Larry Goodman sent this report in:
NWA Anarchy returned to Cornelia with another strong show Saturday night. Things are definitely on the upswing as they head down the highway to Hardcore Hell on April 18.
This show had the best of both worlds. It worked as a compact, pure television style product, especially the first hour, which came across as one of the best episodes this year. The new booking directions are really starting to gel. It’s amazing that they could work 35 characters into a 2 hour taping and not have it feel like a complete cluster, much less a logical, cohesive product. It was also very entertaining as a live show that gave fans enough action to satisfy the moment and plenty to look forward to.
Its success was more dependent on talking and vignettes to tell the stories than most Anarchy shows, and it all worked out quite nicely. The mic work across the board has gotten a lot better, the performances by Shaun Tempers, Don Matthews and JT Talent being prime examples.
Attendance was 155. Like two weeks ago, the heat was very good for a crowd of its size.
(1) Slim J & Bo Newsome & TK Cross beat Todd Sexton & The Technicians (Bobby Moore & Tyler Smith) in 9:45. Technicians are both sporting bigtime facial hair. Cross was given the prime spot in the shine. He took out all three heels with a baseball slide through the ropes. In the ring, J confronted Sexton but got clubbed from behind by Moore. Cross was the babyface-in-peril. Sexton busted out the Muay Thai knees and a belly-to-belly suplex, then got Cross in an ankle lock. Newsome broke it up with a missile dropkick. J was a house of fire with the hot tag. He locked Sexton in a rear naked choke, but one of the Technicians saved Sexton from a trip to la la land. It broke down to six way action. Moore missed a spear and got rolled up by Newsome. Good opener. Plenty of action and a nice tease of Sexton/Slim.
Post-match: Sexton delivered the knockout knee to Newsome. Sexton to J: ?How many more of your trainees do I have to knock out, Buster??
The next segment was the first ever Talent and Money Show featuring the new NWA Anarchy tag team champions, JT Talent and Andrew Pendleton III. Their special guests were Seth Delay and Brodie Chase, who entered the ring with a pair of miniature cakes in honor of the occasion. Delay also brought out the party favors and the shaving cream, which he sprayed at the ringside fans. The newly reformed Pomp & Circumstance (Ace Rockwell & Shaun Tempers) came to ringside. Talent said it wasn?t 2005 anymore. It was 2009 ? the year of Talent & Money. ?We tell it like it is. All you can do is tell it like it used to be.? Talent’s delivery was smooth. He’s got a knack for it, and all that mic time in APW has paid off. Pendleton said P&C didn?t deserver a title shot. This was not good. Pendleton was shouting in this shrill voice that got old in a hurry. Maybe it was nerves. Pendleton said P&C would have to go through Delay and Chase. Talent and Money paid off Chase. Out of nowhere, New Wave hit the ring and shoved the cakes into the faces of Talent & Money. Hilarity reigned, as the eyes of Talent and Pendleton were barely visible through the frosting. Definitely something that had to been seen live to fully appreciate.
Next up was an awesome backstage promo by Jeremy Vain and Mr. Rob Adonis. This was right of the 70s. Vain is as devious as ever and twice as vicious. Vain said Shadow Jackson felt the wrath of Rob Adonis, the man with the greatest tendon strength ever in pro wrestling, while he took a chair to one of Jackson’s precious four points of balance. Vain said he would be the next champion. Vain produced a cantaloupe. The camera zoomed in for a close up, as Adonis ripped through the skin of the cantaloupe with his bare hands. Adonis squeezed the cantaloupe into a deformed lump until all the juices were running out of it.
(2) Azrael (with Skirra Corvus & The Reverend) dismantled Chris King in 2:26 to retain the Young Lion’s Title. King tried to trade strikes with Azrael ? a big, big mistake. King countered Azrael’s first attempt at the Ted Bundy with a roll up. He was dead meat the second time around.
Postmatch: Corvus curbstomped King and the Rev placed his cape over the carcass. A major of selling by King, as Anarchy personnel rushed to his aid.
Backstage, we saw the new look (shaved head) Mike Mosley reading high brow material to The Entourage. The new look (reddish Fauxhawk) Kyle Matthews said he had bad news. He had taken a role on the West Coast so a replacement would be needed. Lewis pondered who that could be. The camera panned over to find Jay Clinton. ?Ain?t it great,? he said.
(3) The Entourage (Jeff Lewis & Mike Mosley & Kyle Matthews & Andrew Alexander with Jay Clinton & Taco Delgado) beat Alan Funk & Chip Day & Caleb Konley & Kareem Abdul Jamar in 6:13. Delgado has the choice roll of being the Entourage’s lackey. His job duties include rolling out a section of red carpet on the ramp for their entrance and the like. I?m not sure exactly what Alexander is going for with the new scruffy appearance. He looks like he’s been living out of his car. Clinton provided distraction and then another Entourage member pulled the ropes down to start the heat on Konley. Lewis got thirsty and ordered Delgado to bring him a bottled water from the dressing room — ?Vamanos!? Funk took the hot tag. The dude has a hall of fame tan. Funk did a round of dropkicks, two stiff chops and high backdrop on Lewis. Good stuff and he looked good doing it with that hall of fame tan. Jamar entered with a sunset flip off the top on Mosley. He was channeling Caprice Coleman here but not for long. Mosley scored the pin on Jamar with a drop down jawbreaker.
On the WrestleVision, we saw footage of Don Matthews on the road in Bucksnort, Tennessee. Greg Hunter was along for ride to videotape the proceedings. To counter the Entourage, Matthews was scouring the countryside for his old running buddy, Jessco Blue. It seems the cops were after Jessco. Matthews explained that it would have been unwise to bring a camera crew because they likely would have ended up as casualties of Jessco’s rage. They pulled up to an old shack. Out came a woman that we later learned was Earleen, the love of Jessco’s life. Earleen said Jessco wasn?t there and started throwing things at Matthews and Hunter, who high-tailed it back to the car?to be continued.
(4) Truitt Fields defeated Kimo (with Attorney Jeff G. Bailey) via countout at 6:55. Fields got the top babyface pop of the first hour. The Bleacher Bums started a ?Kimo? chant, which lead to a brief round of dueling chants. Kimo displayed catlike quickness in defending against Fields? attack. Kimo was unfazed by Fields? shoulder blocks and sent him down with a chop to the throat. Kimo went to work trying to cut off Fields? air supply. A double chop the base of the neck put Fields down again. Kimo applied an Oriental nerve hold. Fields was screaming in agony. Fields came back blasting away with shoulder blocks. It took three of them, but he finally succeeded in knocking Kimo off his feet for the first time in Anarchy. It got a big pop. The lights went out. When they came back on, the casket that allegedly contained the body of Mikal Judas was at ringside. Bailey jumped out of skin when he saw the casket. Kimo cautiously opened the casket and found nothing inside. Meanwhile, referee Ken Wallace had counted him out. Kimo threw a fit and hoisted the ringsteps up over his head like they were nothing. Tempers came out to make sure no harm came to Fields. No way they could do a conclusive finish. This was just right, just enough to make the people want to see more.
The second hour opened with Malachi and Chris Mayne in the ring for a Young Lion’s Contender’s Match. Adrian Hawkins said his veteran (cough) status was being disrespected and he wanted in. Malachi motioned for Hawkins to bring it and got jumped by Mayne.
(5) Malachi beat Adrian Hawkins and Chris Mayne in a match to determine the number one contender for the Young Lion’s Title by pinning Hawkins at 7:52. Dead crowd. It was the standard three-way fare involving two heels and one babyface. You know the drill. Malachi got in a strong one against two flurry, but it wasn?t as if anyone cared. The heels doubled on Malachi. Heel selfishness ensued. Finish saw Hawkins hit a Koppo Kick on Mayne, but Malachi broke up the pin attempt with a swan dive headbutt to the back of Hawkins and rolled him up.
Part II of ?On the Trail of Jessco Blue? was shown on the WrestleVision. Matthews and Hunter were in the woods. Matthews said Jessco was a vagabond, and if he wasn?t at Earleen’s house, he was with his second love, the great outdoors of the Smoky Mountains. Matthews pointed out the signs of Jessco’s camp site to Hunter, who was clearly out of his element. Matthews said he had found Jessco’s trail and took off running?to be continued.
(6) Talent & Money (JT Talent & Andrew Pendleton III) & Brodie Chase & Seth Delay beat New Wave (Derrick Driver & Steven Walters) & Pomp & Circumstance (Ace Rockwell & Shaun Tempers) when Pendleton pinned Tempers 12:48. This was a heated match. The anticipation factor from the first hour angle helped. P&C and New Wave busted out double teams early. 8 way action led to a collision of heels, then the 10 Punches of Doom in all four corners. Fun stuff. Chase used a blind tag to get the drop on Driver. Chase and Talent dished out most of the punishment. Driver fought his way out of the heel corner and did a Morton roll to hot tag Tempers, who gave T & M a classic meeting of the minds. Tommy..er..Shaun hit a Thesz Press. Walters and Rockwell did double dives. Walters? was to the short side, which is risky business in Cornelia. Talent broke up Tempers? finisher. T & M then hit a combo move ending with Pendleton’s downward spiral maneuver.
Hunter tossed to John Johnson backstage with Fields and ?Sugar? Shaun Tempers, the non-stop-talking-and-smiling babyface. Tempers is so great in this role. He’s having so much fun that it makes it fun to watch. Tempers told Fields he knew that it was the Devil’s Rejects that attacked him last week. He reminded Fields that he was once the Reject’s sleeper cell. Tempers said they needed to find NWA Anarchy owner Jerry Palmer and put a stop to it. A tracking shot followed Tempers and Fields through the dressing room with Tempers talking and shaking hands the entire way. Tempers convinced Palmer that the Rejects were the culprits and they wanted revenge. Palmer told them they could name the match and which of the Rejects they wanted to face. Temper turned his attention to Fields. He said it was paining him that he couldn?t cut the mustard in his TV title challenge against Fields. He asked Fields for one more match after they dispensed with the Rejects. Fields was all for it.
(7) Shadow Jackson beat Iceberg (with The Reverend) to retain the NWA Anarchy Heavyweight Title in 8:27. This was an OK main event. These guys don?t mesh all that well in a singles match. Hunter did the championship style intros mentioning that both men were former three time Anarchy tag team champions. Jackson shot for a double leg. The action spilled to the outside with Jackson in command. Iceberg ran head first into announcer’s booth and took a big bump on the floor. The match did a 180 when The Reverend used his Staff of Righteousness on Jackson. Iceberg zeroed right in on Jackson’s vulnerable left ankle. Jackson’s attempted comebacks lacked steam because he was operating on only the one leg. The key spot was Iceberg missing on a massive corner splash. Jackson caught him with a shoulder block off the middle rope. This was Jackson’s chance and the heat was off the hook. Finish was nothing special. Jackson tried to climb the ropes. Iceberg cut him off and mounted the ropes to deliver the 10 punches ? weird after seeing it as a big babyface spot in the previous match and atypical for Berg. Jackson brought Iceberg off the ropes with the 1031 (spinebuster) for the pin.
Adonis entered and put the claw on Jackson. Vain walked out to the ring with a chair and obviously evil intentions. He wrapped the chair around Jackson’s ankle and came off the ropes with a knee drop to the chair. The upper echelon babyfaces and Palmer hit the ring for the save. Jackson collapsed the first time he tried to stand. Tempers handed him the title belt, and it gave him a surge of energy to where he was able to limp out under his own power.
NOTES: Anarchy will be hosting its first ever NWA Excellence Camp on March 20-22. The event will be weekend long training provided by Les Thatcher?Jamar and Mayne are booked for the 4/4 IWA Mid-South show in Joliet, Il?The story on the confrontation between Rockwell and a fan at the 2/27 IWA Deep South show is this: The fan was drunk and continually heckling the wrestlers in an obnoxious manner. He allegedly had MMA and Jiu Jitsu training. During an intermission, the guy grabbed the mic, got in the ring and issued a challenge to the fake wrestlers. Rockwell came out of the dressing room and choked the guy out in about 20 seconds?Slim J, Azrael, Delgado and female wrestler Destiny all participated in shoot matches at a small MMA show on 2/28 in Cornelia.