Forgive me for being a day late and a dollar short with my Night Two review of the 2018 Scenic City Invitational. If you spent any amount of time at the Best Western Heritage Inn this weekend, then you understand full and well why I’ve been dragging ass for about 48 hours straight now, despite logging almost 12 hours of sleep last night.
As a side note, we had to miss the SCI Futures Showcase, unfortunately. Looked like a ton of fun, but we were working on some content, got caught up in what we were doing, and by the time we would’ve made it to the show, the show would’ve been over.
Fresh edition of #Cadburyconcessions: @SCITournament food options are on point! pic.twitter.com/5nkaZns4JW
— Cad P. (@SoBroCadbury) August 5, 2018
Night One was a solid night of action, and one of the best booked/timed shows I’ve been to in a while. So, we all went into the Soddy-Daisy High School on Saturday night a bit tired and interested to see how they’d ramp it up from Friday to Saturday. Seemed like a tall task, but all involved delivered. Safe to say they managed to top 2017 in every way by a wide margin.
2 Cold Scorpio vs. Darius Lockhart
In true SoBros fashion, we showed up late and completely missed this one. At least it wasn’t like 2017, when we showed up hung over as hell, just in time to see Matt Riddle beat Gunner Miller in what some people called the best match of the year. Yeah – that felt like shit.
But, I did see that Scorpio got the win, and I came away from Night One impressed with Lockhart, so all in all, I’m happy to see this match happened even if I didn’t get to actually see it.
Nick Gage vs. Corey Hollis
Nick Gage wrestling at a high school outside Chattanooga, Tennessee in 2018. I still can’t get over it. He was great, too. Hollis was the perfect opponent for him, and I cracked up after he got the win and ran away terrified afterwards. Gage got on the mic after the match to thank all the crazy motherfuckers in Tennessee. This guy is a legend.
Nick Gage is for the kids. pic.twitter.com/TJiBoo4DdP
— SoBros Network (@SoBrosNetwork) August 5, 2018
Gary Jay vs. Warhorse Jake Parnell
I understand these dudes have been battling it out all over the place, but this was the first time I got to see it, in its entirety, live and in person. I was blown away by how physical it was – just absolute brutal strikes, brutal chops, full-on grit and physicality. One of my favorite matches of the weekend, with Jay getting a bit of a surprising win.
A.J. Gray vs. Fred Yehi
Man, Yehi is something else. This was a fun one to watch. I thought for a second that Gray was going to make it to the finals because these two did such a fine job with pacing. No one dude dominated for any lengthy period of time, and it made it more unpredictable as the match went on. Ultimately, Yehi got the win.
Joey Lynch vs. PCO
It was the match of the weekend in my book. PCO may be the hottest name in independent wrestling right now, and it’s obvious that the fire is still there. Dude hasn’t cooled off one bit all year. These guys started on the outside with some nasty bumps involving the gym floor and steel chairs. Both of ’em were throwing their bodies all over the place.
YOU GUYS #SCI2018 pic.twitter.com/CtFpShmG2N
— DoubleNogginKnocker (@SoBroMose) August 5, 2018
I don’t know if we ever got an official count, but it took somewhere between 7-10 moonsaults for Lynch to put away PCO. It was ridiculous, and the crowd popped harder and harder for each moonsault. Great moment.
Scenic City Scramble
Maybe the most fun match of the weekend? I’m not sure. Happy to see Marko Stunt getting some love – definitely think he was one of the big winners of the entire weekend. A.C. Mack was tremendous in this match. Feels like Cyrus The Destroyer was being a bit underrated this weekend, but he had a great showing both nights. And, of course, we have to mention Ike Cross who
This was one of the matches worth going out of your way to watch from this weekend. Loved Tank coming out at the end to silence that annoying ass mouth of Mack’s. All around good fun.
The Carnies vs. Cain Justice & Mance Warner
Just wasn’t feeling this one, guys. Not sure if it was the timing or placement of the match, but I was ready for the main event at this point. On top of that, it just felt a little clunky and messy at times. The Carnies get the win and everyone’s happy. You can’t complain about seeing the Tennessee flag draped over Kerry Awful. But, otherwise, this one was pretty forgettable.
2018 SCI Finals – Hollis vs. Jay vs. Lynch vs. Yehi
As you’d expect, this one delivered. The big surprise for me was Lynch getting the pinfall over all three of these guys en route to victory. But, all in all, this was everything you’d want in a professional wrestling contest – some high flying action, stiff strikes, submissions, showmanship. It was a main event that checked all the boxes and nailed it.
Thoughts
My personal top four matches of the night were:
4. The 2018 SCI Finals
3. Gary Jay vs. Warhorse Jake Parnell
2. The Scenic City Scramble
1. Joey Lynch vs. PCO
My top five of the entire event:
5. Darius Lockhart vs. Warhorse Jake Parnell
4. Gary Jay vs. Warhorse Jake Parnell
3. Joey Lynch vs. Curt Stallion
2. The Scenic City Scramble
1. Joey Lynch vs. PCO
If anyone is going to rival Lynch for the 2018 SCI MVP honors, it’s going to be Fred Yehi or Gary Jay. But, let’s face it. No one is taking that crown from Lynch this year. This was his tournament, plain and simple. Lynch was in the best match each night of the tournament. The people had to defeat to get the trophy was impressive: Curt Stallion, PCO, Yehi, Jay, and Hollis. All in all, this was his year.
I reached out to the rest of the SoBros for their thoughts on the 2018 MVP:
“The MVP has to go to Joey Lynch. He beats Curt Stallion and PCO then eliminates all three opponents in the main event. That’s some Joe Montana shit.” – Mose
“The MVP is easily Joey Lynch. Match of the night on Night One with Curt Stallion, and match of the night on Night Two with PCO when they both tried to die for our entertainment. Special shout out to Marko Stunt for being over as fuck. – Poppa Bear
2018 SCI Power Rankings
10. Kerry Awful
9. Ike Cross
8. Corey Hollis
7. Nick Gage
6. Marko Stunt
5. PCO
4. Fred Yehi
3. Warhorse Jake Parnell
2. Gary Jay
1. Joey Lynch
Overall, a great weekend of action. But, probably the best summation of the entire SCI experience came to us by way of Hollis, who laid in the ring for about 30 minutes after the show before someone eventually carried his lifeless body to the back.
Corey Hollis is everyone who’s stayed at the Best Western this weekend. pic.twitter.com/zXWsqriTy0
— SoBros Network (@SoBrosNetwork) August 5, 2018
See y’all next year.
Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD and #BeBetter. “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Alabama Crimson Tide football, the WWE, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley
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