If it felt like the Southern Underground Pro six-man tag match at IndependentWrestling.TV’s Family Reunion last Thursday was an emotional bloodletting, that’s because it was. For over a year now, events have transpired that ultimately culminated in this powder keg of a match happening.
Achy Breaky Heart (Feb. 2018)
In earnest, I’d trace the origin of this story all the way back to February of 2018. SUP ran Achy Breaky Heart out of The Basement East, and while that show in and of itself was a miracle, it also marked the beginning of a reign of terror from Brett Ison.
He defeated a man he at one time called his brother: Righteous Jesse. But, it wasn’t just the victory that spring boarded his 2018. It was the explicit violence of the match that stood out. Sure, things had gotten personal between he and Jesse, but was smashing a keyboard over Jesse’s head necessary? Don’t even get me started on the stapler…
But the kicker is that Ison got away with it. Who’s going to question The Pitbull? If only we knew then just how much he would get away with before someone finally took a stand.
That same evening, “The Bone Collector” Dominic Garrini won the Bonestorm Championship from Curt Stallion in dominant fashion. Piledriver after piledriver left referee Doug Markham with no choice but to call for the bell. Garrini could’ve pinned Stallion just as easily. Instead, he elected to punish Stallion.
That day was about establishing an identity. Guys not only staking their claim, but maiming anyone who so much as even looked at it.
It’s also worth noting that Cabana Man Dan made his debut at this show in a scramble match that showcased a plethora of new talent.
Satisfaction Is The Death Of Desire (Apr. 2018)
Two members of last week’s six man tag made their debut at this show. O’Shay Edwards had a solid showing against A.J. Gray before ultimately taking the loss. And, we saw the debut of Mr. Brickster, who took on his mentor, Kerry Awful, in his first match.
Awful defeated Brick, but what should’ve ended with a nice show of respect between student and teacher was interrupted when Ison’s music hit. He was scheduled to face Awful that afternoon, and took the liberty to hit the ring just moments after Awful had finished his first match of the evening. He laid waste to both men and made short work of Awful, improving to 2-0 on the year in SUP. It was his second of many ambushes throughout the year.
Do you think Brick has forgotten how what should’ve been a joyous occasion for him was ruined by The Pitbull?
Kevin Ku brought the PWF Tri-States Championship to SUP at this show and successfully defended it against Danhausen. Ku has always shown a willingness to do whatever it takes to win.
Garrini successfully defended the Bonestorm Championship against Stallion after another barrage of piledrivers. Again, last spring was about putting the new guard in place. Establishing who ran the yard, and Garrini, Ison, and Ku all asserted themselves atop the SUP landscape.
That would continue through June’s Streets of Hate, at which Ison defeated Nick Iggy, Ku defeated Eddy Only, and Garrini defeated Jeff Cobb.
Not Problematic (Aug. 2018)
After months of wrestling in scramble matches, Cabana Man Dan finally got his big break at August’s Not Problematic. He teamed with Marko Stunt to take on and defeat No New Friends.
Edwards had an excellent slug-fest with Awful, but came up short. Perhaps he watched what guys like Ison, Garrini, and Ku were doing at the time and figured that’s what it would take for him to take the next step in SUP. Regardless, he attacked Awful after the match and left him in a heap.
The Big Bad Kaiju then aligned himself with Ison and Stallion and committed one of the most heinous acts I’ve ever seen in a wrestling ring. The trio beat down The Carnies and Gray to the point that no man could even stand on his own. It was an act dubbed ‘the Music City Murders’ and had the Tennessee wrestling scene buzzing.
Not only was Ison still getting away with this excessive violence, but now he was recruiting scary talented guys to his cause. I asked Edwards last August why he did it, and his reply was telling:
It was a necessary evil that had to be done because I need you and everyone else in Nashville and everyone else in SUP to know who I am.
And, this worked because of the precedent that was set by guys like Ison and Garrini earlier in the year! You’re being overlooked? Well, just smash a chair over someone’s head! Piledrive theme into oblivion! Get your buddies and gang up on people! When asked why he specifically teamed up with Ison, Edwards essentially confirmed it was about making a statement:
Well, when it comes to Brett Ison, like-minded individuals tend to flock together and we both realized that if we wanted to get where we wanted to be in Nashville…in this business, well… …we would have to close the Circus and that’s what we did.
Achy Breaky Heart may have been the prelude to this story, but Not Problematic was the catalyst that led us towards our climax.
Don’t Look in the Basement East (Sep. 2018)
The Carnies and Gray were given time to heal and rest up before September’s Don’t Look in the Basement East, but it didn’t matter. Ison and Edwards teamed up to beat them in a handicap match. Together, it looked like this was going to be a dangerous force. Ison and Edwards had free rein to do as they wished.
That same night, Ku lost to Hot Sauce Tracy Williams in a match for the Independent Wrestling Championship. Garrini lost his precious Bonestorm Championship after Stunt cashed in his championship opportunity that he had earned earlier in the night by winning the Trick or Treat Battle Royal.
Ison aside, it wasn’t a good night for this regime that had run roughshod over SUP for the entirety of 2018. Perhaps that’s what inspired the birth of Sadkampf (Garrini and Ku). Maybe that’s what led to their beat down of Stunt before his tag partner, Cabana Man Dan, came to his aid. Regardless, it wouldn’t be long before they would reassert themselves atop the SUP landscape.
All Eyez On Me (Nov. 2018)
November’s All Eyez On Me proved to be an eventful evening for the characters in our story.
Sadkampf kicked off SUP’s Tag Team Championship Tournament with an impressive win over The Carnies. Cabana Man Dan got his first one on one win in SUP when he defeated Zach Thomas. Edwards earned an impressive victory over Gary Jay. And, Mr. Brickster teamed up with Allie Kat to finally remove the Teddy King thorn from his side.
Ison went into this show with a record of 5-0. Despite his questionable tactics and unethical practices, he was granted a shot at Stunt’s Bonestorm Championship. It was a shot he took advantage of, putting down Stunt with Street Justice and claiming the Bonestorm Championship.
It worked.
All of the violence, the bullying, the posturing – it worked. Ison was rewarded for his behavior because no one could stop him. It worked for Garrini and Ku, too – they became the preemptive favorites to win SUP’s Tag Team Championship tournament.
But, after Ison won the Bonestorm Championship, Edwards came down to celebrate the victory with him. He had been rolling with Ison for a long time at this point, and they had practically become brothers. Ison had achieved his goal, though.
When you’re on the mountaintop, you’re up there alone. Ison took the opportunity to get ahead of Edwards as a potential challenger to the throne and dropped him with the Iron Elbow….twice….leaving Edwards in a heap in the ring…effectively ending whatever friendship they had.
Our own John Mosley caught up with Ison back in February and got his thoughts on the matter:
This is the moment that we’ll look back on as “things boiled over” but it really wasn’t. Brett simply had an opportunity to pounce. “Everyone has asked why? I mean, you can see and hear people losing their minds,” Brett says with a smile. He adds “I’m gonna continue to play chess while O’Shay is playing checkers.”
With one elbow, Brett dropped O’Shay, ending whatever friendly competition the two had and putting everybody on notice. “I dropped big homie not once but twice with a touch. Not full force. Just a touch,”says Ison as he thinks back on that situation.
Ison, Garrini, and Ku used November as an opportunity to remind us all of who runs the yard.
I AM KING (Jan. 2019)
The chaos of 2018 subsided briefly for the holidays. But, once the calendar flipped, it was time for I AM KING. Edwards had hardly forgotten about the events of November, but had to focus on Dr. Daniel C. Rockingham….who he demolished at the show.
With Stunt sidelined, Cabana Man Dan had to find a new partner or forfeit his spot in the SUP Tag Team Championship tournament. He teamed with Mance Warner to defeat The Production. Nearly a year into his SUP tenure, and Dan’s star was starting to burn brightly. Similarly, Mr. Brickster got a high profile win over Stokely Hathaway that had Twitter buzzing.
Guys, who just a year prior were breaking into the promotion, had now become some of its featured stars. More importantly, these guys had become leaders. That proved effective later in this show.
Ison defeated Nick Gage with the Bonestorm Championship on the line in the main event. It was one of the greatest matches in SUP history, and proved to be an outright war.
But, guess who was there after the match….Edwards. Seeing an opportunity to get revenge on Ison, he hit the ring and came face to face with The Pitbull. The confrontation was short-lived as Sadkampf came out to attack him.
#IAMKING Main Event Post Match. @IRONELBOW88 @AllDamnDayOShay @dgarrinibc @kevinxku @cabanamandan @Mrbricksterr pic.twitter.com/b4m7lD2gsk
— Wrestling Cheers (@WrestlingCheers) January 21, 2019
It goes back to Edwards being a threat. For nearly a year, Ison, Garrini, and Ku held the status quo. Now, here’s a guy coming along who is poised to disrupt that. They couldn’t have it. So, they had to take every chance they could to get rid of him.
But, here’s where all of our stories intersect.
Just when it looked like Ison and Sadkampf were going to be successful in eliminating Edwards, Cabana Man Dan and Mr. Brickster ran out to make the save. They took a similar stand against the standard of backhanded violence that had reigned supreme for the past year. Enough was enough – they now had the confidence to assert themselves against Ison, Garrini, and Ku. Then, it was on – a melee ensued before SUP officials broke it up.
Give the SUP braintrust credit – they saw this whole thing playing out. They saw that this wasn’t going to go away. So, they made the match for IWTV’s Family Reunion official – the very six-man tag team match we saw a week ago.
It was a stand. Finally, a year of all of the cheap shots and beat downs, three men came together to put their collective foot down. They spent a year honing their craft, getting better, and putting themselves in position to be the ones to stop this madness.
What Could Possibly Go Right? (Mar. 2018)
Cabana Man Dan had the opportunity to get a measure of revenge of his own in taking on “The Bone Collector” one on one. It was his biggest test in SUP to date, and while he came up short, he proved that he was ready for the grand stage of WrestleMania week. Maybe he didn’t defeat the former Bonestorm Champion, but he sure as hell proved he belonged in that spot.
The SUP Championship Committee had quite the decision on its hands, though. Ultimately, I think they made the right call in finally putting Ison and Edwards one on one for the Bonestorm Championship. They knew that if they didn’t just go ahead and get it out of the way, these two would just keep attacking each other.
If you don’t regulate it to the confines of the ring, then what happens? Are you liable for these two fighting in the locker room? What if they take it out to the streets? You have to consider the safety of all involved and this was the easiest way to try and douse the fire of this rivalry. It’s wrestling – you settle things in the ring.
But, that main event didn’t go as anticipated. Three referees went down during Edwards and Ison’s match. Righteous Jesse had to get involved by virtue of being the last SUP official standing. Ison got a two count that he didn’t like, and decided to take it out on Jesse, delivering a nasty Street Justice that put him on the shelf for weeks.
In all the chaos, Sadkampf, Mr. Brickster, and Cabana Man Dan came down to fight again. For the second show in a row, things ended in a frenzy.
It became apparent that afternoon that this whole ongoing rivalry was only ever going to be settled in a frenetic brawl.
IWTV’s Family Reunion (Apr. 2018)
Like I said, if this match felt like a fast-paced blow off, that’s because it was. This thing was the culmination of a boundless series of events, and these two teams just wanted to beat each other up.
For the past year plus, Sadkampf and Ison have been “the guys,” and they’ve acted however they’ve seen fit because, so far, no one’s been able to stand up to them and stop them.
A year goes by and now guys liked Edwards, Dan, and Brick, who were all newcomers when this popped off are now mainstays. They take pride in what happenes in that SUP ring, and they aren’t going to roll over and lay down for anyone.
They were fed up with Ison’s violence and Sadkampf’s sneak attacks. Edwards, specifically, wanted revenge for Ison turning his back on him. It was highly emotional on several fronts – the story of a kingdom slipping and a new generation’s uprising.
Welcome to Jersey and the #TheCollective @sup_graps killed it! pic.twitter.com/vNAVRxI8KH
— Indy Road Warrior (@ecdubfan4life) April 4, 2019
I have to commend the refs for letting a lot of stuff go, too. If you don’t give the guys a chance to settle it all in the ring, you get a situation you quickly lose control of. See the endings of the January and March SUP shows for example.
In a way, it felt poetic that Dan got the pin fall that secured the victory. I’m sure these guys will cross paths in the future in different capacities. But for now, we’re left with the lasting impression of an epic journey and feverish climax.
Long live Southern Underground Pro.
Image credit: @psamp on Twitter.
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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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