Your Scenic City Invitational Update

Hollis is one of the entrants announced
Photo Credit: Anton Johnson

Empire Wrestling Entertainment's Scenic City Invitational Tournament has continued to unveil competitors. The promotion is up to 13 people announced for the frame. In addition the seven already announced - as refresher, Gunner Miller, Moose, Gunner/Phil Shatter, KT Hamill, Kongo Kong, Jimmy Rave, and Chip Day  - six more have been named. They are:

• Mark Vandy
• Joey Lynch
• Anthony Henry
• Jason Collins
• Tank
• Corey Hollis

I apologize for not knowing much about those on the list except for Hollis. This seems to be the middle thrust of the tournament announcement that has the field stocked with the Empire homegrown guys. I've seen a couple of matches from Collins, however, and Tank comes very highly regarded in both the deathmatch community and from those in the know in the South.

But Hollis is the main name here. He's a veteran of not only Georgia, but also the North Carolina indies. He's a regular tag partner of current Ring of Honor roster member Adam Page, and he's faced off against some of the elite competition of the scene, both in Pro Wrestling Xperience in NC and in preliminary matches for ROH.

Three more names remain, and apparently, the 16th name is going to be a doozy if the folks in charge can nail him down. It won't be AR Fox, whom I postulated might be the last big announced name. He has a history with the WWA4 school in Atlanta and has strong Southern roots, but he will be wrestling in Alabama during that weekend. I'd imagine the other two names are Kyle Matthews and Shaun Tempers, who both come with high regards. But then again, I could be wrong. Either way, the final three names ought to be interesting.

In related news, Gunner has parted ways with TNA, as has Sam Shaw. It's unclear whether they quit or if TNA fired them. However, the rumors are swirling that paychecks are late, and with the uncertainty around the television deal, well, you know, it'll just be another death panic around TNA that the company will survive, because that's what TNA does, doesn't it.