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The opening contest of the evening would be between Jaxson James and The Stro who, as you may or may not recall, was at one point in time a member of World Championship Wrestling's roster where he performed as The Maestro. Stro, as he refers to himself on social media, is also going by the name Papa. I don't know where that came from or what it is supposed to represent, but he comes to the ring with what appears to be a branding iron. Again, I don't know what it is but that's the gimmick he's going with.
This was a simple match but that's not a bad thing! Jaxson James is one of the best young talents we have in this area and one of a select few out of that group who has a look that will help him earn a living at some point in his life doing this crazy wrestling thing.
Following that was this bout between Josh Powers and Kameron Kade. Both Powers and Kade are known to have consistently strong showings; Powers in particular has gotten a reputation of being a reliable, versatile performer. I can attest to his talents as I've seen him perform at least half a dozen times in the past year and I would say that while he may not have the aesthetic of a top notch wrestler he has the tools. If ever the two meet up he'll be one to watch even more closely.
What I wasn't really sure about here is that I thought only a short while ago Kameron Kade was a villain in TSW yet he received a hero's welcome as soon as he came out of the back. I guess pro wrestling fans always have had short memories when it comes to that sort of thing.
One of the real stars of the evening came to the ring after the Powers/Kade match, that being the hardcore legend himself Mick Foley!
Foley would spend a few minutes addressing the fans in attendance, during which he made sure to put over TSW as being a quality promotion with great wrestlers. Not long into his talk, he was rudely interrupted by George South and Alex Avgerinos. South was quick to deem himself a superior author to Foley, essentially say that George's book - Dad You Don't Work, You Wrestle - is in a class above any of Mick's publications. Of course this approach to criticizing a fellow writer's work didn't wind up going so well for George...
I have to say that this was one of the most entertaining segments of the entire show. The interaction between Foley, South, and Avgerinos was fantastic and it did a great job in setting the stage for the main event of the evening.
Professional wrestling promoters, generally speaking, want to make the main event match THE match that fans go home talking about. It should be what sells the show and what ultimately makes fans want to come back for the next event. Sometimes it doesn't work out that way and a match on the under-card winds up stealing the show. That's exactly what happened at "HARDCORE BOOGIE" as Chase "Cauliflower" Brown and "The Southern Savior" John Skyler went out and had themselves a real barn burner.
Skyler and Brown are fantastic talents; Brown being the more traditional, old school style of grappler and Skyler being the modern heel. You throw in the presence of Skyler's manager, "The" Tommy Thomas, and you've got what was the match of the night in my opinion.
Everyone knows the old saying "less is more". I'm theorizing here but in my mind that statement goes along with the mechanical concept of how machinery with more moving parts are more likely to break down, hence the ideal of simplistic design being paramount. If you take that line of thought to the world of professional wrestling, the more competitors you involve the more likely it is that the end result is going to be messy, for lack of a better word.
I say all that to say this: The idea of a 4-way elimination tag team match at this level coming off well is a 50-50 prospect at best. This match wasn't bad but there's a lot going on here and not very much of it makes sense. It was an over-booked bout in my opinion; I'd have much sooner seen Chemical Z (Jett Black & TK Stark) have a rematch against Eric Adamz and Hardcore Hunter coming off TSW's last show where Adamz & Hunter brutally attacked Chemical Z in a post-match beat down.
With that, it was main event time!
We learned during Mick Foley's segment that what started off as an ordinary wrestling match would instead metamorphose into a "submit or surrender" match. "What's a submit or surrender match?", you ask. Good question because I was a little fuzzy on what it involved myself. Essentially it's a scenario where the only way to win is to either make your opponent submit or have them give up the contest in some way, shape, or form.
Alex Avgerinos has evolved into a real villain for TSW, which baffles me in a way. I still remember the days of pro wrestling's past when a good looking young man such as him would never be thought of as having an immoral cell in his body. He's a clean-cut gentleman, he wouldn't think of doing something as dastardly as throwing a ball of fire into the face of a fellow wrestler - which is exactly what he did to reigning TSW heavyweight champion Deon Johnson at the promotion's previous event!
There was a bit of heavy foreshadowing here as Deon Johnson came to the ring with Dirty, his tag team partner and one-half of the TSW tag team champions, who happened to be carrying a white towel with him. Alex Avgerinos, on the other hand, came to the ring by himself - no George South, so I assume the mandible claw Foley gave him earlier in the show was so debilitating that he couldn't accompany his charge. Wrestling is a rigorous activity but rarely do you see someone stop during a match to towel off because of excessive perspiration. The fact that Dirty had that towel meant something, clearly.
The finish of the match came off as being convoluted, I hate to say. Much like with the 4-way tag team match, there was a lot going on here at the end and if you weren't looking in the right spot you'd likely miss what happened to lead to the conclusion of the contest.
Overall this was a fun show with a good mix of talent and a variety of styles on display. There were some portions that could've been handled a little better, creatively speaking, and there were a handful of situations that didn't come off all that well, but that's nothing uncommon when it comes to indie pro wrestling so I'm not going to harp on that in these confines. The footage is here for you to make up your own minds!
Of course, it would have been out of character for me to have attended this event without filming an edition of my YouTube show, Rasslin' with Redbeard, during the show. You can view episode 11 of the program below, and if you enjoy it please keep in contact with me by either subscribing to my YouTube channel or liking the Rasslin' with Redbeard Facebook page!
TSW's next event will be Friday, December 5 in Laurens, SC where WWE and college football hall of famer Ron "Farooq" Simmons will be on hand for a meet & greet with fans.
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