NWA Anarchy presented “Hostile Environment,� their annual midsummer spectacular, at the NWA Arena in Cornelia Saturday night.
With the War Games, it’s a perennial can’t miss show, but this was doubly impressive. They threw a hell of a lot out there just one week before the big show – six stipulation matches including War Games. I thought it was too much. I thought wrong. Everybody busted ass in the ring to make sure all the stip matches got over.
It was a night of pure babyface triumph, the likes of which I can’t recall seeing in Anarchy. Every match had a babyface winner. Devilâ €™s Rejects/NWA Elite was supposed to be heel vs. heel, but the fans nevertheless picked a favorite, and his team won.
It was also the longest show of the year on the hottest night of the summer. The temperature on Saturday afternoon approached 95 degrees. But the Anarchy fans don’t need no stinking air conditioning. They passed the acid test with flying colors. 235 in the house and they never wavered.
And our ringside photographer looks like George “The Animal� Steele.
Palmer informed the fans that Katie Stevens had died. Anarchy held a Fanfest in May to raise money to help the girl’s family with her medical bills. Palmer dedicated the show to her memory – it was direct, respectful, and not the least bit maudlin.
Palmer was interrupted by Chad Parham and Seth Delay. Parham said nobody cared about anything on the card because the people only cared about Chad and Seth. Palmer claimed to have bad ears and invited them into the ring. Parham said Palmer’s buddy Sal Rinauro was in the hospital so it was two against one. They didn’t stop Palmer from laying into them. Parham and Delay bumped for The Boss, until Delay put another knot in the back of Palmer’s head with his brass knucks. They started to cut Palmer’s hair and New Wave hit the ring. While security helped a woozy Palmer to the back, Bill Behrens booked an impromptu tag match.
(1) New Wave (Derrick Driver & Steven Walters) beat Chad Parham & Seth Delay in 7:05
New Wave came out flying. Driver countered a move by Parham with a headstand on the top turnbuckle, but Delay sent him to the floor with a dropkick. Crowd was quick to bust out the “lets go Derrick� chant. Parham and Delay used a disgusting double body rake. Walters took the hot tag, and New Wave hit a cool combo move on Delay -a Walters rocking horse/Driver guillotine legdrop. Finish was set up by a blind tag to Driver. Parham went to piledriver Walters and Driver came off the top with a sunset flip for the pin. The crowd kicked into high gear for the first time as they neared the finish.
Parham waxed Driver with a cradle piledriver after the match. The heels were fixing to give another haircut, but Palmer returned with his ax handle to clear the ring. Palmer ordered a hair vs. hair tag match in two weeks – Palmer & Rinauro vs. Parham & Delay - with the loser of the fall getting their head shaved.
(2) Don Matthews beat Brodie Chase & Melissa Coates in a Slave Match (11:10)
Crowd enjoyed the comedy hijinx opening. Matthews gave Melissa a drop toe hold into the Chase’s crotch and then spanked Brodie. There were dueling chants as Matthews and Chase traded shots. Matthews hit the BFK. He kissed Melissa and set up for The Lariat, but Coates dropped him in his tracks with a low blow. Coates whacked Matthews on the ass with her riding crop. That just got Matthews fired up, so Chase posted him. Chase worked on Matthews wrist for a while. The big spot saw Coates try to flip Chase off the top into a senton on Matthews. Nobody home. Matthews hit a fallaway slam for a near fall. Chase answered with sky high powerbomb for a near fall. Matthews won it with The Lariat. Longer than it needed to be, but the finish got a strong pop.
Coates was forced into the ring for a taste of Matthews’ perversity. Coates slapped Matthews. That just turned him on. Mr. "Smitten like a kitten" ordered Coates to smack his ass with the riding crop. After the second whack, Matthews broke into a Memphis strut. Matthews asked for another one. He got it and said thanks by knocking Coates out cold with the Lariat. It got a bigger pop than the finish. Nothing wrong with a little man-on-woman violence when the situation calls for it.
Jeff Lewis stepped out of the three-way match for the NWA Anarchy Television Title. Lewis said he didn’t like the script, so he going to wait for a different one. Lewis provided television commentary instead.
(3) Truitt Fields beat Hayden Young to retain the NWA Anarchy Television Title in 11:26
Good placement to follow the last match with something more athletic. Huge pops for the entrances of both fan favorites with Fields getting the louder of the two. No buddy buddy crap – it was brawling right from the get go. Fields jumped out on top and gave Young a gorilla press free fall for a two count. Young took over and scored a series of near falls including one with a running frog splash. Young also used the trunks on a roll up attempt. Young almost lost control on a Shooting Star Press to the floor. Totally nuts. Fans chanted â €œTru-it.â€� Fields responded with an overhead belly to belly suplex, and it was both men down. Fields used a Polish Hammer to the side of Young’s head. Fields hit a brainbuster for a near fall. Crowd was strangely quiet here. Young rolled through on a Flying Squirrel attempt and managed to counter the Killing Fields for a near fall. Young nailed his spinning enzuigiri as Behrens made the 5 to go call. Ref Jacob Ashworth collided with Fields and they both went down. Young brought the belt into the ring. But the angst was too much for him to use it. Not yet anyway. Killing Fields for the 1-2-3. Young refused to shake Fields’ hand. Good match. Credit Young with gutting it out. He was hurting badly due to a kidney infection.
(4) In an I Quit Match, Ace Rockwell made Todd Sexton give up at 18:41
The pop for Rockwell was right up there with the previous match. They each blocked the other guy’s finishing move in the early going. Sexton chop blocked Rockwell’s knee and started working on it with spinning toe hold. Sexton connected with a running kick to the face and wanted to know if Rockwell was ready to quit. Rockwell answered by tattooing Sexton’s face with taped fists. Sexton brought Rockwell off the ropes with a dragon screw and really started to bear down on the knee. He used a figure four around the ringpost. Sexton told Rockwell quit or get a broken leg. Rockwell told Sexton to go to hell. Sexton jabbed and pounded on Rockwell’s knee with a steel chair. Agonizing screams but no quit from Rockwell. Sexton applied the figure four inside the ring. Huge “Ace� chant, as Rockwell hulked up and reversed the hold. Rockwell caught Sexton in a triangle choke, so Sexton clunked him with the mic to break the hold. Rockwell used up his last ounce of strength on a superplex. Rockwell waffled Sexton’s knee with the chair. Sexton was whimpering and begging for mercy. The Technicians hit the ring and gave Rockwell the Regulator. They set up a steel coffin of chairs at ringside. Wild Bunch drove the Technicians to the back. Sexton connected with a superkick that sent Rockwell flying off the apron into the steel coffin. A brutal bump. Ref Brent Wiley asked Rockwell if he quit. Twice, Rockwell did not answer. Wiley said he would ask one more time, at the last split second, Rockwell grabbed Wiley by his shirt collar and said no. Great stuff. Back inside the ring, Rockwell hit the Aces High on the steel chair. A “Quit, Todd, Quit� chanted erupted. Rockwell pounded on Sexton, who bled a bit from the forehead. Rockwell kept pounding away until Sexton cried uncle. Rockwell milked the victory for everything it was worth - really let the feeling of triumph sink in.
(5) Hollywood Brunettes (Andrew Alexander & Kyle Matthews) & Bo Newsome & Chip Day & Malachi beat Talent & Money (Andrew Pendleton III & JT Talent) & Caleb Konley & Adrian Hawkins & Jay Clinton
Newsome got the best crowd response during the shine. Konley took advantage of Bo’s inexperience to start the heat. Finish was Malachi with a DDT on flunkie Clinton followed by Day’s springboard 450. Decent match. They got fancier than with the finish. In this spot on the show, less is more.
Jeremy Vain and Rob Adonis hit the ring and the heels beat down the outnumbered babyface team to where they were unable to serve as lumberjacks for the next match.
(6) Mikal Judas pinned Jeremy Vain (with Rob Adonis) in a lumberjack match (10:16)
Monster pop for the monster. Adonis at ringside and all heel lumberjacks made no difference. Vain was going to get his ass beat and everybody knew it. Vain escaped the El Crucifijo (Border Toss) on his own. Adonis rescued Vain from a second Crucifijo. Vain landed on the apron. Judas grabbed him by the throat and threw him halfway across the ring. Adonis saved Vain from the Mafia kick, and Judas tumbled over the ropes where he took a pounding from the lumberjacks. Vain worked on Judas’ gut, but couldn’t get more than a one count on the big man. Judas connected with the Mafia kick, sending Vain to the outside, where Judas teed off on all of the lumberjacks. The babyface lumberjacks came out to neutralize the heels. Clinton tried to bring a chair in. Judas tossed Clinton over the top onto the lumberjacks with El Crucifijo. Judas took Adonis out with a chokebreaker. Vain used a DDT onto the chair. Judas kicked out. Vain’s bag of tricks was empty. Judas gave Vain a mighty El Crucifijo for the pin and another huge pop.
(7) NWA Elite (Shatter & Kimo & Abomination with Jeff G. Bailey) beat Devil’s Rejects (Iceberg & Azrael & Shaun Tempers with the Reverend) to win the NWA Anarchy Tag Team Championship in 17:01 when Kimo pinned Azrael
The stip was now or never- if the Elite didn't win the fall, it would be their last shot at the Reject's belts. This was a case of six guys hitting each other extremely hard in relatively safe places. Kimo looked like a million bucks. It’s one thing to book a guy that way, but Kimo delivers the goods. It’s amazing what this guy can do with such limited experience. Talk about a natural. He kicked things off with a soaring Hotstuff Hernandez suicide dive. Kimo blocked a blitz of martial arts strikes from Azrael. I’ve only seen nuts like that in the movies. Off the chain. Kimo no sold a Samoan drop from Iceberg and felled him like a redwood with a martial arts chop. The Elite started beating on Shatter. Azrael did his Superman punch and applied the necktie submission. The fans kept chanting for a tag to Kimo. Iceberg silenced them with a freight train corner splash. On the comeback, Shatter slipped trying for a top rope back suplex on Iceberg, and they fell to the mat in a heap. Nothing like the danger of reality. Shatter hit a German suplex on Berg, who kicked out his one arm cover. Bailey and the Reverend got up on the apron and took stereo bumps from Iceberg and Shatter. Shatter speared Iceberg through the ropes. A wild ringside brawl ensued. Abomination ended up laid out on a ringside table. Iceberg went for a rolling senton off the apron and crashed through the table when A-Bomb moved. Inside the ring, Shatter put Tempers in the Crippler Crossface, and Azrael made the save. Azrael and Tempers hit the Hellhammer on Shatter. Kimo smoked Tempers with a vicious ringside lariat, and his head hit the floor with a sick thud for the king hell bastard bump of the night. Finish saw Kimo roll through on Azrael’s flying bodypress and judo chop him right across his freaking face for the pin. Wow. And the War Games was still to come.
(8) War Games: Shadow Jackson & Slim J defeated Nemesis & Jay Fury in 19:33 when Fury submitted to Jackson
This was all about violence and drama. Fury and J started at a furious pace. The intensity started to wane about 3 minutes in, and Behrens did the coin flip a minute early. Naturally, the heels won. Nemesis entered wearing the trophy (the very one he used to bust Jackson up to start this feud) around his neck like a medallion. He chucked J into the cage like a javelin spear a couple of times, and J was busted open. Gorillas gave J a sick double team DVD. The crowd started going crazy when Nemesis kept Jackson from entering at the appointed time. Fury continued to beat on J. Once Jackson was inside, it was soon all four men battling on the top rope. The ties holding the cage together starting popping off as J bounced Fury’s head off of the cage. J did a Screwdriver on the Rocks (corkscrew Ace crusher) off the top rope on Fury that looked sensational. Jackson speared Nemesis. J and Jackson doubled up on Fury with a wheelbarrow flatliner. But Fury evaded J’s flying reverse DDT and got him with the Enzifury. Nemesis did a missile dropkick on Jackson. The Gorillas “beasted up.� Fury hit a top rope German on J. The Gorilla’s noose came into play, as Fury then tried to hang J from the top of the cage. J fought it off and hit a top rope reverse DDT from the top of the cage onto the Gorillas. The building exploded. Jackson blasted Nemesis with the trophy for the biggest pop of the night. Jackson dug the trophy into Nemesis forehead. Nemesis was bleeding profusely. More Anarchy personnel came to ringside. Fury was also bleeding. Jackson tried to choke Nemesis out, but Fury stomped on him. J clocked Fury with a rabbit lariat, and Jackson followed with the 1031. Jackson used the noose to hang Fury across his back. I couldn’t see what J was doing to Nemesis, but he ended up with a thick crimson mask all the way down to his goatee. With the crowd on fire, Fury finally submitted. The postmatch was a sight. Jackson and J made sure to stand right over Nemesis, who was a complete freaking bloody mess, when they raised their hands in victory.
NOTES: A.J. Styles will be the special guest on Peach State Pandemonium on Wednesday, July 23 at 10 pm. Our other guests will be promoter Mike Porter (NWA Main Event) and Marc Anthony of Showtime All-Star Wrestling for a discussion of Nashville wrestling, past and present…Lewis reportedly suffered two broken ribs in his ECW dark match with Charlie Haas…Melissa Coates appears for Victory Pro Wrestling in Long Island, NY on 7/26.