Was Chris Q the culprit? Did The Murder strike again? Does Chris Bond accept the challenge? More matches announced for International Incident? An FGA original returns? All of these questions were answered on the latest edition of Battleground!
At the end of last week's Battleground, Dom Harter was found face down on the floor with a broken bottle of whiskey next to him. All indications were that Chris Q was behind the attack on the #1 contender for his belt. During a backstage interview with Spencer Burke, The Big Bad of FGA denied any involvement. But his denials weren't believable to The Murder. After his main event match with Kevin Hardaway, The Murder swooped in, beating down the FGA Heavyweight Champion.
Speaking of Hardaway, The Voice of Violence got the answer that he was looking for. On Battleground 1.1, Chris Bond announced that he would be retiring effective immediately. But Hardaway came out, begging and pleading for him to be Bond's last opponent. Both men are well traveled veterans that were never in the same promotion until FGA. Bond is someone that K-Hard has looked up to and admired during his time in FGA. If there was one name that was at the top of his bucket list of opponents, it was Bond. After two weeks of deliberation, Bond accepted Hardaway's offer. Bond's Retirement Match will take place at International Incident.
On the topic of International Incident, more matches were made. In addition to the three championship matches, Jack Reynolds will take on Riley Owens. These two are no strangers to each other and there's certainly no love lost. These two faced off in their FGA debuts on opposite sides of a Six Man Tag match. They crossed paths again at Final Frontier, when the two took part in a 4-Way Fray. The winner of that match was supposed to be placed in top contendership for a Pride Championship match. But both Owens and Reynolds pinned the other two opponents in that match. After being placed in a Triple Threat Match with Willow Swaine, it was The Unstoppable Force that walked away with the Pride Championship match, leaving Reynolds and Owens in the cold. Now, these two grapplers will finally battle one on one. Reynolds hasn't gone out of his way to hide his disdain for Owens. And Reynolds isn't exactly Owens' favorite person, either. At International Incident, the score between these two will be settled.
Also at International Incident, Camellia D. Magna will finally get Thaddeus Grey one on one. For months, Cami was the victim of several mind games. After being taunted throughout the Fall, Grey made his shocking return at Final Frontier, attacking Cami and busting her open in the process. On this past Saturday's Battleground, Cami and Willow were unsuccessful in their tag match against Pride Champion Jimmy Page and Thaddeus Grey. But at International Incident, there won't be any partners. It'll just be Cami and Grey alone in the squared circle.
Another Battleground down and yet another setback for Sean Sands. The former FGA Heavyweight Champion was once again unsuccessful in his quest to defeat Jimmy Page at Battleground 1.1. Then this past Saturday, Sands was once again unsuccessful in a tag team match. The team of the 2013 Frontier Lions Cup winner and The Shoot Kings took on all three members of The Murder. Early in the match, Madman Szalinski attempted an X-Buster off the top turnbuckle to the outside. But Harter and Bob Pooler moved out of the way in the nick of time, causing Szalinski to crash onto the arena floor. Szalinski already went into the event with an injured arm and wrist. And unfortunately for Szalinski, he would leave the event in worse shape. Sands and Graham Clauson did their best to fight back. But as usual with The Murder, the numbers game became too much to overcome.
Earlier in the evening, Sands doubted himself during a backstage interview with Spencer Burke. He wondered if he even deserved to challenge for the FGA heavyweight Championship again. He then went on to challenge Ryan Kidd of all people to a match at International Incident. Sands said that he would get into specifics later. But he did mention that if he lost to Kidd, he would go to FGA officials and relinquish his rematch clause.
Jared James, the FGA original, surprised everyone by resigning to the promotion just a little over a week ago. The Iowa native made his return to an FGA event for the first time since last January in Woodbrdige, CT. Jared didn't make any excuses for his past mistakes. He knows he let FGA down. He admits that he has to earn back the trust of the fans. And he knows that he's far removed from a title shot of any kind. What Jared wanted was simply an opportunity to win back the trust of both FGA and the fans. For the time being, he isn't concerned with title shots. They'll come if and when he deserves them. Right now, the New Hampshire resident is concerned with being the best technical wrestler FGA has ever seen. Jared will compete in an FGA ring for the first time since October 2012 at Battleground 1.3.
