NWA Wrestling Showcase
by SamoaRowe
January 23, 2008
-Please head over to www.nwawrestling.com to watch this (and last) week's episode in it's full, commercial-free glory! I mean it, people, there is no good reason to not support this product right now.
-The show opens with Sean Denny, who is going to be taking on Bryan Danielson tonight. Denny promises to take Danielson to the limits and welcomes him to the Mid-Atlantic
-Rob Conway and David Marquez are hosting the festivities again. They are missing the showgirls from last week, sadly.
The Young Bucks vs. Black Tiger IV and Cobra II
Matt and Nick Jackson are the brothers known together
as the Young Bucks. They come across as the billionth
team that wants so badly to be the Hardy's. Cobra and
Black Tiger aggressively jump the Bucks, but are soon
victim to the high flying offense the Bucks offer. The
Bucks hit stereo cross bodies over the top rope to the
floor. Matt and Cobra are the legal men, and go
through the back and forth motions. Matt hits some
chops, but gets Irish whipped into a blind tag to his
brother, Nick. The Young Bucks double team Cobra. Nick
misses a suplex, but Cobra tags in Black Tiger, who
runs straight into a back body drop. Nick hits an off
the ropes arm drag, and forces Black Tiger to fly into
the invading Cobra II. Black Tiger avoids a double
team attempt from the Bucks, and takes control as we
head to a break.
After the break, Black Tiger is still in charge and is
applying a chinlock to Matt Jackson. Cobra and Black
Tiger are heels, since they are foreigners. I could
get sick of this type of booking really fast. Matt
goes for a crucifix, but his momentum is quickly
halted. Cobra holds Matt still for a face drop-kick
from Black Tiger. Matt continues to be the face in
peril, and eats some buzz saw kicks. Cobra and Black
Tiger make a tag, and double team Matt. Cobra chokes
Matt with his wrist tape, while the referee is
distracted by Nick. The crowd was unhappy about that.
Cobra corners Matt with a charging head butt, but then
misses a second attempt and flies to the floor. Nick
tags in and cleans house on the evil foreigners. This
doesn't last, as Cobra kicks the back of his leg and a
double team follows. Desperate enziguri and spin heel
kick by Nick, and chaos follows as Matt rushes the
ring for a save. The Young Bucks are in trouble as
Nick eats a modified Hart Attack. The Young Bucks
regain the upper hand, Matt hit's a rolling fireman's
carry, which sets up Nick for a moonsault. Nick stalls
for too long and gets powder tossed into his face,
which costs the Bucks the match at around 8 minutes. I
wasn't too impressed by this booking, but the live
audience was sucked into it, **1/4.
Winners: Black Cobra II and Tiger Mask IV
-After the match, the foreigners taunt the crowd while the blinded Young Buck rolls around in agony. The referee is clueless.
-We see One Man Gang in attendance at NWA Fanfest Weekend. OMG claims he's been signing autographs for the last four hours and is pleased with all the old faces he's bumped into. He puts himself over as an NWA legend and puts over the NWA World title as the biggest belt in the business.
-Conway and Marquez react to the tag match and introduce Bryan Danielson vs. Sean Denny, which was taped in Charlotte, NC.
Sean Denny vs. Bryan Danielson
Handshake starts the match, and Danielson takes Denny
down right away. Denny reverses into a wristlock and
the match restarts. Test of strength which is
eventually won by Denny, who then places himself on
top of Danielson. Danielson counters into a side
headlock. Danielson reverses a head scissors attempt
onto a leg lock. They get to their feet and we head to
a commercial.
Post break, Danielson is working over the arm. Denny
reverses. Danielson rolls out and hit's a drop-kick.
Danielson goes back to work on the arm. Denny counters
out and hit's a drop-kick. Danielson offers another
handshake, BUT IT WAS A TRICK! Danielson stomps and
hit's a European uppercut, followed by a double
underhook suplex. I'll note the commentators are still
talking about the NWA title tournament, which means
this match took place last summer. Back to the match,
Danielson forces Denny into a surfboard! Danielson
rocks Denny into a dragon sleeper. Denny gets a rope
break, but Danielson remains in charge, connecting
with hard kicks to the chest. Running kick to the
chest by Danielson, who applies a jack-knife cover for
a 2 count. Chop by Danielson pisses off Denny, who
fires back with chops of his own. Denny charges into
Danielson's boot and gets taken down by a running
kick. Danielson gets a cover for 2, and applies a
crossface variation. Danielson ruthlessly hits some
hard strikes and kicks. Denny hits some desperate
kicks and gets a back body drop. Clotheslines by
Denny, but can't get the suplex. Danielson hit's a
snap suplex and goes high risk with a diving head
butt! Cover only gets 2. Danielson locks in the Cattle
Mutilation, but Danielson is on his back, and Denny
picks up a fluke victory at 8:32! Danielson execution
was great, as always, but this was an extended squash
with a novelty finish, **1/4.
Winner: Sean Denny
-After the match, Danielson throws a fit and beats down Denny. Danielson locks in Cattle Mutilation again and finds time to hit some MMA elbow shots, before an ally of Denny's chases him out of the ring.
-Marquez and Conway are surprised with how the Denny/Danielson match went down. Conway puts over the NWA as a company where "Anything can happen." Conway thinks the fans want to see a Conway match next, and Marquez isn't sure they even have a Conway match to show.
Don Juan vs. Rob Conway
Conway is stalling heavily in the early going, as he
finds it important to threaten some rowdy fans. Don
Juan patiently waits patiently for Conway to stop
wasting time. They finally tie up, and Conway shoves
Juan into the corner. More stalling by Conway. Juan
fishes for face heat by clapping, and hey, it works!
Another tie up, but it's broken in the ropes. Juan
hits some shots. Conway floors him, as the
commentators put over Ring of Honor and FIP, as Juan
has appeared for both promotions. Side headlock by
Juan, but Conway breaks it. Shoulder block by Juan
sends Conway to the floor, as Juan plays to the crowd.
We head to a commercial.
After the break, Juan is working a side headlock
again. Juan blocks a hip toss and hits one of his own.
Conway stalls on the floor while Juan plays to the
crowd. Conway gets back and works the wrist. Juan
counters into a headlock, and then catches Conway with
a knee between the legs. Conway fires back with a
clothesline. Conway chokes Juan in the ropes and rakes
the face. Conway drives a knee to the face and gets an
arrogant cover for 2. Conway hit's a hard Irish whip
and taunts the crowd. Chinlock by Conway, who declares
that "Don Juan sucks!" Juan fights out of the hold and
hits some forearm shots. Conway catchs Juan with a
sleeper. Juan is brought back to life by crowd support
(or so the announcers say) and Juan applies a sleeper,
which Conway counters with a nasty suplex! Conway
climbs the second rope, but misses an elbow drop. Juan
hits some forearm shots and a series of clotheslines.
Juan gets a cover for 2. Juan hits Conway with
turnbuckle punches, but Conway shots Juan off the
ropes into a spear. Conway hit's a rope assisted
spinning neck breaker for the win at 9:22. This was a
very good back and forth match when I was expecting a
squash, so huzzah! **3/4.
Winner: Rob Conway
-Conway and Marquez talk about the Adam Pearce vs. Sean Waltman main event. Conway says he has a lot of respect for both men.
NWA Heritage Championship:
"Scrap Iron" Adam Pearce © (with C. Edward Vanderpyle)
vs. Sean Waltman
Pearce clotheslines Waltman while the referee is still
checking him over. Waltman quickly comes back with a
spinning heel kick and head scissors Pearce to the
floor. Waltman hit's a flying cross body over the top.
Pearce is driven into the guard rail by Waltman.
Pearce drives Waltman crotch-first into the ring post
and returns to the ring. Vanderpyle chokes Waltman,
while Pearce taunts the fans in the ring. Pearce takes
a rest on the ropes, hoping that Waltman will be
counted out. Waltman returns, and is stomped down.
Pearce chokes in the corner. Pearce hit's a big back
body drop and goes for the cover, but gets 2. Pearce
chokes on the ropes and gets another blind assist from
Vanderpyle. Chop by Pearce and a hard Irish whip.
Waltman gets a boot to the face, but runs into a power
slam by Pearce. Chinlock by Pearce. Waltman escapes,
but Pearce goes to work on his legs. Pearce slams
Waltman's leg into the apron. With that, we head to
commercial.
After the break, Pearce is continuing to work over
Waltman's legs. Pearce applies the figure four
leglock. Vanderpyle helps add some leverage by
grabbing Pearce's hands, which the referee completely
misses. While in the leglock, Pearce gets some close
near falls when Waltman's shoulders hit the mat. The
referee finally catches on to Vanderpyle's antics, and
Waltman attempts a comeback. Waltman hit's a series of
shot and spinning kick. Waltman hit's the bronco
buster! Pearce gets a rope assisted cover, but the
referee catches on. Pearce shoves the ref, which makes
him an easy victim of Waltman's "Sixx Factor." Waltman
gets the cover, but the referee is distracted by
Vanderpyle on the apron. Pearce accidentally knocks
Vanderpyle down, and Waltman gets a close roll-up for
2. They battle on the top rope, with Waltman knocking
Pearce down. Flying cross body by Waltman is rolled
through by Pearce, but Waltman counters and covers
Pearce for the win at 8:23. The old-school booking
here was tremendously fun, though nothing you haven't
seen before, **1/2.
Winner and new NWA Heritage Champion: Sean Waltman
Final Thoughts: This was another solid hour of wrestling, as all of the bouts were very solid television matches. There was some eye-rolling stuff this week (Hey, those guys are from Japan, therefore they are evil!) and a couple of screwy finishes, but this continued to be a fun show to watch, as a lot of great indy and international talent are gaining some excellent exposure from this.
Thumbs up.
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