In a major surprise, “The Universal Soldier” Shatter became the new NWA Anarchy Heavyweight Champion at the company’s bimonthly television taping in Cornelia last night.
Shatter wasn’t scheduled to be in the title match at all. It was Iceberg that had earned the shot at Ace Rockwell by eliminating Shatter to win the Rumble match at the last taping. But with Iceberg out of commission, Shatter took full advantage of his unexpected opportunity by defeating in an injured Ace Rockwell to bring the title home to Jeff G. Bailey's NWA Elite.
It was another quality taping carried by the strength of great storylines. Everyone has a role and they all play them well.
I would rank last night's show a notch below the recent tapings, mainly because the crowd reaction was down. And who could blame them? The record breaking heat wave that has gripped North Georgia over the last two weeks has taken a toll on everyone. They kept the air moving inside the NWA Arena as best they could, but 90 degrees is still 90 degrees. Even the Anarchy faithful, 165 strong (paying 1650), began to wilt as the evening wore on. The wrestling held up quite well, with standout performances by Slim J and Shatter in the main events.
The show opened with a 10 bell salute in honor of Karl Gotch. Todd Sexton said that with all the bad news in wrestling, the death of Gotch had not gotten its proper due. Sexton explained that Gotch was the originator of the German suplex (also the Scorpion Deathlock) and a pivotal figure in the development of the shoot style/MMA branch of pro wrestling. There’s a Gotch link to wrestling in Cornelia, from Boris Malenko through Tony Mamaluke and Jeremy Lopez to select members of the current roster.
Greg Hunter introduced “The Boss” Jerry Palmer. Palmer said this week reality had butted heads with wrestling. Palmer said he had three families: his biological family, his wrestling family, and the family of firefighters, his profession for 18 years. Palmer said that in the line of duty, Hall County firefighter Angie Roach had fallen through a floor, taken a 10 foot drop, and ended up pinned in the room where the fire originated. Palmer said Roach was in Grady Hospital recovering from severe second and third degree burns. Palmer then called four of the firefighters responsible for saving Roach’s life into the ring. The crowd gave them a standing ovation. Palmer told the men that they made him proud to wear the colors of the Hall County Fire Department. Palmer said that through the end of September $5 from every purchase of the Hostile Environment DVD would go to help injured firefighters. Palmer gave the firefighters a round of hugs and handshakes. Right to the heart. It’s moments like this that make wrestling in Cornelia so special.
(1) NWA Elite (Kory Chavis & Shatter & Abomination & Jeff Lewis with Jeff G. Bailey) dismantled Steven Walters & Chris King & Mike Pittman & Nick Halen in 5 minutes flat. This was a first class squash. The thing about it was that the Elite were ignoring Lewis and refusing to tag him into the match. Abomination gave “Oompah Loompah” Halen the Tree Slam, now known “Welcome to Auschwitz.” Lewis tagged in and immediately pinned Halen.
Bailey gave Lewis a tongue lashing. Lewis punched Bailey and he went airborne. Chavis gave Lewis the Spinesplitta and the beatdown was on. Dominous hit the ring and leveled Abomination with the kick of death, the first bump Abomination has taken in Anarchy. Dominous removed the mask to reveal Mikael Judas! A huge “welcome back” chant erupted. The place was buzzing. Judas squared off with Lewis. He gave Lewis a weird Satanic salute and exited out the front door. For his part, Lewis received a babyface response as he headed up the ramp. The postmatch was pretty much awesome.
On the big screen, Sexton was backstage with Wesley Grissom. Tony Santarelli interrupted and asked for another match. Sexton offered Santarelli a rematch against Grissom, but he would need a partner because he (Sexton) was teaming up with Grissom. Santarelli said he was a former Deep South Wrestling tag team champion so it was on. The camera followed Santarelli on his search for a partner. He encountered Anger Alliance. They said four was company and five was a crowd. In the next room, Santarelli found Terry Taylor. Taylor turned Santarelli down as well, but not before noting Santarelli’s added poundage. Santarelli said it was muscle bulk. Santarelli moved on to an area occupied by Andrew Pendleton III. Pendleton said he had been a tag team, but his partner left him high and dry. He accepted Santarelli’s offer. Santarelli threw his arm around Pendleton and started filling his head full of God only knows what, as they walked away. For low budget indie wrestling television, this was one hell of a tracking shot. Somewhere, Robert Altman is smiling.
(2) Jeremy Vain (with Mr. Adonis) beat Adrian Hawkins to retain the NWA Anarchy Television Title in 9:32. Good pop for Hawkins. Vain was more aggressive than usual in the early going. Hawkins responded with a strong babyface flurry. Vain bailed after Hawkins scored a near fall with a flying body press. Adonis had words with referee Harold James. Vain did a nifty take over spot where he hung Hawkins out to dry on a dropkick, and then catapulted his throat in the bottom rope. Vain did a rolling reverse into a rear chinlock. Hawkins broke it with a jawbreaker that was sold beautifully by Vain. Hawkins got a slew of near falls here. Vain answered with a gordbuster for a near fall. Hawkins hit the Unprettier, and Adonis jumped up on the apron to distract. James made the count before tending to Adonis, so Vain kicked out of the finisher. I’m thinking it was not supposed to go like that. Adonis grabbed Hawkins leg to set up the finish –a VKO followed by the VDT. Good match. The fans were into Hawkins, although not to where they believed he was going home with the title.
Postmatch, Hollywood Brunettes (Andrew Alexander & Kyle Matthews) gave Hawkins a haircut. Alexander told Matthews to mess his face up with that wicked corner dropkick. Then, they laid him out with the Sheeny Curse. Alexander whipped out a pair of scissors and went to work. He was tossing clumps of Hawkins’ hair like confetti. He didn’t take all of it, but Hawkins is definitely in need of a shorter hairstyle.
(3) Todd Sexton & Wesley Grissom beat Tony Santarelli & Andrew Pendleton III in 5:38. Another great pop for Grissom. Santarelli was greeted with a “puke” chant because of the unfortunate incident two weeks ago. He sent Pendleton out to face Sexton, and it wasn’t long before Pendleton was scrambling for a ropes break to escape a cross armbreaker. Santarelli wanted Grissom. The little guy got a brief flurry, but Santareill overpowered him and twisted his arm into some sick positions. Grissom managed to shove Santarelli face first into the top turnbuckle. Both men tagged. Sexton kicked Pendleton in the mush for a near fall and tagged out to Grissom. Santarelli kneed Grissom in the back, and while the ref was admonishing Santarelli, Sexton superkicked Pendleton and pulled Santarelli off the apron. Grissom pinned Pendleton with a running SSP to score his first win in Anarchy. Santarelli threw a fit and blew Pendleton off.
Slim J intro got the biggest babyface pop thus far. J said he wanted Patrick Bentley pronto. “The Rev” Dan Wilson lead Devil’s Rejects to ringside. Wilson said said he could make J’s dreams come to life and then slay them. The Rev said J could have Bentley, but he would have to get by Azrael and Shawn Tempers first.
(4) Patrick Bentley pinned Slim J after J had run through the Devil’s Rejects gauntlet of Azrael & Shaun Tempers (with “The Rev” Dan Wilson) in 16:43. Azrael was first, so this part had to be good. J was like a demon on Azrael’s arm. A wild flurry led to wicked series of MMA knees by J. Azrael hit the Old Testament and shredded J’s chest with chops. Those were some ugly welts. Azrael applied a body scissors choke submission. J came back with his body scissors bomb. Both men down for a count of eight. J hit the Screwdriver on the Rocks, but only managed a one-armed cover. Azrael dropped J on the top of his head with a brainbuster suplex for a near fall. Azrael tried for the slit throat piledriver, and J countered with the Detox Driver for the pin at 8:12. Tempers was all over J. Slimmy looked done in. Tempers gave J a side arm toss by the neck and tried to twist his head off. Powerslam for a long two count by Tempers. Out of nowhere, J did a victory roll and started pulling pinning combinations out of his ass. A pair of roundhouse kick and Fishermanbustah~! But Tempers kicked out. J went to the top. Wilson crotched him and tossed his staff to Tempers. He brained J for the DQ at 12:45. J was bleeding. Wilson cackled with glee at the sight of it. Bentley rubbed J’s blood on his body. Bentley was there in body, but it looked like his mind was in another world as he zeroed in J’s remains. Out of the blue, J put Bentley on the deck with wild windmilling blows. He hit the flying reverse DDT for a near fall.
But Bentley avoided a crazy aerial maneuver that sent J crashing into the turnbuckles. Bentley hit the Dark Driver and it was over. Best match of the show. Seems like I’ve been saying that a lot about J’s matches lately.
Intermission. The Anarchy announce team of Greg Hunter and John Johnson hawked the final available copies of the Hostile Enviroment DVD until they were sold out. Fans donated about $100 in cash to the injured firefighters in addition to the contributions from the DVD purchases.
(5) Anger Alliance (Brodie Chase & Brandon Phoenix & Adam Roberts & Don Matthews) beat Urban Assault Squad (Shadow Jackson & Nemesis) & Awesome Attraction (Austin Creed & Hayden Young) via DQ due to Nemesis’ piss poor impulse control (11:11). In the early going, Chase saw the Montefisto coming from Creed and cowered in fear. Creed sent Chase looking for cover after a pair of dropkicks. A schmazz broke out at ringside, and Young did a wild flip dive into a pile of bodies. After a valiant effort to fight off interference by the Alliance, Young got flip bumped off the top. Alliance put heat on Young. An awkward sequence ended with Chase pouncing Young to cut off a tag attempt. Spinning enzuigiri by Young for the double down spot. Hot tag coming up. Jackson hit a spinebuster slam on Matthews for a short-lived advantage. The heels trapped Jackson in the corner and gave him a four-on-one beating. Nemesis couldn’t take it and slugged referee Ken Wallace for the DQ. Nemesis came to his partner’s rescue, but the match was lost. Nemesis reluctantly shook hands with Creed and Young, but he had that stone cold glare going. This match worked for me. The finish told the story, and the Alliance looked like they belonged against the two most over tag teams in Anarchy.
Palmer was on the big screen talking about the Mysterious Benefactor Tag Team Tournament, which will start on 9/1. Alliance said they should be the number one contenders for the tag titles after winning the 8 man. Palmer told them that if needed to win the tournament to become the number one contenders. Parham showed up, as obnoxious as ever. He said nobody cared about this crap, because the people paid to see him, and he wanted his NWA Anarchy Heavyweight Title back. Truitt Fields showed up wanting a shot at the TV title. Palmer made a match between them with the winner getting their title shot.
Al Getz came out with Melissa Coates to issue another challenge. Instant “She’s a man” chant. Getz said the people couldn’t stand it because for once Anarchy had a strong, confident, beautiful woman that kicks ass. Getz said the people were looking at their next champion in the undefeated Coates.
(6) Melissa Coates destroyed Billy Buck in 5:18. Anarchy has done a great job of exploiting Coates’ unique transgender qualities to book her as a larger-than-life attraction. There’s a freakish Sports Entertainment element to these segments. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. When it comes to wrestling in Cornelia, variety is spice of life. This match added to Coates’ credibility against male wrestlers. Buck did a great job in his role. Buck isn’t tall, but he is thickly built, and he looked overmatched in the power and strength department. Coates destroyed him with power moves. Then she gave him a nutshot with a reverse atomic drop and stomped him in the kibbles and bits. Coates nailed Buck with a corner lariat and paused for a set of push ups. Coates chopped Buck. But Buck couldn’t bring himself to strike a woman. Coates took a boob bump into the buckles, and Buck rolled her up but only for a one count. Coates hit a power slam and finished the job with a sitout facebuster. Coates and Getz made a charming couple, as they circled the ring taunting the crowd to the sounds of “New York, New York.” Well done.
(7) Truitt Fields beat Chad Parham at 8:16 to earn a shot at the NWA Anarchy Television Title. Fields got a great pop, but not the insane pop he gets under more normal conditions. Parham rolled the apron after absorbing a shoulder block and looked stunned by Field’s explosive power. Fields did a gorilla press slam. Parham took a TO with Fields in hot pursuit. Parham turned the tide with a whip into the ring steps. Back inside the ring, Parham used the senton back splash and the back suplex for near falls. Parham applied a camel clutch. Hot comeback time. Parham made Fields look like a million bucks. Fields hit a powerslam to set up his finisher, but Parham blocked it. Parham fired back with stiff chops. Parham went for his jumping piledriver, and Fields countered with the Truitt Slam (sitout uranage) to pin the two-time former NWA Anarchy Heavyweight Champion clean in the middle. The finish got the big pop. It might have been even better without the glitch in the count.
Wilson entered with the Rejects for the title match. He told the fans that Iceberg wasn’t there for reasons that were none of their business, so Tempers was taking his place. Bailey came out with Shatter. He said that Shatter was the last man in the Rumble except for the fluke elimination by Iceberg, so he deserved the title shot. Palmer came to ringside. He said he hated to side with either the Elite or the Rejects, but fair was fair. He told Wilson to either produce Iceberg or take a hike. Wilson was sputtering and growling as he led the Rejects toward the back entrance.
(8) Shatter (with Jeff G. Bailey) pinned Ace Rockwell to become the new NWA Anarchy Heavyweight Champion in 9:28. The crowd wasn’t as amped as usual for Rockwell. He was limping noticeably as he approached the ring due to a legit knee injury. “There ain’t no fear in these eyes,” said Rockwell. Shatter pregnant dog slapped Rockwell. He got a receipt and charged at Rockwell, who pulled the ropes down to spill him over. Shatter teased taking the bump off the apron that eliminated him from the Rumble, except this time, he landed on his feet and caught Rockwell’s pescado. Back inside the ring, Shatter crushed Rockwell with a spinebuster. He pulled Rockwell up after a fallaway slam. Shattter hit a powerslam and pulled him up again. Rockwell landed on a seriously bad angle, and it looked like a sure neck injury, but thankfully not. Rockwell had no mobility on the comeback, so he fired off a barrage of punches and then a standing dropkick to the knee. Rockwell slowly made his way to the top for a flying bodypress. Shatter kicked out. Shatter went for the dreaded powerbomb, and Rockwell bit him in the knee. Rockwell hit the Aces High, but Shatter kicked out. The handwriting was on the wall for the champ. In desperation, Rockwell tried the Aces High off the ropes, but Shatter turned it into a power bomb straight to hell for the 1-2-3. Rockwell was out cold. The Elite celebrated victory. The match could only be so good, due to Rockwell’s injury. Shatter was the monster he needed to be.
Mikael Judas appeared on the ramp for a stare down with Shatter, who showed no fear whatsoever. Judas gave Shatter the thumbs down and departed.
NOTES: Here’s wishing a speedy recovery to Iceberg, who missed the show because he was hospitalized for treatment of an infection…Rockwell has tears in both the PCL and MCL. Since it’s not a complete tear, he’s going to try to rehab the knee, which will keep him out of action for several months…The 9/1 Anarchy TV taping will feature the opening matches of the Mysterious Benefactor Tag Team Tournament…Fright Night ’07 is going to be at the NWA Arena on 9/29…Salvatore Rinauro and Seth Delay worked the FIP shows in Crystal River and Arcadia, Fl this weekend…Roach’s injury was a freak accident. She had no way of knowing that she was perched on a small section of unusually thin flooring, which gave way due to the heat from below. The Hall County Fire Department is providing a round-the-clock guard for Roach during her hospitalization…MAXW returns to Williamston, SC on 9/8…The heat wave has been a blow to APW. Their crowds have fallen off badly due to the steam bath-like conditions inside the Royston Gym. For 8/24 APW has Jackson defending the APW title against Adonis, Buck & King (c) vs. Matthews & Vain, and the latest “Talent Show (as in J. T. Talent)” contestant.
