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Chris Harris captured the heavyweight title at the Purks International Championship Wrestling event last night in Cedartown, Ga. The former TNA star and multiple time NWA World Tag Team Champion defeated champion “Butcher” Bobby Hayes and David Young in a three way dance.
Attendance at the Purks building was right at 500, which was the same as the June show with Abyss as the guest star. That’s only half of what Purks ICW was drawing a couple of months ago,
The good news is that last night’s crowd was drawn without bringing in a high dollar guest. attendance figured to be down during the summer, and it didn’t help that it was a brutally hot night. It appears that Purks has established a core audience that will be there come hell or high water.
With Purks running storylines based on one five match show per month, every segment becomes vital. Every match has to serve a purpose, or at least it should, and a major flop could prove extra costly.
Last night, every match worked -- some more so than others, most notably, the streetfight between Shaun Banks and Adams Jacobs, which is one of my favorite matches this year.
It was a feel good night, as they babyfaces went over in the three big matches.
There was a preshow autograph and photo session with Harris, Ron Simmons, and Tracy Taylor.
(1) John Arden beat Jay Clinton in 6:01.
This was close perfect in so far as booking Arden to keep him strong. The fans in Cedartown love to see Arden throw his weight around, all 400 pound of it, and Clinton was the right man for the job. He bumped huge for all of Arden’s stuff. The frustration factor quickly got the better of Clinton. He raked the eyes. Arden bumped for a forearm shot, but he had the good sense to kick out right away on Clinton’s one foot cover. Crowd chanted for Arden to get it in gear. He obliged with a spear.
(2) Thunder & Lightning (Chris Ganz & Chris Lightning) & Little Big Guy beat Alexander the Great & Terry Lawler & Jackie Rosedale in 14:08.
Guy’s mask was on the line, and if it turned out be Too Tall Shortts under the hood (as it obviously was), then he was gone from Cedartown forever. Thunder and Lightning got a monster pop. Match opened with a solid shine segment. The crowd was popping for T &L’s double teams. There was a fiery exchange between Lightning and Alexander. The key spots involved Guy and Alexander. Guy came off the top with a huracanrana and in another, he gave Alexander a horsey ride. The heels isolated Lightning and gave him a beating. Rosedale tagged in for all of 15 seconds. He’s a limited performer at best. He’s just a guy filling the spot, and it’s a shame, because a top flight manager like Jeff G. Bailey would get nuclear heat in Cedartown. A superplex lead to the hot tag. The apparent finish saw Guy once again perched on the top rope. Rosedale shoved him off and covered for the pin. As the heels started to unmask Guy, Commissioner Ron Simmons made his presence known. Simmons said he was going to enforce the rules and called for a restart. T & L scored simultaneous pin on Alexander and Lawler with sterep top rope sunset flips.
Simmons made a match for July 10 (he actually said next week but ring announcer Dave Wills cleaned that up) where if Little Big Guy beats Alexander, then Alexander has to wear a dress until he wins a match. Simmons polled the crowd for choice of dress color. Alexander accepted what he said was a ridiculous challenge.
(3) Traci Brooks beat Tracy Taylor in 7:13.
Brooks got heat by refusing to remove the baggy t-shirt that was covering up the goods. She said it was a family show and called ring announcer Wills a pervert. Taylor pulled Brooks’ shirt off and hula danced. Taylor surfed on Brooks’ back. Brooks took it to the outside and whipped Taylor into the post. She mocked Taylor’s hula dancing. Taylor started her comeback with a series of pinning combinations and built it to a nice dropkick for a near fall. When Taylor tried for a slingshot sunset flip, Brooks sat down on her and used the ropes for extra leverage. It got heat. Match worked because of the heel/babyface dynamic, The crowd likes Taylor, and she was able to carry the action. Brooks isn’t much as a wrestler, but she is a good heel.
(4) Shaun Banks beat Adam Jacobs in a Cedartown Streetfight in 17:07.
Just an awesome streefight, because it was a fight, first and foremost. They made selective use of weapons. They historic building’s architecture came into play in interesting ways. But the core of the match was stiff hand-to-hand combat. The other great thing was the way they built to the match on the previous show. Fans wanted to see Banks unload on Jacobs, and they wanted it BAD. There was a pile of weapons in the ring. Jacobs brought a chair and baking pan with him. Banks had a hubcap that he immediately put to use. They traded slams on the floor. I don’t know what it’s made out of, but it has no give and bodies hit with sickening thuds. Banks caught Jacobs with a kendo stick as he came off the top. Jacobs bumped over the top, and it was one of those death defying circus moments that had the girls shrieking. Jacobs suplexed Banks on the floor. They fought up into the bleachers and over the entrance way –a 10-12 foot drop onto a sloping floor. They were seated on the railing trading punches like it was the top of a cage. Banks ended up dangling from the railing. Thankfully, he thought better of taking the bump, because it could have been really, really ugly. They went all the way to the top of bleachers and did moves making use of the girders that support the ceiling. That was different. Jacobs slammed Banks on the top row of bleachers producing another sick thud. Back inside the ring, Jacobs begged off, but there would be no escape this month. Banks blasted him with the hubcap. Banks hit an electric chair drop. Banks went up top but Jacobs cut him off with a kendo stick shot and hit a tree-of-woe hang time dropkick for a near fall. They battled over to the WGAA broadcast table. The radio guys were ducking for cover. It was great. Back inside, Banks sent Jacobs head first into a chair wedged between the turnbuckles and finished with a long distance top rope elbow. It’s so difficult to do this type of match any more without it feeling clichéd, but they totally pulled it off. Between the action and the heat, it was easily one of the best matches I’ve seen this year.
(5) Chris Harris beat Champion Bobby Hayes and David Young to win the Purks ICW Heavyweight Title in 14:52.
Harris got a major star pop coming out. Young is in better shape than he’s been in for a while. Match opened with the crowd chanting “Wildcat” as Harris took on Hayes and Young. It was all harmony between the heels until Hayes broke up Young’s pin. They argued but decided to resume their attack on Harris. Things looked grim for the good guy until Young and Hayes both came off the ropes and ate boot. Young tasted his own medicine via a Harris spinebuster, but Hayes pulled the ref out. Hayes had Harris pinned with a sidewalk slam and Young broke that up. A heel slapfest ensued. They spilled to the outside. All three men could have been counted out. Ref Eddie Wilson simply stopped counting. Harris hit a double top rope lariat and speared Young for a near fall. Hayes decked Harris. Young then planted the ref with a spinebuster. With Harris and the ref both down, the heels decided a stuff piledriver was in order. Young brought a chair in for a second piledriver, when out came Air Paris, still wearing the neckbrace from the piledriver treatment he received two months ago. He got the hero’s welcome. Young and Hayes were snickering at him. Paris ripped the neckbrace off and waffled them with chairshots. Harris hit the Catatonic on Young, and Paris slapped the ref’s hand for the pin. Say what you will, the crowd loved the finish.
Hayes refused to hand over the belt. Simmons came out and ordered Hayes to cough it up. Hayes finally dropped the belt and tried to punch Simmons, who blocked it and blasted Hayes with a right hand. Simmons presented Harris with the championship belt, saying that he was now the hunted rather than the hunter. As a rule, I hate it when a champion loses a title without being pinned or submitted, but they made the title change out to be such a grand deal that it seemed less of an issue.
Simmons went on to say that Paris had been chasing “rabbit” Hayes for over a year and it was about time he trapped him. Simmons ordered Paris vs. Hayes in a 10 foot steel cage for July 10.
NOTES: Micah Taylor, Steve “The Brawler” Lawler and Frenchy Riviera were in the house, as was Dave Wills sidekick, Danger from the Dave and Danger show on Georgia Wrestling Radio. Among their guests this coming Tuesday night at 8pm will be Drew Feldman from the Promolast Events Fanfest…Purks ICW had a cage match scheduled for their March 2009 show and couldn’t get it in the building. That was an eight foot cage, so speculation is that they are going to construct the cage for July inside the venue.
