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Terminus Wrestling debuted with a great show at the Kroc Center in Atlanta.
Jonathan Gresham and Bandido each retained their versions of the ROH Championship.
The big news was an unadvertised appearance by Santana to challenge Gresham to a title match at Terminus 2.
The show was listed as a sell out but did not end up that way due to the snow storm in the Atlanta area that held attendance down to 275. There were miraculously few changes to the card under the circumstances.
Terminus presented a product that felt fresh and unique performed by superbly talented wrestlers. The ROH influence was there but this was different. This show drew a knowledgable crowd that clearly loved what they were seeing and stayed amped throughout. It was not a long show as all matches have 15 minutes time limits except title matches.
Headed up by Gresham and Baron Black, Terminus matches are conducted under rules that are an extension and amplification of ROH Pure rules that among other things, essentially eliminates foreign objects and fighting outside the ring.
The show streamed live on FITE TV with Dave Prazak and Lenny Leonard as the announce team.
I thoroughly enjoyed the show. I'm there when Terminus returns on February 24.
(1) Lee Moriarty defeated Josh Woods in 8:54. Woods subbed for Jay Lethal. Hard to imagine a better choice that the ROH Pure Champion. Some of fastest, cleanest grappling you will ever see in the context of a pro wrestling match. The crowd was strongly into Moriarty but not against Woods. Both men ended up selling a damaged arm. Moriarty won it with a cool pinning combination with a bridge. A perfect introduction to this Terminus style.
(2) Daniel Garcia defeated Invictus Khash and Adam Priest and JDX in an elimination match (12:25). Fun and games with unwanted tags. Garcia was being a dick. All four got to showcase their skills and had the crowd behind them at various times. Garcia pinned JDX at 9:05 on a questionable call by the referee Paul Espinal, pinned Priest with a jackknife at the 11 minute mark and knocked Khash out to win the match. Garcia shook hands with an unconscious Khash after the match.
(3) Mike Bennett defeated Impact Champion Moose by DQ in 6:39. Rather than shaking hands, Moose shot Bennett the double birds. Nevertheless, they got dueling chants during the match. The uranage Moose gave Bennett was something else. Bennett scored a series of near falls and was building momentum, so Moose threw Bennett over the top rope and was disqualified for his second technical foul. Moose got heat for taking the easy way out.
Alex Coughlin (unable to wrestle due to injury) confronted Moose as he returned to the dressing room.
(4) Diamante defeated Janai Kai via submission in 7:26. A mix of grappling and striking. Crowd a bit quieter at first but totally engrossed, then broke out the dueling chants. Kai's striking game is wicked. Her kicks were landing with sick thuds. Diamante got a hideous welt on her torso. But Diamante is nobody to mess with and submitted Kai with a cuthroat choke with added body scissors. At one point it looked like they were losing their way but they got back on track in a big way. Really good stuff.
(5) Jordynne Grace defeated Kiera Hogan to retain the Impact Digital Media Championship in 8:18. Shalonce Royal was the guest ring announcer. This was an outstanding match -- Grace's strength and technique vs. Hogan's determination and fire. The crowd was pulling hard for Hogan in her home town. Hogan's step up leg drop and draping neckbreaker both looked stellar. Grace did a 20 count stalling suplex. Grace's musclebuster was the false finish of the night due in no small part to referee Mike Fullilove. His athleticism makes him the perfect lead official for this style. Hogan went for a casadora and Grace countered by dropping her on on her head with the Grace Driver.
The crowd chanted for Hogan after the match.
A video promo from Baron Black was shown before the next match. It was excellent.
(6) Bandido defeated Baron Black to retain the ROH Championship in 14:04. This was a match between a very good wrestler in Black and a world class wrestler in Bandido. Black had the homecourt advantage but Bandido was in another league and had the crowd rooting for him because he's so damn good. His core strength is incredible. Bandido popped the crowd with a three amigos. Some nice submission work here -- Bandido used a Gori Special and an Indian Deathlock. Black applied a version of La Tapatia and his pet Texas Cloverleaf. Black's big moves of the match was an Avalanche butterfly suplex for a near fall. Bandido did an Atlantida version of the GTS and won it with his springboard german suplex.
The postmatch was a display of mutual of respect.
(7) Joe Keys & Dante Caballero defeated Fred Yehi & Tracy Williams in 14:25. The crowd favored Yehi and Williams and I thought surely they were going over. The crowd gave Keys and Cabellero grief for not using the tag rope as required by Terminus rules and that became a running joke during the match. Keys made an impression with his explosive power. At one point, Keys appeared to be knocked out only to recover with a Gori bomb on Williams. Yehi put Keys in the Koji Clutch and Williams cut Caballero off with a crossface, teasing a double submission. Caballero powered out to save Keys, who hit a diving headbutt on Williams for the pin. The crowd chanted “tag rope” after the match. A good match with a surprising outcome.
Well done video promos from Gresham and Josh Alexander preceded the main event.
(8) Original ROH Champion Jonathan Gresham vs. Josh Alexander was ruled a draw at 17 minutes. To absolutely nobody's surprise, this was the match of the night. The crowd was split leaning towards Gresham. They concentrated on wrist control and knuckle locks for the opening five minutes with neither man able to gain a significant advantage. A sequence that defies my ability to describe it prompted a "Terminus" chant and a standing ovation from the crowd. Gresham used up all three ropes breaks allowed under Terminus rules as he was unable to escape Alexander's ankle locks and half crab. Alexander got a near fall with rolling germans. Alexander tried for the Tiger Driver 98 but Gresham countered with a dragon screw and did a number on Alexander with chops to his leg. Alexander hit Tiger Driver 98 and had the ankle lock applied. Out of rope breaks, Gresham clawed his way to the ring apron and was able to hotshot Alexander's throat to break the hold. Alexander hit deadlift superplex and cradled Gresham for the pin. Referee Fullilove counted three and ruled both mens' shoulder were down. The finish was clearly a letdown. The crowd chanted for overtime but they weren't going to get one.
Bandido came to the ring after the match. As he was about to shake hands with Gresham, Santana came through the curtain. The crowd went bananas.
Santana started by putting Terminus over and gave Gresham props for building something from nothing. Santana said he had decided to challenge himself in the new year. He brought up his history with Gresham and the match between LAX and CCK (Gresham & Chris Brookes) for Progress Wrestling. Santana and Gresham shook hands on an ROH title match for the return date of February 24.
Gresham closed the show saying the life of indy wrestling was back in Atlanta.
NOTES: Diamante replaced Liiza Hall who had to cancel due to travel issues...Matt Taven was backstage and out for the meet and greet...Suge D and Faye Jackson hosted the tip off show on the livestream...Jonny Loquasto was the ring announcer....Hogan had by far the longest line during the meet and greet...Wrestling notable in the house included AC Mack, Mr. Hughes and Darian Bengsten.
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