----Arena Report from this past Friday night.
----What happens when you combine three workers [Alan Steele/Austin Lane/Greg Anthony] that almost always guarantee a good match with four guys doing a gimmick main event with rest of the card being filled with young hard working talent?? You end up with a damn good wrestling show.
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| BLOODY Shawn Reed |
----The RoShow beat Mike Anthony with a roll up. Anthony looked good here. Fans cheered him, but he is one of their top heels. [He had been gone for a while] RoShow has good charisma, but is just “ok” in the ring. Anthony hit a supekick. A pretty elbow smash from the top rope. Anthony runs into the corner and misses RoShow with RoShow getting the win. [** 1/2]
----Moe Stegall beat "The Golden Boy" Greg Anthony in one of the top matches. This was one of most entertaining bouts I have seen this year or maybe the history of the site. Was it “Match of the Year” quality? No, but it had the atmosphere of being a super important match and Stegall is sooo OVER in this building it is unreal. Crowd was sooo loud you could not hear yourself talk with the crowd chanting “M-O-E!!” Solid work as TGB carried the bout going up and down with tempo as the crowd was so hot. Pretty hotshot back suplex, overhead suplex and a failed hunacarana from Moe setting up a half crab from TGB. Moe came out of heat with a missile dropkick and tornado DDT. Stegall rolled up TGB for win. [***]
----Chris Stryker over Byron Wilcott. This was probably the most disappointing match of the night. Both guys have talent with Wilcott having the edge, but they did not jell. Wilcott is big and fast. Stryker seem to be lost and blown up most of the 10 minutes. Stryker with a roll up variation for win.[**]
----Alan Steele beat Jon Allen. I like watching both of these guys. Steele just a total pro and Allen is raw. Allen hit Steele stiff with a kick coming out of the corner. Steele repaid him with a slap and real stiff forearm to the back. Steele did a 12 count suplex. Allen hit a moonsault. Steele ended it with the “Twisted Steel” that I marked out for. [***]
----Dan Matthews beat Austin Lane to win the US Jr Title in a good bout. The best pure wrestling bout on the show. Matthews has almost no charisma, but it gets him over. Matthews does Liger thrusts that look weak, but other than that – good match. Back and forth with slow start. They ran the ropes about three times ending with Lane hitting a spear. Crowd was loud for this match. Lane went for the “Rings of Saturn,” but couldn’t get Matthews to submit. Matthews ended the bout with the Texas Cloverleaf with Lane submitting in a surprise win. [***1/4]
----First Blood Elimination: Kid Nikels/Eric Wayne beat Justin Smart/Shawn Reed on the best bout of the show. Crowd was really into this bout. It started as soon as Kid/Eric came through the curtain. Back and forth with everyone looking good. Real stiff stuff from Smart/Eric. The gimmick did not harm the quality of the match. Kid double closelined Smart/Reed over the top. Eric with a dive. Kid then with a dive. Wow! Smart hit Kid with a chair [bent it] with Kid juicing and eliminated. Eric eliminates Smart with some punches to the face and just a little blood. Reed bled from the ringpost [hardway]. Crazy match. [***3/4]
----Moe Stegall beat "The Golden Boy" Greg Anthony in one of the top matches. This was one of most entertaining bouts I have seen this year or maybe the history of the site. Was it “Match of the Year” quality? No, but it had the atmosphere of being a super important match and Stegall is sooo OVER in this building it is unreal. Crowd was sooo loud you could not hear yourself talk with the crowd chanting “M-O-E!!” Solid work as TGB carried the bout going up and down with tempo as the crowd was so hot. Pretty hotshot back suplex, overhead suplex and a failed hunacarana from Moe setting up a half crab from TGB. Moe came out of heat with a missile dropkick and tornado DDT. Stegall rolled up TGB for win. [***]
----Chris Stryker over Byron Wilcott. This was probably the most disappointing match of the night. Both guys have talent with Wilcott having the edge, but they did not jell. Wilcott is big and fast. Stryker seem to be lost and blown up most of the 10 minutes. Stryker with a roll up variation for win.[**]
----Alan Steele beat Jon Allen. I like watching both of these guys. Steele just a total pro and Allen is raw. Allen hit Steele stiff with a kick coming out of the corner. Steele repaid him with a slap and real stiff forearm to the back. Steele did a 12 count suplex. Allen hit a moonsault. Steele ended it with the “Twisted Steel” that I marked out for. [***]
----Dan Matthews beat Austin Lane to win the US Jr Title in a good bout. The best pure wrestling bout on the show. Matthews has almost no charisma, but it gets him over. Matthews does Liger thrusts that look weak, but other than that – good match. Back and forth with slow start. They ran the ropes about three times ending with Lane hitting a spear. Crowd was loud for this match. Lane went for the “Rings of Saturn,” but couldn’t get Matthews to submit. Matthews ended the bout with the Texas Cloverleaf with Lane submitting in a surprise win. [***1/4]
----First Blood Elimination: Kid Nikels/Eric Wayne beat Justin Smart/Shawn Reed on the best bout of the show. Crowd was really into this bout. It started as soon as Kid/Eric came through the curtain. Back and forth with everyone looking good. Real stiff stuff from Smart/Eric. The gimmick did not harm the quality of the match. Kid double closelined Smart/Reed over the top. Eric with a dive. Kid then with a dive. Wow! Smart hit Kid with a chair [bent it] with Kid juicing and eliminated. Eric eliminates Smart with some punches to the face and just a little blood. Reed bled from the ringpost [hardway]. Crazy match. [***3/4]
----125+ in the building. The biggest crowd to date. They could have fit very few more in that building. Some people were actually standing up…John Steele and Terance Ward at the announcer’s desk and did a good job. The things these guys talk about before the matches though. Wow!! …I wrote in my notes, “Mike Anthony needs a tan..” Yes, I know; wtf?? LOL….TGB did “The Golden Circle” in the ring before his bout. Both guys are good on the mic and TGB is money. You ever see a couple that you that you just know FIT together?? Moe/TGB have that kind of chemistry that could make some good TV…Greg King JR did an interview segment talking about returning to NEW and going after the US JR title. I spoke to King after the show and he is looking at probably a January, 2011 restart…Stryker has lost some weight and is a good looking kid, but still needs a lot of work…First three matches had pretty much the same finish with just a slight variation…Matthews sealed the “Rookie of the Year” award in my book with this bout and if Lane doesn’t get the top vote for Wrestler of the Year this year, I will be shocked…They showed clips from the past few weeks building up the main event – the angle where Kid juiced from the steps – OMG!! That guy can bleed!!...They ran a big angle after the match with everyone jumping in and Lane turned heel. Ken Wayne even got involved. Good stuff…When Eric did the dive, he hit the announcer’s table and Terrance Ward took a bump. Funniest thing of the night!!...Line of the night and funny on so many levels – Justin Smart after the match, “ I don’t juice.” LOL….Matches and booking was solid on this show. It should make the crowd want to come back for more. The promotion is also evolving into more old school type booking, but still has high impact moves. ..The show did go a little long, but they were taping 3 hours of TV including a 2 hour prime time special that airs this coming Saturday from 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM. ..Why is it that I only take photos of Reed and Kid??...Downtwon Bruno and Bill Hodges were the refs and both did a fine job…Thanks to cast and crew. A fun time was had by all, except for that damn dressing room door. LOL Oh yeah..what about those legs?? LOL
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| bloody Kid Nikels |
