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| October 28, 2006
AWA Power Pro ran Viper’s in Hendersonville, North Carolina last night. It was the final P2W show under the ownership of Thomas Simpson, thus ending the promotion’s monthly shows in Hendersonville. The Mack Brothers, Kirby and T. J., are the major stars of this group. The all-cruiserweight lineup featured two skilled veterans (Cham-Pain and Tony Kozina) and a plethora of eager, young workers, some talented and some not so much, in the early stages of knowing what not to do, what to do, and when to do it. Attendance was around 75 at the epitome of grungy, strip mall wrestling known as Viper’s House of Pain. It was totally devoid of creature comforts, similar to the grim building IWA Mid-South used to run in New Albany, except downsized to where all of the seating is on one side of the ring. (1) T. Dogg HG (Thomas Simpson) & S. T. Riker beat Collin Knox & Vigorous V in a dark match The HG part was one of many playful references to Simpson’s well-known sexual preference that peppered the show. HG pinned V with the Dry Hump. Don’t ask. Simpson is multiple degrees beyond horrible in the ring (and freely copped to that fact –read on). A preposterous postmatch segment unfolded when Knox’s brother, Ace, thought to be the victim of kidnapping, turned up in fine health, causing Knox to become overwhelmed by badly-acted emotion. Eddie Rich opened the taping by introducing T. J. Mack. Mack apologized to the fans for being too ill to wrestle the AWA Southern Television Champion, Ken Magnum in their scheduled title match. (2) B. J. Hancock & Leviathan & Manslaughter & Jamie Lee & James Drake & Ali Khan & Mustafa Khan beat Black Vulcan & Viper & Bryce Bryant & Rocky Starr & Princess Bubbles & Triple Thrilla & Yoshi Hiroshima in a fourteen man tag team elimination match (12:39) A lot of backyard level stuff in this match. Some good-looking big moves, but the striking was downright pitiful and nobody seemed able to pull off a credible transition to save their life. Story was Vulcan taking guys out with his frogsplash, while Hancock did likewise for the heels with a Texas Cloverleaf. Finish saw Vulcan miss the frogsplash and submit to Hancock’s Cloverleaf. The best thing about the first two matches was the refereeing by former WCW official Jamie Tucker. (3) Cham-Pain beat Ashley Walker in 10:30 Advertised as a teacher vs. student deal. The crowd popped when Pain let loose with one of his classic rapid fire promos. Walker talked the talk, but he came across like a pottery barn level heel. Pain schooled Walker with some nice wrestling, a welcome change from what had gone before. Walker stalled. When Walker did get the advantage, nobody was buying his offense. A fan started giving Walker hell about his “Tour de France” shorts. Double clothesline and both men down. Pain decked Walker with the first good-looking punches of the night. Pain won it with Walker got in ref Tre Smith’s face, and Smith knocked him on his ass. It was noted that Pain wrestled MVP on the WWE “No Mercy” PPV under his real name, Marty Garner. (4) The Wild Bois (Drew McElreath & Michael Frehley & The Josh) beat Kid Syde & Mike McCloud & Kris Chrisifix in an indie-rific six man tag (6:57) See match #2. Pain no doubt has more ring experience than all six of these guys combined. Fans were calling out “weak” on some of the lame striking. Josh and Frehley hit a powerbomb/blockbuster combo on Syde (a Shannon Moore trainee) to score the pinfall. (5) Dick Foley beat Ostgard (with Heather Fox) in 8:20 Dick is all-out imitation of Mick as Cactus Jack, complete with lumberjack shirt, barbed wire bat, and trash can lid. Ostgard ran his mouth about being a pro that was above doing that hardcore crap. His material was lots edgier than Walker’s to where fans could work up some legit hate for the guy. Ostgard was talking trash to sound assistant Laura, who shot back with “I don’t speak the language of retardedness.” Fox has the natural attributes to make it as a valet – long legs, pretty face – but doesn’t have a clue about ring presence. Foley was all over Ostgard. He did the elbow drop from the ring apron to the floor. Fox interfered but without the timing and facial expressions necessary to maximize the heat. Ostgard used a dragon sleeper. Foley came back with a comically horrible People’s Elbow. Foley used Mr. Socko for the mandible claw, and then a second Mr. Socko for a testicular claw. Ostgard brought a chair into the ring. Foley ducked the chairshot and DDTed Ostgard on the chair for the 1-2-3. The crowd liked this match. Ken Magnum entered the ring in a foul mood for some “unscripted” comments. Fans chanted “screw the script.” Magnum said he was robbed of the AWA World Title (held by Ric Converse) by T. J. Mack on the September show, and now T. J. had come up sick. Magnum said to send out a challenger because he wanted to beat somebody up. Enter T. J. Mack as his nerdy alter ego and one of the most entertaining characters in indie wrestling, Dexter Poindexter. The crowd was totally into Poindexter’s prematch antics, which only futher enraged Magnum. Poindexter pumped up with exercise bands that somehow ended up snapping in Magnum in the face. Poindexter was careful to protect the rear flank when he passed near Simpson. Poindexter wanted to keep playing with the crowd at ringside. Tucker told him he had match. “Well, then start counting,” said Poindexter. (6) Ken Magnum beat Dexter Poindexter to retain the AWA Southern Open Weight Title in 13 minutes Magnum’s frustrations continued to mount after the bell rang, as Poindexter outwitted him to score near falls. Magnum stuck a thumb in Poindexter’s eye, and said he had found the weak spot. Magnum snapped Poindexter with the suspenders. Magnum went to his power game. Poindexter responded with a titty twister and the Vulcan nerve hold. Poindexter hit a slingshot elbow drop for a near fall, but Magnum cut him off again. Magnum applied the figure four. Poindexter got a ropes break. Poindexter made a nasty landing on a flip bump into the turnbuckles. Poindexter made the big comeback and pulled his suspenders down. Poindexter went for Sliced Bread #2. Magnum blocked it and pinned Poindexter with a pumphandle facebuster. Poindexter cushioned the blow of defeat by picking a booger and eating it. Poindexter made this match the (intentional) comedy highlight of the evening. (7) East Coast Avengers (Neil Nitro & Brice Anthony) beat Queen City Kings (Jake Manning & Bobby Houston) to win the AWA Southern Tag Team Titles in 11:57 Improbable looking babyfaces or not, the Avengers are over at Viper’s. “ECA” chants in abundance. With the lanky build and woman hair, Houston does favor 80s wrestler Sam Houston. He has some charisma about him, and with the height, he’s got a chance to make it. Houston did a lot, as in too much, jawing with the crowd. Typical tag match layout. ECA controlled the early going. Kings got heat on Nitro. Nitro sold like mad. So much so, that he was crawling to the wrong corner before he even took any significant punishment. Things broke down quickly after the hot tag to Anthony. Manning hit a fireman’s carry neckbreaker on Anthony. But when Houston tried to finish it with a bulldog, Anthony caused the Kings to collide. Anthony then leveled Houston with a lariat for the pinfall. The title change got a big pop. Nitro made an emotional speech called it one of the toughest matches of his 7 and ½ year career. Nitro thanked the fans for their support during Avengers six month run with AWA Power Pro. Jimbo Fox aka Dick Foley addressed the crowd. Fox said that his company, Jaox Video Production had purchased AWA Power Pro. so tonight was Simpson’s last as the promoter of Power Pro. Fox paid tribute to Simpson by running down the impressive list of talent that came out of Simpson’s OMEGA promotion (Hardy Boys, Shannon Moore, Shane Helms, Krazy K, Cham-Pain, etc). Fox said that future Power Pro shows would take place in Sanford, NC. Simpson said his good-byes. He acknowledged his love for cruiserweight wrestling and said Power Pro had provided opportunities for young cruiserweights to gain experience. Simpson said the OMEGA guys that made it big were green in their early days, too. Simpson freely admitted that her personally sucked in the ring. Simpson said he would still be around wrestling. Viper, the owner of the High Velocity Wrestling group that runs the building every Friday night, said he hoped it wasn’t the last Power Pro appearance in Hendersonville. A Chris Sabin vs. Krazy K match was announced for the HVW show on 11/25. (8) “Krazy K” Kirby Mack defeated Tony Kozina & Derek Ryze & Stoney Hooker in a Fatal Four-Way to retain the AWA World Lightweight Title (19:39) This match had the strong suspension-of-disbelief factor that was so lacking on this show. Needless to say, the in ring here was tons better than anything else, but the key was how the match told a compelling story. It started with K and Hooker aligned on the babyface side. Hooker is only seventeen. He struck me as a downsized 2006 version of Tommy Rich. Hooker wanted to prove himself and proceeded to clean up on the heels. Kozina tagged K. Hooker and K shook hands. But went Hooker rolled K up to get within a split second of winning the title, K punched him in the face. K came back with near falls of his own. They traded stiff shots and tagged out. Ryze offered Kozina a handshake. Kozina gave Ryze a piledriver and pinned him at 5 minutes (Ryze was wrestling hurt). Hooker and Kozina went at it. Kozina started bleeding from the nose. K said he was smart champion not to get involved. Kozina had Hooker set up for the piledriver, but K dropped him with a superkick. Hooker made a blind tag. K nailed Kozina with a jumping spinning roundhouse. K got the tag and EXPLODED on Kozina. But K ate the top turnbuckle on a corner lariat. Kozina used a running knee to the shoulder to set up a shoulderbreaker for a near fall. An enzuigiri by K left both men on the canvas. K made the hot comeback. K nailed Kozina with a running spinning roundhouse, but wasn’t aware of Hooker’s blind tag. Hooker capitalized on the situation with a sunset flip off the top rope to pin Kozina at 13:28. The story of the final fall was K pulling off a cool heel turn. K was a complete dick. He totally abused Hooker. Paranoia kicked in. K complained that Hooker took his win and was trying to take his fans. K was killing Hooker. K went off on the crew in the back row that had been making smart remarks all night. K said they were straight out of “Clerks,” and he was sick of the “pot smokers” trying to get themselves over. They admitted to their vice. K picked up a chair and threatened to use it on them. At that point, things got real quiet. Back inside, Hooker mounted a comeback. Hooker hit a springboard tornado DDT for a near fall. But K got his knees up on Hooker’s quebrada. K crushed Hooker with a top rope double stomp to the back. K put Hooker out of his misery with the OverDoSe. K continued to destroy Hooker in the postmatch. T. J. came out and pulled K off of Hooker. The brothers had words but the blood bond turned out to be even worse news for Hooker. Simpson hit the ring with a kendo stick. He whacked both Macks in the back. The fans busted out the strongest chant of the night. “He’s got wood.” Simpson said he didn’t book this, but it was a great idea. Simpson starting wailing on Hooker with the kendo stick. K posed the question of why he would align himself with “the gayest promoter.” Answer: “Because I damn well could.” K summoned Ryze and Hancock into the ring and called them “my negroes.” All five were beating Hooker to a pulp. K dared anybody to stop them. He challenged “Apollo” (Austin Creed from NWA Anarchy) to come out his seat in the balcony. Magnum and Foley came out. Magnum said he was the measuring stick and wanted in. K said his group needed to “congregate” about it. K huddled up his forces, while Magnum did a slow burn. Magnum said, “Congration over.” Magnum waded in against the odds, making it a double turn. The heels subdued Magnum and beat him down. K’s minions gave Hooker a High Spirits while K attempted a midair double stomp. The timing was off, so they did it again. This time, K hit it and it was sick. Foley said this was his company now, and joined forces with Magnum to clear the ring. K waded into the seats brandishing a chair. Team Macktion backed their way out of the building using chairs to keep the forces of good at bay. NOTES: High Velocity Wrestling returns to the Viper’s next Friday night with Extreme Insanity II, an all hardcore show (yikes)…Power Pro cancelled the scheduled appearances by Chasyn Rance and (much to my dismay) So Cal Val…The Mack Brothers appear for World 1 Wrestling in Valdosta as Team Macktion teaming with Cross Examiner vs. Team Vision (Larry Zbyszko & Chasyn Rance & Mr. St. Laurent) on 10/29…K’s ownership of the AWA World Lightweight Title is in dispute. AWA President Dale Gagne named Xsiris as the champion, but K has physical possession of the belt. They will settle it the issue with a unification match on the CWF Mid-Atlantic show in Burlington on 12/2. |
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