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| Photo by Kendra Casper |
Landmark Arena, welcome to Hell.
-- John Johnson
The NCW half of the 24th edition of Hardcore Hell, is in the books and it was an eventful evening indeed.
What an atmosphere. There's nothing like a full house at the Landmark Arena and the building was packed to the gills with a standing room only crowd of 300. Where they're going to put all the people tonight I have no idea.
New champions were crowned - NCW has a new heavyweight champion in Big Andy, a new junior heavyweight champion in Todd Sexton and new tag team champions in State of Emergency.
It was an entertaining show, filled with legends, gimmicks, blood and guts, and characters of all sorts. Mat classics were not the order of the day.
It was also a long show but this crowd hung tough and there were few lulls in their energy level.
The NCW crew worked their asses off to put on the best possible show and were put over strong with more than a little help from some key friends. Among other things, NCW Is a place for young talent to experiment and learn. Hardcore Hell provided them with an unforgettable experience.
My night was made before the first opening bell rang by the Landmark Hall of Fame inductions of Shadow Jackson, Jimmy Rave, Jerry Palmer, Scottie Wrenn and Steven Prazak.
The HOF segment deserves a story of its own when I have the proper time to devote to it.
Pre-show: The Landmark Hall of Fame Inductions with John Johnson as emcee
-- Jimmy Rave inducted by Todd Sexton
-- Steven Prazak inducted by Dan Wilson
-- Scottie Wrenn inducted by Bill Behrens
-- Jerry Palmer inducted by Jeff G. Bailey
-- Shadow Jackson inducted by Greg Hunter
A nicely done video package opened the show.
(1) Austin Towers won an eight man battle royal in 7:43 defeating The Wall, Warden, Agonyst, Izzy Vaden, Jaxon Carter, Dynamic Dexter and Joshua Bronner. This could have been a mess but it wasn't, thanks to a match laid out to tell a clear story and keep the ring from becoming a cluster. The reaction for Dexter's intro was nuts. Vaden made himself a human punching bag and was quickly gone. The three bigs (Towers, Warden and Wall) dispatched with the other four guys. Carter tried hang back but his fate was sealed. The fans were behind Towers. Wall and Warden doubled up on him but he was able to first eliminate Warden and then Wall with a Kobeya Kick as they battled on the apron.
(2) Alex Kytel defeated David Ali in 8:30. Good match and a generous performance by Ali. The idea was to get Kytel over as a babyface. It worked to some degree but a lot of fans were pulling for Ali. How could they not when he's one of the best wrestlers in the state? Ali said Kytel wasn't in his league and this was his house. Kytel said Ali left while he stayed. Fast forward to the closing minutes -- Kytel got a near fall with a Claymore off the top. Ali got two with a Phantom Driver and punted Kytel, who rolled out of the ring. Back inside, Ali went for the punt kick. Kytel countered with a roll up and pinned him with the 1119 (Velveteen Dream's swinging DDT).
Ali raised Kytel's hand after the match to a middling reaction.
(3) Double Bullrope Match: State of Emergency (Droxx & Josh Aeronson) defeated 100 Proof (Chris & Jerry Nelms) to win the NCW tag titles in 9:01. Droxx was tied to Chris. Aeronson was tied Jerry. This was violent. They bludgeoned each other with the cowbell. All four bled. Aeronson bled buckets. He got the crimson mask and his white t-shirt was a disgusting mess. Droxx tripped Jerry with a bullrope and he was pinned by Aeronson. The crowd didn't seem to particularly favor either team during the match but booed State of Emergency when it was over.
(4) Beer Joint Brawler defeated Logan Blume (with Big Mama & Da Neese) in 30 seconds. Big Mama is over like crazy with the NCW regulars. She's a cartoonish hoot in her hair bonnet, robe. and garish make up. Mama offered $700 to anyone that could beat her boy Logan. Brawler (looking like a junior Moondog) accepted and knocked Blume out with one punch. Thank God they didn't do a real match. Mama paid Brawler the cash and gave him a spot in her troop of country misfits.
(5) Todd Sexton defeated Hunter James to win the NCW Junior Championship in 12:40. An easy choice for best wrestling match of the night. Sexton did a ton of tribute moves including Rave's Dusk Until Dawn and Rick Michaels' Double Shot. Sexton appeared to injure his back as James threw him out of the ring. James was all over the back. Sexton rallied and almost forced James to tap out to an Anaconda Vise. In desperation, James brought his medals into the ring to serve as a distraction so he could hit Sexton in the back with his trophy. He did but that was not the finish. Sexton surprised James with a Gori bomb and went for the superkick. James countered with an inside cradle for a close near fall. Sexton tried for the Styles Clash, couldn't get it but connected with the superkick for the pin.
The crowd popped huge for the shocking finish. I presumed that since this match was part of Sexton's retirement tour, James was going over. I presumed wrong.
(6) The debuting DK (Craven & Draven with Father Crawley) defeated TSF (Rosario Grillo & Hunter Knott) in 7:54. DK is an updated Lost Boys (NWA Wildside) kind of thing. Their intro - the building in darkness illuminated only by a two dudes with a torches, one of them being creepy Crawley -- was a hit with the crowd. The match itself not as much. Craven is the experienced leader of the team. Draven is painfully green. TSF did a first rate job of heeling it up an working with DK's limitations. DK dropped Knott on his head with an approximation of Lost Boys' Excommunicator and he was pinned by Draven.
(7) PWC North American Champion "The Underboss" Ryan Staples (with Kenny Beckner) defeated Terry Lawler in the Fan Participation Strap Match to capture the NWA Wildside Hardcore Championship (9:27). NCW Commissioner Michael Gentry drew numbers to select the eight lumberjacks. Some of these guys had purchased a ton of tickets to get their spots and they were raring to go. One of them turned out to be security guy Rodney Hix...hmm.
Lawler looked in great shape. He became the first and only NWA Wildside Hardcore Champion in 1999. Staples as an an Italian don with little person Beckner in tow made for quite the visual as they made their way to the ring.
Not one of the more savage fan strap match I've seen. Staples started the match with his shirt on and when that came off, he had a wifebeater on underneath. The fans didn't get many good licks in on him. One time, Staples went down on the hardwood and they really let him have it. As is tradition, the strappers refused to hit Lawler, who had the crowd chanting his name. Staples used underhanded tactics to get the advantage. Hix got onto the apron to complain and the crowd was into it. Staples gave Lawler a low blow and hit him with a foreign object to score the pinfall. Staples left with both belts and a load of heat.
Vaden came to the ring in his lifeguard gear to demand his Hardcore Hell moment. The guy has a personality made for getting under people's skin. That brought Wrenn out to a huge pop to plant Vaden with a black hole slam for old time's sake.
(8) Steel Cage Match: Big Andy defeated Scott Mayson to win the NCW Heavyweight Championship in 14:05. This was an 80s style cage match -- heated, stiff and brutal with the heel (Mayson) taking a ton shots into the fence. Mayson tried to escape right away. Andy wasn't about to let that happen. They both bled a little, nothing like the copious blood in the bullrope match. Andy introduced Mayson to all four sides of the cage, capping it off with a bionic elbow. Mayson hit Andy with a set of handcuffs and handcuffed him to the fence. Mayson started to go out the door but decided to dish out more punishment. The ref got the key to cuffs and released Andy. Now Mayson wanted out. He was headed out the door when Matt Hankins appeared at ringside to slam the door into his face. Andy pinned Mayson and the building exploded in the pop of the night.
Wrestlers poured into the ring to join Andy in celebration with the Nelms brothers in the lead.
NOTES: Azrael is the promoter and primary booker of NCW and booking NCW and was backstage with co-promoter Crystal...Rick Page was the ring announcer...the referees were Triston Michaels and Ian Shelby...the announce team was Blake Blackwell and Jesse Jordan...Anarchy Commissioner Michael O'Rourke sange the national anthem with a much appreciated assist from the crowd...the return date for NCW to Landmark is to be determined.
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