Larry Goodman sent this report in:
NWA Main Event TV Review
Airing September 12, 2009 at nwame.com
Taped September 3, 2009 at the NWA Studios in Nashville
Opening with a replay of the conclusion of last week’s contract signing for the NWA Mid-America Heavyweight Title match. Steve-O shut the mouth of Shawn Shultz with a superkick.
Cut to Jason James and Scott Barry at ringside with a review of two of the hugest (as Barry would say) arrivals ever in NWA ME ? the return of ?Boogie Woogie Boy? Gary Valiant and the debut of ?He’s Coming? mystery man, Vic the Bruiser. It’s do or die time for Shultz this week. He gets his title shot, but if he loses he’s banished from NWA ME.
(1) White Tiger beat Chad Hyatt in 4:15. The debuting Hyatt is a sizable guy with a big gut and skinny arms. Fat boy snapped Tiger’s throat off top rope to take over for a bit. The announce team questioned whether O was fully recovered from the neck injury Shultz gave him three weeks ago. James called it a muscular abrasion. No cigar but closer than calling it a meniscus tear. Tiger went for an O?Connor. Roll. Hyatt botched it and Tiger made an alert recovery with a sleeper hold. Tiger was busy urging the crowd to cheer as he made his comeback. It should work the other way around. Tiger hit a pretty good Pounce. He tried to fly ? of the way across the ring for the Tiger (frog) Splash and didn?t quite make it. Bad match. Tiger did what he could, but Hyatt was green, out of shape and overall horrible.
(2) Travis Sawyer (with Tony Lucassio) beat Shane Rich in 7:41. Shane has a good look for a Nashville babyface and the crowd got behind him instantly. James threw it backstage where ?Wild Thing? Will Owens was attacking White Tiger and Corey Hollis. It was Valiant to the rescue, as he started wailing on Will. Back inside the ring, Sawyer bailed after a taking a spinning headscissors. Moments later, Sawyer took over with a big spinebuster and made a cocky back cover. Long sleeper hold/chinlock by Sawyer. Wouldn?t be Nashville wrestling without one. Rich powered out and started a comeback, but Sawyer muscled him up for a power slam. Impressive. Sawyer used a one foot cover. Sawyer ate a boot and sold it forever with Rich poised to deliver a middle rope crossbody. Sawyer made the catch and converted with the Buzzsaw ?a devastating variation on Cradle Shock. Like a shortened version of Sawyer’s match with Rapada Jr. last week, but better, partly because it wasn?t positioned as the main event.
Barry interviewed Sawyer at ringside. For starters, Lucassio brushed the dandruff off of Barry’s sports coat. Barry asked how Shultz was handling Project Prominence being barred from ringside for his do or die match. Sawyer was supremely confident. ?Shawn’s got this in the bag.?
EARLIER TODAY?In the parking lot, James asked Vic the Bruiser for a moment of his time. Vic was in a surly mood. ?If people thought what I done last week was something, stick around. Watch what I do tonight. And as for you, back up!?
(3) Teddy Tender beat Lani Kialoha in 4 minutes. Apparently an impromptu match, because Kialoha attacked Teddy wearing shorts and tennis shoes. Kialoha totally overwhelmed Tender, who was without the wig but wasn?t acting like Bully. Teddy tried to get away. Kialoha destroyed him with diving headbutts, hit the uppercut to the throat and the Samoan Drop, but Tender kicked out after all that. Teddy didn?t get one offense maneuver until the finish. He dropped Lani’s head on the top turnbuckle and pinned him with his feet on the ropes. The story was fine except the one visual – Tender kicking out after taking all of Lani’s big moves. It would have worked much better if Lani just kept beating on him.
Backstage, Barry informed Mike Posey was getting his match against TV Champion Matt Boyce. Posey accused Boyce of running from him and said he had beaten all the goofballs NWA ME put in front of him (ignoring that his last two matches were losses to Kialoha and Victor Kosmo).
(4) Matt Boyce beat Mike Posey to retain the NWA Mid-America TV Title in 8:22. This was Boyce’s shot at revenge for Posey turning on him in a tag match a few weeks back. For the first minute, Boyce was making Posey pay for his big mouth. Posey used a hotshot and spent a log stretch dissecting Boyce’s neck with a couple of cool slingshot moves thrown in. They cut to Valiant and Owens fighting in the concession area. Mike Porter was there. Owens tried to fry grill Valiant’s face on the hot dog cooker. Valiant shoved a hot dog in Owens? mouth. On the comeback, Boyce hit a spinning neckbreaker of his own. Posey caught Boyce with an enzuigiri but no three count. Boyce countered Posey’s finisher. Moments later, Boyce hit his froggy crossbody for the pin. So the #2 and #3 babyfaces both use variations of the frog splash as their finisher.
Boyce did a postmatch interview at ringside. Generic stuff. He badly needs new material. Boyce thanked the fans, because without them, guys like him would have nothing to do to make a living.
We came back from commercial to see Owens and Valiant brawling their way out the back door of the building.
(5) Shawn Shultz pinned Steve-O at 19:50 to allegedly win the NWA Mid-America Heavyweight Title. The announce team gained credibility points by noting that Shultz would have to change his strategy, as he could no longer afford a DQ loss. They also raised doub about the condition of Steve-O’s neck. Cautious back and forth action with a fair amount of time spent on the mat. There was a flurry of action came at the 7 minute mark. Shultz blocked a superkick. Steve-O blocked the DDT and went for another superkick, but Shultz scooted under the ropes. Shultz did a slow grind on O’s neck. Shultz got a close near fall with a reverse DDT. O broke a sleeper hold and fired up the big comeback. He hit the flying forearm and made the crawling cover, but Shultz kicked out. Shultz schoolboyed O using the tights. That didn?t get it, so Shultz pulled out a chain. O ducked and the ref got clocked. O hit the superkick for well more than a three count, but no ref. They cut to Sawyer standing over the body of Rudy Charles holding a steel chair. Shultz ducked a chain shot and DDTed O. Still no ref. Lucassio hit the ring wearing a ref shirt. He fast counted but O kicked out. Lucassio slow counted O’s jackknife pin attempt. O hit the Double Shot and Lucassio refused to count. O went after Lucassio. Shultz got him from behind with the low blow, and Lucassio made the fastest three count in wrestling history. Low blow DDT fast count by Lucassio. The announced team was outraged. Lucassio gave Shultz the belt. Barry said no way this was going to stand and refused to call Shultz the champ. Quality wise, it wasn?t bad for such a long singles match involving Steve-O. The twists and turns in story were fine until Lucassio came out.
THOUGHTS: I don?t know what to think about the way this show ended. They spent so much time and energy building up this huge stipulation and then pissed away all the meaning of it by having the barred Lucassio involved in the finish. On the other hand, they did hook me into watching the next episode, just to see how they get out of the predicament. Logic dictates the BOD enforcing the clause barring Project Prominence. Therefore, Shultz is fired, but we know that ain?t gonna happen. Besides, since when does logic apply in NWA ME?. Ahh, but Lucassio wasn?t at ringside. He was pressed into service as a referee. Perhaps there was some loophole in the contract that allows the heel manager to serve as referee in case of emergency. Perhaps it leads to even more dire consequences from the BOD. All will be revealed next week. Maybe?NWA ME doesn?t seem to have clue one about what to do with Posey’s character, and I?m not sure Posey does either. Not a word about his association with Project Prominence this week. I thought that was the story. Instead, Posey loses two matches in a row, one of them to the bottom guy on the roster and he gets a title shot. The only way that happens is if Boyce DEMANDS a match with Posey to get revenge for the double cross?The best thing about the show was the backstage brawling between Valiant and Owens. And the even better thing is I can see the possibility of them having good matches?Vic came across all badass in the parking lot. That was fine, but he didn?t make good on his threat.The viewers never saw him do anything to anybody?Kialoha doesn?t seem to be getting over very well as a babyface, and the way he was presented on this didn?t make that task any easier?The wrestling on this episode was a little better than last week. The stories, unfortunately, left a lot to be desired.
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