Kage admitting he had a bad night, Blade proceeded to inform Kage why his early life turned out the way that it did which led to Cash Flo & Scotty Viciouse coming out & as the 3 beat down Kage this brought out Ryan Dookie & Mickie Knuckles to make the save.
Chris Hall vs. Shane Mercer vs. Jake Crist vs. Nasty Russ- 4-Way. In a match that featured a newcomer billed as Silverback due to him being the size of a gorilla & the color of his singlet, the resident strongman of PWF, a CZW standout who is 1/2 of The Irish Airborne & a member of the Oi4K (Ohio is 4 Killers), & a man who looks like he’s better suited as an extra in the pornographic version of Saturday Night Fever & was the breakout star of the last event. With many promotions, whenever you see anything like a 4-way you can expect a mess. PWF seems to have the multiple participant match concept down to a science. In many cases, those matches become strong contenders for match of the night. These matches have become more like talent showcases as opposed to being a result of lazy booking (you can call the PWF bookers many things, but lazy isn’t 1 of them). With the match starting with a series of exchanges of fundamental wrestling moves, it started to develop into all 4 guys demonstrating their individual style of wrestling as well as the personality of their particular gimmick. The main spot that stands out to me is that Mercer tried to pick up Hall. He succeeded, but he couldn’t execute a move on him. It would have been amazing to see him pull something off, but I don’t think it was a letdown that he didn’t. But considering Mercer’s work ethic in the gym, he may throw around enough iron to where he’ll be able to do hoist a man that size up over his shoulders. In the end, Sleaze was what got over. Winner: Nasty Russ. On a side note, what makes Russ so entertaining is that he’s in the Bible Belt & he bills himself as the King of Sleaze. That & he does pelvic thrusts every chance he gets.
Kole Layton King vs. Kerry Awful- Texas Bullrope Match. You don’t see these types of matches anymore. Whether it’s called a Bullrope match, dog collar match, Russian Chain match, the concept is the same: connect 2 men with some length of material, let them beat each other down & whomever can touch all 4 corners in succession is the winner. This particular match was booked because of the events of The Primus where Kerry was attacked by King & dragged away from his scheduled match. The following YouTube videos featured Kerry in a pet cage & KLK saying that he was going to put him out of his misery. The match was slower than many of the other matches in the card, but it felt more like a fight than a wrestling match. With both guys choking each other with the rope & clubbing each other with the cowbell, it was ruled that it was King who touched the 4th turnbuckle before Awful in a controversial fashion. Winner: Kole Layton King. Post match activity began with King attacking Kerry, leaving him unconscious. Then King called out Chris Hall who to finish the job. After Hall hit his version of the F-5, Nick Iggy comes running out to the ringside yelling at King & Hall to get away from his dog (for those of you who don’t know; Nick Iggy is a full grown man with the maturity level of a 10 year old, & Kerry Awful is his dog– some of you probably just thought to yourself, “What the hell?”, but they pull it off) which led to King & Hall immediately leaving ringside which left Iggy to check on his fallen friend. What happened next is something that came right out of the play Peter Pan where Iggy is trying to get the crowd to cheer which would help Kerry recover. With Iggy overcome by grief & crying in the corner, Kerry recovers & runs to Iggy’s corner where the team known in other promotions as Team IOU makes their debut in PWF in an act that was more Fred & Dino than it was Freddie Blassie & Dino Bravo.
Flawless (Cash Flo & Scotty Viciouse) w/Bobby Blade vs. Champions Team BFF (Ryan Dookie & Mickie Knuckles)- PWF Tag Team Championship Title Match. As soon as Flawless enters the ring, Bobby Blade resumes something else he has begun to do; belittle & berate ring announcer Brian Sizemore who has his mic taken from him so Blade can introduce his team as well as himself before returning the microphone to Mr. Sizemore so he can resume his duties. Even before the match began, Bobby took a chair & attacked Dookie’s leg, rendering him unable to compete which led to Blade being barred from ringside. Cash Flo begins to taunt Knuckles into going through with the match even though it’s now a handicap match. Even though Mickie did put up a valiant effort, the 2 super heavyweights slowly break her down until it was only a matter of time. That is, until this very familiar song by 10 Years plays over the PA & Jordan Kage comes out to a huge reaction to goes to the opposing corner to as Dookie’s replacement that leads to an immediate interference by the referee. With the referee distracted, & Mickie still being worn to the point that victory is imminent, John Bullard comes out & informs the referee that this is his company & he’s allowing Jordan Kage to be the substitute. Once Kage finally entered the match, he entered with a reaction that people don’t hear at wrestling matches anymore; like when Nikita Koloff had his surprising face turn & helped Dusty Rhodes in a cage match back in 1986 with the crowd generating enough sonic pressure that the building could explode. Shortly after Kage mounted favorable offense, Bobby Blade came out & hit Jordan Kage with the Blade Cutter & Flawless was automatically disqualified. Winner: Team BFF (w/an assist to Jordan Kage) retain the PWF Tag Team Championship. Post match activities are the faction of Flawless resume beating down both Kage & Knuckles which led to numerous members of the locker room coming to their aid and after getting the mic, Kage vows to everyone in attendance that Cash Flo will receive his finisher, the Fuzzy 8×10.
Chance Prophet vs. Champion Kyle Matthews- PWF Championship title match. For those who don’t know, Chance Prophet is a 2-time NWA National Champion who’s amazing in the ring. But what truly sets him apart is his gimmick; he paints his face like if The Joker was a fan of bands like The Misfits & King Diamond & his promos remind you of said Joker with a dash of Harry Connick, Jr from Copycat. His gimmick is so eye catching that someone ripped it off on one of those shows on TV. Kyle Matthews returns to PWF as their newly crowned champion after winning 3 matches, that have been some of the best in the PWF ring, as a man who sets out to prove to the fans that he was worth the cheers that were heaved upon him 2 weeks ago. The match begins like a symphony is tuning up, & turns into a chess match with 2 professionals striving to win by attrition. The match was more ground & pound style than high flying with the exception of Matthews connecting with an outside the ring dive towards a fallen Prophet. In the end, it was Matthews who proved to be the better as Prophet had no chance to escape the Texas Cloverleaf. Winner: Kyle Matthews retains PWF Championship.
In post match activities, Flawless runs out to the ring & attacks Matthews and eventually delivers yet another spike piledriver the champ. Members of the PWF locker room come to clear out the ring including Jordan Kage who has now become their target. As Kage & Flawless are engaged in their struggle, another familiar entrance theme is played and to everyone’s surprise Sean “Virus” Harddrive makes his return to the ring since he suffered multiple fractures in his left arm which resulted in his forearm being mended with metal and coming to the aid of his once bitter rival. Virus’s assistance allowed Kage to set up & execute the Fuzzy 8×10 on Cash Flo with as the crowd screamed in ecstasy as Kage drove Cash’s head into the mat with the enthusiasm of watching a nerd knocking out the school bully with 1 punch. With Flawless reeling, Bullard announces that the main event at the next show, named Hour of Sin, will be a rematch between Flawless & Team BFF with Bobby Blade being handcuffed to Brian Sizemore! At the end of the show, Sizemore can be heard saying “Now you’re gonna experience the power of the bowtie!” If he threw in a “brother”, it would fit him perfectly.
All in all, an amazing show. PWF has yet to produce a subpar card; even though some events may have seem grander like The Primus or 12 Days of Destruction, but that doesn’t mean that the other shows are throwaways. Now that there’s a champion, Pro Wrestling Freedom’s now ready to begin their second chapter in what could be an epic saga. The only criticism I’ll offer is something that PWF has no control over: You can’t get any cell phone service in the civic center after the facility put some sort of dampener in the building so I had to run outside after every match to send live Tweets in my role as a reviewer for PWP. I’m not complaining, but I just wish they’d fix it. That’s all I got, I’ll be back to cover the June 1st show. Go check out your local show.
Update: No one died because the manager of a local Dairy Queen was able to provide Chance Prophet the Dilly Bar that he demanded on Facebook. That made him happy.
