The first ever Stand Alone Wrestling show, Liftoff lived up to it’s name as the event blasted off early with exciting match-ups within a very intimate environment. Founders Chad Minnes and wrestler/trainer “Preacher” Finneus James assembled an exceptional roster that hit the ground running right from the first bell.
Upon entering the venue at May’s Landing, NJ guests were welcomed with S.A.W. Swag Bags containing a photo of headliner Tenille Dashwood (fka Emma in WWE) and other goodies. (I’m all about the swag bags) Additionally, meet & greets were available for nearly all of the talent including Tenille throughout the entire event.
Our first match of the evening saw Brandon Kirk vs. “The Gift” Jason Kincaid. Kincaid who entered the ring barefoot, seemingly focused his chi and immediately wowed the crowd with a number of spring board attacks. I would say that ninety percent of this guy’s move-set was in the air or on the ropes, and the crowd was on board. At one point Kirk was down in the corner as Kincaid set up for a coast-to-coast maneuver. Kirk was clever enough to exit the ring but “The Gift” easily jumped across the full length of the ring (and then some) to hit a drop-kick on Kirk between the ropes. After several more impressive displays including what I could best describe as a springboard corkscrew stunner, Kincaid was ultimately caught and over powered by Kirk who scored the pinfall.
Winner: Brandon Kirk <
The next match saw the very arrogant heel, Dante Caballero vs. the masked high fly-er, Tulpa. I had a chance to meet Tulpa who was very cool, and embraced his role as a hero. (I also saw him throw up a Wakanda Forever with fans, a nod to the Black Panther Movie) Our hero impressed with several high flying maneuvers including a diving hurricanrana off the top rope. The heel, Caballero constantly argued “tres” with the ref every time he counted “two” leading to a lot of comedy and crowd participation. Ultimately Tulpa would score the pin after Caballero grabs the refs shirt, the ref pushes him off right into a roll up from Tulpa.
Winner: The #Hero4Hire, Tulpa
Before our next match we are introduced to the S.A.W. General Manager, Arlene. Arlene wastes no time in telling us who the surprise guest will be along with Goldberg at the upcoming Boardwalk Beatdown event in Atlantic City. She directs us to the video screen as we see a crow appear and none other then the legendary STING himself telling us that he will indeed be at Boardwalk Beatdown. After a huge pop from the fans, we see a fan holding a sign saying “You should have booked Frankie Pickard.” Well, yes that fan was indeed Frankie Pickard. GM Arlene said she would give him an opportunity to fight for a spot on the roster later in the show.
Next up we saw an exciting triple threat match featuring KC Navarro, Hyena Hexx, and Ryan Galeone. This was your classic David vs. Goliath (vs. another David) type match. Navarro and Hex showcased some great high-flying ability (including an impressive diving swanton off the top rope to the outside by Hexx) but were essentially dominated by the much bigger Galeone. Navarro was able to leave a perfect hand print on Galeone’s chest after a massive chop, but Galeone easily lifted Navarro with one hand, tossing him to the outside onto Hexx. This really was a fun match with a great mix of talent, but ultimately Galeone was able to easily get the pin on the much smaller wrestlers.
Winner: Ryan Galeone
Frankie Pickard was the next to come out to the ring when he was suddenly attacked by Dan O’Hare. GM Arlene came out to announce that (by the way) this match was a Hardcore match. The match was fun with kendo sticks, traffic signs, chairs and even a table. Pickard was able to powerbomb O’Hare through two chairs and even bust his opponent open. However, O’Hare went for a diving elbow on Pickard who was laid out on a table, when Pickard moved out of the way leaving O’Hare to hit the table and Pickard to capitalize for the win.
Winner (And now officially on the SAW roster): Frankie Pickard
Next up we were introduced to Demarcus Kane who essentially came out in with a suit jacket and pants over his gear. He offered his opponent LSG (accompanied by Gabby Ortiz) $1,000 to walk away from the fight. LSG accepted, but upon counting the money realized it was only a stack of singles. Now the really cool thing about this match was that throughout the match LSG threw the stacks of singles into the crowd. Needless, to say the crowd was into it! The match ended with Kane scoring the victory after evading an LSG flying knee off the apron and accidentally causing him to hit Gabby with the attack. I just remember fans jumping out of their seats and running over to the barrier to look over and see if she was okay.<
Winner: Demarcus Kane
After intermission we were lucky to see the Impact! tag Champions LAX vs. the CZW tag Champions The Rep in a quick but very entertaining match-up. LAX were very over with the crowd and kept everyone amused with their antics and in ring skills. This match was full of tandem offense as Ortiz and Santana (LAX) were able to hit an impressive leg drop, springboard moonsault combo simultaneously. (pic) After a lot of back and forth the Impact tag champs were able to get the W to the delight of the live audience.
Winners: LAX
Danny Gallagher was scheduled to have a match with Stefan Pennington, but was unable to compete due to a collar bone injury. Gallagher addressed the crowd but was rudely interrupted by the arrogant Pennington. Pennington got the most heat of the night as he was booed every single time he tried to speak into the mic. Ultimately, Kit Osbourne came out to take Gallagher’s place in a fun back and forth match. The crowd quickly got behind the fast paced Osbourne, who got the win over Pennington with a zig-zag type maneuver.
Winner: Kit Osbourne
Our first main event of the night featured former WWE and current ROH Superstar, Tenille Dashwood (fka Emma) vs. Brittany Blake. Tenille made it clear that it was indeed all bout her as she hit an early submission maneuver on the ropes and several corner body splashes on her opponent. Brittany Blake, who I believe is going to be the face of the S.A.W women’s division was able to get her offense going with some double knees and an impressive lower rope 619 attack. However, a missed flying knee strike into the referee changed everything. Tenille was able to take advantage until Blake caught her in the “Bad Omen” submission hold. It looked like her opponent was ready to tap when Impact’s Su Yung interfered and hit Blake with the red mist. Afterwards, Tenille was able to capitalize for the win. S.A.W. Announced that Blake would be able to get her revenge against Su Yung at the October 6th show, Full Throttle.
Winner: Tenille Dashwood<
The last match of the night saw none other than Martin Stone (NXT’s Danny Burch) vs. Joe Gacy. Gacy was incredibly over with the fans and had constant chants going for him throughout the match. This match was paced well, as Stone displayed some great mat wrestling and strength. As for Gacy, I have rarely seen a big man move as well as he did in the ring, performing a good amount of non big man moves. Also Gacy can really stomp a hole into someone. Lots of European Uppercuts from Stone and plenty of powerful slams from Gacy. Ultimately, and to my surprise Gacy was able to get the victory over the Englishman. Stone grabbed the mic and said that he wanted to test his abilities tonight against a talent like Gacy and that Gacy had earned his respect. It seems like Gacy may be one of if not THE top guy for the S.A.W promotion. Gacy thanked everyone for coming and said that this was just the beginning for Stand Alone Wrestling.
Winner: Joe Gacy
I have to say that this was one of the most fun Indy shows I had been to in a long time. The constant change of pace from match to match made the show flow nicely. (and fun) Having a majority of the roster available for fan interaction throughout the event was a huge plus. Additionally, with the announcement of both icons Goldberg and Sting coming to Boardwalk Beatdown this summer, Stand Alone Wrestling stands to make a major impact on the wrestling scene in the coming months.
-Rob Crowther IV
Photos: Ken Ortiz & Rob Crowther IV
