Last
Friday Night, Frontier Grappling Arts debuted in Baltimore, Maryland
with its “Fear Itself” supershow. Suffice to say, it was a debut
that the fans in Baltimore would never forget.
The
majority of the event was taken up by the New Frontiers Cup
tournament. After the dissolving of the New Frontiers Invitational,
FGA gave eight new men a chance at glory. But to get the prize, they
would have to go through three different grapplers in one night. The
three round, one night tournament consisted of Ryan Kidd, Preston
Blake, Ryu Kanata, Mike Smith, A.J. Fairchild, Golden Dragon
Yashimoto, Pat Gordon, Jr and Ricky Ian Pearce. All of these men were
pushed to their physical limits. But in the end, it came down to two.
Ryan Kidd, a newcomer to the business who had quickly garnered a name
for himself with his impressive performances across the country in
various promotions. And A.J. Fairchild, a man who burst onto the
scene with a lot of momentum. But in recent months, A.J. started to
flame out as his losses piled up. These two grapplers, two young men
who are looked at as the future of FGA, took part in a fantastic
matchup that was evenly paced. However, only one could win. And that
person was A.J. Fairchild, who shocked many in FGA by winning the New
Frontiers Cup. On Friday he looked like the A.J. from this past
summer. His technique was solid. He flew through the air
effortlessly. And that fire was back in his eyes, reminding everyone
why he truly is “The Pissed Off Teenager of Pro Wrestling.” But
Ryan Kidd was no slouch. He battled through various amounts of pain
and injury. First, he nearly had his shoulder injured by Preston
Blake in his opening round match. And then in his semifinals match,
he faced Ryu Kanata, a Japanese Deathmatch wrestler who showed him no
mercy whatsoever. The fact that he came as far as he did and nearly
came away with it all was impressive. But A.J. Fairchild was the
better man on that night. And with the New Frontiers Cup win also
comes a guaranteed FGA Heavyweight Championship match. A.J. will get
his championship match against Chandler Scott at next month's One
Year Anniversary Show in Newark, New Jersey.
At
the time, it was up in the air as to who would walk out of Baltimore
the FGA Heavyweight Champion. But after what happened in that ring,
Chandler left no doubt as to why he is the champion. Chandler faced
off against long time rival Jared James over the FGA Heavyweight
Championship. Some thought (and even hoped) that Jared would finally
put all pieces together and walk away with the title. But those
pieces, just like his chance at the title, slipped through his
fingers. From start to finish, Chandler dominated the action,
dropping, slamming and suplexing Jared with reckless abandon. The
self-proclaimed “Varsity Villain” thankfully put Jared out of his
misery, finishing the match off with a Harvard Hammer. In nearly
three weeks, Chandler faces a hungry and refocused A.J. Fairchild.
Will Chandler be able to display the same superiority that he showed
over Jared? Only time will tell.
Also
at “Fear Itself”, members of Pro-Wrestling FRONTIER once again
made themselves welcome. For weeks it had been rumored that members
of pwF would be crashing the party at “Fear Itself.” And as it
turns out, those rumors just so happened to be true. Kevin Hardaway,
CJ Osborne, Jason Talbot and the GFC World Heavyweight Champion
Gabriel Gambino showed up to the arena. But not as invaders. This
time, as “fans”. The foursome took their seats in the front row
and heckled members of the FGA roster throughout the evening. In
particular, Pat Gordon, Jr., who has had his issues with Kevin
Hardaway. After the highly anticipated debut of a local team, both
Osborne and Talbot jumped the barricade and struck blood, attacking
the two helpless men. Not long after, both Gambino and Hardaway
joined to make it four on two. But the odds were evened as several
members of the FGA roster stormed the ring, forcing pwF stars to
retreat once again. With barely two weeks left until the FRONTIER vs
FGA show, what could possibly happen next between these two
companies?
