Professional wrestling is a one-of-a-kind sport due to its theatrical nature. However, another characteristic that separates professional wrestling from other sports is its amazing variety of styles. There’s Lucha LIbre, Puroresu, Hoss wrestling, Catch wrestling, and many more styles. Now, it’s even becoming popular to incorporate elements of various martial arts into one’s particular style. In the past, one could argue that promotions tried to specialize in one particular style. Today, due to the growing nature of our sport and each fan having their own preference, promotions have somewhat become melting pots of various genres. With that being said, each promotion usually has its own set of competitors the fans can expect to see regularly. Over time, each fan develops their own favorites and a list of matches they would love to see.
One promotion I’ve followed since its inception is ACTION Wrestling. While ACTION does indeed give the proceeds to a different charity each show, the in-ring product is top-notch. Every show you attend, you will leave highly satisfied as both a fan and human being.
My history with ACTION goes all the way back to the inaugural show on April 27, 2018. If someone were to ask me who I thought the top single stars were going to be, without hesitation, I would respond with four names: Cain Justice, AC Mack, Arik Royal, and Fred Yehi. Those four names bring six combinations, of those six combinations, I expect only four to see the light of day in ACTION. Three of those four matchups have already occurred. This Friday, we will see the fourth and final combination as AC Mack defends his ACTION Wrestling and SUP Bonestorm (shout out to our friends at Southern Underground Pro in Nashville) Championships against Cain Justice! Of the four combinations, this is the match I was most looking forward to. It is a well-known fact that I am a huge supporter of Cain and AC made quite possibly the greatest first impression on me in my 23 years as a wrestling fan. AC has had a phenomenal reign as the ACTION Champion while Cain has primarily been a tag team wrestler in ACTION. From my perspective, and based on talking with other ACTION fans, this has led some fans to immediately give AC the victory. Due to the incredibly different paths both wrestlers have taken, fans might underestimate or even forget how much of a story there is to this match.
Going back to the first show last April, both men solidified themselves in ACTION history. AC had the very first match in ACTION history against Joey Lynch while Cain had an epic encounter with Fred Yehi, which many said stole the show. One could even argue that while AC had the opener of the promotion, Cain put ACTION on the map with Fred Yehi and let the wrestling world know that ACTION had arrived. Unfortunately, both wrestlers ended up on the losing side of their matches, but they both put on a good show and had two very important matches in ACTION’s history.
Both men were looking to rebound at the next show. AC would bring in Ike Cross to help him battle Joey and Matt Lynch while Cain had another big test in Southern wrestling legend Anthony Henry. In order to cement their spot at the top, both Cain and AC needed a victory that night. AC and Ike would put up one heck of a fight against arguably the best tag team in the south, but fell just short of a win. Cain, on the other hand, hung in there with one of the best in the South, fought dirty when he had to, and ended up getting one of the biggest wins of his young career.
A few months later, at the third event, CEO Matt Griffin presents the ACTION Championship and announces that a tournament to crown a champion will begin at the following show. Now, a win is definitely a must. Cain has a grueling mat-based war with the equally dangerous Dominic Garinni. It was a battle of Cain’s Judo versus Dominic’s Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Though the match could have gone either way, in the end, Cain keeps his momentum going and wins with a rollup. AC would main event the show against his WWA4 classmate and perennial rival, Austin Theory, in what was one of the best matches in ACTION history. Thanks to dirty but intelligent wrestling, AC picked up his very first ACTION win. As fate would have it, both wrestlers had enough momentum behind them to secure their spots in the ACTION Championship tournament.
AC found himself in the first match of the tournament against James Bandy, who arguably had more momentum going into the match. Bandy decided to start the match off hot by blasting his opponent immediately with a flying kick and almost walked away with a quick victory. AC was rocked but regained his bearings eventually. With the help of his friend, Ike Cross, AC advanced to the Fatal Four-Way in the December 2018 show. Cross became the next wrestler to qualify by beating Kevin Ku. After the match, AC ran his mouth to Ike one time too many and ate a rolling elbow for his troubles, signifying the end of their partnership. The next qualifying match would be a rematch between Cain Justice and Fred Yehi. This match was significantly shorter than its predecessor. However, it was still a mean and nasty affair. Cain would end up avenging his only ACTION loss and continuing his winning streak by obliterating Yehi with a switch kick and a running knee after Arik Royal made his presence known. The last wrestler to qualify was Slim J, who beat Billy Buck in a Southern style war that saw interference from Buck’s stablemates, Team TAG, as well as ACTION CEO Matt Griffin. I would argue that Cain had the most momentum out of the four finalists, he was actually my pick to become the inaugural ACTION champion.
Unfortunately, life had other plans. A few weeks before the big match, Cain suffers a leg injury and is forced to forfeit his spot. Alan Angels would take his place that night by getting the pin in the opening tag match. AC and Angels would team up to eliminate Slim. However, the alliance would be short-lived as the two would turn on each other shortly after the first elimination. This would lead to Ike eventually eliminating Angels. After going back and forth for a while, AC would finally pin his former friend to become the first ACTION champion.
That would end up being Ike’s last match with ACTION. While Cain and AC had somewhat similar 2018’s in ACTION, their 2019’s were drastically different. Cain went from a singles wrestler to a tag wrestler, teaming with Jaden Newman and David Ali, both of whom have history with AC in SCI and WWA4 respectively. Maybe Cain’s recent tag team stint is actually an advantage? AC, on the other hand has defended his ACTION Championship in a series of wars, all of which have been singles matches. The human body can only survive so many wars before it has enough, we’ve seen this in Boxing and especially MMA. Three of AC’s most recent defenses intrigue me in particular: Slim J, Joey Lynch, and Alan Angels.
A common theme in those three matches is all three wrestlers using their speed to take it to the champ. Slim, Joey, and Angels are all skilled high flyers who also mix in another style. Slim is a very underrated mat wrestler while Joey and Angles are both dangerous strikers. These defenses are very telling in the sense that they reveal that maybe the champ has some holes in his striking game and submission game. Slim and SCI 2019 winner Daniel Makabe both gave AC trouble on the mat, with Makabe even submitting AC to win the SCI tournament this year. Curt Stallion, Joey Lynch, and Alan Angels all had the title in jeopardy when they kept the match standing. Considering Cain trains in both judo and kickboxing at his dojo in North Carolina, I would argue that Cain is AC’s most prominent threat.
With everything I said, I must also give AC his fair share of credit. I’ve seen nearly all of his title defenses, and he’s always had moments where he was in trouble. However, he’s one of those wrestlers that always uses his intelligence and occasional dirty tactics to come away with a victory. For almost a year, he’s survived the majority of the ACTION roster. If he survives Cain, he will make it past one year as ACTION Champion, but that is a big if. Cain is the first challenger that can match AC in terms of dirty tricks. This, coupled with Cain’s martial arts background makes me want to pick him. However, I also cannot deny the craftiness of AC Mack.
As I mentioned earlier, Cain was supposed to be in the Fatal Four-Way last December. However, an injury led to him forfeiting the opportunity. Exactly 52 weeks later, he finally gets his chance at the gold. This match is supremely important to Cain, but one could argue that it’s just as important to AC. From where I sit, AC needs this victory for legitimacy. If AC loses his title to the guy that was supposed to be in the finals with him but had to forfeit, what does that say? If Cain wins, there’s a legitimate argument that he was the true champ all along. If AC wins, he has nothing left to prove. He’s defeated pretty much everybody there is to defeat in ACTION. They say that Alexander The Great looked outside one day and wept because he had nothing left to conquer. If AC retains, will his story be similar? Only time will reveal the answer, but with the stakes as high as they are, I can easily see this being one of the best matches in ACTION history.
Well, folks, that’s all I have for you today. This has been Jon Miller, follow me on Twitter @CWFAN96. You can catch up on ACTION Wrestling through IWTV, which, if you sign up using the promo code ACTION, you will receive A free 20 day trial. Thank you for taking the time to read this, Happy Holidays!