On January 16th, Terminus, a new promotion from the minds of Jonathan Gresham and Baron Black launches. Their first show is in Atlanta, Georgia and is completely sold out.
Recently, the directives, or rules, were released for the promotion. I'll be taking a closer look at some of those below.
A few things pop into my mind immediately:
-Time limits are great, it ensures no match will go too long. I love that. The longest possible match is 20 minutes. What a great time to be alive.
-Technical fouls seem rather lenient. A grappler is allowed one free low blow per match? That's one more than usual. You have to think everyone uses this right?
-Also, I need to see someone reach expulsion from Terminus on night 1. My pick is Moose.
-Technical fouls being given at the referee's discretion makes me think we may have heel and face referees.
-Count outs being only 5 seconds ensures that no grappler is able to take too long on the outside to avoid wrestling.
-I'm happy to see someone enforce the closed fist rule that allegedly exists in all of wrestling.
-Less happy to see a wrestling being thrown over the top rope being a technical foul.
There is a lot of room for loopholes in these directives and I hope that we see some wrestlers take advantage of them immediately. It only makes sense.
There is a Tip-Off Show prior to the action with two fan favorites hosting in Faye Jackson and Suge D.
Before jumping into the card I want to say that I love the team that has the call for this one.
Lenny Leonard and Dave Prazak work so well together and it's wonderful to see them team up here to recreate some of their past magic. That's right, I'm a DP guy.
JDX vs. Daniel Garcia vs. Invictus Khash vs. Adam Priest - Terminal Eliminator Match
Not sure exactly what a Terminal Eliminator Match is, I'm assuming it's an elimination match. Good to see all 4 people get a look. I'd be kind of surprised if Garcia didn't win here though. Adam Priest is quietly making a name for himself on the indies and would be a solid back up choice.
Lee Moriarty vs. Jay Lethal
Two AEW talents going head to head. There are doubters out there in Jay Lethal, but he can go when motivated. I hope that we see a very motivated Jay Lethal. I'd like to see Lee get the win though. This one has the potential to steal the show.
Jordynne Grace (c) vs. Kiera Hogan - Impact Digital Media Championship
Strange to see Jordynne Grace on the card. That was a joke, you can laugh. I like that Terminus is going to obviously include women as well. That's a very important aspect of the promotion to me. I do think it's rather ironic that Kiera Hogan is wrestling for an Impact championship but nonetheless it'll be nice to see both women get some time to show the world what Impact fans already know.
Dante Caballero & Joe Keys vs. Tracy Williams & Fred Yehi
Nice to see a tag team match on the show too. I really like Fred Yehi and would love to see him as a major focal point of Terminus. It is show one so I'll try to be patient I guess.
Moose vs. Mike Bennett
This one doesn't do much for me, but this may be the time when we see some heelish tactics from Moose. Maybe Moose will be the first to get expelled from Terminus. Fingers crossed.
Liiza Hall vs Janai Kai
I haven't seen much of Liiza Hall and am excited to see her wrestle one of the rising women's stars in Janai Kai. Kai had a lot of momentum on the indies until she made a brief appearance on AEW Rampage. Hopefully she can recapture it in Terminus.
Editor's Note: Hall could not make the show due to travel, she has been replaced by Diamante.
Bandido (c) vs. Baron Black - ROH World Championship
There is appeal of having two people claim they are ROH champion. I'm not sure where else it can lead except for Bandido vs. Gresham at the ROH show in April. That is a long time for these two men to defend their titles on the indies though. When I know or think I know the result of a match, it takes me out of it. That's not fair at all to Baron Black. I want to see what Black can do without the restraints of being in a short AEW Dark match. Strangely very excited about this.
Jonathan Gresham (c) vs. Josh Alexander - ROH Original World Championship & Pure Rules Match
To me, this is the main event. I dare to use the word dream match here. Since Alexander and Ethan Page split in Impact, we have seen both men flourish. That being said, Josh Alexander is one of the best technical wrestlers today. Of course, Jonathan Gresham is his opponent and Gresham may be the best. These two will easily put on a classic. I'd suspect this match is the first to reach overtime, but Gresham will get the win.
Overall, this card has a good balance. Terminus is clearly going to be more wrestling/grappling centric. The rules are unique and the roster is too. Terminus may be set for success in the future, but the first show is of paramount importance. No secret why Baron and Gresham would put the weight of the promotion on their own shoulders for show number 1. We'll see how future cards look, but this one looks great.