Uproar

Jason Hades vs Jayson Quick, Ted Petty Invitational Tournament 2008 (IWA Mid South)

Here were the stakes on September 27, 2008, in Joliet, Illinois. One: the world light heavyweight title, at the time held by Jason Hades. Two: the right to the name "Jason" or "Jayson." Three: Pride - The loser must say, "I quit!" a direct hit to the alpha-male ego. Furthermore it's a cage match, no disqualification, no weapons barred. Such would be the bloody climax to a four month long feud between these two wrestlers. Hades and Quick are studly rivals contracted to a stark do-or-die confrontation that offers absolutely no escape clause - perhaps, as ringside commentators note, not even death.

I was discussing this match the other day with my buddy Jim in Tennessee. We were talking about the impact of sound on a wrestling event. He said that the vocalized "I submit!" is hotter than the tap-out signal. I absototally agree. Tap-outs are a non-starter for me too. You might as well make winking the secret signal of submission. No, I want noise. Jim has a scream from BG East's The 3 Stages of Jonny on his phone.  (Underground wrestlers please take note. Animal screams of distress are hot. Please try to be a ringtone on Jim's phone.) The screams in Hades vs Quick, even without visuals, are vulgarly hot ("terrifying screams," a ringside commentator calls them - further amplified by the microphone the ref shoves into the wrestlers' faces in case one of them says "I quit"). 

My friend couldn't find Hades vs Quick on YouTube. I was certain I had it on DVD, but over the weekend, as I dug through shelves and boxes of disks, I could not find it anywhere. Happily I found the IWA MidSouth match on HighSpots, as part of the two-day, four-hour long Ted Petty Invitational, in both DVD and download formats. The tournament also includes early work by Tyler Black, Claudio Castagnoli, and Ricochet. I bought the download (cheaper option - $13ish) and decided to grab some screen shots for the blog. This post is the fifth time I've referenced this loud, rousing match, though the most recent previous mention was over five years ago.

After a strong opening attack, Hades stalks a hurt Quick in a match that's sexy-violent from start to finish.

Ref Travis Young puts the microphone to Hades' face in anticipation of an I Quit submission.

Quick launches Hades headfirst into a steel folding chair in the ring corner.

Cut.

An agonized Quick screams but refuses to quit.

Hades rides the chair down to Quick's back like a hoverboard.

Kimberly Kash pleads with Hades to spare her man Jayson.

Quick finds himself dangerously trapped between the ropes and the cage wall.

Quick blindly strikes back after Hades rakes his face across the crisscrossed wire of the cage wall.

Hades attempts to pry Quick off him.

Quick's girlfriend tosses a screwdriver into the cage in an attempt to help Jayson, but Jason Hades gets to it first.

A horrifying spot as Hades plunges the screwdriver blade to Quick's eye. Nothing is off limits, so technically the ref can't stop him. It's one of the great moments in all professional wrestling.

Erratum: For the record, Jim informs me that his smartphone screams are not imported from The Three Stages of Jonny, as reported, but from a number of other matches featuring the versatile heel-babyface Jonny Firestorm, I'm assuming from Jonny's own blog and wrestling store, which you can visit here. Jim also recommends BG East's Custom Combat 2 (Jonny vs Lane Hartley) for some blue-ribbon ululations of anguish and despair, saying, "Few suffer as well as Jonny does, and none suffer better."

Find Hades vs Quick and other IWA Mid-South videos here.