Larry Goodman sent this in:
NWA Anarchy said farewell to one of the greats of Cornelia wrestling last night with a special tribute to the recently retired Iceberg?who immediately unretired?for one night only.
Attendance for the first of four TV tapings leading into Season’s Beatings was 85. The odd thing was that for much of the night, they were louder than the crowd twice that size last week at Fright Night. There was good reason for their enthusiasm. Top to bottom, it was a strong taping, with the babyfaces going over in the two key matches. They also set up some things to entice fans into returning in two weeks.
The Anarchy announce team of Greg Hunter and John Johnson opened the show. The traditional opening music and video (property of departed production guy Kevin Marx) is sorely missed, so far as hyping the crowd.
(1) New Wave (Steven Walters & Derrick Driver) & Wild Bunch (Chris King & Billy Buck) defeated The Entourage (Andrews Alexander & Mike Mosley & Jay Clinton & Mr. Black) in 9:36. Clinton was taking double team punishment on behalf of Entourage, until Black conked Driver with a devastating headbutt. Clinton played Iceberg copy cat again with a cannonball splash. Alexander started grinding on Driver’s gut. Driver reversed a second vertical suplex by Alexander, but the heels cut off the tag. Nice swerve. Driver eluded Clinton’s top rope elbow and made the hot tag to Buck. He was running wild until he ran into Black, who promptly planted him with a chokeslam. Black tried to chokeslam Walters, but was stymied by Driver. New Wave sent Black out with a double team. Clinton then fell victim to the Wild Bunch special ? a Buck superkick followed by King’s Rocker Dropper. Crowd was into it. Good opener.
(2) Todd Sexton beat Jacob Ashworth in 6:30.Like the opener, the work was solid and the crowd was alive. Ashworth got a good response. He used to ref here, and he’s a regular on the APW shows in nearby Royston. Sexton put together an interesting match. The thing that stood about this one was the way he was laying in the strikes. Ashworth won the battle for control. He used an elevated armbar, then hit a corner splash for a near fall. Ashworth made a rookie mistake with a reckless charge and ate a kick to the back of the head for his troubles. Sexton opened up on him. He got two with a cool middle rope forearm to the neck. Ashworth came back with big punches. Sexton was going up and down like a yo-yo. Ashworth used a Side Effect for a near fall. Sexton nailed Ashworth with three consecutive kicks to the jaw and finished him with the running knee.
Sexton was about to deliver another knee when he was speared by Veterano IV. Ref Ken Wallace pulled him off. Sexton went after the mask, but IV fought him off. Sexton called IV a dirty immigrant and vowed to take the mask in two weeks.
The next segment was the Iceberg tribute. Bill Behrens recalled Iceberg coming into NWA Wildside almost a decade ago with a rep based on pinfall wins over Mr. Pogo and Abdullah the Butcher. He joined the NWA Elite, became a Wildside Heavyweight Champion and tag team champion (with Tank), and continued on with NWA Anarchy. Anarchy owner Jerry Palmer came out with his ?new friend? Kimo. Palmer said he had 28 days to sell Kimo on doing things the American way vs. the Jeff G. Bailey way. Palmer recalled July 2006, when Iceberg earned his respect by beating him to within an inch of his life.
Through all the smoke and mirrors of this building, he beat my ass.
Clinton interrupted the proceedings. He said that on October 3, he retired wrestling’s only serial killer to become ?The Being of Inconceivable Greatness, the New Pain Train?. Clinton demanded respect and said he wasn?t leaving. Buffoons as good as Clinton are hard to come by. Fans chanted ?Kimo?. Palmer turned Kimo loose by removing his mask, and he left Clinton laying with two blows. Clinton was carried out with feet dragging along the floor.
Palmer introduced Iceberg. He said Iceberg was an easier man to love than to hate, and he had become one of his best friends ever. A video package of Iceberg’s career highlights was shown on the WrestleVision. The crowd popped when the video shifted from clips showing Iceberg as Cornelia’s most feared villain to his more recent babyface run. Props to Kareem Abdul Jamar on the video production.
Palmer asked Iceberg if he would sub in the main event because Caprice Coleman wasn?t there due to an emergency. Out came an irate Jeff G. Bailey. He reminded Palmer that Iceberg was retired as a stipulation of a match. Bailey questioned Palmer’s decency. He called Palmer a fraud and a phony. Bailey said ?Reverend? Dan Wilson was in a wheelchair as a result of what Iceberg did to him, and wasn?t there tonight because he had to have another surgery. Bailey was pretty awesome here. Of late, Anarchy hasn?t been taking full advantage of his prodigious mic skills.
Iceberg spoke. He said Iceberg was retired, but Edward Chastain from Thomaston, Ga was not, and that’s who would be wrestling in the main event.
(3) NWA Anarchy Heavyweight Champion Shadow Jackson & Mikal Judas beat Jeremy Vain & Orion Bishop in 14:23. Early in the match, Vain gave Judas a piece of his mind and slapped him. What was he thinking? Decimation ensued. Vain was bumping like mad. Judas applied a vice-like headlock that had Vain screaming in agony. Fun stuff. Bishop turned the tide with a lariat from the apron on Jackson. Bigtime heat on Jackson. Bigtime chants from the crowd. Bishop was destroying Jackson with his signature moves. Jackson’s leg was quivering after the Vader style reverse splash. Bishop hit that killer fallaway slam of his. Out of nowhere, Jackson hit a stunner on Vain. Judas cleaned house and had Vain set up for El Crucifijo, but decided to tag Jackson in. Bishop jumped in to spear Jackson and Vain made the cover. While the ref was busy admonishing Bishop, Judas gave Vain the chokeslam. Just like Fright Night, Jackson planted Vain with the 1031 for the 1-2-3, except this got a better pop.
Postmatch, Judas raised Jackson’s hand but was reluctant to let go of the title belt. Jackson had a look of consternation on his face. As Judas headed toward the front door, he paused to bow to Jackson. Stay tuned for further developments.
Intermission. The first hour of television was easily better than the first half of Fright Night.
(4) Talent & Money (JT Talent & Drew Pendleton III) defeated Rowdy Friends (Don Matthews & Jessco Blue) to retain the NWA Anarchy Tag Team Championship in 54 seconds. Before the match could get underway, Hate Junkies did a Pearl Harbor job on the Rowdies. Matthews was tossed into the ring like a piece of meat. Pendleton pounced on him. Matthews instinctively kicked out, but was in shape to wrestle a match. T & M hit the Rodeo Driver and Pendleton got the pin. That made it two cheap, tainted wins in a row for the champions.
(5) Seth Delay & Mike Posey (with Brodie Chase) beat Slim J & Bo Newsome in 7:46. There’s no better rub for Newsome than teaming him with Slimmy. The heels were upset about the bandanas J was throwing into the crowd. Typical all business approach from J with some MMA stuff mixed in (he has done MMA matches). A brief exchange between J and Posey left me wanting to see them in a singles match. Newsome took the heat. Posey and Delay used a nice slingshot leg drop/side slam combo. Posey went for a figure four headscissors and Newsome countered with a powerbomb. Hot tag to J. A tornado kick sent Delay out of the ring. Newsome went up top for the spinal tap. It missed. While Chase was decimating J on the outside, Posey pinned Newsome with a guillotine legdrop that covered ? of the ring on the fly. Well done.
Afterwards, the heels attacked Newsome. Chase strapped the hell out of Newsome with his belt. This was a redo of Fright Night, except a lot more vicious ? like six stinging shots that put welts on Bo’s back. J hit the ring with a chair for the save.
Palmer came out with Kimo. He suspended Posey and Delay for starters. He said since Chase liked to play with belts, he was putting him against Newsome in a fan participation strap match on November 21. Palmer said there would be six fans in all. ?Superfan? Slim J would be number one and ringside fan ‘strapmaster? Bo would be number two. The other four fans will be drawn at random for the chance to tan Chase’s hide.
(6) Aden Chambers defeated Azrael and Hayden Young and J-Rod and BJ Hancock in a Young Lion’s Scramble Match (total time 12:23). Gauntlet style with two men starting and winner staying on to face a new opponent. Azrael and Hancock started. Crowd was quiet for the first time. Hancock got some early offense. Azrael busted out the Old Testament (DVD Bomb) and pinned Hancock with the slit throat piledriver at 3:51. Hayden Young entered next. Azrael did a number on his knee. Young managed to lariat Azrael out of the ring, but his knee went out on when he tried for a slingshot move. Azrael dismantled Young outside the ring and he was counted out in 4:06. J-Rod was next. He gave Azrael a run for his money, hitting a basement dropkick to the ear and getting the best of a strike exchange. That rarely happens in a Azrael match. Azrael sat down on J-Rod’s slingshot sunset flip and use the ropes for extra leverage at 3:05. Chambers was last in. He pinned Azael with a DVD in just 1:21. This was the only match that did not work. Crowd was dead. Fans didn?t want to root against Azrael. You had a veteran top level heel who has gained the respect of the fans, going against three faces that nobody really knows or cares about, plus Young, who was coming off an undistinguished program with the champion, Skirra Corvus. The win did nothing for Chambers? standing as a babyface. He beat a guy that had already been worn down by a 10 minute gauntlet. Big deal. Being opportunistic is usually a heel trait.
J-Rod and Chambers vs. Devil’s Rejects (Azarel & Corvus) was announced for November 21.
(7) Edward Chastain & Truitt Fields defeated Phil Shatter (with Jeff G. Bailey) & Shaun Tempers when Chastain pinned Tempers at 15:55. Iceberg wrestled in his dress shirt and tie. Shatter wanted no part of Chastain. Chastain tossed Tempers into the heel corner to force the issue. Fields and Chastain pulled off a crisp sequence of shoulder tackles. But Shatter was able to post Fields? shoulder. Shatter followed with a single arm DDT. Shatter used a variant of the Garvin Stomp. The heels cut the ring in half and beat on Fields for a very long time. Fields? selling was top notch. Shatter extended Fields? arm toward the corner to taunt Iceberg. A Fields lariat set up the hot tag. Chastain cleaned house. Bailey got up on the apron to take one last bump for Berg..um Chastain. Chastain hit a belly to belly on Tempers but Shatter saved. Fields and Shatter went sailing over the top rope together. Tempers tried for the hangman neckbreaker. Not happening. Chastain hit the Ground Zero for the pin.
Tank hit the ring. H started trading shots with Evil Edward. Shatter jumped in to make it two against one, but Chastain would not go down. Palmer brought Kimo out to make the save, and the we had our first confrontation between Kimo and Shatter.
Fans were on the feet with nonstop applause. All of the babyface wrestlers surrounded the ring and started pounding the mat. Everyone was chanting ?You?re a legend?. With tears in his eyes, Iceberg circled the ring hugging and saying his goodbyes to each and every fan. It’s a weird thing to say when I think about the incredibly violent, gruesome acts Iceberg committed in the ring over the years, but it was a fitting farewell to a sweet, gentle soul.
NOTES: Season’s Beating takes place on January 2, 2010?Posey has been working the NWA Main Event tapings in Nashville on a regular basis. On November 5, he served as referee, ring announcer and wrestler all in the same match. It’s available on you tube by clicking here.
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