rap_sheet (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} rap_sheet) wrote,@ 2006-04-15 22:46:00 |
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The Rap Sheet - NMW 4/1/2K6
The Rap Sheet - from the Mad Conservative
New Midwest Wrestling's First Blood V
4/1/2K6 Springfield, IL
Surreality reigns supreme, common sense is heresey...
The views expressed by my critics are clearly not my own, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Mad Conservative. The archive of rap sheets can be found at the Rap Sheet Dossier at http://rap-sheet.tripod.com, and current information and comments can be read at the St. Louis Wrestling Community at http://stlwrestling.livejournal.com
Rip Mystic left NMW under rather bizarre circumstances to go to 3CW, and I was rather dismayed over it, even though I had been doing the commentary duties over there for the past five months. He did a live interview and I was still awaiting his second live interview on the Disaster Radio network, which was Ray Lytle's new station after coming up empty in his search for a major market station looking to hire new hosts to fill the void of Howard Stern leaving regular radio. Though I know some of the details on why he left now, until he said it on the radio I couldn't say anything. When he did talk, NMW didn't respond to any of it. I really wish they did instead of take up a policy of never responding to criticism. Joining him in the jump were Dredd Walker, Hardcore KC and Mississippi Madman.
On the positive front, defecting from GAW to NMW are the Terre Haute contingent...AC Powers, Jason Lyte, Elektra Fine and Donovan Cain. They haven't agreed with how they had been used over there, despite having the better matches on the show, they weren't getting pushed beyond wrestling each other. There was more fed switching to come, unfortunately. Big wildcard in this was UVW, which stumbled out of the gate after having ring availability problems but was rumored that GAW, 3CW and NGW were gonna combine their forces to compete.
At this point in time it's like a few weeks after a tornado tore through Springfield, leaving a big mess to clean up. Several NMW guys were in the direct path of the twister, as some of them were having dinner at a Perkins restraunt and had to take cover in the center of the building as the windows were exploding. Spencer Powers had his storm story printed in the newspaper. 3CW was running its own show that evening, which was stopped midway through. I could not get home that night and had to sleep elsewhere and the governor did a real bang-up job in announcing whether people should go to work or stay home and clean. Took a week to get power back. And the day after this show happened, ANOTHER tornado tore through Springfield! Thankfully it didn't cause near as much damage as the other one.
There was a cool story, during the Hybridz/Cruz & Moore match there was a girl in the crowd who has been extremely shy. She has had a lot of difficulty opening up to people, and has been mentored by Big Brothers/Big Sisters. Well this evening things changed, from her being at the wrestling show and interacting with the wrestlers she opened up. Her favorite wrestler is Guy Smith, she had pictures taken with him and got autographs. Something very special will do down in May before Capital Punishment, a magical moment.
Live from the Warehouse. Your ring announcer is Jimmy "The Bruiser" Osbourne. A kid sings the national anthem, and does a pretty good job for one his age. Attendance for what's supposed to be the second biggest show of the year was a rather low 120, and you have to wonder why that is. I refuse to look at the NCAA Final Four, Wrestlemania, or whatever else was going on as the reason kept fans away. Storm damage? Well I did have to turn off North St. early due to all the tree branches that were piled along it, but it wasn't too difficult to find my way.
NMW Heavyweight Champ Michael Shard & Steven Xavier (1-0) vs. Drake & Dave Parker (0-1) - And it's our pre-show match which doesn't get coverage from anyone other than myself. Drake and Shard start. They mix it up and Drake gets the shoulderblock sending Shard to tag Xavier in. Xavier hits a clothesline, and tags Shard for a double whip, but Drake clotheslines them both down and tags The Dave. Whip splash Dave gets two. Shard nails Drake, nails Dave with an elbow and chokes away. Illegal switch as the ref is not paying attention, Xavier pounds, chokes and chops away...Saluki Hammer! Parker blocks a move and hits a suplex, both men tag. Shard in and clobbers Drake, whip clothesline miss, Drake SPEAR for two. Shard LOW BLOW and DDT. Rear headlock Shard, whip clothesline Drake. Tag Dave, double suplex attempt is thrawted by Xavier jumping in and double LOW BLOWING them. Xavier gives The Dave a Hazing and Shard and Xavier pin him. Nick the ref just IGNORES the illegalities in front of him. Unfortunately, this just foreshadows what's to come.
WINNERS: Michael Shard & Steven Xavier pin -> (2-0) 7:10 mins. *½
At this point there appears to be some sort of problem, as they play a lot of video here, including the entire match between LPC and Donovan Cain from Rivalry, since I've already seen the match I won't re-review it here. We finally have a recap of Rivalry and the show starts 20 minutes late or so.
Eric Ruffington (3-8) w/ Eric Logan vs. NMW Tag Champ Danger Doug Fraze (8-12-1) w/ Tank Roberts - Ruffington has this "#5 ranking" though in actuality his win-loss record really has him down in the 20-somethings in regards to ranking the whole roster. The #5 rank has to be defended every show like it was a championship or something. BTW, are they ever gonna get around to crowning a new Central IL Champ? And just how do you move up from #5 anyway? If the guys ahead of you lose, logic states that they should move down the list, but they aren't and I'll prove that point shortly. Danger's record is better than Ruff's and he's a tag champ, which kinda tells you something. Ruff stalls like mad, and his nickname really should be "Coming and Going" instead of "Up and Comer". Ruff with a poke, headlock Ruff, Danger breaks free and Ruff runs off. Danger overpowers a headlock again and Danger chases him around the ring but Logan clotheslines him and Ruff attacks. Choke on the ropes by Ruff, whip reverse Danger clothesline, and he proceeds to walk all over Ruffington. Shoulderblocks in the corner, Doug with the big splash, Logan slugs the ref. Doug superplex is blocked as Logan interferes AGAIN, Logan takes out Tank, Ruff with a Samoan drop and that gets the pin. The ref does not call for the DQ for being assaulted by Logan and here's major reffing mistake #2. Stupidity and silliness made this match a bad April Fools joke.
WINNER: Eric Ruffington pin -> (4-8) 7:55 mins. ½*
Tank Roberts DEMANDS a match with Eric Logan right now to punish him for this BS ill-gotten victory.
Eric Logan (16-17-2) vs. NMW Tag Champ Tank Roberts (2-2) - Logan is ranked #2, though there's several with better records than him right now. Test of strength to start, but Tank wrenches them fingers to the mat. E-Lo goes to the ropes to rant, and rehook up but Tank slams him off and whips him hard into the corner. Slam, splash in the corner gets two. E-Lo gets a dropkick and goes after the arm, does the rope walk with the armbar, but drops to the floor to yank it for two. Logan throws Tank to the corner and Ruffington hops on the apron to yank the arm...illegally. Geez, more bloody interference. Well Tank finally pulls a switch and Ruff yanks Logan's arm, Tank splashes Logan in the corner, Russian leg sweep gets two. Ruff tries to sneak under the ring but Danger is watching for him to pop out. Logan hits a DDT, and locks in a crossarm breaker. Tank lifts him up and powerbombs him, back body drop, powerslam gets two. Logan gets a DDT, stands on the shoulder, elbow gets two. Logan with a BOOT, goes up, moonsaults off, Tank barely grabs a hold of him (almost hit head first on the mat), lifts him up for a tombstone and gets the pin. Well Logan despite losing does not lose his #2 ranking, but it's bloody clear he shouldn't have that ranking anymore.
WINNER: Tank Roberts pin -> (3-2) 9:35 mins. **½
Lucha Libre Fatal Four-Way
Donovan Cain (0-4) vs. Blake Shelton (0-5) vs. Eagle Scout (1-6) vs. TSO Alex Monroe (1-1) - Rules for this match is tagging in and out is optional, if you are put outside, someone else can jump in to take over. Alex Monroe would be the former Smooth GQ Suavey, who suddenly changed his name without explanation. He's also from GAW, which I thought they stopped working with entirely due to sponsorship requirements, but there's some exceptions to the rule that I haven't figured out yet. Cain and Shelton are winless, Scout might as well be winless. Cain and Monroe start with some chain wrestling. Russian leg sweep Cain, Blake in, butterfly suplex on Cain, Scout in, backbreaker, Monroe in, Cain in with a springboard dropkick, Scout springboard elbow on Blake, Monroe botches a hurraconranna, so he punts someone for two. Scout kicks, Monroe tags Cain, Cain whip reverse, Blake tags but gets clotheslined by Scout, suplex for two. Blake tosses Scout out, Cain and Monroe in, Cain drops him, shoulderblock, schoolboy gets two. Blake in rollup two, Scout in gets two, Monroe in gets two. Monroe and Cain fight, Scout and Blake slug it out. Monroe splashes Cain in the corner for two. Scout German suplex on Monroe, Blake slingshots but gets German'ed down. Blake tries for a pin on everyone. Scout clotheslines Blake over for two. DDT on the Scout for two! Blake and Scout try to hip toss each other but they tumble out. Monroe with a SENTON over the top! Blake goes up, the three getting up, springboard moonsault on the pile! Cain back in, Blake in, suplex Cain for two. Knee head by Cain, neckbreaker, locks in a sickle hold but it's broken up. Monroe with a headscissors on the Scout, Blake clotheslines Monroe, flying knee gets two. Cain waits on him, hops off Monroe and drops a knee on Blake, Cain tries for Sliced Bread #2 but it's blocked, everyone is crashing into each other, Blake dropkicks Cain for one. 10 mins. Scout misses a standing moonsault, Monroe springboard moonsault missed, Blake misses his target, Cain up, he locks in a hanging crossarm breaker, but Blake drops a knee and gets two. Monroe backbreaker neckbreaker on Scout, rams Donovan in the corner, setup for a double superplex, Scout takes them down harder. Fight over the pincover, Scout has Blake for the TKO! Monroe has Scout, inverted DVD! Cain goes up, Blake trips him, goes up, Monroe stumbles around, Blake throws him into a reverse hurraconranna on Monroe and gets the pin! Fun but sloppy, as three out of the four guys here aren't quite experienced enough for the luche libre style. I spot someone in the crowd that is obviously in disguise, wearing a hat with has long shaggy black hair.
WINNER: Donovan Cain pin -> (1-4) 13:40 mins. ***
Bradley Stephens (9-8) w/ RON vs. Jewels Vega (0-1) - Vega would also be from GAW--it appeared that Vega and GQ were thinking about jumping to NMW, but they ended up starting an entirely new fed at the end of 2006. This was Brad Stephens first match back after being gone a year and a half, as he was avoiding Sage Ramsey like the plague after trying to beat up his own mother--which ironically caused Sage to join PHD later to be the replacement for Stephens in the Honor Roll team. Vega headlock, bearhug Brad, shoulderblocks, splash in the corner. Hip toss, slam, back body drop Vega and Brad bails. Vega blocks a move, slingshots Brad in and gets two. Vega does a standing moonsault...and completely overshoots, ugh. Brad with a slam, wipe, legdrop for two. Powerslam gets two. Knee choke followed by a dumpout, RON kicks Vega on the floor and tosses him in, Brad goes up, Vega axes him low on the way down. Slam Vega, double legdrop gets two. Vega does a cartwheel headscissors....badly and gets two. Brad stomps away, slam for two. Vega escapes a headlock, tries something but can't get in position, settles for a slam, takedown, kick. Vega misses a charge, Brad rollup for two. Clothesline Brad, Vega with a DDT, Brad botches his sitout hiptoss and here comes Guy Smith! Vega goes for a suplex, Smith is following RON around the ring, Stephens hits half a suplex, RON runs through the ring, Smith hits Little Inspiration, Vega covers and gets the pin! Ring rust on one side and inexperience on the other, not a good combination. Too many blown spots and this deserved negative stars here.
WINNER: Jewels Vega pin -> (1-1) 12:15 mins. DUD
The Hybridz (0-2) - AC Powers & Jason Lyte w/ Elektra Fine vs. Rian Cruz & Tricky Dick Moore (debut) w/ Jackie Sazerak - Hmmmm...methinks they should had just made this a six-mix so Fine could wrestle here and Rian would have the rare chance to wrestle another woman. The pairing of Cruz & Moore seems completely random. Lyte and Moore start, Lyte slaps him, Moore powerslams him off a whip. Lyte with a knee and tags Powers, double whip but Moore springboard moonsaults on the pair. He whips each of them to the corner and stack shoulderblocks them. Atomic drop, side suplex gets two. Tag Rian, doubleteam flapjack gets one. Rian gets shoulderblocks and a monkey flip. AC rams Rian in the corner, charges but misses, Rian rollup for two. AC clothesline for two. Tag Lyte, arm shot to the back, leg choke, armwringer, tag AC. AC suplex, forearm for two, and yanks her by the hair. Rian sunset flip attempt blocked, but dodges the punch. AC chokes her but misses a charge and tags but the ref misses it. Tricky doesn't retag even though Rian was in his corner. AC misses a shot, Rian with a stepover DDT, Moore gets the tag and he beats up his foes. Jackie hops on the apron, slams and backdrops on the Hybridz, slingshots Jackie in and clotheslines him, hip toss, and clotheslines him out. AC in, X-Factor on Moore gets the pin, Rian is fighting Elektra on the floor, Jackie comes back in to fight as security rushes down. They pull them apart, but Moore or Jackie keep breaking free to continue the fight! They finally get one of them to the back. Wonder when they'll have their match? Unexpectedly this is the match of the night.
WINNERS: The Hybridz pin -> (1-2) 14:10 mins. ***½
Cherry Malone in video is looking at a photo of Spencer Powers, Justin MacIntyre comes over, Cherry wants to fight SSP on her own this night no matter what happens. And now we have the contract signing for a ladder match. And here comes President AWOL with the Central IL belt. He claims the board of directors are very happy about the implementation of the top five. Sure, cause they hate my version. As he talks, fans are yelling WHAT? He props up the man he screwed over three years ago, Michael Shard. Shard complains about AWOL not being there to back him up. AWOL says he believe Shard can beat Shane in any kind of match. Shane comes down. Shard claims he's afraid of him. Shane berates all of them and challenges Shard to sign it. Shard argues he's beaten four former championships and can beat Shane any day of the week. They're ready to fight, but Shard tells him to try to stay healthy. Shane says he'll climb the ladder and take his belt back.
"Overachiever" Billy Morgan (20-17) vs. "The Man" Matt Boston (8-16-0-1) - Stan Sallinger pulled out of this match because Stephani King wasn't here tonight. Oh bah. Morgan is officially ranked #3 in their top 5 system. Bill chops him down, yanks him off the ropes and slams him for two. Knee lift, legdrop gets two. Powerslam gets two. Morgan rams him in the corner 11 times, side suplex gets two. Bill charges the corner but hits the post, and Matt bangs the arm against the post, back in, he sits and pulls up on the arm. Bill whips him, misses the clothesline but Matt hits the mat anyway. Ugh. Boston tries to hop Morgan in the corner but doesn't clear him in another ugly spot, Boston dropkick gets two. Boston grabs the arm and does the rope walk, drops to the floor to snap it...and breaks his left foot on landing. Eeeeek! Boston can hardly stand, Morgan goes up, Matt trips him but can't do much as Morgan spinebusters him down for two. Boston has a hold of the ref as Morgan fires a superkick but...gets the ref. Boston LOW BLOW, DDT...slowly fetches a chair but Morgan gives him a piledriver on it instead. And now the disguised man hops the rail...it's Stan Sallinger! Ugh, I was wrong about who I thought it was. Morgan gets clobbered, spinning full nelson slam and Boston gets the pin. Bleh. Morgan loses, but keeps the #3 ranking. Match got really ugly at the end, and Boston will be out of action up to three months.
WINNER: Matt Boston pin -> (9-16-0-1) 9:25 mins. *¼
Stan has a chair, tries to slam Morgan though it, shoves down the ref, picks up Morgan again and breaks the chair with him.
Man vs. Woman
"Spotlight" Spencer Powers (25-18) vs. Cherry Malone (3-1) - Well here's the peak of surreality right here, you can call this the "lovers quarrel match". SSP of course wants Cherry to lay down for him, yeah right...wrong venue. SSP forces himself on Cherry and she slaps him. Hip toss, 10 punch in the corner gets two. SSP tries again and forces himself into a hug but grabs her by the hair. She kicks him and clotheslines him down...flying headscissors. SSP trips her up, double legdrop low...but that DOESN'T WORK ON A GIRL! Cherry does it back to HIM for two. Cherry slugs away, whip SSP with a shoulderblock, toss by the hair and hair stand gets two. Rollup Cherry gets two. SSP clothesline, choke, Juvy driver! And oh geez, the three people who should be driving back to Terre Haute right now Jason Lyte, AC Powers and Elektra Fine are coming down! Shouldn't they be heading back to Terre Haute? They jump in, and nail SSP by mistake! Cherry dumps the others out, but Elektra attacks Cherry, the ref just does nothing, SSP gets two. SSP with a slam, he goes up, Cherry trips him, Elektra hops on the apron again. The Hybridz jump in again, the referee does NOTHING again, Cherry headscissors SSP off the top, she goes after Fine, has to try twice to take her down. Cherry covers SSP for two, Cherry tries the Stratusfaction but it's blocked. SSP says he's done, Cherry escapes the ab stretch, misses a crossbody, SSP hits the UNPRETTIER for two, but pulls her up! WHAT? SSP says he's NOT done, and applies the ab stretch. Cherry's out of it, and the ref calls a KO. That was one of the most PATHETIC ref'ing jobs I've ever seen. CALL THE F'N DQ!!! This wasn't a NO DQ match dumbarse!!! Overbooked like crazy and surreality reigns supreme. SSP kisses her goodbye to gloat. Thankfully that unprettier doesn't make her less pretty, but fans are REALLY jawing with SSP and the Hybridz.
WINNER: Spencer Powers KO -> (26-18) 9:40 mins. **¼
Justin MacIntyre walks up to Spencer Powers in the locker room and says now that the match is over he can do whatever he wants now. Something goofy happens right after that I can't describe.
Lucious P. Cotrain (15-14-2) vs. "The Marvel" Shane Matthews (11-6) - Well the contract is signed, so even if Shane loses here he's getting that ladder match against Shard whether anyone likes it or not! Shane is ranked #1, which is the only commonality between my list and NMW's list. LPC is ranked #4. They mat wrestle to start, sunset flip Shane gets two. Armdrag Shane, LPC with a backbreaker against the side of the head. Yikes. LPC clothesline, Shane headscissors LPC to the floor, goes up, flying clothesline to the floor! Shane springboard is caught, spinebuster gets two. 10 punch LPC in the corner, clothesline, fisherman's suplex gets two. Chop LPC, whip to the corner but eats a boot. Shane clothesline, side suplex for two. Missile dropkick gets two. LPC...KICK WHAM STUNNER gets two. Shane Asai DDT, flying elbow off the top rope and here comes Michael Shard with a chair. Shane's ready for him, so he bashes LPC in the head with it and leaves. Buh??? Oh, it's to knock Shane out of #1 and send him to #4. Yeah, it was that blantant. Too late though, the contract is already signed. Steven Xavier runs out with Eric Logan and Eric Ruffington, PHD is out here as well for a gang attack on Shane! President Conflict of Interest. Shard tapes his wrists up and pounds Shane in the head. Shard gets a chair, Xavier with the HAZING on the chair! Sage Ramsey runs out from the back and everyone wusses out!
WINNER: Lucious P. Cotrain DQ -> (16-14-2) 6:40 mins. **¾
Hardcore Match - First Blood
"Forever Man" Guy Smith (32-23) vs. Steven Bishop (11-11) w/ RON - Two years ago, Bishop lost the first blood match and ended up getting fired from the cult, wonder if history will repeat itself? RON puts what looks to be a container of red stuff under the ring. Is that blood? They start slugging it out, Guy BOOT, dropkick, back body drop. Guy Smith yanks the turnbuckle pad off and slams Bishops head into it. Those screws are exposed, but he doesn't bleed this time. Spill outside, Bishop is tossed into the post and spins out. Trashcan is fetched, and he smacks him with it. Bishop with a lidshot, throws Smith into the post! The bottle of red is fetched, but Smith takes it and soaks Bishop and RON with it! Smith wipes his boots, Bishop with a facebreaker and here comes a chair. That red stuff really smells. Spinning facebreaker into the chair and chairshot! Ladder is put in the ring, Smith up, belly to belly slam on Bishop! Smith sets the ladder up, whip and hits a spinebuster onto the ladder! Smith sets up chairs, and puts the ladder across...makeshift table. That ladder is bending and about to break in half! Smith goes up, moonsault hits Bishop on the ladder! If he landed that square, that ladder would be broken! Brad Stephens runs out from the back and attacks Smith! Rian Cruz runs out from the back and goes after Stephens...stepover DDT! RON has a chair, Bishop grabs Rian, hits the 7th Day! Bishop pulls Smith out, there's a table set up out there! Bishop with a crossbody...puts Smith on the table, but Smith gets up and side suplexes Bishop through the table! Smith blasts Stephens with a chair, RON nails Smith with a chair, the ref is calling for the bell...Smith is bleeding?!?!?!??? How'd that happen?
WINNER: Steven Bishop KO -> (12-11) 10:10 mins. ***¼
Rian Cruz is in trouble, Stephens has her but she hits the diamond cutter and Guy Smith runs off his foes. Show is complete. Bishop I had thought would be seen in more main events as a result of this victory, but so far hasn't happened...and he's gotten no heavyweight title shots either.
For the record, their top five now reads: #1 LPC, #2 Eric Logan, #3 Billy Morgan, #4 Shane Matthews, #5 Eric Ruffington. Even thought Logan and Morgan both lost and Ruffington won, for some reason they don't adjust their ranking. I had the REAL top five as: #1 Shane Matthews, #2 Spencer Powers, #3 Guy Smith, #4 Tricky Dick Moore, #5 Billy Morgan. And people make it a point to repeatedly drive into people's heads month after month that my list is very unofficial...like that's so very necessary. Point of the matter, it's a source of debate, but as I've seen time and time again, "everyone has an opinion, while some people rather you didn't."
Where to begin. I've not actively promoted reviews of NMW lately for a reason. But enough time has passed where they need to hear from someone who's been watching their shows for so long because the problems are still there. This is supposedly the second biggest show of the year, but it just did not feel like it for the second year in a row. A lot of times I could see the faces of other people that they're either bored, don't care, or not into it. Now in March there was a large group of kids there that haven't been there before, and they clearly were feeding the wrestlers, they were into it. There wasn't much of a group of them this time around, they were clearly missed. A number of times throughout the evening the crowd was awfully quiet and would not get into things, despite my attempts to lead them into it and geez, we have people complaining about ME making noise. I shouldn't be heard so easily if half the crowd is making noise, I should be drowned out in the sea of people.
The Verdict: Besides the above, the show overall had a lot of sloppiness, the worst being Stephens/Vega and bad officiating. I did notice, none of the titles were defended on this show, which is VERY odd considering what show this was. In retrospect, it really wasn't an improvement over last year's First Blood. They had some serious work to do to turn it around. But geez, I can't remember the last time I gave an NMW show a thumbs down, cause this was a hard thumbs down to make. Attendance was still a real concern though, with more shows around the area and the competition quite packed together, it demanded they had to do something to set themselves apart from all others.
Thumbs down.
The Rap Sheet - from the Mad Conservative
New Midwest Wrestling's First Blood V
4/1/2K6 Springfield, IL
Surreality reigns supreme, common sense is heresey...
The views expressed by my critics are clearly not my own, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Mad Conservative. The archive of rap sheets can be found at the Rap Sheet Dossier at http://rap-sheet.tripod.com, and current information and comments can be read at the St. Louis Wrestling Community at http://stlwrestling.livejournal.com
Rip Mystic left NMW under rather bizarre circumstances to go to 3CW, and I was rather dismayed over it, even though I had been doing the commentary duties over there for the past five months. He did a live interview and I was still awaiting his second live interview on the Disaster Radio network, which was Ray Lytle's new station after coming up empty in his search for a major market station looking to hire new hosts to fill the void of Howard Stern leaving regular radio. Though I know some of the details on why he left now, until he said it on the radio I couldn't say anything. When he did talk, NMW didn't respond to any of it. I really wish they did instead of take up a policy of never responding to criticism. Joining him in the jump were Dredd Walker, Hardcore KC and Mississippi Madman.
On the positive front, defecting from GAW to NMW are the Terre Haute contingent...AC Powers, Jason Lyte, Elektra Fine and Donovan Cain. They haven't agreed with how they had been used over there, despite having the better matches on the show, they weren't getting pushed beyond wrestling each other. There was more fed switching to come, unfortunately. Big wildcard in this was UVW, which stumbled out of the gate after having ring availability problems but was rumored that GAW, 3CW and NGW were gonna combine their forces to compete.
At this point in time it's like a few weeks after a tornado tore through Springfield, leaving a big mess to clean up. Several NMW guys were in the direct path of the twister, as some of them were having dinner at a Perkins restraunt and had to take cover in the center of the building as the windows were exploding. Spencer Powers had his storm story printed in the newspaper. 3CW was running its own show that evening, which was stopped midway through. I could not get home that night and had to sleep elsewhere and the governor did a real bang-up job in announcing whether people should go to work or stay home and clean. Took a week to get power back. And the day after this show happened, ANOTHER tornado tore through Springfield! Thankfully it didn't cause near as much damage as the other one.
There was a cool story, during the Hybridz/Cruz & Moore match there was a girl in the crowd who has been extremely shy. She has had a lot of difficulty opening up to people, and has been mentored by Big Brothers/Big Sisters. Well this evening things changed, from her being at the wrestling show and interacting with the wrestlers she opened up. Her favorite wrestler is Guy Smith, she had pictures taken with him and got autographs. Something very special will do down in May before Capital Punishment, a magical moment.
Live from the Warehouse. Your ring announcer is Jimmy "The Bruiser" Osbourne. A kid sings the national anthem, and does a pretty good job for one his age. Attendance for what's supposed to be the second biggest show of the year was a rather low 120, and you have to wonder why that is. I refuse to look at the NCAA Final Four, Wrestlemania, or whatever else was going on as the reason kept fans away. Storm damage? Well I did have to turn off North St. early due to all the tree branches that were piled along it, but it wasn't too difficult to find my way.
NMW Heavyweight Champ Michael Shard & Steven Xavier (1-0) vs. Drake & Dave Parker (0-1) - And it's our pre-show match which doesn't get coverage from anyone other than myself. Drake and Shard start. They mix it up and Drake gets the shoulderblock sending Shard to tag Xavier in. Xavier hits a clothesline, and tags Shard for a double whip, but Drake clotheslines them both down and tags The Dave. Whip splash Dave gets two. Shard nails Drake, nails Dave with an elbow and chokes away. Illegal switch as the ref is not paying attention, Xavier pounds, chokes and chops away...Saluki Hammer! Parker blocks a move and hits a suplex, both men tag. Shard in and clobbers Drake, whip clothesline miss, Drake SPEAR for two. Shard LOW BLOW and DDT. Rear headlock Shard, whip clothesline Drake. Tag Dave, double suplex attempt is thrawted by Xavier jumping in and double LOW BLOWING them. Xavier gives The Dave a Hazing and Shard and Xavier pin him. Nick the ref just IGNORES the illegalities in front of him. Unfortunately, this just foreshadows what's to come.
WINNERS: Michael Shard & Steven Xavier pin -> (2-0) 7:10 mins. *½
At this point there appears to be some sort of problem, as they play a lot of video here, including the entire match between LPC and Donovan Cain from Rivalry, since I've already seen the match I won't re-review it here. We finally have a recap of Rivalry and the show starts 20 minutes late or so.
Eric Ruffington (3-8) w/ Eric Logan vs. NMW Tag Champ Danger Doug Fraze (8-12-1) w/ Tank Roberts - Ruffington has this "#5 ranking" though in actuality his win-loss record really has him down in the 20-somethings in regards to ranking the whole roster. The #5 rank has to be defended every show like it was a championship or something. BTW, are they ever gonna get around to crowning a new Central IL Champ? And just how do you move up from #5 anyway? If the guys ahead of you lose, logic states that they should move down the list, but they aren't and I'll prove that point shortly. Danger's record is better than Ruff's and he's a tag champ, which kinda tells you something. Ruff stalls like mad, and his nickname really should be "Coming and Going" instead of "Up and Comer". Ruff with a poke, headlock Ruff, Danger breaks free and Ruff runs off. Danger overpowers a headlock again and Danger chases him around the ring but Logan clotheslines him and Ruff attacks. Choke on the ropes by Ruff, whip reverse Danger clothesline, and he proceeds to walk all over Ruffington. Shoulderblocks in the corner, Doug with the big splash, Logan slugs the ref. Doug superplex is blocked as Logan interferes AGAIN, Logan takes out Tank, Ruff with a Samoan drop and that gets the pin. The ref does not call for the DQ for being assaulted by Logan and here's major reffing mistake #2. Stupidity and silliness made this match a bad April Fools joke.
WINNER: Eric Ruffington pin -> (4-8) 7:55 mins. ½*
Tank Roberts DEMANDS a match with Eric Logan right now to punish him for this BS ill-gotten victory.
Eric Logan (16-17-2) vs. NMW Tag Champ Tank Roberts (2-2) - Logan is ranked #2, though there's several with better records than him right now. Test of strength to start, but Tank wrenches them fingers to the mat. E-Lo goes to the ropes to rant, and rehook up but Tank slams him off and whips him hard into the corner. Slam, splash in the corner gets two. E-Lo gets a dropkick and goes after the arm, does the rope walk with the armbar, but drops to the floor to yank it for two. Logan throws Tank to the corner and Ruffington hops on the apron to yank the arm...illegally. Geez, more bloody interference. Well Tank finally pulls a switch and Ruff yanks Logan's arm, Tank splashes Logan in the corner, Russian leg sweep gets two. Ruff tries to sneak under the ring but Danger is watching for him to pop out. Logan hits a DDT, and locks in a crossarm breaker. Tank lifts him up and powerbombs him, back body drop, powerslam gets two. Logan gets a DDT, stands on the shoulder, elbow gets two. Logan with a BOOT, goes up, moonsaults off, Tank barely grabs a hold of him (almost hit head first on the mat), lifts him up for a tombstone and gets the pin. Well Logan despite losing does not lose his #2 ranking, but it's bloody clear he shouldn't have that ranking anymore.
WINNER: Tank Roberts pin -> (3-2) 9:35 mins. **½
Lucha Libre Fatal Four-Way
Donovan Cain (0-4) vs. Blake Shelton (0-5) vs. Eagle Scout (1-6) vs. TSO Alex Monroe (1-1) - Rules for this match is tagging in and out is optional, if you are put outside, someone else can jump in to take over. Alex Monroe would be the former Smooth GQ Suavey, who suddenly changed his name without explanation. He's also from GAW, which I thought they stopped working with entirely due to sponsorship requirements, but there's some exceptions to the rule that I haven't figured out yet. Cain and Shelton are winless, Scout might as well be winless. Cain and Monroe start with some chain wrestling. Russian leg sweep Cain, Blake in, butterfly suplex on Cain, Scout in, backbreaker, Monroe in, Cain in with a springboard dropkick, Scout springboard elbow on Blake, Monroe botches a hurraconranna, so he punts someone for two. Scout kicks, Monroe tags Cain, Cain whip reverse, Blake tags but gets clotheslined by Scout, suplex for two. Blake tosses Scout out, Cain and Monroe in, Cain drops him, shoulderblock, schoolboy gets two. Blake in rollup two, Scout in gets two, Monroe in gets two. Monroe and Cain fight, Scout and Blake slug it out. Monroe splashes Cain in the corner for two. Scout German suplex on Monroe, Blake slingshots but gets German'ed down. Blake tries for a pin on everyone. Scout clotheslines Blake over for two. DDT on the Scout for two! Blake and Scout try to hip toss each other but they tumble out. Monroe with a SENTON over the top! Blake goes up, the three getting up, springboard moonsault on the pile! Cain back in, Blake in, suplex Cain for two. Knee head by Cain, neckbreaker, locks in a sickle hold but it's broken up. Monroe with a headscissors on the Scout, Blake clotheslines Monroe, flying knee gets two. Cain waits on him, hops off Monroe and drops a knee on Blake, Cain tries for Sliced Bread #2 but it's blocked, everyone is crashing into each other, Blake dropkicks Cain for one. 10 mins. Scout misses a standing moonsault, Monroe springboard moonsault missed, Blake misses his target, Cain up, he locks in a hanging crossarm breaker, but Blake drops a knee and gets two. Monroe backbreaker neckbreaker on Scout, rams Donovan in the corner, setup for a double superplex, Scout takes them down harder. Fight over the pincover, Scout has Blake for the TKO! Monroe has Scout, inverted DVD! Cain goes up, Blake trips him, goes up, Monroe stumbles around, Blake throws him into a reverse hurraconranna on Monroe and gets the pin! Fun but sloppy, as three out of the four guys here aren't quite experienced enough for the luche libre style. I spot someone in the crowd that is obviously in disguise, wearing a hat with has long shaggy black hair.
WINNER: Donovan Cain pin -> (1-4) 13:40 mins. ***
Bradley Stephens (9-8) w/ RON vs. Jewels Vega (0-1) - Vega would also be from GAW--it appeared that Vega and GQ were thinking about jumping to NMW, but they ended up starting an entirely new fed at the end of 2006. This was Brad Stephens first match back after being gone a year and a half, as he was avoiding Sage Ramsey like the plague after trying to beat up his own mother--which ironically caused Sage to join PHD later to be the replacement for Stephens in the Honor Roll team. Vega headlock, bearhug Brad, shoulderblocks, splash in the corner. Hip toss, slam, back body drop Vega and Brad bails. Vega blocks a move, slingshots Brad in and gets two. Vega does a standing moonsault...and completely overshoots, ugh. Brad with a slam, wipe, legdrop for two. Powerslam gets two. Knee choke followed by a dumpout, RON kicks Vega on the floor and tosses him in, Brad goes up, Vega axes him low on the way down. Slam Vega, double legdrop gets two. Vega does a cartwheel headscissors....badly and gets two. Brad stomps away, slam for two. Vega escapes a headlock, tries something but can't get in position, settles for a slam, takedown, kick. Vega misses a charge, Brad rollup for two. Clothesline Brad, Vega with a DDT, Brad botches his sitout hiptoss and here comes Guy Smith! Vega goes for a suplex, Smith is following RON around the ring, Stephens hits half a suplex, RON runs through the ring, Smith hits Little Inspiration, Vega covers and gets the pin! Ring rust on one side and inexperience on the other, not a good combination. Too many blown spots and this deserved negative stars here.
WINNER: Jewels Vega pin -> (1-1) 12:15 mins. DUD
The Hybridz (0-2) - AC Powers & Jason Lyte w/ Elektra Fine vs. Rian Cruz & Tricky Dick Moore (debut) w/ Jackie Sazerak - Hmmmm...methinks they should had just made this a six-mix so Fine could wrestle here and Rian would have the rare chance to wrestle another woman. The pairing of Cruz & Moore seems completely random. Lyte and Moore start, Lyte slaps him, Moore powerslams him off a whip. Lyte with a knee and tags Powers, double whip but Moore springboard moonsaults on the pair. He whips each of them to the corner and stack shoulderblocks them. Atomic drop, side suplex gets two. Tag Rian, doubleteam flapjack gets one. Rian gets shoulderblocks and a monkey flip. AC rams Rian in the corner, charges but misses, Rian rollup for two. AC clothesline for two. Tag Lyte, arm shot to the back, leg choke, armwringer, tag AC. AC suplex, forearm for two, and yanks her by the hair. Rian sunset flip attempt blocked, but dodges the punch. AC chokes her but misses a charge and tags but the ref misses it. Tricky doesn't retag even though Rian was in his corner. AC misses a shot, Rian with a stepover DDT, Moore gets the tag and he beats up his foes. Jackie hops on the apron, slams and backdrops on the Hybridz, slingshots Jackie in and clotheslines him, hip toss, and clotheslines him out. AC in, X-Factor on Moore gets the pin, Rian is fighting Elektra on the floor, Jackie comes back in to fight as security rushes down. They pull them apart, but Moore or Jackie keep breaking free to continue the fight! They finally get one of them to the back. Wonder when they'll have their match? Unexpectedly this is the match of the night.
WINNERS: The Hybridz pin -> (1-2) 14:10 mins. ***½
Cherry Malone in video is looking at a photo of Spencer Powers, Justin MacIntyre comes over, Cherry wants to fight SSP on her own this night no matter what happens. And now we have the contract signing for a ladder match. And here comes President AWOL with the Central IL belt. He claims the board of directors are very happy about the implementation of the top five. Sure, cause they hate my version. As he talks, fans are yelling WHAT? He props up the man he screwed over three years ago, Michael Shard. Shard complains about AWOL not being there to back him up. AWOL says he believe Shard can beat Shane in any kind of match. Shane comes down. Shard claims he's afraid of him. Shane berates all of them and challenges Shard to sign it. Shard argues he's beaten four former championships and can beat Shane any day of the week. They're ready to fight, but Shard tells him to try to stay healthy. Shane says he'll climb the ladder and take his belt back.
"Overachiever" Billy Morgan (20-17) vs. "The Man" Matt Boston (8-16-0-1) - Stan Sallinger pulled out of this match because Stephani King wasn't here tonight. Oh bah. Morgan is officially ranked #3 in their top 5 system. Bill chops him down, yanks him off the ropes and slams him for two. Knee lift, legdrop gets two. Powerslam gets two. Morgan rams him in the corner 11 times, side suplex gets two. Bill charges the corner but hits the post, and Matt bangs the arm against the post, back in, he sits and pulls up on the arm. Bill whips him, misses the clothesline but Matt hits the mat anyway. Ugh. Boston tries to hop Morgan in the corner but doesn't clear him in another ugly spot, Boston dropkick gets two. Boston grabs the arm and does the rope walk, drops to the floor to snap it...and breaks his left foot on landing. Eeeeek! Boston can hardly stand, Morgan goes up, Matt trips him but can't do much as Morgan spinebusters him down for two. Boston has a hold of the ref as Morgan fires a superkick but...gets the ref. Boston LOW BLOW, DDT...slowly fetches a chair but Morgan gives him a piledriver on it instead. And now the disguised man hops the rail...it's Stan Sallinger! Ugh, I was wrong about who I thought it was. Morgan gets clobbered, spinning full nelson slam and Boston gets the pin. Bleh. Morgan loses, but keeps the #3 ranking. Match got really ugly at the end, and Boston will be out of action up to three months.
WINNER: Matt Boston pin -> (9-16-0-1) 9:25 mins. *¼
Stan has a chair, tries to slam Morgan though it, shoves down the ref, picks up Morgan again and breaks the chair with him.
Man vs. Woman
"Spotlight" Spencer Powers (25-18) vs. Cherry Malone (3-1) - Well here's the peak of surreality right here, you can call this the "lovers quarrel match". SSP of course wants Cherry to lay down for him, yeah right...wrong venue. SSP forces himself on Cherry and she slaps him. Hip toss, 10 punch in the corner gets two. SSP tries again and forces himself into a hug but grabs her by the hair. She kicks him and clotheslines him down...flying headscissors. SSP trips her up, double legdrop low...but that DOESN'T WORK ON A GIRL! Cherry does it back to HIM for two. Cherry slugs away, whip SSP with a shoulderblock, toss by the hair and hair stand gets two. Rollup Cherry gets two. SSP clothesline, choke, Juvy driver! And oh geez, the three people who should be driving back to Terre Haute right now Jason Lyte, AC Powers and Elektra Fine are coming down! Shouldn't they be heading back to Terre Haute? They jump in, and nail SSP by mistake! Cherry dumps the others out, but Elektra attacks Cherry, the ref just does nothing, SSP gets two. SSP with a slam, he goes up, Cherry trips him, Elektra hops on the apron again. The Hybridz jump in again, the referee does NOTHING again, Cherry headscissors SSP off the top, she goes after Fine, has to try twice to take her down. Cherry covers SSP for two, Cherry tries the Stratusfaction but it's blocked. SSP says he's done, Cherry escapes the ab stretch, misses a crossbody, SSP hits the UNPRETTIER for two, but pulls her up! WHAT? SSP says he's NOT done, and applies the ab stretch. Cherry's out of it, and the ref calls a KO. That was one of the most PATHETIC ref'ing jobs I've ever seen. CALL THE F'N DQ!!! This wasn't a NO DQ match dumbarse!!! Overbooked like crazy and surreality reigns supreme. SSP kisses her goodbye to gloat. Thankfully that unprettier doesn't make her less pretty, but fans are REALLY jawing with SSP and the Hybridz.
WINNER: Spencer Powers KO -> (26-18) 9:40 mins. **¼
Justin MacIntyre walks up to Spencer Powers in the locker room and says now that the match is over he can do whatever he wants now. Something goofy happens right after that I can't describe.
Lucious P. Cotrain (15-14-2) vs. "The Marvel" Shane Matthews (11-6) - Well the contract is signed, so even if Shane loses here he's getting that ladder match against Shard whether anyone likes it or not! Shane is ranked #1, which is the only commonality between my list and NMW's list. LPC is ranked #4. They mat wrestle to start, sunset flip Shane gets two. Armdrag Shane, LPC with a backbreaker against the side of the head. Yikes. LPC clothesline, Shane headscissors LPC to the floor, goes up, flying clothesline to the floor! Shane springboard is caught, spinebuster gets two. 10 punch LPC in the corner, clothesline, fisherman's suplex gets two. Chop LPC, whip to the corner but eats a boot. Shane clothesline, side suplex for two. Missile dropkick gets two. LPC...KICK WHAM STUNNER gets two. Shane Asai DDT, flying elbow off the top rope and here comes Michael Shard with a chair. Shane's ready for him, so he bashes LPC in the head with it and leaves. Buh??? Oh, it's to knock Shane out of #1 and send him to #4. Yeah, it was that blantant. Too late though, the contract is already signed. Steven Xavier runs out with Eric Logan and Eric Ruffington, PHD is out here as well for a gang attack on Shane! President Conflict of Interest. Shard tapes his wrists up and pounds Shane in the head. Shard gets a chair, Xavier with the HAZING on the chair! Sage Ramsey runs out from the back and everyone wusses out!
WINNER: Lucious P. Cotrain DQ -> (16-14-2) 6:40 mins. **¾
Hardcore Match - First Blood
"Forever Man" Guy Smith (32-23) vs. Steven Bishop (11-11) w/ RON - Two years ago, Bishop lost the first blood match and ended up getting fired from the cult, wonder if history will repeat itself? RON puts what looks to be a container of red stuff under the ring. Is that blood? They start slugging it out, Guy BOOT, dropkick, back body drop. Guy Smith yanks the turnbuckle pad off and slams Bishops head into it. Those screws are exposed, but he doesn't bleed this time. Spill outside, Bishop is tossed into the post and spins out. Trashcan is fetched, and he smacks him with it. Bishop with a lidshot, throws Smith into the post! The bottle of red is fetched, but Smith takes it and soaks Bishop and RON with it! Smith wipes his boots, Bishop with a facebreaker and here comes a chair. That red stuff really smells. Spinning facebreaker into the chair and chairshot! Ladder is put in the ring, Smith up, belly to belly slam on Bishop! Smith sets the ladder up, whip and hits a spinebuster onto the ladder! Smith sets up chairs, and puts the ladder across...makeshift table. That ladder is bending and about to break in half! Smith goes up, moonsault hits Bishop on the ladder! If he landed that square, that ladder would be broken! Brad Stephens runs out from the back and attacks Smith! Rian Cruz runs out from the back and goes after Stephens...stepover DDT! RON has a chair, Bishop grabs Rian, hits the 7th Day! Bishop pulls Smith out, there's a table set up out there! Bishop with a crossbody...puts Smith on the table, but Smith gets up and side suplexes Bishop through the table! Smith blasts Stephens with a chair, RON nails Smith with a chair, the ref is calling for the bell...Smith is bleeding?!?!?!??? How'd that happen?
WINNER: Steven Bishop KO -> (12-11) 10:10 mins. ***¼
Rian Cruz is in trouble, Stephens has her but she hits the diamond cutter and Guy Smith runs off his foes. Show is complete. Bishop I had thought would be seen in more main events as a result of this victory, but so far hasn't happened...and he's gotten no heavyweight title shots either.
For the record, their top five now reads: #1 LPC, #2 Eric Logan, #3 Billy Morgan, #4 Shane Matthews, #5 Eric Ruffington. Even thought Logan and Morgan both lost and Ruffington won, for some reason they don't adjust their ranking. I had the REAL top five as: #1 Shane Matthews, #2 Spencer Powers, #3 Guy Smith, #4 Tricky Dick Moore, #5 Billy Morgan. And people make it a point to repeatedly drive into people's heads month after month that my list is very unofficial...like that's so very necessary. Point of the matter, it's a source of debate, but as I've seen time and time again, "everyone has an opinion, while some people rather you didn't."
Where to begin. I've not actively promoted reviews of NMW lately for a reason. But enough time has passed where they need to hear from someone who's been watching their shows for so long because the problems are still there. This is supposedly the second biggest show of the year, but it just did not feel like it for the second year in a row. A lot of times I could see the faces of other people that they're either bored, don't care, or not into it. Now in March there was a large group of kids there that haven't been there before, and they clearly were feeding the wrestlers, they were into it. There wasn't much of a group of them this time around, they were clearly missed. A number of times throughout the evening the crowd was awfully quiet and would not get into things, despite my attempts to lead them into it and geez, we have people complaining about ME making noise. I shouldn't be heard so easily if half the crowd is making noise, I should be drowned out in the sea of people.
The Verdict: Besides the above, the show overall had a lot of sloppiness, the worst being Stephens/Vega and bad officiating. I did notice, none of the titles were defended on this show, which is VERY odd considering what show this was. In retrospect, it really wasn't an improvement over last year's First Blood. They had some serious work to do to turn it around. But geez, I can't remember the last time I gave an NMW show a thumbs down, cause this was a hard thumbs down to make. Attendance was still a real concern though, with more shows around the area and the competition quite packed together, it demanded they had to do something to set themselves apart from all others.
Thumbs down.
