Another FEST Wrestling show is in the books as The Hardcore Hunt has come and gone. The card featured a tremendous amount of talented individuals including the FEST debuts of Brody King, Kiera Hogan and Simon Grimm. To summarize what went down at the last show, here are some superlatives that recall the best of FEST.
Best Callback: Veda Scott’s vision
Last time we saw Veda Scott, she ended getting pinned by The Hooligans at the 1 Year Anniversary Bash in September. Since then, she has been wrestling overseas. She made her return at The Hardcore Hunt in a match named after show. She picked up where she left going toe-to-toe with some of the toughest competitors in FEST. When Su Yung climbed a ladder to retrieve an Easter Egg suspended above Eight Seconds, she broke it and dumped the contents (candy and thumbtacks) on Veda. If that wasn’t enough, Su spit some bloody mist in the face of Veda. This was reminiscent of their showdown at the first Pickle in a Tree ladder match. However, Veda was wearing her glasses this time. She dropped Su with a powerbomb and hit her with a Shining Wizard to win her match while get revenge on the Bloody Undead Bride.
Best Death-Defying Act: Vandal
Vandal has been putting on some of the best performances as a singles competitor lately with his matches at Brawl By The Beach and Pickle in a Tree 2. He is solidify himself as a man willing to go to the extreme to win in The Hardcore Hunt match. Last time Vandal went to the air, he climbed one of the balconies at Eight Seconds and did a cross body on Arik Cannon, Teddy Stigma and Wolfe Taylor at the 1 Year Anniversary Bash. With the assistance of a door and a ladder, Vandal propped Jamie Senegal on the door set between two chairs. He made the familiar climb using the ladder, set himself in position, gave himself a bit of a prayer and splashed Senegal.
Best Performance: Jamie Senegal
Speaking of the devil, Jamie Senegal delivered the performance of the night in The Hardcore Hunt. He made an great impression on the Eight Seconds crowd as he was dead set to knock the blocks off his opponents with some devastating kicks. He also delivered a beautiful Asai Moonsault to take out the majority of his competition and a wicked Blockbuster on Jimmy Lloyd with a door nearly breaking his fall. Did I mention he is damn near indestructible? He was the recipient of some nasty bumps courtesy of CJ O’ Doyle and Vandal.
Best Assist: Milo Bearsley
Beastly and Milo Beasley (or “Milo Beastly”) took on the team of Matt Knicks and Stevie Fierce (or “Stevie Knicks”) in the opening contest of The Hardcore Hunt. Aiding them in the match was Milo Bearsley by giving the duo some advice and helping take out Knicks and Fierce with assisted suicide dive. Knicks did not like that at all as he got his revenge on Bearsley with a standing Shooting Star Press.
Best Short-Lived Battle: Teddy Stigma vs. Su Yung
Before the chaos that was The Hardcore Hunt match could begin, Teddy Stigma joined the commentary team who is on injury reserve list. During the match, the action spilled outside the ring as usual. Armed with her kendo stick, the former FEST Wrestling Champion Su Yung was looking for a target and focused on Stigma. The World’s Worst Role Model defended himself from the Undead Bride with his cane as a battle ensued. Stigma eventually disarmed Su, but as Stigma swinged away, Su ducked and launched herself into a diving somersault senton onto the seated Vandal.
Best use of FEST doors: CJ O’ Doyle
One of the highlights of Pickle In A Tree 2 was the opening contest between Aria Blake, CJ O’ Doyle and Saieve Al Sabah. All three performers put it all on the line and the night was not even over. CJ made his return to FEST in The Hardcore Hunt as he proclaimed himself to be the most hardcore competitor in the match. There was one spot where he did deliver in his promise of being hardcore. As he battled Jamie Senegal on the apron, he managed to hit a piledriver on “The Punk Rock Kween” not on the hardest part of the ring, but on a propped up door at ringside. Both competitors crashed as they both laid proned on the floor of Eight Seconds. Yes CJ…that was hardcore.
Lived Up to the Hype: The Carnies and Kiera Hogan
One of the reasons that I went to this show was to see both The Carnies (Nick Iggy and Kerry Awful) and Kiera Hogan live at FEST. The Carnies has taken on the likes of Coast 2 Coast and British Strong Style while Kiera aka “The Girl On Fire” has faced tough adversaries such as Laurel Van Ness, Priscilla Kelly and Su Yung. The Carnies took on the FEST Wrestling Tag Team Yampions The Gym Nasty Boys for the titles as they challenged White Mike and Timmy Lou Retton to ‘step right up.” Kiera slammed men half her size, dove onto her competiton with a low rope suicide dive and employed some hardcore tactics by retriving a stapler from one of the Easter Eggs and using it on her opponents.
Match of the Night: Effy vs. Leva Bates
Defending his title for the first time since winning it at Love is a Battlefield 2, FEST Wrestling Champion Effy took on “The Queen of Cosplay” Leva Bates. Before the match could even begin, there was a cryptic video from Leva, vowing to take Effy out and leave with his title. The next thing that happens is that Leva comes out to Effy’s music, dressed like him (complete with his pink jacket). The mind games has begun and the bell has not been touched yet. Leva channeling her inner Harpo Marx started mirroring Effy moves until a back hand slap apparently woke her up. The referee was not even safe as Frank Gastineau tried to break it up between these two distinct wrestling personalities. He received a kiss from both competitors, got flipped off by them and proceeded to get his revenge by diving on both Effy and Leva. What followed was a brutal battle between the two with Leva using some of Effy’s move including the triangle chokehold that puts away his opponents. Leva even resorted to utilizing steel chair by propping them up and hitting the Limit Break with Effy’s body using the chairs as a landing pad. However, this was not enough to put the resilient champ away. Beyond pissed off with Leva’s BS, Effy stomped her head into the ropes and utilize the triangle choke to retain the title. Both Effy and Leva put on tremendous performances that told an amazing story brimmed with ferocious action.
OH MY GOD!!!: Bamboo Skewers
If you haven’t gotten it by now, The Hardcore Hunt is a FEST’s version of a Easter Egg Hunt. Eight eggs were hidden within the vicinity of Eight Second as the competitors were blindfolded. Jimmy Lloyd retrieved one of the eggs and broke it open to find bamboo skewers. He attempted to use it on Su Yung until Jamie saved her only to receive a superkick for his troubles. Disarming the psychotic competitor, the Bloody Undead Bride bit him and drove the skewers into his head.
Welcome Back: Angel Rose
Angel Rose was instantly a favorite with the FEST crowd when she faced WWE’s Lince Dorado and AR Fox in the first two FEST shows. She has not been on the past six FEST shows due to an injury that put on her the shelf for nearly half a year. Returning for the first time since Xmas in July, Angle Rose received one of the biggest pops in Gainesville as the crowed welcomed her back with open arms. She also showed that the injury didn’t hinder her at all as she took out CJ with the 305 and a frog splash to made an emphatic statement that she is back.
You can check out a quick recap of what kind of stuff when down during FEST’s Hardcore Hunt this past Saturday night in the video below
Photos: Burch Photography and Speedy’s Productions
South Florida Wrestling Pundit 