Larry Goodman sent this in:
NWA Anarchy returned to the NWA Television Arena in Cornelia Saturday night for another scintillating international television taping.
Attendance was 140 and it was a generally hotter group than two weeks ago. There is no direct attendance comparison with a year ago because Anarchy didn?t run due to the big NWA shindig at Philips Arena.
It was a taping that was very strong on storyline development. The climax of Iceberg’s babyface turn was the highlight in that regard, but across the board, the creative forces at Anarchy have got things cooking. The quality of the wrestling was more than adequate to carry the stories forward, although the wrestling end of things didn?t feel as critical in this case as it has at other points. A lot of the star power was packed into the six-man main event, like they often did in the early days of NWA Wildside. Once again, care was taken to give fans compelling reasons to return for the next show.
(1) Anthony Henry beat Dustin Knight in 5:36. Todd Sexton came out to sit in with The Best Damn Announce Team Period (Greg Hunter and John Johnson). Henry and Knight are both regulars with APW in Royston. They?ve both appeared in Anarchy before but it’s not like the crowd knew them (strike one). They came out wearing identically colored gear (strike two) and did a bunch of moves that nobody gave a rat’s ass about (strike three). Knight hit a spinning neckbreaker with Henry’s feet draped over the top rope for his big near fall. Henry pinned Knight with a fishermanbuster.
Sexton issued a challenge to Henry, continuing the story of the sadistic veteran who enjoys beating up young rookies. By the time, I was hoping Sexton would kick both of their asses.
(2) Todd Sexton pinned Anthony Henry in 3:54. Crowd didn?t care if Henry lived or died. Sexton punished Henry with moves like a forward rolling slam and a belly to belly suplex. Sexton countered a top rope huracanrana with a single leg crab, but Henry made the ropes. Henry kicked out after eating a superkick. Sexton blocked Henry’s finisher and finished him with the running knee strike to the noggin.
After the match, Sexton stood atop the announcer’s booth to deliver his catch phrase.
A video shot in the home of Shadow Jackson was shown on the WrestleVision. This was pretty great. Jackson said Jeremy Vain tried to cripple him. That was to be expected. ?But you took it a one step further. You put your hands on my son. MY SON.? Jackson said Vain would pay for his sins of cowardice. ?You don?t have the stones to take me on like a man.? Jackson asked to have Vain taken off suspension. ?I need you back.? Jackson said Vain would feel his family’s pain. The video ended with close up shot of photos of Jackson’s infant son. Truly gut level stuff, which is pretty difficult to pull off in pro wrestling these days.
(3) Wild Bunch (Billy Buck & Chris King) beat Technicians (Tyler Smith & Bobby Moore) in 5:40. These teams must be sick of seeing each other. Comic opening as Moore went down face first after taking a series of elbows from Buck. Moore used a blind tag to get the drop on King. The fashion police in the South section noted that Moore’s tights were drooping to where it looked like his ass was halfway to his knees. King did a nice slingshot flip over the top of one of the Techs to make the hot tag to Buck, who capped off the house cleaning by flipping Smith over the top rope onto Moore. Finish saw referee Ken Wallace catch Moore putting his partner on top of King. While Wallace was chasing Moore out, Buck reversed the pile so King ended up on top of Smith. Decent match. They timed the shenanigans with the finish right.
On the WrestleVision, we saw Seth Delay apologizing to Brodie Chase for deserting him last time. Delay said he couldn?t help himself when that ?redneck ninja? Slim J showed up. Chase wasn?t upset. He came out smelling like a rose because of his female admirer. J appeared on screen. He said he was going to make Delay suffer. Chase said it was two against one so J better get to steppin?. J said he was no dummy. He had back up in the form of Orion Bishop. Chase and Delay backed off. Good stuff. It was shot in such a way that Bishop looked like a huge monster compared to the heels.
(4) Entourage (Andrew Alexander & Mike Mosley) beat Kareem Abdul Jamar & Mr. Georgia in 6:36. I got a kick out of Jamar and the debuting Mr. Georgia doing the rah-rah southern babyface routine. Entourage cut the ring in half and destroyed Jamar with high impact moves. Jamar fought out of the heel corner to make the tag. Georgia ran wild. He busted out the Thesz Press. But alas, not water in the pool for Jamar’s splash off the top. Alexander gave Jamar a piledriver and Mosley finished him with his reverse Ace crusher. Solid tag match.
(5) Iceberg squashed Aaron Lee in 2:38. This was an OK squash. Lee didn?t take the huge bumps justified by the ridiculous size mismatch. The cannonball splash was cool. From my vantage point, it provided a total eclipse of Lee. Iceberg scored the pinfall with the Ground Zero.
The Devil’s Rejects slithered out of the darkness to jump Iceberg. Malachi hit the ring with a steel chair. The Revered still liked the odds. NWA Anarchy owner Jerry Palmer jumped in with his ax handle. Rejects decided to give it up. A massive ?Iceberg? chant ensued. Palmer said Iceberg once beat him within an inch of his life and cost him several days in the hospital, but like the fans, he respected Berg. Palmer promised he could be a friend Berg could trust, unlike those lowlife Rejects. Palmer extended his hand. Twice, Berg slapped it away and then shoved Palmer. At this point, the crowd was begging Iceberg to do the handshake, and when he finally did, the Church of Southern Wrestling exploded. In a show fo of trust, Iceberg invited Palmer to go up the ramp ahead of him. Iceberg’s facial expression during this were awesome. Palmer was great here as well. Live, this was one spectacular segment. If it comes across on tape halfway as well, it should close out hour number one of the TV.
(6) New Wave (Steven Walters & Derrick Driver) beat Talent & Money (JT Talent & Drew Pendleton III) to retain the NWA Anarchy Tag Team Titles in 6:55. Putting these teams together right now is a can?t miss proposition. The pop for New Wave was phenomenal. These guys have it. New Wave scored with a couple of nice pinning combinations early. The chest cracker and dropkick sequence between Driver and Talent was the best looking action of the night thus far. Driver’s twisting springboard crossbody splatted on the mat when Talent ducked. T & M did a number on Driver’s gut. Crowd revved up a ?Derek? chant. Hot tag. Walters with a side Russian legsweep for a near fall. New Wave tried for the Unskinny Bop, but Talent was there to break it up. Walters fought off Talent’s interference and rolled Pendleton up for the three count. This has turned into a top notch rivalry.
Postmatch, Talent & Money locked eyes with New Wave. No handshake but no garbage either. The point was made ? T & M don?t like the champions, but they do respect them.
(7) Malachi beat Frankie Valentine to retain the Young Lion’s Championship in 6:30. This match was what the Young Lion’s Division should be ? fast-paced, hard-hitting, no-nonsense action. They beat the hell out of each other. Valentine’s head was freshly shaven from losing a Hair vs. Mask match to ?Nightmare? Ted Allen in SECW. Valentine gave Malachi a downward spiral into the turnbuckle to take over. Valentine worked on Malachi’s back with submissions. They traded stiff chops. Malachi drew blood. Malachi hit a powerslam to start his comeback. Malachi went up top. Valentine cut him off and tried for top rope huracanrana. Malachi blocked that and hit the top rope diving headbutt for the pin. Nice match. Malachi does his talking in the ring.
(8) Slim J & Orion Bishop beat Seth Delay & Brodie Chase in 4:07. The decibel level hit a peak (the others being New Wave’s intro and the main) for J’s entrance. This was rub to the max for Bishop. J started strong but soon fell prey to heel chicanery. It looked like Delay spiked J on his head with a spinning headscissors. Delay followed with a brainbuster suplex for a near fall. Delay used Roderick Strong’s fireman’s carry double knee gutbuster. But when Delay went to do the swivel hips, J popped up with a lariat from hell. J made the tag and took Chase over the top with a headscissors. Delay was a sitting duck for Bishop’s spear.
Postmatch, on the sly, Delay nailed J with the brass knucks again and ran to safety of Chase’s arms. THEN he collapsed. Delay never fails to entertain.
(9) Shaun Tempers (with the Reverend) beat Bo Newsome to retain the NWA Anarchy TV Title in 5:26. Tempers looks like a star when he comes out to the ring. That’s a sentence I never expected to write. The timing and execution of his stuff is spot on. Shows what a ton of hard work and dedication can do. Strong heel/face dynamic here, as the fans really like Bo. Tempers took him to school. Newsome hit a flying bodypress of the top for a near fall. He tried for a backslide. Not happening. Hangman neckbreaker by Tempers and it’s over.
Postmatch: Tempers zeroed on Newsome with evil intentions. Ace Rockwell hit the ring. That brought Phil Shatter and Kimo out to attack Rockwell. Truitt Fields tried to make a save, but the odds were stacked, and the faces were being beaten on. Out came Mikal Judas. The heels took a powder. Bill Behrens surveyed the situation and said he was changing the main event (Kimo vs. Judas) to a six man tag. Sweet.
(10) Jessco Blue (with Don Matthews) beat Jay Clinton (with Mike Mosley & Andrew Alexander) in a Hair vs. Hair Match (6:06). Blue was putting his hillbilly hippie hair up against Clinton’s outlandish two tone Mohawk. Clinton said Jeff Lewis had to make an emergency trip to Costa Rica to deal with Heidi and Spencer, so the tag match was off. Jessco has a zest for life. Crowd was into seeing him pound lumps on Clinton, who did a lot of hair pulling. He did the woman’s spot – standing on Blue’s hair while trying to pull the arms out of their sockets. Clinton started to work an honest-to-God submission on Blue’s arm. Clinton went for that silly ropes walk strut, and Blue pulled him down with an arm drag. They traded and it was wild. Clinton busted Blue’s eye open the hardway. Blue blasted Clinton with a forearm for the lights out pin. Blue was left with blood streaming down his face onto his chest. They got about as much out this match as they possibly could have.
Wild Bunch came out to ensure that Clinton’s partners would not be able to save him from his fate. Matthews and Blue took turns clipping the Mohawk with the scissors. Out came the electric razor for some shaving action. They didn?t shave Clinton’s head bald, but this was even better, because they messed him up so bad that he couldn?t have looked more hideous. Blue slapped Clinton to wake him up and kicked him in the ass. Clinton was subjected to the ?Bald-headed geek? chant.
Palmer entered the ring with the heavyweight title belt saying he had bad news. Palmer called out Vain and Rob Adonis. With a look of glee, Vain told Palmer no apologies were necessary for suspending him as long as he got the title. ?Crown me.? Palmer said it wasn?t happening like that. Palmer said he was reinstating Vain at Jackson’s request and giving him a title shot on June 20, but it would be his last shot. Unbeknownst to Vain, Jackson had stealthed into the ring from the front door. Palmer advised Vain to look behind him. Vain shoved Adonis towards Jackson. Jackson dispensed with Adonis. Vain bailed out untouched. Fans gave Jackson a huge ovation as he limped up the ramp.
(11) Truitt Fields & Ace Rockwell & Mikal Judas beat Phil Shatter & Kimo & Shaun Tempers (with the Reverend & Jeff G. Bailey) in 14:43 when Fields pinned the NWA National Champion Shatter. Monster pop for the babyface side. No random six man here. Everyone involved had a well defined issue with somebody else. Tempers took some great bumps early. Judas had him goozled but Kimo intervened. Kimo and Judas staggered each other with heavy blows. They did a test of strength. Kimo broke it with a judo throw. Judas immediately answered with a lariat. The faces trapped Kimo in the corner and did he ever take a beating, but he never went down. Rockwell ended up as the babyface-in-peril, a role he plays oh so well. He did an awesome job selling Kimo’s rapid fire martial arts blows. Rockwell hit a shades-of-double A spinebuster on Tempers to set up the hot tag to Judas. They lost the crowd here a bit for some reason. It broke down to wild 6 way action. Fields hit a flying shoulder block off a blind tag to break up a PTSD attempt by Shatter. Shatter blocked the Killing Fields. Fields blocked the PTSD and pinned Shatter with a backslide.
Hunter announced Shatter vs. Fields for the NWA National Title on June 20. For those of you keeping score at home, both of the top singles titles will be up for grabs in two weeks.
NOTES: There will be no Anarchy show on usual first Saturday in July because it falls on the 4th. The July shows will be on July 11 and July 18, which will also have some fanfest type activities? Official Express (Mike Posey & Wes Adams) were canceled off the show…Alexander and Tempers worked the 6/5 WGCW/SECW show in Buchanan?Talent & Money are booked for the 6/12 SECW show in Carrollton.