By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
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Scenic City Invitational “Scenic City Rumble”
Replay available via IndependentWrestling.TV
March 2, 2024 in Apison, Tennessee at East Hamilton Middle School
Apison is located east of Chattanooga in eastern Tennessee, about right in the middle between Nashville and Atlanta. This show was in a middle school gym and the attendance was really good, perhaps 500, with most of the fans seated in bleachers. The lights were on and lighting wasn’t an issue. Dylan Hales and Johnny Mosely provided commentary.
* NO on-screen graphics. I knew the guys in the six announced matches, but I’m undoubtedly not going to know everyone in the 30-man Rumble.
1. Landon Hale defeated Diego Hill at 9:47. I’m a big fan of both of these guys, and this is actually the match I tuned in for. I always described Diego as Cedric Alexander-meets-Wes Lee and I consider him a potential breakout star. Hale competes regularly in Wrestling Open in Massachusetts, and I always compare him to Matt Taven. Quick reversals to open and Hale hit a huracanrana, and they had a standoff. Hill hit a Shotgun Dropkick; Hale hit a dropkick. Hill hit a doublestomp to the back for a nearfall at 2:00. Hale hit a Lungblower for a nearfall. Hale hit a moonsault for a nearfall at 4:30.
Hale hit a dive through the ropes. In the ring, Diego hit a Pele Kick. Diego hit an impressive springboard corkscrew dive to the floor. They fought on the ropes in the corner, and Diego hit a top-rope Spanish Fly for a nearfall at 7:30, and they were both down. They got up and traded chops and forearm strikes. Diego hit a Stundog Millionaire. Hale hit a Poison Rana. Diego hit a slingshot Lungblower move. Diego went for a double-jump corkscrew moonsault, but Hale caught him and hit a stunner! Hale then immediately hit a Death Valley Driver for the pin. That was a great opener. The announcers said they are tied at 1-1. Diego shoved away a handshake and instead hugged Hale.
2. “The Good Hand” Suge D and Kevin Ryan (w/The Wall) defeated Sean Legacy and Cody Fluffman to retain the Action Wrestling Tag Team Titles at 10:41. Fluffman is the chubby goofball who is a modern Blue Meanie. Legacy has the blond haircut and comparable look to Will Ospreay. Suge D is AEW’s “Pineapple Pete” from the pandemic-era shows. Both Ryan is a white guy of average size. Legacy and Suge D opened. The announcers just confirmed my estimate, saying we have “400 to 500” in here. The rotund Fluffman got in and he steamrolled both heels at 3:30. The Wall (a tall guy with long hair) grabbed Fluffman and slammed him into the post, allowing the heels to take over.
Suge hit clotheslines to the front and back at 6:30. Legacy got the hot tag and hit a double missile dropkick, then a fallaway stunner. Fluffman hit a dive through the ropes at 8:30, and Legacy immediately hit a second-rope moonsault to the floor. In the ring, Legacy hit an inverted DDT for a nearfall. Fluffman hit a twisting Vader Bomb, and Legacy followed up with a Phoenix Splash for a believable nearfall, but Suge D pulled Ryan from the ring at 10:00. The Wall hopped in the ring and helped Kevin Ryan hit a slam for a pin on Legacy. I liked what I saw of Legacy here.
* Lobo, a heavyset man with a long beard, ran to the ring to save the babyfaces from a beatdown.
3. Darian Bengston defeated Hunter Drake at 8:47. I’ve seen Drake a few times; he has long blond hair and is essentially a scrawny version of Matt Riddle. Bengston is a Black man with black-and-blonde braids, and he’s pretty good. Bengston immediately tied up the left arm. Hunter took control and kept Darian grounded and he was booed. Drake hit a dropkick for a nearfall at 4:30. Darian hit a running kick in the corner, then a top-rope corkscrew splash for a nearfall. Drake hit a Tiger Driver/butterfly powerbomb for a nearfall at 7:30. Bengston hit his own Tiger Driver for a nearfall. He hit a running clothesline for the pin. Good action.
4. Tank defeated Bojack at 6:37. Bojack is Black and maybe 350 pounds. Tank is now in his mid-50s and has to be at or close to 300 pounds. I thought this was going to be our co-main event. A commentator said Tank “has been punching people in the face longer than Bojack has been alive.” They traded shoulder tackles with neither man budging. They brawled to the floor; there are only a handful of rows at ringside. They brawled up the stairs into the bleachers around the fans. They got back in the ring at 4:00. and kept trading punches. Tank kicked out the leg, dropping Bojack to the mat (first time either man has left their feet!) Tank twisted the left leg. “This has been a slugfest” a commentator said as they traded forearms. Tank hit a massive back suplex for the pin! Literally the only time either took a back bump, but that’s fine.
5. Adam Priest defeated Derek Neal at 12:54. Priest is the short gatekeeper I always compare to Jaime Noble; he’s had a handful of AEW matches. Neal is heavyset with long hair; he has a significant size advantage. Priest hit a top-rope dive to the floor on Neal at 2:00. They traded chops in front of the fans. Neal nailed a top-rope superplex into the ring at 4:30. Neal hit a Tiger Driver for a believable nearfall. Priest hit a hard clothesline and they were both down at 8:30. Priest applied a Figure Four and got some nearfalls. Neal nailed a running knee for a nearfall. Priest hit a top-rope frogsplash for a nearfall, and they were both down at 12:00. Neal missed a splash into the corner, and Priest immediately hit a DDT for the pin. Considering the size difference that was pretty good.
6. Krule defeated Arik Royal to retain the IWTV Title at 10:52. Again, Royal is a thick Black man similar to NXT’s Odyssey Jones, and Krule has been wrestling all over the Eastern half of the country and he’s really comparable to Kane. Standard brawling to begin. They went to the floor, where Krule shoved Royal’s back into the ring at 3:30. In the ring, Royal hit an Exploder Suplex. Royal hit some chops but had so little effect that Krule pulled down his shirt to allow Arik to hit even more.
Royal hit a standing powerbomb. Krule hit a slam and they were both down. Royal palmed Krule”s head and slammed him to the mat for a nearfall at 9:00. Krule immediately hit a chokeslam. Adam Priest ran to ringside! He slid a table into the ring and put it in the corner. However, Krule grabbed Priest and whipped him through the table! It allowed Royal to hit another palm-of-the-head slam for a believable nearfall. Krule hit the Scorched Earth/implant buster on Royal for the clean pin. Solid big-man match; we didn’t need Priest’s interference, though.
* Again… I knew the names of all of those, but no guarantees for the next match so I apologize for spelling errors! The winner of this match earns a slot in a tournament later this summer. Apparently 16 names were announced in advance. Intervals are to be roughly one minute each.
7. Erron Wade won the Scenic City Rumble at 48:59. Nick Iggy is No. 1 and the commentators said he’s a scumbag. Landon Hale is No. 2 and he’s holding his ribs, selling that opening match. (I presume most of the 14 guys in the first six matches will be in the Rumble.) David Stryker is No. 3. Joey Highter is No. 4, and they say he’s pretty much a rookie. Kasey Owens is No. 5; he reminds me of GCW’s Jimmy Lloyd. No one has been tossed yet. Andres Reyes is No. 6 at 5:00. Rob Killjoy (think Duck Dynasty) is No. 7. Mortar is No. 8; I am used to seeing him in the Northeast so this is a surprise. Still no eliminations.
Lucas Chase is No. 9; another guy from the Northeast, as the commentators noted. He traded blows with Mortar and I’m sure they know each other well. Stryker was tossed. Kenny Kalix is No. 10 at 10:30; he’s short and scrawny. Reyes was tossed. Landon was tossed. Luminary is No. 11. Anakin Murphy is No. 12; he is so scrawny and Emo. Skunk is No. 13; he apparently runs the music; he was tossed in about four seconds and went back to operating the music equipment. “What on earth just happened?” a commentary asked. Trey Havoc is No. 14; I’ve said before he has D’Lo Brown’s face and Keith Lee’s size, and he’s in at 15:00. Havoc hit a massive chokeslam. The Wall is No. 15. He towers over most of the tiny kids in here. He tossed the Luminary.
Wall knocked Joey Highter to the floor. He chokeslammed and eliminated Iggy, too. Jay Via is No. 16. Several of the guys who were already eliminated are still fighting on the floor. (Big spot coming?) Yep, Wall tossed Kenny Kalix, but the crowd on the floor caught him and shoved him back in. Wall immediately tossed Kenny out on the other side of the ring, where no one was. Funny. The tiny Kody Manhorn is No. 17 at 20:00. My guess is 8 are in the ring. Victor Analog is No. 18. Trey Havoc got tossed. The commentators pointed out that no one is at The Wall’s size now. The Southeast Artist is No. 19. Mortar got tossed. Anakin got tossed.
Jay Alfa is No. 20 and the crowd POPPED for him. I never heard of him but he apparently came to a pep rally at the school on Friday to promote the show. A hillbilly is No. 21. The announcers said he’s not a wrestler but never named him. He jawed on the mic for quite a while; the action in the ring has come to a standstill as he made fun of the crowd. He finally got into the ring at 26:30. “I feel like that was three-and-a-half hours!” a commentator said. Erron Wade is No. 22 and the announcers loudly booed him. Trans-athlete Saraya Saber is No. 23. Bojack is No. 24! He will be tough to toss! Bojack hit a pop-up forearm, then he clotheslined Analog to the floor at 31:00.
Cody Fluffman is in at No. 25 (third person to be doing double duty) and he steamrolled guys on the mat. Bojack clotheslined The Wall to the floor at 33:00!! I’m counting eight in the ring. Darren Crossley is No. 26; I always compare him to Jack Perry, and he hit a tornado DDT on Bojack. Justin Kindred Allen is No. 27. Jay Alfa was tossed. Fluffman low-bridged the top rope, and Bojack fell to the floor for a surprise elimination! (I really thought he was winning.) Lutha X is No. 28. (The commentators are shouting in excitement but really not telling me names.) Sean Legacy is No. 29 and again, he impressed earlier. Legacy hit a stunner. Diego Hill is No. 30 and of course, I’m a huge fan of him too, and he entered at 39:30. He hit a top-rope corkscrew moonsault onto the eight or so guys left in the ring.
Diego hit a spin kick to eliminate Crossley. Diego hit a Poison Rana. Wade & Manhorn fought Fluffman & Legacy; two regular tag teams. Lutha X got tossed at 42:00. Legacy got tossed. I’m seeing six left. Heels on the floor grabbed Diego’s ankle, and they were able to eliminate him, so we’re down to five. Fluffman got tossed. Manhorn got tossed. Owens got tossed. It is down to Rob Killjoy (Duck Dynasty) and Erron Wade (think Cameron Grimes). They both fought onto the apron. In a fun spot they hung upside down but were able to get back to their feet. They got back into the ring and traded hard kicks and chops; this has really been good stuff since we got to our final two. Killjoy hit a German Suplex, but Wade clotheslined Rob to the floor to win the Rumble.
Final Thoughts: An okay Rumble but I really like we essentially had a bonus match between Wade and Killjoy once we got down to those final two. I didn’t know many of the guys, but I do want to say I’m in awe of Lucas Chase and Mortar who clearly drove several hours with Landon Hale to be in this match. Yes, I will go with the Diego-Hale match for best of the night, ahead of Bengston-Drake. There’s some good talent here.
I wasn’t there, but 99% certain “A hillbilly” was The Buttercream Dream, aka Corey Ryan Forrester.