Performance title changes hands in APWA’s high-flying main event

With a fire ignited the heat is amplified by stepping through the ropes.

The Bergbron Padstal was the vibrant host of the grand-slam return of live professional wrestling to the events calendar, September 25. African Punishment Wrestling Academy (APWA) quenched the thirst of wrestling fans with a pulse-racing, emotion-overriding display of high-flying energy and physical endurance.

The first of the three fights was a handicap match between Tag-team title holder Buksie Kruger who took on Tappery Martinez and AJ Edwards from the APWA’s development wing. The veteran hard-man was fearless as he dominated the young upstarts, slapping them around the ring and giving them a lesson in power wrestling. After smashing AJ through a table, he piledrived Tappery on his skull, earning the vicious 1-2-3.

APWA’s biggest voice, All Africa champion, The Loudmouth, made his customary bravado-oozing entrance to take on Pretoria dynamo, Ashton Heyy. The big-talking staple of the APWA locker room may count himself lucky to have retained his belt, as an aggressive and ruthless Heyy had the Mouth on the ropes for much of the fight. In the end, experience and power would trump youthful exuberance as Loudmouth power-bombed Heyy after the gamble backfired, walking away with the belt still around his waist.

In the main event, two fan favourites locked holds in the APWA squared circle for the Performance Wrestling Championship belt. To a chorus of cheers and whistles from the females in attendance, hot property Alex Desire looked to dethrone champion Super Dragon. Both were armed with a plethora of top-rope acrobatics and sublime wrestling artistry, each pushing their own and their opponent’s physical limits.

This high-flying dance of death sapped the energy from the popular wrestlers, both men inflicting heavy blows on one another. Each would came within a whisker of a pin-fall victory, taking the delirious fans on a ring-side roller coaster. With the gas tanks almost empty, Alex Desire would finally lock in a submission hold, forcing the champion Super Dragon to tap out, to the massive disappointment of his fans, young and old.

Never far from the action, APWA Commonwealth champion Ananzi, commandeered the microphone for the event and body-slammed a crowd member for good measure. “It is amazing to be able to perform in front of a crowd again,” he mused. “We have missed our fans and we hope we have been able to put on a great show.” Lines have been drawn and standards set, awaiting the next challenge to arise.