Friday, March 29, 2013

Any Shows This Weekend? Gauntlet for the Gold, ROH

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The younger Briscoe gets his title opportunity this weekend
Photo Credit: Scott Finkelstein

It's Friday, so in addition to needing to get down, it means the weekend is here with all the wrestling shows you can handle. There are plenty of shows this weekend, and whether I write about them here or not, it's more than likely you'll have a shitload of fun if you go. Check at Pro Wrestling Events for your hookup to see if there are any shows near you.

The biggest event on the calendar happens tonight at Turners Hall in Cleveland, OH. Absolute Intense Wrestling will present their annual Gauntlet for the Gold, which is headlined by a 30-person over the top battle royale to determine #1 contendership to the Absolute Championship, held currently by Eric Ryan. Ryan will also be in action defending his title against the winner of a six-man scramble match to happen earlier in the show featuring ACH, Davey Vega, Louis Lyndon, Marion Fontaine, Matt Cross, and Colin Delaney. The loser of the match, which is one fall to a finish? Well he gets to enter first in the Gauntlet for the Gold match. Also on the show, Tim Donst discusses his AIW future, Matt Tremont debuts against Chris Dickinson, and Johnny Gargano and Josh Alexander team up to take on Nixon's Rickey Shane Page and Bobby Beverly. Bell time is 7:30 PM local time.

Also happening Friday are two events down South that might catch your fancy. First, at the DSCW Arena in Blue Ridge, GA, Deep Southern Championship Wrestling will present a show with tickets ONLY costing $4. That's insane. It's like they saw what Empire was charging and was like "forget that, we can charge even less!" The show they're presenting has some nice matches too, including Shaun Tempers vs. Kyle Matthews in a rematch as well as Cyrus the Destroyer taking on Gunner. Also, I believe one of the Hales brothers will be there. Doors open for that event at 7 PM local. Clear across the state of Georgia into Alabama, Pro South Wrestling runs at the Pro South Arena in Piedmont, AL, with an assumed bell time of 6:30 PM local (they're really bad at posting their times, but get there early anyway). Tonight's event will be a one-night tournament called March Madness. I guess it's not publicized for copyright reasons? I dunno. Either way, it should also be fun as they'll be having Ace Haven, the Dakota Outlaws, and Pro South Champion Stupid (hell of a name there) appearing.

Tomorrow night's big event will the Ring of Honor show down in Asheville, NC, well, more like Fletcher, NC to be specific. The show takes place at the WNC Ag Center, bell time of 7:30 PM local. The main event features Kevin Steen defending the World Championship against Mark Briscoe, which is a precursor to his big brother's title shot at Supercard of Honor WrestleMania weekend. Jay Briscoe is still hurt, but he's advertised to be in attendance. Also on the show, there will be a four-way proving ground match for a future Television Championship shot with Champion Matt Taven against Roderick Strong, Jay Lethal, and ACH. Southern talent will also get a huge look at this show, as Corey Hollis and Mike Posey will get a Tag Title shot against Bobby Fish and Kyle O'Reilly. Also, Caprice Coleman and Cedric Alexander get the American Wolves, and Adam Page will test his mettle against Michael Elgin.

That's not the only big event happening in the state of North Carolina. CWF Mid-Atlantic also runs Saturday, and they'll be on iPPV. If you're in the area and want to go though, their Madness in Any Direction event takes place at the Mid-Atlantic Sportatorium at 7:30 PM EDT. The show is headlined by a huge Mid-Atlantic Championship match pitting friends and tag partners against each other. Arik Royal defends his title against the red hot Chiva Kid in a match that both competitors wanted for a long time now. Also on the show, Trevor Lee defends his Television Championship against Caleb Konley, and Santana Garrett will team up with Amber O'Neal to go against Su Yung and Amanda Rodriguez.

Staying down south, Anarchy Wrestling in Cornelia, GA will be running Hardcore Hell at 8 PM local time at the Anarchy Arena. It features their yearly War Games match which will be for control of the company. Team Anarchy, featuring Iceberg, Slim J, "Stray Cat" Brodie Chase, Azrael, and a mystery partner, goes up against Team Elite, comprised of Shaun Tempers, Jagged Edge, The Big Hurt, and the Urban Assault Squad. Also of note, the Tag Titles are on the line as the Movement of Najasism and Vandal will defend against the Washington Bullets.

Moving up from one Empire state to another, the New York Wrestling Connection will present Aftermath Saturday at the NYWC Sportatorium. Again, they haven't posted a time anywhere, why do companies make it difficult to find out when stuff is happening? Yuck. Still, the proceeds are going to help autism research, so yeah, I can forgive the lack of scheduling. I'd assume it'll be happening in the evening. Anyway, Tony Nese will be appearing at this show, and The Big O will be defending his title against Apollyon, so you have HOSS POTENTIAL there. Also, if the last show is any indication, Stone Cold ET might show up too.

Last but certainly not least, Clash Wrestling will present Clash to the Future V at the Taylortown Trade Center in Taylor, MI, bell time 8 PM local. The show is headlined by a huge, 30 minute Iron Man match for the Clash Championship, J. (Juntai) Miller defending against Petey Williams. Also on the show, Tommy Treznik battles Cameron Skyy, and the "Caveman" Tyler Elkins will welcome a challenge from the Honky Tonk Man.