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October 18, 2008
– Larry Goodman
Dan Masters and Katie Mayo introed the show promising greatness.
1 – Elimination match for the final spot in the RPW Heavyweight Title Tournament: FRANKIE VALENTINE (with Ace Diamond) vs.
KUROSUKAJI vs. KYLE MATTHEWS vs. LANCE CHRISTIAN
Pescados in stereo by Matthews and Christian. On color, Taylor said these guys were pushing the issue to qualify as heavyweights.
Masters reported the dude under the red mask was named “The Southern Gentleman.� Kurosukaji collided with Valentine, and
Matthews took over. Matthews and Valentine lit each other up. Matthews and Christian teamed up for a Rocket Launcher onto the heels.
Meanwhile, Katie was confused about the format of the match. She was not alone. What was announced as a fatal four-way turned out to
be an elimination match when Matthews pinned Kurosukaji with what was clearly just a two count at 5:16. The announce team
completely missed it, and I can’t really blame them. Valentine immediately snuck up on Matthews and eliminated him via a handful of
trunks. Christian took it to Valentine, so he bailed out for some recuperation time. Matthews let go of the arm, and Valentine went flying
through the ropes. Taylor said that was illegal because it was dangerous. Katie said if Valentine wasn’t up for danger, he shouldnâ
€™t be in the ring in the first place, and Taylor had to agree. Score one for Katie. Valentine took too much time going to the top, but he
was able to block Christian’s superplex attempt and drop him on his face. Valentine went for a super sunset flip and Christian rolled
through into a rana.
Winner: Christian in 8:24. Ahh, so we now have two viable babyface contenders for the Cruiserweight Title. Sweet. A good match if you
could get past the confusion about the rules and that awful first pin.
2 – RPW Heavyweight Tournament Match: DAVID YOUNG vs. ORION BISHOP
Slow start with Young assuming control. Masters kept calling him “Orton� Bishop. On color, Cru Jones brought up Young’s
losing streak in TNA. Bishop outmaneuvered Young to hit a devastating release German suplex, and then a Vader Bomb for a near fall.
Bishop applied a lengthy Dragon Clutch. Jones quizzed Katie about the name of the hold. Young fought his way free only to get nailed
with a powerslam. Young connected with a high knee, but had taken too much damage to immediately follow up. Young clipped Bishop
with an enzuigiri, and it was both men down. Young climbed to the top. “Don’t let this belly fool you, he can fly.� Bishop rolled
out from under Young’s moonsault and speared him for the pin.
Winner: Bishop in 8:53. OK for what it was. Young put Bishop over like a pro.
Backstage, Katie asked Rinauro if he was experiencing any remorse about blinding J-Rod last week. Sal was wearing a pinstripe
suitcoat with a Sal-Mark t-shirt underneath. He sang “See you at the Crossroads� to J-Rod. Dr. Johnny Gayton confronted Rinauro.
He lectured Sal about J-Rod needing surgery. As a result, Gayton had already kicked Rinauro out of RPW and reinstated him, without Sal
having clue one, so he could face Rob Adonis. Gayton promised to do everything in his power to get J-Rod back to finish the job.
Rob Adonis said tonight was going to be the avenging of a lifetime. He said J-Rod called from his hospital bed because they went a long
way back. Adonis promised a hospital stay for Sal.
3 – SAL RINAURO vs. ROB ADONIS
Finding no chinks in the armor of Adonis, Rinauro was the picture of frustration. A spinning gorilla press slam sent Rinauro to the outside
clutching with bulging eyes and an aching back. Adonis chased like a dummy and got caught with a springboard enzuigiri.
�Eat carpet Adonis.�
Adonis kicked out of a stunner and a tornado DDT. Rinauro escaped a powerbomb and superkicked Adonis for another near fall.
Rinauro’s springboard lariat turned into the short end of an exploder suplex. Spinebuster~! (and David Young just wrestled). Adonis
signaled it was over, but Rinauro kicked out. Rinauro dropkicked from behind, forcing Adonis to pull up to avoid referee Robinson. With
Robinson’s vision obscured, Rinauro clubbed Adonis with the Sal Spray and he was easy pickings.
Winner: Rinauro at 9:45. Having Sal use the same weapon but in a different way made a logical follow up to last week.
Dr. Johnny Gayton was backstage with A.J. Steele and Ron Stalker. Gayton cut a promo for the main event stating Hot Like Lava had
written checks their bodies could not cash.
4 – CRU JONES & MICAH TAYLOR & DESTRO XAVIER vs. DR. JOHNNY GAYTON & A. J. STEELE & RON STALKER
The lawyer used his partners as a shield from the almighty Dr. Gayton. They went to a test of strength. Gayton played mind game with
Taylor, before overcoming a cheap shot with a powerlifting maneuver. Taylor sold huge for Gayton’s cranking side headlock. Taylor
and Jones took major abuse from Steele. It took a while, but Lava got heat on “weak link� Stalker, and they beat on him for a very
long time. Lava was thoroughly enjoying themselves. Xavier tagged in just long enough to smack Stalker’s face. Gayton took the hot
tag and started throwing lariats from both sides. Xavier took a Samoan Drop from Gayton. Taylor clubbed Gayton to break it up. Forget
about a DQ, the ref lost complete control here. Taylor and Jones faceplanted Gayton with a double Samoan Drop and hauled Xavier on
top of the good doctor for the three count.
Winners: Jones & Taylor & Xavier in 16:29 when Xavier pinned Gayton. It felt longer than it necessary to tell the story. Stalker is not on the
level of the others (granting Gayton an exception), but it was better to have someone expendable to take the heat. Steele has clearly
grown as a worker.
Gayton challenged either member of Hot Like Lava in a dead lift contest next week. “You got muscles for show, but I have muscles
that go.� Jones accepted but “Captain Comb Over� was going to have to put something up – his world powerlifting
championship trophy. If Gayton won he got a match with Xavier.
Backstage, Xavier was gloating about being a winner. Jones said Gayton was going down next week. Taylor said they would were going
to beat Gayton at his own game.
Gayton was pissed. He vowed to get his hands on the attorney because there was no way a member of Hot Like Lava was taking a world
champion to task in a dead lift contest.
Masters and Mayo closed with a preview of next week’s show featuring the RPW title tournament quarterfinal matches and the dead
lift contest.
Closing Thoughts: This episode was another step in the right direction as far as how it was put together. It was the first time RPW TV
provided a compelling reason to tune in next week. Now if they could provide a better linkage to things from previous episodes. Some
clips to explain the deal with the red masked dude would help. This week, the main event that was overly long. It wouldn’t hurt if they
edited more tightly and added one more storyline. A major plus about these shows is the micing of the crowd. The crowd looked smaller
this week, but they still came across hot on TV. The presentation of the RPW title tournament has been muddled at best. It feels
haphazard. A simple graphic showing brackets would be nice. The wrestling, while not bad at all, was better on last week’s show.
– Larry Goodman
Dan Masters and Katie Mayo introed the show promising greatness.
1 – Elimination match for the final spot in the RPW Heavyweight Title Tournament: FRANKIE VALENTINE (with Ace Diamond) vs.
KUROSUKAJI vs. KYLE MATTHEWS vs. LANCE CHRISTIAN
Pescados in stereo by Matthews and Christian. On color, Taylor said these guys were pushing the issue to qualify as heavyweights.
Masters reported the dude under the red mask was named “The Southern Gentleman.� Kurosukaji collided with Valentine, and
Matthews took over. Matthews and Valentine lit each other up. Matthews and Christian teamed up for a Rocket Launcher onto the heels.
Meanwhile, Katie was confused about the format of the match. She was not alone. What was announced as a fatal four-way turned out to
be an elimination match when Matthews pinned Kurosukaji with what was clearly just a two count at 5:16. The announce team
completely missed it, and I can’t really blame them. Valentine immediately snuck up on Matthews and eliminated him via a handful of
trunks. Christian took it to Valentine, so he bailed out for some recuperation time. Matthews let go of the arm, and Valentine went flying
through the ropes. Taylor said that was illegal because it was dangerous. Katie said if Valentine wasn’t up for danger, he shouldnâ
€™t be in the ring in the first place, and Taylor had to agree. Score one for Katie. Valentine took too much time going to the top, but he
was able to block Christian’s superplex attempt and drop him on his face. Valentine went for a super sunset flip and Christian rolled
through into a rana.
Winner: Christian in 8:24. Ahh, so we now have two viable babyface contenders for the Cruiserweight Title. Sweet. A good match if you
could get past the confusion about the rules and that awful first pin.
2 – RPW Heavyweight Tournament Match: DAVID YOUNG vs. ORION BISHOP
Slow start with Young assuming control. Masters kept calling him “Orton� Bishop. On color, Cru Jones brought up Young’s
losing streak in TNA. Bishop outmaneuvered Young to hit a devastating release German suplex, and then a Vader Bomb for a near fall.
Bishop applied a lengthy Dragon Clutch. Jones quizzed Katie about the name of the hold. Young fought his way free only to get nailed
with a powerslam. Young connected with a high knee, but had taken too much damage to immediately follow up. Young clipped Bishop
with an enzuigiri, and it was both men down. Young climbed to the top. “Don’t let this belly fool you, he can fly.� Bishop rolled
out from under Young’s moonsault and speared him for the pin.
Winner: Bishop in 8:53. OK for what it was. Young put Bishop over like a pro.
Backstage, Katie asked Rinauro if he was experiencing any remorse about blinding J-Rod last week. Sal was wearing a pinstripe
suitcoat with a Sal-Mark t-shirt underneath. He sang “See you at the Crossroads� to J-Rod. Dr. Johnny Gayton confronted Rinauro.
He lectured Sal about J-Rod needing surgery. As a result, Gayton had already kicked Rinauro out of RPW and reinstated him, without Sal
having clue one, so he could face Rob Adonis. Gayton promised to do everything in his power to get J-Rod back to finish the job.
Rob Adonis said tonight was going to be the avenging of a lifetime. He said J-Rod called from his hospital bed because they went a long
way back. Adonis promised a hospital stay for Sal.
3 – SAL RINAURO vs. ROB ADONIS
Finding no chinks in the armor of Adonis, Rinauro was the picture of frustration. A spinning gorilla press slam sent Rinauro to the outside
clutching with bulging eyes and an aching back. Adonis chased like a dummy and got caught with a springboard enzuigiri.
�Eat carpet Adonis.�
Adonis kicked out of a stunner and a tornado DDT. Rinauro escaped a powerbomb and superkicked Adonis for another near fall.
Rinauro’s springboard lariat turned into the short end of an exploder suplex. Spinebuster~! (and David Young just wrestled). Adonis
signaled it was over, but Rinauro kicked out. Rinauro dropkicked from behind, forcing Adonis to pull up to avoid referee Robinson. With
Robinson’s vision obscured, Rinauro clubbed Adonis with the Sal Spray and he was easy pickings.
Winner: Rinauro at 9:45. Having Sal use the same weapon but in a different way made a logical follow up to last week.
Dr. Johnny Gayton was backstage with A.J. Steele and Ron Stalker. Gayton cut a promo for the main event stating Hot Like Lava had
written checks their bodies could not cash.
4 – CRU JONES & MICAH TAYLOR & DESTRO XAVIER vs. DR. JOHNNY GAYTON & A. J. STEELE & RON STALKER
The lawyer used his partners as a shield from the almighty Dr. Gayton. They went to a test of strength. Gayton played mind game with
Taylor, before overcoming a cheap shot with a powerlifting maneuver. Taylor sold huge for Gayton’s cranking side headlock. Taylor
and Jones took major abuse from Steele. It took a while, but Lava got heat on “weak link� Stalker, and they beat on him for a very
long time. Lava was thoroughly enjoying themselves. Xavier tagged in just long enough to smack Stalker’s face. Gayton took the hot
tag and started throwing lariats from both sides. Xavier took a Samoan Drop from Gayton. Taylor clubbed Gayton to break it up. Forget
about a DQ, the ref lost complete control here. Taylor and Jones faceplanted Gayton with a double Samoan Drop and hauled Xavier on
top of the good doctor for the three count.
Winners: Jones & Taylor & Xavier in 16:29 when Xavier pinned Gayton. It felt longer than it necessary to tell the story. Stalker is not on the
level of the others (granting Gayton an exception), but it was better to have someone expendable to take the heat. Steele has clearly
grown as a worker.
Gayton challenged either member of Hot Like Lava in a dead lift contest next week. “You got muscles for show, but I have muscles
that go.� Jones accepted but “Captain Comb Over� was going to have to put something up – his world powerlifting
championship trophy. If Gayton won he got a match with Xavier.
Backstage, Xavier was gloating about being a winner. Jones said Gayton was going down next week. Taylor said they would were going
to beat Gayton at his own game.
Gayton was pissed. He vowed to get his hands on the attorney because there was no way a member of Hot Like Lava was taking a world
champion to task in a dead lift contest.
Masters and Mayo closed with a preview of next week’s show featuring the RPW title tournament quarterfinal matches and the dead
lift contest.
Closing Thoughts: This episode was another step in the right direction as far as how it was put together. It was the first time RPW TV
provided a compelling reason to tune in next week. Now if they could provide a better linkage to things from previous episodes. Some
clips to explain the deal with the red masked dude would help. This week, the main event that was overly long. It wouldn’t hurt if they
edited more tightly and added one more storyline. A major plus about these shows is the micing of the crowd. The crowd looked smaller
this week, but they still came across hot on TV. The presentation of the RPW title tournament has been muddled at best. It feels
haphazard. A simple graphic showing brackets would be nice. The wrestling, while not bad at all, was better on last week’s show.
| SHOW REPORTS |
