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It was the 15th consecutive year the event has taken place, the last 13 of which have been presented at the NWA Arena in Cornelia, Ga.
It also marked Jerry Palmer’s final night as the owner of the promotion, so it was only fitting for the Anarchy crew and booker Bill Behrens to pull out all the stops. They did that and then some, presenting a record-setting four and a half hour show chocked full of surprises, emotional moments, and a healthy dose of insane violence. It was an event fitting of the tradition, a spectacular in terms of quantity and the quality that kept the packed house amped throughout the evening.
The babyfaces ruled supreme including three titles switching to the fan favorites.
Attendance was 220 paying roughly $4000, thus representing Anarchy’s largest attendance and gate since Fright Night 2008.
The showed opened with a montage of stills on the WrestleVision that encompassed the six years of the Palmer era.
Tim E. D introduced Anarchy’s First Family – Jerry, Tab and Griffin Palmer. Jerry addressed the crowd for the last time, thanking the people for their support though the years. Jerry brought out the first surprise of the evening, former Anarchy wrestler Hayden Young, now a member of the US Army, presenting the colors for the National Anthem.
Color announcer John Johnson came out and started berating Tim about how he back was sore from carrying him on the announcing duties for the last few months. Cue up the arrival of former play-by-play man Greg Hunter (back for one night only!) to a great pop.
(1) Todd Sexton beat “Sexiest Man Alive†Seth Delay and Steven Walters in a three way dance in 8:42. Walters was a surprise addition to the match. Sexton said it was lazy booking, given all the multi-person matches already on the card. This was really smooth for a three-way, especially since they didn’t do the usual deal where one guy gets put on ice while the other two fight. When Sexton kicked out of the Overnite Sensation (cradle DDT), Delay went for the knucks. Walters cut Delay off with a super huracanrana but Sexton broke up the pin. Walters went for a springboard move and it was live by sword die by the sword, as Sexton caught him with a superkick.
The lights went out and when they came back on, Jay Clinton was in the ring. He broke out the Fargo Strut. Delay clocked him with the knucks for a great pop. Delay called Sexton back to the ring and led a swivel hips sexy dance that included all three wrestlers plus referee Brent Wiley.
(2) Brodie Chase defeated Shaun Tempers (with Bo Newsom) in 10:39 to become a two time NWA Anarchy TV Champion. This match was money. Fan love this story and they got behind Chase huge. Chase foiled Tempers’ hangman neckbreaker finisher. Tempers then blinded Chase with the Temptation spray, and hit a Northern lights suplex with a bridge, but Chase kicked out. Chase hit an F5. He paused to pull the straps down, however, and Tempers kicked out. Chase blocked a second neckbreaker, cut Newsom off at the pass and pinned Tempers with a double underhook DDT. The title change got an explosive pop.
(3) Youth Gone Wild (Anthony Henry & Dustin Knight) defeated Andrew Alexander & Billy Buck and Rich & Famous (Andrew Pendleton III & Mike Mosley) and Armed & Dangerous (Lane Vasser & Johnny Dangerously) in a four corners elimination match to earn a shot at the NWA Anarchy Tag Team Championship (23:04). Of the three babyface teams, YWG edged Alexander & Buck for loudest entrance pop. Mosley had slimmed down from his last appearance. He must have delivered prematurely. Rich & Famous felt the power of Vasser before Mosley rolled Dangerous up at 6:05. Buck immediately superkicked Mosley to eliminate Rich & Famous at 6:18. It was babyface vs. babyface for the next 17 minutes and the only time all night that building was quiet. Fans didn’t want see either one of these teams get beat up. I have no idea what they were thinking by going so long. YWG’s striking game was impressive here. Knight took big time punishment. After making a blind tag, Alexander put the Kibosh on Knight, but still couldn’t put him away, and the handwriting was on the wall. Alexander tapped out to Henry’s Texas Cloverleaf.
Afterward, Alexander (somewhat reluctantly) and Buck shook hands with YWG. Despite the excessive length, fans loved the finish and the postmatch show of sportsmanship.
(4) Tank & Kimo (with Iceberg) beat Nemesis & AJ Steele (with Jeff G. Bailey) in 12:02. Iceberg was another surprise that got a gigantic pop. It was pandemonium at the start. Tank used the seated headbutts on Nemesis. Once it settled into a normal tag, the heels got heat on Kimo, and the crowd showered him with love. The heels were doing everything in their power to get under Tank’s skin. Steele missed a king-sized swanton to set up the hot tag. While ref Ken Wallace was being distracted by Bailey. Iceberg hit a slice ‘n dice legdrop on Nemesis, who was then pinned by Tank for another crowd-pleasing finish. It was a night when the babyfaces ruled.
Tank announced his retirement from NWA Anarchy. He thanked Palmer, Iceberg and Behrens and said he was raised an only child in Tennessee, but found a boatload of brothers and sisters in Cornelia.
AJ Styles appeared on the WrestleVision with a thank you message to Palmer. He mentioned how Anarchy made it possible for people like Creed, Shatter and Judas to advance to the major leagues.
(5) Adrian Hawkins & Caprice Coleman & Patrick Bentley & Sal Rinauro & Chad Parham beat Rave Approved (Jimmy Rave & Corey Hollis & Mike Posey & Chip Day) & Jeremy Vain in 24:23. Hawkins entire team was a mystery until the intros, which got a round of huge pops. Coleman and Bentley were in tip top shape as always. Parham looked about the same. Rinauro made fun of his weight gain before anyone else got a chance to do so. This was really fun. It was a spotfest with just enough structure. Everyone was doing signature moves and most of them were spot on. The opening babyface volley left Rave Approved cowering on the ramp. Parham and Rinauro busted out the old Lost Boys Time Warp. Hawkins took punishment. All five babyface hit big moves on Rave. Mad dives ensued. Rinauro absorbed a quadruple sandwich attack from Rave Approved. Coleman tagged in and hit a stellar sequence of his signature moves. Rave superplexed Coleman and rest of Rave Approved nailed him with dives but Hawkins saved. Rave hit The Move That Rocked the World and Vain gave him the VDT, but somebody saved Coleman’s ass again. Finish saw Vain decimated by Bentley’s front flip piledriver, Coleman’s variation of the Psycho Driver and pinned after Hawkins Unprettier. One of the best pops ever for a Hawkins win. Delay came out to hug Rinauro (they go back the early days of Wildside) and six raised their hands.
Intermission at 10:45. That’s about when Anarchy shows usually end.
(6) Jacob Ashworth beat Skirra Corvus (with Enoch Tsarion & Pandora) and Jacoby Boykins (with John Johnson) and Bo Newsom in a four-way elimination match to become the number one contender for the NWA Anarchy Young Lion’s Title in 7:45. Ashworth busted up his nose and mouth landing face first on the turnbuckle. Boykins ran wild with power moves before being cradled by Newsom at 4:22. Corvus eliminated Newsom with a wicked hanging curbstomp at 6:29. Interference by Pandora allowed Corvus to kick Ashworth in the face. However, Ashworth was not to be denied, as he kicked out at two and pinned Corvus with a full nelson faceplant. Match was fine. It was good they kept it short. Ashworth is over.
Ashworth vs. Young Lion’s Champion Aden Chambers was announced for May 14. The new owner will also be revealed at that time.
(7) Youth Gone Wild (with JT Talent) beat Hate Junkies (Dany Only & Stryknyn with Reverend Dan Wilson) to win the NWA Anarchy Tag Team Championship in 9:02. YWG came out hurting. This would have been more convincing had they been selling more after the earlier match. The Rev said he could see the weakness and doubt and noting that they were outnumbered, he offered them the opportunity to quit. That’s when Talent showed up to even the odds, another surprise that worked like a charm. Rev was pissed. He tripped up Knight and they went right to the heat. Knight refused to die. Henry did a double stomp on Stryknyn right into a sunset flip on Only, but Strynyn speared Henry and Junkies beat on him for awhile. The Rev pulled Henry out to prevent a pin. Talent leveled the Rev. Meanwhile, Junkies destroyed Henry with the Slash & Burn, but he somehow kicked out to foreshadow another title change. Henry pinned Only after a double team GTS. Beautifully done. YWG have gradually won the people over. It was the right team and this was the right time.
Alexander and Buck came out to congratulate YWG on winning the titles.
On the WrestleVision, a video from “Gunner†Phil Shatter was shown on the WrestleVision. Shatter expressed his thanks to the Anarchy fans for their support through the years.
(8) Azrael (with Reverend Dan Wilson) beat Slim J in the Final Cut – Barbed Wire Massacre Match in 17:20. These two have been going at it off and on for years now. Just when I thought they couldn’t possibly top the sickness of their previous matches, they did and by a considerable margin. I’ve been to death match tournaments. I was at IWA Mid-South for the Circus Death Match, the night the late J. C. Bailey and Mad Man Pondo did moves off a scaffold into a net of barbed wire, and trust me, this match was as psychotic as any of that craziness. Weapons wrapped in barbed wire were scattered all around, and a spool of barbed wire was placed in the ring as if the rest wasn’t enough. Apparently it wasn’t, because right off the bat, they wrapped a section of ropes with barbed wire. Both men had their flesh pierced taking bumps into the wire-wrapped ropes on multiple occasions. Women were shielding their eyes at the sight of them pulling the barbs out of their skin. J bled like a stuck pig after a bump onto a barbed wire chair. Izzy ripped his hand open by missing J and chopping into the barbed wire, and then took a flapjack onto a barbed wire chair. J wrapped himself in barbed wire and did an elbow drop on a barbed wire skateboard with Azrael underneath. J also did high crossbody while wrapped in the wire. Azrael powerbombed J onto a barbed wire trash can. The finish saw Azrael put J through a barbed wire table with a tombstone piledriver. Unfreaking believable. J wasn’t moving. The building went silent. Looking around the building, I saw a lot of horrified expressions. Security hit the ring to cut J free from the wire. There was a sense of relief along with a standing O once it became clear that J would be able to leave under his own power.
(9) Shadow Jackson beat Seven (with Jeff G. Bailey) in a steel cage match to become a three time NWA Anarchy Heavyweight Champion in 9:21. After that spectacle of carnage and with the match not going in the ring until after midnight, I figured the crowd would be half dead. I should know better than to underestimate their resiliency where Jackson is concerned. They were totally into it. Seven bludgeoned and brutalized “The People’s Championâ€, while Bailey laughed his fool head off. Jackson bled. Jackson fired up by repeatedly whipping Seven headfirst into the cage. It was a bit disturbing to hear the kids in the crowd calling for Jackson to make Seven bleed. Jackson gave the monster a superplex. Jackson rallied his troops before hitting a stunner for a near fall. Seven came back with a powerslam for near fall. Seven powered out of a Boston crab and tried for a chokeslam, but Jackson escaped and hit another stunner for the pin.
Bailey got in the ref’s face and didn’t see Palmer coming, ax handle in hand. Before he knew it, Bailey was trapped in the cage with Palmer and Jackson. Jackson popped him. Bailey way left laying in the ropes looking all pitiful. Palmer ordered him to stand up. The entire locker room came to ringside to watch. Palmer threatened to do the worst thing he could think of, something that Bailey couldn’t brush off. Palmer got within inches of Bailey and hugged him. Bailey resisted like it was the worst thing Palmer could have done. Jackson nailed him again. Bailey flew like he had a rocket up his butt, then crawled out of the cage and all the way to the back on his hand and knees. It was awesome.
The fans and wrestlers joined together in a final round of chants for Palmer. Wrestlers then began filing into the ring to say their goodbyes. It was a beautiful way to close the show.
NOTES: Franklin Dove revealed that he is the new owner of NWA Anarchy via a post on his Facebook page. Dove was an ardent fan and wrestling photographer prior to making an offer to buy NWA Anarchy…The promotion will be taking five weeks off and restart on May 14. Ashworth vs. Young Lion’s Champion Aden Chambers was announced for the return date. Palmer will be in attendance and the official announcement that Dove is the new owner will be made at that time…Visiting backstage was former Anarchy wrester Ken Westbrook…Blake Arledge came out of retirement to take ringside photos. C.B. Gibson and Tommy Daniels were also in the house…Alternative Pro Wrestling (Anarchy’s farm team promotion booked by Jeremy Vain) has a major show, Spring Break Bash, set for April 28 with Henry vs. Corvus vs. Delay vs. Brandon Parker headlining…Ashworth didn’t remember anything about the match after he smashed his face on the turnbuckle. It goes without saying that Slim J and Azrael had cuts all over their bodies from the barbed wire…Reverend Wilson cut a tremendous promo for the Barbed Wire Massacre that should appear on NWA Anarchy TV (uploaded weekly at www.twnworldwide.tv) …Palmer was our featured guest on the April 4 edition of “Phoning It In†available at (www.blogtalkradio/psp)... During his opening remarks, Palmer warned fans to steer clear of backyard shows in the area. This was in reference to rumors that a new promotion was making plans to run in the vicinity of Cornelia. Regarding Azrael beating Slim J, which was the only key match won by a heel – J is taking time off, whereas Azrael is planning to be back at Anarchy on a regular basis….Former TNA star and NWA Wildside star Jason Cross was penciled in for the opening match but later canceled. AJ Styles would likely have made an in ring appearance if not for his TNA storyline injury.
