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The paid attendance at the historic Purks Building was around 350. After an exhilarating run of shows flirting with the 1000 mark, crowds have been down all summer long.
Whether it’s a seasonal attendance drop or a true shrinkage of fan support, the tale will be told in the coming months, as the unprecedented attendance numbers (no Georgia indie over the last decade has consistently drawn half that many) started last November with the appearance by Scott Steiner.
It was the typical Purks show. The wrestlers love working here because the crowd reaction is terrific for just about everything. The mic work was often better than the matches, although none of them were bad. The tag match and Paris/Delay were pleasant surprises. But the most surprising thing was the lack of any build for the next show.
It was a day at the beach for the babyface side. The good guys retained their titles with relative ease. Not a hint of danger on the horizon. The heels came up short in all but the opener, and of them is still stuck wearing a dress.
(1) Bobby Hayes beat John Arden in 10:59. Interesting match. Hayes was coming off a loss to Air Paris in a cage match last month. This was different kind of test for Arden. He’s been throwing his weight around against much smaller opponents and was facing a big man in Hayes. I came away feeling like I’ve been underrating Hayes. He’s got a wealth of experience (fun fact: Hayes was enhancement talent in WWE during the mid 90s. He still moves very well for a big man, and he’s got a distinctive look. Hayes did a great job selling for Arden's power moves. The big spot was a freight train corner splash followed a by a Thigh Drop of Doom for a near fall. Hayes dumped Arden out to take over. At one point, Arden put a foot on the ropes to break a pin count. Cool to see that used early in a match for a change. Hayes gave Arden a headbutt, and he exploded into a flat back bump. Hayes kept it on the ground for a bit. Arden reversed a snap suplex and was up first calling for the spear. He chugged across the ring into the turnbuckles as Hayes stepped aside. It looked bad. Hayes connected with a big high boot for the clean win.
(2) Air Paris pinned the debuting Seth Delay with a superkick at 9:31. The mic work to set it up was fun. Delay got strong heat. Delay entered to "Billie Jean". He claimed to be both “D Ladies Man†and “The King of Wrestling†in Canada and Egypt, and said he was in “Petertown†to win the gold. The pop for Paris was the biggest of the night. He came back from a neck injury that sent to the hospital and had him wearing a neck brace for a month to defeat long-time rival Hayes in the cage. Paris, who has always been a great promo guy, took offense to Delay insulting his beloved Cedartown. Paris had a riddle. “What has two thumbs and his about the beat the living hell out you?†POW. Delay threw it reverse and Paris continued to beat on him. With order restored, Delay proceeded with extreme caution. The momentum turned when Paris missed a Stinger splash. Outside the ring, Delay threw Paris into the post. Back inside, Delay ate a boot to the chest coming off the top, and stagger around like he was having a heart attack. But Paris crashed and burned on a moonsualt. Shortly thereafter, Delay missed with a top rope elbow. It was lariats a-go-go from Paris and then he waxed him. It was the most entertaining match of the night.
Intermission with Raven and ODB out for autographs and photos.
(3) Thunder & Lightning (Chris Ganz & Chris Lightning) beat The Washington Nationals (Trey & Jon Williams) to retain the Purks ICW Tag Team Championship in 9:42. This match has a good flow. Nationals (Bullets from Platinum Championship Wrestling) are small but athletic. They were smooth with their double teams and they’re ring positioning was solid. Probably the only time the champions are going to be physically larger team. Thunder & Lightning also got an amazing pop. Nationals tried to jump the champs but it didn’t work so well. They got the meeting of the minds treatment. Ganz ended up as the babyface in peril. Nice stuff. The champs are ridiculously over, and two uppity black kids doing flashy moves is a easy heat in Cedartown. The hot tag sequence was well done by Ganz. Lightning entered with a double missile dropkick. Lightning hit sliced bread #2 on Trey for a near fall. The champs tried to set up their finisher, but Jon upended Ganz. Nationals hit the Marion Barry on Lightning, and a last split-second save by Ganz popped the crowd. Nationals hit a double team on Ganz. Both of the champions were down, but Nationals made THE BIG MISTAKE and took time to admire their work. Ganz kicked out Jon’s pin. Finish was pretty spectacular. Lightning hit a ropes-mounted double knee gutbuster on Trey. Ganz followed with a top rope double stomp with Trey still lying across Lightning’s knees. There was a major problem here. Trey should have sold that finish like he was dead, but not this dude. He was up running his mouth in no time.
(4) ODB defeated a dress wearing Alexander the Great (with Jackie Rosedale) in 9:20 - Alexander’s cross dressing streak must continue. Fans were tickled by Alexander wearing the dress. Alexander claimed that he retired DDP and Ron Simmons, and Simmons was making him wear the dress to embarrass him, but the embarrassment would be over tonight. “Underneath these flowers is not a woman.†He told ODB she smelled like PBR and should go back to Wisconsin and eat cheese in her trailer park. ODB smacked him across the face to get the match underway. Alexander bumped for ODB’s impact moves. Rosedale ran distraction allowing Alexander to get the upper hand. Rosedale was unusually active with the interference. That set up the big spot where ODB forced a meeting of the lips between Rosedale and Alexander. OCB did the Bronco Buster. Alexander tried to take the dress off, but ODB would have none of that. ODB took a seat on the top turnbuckle to guzzle from her flask. She first spit in Rosedale’s face, then in Alexander’s, and then gave Alexander the 10 shots to turnbuckle between her legs. ODB came off the ropes with a Thesz Press for the pin. Crowd loved the finish.
(5) Chris Harris beat Raven to retain the Purks ICW Heavyweight Title in 8:49. About as expected, meaning it wasn’t much of a title match. Harris has looked rusty in his Purks matches, nothing close to his prime TNA form, and Raven wasn’t the guys to push him, particularly with the TNA PPV 24 hours away. Still, Raven is too smart to have dull matches. Raven has dropped weight.. His mic work was funny, as he ran down Cedartown for its lack of sophistication compared to his hometown of Atlanta. But when he teased walking out on the match, fans weren’t really feeling it. Harris got them fired up, though, stating he was fellow redneck from Kentucky. Raven threatened to knock his teeth down his throat and walked away again. The ref had to start a 10 count. The memorable thing was the stuff between Raven and the ref. Sorry I didn’t get his name because he was good in the role. He demonstrated Raven's hair pull by pulling Raven’s hair. Things escalated. They locked up and the ref gave Raven a body slam for a big pop. Harris shot Raven into a pair of ringposts. I was hoping for all four. Raven went to one of favorites, a donkey kick to the nuts. They brawled up the aisle. Raven wanted to use a chair but the ref kept stopping him. Finally, Raven managed to wedge a chair between the turnbuckles. Harris reversed a whip sending Raven into the chair. Harris made his comeback. Raven hit the Evenflo DDT, but at the count of two, Harris reversed him with a crucifix.
NOTES: The return date falls on 9/11. No matches were announced. Check with the Purk’s webpage for periodic updates…Terry Lawler gave up his spot with Purks due to money issues. Lawler expressed disappointment that his reign as the NWA Wildside Hardcore Champion isn’t acknowledged in the NWA record book…Exotic Ones and Shaun Banks have a schedule conflict with the RPW television taping whenever Purks runs first Saturday, although word has it that there is an additional issue with Purks not booking Banks….Former NWA Anarchy wrestler Jay Clinton was pressed into service as the ring announcer and worked from behind the curtain…Former TNA star David Young and Adams Jacobs were fired after a conflict with promoter and building owner Byron Slaughter related to guest passes…No problem for heel stars to do autographs at Purks. Raven and ODB were seated side-by-side at the gimmick table before the show and after the first intermission….Saturday night’s show was broadcast on 1340AM in Cedartown.  Â
