TERMINUS ALL ROADS LEAD HERE Recap + Review

DATE: January 16, 2022
VENUE: Kroc Center (Atlanta, GA)
COMMENTATORS: Lenny Leonard & Dave Prazak
VIEWING METHOD: Fite (Live)

All Roads Lead Here is the debut event from Terminus, a company looking to showcase pro wrestling in its purest form. The show is headlined by three championship matches, including two ROH World Title matches from two different champions, with Jonathan Gresham getting the main event nod against Josh Alexander.

LINEUP

Lee Moriarty vs. Josh Woods (**1/2)
TERMINAL ELIMINATOR: Daniel Garcia vs. Invictus Khash vs. Adam Priest vs. JDX (**1/2)
Moose vs. Mike Bennett (**)
Janai Kai vs. Diamante (**1/4)
Jordynne Grace [c] vs. Kiera Hogan for the IMPACT DIGITAL MEDIA CHAMPIONSHIP (***)
Bandido [c] vs. Baron Black for the ROH WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP (***1/4)
Dante Caballero & Joe Keys vs. Tracy Williams & Fred Yehi (****)
PURE RULES: Jonathan Gresham [c] vs. Josh Alexander for the ROH ORIGINAL WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP (****1/4)

*****

-Show was set to start at 6pm EST but got pushed to 622p after a rocky pre-show reportedly full of production issues. Not sure if that was the actual reason why but it’s a good possibility as any. Have the production issues been resolved or are we in for a rocky recap? Let’s find out. But first, the TERMINUS DIRECTIVES:

-Leonard and Prazak welcome the home audience, live from the “Frozen Tundra” of Atlanta, GA. Oh lord Atlanta is going through a freeze? That’s got to be chaos and anarchy.

–

Lee Moriarty vs. Josh Woods

Woods replaces Jay Lethal for this opening contest. Not announced ahead of time so that’s news to me. Woods is the current ROH Pure Champion, beating Jonathan Gresham, but the title is not on the line tonight. Moriarty is currently signed to AEW but hasn’t done much other than be Matt Sydal’s student. Leonard goes over the “directives” of Terminus, but mentions the three championship matches tonight will be under the rules of those respective companies. Interesting.

Woods takes Moriarty to the canvas and rolls him up for a one-count. Both men trade armdrags and waistlocks, fighting into the ropes and forcing a break. Moriarty escapes a pinfall attempt and rolls a front chancery into a brief cover. The two trade pinfall attempts, Moriarty bridges out and they trade armbars back and forth, neither man able to hold onto it for long until Woods drives Moriarty to the canvas. Moriarty tries a corner float over and Woods clobbers him. Woods continues working on the arm, bringing Moriarty to the canvas and tying both arms up into a roll-up for the 1…2…Moriarty powers out. Woods wraps the arm around the top rope and connects with a big boot, Moriarty kicks away a clothesline attempt and does some arm work himself, torquing it by wrapping it around his leg and falling back. Moriarty grabs a hammerlock, Moriarty using his leg to force the shoulders down for the 1…2…Woods kicks out. Moriarty counters a slam attempt with a roll-up for the 1…2…Woods kicks out, Moriarty locks in a Garga-No Escape (I don’t know the real name for it). Woods gets to his feet, Moriarty rolls him to the canvas and they both connect with a double kick. Woods seats Moriarty on the bottom rope and connects with a pair of knees to the kidneys followed by a German suplex for the 1…2…Moriarty kicks out! Moriarty counters a hip toss with a European clutch roll-up for the 1…2…3!

Lee Moriarty defeated Josh Woods via pinfall (8:53)

JON’S THOUGHTS: Well-wrestled opening match, technically sound. Teetered on the Not For Me edge but was interesting enough to keep my attention. (**1/2)

–

TERMINAL ELIMINATOR MATCH
“Red Death” Daniel Garcia vs. JDX vs. Invictus Khash vs. Adam Priest

Four Corner Survival rules for this one (eliminations & tagging in and out until two remain). I like how I said Four Corner Survival like I really know what that is, I’m just going off of what Prazak said in the commentary. BTW Terminus got themselves an all-star commentary team tonight. Oooo we’re getting a graphic and a timer on the screen. Hell yeah.

JDX and Khash lock up, Garcia immediately tags himself in when JDX gets too close to the ropes. They almost lock up but Garcia escapes and tags Priest in. Priest backs Khash in the corner, Khash rolls him to the canvas and rolls him up for the 1…2…Priest escapes and decides against charging at him, opting for a reset. Priest counters a flying Khash with a snapmare, the two trade armdrags and Khash drops Priest with a shoulder tackle. Priest gets Khash running and knocks the taste out of his mouth with an awesome dropkick. Khash drills Priest with a backbreaker and wanders to the corner, Garcia once again tagging himself in this time to pick the bones. Garcia drops Priest with a shoulderblock and counters a leapfrog with a single leg takedown; Priest escapes and connects with a step-up enzuigiri followed by a deadlift release German suplex. Garcia tags out to JDX, who connects with a back elbow on Priest. JDX counters a clothesline into an STO, covering for the 1…2…not yet. Priest tags out to Khash, Khash catches a kick and spins him into a rolling elbow for the 1…2…JDX kicks out. JDX responds with a backfist and almost get the pin, Garca tags in and connects with a kneedrop to counter a dropdown, following up with a basement dropkick and a cocky one-foot cover that JDX easily kicks out of. Garcia connects with a snap suplex, covering again for the 1…2…nope. Priest tags in and drops JDX with a European uppercut and mocks Khash before dropping an elbow and covering for a two-count. Garcia tags in and gets some shots in, then trade chop tags and get into each other’s faces. JDX sends Khash into Garcia, connecting with an STO/DDT combo. Garcia charges, JDX drills him with a spinebuster, both men jockey for position and JDX accidentally low-blows himself and Garcia rolls him up for the 1…2…well the referee doesn’t finish the count and there’s some confusion. Official announcement: JDX IS ELIMINATED. Oh okay.

Match becomes a triple threat, Khash and Priest trading shots and Priest covering for the 1…2…nope. Khash throws Priest across the ring and goes for a piledriver, Garcia drops Khash with a busaiku knee, Priest connects with a wheelbarrow slam on Garcia for the 1…2…kickout. Khash connects with a headlock/headscissors combo on his opponents, followed by a corner splash on Garcia and a series of forearms, Priest suplexes Khash, Garcia jackknifes Priest for the 1…2…3! ADAM PRIEST HAS BEEN ELIMINATED.

Garcia and Khash trade chops, Garcia misses a corner splash and Khash connects with an Electric Chair into a German suplex for the 1…2…Garcia kicks out. Garcia and Khash slap the sh*t out of each other, Garcia knocks Khash the f*ck out with a palm strike and the ref calls it. INVICTUS KHASH HAS BEEN ELIMINATED.

Daniel Garcia defeated Invictus Khash, Adam Priest, & JDX (12:25)

JON’S THOUGHTS: A bit of a mess but it picked up after the first elimination. I would watch a regular Garcia/Khash match for sure. Love the commentators name dropping the other companies these guys work for. (**1/2)

Garcia shakes Khash’s hand even though he’s knocked out, which is pretty funny.

–

Moose vs. Mike Bennett

Matt Taven joins Leonard and Prazak on commentary, discussing the “Impact” his ROH faction made at Hard to Kill last weekend. Moose, Impact’s World Champion, makes his way out with the title around his waist and his Impact theme in-tact. Bennett replaces Moose’s original opponent Alex Coughlin.

Moose flips Bennett off and drops him with a shoulder tackle when he charges. Bennett tries a tackle but Moose doesn’t budge. Bennett goads Moose into trying a shoulder tackle and takes him down with a drop toehold, slapping him in the back of the head. Bennett continually switches positions mid-run, Moose catches up and runs him over with another tackle. Moose talks trash, Bennett connects with a series of chops, Moose tosses Bennett over the top and to the floor earning him a TECHNICAL FOUL. One more and he is DQed. Bennett runs in and connects with chops, Moose drills him with a uranage. Moose grinds his boot into Bennett’s right hand and throws him so hard into the corner that the ring shifts. Moose hammer throws Bennett into the corner once more and chops him in the F*CKING THROAT. Moose chops Bennett again, Bennett gets that fighting spirit going and trades chops with the big man. Moose blocks the cutter, Bennett counters a rolling elbow with a superkick, Moose connects with a headbutt and spins, Bennett hits the cutter, Moose taking it on the top of his head, for the 1…2…Moose kicks out. Bennett catches Moose with a series of nearfalls and sends him into the ropes with a superkick. Bennett follows up with a series of running forearms, Moose tosses Bennett over the top rope again and this time the ref calls for a DQ.

Mike Bennett defeated Moose via DQ (6:38)

JON’S THOUGHTS: Different kind of match from the other two, and a good way to highlight that these Terminus “directives” are actually going to be enforced. (**)

Moose gets in the face of Alex Coughlin, who cancelled due to injury but is in the building to scout. Looks like that match is still in the plans in the future.

–

Janai Kai vs. Diamante

Diamante replaces Kai’s original opponent Liiza Hall. Card subject to change and all. Kai looks cool as F*CK, excited to see her in an actual match. Only time I’ve ever seen her was a quick loss on an AEW show.

Kai brings Diamante to the canvas, grabbing a waistlock, Diamante escapes and switches. Kai moves to a full mount and connects with a series of palm strikes, Diamante puts a stop with a front facelock. Diamante and Kai trade strikes, Kai kicks Diamante into the corner and connects with a kick to the spine off the snapmare for the 1…2…Diamante kicks out, Kai goes back to the waistlock. Diamante gets to the full mount and rains down elbows, Kai kicks her away and they reset. Diamante takes Kai to the canvas with a single leg into a lateral press for the 1…2…Kai kicks out, Diamante grabs a hammerlock, switching to a front facelock. Kai counters, Prazak mocks other companies for only having one women’s match on their show when TERMINUS is progressive and has…two. Wow, breaking down barriers y’all. Kai sweeps the legs and drops into a lateral press for a two-count. Diamante ducks a kick and rolls Kai up for the 1…2…not yet. Kai kicks Diamante away, Diamante hops over a sweep attempt, Kai connects with another kick (as a Kick Demon is wont to do) for another nearfall. Diamante surprises Kai with a Northern Lights suplex, bridging for the 1…2…not yet. Diamante belts Kai with a crossface and ties her up in a double armbar, Kai rolls to shift weight into a pinfall attempt, forcing Diamante to let go. Kai connects with an inverted DDT into an elbow ride for the 1…2…Diamante kicks out, Kai bounces a series of kicks off the spine. Diamante catches a PK and brings her to the canvas into a half-crab, but Kai makes it to the ropes to force the break. Kai belts Diamante with a kick, Diamante flips Kai to the canvas and locks Kai in an armbar/choke/scissors combo forcing Kai to tap!

Diamante defeated Janai Kai via submission (7:27)

JON’S THOUGHTS: Not bad for two women who didn’t know they were facing each other until the last minute. There was a goofy strike exchange that took a little momentum out but besides that a great back and forth, Janai Kai f*cking rocks. (**1/4)

—

Jordynne Grace [c] vs. Kiera Hogan for the IMPACT DIGITAL MEDIA CHAMPIONSHIP

Grace and Hogan used to be a team of sorts in Impact, so there’s a little history there. Cool to see Grace wrestling, the Digital Media Championship matches aren’t held on Impact’s actual TV show so I never see them. Ring announcer calls Grace “THICK PUMP MAMA” which is hilarious. The gaffes on this show have been charming and funny. Match is under Impact rules, not TERMINUS rules.

Grace with a side headlock, Hogan escapes and kicks for the fences but the champ dodges and they reset. Hogan blocks a shot and rolls Grace up for the 1…2…Grace kicks out and Hogan slaps her right in the face. Hogan drives Grace to the corner and connects with a running kick for the 1…2…Grace kicks out. Grace takes control due to her UNLIMITED POWAH and lifts Hogan up for a delayed vertical suplex and a cover, Hogan kicks out in the nick of time. Hogan counters a bomb with a headscissors, Grace blocks the monkey flip attempt and sits Hogan on the top buckle, Hogan kicks her away and comes off the middle buckle with a missile dropkick. Grace rolls through a backslide, Hogan connects with a superkick for the 1…2…Grace kicks out. Grace reverses a whip and rolls through a sunset flip, jackknifing Hogan for the 1…2…Grace muscles her up into a powerbomb for the 1…2…Grace puts Hogan on the top buckle and connects with a muscle buster for the 1…2…Hogan kicks out! Hogan kicks Grace’s legs out and connects with a hanging neckbreaker in the corner, following up with a sliding kick for the 1…2…Grace kicks out again. Hogan charges, Grace belts her with a lariat followed by a corner whip and deadlift German suplex for the 1…2…Hogan kicks out. Grace catches a kick, Hogan changes to enzuigiri followed by a pair of superkicks. Hogan charges and drops Grace with a clothesline and covers for the 1…2…shoulder up! Hogan signals for the finish, Grace escapes and connects with a backfist. Hogan responds with a superkick and a high kick, Grace blocks a wheelbarrow and turns it into a Fall from Grace for the 1…2…3!

Jordynne Grace [c] defeated Kiera Hogan via pinfall to retain the IMPACT DIGITAL MEDIA CHAMPIONSHIP (8:18)

JON’S THOUGHTS: Great match, these two swung for the fences and had some really fun exchanges. That Fall from Grace finish ruled. (***)

–

-Pre-recorded comments from Baron Black ahead of his ROH World Championship shot. Black has many paths to choose: the Honorable, the Elite, or the one where he bets on himself. He’s betting on himself and says it will be a privilege to do some modern age grappling with Bandido and a privilege to take something from Bandido that he never lost.

–

Bandido [c] vs. “The Emperor” Baron Black for the ROH WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

Bandido never lost the ROH World Championship, having had to skip Final Battle due to Covid. Jonathan Gresham won the World Title on that show but that’s apparently the ROH ORIGINAL World Championship now so there’s probably a unification match in the future for it. Standard ROH rules apply (60 minute time limit despite the 15 at the bottom of the screen, 20 count on the floor).

Bandido grabs a side headlock, Black counters into a wristlock that brings the champ to the canvas, transitioning into a top wristlock. Back to a vertical base Bandido traps the arm and rolls Black up for a one-count and they reset. Bandido does a handspring backflip and tosses Black to the canvas with an armdrag, Black blocks the 21-Plex. Bandido goes for a knee strike, Black blocks that as well and the two reset once again. Bandido takes control, hitting all three Amigos and doing a little tribute to Eddy Guerrero before covering for a two-count. Bandido traps the arms and legs, Black keeping his shoulders up to avoid getting pinned, he bridges up so Bandido headbutts the inner thigh to knock him down for the 1…2…BLACK SITS UP and escapes via sunset flip. Bandido gets sent to the apron, Black counters his flying something with an inverted atomic drop and follows up with a Northern Lights suplex. Black pulls the straps down (Leonard protesting this is Atlanta not Memphis) and applies an abdominal stretch in the center of the ring, locking his fingers behind his back for extra torque. Bandido escapes, Black slams him to the canvas for the 1…2…Bandido kicks out.

Bandido and Black light each other chop with chops, Bandido hits a flurry followed by a leg lariat. Bandido ties up the legs and locks in an inverted Indian Deathlock, Black fights through the pain and reaches the bottom rope. Black fights back, including a rolling chop, snap German and deadlift powerbomb for the 1…2…Bandido kicks out, Black hangs onto the legs and traps him in a Texas Cloverleaf, Bandido reaches the bottom rope to force a break. Black charges, Bandido dodges and connects with a kick from the apron followed by an awkward rana into a roll-up but Black is too close to the ropes to make a count. Bandido connects with another rana into a roll-up for the 1…2…Black kicks out. Bandido heads to the top, Black takes away his balance and meets him on the buckles for a butterfly superplex and the 1…2…BANDIDO KICKS OUT. Black charges, Bandido hoists him up into a Go to Sleep-style knee followed by the 21-Plex for the 1…2…3!

Bandido [c] defeated Baron Black via pinfall to retain the ROH WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP (14:06)

JON’S THOUGHTS: Damn good match. Glad they still stuck to under 15 minutes despite being under ROH rules, Prazak bringing up the 60 min time limit made me nervous. Bandido was fun as always, the 21 Plex is cool as f*ck, but props to Baron Black as well. Never seen him before tonight, would like to see more going forward. (***1/4)

–

Dante Caballero & Joe Keys vs. “Hot Sauce” Tracy Williams & Fred Yehi

Williams and Yehi used to be in Catch Point together, and this is the first time they’ve teamed together in a long time. They even toss up the Catch Point hand signal during their entrance. Leonard remembers them from a previous life, Prazak says Leonard has “EVOLVEd” since then. Badum tiss.

Keys wrestles Williams to the canvas and tries to tag Caballero but he wasn’t holding the tag rope so the ref makes him do it before it’s official. THERE’S RULES, Y’ALL. Williams wrestles Caballero down to the canvas, controlling the arm. Caballero fights him off with a forearm, Yehi tags in and they talk trash before trading holds. Yehi chops Caballero down in the corner and just WRECKS the dude with driving kneedrops. That escalated SO quickly. Yehi slows it back down with a side headlock, switching it to a rear chinlock as Caballero gets to a seated position. Caballero backs Yehi in the corner and tags in Keys, who connects with a clothesline. Keys drops Yehi on the top rope, Caballero connects with a lariat, and Keys covers for the 1….2…Yehi kicks out, Keys bounces Yehi’s head off the canvas repeatedly to try and get him dazed. Keys belts Yehi with forearms, Yehi catches Keys and connects with an overhead suplex.

Williams tags in first, knocking Caballero off the apron. Keys blocks a clothesline, Williams escapes a bomb and levels him with a spinning clothesline. Caballero runs in and gets suplexed for his troubles. Keys ducks a clothesline and connects with a spear. Keys signals for a suplex, Williams surprises with one of his own for the 1…2…Caballero breaks it up. Yehi runs in and tosses Caballero to the floor. Williams slaps the f*ck out of Keys, Yeho tags in and grabs a cravat, bringing him to the canvas with a snapmare into a running boot to the side of the head for the 1…2…Keys kicks out. Williams and Yeho stomp on Keys’ ankles and drop Caballero with a double chop when he tries to intervene. Williams goes back to work on the legs, hitting a knee-DT but Keys grabs the bottom rope to prevent follow-up. Williams and Keys trade forearms, Williams wins the exchange and holds Keys up when he slumps to the canvas. Keys blocks a clothesline and counters into a Gory Bomb! Caballero gets the tag and he takes it to both Catch Point members with forearms. Caballero blocks a slam attempt from buckles and sends Williams flying with a super armdrag for the 1…2…not yet. Caballero throws Yehi over the top rope, the ref giving him a technical (YEHI AIN’T LEGAL BOOOO). Caballero tags in Keys and hits a Michinoku Driver on Williams, Keys hoists him up into a backbreaker for the 1…2…Yehi breaks it up. Williams escapes the Gory Bomb, Yehi makes the tag and eats a running kick. Williams hits a backbreaker, Catch Point hit a flurry of strikes and Yehi applies a Koji Clutch on Keys, Williams with a crossface on Caballero. Williams switches to an ankle lock, Caballero uses his legs to send Williams into Yehi to break the hold on his partner.

Yehi talks trash and lays into Keys, Keys asks for more and eats a backfist, Yehi locking in a sleeperhold. Williams tags in, Yehi drops Caballero off the apron. Keys fights Yehi off, Williams DDTs Keys on the turnbuckle, Yehi hits a German suplex and Williams covers for the 1…2…KEYS KICKS OUT. Caballero drops Yehi to the floor with a forearm. One minute remains as Caballero and Key tries to put Williams away, Keys hitting a flying headbutt as Caballero holds Yehi at bay for the 1…2…3! OH WOW.

Dante Caballero & Joe Keys defeated Tracy Williams & Fred Yehi via pinfall (14:27)

JON’S THOUGHTS: Going into the match I thought Caballero & Keys were going to be dorks but MAN was I f*cking wrong. EXCELLENT match here, really hard-hitting and relentless. Keys and Caballero got made on this one. Did not expect them to beat Catch Point. (****)

–

–Jonathan Gresham lays out his goal in pre-recorded comments: to take the mantle of “Best in the World” back in the name of Ring Of Honor. Josh Alexander’s mission is to prevent Gresham for passing the test.

–

PURE RULES
“The Foundation” Jonathan Gresham [c] vs. “The Walking Weapon” Josh Alexander for the ROH ORIGINAL WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

This one is contested under ROH rules, meaning a 60 minute time limit. The ticker at the bottom says 20 minutes. Leonard mentions Gresham’s successful defense of the ROH Championship against Steve Maclin, which doesn’t air till NEXT week but them’s the breaks. I don’t think Impact pretends they’re live or anything at this point.

First couple of minutes are spent jockeying for position, as Gresham and Alexander look for an offensive edge. Alexander locks knuckles with Gresham and holds the arms down for a couple of nearfalls, Gresham rolls through and reverses the pressure. Alexander counters into a backslide, Gresham kicks out and they reset once again. Alexander takes Gresham to the canvas with a side headlock takeover, avoiding headscissor attempts due to his height difference. Gresham tries to whip Alexander off, Alexander hangs on and brings him back to the mat every time Gresham gets to his feet. Finally Gresham escapes via cartwheel (classic Olympic move) and they back up to reset once more. Alexander tries a whip, Gresham sits down on it, Alexander pulls him up and Gresham connects with an armdrag. Alexander catches Gresham on his shoulders, Gresham connects with a flying mare followed by a dropkick and Alexander bails to the corner. Alexander comes shooting out of the corner with a big boot and grabs a standing toehold, switching to a grapevine legbar, cranking the ankle whenever Gresham tries to grab a chinlock. Alexander switches to an ankle lock, Gresham gets to the ropes, leaving him with two breaks remaining. Alexander goes back to the leg, grabbing a high-elevation half-crab and Gresham once again uses the ropes, one more break remaining.

Gresham lays into Alexander with chops, avoiding Alexander’s responses at first until he gets faked out. Gresham misses a kick, Alexander picks him up with a waistlock but Gresham escapes and flips him with a dropkick to the knee, immediately locking in the Figure Four but Alexander burns a rope break to escape. Gresham connects with a headscissors and kicks out the leg once again; he goes for a Figure Four but Alexander breaks it up with a closed fist, earning a technical foul. One more like that he gets DQed. Alexander holds onto Gresham, connecting with a series of German suplexes, bridging on the last for the 1…2…Gresham kicks out. Alexander goes for C4, Gresham counters with a backdrop and lands on top for the 1…2…Alexander bridges out, Gresham targets the left knee again with a Dragon Screw Legwhip. Gresham and Alexander trade chops, the TERMINUS locker room watching from the balcony. Gresham chops the knee, Alexander clasps the ears but his knee buckles, German connects with a springboard moonsault and rolls Alexander up for the 1…2…Alexander kicks out. Gresham tries another moonsault, Alexander catches him and connects with a TOMBSTONE for the 1…2…Gresham kicks out!

Gresham and Alexander trade STIFF forearms, Alexander ducks an enzuigiri and applies another Ankle Lock. Gresham kicks his way out of it, Gresham traps the leg and Alexander almost uses another closed fist but gets stopped, Alexander connects with the C4 for the 1…2…Gresham gets his foot on the rope and burns his last break. Alexander, sensing blood in the water, goes right back to the Ankle Lock., Gresham rolls through and sends Alexander into the buckles, O’Connor Roll for the 1…2…Alexander kicks out, Gresham stomps the calf and goes for the Figure Four but Alexander blocks it by twisting the ankle, going back to the Ankle Lock once again. Gresham gets to the ropes but the ref doesn’t call it off. Gresham sends Alexander into the ropes to break the hold and rolls to the apron, Alexander connects with a deadlift superplex and they both roll each other up, pinning each other, for the 1…2…3! DOUBLE PIN, ref calls it a draw.

Jonathan Gresham [c] & Josh Alexander wrestled to a draw (16:52); Gresham retains the ROH ORIGINAL WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

JON’S THOUGHTS: Again I go into a Pure Rules match not excited, again I’m all fist pumps by the end. Time to drop the act that I don’t like these matches. This f*cking ruled, a tremendous main event to end the show…up until the finish. Your mileage may vary and while it wasn’t a clusterf*ck-style finish, it was still one that ended without an actual winner so that was an odd choice to end the first show on. Maybe I’ll like it better when I sleep on it. Up until then though TOP NOTCH SH*T. (****1/4)

Crowd chants “OVERTIME” and a disappointed Gresham shakes hands with Alexander. Alexander leaves, out comes Bandido to interrupt Gresham’s celebration/streamer ceremony. Bandido and Gresham jaw jack, each with their respective ROH titles, Gresham extends the hand but before they can shake on it, out comes Santana to the surprise of the TERMINUS fans and announce team. Santana gets on the house mic and misses the DIY atmosphere and attitude, reminding him of why he fell in love with the sport in the first place. Santana gets down to business, bringing up his history with Gresham from a few years back but that was then and this is now. Santana gives Gresham all the props in the world for building something out of nothing, then challenges him for the second TERMINUS show on February 24th. Gresham immediately shakes his hand and accepts. Gresham takes the mic and says that tonight has shown him that pro wrestling is back, as is wrestling in Atlanta. Gresham accepts the challenge again and hopes everyone joins them for the second show when they return to Atlanta. Spread the word that pro wrestling is BACK in Atlanta.

JON’S THOUGHTS: Took way too long to get to the point but Gresham/Santana is an interesting match to set up for the next show. Didn’t have that one as a possible match that’s for sure but I have no doubt it’ll slap and whip. Bandido was a good sport about it considering Santana essentially said his claim to the title was not legitimate. Keeping the fire going for I assume ROH’s return show in April.

*****

FINAL THOUGHTS

All Roads Lead Here is a solid debut from Terminus, with a solid card that really hammered home the style of pro wrestling they want to showcase going forward. I felt like I got a good taste of what to expect for future shows and while there were some issues here and there (mainly technical) overall the presentation was fantastic and warranted continued interest. I got to see some wrestlers for the first time that I doubt I would’ve never seen otherwise and will be seeking out more of them in other companies. Also A TON OF LOVE to Lenny Leonard and Dave Prazak for having the best commentary I’ve heard from an independent wrestling show in quite some time. Perfect amount of match calling and banter, kept things entertaining especially as they rolled with the punches of the production snafu. Well worth the 15 bucks, can’t wait to see how it grows.

FAVORITE MATCH: Jonathan Gresham vs. Josh Alexander
FAVORITE MOMENT: The ref going out of his way to force the tag teams to use the tag rope. Terminus ain’t f*cking around with rules.