Post by Larry Goodman on Dec 12, 2010 12:20:41 GMT -5
Showtime All-Star Wrestling got my holiday wrestling season off on the right foot Saturday night with “The Fight Before Christmas” at Morton’s Auction House in Columbia, TN.
On paper, it looked to be SAW’s best live event since they abandoned the Nashville Fairgrounds Sports Arena in March. It certainly ha the most talent laden lineup the promotion has put together since then, and the show was pushed hard and well on television.
For match quality, "The Fight" lived up to those lofty expectations. For story development, it exceeded them. Where it fell short was at the box office.
Barely more than 100 fans showed up at Morton’s in a driving rain. The original forecast called for snow and freezing temperatures. At least the people that came out were hot for the product, and Morton's is a small building (aka the new SAW Mill), so it should look and sound OK on TV.
(1) Vordell Walker beat David Young (with Paul Adams & Jesse Emerson & Rick Santel & Roxy Rossi) via DQ in 12:18. I could not stop laughing at Young in that superhero outfit with the ridiculous fake muscles. It’s like he has an air mattress strapped to his chest. Hotter than hell too. I hope they got some good close ups of the rivulets of sweat running down his bald head. Adams unzipped the suit to towel off Young’s back. Young lost the test of strength. Santel dumped Walker off the ropes to give Young the advantage. Santel and Adams both interfered on Young’s behalf. On the comeback, Walker hit the STO. Adams jumped up on the apron. Walker grabbed him by the tie. While that was going on, Young used a chain on Walker, but referee Joe Williams caught him in the act.
(2) "The King" Shane Williams beat Arrick Andrews in 10:16. The story here was that Shane burned Andrews with a fireball two months ago. Shane's tights had little crowns on them just like Lawler's. Andrews sprinted into the ring to attack Shane. It was all Andrews, until Shane ripped off one of the turnbuckle pads and whipped Andrews into the exposed metal. Andrews sold it like he was dying. Shane zeroed in on Arrick’s back and got frustrated when he couldn’t put him away. Shane came up empty on the Lawler fist drop. Andrews hit a DDT but was slow to cover, and Shane got a foot on the ropes. Williams shoved ref Jess Fields into the path of the Dragon’s Curse. Williams gave Andrews a piledriver and second ref Joe Williams ran out to make the three count.
(3) Hammerjack beat Sigmon via DQ in 5-6 minutes. I guess this is Sigmon 2.0. He was an Arab during his first SAW run. Now he’s from Germany. They worked a fast pace. The action spilled outside and who shows up but Jeff freaking Daniels~!. Daniels wrapped a coathanger around Hammer’s throat and choked his ass out. Daniels looked like the devil incarnate. The crowd gave Daniels a “you suck” chant. Being a huge Daniels fan, I thought this was an awesome surprise.
(4) JT Quest beat Mike Dell in 5:33. Dell lacks height, but he has an impressive physique. He bumps well and good ups on his aerial moves. Not much in the personality department as a heel though. Dell needs to escalate the swagger factor and grow that chip on his shoulder. Like last month, Quest was clearly the best performer among the RTW talent. Finish saw Dell miss a clothesline off the top, and Quest cut him down with a big boot.
As Chuck Black started to introduce the next match, he was interrupted by Kid Kash. The man has a presence that fills the room. The Nick Iggy fans in front me had no idea who Kash was, but they knew he was somebody by the way he carried himself. Kash called out Reno Riggins, who came out wearing a suit coat, glasses and a cap. He draped the suit coat over the ring ropes but left the cap and glasses on. Kash said it was no secret they didn’t like each other. Kash brought up the stolen TV tapes. He said he had helped build the company, had seniority and had paid his dues. Kash compared SAW to ECW. He said people talked **** about ECW but it changed the face of wrestling, and he saw something similar in SAW. Kash said only a low life POS would steal the tapes. He asked Reno how he would feel if he was Kash. Reno said he wouldn’t like it. That was the only time Reno spoke. Kash said SAW was his family, and he was back for one reason – to find out who stole the tapes – and if he did, he would be the one choking the offender out (referencing the threat Reno made on TV when he revealed the theft). The crowd wasn’t sure how to take this, but they sure as hell were paying attention. Kash was great here.
(5) Sexy C beat Nick Iggy in 2:48. This had great heat due in part to Iggy’s personal cheering section. They came armed with funny signs again. All of the PG variety this time. C’s deal as heel is that he’s the polar opposite of sexy.. Iggy started hot, as he reeled off three pining combinations. C dripped Iggy in his track with a superkick for the win. A perfectly decent match.
(6) Vordell Walker beat Jesse Emerson (with Paul Adams & David Young & Rick Santel & Roxy Rossi) in 10:30. Roxy was significantly more poised and professional than in her first two appearance. Tethering her to Santel was a brilliant move. It’s like she instantly gained 2 years of experience. Young had a shirt on over his muscle suit. Crowd was strongly behind Walker as he took command of the match. Emerson’s game changer was a swinging neckbreaker. Walker came back with a capture suplex for a near fall. Emerson hit the third standing dropkick of the evening, making it the unofficial Move of the Night. Walker survived two big moves. They were having a good match until the finish. Walker first pinned Emerson with a massively botched Savannah Slam that will be edited off TV. It looked like a dangerously bad landing but they were both OK. They restated the match and Walker hit an STO for the win.
(7) Jeff Daniels beat Chad Williams via submission in 4:10. Daniels is still in great shape for 47. Chad never had a chance. Daniels jumped him, beat on him and made him tap with a cross armbreaker.
The crowd shrunk to about 80 during the intermission.
(9) Kid Kash beat Steven Walters in 8:30. Kash came into the match injured and couldn’t take any bumps. It’s a tribute to his toughness that he wrestled at all. So they beat the living crap out of each other. Kash gave Walters an ugly purple bruise on his chest. Walters’ hand print was visible on Kash’s chest. They both had welts on their backs. Kash maintained his arrogance minus the underhanded tactics. Kash won it with an inside cradle. Kash shook hands with Walters after the match.
(9) “The King” Shane Williams defeated Norman Cross in 4:08. Shane toyed with Cross, who finally got a near fall with flying body press. Shane pulled the straps up before pinning Cross with the Lawler fist drop. Shane wanted to add a piledriver afterward, but “Mr. Law & Order” Jess Fields stepped in to protect Cross.
(10) David Young (with Paul Adams & Jesse Emerson & Rick Santel & Roxy Rossi) beat Vordell Walker in 5 minutes when the debuting Rudy Charles DQed Walker for using a closed fist. Still sweating profusely, Young had to come down the aisle sideways because his muscles are so huge. He attacked Walker before he got inside the ring and dominated the match. The DQ came as soon as Walker started his comeback. Fans were outraged by Charles’ decision. A-Team celebrated like they had won a world championship. The finish was highly entertaining.
(11) Black Jack Brown & Antonio Cathey beat Bobby Surge & Satan in 3:10. A local heroes match and the fans were feeling it. Brown pinned Satan with a lariat.
(12) Phil Shatter defeated Chase Stevens to retain the SAW Heavyweight Championship in 16:50. Among the qualities of greatness these guys bring to the table is the intensity of a real fight. The crowd was 100% behind Stevens and into him the whole way. It was a shame there weren’t more people there to give it the heat it deserved. Shatter started in on Stevens with the “paper champion” taunts. Stevens appeared to be fully prepared for Shatter’s onslaught this time. Stevens finally popped him and it was on. A back and forth slugfest ensued. Shatter gradually imposed his will. Like the first match, Stevens was bleeding in no time flat. Unlike the first match, Stevens mounted repeated rallies that did damage. At one point, Shatter used a Dick the Bruiser foot stomp off the middle rope. Shatter subdued Stevens with a sleeper. Stevens countered with a back suplex to spark a comeback. Stevens hit a powerslam, but was too worn down for a quick cover and Shatter kicked out. Shatter got his knees up on Stevens’ moonsault. Stevens kicked out of the spinebuster and hit a stunner out of nowhere. Tommy Mercer entered the ring. He went for the Mercy Kill on Stevens. Stevens managed to block it, but the diversion gave Shatter the recovery time he needed. Shatter hit the PTSD powerbomb for the three count. An excellent main event. Mercer's involvement had been heavily foreshadowed.
Mercer wasn’t finished. The refs temporarily ran him off. Stevens motioned for Mercer to come get some. Mercer flattened poor Fields again. Mercer and Stevens started going at it. They didn’t get too far, though, before other wrestlers ran out to break it up.
On paper, it looked to be SAW’s best live event since they abandoned the Nashville Fairgrounds Sports Arena in March. It certainly ha the most talent laden lineup the promotion has put together since then, and the show was pushed hard and well on television.
For match quality, "The Fight" lived up to those lofty expectations. For story development, it exceeded them. Where it fell short was at the box office.
Barely more than 100 fans showed up at Morton’s in a driving rain. The original forecast called for snow and freezing temperatures. At least the people that came out were hot for the product, and Morton's is a small building (aka the new SAW Mill), so it should look and sound OK on TV.
(1) Vordell Walker beat David Young (with Paul Adams & Jesse Emerson & Rick Santel & Roxy Rossi) via DQ in 12:18. I could not stop laughing at Young in that superhero outfit with the ridiculous fake muscles. It’s like he has an air mattress strapped to his chest. Hotter than hell too. I hope they got some good close ups of the rivulets of sweat running down his bald head. Adams unzipped the suit to towel off Young’s back. Young lost the test of strength. Santel dumped Walker off the ropes to give Young the advantage. Santel and Adams both interfered on Young’s behalf. On the comeback, Walker hit the STO. Adams jumped up on the apron. Walker grabbed him by the tie. While that was going on, Young used a chain on Walker, but referee Joe Williams caught him in the act.
(2) "The King" Shane Williams beat Arrick Andrews in 10:16. The story here was that Shane burned Andrews with a fireball two months ago. Shane's tights had little crowns on them just like Lawler's. Andrews sprinted into the ring to attack Shane. It was all Andrews, until Shane ripped off one of the turnbuckle pads and whipped Andrews into the exposed metal. Andrews sold it like he was dying. Shane zeroed in on Arrick’s back and got frustrated when he couldn’t put him away. Shane came up empty on the Lawler fist drop. Andrews hit a DDT but was slow to cover, and Shane got a foot on the ropes. Williams shoved ref Jess Fields into the path of the Dragon’s Curse. Williams gave Andrews a piledriver and second ref Joe Williams ran out to make the three count.
(3) Hammerjack beat Sigmon via DQ in 5-6 minutes. I guess this is Sigmon 2.0. He was an Arab during his first SAW run. Now he’s from Germany. They worked a fast pace. The action spilled outside and who shows up but Jeff freaking Daniels~!. Daniels wrapped a coathanger around Hammer’s throat and choked his ass out. Daniels looked like the devil incarnate. The crowd gave Daniels a “you suck” chant. Being a huge Daniels fan, I thought this was an awesome surprise.
(4) JT Quest beat Mike Dell in 5:33. Dell lacks height, but he has an impressive physique. He bumps well and good ups on his aerial moves. Not much in the personality department as a heel though. Dell needs to escalate the swagger factor and grow that chip on his shoulder. Like last month, Quest was clearly the best performer among the RTW talent. Finish saw Dell miss a clothesline off the top, and Quest cut him down with a big boot.
As Chuck Black started to introduce the next match, he was interrupted by Kid Kash. The man has a presence that fills the room. The Nick Iggy fans in front me had no idea who Kash was, but they knew he was somebody by the way he carried himself. Kash called out Reno Riggins, who came out wearing a suit coat, glasses and a cap. He draped the suit coat over the ring ropes but left the cap and glasses on. Kash said it was no secret they didn’t like each other. Kash brought up the stolen TV tapes. He said he had helped build the company, had seniority and had paid his dues. Kash compared SAW to ECW. He said people talked **** about ECW but it changed the face of wrestling, and he saw something similar in SAW. Kash said only a low life POS would steal the tapes. He asked Reno how he would feel if he was Kash. Reno said he wouldn’t like it. That was the only time Reno spoke. Kash said SAW was his family, and he was back for one reason – to find out who stole the tapes – and if he did, he would be the one choking the offender out (referencing the threat Reno made on TV when he revealed the theft). The crowd wasn’t sure how to take this, but they sure as hell were paying attention. Kash was great here.
(5) Sexy C beat Nick Iggy in 2:48. This had great heat due in part to Iggy’s personal cheering section. They came armed with funny signs again. All of the PG variety this time. C’s deal as heel is that he’s the polar opposite of sexy.. Iggy started hot, as he reeled off three pining combinations. C dripped Iggy in his track with a superkick for the win. A perfectly decent match.
(6) Vordell Walker beat Jesse Emerson (with Paul Adams & David Young & Rick Santel & Roxy Rossi) in 10:30. Roxy was significantly more poised and professional than in her first two appearance. Tethering her to Santel was a brilliant move. It’s like she instantly gained 2 years of experience. Young had a shirt on over his muscle suit. Crowd was strongly behind Walker as he took command of the match. Emerson’s game changer was a swinging neckbreaker. Walker came back with a capture suplex for a near fall. Emerson hit the third standing dropkick of the evening, making it the unofficial Move of the Night. Walker survived two big moves. They were having a good match until the finish. Walker first pinned Emerson with a massively botched Savannah Slam that will be edited off TV. It looked like a dangerously bad landing but they were both OK. They restated the match and Walker hit an STO for the win.
(7) Jeff Daniels beat Chad Williams via submission in 4:10. Daniels is still in great shape for 47. Chad never had a chance. Daniels jumped him, beat on him and made him tap with a cross armbreaker.
The crowd shrunk to about 80 during the intermission.
(9) Kid Kash beat Steven Walters in 8:30. Kash came into the match injured and couldn’t take any bumps. It’s a tribute to his toughness that he wrestled at all. So they beat the living crap out of each other. Kash gave Walters an ugly purple bruise on his chest. Walters’ hand print was visible on Kash’s chest. They both had welts on their backs. Kash maintained his arrogance minus the underhanded tactics. Kash won it with an inside cradle. Kash shook hands with Walters after the match.
(9) “The King” Shane Williams defeated Norman Cross in 4:08. Shane toyed with Cross, who finally got a near fall with flying body press. Shane pulled the straps up before pinning Cross with the Lawler fist drop. Shane wanted to add a piledriver afterward, but “Mr. Law & Order” Jess Fields stepped in to protect Cross.
(10) David Young (with Paul Adams & Jesse Emerson & Rick Santel & Roxy Rossi) beat Vordell Walker in 5 minutes when the debuting Rudy Charles DQed Walker for using a closed fist. Still sweating profusely, Young had to come down the aisle sideways because his muscles are so huge. He attacked Walker before he got inside the ring and dominated the match. The DQ came as soon as Walker started his comeback. Fans were outraged by Charles’ decision. A-Team celebrated like they had won a world championship. The finish was highly entertaining.
(11) Black Jack Brown & Antonio Cathey beat Bobby Surge & Satan in 3:10. A local heroes match and the fans were feeling it. Brown pinned Satan with a lariat.
(12) Phil Shatter defeated Chase Stevens to retain the SAW Heavyweight Championship in 16:50. Among the qualities of greatness these guys bring to the table is the intensity of a real fight. The crowd was 100% behind Stevens and into him the whole way. It was a shame there weren’t more people there to give it the heat it deserved. Shatter started in on Stevens with the “paper champion” taunts. Stevens appeared to be fully prepared for Shatter’s onslaught this time. Stevens finally popped him and it was on. A back and forth slugfest ensued. Shatter gradually imposed his will. Like the first match, Stevens was bleeding in no time flat. Unlike the first match, Stevens mounted repeated rallies that did damage. At one point, Shatter used a Dick the Bruiser foot stomp off the middle rope. Shatter subdued Stevens with a sleeper. Stevens countered with a back suplex to spark a comeback. Stevens hit a powerslam, but was too worn down for a quick cover and Shatter kicked out. Shatter got his knees up on Stevens’ moonsault. Stevens kicked out of the spinebuster and hit a stunner out of nowhere. Tommy Mercer entered the ring. He went for the Mercy Kill on Stevens. Stevens managed to block it, but the diversion gave Shatter the recovery time he needed. Shatter hit the PTSD powerbomb for the three count. An excellent main event. Mercer's involvement had been heavily foreshadowed.
Mercer wasn’t finished. The refs temporarily ran him off. Stevens motioned for Mercer to come get some. Mercer flattened poor Fields again. Mercer and Stevens started going at it. They didn’t get too far, though, before other wrestlers ran out to break it up.