Matt Griffin thinks that independent wrestlers in the Southeast get overlooked on the national scene.

He hopes that Southeast First changes that.

A collaborative effort featuring eight different promotions in the region, Southeast First emanates Friday, January 21, from the Roger Spencer Community Center in Tyrone, GA. Bell time is 7:30 p.m., and general admission tickets remain on sale. The event also will be streamed live on IWTV.

The rec center in Tyrone is the home venue for ACTION Wrestling, but several other companies are involved:

—Southern Honor Wrestling, based in Atlanta
—PWX Wrestling, based in Charlotte
—New South Wrestling, based in Alabama
—TWE, based in Chattanooga
—Southern Underground Pro, based in Nashville
—Scenic City Invitational, based in Chattanooga

“The south does not get the respect it deserves,” said Griffin, a former independent wrestler himself and the promoter of ACTION. “We want to try to bring the Southeast to a better level of prominence and have some of these wrestlers who haven’t been seen outside the Southeast get seen. Sometimes, the only things you can find of somebody are a single-cam shoot on YouTube. There’s still a lot of great wrestlers here who don’t get the credit that some in the Northeast and Midwest do.”

Perhaps ACTION’s top talent is featured in the main event, as AC Mack challenges Alex Shelley for the IWTV World Title. You probably know about Shelley and his accolades and exploits. Mack has held the ACTION, SUP Bonestorm and SHW Titles. He also won last year’s Scenic City Invitational tournament. Griffin described the Mack-Shelley bout as “the biggest match I could possibly think that we could put on.”

Other matches include:

—Owen Knight defends the SHW Title against Kyle Matthews

—Jon Davis defends the PWX Title against Drew Adler

—Rolando Perez defends the New South Title against Brandon Williams, Donnie Janela & Chris Crunk in an Elimination Match

—Merc defends the TWE Title against Damyan Tangra

—Violence Is Forever (Kevin Ku & Dominic Garrini) take on current ACTION Champion Arik Royal & Jaden Newman

—Adam Priest vs. Anthony Henry

—Landon Hale vs. Eli Knight

—Bojack, BK Westbrook & Diego Hill vs. Ashton Starr, Bobby Flaco & Brogan Finlay

It’s not hyperbole to label this as the most significant event in ACTION’s three-year history.

“It’s been a long term goal for me to book wrestling that matters,” Griffin said. “If you draw 500 people it’s great, but if no one outside the building sees your show, what does it matter? This is 2022 now.”

Be sure to check this site on the night of the show, as we’ll be reviewing one of the matches from this event for Day 21 of our 365 Wrestling project!

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