This is Jaxson Hunter with the first ever Peach State Wrestling's Anniversary Awards Show. That's right, I took it upon myself to pass out our awards for the best Peach State had to offer in the last year.
Now, the upside is there will be plenty of bragging rights involved for winning this award, plus you get a nice little printed out certificate that you can put on your fridge at home. The downside is that's all you get for winning. No title matches, no fringe benefits, no nothing. Just bragging rights and a certificate.
I'm going to start off with the Story of the Year. This is the award that goes to the single biggest event in the last year. The thing that we were all talking about at the watercooler (provided we actually had a watercooler that is). Things like Jody announcing the opening of Peach State Wrestling, Kid Kaboom's big heel turn, and Jace and Tara leaving. These were all things I considered, but the thing I chose as the winner for the Story of the Year was:
Peach State Leaves the Alliance
Why you ask? Well, it was the moment that I knew we were going to make it as a fed. You might think that's an odd thing to say, because Peach State leaving the Alliance had some long lasting consequences here. Prior to that point, some of our biggest draws were members of the NWA wrestling matches here or just visiting for autographs. We had guys like Kaboom, Kimba Seanoa, Trenton Williams, and Dixie Leigh, but truth be told nobody was familiar with any of them yet, and the crowd was showing up for the big stars. And then the fall-out happened, and it hurt us immediately. It caused one or two people to leave the company, caused our biggest match to date, our champion, Kaboom, against the NWA World Heavyweight Champion, Magnum Randell...a match that could have put us on the map...to be cancelled, when Randell pulled out. It caused the NWA World Tag Team Champions and members of the PSW roster, Ascended Supremecy, to be stripped of their titles, and other headaches I won't go in to. It caused many people within the company to wonder if we could survive without them. One source from the NWA even said we didn't have a prayer without their support.
And yet, here we are, celebrating our one year anniversary. It may not have been the most positive story to have happened this year, but it definitely was the defining moment for Peach State as a company in the last year, as we are able to stand on our own two feet now, with no support, but our own.
Next up is the Show of the Year. This was a tough one to decide, because we had some shows that were great. Granted, we had a few that weren't that good either, but overall, we've had some pretty stellar shows through-out this last year, however, the one I eventually chose was...
No Escape (November 2011)
It had a little bit of everything. We saw the debut of the current tag team champions, Blaine Harrison and Mr. Krinkle, who debutted in seperate matches. Blaine single handedly won a battle royal in impressive fashion, where as Mr. Krinkle defeated Finn Cambridge in a great match that showed off both of their abilities and impressed the crowd. We also saw the first one on one encounter between the future champion, Griffin Hawkins, and his long standing feud, Brute Svenson, where Griffin just squeeked a win via count-out when Brute couldn't make it back to the ring in time, and in the main event, we saw one of the more impressive matches on the indy circuit in the last year, as we had our first cage match, where Kid Kaboom defended his title against Tara Michaels and Jace Parker Davidson...where Tara came out on top to claim the championship. From top to bottom, not one match disappointed, and it got better and better with each match. With the cage match, it was probably the most anticipated card of the year, and it lived up to everybody's expectations.
I'm going to keep moving right along here, and now we're we're going to talk about the Feud of the Year. We really haven't seen the typical feuds here in Peach State, mainly because of our format, but at the same time, we've seen some people who have had some major disagreements and moments with one another. People like Griffin and Brute. People like Kaboom and Trenton. People like Griffin and Jace, but when it comes down to it, the most talked about feud this year had to have been...
Nick King and Tara Michaels
I could have easily sit here and say...well, Tara isn't here anymore, so why even consider her for an award, but I can't do that. King vs. Tara was, in my opinion, the defining feud of the back half of the year, from the moment Tara got her shot at the championship, to the moment King knocked her out and bloodied her with the title belt, straight up to the point where they fought in a cage, where Tara got her revenge on him for his actions. This feud also included Tara's husband, Jace, but in the end, it was always just between King and Tara.
And I might as well move right along to the Match of the Year, because if you've read this whole thing, it will not come as a surprise to you, because my Match of the Year is the cage match at No Excuses...Kaboom vs. Tara vs. Jace.
It was the first thing that came to my mind, but I did go back and think. I thought about it long and hard. I thought about Trenton vs. Kaboom II, where Kaboom won the title back from Trenton. I thought about Kaboom and Dixie's first encounter in a one on one contest, which saw my jaw drop on more than one occassion. I even thought about last month's four corners match that would crown our new champion, Griffin, but when it came down to it, none of them had the same meaning or anticipation that the cage match had. The crowd was hanging on every move. They sat on the edge of their seat everytime someone grabbed ahold of the cage trying to climb it. They gasped whenever someone neared the top, and they were all on their feet when Tara knocked Kaboom back into the ring and climbed out to win the match.
It was the match of the year, bar none.
Which brings me to the final award. The Wrestler of the Year. There were several people I considered for this award. People like Trenton Williams, Tara Michaels, Griffin Hawkins, and even Jace Parker Davidson, but in the end, as much as I hate to admit it, there has been one superstar that has stood out since the moment this company opened, and that is...
Kid Kaboom / Nick King
Kaboom won the championship on the very first show, First Steps, making this young kid straight out of Jody's School of Wrestling, an instant star here in Peach State, but then it seemed like a fluke as he lost it a month later to Trenton Williams. He didn't wine or anything, and instead just kept wrestling, until he was given his rematch, and won the title back again, holding on to it for several months. He wrestled on every single card, with the exception one...the one that he was suspended on...and win or lose, good guy or asshole...he came to the ring and gave it his all.
This whole write up is probably going to make his head the size of a blimp, but for our first year, there is no one who deserves it more than him.
So that does it for our first ever Anniversary Awards Show. One year down, and there's no end date in site. I wonder who will win these awards next year, because with all the new talent that has joined recently, and any new talent still to come, it will be very interesting indeed what the future holds for Peach State Wrestling.
