We drop by Tyrone, Georgia for the first half of ACTION Wrestling’s May double-header, featuring a big test for Alex Kane, and Dominic Garrini’s challenge for Arik Royal’s title.
Quick Results
Bobby Flaco pinned Wes Barkley in 7:56 (***)
Robert Martyr defeats Ashton Starr in 8:45 (***)
Damyan Tangra submitted Brandon Wiliams in 6:39 (***)
Liam Gray pinned King Garuda in 4:00 (**)
Jack Kujo pinned Merrick Donovan in 3:38 (**)
Alex Kane pinned Orion Bishop in 8:07 (***)
Kevin Ku pinned Logan Easton LaRoux in 15:07 (***¼)
Arik Royal pinned Dominic Garrini in 14:43 to retain the ACTION Wrestling Championship (***½)
We’re back at the Roger Spencer Community Center in Tyrone, Georgia for this one… If you have IWTV, this show’s up as part of your subscription – otherwise, you can sign-up at iwtv.live using promo code ACTION to send them a little kickback..
Wes Barkley vs. Bobby Flaco
Barkley’s usually seen seconding Joshua Bishop – but it’s a role reversal here as Barkley made his ACTION debut against the popular-in-Tyrone Bobby Flaco. That’s not a knock!
Barkley got into it with the crowd to start, before Flaco took him into the corner from a lock-up. Flaco tries to go up top, but Barkley hits the ropes to crotch him as we get some brawling around ringside. Back inside, a snapmare and a sleeper grounded Flaco, who fought back with chops before whiffing on a springboard.
A rolling clothesline a la Konnan gets Barkley a two-count, before a struggle over a suplex led to Flaco landing the move. Barkley whiffs on a Stinger splash, eating the buckles as Flaco built up, leading to a leaping facebuster out of the corner. Flaco follows up with a cutter for a near-fall, before he went up top in search of a crossbody. It’s avoided as Barkley nails a Michinoku driver for a quick response.
Flaco cuts him off with a sunset flip before Barkley’s roll-up with the feet on the rope was instantly spotted by the ref. An enziguiri takes Barkley outside as Flaco dove in with a dropkick to Barkley and Bishop, before a crossbody off the top gets Flaco the win. A nice, simple match, with Flaco making that top rope crossbody mean something as he teased it throughout the contest. ***
Robert Martyr vs. Ashton Starr
Martyr’s back after losing to Adam Priest in his debut here back in February…
Starr’s given up the dreadlocks, and started off trading wristlocks before he took Martyr down for a leg spreader deathlock. Martyr manages to roll his way free as Starr backed into the ropes, following up with some arm work too. An overhead wristlock takes down Starr, who returns with a backbreaker that barely gets a one-count as Martyr rolled outside for respite.
Martyr rolls back in and manages to catch out Starr between the ropes with a big neckbreaker, but Starr bridged up out of the cover to keep the match alive. A chinlock gave Starr something else to fight out of, but he’s quickly met with a back suplex for a two-count, before a series of chops from Starr was countered with a drop toe hold.
Starr fought back again with clotheslines and a ‘rana, before a missile dropkick found Martyr’s chin for a near-fall. Martyr nearly wins it with a discus lariat, before a kneeling Tiger Driver added in another near-fall. Starr retaliated with an elevated German suplex, before a sunset flip from Starr was rolled through… with Martyr nicking the win. They packed a lot into their nine minutes, with this feeling very much like a tit-for-tat battle – and one I’d love to see run back with a little more time. ***
Brandon Wiliams vs. Damyan Tangra
It’s a tough return test for Williams, who lost to Alex Kane on his debut here last month.
The pair shake hands to start as the initial lock-up saw Williams briefly take down Tangra, before he looked to work the arm on the mat. Tangra counters out and tries for an armbar, but they spin back up and reset. Williams tries his luck again, taking down Tanga in a side headlock, but headscissors get him free, only for Williams to counter a swinging gutbuster by teasing a STF. Tangra quickly got to the ropes, but found himself stifled by Williams until he countered a Fisherman suplex and rolled down to the mat looking for a pin. An ankle lock followed as Tangra borrowed Williams’ finisher, before things took a turn as the match descended to strikes.
Williams finds a way out of that with a Fisherman suplex for a near-fall, before Tangra found a way back with a swinging gutbuster. From there, he rolls Williams to the mat for a rear naked choke, but Williams manages to elbow free and roll into an ankle lock. Tangra manages to escape as he rolled in with a STF, trapping Williams with his “free arm” to force the submission. I enjoyed every second of this – some good mat work in a condensed format. That’s two losses for Williams, but there looks to be a whole lot of promise on this showing. ***
King Garuda vs. Liam Gray
It’s a singles debut for Garuda, who last time out teamed with Takuri to upset the Skulk.
Garuda had enough of Liam Gray and Adrian Alanis jawing with the crowd, so decided to leap off the top rope onto the pair of them. Gray’s rolled into the ring to get us going, as K-Kwik’s old Hat Rack Crack nearly ended the match in seconds. A leaping knee from Gray looked to rock Garuda, as did a wrist-clutch suplex as Gray looked to stay one step ahead.
Adrian Alanis tries to interfere, but Garuda kicks him away… Gray knocked Garida down to the outside as a slingshot crossbody followed, before Garuda found a way back in with clotheslines and forearms in the ring. Garuda nails his own wrist-clutch suplex for a near-fall, before some Angel Wings were floated out of – allowing Gray to punt Garuda low as Alanis distracted the ref. A cobra clutch backbreaker follows, and that’s the win. This was fine for the time they had, with Garuda having some offence, but in the end the presence of Adrian Alanis at ringside gave the Skulk a rather elementary win. **
ACTION CEO Matt Griffin’s introduced, as he tells us about ACTION Next Up – a show they’ve been doing as a tryout of sorts. We’re getting an example of that next as we’re getting an unadvertised bonus match…
Merrick Donovan vs. Jack Kujo
This is the first I’m seeing of both guys – so let’s see what they’ve got.
Kujo’s shoved into the ropes to start, as Donovan looked to intimidate early on. A roll-through into a ‘rana in the corner surprised Donovan, who returned with a backbreaker and a suplex as Kujo perhaps didn’t follow up as quickly as you’d hope.
Some elbows from the mount wear down Kujo, as did some charges into the corner. More elbows and clotheslines leave Kujo laying, as did a slam, before he returned fire with some right hands. Clotheslines knock Donovan down, leading to a Busaiku knee for a near-fall, before Donovan returned with a German suplex for a near-fall of his own. Donovan’s quickly caught with a neckbreaker, before the Jackpot – an over-the-knee Air Raid Crash – gets the win for Kujo. Very brief, but a good showing as both men crammed a lot into their time. **
Orion Bishop vs. Alex Kane
Bishop called out Kane after he beat the former Kavron Kanyon in short order last time out.
Kane tried to lift Bishop off his feet early, but the waistlock’s quickly broken up before Kane got taken into the corner and kicked suspiciously low. He shrugs it off as he tried for a belly-to-belly, then a hiptoss, but Bishop’s size stopped all that as Kane tried his luck with a wristlock. Bishop broke free to take him into the corner though, before Kane’s corner splash was caught and turned into an effortless fallaway slam.
Bishop rolls Kane back inside to get a two-count, as Kane then fought back with a series of right hands before Bishop just sliced through him with a spear. Stomps from Bishop work over Kane’s arm, but Kane’s able to try his luck with an ankle lock that’s pushed out of. An Exploder from Bishop tosses Kane into the corner as a Vader bomb followed up for a near-fall.
A buckle bomb lands next, but Kane finally lands a suplex of his own in return as an overhead belly-to-belly chucked Bishop into the corner. Kane tries a ripcord Angle Slam, but Bishop escaped and returned fire with an F5. Kane can’t roll to the outside quickly enough, as Bishop stays on him, only to get caught with that Angle slam eventually.
From there, Kane lands another one, dropping Bishop in the middle of the ring… and that’s enough for the win. A rather different match from Alex Kane, who wasn’t able to get the suplexes going against the big man, but he managed to survive the onslaught of the relative veteran Bishop before finding a way through with some Angle slams. ***
Logan Easton LaRoux vs. Kevin Ku
This match was apparently meant for the evening show, but traffic issues meant that they pulled it up to the afternoon show for our semi-main event.
LaRoux has to defend a wristlock early, which led to him heading outside to wind up the crowd. Back inside, Ku charges down LaRoux for a quick two-count, then looked for the leg before he just chopped down LaRoux. A leg-spreader follows on the mat before Ku pinned down LaRoux for a chop on the mat… sending him outside as the fight went around ringside.
Ku fakes out a chop to the ring post, then got whipped into another post as LaRoux breaks the count to keep things going. By way of taking an uppercut and some chops back on the outside. Back inside, Ku’s whipped into the corner and has his legs kicked out as he tried to block it… and that opened things up for LaRoux to work over the leg.
Chops keep Ku in the corner as LaRoux targeted the leg with a dropkick in the ropes, before a knee breaker and a Saito suplex chained together for a near-fall. Ku returns with some elbows, before a front chancery took down LaRoux… who countered a punt into a Dragon screw. LaRoux stays on Ku with a Boston crab attempt, but Ku tried to roll him down before LaRoux just turned the hold into a Cloverleaf.
A rope break saves Ku, who tries to take down LaRoux with a knee bar… only to get caught with a Sharpshooter. The ropes save Ku again, but he’s quickly caught in a STF, escaping it before he suckered LaRoux into the corner by evading a Stinger splash. Ku tries to build up, but he’s caught between the ropes with a clothesline… shrugging it off to nail a Busaiku knee for another two-count… before the knee bar trapped LaRoux in the middle of the ring.
Somehow, LaRoux dragged his way to the ropes for the break, and ended up coming back off the top rope with a missile dropkick. A running kick to the other corner leads to him taking Ku up top for a superplex… only for Ku to snap back in with a Fisherman buster. The pair trade strikes from there, with LaRoux going back to Ku’s legs before a cutter was pushed off. Ku quickly responds with a gutwrench into a back cracker… and that’s all folks! A loss for the debuting LaRoux here, as Ku just about edged a win. ***¼
Ku goes to the back as Garrini hung around for the main event…
ACTION Wrestling Championship: Dominic Garrini vs. Arik Royal (c)
It’s a big test for Royal, who was quickly taken to the mat by Garrini in his latest defence… but Royal managed to roll through a leg lock and show his own grappling chops as he took Garrini into the ropes.
Garrini goes for a cross armbar, but Royal rolls free and tries to pin the challenger, who looked to keep the contest on the mat. He tries to pull Royal down into a cross armbar, but Royal grabs the wrist and dropped an elbow on the forearm, keeping Garrini down as some kicks looked to stop him getting getting back up.
Garrini pulls himself back up and chops away on Royal’s leg with some kicks, before a snapmare and a punt to the back left the champion down. Royal returns the favour as they went back-and-forth there, leading to Garrini literally kicking Royal… in the groin. That’s all-but-ignored by the ref as chops from Garrini take Royal to the corner, ahead of the expected retribution. Mudhole stomping keeps Garrini in the corner, with an Indian deathlock following on the mat. Garrini manages to counter as he swivelled out into a leg spreader, but Royal’s able to reach for the ropes before he pounced back into Garrini, sending him to the outside. Royal leaps on Garrini again with a knee drop back inside, before another knee strike left Dominic down by the ropes for a near-fall.
Royal breaks a toe hold with a bell clapper, but Garrini breaks a rear naked choke in the ropes before evading a tackle. That allows Garrini to fire away with chops on Royal in the corner, ahead of a couple of face-washing boots. Garrini hauls Royal up top for a Muscle Buster that stuck the champion.
Garrini tries to submit Royal with a standing guillotine, before a discus elbow and a leaping knee knocked him down for a near-fall. Royal’s back with a rapid-fire series of uppercuts before he POUNCES him into the corner, but it’s not enough for the win as Garrini kicks out at two. From there, Royal went for the Kobe, but Garrini sidesteps and locked in a choke instead. Royal rolls back to try and pin Garrini – who needed to let go or lose – before we went back to the paintbrushing strikes.
Royal pulls ahead with a long unanswered spell of palm strikes, then put Garrini away with the Kobe leaping lariat. Garrini tried to play this his way – keeping Royal on the mat – but with the champion showing his own chops on the mat, it descended into a strike battle… but it was Royal’s size that gave him the advantage and the win here. ***½
Another steady show from ACTION, which built nicely from the start and paid-off with the two feature matches. The undercard in particular breezed by, with nothing outlasting its welcome – and more of those matches, to be honest, perhaps could have benefitted from more time. Still, for a two-hour, eight-match show, you’ve got the sweet spot right here.