But it was now time for our main event to crown our first Peach State Tag Team Champions. John Empires and Dixie Leigh came out separately. Empires looking…well…miserable as always, while Dixie seemed overwhelmed that she has the chance to earn her first title so early in her career. Being in the opening match really helped them out a great deal, as they had the longest to rest and recover, something that the team of Jace Parker Davidson and August Joyce did not have the luxury of, which was evident as they walk to the ring. Not to mention, no offense to Empires and Dixie, Jace and Joyce’s match was much more strenuous than their opening match. Both Jace and Joyce show the evidence of their first round match, especially Davidson, who looks notably winded still.
This time, August tells Jace he’s starting things off, and he walks right over and yells at Empires that he wants him in the ring first. Last month, Empires made his Peach State debut, attacking Joyce for no reason other than he felt like it. It was a move that Empires said wasn’t personal, just fun on Twitter the next day. Other than that, he has not discussed why he chose to attack Joyce, but it was something that Joyce didn’t forget, obviously.
Empires obliges Joyce as the two stare each other down as Matt shows everyone the two title belts, before handing them outside the ring. The bell rings and Empires and Joyce begin to get smart with one another with comment after comment, each having a reply to what the other says. They get nose to nose, jawing with each other, and finally Empires is the first one to strike a blow. A hard right hand rocks Joyce, but Joyce answers back with a right of his own. The two begin to trade blows back and forth, each stronger than the last. However, it is Empires that gets the advantage, the seasoned brawler that he is. He rocks Joyce hard with one right hand and another, then a left, a right, an uppercut, a jab, and finally a huge haymaker that sends Joyce back into the corner. Empires drives a knee into his chest, before sending him across to the otherside with an Irish whip. Empires follows Joyce in, but Joyce moves out of the way, and Empires hits the corner, chest first. Joyce drops down, rolling Empires up with a school boy, getting a solid 2 count, and it showed how close the match could have been over right there. Empires kicked out, getting quickly back to his feet, as Joyce rushed him, catching him with a clubbing clothesline that took Empires down. Empires struggles to get back to his feet, having his head down, just the position for Joyce to rush toward him, and hit a swinging neckbreaker. Empires goes down, and Joyce covers again, this time barely getting a two count as Empires kicks out. Joyce gets to his feet, and quickly tags in Jace, rushing back to Empires, who is up to one knee, and eyeing a tag of his own, but Joyce cuts him off, as Jace comes in with a quick missile dropkick to Empires’s chest.
Joyce leaves the ring, as Jace bends over, lifting Empires to his feet. He wraps his arm around his neck, and goes to lift Empires up, possibly for a suplex or a brainbuster, but Empires blocks it with his leg, and it is Empires who lifts Jace up, dropping him forward with a front suplex. Jace, holds his chest, which took the brunt of the move, and rolls to the apron. Empires follows him over, bending over the top rope, to pick up Jace. He lifts Jace to his feet, but Jace comes up with a European uppercut. Empires takes a step back, and Jace almost stumbled off the apron himself. Empires shakes off the uppercut and makes another attempt at Jace, but Jace blocks it, grabs Empires head, and drops off the apron, bringing Empires’s neck across the top rope with a hangman. Empires snaps backwards, as Jace jumps to the apron again, grabbing ahold of the top rope, and springboarding into the ring. Out of nowhere, Empires catches Jace in mid-air, turns, and plants him straight in the center of the ring with a huge spinebuster. Empires drops backwards, and looks or where Dixie is, who has her hand outstretched. Empires leapt toward his corner, and tags in Dixie. The crowd pops loudly, as Dixie immediately goes to the top rope, as Jace just begins to move again. Jace got to his feet, turned, and Dixie flew off the top rope, catching her legs around his head, and whipping him around with a huge hurricanrana off the top rope. Jace lands hard onto the mat and goes sliding. It was a great move for a rookie, but it also showed her inexperience, because it landed Jace right into his corner, where Joyce tagged himself in.
Joyce climbed into the ring, and despite their back and forth camaraderie on Twitter and backstage, this match is for the gold, so friendship goes out the window, as Joyce comes in, and catches Dixie with a knee lift. Dixie stumbles backwards into the ropes. Joyce sends her flying to the otherside, where he tries to connect with a clothesline. Dixie ducks underneath it, and then does a cartwheel into the ropes, rebounding off of them, and jumping backwards catching Joyce with a back elbow. Joyce is stunned, as Dixie rushed to the ropes, leaping up onto them, and flipping backwards, but Joyce caught her in mid-air, and then flipped her over, bringing her straight down across her knee with a backbreaker. The pain on Dixie’s face is evident, as he lets her drop to the mat from the backbreaker. Joyce covered Dixie, but despite her pain, she managed to get a shoulder up at the two count.
Joyce got to his feet again, lifting Dixie up, and pushing her into the ropes. He delivers a sicking knife edge chop across her chest. He raises his hand again, and delivers another one. He raises another one, when suddenly a forearm goes across him from behind, as John Empires nails him from behind. Joyce nearly is knocked out of the ring from the blow, as Empires literally grabs ahold of Dixie, throws her over his shoulder and rushes back to their corner. He plants her on her feet in the corner, and climbs out, quickly tagging himself in. The crowd can’t believe that Empires actually just saved Dixie. I couldn’t believe it either.
Joyce shakes off the blow, turning around, as Empires climbs back into the ring, rushing toward him. Joyce steps out of the way, tripping Empires up with a droptoe hold, sending Empires sprawling across the middle rope, his throat catching on it. Joyce drops backwards, reaching out and tagging in Jace, as he turns, grabbing Empires feet, and lifting them up, stretching Empires body out, the full weight of everything on his throat, with Empires unable to do anything but hang there. Jace runs to the opposite ropes and leaps up, coming straight down with almost a senton splash across Empires back. Joyce climbs out of the ring, as Empires snaps backwards, holding his throat from the force of the last move. Jace got back to his feet, as Empires rolls around, jumping up to the second rope, springboarding off of it, and then turning in mid-air, coming down with a double foot stomp, straight onto Empires chest. Jace crumbles his legs, and rolls off of Empires, before turning over, and covering him, getting a near three count, but Empires gets a shoulder up at the last minute.
Jace gets right back to his feet, lifting Empires up, but as soon as he does so, Empires grabs his waistband, and drops backwards, sending Jace shoulder first into the ring post. Jace is left sprawling on the middle turnbuckle. Empires slowly gets to his feet, and then turns, rushing Joyce, sending him flying off the apron with a right hand, before turning back toward Jace. Empires grabs Jace, pulling him away from the corner, lifting him up onto his shoulder, before turning, and slamming him down with an atomic drop. Jace bounces, somehow staying on his feet, as Empires drives a toe kick into Jace, doubling him over. He puts his head between his legs, and lifts his arms up in a butterfly, going for what he calls a Southern Driver, his version of a pedigree, but before he can, August Joyce comes flying into the ring, catching Empires with a fury of punches. Empires lets go of Jace, as the two begin to trade blows.
Dixie Leigh leaps into the ring, catching August from behind, driving a hard side kick into his side. August stumbles backwards as Empires grabs his head, driving him backwards with an uppercut. Joyce stumbles backwards into the ropes. Dixie rushes toward him, but is caught out of nowhere with a spear by Jace. Dixie is snapped in two from the spear, and rolls to the outside, crashing to the floor below. Jace gets back to his feet, and Empires immediately turns his attention to him, driving him back into the corner with a combo of rights and lefts. He turns, checking on August, too late, as August catches him with a clothesline as he turns around. Empires goes down, and Joyce immediately lifts him up. He grabs his wrist, twisting it, and then lifting him up…turning and slamming him down with a modified powerslam he calls The Qing Ri. Joyce rolls out of the way, as the impact nearly puts Empires through the mat.
Jace doesn’t waste anytime. He goes to the top rope, flashes a cocky smile to the crowd, just to get on their nerves, and then flips off, spinning in mid-air, coming crashing down on top of Empires with The Awakening. He hooked the leg and got a three count. The crowd didn’t know how to react as both Jace Parker Davidson and August Joyce just became the first ever Peach State Tag Team Champions!
Matt Reynolds hands them both the title, and they raise it up, and then they suddenly realized something. I don’t know why they really didn’t think about it before hand, but they didn’t. They were stuck together. The two of them are now stuck together until they lose the titles. Jace smirks at Joyce, before rolling out of the ring with his half of the title, before heading to the back, leaving Joyce to celebrate alone in the center of the ring. He holds the title up for the fans, who are still cheering for him at least.