ACW Missing You: 3rd Annual Spyder Crowley Memorial Show
Date: 12/16/2023
From: Scott Depot, WV
Prior to the opening match, Nick Hamrick cuts a promo about winning a scramble match months ago at a Buffalo Wild Wings and wants a title match right now against ACW Super H Champion Marino Tenaglia. Hamrick says that Super H stands for ‘Super Hamrick.”
MATCH #1: ACW SUPER H CHAMPION MARINO TENAGLIA VS. NICK HAMRICK
FINISH: Late in the match, Chris Cannon storms the ring and attacks Tenaglia on a cover attempt causing the disqualification. Hamrick and Cannon beat on Tenaglia until Bruce Grey & Zaiden Kayne come out to make the save. After the match, Tenaglia issues a challenge for the ACW Six Man Tag Championships.
Bob’s Take: Marino is the babyface, but the crowd chanted ramen noodles at him because of his hair, which is actually pretty funny. Hamrick controls a good portion of the match working over Tenaglia knee and locked in a figure four leg lock. Hamrick looked better in this singles matches than he did in the six man tag the previous night. Not a bad match, but nothing overly memorable either. More of an angle to setup the six man tonight, I suppose.
Match Rating: **
Prior to the next match, Cowpoke Paul cuts a promo saying he’s going to ride Karr into the sunset. The microphone they are using is not working properly.
MATCH #2: JAYCE KARR VS. COWPOKE PAUL
FINISH: Paul picks up the win following a tornado DDT out of the corner.
Bob’s Take: Jayce Karr must have been a Sparky Plugg fan with his racecar driver gimmick. Cowpoke has a level of likability to him that makes it easier to enjoy his match despite not being a seasoned in-ring worker. Karr would probably be better suited getting a different gimmick.
Match Rating: *
Prior to the next match, Wes Barkley cuts a promo saying he’s going to keep it short. Barkely claims he’s a former fourteen time ACW Super H Champion and he’s confident that he’s going to beat Ron Mathis. Barkley is going to regain the Super H Championship. For what it is worth, Barkley has never won the title. He had been awarded the title by Bishop, but lost it in his first defense of the title.
Ron Mathis comes out to a cut a promo and says Wes Barkley has stupid hair and that is one thing that he hates. Mathis doesn’t just talk trash… he is trash!
MATCH #3: RON MATHIS VS. WES BARKLEY
FINISH: Mathis forces Barkley to submit to the Crossface.
Bob’s Take: It wasn’t totally obvious on the previous match, but Mathis is absolutely a top face for ACW as the fans love trash. Mathis may be my favorite ACW wrestler next to Bishop. I can safely say that Mathis is far more entertaining in hardcore matches or relaxed rules. Mathis sold a back injury pretty well throughout the match and took a nice flip bump out of the corner that reminded me of Cactus Jack, again. Barkley didn’t keep me invested with his offense, but Mathis had some fun offense on his comeback including a top rope somersault senton. Mathis made this more enjoyable than anything Barkley did.
Match Rating: **
Prior to the next match, Sam Holloway cuts a promo. Holloway says he’s going to beat his trainer, Joshua Bishop with a chokeslam.
MATCH #4: INTERIM ACW HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION JOSHUA BISHOP VS. SAM HOLLOWAY
FINISH: Bishop finishes off Holloway with a powerbomb to retain the title.
Bob’s Take: Bishop is not liked by this audience, which is much different than the previous night. In fact, three kids in the audience were the only people who stated they liked Bishop. Holloway impressed early on with a clean dive over the top rope to the floor. An older woman in the crowd, who is considered an ACW super fan, chopped Bishop. Bishop got a few of his young fans to beat up Holloway. These two have good chemistry and I liked how the match played out with plenty of hard hitting action and powerful moves. Holloway stood out here for me and I’m not surprised if he’s going to slowly be positioned as a top guy for ACW. I can totally see the potential in Holloway. I just looked up Holloway and as of January 2026 he’s competing for WWE Evolve, which does not surprise me at all. I enjoyed this quite a bit and similar to Mathis vs. Bishop from the previous show, these are the kind of matches that make watching unknown indies a ton of fun and worthwhile for me.
Match Rating: ***1/4
Backstage, ACW Interim Heavyweight Champion Joshua Bishop is interviewed regarding where he’s heading. Bishop notes that he’s undefeated in the company and has never lost a match in his entire career. Bishop dismisses that he’s ever lost and this isn’t the interim championship. Bishop says he’s here to carry the company and handle it unlike Beverly, who has a leg injury. Bishop hopes Bobby Beverly is watching him because he’s going to have to come back in the best shape to even have a chance against him.
Backstage, The Franchise Players led by Shane Douglas cuts a promo. They have a bunch of titles, and Douglas leads the promo. Douglas says if you’re going to say who the best is you better be able to back it up. Douglas disregards the Freebirds rule and deems it the Franchise rule. Douglas it could be any combination of the Franchise Players when they defend the title. You don’t have to like it, but you’ll have to respect it. They are doing the triple threat hand taunt, too.
MAIN EVENT: ACW SIX MAN TAG CHAMPIONS THE FRANCHISE PLAYERS (CHRIS CANNON, NICK HAMRICK & SHANE DOUGLAS) VS. BRUCE GREY, MARINO TENAGLIA & ZAIDEN KAYNE
FINISH: Late in the match, all six wrestlers are brawling. Cannon hits a fisherman suplex on Kayne to pickup the win and retain the titles.
Bob’s Take: There’s an extended period of time where not a whole lot is going on and they are mostly doing crowd work to fill the time. I do like the intensity that Cannon shows, but it’s only brief before they switch to stalling. It truly is comical how little Douglas can do in the ring. He didn’t do anything here other than miss a clothesline and get his forehead bitten on the floor. It’s a prime example of maybe trying to get casual wrestling fans to view the show because of his name. Out everyone in the match, Marino and Cannon provided some entertainment. I think Hamrick does much better in singles matches compared to multi-man matches.
Match Rating: *
Final Thoughts:
Overall, a subpar show action wise. Ron Mathis. Bishop and Holloway are the top acts for ACW at this point for me. While the action isn’t overly memorable, there’s something about ACW that entertains me whether it be the overall presentation or even the crowd reactions. So, I’ll have no issue with casually reviewing shows they have available on their YouTube page and I’m curious to see how it evolves over time.
Thanks for reading.