Platinum Championship Wrestling---July 4, 2017---Porterdale,GA

Platinum Championship Wrestling never disappoints on July 4th. The crowd was hot, though a bit smaller than Saturday's. I suspect that's due to the city choosing to do fireworks on Saturday rather than on the actual day of July 4th. Main Event owner Tim Savage promised they'd do some more fireworks after the show, and the crowd seemed amenable. It rained on and off, but the weather held off enough for the show to continue unimpeded.

The Get Along Gang (C.B. Suave and Gil Quest) hosted the festivities, claiming that if The New Day could host Wrestlemania, then they could host Porterdale's 4th of July. They said it wouldn't be a party without a third member, and Marko Polo joined them. They highlighted the shirts they wore, taking advantage of the fact that half the crowd boos them and half the crowd cheers them. The shirts read #instacheer and #instaboo. If they make and sell these, I suspect they'd be popular.

The show opened with Brooklyn Page vs. Nina Monet. Nina took control of the match at the start, and she hit Brooklyn with a back body drop. Brooklyn kneed Nina in the chin. Though Brooklyn is still green, and there were a few spots she appeared hesitant, the match looked pretty good. Nina's experience shined through. She put Brooklyn in a submission, and won the match to the crowd's approval.

Gil Quest issued an open challenge for his Porterdale Southern States Championship to an all-American. Fry Daddy answered Quest's challenge. Quest is exciting, his strikes are on point. Fry, the crowd favorite, delivered a spinebuster, earning a two count. Quest went for a punch, Fry dodged, set Quest up for something, but Quest reversed it. Fry went up and missed, and Quest took advantage.  They went back and forth in a struggle, both attempting to pin the other. Quest finally bested Fry, pinning him and retaining the title. Quest and Fry hugged post-match in a show of respect, further cementing Quest's apparent face turn.

C.B. Suave and Marko Polo got into a flexing contest, and because they couldn't figure out who was prettier, it got heated. The Get Along Gang stopped getting along, and they went inside unable to settle their differences. General Manager Matt Hankins took over hosting duties.

Shane Marx made his PCW return facing Logan Creed.  Creed's kicks were massive. He tried to submit Marx in the Rings of Saturn, but to no avail. Creed dominated the first part of the match claiming that Porterdale was his city. It was a battle of two big men, as they brawled outside the ring with vicious punches and chops. Creed hit a leg drop on Marx on the apron. The match went back inside the ring, and Creed did a chokeslam style backbreaker. Marx's clotheslines barely phased Creed. Marx hit a picture perfect spinebuster, but Creed managed to power out. It looked like Marx was setting up for Natural Selection, but Creed caught him. Marx managed to pin Creed, but Creed had his foot on the rope. In the confusion, Creed rolled Marx up, securing the victory.

Jonathan Malik called Shane Marx the primordial champion, and added that because he'd been away for so long he was now a stranger in a strange land. "I can take you back to the level you belong." Malik gave Marx his business card. Matt Hankins came over to talk Marx out of taking Malik's offer. The crowd cheered for Marx to rip up Malik's card, but he didn't.

Tyson Dean faced PCW Heavyweight Champion "The People's Captain" Gunner Miller. Miller's look and demeanor scream next level superstar. At the beginning, anytime Dean got any momentum Miller played coward, rolling out of the ring.  Dean worked Miller's arm, wrist, and fingers. Miller's become meaner, more aggressive, just in the past few months. He wrapped Dean's leg around the ringpost, and threw his knee into it. He then tied both Dean's legs around the ringpost, and wrapped him in a submission. Miller laid on the ground, putting pressure on Dean's knee. He had to break at the five, but he'd damaged the knee, and he kept on that weakened knee for the remainder of the match. Dean reversed Miller's submission attempt forcing Miller to grab the rope for the break. Miller hit a suplex and it was magic. They traded blows, Miller elbowed Dean in the head, then followed with another gorgeous suplex. Dean hit a spinebuster for a two count. He set Miller up for the ego trip, but Miller fought out, and hit Dean with a standing suplex, pinning him for the win. This was my favorite match of the evening.

Shane Marx came out and he and Gunner Miller were locked in a staredown. Instead of going for Miller, Marx attacked Tyson Dean. When Matt Hankins confronted him, he pushed Hankins away aggressively.

Two cage matches comprised the second half of the show.  The first featured ERC, accompanied by Jonathan Malik, against Geter. The crowd immediately started chanting "Geter's gonna kill you" as ERC entered. Malik yelled "He don't need to hear all that" as ERC covered his ears to drown them out. Geter entered the cage ready to fight, but ERC stalled. Geter led the crowd in a "sissy" chant directed at ERC. ERC tried to get back out, but ring crew leader, Jimmie Oxendine shut him in. ERC spidered up the cage wall, but Geter slapped him down. Geter punched him, then chopped him. ERC made a second attempt at escape, but Geter picked him up and suplexed him. ERC finally felled Geter with a dropkick, but his third escape attempt was thwarted. ERC begged off as Geter urged him to get up and fight like a man. ERC dropkicked Geter, and laid boots to him. Malik sealed the cage door with his crutches to keep Geter in, and urged ERC to escape over the walls. ERC did a giant splash from the top of the cage, then he attempted to escape again, but Geter snatched him down. ERC regained momentum with kicks in the corner. Geter tangled ERC up in the ropes and kicked him. He hit ERC with superplex, and both men were down. Geter got up on the eight count, and he hit ERC with two clotheslines and a massive kick. He then hit ERC with a giant belly to belly. Geter was about to set up for a flying elbow, when Brian Blaze interrupted. Blaze blathered on about their friendship, and about why Geter needs to accept a match with him. While Geter listened to Blaze, ERC escaped the cage and won the match.

Blaze finally got Geter to accept the match by threatening his family while Geter was still in the cage. Geter tells Blaze he'll fight him now, but Blaze said that Geter would have to wait two months, and they'd fight at Sacred Ground Chapter Eight.

The main event featured Bill the Butcher against the Strong Style Psycho Tank to determine the number one contender for the PCW Heavyweight Title. Tank's strikes were brutal and he dominated the first part of the match. Bill matched Tank's headbutts with a few of his own. He evaded Tank's advances and opened the door for an early escape attempt. Tank tangled him in the ropes, but he got busted open for his trouble. They met in the middle with clotheslines. Overall it was a brutal match. Carpenter slammed the cage door in Tank's face, allowing Bill to take advantage and pin Tank and become number one contender.

Tank announced that he is retiring in August, and that this is his last PCW match. He said "You guys kick ass. Bill you won the title shot, you go kick his ass." Carpenter took the mike and said "There's such a thing as manifest destiny. Manifest destiny says that Bill the Butcher will be heavyweight champion. His time is now."

Jeff G. Bailey addressed Carpenter saying "Weren't you two just trying to kill each other two weeks ago? I'm supposed to believe you'll lead him to the title?" He went on to say that Gunner Miller will hold the title for life. He told Carpenter that if he inserted himself into the match, he'd take his baseball bat and turn him into a popsicle.

Platinum Championship Wrestling returns to Porterdale on July 29th. Marko Polo will take on C.B. Suave at that show. Two matches have already been set for September 15th's Sacred Ground: Chapter Eight. Brian Blaze will face longtime friend turned enemy Geter, and Bill the Butcher will face Gunner Miller for the PCW Heavyweight Championship. There are only a handful of shows left until PCW's biggest show of the year, and PCW is going to make them count.

An ode to Johnny Danger

Last night Johnny Danger wrestled his final PCW match. Brian Blaze defeated him in a last man standing match, Geter came out to make the save during Blaze's brutal post-match beatdown, then Danger's wife, son, and father joined him in a post-match embrace as the crowd cheered him. He took off his Danger City Demons vest and laid it in the ring symbolically. My son looked at me with tears in his eyes. He leaned into my shoulder crying as I hugged him.

This beautiful moment was spoiled by a first time PCW attendee who said to me "People talked up this Johnny Danger like he was some big thing. I just don't get what the hype is about." I wanted to hit him, to scream, "You have no idea what you're talking about." Instead I smiled, and tried my best to explain, "What he lacks in wrestling ability, he makes up in character." How could I explain to a guy who'd never attended a PCW show until yesterday the summation of 5 and a half years of a wrestler's career? How could I explain how much Johnny Danger had touched the lives of the Platinum faithful? None of that could be communicated through one street fight.

In 2012, I'd entered my third phase of wrestling fandom, and my son, Ian who was 4 at the time was just as obsessed as I was. My mother told us about a wrestling show running in Porterdale, and thought it'd be fun for us to take Ian to see it live since he was crazy about watching it on television. The show was run by a small independent company called Platinum Championship Wrestling, and none of the wrestlers were household names. We googled youtube footage to find out about the show, and the only wrestler who had video of his matches in Porterdale was Johnny Danger. We went into our first show cheering wildly for Johnny Danger, because he was the only person we knew by name. At the time he was part of a heel stable with Quasi Mandisco, and they called themselves The Priority Males.

At the next show, Ian and I made fan shirts for the people we liked since the wrestlers didn't have pre-made fan gear for sale. Ian asked for a Johnny Danger shirt. It turned out that Danger's wife was a teacher's aide at Ian's school and she recognized Ian from his pre-k class. She asked Ian if he wanted to meet Johnny Danger, and took a picture of Ian wearing his fan shirt.

Ian's love for Johnny Danger continued, and I made him yet another shirt. Later that summer, the priority males beat Supernatural. Another child in the audience started crying, and his mother looks at Ian and says "Your friend over here isn't crying." Ian smiled at both of them and proudly stated, "My team won." The priority males were still comedic heels at the time, but Ian had already found a hero in Johnny Danger.

Danger didn't become the heart of PCW until he finally left the Priority Males at Sacred Ground Chapter 3, when he entered the Platinum Royal to his own entrance music. Danger could be dismissed as a comedy act, but he was committed to PCW, to the fans, to doing what was right. He embodied the characteristics of a hero, someone the kids could look up to, someone everyone in Porterdale loved.

Danger faced adversity many times, but always prevailed. Quasi Mandisco got him banned from the building with a restraining order at one show, but Danger found a way around it by competing under a mask as the Platinum Crusader for months. When Mandisco tried to unmask him, it turned his brother Devlin Valek was under the mask. Valek and Danger reunited as The Danger City Demons, and quickly became Porterdale's favorite tag team. They finally realized their dream winning the Tag Team Season at PCW's Sacred Ground Chapter 6.

When the Cornerstone invaded, leaving Danger laid out, cutting off a chunk of his hair, the audience cried. When Danger had a hair vs. hair match with Stephen Platinum for revenge, we cheered as Danger cut off Platinum's locks, throwing pieces to waiting audience members. When the Danger City Demons finally ran off the Cornerstone at Sacred Ground 7, we cheered the banishment of the evil Stephen Platinum. It was a new beginning.


 It didn't matter that Johnny Danger couldn't do a 450 splash from the top rope. It didn't matter if he wasn't a great technical wrestler. It didn't matter if Larry Goodman never understood his popularity. What mattered was that the people of Porterdale rallied behind his rock and roll charm, his humor, and his infectious personality. Whenever PCW needed a hero, Johnny Danger was there to face the villains, fight evil, and kick ass.

My son found a hero at the age of 4 at a time when he needed one most. My family found a place at PCW, new friends, a place to belong, when we really needed one most. There's no way to explain that to a first time attendee. There's barely a way to explain it all to someone who knows us, who's attended the shows from the start. It is safe to stay that Johnny Danger is at the center of our PCW fandom, and even though he might not wrestle again, he's still the heart of PCW.