Photo Courtesy of Brian Thompson From Larry Goodman: Big Time Wrestling is proof positive that nostalgia is still a money maker whe...
From Larry Goodman:
Big Time Wrestling is proof positive that nostalgia is still a money maker when done correctly. BTW sold out the Spartanburg Memorial Auditorium in February 2014 with an announced crowd of over 1600 and the promoter Stephen Perkins came up just a couple hundred shy of that number last night. The gate was over $30,000 before they opened the doors, although the walk up may have suffered due to the Panthers game.
BTW has hit on a formula that works when many others have lost their asses trying to do the same thing. The secret to their success is running the right markets with the right frequency (or infrequency), with the right mix of talent. In this case, BTW also had the right venue. The Spartanburg Memorial Auditorium has housed wrestling events since the 1950s. Perkins is based in Boston but what gives him an edge in the Carolinas is boots on the ground in the form of former Carolina Championship Wrestling promoter Tony Hunter.
The company knows their fans base and gives them precisely what they want – a mix of legends, current stars and attractive female wrestlers and ample opportunities to get up close and personal with all of them. The Spartanburg show was especially loaded up in the legends department.
The stars manned booths for a full two hours before the show. With the exception of Dennis Condrey, all of big stars appeared as advertised. Dr. Tom Prichard subbed for Condrey.
The main event, Matt Hardy vs. Sabu in a TLC match, sent the fans home fully satisfied, as the veteran warriors brought their A games. The semi-main was super entertaining. With the Rock & Roll Express, Jim Cornette, Bobby Eaton, Ricky Steamboat and Jimmy Valiant all out there at the same time, the starpower was such that it didn’t matter what they did. The women’s match (Mickie James vs. Tessa Blanchard) got over great and was a pleasant surprise. The undercard was serviceable filler featuring BTW’s regular New England crew with a few Carolina indy guys sprinkled in.
Most shows would kill to have the heat this show had. The nostalgia for the days of Mid-Atlantic Wrestling was in full effect as expected. But the strength of the “ECW” chants for Sabu shocked the hell out of me.
Perkins doubled as ring announcer and introduced Barry Windham and Ron Simmons to kick things off. Barry is a very large man these days. Windham said his favorite match from Spartanburg was going an hour with Flair. Simmons said this was like coming home for him. The fans chanted “do it”. Simmons hemmed and hawed and finally delivered his catch word for a big pop.
(1) George South pinned “The Scufflin Hillbilly” Cousin Larry at 7:53. South got tremendous heat by doing nothing of substance. He refused to take his jacket off and acted like a complete a-hole. That was enough. South applied the dreaded claw hold on multiple occasions. Larry finally figured out a way around it, so South resorted to feet on the ropes to score the pinfall.
(2) “The Judo Master” Benny Jux defeated Sledge in 5:08. Jeff Richards (aka the walking encyclopedia of Carolina wrestling) said Sledge was Mister TA last year in Spartanburg. Sledge issued a no heckling warning. Wishful thinking. Jux reeled off strikes galore and has deceiving aerial skills for a wrestler with a stocky build. Jux took the slam off the top ala Flair. Sledge’s clubbing blows reminded me of Mike Sharpe with iron poor blood. Jux missed a top rope splash but resiliently kicked out of Sledge’s cover. The finish was weak. Sledge went for a slam. Jux chopped at his legs and Sledge keeled over.
(3) Jeff Lewis Neal & Deon Johnson defeated Zane Riley & “The Adorable” Danny Myles in 11:15. The notable thing about this match was the lax security. Some dude walked right into the ringside area and got tossed out of the building. Later on, a wild-eyed floozy in the first row took a swipe at Myles. Riley and Myles jumped the bell. The payback was hell as they ended up in a humiliating sexual position. Johnson did the Afro American variant of the bionic elbows and flip flop and fly. I’ll take Shadow Jackson any day. Miles pulled the ropes down on Neal and went to town on him. Finish was a flying ass by Johnson followed by JLN’s spinning neckbreaker to pin Miles.
(4) Mickie James defeated Tessa Blanchard with special referee Melissa Coates at 15:05. The crowd was in love with James. Blanchard brings bigtime attitude in a small package. Her ability to use facial expressions and body language is light years beyond her experience level. Heel or not, Blanchard had a healthy share of supporters and at one point, dueling chants broke out. Blanchard took a timeout to regroup. James had fun with Blanchard’s t-shirt and tossed it into the crowd. As James was attempting to the climb the ropes, Blanchard cut her off with a hotshot to take control. Blanchard applied a figure four headscissors and pounded Mickie’s head into the mat. James hit a neckbreaker out of nowhere to set up her comeback. Flapjack, nip up, Thesz press of the top but Blanchard kicked out. Blanchard blocked a DDT and nailed James with a high boot for a near fall. Blanchard tried to pin James with her feet on the ropes. Coates caught the cheating. Blanchard got in Melissa’s face. Coates faked a punch and shoved Blanchard, who didn’t know James was behind her on all fours. Blanchard fell ass over tea kettle and James rolled her up. Easily the most entertaining match so far.
Coates had enough of Blanchard’s smart mouth and carried her out Argentine backbreaker style.
40 minute intermission with all of the the legends back in their booths.
Teddy Long opened the second half. He recalled refereeing a 30 minute match between Windham and Brad Armstrong in Spartanburg on a hot summer night. Long then introduced Magnum TA to a huge ovation. Magnum (using a Glide to get around) said he first came to Spartanburg in 1985 to wrestle Wahoo McDaniel. Magnum said it was wrestling back then rather than sports entertainment. The crowd popped for McDaniel, booed at the mention of sport entertainment and chanted “Thank you, Magnum”.
Bam Shaw rudely interrupted Long to demand a title shot. Shaw got easy heat running down the Panthers. GM Long said he was making the match for the people.
(5) Flex Armstrong defeated Bam Shaw to retain the Big Time Wrestling Championship in 13:31. Armstrong is a good athlete with a muscular build. Lacks height. He’s much better suited to being a babyface than a heel as he was last year vs. Vader. Shaw has size and a physique suitable for keeping his t-shirt on. I got the sense they had wrestled each other many times before. Both men worked hard. They went back and forth with big moves for close near falls before Armstrong speared Shaw for the win. The match was fine in a generic kind of way.
Postmatch – Armstrong offered to shake hands. Shaw faked acceptance and spit in Armstrong’s face.
(6) Rock & Roll Express (Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson with Ricky Steamboat & Jimmy Valiant) defeated “Ravishing” Randy Rose & Dr. Tom Prichard (with Jim Cornette & Bobby Eaton) in 7:15. Cornette’s mic work was as awesome as ever. He said Dennis Condrey had a family emergency so this would be a first time ever teaming of the Midnight Express and the Heavenly Bodies. Cornette said both of his teams carried the Rock & Roll Express on their backs. Valiant was handcuffed to Eaton per the stipulation. Cornette said he loved Valiant like a great grandfather and asked if his undertaker knew he got up this morning. Cornette warned Steamboat that he was in the best shape of his life and would hate to embarrass him by slapping him around if got out of line. They did the comedy routine where Rose ended up pumphandling Prichard’s arm. Cornette bumped for a punch from Ricky. Moments later, Cornette whacked the hell out of Morton’s back with the tennis racket for one of the biggest pops of the night. Heat on Ricky...Morton roll for the hot tag. Prichard and Gibson went down after a midring collision. Cornette jumped in to put Prichard on top of Gibson, and freaked out at the sight of Steamboat in the ring with him. Steamboat chopped Cornette and referee Tony Hunter counted Cornette’s shoulders down for Gibson’s cover. A whimsical nothing of a match that did nothing but entertain. The crowd ate it up with a spoon.
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| Photo Courtesy of Brandon Spec Lyles |
(7) Matt Hardy defeated Sabu in a Tables, Ladders and Chairs match at 12:51 by grabbing the briefcase containing a contract for a future BTW title match. Both men got huge pops coming out and were greeted with chants of “Hardy” and “ECW”. Right off the bat, the crowd chanted for tables. Sabu did a slingshot leg drop and applied the camel clutch. Hardy answered with a Side Effect. Sabu introduced a chair and did the Arabian facebuster. Hardy bulldogged Sabu onto the chair. Hardy brought a ladder in but Sabu cut him off with a chair to the face. Sabu hit a springboard Arabian facebuster on Hardy, who was face down across the ladder. Sabu tried to use the ladder to knock the briefcase down, and Hardy whacked him with a chair. Sabu stopped Hardy’s climb for the briefcase. Hardy cut off Sabu’s climb with a chair edge up the ying yang. Hardy slid the ladder into Sabu’s crotch and used a chair like a hammer to drive it home. The crowd chanted for tables again. Sabu obliged, putting Hardy through it with a springboard Arabian facebuster. Another “ECW” chant erupted. The crowd chanted “this is awesome” as Sabu ascended the ladder. Hardy intervened with a Twist of Fate off the ladder and pulled down the briefcase. The TLC felt surprisingly fresh. The show was wisely constructed to save all of the weapons and violence for this match.
Afterward -- a mutual show of respect between the combatants that felt totally genuine. Hardy paid tribute to Sabu as a hardcore innovator.
