Evangelista and Hardaway both get great receptions from the fans as they make their way to the ring. Then Alan Galpin gets into the ring and speaks to both competitors, showing them the shiny GFC Title belt and going over the rules with them. They shake hands and share a few words before heading back to their respective corners.
And we’re under way! Both competitors start the match using what worked well for them in their previous matches here tonight. Hardaway uses his power and Evangelista uses her speed and agility. Whenever Evangelista changes her strategy, hitting a power move, she quickly backs away. When Hardaway changes his strategy, putting Evangelista on the mat, he uses his strength to make sure that his risk pays off. As the opening moments of the match come to an end however, it is Evangelista once going to the headlock to prolong the match and get the wind out of Hardaway. You can tell, even in these early stages, that both Leanne and K-Hard want to do their best not to make any mistakes.
Hardaway does his best to try to get away from the headlock but Evangelista knows what works and does everything she can to keep it on. Evangelista lets go of the headlock and tries to outwit Hardaway with a series of shoulder blocks but ends up getting smacked around before getting a surprise rollup for two. Hardaway looks surprised and confused, as if Evangelista’s come out tonight with a different game plan than he was expecting. It’s almost as if he wasn’t prepared for this eventuality. He had so focused on Alex Jones I wonder if it ever occurred to him that Jones wouldn’t make it to this stage in the tournament!
Evangelista then tries to match Hardaway at his own power game and ends up getting knocked around and a German Suplex leads to her rolling out of the ring and to the floor. Hardaway takes the opportunity to out-power Evangelista in a sleeper, but Evangelista manages to come back and nails a chinbreaker to turn things around somewhat. She tries to follow up with an abdominal stretch but Hardaway overpowers her and hip-tosses her into the guardrail!
The volume suddenly gets turned up to 11 as the crowd goes insane and Evangelista and Hardaway just pound into each other with strikes on the floor. And HARD strikes they are too. Evangelista may be small but boy she packs a punch, as K-Hard found out the hard way here. She slides back into the ring to avoid a count out and connects with a baseball slide back out to Hardaway. They trade blows again, this time Hardaway gets the upper hand and he’s the one who goes back inside the ring. He then hits a picture perfect GTFO~! that sends the fans into a frenzy. I must admit I was so caught up in things at this point that I forgot to make my notes of what was happening.
A few minutes passed until things calmed down, during which time Hardaway got several near falls after a double arm DDT, Decapitation Lariat and the Williams Driver. While Evangelista almost picked up the win with the Northern Lights Suplex, Filipina Legsweep and a Tornado DDT. Both were shattered, having given their all here tonight. Especially Hardaway who was now competing in his third exhausting match in one night.
Evangelista had Hardaway set up on the top turnbuckle looking for a high impact move when Hardaway began to fight back. He clubbed her back and got her in position for what looked set to be a top rope Williams Driver! But Evangelista managed to escape his clutches as she nailed some big open hands to the jaw. She stood Hardaway up on the top turnbuckle, turning him round to face out to the crowd before sending him flying backwards to the mat with a top rope Filipina Legsweep, popping back up for a springboard knee drop into a cover.
But Hardaway kicked out! The crowd couldn’t believe it, and neither could Evangelista. Jay Pride had now come down to ringside and was stood slapping the mat in encouragement. She pulled Hardaway back to his feet and lifted him up, looking for the backbreaker that got her into this final. But Hardaway manages to slide out of her grasp, nails the KTFO~! for a two count only!
The two slowly and steadily get back to their feet and Hardaway charges in for a lariat, but Evangelista ducks it and nails the backbreaker, headbreaker combo! She makes a cover, hooking the leg as the referee counts… one… two…
And then the bell sounded! Everyone looked shocked, not quite sure what the hell was going on. No-one looked more shocked than Leanne though, who was a second away from becoming GFC Heavyweight Champion here tonight! The ring announcer, Jenni Starr, got on the mic to announce that the 60 minute time limit had expired! The crowd were in uproar, chanting “five more minutes” loud and clear. I must admit I’d got so wrapped up in this match that I didn’t realise how long it had gone on, I don’t think anyone did. It’s just been so entertaining!
Alan Galpin, the Chairman of the Global Frontier Crown Committee, made his way down to the ring. He grabbed a microphone and told the fans, and more importantly the competitors here in the match, that the match had to have a winner! He ordered the match to be restarted with NO TIME LIMIT! Talk about a fan reaction, they went apeshit for that one! I too was caught up in the moment.
The break had given Hardaway a chance to get back to his feet and catch his breath and when the bell sounded again he went straight on the offensive. He grabbed Evangelista, whipped her into the ropes and nailed a big decapitation lariat! He pulled her up, hoisted her up onto his shoulders and went for the Angelina’s Crossing. But as he was spinning Evangelista out, she grabbed his head and nailed a HUGE Ace Crusher!
It was a long time before Evangelista moved and when she did it was just to drape an arm over the chest of Hardaway. But K-Hard kicked out in the nick of time! Unbelievable.
Again the two slowly get back to their feet. Again Hardaway charges in with a lariat, but Evangelista ducks it again, and again she goes for the back breaker, but Hardaway manages to get free and arm drags Leanne to the canvas. He moves quickly to lock in a cross arm breaker submission move and Evangelista is in obvious pain! She manages, somehow, to get to a knee. By doing so Hardaway’s shoulders are on the canvas! The referee counts… one… two…
Hardaway pulls hard and Evangelista drops down again, back into the submission hold. He avoids the three and instantly puts more pressure on the arm of Evangelista. After a few seconds more she has no choice but to tap out!
So, your winner, and the first ever GFC Heavyweight Champion is Kevin Hardaway!
What an unbelievable match to end a fantastic show. Alan Galpin gets back in the ring and presents Hardaway with a trophy and then the GFC Heavyweight Title. Hardaway holds it aloft as streamers fill the ring. There’s a tear in his eye as he climbs the turnbuckle and holds the title out for fans to see, this win obviously means a lot to him.
Evangelista looks despondent, she knows how close she came to winning that title. Hardaway comes over to her and she offers her hand. He takes it and raises it, showing a lot of respect for his opponent.