Who won? Who lost? Who was able to retain their championship? Who lost their championship? And after three grueling, hard-fought rounds, who is your 2013 Frontier Lions Cup winner? Click below to find out.
This past weekend, Sean Sands went from fan favorite with an underdog story to the star of the show. In one night, Sands defeated the likes of Johnny Blayze, Kevin Hardaway and Chaths to become the 2013 Frontier Lions Cup winner. It was a momentous occasion for Sands who, just two months prior, wasn't even scheduled for the Lions Cup tournament. Sands was actually scheduled for the Dynamic Duos Tag Tournament, along with his Future Shock partner Xavier Daniels. But a knee injury to Daniels forced the aspiring duo to withdraw from the tournament. With nowhere else to go, Sands was placed in a qualifying match in the Lions Cup. Sands didn't let the opportunity slip your this fingers. And once he got to Baltimore, Maryland for Above & Beyond II, he was on a mission to bring home the trophy for his friends and his family. Suffice to say, he didn't disappoint them. Last year's winner, A.J. Fairchild, also used the Lions Cup (then known as the New Frontiers Cup) to propel himself up the ladder and into an FGA Championship Match. A championship that he also ended up winning. Can Sands follow Fairchild's path to success?
Surprise, surprise. Another match, another win. Despite looking vulnerable at times, Chris Q was able to successfully defend his FGA Championship against Bob Pooler and A.J. Fairchild. Pooler made quick work of the former FGA Champion, eliminating Fairchild from the Three Way Dance in under 30 seconds. With the match now down to two, Q and Pooler went back and forth. But Q was able to best the Murder member, retaining his belt and crossing the last remaining name off of his hit list.
One half of the U.K. Dragons, Laurel Ann Hardy, joined Kevin Clement on commentary. It was at the FRONTIER vs FGA 2 show that Hardy and her Asylum members sent a strong warning to The Murder. And The Murder certainly didn't forget. Especially the Head Crow, who repeatedly got into it with Hardy throughout the match. With Scramble Rules in place, the match was wild as The Usual Suspects, Weather and even Bad Attitude tried to take the belts away from this terrible twosome. But in the end, The Murder were once again able to capitalize on the situation at hand and retain their titles. And of course, Drake just had to flaunt his belt in front of Hardy's face, adding insult to injury.
At FRONTIER vs FGA 2, FGA was on the receiving end of a thrashing as Pro-Wrestling FRONTIER won five out of the six matches on the card. And two of those men responsible for those decisive victories, Michael Hopkins and Andreas Lasiewicz, looked to come back and take FGA's Pride... literally. It was at the joint show that then-Pride Champion J.T. Cash was injured at the hands of the Godfathers of Wrestling member. With Cash forced to vacate his championship, and after The Welsh Dragon dominated the #1 contender for the Pride Championship, FGA officials placed those two men, along with Tomkins in a 4 Corners Elimination Match with Chris Bond for the vacant title. After Tomkins was eliminated early, the two pwF members took turns putting the boots to Bond. But Bond was able to make up for FGA's poor performance at the joint show, battling back and eventually eliminating both Lasiewicz and Hopkins en route to capturing his first piece of FGA hardware.
It was at the joint show that FGA Interview Justice Young was kidnapped. It was finally revealed at Above & Beyond II that it was Johnny Blayze and Chaths, collectively known as Bloodbath & Beyond, who were responsible for his disappearance. It has been no secret that Justice has been the recipient of a lot of verbal abuse throughout FGA's existence. And that abuse seems to have intensified as of late. Blayze looked to use that as fuel for Justice to "embrace the hate." But Justice showed resolve, refusing to turn agsinst those who have wronged him. Disappointed with the ear, the two men back to attack a helpless Justice as the video cut to static. There is still no word on Justice's whereabouts But FGA Management is not at all happy with the actions of these two men. Their upcoming title match against The Murder may be viewed as a reward to some. But it may very well be a twisted form of punishment by the FGA Office.
The Shoot Kings made their on-air debut in FGA since signing a contract within the past week. And as usual, the two men did what they do best - start shooting! They were blunt (no pun intended) and pulled zero punches. In addition to a shot directed at the Super Mario Wrestling Bros, Szalinski and Clauson stated that they plan on ransacking FGA and taking the Mid-Atlantic Tag Titles in the process. The duo will have their first match as FGA members in Columbus on 9/14, when they take on fellow newcomers Ward 6.
After a successful title defense, Dom Harter was cuffed and arrested due to his assault on Tiffany Lawrence Michaels from a few weeks back. While Ms. Michaels turned on the waterworks, Chris Tryon took advantage and continued to taunt a cuffed Harter. Despite nearly all of their previous encounters ending with Tryon getting a concussion, the brash newcomer one upped the Tenacious Little Bastard this time. The Usual Suspects may not have won the tag titles, but Tryon got a victory of his own. But how long will Tryon be able to celebrate until Harter gets his hands on him?
It was revealed during the supershow that FGA has worked out some sort of television deal with Spike. The channel, which airs in about 98.6% of households in the United States, will provide a huge platform for the promotion. It is a huge opportunity for FGA to gain exposure, grow its audience, and bring in some new talent. But some questions still remain. Is this a one time deal? Will the company be airing quarterly specials? Or will FGA have a regular program on Spike? Those questions will be answered in the weeks to come.
