"Low Convention Attendance Does Not Hinder Warm Crowd Reception"
Charlotte, NC University Hilton Ballroom
Tmart Promotions' ticket sales for "The Gathering 4" may not have reached previous years' totals. However, a lively group of fans attended Saturday night's NC offering of professional wrestling to a warm heroes' welcome. Attendance crossed the 200 person barrier prior to the 8 pm belltime. By night's end, the ballroom was packed with some folks choosing to stand instead of sit. Legends are always honored at these fan-friendly conventions.
This year's show, the fourth, provided insight into the future of pro wrestling, as youngsters shone brightly. Bobby Fulton's son vs. Arn Anderson's son... the late Brian Pillman's child versus Ricky Morton's offspring... second and third generations are blossoming. That is good news for current and future promoters.
1) Brock Anderson (w/father Arn) pinned Jarron Fulton (w/Bobby) in 8:30. The Andersons skipped AEW Collision in nearby Greenville, SC for an opening match showcase. Fulton is tall and lanky, showing true potential. Brock has filled out nicely with little flab. Fulton stunned Anderson early with head scissors, dropkicks and monkey flips. Brock responded with a Garvin stomp and body scissors. Jarron's comeback started when Brock accidentally elbowdropped Fulton's knees. There was a ref bump in the opening contest? Nooo.. Bobby Fulton grabbed a chair, but Arn snatched it away. Meanwhile, Brock clobbered Fulton with a spinebuster which made "Double A" proud. Rating: 1 3/4 stars
2) Seventy-four year old "Action" Mike Jackson bested Brock Garvin in 14:34. Former NWA referee Robert King officiated. Jackson, at these convention shows, always seems to go the longest, even though each preliminary had a 20:00 time limit. Garvin was no spring chicken with 13 years experience under his belt. It just seemed like whenever Garvin would hit or kick Jackson, he was committing elder abuse. I mean, Jackson's old enough to be his grandfather! This was not their first match (check YouTube). Of course, we witnessed Jackson's famous rope walk. At the ten minute mark, Garvin was finally getting the upperhand with a sleeperhold. Eventually, MJ (not Michael) reversed it. After a double lariat spot, Garvin went up top, but Jackson pulled him down and nailed a neckbreaker for the win. Rating: 3 stars
3) Kerry Morton retained the NWA World's Jr. Heavyweight Championship with a pinfall victory over NXT-bound Brian Pillman Jr. in 16:38. Official Spanky changed into his own personal NWA referee's shirt for this contest. It is uncanny how much Pillman looks like his late father. Pillman slapped his opponent's a** for the first pop of this bout. At 5:00 in, Morton's father Ricky came out to observe for a few moments. Pillman powdered after a Morton dropkick. Later, a Morton plancha brought Jr. down. Outside the ring brawling ceased the technical excellence we had been witnessing. Back inside the ring, Pillman attacked Morton's left leg. The second generation Pillman mocked some fans who were chanting "Ker-ry." Close near falls, the kitchen sink, everything picked up at the 15:00 mark. Morton kicked out of a Superkick Party. In the end, though, it was Morton who escaped with a W when Pillman's top rope maneuver failed. A.post-match promo by Morton put Pillman over on his way to Orlando. Rating: 3 1/2 stars (best match)
4) Samantha Starr (w/ Baby "Mama" Doll) cheated past "The Cannibal" Savannah Evans in 8:22. Doll (Nickla Byrd) wore a "Warning: Dangerous Curves Ahead" t-shirt. More appropriate would have been a "Terrible Booking Ahead" shirt. Evans waited forever for Dollface to catch up and interfere. Starr surfed (or hung ten) on Evans' back. A double noggin knocker slowed down both female grapplers. The feisty ladies were turning this into a "slobberknocker." A DDT floored Starr, who rolled a shoulder in time. Starr retaliated with a Samoan Drop, but Evans kicked out. Evans hit her own Samoan Drop and played to the (Highspots) camera. With referee King being distracted by dangerous curves, Doll handed daughter Starr the dreaded foreign object which was used to clock Evans. King finally turned around and counted to three. Rating: 1 1/4 stars (worst match but no fault of the wrestlers)
5) In an ECW Originals reunion match, Tommy Dreamer outlasted CW Anderson (w/valet) in 8:28. Dreamer weighed in at 285. The match started friendly, but the nameless valet tripped Two-Ton Tommy, and CW heeled. Wait a minute.. if you chant "E-C-W," aren't you cheering for Anderson? Dreamer bit his foe and applied a testicular claw. The House of Hardcore founder brought out a chair but ended up falling on it after a shove. Then we had the second referee bump of the night. Anderson hit a spinebuster on the chair, but the ref miraculously recovered in time to count two. The chair was then perched in a corner for Anderson to be reverse-whipped into it. Dreamer connected with an Evenflow DDT to win. Post-match: Dreamer thanked CW for the great match (he should have thanked the chair). In addition to losing his mom this year, Dreamer was diagnosed with cancer. Rating: 2 stars
6) Kerry Morton returned and captured the Tmart belt in the infamous "Rumble at the Hilton" spectacular which lasted 30:50. Apparently, Nate the Great, who captured the championship in last year's main event, was defending it here. Jackie Fulton and Court Montgomery started. Have you ever gone to a battle royal and a wrestling showcase broke out? Every 2:00, another unlucky participant showed up. Until this woman with a headset came running out to tell ring announcer Bill Hazelwood to start calling the names faster. The next guy entered, and it wasn't even 60 seconds! Paul Woux was third. Andrew Anderson, who looks like Chad Byrd reincarnated, was fourth. Yes, we had three heels beating down one babyface. Woux was eliminated firstly. Champion Nate the Great was fifth. Fulton went tumbling out (#2). Dustin Bozworth was sixth to enter. Here we go with three heels, one face again. Mr. Hughes, who wrestled with his hat on, lasted about a minute before being tossed (#3). Curtis wrestled for roughly 69 seconds last year too. George South Sr. entered eighth with no ring jacket (but was wearing an AML Wrestling shirt). I apologize profusely for not capturing the names of two African-American male wrestlers. One of them left at #5. Gangrel arrived tenth to a big pop. He even high-fived Anderson's valet, who later no-sold the vampire biting her!! Fidel Sierra/Cuban Assassin/David Patterson was up next. Gangrel gave a jumping DDT to Montgomery. Bozworth was eliminated sixth by the way. Here came Bam Bam Bundy and Kerry Morton. Anderson went out seventh. The Barbarian was the final participant, and everyone clapped. Gangrel was #8 to go, Assassin was #9, Barb was #10, and the second African-American performer was unceremoniously dumped at #11. Gangrel and Barbarian battled all the way to the back. South went out twelfth. Nate could not slam Bundy, so he became Nate the Gnat. Montgomery was speared by Nate. Manager Lucky P. Larsen took a bump before Fatso dropped Nate (#13). Morton got Bundy, who hadn't missed a meal in a year, out at #14. That left Morton and Montgomery, who had been there since the beginning. Montgomery ace-crushed Morton but could not avoid Morton's push. Nate returned to present Morton with his now former belt, meaning that Kerry has at least two championships to defend. Rating: 2 1/4 stars
6) Richard Morton and Thomas Rich, representing the York Foundation, defeated the Headbangers (Mosh & Thrasher) in 8:31. Bangers were carrying a pair of tag straps with them. With Robert Gibson currently on the mend from hip replacement surgery, Morton needed a partner. He also enlisted the help of Alexandra York (Marlena) and Mr. Hughes again. Wrestlers are obviously required to wear t-shirts in this attraction, as all four men did. Thrasher flashed Rich, and it was Stewie! Bangers were bumping like Baba the Giant was in the ring with them. "Wildfire" received the hot tag, and it was on to the four-way. York was straddling the ropes. Mosh threw her over his head into Thrasher's arms, but Thrasher fell backwards over Ricky's schoolboy. Following the stack pin and with Dustin Rhodes' former wife on top, Thrasher was toast. Everyone hugged afterward like Brock Lesnar does. Rating: 1 3/4 stars
Notes: Available for autographs Saturday were Gail Kim, Deonna Purrazzo, The Grappler (Len Denton), L.A. Smooth, Big Mama, etc... Leilani Kai talked about wrestling a fellow former NWA World Women's Champion, Amber O'Neal, in an initial match 23 years ago... Savannah Evans is looking forward to facing Kamille one day one on one. The two ladies have faced each other twice in triple threat matches. Evans is still competing for Impact Wrestling... John Collins is currently seeking a location to run in Gastonia, NC. His Super Star Wars shows were always enjoyed by the late Dan Parris.
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