----SAW results from Larry Goodman.
Showtime All-Star Wrestling’s second full blown television taping at Morton’s Auction House in Columbia, TN had a much more positive outcome than the first one.
For one thing, the last two matches topped anything from taping numero uno, and were probably the two best SAW matches in recent months.
They also drew a larger, hotter crowd – a packed house or 160. Thus far, the fans at Freddie’s are vastly different than the crowd at the original SAW Mill in Millersville. They have the attention span to handle a three hour television taping, saving their best heat for the two key matches at the end.
Most importantly, the tape is safe and sound in Nashville. The whereabouts of the footage from their debut taping will probably never be known, as some creep stole it along with all of their production equipment.
Like the previous taping, last night’s show was in conjunction with the RTW promotion that runs the building every week.
(1) Shane Morton and Sexy C went to time limit draw. Watching this match was quite the adjustment coming off of the TNA show the night before. Morton hit a superkick and the bell rang. Must have been a very short time limit because they only went six minutes or so. Definitely not for TV.
(2) Jesse Emerson (with Paul Adams & Ultra Tall Italian Girl) beat JT Quest (with Xstacy) in 7:20. Adams got the old “towel boy” chant. Hadn’t heard that in a while. Quest has a classic mullet, It’s almost Kenny Powers quality. He’s the best of the RTW guys. He even looks like pro wrestler. The A-Team’s new girl (Len Rossi’s granddaughter) looked more comfortable at ringside. She’s an interesting project. Ultra green but with a totally unique look – very tall and very Italian. Emerson’s entrance music is a perfect fit for a heel lawyer. The girls teased getting into to it. Emerson took advantage of the distraction. Crowd was hot JT to make a comeback. He got a near fall with a powerslam, but got distracted by the girls again, and Emerson got him with the Alabama Slam.
(3) “King” Shane Williams beat JP Magnum in 6:30. Williams now had the proper regal entrance music. His tights were straight out of Lawler’s closet. Magnum’s power game left Williams in a daze. The crowd was really getting behind him. Magnum has major league size and he was in with an awesome heel. Williams does Lawler in reverse. He pulls the strap up to signal his big comeback. Williams hit a fist drop to set up the piledriver. Magnum escaped with a backdrop. As Magnum went for a back suplex, Williams nailed him with his trusty chain.
(4) Derrick King Enterprises (Derrick King & Drew Haskins with Sista O’Feelyah) beat Johnny Gunz & Norman Cross to retain the SAW Tag Team Championship in 8:16. It was painful to watch the local heroes giving it to DKE. There’s no way the champions should be doing extended selling for opponents of this caliber. Gunz was particularly horrible. Haskins pinned Cross after a slice ‘n dice guillotine leg drop. Most entertaining highlight was King and O’Feelyah taunting this big ass redheaded woman in the first row after the match.
(5) Blackjack Brown made short work of Johnny Bandana (with Sista O’Feelyah). Brown is a large, pistol shooting cowboy with a lot of mileage on him. Bandana was rattled by the cap guns popping off at him. Brown shrugged off Bandana’s punches and pinned him with a lariat to keep the hapless Bandana’s winless streak in tact.
(6) JP Magnum beat Jocephus via DQ in 7:15. Magnum was over based on the earlier match. This venture wasn’t nearly as successful. The heat died. Jocephus physically has the Bruiser Brody thing going bigtime, but where’s the wild and crazy persona? He only had one facial expression - a wide eyed blank look that didn’t communicate much of anything. They brawled and threw a lot of punches. At this point, the show had an overabundance of punches and not enough wrestling. Jocephus used a snake eyes style hotshot for a near fall. It could be a great move for him, if he perfects the technique and timing. Jocephus choked Magnum and ignored Kurt Herron’s warnings. Jocephus finally clubbed Herron to the mat. Magnum and Jocephus continued to fight until the riff raff in the locker room came out to break it up.
(7) Johnny Gunz beat Sexy C via DQ in 3:53. Not for TV. Kids were chanting “jelly rolls” at C. He brought a table in and put Gunz through it with a top rope splash. Referee Jesse Fields was the best thing about the match. He got it across that C’s action was out of bounds, because the crowd loved the table spot. The point of this was to set up a tables match between these two for next week. What sucked was the table spot screwed up one of the boards in the ring.
(8) Ryan Genesis beat Jesse Emerson (with Paul Adams & Ultra Tall Italian Girl) via DQ in 10:03. They had a good match. The girl was slapping hands with the fans on her way to the ring. Oh well, all in good time I guess. Emerson got a “Jesse sucks” chant. They worked some reversals on the mat. An exchange of strikes saw Genesis throw the chop of the night. Emerson avoided a repeat attempt at a corner lariat and hit a back suplex to take over. Emerson used a cobra clutch here. Genesis capped off a great looking comeback with a spinebuster. Emerson hit a uranage for a near fall. Genesis countered the Alabama Slam. Adams ran distraction so Emerson could deliver a low blow, but Herron caught him for the DQ.
(9) Tommy Mercer beat Chad Williams via submission in 7 minutes. Williams is an Ohio guy with an excellent physique. Mercer rode Williams and slapped him the back of the head. Williams didn’t take kindly to the intimidation. Mercer bailed with Williams in hot pursuit. Mercer posted his shoulder. Back inside, Mercer used a Fujiwara armbar. Williams ralled ever so briefly. He looked kind of stiff. Mercer slapped on a crossarmbreaker and Wililams tapped.
Mercer’s path of destruction continued in the postmatch, as he Pillmanized William’s arm.
(10) Antonio Cathey beat Nick Iggy in 2:43. Another not for TV affair. Babyface vs. babyface. Iggy was trained by Reno Riggins. He hit a nice front flip splash. Cathey got the pin with a backslide.
(11) Derrick King Enterprises (Derrick King & Drew Haskins with Johnny Bandana & Sista O’Feelyah) beat Picture Perfect (Jon Michael Worthington & Christian Jacobs) to retain the SAW Tag Team Championship in 21:51. It’s rare to see a tag match of this length with the flow and sustained heat that this one had. It was also the first time these teams had met. Formerly heels, Picture Perfect were cast as the babyfaces, and that aspect could not have worked better. They got off on the right foot with the crowd popping when PP cleared the ring. Haskins went into his bumping and selling routine. At one point, King howled at the top of his lungs, and the crowd ate that up as well. DKE finally trapped Jacobs in their corner. Massive chicanery ensued. Worthington was beside himself. Bandana has attitude. The guy is awesome at ringside. He has a knack for doing all the right things. If there were still managers on the major league level, this guy would be one. King said he had two words for the big red head – “lose weight”. Even she had to give him props. The hope spots worked great. On one of them, Jacobs hooked King with a lariat like he was Stan Hansen. Worthington cleaned house. Jacobs hit a uranage on Haskins and King saved. King hit a spinning X Factor on Jacobs and Worthington made the save. Worthington ducked King’s superkick and threw a haymaker. King ducked. Worthington put on the brakes to avoid hitting the ref, and King got him with a belt shot. Just an outstanding old fashioned tag match.
(12) Chase Stevens beat Shane Williams in 25:30. With SAW's two best workers facing off, this had to be good. This good, I didn't expect. The crowd saved their biggest intro pop for Stevens. Williams (in leopard skin tights) got panicky when Stevens put his crown on. Williams used hit and run tactics to get under Stevens’ skin. Naturally, a receipt was forthcoming. Williams decided he wanted to box with a boxer. You know how that turned out. Williams grounded Stevens in a headscissors and really applied the pressure. Can’t remember the last time I saw one used so effectively. Stevens broke it with a nip up, which got a big pop. Williams used the tights to toss Stevens through the ropes. He went out fast and landed hard. With Stevens on the apron, Williams twice knocked him off with the UFO he had concealed in his tights. Williams then ran Stevens into the post. Williams was majorly disturbed when Stevens kicked out after all that. He pulled the strap up. Williams hit the Hard Knox Life (DDT). Stevens kicked out again. When Williams went for the ropes-mounted fist drop, Stevens got his boots up. Stevens hit the ax kick and a snap power slam for near falls. William hit a tornado DDT but Stevens was in the ropes. Williams went for the foreign object again, and Stevens caught him with his reverse DVD for the pin.
Mercer attacked Stevens and tried to get him in the armbar. A boatload of guys ran out to separate them, and they just kept going at it. Picture Perfect and DKE got involved and there were three fights going on at once. It was a wild way to end the evening.
For one thing, the last two matches topped anything from taping numero uno, and were probably the two best SAW matches in recent months.
They also drew a larger, hotter crowd – a packed house or 160. Thus far, the fans at Freddie’s are vastly different than the crowd at the original SAW Mill in Millersville. They have the attention span to handle a three hour television taping, saving their best heat for the two key matches at the end.
Most importantly, the tape is safe and sound in Nashville. The whereabouts of the footage from their debut taping will probably never be known, as some creep stole it along with all of their production equipment.
Like the previous taping, last night’s show was in conjunction with the RTW promotion that runs the building every week.
(1) Shane Morton and Sexy C went to time limit draw. Watching this match was quite the adjustment coming off of the TNA show the night before. Morton hit a superkick and the bell rang. Must have been a very short time limit because they only went six minutes or so. Definitely not for TV.
(2) Jesse Emerson (with Paul Adams & Ultra Tall Italian Girl) beat JT Quest (with Xstacy) in 7:20. Adams got the old “towel boy” chant. Hadn’t heard that in a while. Quest has a classic mullet, It’s almost Kenny Powers quality. He’s the best of the RTW guys. He even looks like pro wrestler. The A-Team’s new girl (Len Rossi’s granddaughter) looked more comfortable at ringside. She’s an interesting project. Ultra green but with a totally unique look – very tall and very Italian. Emerson’s entrance music is a perfect fit for a heel lawyer. The girls teased getting into to it. Emerson took advantage of the distraction. Crowd was hot JT to make a comeback. He got a near fall with a powerslam, but got distracted by the girls again, and Emerson got him with the Alabama Slam.
(3) “King” Shane Williams beat JP Magnum in 6:30. Williams now had the proper regal entrance music. His tights were straight out of Lawler’s closet. Magnum’s power game left Williams in a daze. The crowd was really getting behind him. Magnum has major league size and he was in with an awesome heel. Williams does Lawler in reverse. He pulls the strap up to signal his big comeback. Williams hit a fist drop to set up the piledriver. Magnum escaped with a backdrop. As Magnum went for a back suplex, Williams nailed him with his trusty chain.
(4) Derrick King Enterprises (Derrick King & Drew Haskins with Sista O’Feelyah) beat Johnny Gunz & Norman Cross to retain the SAW Tag Team Championship in 8:16. It was painful to watch the local heroes giving it to DKE. There’s no way the champions should be doing extended selling for opponents of this caliber. Gunz was particularly horrible. Haskins pinned Cross after a slice ‘n dice guillotine leg drop. Most entertaining highlight was King and O’Feelyah taunting this big ass redheaded woman in the first row after the match.
(5) Blackjack Brown made short work of Johnny Bandana (with Sista O’Feelyah). Brown is a large, pistol shooting cowboy with a lot of mileage on him. Bandana was rattled by the cap guns popping off at him. Brown shrugged off Bandana’s punches and pinned him with a lariat to keep the hapless Bandana’s winless streak in tact.
(6) JP Magnum beat Jocephus via DQ in 7:15. Magnum was over based on the earlier match. This venture wasn’t nearly as successful. The heat died. Jocephus physically has the Bruiser Brody thing going bigtime, but where’s the wild and crazy persona? He only had one facial expression - a wide eyed blank look that didn’t communicate much of anything. They brawled and threw a lot of punches. At this point, the show had an overabundance of punches and not enough wrestling. Jocephus used a snake eyes style hotshot for a near fall. It could be a great move for him, if he perfects the technique and timing. Jocephus choked Magnum and ignored Kurt Herron’s warnings. Jocephus finally clubbed Herron to the mat. Magnum and Jocephus continued to fight until the riff raff in the locker room came out to break it up.
(7) Johnny Gunz beat Sexy C via DQ in 3:53. Not for TV. Kids were chanting “jelly rolls” at C. He brought a table in and put Gunz through it with a top rope splash. Referee Jesse Fields was the best thing about the match. He got it across that C’s action was out of bounds, because the crowd loved the table spot. The point of this was to set up a tables match between these two for next week. What sucked was the table spot screwed up one of the boards in the ring.
(8) Ryan Genesis beat Jesse Emerson (with Paul Adams & Ultra Tall Italian Girl) via DQ in 10:03. They had a good match. The girl was slapping hands with the fans on her way to the ring. Oh well, all in good time I guess. Emerson got a “Jesse sucks” chant. They worked some reversals on the mat. An exchange of strikes saw Genesis throw the chop of the night. Emerson avoided a repeat attempt at a corner lariat and hit a back suplex to take over. Emerson used a cobra clutch here. Genesis capped off a great looking comeback with a spinebuster. Emerson hit a uranage for a near fall. Genesis countered the Alabama Slam. Adams ran distraction so Emerson could deliver a low blow, but Herron caught him for the DQ.
(9) Tommy Mercer beat Chad Williams via submission in 7 minutes. Williams is an Ohio guy with an excellent physique. Mercer rode Williams and slapped him the back of the head. Williams didn’t take kindly to the intimidation. Mercer bailed with Williams in hot pursuit. Mercer posted his shoulder. Back inside, Mercer used a Fujiwara armbar. Williams ralled ever so briefly. He looked kind of stiff. Mercer slapped on a crossarmbreaker and Wililams tapped.
Mercer’s path of destruction continued in the postmatch, as he Pillmanized William’s arm.
(10) Antonio Cathey beat Nick Iggy in 2:43. Another not for TV affair. Babyface vs. babyface. Iggy was trained by Reno Riggins. He hit a nice front flip splash. Cathey got the pin with a backslide.
(11) Derrick King Enterprises (Derrick King & Drew Haskins with Johnny Bandana & Sista O’Feelyah) beat Picture Perfect (Jon Michael Worthington & Christian Jacobs) to retain the SAW Tag Team Championship in 21:51. It’s rare to see a tag match of this length with the flow and sustained heat that this one had. It was also the first time these teams had met. Formerly heels, Picture Perfect were cast as the babyfaces, and that aspect could not have worked better. They got off on the right foot with the crowd popping when PP cleared the ring. Haskins went into his bumping and selling routine. At one point, King howled at the top of his lungs, and the crowd ate that up as well. DKE finally trapped Jacobs in their corner. Massive chicanery ensued. Worthington was beside himself. Bandana has attitude. The guy is awesome at ringside. He has a knack for doing all the right things. If there were still managers on the major league level, this guy would be one. King said he had two words for the big red head – “lose weight”. Even she had to give him props. The hope spots worked great. On one of them, Jacobs hooked King with a lariat like he was Stan Hansen. Worthington cleaned house. Jacobs hit a uranage on Haskins and King saved. King hit a spinning X Factor on Jacobs and Worthington made the save. Worthington ducked King’s superkick and threw a haymaker. King ducked. Worthington put on the brakes to avoid hitting the ref, and King got him with a belt shot. Just an outstanding old fashioned tag match.
(12) Chase Stevens beat Shane Williams in 25:30. With SAW's two best workers facing off, this had to be good. This good, I didn't expect. The crowd saved their biggest intro pop for Stevens. Williams (in leopard skin tights) got panicky when Stevens put his crown on. Williams used hit and run tactics to get under Stevens’ skin. Naturally, a receipt was forthcoming. Williams decided he wanted to box with a boxer. You know how that turned out. Williams grounded Stevens in a headscissors and really applied the pressure. Can’t remember the last time I saw one used so effectively. Stevens broke it with a nip up, which got a big pop. Williams used the tights to toss Stevens through the ropes. He went out fast and landed hard. With Stevens on the apron, Williams twice knocked him off with the UFO he had concealed in his tights. Williams then ran Stevens into the post. Williams was majorly disturbed when Stevens kicked out after all that. He pulled the strap up. Williams hit the Hard Knox Life (DDT). Stevens kicked out again. When Williams went for the ropes-mounted fist drop, Stevens got his boots up. Stevens hit the ax kick and a snap power slam for near falls. William hit a tornado DDT but Stevens was in the ropes. Williams went for the foreign object again, and Stevens caught him with his reverse DVD for the pin.
Mercer attacked Stevens and tried to get him in the armbar. A boatload of guys ran out to separate them, and they just kept going at it. Picture Perfect and DKE got involved and there were three fights going on at once. It was a wild way to end the evening.
NOTES: SAW/RTW returns to action in Columbia next Friday with Flash Flanagan, Tracy Taylor and Sexy C vs. Johnny Gunz in a tables match. The matches involving Flanagan and Taylor will be taped for television…The next big event on SAW’s agenda is “The Fight Before Christmas!” at Freddie Morton’s in Columbia on December 11. Former champion Chase Stevens gets his rematch with current SAW International Heavyweight Champion “The Universal Solider” Phil Shatter. Tommy Mercer and Vordell Walker are also advertised…Shatter got rave reviews for his match versus Charlie Haas Saturday night in Sherman, TX. Shatter was defending his NWA National Heavyweight Championship. He also headlined the November 6 PWF iPPV vs. Sheik. That show is available on Go Fight Live for 9.99…Reno Riggins missed the taping due to a family issue…Neither Michael Graham or Dan Masters were there either, so the commentary will have to be voiced over at later date, most likely by Graham…Sawonline.tv webmaster Chuck Schwartz handled the ring announcing…As to the status of the Walker/J-Rod tag team, J-Rod informed the promotion that he would not be able to make the show. Walker wasn’t booked…The next NSF show is November 27 in Temple, TX at the Wilson Rec Center featuring Genesis, Stevens and the Tennessee Connection.
