The third annual Scenic City Invitational took place in Chattanooga, Tennessee over the weekend. Fans traveled from all over the world to get a glimpse of some of the finest local talent and national stars on the independent wrestling circuit today. It was two days of nonstop action, three days of hanging with our fellow good brothers, but it felt like we were away from home for years. That Best Western is like a Southern version of Hotel California – you can check out, but do you really ever leave? At one point, I told Poppa Bear we must have slipped into a Bermuda Triangle-esque geographical anomaly where time and space don’t exist. Only whiskey and wrestling. My liver undoubtedly looks like Curt Stallion’s back after the Southern Underground Pro show Sunday night…
But, hey – what happens at SCI stays at SCI, amirite?!?! We made a ton of new friends and saw what’s been called “the Wrestlemania of the South.” Even with all of the hype leading into the event, it pretty well lived up to its reputation.
First of all, let’s address the elephant in the room…I’m about to rattle off my top five matches of the tournament. You’ll notice one glaring absence: Matt Riddle vs. Gunner Miller. So, your boys were in pretty rough shape on Saturday. Since we arrived a little too early on Friday, we decided (more like….we were basically asleep) to show up fashionably late. We were hurtin’ folks, but I didn’t think we’d miss Miller-Riddle. Surely not!
So, we walk in at 7:20, and lo and behold, Riddle and Miller are in the ring wrestling. We caught the last few minutes, and it was absolutely artistic. But, that said, I don’t feel comfortable as a real wrestling journalist putting a match I didn’t completely see in the top five. I’m sorry to those of you we’ve disappointed here, but we were really really really tired. And a little…okay, we were drunk.
The Top 5 Matches of SCI 2017
5. Curt Stallion def. Arik Royal – Stallion had a stellar three match performance, but it was his second round match with Royal that caught me off guard. Royal was one of the few guys in the field I went into the show completely blind on. And, man – the big boy delivered. Night 2 was loaded with quality matches, but this one sneaks into the top five in my book….or blog, as it were.
4. Anthony Henry def. Gary Jay – With all the focus on names like Riddle, Joey Janela, Darby Allin, and of course, Tank’s farewell tour, these guys stepped up on Night 1 and stole the show. It was stiff, and I’m surprised these guys don’t owe that gym a few guardrails. It’s a wonder nobody has any broken ribs after this contest. Actually, now that I think about it…I don’t know for sure they don’t have broken ribs. Damn.
3. Matt Riddle def. Anthony Henry, Joey Lynch, and Curt Stallion – The SCI Finals made for a thrilling main event on Night 2, and capped the festivities off in perfect fashion. That said, multi-man matches can create some unnecessary chaos. For instance, why would anyone break up a pin fall in an elimination match? That’s the only reason I’m docking points here. But, that said, each of these guys showed exactly why they belonged in the main event. The showdown between Riddle and Stallion was awesome, Henry continued his enthralling tournament performance, and I could watch Joey Lynch moonsaults all day long. The show concluding with Tank handing Riddle the trophy was a nice touch as well.
2. Joey Janela vs. Darby Allin – This was my first look at both of these guys live, and I immediately saw “it” from the moment they walked through the curtain. This match was insane, with both guys turning up the punishment on one another. When Allin dove off the bleachers, I thought the roof was about to come off the gym. Then, Janela gets slammed onto the chairs and I thought he was dead. Brutal.
1. Joey Lynch vs. Jason Kincaid – Granted, I missed the match that everyone seems to be talking about, but I don’t understand why more people aren’t talking about this one. Kincaid and Lynch put on a flawless display of athleticism. They made it look easy, and when you make it look easy, that’s the mark of a classic performance. Hats off to both of these guys – that match was one all four of the SoBros agreed upon as a show-stealer.
Tank’s retirement was another highlight of the tournament. It was simply the icing on the cake of a great first night of the weekend. It was awesome to see so many people applaud a man who’s wrestled for so long that he’s obviously left a mark on their lives. I know it was about much more than this one show, but it was a moving moment on Night 1 of the tournament. The crowd showering “The Strong Style Psycho” with chants of “thank you, Tank” was a great sight to behold.
With the matches ranked, let’s hand out some more superlatives.
The SoBros Network 2017 SCI Honors
MVP: Realistically, I think you can consider three or four guys in this spot, but I’m going with Anthony Henry. The dude was showin’ out all weekend with excellent matches against Gary Jay, Darby Allin, and a tremendous showing in the main event. Joey Lynch gets honorable mention here, if for nothing else, his beautiful moonsault. But, his Friday and Saturday nights were much more than just one move. He really won all four of us over with a riveting underdog performance in the main event. If we’re looking at the weekend as a whole, you talk about Janela and Stallion, but we’re not. We’re looking strictly at SCI here.
First look: Like I said earlier, SCI was my first look at Arik Royal altogether, but I left the event impressed with the guy. I also hadn’t seen The Carnies outside of a few clips/gifs on the Interwebs. These dudes are as charismatic as they come, with a seemingly innate ability to get the crowd hot as hell. Plus, they’re willing to jump off of just about anything. Great act, and now I get why they’re so beloved. To be honest, I thought the street fight was a bit of a clusterfuck, but hey – the crowd loved it so what do I know? I caught The Carnies at Sunday night’s Southern Underground Pro show, and they were just as over and delivered an excellent performance.
A for Effort: Of the first round guys who were eliminated, Jason Cade caught my eye the most. He was oozing charisma, played off the crowd, and put on a great match with Stallion as his dance partner.
Presence: If you don’t see that Gunner Miller has superstar written all over him, then you are blind. He really is the total package – just waiting for him to show up at Mall of America on WCW Nitro in a pirate shirt….Curt Stallion is another guy that just has a moxie that few can match.
Underrated: I didn’t really hear much buzz surrounding Jason Kincaid all weekend, but I thought he was one of the five best wrestlers of the whole tournament. He had two really good, fluid matches, including what I considered the ‘Match of the Tournament.’ Did I miss something? Give the guy his due.
Also, I don’t know where else to put this, so I’m just going to dump it here: Dominic Garrini is pretty damn good, too.
Check out my full recap on our trip to Chattanooga here, and my thoughts on Sunday’s Southern Underground Pro show in Nashville here.
What did the rest of the SoBros think?
Poppa Bear: The MVP was definitely Henry, who had three solid matches and was really impressive overall. Honorable mentions go to Joey Lynch and Kincaid. Match of the Tournament honors: 4-way elimination finals, Janela-Darby, Lynch-Kincaid, Carnies-Hierarchy.
“Nature Boy” Brandon Vick: Matt Riddle and Gunner Miller must’ve been fantastic. I only got to see the last few moments, but it was clear the crowd was hot from the start. And kudos to Joey Lynch, he stole the spotlight in the 4-way elimination main event. I thought he might actually win the damn thing!
Cadbury Pringlebatch: I honestly didn’t know what to expect heading into this event. The extent of my professional wrestling experience is limited to the Gladeville Community Center. So once the show got started and these guys began slamming each other hard, like really fucking hard, I was pumped. I was very impressed with the layout of the matches, perfect length of time for the event, and the overall performance of the contestants. Outside of the actual show, the party that surrounded the weekend was an amazing time. Sure, my body is a mess from eating multiple meals at the City Café Diner along with drinking 12 beers and half a bottle of whiskey (all in the same night), but it was worth it getting to know the guys & gals involved in this community. I truly can’t wait for the next event…as long as my body (and toilet) have enough time to recover from this weekend first.
Photo credit to @EditPhotoGamer
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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