Post by lgoodman on Jun 9, 2007 9:12:54 GMT -5
I got my first look at APW, which functions as something of a minor league farm team for Anarchy, courtesy of a DVD shot by Dan Parris.
The Royston Gym is a great set up for wrestling. They used the old style arena lighting with the building completely dark except for lighting directly over ring. There couldn’t have been more than 40 people there.
The ring introductions were clipped, so there was no way to get a read on who got the best pops, not than any of them could have been overwhelming.
(1) Truitt Fields beat Aaron Lee. Fields squashed him with power moves in less than 2 minutes. Fields pulled off the Luger-Flair press slam in this one and won it with a sitout uranage.
(2) Don Matthews (with Simon Sermon) beat Wesley Savin in 3:45. Savin is known as referee Wesley Grissom at NWA Anarchy, so readers that are familiar with him know that this was a ridiculous size mismatch. Savin showed fire, but Matthews no sold virtually everything Savin tried and pinned him with The Lariat.
(3) Simon Sermon (with Matthews) beat Shadow Jackson to retain the APW Heavyweight Title in 9:30. This would have been highly entertaining with a halfway decent crowd to give it some heat. It was an impromptu match with both combatants in street clothes. Jackson’s eye was bandaged from the burning incident at Anarchy. He ripped Sermon’s shirt and pant to shreds. But Sermon and Matthews took turns working over Jackson’s eye and choking him with Sermon’s belt. Jackson was getting retribution when Matthews slugged him in the back with the belt. Sermon used a hangman neckbreaker to get the pin.
Postmatch, Matthews was whipping Jackson with the belt until Fields made the save. Jackson and Fields issued a challenge for a tag match.
(4) Austin Creed beat Alexander Phoenix in 8:50. The peeps were into Creed. It was the first match where there was any trading of holds. Creed showed off an impressive vertical leap on a series of leapfrogs and a dropkick. Phoenix crotched Creed on the top and hit a hanging DDT to take over. Phoenix worked Creed’s back. Creed made the comeback with somersault lariat and a flying bodypress. Phoenix's selling looked lifeless (as opposed to exaggerated like a good heel). He might have been blowning up. Phoenix raked the eyes. After pasting Creed with a basement dropkick, Phoenix paused to complain about ref Jacob Ashworth’s count. Creed made like Apollo with the punches to set up the Montefisto for the pin.
(5) Adrian Hawkins & Caezar Chavez beat Sex and Money (Andrew Pendleton & Caleb Konley) in 7:30. Konley was the polar opposite of Phoenix, a bundle of heelish energy. Body of the match saw Sex & Money isolate Chavez and give him a beating. Hawkins was a one man wrecking crew. In this company, it was clear to see how much Hawkins has improved. The babyface team pinned Chavez after a Hart Attack style springboard back elbow by Hawkins.
The Friday Nights Sensations (Matt Sells & Ryan Michaels) attacked Hawkins and Chavez. They dumped Hawkins and left Chavez laying with a double team.
(6) Slim J beat J. T. Tallent via DQ in 11 minutes. This was mainly J beating on Tallent like he owed him money. Tallent took advantage of a missed cannonball corner splash and worked J’s back, but not for long. J hit his flying reverse DDT for a near fall. Tallent hit an elevated full nelson face plant but J got a foot over the ropes at two. Tallent spilled J through the ropes. They brawled their way back to the announcer’s table. Tallent hit J with some type of foreign object. It was took dark to see exactly what was happening and when the bell rang, I thought it was a double count out. The fans didn’t react until J was announced as the winner. Ok for what it was, a skilled wrestler vs. a trainee.
(7) Brandon Phoenix & Jeremy Vain beat Billy Buck & “Skaterboy” Chris King to retain the APW Tag Team Titles in 13 minutes. Match opened as a showcase for Buck. He looked good and I think a lot of that was Vain and Phoenix. The underdog babyface team was working the crowd like crazy, but it’s tough to get much going in an empty building. King took the heat. He’s got the size and appeared to be pretty athletic but still very green. Buck cleaned house with bionic elbows and side slams. The finishing sequence wasn’t a stellar example of timing and execution. The challengers scored a series of close near falls, some legal and some not. Parris said Ashworth got caught up in the confusion. Buck had Phoenix pinned with a rolling reverse cradle, but Vain nailed Buck with a fist in the face and DDT when Ashworth turned a blind eye. Phoenix (not the legal man) pinned Buck.
With the mix of solid veterans, promising newcomers, and green unknowns, APW reminded me of the old Friday night shows in Cornelia. The booking was clear and logical for setting up future matches. Given the almost non-existent crowd, it wasn't a bad show. But it didn't make me want to jump in my car and drive out to Royston next Friday night either.
The Royston Gym is a great set up for wrestling. They used the old style arena lighting with the building completely dark except for lighting directly over ring. There couldn’t have been more than 40 people there.
The ring introductions were clipped, so there was no way to get a read on who got the best pops, not than any of them could have been overwhelming.
(1) Truitt Fields beat Aaron Lee. Fields squashed him with power moves in less than 2 minutes. Fields pulled off the Luger-Flair press slam in this one and won it with a sitout uranage.
(2) Don Matthews (with Simon Sermon) beat Wesley Savin in 3:45. Savin is known as referee Wesley Grissom at NWA Anarchy, so readers that are familiar with him know that this was a ridiculous size mismatch. Savin showed fire, but Matthews no sold virtually everything Savin tried and pinned him with The Lariat.
(3) Simon Sermon (with Matthews) beat Shadow Jackson to retain the APW Heavyweight Title in 9:30. This would have been highly entertaining with a halfway decent crowd to give it some heat. It was an impromptu match with both combatants in street clothes. Jackson’s eye was bandaged from the burning incident at Anarchy. He ripped Sermon’s shirt and pant to shreds. But Sermon and Matthews took turns working over Jackson’s eye and choking him with Sermon’s belt. Jackson was getting retribution when Matthews slugged him in the back with the belt. Sermon used a hangman neckbreaker to get the pin.
Postmatch, Matthews was whipping Jackson with the belt until Fields made the save. Jackson and Fields issued a challenge for a tag match.
(4) Austin Creed beat Alexander Phoenix in 8:50. The peeps were into Creed. It was the first match where there was any trading of holds. Creed showed off an impressive vertical leap on a series of leapfrogs and a dropkick. Phoenix crotched Creed on the top and hit a hanging DDT to take over. Phoenix worked Creed’s back. Creed made the comeback with somersault lariat and a flying bodypress. Phoenix's selling looked lifeless (as opposed to exaggerated like a good heel). He might have been blowning up. Phoenix raked the eyes. After pasting Creed with a basement dropkick, Phoenix paused to complain about ref Jacob Ashworth’s count. Creed made like Apollo with the punches to set up the Montefisto for the pin.
(5) Adrian Hawkins & Caezar Chavez beat Sex and Money (Andrew Pendleton & Caleb Konley) in 7:30. Konley was the polar opposite of Phoenix, a bundle of heelish energy. Body of the match saw Sex & Money isolate Chavez and give him a beating. Hawkins was a one man wrecking crew. In this company, it was clear to see how much Hawkins has improved. The babyface team pinned Chavez after a Hart Attack style springboard back elbow by Hawkins.
The Friday Nights Sensations (Matt Sells & Ryan Michaels) attacked Hawkins and Chavez. They dumped Hawkins and left Chavez laying with a double team.
(6) Slim J beat J. T. Tallent via DQ in 11 minutes. This was mainly J beating on Tallent like he owed him money. Tallent took advantage of a missed cannonball corner splash and worked J’s back, but not for long. J hit his flying reverse DDT for a near fall. Tallent hit an elevated full nelson face plant but J got a foot over the ropes at two. Tallent spilled J through the ropes. They brawled their way back to the announcer’s table. Tallent hit J with some type of foreign object. It was took dark to see exactly what was happening and when the bell rang, I thought it was a double count out. The fans didn’t react until J was announced as the winner. Ok for what it was, a skilled wrestler vs. a trainee.
(7) Brandon Phoenix & Jeremy Vain beat Billy Buck & “Skaterboy” Chris King to retain the APW Tag Team Titles in 13 minutes. Match opened as a showcase for Buck. He looked good and I think a lot of that was Vain and Phoenix. The underdog babyface team was working the crowd like crazy, but it’s tough to get much going in an empty building. King took the heat. He’s got the size and appeared to be pretty athletic but still very green. Buck cleaned house with bionic elbows and side slams. The finishing sequence wasn’t a stellar example of timing and execution. The challengers scored a series of close near falls, some legal and some not. Parris said Ashworth got caught up in the confusion. Buck had Phoenix pinned with a rolling reverse cradle, but Vain nailed Buck with a fist in the face and DDT when Ashworth turned a blind eye. Phoenix (not the legal man) pinned Buck.
With the mix of solid veterans, promising newcomers, and green unknowns, APW reminded me of the old Friday night shows in Cornelia. The booking was clear and logical for setting up future matches. Given the almost non-existent crowd, it wasn't a bad show. But it didn't make me want to jump in my car and drive out to Royston next Friday night either.