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Just Wrestling: Live report from Oakland, CA PDF Print E-mail
Written by Hyde   
Sunday, 12 July 2009 15:57
OAKLAND, CA - It was a new dawn for Just Wrestling, tonight's Oakland show equally a marker of success and renewal, the independent promotion having been far from seamless in its gradual move from East Coast to West. Reinstated at its helm, Tim Shipley was radiating excitement as he along with Erik Magnum (under his new mantra of "I am Just Wrestling") and glamorous new ring announcer Roxie Knightley personally greeted all ticketholders at the entrance to the Kaiser Convention Center in an unprecedented PR manoeuvre from the office of Jody Monroe. The gesture seemed to have paid off as the atmosphere was jubilant in the sold-out arena, not even dampened by the premium prices on hot dogs and cotton candy, as Just Wrestling's Long Hot Summer got officially underway with none other than newly crowned GCW Heavyweight Champion Andy Murray sent out to the ring.

The popular Scot was not quite his effervescent self, nerves perhaps affecting him as Murray's record is notorious for his tendency to struggle on the smaller stage, but nonetheless a few wisecracks had the fans right behind him for an encounter with Brock Alyas. Also a GCW associate, though less consistently and thus far less successfully, Alyas could not come to terms with the momentum behind the Scottish King of Cool, and his Highland Hangover will doubtless last well into next week. Newcomers Beau Archer and Owen Manton graced the ring next, the latter having made waves in DWF and now behind the scenes at Just with his conservative take on the art of pro wrestling. But tonight it was his opponent who caught the eye, Archer outwitting the Puritan with a deft and graceful moveset culminating in the Terminal Velocity securing the win for the man roundly cheered based on his hometown of Fresno being just three hours' drive down State Route 99.

Another California native, though less local by distance to the Oakland show, is Brian Arson; the former PCW and DWO man is famously based out of the seaside resort of Santa Barbara. Yet Arson's disposition tonight was anything but sunny as he took apart naturalised Mexican Felix Mendoza. Not content with a wily chair shot with the referee's back turned and some not-so-subtle scrapes across an exposed turnbuckle, Arson's assault continued long after the one-sided match had finished in his favour. To the shock of those assembled, Arson pulled out a chain from beneath the ring which, when wrapped around his wrist, made a formidable weapon with which to further torment the bloodied Mendoza. Blows would rain down upon the Mexican, Arson paying no heed to the referee nor the distress of ring announcer Roxie Knightley, and it took the simultaneous intervention of Erik Magnum and Wrett Warren - who would be opponents later in the night - to finally pull Arson away from Mendoza, who is now recovering in hospital.

The shine had therefore been taken off the evening somewhat when a shaken Roxie Knightley resumed her spot in the ring, so much so that the wolf-whistles which had invariably accompanied her pronouncements were absent as Jacob McKail and Skylar Montgomery came to the ring. The momentum was always set to be with the former FUSE Universal Champion, yet there were some inevitable doubts surrounding McKail after his disappearance from the sport in a cloud of controversy over alleged match-fixing at the turn of the year. Montgomery was up for the fight, impressing with some varied and original offence that he describes as "sloppy Americana", but ultimately he was too inconsistent to prevail against the paragon of consistency that McKail's name has come to represent. A flawless technical display culminated in his Fearless Freefall and the big name had clearly demonstrated he will be a force to be reckoned with throughout the summer.

An enjoyable evening was set to come to a close, California's eager first taste of Just Wrestling having provided thrills, spills and surprisingly little of the usually obligatory chaos, Shipley's revamped backroom team having masterminded a noticeably slicker event than we have come to be used to. Erik Magnum emerged to huge cheers for our main event, having endeared himself first with the meet-and-greet and second with his Arson intervention. His reception is now the direct opposite of the heat he once received in his war with Jon Kano, Just Wrestling's non-televised events giving wrestlers more opportunities to redeem themselves; indeed, Magnum's self-styling in "I am Just Wrestling" demonstrates his ironic will to become a man that longtime foe Kano once was. Yet Wrett Warren is another on that path, more quietly picking up plaudits on a path that pits him as the perennial underdog, and his fans tonight cheered his name more in hope than expectation. Meanwhile Cheap Labor's undefeated record gave him the biggest claim to winning the three-way on paper. It was a close and well-fought battle, with Warren coming close as he downed Labor with a heavy clothesline that drew a very long two. His opponents reacted with some impromptu teamwork and a double suplex left Warren at ringside as Magnum looked to apply the coup de grace, readying Cheap Labor for the snap DDT he calls the Silver Bullet.

Yet Labor found something deeper, something primal, and defied his compromised position with a roaring lunge around Magnum's legs, collecting both over his shoulder and tumbling the Lone Gunman into a sideways backslide that garnered an improbable three-count. Magnum left frustrated and outsmarted by the 175-pound Michigan man who now finds himself at 4-0 going into a Championship match against the only person with a better Just Wrestling debuting record. That match with Violence Jack will headline next week's outdoor show at the beach in Santa Cruz, for which tickets are already all gone. Be sure to check back for a Sunday evening recap.