We had ourselves a damn solid wrestling weekend in Tennessee peeps. There were shows all over the state that had my attention, but only two got me in the building. On Saturday, I made my way down to TWE in Chattanooga, then Sunday headed to Knoxville for NGW that had a legit MOTY contender. Let’s get into some of the matches of the weekend y’all!
TWE: Six Years Strong
No DQ: Brett Ison vs. Uncle Byff- This opened the show which, to say the least, set the bar pretty high moving forward. Brett was throwing out chops left and right, which Byff was more than happy to take and give right back to The Pitbull. Pretty early on, Byff’s Bastards (think Raven’s Flock but on weed and possibly acid) appeared and attacked Brett. On two separated occasions, the bastards/Byff stacked on top of Brett looking for the pin but Ison surged out of both like the total BAMF he is. Hell, those evil mother fuckers gave Brett a four-post massacre. Still, the Pitbull kept ticking. After clearing out the bastards, Brett caught Byff on the top and hit a disgusting rope-assisted Street Justice for the win. He’s a goddamn terminator. Hell of an opener here.
TWE Tag Team Championship: Smoking Budz vs. Youngbloodz- Another damn good match featuring The Budz. Solid back and forth at times with both teams taking control and really letting the other have it. Was really hoping that Cody would hit Big O with a Destroyer but that may have been a pipe dream. After a hottt sequence with all four dudes hitting some nasty offense, the Bloodz get the upper hand and the win. Congrats to The Youngbloodz on winning a gut check of a match. Shout out to The Budz for continuing the summer of bangers.
Lutha X vs. Slade Porter- On a show with some real fights, this felt right on brand. The crowd was eating up Lutha being Lutha which I’m all for. The two had a prodding, slow burn of a build at times which really had the crowd wanting them to kill one another. At one point, Lutha was just slinging taters and one of the guys around me said “Damn, he’s really hitting him!” Slade’s not gonna back down though, as he gave it all right back with gumption. The two fight to the outside leading to a double count out. Yeah, that didn’t really stop them from fighting until security was able to get the two a part. Something tells me this is faaaar from over.
Street Fight: Jaden Newman vs. ‘King’ Bailey Blake- This match is worth checking out for the got damn blunder alone. We all know these two can go in a straight up wrestling match but seeing ‘Jean’ Jaden bust out tacks and what not had me all fired up. Yes, they each went through a door (Jaden’s spear that put Bailey through one was soooooo vicious) but they also gave us a wiffle bat lightsaber stand off. I died but was brought back when Jaden ducked out to the back then brought out a metal bucket. I jokingly said ‘Baptize him in blood Jaden” – little did I know that was already on the docket. Newman hits a piledriver to Bailey on the bucket which just gashes Blake open. Anytime you’ve got the two hand cup over the cut you know we’ve got some blood. Things were far from over as Bailey ate tacks to the back and nearly was dropped onto a shit ton of chairs. Blake fights out then does the dropping with a DVD variation that felt more like an FU. In name and motivation. ‘King’ Bailey picks up the huge win. Seek this one out when it hits streaming, my friends.
NGW: Uncivil War 5
Before I dive into the main card, I want to give a big time shout out to The Lost Boys. Chase Holliday, Adam Slade and “The Natty Fucking Daddy” Bradley Prescott IV. These dudes came into the pre-show like it was the main event and the NGW crowd really took to them. The dudes had a lot of fun in their match which translates sooooo well to the final product. Stop sleeping on these dudes, y’all!
Matt Cross vs. Shane Andrews- We were well gutted when Josh Prohibiton had to sit this show out. Nothing but positive vibes out his way as we’re itching to have Cross/Prohibiton whether it’s in singles or tag team action. All that said, this was a damn hot opener. I’ve only seen Shane live a couple of times, but both matches were smooth and packed a lot of punch. Obviously, it doesn’t hurt when you’ve got a guy the caliber of Cross on the other side of the ring. Matt is one of those guys that should have already been offered a contract but for whatever reason he’s still out here globetrotting. Seriously, if you don’t already follow that man on insta/twitter and just try and keep up with his schedule. Great back and forth with both guys hitting some devastating awesome. I know I’ve already said it but here it is again: Matt Cross is the fucking guy.
The Lynch Bros vs. The Renegades of Flight vs. The Besties in the World vs. The Tate Twins- So this was scheduled as a triple threat tag match which already had all the makings of fuckery, but right before the bell, it was announced that a fourth team would be joining in which happened to be The Tate Twins. Pure insanity. All eight guys were flying around doing bullshit that had the crowd way fired up. In a match full of highlights THE highlight belongs to Facade. After sneaking up to the top level of the athletic complex, The Neon Ninja flipped off that bih. It was one of the moments that made you hold your breathe. After a hell of a sequence to finish things off, the Renegades of Flight got the win to a hot hot hot reaction from the crowd.
Backyard Brawl: AJ Gray vs. Mance Warner vs. Matthew Justice- The match of the weekend and I want everyone of y’all to know it. This was a legit violence orgy, which had the D1 Complex jumping from the opening bell. Everyone went through doors with AJ legit eating one at the hands of both his opponents. Justice hit a DVD from the second rope on Mance through a door that we all felt. Oh and the two also had a ‘door fight’ where both were swinging for the fences. Shit, at one point Justice was just throwing chairs into the ring blindly with one nailing AJ in the leg. Thankfully the man has tree trunks down there. Ol Mancer brought out the eye poke which drew a huge crowd reaction. I mean he is the Eye Poke Gawd. After everyone died in one way or another, we had a pile of plunder set up in the center of the ring leading to AJ hitting his patented ‘Chopped and Screwedriver’ on Matthew Justice for the win. All three of these guys are all out stars that tore it down from start to finish. Go a mile out of your way to see this match when it drops.
John Mosley is the independent wrestling correspondent of the SoBros Network. He graduated from ETSU with a degree in Radio, TV and Film along with a minor in Film Studies. Since graduating he’s done pretty much nothing but watch, film, edit or commentate for local wrestling promotions and is the current color commentator for Resolute Wrestling. #Preds #Titans #DefendOrVacateConor Follow on Twitter: @SoBroMose.
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