I can vividly remember the early days of TNA. In 2002, shows ran out of the Municipal Auditorium in downtown Nashville before they eventually set up shop at the fabled Nashville Fairgrounds. Shows centered around acts like Jeff Jarrett, Scott Hall, and Ken Shamrock. At first, it seemed like a lot of the other independent shows in town, centered around the older guys. On any given Friday or Saturday night, you’d see a former WWE star on a card somewhere in town (shout out to Stadium Inn downtown). Indy wrestling was family friendly for the most part, and about as far from today’s style as it could get – big heroes, foreign menaces, mischievous villains, and plenty of “U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!”
It was something to do for wrestling fans in town. But, still nothing like what was brewing in the Northeast at the time (that would be Ring of Honor, folks). Then, something funny happened. Names like A.J. Styles, Christopher Daniels, Samoa Joe, and Chris Sabin started popping up in my social circle. Before you knew it, these guys were all Nashville wrestling fans wanted to talk about. It was refreshing, different, and athletically impressive. Being a naive 16-year-old at the time, I thought, “these TNA boys are really about to give WWE a run for its money!”
That’s the last time I can remember a Nashville-based promotion continually putting on the quality of wrestling I saw on August 6th at Southern Underground Pro’s Maximum Over…dive. Of course, I don’t mean to put that kind of pressure on these guys, like, “no big deal, Curt Stallion…just need you to replicate what A.J. Styles did in this town before he became a household name.” But, it’s a mere illustration of how rare it is to see this style of wrestling in the Music City. For whatever reason, it’s never really been our thing. Even when the WWE comes to town, the crowd usually cheers the faces and boos the heels (though I will say I was surprised at the amount of vitriol directed at Roman Reigns the last time Raw was here). We’re a traditional wrestling market, if you will.
But, now that the city’s booming into this mecca of entertainment, it’s only fitting for a promotion like S.U.P. to find footing here. For fucks sake, we already have every other kind of live entertainment you can think of – music, hockey, football, soccer, theatre – why not a damn good indy promotion?
Maximum Over…dive was the first S.U.P. show I’ve been able to make it out to, but it was incredible. From the moment Sage Phillips defeated Matt Knicks to Stallion drinking beer in the ring with the Bonestorm Championship, it delivered in every way a pro wrestling show should strive to.
The A.I.W. showcase scramble match was a beautifully controlled frenzy. It was my first look at A.J. Grey, and I walked away a fan. I loved the tenacity and physical nature of Wildman Kongo. He thrived on an 18 and older show, where he could talk some mean shit not fit for family audiences. Again, I walked away a fan.
It was a pretty bad night for Kevin Ku, who lost the #1 contenders match to Dominic Garrini. Afterwards, he took a tombstone onto a chair from Brett Ison. Then, Angelus Layne got in the ring and gave him a reverse gutwrench suplex. Yeah, probably less than ideal for Ku, but it was a classic wrestling angle that the crowd was hot for.
Gary Jay’s phenomenal weekend continued. After a strong showing at SCI, he put on a hell of a match opposite Stevie Fierce for the Freelance Wrestling World Title. This weekend was also my first live look at The Carnies, who commanded Basement East as if they were…well…ringleaders.
Fuck, that was a bad joke.
Anyway, the four-way tag team elimination match was a shining example of what such a match should look like. S4, Tough Guy Inc. and the eventual winners, Roscoe Eat Viking, wrestled a long hard match. The crowd was on fire. It’s a good thing intermission came right after the bout, as I’m sure many a bystander needed a cigarette after that one.
But, it was the main event that really drove the entire presentation home. Stallion and Joey Janela put on a 45-minute classic for the Bonestorm Championship.
We really grew as people when Janela took to the stage before the match and confessed to the masses that he had always wanted to be a country western star. It was moving to watch such a deep revelation, and he lived out his dream before our very eyes. His original tune, “Curt Stallion has a tiny ass dick” was a stirring emotional rollercoaster. He will undoubtedly be selling out the Ryman before we know it. At the very least, those at the show are calling Janela the songbird of his generation.
But then, the bell rang, and what followed was an intense, physical masterpiece. The action spilled out into the crowd, and to the bar where the two paused for necessary mid-match shots. They spent approximately five hours in an excruciating Figure Four leglock-athon. Of course, there were slams and suplexes that riled the crowd up. At some point, I think someone must have launched a potato out of a cannon that hit Stallion in the back. That’s the only way that the massive bruise on his back could have surfaced that I can think of.
It was nasty. All the while, the crowd was dragged along, willing or not, for this wild ass ride. But, it was undoubtedly the best wrestling match I saw all weekend – and I watched a fuck ton of wrestling this weekend. It’s hard to pinpoint exactly who is the weekend’s MVP, but Janela and Stallion have to be 1A and 1B. I’ll let you guys sort it out. My point is that I finally see why these guys are so over on the indy wrestling scene.
I’ve never been so ecstatic to stand in a sweaty, hot ass bar, watching grown men throw each other around. To continue with the theme of the night, I walked away a fan – completely sold on this product. After reading the hype that came out of the first two S.U.P. shows, I couldn’t miss this one. But, I saw firsthand just what that hype is all about.
Indeed, it appears as though the best is yet to come with this blossoming promotion. But, for wrestling fans in Nashville, it’s still a damn good time to jump on board.
Check out my full recap of the SoBros trip to Chattanooga here, and look for my review of the 2017 Scenic City Invitational dropping in the morning.
Photo credit to @Aaronisntedge on Twitter.
Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network. A strong advocate of GSD (get shit done) and #BeBetter, he’s down to talk Tennessee Titans and Alabama Crimson Tide football over a beer any day. Check him out covering the WWE for WrestlingNews.co. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley, @WrestlingNewsCo
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