Showtime All-Star Wrestling – Episode 133 - TV Report by Larry Goodman

Showtime All-Star Wrestling – Episode 133

Airing on June 12, 2010 in Nashville on CW58

Taped April 17, 2010 in Nashville at Buffalo Billiards

LAST WEEK…Kid Kash had yet another bratty tantrum. He hijacked the match between J-Rod and Cody Melton and gave them each a taste of the ankle lock…Derrick King goaded Wolfie D into a match against the newest member of his crew, Johnny Bandana with a tag team title shot hanging in the balance, but Wolfie defeated Bandana despite tomfoolery by DKE.

Steve Hall and Reno Riggins opened from ringside at Buffalo Billiards. Derrick King interrupted to say that just like his good buddy Barack Obama, the buck stops here. King said he was taking matters into own hands with that cheat-to-win guy Wolfie D.

Michael Graham did solo commentary again. No explanation for Reno’s absence.

1 – SAW International Champion CHASE STEVENS vs. LANI KEALOHA

Stevens hit a shadow lariat and followed with a dropkick for a near fall. Kealoha was all fists and headbutts. He got two with a release fisherman suplex. Stevens leapfrogged Lani and rocked him with an uppercut forearm. The finish was a codebreaker followed by a reverse DVD. 

WINNER: Stevens in 1:56. Stevens’ new finisher didn’t look all that impressive. I think Kealoha is approaching the record for most jobs on SAW television held by Big Rig Brown.

Stevens was interviewed at ringside by Hall, who asked if Chase thought Andy Douglas had retired for real. God, that seems so long ago and it’s only been three months. Stevens said he was taking Douglas’ words at face value. Stevens thanked Douglas for seven years and wished him success. He said the last year was bad, but it taught him something about what he was made of. Stevens said no matter what Kid Kash said, he beat him for the title. Kash attacked Stevens from the blind side. They had a massive pull apart involving the babyface wrestlers, the referees, the whole nine yards. A descent into chaos Graham called it. He noted the irony of J-Rod and Melton trying to break it up. At one point, Kash had J-Rod in the ankle lock again. It ended with Kash and Reno glaring at each other.  

“Bond Girl” Leah Hulan and agent Kendra Anderson plugged the SAW taping later that evening at Buffalo Billiards in conjunction with the CMA festival.

An enraged Stevens cut a promo in the dressing room. Stevens said if Kash wanted to be a champion, he needed to act like a champion. If he wanted a title match, all he needed to do was ask face-to-face. Nevertheless, Stevens granted Kash a title match for next week. Rage will do that. 

Hall and Riggins were interrupted AGAIN, this time by Jon Michael Worthington. He’s added a soul patch. Worthington whined about being cheated and demanded a rematch with Ryan Genesis. So Genesis came out and said let’s go. Worthington said he was going to give Genesis a ten count to get out of the ring before he kicked his ass.  

2 – JOHN MICHAEL WORTHINGTON vs. RYAN GENESIS

Genesis got two near falls in the first 15 seconds. They battled outside the ring with Worthington coming out on top. Worthington controlled the body of the match with basic brawling.
Graham announced King vs. Wolfie as the main event of the hour. The action picked up when Genesis blocked a superplex and tried for a springboard double ax, only to get caught with a reverse atomic drop, but Genesis then planted Worthington with a spinebuster that left both men down. After an exchange of heavy blows, ref Joe Williams got knocked down on a Genesis enzuigiri. An unidentified guy in street clothes (Christian Jacobs) jumped into the ring and speared Genesis while Williams was down, and Worthington covered for the pin.

WINNER: Worthington in 5:20 after a mystery man speared Genesis. The spear looked great and that’s all that people will remember. I like Worthington as a brawler. I think Genesis can turn into a solid pro wrestler, but at this point he’s a green guy with a good look.

Instead of the usual Grumpy’s Bail Jumper of the Week, Leah introduced her Agent of the Week, Hope Martin-Redden. We learned that Hope was the first person Leah trusted to handle telephone calls. This lucky woman is on call to approve bonds at all hours of the night for the 19 Tennessee counties covered by Grumpy’s. 

Hall asked Emerson about is preparation for his upcoming match with Marc Anthony. Emerson remembered being one of the casualties when Anthony sawed his way into the SAW Mill (Episode 59 from August 2008) and said he was coming 110%.

3 – “Maniac” MARC ANTHONY vs. JESSE EMERSON

True to his words, Emerson was on Anthony as soon as he entered the ring. It didn’t help much. Anthony turned Emerson’s high crossbody attempt into a fallaway slam. Anthony clawed and punched and strangled and basically steamrollered the guy. Graham said they still had heard nothing from Hammerjack. Anthony also busted out a new move – kind of hybrid of a leg lariat and flying heel kick. Twice, Anthony charged in and ate Emerson’s boot. Only a momentary halt in the onslaught, though, as Anthony hit a butterfly suplex and finished with a diving headbutt off the top that was gold.   

WINNER: Anthony in 2:55. Anthony looked great. He sold more for Emerson than the run-of-the-mill jobber meat.  

Anthony’s insanity exploded into violence. He tossed two bars tools into the ring and heaved one of those heavy high top tables in. Juice the doorman hit the ring. Anthony fired one of the stools at his head. It connected and Juice went down like a ton of bricks. Anthony chucked the table into the vicinity of the guy manning the hard camera. Anthony then hit a wicked looking top rope elbow on Juice. Billiards owner Greg Morris started shouting at Anthony. Graham expressed concerned that SAW might not be welcome to do any more shows there.

The next segment was a replay of Anthony’s bad behavior.

Next up was Drew Tube with “Teen Excitement” Drew Haskins. Haskins was outside Buffalo Billiards, still unable to gain entrance. “They don’t know who they’re dealing with,” he said. Haskins claimed to be a much better singer than Justin Bieber. They cut to footage of Haskins in a karaoke bar singing “Kung Fu Fighting”. Naturally, his singing was beyond horrible. A bouncer tossed him out on the sidewalk with Haskins taking an exaggerated wrestling style pratfall. Haskins bowed up and was repeatedly shoved away by the security guy. Back outside Buffalo Billiards, Haskins was unfazed. “But I’m a better professional wrestler than you are, and I have cooler hair than you do. Justin Bieber, if I ever see you on the street, you best believe, you’re mine!”   

We got a replay of King calling Wolfie out at the start of the hour followed by a freshly minted King video. 

4 – WOLFIE D vs. DERRICK KING (with Johnny Bandana & Sista O’Feelyah & Half Dolla)

Graham revealed that a stipulation had been added, presumably by Reno but it wasn’t stated – a win by King would earn DKE a tag team title shot. King came out firing. Wolfie reversed King in the corner and gave him a high backdrop. King bailed, but Wolfie stayed on him. King cut Wolfie off as he reenteed the ring. King used the Lawler jabs and decked Wolfie with a haymaker for a two count. Bandana did a little dirty work on the outside. Wolfie turned it on. He gave King the 10 punches with a pelvic thrust exclamation point. Wolfie hit a bulldog for a near fall, then his reverse DDT/elbow drop finisher. O’Feelyah got on the apron. Wolfie started after O’Feelyah, then grabbed Dolla and threw him into the ring. While Wolfie was threatened to punch Dolla in one corner, O’Feelyah was in another corner taking off her boots. Time stood still before O’Feelyah jumped on Wolfie’s back. Wolfie dumped her hard on the tailbone. The ref was busy with O’Feelyah and didn’t see King nail Wolfie right in the face with the boot shot from hell.      

WINNER: King in 4:04 by applying O’Feelyah’s boot to Wolfie’s face. Match was about as good it could be given the time allotted. Finish was a mixed bag. The stuff involving Dolla and O’Feelyah looked like amateur hour, but the boot shot was awesome.

COMMENTS: This made it two mediocre episodes in a row for SAW, and that’s been a rarity. Much like last week’s show, it was situation where the whole was less than the sum of the parts. There was more than the usual amount of highlight reel moments – Anthony’s devastating top rope moves, King’s boot shot, and Anthony’s postmatch psychosis all come to mind. I’d even throw Haskins karaoke as a goofy comedy moment. But there has not been a wrestling match of any real substance on either of the last two shows…There were a several things that bothered me about this episode. There was nothing wrong with the pull apart per se. The problem is the numbing effect of too many of them in too short a period of time. The letters TNA just flashed across my brain for some reason. Announcing the added stipulation with the match already in progress was slipshod as hell. What happened to Commissioner Freddie Morton? It was a dead giveaway that King was going over. I’m guessing they had to improvise stuff to keep DKE/PG-13 going because JC Ice wasn’t there, but it didn’t work this time around. As funny as the Drew Tube segment was, I hated seeing a wrestler, even a punk heel like Haskins, getting manhandled by a non-wrestler of equal size. As much as it makes for an interesting setting for TV, I’m beginning to wonder about taping at Buffalo Billiards. It came across like people were there to drink and be seen on TV than they were there to see wrestling…SAW’s new editor, Brian Thompson, did a fine job. He did work for Riggins back in the day. The camera switches were smooth and the shot selection was spot on…It’s been two years since the first Anthony vignettes appeared on SAW television, but it doesn’t feel like he’s been “in the territory” nearly that long. Between Paul Adams’ booking and Anthony’s skills as performer, they have done an amazing job of protecting the mystique of his character. It’s been just the right mix of vignettes, violent squash matches, and minimal but meaningful tests against top competition to avoid overexposure. In general, one of SAW’s strong points is keeping characters alive even when they’re off television, like what they are currently doing with Hammerjack…Next week is the last episode of three shot at Buffalo Billiards before the flood.