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The first time I saw Davey was at Powerslam Productions Spring Bash show. Davey took on Lukas Frost. And it was a great match up. Both guys are high flyers. Since then I have seen Davey 4 more times and each time he gets better. It also helps that he is a super nice guy.
I discovered Max Maverick at the first show Last Rites Championship Wrestling had. He was part of a 3 way match for the Last Rites Hardcore title. Before the match started Max grabbed the mic and cut a great heel promo. As you can see in the above picture he won. Since then I have looked up Max on youtube and saw that not only can he do high flying moves he is also a good chain wrestler. Plus he is damn good on the mic. What shocked me is that when I first saw him he hadn't been wrestling that long.
Cale is another good wrestler I first saw at the Last Rites show in town. When he walked through the curtain he got my attention. He has this presence about him. At the show he came out wearing this really neat metallic skull mask with light up eyes. Well since he was the heel I started heckling him. Calling him fat. He turns and looks at me and said "Like I haven't heard that before. Come on try to come up with something original." I quickly said "Well you look like Kane and Playboy Buddy Rose had a kid!" Cale didn't miss a beat and replied with "Hey look everyone we got ourselves a smart mark!" Then the match started and I was majorly impressed with Cale's ringwork. He is a tall and fairly big guy. But moves like someone half his size. After the show I was heading to the bathroom. Saw him coming down the hall and thanked him for the smart mark comment. Since that night I have watched a bunch of his matches on Youtube. And like Max,Cale is a guy that is good in the ring and good on the mic.
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I had been talking to Reggie on Facebook for at least 2 months before I even met him. Last December on the 15th I went to my first Powerslam show. About a week before the show I had sent Reggie a message on Facebook asking if he could hold two front row seats for me. I get to the show and there was two seats with my name on them. That night I got to see Reggie face Calvin Rose. And the match was so much fun. You could tell that Reggie really enjoys being in the ring.One thing Reggie has is he not only has great charisma but he has that "It" factor. Since then I have seen Reggie wrestle many times. My favorite match of his is from last years Slamfest. Reggie faced Joe Kane. And the crowd was so hot. Back in August I asked Reggie if he would come on my podcast and do an interview. He came on and it was so much fun. We recorded for over 3 hours. Reggie Krimsyn Matthews Interview on Asshat Podcast. Reggie is also one of the nicest guys I have met in this area.
Sgt is another guy who I first saw at my first Powerslam show. After the show I was talking to him and found out he was in the Army. We talked for a bit about Army related stuff. Sgt is one of those wrestlers that can do a little bit of everything. At Wildkat Sports "Schools Out" show on June 8th of this year Sgt had a match against Outlaw Matt Lancie. And it turned into a old school southern style locker room clearing brawl. With Sgt taking a shot to the nose and bleeding all over the floor. Now that match was really good,but the best match I have seen from Sgt was at the next Wildkat show. On August 24th at the Wildkat Sports "Hawx vs Hardy" show Sgt and the Outlaw had a feud ending bullrope match. And to add something extra to the match it was for the Wildkat Revolution title. This match turned out to be even more brutal than their last match. After it was over,sadly Sgt lost,the entire crowd was on their feet clapping.
Lancie,who I am pretty sure is the current Wildkat Revolution champion, reminds me so much of Stan Hansen. He is a great example of someone who has taken the old southern brawling style and updated it. Living in the deep south it is a great showing of how much talent Matt has when he can work a cowboyish gimmick and still get the crowd to boo him. Everyone of his moves looks super stiff. And that is another thing that makes him stand out to me. Then there is how he carries himself before the match,it is hard to describe. But he has this kind of hunched over walk and stance. Then he has a way at staring at people that just is so damn creepy.
The first time I saw Bolt was at the first Wildkat show I went to. The match was Bolt Brady vs Bestia 666. I went to that show just to see Bestia 666. Thinking how many chances would I get to see a legit luchadore. I had heard of Bolt before that match,but never seen him. Holy fuck those two guys put on a fast paced action packed match. From when the bell rung till Bolt got the pinfall neither guy slowed down. That night when I got home I searched for Bolt Brady on Youtube. And found out he works a lot for ACW out of Texas. I saw a fun tag match with him and ACH vs two guys who I can't remember. Then this past August Wildkat had a rematch between Bolt and Bestia 666. And once again both guy gave it their all. This time with Bestia winning. After the match it was strongly hinted that we will get a 3rd match between the two and I can't wait. Bolt has great charisma. Then you add in his energy packed high flying style I could see him one day working for ROH,TNA or WWE.
TIE
Standing at barely over 5 foot,Bu Ku Dao impressed me the first time I saw him. It was Powerslam Productions December Double shot part 1 in 2012. And Bu Ku Dao,who goes by Ling Pham in Powerslam, was facing Lukas Frost. With both guys working a high flying style I got to see a super fun match. Bu Ku Dao really reminds me of Rey Jr before his knees went to shit. The stand out match for me has to be when Bu Ku Dao took on Chris Masters at the first Wildkat show I went too. Now Masters is over a foot taller than Dao. And has to have at least 100lbs on him. But Dao fought back and tried his best,before finally getting caught in the Masterlock and passing out. What I didn't know at the time was Dao and Stud Matthews were in the middle of what ended up being a year long feud. At the August Wildkat show they had the final match in the feud. I was shocked when Dao locked Matthews in a crossface and getting a submission win. Dao is another guy who each time I see him he gets better.
At the PSP December Double Shot part 1 I got to see Stud Matthews. Turns out this was the first time he used his new gimmick. He comes out to Eye of the tiger. And it is a Hulk Hogan tribute style. Curt is good in the ring. But it is the little things he does that makes him stand out. Like how after each match he goes out in the crowd and thumb wrestles with the kids. Or how he has all the Hogan moves down. And all the Hogan mannerisms. Then you factor in that while he is a face in Powerslam,down in Wildkat he is a heel. In Wildkat he does a arrogant weightlifter gimmick. If you look up Wildkat Sports on Youtube you can see some great Curt "The Stud" Matthews promos. Plus there is lots of his matches on Youtube. As for my favorite match of his it is a tie. One of them is the feud ending match against Bu Ku Dao that I mentioned above. The other is from the Powerslam Spring Bash show. The final match of the night was a battle royale. Which Curt won. Curt is another guy that just oozes charisma. At the Powerslam Productions Slamfest show in Liberty most of the crowd had no idea who he was. But by the time he had walked through the crowd and entered the ring he had already gotten the crowd to cheer him.
2.Bestia 666
The son of luca libre legend Damien 666,Bestia is as talented as his father. I first heard of him when he was having matches in the Extreme Rising show. Then after the Powerslam Productions Spring Bash show was over Luke Hawx told me that at the next Wildkat show Bestia was going to be coming in. Luke had remembered how much I love lucha libre. So I talked my buddy Collin into driving us down. And that show Bestia faced Bolt Brady in what was to me the match of the night. Then at the August show Bestia came back to have a rematch with Bolt. Bestia tried his best to get the crowd to boo him. Even going so far as to yell "Viva la Mexico". But it didn't work the crowd loves him. Since then I have watched many of his matches on youtube. What I enjoy about Bestia is 2 main things. I have been told that behind the scenes he is a super nice super humble guy. The other thing is unlike some other luchadores that have trouble adapting to the American style of wrestling,Bestia doesn't have that issue.
Lukas is one of the most well rounded wrestlers on the southern indy circuit. Not only is he good in the ring and on the mic. He also knows the little things that can make a difference. Like the cloak he has on in the above picture. It just helps add to his character. I have seen him live 4 times now. Now Lukas works a high flyer style. But unlike some indy high flyers Lukas know how and when to sell. For 3 years Lukas,who is known as Frostie, wrote a great blog.Lukas Frost's blog . Where he not only told lots of great behind the scenes stories. But gave piles of great advice. Now my memory isn't the best but I kind of remember Lukas telling me one time that he has thought about taking the blog posts and making a book out of it. If this happens I will buy it. Now while Lukas is a huge heel in the ring, outside it he is such a nice guy. The many times we have talked Lukas has told me how much he enjoys reading my posts here at the blog about the indy shows I go to. It is feedback like that that keeps me writing.
TIE
1.Joe Kane the Prince of Pain
Joe has been around the southern indy scene for years now. And it shows when he is in the ring. He know how to pace a match,how to get the crowd to react the way he wants them too. Perfect example,at the Powerslam Slamfest show. Joe came out to the ring and without saying a word got the entire crowd booing him before the match even started. And his is one of the best sellers around this area. And like everyone else on this list Joe has always been so nice when I have talked to him. If you want to see what a southern style heel should be just Youtube Joe Kane. He has plenty of matches up on Youtube. From the ones I have seen Joe can have a good match with anyone. I bet if you put me in the ring with him,it would end up being good match. And I have not athletic skills at all.
Besides Bestia 666,Wes is most likely the most well known guy on this list. He has been around for years now wrestling. Working in Memphis as one of the Lifeguards. Then having a stint in NWA Wildside. From there he moved on to the WWE developmental territory Deep South Wrestling. And when DSW shut down Wes was sent to FCW. He ended up becoming a ref. And was used a lot on WWE's version of ECW. Once his contract was up and not renewed Wes came back to Mississippi and started up Powerslam Productions. In many ways Wes reminds me of Mid South/UWF era Terry Taylor. At the June Wildkat show Wes had a match against Rudy Russo. A few minutes into the match Rudy injured Wes' leg and the rest of the match was built around Rudy trying to work Wes' leg and Wes trying to protect it. One thing that I doubt many people know is that Wes is really good at cutting promos. I have seen him cut a few live and he has a way of getting the crowd eating out of the palm of his hand. Another thing is there are some wrestlers that might be good at singles matches but if you put them in a tag team it doesn't work. Not Wes. I have seen him work singles and tag matches and he is good in both.
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