| SHOW REPORTS |
July 8, 2010
– Larry Goodman
Another SRO crowd of 180 incredibly fired up people gathered at 413 Veritas Street for the July 8 NWA Main Event television taping in
Nashville.
The energy level of the crowd in that building never ceases to amaze me. NWA ME doesn’t have any pro wrestling superstars on their
roster, but you would never know it by the crowd at 413 Veritas Street. The NWA ME wrestlers are superstars to those people, and they
love them and hate them with a passion I don’t see anywhere else.
That kind of atmosphere lends itself to good wrestling television, and it was another good night for NWA ME in that regard. The TV Title
story was advanced without the presence of champion Tommy Mercer. The opening round of the tag team tournament was wildly
successful, one of keys being the groundwork laid in previous shows to establish emotional attachments to the participants. The quality
of the in ring maintained the higher standard that has been set in recent months.
(1) Phil Macchio beat Panther in 3:38
Not for television purposes. Macchio got a pop. He was a heel last month. Panther has to be one of the uglier guys in pro wrestling.
Panther made a slow ascension to the top rope and took the Flair slam. Moments later, Macchio surprised him with a half-assed inside
cradle for the pin.
The debut of “The Lowdown” with Richard Lowe and Playboy James Duncan was next. They got heat. Lowe promised the hottest scoops
in the NWA. Bill Behrens said it was a “unique pleasure” and “an experience” to be their special guest. Behrens revealed that Ace
Rockwell wasn’t there due to a family emergency BUT Rockwell would fulfill his promise to meet Se7en in a five minute challenge. The
Reverend and Se7en entered the ring. Reverend’s promo was seriously awesome. I love him in NWA Anarchy, but there’s something
about this pairing with Se7en, a monster with great potential, that is bringing out the absolute best in him. Reverend said if Rockwell
wasn’t a coward, he would be there. Reverend said he had to put a muzzle on Se7en, because he was so hungry for flesh that he might
bite a hunk out of these people. Reverend vowed that Se7en would inflict severe punishment on an innocent lamb.
(2) Orion Bishop retained the NWA Mid-America Heavyweight Championship over Bryan Casey in 5:22
Casey showed some ring rust and he wasn’t giving Bishop anything worth selling, so Bishop did the right thing and ate him up. Casey
never got untracked, as Bishop cut him off with wicked power moves time and time again. Finish saw Casey try to get Bishop into a
fireman’s carry position. That was not happening. Bishop put Casey out of his misery with the F5.
(3) Will Owens & Damian Payne (with Dan O’Manley) beat Kid Fresh & Victor Kosmo to advance in the tag team tournament in 3:50
Kosmo is a legit Russian kid (see news & notes). The pop for Fresh was unreal. The crowd reacted like they were all close personal
friends. The glow didn’t last long, as Owens dumped him off the top rope, and the heels dismantled him. Highlights were an Owens
spinebuster and Payne with flying double knees. O’Manley’s other team, Xavier Mustafa & Jeremiah Plunkett came out to observe. Owens
pinned Kosmo after a double flapjack.
(4) Corey Hollis beat Seth Delay in 10:43
Best match for workrate and not bad for heat either. They meshed well. It was one of Hollis’ good nights. Delay’s tongue-in-cheek style of
heeling got over pretty well. Hollis was having his way early. Delay took a bump where he rolled down the ring steps. Match did a 180 turn
when Delay caught Hollis by the leg and racked his knee on the ring frame. Delay used the figure four, but Hollis was able to reverse it.
Hollis hit his satellite headscissors into the crossface, but Delay made the ropes. Hollis got near falls with a Pele and a one-armed
spinning neckbreaker. Delay got a reaction with the Kool Krusher. Hollis kicked out of it. The crowd got behind Hollis huge, and he rolled
out from under Delay’s top rope elbow. Hollis blocked a superplex and nailed Delay right on the button with a flying knee off the top for the
pin.
Afterwards, Se7en entered the ring and powerbombed Hollis into oblivion. The Reverend said Hollis was just the first. Hollis had to be
carried out. Good stuff.
(5) White Tiger & Super Barney beat Xavier Mustafa & Jeremiah Plunkett to advance in the tag team tournament in 9:25
This match had blazing heat. Tiger and Barney are insanely over. Their intro got a standing ovation. If you don’t love Barney’s superhero
gimmick there’s a hole in your soul, and Tiger is a phenomenon in this building. Tiger was running wild. Mustafa absorbed two dropkicks
by using the ropes to stay upright on the apron. God forbid if he fell backwards. He bumped on a move that missed, but the crowd was so
nuts, they completely overlooked it. Tiger’s enthusiasm got the best of him, though, as he tried a slide kick to the outside. The heels
parted and Plukett tagged him with a right hand. Mustafa was impressive on offense. It was his best match thus far at an NWA ME taping.
He used a sliding forearm to the back and a tree-of-woe running hip attack. Owens and Payne came to ringside. Mustafa hit a sitout
chokebomb, but Tiger somehow managed to kick out. Owens jumped up and held Tiger for Mustafa. I don’t have to tell you how that
worked out. It was time for superhero house cleaning by Barney. While Plunkett had Barney pinned with a bridging german suplex, Tiger
splashed Plunkett off the top for the pin. It was a great finish that got a monster pop. I just hope Tiger had tagged in.
Mercer’s music played and out came Jeff Daniels. He said Mercer was in Las Vegas getting some well deserved R & R. Daniels bitched
about Chris Michaels raining on their parade by demanding a rematch after Mercer beat him last time. He called Michaels out and
informed him that he was due for a reality check. Daniels said this was the NWA, and since Michaels lost, he had to go to the end of the
line. Daniels said Michaels had to beat somebody, but that somebody wasn’t Daniels because he wasn’t looking for a fight. Out came the
returning Shawn Shultz.
(6) Chris Michaels defeated Shawn Shultz in 10:02
They had a good match. It lacked the heat of previous matches. Michaels isn’t that over, at least not yet, and some fans departed during
the second intermission. Right of the bat, Shultz was rocking Michaels with high impact moves. Michaels fired back building to Shultz
taking the Flair style slam off the top. Michaels followed with a top rope back elbow for a two count. Shultz threw Michaels’ shoulder into
the post and attacked the body part. Shultz got the cross armbreaker and had it on a very long time before Michaels grabbed the ropes.
That doesn’t work in an era when MMA rules, not that it mattered to the crowd at 413 Veritas. Michaels made a one-armed comeback. It
was great because he sold it with his bad arm looking totally useless. Michaels got a big near fall with a leg lariat, so Shutlz kicked the
bad arm and rolled him up using the tights. Michaels barely kicked out before the three. Nice job by referee Jamie Ferrari there. Michaels
hit the Double Shot and Shultz kicked out. Shultz blocked the superkick and tried to end it with the DDT, but Michaels countered with an O’
Connor Roll.
Daniels jumped down Shultz’s throat for losing. He said Shultz was being paid big money and he dropped the ball. It looked like they
were going to come to blows, and the fans made it clear they wanted to see it, but Shultz thought better of it. The seed was definitely
planted for a Shultz turn if they want to go in that direction.
– Larry Goodman
Another SRO crowd of 180 incredibly fired up people gathered at 413 Veritas Street for the July 8 NWA Main Event television taping in
Nashville.
The energy level of the crowd in that building never ceases to amaze me. NWA ME doesn’t have any pro wrestling superstars on their
roster, but you would never know it by the crowd at 413 Veritas Street. The NWA ME wrestlers are superstars to those people, and they
love them and hate them with a passion I don’t see anywhere else.
That kind of atmosphere lends itself to good wrestling television, and it was another good night for NWA ME in that regard. The TV Title
story was advanced without the presence of champion Tommy Mercer. The opening round of the tag team tournament was wildly
successful, one of keys being the groundwork laid in previous shows to establish emotional attachments to the participants. The quality
of the in ring maintained the higher standard that has been set in recent months.
(1) Phil Macchio beat Panther in 3:38
Not for television purposes. Macchio got a pop. He was a heel last month. Panther has to be one of the uglier guys in pro wrestling.
Panther made a slow ascension to the top rope and took the Flair slam. Moments later, Macchio surprised him with a half-assed inside
cradle for the pin.
The debut of “The Lowdown” with Richard Lowe and Playboy James Duncan was next. They got heat. Lowe promised the hottest scoops
in the NWA. Bill Behrens said it was a “unique pleasure” and “an experience” to be their special guest. Behrens revealed that Ace
Rockwell wasn’t there due to a family emergency BUT Rockwell would fulfill his promise to meet Se7en in a five minute challenge. The
Reverend and Se7en entered the ring. Reverend’s promo was seriously awesome. I love him in NWA Anarchy, but there’s something
about this pairing with Se7en, a monster with great potential, that is bringing out the absolute best in him. Reverend said if Rockwell
wasn’t a coward, he would be there. Reverend said he had to put a muzzle on Se7en, because he was so hungry for flesh that he might
bite a hunk out of these people. Reverend vowed that Se7en would inflict severe punishment on an innocent lamb.
(2) Orion Bishop retained the NWA Mid-America Heavyweight Championship over Bryan Casey in 5:22
Casey showed some ring rust and he wasn’t giving Bishop anything worth selling, so Bishop did the right thing and ate him up. Casey
never got untracked, as Bishop cut him off with wicked power moves time and time again. Finish saw Casey try to get Bishop into a
fireman’s carry position. That was not happening. Bishop put Casey out of his misery with the F5.
(3) Will Owens & Damian Payne (with Dan O’Manley) beat Kid Fresh & Victor Kosmo to advance in the tag team tournament in 3:50
Kosmo is a legit Russian kid (see news & notes). The pop for Fresh was unreal. The crowd reacted like they were all close personal
friends. The glow didn’t last long, as Owens dumped him off the top rope, and the heels dismantled him. Highlights were an Owens
spinebuster and Payne with flying double knees. O’Manley’s other team, Xavier Mustafa & Jeremiah Plunkett came out to observe. Owens
pinned Kosmo after a double flapjack.
(4) Corey Hollis beat Seth Delay in 10:43
Best match for workrate and not bad for heat either. They meshed well. It was one of Hollis’ good nights. Delay’s tongue-in-cheek style of
heeling got over pretty well. Hollis was having his way early. Delay took a bump where he rolled down the ring steps. Match did a 180 turn
when Delay caught Hollis by the leg and racked his knee on the ring frame. Delay used the figure four, but Hollis was able to reverse it.
Hollis hit his satellite headscissors into the crossface, but Delay made the ropes. Hollis got near falls with a Pele and a one-armed
spinning neckbreaker. Delay got a reaction with the Kool Krusher. Hollis kicked out of it. The crowd got behind Hollis huge, and he rolled
out from under Delay’s top rope elbow. Hollis blocked a superplex and nailed Delay right on the button with a flying knee off the top for the
pin.
Afterwards, Se7en entered the ring and powerbombed Hollis into oblivion. The Reverend said Hollis was just the first. Hollis had to be
carried out. Good stuff.
(5) White Tiger & Super Barney beat Xavier Mustafa & Jeremiah Plunkett to advance in the tag team tournament in 9:25
This match had blazing heat. Tiger and Barney are insanely over. Their intro got a standing ovation. If you don’t love Barney’s superhero
gimmick there’s a hole in your soul, and Tiger is a phenomenon in this building. Tiger was running wild. Mustafa absorbed two dropkicks
by using the ropes to stay upright on the apron. God forbid if he fell backwards. He bumped on a move that missed, but the crowd was so
nuts, they completely overlooked it. Tiger’s enthusiasm got the best of him, though, as he tried a slide kick to the outside. The heels
parted and Plukett tagged him with a right hand. Mustafa was impressive on offense. It was his best match thus far at an NWA ME taping.
He used a sliding forearm to the back and a tree-of-woe running hip attack. Owens and Payne came to ringside. Mustafa hit a sitout
chokebomb, but Tiger somehow managed to kick out. Owens jumped up and held Tiger for Mustafa. I don’t have to tell you how that
worked out. It was time for superhero house cleaning by Barney. While Plunkett had Barney pinned with a bridging german suplex, Tiger
splashed Plunkett off the top for the pin. It was a great finish that got a monster pop. I just hope Tiger had tagged in.
Mercer’s music played and out came Jeff Daniels. He said Mercer was in Las Vegas getting some well deserved R & R. Daniels bitched
about Chris Michaels raining on their parade by demanding a rematch after Mercer beat him last time. He called Michaels out and
informed him that he was due for a reality check. Daniels said this was the NWA, and since Michaels lost, he had to go to the end of the
line. Daniels said Michaels had to beat somebody, but that somebody wasn’t Daniels because he wasn’t looking for a fight. Out came the
returning Shawn Shultz.
(6) Chris Michaels defeated Shawn Shultz in 10:02
They had a good match. It lacked the heat of previous matches. Michaels isn’t that over, at least not yet, and some fans departed during
the second intermission. Right of the bat, Shultz was rocking Michaels with high impact moves. Michaels fired back building to Shultz
taking the Flair style slam off the top. Michaels followed with a top rope back elbow for a two count. Shultz threw Michaels’ shoulder into
the post and attacked the body part. Shultz got the cross armbreaker and had it on a very long time before Michaels grabbed the ropes.
That doesn’t work in an era when MMA rules, not that it mattered to the crowd at 413 Veritas. Michaels made a one-armed comeback. It
was great because he sold it with his bad arm looking totally useless. Michaels got a big near fall with a leg lariat, so Shutlz kicked the
bad arm and rolled him up using the tights. Michaels barely kicked out before the three. Nice job by referee Jamie Ferrari there. Michaels
hit the Double Shot and Shultz kicked out. Shultz blocked the superkick and tried to end it with the DDT, but Michaels countered with an O’
Connor Roll.
Daniels jumped down Shultz’s throat for losing. He said Shultz was being paid big money and he dropped the ball. It looked like they
were going to come to blows, and the fans made it clear they wanted to see it, but Shultz thought better of it. The seed was definitely
planted for a Shultz turn if they want to go in that direction.