Final Frontier Feedback

This past Friday, Frontier Grappling Arts held it's year-end event, Final Frontier. The event, which was held from the Fleischer Athletic Center in Newark, New Jersey, was filled with shocking debuts, defining wins and painful losses.

One of those shocking debuts was the arrival of Leon Corella. The renown veteran pulled no punches, expressing his strong dislike of Ryan Kidd and especially Kevin Hill of the UWL for stripping him of the Patriot Title. But Corella wasn't done yet. He then revealed that he still has the real Patriot Championship in his possession while the belt that was relinquished to the UWL was simply a replica. While to some, Corella's words and antics came off as bitter. To others, Corella's came off as a man full of passion, looking to prove himself and his worth to everyone in both FGA and the UWL.

The first match of the evening was the "Mixed Bag" 8-Man Tag pitting Chris Q, Malcolm Drake, Tony Edison and Diego Alvarez against Jake Winchester, Akrista O'Hare, Alyssa Casteele & Jacob Demore. This match proved to be as wild and unpredictable as many thought it would be with the action spilling to the outside on numerous occasions. And with the Scramble Rules in place, there was never a dull moment. Winchester, O'Hare and Casteele were at a 4 to 3 disadvantage due to Demore's injury, thanks to a post-match attack by Malcolm Drake on 12/15. But while Demore was unable to start the match off, he limped his way down to the ring towards the end as he got some measure of revenge of Drake. After Chris Q seemed to have turned on his partner Tony Edison, his attention soon shifted to the hobbled Demore. Despite a quick flurry of offense, Chris Q attacked Demore's leg before delivering The Compactor for the win. Post-match, a hurt Akrista tried to get back into the ring. But she was soon surrounded by Malcolm Drake and a debuting Dominic Harter, an apparent member of The Murder. But before the Gray Angel could be attacked, Pat Gordon, Jr made the save, sending The Murder retreating with a steel chair. Why Gordon made the save is unknown at this time. But his actions apparently got the eye of Drake who, if recent history is any indication, is someone whose path you do not want to cross.

The second match of the evening saw Jack "The Villain" Owyns finally get what was coming to him. After weeks of feeling that he didn't get the attention that he deserved, Alistair Mangold gave Owyns all of his attention as he proceeded to manhandle the Seattle veteran. Despite jumping Mangold before the opening bell and controlling the first part of the match, Mangold was able to overcome the sneak attack. And it wasn't long before "The God Among Men" sent Owyns crashing Back to the Bottom.

It was then revealed mid-show that FGA would be introducing a second championship: The Pride Championship. The Pride Championship, which will be crowned on 2/23/13, will have its own series of rules to it, giving it a different feel than your average championship. The rules are as follows:

1) No closed fists to the head. Pokes, gouges, rakes and other illegal strikes to the eyes are also prohibited. Failure to follow these rules will result in a warning, then a rope break being taken away. However, slaps, chops and kicks to the head are all legal.

2) Grapplers are allowed three rope breaks per match. If all three rope breaks are used, then a pinfall or submission cannot be broken up by a rope break.

3) Grapplers, no matter how much animosity is between them, must shake hands at the start of the match or be charged a rope break.

4) Finally, all "Pride Championship" matches will be contested in Best 2 out of 3 Falls matches.

12 FGA grapplers have been chosen to compete in the upcoming tournament for the Pride Championship. The first round will take place on 1/12/13 in Woodbridge, CT. The semifinals will take place on 1/26 and 1/27. And then the finals will take place at Pride, Honor & Excellence on 2/23, FGA's first supershow of the New Year.

In one of the two main events of the evening, it was the final clash between rivals Chandler Scott and "Metal Heart" Ben Hanson. And these two did not disappoint. As most assumed, this match was not your standard wrestling match. While both men are known for a solid technical background and all around style, the fists flew often as neither man let up in this all out brawl. In the end, it was Hanson who was able to finally get the upperhand on the Varsity Villain, giving Chandler his comeuppance after a Metal Heart Suplex. Hanson, who always showed a great amount of love to the FGA fans and vice versa, celebrated in the crowd as Chandler laid helpless in defeat.

Over the past several weeks, mysterious videos have interrupted Event Center shows and have somehow found their way into several DVD Tapings. We were promised that the beast would rise at Final Frontier. And it turned out that the beast was none other than Kevin Hardaway. Despite what had happened during the lead up to FRONTIER vs FGA, Hardaway was given a warm welcome from the FGA crowd. Hardaway explained himself, stating that he had recently been fired from pwF by Matt Montell just before Christmas, who took over after Scott Mayo. At this point in his life, after everything that happened across the pond, Hardaway stated that wrestling back in the states was the best thing for him. After promising to give FGA a taste of the unbreakable in 2013, FGA left to cheers from the crowd. But is everyone happy that Hardaway, who was one of the most vocal detractors of FGA just two months ago, is now on board? We'll see what happens in the coming weeks.

And finally, it was main event number two as A.J. Fairchild defending his FGA Heavyweight Championship against Ryan Kidd in a Best 2 out of 3 Falls Match. These two put on arguably the match of the night back at Fear Itself. And these two didn't disappoint once again. There was back and forth action, tons of high flying maneuvers and tons of drama as the crowd gasped and sighed with each near fall. After evening things up 1-1, it looked as if Kidd was just about to put Fairchild away and claim the FGA Heavyweight Championship. But Fairchild once again countered the Adrenaline Rush (formerly the Engine 45), rolling up Kidd and hooking the tights for the win. An irate Kidd tried to tell the ref what happened after the match. But the referee told him that he unfortunately saw nothing. Kidd then went up to Fairchild and confronted him over what happened. Fairchild feigned outrage and then extended a half hearted handshake. As the two argued, Preston Blake snuck up from behind and pushed Kidd into Fairchild, sending Fairchild to the outside. As Preston attacked Kidd, Kidd's girlfriend Vikki Synn hit the ring and pleaded for Preston to stop. But this only put her in danger. After Preston grabbed her, he set her up for a DDT. Fairchild, now up on the outside, saw this. So he got back into the ring to make the save. Preston heard Fairchild from behind, so he let go of Vikki and turned around. As Fairchild went to hit Preston with the belt, Preston ducked, causing Vikki to get hit in the head with the belt by accident. After Preston fled the scene, Fairchild was left standing over an unconscious Vikki with belt in hand. Once Kidd got back up and turned around, he saw what was directly in front of him and put two and two together. After shoving Fairchid to the ground, he consoled Vikki as a guilt ridden Fairchild left the ring.