Monday, November 19, 2012
One Year Anniversary Results
With so much on the line, who was able to walk out on top with the FGA Heavyweight Championship?
This past weekend, Frontier Grappling Arts celebrated one year of wrestling at the One Year Anniversary Show. And by the end of the night, the crowd was celebrating its new champion. A.J. Fairchild cashed in on his title opportunity that he won back at Fear Itself, defeating Chandler Scott for the FGA Heavyweight Championship. There was much controversy surrounding the match (caused mainly by Chandler) over the fact that Ben Hanson was named the special guest referee. But for the most part, Hanson remained unbiased despite being taunted numerous times throughout the match by Chandler. The one time that Hanson did interject was when he stopped Chandler from hitting A.J. Fairchild in the head with a steel chair. In the end, A.J. was able to overcome Chandler's cheap tactics and walk away the new champion. A.J. has now ascended to the top of the mountain. After starting off on a hot streak, A.J. became complacent and found himself in a bit of a rut. Dissatisfied with how his FGA career was going, A.J. rededicated himself, coming back better than ever and winning the 2012 New Frontiers Cup. Now he finds himself at the top of the mountain with the top prize in all of FGA. Where does he go from here?
Earlier in the night, Ryan Kidd, the runner up for the 2012 New Frontiers Cup, laid down a challenge to the winner of Fairchild and Scott. But those plans may be put on hold after Kidd was defeated by Ryu Kanata in an hellacious No Holds Barred match. Kidd requested that this match be changed to No Holds Barred, hoping that he could finally rid himself of Ryu Kanata. But Kidd fell right into Ryu's trap. We saw Kidd bring out a darker, more ruthless side to him. We saw him stoop to Ryu's level. But in the end, it was a match where Ryu had all the advantage. And after a slight miscalculation on the part of Kidd, Ryu took advantage, driving him into onto thumbtacks for the win. But Ryu wasn't done yet. After the match, he looked to break Kidd's neck. But Pat Gordon, Jr, who warned Ryu earlier in the evening, came out for the save. But as soon as Gordon turned his back to check on Kidd, Ryu bounced on him. Gordon, Jr, who was already suffering the effects of a concussion, was then driven head-first onto the steel steps on the outside. The crowd booed as Ryu exited the arena leaving two of FGA's brightest in his wake.
Also on the card, the return Jacques Mercier took on veteran "Almighty" John Raide. After a back and forth match, Raide was able to get the win, proving that there's still some gas left in the tank. The 22-year veteran looked to be overmatched by the younger Mercier at times. But Raide was cunning, using his experience and power to overmatch Mercier in the end. While Raide tries to move up through the ranks, Mercier looks to once again put all the peices together and work his way back into the title picture.
A mysterious video appear during the One Year Anniversary taping. The only thing that was shown were red, white and black bars before shutting off. What the source of the video is and what's the message behind it remain to be seen.
Jack Owyns finally got a check in the win column has he ran through "The Wonderboy" Mike Smith. After getting the win, Owyns found himself in a backstage confrontation with Alistair Mangold. Mangold, who lost his dark match to FGA upstart Chris Q, took exception to Owyns complaints of "mistreatment". While the two didn't come to blows, the situation was definitely intense. Will this be the last time these two cross paths?