NWA Anarchy gave their fans another outstanding night of wrestling entertainment last night in Cornelia.
It was built around a Rumble with 10 of Anarchy’s best competing to become the number one contender for Ace Rockwell’s Heavyweight Title, and another confrontation between the NWA Elite and Devil’s Rejects. They’ve moved on from pure annihilation as the motivating force. At least for now, it’s about who has the gold.
In my book, the shows since Hostile Environment have produced the best back-to-back television tapings in company history. The booking is firing on all cylinders. From the bottom of the card straight to the very top, every match has a story, and every program is over to a ridiculous level. Morale is at an all-time high. The in ring wrestling has matured without sacrificing creativity. Creative yet disciplined. No doing spots for the sake of a doing a spot. It’s all there for good reason.
The crowd of 180 ($1800 gate) wasn’t the least bit phased by the less-than-deal conditions inside the NWA Arena. (bell time temp close to 90). As wrestling fans go, some of these people are as rabid as they come. They were richly rewarded for their love of the product.
In a post on the Georgiawrestling.tk message board I stated that GCW could match NWA Anarchy for their level of talent. What I failed to mention is that Anarchy has in distinct advantage in depth. What had been one of Anarchy’s weaknesses has become a major strength. The combination of talent development and selective key additions has provided a major upgrade in the depth of the roster in recent months.
On to the show…
(1) World’s Prettiest Tag Team (Seth Delay & Adrian Hawkins) beat Anger Alliance (Brodie Chase & Brandon Phoenix with Adam Roberts) in 5:56. Chase and Roberts were having words as they entered outfitted in dress pants and button down shirts. Major babyface pop for World’s Prettiest. Chase was a big tease about taking off the trousers, to where Delay got fed up and pulled them down around the Stray Cat’s ankles. WP2T did one hell of a double arm wringer on Phoenix and turned it into a double monkey flip. But Delay’s arm slammed the post when Phoenix avoided his charge. The crowd got behind Delay pronto. He was dumped into the waiting arms of Roberts and subjected to further abuse. Back inside the ring, Chase tried to snap the arm off. Delay countered a Chase choke slam with a low blow. Phoenix’s interference backfired. Hot tag. Hawkins hit a springboard back elbow on Phoenix and Chase had to break up the pin. World’s Prettiest hit a double hotshot but Roberts made the save. They dispatched with Roberts, and Hawkins pinned Phoenix with the Unprettier. Double A was in disarray. Hour number one was off to a hot start.
Sexton lectured refs Brent Wiley and the Ken Wallace. I couldn’t make out the content here. He moved on console Wesley Grissom about getting pinned by Melissa Coates in his debut. Sexton told Grissom he had been placed in a no win situation. Tony Santaelli rudely interrupted. AGAIN. Sexton noted that Santarelli was in his gear. Santarelli said he came to the events dressed in business casual. “That’s how we do it in the E.” Santarelli was hamming it up great. He pleaded his case with Sexton. Sexton relented and gave Santarelli a match with Grissom. “Who the hell is Wesley?” said Santarelli. Sexton smartened Santarelli up. Santareill thanked Sexton profusely. Sexton tried to buoy Grissom’s spirits. “It only takes three seconds.”
Reverend Dan Wilson lead the Devil’s Rejects out and cut another great promo. The Rev commended Patrick Bentley on destroying Ace Rockwell’s knee and accused Slim J of stirring the pot. Wilson had ordained Iceberg, “wrestling’s only serial killer,” to be the winner of the Rumble and it was Bentley’s job to pave the way. Bentley was hanging on every word, like he was under Wilson’s warped spell. Wilson called Azrael and Shaun Tempers the combined legacy of two great teams (Lost Boys and Pomp & Circumstance). Wilson decreed that none of the Anarchy titles were safe.
(2) Devil’s Rejects (Azrael & Shaun Tempers with The Reverend Wilson) decimated Hustle Squad (Mike Pittman & Nick Halen) in 7:25. Hustle Squad was brought up from the farm system, so to speak. So was referee Wallace, who was making his Anarchy debut. They got an impressive pop for a jobber team making their second appearance in Anarchy. Rejects took them to the depths of hell for a savage beating. Pittman bumped too soon on an Azrael spinkick, but it should look OK from the hard camera angle. Azrael destroyed Pittman’s face with knees strikes. Tempers mowed Halen down with a double forearm to the chest. Halen did the double hiptoss-double uranage spot, and all I could think was what the f*** happened to Jay Fury. Azrael took Pittman’s head off with a running knee, but Halen made the save. Azrael turned Pittman inside out with a lariat. Rejects then spiked Pittman’s pointy skull into the mat with their new finisher, an assisted cutthroat reverse DDT. A great squash.
Dominous entered the ring and teased a choke slam on the jobbers. He was more agile than usual. But he goozled Azrael and Tempers instead. Wilson went crazy. Dominous finally released his grip, shoved Wilson down, and stalked out the front door.
(3) Tony Santarelli beat Wesley Grissom via submission in 6:37. Santarelli looks nothing like skinny kid that started in Wildside as Tony Stradlin, and he’s significantly larger than he was in Deep South Wrestling, but he still moves well. With all the negativity about DSW, one of the things that gets overlooked is the quality of the training for producing credible, precise execution in the ring. Santarelli’s work is a testament to that fact. The pop for Grissom was amazing. He generates as much empathy as any babyface this building has ever seen. Best heat so far and it’s not like the previous matches were lacking. Santarelli was a vision of supreme confidence. He lectured Grissom and patted him on the face. Santarelli let Grissom put him in a waistlock and escaped like the Houdini of the grappling world. Santarelli got on all fours and ordered Grissom to mount him. He kicked Santarelli in the ass instead. Santarelli attacked and it looked like a textbook case of child abuse. He tortured Grissom with an elevated leglock, and blasted him with shots to the kidneys. But there was no quit in Grissom, and the frustration was setting in. Santarelli crotched himself on the top rope after a missed high kick. Grissom hit the running SSP for a count of 2.5. Santarelli applied a wicked hammerlock/facelock combo for the tap out.
Santarelli humiliated Grissom in the postmatch and reapplied the submission. Sexton hit the ring. Santarelli ran away. The crowd popped as Sexton helped Grissom to the back. Security had to clean up a puddle of puke. I didn’t see it, but apparently Santarelli was the culprit.
Attorney Jeff G. Bailey lead the NWA Elite into the ring. He touted the Elite’s entry in the Rumble, “Universal Soldier’ Phil Shatter – “the one man walking genocide…the Aryan superman.” Bailey said Shatter would be tossing his opponents out like sacks of garbage. Bailey let Jeff Lewis know that his teammates were upset about his no show last time (Bailey explained that Abomination was away for the night taking care of Elite business.) Bailey told Lewis that the upcoming tag team title match was his shot at redemption, and it would be all good so long as he followed the lead of “Soul Assassin” Kory Chavis.
(4) Awesome Attraction (Austin Creed & Hayden Young) beat the NWA Elite (Jeff Lewis & Kory Chavis with Jeff G. Bailey) to retain the NWA Anarchy Tag Team Titles in 9:21. Creed has the star aura. He got an extended ear splitting pop that might have even outdone the ones Urban Assault Squad use to get. Any “Kory” chants with shouted down. It was Creed’s jabs vs. Chavis’ leg kicks until Creed trapped the leg and pounded Chavis in the face. Attraction doubled up on Lewis. He collided with Chavis. Lewis did his high elevation leaping leg drop on Lewis for a near fall. Attraction busted out a springboard elbow/reverse DDT combo. But Chavis was able to dump Creed and the Elite gave him a beating on the outside. Lewis went nuts with an aggressive attack on Creed. Chavis cut off Creed’s diving tag attempt with a corkscrew dropkick. That was sweet. Creed countered the Spinesplitta with a push up dropkick and made the hot tag. Young exploded on the Elite. He hit a flying bodypress on Lewis and Chavis saved. Bailey pulled out his ever-present vial of powder. But Young reversed the whip, and Lewis got powdered and pinned.
Bailey had heated words with Lewis after the match. Chavis played peacemaker.
(5) Derrick Driver & Steven Walters beat Hollywood Brunettes (Kyle Matthews & “The Wizard of Ahhhhs” Andrew Alexander) in 9:04 with a colossal assist from World’s Prettiest. Driver and Walters went right to work on Alexander’s arm. Matthews was in for the save after a slingshot elbow drop by Driver connected. The heat spot was seriously screwed up. It was the singular glaring glitch on the entire show. The Brunettes’ got things back on track with some spot on combo moves. Matthews got a pop with a stellar corner dropkick that snapped Walter’s head back. Alexander did the deal where he draped Walter’s arm over his own body to give him a two count. Driver was like a whirling dervish with the hot tag. Brunettes collided and he hit slingshot back suplex for a near fall. Then, he hit a killer swinging sitout face plant. It looked like it was over when Alexander rolled Driver up with a handful of tights, but he kicked out. Brunettes had Driver set up for the Sheeney Curse, but World’s Prettiest played spoilers. Driver rolled Alexander up for the three count. The fast and furious finishing sequence made the match.
On the WrestleVision screen, we saw Nemesis alerting Palmer that he had made it to the building after all. He asked for a spot in the Rumble. Palmer told Nemesis he would have been a lock if he had gotten there earlier, but it was no dice. Nemesis protested. Shadow Jackson entered to for a talk with his partner. Jackson asked Nemesis to accompany him to ringside for the match.
Former Anarchy Heavyweight Champion, Chad Parham informed Palmer it was his title and he was taking it. Parham wanted Palmer to confirm that he was getting the primo spot of entering the Rumble last. Palmer said he liked the “numero uno” on Parham’s tights, so Parham was going to be first.
Bill Behrens read a certified letter from Al Getz. In the letter, Getz maintained Anarchy was being discriminatory by not including Melissa Coates in the Rumble. Getz claimed the undefeated Coates was undefeated was being excluded from her rightful destiny. BB said Getz had enclosed a check to buy time on the show for Coates to display her physique.
Coates did a routine of body building poses. She was dressed in a bikini top, and an ultra short skirt with fishnet stockings. This was a surreal exhibition by one of the freakiest and most muscular women on the planet. The crowd chanted “she’s a man.” Coates responded by manhandling ring announcer Eddie Rich and laying out a security guy with her sitout facebuster.
Palmer came out with reinforcements and surrounded Coates. Only then did she leave the ring.
(6) Iceberg won a 10 man Rumble to become the number one contender for the NWA Anarchy Heavyweight Title in 21:34. Rules were over the top eliminations only with a fresh man entering every two minutes. The crowd heaped hate on Parham. Rinauro was the other starter. His babyface turn is taking bigtime. Rinauro has this great habit of keeping things interesting. They did a knuckle-lock lucha sequence, the highlight being Rinauro doing a sunset flip off of Parham’s shoulders. Parham yelled at Rinauro to slow it down. Rinauro did a running atomic drop, where Parham bumped over the top like he had springs implanted in his ass. Bentley entered the match with Wilson stationed at ringside. Parham took a breather and waited for a chance to jump Rinauro. Parham called for a Lost Boys spot, and Bentley joined him for a Time Warp on Rinauro. The entrance of Slim J got a huge pop. J pounded the bejeezus out of Bentley MMA style. Mr. Adonis entered as contestant number five for a 3 on 2 heel advantage. J took severe punishment here. Bentley gave him payback. Adonis pancaked him with a spinebuster. Jeremy Vain made it 4 against 2, and maximized the babyface sympathy for Rinauro and J. Wilson interfered to cut off Rinauro’s comeback attempt. Bentley hit the Dark Driver, and Rinauro was gone at the 10 minute mark as Truitt Fields entered. Fields clotheslined Adonis out at 10:34. J took Bentley over the top with a huracanrana and both were eliminated at 11 minutes. Parham and Vain worked together against Fields. Jackson entered to even the odds. He had the heels reeling. Vain tried to backdrop Jackson to the floor, but Jackson landed on the apron and eliminated Vain at 13:03. This set Parham up to be on the receiving end during the one and only time in the match that the babyface side had the numbers. Parham’s stinging chops had zero impact except to fire Jackson up. Bailey accompanied Shatter to the ring. Shatter powered former partner Fields out of the ring like he was a flyweight at 14:33. Bailey’s strategy called for Shatter to relax while his opponents beat each other senseless. Parham whined for Shatter to help him out against Jackson. Iceberg was the last man to enter. He went right at Shatter. Jackson hit a spinebuster slam on Parham and took him out with a lariat at 16:31. So it came down to Jackson against the twin forces of evil. Nemesis came out to second Jackson, who was going to need all the help he could get. Iceberg went on a rampage. Shatter and Jackson teamed up for a double suplex on Berg. The sense of cooperation was very short-lived. Shatter jumped Jackson. Nemesis was having his usual problems with impulse control and climbed up on the apron. He got heated with Wallace, who was telling him to get down. Nemesis did the right thing, but in the process, he pulled the ropes down spilling Jackson at 18:03. This was beautifully timed and left it totally ambiguous as to Nemesis’ true intentions. Rejects vs. Elite for the number one contendership. Cool. Shatter nailed Iceberg with a series high impact spots. Iceberg’s selling was awesome. Iceberg came back with a diving knee. Shatter did his signature fist drop. Shatter tried to dump Iceberg but couldn’t get it done. Shatter hit a rolling power slam. Shatter ended up on the apron. Iceberg clubbed him with a lariat and Shatter took a sick bump to end it. Iceberg’s “celebration” was cold and dark and bad ass. Shatter looked comatose. Bailey searched for signs of life. Shatter popped up with fire in eyes to where they had to hold him back. A masterful job of storytelling.
NOTES: Rockwell returns to Anarchy on the 8/18 show…J.T. Talent became the new Southern States Champion at the APW show Friday night by defeating Austin Creed with the use of a chain. Talent replaced Abomination in the Ty Cobb Street Fight. Jackson was successful in his first defense of the APW Heavyweight title beating Shatter. For 8/10, Talent defends the Southern States title and Friday Night Franchise gives Chris King & Billy Buck a tag title rematch…MAXW returns to the Municipal Center in Williamston, SC on 8/11 with Vain defending the heavyweight title against Jackson in a no DQ, falls count anywhere match…Also on 8/11, GWP is at Waleska Park with J and a mystery partner vs. Iceberg & Tempers with no DQ and no count outs. In a grudge match, Chavis faces a mystery opponent chosen by GWP Commissioner Palmer.
