Professional wrestling has been associated with the South for a very long time. Many classic promotions such as World Class Championship Wrestling, Mid-Atlantic Wrestling, Mid-South Wrestling, and Jim Crockett Promotions/World Championship Wrestling set the South on fire. The connection between Southern states and pro wrestling is so deep that Southern style is a legitimate genre of the sport we all love. At some point, you could say Southern style wrestling had lost its heat. Fortunately, I think we got our mojo back, daddy!

Professional wrestling in the South, particularly Georgia and Tennessee is as hot as ever. One of the promotions I credit for that is ACTION Wrestling. ACTION Wrestling is still relatively new to the game of professional wrestling. The first ACTION show happened on April 27th, 2018. Despite the promotion’s youth, it is in my opinion, one of the best promotions going today. I honestly don’t think a promotion can have a better rookie year than ACTION. Because of this, I would compare ACTION to both Shinsuke Nakamura and Cain Justice. ACTION Wrestling is a super rookie-esque promotion with an unlimited amount of potential.

The man behind ACTION wrestling is Matt Griffin. Back in the 90s and 2000s, Matt wrestled under the name Jacey North. Matt would eventually retire and try his hand at improv. The hiatus wouldn’t last forever as Matt found his way back into wrestling. Before he even began wrestling, Matt was a Marine for eight years. At a young age, Matt developed a knack for giving back to the community. He still follows that same philosophy as a CEO. For every show, the proceeds go to a different charity.

Because he’s so involved with the community, Matt is able to bring a lot of families into ACTION. Those families might not even be avid fans of professional wrestling, but that’s unimportant. Even if you don’t necessarily get or understand the appeal of pro wrestling, Matt will always give you your money’s worth in family-friendly entertainment. I have never seen a child at the show not having fun. Kids will holler at the top of their lungs for the heroes and boo the villains out of the building every time!

The ACTION environment might be great. However, the wrestling is even greater. Because Matt likes to bring in the best talent from all over the country, ACTION has a bit of a PWG feel to it. However, the ACTION roster has a lot of homegrown talent as well. This combination is crucial. With the variety of talent, ACTION provides a good mix of dream matches and matches that test the local homegrown talent against bigger names.

With that in mind, here is a list of matches I consider must see from ACTION’s debut year:

  1. Fred Yehi vs Cain Justice- April 27th, 2018: We are starting this list with a technical wrestling dream match. Yehi is known for his work with Evolve where he shared the ring with accomplished wrestlers like WALTER, Zack Sabre Jr., Timothy Thatcher, Jordan Myles (FKA ACH), and Matt Riddle. On the other hand, Cain Justice is a bit of a wrestling prodigy based out of North Carolina where he trained under the tutelage of Cameron Grimes (FKA Trevor Lee). This was Cain’s biggest test in his young career. For 15 minutes, fans got a match that was part street fight, part technical clinic, and 100% awesome! (Yehi via Koji Clutch)
  2. The Lynch Mob (Joey and Matt Lynch) vs AC Mack & Ike Cross- June 29th, 2018: Local heels, AC and Ike test their skills against one of the most popular and respected tag teams of the South, The Lynch Mob. Joey was coming off a victory over AC. After that match, Joey suggested that at the next show, AC find a partner to do battle with Joey and Matt. The Lynch Mob has the experience, but AC is motivated and is unbelievably crafty. For 10 minutes, these four incredible athletes went full throttle. If you want an action-packed sprint, look no further. This one is straight fire, as the kids say! (Lynch Mob via More Bang for Your Buck esque double team)
  3. Cam Carter vs Slim J- June 29th, 2018: This match has everything, from high flying offense, to striking, to beautiful mat work, to surprising feats of strength. Two world class pro wrestlers gave it their all and completely showcased their skills. I was very familiar with Cam due to his work in CWF Mid Atlantic. This match was legitimately my first time seeing Slim J wrestle, ever. Slim J made a phenomenal first impression. If you have IWTV, go back and watch this match, I guarantee you won’t regret it. If not, sign up and use the promo code ACTION for 20 free days. (Cam Carter via cradle single underhook brainbuster)
  4. Cain Justice vs Dom Garinni- August 17th, 2018: Two athletes legitimately trained in martial arts battle for bragging rights. Cain brings a legitimate Judo background while Garinni has a purple belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Both fighting styles are ground-based in nature, so, this match had a lot of mat work and submission attempts. Back in 2017, these two had a mini-feud in CWF Mid Atlantic. Cain won their first match, which was mostly a pure technical affair. Garinni won the rematch , which was a much uglier fight. This was the rubber match and it had elements of both its predecessors. (Justice via rollup)
  5. Fred Yehi vs Arik Royal- August 17th, 2018: The previous match featured two wrestlers that specialize in beautiful submission style wrestling, a pretty style of fighting, if you will. Yehi and Royal prefer a much uglier, grittier style of fighting. Commentator Dylan Hales said it best when he described these two as unorthodox. Both wrestlers will hit their opponents with moves they don’t expect. This is a battle of styles, the technical savagery of Fred Yehi against the explosive power of Arik Royal. The smaller Yehi came away with the W courtesy of an ugly looking cradle, though I’m not completely sure Arik’s shoulders were down. When it looked like Royal would congratulate his opponent, he surprised Yehi and left him laying. The battle was over but the war had just begun. (Yehi via rollup)
  6. AC Mack vs Austin Theory- August 17th, 2018: This is a very special match due to its rich history. Independent wrestling legend, AR Fox had a huge hand in training both these wrestlers at the WWA4 dojo in Atlanta. You could even argue that Theory & Mack were his prized pupils. They were each other’s biggest rivals, feuding over the WWA4 Heavyweight Championship in 2016 and 2017. Theory received many huge opportunities that AC did not. That, and AC being 0-2 in ACTION going into this match made Mack ridiculously motivated. This match ends one of two ways. Either AC gets his first win, or Theory proves he is the top student of the WWA4 dojo. (AC via Mack X)
  7.  Arik Royal vs Fred Yehi- December 7th, 2018: Arik comes out exuding confidence and Yehi looks focused and red hot. I would personally compare this match to a really great boxing fight in terms of structure. The first seven minutes or so, Yehi dominated the fight. If wrestling was scored via points or rounds, Yehi would easily have two 10-8 rounds in his favor. Around the eight minute mark, Arik catches Yehi with a huge tackle that swings momentum in his favor. Arik has the upper hand for approximately 5 minutes, basically evening the score if this were a literal fight.  Yehi once again regains control and it looks as if he may go 2-0 in the feud. However a costly tope suicida leads to him injuring his chest and the match is stopped. It’s technically ruled a no contest, however, Arik basically won the match by TKO. He further proves he won by powerbombing Yehi through a table. The series is tied at one a piece. Who will win the feud? (No Contest)
  8. AC Mack vs Ike Cross vs Alan Angels vs Slim J- December 7th, 2018: This match is a fatal four way elimination style match to determine the inaugural ACTION champion. AC, Ike, and Slim J all qualified by defeating James Bandy, Kevin Ku, and Billy Buck respectively at the previous show in October. Cain Justice was originally supposed to be the fourth man, as he defeated Fred Yehi in October. Unfortunately, Cain had to step down due to injury. Alan Angels qualified to earn the last spot by gaining the pinfall in the opening tag match. There were two crowd favorites that night, Slim and Ike. Slim has always been popular and Ike had recently left AC’s side. AC and Angels were the clear villains in this match. They created a brief alliance and eliminated Slim J. After that, there were no friends. AC, Ike, and Angels gave the fans some incredible back and forth action(pun intended 😉 ). Angels fought valiantly but fell victim to a vicious Ike Cross spear. We are down to two, the beloved Ike and the unbelievably charismatic yet hated (although he definitely has his supporters) AC. Two close friends have now become bitter enemies, you knew it had to come down to these two. Each blow had extra pepper behind it due to the mutual animosity. They each gave each other the middle finger by stealing their finishers. While that certainly sent a message, neither competitor was able to win the match that way. After a long struggle, AC would write his name in the history books by countering a spear into a Mack X pedigree ala Seth vs Roman MITB 2016, followed by a traditional Mack X pedigree. After going 0-2 in his first few matches, AC bounced back the best way possible. (AC via Mack X)
  9. Bobby Flaco vs Harry Zen- February 8th, 2019: Two young, hungry wrestlers start off ACTION’s 2019 with one heck of an opener! I had no idea who Harry Zen was or what to expect from him. I was pleasantly surprised when he kept up with Flaco’s speedy and high flying style. Zen has a very unique style, almost similar to Jason Kincaid, as commentator Cecil Scott put it. He was able to use his different style to throw Flaco off his game. Once Flaco snapped out of it, it was on! (Flacco via Lavos Platos DDT)
  10. Anthony Henry vs Slim J- February 8th, 2019: Henry and Slim are two legends in the Georgia independent wrestling scene. Because of this, no one should be surprised they gave us a barnburner. It’s an interesting clash of styles as Henry’s MMA style strikes and submissions battled Slim’s aerial attacks. This was only Henry’s second appearance in ACTION. When he wrestled Cain in June 2018, he had the crowd on his side. This time, not so much. I wondered how he would react. Just as I expected, he completely embraced it and had no issues playing rough. Usage of dirty tactics led Mr. Henry to his first W in ACTION. (Henry via schoolboy with handful of trunks)
  11. Michael Marshall vs Matt Sells- March 22nd, 2019: As some of you might know, I’m personally not too keen on comedy wrestling. It’s just not my cup of tea. With that being said, Matt Sells is one of my absolute favorite wrestlers to watch. His wrestling is semi serious but he injects his lovable goofy personality into it. I personally wouldn’t consider him a comedy wrestler, but if you do, I completely understand. Matt Sells is the only person who I believe could rival AC Mack in the charisma department. I haven’t seen a babyface with the ability to get the crowd behind them so easily. A Mack vs Sells title match would be the fire department’s nightmare due to the heat they would get. I seriously need that match! But, I digress. Michael Marshall is an old school heel. His schtick is Watts Rules, which means, no closed fist, no flying from the top rope or dives to the outside, and the piledriver is an immediate disqualification. Fortunately, those rules aren’t in effect for this match. Marshall and Sells have an incredible chemistry together, Marshall’s no-nonsense personality perfectly contrasts with Matt’s goofy nature. As easily as Sells gets cheers, Marshall gets boos just about as easily. ACTION crowds are consistently hot, but this might have been the hottest crowd to date. In a world concerned with star ratings or having match of the night, Sells and Marshall reminded me that it’s just as cool to have a really fun match with a crowd that’s hot as lava. (Marshall via Bulldog sunset flip reversal with ropes)
  12.  Cain Justice and Jaden Newman vs The Carnies (Nick Iggy and Kerry Awful)- March 22nd, 2019: Up next, we have some good old-fashioned tag team action. Cain and Jaden are two young, some would say cocky wrestlers looking to prove themselves. They consider The Carnies mentors, so they definitely have chips on their shoulders. Unfortunately, this seems to have psyched the youthful tag team out. The Carnies had their opponents mentally beat and dominated the first portion of the match because of it. Justice and Newman would eventually gain control using dirty tactics and isolate Nick Iggy. After minutes of taking a beating, Iggy finally tagged his partner in. For a few minutes, Kerry Awful ran wild and it looked like the much more experienced team would walk away with the win. Surprisingly, that was not the case as Cain Justice and Jaden Newman outsmarted Kerry Awful. You might even say The Carnies were carnied. (Justice and Newman via Newman  Diving Crossbody to Awful while he had Justice in a Figure Four)
  13. James Bandy vs O’Shay Edwards- March 22nd, 2019: This would not be a proper match list if it didn’t include one heavyweight fight. Bandy isn’t quite a hoss, but at 6ft 2, 230 pounds, he’s definitely a big guy. O’Shay Edwards is unquestionably a hoss. If you think he’s huge on TV, he’s even larger in person. He’s a beast of a man. This feud has been going on and off for six months, with lots of trash talk. This match is personal. Bandy starts off hot, but Edwards weathers the storm. The majority of this match was all O’Shay. He was in the driver’s seat and knew it. Unfortunately, this led to him being overconfident. In the early stages, he would pull Bandy up on a pin instead of going for the win. Towards the end of the match, when O’Shay actually went for the win, Bandy kept kicking out. The smaller man withstood one heck of a whooping and left the building victorious. (Bandy via schoolboy)
  14. Fred Yehi vs Arik Royal- March 22nd, 2019: ACTION’s biggest feud comes to a very violent end. This was a Falls Count Anywhere match. These two gladiators literally fought all over the building. Generally, ACTION’s wrestling style is fast and furious. This match was extra furious. If you enjoy hardcore wrestling with brutality and cringe-worthy moments, this is your match! If violence is a turn-off for you, I don’t recommend this match. This was unquestionably the damnedest fight I’ve ever seen live. It might be my favorite match in ACTION history. (Yehi via Koji Clutch)
  15. Bobby Flaco vs AR Fox- April 26th, 2019: Bobby Flaco has endeared himself to the ACTION fans ever since he debuted. He is especially popular with the children, affectionately dubbed the “Flaco Section”. Flaco struggling to find his footing in 2018. 2019 has been a much better year. He started the year with wins over Harry Zen and David Ali. In March, he suffered a minor setback with a loss to Slim J. Though he came up short, Flaco’s performance was impressive enough to earn a match with independent wrestling legend, AR Fox. When this match was announced. I knew it would be something special. In addition to both being great risk takers, Fox and Flaco have a special relationship. AR Fox was Bobby Flaco’s trainer. I had high expectations for this match and they blew those expectations out of the water. Flaco was an excellent fiery face here. He comes off as Fox’s equal, even has a slight quickness advantage. At times, he even appears to be one step ahead of his trainer. Fox did a masterful job playing the heel that underestimates his student and fights dirty when he has to. This is one of the best matches in ACTION’s debut year. This is the match that put Flaco on the map and cemented him as a top guy. (Flaco via double stomp from the ropes)
  16. Fred Yehi vs Anthony Henry- April 26th, 2019: We go from an aerial affair to a mean and nasty fight. The best way I could describe Yehi and Henry would be technical savages. Both are excellent grapplers that can throw blows with the best of them. Anytime you see either of them wrestle, you know it’s going to be a fight. This match was no different, for 20 minutes, these two animalistic fighters locked horns. (Yehi via Kawada style powerbomb. Henry kicked out at 3.01.)
  17. AC Mack vs James Bandy- April 26th, 2019: Last but not least is the final match of ACTION’s first year. The villainous AC Mack defends his ACTION Championship against the beloved James Bandy. Bandy has been described as ACTION’s hometown hero. I would argue that AC’s natural heel persona perfectly complements this. Another element to this match is both these competitors trained together. Mack and Bandy were both trained by AR Fox at the WWA4 dojo in Atlanta. They also have history in ACTION. In October 2018, AC bested Bandy in the first round of the ACTION Championship tournament. This match isn’t just about gold, Bandy wants revenge! He put up a valiant effort, but the champ retained in an absolute war! After all of the momentum in the world, Bandy came up short and left dejected.

I would be doing ACTION a major disservice if I only talked about the matches. In addition to hosting many classic wrestling matches, ACTION is also very skilled in the art of storytelling. One of the most prominent ACTION storylines is the feud between CEO Matt Griffin and Team TAG. The rivalry begin in June 2018 when Matt stopped Team TAG from attacking Cabana Man Dan with a steel chair. He received a buckshot superkick from Billy Buck for his troubles. Ever since, Matt has interfered in Team TAG’s matches and Team TAG has attacked their boss. I thought the six man tag between Team TAG and Matt, Cabana Man Dan, and Dani Jordyn might settle the feud. Matt proved me wrong by challenging Billy Buck to match at the June 2019 show.

Another storyline I find interesting is the progression of Cain Justice. Cain’s 2018 saw him hang with the absolute best and go 3-1 against Fred Yehi, Dom Garinni, and Anthony Henry. An unfortunately timed injury prevented him from competing in the fatal four way for the inaugural ACTION Championship. He returned in 2019 with a series of tag team victories with Jaden Newman. ACTION doesn’t even have tag titles yet. Did the injury make Cain hesitant to stay a singles wrestler or is Cain trying to look into the future by starting his own faction?

Being an underdog in wrestling is something truly special if done properly. Some of the best underdogs in history include Mikey Whipwreck and Tsuyoshi Kikuchi. Personally, I would argue that Matt Sells just found a way to surpass both Whipwreck and Kikuchi. Sells never wins, yet, he always has the crowd by his side. Yes, his effortless charisma plays a huge part in that, but, so does his losing streak. This figure could be slightly off, but, I believe that Matt Sells is approximately 0-45 in 2019. His streak builds sympathy and he always has enough offense that it’s believable he could finally win. Even though he’s a perfect underdog, his loveable goofball charm allows him to consistently be the most over face on the roster. The mere thought of Matt Sells vs AC Mack gives me goosebumps.

For my final part of the ACTION Wrestling Year 1 review, I would like to do a power rankings for the top 10 ACTION wrestlers from April 2018-April 2019. Rankings will be based on win loss record, in ring performance, and overness with the crowd.

  1.  AC Mack- 7-3: I would be insane not to have AC as number one on this list. He lost his first two matches, then went on to win seven of his last eight. He is the champ and always gives us a good show, even if some say his tactics are dirty. AC can also effortlessly get booed out of the building.
  2. Fred Yehi- 4-1-1: In my opinion, Yehi is ACTION’s best match performer. His entire feud with Arik Royal is epic and he had really great matches with Cain Justice and Anthony Henry. He’s the only man to beat Cain Justice.
  3. Cain Justice- 5-1: Cain Justice has the best win loss record in ACTION. He lost his first match against Fred Yehi and rebounded to win 5 in a row including a win against Yehi. In addition to his matches with Yehi, he also had really great matches with Anthony Henry, Dom Garinni, and The Carnies. He’s the only wrestler to beat Yehi and has established himself as a major player in the singles and tag divisions. If not for his injury, he might have AC’s #1 spot.
  4. Slim J- 3-3: Slim is a great wrestler. He’s had a string of great matches against Cam Carter, Ike Cross, Anthony Henry, and gave a great performance in the fatal four way for the championship. The ACTION fans Iove Slim and always give him a wonderful reaction. He would be ranked higher if it weren’t for his even record.
  5. O’Shay Edwards- 4-2: O’Shay is an absolute monster of a man. He is without a doubt the most powerful man on the ACTION roster and has an impressive record to back it up. If it weren’t for his loss to James Bandy, he would be ranked higher.
  6. Bobby Flaco- 3-4: 2018 was not the best year for Bobby Flaco. However, Bobby has more momentum in ACTION than anyone else. The fans adore him and he’s had a series of great performances against Harry Zen, Slim J, and AR Fox. His overall losing record unfortunately limits how high he can be ranked.
  7. James Bandy- 6-4: Going into the April 2019 show, Bandy was riding a wave of momentum. He had established himself as a hometown hero for the ACTION crowd to look up to and defeated O’Shay Edwards. Unfortunately, his momentum came to a halt when he lost in a heartbreaker to AC Mack.
  8.  Alan Angels: 3-5: Alan Angels it’s one of the best wrestlers in Georgia.  At 21 years old, he has the world in front of him. He had a star making performance in December during the fatal four-way match. He’s also coming off a big scramble win on the April 2019. Unfortunately, his losing record puts him only at number 8.
  9. Billy Buck- 4-4: Buck is an excellent old-school heel. He doesn’t do flashy moves or care about having the best match, he’s a good technician that knows how to bend the rules and manipulate the official. His heel heat is the only heel heat that can rival AC’s. Despite being a great heel, his record is even and his rivalry with Matt Griffin seems to distract him. Because of this, Billy Buck sits at number 9.
  10. Matt Sells- 0-5-1: Matt Sells is the best underdog ever. He always gives a plucky underdog fight and is ACTION’s most over babyface due to his amazing charisma. Despite all these positives, he is still winless, so I had to put him at number 10.

Well, that’s the review for ACTION Wrestling’s debut year. I hope you all enjoyed. For all of your ACTION Wrestling needs, you can watch them on IWTV. If you sign up and use the promo code ACTION, you’ll get a free 20 day trial. Follow them on twitter at @WrestleACTION1. Our next show has Billy Buck vs Matt Griffin, AC Mack vs Curt Stallion, and much more. I’m Jon Miller and you can follow me on Twitter at @CWFAN96. See you next time, folks!

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