Post by Larry Goodman on Apr 11, 2005 0:33:30 GMT -5
GEORGIA CHAMPIONSHIP WRESTLING RESULTS AND NEWS FEATURING: AJ STYLES, "PRIMETIME" ELIX SKIPPER, SONNY SIAKI AND MORE
By: Larry Goodman
4/10/2005 5:51:31 PM
Georgia Championship Wrestling drew a crowd of 250 to their weekly show at the GCW Sports Arena. Not a home run show by any means, and it wasn't designed that way, as they were building for next week's Television Title Tournament featuring A. J. Styles.
The crowd caught fire when any of the top babyfaces (Sonny Siaki, Jason Cross and Erik Watts) would appear, but not for much of anything else. Only David Young on the heel side came across as a strong presence.
"The Voice of GCW" Dan Masters and GCW official Jerry Oates descended the ramp through a cloud of fog to open the show. They've also added swank lighting effects since my last trip here in December and in general, the show has more of a TV taping feel to it. Masters and Oates announced that the TV title tourament field would include Styles, Ricky Morton and Chase Stevens. Oates accused David Young of trying to keep Jason Cross out of the tournament. Young came out acting all innocent. Oates said Young's action last week (a spinebuster on the ramp) was uncalled for. Oates told Young that he would be suspended from GCW if he ever used the spinebuster outside the ring again.
Oates said one of the first round matches would be brother vs. brother (A. J. Steele vs Damian Steele). Oates brought out the fact that he had wrestled his own brother in Columbus.
(1) Salvatore Rinauro pinned Jeremy V with the Phoenix Fury Legdrop at 9:33. A mixed bag. The old school touches worked. The fast paced stuff (though anything would have felt fast to me coming off the old timers show in Birmingham) had its drawbacks. Rinauro modified his approach to work as a face, but he was still too smirky and cool to get over as a baby here. The first fast exchange was marred by a blown spot. They did a funny bit where V ran away from Rinauro's pescado. Rinauro landed on his feet and threw his arm around the unsuspecting V. V freaked and ran straight into the ringpost. V raked the eyes and started abusing Rinauro. He used the heelish pin attempts where he smushed Rinauro's face with his hand. V ran into an elbow and let fly with a giant lugee. Rinauro took a punch that popped the gum out of his mouth. Rinauro hit a stunner type counter that left both on the canvas. V tried to backdrop Rinauro over the top, but Rinauro landed on the apron and hit a springboard lariat for a near fall. V escaped from the PFL> I doubt many fans recognized it as an attempted finisher, since they aren't familiar with Sal's moveset They executed a nice series of moves building to the finish, including La Magistral cradle by Rinauro. Unfortunately, they fumbled with the setup for the PFL, so the finish lost some of its impact.
(2) Mikal Adryan beat Brandon P in 11:16. A well-conceived match. P got a decent pop for a guy that's only been here a couple of times. P took his much larger opponent to the math with repeated headlocks in the early minutes. The big turnaround came when Adyran blocked a tornado DDT and suplexed P into the turnbuckles. Adryan worked over P's back bigtime. Adyran used an impressive fallaway slam and the Canadian style rack drop for near falls. Adryan called for some competition. Adryan went to a bear hug tha looked like a rest hold. A tall guy like Adryan needs to take the smaller man off his feet to make it look right. P clapped the ears to break free, but Adryan cut him off with a lariat. P rallied with a jawbreaker and an enzuigiri. Adryan sold a dragon screw legwhip like his knee was shredded. P hit a missile dropkick for a near fall. Adryan countered P with a jackknife powerbomb to score the pinfall. Masters announced more of the first round matchups for the TV Title Tournament: Ricky Morton vs. Chase Stevens and Jason Cross vs. Jacey North.
(3) Erik Watts beat Henry Hoss in 9:03. Watts was the most over wrestler in Columbus on this night. But what's truly amazing, is that it's been like that on each of my three trips to GCW. Watts totally dominated the first five minutes. He knotted up Hoss' hamhocks and tried to destroy big Henry's knee. Watts applied the STN (stepover toehold nostril lock). Hoss finally hit a Snake Eyes to take over. Hoss did a People's Rolling Senton. The monster bump of the night was Hoss missing a 350 pound splash off the top. Hoss and ref Mark Owens got in tug-of-war over Henry's bullrope. Ref bump. Watts nailed Hoss with a high kick and chokeslammed him for the pin. Seeing the bullrope in the ring, Owens called for a DQ on Watts. That brought Oates out to overrule Owens.
(4) Sonny Siaki beat The Wrestler (with "The Source" Greg Brown) via DQ in a Samoan Street Fight (5:15). It wasn't spelled out but apparently all weapons were legal. Siaki, the reigning Georgia Heavyweight Champion, got a strong pop. The action moved to the outside where Wrestler (Ted Allen) used a chair. Siaki blocked a post shot and bounced Wrestler's head off the iron. Allen brought a chain into play. Siaki gave Allen a mild beating. It looked like he was taking it easy on him with the stomps. Brown attacked Siaki for the DQ. Young joined in as all three members of Bad Company laid the beatdown on Siaki. Jason Cross hit the ring (another big pop) and the heels scattered. Cross admitted that he didn't see eye-to-eye with Siaki, but said they had a bond in their hatred for Bad Company. Cross offered to forfeit his singles match to tag with Siaki against their common enemy. Siaki said the feeling was mutual. He challenged "dumb and dumber" to a match. The crowd was going through the roof for this. Dan Masters told Siaki he wasn't the matchmaker and only one man had that authority. Oates waited until the very last moment (the heels were starting to leave) to milk the situation for maximum effect. Young looked pissed. Oates said he would make the match on the condition that the crowd REALLY wanted it. This angle had better heat than any of the matches.
(5) Elix Skipper beat Jeff Lewis to retain the US Junior Title in 14:25. They didn't really click. Match had its share of bad spots and mistimed bumps. Lewis drew heat with his pompous ass routine. Lewis tried to show that he could go move for move with Skipper. At one point, Skipper slipped off the ropes. I don't know what it is, but I've seen Skipper three times in this building, and he's had a slip off the ropes in each match. Skipper recovered with a sweet series of armdrags. Lewis backed off. Skipper blasted Lewis with a kick to the kidneys and Lewis ran away. Skipper was getting ticked. Lewis played head games with Skipper on a test of strength and kicked him in the gut. Skipper's payback was a back suplex and a high leg drop. At 7:40, Skipper's shoulder went flying into the post and Lewis took over. Lewis used the "permanent smile" move from the 60s. After a botched spot, Lewis got a near fall with a powerslam. They collided in midair on high crossbodys. And down again on a double clothesline. Skipper made the full-fledged comeback. Skipper did the deal where he's standing on the apron and flips over the top rope into a lariat. Skipper went for Play of the Day. Lewis tried to counter with his finisher, but Skipper slithered away. Skipper took a bump to the floor where he hit his head on the ring steps. Lewis kept throwing knees to prevent Skipper from coming though the ropes. Skipper went over the top and caught Lewis with an O'Connor roll for the three count.
Masters introduced Scotty Matthews as a special guest. Matthews appeared to be channeling John Cena. He's an unknown quantity in Columbus but the women popped for his physique. Matthews said he wasn't going to rap. "I'm here to climb to the top. John Cena I'm not."
(6) Bad Company (David Young & The Wrestler with Greg Brown) beat Jason Cross & Sonny Siaki when Young spinebustered Cross (7:21). The heels attacked in the middle of the intros. Cross and Siaki's comeback was highlighed by tandem Japanese armdrags. BC got heat on Cross. Wrestler did a thoughtful and carefully placed chairshot to the back of Cross. Young used a beautiful hanging suplex/brainbuster for a near fall. When Young went for a quebrada, Cross met him in midair with a spinwheel kick. Siaki cleaned up on Young. He hit a press Samoan drop and Wrestler made the save. Cross hit a spectacular corkscrew flying body on Young for a near fall. Cross hit the Triple Cross, but the ref was busy with Siaki and Wrestler. Cross climbed back to the top. Brown shoved Cross off the top smack dab into the spinebuster. Not to be outdone, Oates announced that he had a surprise for Young. His first round opponent in the TV Title Tournament would be none other than A. J. Styles. Young declined the match. Oates told Young that was his choice but he would be out of the tournament.
NOTES: GCW is planning a huge show on 5/28 to celebrate their first anniversary...GCW has a 30 minute television show on UPN affiliate, WSWS-66 in Columbus each and every Saturday morning at 10:30. The expansion of GCW's television market suffered a serious setback when the station's brand new television tower collapsed in a 20mph wind. GCW is looking at airing the show in some additional smaller markets.
By: Larry Goodman
4/10/2005 5:51:31 PM
Georgia Championship Wrestling drew a crowd of 250 to their weekly show at the GCW Sports Arena. Not a home run show by any means, and it wasn't designed that way, as they were building for next week's Television Title Tournament featuring A. J. Styles.
The crowd caught fire when any of the top babyfaces (Sonny Siaki, Jason Cross and Erik Watts) would appear, but not for much of anything else. Only David Young on the heel side came across as a strong presence.
"The Voice of GCW" Dan Masters and GCW official Jerry Oates descended the ramp through a cloud of fog to open the show. They've also added swank lighting effects since my last trip here in December and in general, the show has more of a TV taping feel to it. Masters and Oates announced that the TV title tourament field would include Styles, Ricky Morton and Chase Stevens. Oates accused David Young of trying to keep Jason Cross out of the tournament. Young came out acting all innocent. Oates said Young's action last week (a spinebuster on the ramp) was uncalled for. Oates told Young that he would be suspended from GCW if he ever used the spinebuster outside the ring again.
Oates said one of the first round matches would be brother vs. brother (A. J. Steele vs Damian Steele). Oates brought out the fact that he had wrestled his own brother in Columbus.
(1) Salvatore Rinauro pinned Jeremy V with the Phoenix Fury Legdrop at 9:33. A mixed bag. The old school touches worked. The fast paced stuff (though anything would have felt fast to me coming off the old timers show in Birmingham) had its drawbacks. Rinauro modified his approach to work as a face, but he was still too smirky and cool to get over as a baby here. The first fast exchange was marred by a blown spot. They did a funny bit where V ran away from Rinauro's pescado. Rinauro landed on his feet and threw his arm around the unsuspecting V. V freaked and ran straight into the ringpost. V raked the eyes and started abusing Rinauro. He used the heelish pin attempts where he smushed Rinauro's face with his hand. V ran into an elbow and let fly with a giant lugee. Rinauro took a punch that popped the gum out of his mouth. Rinauro hit a stunner type counter that left both on the canvas. V tried to backdrop Rinauro over the top, but Rinauro landed on the apron and hit a springboard lariat for a near fall. V escaped from the PFL> I doubt many fans recognized it as an attempted finisher, since they aren't familiar with Sal's moveset They executed a nice series of moves building to the finish, including La Magistral cradle by Rinauro. Unfortunately, they fumbled with the setup for the PFL, so the finish lost some of its impact.
(2) Mikal Adryan beat Brandon P in 11:16. A well-conceived match. P got a decent pop for a guy that's only been here a couple of times. P took his much larger opponent to the math with repeated headlocks in the early minutes. The big turnaround came when Adyran blocked a tornado DDT and suplexed P into the turnbuckles. Adryan worked over P's back bigtime. Adyran used an impressive fallaway slam and the Canadian style rack drop for near falls. Adryan called for some competition. Adryan went to a bear hug tha looked like a rest hold. A tall guy like Adryan needs to take the smaller man off his feet to make it look right. P clapped the ears to break free, but Adryan cut him off with a lariat. P rallied with a jawbreaker and an enzuigiri. Adryan sold a dragon screw legwhip like his knee was shredded. P hit a missile dropkick for a near fall. Adryan countered P with a jackknife powerbomb to score the pinfall. Masters announced more of the first round matchups for the TV Title Tournament: Ricky Morton vs. Chase Stevens and Jason Cross vs. Jacey North.
(3) Erik Watts beat Henry Hoss in 9:03. Watts was the most over wrestler in Columbus on this night. But what's truly amazing, is that it's been like that on each of my three trips to GCW. Watts totally dominated the first five minutes. He knotted up Hoss' hamhocks and tried to destroy big Henry's knee. Watts applied the STN (stepover toehold nostril lock). Hoss finally hit a Snake Eyes to take over. Hoss did a People's Rolling Senton. The monster bump of the night was Hoss missing a 350 pound splash off the top. Hoss and ref Mark Owens got in tug-of-war over Henry's bullrope. Ref bump. Watts nailed Hoss with a high kick and chokeslammed him for the pin. Seeing the bullrope in the ring, Owens called for a DQ on Watts. That brought Oates out to overrule Owens.
(4) Sonny Siaki beat The Wrestler (with "The Source" Greg Brown) via DQ in a Samoan Street Fight (5:15). It wasn't spelled out but apparently all weapons were legal. Siaki, the reigning Georgia Heavyweight Champion, got a strong pop. The action moved to the outside where Wrestler (Ted Allen) used a chair. Siaki blocked a post shot and bounced Wrestler's head off the iron. Allen brought a chain into play. Siaki gave Allen a mild beating. It looked like he was taking it easy on him with the stomps. Brown attacked Siaki for the DQ. Young joined in as all three members of Bad Company laid the beatdown on Siaki. Jason Cross hit the ring (another big pop) and the heels scattered. Cross admitted that he didn't see eye-to-eye with Siaki, but said they had a bond in their hatred for Bad Company. Cross offered to forfeit his singles match to tag with Siaki against their common enemy. Siaki said the feeling was mutual. He challenged "dumb and dumber" to a match. The crowd was going through the roof for this. Dan Masters told Siaki he wasn't the matchmaker and only one man had that authority. Oates waited until the very last moment (the heels were starting to leave) to milk the situation for maximum effect. Young looked pissed. Oates said he would make the match on the condition that the crowd REALLY wanted it. This angle had better heat than any of the matches.
(5) Elix Skipper beat Jeff Lewis to retain the US Junior Title in 14:25. They didn't really click. Match had its share of bad spots and mistimed bumps. Lewis drew heat with his pompous ass routine. Lewis tried to show that he could go move for move with Skipper. At one point, Skipper slipped off the ropes. I don't know what it is, but I've seen Skipper three times in this building, and he's had a slip off the ropes in each match. Skipper recovered with a sweet series of armdrags. Lewis backed off. Skipper blasted Lewis with a kick to the kidneys and Lewis ran away. Skipper was getting ticked. Lewis played head games with Skipper on a test of strength and kicked him in the gut. Skipper's payback was a back suplex and a high leg drop. At 7:40, Skipper's shoulder went flying into the post and Lewis took over. Lewis used the "permanent smile" move from the 60s. After a botched spot, Lewis got a near fall with a powerslam. They collided in midair on high crossbodys. And down again on a double clothesline. Skipper made the full-fledged comeback. Skipper did the deal where he's standing on the apron and flips over the top rope into a lariat. Skipper went for Play of the Day. Lewis tried to counter with his finisher, but Skipper slithered away. Skipper took a bump to the floor where he hit his head on the ring steps. Lewis kept throwing knees to prevent Skipper from coming though the ropes. Skipper went over the top and caught Lewis with an O'Connor roll for the three count.
Masters introduced Scotty Matthews as a special guest. Matthews appeared to be channeling John Cena. He's an unknown quantity in Columbus but the women popped for his physique. Matthews said he wasn't going to rap. "I'm here to climb to the top. John Cena I'm not."
(6) Bad Company (David Young & The Wrestler with Greg Brown) beat Jason Cross & Sonny Siaki when Young spinebustered Cross (7:21). The heels attacked in the middle of the intros. Cross and Siaki's comeback was highlighed by tandem Japanese armdrags. BC got heat on Cross. Wrestler did a thoughtful and carefully placed chairshot to the back of Cross. Young used a beautiful hanging suplex/brainbuster for a near fall. When Young went for a quebrada, Cross met him in midair with a spinwheel kick. Siaki cleaned up on Young. He hit a press Samoan drop and Wrestler made the save. Cross hit a spectacular corkscrew flying body on Young for a near fall. Cross hit the Triple Cross, but the ref was busy with Siaki and Wrestler. Cross climbed back to the top. Brown shoved Cross off the top smack dab into the spinebuster. Not to be outdone, Oates announced that he had a surprise for Young. His first round opponent in the TV Title Tournament would be none other than A. J. Styles. Young declined the match. Oates told Young that was his choice but he would be out of the tournament.
NOTES: GCW is planning a huge show on 5/28 to celebrate their first anniversary...GCW has a 30 minute television show on UPN affiliate, WSWS-66 in Columbus each and every Saturday morning at 10:30. The expansion of GCW's television market suffered a serious setback when the station's brand new television tower collapsed in a 20mph wind. GCW is looking at airing the show in some additional smaller markets.