UWL 4/4 'Internet PPV' taping, & full PWG - NEPW - ECPW - CW reports
On Monday, April 7, 2008 at 4:38 AM EST Larry Goodman sent this report in:
United Wrestling League taped their second internet PPV event Friday night in Cleveland, Tennessee at the Village Green Playhouse.
It will be available at http://www.unitedwrestling.net starting at 7:30pm EST Saturday.
On this night, The UWL looked like a surefire losing proposition. They produced a show with few redeeming qualities and a lot of strong negatives - not enough talented performers, uninspired if not downright counterproductive booking, and only 115 in the house. There was little to compel fans of indie wrestling to shell out money for the PPV. It was a poor follow up to their first show, which wasn’t exactly gangbusters, but did have its moments. Two of the key players from that show, Bull Buchanan and Bulldog Raines were not on the card. Buchanan is in Japan. I don’t know about Raines.
On the plus side, visually, PPV#2 should be tons better than the first one. They picked a perfect venue. The Playhouse is like an upscale TV studio. Excellent lighting. Plenty of close ups. If only they could have packed the place, which holds maybe 250. The West family has got to be discouraged drawing so badly in their hometown.
In a mind boggling attempt to turn back the clock, they decided to forgo entrance music. I’m all about old school, but it’s a concept that spells doom when 90% of your fans have never seen wrestlers enter without it.
Ole Anderson was introduced by Steve Hartline from FM 104.1 in Cleveland. It dawned on me that Ole’s commentary was possibly the most interesting thing about the PPV, and I couldn’t hear a word he was saying. I loved Hartline’s voice. He sounded a lot like Bill Mercer from World Class. Anderson shared the color commentary duties with Hartline. Michael St. John was back as the lead commentator. The show opened with three “pregame” matches. They made end up using some of this footage to fill out the 2 hours of PPV time.
(1) Derrick King beat Casey Kage in 4:18. King's performance was the most entertaining thing about this show. He knows how to connect with the crowd and bring out the hate. Kage debuted in the role of the hometown hero. Kage has good size but lacks the physique and athleticism for the spot. King was screaming like a girl as Kage tossed him around. King ridiculed Cleveland as he beat up on Kage. A fan threatened to slap King and his woman. “If you only knew,” said King. Kage came back and mounted the ropes for the 10 punches. King cut Kage off nine and pinned him with his feet on the ropes. Kade was seeing red.
King backdropped Kage over the top and strapped him with a belt - solid licks that produced some nice welts. Kage fired up. King got even more wide-eyed than usual and ran away. Kage vowed to get a piece of King before the night was over. To me, this segment made Kage look like an imbecile.
(2) Stan Lee beat Johnny Rokk (with Jack Lord) in 10:46. Coming off wining the Ultimate Wrestler tournament on the first PPV, this match was designed to get Lee over as the athletically superior babyface. The crowd got behind Lee after an impressive series of armdrags. Some of Lee’s stuff looks really good and some not so much. This match had more high spots than any of the PPV bouts. At one point, Lee took a high angle bump on his neck off a lariat. Rokk hit a top rope lariat and took forever to make the cover. Rook took forever and missed a top rope splash. Lee made the big comeback and won it with his trademark running SSP.
Wicked Nemesis came out and said Lee was not the Ultimate Wrestler because he needed help from Raines. Lee said he earned that title and Raines stole his medal. Orion Bishop joined Nemesis. Lee invited Bishop into the ring. Nemesis told Bishop to wait. Bishop didn’t listen and ate a spinkick for his troubles.
(3) Don Buchanan beat Cameron Valentine via DQ when Lords of the Ring interfered at 3:27. Lord and Rokk came out with Valentine. I liked Valentine. His gimmick is a complete ripoff of Greg, but it’s so well done as to be a fitting tribute. Why Lord has completely different guys in his stable from the first show was never explained. Perhaps they covered it in a backstage interview. Davey Rich (David Haskins) and Damon Taz came out with Buchanan to clear the ring. Referee Gene Johnson sent the other four guys to the back. Good brawl. Valentine shrugged off a dropkick and went for a piledriver but Buchanan blocked it. Buchanan started jack hammering Valentine bigtime. Don’s training with Bull is paying off. His stuff looked good. The other Lords hit the ring and they put the boots to Buchanan until Rich and Taz made the save.
“Nature Boy” Kevin White cut a promo saying he was not a “walk behind.” He was sick of Bill Dundee and it was time for “the natch.” It’s sacrilegious for that term to be applied to anyone but Flair this week. Dundee came out and said the only thing that was bothering White was his ego.
Michael St. John and Ole Anderson did the intro for the PPV. The crowd, which was mostly dead until now, was more lively going forward. The Wrestlemania after glow was evident, as there several times when the kids in the crowd were calling for a superkick.
(4) Casey Kage beat Sky Adams (with Derrick King) in 10:08. Kage was thwarted by King’s constant interference, which allowed Adams to control the body of the match. Still, Adams is a jobber type, and if they want to push Kage as a babyface, it shouldn’t have taken him 10 minutes to beat a guy like that. Adams rammed into the turnbuckle and Kage made a careless pin, not even bothering to hook the leg. Adams was so close the corner that he had to avoid putting his foot on the ropes.
Kage chased King into the ring, but before he could do any damage to King, Adams grabbed him by the leg. King strapped Kage again and put some more welts on him.
(5) Davey Rich beat Derrick King in 5:45. A fine match. Rich looked very good here. Kage came to ringside all in a huff and got dragged to the back by the refs. King attacked before Rich could take off his ring jacket. Rich gave King an atomic drop, and King took a ridiculously exaggerated bump through the ropes. Rich speared the post. King turned Rich inside out with a lariat. Great old school punch series by King with Rich snapping his head back with each blow. King hit a DDT and went for the pin with feet on the ropes again. Not this time. Rich roared back pinning King with a fisherman suplex.
King strapped Rich with the belt and announced “Derrick by God greater than great King” as the winner.
(6) Davey Rich & Don Buchanan beat Lords of the Ring (Johnny Rokk & Cameron Valentine with Jack Lord) 2 out of 3 falls in a total time of 16:33. Match started with Taz as Buchanan’s partner. Rokk took all the punishment. Rokk mule kicked Buchanan in the groin, and Valentine tagged in for the glory. Solid offense from Valentine. Taz saved after a top rope elbow. Hot tag and Taz cleaned house. Taz had Rokk pinned with a stiff kick the the face, but Lord distracted the ref. Not to be denied, Taz pinned Valentine with a powerslam variation at 8:47. Taz got dumped by Valentine. As Buchanan was beating the crap out of Valentine, Lord used a chair on Taz. Valentine then pinned Taz with a neckbreaker in 3:09. Rich and Lee came out to check on Taz, who was injured. Taz was carried out on a backboard. Buchanan wailed away on Valentine, gamely fighting on against the odds. Rich replaced Taz. Hot tag. Bumps all around as Lords did a nice job feeding for Rich. Buchanan hit a middle rope facebuster on Valentine, and Johnson made a fast three count.
(7) Stan Lee vs. Orion Bishop (with Wicked Nemesis) ended in a disputed decision where both men scored pinfalls (11 minutes). Best match of the night. Lee opened hot. Bishop bailed after taking a huracanrana, and Lee scored a near fall after a barrage of stiff kicks. Lee attempted a high crossbody that Bishop converted into a fallaway slam to turn the tide. A series of reversals ended with a devastating wheelbarrow uranage by Bishop. Bishop used a dragon sleeper. There was a weird looking spot where Bishop got dropped on his arm. Lee countered a powerbomb with a triangle choke, but Bishop powerbombed his way out of it. Bishop came up selling the arm and was slow to cover. Referee Joe Evans got bumped. Bishop clocked Lee with a chain he got from Nemesis. No ref to count. Lee nailed a variation of the Phenomenon, the moonsault into a reverse DDT that A. J. Styles uses. Lee hit the running SSP, sort of, and referee Daniel Brooks hit the ring to make the three count. Brooks raised Lee’s hand. Bishop then put Lee’s lights out with the chain, and Evans came around to make the count on Lee. Evan declared Bishop the winner. The referees argued back and forth. Hartline said the decision would be left up to “the committee.”
(8) Kevin White beat Bill Dundee in 12:13. Dundee wore a full bodysuit. He was more over than I expected for a 64 year-old main event babyface. Not much of a match, but it did have decent heat. It was mostly stalling mixed with comedy. The fans made fun of White’s penis size. Dundee then distracted the ref and stomped his tiny nuts. White took over. Lord came to ringside. Shoulder block collision and both men down. Lord held a chair up for Dundee (huh?). White shot Dundee off into the chair and pinned him.
Postmatch, the Lords attacked White. Then they attacked Dundee. Valentine went to piledrive Dundee but White made the save. White and Dundee still weren’t best buddies. Dundee yelled at White for disrespecting Anderson. “He’s Mr. Anderson to you.” Dundee said Ole and Gene were as bad a tag team as there ever was.
The crowd cheered for Anderson. Ole said he appreciated the response but he kind of missed being booed, so the crowd booed him.
NOTES: April 26 was announced as the return date in Cleveland at the Village Green Playhouse. No matches or talent mentioned in connection with that date…Ron West was not at the show because it was the first night of the circus season, which stretches from now through November – seven days a week, two shows per day and three on Saturday.
Saul Stradlin sent this report in:
Pro Wrestling Guerrilla returned to the American Legion Hall in Reseda on Saturday night in front of 275-300 fans.
Match 1: Hello Kitty over Kuromi - Before the match, PWG Commissioner of Food and Beverages Excalibur cut a promo and went over the history of the Hello Kitty/Kuromi feud. Weird match. The crowd seemed pretty hot for this match and were behind the Hello Kitty character. Not much to say here other than it was a basic comedy match.
Match 2: Nemesis over Bino Gambino - Before the match, Bino Gambino came out and cut a promo talking about the fans who don't like him. If you're not a close follower of PWG, Bino usually puts on sub-par performances and is considered a jobber. He said that if he loses this match, he will leave PWG forever, which got a pop from the fans. Much like any "heel promises to leave promotion if he loses" type match, he lost to Nemesis in a good match. Mostly moves with both wrestlers playing to the crowd in between, which did a good job at getting the fans interested in the match.
Dino Winwood makes some announcements. First was that Eddie Kingston was not at the building, so the tag match with him and Claudio against Joey Ryan and Scott Lost was off. Then he announced that since TJ Perkins and Hook Bomberry cheated in their DDT4 qualifiers over Scorpio Sky and Ronin, they would be facing them in a DDT4 Qualifier and that The Dynasty are now in the tournament as a result of a forfeit. Joey Ryan then came to the ring and announced that Scott Lost would be taking on Claudio Castagnoli. He then said that instead of giving himself the night off, he was going to call out Super Dragon and challenged him to a fight. Joey stood in the ring and called out Dragon for several moments. When Dragon didn't come out, Joey said that Dragon only attacked people from behind and that he was going to take the night off and do commentary.
Match 3: Scorpio Sky and Ronin over TJ Perkins and Hook Bomberry - Perkins and Hook continued to use their cheap tactics in this one, but it would end up back firing on them. Very standard match with the heels beating up on Sky until Ronin gets the hot tag. TJ Perkins grabbed a chair from ringside and referee Rick Knox tries to take it from him. There was a struggle that saw Knox get knocked to the floor. TJ tried to do the old Eddie Guerrero trick, but Rick Knox was still knocked out. Perkins got up and tried to revive Knox, but was unable to. When he turned around he was hit in the head with the chair by Ronin, who covered Perkins to get the victory when Knox got up.
Match 4: Scott Lost over Claudio Castagnoli - Claudio used his size to his advantage in this by throwing Scott Lost around, with Scott Lost getting in various moves here and there. Good match. Scott Lost gets the win after he hits Claudio with a huge superplex.
After the match, Scott Lost was getting to his feet when he was attacked from behind by Super Dragon. Dragon gave Lost a move that was basically a Powerbomb into a Piledriver. Joey Ryan ran into the ring to attack Dragon, but Dragon left backstage. Joey Ryan helped Scott Lost out of the ring along with several officials and it was announced that there would be an intermission. Instead, Dragon ran out again and attacked Joey Ryan which results in a brawl that went all over the building for a few minutes. They then went to the parking lot and brawled out there for around five minutes. They came back into the building and Joey Ryan ended up getting the upper hand. Joey then went under the ring and pulled out a table and had it setup next to the ring. They teased Joey Ryan setting up Dragon for a neck breaker off the second rope to the floor. (This was a play off an angle that took place a year and a half ago and from their first PWG encounter in 2003. Some footage can be seen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96IxXLq3TFk) Dragon blocked it and dragged the table near the stage area. Dragon and Joey would end up brawling on the stage for awhile. Joey got the upper hand again and tried to Powerbomb Dragon to the table. Dragon got out of it, and hit a Psycho Driver (Burning Hammer into a Piledriver) off the stage and onto the table. Amazing segment, and the highlight of the show.
Match 5: Brandon Bonham over Nick Jackson - Nick Jackson, one half of The Young Bucks with his brother Matt Jackson, wrestled his first singles match in PWG. Really good high flying match. Both guys busted out some nice looking dives. Bonham got the victory by hitting a flipping piledriver after he lifted his upper body in the air and wrapped his legs around Jackson's head.
Match 6: Los Luchas (Zokre and Phoenix Star) over Tokyo GURENTAI (NOSAWA and MAZADA) - Really good match. Gurentai heeled it up in this match really well. The fans were pretty into the match. Los Luchas faked out Gurentai a few times and would end up hitting several dives. The finish saw one of Los Luchas do a Super Hurrincurana that saw one go flying across the ring and landing on top of Nosawa, while the other one did a moonsault onto Mazada. Los Luchas followed up with double springboard sentons.
Match 7: Roderick Strong over Chris Hero w/ Candice LeRae - Roderick Strong played heel in this and did a good job at it. Back and forth match that went all around ringside. Hero was about to get the victory over Roderick Strong, but Claudio Castagnoli ran out and grabbed Candice LeRae, which caused Hero to turn his attention away from the match and onto Claudio. Strong took advantage of this and hit a series of moves and hit a Gibson Driver for the finish. After the match, Claudio tried to attack Hero, but Hero was able to get the advantage and hit a Hero's Welcome. Hero got on the microphone and told Claudio to send a message to Human Tornado that Hero will be getting his revenge and will become the PWG World Champion in the future.
Good show overall. Wasn't as good as the last show, but still fun. It was announced that PWG will be announcing the rest of the teams for the DDT4 tournament tomorrow (later today) on their official website. Teams entered into the DDT4 Tag Team Tournament for next month so far: Kevin Steen and El Generico (who will defend the PWG World Tag Team Titles during the tournament), The Dynasty (Joey Ryan and Scott Lost), Los Luchas (Phoenix Star and Zokre) and Scorpio Sky and Ronin.
Ed Edwards sent this report in:
NEPW April Assault
Hide Out-Roller Rink
"Omega" Aaron Draven defeated Aftermath to retain the NEPW Cruiserweight title
Killer Kumpf def TJ Dynamite w/ Mike Trash & Lumberjack Leroux In a triple Threat match.
The War Party of Lennox Lightfoot & Indian Outlaw def. Mickey & Marshall Gambino
Bane def Kage
Fabulous John McChesney def Jimmy Demarco
Lethal Impact (Jesse Burke, Ryan Miller) def Tracy Smothers & Ray Rowe to retain the NEPW Tag Team Titles
"Notorious" Shane Taylor Def. J-Rocc in a steel cage match to become the new NEPW Triple Crown Champion when Ray Rowe slammed the steel door into
J-rocc's head. After the match, Ray Rose Hancuffed the door to the cage shut. He then proceeded to hancuff an already bloody and battered J-rocc to the cage and beat him until thr crew started to take the cage down.
Next show May 3rd
Hide out- Roller rink
8pm Bell
UWAMag99 sent this report in:
ECPW Showcase Results (April 5, 2008)
All the stars of ECPW Showcase were in attendance for the final stop before "One Wild Night 3"!
The show opened with Vincent Valentine and "The Initiative" making their way to the ring. Preston Montgomery Esq announced that April 5th was officially "Vincent Valentine Appreciation Night" and that he and the rest of "The Initiative" had a very special surprise for Vincent as Justin Idol brought out and presented Valentine with the "ECPW Initiative Heavyweight Title". This brought out Showcase Champion, Dave Logan who immediately got into the face of Valentine. Vincent issued a challenge to Dave Logan to face him in a "Title vs. Title" Match at One Wild Night. Before Dave Logan could respond, Mo Sexton made his way to the ring and reminded Logan that HE had already issued a challenge for a Title Match. Logan said that whoever's team won the evening's main event would get the Title shot.
This wasn't the only time we would see "The Initiative" that night. Corvis Fear made an unexpected appearance helping Archadia pick up a win over Ryan Roxbury. After the match, Corvis extended an offer to Archadia to join "The Initiative". Archadia would give Corvis his answer later in the night while during Corvis' Regional Title Tournament Match, Archadia snuck in and piledrove Corvis, costing him the victory.
Brian Brass came out later in the night for a celebration of his own, claiming he ended Gavin Quest's career once and for all the month before. To the surprise to everybody, Gavin then emerged from the locker and said that he would sign any waivers needed to compete at One Wild Night at would face Brass there at settle things once and for all.
The main event of the evening saw Mo Sexton & Dave Logan take on Vincent Valentine and Tunga in a tremendous tag team match. Despite several miss communications between Logan & Sexton they managed to pull out the victory when Sexton pinned Tunga following his frog splash. After the match was over Logan & sexton got in each other's faces, allowing Valentine to sneak in and lay out Logan with his "Nail in the Coffin" as Sexton just looked on.
Quick Results
- Archadia def. Ryan Roxbury
- JJ Benjamin def. Mr. Main Event
- Ace Wylde def. Joe Hardway & Corvis Fear in a Triple Threat Match in a Semi-Final Regional Title Tournament Match.
- Bryan Bombay def. MH Hustla’
- Zack Novack def. Jake Saint
- Shamus O’ Rilley def. Fire Liger
- Jon Rome def. Christian Faith & Kyle Smiley in a Triple Threat Match in a Semi-Final Regional Title Tournament Match.
- Dave Logan & Mo Sexton def. Vincent Valentine & Tunga
Championship Wrestling sent this report in:
Championship Wrestling Results
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Johnson City, TN @ the Carver Rec Center
1. Adam York & Ginn defeated Wayne Adkins & Nick Hammonds
2. Beau James defeated Matt Burns
3. The Stallion & James Blevins defeated the Ghostriders
4. Ray Idol defeated Cody Ices
5. Adam York defeated Thorn
6. Alyx Winters defeated National Heavyweight Champion, Robbie Cassidy by Count-Out
7. Moe Jenkins defeated Chris Richards in a Johnson City Street Fight
Championship Wrestling's next event is this Thursday (April 10, 2008) in Kingsport, TN at the Civic Auditorium. This event will be headlined by Kingsport's 1st Ever Casket Match as National Champion, Robbie Cassidy defends against Chris Richards.