Photo courtesy of Corey Tatum From Larry Goodman: Scenic City Invitational presented their first trios tournament in Chatta...
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| Photo courtesy of Corey Tatum |
From Larry Goodman:
Scenic City Invitational presented their first trios tournament in Chattanooga at Hixson High School with attendance of 280.
Trios was the brainchild of Scenic City’s Scott Hensley and Dylan Hales.
The event was an artistic and financial success. Over $3000 was raised for Hixson High School. Without exception, the tournament matches were entertaining, action-packed affairs. Ironically, the lone singles match on the card may have outshined them all.
Attendees came from eleven different states. The avid SCI fans populating the ringside sections were vocal throughout the evening. The local fans in the bleachers not so much.
Opening round:
(1) Nightmare Mob (Joey Lynch & Matt Lynch & Kyle Matthews defeated Rat Pack (Timmy Lou Retton & White Mike & Mallaki Matthews) in 9:02. Both teams were over. Crowd was on their feet and chanting for Nightmare Mob. Dissension within the Rat Pack early in the match but they got their shit together and put heat on Kyle. The crowd popped for Retton’s cartwheel moves and Mike’s giant swing DDT. Finish was a frogsplash/moonsault combo by Matt and Joey respectively with Joey pinning Retton.
(2) Case of Ducklings (Ethan Case & Lance Lude & Rob Killjoy with Coach Mikey) defeated Southern Motors (Cuzin Cletus & Cuzin Shaggy & Torque) in 11:34. They brought the comedy. Much to Ducklings’ horror, Cletus dumped a bag of rubber ducks on the mat eliciting a “family show” chant from the crowd. The teams jockeyed for position until Ducklings gave Motors a triple suplex into the ducks with the help of Coach Mikey. The quacks from the crowd escalated. Case hit his release vertical suplex. Killjoy launched Lude onto Cletus with a monkey flip. Finish was a triple team pop up forearm by Case followed by top rope double knee/electric chair by the Ducklings with Killjoy pinning Torque. Ducklings’ offense looked sharp especially Lude.
(3) Glory Pro (Myron Reed & Curt Stallion & Gary Jay) defeated Southern Underground Pro (AJ Gray & Kevin Ku & Jaden Newman) in 10:08. Crowd liked both team with the edge going to Glory Pro. They took target practice on Ku to open the match. Southern Underground destroyed Jay. Glory Pro absolutely decimated Newman. Reed did an amazing flip dive over the turnbuckles. Newman took a release superplex fron Stallion that was nuts on the danger scale. Reed then pinned Newman with a swanton bomb. Good match. I was looking forward to seeing Reed live for the first time and he did not disappoint. Southern Underground earned the crowd’s respect with their performance. Newman took a brutal beating.
(4) Carnies (Kerry Awful & Nick Iggy & Tripp Cassidy) defeated Viking War Party (Frank Wyatt & Jake Parnell & Alex Rudolph with Kyle McNeil) in 16:18. McNeil introduced Vikings with we don’t die, we just multiply. Vikings brought the Moondogs’ frenetic badassery. 666 chant for Carnies, who have gotten over with the local fans via past SCI appearances. Match started as an all over the arena brawl involving anything that wasn’t nailed down. Awful got buried under a mangled gimmick table. Rudolph and Parnell did flying moves off the stage. In the wake of the carnage, they set up six chairs in the ring and went around the circle blasting each other. It felt so contrived and squandered all the momentum. The lowlight was Cassidy putting his gum in Rudolph’s mouth. Carnies killed Parnell with a forced flip piledriver. Cassidy threw a fireball at Wyatt. Awful pinned Rudolph with a super Thesz press through a bridged chair. Great brawl if only it had been sequenced differently.
Semifinals:
(5) Nightmare Mob defeated Case of Ducklings in 10:53. Crowd was quieter coming out of the intermission. Killjoy and Kyle did the first and only grappling segment of the evening. Ducklings have great synch on their combo moves. They isolated Joey and went for the launch monkey flip but Joey caught Lude and powerbombed him. Duckling came back to hit the move on Kyle and Matt. Case got a near fall with the release vertical suplex. Lynchs killed Case with a spike J driller. Handwriting was on the wall after Kyle kicked out of the Duckling’s signature finishing move. A slurpee kick (Kyle), frogsplash (Matt) and moonsualt (Joey) spelled doom for Killjoy. Nice change of pace. No shortage of action but the closest thing to a traditional wrestling match in the tournament.
Postmatch – display of mutual respect between the teams.
(6) Glory Pro defeated Carnies in around 10 minutes (no opening bell). Carnies attacked Glory Pro in aisle. Another all over the arena brawl ensued. Jay gave Tripp a sick suplex on the bleachers. Reed did a flip dive off the stage. They were beating hell out of each other. A sequence of psychotic spots on the ring frame followed – Cassidy with a tombstone piledriver on Reed, Jay and Awful did something insane, Iggy gave Stallion a full nelson slam. Jay ran wild with tope suicidas on each of the Carnies. Jay kicked out at one after taking a triple team combo from Carnies. Reed was toast after a piledriver off the ropes, shining wizard and forced flip piledriver. As Cassidy went to cover Reed, Jay came out of nowhere with crucifix pin. Match was quite the spotfest. I loved the finish. Crowd was caught completely by surprise. Awful suffered an ankle injury during the match. It was swollen up pretty badly but he was able to walk on it.
(7) Gunner Miller defeated Cyrus the Destroyer (with Logan Chase III) to retain the Anarchy Triple Crown Championship in 8:35. Hixson High School Coach Gary Murray was the special enforcer. Chase said Jeff G. Bailey decided to bail. Miller might have an enforcer but he wasn’t leaving alive. Big babyface pop for Miller. Cyrus dumped Miller over the ropes during the intros. Referee Jonathan Chastain called for the bell with both men outside the ring. Match was one devastating high-impact spot after another. Miller gave Cyrus and overhead belly to belly on the floor. Cyrus tossed Miller into the post powerbomb style and hit a 350 pound slingshot senton. Miller back with a spinebuster slam. Cyrus with a sick kick and one-armed cover. Dueling chants here. Miller evaded a diving headbutt and speared Cyrus out of his boots. Cyrus kicked out. Miller tried to come off of the ropes. Cyrus made the catch and turned it into a fallaway slam. A Vader bomb by Cyrus left both men down selling the effects. Cyrus went back for seconds and Miller powerbombed him. Chase pulled the ref out to prevent the three count. Chase tried to hit Miller with his tennis racket. Coach Murray took the racket and gave Chase a great looking stunner for the pop of the night. Miller then pinned Cyrus with an amazing Jackhammer. Coach Murray slapped the ref’s hand on the mat for the 1-2-3. My favorite match of the night.
It’s downright scary how much better Miller has gotten over the last 12 months – the ring presence, the timing and crispness of his moves, selling for dramatic effect -- he’s putting it all together. Somebody is going to sign this guy. Cyrus is one of best big men in the state and Miller’s best opponent.
(8) Glory Pro defeated Nightmare Mob to win the tournament in 5:17. A sprint to the finish line. Joey capped off a dive sequence with a moonsault to the outside. Reed gave Joey a release back suplex on the ring frame. Stallion laid Matt out with a uranage on the apron. I can’t recall a show with as many dangerous ring apron spots. Reed pulled out a spectacular springboard European uppercut on Joey, and so on until all six men were down. Mob hit their finishing sequence on Reed but he somehow kicked out. Dueling chants from the crowd. Mob hit their finisher on Jay, who rolled out of the ring. Stallion blasted Joey with a sliding headbutt to score the pinfall.
Postmatch – mutual respect and an “SCI” chant from the crowd.
Tank made the trophy presentation.
