From Jeff Richards: MORE 3+ STAR MATCHES THAN YOU CAN SHAKE a STICK at GASTONIA (NC) -- It was a long night but an evening which...
From Jeff Richards:
MORE 3+ STAR MATCHES THAN YOU CAN SHAKE a STICK at
MORE 3+ STAR MATCHES THAN YOU CAN SHAKE a STICK at
GASTONIA (NC) -- It was a long night but an evening which produced more pleasant surprises for Premiere Wrestling Xperience (PWX). There was even a match of the year candidate. If this had been a spot show, PWX could have ended it early, and everyone would be tweeting like crazy. However, after a 30 plus minute match between NXT's Tommaso Ciampa and Anthony Henry, more athletes were waiting to show off their prowess.
Over 210 (hopefully all paid) were in attendance at Gastonia's National Guard Armory on May 21st for "Believe The Hype." PWX claims to have the Southeast's best wrestling. For your money's worth, "Believe The Hype" excelled, providing lots of local favorites, debuting "stars," and highly contested matches. Management had worked long and hard on this show; the effort definitely showed. Talent in the crowd not used included Chase Brown and Timmy Lou Retton. There were nine matches (one major title change), which, including intermission, lasted a few minutes shy of four hours.
1) Darius Lockhart endured a triple threat match in the juniors division, pinning Conor Claxton (other opponent was Kota Sekifuda) in 7:15. RATING: 3 stars Post-match: Corey Hollis and Gunner decimated all three youngsters. Gunner delivered a powerbomb to the winner, Lockhart. Three referees arrived to restore order. Holllis exclaimed, "This juniors division is a joke." NOTE to PWX: It is when you keep sending heavyweights out to destroy it. Hollis mentioned "Hangman" Adam James, but out came Jaxson James. Even his girlfriend agreed James does not look like Baby Gunner anymore.
2) Hollis (w/Gunner) pinned James in 11:11. James showed new fire. Gunner stayed at ringside to occasionally interfere. Hollis threw a nice dropkick for only a one count. JJ missed the knee on an "Attitude Adjustment," but Hollis sold like a pro. James backsuplexed Hollis 180 degrees or more. Gunner robbed James of winning with his pumphandle finisher. Hollis dropicked James to the floor with the non-Bruiserweight staying out for a nine count. A Hollis neckbreaker finally did James in. RATING: 2 stars
3) The Ugly Ducklings (Colby Corino & Rob Killjoy) w/Lance Lude defeated former rivals Joe Black and Chip "F'n" Day in 15 minutes. Kevin Pierce refereed. The Ducklings are the most over faction in PWX. Sorry, Revolt and Xperience. Pierce found all sorts of objects in Corino's trunks. Black sold very little of Corino's inspired offense. There were lots of lucha spots from Killjoy early. "Quack" chants followed Killjoy's Kobashi chops on Day. Corino saved when Black had Kiljoy beat. A double stomp by Killjoy off the top rope onto Day could have been it, but Black bailed out his partner. Day delivered a double knee strike to Corino, but Killjoy saved. Corino ultimately pinned Black with a bridging combination. RATING: 3 stars
4) "The Product" David Starr put away Mason Maddox (w/The Tommy Thomas) in 14:09. Mitch Blalock refereed. Maddox wrestled with a heavily taped thigh. Starr took plenty of time to admire himself in a mirror that Maddox introduced. A codebreaker took a little steam out of Starr, whose springboard lariat took Maddox off the apron and onto the floor. Maddox hit a couple of consecutive topes that had fans chanting for more. Starr soared himself over the top rope with a plancha. Nice counter wrestling included Starr rolling out of a cradle and superkicking Maddox hard in the face. Starr executed a Tiger suplex for the win. RATING: 1 3/4 stars
5) Henry (w/Amber Young) pinned Ciampa in 34:33 of a restarted match. Referee Chris Wiggins was the other Iron Man in this bout. This was the third match in a series of contests that Henry and Ciampa have had in PWX. Amber was vital to Henry's protection until Wiggins tossed her from ringside. Ciampa posed for a selfie while having Henry in a fishhook. Both men landed chops on the apron until Henry took his opponent down to the armory floor. Henry was gigging fans while Ciampa sold. Up to the top Henry arose but missed his first frogsplash. After a low blow right in front off the referee, Wiggins disqualified Henry Authority figure Patrick Wright quickly dismissed the referee's decision and restarted this match with a NO DQ stip. Ciampa tossed Henry into some now empty chairs. The "Psycho Killer" bodyslammed Henry near the commentator's table and then showed him the door (armory door). Ciampa ran the length of the armory floor to deliver a knee. Amber arrived, allowing Ciampa to be superkicked by her man. Ciampa had enough of Young's interference and zip-tied her to the ropes. However, Henry regrouped and took Ciampa into some chairs courtesy of a tope. Ciampa bent some more chairs. Someone's going to get hurt at one of these shows, and a lawsuit would cripple this group. Henry wedged a chair in three of the four corners and sat one in the middle. Ciampa reversed a suplex and crunched that chair. The "Sicilian Psychopath" took turns tossing Henry into the different chairs that had been set up for this purpose. After all that abuse, Henry powered out. The "this is awesome" chants started. Henry's hope spot was the Raven leg trip into a chair. A calf killer submission looked to be curtains, but Ciampa made the ropes. Henry went for a top rope hurancanrana, but Ciampa delivered "Project Ciampa" off the top turnbuckle. "Fight Forever" chants broke out. A vertebreaker would have been the three, but Young managed to pull the referee out. Another "Project Ciampa" was seen, but the NXT newbie was too far away to cover. "Match of the Year" chants were heard. Ciampa set six chairs in the middle of the ring. In the essence of time, PWX CEO Brian Kanabroski helped with one. Henry reversed momentum and sunset-flip powerbombed Ciampa onto the non-breaking chairs. The "Five Star King", who truly lived up to his nickname, connected on a vertebreaker of his own to win. RATING: 5 stars It was time for intermission which was not brief.
6) The Revolt (Zane Riley & Caleb Konley) downed James Drake & Tim Donst in 16:42. Antrone Brewer (Da Fireman) officiated. Donst and Conley put on a wrestling exhibition, and then the other two guys tagged in. Drake hurt Riley's feelings, so Konley came in to school Drake. Riley's girth took out both foes on a tope. Donst was not down with any of Drake's cheating ways. Riley was battling both until he tagged Konley. There was a doubleteam of Konley, but Riley broke it up. Konley backsuplexed Donst out of his boots. Drake ate a spinning backfist from Konley and a DVD from Riley. He preferred the Death Valley Driver over having to watch the Revolt's homemade road tales. Donst vertically suplexed Riley and flew all over Konley. Konley also crashed after being hit with an ace crusher. Riley barged in on the next doubleteam, allowing Konley to DDT Donst. Drake's nicest move was turning Konley on a twisting DDT variation (Riley had to save)."You are the bane of my existence," Drake yelled at Riley. Maybe he got him confused with David Rhymer. Drake also connected on a sick kick, but Konley rolled a shoulder. The "Enforcer" was headed up top for a moonsault, but Riley shook the ropes. Therefore, it was Konley's double jump moonsault which felled Drake. RATING: 4 stars
7) Adam Brooks came all the way from Australia to pin Ethan Case in 9:33. Streamers showered Case's entrance. Brooks claimed he has held more championships "down under" than Gastonia fans had sex in their lives. He did conk Case with a microphone before the bell. A tope in "Ethan's house" floored the Aussie. Case connected on a giant ace crusher in the middle, but Brooks kicked out. A high knee off crisscrossing the ropes put Case in a precarious position. Case grew frustrated after his verifical suplex into a cutter only received a two count. A spinning neckbreaker by Brooks was not the "3" either. Brooks' enzuigiri sent Case out of the ring where he was met by Brooks' backwards plancha. The Australian grappler missed a swanton, and Case hit a springboard "Lethal Injection" for just a two count. Brooks moved Pierce out of the way, so the referee would miss a very low kick. Brooks immediately scored a very unpopular victory. RATING: 1 1/4 stars
8) The Bravados successfully defended the PWX World Tag Team Titles over Los Ben Dejos (Jay Rios & Jay Cruz) in 13:46. This was an open challenge contest which was accepted by the team never defeated for PWX' tag team belts. Dejos opened quickly. They yelled "Suck it" after a double superkick to Harlem. Lancelot responded with a double lariat. The Lucha World Order's aerial maneuvers have certainly been missed. Harlen delivered a ton of punishment to Cruz. A superkick and a tornado DDT allowed Cruz to tag Rios. Following a "Canadian Destroyer," Rios tagged back out. A springboard DDT on Rios by Lancelot scored a two count. Harlem actually exploder suplexed Rios into Cruz. Dejos double superkicked Harlem, who knew by this point he had been in a war. Referee Charles Culler suffered a stinger on what might have been the finish. Rios took the "Gentleman's Agreement" finisher and was finished. This match ended at 11 PM. RATING: 3 stars
9) AAW Champion Sami Callihan captured the PWX World Heavyweight Title from long-standing champion John Skyler in 17:14. It was a double championship match, and Brett Wolverton set the table by announcing that Skyler had been champ for 370 days. Callihan was 0-1 in this building, having lost to Henry back on February 20th. It was the "Death Machine" vs. "Southern Savior," and Blalock was our referee. Callihan abruptly ran into a superkick for a believable near fall right after the bell sounded. Callihan immediately grabbed Skyler and suplexed him into a corner for his own two count. After two brutal kicks, Callihan set his hair loose. A tope through the bottom two ropes sent Skyler sailing into some ringside chairs. Callihan ran around the ring before cannonballing Skyler, who was seated on a ringside chair. The second time he tried it though, Skyler was prepared. Skyler speared Callihan on the apron and then also coming back into the ring. Three back sentons netted Skyler a two count only. A Skyler sleeperhold was broken up by the AAW Champion. Calliahn would viciously assault Skyler whenever the PWX Champion was resting in a corner. Callihan's "Liger Bomb" netted a two count. A bicycle kick from Callihan was countered by a Skyler superkick. Skyler's "Finlay Roll" was good for a two count right before the 15 minute mark. "Saving Grace" was countered. Callihan had Skyler beat, but here came Hollis & Gunner. Blalock was outside tending to the Xperience members when Callihan made his presence known with a death-defying plancha. Skyler nailed a pedigree on Callihan, and Gastonia's Culler slid in to try and count to three. However, Callihan was out in time. It looked like Gunner would be able to save his stablemate from submitting, but it was not to be. Skyler was trapped in Callihan's "Stretch Muffler" which looked extremely painful. Moments later, Culler called for the bell, and Callihan had become a double belt holder. The show ended mere minutes before 11:30 PM. RATING: 2 stars
NOTES: PWX returns to Hickory, NC and the National Guard Armory on Saturday, June 18th...There was more talk last Saturday night from informed sources that PWX is returning to Charlotte television. Fans are hoping that some sponsors (plural) can be lined up to help alleviate the cost of running in Charlotte's costly market. Even if the show is on Saturday mornings at 5:00....
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