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ASE Wrestling was back at the Piedmont Open IB Middle School in Charlotte for "Black August" (named after the annual commemoration of Black political prisoners and the Black freedom struggle around the world), live on YouTube with a huge card with all titles defended and some personal issues settled in the ring. They injected some Black August history facts throughout the show. Loved them.
Emmy winner Chris Lea and the flawless Big Swole on commentary. GO79man on hosting duties. Good to have Gerard Bonner back doing interviews. The guy is too good at everything. Nadiah Hunter was great on ring announcing for the main show with Savannah Kane debuting for ring announcing duties for the pre-show. A pair of strong voices. Musical performances by DJ BlackastheCosmos and jazz artist Braxton Bateman and Friends.
In the pre-show, The Top Shootas (Maurice Moss, Trey DaRula with Andrew Diggs, CEO of DropaFella Records) got a big win over the reunited Sky High (Major League Wrestling star "Divebomb" Diego Hill, Azrael Kyyam) in their ASE debut. Fast-paced match to get the crowd warmed up. The Shootas' springboard double-team cutter is a thing of beauty. They get the mic and put Men's Tag champs the Uglee Gang on notice.
Bonner gives a brief explanation of the origin of the name "Black August" and a ten-bell salute before the action starts.
"The Submission Sniper" Jordan Blade got a win over "The Kick Demon" Janai Kai in the opener, winning the rematch from their encounter at Josh Barnett's Bloodsport last summer, almost to the day. A fun clash of styles with Blade getting a sudden win with an Oklahoma Roll into a bridging pin. Interesting moment after the match as Blade, bleeding from the mouth, not only shakes hands with Kai, but they leave together. Hm.
We got a rare locker room interaction with THE Dontay Khalifah trash-talking "Fast as Hell" Ian Maxwell on his recent run of bad luck. Bojack has to step in to stop the scuffle.
TNA X Division champion "Pryme" Cedric Alexander (with THE Dontay Khalifah) beat "So Fly" Manny Lo, backed by his mentor Major League Wrestling star "The Ring Warrior" Labron Kozone. Strong battle of the seasoned veteran against the bright young star. Great story of Alexander working Lo's midsection. Alexander wasn't happy winning as he wanted to embarrass Lo and Kozone, hitting 3 consecutive Lumbar Check backbreakers with the final one after dropping his kneepads. Kozone gets in the ring to stop Alexander from trying to demean Lo by standing over him after the match, leading to Cedric and Khalifah jumping him, with Maxwell and Bojack making the save. Kozone challenges Alexander for a one-on-one match at the Sept 6 show. I expect the champ to accept.
Bonner hosts an in-ring interview with former ASE Commissioner the "Ageless One" Caprice Coleman. Coleman wants to publicly hash out issues with longtime friend Reyhen Inteus. Hash it out, they do. Stiff back-and-forth with good points made on both sides. They decide to settle it in the ring at the Sept 6 event, with them having to be separated by Bonner and Uglee Gang.
With them in the ring, they went right into Uglee Gang (Jordan Holt, Zay Vega) defending their newly won ASE Men's Tag titles against the returning Wild Jamaicans (the former Kentish Brothers, Hayden and Anthony). Another good, high-energy tag match between a pair of young tag teams. The depth of quality tag teams on the independent scene is insane. The Gang get the win and are immediately attacked by the Top Shootas (you have to pay attention to the pre-shows). Coleman comes down to stop the champs from taking any more punishment. Coleman, not Inteus. Hm.
Battle of brothers with Saieve Al Sabah using brass knuckles to get the win over his brother and former tag partner, Treehouse Lee. A rare, enjoyable bout between brothers, even got some color when Lee got busted open.
The highly anticipated Women's title match between champion "Powerhouse" Charity King and "The Cannibal" Savannah Evans, a match they've been teasing early in King's reign, ended in a wild double count-out. They had a brief Hoss Fight in the ring, but once it spilled to the floor, they were done rasslin' and were just scrappin'. They will run it back.
On a show with a match between actual brothers, the most personal match coming in saw "The Business" Billy Dixon get a win over his long, long-time friend (and ASE Wrestling founder) Darius Lockhart in what was supposed to be Dixon's final match. They had a lot of bad energy going into this and that's how it felt. Even the crowd felt like they were excited for the match, but now seeing their favorite uncles fight, they were uneasy. Lockhart was working very aggressively, dominating Dixon with a determined attack on Dixon's left shoulder. Lockhart went for his top-rope crossbody finish with Dixon rolling through and using that weight and size advantage to cinch in the pin. It took Lockhart a second to process losing a match he was ahead of in hypothetical points, looks at Dixon and tells him he's not done, and he needs to "finish it and you know what I'm talking about" before walking off. Lockhart is intense.
Main event time with "The Allfather" Darius Carter (with "Remarkable" Ryan Rembrandt, who was taking a beating on commentary) defending the ASE Wrestling Men's title against "The Gifted One" Yahya. It hasn't been often since winning the Men's title that Carter gave up so much size and it definitely played into this one. It gave me a "What if Ric Flair defended the NWA World title against Willie Mack?" vibe, something I never thought I needed until I saw it. Yahya had to fight against Carter and some Rembrandt shenanigans with Carter going after his left leg. With his back against the wall, Carter instructed Rembrandt to retrieve the title belt, probably to use as a weapon, when he was stopped by both Dixon AND Lockhart, fences mended. Carter went to confront both, with all three eating a huge tope over the corner post from "The Gifted One". Yahya sent Carter into the ring and, after slipping on an attempted senton (commentary was excellent calling it the fault of the knee), he hit an even more difficult move in a twisting swanton bomb off the top to become the second-ever ASE Men's champion. I loved the NEW CHAMP chant from the crowd.
The fan-favorite locker room empties to congratulate the new champion, with Lo, Maxwell, and Holt doing some real work in hefting the champ on their shoulders. Again, no Reyhen. Hmmmm.
A furious Carter directs his rage at Dixon, who looked completely unimpressed. He wants Dixon's final match and lets Dixon pick when. Dixon picks Sept 6. In a steel cage, which would be ASE Wrestling's first.
Emotionally charged event with a lot of top-to-bottom good wrestling and strong storyline progression to the next show, which is already at least 2 matches deep with 2 more in the "Most Likely" column.
The Real Uncle Dave grade: A (93 out of 100) Follow me @therealuncdave.bsky.social, DDTDivas.com, and The Real Uncle Dave's Rasslin Business on Facebook.
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