2015 Scenic City Invitational

[shoe]

Overall I thought the show was great. The wrestling up and down the card was really good. The announcing was amazing. They did a great job of getting the wrestlers over. Making them seem important. Going over their key wins etc. On the VOD we didn't get it. Maybe on the DVD you do, but I would have liked a quick my name is, and my finisher is. Still the announcers were so great that the video pakages really aren't neccesary. I really encourage people to check this out. Watching this makes me jealous. I really want to see a Texas Cup. If you enjoyed KOTR this year like Johnny Sorrow. Get the SCI because it smokes KOTR.

[shoe]

So my 5 favorite matches of the tournament were.

 

1. Rave vs Konga Kong vs Gunner vs Corey Hollis 4*

2.Caprice Coleman vs Jason Collins 3 1/2*

3. Jimmy Rave vs Gunner Miller 3 1/2*

4.Jimmy Rave vs Anthony Henry 3 1/4*

5. KT Hamill vs Moose 3 1/4*

 

Plus tons of honorable mentions.

[Grimmas]

Pete is SCI the best tournament of the year?

[shoe]

Well I haven't seen BOLA. I've seen this , G1, WXW 16 Carat, and Progress Strong Style.

[Grimmas]

Well I haven't seen BOLA. I've seen this , G1, WXW 16 Carat, and Progress Strong Style.

Rank them? I love tournaments so if those other two are good I may check them out.

[shoe]

I thought the G1 highs were higher.

SCI was booked very good. I wanted Hamill to go further was my only complaint. The wrestling was more grounded, and we got a real consistant tournament.

WXW

Progress Strong Style

[shoe]

The other 2 are worth checking out.

[shoe]

G1 is totally different from the other 3 tournaments. I liked the SCI better than the other 2. In Progress you had guys like Roddy who had just as good of a tourney as Rave, but not even close on versatility of tournament.You also had Sabre Jr. where the same things that could be said. Coming out of this tournament Jimmy Rave and AJ are the most versatile wrestlers on the planet at playing roles.

[shoe]

Actually it was so long ago that I had things off.

 

1. SCI

 

2. Progress Strong Style 16 and I thought the wrestling on the Progress show was better in day 2. At times I hate the Progress crowd and hurt the tournament. The shitty, shitty little boots chant at Strong needs to be retired ASAP.

 

3. WXW 16 carat was the worse of the 3.

 

I think SCI, and Progress compare well with one another, but I guarantee SCI put on a killer show on a fraction of a budget as Progress did, Let alone WXW.

[concrete1992]

Quick thoughts on N1:

-Tons of variety. Between character work, pacing, and stylistically, the show was super easy to get through(even if I skipped the main event because I am lazy)

 

-Moose is wonderful. A truly shocking development.

 

-I love beef. Love it between two slices of bread and love it between the ropes. Kongo Kong and Tank delivered essentially what I expected. I didn't need more than they gave me. THOUGH if Empire down the line wanted to book this in a more "hardcore" type match I would be 100% for it.

 

-Coleman vs. Collins was my MOTN. Can totally understand why Henry vs. Rave got a ton of hype out of the show as it felt like a well worked main event to an ROH live event. And on this show that would certainly stick out compared to this match ACTUALLY being a main event on an ROH live event. Still, really good match. Coleman vs. Collins was more interesting on a couple levels though. First, Coleman doesn't get a ton of time to shine in ROH. In this R1 match he looked like one of the best hands on the indie scene today. Makes me want to go back through his AML work where he is champion(or was at least) even if it wasn't as good as the Collins match. He came across as someone you could easily throw into a TV title program or tag title program with no problem.The bump he took at the end looked ridiculous. Collins isn't a finished article by any means. Part of that is because he doesn't even have finished tights. Some of his suplexes were brutal though, in a completely awesome way.

 

-Whoo has done a tremendous job at making these shows accessible. Many indies are hopping on the streaming service train BUT I'm not sure if there is a complete enough indie out there, outside of maybe EVOLVE, to make that a worthy purchase. With the SCI you have a piecemeal rental approach as well as a full show approach and I suppose a DVD approach as well if that is your speed. Southern indie wrestling is not known for their forward thinking approach to distribution. That is their prerogative though. Likewise, you can't blame people for not trying to scour the web for this stuff when it is hit-or-miss and even the hits can come in shite packaging. I know Empire TV has a video section on their site but I have lost the password twice so it can piss off. Like...just lemme watch the videos? Okay,

 

Okay, back to Whoo and SCI. Giving customers choice is great. They've gone above and beyond to deliver that and I think they have even underpriced this. Actually, they've underpriced it but if the intent is to get people in the door after they tested things out with Styles vs. Rave then I completely understand. THAT match was not correctly priced in my eyes as it was $6 for a DVD with one match and for $3 you didn't even get to own it on VOD. Here they turned the corner and are giving you quality wrestling, quality production, very affordable pricing, and flexible purchasing. Whoo could do wonders on changing the perception of southern indie wrestling as "backwards" as far as releasing footage.

[Childs]

Just started watching and one thing that quickly struck me was the quality of the announcing. Really good combination of calling the action, enthusiasm for the product and explaining the bios of the wrestlers.

[Loss]

Anthony Henry vs Joey Lynch

I like both that this was added and the reason given for this being added. People either are more pumped up on Night 2 or the building is micd better. Announcers also touch on Jimmy Rave's shoulder injury and getting rear-ended earlier in the day. Is that work, storyline or a combination? I like this match, but some of the moves were a little too indy innovative for my tastes. Henry is a freak of nature, though. I love that weird hold he did that I can't even describe. If you watched the match, you know the one. It's also hard for me to be too critical of a match with a bridge up and where the announcer references Kerry Von Erich beating Ric Flair for the NWA World Title when a backslide is used.

[Loss]

Jason Collins vs Corey Hollis

Here we go, Round 2! The crowd is on Hollis's case so he decides to go with it and turns up the heel stuff in a great way. So maybe he has already found his way. I love Hollis making Collins put a chinlock on himself, and I like how they repeated the eye poke to give Hollis another win. This was really good, especially considering how short it was. Hollis was the asshole I knew he could be after watching the first match. ***

[Dylan Waco]

Rave's injury was a shoot/work synthesis. The wreck was legit, I saw the car.

 

As far as the crowd, there were 125 more people in the building on night 2.

[shoe]

Night 1 thoughts.

 

Corey Hollis vs Joey Lynch

Hollis is a guy I've seen work ROH and get over. That was in a babyface role. Here he's the heel. I love WTBS circa 1988 graphics. Why did the security guy run to the dive? Wilson and Getz are good getting the history of the wrestlers over. I liked the slimy escape from the submission. 3 1/4*

Ace Rockwell vs Mark Vandy

Solid bout.

KT Hamill vs Moose

KT getting Moose over early by putting over Mooses strength. The push ups are nice. Thumb to the eye. Hamill is working a smart match working the leg, and going after the eyes. I think Hamill is the best worker in the tournament. Moose selling the leg pretty good. Hamill mocking Moose. Hamill eating all of Mooses offense. Moose catching Hamill gpoing for the rana and power bombing him on the apron was big. Hamill back to the leg. 3 1/4*

Kongo Kong vs Tank

Tank is over big from his Wildside days. Tough guy battle here. The forearm exchanges were done really well. Kong's clothesline was nasty. Solid match.

Caprice Coleman vs Jason Collins

The mat work is really well done. I laughed when Coleman looked like he was mimicking escapes and just grabbed the ropes. Beautiful knee drop by Collins. Like Collins going after the neck. Collins working the crowd is well done. Collins going to a modified Urange still working the neck. Collins putting over Coleman's kung-Fu was good. I liked how the match built to Coleman's athletic spots. Collins will cut him off with a suplex throw. Coleman brought a lot of sizzle to the match, but Collins was the steak. A really great match. Collins was great working holds, and the crowd. Loved him working the neck throughout, and that it played into the finish. 3 1/2*

Chip Day vs Gunnar Miller

Gunnar is over big. Day is all over him. Day's offense looks really credible. Gunnar showing fight. Gunnar is a bluechipper. The double knees from the top looked so nasty. Day looked tremendous carrying this. Gunnar at times looked great. Other times looked green. Punches were inconsistent. The idea of the finish was good, but it didn't look all that amazing. Day had too much girth to defy gravity.

Anthony Henry Vs Jimmy Rave

Some mat work to start.I'm really enjoying the exchanges between the 2. It comes across as real credible. Loving Henry's Straight Jacket Surfboard that Rave counters. We're seeing both guys going after the neck. STO by Rave on the apron. That should be a game changer. Big Superplex by Rave. Henry's Corner Tope' Suicida was camoflauged very well. Payback spot by Henry on the apron. The finish was interesting. I dug thecrossface stuff, and played into the neck work. The playing possum before that left me a little cold. Fun match. 3 1/2*

Gunner vs Chrisjen Hayme

Gunner showing off his strength. He has an aura about him. Big vertical Suplex by Gunner. This went too long. I never believed in Hayme . . That spinebuster should have been the finish.

General thoughts: I thought the announcing was top notch. These guys take pride in their craft. The wrestling up and down the card was good, and different. Watching this I get jealous that we can't get a 2 day Texas Cup tournament. They do one in November, but it's a one day tourney. I can see 20 people list their favorite matches in order , and get 20 different responses. I want to give props to Caprice Coleman, and KT Hamill . Both guys had matches that got their opponents over. Coleman's match with Collins got Collins over as this suplex master. Hamill's match showed how to work a compelling match with Moose. On top of it those guys came in for 1 day and really brought it. Easy Thumbs up show.

[shoe]

Night 2 thoughts

 

Anthony Henry vs Joey Lynch

I'm loving the start of this. Lynch's strikes are nasty and Henry is right with him. Lynch with a pretty corkscrew plancha. Fuck Henry's sunset power bomb was tight. Lynch has a nice variety of strikes. Dug Henry's submission. Overall, a fun opener. Finish was a tad flat. 3*

Corey Hollis vs Jason Collins

Pappa Hales gets snubbed on his high five. Digging both guys working the crowd. Collins dung his shoulder. Liking Hollis working the shoulder. Collins goes for the equalizer. Collins needs to dump the flip clothesline. Wicked suplex by Collins. Good match. 2 3/4 *

Gunner vs Ace Rockwell

Gunner looks like such a star. Explosive start. Gunner's power moves are tight.

Konga Kong vs Moose

These guys are legit hosses. I thought they could have built to a big spot of Kong going down. Kind of anti-climatic. Liked Kong working Moose's back. I liked how Moose's back gave up from the weight. A fucking rana from Kong. I dug the shit out of this 3*.

Jimmy Rave vs Gunner Miller

Rave putting over Gunner's strength early. Loving Rave begging off to the crowd. Rave is really playing NWA champion here. This is an amazing performance from Rave. Rave is doing what Flair did in the 80's and has the crowd believing that Miller is this unstoppable force. Loved the Electric Chair German Suplex by Miller. The playing possum is a call back to the night before. What a great finish to keep Miller strong.What a performance and great match. Plus we get a Rick Michaels sighting. 3 1/2*

8 man tag

A real fun cooler match.

Jimmy Rave vs Gunner vs Corey Hollis vs Kongo Kong

Kong dominating Gunner early. Rave in, and tags Hollis in. Kong and Hollis. Hollis eating all of Kong's offense. Gunner jumps down forcing Rave to wrestle. Rave taking a beating. Hollis bumping for Kong. Now he's got to deal with Gunner. Watching Gunner and Rave on the mat. Rave looks to be going after the leg. Yet he tags in Kong. What a bump by Kong. I want to see a Hollis vs Gunner match. Rave with some nasty leg work. Hollis and Rave look to working together. Gunner is great at selling this. Wow Al Getz tells Dylan Hales bus ride story. Gunner's selling is top notch. Big fuck up by the heels. Kong is a house of fire. In typical babyface Manner Gunner hobbles into the ring for a fight. This match rules. I hated that Gunner used his bad wheel to take out Kong. I could have lived with a spear. Gunner leg gives out on a leap frog. Dragon screw into a 1/2 Boston Crab. Hollis eating all of Gunnar's offense. Hollis finisher is poison for his opponents. Now Rave can morph into a babyface. Final 2 and it's for all the marbles. These guys are selling a battle. Both guys not giving an inch. If the match ended with the crossface I'd been happy. Another guy runs in. I feel if we didn't get the 2 run ins, and Gunner not using his bumb knee as a finish we're looking at a MOTYC. We did though and it's still an excellent match 4*.

Final Thoughts. I liked how Night 2 even took it to another level. Jimmy Rave was my MVP of the tournament. His versatility here was the glue of the tournament. He was the AJ Styles in the G1, Roddy Strong of Progress Strong Style, and Willie Mack of the KOTI . Moose needs to go to ROH management and beg them to hire Hamill, and Kong. I'd love to see what Rave would get out of a Moose. Gunner is a star. Gunner Miller has an incredible future. Hollis deserves major props as well and a guy who happened to get overshadowed by Rave's tourney. Thumbs up.

[Dylan Waco]

Pete, rewatch Gunner v Rockwell, love that match

[shoe]

I will again. I've watched it twice because Zellner and you put it over big. I'm not seeing it. Maybe the 3rd times the charm. I was wondering if it was a match that I needed to understand the context better.

[Dylan Waco]

I will give a lot more thoughts on this show in podcast form soon, and in this thread as well, but one thing I think is interesting is the wide divergence of views on what the top match was. Usually you see people coalesce around one match as the clear best of, maybe two. But so far I have seen at least six matches cited on the boards, Twitter, or review sites as the best of the two shows (Rockwell v. Gunner, Kong v. Moose, Henry v. Lynch, Rave v. Henry, Collins v. Coleman and the Finals). That really sticks out to me not only as an indication that the shows are really strong, but also about the variety of the shows. I think it says a lot for this sort of model of a tournament, as there pretty clearly was something for everyone, and every reviewer seems to have liked the shows a good deal, even if only a handful have touted an individual match at MOTY level.

[Childs]

Add me to the chorus of folks who enjoyed this. I didn't love any individual match (liked many and didn't dislike any) but it was a very well booked tournament. There was real diversity in the field and they did a great job establishing each character, then playing them off one another in ways that kept both nights fresh. It's a testament to the booking that you could've gone into the final with an equally valid rooting interest in any of the four guys.

 

For that reason, I probably appreciated the final most. We often see in WWE how hard it is to keep a three- or four-way balanced and interesting. But they really pulled it off.

[Hobbes]

Finally watched night one and like Childs, I enjoyed the show without being blown away by any individual match. That being said, with so many super indy all-star tournaments, it was really refreshing to see a tournament that was a nice mix of up and comers and polished veterans.

 

- The announcing was great, as everyone is saying. Wilson and Getz did a great job of filling in every wrestler's backstory without sounding like smarmy know it all's (Like Matt Striker) and without sounding like they were just reading their research notes off a piece of paper (Like Joey Styles). If anything, they did almost too good a job covering the backstories, as a lot of times I got so engrossed in what they were saying that I had to rewind because I had glossed over the wrestling. With so much ground to cover in a tournament, it might have been better to have some prematch introduction videos, as others have said.

 

- Tank/Kong was good, but a little disappointing. The opening part with the brawl outside was good, (although some of the strikes were surprisingly weak) and the end with Kong's big impressive moves was great, but the middle part with Tank doing three straight nerve holds was a letdown, especially in a nine minute match. I was just listening to part of the review of this show on This Week in Wrestling and I agree with Dylan that this could've been improved if it was just a 6-7 minute match. Cut out the middle part and you have a very good bomb throwing monster brawl. Godzilla vs. King Kongo Kong. It still amazes me that someone like Kong isn't getting booked everywhere. A big fat guy that can do moves as impressive as that splash can get over anywhere.

 

- Coleman/Collins and Rave/Henry are tied for my match of night one. Coleman/Collins I liked immediately, because it felt like all of Coleman's athletic offense was being used not just because he was capable of doing it, but because that was the only way he'd be able to win. He almost always regained control with athleticism. Rave/Henry I was disappointed at on first watch because of how much it had been hyped, but on rewatch I enjoyed it a lot more and I noticed a lot of things about the match structure that I didn't on first watch. In fact, that may have been the smartest layout for a match I've seen all year. Rave getting consistently outworked on the mat early on and bailing to the outside so often was a great slow build, and there were multiple set ups that got paid off in the match. People are talking about the dueling spit spots, which were great, but I also really liked just a simple thing like Henry succeeding on a leapfrog and then catching Rave as he immediately tried to do the same. The end run with Rave being knocked out was awkward, but the improvised finish was great, as Rave bailing to the floor played into the early part of the match. It had that great "clean win by a cunning heel, but still kind of shitty that he just caught him off guard by bailing to the outside so often" feel. I liked Henry's babyface fire and overall performance but I need to see more Anthony Henry matches so I can tell if he really is that good or was just in a smart Jimmy Rave layout.

 

The biggest compliment I can give to Night One is that even though I came into this show only knowing a few of the guys, I came out of it really wanting to see Night Two and having definite favorites.

[Hobbes]

- Finished Night Two and really liked the tournament as a whole. It's a testament to the level of talent in this tournament that it was this good even with Hamill, Coleman and Henry all getting eliminated in the first round. You could run this tournament a second time with all the same guys, let those three go on deep runs, and I would be just as excited to see that as anything else they could book.

 

- Henry and Hollis are obviously the two guys that seem like they'd fit in ROH or PWG, both in terms of working style and appearance. Henry and Lynch basically had a moderately toned down PWG undercard match on night two and that springboard power bomb Henry does would get over in even the most jaded workrate promotion.

 

- I was really impressed with how Kongo Kong was able to have a second hoss vs. hoss match in two nights with Moose and have it feel different than his match with Tank the night before.

 

- My match of the weekend is Rave vs. Henry but the four way is probably second. It's neck and neck between that and Collins/Coleman. I don't usually rate matches with stars but I think watching the rest of the tournament before the main event raised my enjoyment of that match by at least a star. They played off so many things that had happened previously. Kong having his third hoss battle of the tournament. the progression of Kong going from the top rope splash in match one to the rana in match two to the missed moonsault in match three. I loved how Kong largely dominated Gunner in their exchanges until Gunner got his revenge in the end. The Rave spitting stuff was a great callback, and I liked how his crossface didn't work the first two times but it did when he finally hit the From Dusk Til Dawn variation.

 

I think one thing that really set the four way apart was how it was worked compared to most multi-man matches. I feel like most wrestlers view multi-man's as just spotfests with a million tags and multi-way spots and hey, that's one way to approach it and I like those matches. This match did have a fast pace and a bunch of tags, but it felt like a collection of mini-matches and little stories instead of just a stunt show. You had the multiple Kong vs. Gunner sequences that lead to an elimination, you had Hollis and Rave reuniting to work over Gunner and his leg, you had Kong laying waste to Hollis/Rave, and then you had the Hollis/Rave confrontation that was saved for the end. I even liked how the guys would use the special rules to bail out of the ring and force a tag. It was almost always done at a time where it would make sense for the person to both want to exit, and also be able to exit, and sometimes it would even be accompanied by the wrestler telling someone else "You deal with him".

 

- I wasn't quite as high on Hollis as other people were until the finals, where I felt like he turned up his charisma another couple of notches. His facial expressions and physical reactions to situations were fantastic.

 

- One of my spots of the weekend was on night two, was when Rave did his big clothesline to Miller and held the pose, just like he did to Henry, but this time the big tough guy Miller is standing and just patiently waiting for Rave to turn around. Simple, but awesome.

 

- My one minor negative was it was a little weird to see Rave be the crafty, near riot starting heel and then have to transition to being the tournament winner who valiantly fights off interference and wins the whole thing clean. I like Rave, am glad he won and love him as a heel, so I don't know if I'd change anything, but it was a strange feeling. Al using a hushed "Owen Hart has died" tone in his commentary after the Miller screw job was a little overblown, and maybe the only bad spot in some otherwise great commentary from him, although I did enjoy how he kind of explained what he was feeling at the start of the main event.

 

Bring on the next SCI. They're running it next month, that's what my dreams told me. Right guys? RIGHT?!

[Bierschwale]

I think that it would have only worked with Rave. The entire meta-story of his resurrection and all.