Kane, Bell Steal The Show At Action Wrestling

Based out of Tyrone, GA, just about 20 minutes south of Atlanta, is Action Wrestling.

Founded in 2018 and operated by CEO Matt Griffin, the promotion traditionally runs one night a month with that night having back-to-back shows. The promotion is also part of the IWTV family, which means all of its shows are uploaded to the platform and sometimes streamed live.

Action Wrestling consistently hosts some of the top independent names in the South, such as AC Mack, JD Drake, Suge D, Logan Creed, Alan Angels and MLW’s Violence Is Forever. When you get the best names, that usually leads to having the best cards. Each show is well-rounded, boasting a ton of variety as pro wrestling should.

This was my third Action Wrestling event with my first show being the 3rd Anniversary Show and my second being the Boogie Nights event. Despite only attending three events, I’ve been following the company since early 2020. If you’re a frequent visitor of The Wrestling Estate, you know that I recently wrote about Southern Honor Wrestling. Action Wrestling is grittier – I love the diversity that comes with independent wrestling.

Action Wrestling’s Game Over results from June 25

No Mas (King Garuda & Takuri) defeated The Bitcoin Boyz (Eric Taylor & Mikey Montogomery)

A very fun opener here and a great way to start the night. The Bitcoin Boyz were everything you’d expect, they’re great at being the over-the-top heels. I’ve followed Takuri for almost two years dating back to his early WWA4 days, so it’s really neat to see him working his way up. King Garuda was sporting some cool Batman gear while Takuri chose Superman-themed attire.

Garuda was beat down early in the match, but when Takuri got the eventual hot tag, the place went nuts. Takuri’s style of wrestling introduces a lot of intensity, which made the hot tag that much better. The match went around roughly nine minutes and Takuri was able to win with a frog splash that got some wicked airtime.

Robert Martyr defeated Brogan Finlay

The son of Fit Finlay and brother of NJPW/Impact wrestler David Finlay, Brogan Finlay is quickly shooting up the ranks. It was a family affair as the whole Finlay clan was in attendance. This was only Brogan’s 10th match EVER. He’s only 18 years old and is already working with top tier independents like Beyond Wrestling.

But, don’t let me undersell Robert Martyr. He’s going to be really special as well.

This bout happened to determine the ninth entrant into the Action Futures Showcase Tournament in August. This match was really good with Martyr playing the heel role very well. His style is catch/submission wrestling, which only added to his heel tactics. Finlay has a few things nailed down, mainly his striking and selling.

Martyr won the match in about nine minutes with a modified cloverleaf submission. The crowd seemed genuinely shocked that Finlay didn’t win the match, but after following Martyr for about four months, I’d say he deserved the win.

Brett Ison defeated Noah Hossman

Brett Ison is a mainstay in the southern indie scene, and he’s a real treat to watch. If I had to compare him, I’d choose Shane Taylor. He lays everything – and I mean EVERYTHING in.

I don’t know too much about Noah Hossman, but he’s a hoss as well. Noah also lays his stuff in. He wears amateur wrestling-type headgear, which surely didn’t help when getting clocked by Ison. This was a three-minute squash match to ease the pace of the show, although Hossman did get some offense in.

Alex Kane defeated Graham Bell

This was insane.

I’ve been following Alex Kane for the same amount of time I’ve followed Takuri, about two years. His ascension has been really fun to watch and he’s really heating up at the moment with MLW recently signing him.

Graham Bell came to the ring with a…bazooka? I don’t know if this is normal as this is the first time I’ve seen Bell, but it was pretty intimidating and cool. The story leading up to this match on Twitter was that Kane, the “Suplex Assassin,” wouldn’t be able to suplex Bell.

Action Wrestling is sponsored by a local printing company, so it’s able to provide the crowd with neat signs. They add to the experience a lot. Something else that really adds to Kane’s presentation is his theme song – the whole crowd gets up and sings along.

This was probably match of the night. Bell avoided the first few suplex attempts from Kane, but eventually ended up taking 10 of them; with the final one being from the top rope to win the match. Bell had some really good spots in this contest, including a top rope elbow drop and a sweet F5. The match went about 14 minutes and both guys worked their asses off.

Orion Bishop defeated Arthur McArthur

Orion Bishop and Arthur McArthur were able to have an entertaining encounter following the phenomenal Bell/Kane match. McArthur plays the annoying and overbearing heel role. He taunted and tried to play mind games with Bishop a lot, but Bishop pummeled him in about 6 minutes. Bishop puts a lot of oomph behind his slams. It makes his matches quite enjoyable and I could easily see him moving up the Action card soon.

Cabana Man Dan defeated Jaden Newman

Matt “Sex” Sells was the guest ring announcer. The Action fans LOVE this guy and he’s probably the most over guy on the entire show. He’s currently injured and not cleared for competition, but he’s in a feud with Jaden Newman. Sells was very rude to Newman in his entrance, but made Cabana Man Dan’s entrance colorful and fun.

Both of these competitors are an absolute joy to watch for different reasons. Cabana Man Dan is a fun, enjoyable babyface who’s just a really great wrestler while Jaden Newman is a really annoying heel who knows how to get heat. I’d compare Newman to a 2010ish Miz-type character.

The match itself was okay, funny more than anything. Around two minutes in, Newman grabbed a microphone and started commentating his own match. He even would shout “OW” and curse into the microphone when he was getting hit with big moves, pretty comical stuff. The match only went around six minutes and CMD won after he tossed Newman over his head and it seemed like he hit his head on the microphone. Newman took a minute to get up after the match, so I hope he is okay.

Culture Inc. defeated Bobby Flaco and Rob Killjoy

I’d never seen Culture Inc or Rob Killjoy before this match, but I was left quite impressed. Bobby Flaco is another WWA4 trainee that I’ve had my eye on for about two years. He’s a very fun, likeable babyface. Culture Inc is made up of Eli Knight and Malik Bosede. Other members include Nick Holiday and Kiah Dream, but they were not present.

This was a modern tag team match to say the least, with a ton of really neat dives and flips. Eli Knight especially stood out and had some star-making moments, including a top-rope Spanish fly. It’s worth mentioning that Flaco has one of the better dropkicks on the independent scene. He’s also a great seller. This match went just under 11 minutes and Culture Inc won after Killjoy was distracted and got rolled up. Good stuff from everybody involved.

Kevin Ryan defeated Damyan Tangra

Kevin Ryan and Damyan Tangra continued the streak of great matches on this show – and again it was different than anything else.

Ryan is another person who benefits from Action’s partnership with a local printing company, as they hand out signs that say “Kevin Ryan sucks….. a lot” and almost every person in the crowd will hold them up. He probably got the loudest boos of the night next to Jaden Newman.

Damyan Tangra’s nickname is “The Mat Scientist,” which is very cool and unique. If you couldn’t tell, he’s a very good technical wrestler. There was a point in the match where Ryan draped Tangra off of the turnbuckle and DDT’d him on the apron. Another awesome moment in the match is where Ryan went for a flip off the top rope, but Tangra caught him mid-air with an uppercut.

Ryan was able to beat Tangra after his partner Suge D’s music distracted Tangra, allowed him to roll up for the pin. After the match, Ryan announced that Suge D would be returning at Action’s next show. Ryan proposed that Tangra find a tag partner to face him and Suge.

Announcement

Since inception, Action Wrestling has had only one title: the Action Championship. Well, Griffin announced Tag Team Championships were also on the way. The company hosts a solid amount of talented tag teams so it’s only right they have something to compete for.

Adam Priest defeated AC Mack

This match was fine. Priest started the match mocking Mack’s intro that he does in his entrance, but Mack jumped him from behind. It’s worth noting that Priest had a cast on his hand, something that Mack went after early on. The match went about six minutes and Priest won after Mack attempted his finisher, but Priest reversed and hit him with his cast. Priest followed up with a low blow and a roll up for the win.

Logan Creed and Arik Royal’s Action Championship Match went to a no contest

A great championship match with a questionable finish ended the night.

You may remember Logan Creed from my previous review of Southern Honor Wrestling, or you may recognize him as Mads Krügger in MLW. Creed is arguably the biggest star in Georgia independent wrestling as he seems to pop up everywhere. This is only my second time seeing Arik Royal, but he’s very impressive and has great star-making qualities. He was the Action Champion going into this match.

Creed had his left thigh heavily taped up, so naturally Royal tried to go after it the entire match. Logan controlled the early part of the bout, hitting his “Scorched Earth” finisher right away. Royal survived Creed’s onslaught of offense and eventually trapped his leg in the ropes, allowing Royal to slow down the match. Later on, Royal went for his finisher, but missed and collided with the referee. Another ref came out, but he was taken out the same way.

This prompted Matt Sells to come out with a referee shirt. Sells climbed in the ring and began to count a Royal pinfall on Creed, but he faked a hand injury to stop the count. Royal was rightfully pissed and got in Sells’ face, who shoved him right into Creed…who hit a Scorched Earth. Sells went down to count, but Jaden Newman came out and yanked him out of the ring.

The original referee eventually regained consciousness, realized what was going on and threw out the match. The crowd wasn’t very happy with this. Sells announced shortly after that he and Creed will be teaming up to take on Newman and Royal at the next Action Wrestling event.

Final Thoughts: Besides a few flat finishes, I really enjoyed this show. There wasn’t a bad match on the card and a select few matches delivered in a big way. Another big shoutout to Alex Kane and Graham Bell, which was my match of the night. Another thing I’ll compliment Action Wrestling on is the diversity in talent. The promotion always seems to bring in new talent for every show, keeping things fresh and introducing young wrestlers to a new audience.

Action Wrestling’s next show will be on August 13 and if you’re in the area, tickets will be available at https://actionwrestling.tumblr.com/

You can also check out Action Wrestling on: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram

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Thanks for reading. I cover Atlanta independent wrestling for The Wrestling Estate, and I’ll be back next week for coverage of Southern Honor Wrestling.

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