Hamilton’s Southern Underground Pro Swing of the Axe 10.09.2020 Review

Quick Results

Dominic Garrini & Kevin Ku pinned Colin Delaney & Cheech in 12:00 to retain the SUP Tag Team Championships (***½)
AJ Gray pinned Nolan Edward in 4:30 (***)
Allie Kat pinned Davienne in 8:38 (***)
Daniel Makabe submitted Lee Moriarty in 17:37 (****½)
O’Shay Edwards pinned Jake Something in 7:35 (***½)
Anthony Henry submitted Jaden Newman in 11:17 (***¾)
Brett Ison pinned Erick Stevens in 6:41 (**¾)
AC Mack pinned Manders in 12:24 to retain the SUP Bonestorm Championship (***¼)
AJ Gray pinned AC Mack in 0:40 to win the SUP Bonestorm Championship (NR)

We’re at the Marion County Fairgrounds in Indianapolis, Indiana – where the entire Collective weekend is taking place. Ah, what a shame, the PA system is inaudible, so I’m gonna be relying on those lower thirds.

Southern Underground Pro Tag Team Championship: Violence Is Forever (Dominic Garrini & Kevin Ku) (c) vs. To Infinity and Beyond (Cheech & Colin Delaney)

We open with our only tag match on the entire card, but there’s a surprise in ring announcer Righteous Jesse’s backpack. It’s for some newly-minted SUP tag title belts!

Garrini and Cheech get us going, but Cheech instantly heads into the ropes as Garrini went for a submission early. Back inside, Garrini goes for a knee bar, but again Cheech got to the ropes before he took down Garrini for just a one-count.

Garrini goes back to the mat as he and Cheech went back and forth on a cross armbar, but again they end up in the ropes as our stop-start beginning continued. Delaney and Ku come in next, with Delaney springing into the ring, presumably powered by his backpack, which he quickly gets rid of.

A chop battle breaks out before Ku just kicked down Delaney off the ropes… then grabbed him by the ear as Garrini came in. Double-team PKs sandwich Delaney for a near-fall, but the challengers do some double-team of their own, as Cheech kicks a turnbuckle into Garrini ahead of some double-team armdrags and stomps for a near-fall.

Cheech takes Garrini into the corner before a shoulder charge led to a two-count, with Delaney coming in for a kick to the gut. An elbow to the back of the head and a chop followed, as Delaney then had to rake the eyes to cut off Garrini’s attempted comeback. A senton atomico from Cheech gets a two-count, as Delaney returned to rake the eyes as the champions remained on the back foot.

Just as I type that, Garrini clears the apron and clotheslines his way through Delaney, before he dives in to tag in Ku, who nails a diving uppercut out of the corner. A backflip out of the corner led to a Dragon suplex from Ku, before he booted Delaney off the apron… an Alphamare Waterslide gets a near-fall for Ku.

Garrini’s tagged back in, but Delaney’s back being a nuisance, springboarding in for a cutter as a German suplex nearly gets Cheech the win. The challengers try to build, catching Ku with an elbow before a wacky draping DDT/elevated facebuster got a pair of two-counts for the challengers. They look to go for more, but Garrini fought out as a Parade of Moves started, suddenly ending with a short piledriver from Garrini on Delaney for a near-fall.

Cheech pulls Ku out of the ring as an assisted Air Raid Crash almost gives us new champions. New Japan called that Zack Memphisto, I have no idea what Cheech and Colin call theirs. Ku tries to fight back on his own, lifting Cheech to the outside before Garrini returned to help murder Delaney with Total Elimination and Chasing the Dragon for the win. A heck of an opening sprint to get us going, with a nice closing stretch too. Good stuff from the lads. ***½

Nolan Edward vs. AJ Gray

I last saw Nolan on those Punk Pro secret shows, and Gray jumps Edward before the bell, laying into him like he’s owed money.

The referee needs to separate the two as Edward was in the corner… but Nolan throws fists in return, before he got knocked into the ropes. A suplex and more elbows leave Edward down, as chops put Nolan back in the ropes. A spinning heel kick drops Nolan again, but he escapes a powerbomb and throws more rights of his own.

Gray misses a clothesline, and gets taken outside with a dropkick as Nolan followed him out with a tope into the crowd. Back inside, Nolan hits a dropkick, then a second one into the corner that looked wild. A running knee keeps AJ rocked, as does a dropkick, before a Blue Thunder bomb gets a near-fall. Gray’s back with a headbutt, but Nolan’s more than happy to swing back… until he’s dumped with a clothesline for a one-count. A second lariat murders him, before a third one off the ropes ends it. A beautiful slobberknocker, with AJ looking fan-tas-tic in this role. ***

Allie Kat vs. Davienne

Davienne throws her coat at Allie Kat before the bell, as we get another jump start.

Some clubbing forearms have Allie on the mat, but Allie fights back with some jabs before she got thrown into the ropes. She slides under Davienne, tripping her ahead of a cartwheel dropkick for a one-count, before an early cannonball was aborted.

Davienne hangs up Allie Kat in the corner for a neckbreaker that almost wins the match, before a suplex left Allie on the mat again. A back elbow in the corner has Allie on her knees, while a running body splash keeps Davienne ahead, as she proceeded to choke away on Allie Kat with her boots.

That’s followed up with a back suplex for a two-count, before Davienne missed another charge in the corner. Allie Kat tries to come back with a ripcord lariat, but gets pushed away… before she almost snatched a win with a schoolgirl. A battle of knees and kicks has Allie Kat back in the corner, but a sit-down splash surprises Davienne ahead of a hip attack and a cannonball for another near-fall.

Allie Kat goes for a piledriver, but Davienne tries to back body drop her way free. Instead, she takes Allie back into the corner as they go corner-to-corner with forearms, but a trip from Allie Kat and a back senton almost leads to the finish. Another piledriver attempt from Kat is blocked, so she hits an up kick before a Larri-cat off the ropes left Davienne laying.

Davienne catches Allie on the top rope and brings her down with a Samoan drop, but Allie Kat kicks out at two before she was whipped into the corner – knee-sliding into the middle buckles. That sets up for a baseball slide, but Allie slides out to the floor as Davienne hit the ring post feet-first.

She rolls Allie back inside, and gets caught with a see-saw piledriver, and that’s the win! This started out nice and pacey, and hard-hitting too for the duration. Nice to see that move in use again – with Allie Kat looking good in victory. ***

Lee Moriarty vs. Daniel Makabe

Makabe came out to “Time To Say Goodbye,” perhaps one of the more haunting choices of song you can use these days.

HERE WE GO! We have a handshake at the bell, and we open with Moriarty using a top wristlock. Makabe rolls to the mat to break it, looking to spread the legs, but Moriaty counters, only to get caught with headscissors. We counter, counter and counter, with Moriarty going back to an armbar, but an armdrag breaks Makabe free as we reach a stand-off.

A wristlock from Makabe’s countered with some twisty headscissors from Moriarty, but Makabe rolls free as he grapevines the legs and into a front facelock. Rolling to the mat gets Makabe a one-count, before a Test of Strength ended with Moriarty slipping out as the pair went for Octopus stretches, but they smartly counter each other until Moriarty locked his in.

Standing switches lead to Makabe charging Moriarty to the ropes, but an O’Connor roll doesn’t come off, and Makabe ends up having his arm punted away as Lee began to push ahead. Keeping Makabe down, Moriarty hammerlocks the left arm, but Makabe floats free… only for Moriarty to keep the hammerlock on. Another escape and snapmare ends with Makabe back in the hammerlock as Moriarty continued to frustrate… with Makabe forced to use the rope to get a break.

Makabe comes in with a side headlock, as we go to shoulder tackles… but it’s Moriarty to charges him down. Makabe fights back with a STF, but they’re right by the ropes for a break, so Makabe goes in for an Octopus, this time trapping the arm and the leg. Moriarty again escaped and went for the Joint Custody armbar, but it’s right by the ropes as Makabe got the break.

A trip sees Makabe go back to the leg, as he rolls Moriarty into a half crab… it’s fought out of as Moriarty again went for the armbar, this time a triangle variation as Makabe just extricates himself before hitting the ropes… and coming back with a nice butterfly backbreaker. A floatover suplex gets Makabe a two-count as he went back to the armbar, but instead he takes the back, scissoring the body of Moriarty as they got to the ropes again.

A snapmare takes Moriarty back down as Makabe looked to be going for the Makabe Lock, but Moriarty kicks it away and charged into the corner with a spinning lariat. An Irish whip took Makabe across the ring, but he floats over and nails a dropkick in the corner, before a high-angle back suplex dropped Moriarty for a two-count. Makabe coes back to the cross armbar, but Moriarty floats out for a pin, before he countered a back suplex into a crossbody.

Makabe keeps going, only to get caught with an enziguiri… he charges into the corner where he’s met with a gamengiri, with Moriarty following up with a Goomba stomp to leave both men laying. Moriarty drops Makabe with a spin-out suplex for a near-fall, before a flurry of kicks had Makabe on his knees ahead of a leaping uppercut. Makabe’s dazed as he’s met with a rolling boot, before he blocked a Mistica and went for the Big Unit punch. That too is avoided as he spins Moriarty to the mat, leading to see-saw pins as the pace quickens. A rear naked choke leads to Makabe going to a leg lock as I blinked at the worst possible moment, but they end up in the ropes.

Moriarty charges into the corner, but is lifted up top… he flies with a stomp to the bad shoulder before a La Mistica took him into the Joint Custody Fujiwara armbar… but Makabe gets a foot to the rope! Makabe takes a while to get back up, but stops Moriarty on the top rope… eventually decking him with the Big Unit punch! He followed Moriarty up top for a superplex, but instead nails a top rope ‘rana!

Moriarty barely kicks out after that, but Makabe stays at close quarters and wangles his way into a Makabe Lock, but Moriarty swivels his hips to get to the ropes. On their knees, both men swing with elbow shots, before Makabe slapped Moriarty… standing switches lead to a Dragon screw from Makabe, before he rolled through to pick the other leg for a trapped-leg German suplex that almost got the win.

A small package from Moriarty gets a near-fall, before Makabe crashed and burned with a dropkick in the ropes. Moriarty counters with a Makabe Lock, but Daniel counters out of his own move, rolling through and trapping the legs as he folded Moriarty into the Makabe Lock π for the quick submission. Fantastic stuff from two guys whose in-ring work is a sight to behold. ****½

Jake Something vs. O’Shay Edwards

…time for something different. HOSS FIGHT!

We start with a lock-up as Edwards took Something into the corner, before Jake just flipped him off. Big lad shoulder tackles lead to Something attacking O’Shay from behind, before he lifted Edwards onto the apron. O’Shay’s back with a German suplex, ragdolling Something into the ropes, and to the outside… where Edwards follows him.

On the outside, Something runs into a spinebuster on the edge of the ring, as O’Shay rolls him back in… but Something kicks the ropes into him as he was climbing through them. A leaping body press just charges O’Shay down, before some short-arm clotheslines led to Edwards hitting back with a spinebuster. Another German suplex throws Something down, but Jake’s back with a back body drop, only to run into a sit-out powerbomb that almost ended the match. They go back to laying into each other with elbows, but Something hits him from behind as a diving clothesline to the back of the head gets a near-fall.

A sit-out powerbomb from Something keeps those close-calls coming, before O’Shay countered a pop-up into a Sidewinder for yet another two-count. Something’s back with a shoulder charge into the corner, but a backfist from O’Shay and a Burning Hammer leads us to… a one-count?! How?! O’Shay followed that up with a Fire Thunder driver, spiking Something, and that’s the win. Man, I loves me two hosses in a sprint, and this was a damn delight. Get this guy on TV somewhere, stat! ***½

Jaden Newman vs. Anthony Henry

Newman’s only 22 according to Cagematch, and had gotten into it with Henry on social media over a prior match. Let’s just say that Jaden has a lot to prove.

From the opening lock-up, Henry takes Newman into the corner before Newman tried to throw some chops. Henry laughs them off, then shoved away a headlock as he charged down Newman. A cricket chop in the corner came to nought, as Newman came back with a wheelbarrow armdrag and a dropkick, taking Henry to the corner… but Henry sweeps the legs as Henry was on the apron, then punted him off the apron. OW.

Henry keeps going with a chop on the outside, before a kick to the inside of the thigh almost went low… and yeah, Henry’s giving this kid a beating. Back in the ring, a snapmare and a kick to the back has Newman in agony, before Henry kicked Jaden’s leg out of his leg. A low dropkick keeps Newman in the corner as Henry pinned him for a two-count, before Newman tried to chop his way back.

Anthony slapped the taste out of his mouth, but Jaden boots him in the face, before Henry caught him with a double-leg Dragon screw. This is literally men against boys. A Deathlock has Henry continuing to torture Newman, who was being toyed with at this point. More kicks keep him in the corner, but Jaden has the odd moment of hope… but Henry just shuts off the light as he proceeded to KICK NEWMAN’S LEG OUT OF HIS LEG. Someone’s watched a lot of Owen Hart tapes, huh?

Newman fights back though on one leg, landing a series of elbows and palm strikes, before a back elbow just angered Henry. As did a leaping elbow as Newman’s Snapmare driver spiked Henry, before a TKO out of the corner had Henry briefly down. Newman goes back up for a Meteora for a near-fall, before Henry chained together a tornado DDT and a brainbuster for a near-fall.

From the kick-out, he goes to a cross armbar on Newman, then an ankle lock, before a trapped-leg German nearly got the win. We’re back to the LOUD strikes, which seemed to wear down Henry, who found a second wind with a flurry of shots until Newman tripped the leg… but misses a diving forearm and gets caught in a Dragon suplex as he was damn near broken in two. This wasn’t quite a squash, as Newman got a fair amount in, but this was a great exhibition of how you can have a veteran dominate an upstart without it being an utter steamroller job. ***¾

Post-match, Henry pulled Newman to his feet and offered a respectful fistbump.

Erick Stevens vs. Brett Ison

Time for another HOSS FIGHT!

Stevens starts by taking Ison to the corner for a clean break, as we got a lot of those early on before Stevens threw a forearm on the break. Ison threw one back and began to chop away on Stevens, following up with forearms before a back elbow, a trip and a facewashing boot kicked Stevens’ face off for just a one-count.

Stevens comes back with a flying armbar, but Ison got to the rope despite Stevens’ best effort. Erick keeps going with the wacky submissions, but again Ison got to the rope, before a side Russian legsweep took Ison back down into a grounded Octopus. Ison tries to roll to turn submissions into pins, which force Erick to break the hold, as he then went towards strikes…

…which played right into Ison’s wheelhouse. A rear naked choke is thrown away by Ison, who goes corner-to-corner with clotheslines ahead of a belly-to-belly suplex. A death valley driver gets Ison a two-count, before a battle of strikes led to Ison hitting a backdrop driver. Stevens pops up, but he’s wobbly as Ison nails more rolling elbows before the Street Justice (Praying Mantis Bomb) got a near-fall.

From there Ison picks up Stevens for a ripcord back elbow, and that’s all. A dominant win for the former Bonestorm champion Ison, as he blasted through the veteran Stevens. **¾

SUP Bonestorm Championship: AC Mack (c) vs. Manders

Manders won a Bunkhouse Brawl against Jaden Newman on SUP’s last show pre-pandemic to get this title shot.

Mack mouths off at Manders, and gets knocked down with a forearm. A shoulder tackle bounces Mack to the outside early on, as the defending champion took his time to compose himself. Back inside, Mack throws some right hands, but misses a leg lariat as Manders just caught him and tossed him across the ring with a leg-capture suplex.

Another three point stance leads to a running chop in the corner, with Manders throwing some more for good measure as a Beele tosses Mack back into the ring. Manders heads up top, but got crotched by Mack, who followed in with a leaping kick as the challenger fell back into the ring.

Mack chokes Manders in the ropes, then escaped a slam from Manders as he went back to work with kicks to the quad. Chops from Manders has Mack staggering, but again Mack escapes a slam and came back with a leaping leg lariat a la Booker T for a near-fall. A boot choke follows in the corner, before Manders again went for a suplex… but Mack punches free only to run into a powerslam.

Manders returns with some Dusty punches and chops as he broke out Machine Gun chops in the corner, before a pair of Stinger splashes left Mack on the back foot. A third one’s blocked, with Manders hanging him up in the ropes ahead of a Dragon suplex. That gets a near-fall so Manders throws a lariat, before Mack ducked a second one to hit a hooking lariat of his own for a near-fall.

A running Meteora from Mack’s caught as Manders retaliates with an Oklahoma Stampede for a near-fall, before he went up top looking for a slam off the top rope, but Mack flips free and drags Manders down. A dropkick followed, before Mack tried for a suplex… Manders blocks it and just dumps him with a no-bump slam, before Mack hit a Spinaroonie and hit an enziguiri to catch Manders up top.

Mack goes for a powerbomb, and pulls Manders down for just a two-count, before Manders returned fire with a Doctor Bomb. That gets a two-count, so Manders hits the ropes for a lariat, but Mack rolls outside to avoid getting pinned. He pulls Mack back in from the floor, stopping to throw Mack’s head into the turnbuckle as Manders again went for a slam off the top, but again Mack stops him… only to get caught with that top rope slam anyway for a near-fall!

From there, Manders heads up for a moonsault, but Mack moves away and comes back in with a Yakuza kick that knocks Manders into the ref. With the ref cowering, Mack hits a nonchalant low blow, before rolling up Manders – with his feet in the ropes – to steal the win. Pretty good stuff to close the show, but I can see a few fans rolling eyes at that finish if they were just dropping by. ***¼

After the match, Mack cuts a promo but the sound system renders it useless to the TV viewers. He called himself the best in the South, I think, but gets interrupted by AJ Gray. AJ wants a shot, but Mack won’t give him it here… and mule kicks Gray.

SUP Bonestorm Championship: AC Mack vs. AJ Gray (c)
Mack demands the match start with Gray on the mat, but he only gets a near-fall… Gray’s quickly back with another goddamn lariat, and that’s enough to get the win as Southern Underground Pro’s big afternoon out at the Collective ended with a new champ!

…but wait, we’re not done yet. Brett Ison’s out next, and he bumps fists with Gray as I guess they’re building to that down the road.

7.8

The final score: review Good

The 411

I’m only dipping into the Collective for a few shows as they happen, but this was a delightful card to sample. A lot of sprints, with a match that shot way up my picks for Match of the Year thrown in as well. These weekenders can be a mixed bag, but can sometimes throw up some unexpected surprises - this was one of them, and hopefully will get SUP a lot of eyeballs in a rather troubled year for them.