Oh, you’d better believe we were going to watch this one…
A match I’d have gone out of my way to see live in the “before times”, a distanced crowd of 50 were on hand at the Roger Spencer Community Center in Tyrone, GA for this one.
Violence is Forever (Dominic Garrini & Kevin Ku) vs. WorkHorsemen (Anthony Henry & JD Drake)
Apparently this was Henry and Drake’s final match as a tag team – although we had the same thing in November 2019 after these two teams had an iron man tag match at Black Label Pro. This time though, Henry’s upcoming retirement might make this one likelier to stick…
This was a mystery show, so the reveal of this match got quite the reaction on commentary.
Henry and Garrini get us going with a knuckle lock, before Henry’s waistlock almost turned into an armbar… but he gets to the ropes before Garrini could apply the hold fully. They head to the mat as Henry looked for a guillotine, but it comes to nought… unlike Henry’s attempt to take Garrini down as he just punted him with a kick to the back. Garrini snapmares Henry, but it’s rolled out of as Henry pushed him into an armbar, looking to play Garrini at his own game. They head back to the mat, but Henry manages to roll into his corner for the break as tags brings in Kevin Ku. Henry’d also tagged out, with Drake just obliterating Ku with a chop that the cameraman missed.
Ku tries to chop back, but Drake laughs him off and gladly accepted Ku’s offer to hit him again… and promptly decked him with a second chop. They go back and forth, but a poke to the eye is what keeps Ku down. He recovers as Garrini comes in to help batter Drake with kicks, but they just rile up the big man, as the WorkHorsemen looked to force their way into the match. Kicks from Henry rocked Garrini into the corner, where chops were waiting for him, following up with a snapmare and a kick to the back as Garrini looked to be in trouble. Drake’s back with more blistering chops, before he gave some receipts for those kicks ahead of a falling headbutt… but Garrini falls right by the ropes so the cover’s easily broken up.
Garrini returns with a knee strike, knocking Drake down as tags bring us to Ku and Henry… Ku’s kicks and a low dropkick have Henry down, but Drake clings onto Ku’s ankle in the corner, stopping his momentum in its tracks. That’s a good save. Henry capitalises as he took down Ku, who tried to kick back, but a series of stomps wore down Ku ahead of a Dragon screw. Drake’s back for some stomps of his own, then a DDT to the leg and a knee drop to the leg. Henry’s back to try and roll Ku in a half crab, but instead he switches it into an Indian deathlock – including a bridge back and some flipping off that drew in Garrini to stomp apart the hold. Drake returns with stomps, weakening Ku for a Figure Four that Garrini quickly stomped apart… so Henry just wanders in to blast Ku with a kick to keep things even.
Ku tries to duck a chop, but ends up taking it anyway as he then looked for a roll-up that got him a two-count. Drake’s boot knocks him down as Henry returned to drag this match back into a striking battle. A leaping enziguiri stops Ku ahead of a brainbuster for a two-count, as Garrini threatened to break up the cover… but Henry broke up the pin to avoid any attack. It didn’t make things easier as Drake came in for a Vader bomb on Ku, getting a near-fall before an ankle lock kept Ku in trouble.
Ku finally manages to get free, rolling Drake to the mat for a STF, but this time Henry runs in and hits a leaping stomp to break it up. Finally Ku tags in Garrini, who cleared house with elbows and clotheslines before a rebound back suplex dropped Drake. Hobbling in, Ku helps with a high/low to the big man, with Garrini getting a two-count off of it, but a kick to Ku’s leg stops that brief flurry as the WorkHorsemen went at it again.
An assisted tornado DDT from Henry gets a near-fall as he then transitioned into an armbar, then an ankle lock on Ku, before he let go to deal with an on-rushing Garrini. He’s caught in a guillotine and held to Drake could chop his back, before things calmed down a little. Garrini shakes it off and tagged in so he could get his own back on Drake, by way of a chop battle. Drake laughs off the chops and tries to obliterate Garrini (mullet and all), before things broke down into a hockey fight. Henry blind-tagged in, leaping in for a German suplex before Ku’s attempt to equalise led to all four men being downed. When they got to their feet, we’re dealing with elbows and more chops, before Garrini picked up Henry for a Go 2 Sleep… then handed him off for more kicks and elbows from Ku.
Garrini pulls Henry into an armbar, while Ku’s guillotine on Drake was quickly turned into a Drill Bit as Drake used Ku to break up the hold. Tags get us back to Ku and Drake, but the big man’s Bossman slam has Ku down before Drake chucked Henry his way. Chops and knees lead to a misses Drake cannonball, as Garrini came in to hit a F5 on Henry… before an Alphamare Waterslide from Ku took care of Henry.
A kick-assisted piledriver drops Drake for a two-count, but Violence is Forever can’t capitalise as a Drake spinebuster took out Garrini ahead of an eventual cannonball to Ku. They keep going, with Henry hitting a double stomp to Ku, before a Drake moonsault landed for a near-fall with Garrini restrained in the ropes. Drake’s frustration’s shown in the way of more chops before a double stomp-assisted Fire Thunder driver spiked Ku… and that my friends, is that!
Result: JD Drake & Anthony Henry pinned Kevin Ku & Dominic Garrini in 23:04
This particular style may not before everyone – with lots of strikes, kick-outs and all culminating to one big “critical” move, but if you’re into it, this was absolutely fantastic. From what I’ve seen, ACTION look to be running a tight ship as one of the main US indies running that don’t dabble in death matches, and they’re not always using the same names as the rest. JD Drake’s always going to be really high on my list of “guys who really should be knocking it out of the park on a bigger stage,” while these two teams really mesh well together. ****¼
Get this show watched – the stuff with Suge D that’s playing out on social media and on these shows is capitvating… and especially make some time for the Alex Kane vs. Logan Creed match on the undercard!
- If you don’t have a IWTV subscription, you can get a free trial at iwtv.live, using the promo code ACTION.