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SHOW REPORTS

2008 SHOW REPORTS

April 19, 2008

Last night’s NWA Anarchy television taping in Cornelia, Ga at the NWA Arena was headlined by two rematches from Hardcore Hell, both more than worth revisiting. Combo that with a three way that revitalized the TV title situation, and you've got yourself a great show. All three finishes produced major springboards for future developments.

It’s rare in today’s pro wrestling when a total unknown can come in and make a major impact, but that’s precisely what happened at the conclusion of the Iceberg/Shatter main event.

Attendance was 190. Incredibly hot at times. There have, however, been many nights that had more consistent heat throughout. Especially during the second half, where despite good to excellent matches, only the Mikal Judas match had strong heat. The length (3 hours) may have been a factor. The kids club is pure genius, but they really need to get it started before bell time.

NWA Anarchy Jerry Palmer brought Laura Jones into the ring. Jones is the ex-wife of the man that had the seizure two weeks ago and also happens to be the morning radio personality on WCON in Cornelia. She read a letter of appreciation to the staff and fans of Anarchy. Palmer said he was ashamed of something. Out came Chad Parham. Palmer didn't spell it out, but he had legit heat with Parham for his actions during the seizure incident. Parham claimed not to know what Palmer was talking about. Palmer got in Parham’s face loud and clear.

If you ever disrespect a fan again, I will come up with something that the commission will have to invent regulations for.

(1) Chad Parham beat Bo Newsom in 4:28. Newsom got a pop. He’s a teenager from nearby Clarkesville, who developed a following at APW. Parham manhandled the kid. Newsom surprised Parham with a flatliner and tried for his corkscrew moonsault finisher. That wasn’t happening. Parham pinned him after a jumping piledriver.

After the match, Parham made a point of walking over to Jones, who was sitting in the first row, and then high-fived color commentator John Johnson on his way out.

(2) New Wave (Derrick Driver & Stephen Walters) beat Talent & Money (J. T. Talent & Andrew Pendleton III) in 6:05. T & M are still getting a pop. I think that’s mostly for Talent. Walters tried to get the Wave going again. Give it up. PLEASE. New Wave busted out some flashy double teams on Pendleton. The heels took over after Talent interfered with a hotshot on Walters. There was a nice, logical spot where Walters did a huracanrana and used the momentum to try for a tag. No go. Talent hit a springboard downward spiral for a near fall. He’s gotten himself in better shape. Crowd chanted for Walters, and he obliged with a tornado DDT to lead into the hot tag. A Driver dropkick precipitated a collision of heels. Driver rolled up Talent, but Pendleton kicked him in the face. Walters then smoked Pendleton with a DDT on the apron, while Driver pinned Talent.

(3) T. K. Kross beat Melissa Coates (with Brodie Chase) in 3:42 to distraction by Don Matthews. Anarchy’s middle-aged crazy couple has a new ring entrance that really works. Coates knows how to strike a pose, so it plays completely to her strengths. Match was fine for what it was. Coates’ offense looked good here. The only problem was the trouble she was having with her top, which could barely keep those treasures hidden. Matthews came out to deck Chase. Coates screamed at Matthews and got rolled up by Kross.

Postmatch, Matthews was fixing to spank Melissa’s sweet ass, but Chase pulled her to safety. Matthews unloaded his frustrations on Kross with a wicked lariat.

(4) Wild Bunch (Billy Buck & Chris King) beat Devil’s Rejects (Azrael & Shaun Tempers with the Reverend) via DQ in 8:02. Rejects retain the NWA Anarchy Tag Team Titles. Rejects attacked before the bell. They beat the hell out of Buck, but he fought his way out of the Rejects corner for a tag. Wild Bunch cleared the ring and Rejects were forced to regroup. Azrael distracted referee D. L. Norris, so Tempers could ambush King. Rejects got major heat on King. Azrael hit an awesome running knee here. Crowd wasn’t wild about getting behind King. King escaped from the Ted Bundy (the finisher Matt Morgan stole secondhand) and got the tag. Buck was doing a number on Tempers when Azrael nailed him with the good reverend’s staff. Rejects doubled up on Buck until King hit the ring swinging a chair. Nothing wrong with the match. It just feels like the crowd isn’t seeing Wild Bunch as legit contenders.

G-Rated Guys That Totally Rule appeared in a backstage vignette on the WrestleVision. Rinauro apologized for hitting Delay last time. He won his partner over with humor. Rinauro said he had a gift for Delay, which turned out to be a Consequences Creed Afro wig. “Let’s do it, tiger!”

As Rinauro and Delay waited for their opponents to enter the ring, Delay clean knocked Rinauro out with a set of knucks. Delay pulled out scissors and it got a pop. Delay cut Rinauro’s locks, enough so he's definitely needing a change of hairstyle. Needless to say, not the desired reaction. The fans stuck with the hometown guy, the one whose thingyy attitude comes across more good natured.

(5) Nemesis (with Jay Fury) pinned Slim J (with Shadow Jackson) with the Gallows Bomb in 4:59. Heat through the roof for this match. They went nose to nose before the bell. Nemesis tried to wrestle. That was a mistake. Fury’s interference allowed Nemesis to turn J’s slingshot into a powerslam. Nemesis momentarily knocked J out legit with a crossface forearm. Crowd was crazy for Slim to make the comeback. Nemesis went for a senton backsplash but no water in the pool. Fury clubbed Jackson. J had Nemesis up for Anger Management when he saw that Jackson was about get whacked with a chiar. J grabbed the chair. Nemesis capitalized with a cool flippy facebuster for the pin. Love that name.

Fury chopped the bejeezus out of J and made a move to hang him with the noose. Jackson confronted Fury. Fury shoved the ref into Jackson and the Gorillas bailed. Jackson asked the crowd if they wanted to see a tag match the next time and see those Koncrete Gorillas bleed. That would be a yes. The Gorillas insist on entering and exiting through the front door. The heat for their exit was close to out of control.

Intermission.

(6) Hollywood Brunettes (Andrew Alexander & Kyle Matthews) beat Adrian Hawkins & Chip Day in 7:23. Day was doing a lot of aerial stuff, but the fans didn’t seem to care. Alexander clipped Day’s knee and went to work on it. Hawkins entered with a top rope back elbow and then a springboard back elbow. He had the fiery facial expressions but still not much reaction. Finish saw Hawkins go for the Extreme Makeover (Unprettier) on Alexander, but Matthews initiated a babyface collision, and Alexander pinned Hawkins. Hawkins was pissed. Wes Grissom came out. Hawkins walked off. In a promotion where almost everything works, it stands out more when something does not. Hawkins and Day weren’t over a lick. So if this was a split that may be a good thing. Problem was the people didn’t care about Day and Grissom either.

Ace Rockwell addressed his future in a revealing sitdown interview conducted by Greg Hunter. Rockwell said he wasn’t 100% when he lost the Anarchy heavyweight title to Chad Parham last year, but he was making no excuses. Rockwell admitted that since recovering from the knee injury, he had been only an occasional performer. Rockwell admitted that his personal life had been a mess. Rockwell said he felt like it was his night against Shatter. He was ready to come back, but he wasn’t the kind of guy to take somebody else’s spot. Then, two weeks he ago got put in a six man and lost to Todd Sexton. “I should have beaten a guy like that.” Rockwell said he was coming back for his belt.

(7) The Technicians (Todd Sexton & Bob E & Tyler Smith) beat Jay Clinton & Yoshi Hiroshima & Jon Davis in 4:15. Sexton addressed Rockwell’s comments by saying he wasn’t the one that lost his smile and went home. Bob E and Smith have improved to where they look like an Anarchy level tag team. The jobbers got some heat on Bob E. Smith and Bob E hit the Hart Attack on Clinton. Sexton finished him off with a hammerlock lariat.

(8) Mikal Judas beat Mr. Adonis via DQ in 5:13. Jeremy Vain was supposed to be barred from ringside. He blew off the refs, but that huge security guy came out and Vain decided to go quietly. Funny stuff from Vain. Adonis hit an exploder suplex and took over with karate thrusts. Crowd came alive huge for Judas. Adonis went for a claw. Judas seized the claw hand and destroyed it. Adonis was selling the hand like it was a dead meat. Adonis tried a punch with the bad hand. Old habits die hard, I guess. Judas gave Adonis a lariat over the top. It looked pretty spectacular. Judas was pounding Judas by the rail when Vain threw some kind of red liquid into his face for the DQ. Short but very good. Adonis has clearly elevated his game, although working with Judas will make just about anybody look stellar. TNA would be stupid not to sign him (see below).

Inside the ring, Adonis hit his twisting brianbuster finisher. Just like last time, Vain talked crap and smacked Judas, and Judas sat up and goozled him. This time, Adonis intervened with another brainbuster. Vain covered Judas and Adonis made the three count. The refs finally brought the hijinx to a stop. The lights went out so Judas could do his disappearing act.

(9) Hayden Young beat Consequences Creed and Jeff Lewis in a triple threat match to determine the number one contender for the NWA Anarchy Television Title (9:11). Creed came out wearing the Afro wig over his Afro, which had everybody cracking up. The TV champ, Truitt Fields came out do to color commentary. The fans popped for him, but not like they do when he’s out there nearly naked. Lewis got smart –mouthed, so Young and Creed pounded on him. Lewis ended up on the outside licking his wounds, and let Creed and Young go at it. Lewis slyly waited for the opportune moment to reenter. They did a three-way spot where Creed hit a sunset flip on Lewis, who simultaneously hit a german suplex on Young. Later, Young blocked Creed’s german off the top, and Lewis hit the german with Young landing on top of Creed. Lewis and Creed had midair collision of high crossbodys. Young went for the Flying Squirrel, and they both rolled out of the way. Finish saw Creed go for the Montefisto. Young ducked and it connected on Lewis. Young hit an enzuigiri on Creed and covered Lewis for the pin. They made a big deal out of Fields raising Young's hand.

This was my favorite match of the night. Suberb athleticism for sure, but each guy with a clearly defined role, played out in a way where everyone comes out looking strong. That is tricky business in any three-way, let alone with two faces and one heel.

(10) Shatter (with Jeff G. Bailey) beat Iceberg (with The Reverend) via DQ in 8:20 when Devil’s Rejects interfered. Iceberg retains the NWA Anarchy Heavyweight Title. Shatter attacked before Iceberg could get in the ring. Awesome intensity. Shatter screamed “you did this!” in reference to his scarred forehead. Iceberg upended Shatter as he stood on second rope, and the Universal Soldier took one of his take-no-prisoners bumps. From there it was two monsters trading stiff shots. Iceberg took a flat back bump on Shatter’s lariat. Iceberg hit a back suplex on Shatter and bit his face. Iceberg clubbed Shatter with a lariat. Berg dropped an elbow and Shatter got a foot over the ropes. Shatter was trying to hang on. Iceberg hit a classic gordbuster and a belly to belly for near falls. Shatter caught a charging Iceberg with powerslam. Whoa. Shatter hit a top rope elbow. Iceberg barely rolled a shoulder at 2 ¾. Shatter’s spear attempt ran smack into Iceberg’s knee. Iceberg came off the second rope and Shatter turned it into a short powerbomb. The other Rejects attacked for the DQ.

A mysterious hooded figure entered the ring - bare feet, all tatted up and jacked to the max - Spinning backfist on Tempers, kick to the face for Azrael and a Samoan drop on Iceberg. All three Rejects laid out. The hood came off to reveal a maniacal individual of Polynesian or Asian descent, sorta like Jimmy Snuka without the hair. Bailey was licking his chops over him.

NOTES: TNA officials were said to be very impressed by Mikal Judas during his recent tryout…The guests for the pre-show Kids Corner Club were Rinauro and Rockwell. There were 20 kids at ringside…Matches announced for Anarchy’s next show on 5/3: Fields vs. Young for the TV Title and J & Jackson vs. Nemesis & Fury…Palmer put the APW Spring Bash Break show over strong in his opening remarks…The seizure incident at the previous show was more serious than it appeared. The man had wad of chewing tobacco in his mouth that could have blocked his airway if not for quick life support intervention by Palmer…Azrael had significant swelling around the eye from the kick he received from the mysterious newcomer…The Hardcore Hell ’08 DVD is now on sale. I highly recommend it.