Our first match is another example of card subject to change, as we found out earlier tonight that, for the second month in a row, Dixie Leigh would not be in attendance. Which worked out perfectly, because Scott King didn’t show-up tonight either, so the scheduled tag team match got dropped down to a singles match pitting “The People’s Choice” August Joyce against Chris Jacobs.
Peach State newcomer, Chris Jacobs came to the ring first, as the fan favorite “Oh Canada” plays over head. And when I say fan favorite, if you ever want to know what’s it like to be hated, turn on a song about Canada, in a room full of people from Georgia, and you’ll get a pretty good feel for what it’s like.
That all changed once Enter Shikari’s “OK, Time for Plan B” hit, and everyone jumped to their feet as “The People’s Choice” August Joyce came out. Despite Joyce’s slump as of late, the crowd is still hot for him, and it is obvious that he is not letting his recently losing streak get the better of him. He slapped the hands of the fans and climbed into the ring.
The two superstars look over one another, and then Matt rings the bell to start the match. The two of them lock-up, and Joyce, who, for once, has a slight size advantage over the 5’9″ Chris Jacobs, gets a quick headlock, but Jacobs uses his speed to slide out of it, coming behind Joyce, and nailing a dropkick straight into the back of Joyce’s legs, taking him down to his knees. Jacobs immediately runs into the ropes, and comes back across, flipping over Joyce, and coming down with a modified neckbreaker on Joyce. He immediately goes for the cover, but only gets a two count, as Joyce is able to kick out.
Jacobs got back to his feet, lifting Joyce up, and driving a knee into his chest, wearing him down. He drives a kick into Joyce’s left leg, then his right, but as soon as he does so, Joyce drives an inside elbow into Jacobs’s head, knocking Jacobs back into the ropes. Joyce grabs him and sends him to the otherside. Joyce goes for a clothesline, but Jacobs drops down, and as Joyce turns around, Jacobs leaps up, connecting with a freestanding enziguri. Joyce drops down to the mat, and Jacobs goes for another cover. Joyce gets a shoulder up after two.
This match all came about when Chris Jacobs, coming in as leader of the Young Lions along with Scott King and Brute Svenson, made a statement at last month’s Uprising by taking out not only the newly crowned Peach State Tag Team Champions, Tara Michaels-Davidson and Tristian Michaels, but also the former tag team champions, Jace Parker-Davidson and August Joyce.
Jacobs lifts Joyce up again, wrapping him up with his arms, and lifts him up, going for a MMA slam, but as soon as he lifts him up, Joyce drives a headbutt into Jacobs’s head, forcing him down. An unusual move by Joyce, and it showed, as Joyce showed signs of the headbutt himself, as he stumbled in the other direction. Jacobs recovers and rushes Joyce, but Joyce drives a toe kick straight into the incoming Jacobs, doubling him over.
Joyce immediately pounces on him, lifting him up onto his shoulders, ironically into a Canadian backbreaker position, but instead of dropping down, he flips him around, and drops down with him with a cutter, a new move I found out he calls The Choice. He covered Jacobs and got a pinfall, ending his losing streak.
Joyce may have picked up the win, but Jacobs looked impressive in his Peach State debut. He’s had a huge career in this industry, and there’s no telling where he will go next here in Peach State. And we’ll see if this one win will get Joyce back on the track to the top.