NWA Wrestling Showcase
by SamoaRowe
(Episode 8) March 26th 2008
-David Marquez tells us about the amazing action we’ll see tonight. Los Luchas will challenge the Real American Heroes yet again for the NWA Tag Team Championship. Also, Adam Pearce defends the NWA World title against TJ Perkins! Me likey. Oh, and “Special E” Dinsmore will face Alkatraz. There goes my good mood. Oh, but Rob Conway and Brent Albright are in the house! The good outweighs the bad!
-Ring of Honor: Rising Above commercial plays. Good.
-Our hosts for the evening are Todd Kennely and Ricky O.
Dallas Murdock vs. Brent Albright
Murdock gets an arm drag in early. Albright claps to gain crowd support, so I guess we know who the baby face is. Armbar by Albright. Murdock gets a cheap corner break, but Albright arm drags him back into the armbar. Albright counters an Irish whip and hit’s a body slam. The commentators explain that Murdock is a tag champion from Utah, so I see that territory is getting more attention on a bigger stage. It’s funny, because Utah doesn’t spring to mind when you think of a wrestling hot bed. Murdock gains control, working an armbar of his own. Albright responds with a release underhook suplex. Albright nails another power slam, but Murdock kicks out. Knee to the face by Albright and a side Russian legsweep. Albright hooks himself to Murdock’s leg and gains the submission victory at 4:01. This was a spirited squash, with some cool moments, *.
Winner: Brent Albright
-We get some words from “Iron Man” Rob Conway, who is taking on Scott Lost tonight. Conway claims that in the NWA to be the man, you have to beat the Iron Man.
“Fast and Furious” Scott Lost vs. Rob Conway
Scott Lost is another name from Pro Wrestling Guerilla getting a shot on the Showcase. It makes me happy to see this sort of talent gaining the exposure. They lock up, with Conway pushing Lost into the ropes. Lost dodges a lock up into a back waist lock, but Conway reverses. They exchange holds and Conway gets a roll-up for a near fall. Another lock up leads to a shoulder block by Conway. Conway goes to work on the arm. Lost counters into an arm wringer. Conway powers out and pummels Lost into the corner. Lost fires back, gets whipped into the corner, but slides to the floor. Conway chases Lost around, in, and out of the ring. Lost repeatedly tries to surprise Conway with roll-ups, but Conway keeps kicking out. Drop toe hold by Lost leads to an arm lock. The rest hold is so exciting that the commentators put over their new HD cameras and their upcoming Blu-Ray releases. I hope TNA is listening. Meanwhile, Lost is still working the arm. Conway drops Lost onto the ropes and drives him into the ring post. Conway drapes Lost on the apron for more pummeling. Conway drops an elbow to the back of the head, which looked painful. Hard Irish whips by Conway. Lost desperately counters a third Irish whip, but runs into Conway’s boot. Flying leg lariat by Conway only gets a 2 count cover. Chinlock by Conway. Lost escapes and trades shots. Clothesline by Lost and a drop-sault gets a cover for 2. Superman spear by Lost, but gets caught with a sit out power bomb by Conway. Somehow, Lost kicks out of the cover. Hardy clothesline by Conway and the Ego Trip is enough for the win. The match didn’t pick up until the last two minutes, but was solid enough, **.
Winner: Rob Conway
-Backstage, we get some words from Alkatraz. He says that the NWA are morons, just like “Special E.” Dinsmore shows up behind Alkatraz and mocks him during the promo.
-Someone in the truck screwed up, as we get a graphic for the Pearce/Perkins match while Alkatraz and Dinsmore are in the ring. They need to avoid these types of glitches.
Alkatraz vs. “Special E” Dinsmore (with a midget in a cape)
Dinsmore is sporting joke glasses. Dinsmore wants a handshake, but Alkatraz refuses. Alkatraz backs Dinsmore into a corner and pummels him. Snapmare by Dinsmore gets a cover for 1. Hard Irish whip by Dinsmore, but he runs into the boot of Alkatraz. The referee removes the joke glasses at Alkatraz’s request, giving Alkatraz to throw Dinsmore over the top rope to the floor, which is illegal in the NWA. Alkatraz dominates, while a front row fan holds up a sign, blocking the ring from the camera. Lovely. Headlock by Alkatraz, which transitions into a chinlock. Dinsmore fights out, but eats a clothesline. Dinsmore’s “little person” is by the apron, looking on in concern. Alkatraz takes a shot at the midget, but gets caught in a small package by Dinsmore, earning him the victory at 3:44. Bad match and Dinsmore‘s unproductive push continues, DUD.
Winner: “Special E” Dinsmore
-After the match, Alkatraz lays both Eugene and the midget out. What a bad guy he is. Brent Albright makes his way to the ring and checks on Dinsmore. Albright helps Dinsmore to his feet and on their way out, Alkatraz jumps them and brawls with Albright to the back.
NWA World Heavyweight Championship:
“Scrap Iron” Adam Pearce © (with C. Edward Vanderpyle) vs. TJ Perkins
Nick Bockwinkle is on commentary, which means I’m going to enjoy this even if the match sucks! Bockwinkle feels that Pearce will be much more relaxed, knowing that he can lose the match by disqualification or count-out without losing the title. Series of drop kicks by Perkins, they reverse Irish whips, and Perkins nails the head scissors takedown. Armdrag into an armbar by Perkins! Pearce shoves him off, but Perkins lands another arm drag/armbar combination. Pearce tries to free himself with a slam, but Perkins maintains the hold. Pearce counters into a side headlock. Perkins counters into the arm lock. Pearce breaks the hold after a while and hangs Perkins in the ropes. Pearce kicks Perkins to the floor, and there is danger of a count-out. Pearce pursues and they brawl at ringside. Vanderpyle distracts the referee from counting them out during the ringside brawl, as Pearce dominates. Perkins dodges a shot, and Pearce’s fist connects with the steel ring post. Perkins targets the injured hand of Adam Pearce with kicks and shots to the guard rail. Perkins inadvertently sends Pearce colliding into the referee (and almost Bockwinkle as well). The action returns to the ring, where Perkins gets a lengthy cover, but with no referee to count! They exchange shots, with Perkins gaining control. Pearce almost hit’s the referee again after an Irish whip, and Perkins goes high risk. Perkins connects with the 450 splash, gets the cover, and it’s over! But Vanderpyle had placed Pearce’s leg on the ropes! Perkins is named the NWA World Champion in the graphic. Predictably, Nick Bockwinkle informed the referee of the rope break. As a result, the match continues. Pearce hit’s a piledriver and retains the title at 11:01. This was a classic screw job to cap off a solid match, **½.
Winner and still NWA World Heavyweight Champion: Adam Pearce
-Nick Bockwinkle explains that he didn’t want a title change to happen in the shadow of controversy. Bockwinkle explains himself to Pearce, who is pleased with the outcome and Bockwinkle’s involvement.
-Backstage, the Real American Heroes are having a good laugh over their success. Joey Ryan says his loss to Zokre last week was a fluke. Ryan feels no sympathy over putting Phoenix Star in the hospital, because Los Luchas bit off more than they could chew when they challenged them. Karl Anderson accuses David Marquez of being a Mexican sympathizer.
NWA World Tag Team Championship:
The Real American Heroes © (with C. Edward Vanderpyle) vs. Los Luchas
We join the match in progress. It hasn’t been going long, as Vanderpyle is still in the ring, causing trouble. The story is that Joey Ryan’s back is still injured and Phoenix Star should still be in the hospital after the beating he took from the Heroes backstage last week. Fast tags are being made, but Zokre hit’s a standing moonsault for a two count on Karl Anderson. Phoenix Star tags and hit’s an elbow shot. Anderson rebounds with a clothesline and tries to cave Phoenix Star’s chest in with a stomp. Hammerlock by Anderson, and a tag is made to Joey Ryan. Snapmare by Ryan and he stretches the arm. Anderson tags and hit’s a leg lariat. Anderson continues the assault on the injured arm of Phoenix Star. And it’s time for another commercial.
After the break, Anderson is still working over Phoenix Star’s arm. Ryan tags and hit’s a Northern Lights suplex in between of arm submission holds. Zokre breaks an arm lock, but Ryan drags Phoenix Star to the Heroes’ corner. Phoenix Star hit’s a desperate inverted overhead T-bone suplex variation. It was really cool. Zokre gets a tag and cleans house on the Heroes in impressive fashion. Zokre takes both Heroes down at once, and tags Phoenix Star in. Star has his adrenaline and double teams Ryan with a modified sunset flip. Phoenix Star goes high risk, but Anderson knocks him off the turnbuckle. Anderson hit’s the superplex on Phoenix Star, but only gets 2 on the cover! Star attempts the sunset flip, but Zokre hit’s a neck breaker, sending Anderson crashing into Phoenix Star’s knees! Joey Ryan makes the save, allowing Anderson to hit a spine buster on Zokre. Somehow, Zokre kicks out again! The Heroes attempt a double team, but Joey Ryan accidentally lays out Anderson with a super kick! Zokre hit’s a reverse hurracanrana on Ryan, Star hit’s a springboard senton bomb and gets the cover for the win! We have new tag team champions at 11:09 (shown). It’s satisfying to see Los Luchas to finally get the big win over the Heroes, in yet another entertaining match. ***½.
Winners and new NWA Tag Team Champions: Los Luchas
Final Thoughts: The first half of the show was shippable, with a couple of squash matches and a disappointing Rob Conway outing. Things picked up when the titles were on the line. Perkins “winning” the title was a cliché moment, but could lead to an entertaining series of matches with Adam Pearce and his minions, and I’m all for that. Also, we finally got the big Los Luchas title victory over the Real American Heroes, which had been building since this program started. There is a lot to like on this show, as I said at the beginning of this review, the good outweighs the bad. Thumbs in the middle, leaning up.
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