ACTION WRESTLING'S ACTION FUTURES SHOWCASE TOURNAMENT 2020 REPORT

ACTION WRESTLING “Action Futures Showcase Tournament 2020”

Taped: 10/4/2020 in Red Bank, TN - streaming at www.IndependentWrestling.TV

ACTION is running this event in Chattanooga, at TWE’s venue who were forced to cancel their own Scenic City Invitational Tournament. We start with a 10-bell moment of silence for the recently passed Drew Game. Tonight is a tournament of future stars in the Southern wrestling scenes (previously won by Manders and Marko Stunt), three triple threat opening round bouts and a triple threat final with some featured match ups in the middle. 

Match 1: Adam Priest vs “The Man of 1000 Lariats” Ben Buchanan vs “The Baby Dragon” Erron Wade (Tournament 1st Round 3-Way)

Priest has been killing giants in ACTION these last few months so he’s my favorite for this one. Erron Wade had a kinda Chuck O’Neil by way of Cobra Kai look to him. Buchanan is just a big dude. Priest tries to get Wade to ally against Buchanan but ambushed him with a lariat. Bad move, as Priest eats a huge slam from Buchanan. Wade back with some karate kicks but Buchanan just chucks him out of the ring. HOW BIG IS THIS DUDE? Back body drop to the heavens by Buchanan on Priest and a delay powerslam for two. Buchanan dropkicked to the outside gives Priest room to work over Wade. Tilt a whirl backbreaker by Priest and a brain buster for two. Buchanan recovers and cross bodies everyone. High speed running corner lariats. Handing out suplexes like candy and gets a two on Wade. Wad with a shotgun drop kick finally takes the big man down. Back kick to head, misses a double stomp and eats a lariat. Priest hits the ring and dumps Buchanan over the top to steal the pin on Wade.

Winner: Adam Priest

Good stuff. Priest was a great opportunistic heel but damn, Buchanan is a huge man. I look forward to seeing him in a hoss fight down the road. 

Match 2: Alex Kane vs “No Flinch” Nolan Edward vs Jack Griffin (Tournament 1st Round 3-Way)

Like Priest, I’ve seen a LOT of Nolan Edward lately. There’s my pick. Jack Griffin sorta reminds me of Stephan Bonnar with better hair. Alex Kane gets compared to Taz on commentary and I see it immediately. Kane throws a suplex of Edward right off. Griffin with some lucha work on Kane that hypes up the crowd. Edward back but Kane suplexes them both. Griffin with a moonsault pin attempt on Kane. Edward with a headbutt to the gut on Kane. Griffin comes to help and they beat Kane down to the outside. Edward with forearms, sending Griffin to his knees. Griffin with a slingshot armdrag pin attempt. Griffin with a tope to the outside but Kane catches into a slam on the apron. Kane in the pocket with Edward, throwing forearms and chops. Edward wants a suplex but Kane ain’t having that.....until he gets distracted and eats a saito. Jack Griffin recovers and hits some fly by forearms and drop kicks Kane to the wall on the outside. Edward catches Griffin and lawn darts Griffin into the wall and Kane. Oh goddddd. Edward pulls Kane back in for the easy pin but eats a cradle driver for two. Griffin with a springboard stunner but Kane kicks out. Griffin with a corner cannonball to Kane. Edward catches Griffin and lawn darts him into Kane and rolls up Griffin for the pin.

Winner: Nolan Edward

This ruled. All three guys looked great here.

Match 3: Joe Keys vs CT Keys vs Shawn Dean (Tournament 1st Round 3-Way)

Joe Keys wrestled (and lost to) Suge D the night before this. Shawn Dean also had a great showing in ACTION on their last show. Joe tosses CT and tries to steal quick pins on Dean. Fast grappling for position, Dean eats a backbreaker and gets slammed over the top. CT recovers and starts eating Joe’s shoulder blocks for a snack. CT with one of his own that was almost a Pounce and a corner to corner toss. Powerslam into a delay suplex. CT KEYS IS VERY STRONG. Shawn Dean back in against the big man, hitting some arm drags and dropkicks to wear CT down. Dean to the apron to land some kicks from above and a moonsault run off the corner post. Joe Keys pulls CT back in and smashing his head to the mat, trying to work in a submission. Joe tries to take both guys on himself but eats a a double knee. Dean with a cutter and CT Keys handstand blocks it, pops up with his own cutter. One. Two. Thre—Joe Keys pulls the ref out to stop the count. Keys trying to pick the bones on CT but he ain’t quite dead. Pump handle neck break for two from CT. Joe eating CT forearms and blocks a suplerplex into a second rope neckbreaker. Dean back in to trade Germans with Joe Keys. Running drop kick to Joe in the corner. Butterfly knee lift and Shawn Dean puts Joe Keys down for the count.

Winner: Shawn Dean

All action. Never let up. This was good. 

Match 4: “Number One” Jaden Newman vs Ken Dixon

Jaw-jacking before the bell. Jaden is sporting some kind of neck injury. Newman feigns a handshake but shows disrespect. Dixon is pissed and using his power. Newman is countering as best he can but a big slam shocks him and he’s forced to powder, while Dixon takes a mocking victory lap. Newman wants another handshake but turns it into a series a lucha arm drags that send Dixon out of the ring. Newman offfers to hold the rope for Dixon to get back in but Dixon doesn’t trust me. Newman doesn’t backstab...but Dixon does and sends Newman to the outside with a boot. Dixon stomping out Newman but he;s back with shots that stun the big man. Dixon back with stretches and a backbreaker. Newman’s spine getting a beat down. Newman with more shots but Dixon tosses him down to the mat. Dixon takes too long taunting the crowd and Newman gets some distance with a huge lariat that drops them both. Trading blows in the center, Newman with a backhand, corner enziguri and a drop kick for two. Newman with an up and over facebuster but eats a powerslam for two, trying to follow up. Dixon wants a powerbomb but Newman with a sunset flip and neckbreaker for two. Hangman’s neckbreaker off the top and a tombstone but Newman kicks out! Dixon gets in the ref’s face over the count. Ref shoves Dixon and he trips over Newman. Newman with a running elbow to the back of the head and Dixon is down for three.

Winner: Jaden Newman

Wait, was Jaden a face here? I was confused! Good match once we settled into our roles. 

Match 5: O’Shay Edwards vs Logan Creed

Great promo from O’Shay to lead us into this. Here’s our hoss fight of the card. Edwards is uncharacteristically the smaller man in this contest. MLW’s Logan Creed is HUGE. Creed with a headlock, shot off but mere shoulder blocks won’t drop’ em. Edwards with some speedy agile counters but Creed with a boot sends him to the corner. Whip and a body splash. Middle rope bulldog and a fall away senton for two on the Kaiju. Another big boot sends Edwards to the outside. Creed wants a tope but eats a shot to the face. Short lived stun as he tosses Edwards back into the ring. Edwards dodges a chokeslam in a german. Creed pops up. Another german. Creed pops up. Jaw breaker from Creed for two. Spinebuster from Edwards. Dead lift german, struggle into a powerbomb for two. Creed wants the middle rope bulldog again but Edward catches him into a sit out tombstone for the win.

Winner: O’Shay Edwards

It’s wild to see Edwards to be the comparative little guy in a match. Creed was in charge for most of this and Edwards picked the exact right shot to get the win here.

Match 6: AC Mack vs Bailey Blake (for the ACTION championship)

Mack runs his mouth that Blake does NOT belong in the same ring as him, fighting for the Action championship. But Blake is one half of the TWE tag champs and he’s on his home turf. Blake with a kick and dive to the outside onto Mack during his entrance. Blake stays on him and sends Mack up the ramp to recover. Mack gets the leg and whips Blake to the apron, then whips him to the post. Blake is dazed and nursing his nose as Mack starts to take him apart. Mack focusing on the face of Bailey. Mack with the stomp job to the corner and a slingshot to the bottom buckle. Bailey crawling but defiantly shoving Mack away. Mack whiffs a crossbody and Bailey comes back with a pair of drop kick before getting caught with a flatliner. Mack too busy with the crowd to cover Blake. Blake counters a charging Mack with a spear. Forearms, chops, stomp and Bailey Blake is back in this match with a double knee to the corner for two. Bailey with a TKO Falcon Arrow for two. Mack to the apron, Blake with a hangman’s piledriver but Mack gets his foot to the rope. This was so close, the Action CEO was heading to the ring to celebrate the dethroned Mack. Blake counters the Mack-10 into a pin attempt. Mack pushes Blake into the ref and uses the confusion to hit the Mack-10, slamming Blake’s busted face to the mat for the three.

Winner (and still champ): AC Mack 

Blake had a slim chance of winning here but he made a heck of a showing against the brash champ. Mack remains so wonderfully hateable. 

Main Event: Adam Priest vs Nolan Edward vs Shawn Dean (Tournament Final 3-Way)

Priest ambushes Nolan during his entrance, toss him to the outside and lays into Dean. Dean catches Priest that butterfly knee lift for a near flash win. Nolan Edward back in to trade shots with Shawn Dean. Edward with gut shots and kicks to stun Dean. Priest into the fray, trading Germans and everyone’s down. Trading chops, Edward and Dean team up to punish the brash Adam Priest. Priest is a little too quick for them, snap suplex on Edward for two. Edward catches Priest into a slingshot powerbomb, that Dean has to break up. Shawn Dean swarming on Edward and the ref is caught in the frenzy. Dean with a DDT and Priest breaks up the pin. Priest picking Dean apart for chop and kicks but Nolan fires up and chops everyone apart until Priest is able to clothesline him out of the ring. Priest is too proud of himself and Dean takes advantage, near fall on a tiger driver. Priest with a thumb to the throat and tries to german Dean off the top. Nolan Edward in to razor’s edge lawn dart Priest to the second buckle and a follow up piledriver for the pin.??

Tournament Winner: Nolan Edward

Everyone played to their strengths here. Priest was a vicious vulture. Dean explosive. Nolan Edward just powered through it all and got the tournament win. Great stage for these guys to show their stuff.

And that’s it! A tight 1:45 from Action Wrestling with 4 entertaining triple threats, and a trio of solid singles contests. Everything held up here and the right person won the day. The camera work was a little sub-par to what I’ve seen from Action recently but I’m putting that mostly on being in a completely different venue (and maybe with a different video production crew). A quick aside on Nolan Edward: This show was taped on Oct 4th and he’s been really active since then. Between what he’s done in Action these last few months and his appearances at The Collective and ICW No Holds Barred, he is QUICKLY becoming a selling point for me to see on a card. With this Darby Allin level of fearlessness, the dude has earned that “no flinch” moniker (especially as I just watched Dan Maff absolutely obliterate him in an entertainingly epic fashion at “ICW NHB Pit Fighter X3” this weekend).

Action is running their next shows (“Friday the 13th” & “Friday Night Fights”) this weekend, featuring AC Mack vs Tre Lamar, Fred Ye.hi vs Adam Priest, Billie Starkz vs Angelus Layne, Brett Ison vs Cole Radrick and well as two matches from Anthony Henry, taking on Kyle Matthews and Arik Royal. Until next time!

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