{"id":105199,"date":"2021-12-02T17:00:03","date_gmt":"2021-12-02T22:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/?p=105199"},"modified":"2021-12-01T17:02:32","modified_gmt":"2021-12-01T22:02:32","slug":"indie-watch-joe-black","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2021\/12\/02\/indie-watch-joe-black\/","title":{"rendered":"Indie Watch: Joe Black"},"content":{"rendered":"

Indie Watch<\/a> is our regular series that looks at all of the amazing talents working the independent circuits around the world. Some are veterans revitalizing their careers, some are indie prospects hitting their peaks, while others are names to be on the watch for! In this edition, look at the career of indie wrestler Joe Black.\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

On the first Friday of every month, Southern Honor Wrestling<\/strong> emanates from the Action Building in Canton, Georgia. The promotion, led by Gary Lamb<\/strong> and Dylan Frymyer,<\/strong> is widely considered amongst fans, promoters, and wrestlers alike to be one of the best in the state for their in-ring product, production value, and storytelling. The roster is loaded with stars like AC Mack, Zicky<\/strong>\u00a0Dice, Owen Knight, Ashton Starr,<\/strong>\u00a0Dani Jordyn<\/strong><\/a>,<\/strong> and more. As with any wrestling company, there\u2019s a standout performer that checks all the boxes and deserves the spotlight arguably more than anybody.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It All Starts Somewhere<\/h2>\n

Joe Black grew up in Greensboro, North Carolina, but has lived all around the world due to his father being in the Air Force. Black related to a lot of people in a personal way. He found professional wrestling as an escape from the real world and its never-ending issues. Despite being very withdrawn and disenfranchised in his childhood, a slew of wrestlers like \u201cMacho Man\u201d Randy Savage, The Undertaker, Jake \u201cThe Snake\u201d Roberts,<\/strong> and Chris<\/strong>\u00a0Benoit<\/strong> all left an indelible impression on Black as he began his wrestling career.<\/span><\/p>\n

CWF Mid-Atlantic<\/strong> was the home for Black for the early portion of his time in wrestling, making his debut for the promotion in 2010. In the come-up, Black noted that he was trained by Roy Wilkins, Jeff Rudd, Walter Eaton,<\/strong> and ACEGAWD Arik Royal<\/strong>. Black\u2019s \u201cclass\u201d of trainees included Andrew Everett<\/strong> and Trevor Lee (Cameron Grimes).<\/strong> Within only two years, Black was already getting interest from outside independent promotions like PWX<\/strong> and captured the CWF<\/strong> Mid-Atlantic Rising Generation Championship at the end of 2011.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

While Burlington, North Carolina was still where Joe spent most of his time in the squared circle, other promoters around the south began to take notice \u2014 leading to Black making his debut in Tennessee and Georgia in the coming years. \u201cThe Grind\u201d had officially begun at this point, as Black\u2019s independent schedule began to fill up.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Black vs. Huckaby<\/h2>\n

Black began to become a hot name in the Atlanta independent scene around 2015 when he made his debut at Atlanta Wrestling Entertainment<\/strong> with tag partner William Huckaby.<\/strong> He and Huckaby had won the NWA<\/strong> Mid-Atlantic tag straps together. The duo went by the name of The Sound And The Fury<\/strong> and although they had some fantastic feuds around that time in AWE, the team didn\u2019t last.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

That wasn\u2019t necessarily a bad thing though, as Black and Huckaby would go on to have, in my opinion, one of the best feuds in independent wrestling history. It wasn\u2019t a feud that had an excessive amount of matches or unnecessary story points. Rather a beautiful display of hatred between two former partners that spread across multiple promotions across the state. The feud earned an award for \u201cBest Feud\u201d in the Georgia Wrestling History awards in 2019.<\/span><\/p>\n

The previously mentioned Southern Honor Wrestling has become the staple of Black\u2019s wrestling career, and a big part of that was his feud with Huckaby. In early 2020, the blowoff match for the rivalry (for now, at least) was a Dog Collar match that was widely considered the Match Of The Year in the state and I can personally vouch for that. Although I didn\u2019t see it live, I\u2019ve watched it on IWTV a countless amount of times.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Climax and The Downfall<\/h2>\n

Despite having won other important championships, including the Georgia Wrestling Crown title, Joe Black was able to capture arguably the top prize in the state later on in 2020 after defeating Corey Hollis<\/strong> for the Southern Honor Wrestling Championship. In devastating fashion, Black lost the title hardly two months later when he suffered a severe knee injury.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The climb back is always the most important aspect of a story, and while Black hasn\u2019t necessarily reached that peak of championship fame he once had, he\u2019s recently taken on a new attitude that\u2019s more aggressive and unapologetic than ever before. After returning from the injury in June of this year, \u201cThe Grind\u201d has begun again and Black has even appeared in new promotions like Intense Wrestling Entertainment.<\/strong> Although Black hasn\u2019t done much work with the \u201cbig\u201d companies aside from one dark match in WWE<\/strong> and ROH,<\/strong> I personally believe his work speaks for itself and that opportunity will present itself soon enough.<\/span><\/p>\n

Writer\u2019s note: As a special twist, I\u2019ve asked Joe Black to share three of his favorite matches and share a few personal thoughts.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Joe Black\u2019s favorite matches:<\/b><\/p>\n