Written by Rob Crowther IV/Photos Contributed by Ken Ortiz
Last February, Stand Alone Wrestling made a huge impact on the indy wrestling scene with it’s debut show, Liftoff. The organization’s sophomore event, Momentum, a fundraiser for Pinelands High School picked up right where Liftoff left off (try saying that five times fast) and did not disappoint.
Here’s the thing about S.A.W. No matter if you’re at a big convention or in a high school gymnasium, they are going to bring in the stars. Last night the crowd was treated to an evening of meet and greets with none other than James Storm (formerly of Beer Money with Bobby Roode) Storm was great with the fans and would be competing in the night’s main event against Joe Gacy.
Our opening match-up saw Frankie Pickard against the very cocky Johnny Silver. Lot of vicious kicks this match by both competitors and a really epic Deep 6/Blue Thunder Bomb type maneuver from Silver on Pickard. (A personal fave move). However, Silver was way too into himself. Lots of flexing and cocky pins from Silver allowed the more present minded Pickard too take advantage for the 1, 2, 3. I had a chance to meet Pickard post-match and the guy is a perfect gentlemen and a tremendous talent.
Next up was “The Beast of Bel-Air” Stefan Pennington (with his proverbial whipping boy, Ari at his side) vs. the previously injured Danny Gallagher. There was a huge weight difference here as we joked the kid Gallagher was maybe 85 pounds soaking wet, but the up and comer really impressed. Gallagher wisely went for quick strikes and high flying maneuvers over the power game. However, the high risk moves came at a cost as Gallagher missed a plancha to the outside, and later ended up accidentally hitting Pennington’s manager (valet/whipping boy/Ward?) with an impressive running flying forearm off the ring steps. (Of course Pennington had pushed him into the forearm while side-stepping). Those ring steps would be Danny’s undoing as he took a bad headfirst push into the metal steps and got legit busted open. Gallagher took a beating this match. Pennington caught Gallagher off of a springboard maneuver into a slam, followed by a World’s Strongest Slam type finish to get the W. In true heel form, Pennington used Ari as ring steps, made him hold the ropes, and literally pushed him around. Lots of heat for Pennington.
I feel like this is a good time to mention that there were no mats on the gym hardwood floor. Regardless, everyone really went for it on the outside in most of the matches. Ouch.
The third match of the evening saw Anthony Bennett (of WWE Cruiserweight Classic fame) vs. Hyena Hexx. Hexx had really impressed me in his debut match at Liftoff and I was excited to see more. He was particularly over with the kids in attendance. That was not the case with the arrogant Bennett who pulled the whole give the light up glasses to the kid fake-out routine. Very mean. Hexx had some great high flying spring board spots while Bennett impressed with a modified 619 maneuver. Hexx won with a springboard moon-sault splash onto Bennett.
At this time, S.A.W GM Arlene came out to drop some HUGE news. S.A.W will be debuting four titles this summer at their marquee event Boardwalk Beatdown including a Heavyweight, Lightweight, Women’s, and Tag titles. From what I understand there will be fatal four way elimination matches that end with two competitors. Those remaining two competitors will go on to compete in another match later that night. I really like the freshness of this idea and it should make for an awesome show. (I haven’t even mentioned the convention yet). More on Boardwalk Beatdown later.
Soon after the announcement, the suit wearing Demarcus Kane came rolling in with a new squad. I don’t know the name of this faction yet, but I would certainly like to learn more about them. They had a good look, great gear, and were definitely a huge part of this match. Kane would have to compete against “The Lariat God” DJ Hyde, but not before a pre-match 4 on 1 beatdown on Hyde. The ref had no control whatsoever here, which would be his undoing as well. Instead of ejecting this new faction, the ref started the match and the whole thing was a numbers game. Hyde held his own, even at times taking down all four other opponents. Yet the numbers game was too much. There was some BLATANT interference with non competitors coming in and out of the ring. This was the most crazy unofficial handicap match I’ve seen and it was pure chaos. And again, the ref did nothing. After a lot of fight from Hyde, Demarcus Kane was able to score the “clean” pin-fall with a bull hammer type elbow finisher. Now you’ll never guess what happened next. There was a post-match beatdown on Hyde AND the ref! In my mind the ref had it coming for not getting any control out there!
Next up, “The Green Machine” Mike Orlando who hailed from Freehold, NJ made his way to the ring with chants of “Green Machine” from the crowd. I had heard some buzz about Orlando leading up to the event so I was excited to see him for the first time and he did not disappoint. Orlando was super over with the crowd and even put his illuminated green glasses on the ref pre-match. His opponent was the hardcore “Big Scare” Dan O’Hare.
O’Hare brought steel chairs and set them up out in the crowd before the bell rang.These would come into play very soon. Now going into the event I noticed that the bleachers had been stacked up back into the wall and it looked like a really cool opportunity for someone to climb. Well, Mike Orlando was that someone as he stole the show as he delivered a flying elbow from the top of the bleachers onto O’Hare through two steel chairs. Ouch. (Again, this is mat-less hardwood gym floor here) I talked to the Green Machine post-match and he said he was hurting. Yet there is no question in my mind that this is the type of guy that would go for it every single time. Orlando also impressed with a nice spear mid-match.
Now O’Hare is no slouch either as he has frequently impressed me with his hardcore style. O’Hare’s hardcore ways would ultimately be his undoing as after Orlando missed a Razor’s Edge type finish. O’Hare would straight up hit him with a chair for the DQ. O’Hare was trying to pull an Eddie Guerrero type fast one on the ref to no avail. This was a match of the night candidate. Bonus points for Orlando taking the high risk we were all hoping to see. Oh yeah, later in the night we could see Green Machine watching a few matches from atop the bleachers. Nice touch.
Now, the great thing about S.A.W events is the intimacy. Fans were delighted to meet and greet a majority of the roster during the intermission, and that is something I absolutely love about this organization. It is very fan oriented and the performers are great both in and out of the ring.
As we got back to the action, our Tag Team match-up of the night featured current CZW Tag Champs The REP vs. NJ’s Own American Murder Society. Now the REP are legit heels, but these guys are just so darn entertaining. They really got into it with the crowd a few times and it was great. Lots of great tandem offense from both teams and of course the REP had some fake tag ins. The REP sealed it fairly quickly with an inverted 3-D face-buster type move for the W. This team is really growing on me. I noticed a possible ankle tweak to Dave McCall of the Rep. Hopefully it’s nothing serious.
The next match was a big-time squash match as Ryan Galeone absolutely decimated “The Rogue” Brandon Kirk. Galeone allowed Kirk several free shots including several strikes. Afterwards Galone made short work of Kirk who looked like an early 2000s Jeff Hardy. Galeone stepped on Kirk’s chest several times and delivered a devastating powerbomb for the quick pin. Galeone has impressed in both S.A.W outings thus far.
The S.A.W. women’s division match saw fan favorite Brittany Blake vs. Russia’s own Leyla Hirsch. Hirsch was built for her size and seemed to favor an arm bar finisher which she locked in a few times throughout the match. Brittany impressed with a lower rope 619 type maneuver we affectionately dubbed the “732.” Lots of top rope moves from Blake and a nice powerbomb into hurricanrana reversal as well. Lots of submission reversals here as well leading Blake to lock in one final Bad Omen submission for the victory. No doubt in my mind that Blake will be our first ever S.A.W Women’s Champion.
I was super excited to find out our next match was a triple threat elimination match from three top lightweights, KC Navarro, Tulpa, and Kit Osbourne. Pre-match “The Rogue” Brandon Kirk re-emerged injured, but insisted he be added to the match. GM Arlene allowed it, stating, “It’s your funeral.” This match was so great I wish it had been longer. I don’t know what I liked better. Tulpa (the hero for hire) vs. KC one-on-one moments or their tandem offense. It’s no secret I’m a sucker for the fast paced high flying styles, but these guys always impress me. These two as a tag team or having a straight up feud would be excellent. KC had an insane DDT at one point and a nice suicide dive onto Tulpa. Kit Osbourne was elminated early with a roll-up, but stuck around to complain for a long time.
After Navarro elimated Tulpa, Kirk stepped it up. Kirk hit an insane springboard reverse RKO type neckbreaker onto a mid-air spring-boarding KC that was another highlight of the show. I can’t remember too many other mid air collisions quite like that. Yet this powerful maneuver was not enough as Kirk used a sneaky low blow on KC for the win. To add insult to injury Kirk hit another post match low blow. Kirk who was obliterated earlier that night scored a huge win over three big time lightweights.
Our main event saw Joe Gacy who dawned some new gear reading “Wrestling Maniac” with a light up face mask enter the ring with more of a tweener/heel role than I had previously seen. This allowed for the ever charismatic Cowboy James Storm to come out to a huge ovation from the crowd. Storm poked fun at Gacy and attempted some early super kicks, that Gacy was able to avoid. Lots of grappling and power moves early from both heavyweights until both men came out into the crowd. The charismatic cowboy Storm had some fun with the crowd as he would lift audience members’ feet and throw Gacy headfirst into their kicks. He even did it with a four year old girl and that made her night. Later Gacy was able to hit an awesome rope rebound back handspring jumping neckbreaker that was very impressive. His agility is very impressive. Later Storm hit a front lungblower (code-breaker) maneuver into his Last Call super kick but Gacy was able to grab the ropes.
The match ended as Storm tried to hit his spinning Eye of the Storm (Razor’s Edge) but Gacy escaped and the ref was knocked down. Gacy went for the chair, missed his chair shot and whacked himself in the head off the rope rebound. Storm hit the Last Call super kick twice and sealed the win. Again, Gacy played more of the heel role but really showed his true colors as he shook hands with Storm to end the night. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. I think Gacy is going to the be the face of Stand Alone Wrestling. I even think it’s a safe bet that he will be our first ever S.A.W world heavyweight champion.
Momentum was a solid sophomore showing by S.A.W and was just a taste of what August 25th’s Boardwalk Beatdown will have in store. Aside from debuting all S.A.W titles in a massive tournament setting, the event is highlighted by a MASSIVE convention with the likes of Goldberg, Sting, The Bullet Club, Hurricane Helms, Lisa Marie Von (Victoria), Hardcore Holly, Su Yung, Ken Shamrock, Abyss, James Ellsworth, Tenille Dashwood (Emma), all of your favorite S.A.W. wrestlers, and so much more.
The Pop Break will be on the scene to cover what may very well be one of the biggest wrestling events in Atlantic City’s history, and possibly the start of something special within the independent wrestling scene.
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