Photo courtesy of Brooklyn Page From Larry Goodman: Anarchy returned to action last night for their first show in the aftermath of al...
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| Photo courtesy of Brooklyn Page |
Anarchy returned to action last night for their first show in the aftermath of all the anniversary hoopla.
The crew turned in a strong effort despite being light some of their key players (Jeff G. Bailey, Fred Yehi, BJ Hancock, CB Suave and Mikael Judas come to mind).
It was good show. Can’t say it was a great show.
Anarchy paid tribute to Dusty Rhodes throughout the course of evening and did a fine job of it. Rhodes made several appearances in the building during the NWA Wildside era.
The bunkhouse main event was wild and crazy, ending with a new key player bursting onto the scene. Slim J and Jeff Lewis had an excellent technical match albeit with a crappy finish.
Two gimmick matches placed four of the company’s younger stars into the biggest matches of their Anarchy careers, their first opportunity as headliners. Kevin Blue and Jacob Ashworth came through with the goods in the fan participation strap match. Why there were only four fans with straps at ringside I have no idea but the lack of formidable consequences for Blue certainly took something away. Jeremy Foster defeated Trevor Aeon to win the Young Lion’s Championship in an unspectacular ladder match.
The temperature inside the building was about the same as the attendance – 90. The crowd held up really well in less than ideal conditions. Most all of the matches were well received.
Bill Behrens opened the show with a moving tribute to Dusty. He said Rhodes was a big picture guy, the creator of concepts like War Games and the Great American Bash. Behrens said Rhodes proved you didn’t need to have to best body to captivate the crowds. He said Rhodes would never be duplicated, and there would never be anyone that was as good a promo or had as much charisma as Dusty, Rock and Austin included. Behrens reminisced about the first time Dusty came through the curtain at Anarchy as the manager in a six man tag that included AJ Styles and Christopher Daniels that Behrens believed was the best match he ever promoted (I will second that). Behrens recalled that Dusty gave advice to all of the wrestlers as the came to the back after their matches and that he was the common man. Behrens said the main event tonight would be a Bunkhouse match in honor of Dusty. The tribute concluded with a 10 bell.
Miss Rachael came out with her champions (Heavyweight Champion Jagged Edge, TV Champion Kevin Blue and Young Lion’s Champion Trevor Aeon). Rachael admitted that Behrens’ tribute to Dusty was beautifully said before getting on his case. Rachael accused Behrens of stacking the deck tonight but be that as it may, none of her guys were going to lose. She said Behrens may have won the battle at the anniversary show, but PCW won the war. Rachael said Behrens could wipe his tears on what was left of Jeff G. Bailey and handed him a bloody hanky. Rachael pretty much nailed it with her promo here.
(1) Wade Adams defeated the extremely green Kevin Park in 4:20. The most impressive thing about Park was his tattoos. He fell on his ass springing into the ring. Adams head has become as hard as a rock. Not sure how the hard head relates to the beard or the reindeer sweater (Adams had to be roasting in that thing). Xu sprung off the ropes and jacked his jaw on Adams’ head and that was all she wrote.
(2) Raphael King & Devyn Nicole & Nina Monet defeated Todd Sexton & Aja Perrera & Dementia D’Rose in 9:58. Perrera was in the process of fighting her way out of the heel corner when King pulled her hair for instant heat. Aja responded with a slap across the face. A six-way face off ensued highlighted by Sexton’s full blown flip, flop and fly in honor of Dusty. Monet interfered to give Nicole the advantage on Perrera. A gutwrench by Perrera led to the hot tag. Perrera and D’Rose tripped up King who then ate a superkick from Sexton, but Nicole and Monet made the save. D’Rose applied the flying ass to the faces of King and Nicole. Monet avoided the humiliation, and the match broke down to six-way action. King used Monet’s boot on Sexton and clotheslined D’Rose who was pinned by Nicole. Not a wrestling masterpiece by any means, but the match had good energy and some memorable spots. Sexton’s Dusty tribute was a really nice touch.
Rachael had a talk with Geter before the next match in an attempt to sooth her savage beast. Geter said she and BJ Hancock were screwing up and he didn’t need her help. Rachael admitted there were tensions and that was why Hancock stayed home (liar, liar). Rachael said things don’t always go as planned and it was Billy Buck that Geter should be mad at not Hancock. Rachael said PCW was in their blood and promised to make it right. Geter reluctantly accepted Rachael’s handshake.
(3) Washington Bullets (Jon & Trey Williams) defeated Big F’N Deal (Geter & Blaze) to become the number one contenders for the Anarchy tag titles in 13:25. Prior to this match, the powers that be had already booked Jon vs. Trey and Bullets vs. Silent Kill Syndicate. To me, it feels like too much, too soon with the dissension within the PCW ranks. Some old lady threw her drink can at Bullets when they sprayed her with water. Bullets got heat on Blaze, and the crowd got behind Big F’N Deal. Geter annihilated Bullets. He had Trey pinned with a splash but Jon double stomped him to break up the pin. Trey took Geter down with a mighty leaping leg drop. Bullets tried for a double team on Blaze, but Geter broke that up. Big F’N Deal hit their finisher on Jon and appeared to have the match won but referee Ken Wallace correctly ruled that Jon wasn’t legal. Trey then rolled Blaze up for the 1-2-3. They did some cool stuff, but it felt clunky in spots and didn’t flow like some of their past encounters.
Behrens explained the rules for fan participation strap match - no shots to the head or to the “naughty bits”. Four ticket stubs were drawn at random to select the strappers.
(4) Kevin Blue retained the TV title against Jacob Ashworth via a 10 minute draw in the fan participation strap match. Ashworth tossed Blue out a couple of times. The strapping was fairly tame. The female fan did get a good lick in that put a visible welt on Blue’s back. Blue took over with an authoritative clothesline off the middle rope. They did the deal where Ashworth got tossed out and fans wouldn’t touch him. The crowd got vocal for Ashworth, and he responded with a fallaway slam and a full nelson slam for near falls. They battled on the ropes. Blue spilled to the floor and took another good lick. Blue snatched the strap from one of the fans and punched Ashworth with it. Ashworth kicked out. They scrapped until the time limit expired. Blue and Ashworth did well in their roles. It’s a match up that has a strong heel/face dynamic. The stipulation didn’t amount to much. The spots where Blue got tossed out were not particularly compelling – not enough strappers and not enough zeal to strike fear into the heel’s heart.
(5) Jeff Lewis defeated Slim J to record his second win in the Ironman Series at 8:50. Sweet matwork to open. Don’t tell me they are actually going to wrestle? Lewis tried to use his size to maintain control but J managed to escape. Lewis showed his true colors by offering to shake Slim’s hands and kicking him in the gut instead. J rallied back with a flying headscissors and flew from the top, but Lewis made the catch and planted him with a powerslam. Lewis hung Slim in the tree of woe and delivered a running knee to the gut for a near fall. They worked a series of hope spots and cut offs until Lewis again hung Slim in the tree of woe. This time, Slim had an answer as he escaped into a moonsault for a near fall. Slim then had Lewis beaten with the flying reverse DDT when the Bullets got on the mic. Slim turned his back on Lewis to listen. Lewis caught Slim with a rolling reverse for the 1-2-3. Loved the match, hated the stupid finish. Hands down the best technical work of the night. Lewis is a great addition to the roster. He’s got star presence in the ring. He has the confidence and experience to do less and give each move time to register.
(6) Jeremy Foster defeated Trevor Aeon in a ladder match at 13:49 to regain the Anarchy Young Lion’s Championship. An 8 foot and a 10 foot ladder were set up at ringside. The action quickly spilled out of the ring. Foster posted Aeon and brought the 8 foot ladder into the ring. The ladder was on its last legs and broke on the first spot. I don’t know what they were thinking using that ladder. Aeon used the tall ladder on Foster’s back and gut and slammed him onto the ladder. Rachael came out and handed Aeon a 6 foot ladder. The best spot of the match was Foster’s sunset powerbomb from top of the small ladder. Aeon pulled Foster off the ladder and spiked him with a DDT. They tried to use the small ladder to climb for the belt and did that ever look dumb. Foster launched a flying knee from near the top of the small ladder. The ladder slipped and he didn’t get all of it. Foster tried to climb the tall ladder. Aeon pulled him down. They traded shots leading to a double knockout. They climbed opposite sides of the tall ladder. Aeon knocked Foster off. Foster hooked Aeon’s feet in the ladder rungs so he was hanging upside down and climbed up the other side to retrieve the belt. I am not an advocate of high risk stunts, but this type of gimmick match should produce at least one defining moment and this match didn’t have it.
(7) Jagged Edge & Lars Manderson & Azrael & Supernatural defeated Billy Buck & Shadow Jackson & Bobby Moore & Stryknyn in a Bunkhouse match at 11 minutes. Buck came to ringside solo with Midnight Rider playing in the background. Geter came from nowhere and splashed Buck against the ring frame. Jagged Edge jumped out of the ring and posted Buck. Jerry Palmer and Behrens helped Buck to the back with Buck doing the big sell that would have made Dusty proud. It looked like it would be 3 against 4 until Tommy Penirelli came out to take Buck’s spot. This was a wild brawl with way too much action to pick out the many specifics. A chair and a cane were brought into play. Moore took a suplex on the ramp from Supernatural and Azrael. The most insane moment of the match saw Moore give Supernatural a Death Valley Driver off the top of the announcer’s booth (an eight foot drop) onto the other six guys for a “that was awesome” chant. Shadow did the flip, flop and fly. A train of finishing moves and saves built to Stryknyn going for the FFD. At that point, Penirelli turned his back on Anarchy and laid Stryk out with a fishermanbuster and he was pinned by Jagged Edge. I was surprised that creative booked another 8 man on the heels of the less than stellar 8 man at the anniversary show. The bunkhouse aspect gave it a refreshingly different spin.
Postmatch, Rachael hit the ring with the veggie peeler intent on slicing Stryk open. Palmer ran to the back and returned with a giant reinforcement in the form of Logan Creed. Rachael bailed. Creed hit the ring and destroyed all of the PCW guys. Creed capped off the devastation by press tossing Supernatural over the top rope onto Team PCW. It was a hell of a spot, and a hell of a way to bring Creed into the mix as a big-time player. Team Anarchy needed another monster and they’ve got one.
