Post by lgoodman on Apr 22, 2007 17:21:37 GMT -5
Jeremy Vain won the NWA World Television Title at the NWA Anarchy television taping Saturday night in Cornelia, but the biggest news was the blockbuster announcement regarding Hostile Environment ’07.
Greg Hunter (pulling double duty as commentator and substitute ring announcer for slacker Eddie Rich) introduced NWA Anarchy owner Jerry Palmer to open the show. Palmer said he was making no apologies for the promotion’s success in 2006 and gave credit to the fans for making it so. Question was could they make it “bigger, better and badder?” Palmer called on Bill Behrens, his key advisor since taking over in Cornelia, to make the announcement. Behrens said his associations with WWE and TNA notwithstanding, he has most fun and take the most pride in what happens at the NWA Arena. But to grow, they needed to do something phenomenal, and that word made him think of Gainesville, Georgia.
Behrens announced that Hostile Environment ’07 would take place on 6/23 at the Mountain Center in Gainesville. This is by far Palmer’s most ambitious undertaking. We’re talking about an historic wrestling venue capable of holding 3000 people. No matches were announced, but the summer extravaganza has traditionally been headlined by the War Games.
(1) Derrick Driver & Steven Walters beat Skitzo & Big Dogg in 4:53. North Carolina babys vs. Texas heels. Driver and Walters opened on a roll with a tandem Russian legsweep. But Walters soon tasted turnbuckle and the Texans teed off on him. Walters hit an enzuigiri leading into the hot tag. An assisted tornado DDT by the babyface team looked messed up. Dogg speared Driver when ref Harold James was busy with Walters. Skitzo picked up Driver, but Walters did a missile dropkick to his partner’s back, toppling Driver on top of Skitzo for the pin. Not much to get excited about.
Hunter was backstage with Todd Sexton. Sexton talked about the misfortune Sal Rinauro suffered when he lost control of his bodily functions in his choke hold. Adrian Hawkins said Seth Delay wasn’t there and asked Sexton to be his partner. Sexton blew him off. Hawkins set out on a desperate search for a partner to the point he even tried to enlist the services of Hunter. Hawkins came upon Brett Thunder and did some fast talking. Thunder reluctantly agreed.
(2) Toss Sexton beat Andrew Pendleton III via submission in 2:38. Pendleton attacked at the bell like the spoiled rotten cheater that he is. Pendleton got a one count only with a corkscrewish elbow drop and worked the neck for a bit before dumping Sexton to the floor. Sexton smacked the crap out of Pendleton with a superabundance of chops and forearms. Sexton then dropped Pendleton on his head with the Gamebreaker and choked his ass out. I think the finish of the match two weeks ago boosted Sexton’s stock with the Arena fans. It was the most positive crowd reaction since his return to the ring.
(3) Slim J & Patrick Bentley beat Andrew Hawkins & Brett Thunder in 6:13. I’ve been forgetting to mention the odd metal matador gear Bentley’s been wearing. The story here was Hawkins making Thunder do all the heavy lifting. J did some deep arm drags and worked Thunder’s arm. Hawkins wanted nothing to do with wrestling fair and square. Hawkins distracted Bentley and snapped his neck off the top rope. Hawkins was suddenly begging for the tag. Hawkins talked trash as he softened up Bentley’s back. Bentley came back with a backbreaker on Hawkins and hot-tagged J. Hawkins wanted out, but Thunder jumped off the apron to avoid the tag. J welcomed Hawkins to lariat city and finished him with a wicked package piledriver. J looked like a millions dollars. Bentley not so much.
(4) Hollywood Brunettes (Kyle Matthews & Andrew Alexander) beat Windwalker & Billy Buck in 6:50 with the Sheeny Curse. Brunettes got a mixed reaction. A bent minority of fans are into their gimmick. Fans chanted “Village People” at the cowboy and Indian team. Windwalker (or Windbreaker as John Johnson refers to him on commentary) doesn’t look like a very fierce warrior. Needs more war paint or something. Brunettes functioned like a well-oiled machine with their combo moves. The one where Matthews does a senton backsplash from a seated position on Alexander’s shoulders is especially cool. When Windwalker landed a stiff Wahoo chop, business picked up big time. Double clothesline and both men down. Hot tag to the cowboy. Buck got a near fall with a leg lariat. Matthews made a blind tag and Brunettes annihilated Buck with their finisher. Alexander does a fireman’s carry dropped into a bow and arrow and Matthews sandwiches the victim with a top rope double stomp to the gut.
Justice Served hit the ring and cleared out the gibronis. Their rude, thoughtless little pig of a manager Al Getz called out Urban Assault Squad. He didn’t need to ask twice. UAS swarmed all over Justice Served but they were soon attacked by Brodie Chase and Brandon Phoenix. Truitt Fields and Phil Shatter hit the ring to even up the odds. Palmer came out and made it an eight man tag. Palmer told Getz he owed him one, so he was going to hang around at ringside.
(5) Justice Served (Jason Justice & Mikki Free) & Brodie Ray Chase & Brandon Phoenix (with Al Getz) beat Urban Assault Squad (Shadow Jackson & Nemesis) & Truitt Fields & Phil Shatter (with Jerry Palmer) in 9:28. The crowd turned molten hot. Cornelia likes it stiff. Nemesis made the mistake of playing to the crowd and Chase beat him down. Nemesis managed a tag to Jackson and the place went crazy. It was the loudest the building got all night. If you closed your eyes, you would have thought the place was packed. There is no question that at this point, UAS is the most over act in Anarchy by a wide margin. Jackson busted out the bionic elbows on Free and got the “kill the cracker” chant. Shatter took over on Free, scoring big with a fist drop. Justice Served doubled up on him, but Shatter came back with a massive spinebuster on Justice. Fields followed with a leaping forearm smash on Justice for a near fall. Justice took Fields’ head off with a lariat to start the heat. BRC and Phoenix gave him a sideslam/elbow drop combo and Jackson made the save. Phoenix got into it with that same lady, the one that takes sadistic joy in verbally abusing him. The heels drew the faces into the ring, and beat on Fields behind the ref’s back. Fields hit a jawbreaker for a double down spot and made the hot tag to Nemesis. Meanwhile, Palmer pulled Getz off the apron. Palmer got into an altercation with the heels, which distracted ref Harold James. Justice capitalized on the diversion by clocking Nemesis with a chain for the 1-2-3. Getz gloated. Palmer was upset with himself.
Far from the most talent-laden hour of Anarchy, but the main event was blazing. If the heat comes across on TV, it could be among their best main event segments.
Hunter conducted a backstage interview with Chad Parham about his upcoming World Television Title match against Jeremy Vain. Hunter asked Parham why Vain? Parham said he wanted a cardio workout. It’s Parham’s world. We’re all just living in it. Palmer entered the picture and said this thing stunk. Palmer introduced former champion, Ace Rockwell as the special referee for the title match. Vain told Rockwell this was his night, so he better call it right down the middle.
(6) The Awesome Attraction (Austin Creed & Hayden Young) beat Anger Inc. (Don Matthews & Adam Roberts) to retain the NWA Anarchy Tag Team Titles in 8:30. Attraction was on fire in the early going. They hit a double vertical suplex and Creed outclassed Matthews with chain wrestling. Young hit a springboard (and I do mean spring) crossbody for a near fall. The heels got heat on Creed. Matthews threw two lightweight and Creed lit him up in return. Matthews threw some lame forearms. One stiff shot is way better than five that look like s***. Brunettes came to ringside to observe. Roberts hit a stalling gordbuster. Matthews and Creed traded stiff chops. Matthew did a sorry gorilla press gutbuster. It just wasn’t his night. Creed hit a sweet floatover tornado DDT to set up the hot tag. Young was kicking ass. Mattthews accidentally nailed Roberts with a lariat. Young sent Matthews out of the ring with a dropkick and followed with a terrific flip dive that took out Matthews and the Brunettes. Creed pinned Roberts after the Montefisto. Another strong outing for Awesome Attraction.
On the big screen, we saw J approach a depressed looking Bentley in the dressing room. J tried to cheer Bentley up and told him not to dwell on the past. J urged Bentley to be like him, and get himself some opportunity. Just what was Bentley thinking?
Attorney Jeff G. Bailey and Jeff Lewis accompanied Abomination to the ring for his match against Onyx. But Onyx was a no show. Bailey said Onyx proved that he was a stinking coward, just like Bailey had said. Bailey went on to talk about the Devil’s Rejects were dead and buried and how Abomination almost snapped Tank’s neck off his shoulders. Bailey said they should have thrown Tank in the dumpster where trash belongs. Bailey said the Reverend Dan Wilson had crawled away from Hardcore Hell in humiliation. Bailey said the tentacles of the NWA Elite, “the modern day Gestapo” reached worldwide, and the Rejects were overmatched from the beginning. Bailey mocked Wilson’s blood curdling scream.
The disfigured freak, Dominous appeared near the front entrance. Abomination went to him, like a monstrous moth to a flame. The other Rejects attacked Lewis and Bailey from behind. With Wilson directing traffic, Iceberg obliterated Lewis a Ground Zero splash. Shaun Tempers and Azrael stretched Bailey out and Iceberg exploded Bailey’s internal organs with a Ground Zero. Bailey started bleeding from the mouth. Wilson did his trademark scream. Iceberg was getting ready to stab Bailey with Azrael’s dagger when Abomination returned to make the save. The arena was deathly quiet as Abomination carried Bailey out. He was foaming along with the blood. A gut wrenching segment.
(7) Jeremy Vain beat Chad Parham to win the NWA World Television Title with Ace Rockwell as the special referee (11:30). More story than wrestling. Parham came out wearing both the TV belt and Heavyweight belt. He demanded a security escort to the ring, like this was the freaking Omni 25 years ago. Rockwell found a chain and a roll of nickels in Vain’s tights. In the opening minutes, it was Parham dominating Vain on the mat. Rockwell established that wasn’t taking any crap from either Parham or Vain. Parham applied an abdominal stretch and used the ropes. Rockwell caught him. V got the upper hand, and Parham ended up on the outside. Rockwell made Parham stand in his corner, like he was a little kid. They both griped at Rockwell and then connected on simultaneous haymakers. Parham got down to business with an armbar submission. It was about here that Palmer tossed a fan out for distributing flyers without permission for the NFWA show in Gainesville. V took a bouncing crotch bump off the middle rope, but Rockwell caught Parham using the ropes for extra leverage on the pin. V schoolboyed Parham with the tights, and Rockwell saw that as well. V got filthy dirty. V hit a wheelbarrow suplex for a near fall. V applied a sleeper. Parham broke it and they collided midring. Parham went to use the TV title belt. Rockwell took it away. While Rockwell was getting the TV belt out of the ring, Rockwell put Parham’s lights out with the Heavyweight belt. Rockwell turned around just in time to make the three count. The pop was born more out of surprise rather than joy. I think the crowd was more into Parham losing than Vain winning. Vain did the “I’m number one” routine again. Parham was racked with anguish.
Despite the shortage of inring action, the second half should make a visually compelling hour of television. The hoopla of a title change and Bailey carried out after taking Iceberg’s Ground Zero. What more could you ask?
NOTES: NWA Anarchy returns to the NWA Arena on 5/5 with Vain vs. Sexton for the TV Title…My prediction about the Easter weekend show having the lowest attendance of the year has already been proven wrong. Last night’s show drew only 105…Here’s wishing a speedy recovery to promoter Roger Cantrell, who was absent from Friday night’s GWP show in Ellijay after being hospitalized with an arterial blockage. GWP results were as follows: Shaun Tempers retained the Southern Heavyweight Title by pinning Adrian Hawkins. Iceberg pinned Nemesis after interference by Wilson. Nemesis called Jackson on the spot and confirmed that UAS will debut on 5/4 vs. The Rejects. Adam Jacobs over Randall Johnson with a superkick. Nick Rampage (with Aaron Voight) destroyed Jay Clinton. Rampage debuted doing a shootfighter gimmick. Hollywood Brunettes & Andrew Pendleton & Caleb Konley defeated Jessco Blue & Tim O'Brian & Regular Guys. Leatherface over Maul via DQ. Billy Love beat Amien Rios. GWP returns on 5/4 with an eight team tournament to crown the Southern Tag Team Champions…Over in Royston, APW and Rick Michaels have parted ways…Melissa Coates (most recently seen as The Bag Lady in Deep South) and Alan Funk were in attendance.
Greg Hunter (pulling double duty as commentator and substitute ring announcer for slacker Eddie Rich) introduced NWA Anarchy owner Jerry Palmer to open the show. Palmer said he was making no apologies for the promotion’s success in 2006 and gave credit to the fans for making it so. Question was could they make it “bigger, better and badder?” Palmer called on Bill Behrens, his key advisor since taking over in Cornelia, to make the announcement. Behrens said his associations with WWE and TNA notwithstanding, he has most fun and take the most pride in what happens at the NWA Arena. But to grow, they needed to do something phenomenal, and that word made him think of Gainesville, Georgia.
Behrens announced that Hostile Environment ’07 would take place on 6/23 at the Mountain Center in Gainesville. This is by far Palmer’s most ambitious undertaking. We’re talking about an historic wrestling venue capable of holding 3000 people. No matches were announced, but the summer extravaganza has traditionally been headlined by the War Games.
(1) Derrick Driver & Steven Walters beat Skitzo & Big Dogg in 4:53. North Carolina babys vs. Texas heels. Driver and Walters opened on a roll with a tandem Russian legsweep. But Walters soon tasted turnbuckle and the Texans teed off on him. Walters hit an enzuigiri leading into the hot tag. An assisted tornado DDT by the babyface team looked messed up. Dogg speared Driver when ref Harold James was busy with Walters. Skitzo picked up Driver, but Walters did a missile dropkick to his partner’s back, toppling Driver on top of Skitzo for the pin. Not much to get excited about.
Hunter was backstage with Todd Sexton. Sexton talked about the misfortune Sal Rinauro suffered when he lost control of his bodily functions in his choke hold. Adrian Hawkins said Seth Delay wasn’t there and asked Sexton to be his partner. Sexton blew him off. Hawkins set out on a desperate search for a partner to the point he even tried to enlist the services of Hunter. Hawkins came upon Brett Thunder and did some fast talking. Thunder reluctantly agreed.
(2) Toss Sexton beat Andrew Pendleton III via submission in 2:38. Pendleton attacked at the bell like the spoiled rotten cheater that he is. Pendleton got a one count only with a corkscrewish elbow drop and worked the neck for a bit before dumping Sexton to the floor. Sexton smacked the crap out of Pendleton with a superabundance of chops and forearms. Sexton then dropped Pendleton on his head with the Gamebreaker and choked his ass out. I think the finish of the match two weeks ago boosted Sexton’s stock with the Arena fans. It was the most positive crowd reaction since his return to the ring.
(3) Slim J & Patrick Bentley beat Andrew Hawkins & Brett Thunder in 6:13. I’ve been forgetting to mention the odd metal matador gear Bentley’s been wearing. The story here was Hawkins making Thunder do all the heavy lifting. J did some deep arm drags and worked Thunder’s arm. Hawkins wanted nothing to do with wrestling fair and square. Hawkins distracted Bentley and snapped his neck off the top rope. Hawkins was suddenly begging for the tag. Hawkins talked trash as he softened up Bentley’s back. Bentley came back with a backbreaker on Hawkins and hot-tagged J. Hawkins wanted out, but Thunder jumped off the apron to avoid the tag. J welcomed Hawkins to lariat city and finished him with a wicked package piledriver. J looked like a millions dollars. Bentley not so much.
(4) Hollywood Brunettes (Kyle Matthews & Andrew Alexander) beat Windwalker & Billy Buck in 6:50 with the Sheeny Curse. Brunettes got a mixed reaction. A bent minority of fans are into their gimmick. Fans chanted “Village People” at the cowboy and Indian team. Windwalker (or Windbreaker as John Johnson refers to him on commentary) doesn’t look like a very fierce warrior. Needs more war paint or something. Brunettes functioned like a well-oiled machine with their combo moves. The one where Matthews does a senton backsplash from a seated position on Alexander’s shoulders is especially cool. When Windwalker landed a stiff Wahoo chop, business picked up big time. Double clothesline and both men down. Hot tag to the cowboy. Buck got a near fall with a leg lariat. Matthews made a blind tag and Brunettes annihilated Buck with their finisher. Alexander does a fireman’s carry dropped into a bow and arrow and Matthews sandwiches the victim with a top rope double stomp to the gut.
Justice Served hit the ring and cleared out the gibronis. Their rude, thoughtless little pig of a manager Al Getz called out Urban Assault Squad. He didn’t need to ask twice. UAS swarmed all over Justice Served but they were soon attacked by Brodie Chase and Brandon Phoenix. Truitt Fields and Phil Shatter hit the ring to even up the odds. Palmer came out and made it an eight man tag. Palmer told Getz he owed him one, so he was going to hang around at ringside.
(5) Justice Served (Jason Justice & Mikki Free) & Brodie Ray Chase & Brandon Phoenix (with Al Getz) beat Urban Assault Squad (Shadow Jackson & Nemesis) & Truitt Fields & Phil Shatter (with Jerry Palmer) in 9:28. The crowd turned molten hot. Cornelia likes it stiff. Nemesis made the mistake of playing to the crowd and Chase beat him down. Nemesis managed a tag to Jackson and the place went crazy. It was the loudest the building got all night. If you closed your eyes, you would have thought the place was packed. There is no question that at this point, UAS is the most over act in Anarchy by a wide margin. Jackson busted out the bionic elbows on Free and got the “kill the cracker” chant. Shatter took over on Free, scoring big with a fist drop. Justice Served doubled up on him, but Shatter came back with a massive spinebuster on Justice. Fields followed with a leaping forearm smash on Justice for a near fall. Justice took Fields’ head off with a lariat to start the heat. BRC and Phoenix gave him a sideslam/elbow drop combo and Jackson made the save. Phoenix got into it with that same lady, the one that takes sadistic joy in verbally abusing him. The heels drew the faces into the ring, and beat on Fields behind the ref’s back. Fields hit a jawbreaker for a double down spot and made the hot tag to Nemesis. Meanwhile, Palmer pulled Getz off the apron. Palmer got into an altercation with the heels, which distracted ref Harold James. Justice capitalized on the diversion by clocking Nemesis with a chain for the 1-2-3. Getz gloated. Palmer was upset with himself.
Far from the most talent-laden hour of Anarchy, but the main event was blazing. If the heat comes across on TV, it could be among their best main event segments.
Hunter conducted a backstage interview with Chad Parham about his upcoming World Television Title match against Jeremy Vain. Hunter asked Parham why Vain? Parham said he wanted a cardio workout. It’s Parham’s world. We’re all just living in it. Palmer entered the picture and said this thing stunk. Palmer introduced former champion, Ace Rockwell as the special referee for the title match. Vain told Rockwell this was his night, so he better call it right down the middle.
(6) The Awesome Attraction (Austin Creed & Hayden Young) beat Anger Inc. (Don Matthews & Adam Roberts) to retain the NWA Anarchy Tag Team Titles in 8:30. Attraction was on fire in the early going. They hit a double vertical suplex and Creed outclassed Matthews with chain wrestling. Young hit a springboard (and I do mean spring) crossbody for a near fall. The heels got heat on Creed. Matthews threw two lightweight and Creed lit him up in return. Matthews threw some lame forearms. One stiff shot is way better than five that look like s***. Brunettes came to ringside to observe. Roberts hit a stalling gordbuster. Matthews and Creed traded stiff chops. Matthew did a sorry gorilla press gutbuster. It just wasn’t his night. Creed hit a sweet floatover tornado DDT to set up the hot tag. Young was kicking ass. Mattthews accidentally nailed Roberts with a lariat. Young sent Matthews out of the ring with a dropkick and followed with a terrific flip dive that took out Matthews and the Brunettes. Creed pinned Roberts after the Montefisto. Another strong outing for Awesome Attraction.
On the big screen, we saw J approach a depressed looking Bentley in the dressing room. J tried to cheer Bentley up and told him not to dwell on the past. J urged Bentley to be like him, and get himself some opportunity. Just what was Bentley thinking?
Attorney Jeff G. Bailey and Jeff Lewis accompanied Abomination to the ring for his match against Onyx. But Onyx was a no show. Bailey said Onyx proved that he was a stinking coward, just like Bailey had said. Bailey went on to talk about the Devil’s Rejects were dead and buried and how Abomination almost snapped Tank’s neck off his shoulders. Bailey said they should have thrown Tank in the dumpster where trash belongs. Bailey said the Reverend Dan Wilson had crawled away from Hardcore Hell in humiliation. Bailey said the tentacles of the NWA Elite, “the modern day Gestapo” reached worldwide, and the Rejects were overmatched from the beginning. Bailey mocked Wilson’s blood curdling scream.
The disfigured freak, Dominous appeared near the front entrance. Abomination went to him, like a monstrous moth to a flame. The other Rejects attacked Lewis and Bailey from behind. With Wilson directing traffic, Iceberg obliterated Lewis a Ground Zero splash. Shaun Tempers and Azrael stretched Bailey out and Iceberg exploded Bailey’s internal organs with a Ground Zero. Bailey started bleeding from the mouth. Wilson did his trademark scream. Iceberg was getting ready to stab Bailey with Azrael’s dagger when Abomination returned to make the save. The arena was deathly quiet as Abomination carried Bailey out. He was foaming along with the blood. A gut wrenching segment.
(7) Jeremy Vain beat Chad Parham to win the NWA World Television Title with Ace Rockwell as the special referee (11:30). More story than wrestling. Parham came out wearing both the TV belt and Heavyweight belt. He demanded a security escort to the ring, like this was the freaking Omni 25 years ago. Rockwell found a chain and a roll of nickels in Vain’s tights. In the opening minutes, it was Parham dominating Vain on the mat. Rockwell established that wasn’t taking any crap from either Parham or Vain. Parham applied an abdominal stretch and used the ropes. Rockwell caught him. V got the upper hand, and Parham ended up on the outside. Rockwell made Parham stand in his corner, like he was a little kid. They both griped at Rockwell and then connected on simultaneous haymakers. Parham got down to business with an armbar submission. It was about here that Palmer tossed a fan out for distributing flyers without permission for the NFWA show in Gainesville. V took a bouncing crotch bump off the middle rope, but Rockwell caught Parham using the ropes for extra leverage on the pin. V schoolboyed Parham with the tights, and Rockwell saw that as well. V got filthy dirty. V hit a wheelbarrow suplex for a near fall. V applied a sleeper. Parham broke it and they collided midring. Parham went to use the TV title belt. Rockwell took it away. While Rockwell was getting the TV belt out of the ring, Rockwell put Parham’s lights out with the Heavyweight belt. Rockwell turned around just in time to make the three count. The pop was born more out of surprise rather than joy. I think the crowd was more into Parham losing than Vain winning. Vain did the “I’m number one” routine again. Parham was racked with anguish.
Despite the shortage of inring action, the second half should make a visually compelling hour of television. The hoopla of a title change and Bailey carried out after taking Iceberg’s Ground Zero. What more could you ask?
NOTES: NWA Anarchy returns to the NWA Arena on 5/5 with Vain vs. Sexton for the TV Title…My prediction about the Easter weekend show having the lowest attendance of the year has already been proven wrong. Last night’s show drew only 105…Here’s wishing a speedy recovery to promoter Roger Cantrell, who was absent from Friday night’s GWP show in Ellijay after being hospitalized with an arterial blockage. GWP results were as follows: Shaun Tempers retained the Southern Heavyweight Title by pinning Adrian Hawkins. Iceberg pinned Nemesis after interference by Wilson. Nemesis called Jackson on the spot and confirmed that UAS will debut on 5/4 vs. The Rejects. Adam Jacobs over Randall Johnson with a superkick. Nick Rampage (with Aaron Voight) destroyed Jay Clinton. Rampage debuted doing a shootfighter gimmick. Hollywood Brunettes & Andrew Pendleton & Caleb Konley defeated Jessco Blue & Tim O'Brian & Regular Guys. Leatherface over Maul via DQ. Billy Love beat Amien Rios. GWP returns on 5/4 with an eight team tournament to crown the Southern Tag Team Champions…Over in Royston, APW and Rick Michaels have parted ways…Melissa Coates (most recently seen as The Bag Lady in Deep South) and Alan Funk were in attendance.