NWA Wrestling Showcase
by SamoaRowe
January 30th 2008
-David Marquez and Rob Conway welcome us to the show. Conway accuses Marquez of being unprofessional and then takes a phone call. Hey, it's for Marquez, how strange. Marquez is being called away, Conway sends him away.
-We clip to Conway in a nice restaurant. He is renaming the show "The Rob Conway Show." He introduces the match and screws up the participants names intentionally. This is amusing stuff.
TJ Perkins and Reo De Jalisco Jr. vs. Blue Demon and
Hidaka
Blue Demon threatens to walk out as the match begins.
Hidaka joins him, as the baby face team waits
patiently for the silliness to end. Blue Demon finally
enters the ring, but keeps up with the stalling.
Hidaka joins him and they exercise. Finally, Hidaka
and Perkins are the established legal men and exchange
holds. The action hit's a stalemate and the match
restarts. Perkins hit's a suplex and works the arm.
Meanwhile, Blue Demon and Jalisco are busy annoying
each other at ringside. Perkins continues to work on
the arm, but Hidaka breaks it and applies a head
scissor, which is broken by Blue Demon. Jalisco and
Blue Demon are tagged in, but Demon makes another tag
when he realizes who his opponent would be. Jalisco
cheap shots Blue Demon, and they tease a brawl. Demon
is the legal man again, and Jalisco finally gets his
hands on him. The action slows down as they restart
the stalling game. Jalisco takes his time with a big
chop. Jalisco chops Hidaka on the apron, and then
hit's a double head scissors on both his opponents.
Jalisco runs around the ring slowly, as Hidaka and
Blue Demon stand by in annoyance. Jalisco dumps them
from the ring and teases a dive to the floor, but it
doesn't happen. Perkins tags in to face Hidaka. They
go through the motions, with Hidaka taking advantage
with a drop-kick. Perkins lands on his feet after a
tirt-a-whirl and hit's a head scissors. Hidaka is sent
to the floor. Perkins teases a suicide dive, but gets
jumped by Blue Demon. Blue Demon requests a handshake,
but of course it was a trick for a cheap shot. Blue
Demon takes control and goes for a cover. Hidaka tags
and hit's a big back body drop. Jalisco breaks a
cover, but Blue Demon makes the save. Jalisco and Blue
Demon brawl, Hidaka helps drop Jalisco with a double
big boot. Perkins tries to save but is dumped to
ringside, so the double team on Jalisco continues.
Perkins returns as Jalisco rolls out of the ring, and
is double teamed himself. Backbreakers by Blue Demon
on Perkins. Jalisco returns, but Hidaka floors him.
This match feels like it's going no where. Blue Demon
botches a submission attempt, and Perkins flips into a
drop kick. Hidaka charges and gets caught in a cradle
by Perkins. Hidaka hit's a spinning heel kick on
Perkins, and Blue Demon helps get the double team.
Jalisco returns, and helps Perkins reverse the
momentum. Jalisco attempts to remove Blue Demon's
mask, and almost succeeds. Blue Demon is pissed! Demon
and Jalisco exchange shots, while Perkins and Hidaka
battle in the corner. Jalisco crashes Blue Demon into
the guard rail, while Perkins hit's a suicide dive
through the ropes onto Hidaka. Blue Demon and Perkins
reenter the ring, and Demon hit's a big gut-buster!
Demon applies an inverted abdominal stretch and
Perkins taps at 17:12! This was way too long for what
it was meant to accomplish, though it did have it's
moments, *½.
Winners: Blue Demon and Hidaka
-Rob Conway welcomes us back to the "Iron Man Rob Conway Show!" Since this is his show, he introduces his match against; Eugene Dinsmore? Conway thinks they have the wrong tape, but we head to the match anyway.
"Special E" Dinsmore vs. Rob Conway
After his release, I was really hoping that Nick
Dinsmore would drop the whole "retarded" character,
but that seems to be what makes him money, so I
digress. Conway's arrogant mannerisms are nicely
contrasted by Dinsmore's wide-eyed innocence. Conway
aggressively knocks down Dinsmore with a shoulder
tackle. Conway takes some time to yell at some fans,
but gets tossed down by an angry Dinsmore. "Eugene"
chant breaks out, as Dinsmore appears to have some
momentum. Dinsmore blocks a hip toss and gets one of
his own. Conway escapes to the corner to escape the
claw. Conway wants a knuckle-lock, but Dinsmore keeps
switching hands. Dinsmore taunts by dancing, and then
rides Conway like a horsey. Dinsmore keeps up the
silly antics, which inspires an aggressive beat-down
from Conway. Conway poses and drops an elbow for a
cover for 2. Clothesline by Conway and some stomping.
Desperate head-butts by Dinsmore isn't enough, and
Conway drops him with another clothesline. Dinsmore
hit's a school-boy, but Conway kicks out and applies
an intense head-lock. Dinsmore fights out and no-sells
some head shots to the turnbuckle. Dinsmore "hulks up"
and drops Conway with a big boot and does some Hogan
poses. Dinsmore hit's the leg drop and gets a very
close near fall. Conway blocks the Rock Bottom, but
Dinsmore goes for a spinning fireman's carry. Big
clothesline by Dinsmore and a near fall. Dinsmore runs
into a big boot, and Conway follows up with a leg drop
off the top rope. Sit-out power bomb by Conway gets
another near fall. Dinsmore fires back with a spine
buster and goes for the People's Elbow. Conway pops up
and hit's a power slam for another near fall. Dinsmore
snaps back and rolls up Conway for the victory at
8:31! This was a very WWE-esque match (makes sense
considering the participants) except this was better
than your typical Raw affairs. I don't know why WWE
would try to push a schmuck like Kennedy when they let
go of someone like Conway, who is emerging as a real
star on this program. **½.
Winner: "Special E" Dinsmore
-Mark Thompson is standing by with Bobby Marshall. Marshall goes on a hilariously Australian rant about how he's been silenced by the NWA.
-Conway is reacting to his loss to Dinsmore. He puts over Dinsmore's victory as nothing more than a fluke and threatens to walk off the show.
Rocky Romero vs. Nick Jackson (with Matt Jackson)
Romero is aggressive in the early going, hitting some
stiff shots. Jackson won't be intimidated and mounts a
comeback. Jackson gets a near fall after a spinning
heel kick. On a side note, we are informed that
Jackson is 17 years old. Wow, I'm obviously impressed.
Romero hit's a hard knee into the gut of Nick Jackson.
Snap suplex series by Romero for a cover for 2. Knee
lift by Romero, who then chokes him with his boot.
Fisherman suplex by Romero is only good for 2. Jackson
lands on his feet to block a suplex, but Romero
quickly hit's a drop-kick. Snapmare by Romero and hard
kicks to the back. Jackson kicks out of the cover.
Jackson hit's a head scissors off the top rope, but
only gets 1 in the cover. Series of clotheslines by
Jackson and chops. Romero goes through the victory
roll into the ankle lock. Jackson taps out at 4:31.
This was an extended squash, but Jackson looked a lot
better here than he did in the first Showcase episode,
*1/4.
Winner: Rocky Romero
-We see Bill Eadie at a wrestling convention, who is nostalgic for the glory days of the National Wrestling Alliance. He doesn't feel that there is much integrity in the business today and he wants to see that change. Eadie puts over the NWA World Championship, comparing it to winning the Super Bowl. Eadie advises the young guys to take every opportunity they can get to hold gold.
-Meanwhile, David Marquez is still on Conway's cell phone. He absolutely cannot be interrupted!
-Conway makes fun of Marquez for being unprofessional. Conway claims that his match was supposed to be the main event, but he got robbed.
Cobra II vs. Cassandro
Cassandro appears to be playing the over the top gay
character. Cobra charges, but thinks twice when
Cassandro sticks his ass at him. Cassandro is very
over with this live crowd, believe it or not.
Cassandro offers a hand shake, but Cobra is reluctant.
Cobra teases a walk-out. Cassandro plays to the crowd,
and the applause seems to draw Cobra back to the ring.
Cobra offers a handshake, but spits right in the face
of his fairy opponent. Cobra takes control with a
European uppercut and clothesline. Cassandro props
himself on the ropes, which has Cobra accidentally
running into his ass. Cassandro takes control, and
walks on the ropes. Cobra stalls at ringside as
Cassandro dances in the ring. Cassandro brings Cobra
back into the ring, where Cobra finds himself begging
for mercy. Cobra goes for turnbuckle punches, but gets
spanked in the rear end. Cassandro hits turnbuckle
shots of his own and resists dangling his junk in
Cobra's face. Cobra recovers and sends Cassandro
through the ropes to the floor. Cobra pursues his
prey, slamming Cassandro into the guard rail and
directing him to the ring. Cobra hits slingshot senton
and applies the abdominal stretch (using the ropes for
leverage). The referee catches Cobra's cheating, and
breaks the hold. Cassandro hit's a sunset flip, but
Cobra stays on his feet and stomps the chest. Cobra
chokes Cassandro with his wrist tape while the referee
is supposedly yelling at the camera man for zooming in
on Cassandro's ass. Cassandro mounts a comeback,
hitting a fireman's carry. Cobra fights back with a
snap mare and a full nelson. Cassandro fights out with
butt shots, of course. Cassandro nails Cobra with a
big kiss on the mouth! Cassandro hit's a flying
plancha on Cobra on the floor! Back in the ring,
Cassandro saves himself on the apron with another kiss
threat, and hit's a top rope drop-kick. Cassandro
reverses a wheel-barrow into a victory roll and scores
the win at 10:29. The match was technically fine, but
the homophobic shtick got old really fast, **.
Winner: Cassandro
-David Marquez finally returns to Rob Conway and the Showcase is back. Marquez demands to know who it was on the phone, and wants to know what "amigo juice" is. Conway doesn't have an answer and the show is over.
Final Thoughts: The show was entertaining in some aspects (Conway hijacking the Showcase) but the bad comedy was in full force this week. I don't know, but having Dinsmore and Cassandro both show up on the same episode felt like overkill. The wrestling was also a bit less satisfying than in previous weeks, as the two matches that might have delivered were both hindered by the previously mentioned foolishness of the gimmicks involved. I so badly want Nick Dinsmore to just cut out any ties to Eugene and be the wrestling machine that he's capable of being.
Thumbs down.
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