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Showtime All-star Wrestling – Episode 77
Airing on January 24, 2008 in Nashville on Comcast 74
Taped on January 2, 2009 at the SAW Mill in Millersville, Tn
Michael Graham and Reno Riggins opened the show from ringside hyping tonight’s Bootcamp Match between “Boogie Woogie Boy†Gary Valiant and Marc Anthony. Reno said Boogie was beside himself. Graham regrettably informed the viewers that the scheduled match between Rick Santel and Nikki Vaughn would not be taking place.
Cut to footage from earlier today that showed Dan Masters prepping Vaughn for a sitdown interview. They were interrupted by Paul Adams and Hammerjack. Santel then back jumped Santel, beats him down, and threw his head into the brick wall.
Arrick Andrews came to ringside. Andrews said Vaughn stepped up to the plate to be his partner in the cage match, so he was stepping up to take Vaughn’s place today. Reno said he was going to find Commissioner Freddie Morton.
The opening montage rolls…
Andrews was in the ring. Andy Douglas and Santel came out and had him cornered when a very gimpy Chase Stevens slid into the ring. Douglas immediately bailed. Santel wasn’t so fortunate. Andrews and Stevens ended up playing ping pong with Santel’s face. Riggins said he had just come from the commissioner’s office and the contract was signed.
1 – ANDY DOUGLAS & RICK SANTEL (with Paul Adams) vs. CHASE STEVENS & ARRICK ANDREWS
Stevens continued the shellacking of Santel. Douglas wouldn’t get up on the ring apron for the longest time. Stevens knee gave way. Santel went after injury, but Stevens fired back and made the tag. Douglas hit the ring long enough to take two shots from Andrews. Santel ate a spinwheel kick right to the mush. Douglas walked in and kicked Andrews in the knee. Riggins said Herron was one of his favorite referees because he let the guys go. I’ll say. Douglas was more than happy to take the tag now. He tore Andrews’ knee to shreds, using a leg DDT for a near fall. Douglas hit one middle rope leg drop, but he got greedy, and Andrews made him miss the second one. Andrews went for an enzuigiri. It missed but Douglas sold it anyway with the delayed reaction bump - a spot sorely in need of a different camera angle. Douglas crawled to the wrong corner and begged off from Chase. Stevens took the tag, favoring the leg as he cleaned up on Santel. Douglas ran away when Stevens detected his sneak attack. Adams distracted Herron for a very long time. Enough for Hammerjack to nail both Andrews and Stevens with sledge shot to the kidneys. Douglas then pinned Stevens with the Natural Selection.
Winner: Douglas & Santel in 7:15. I really liked this match. A well told story - Douglas managed to avoid any and all contact with Stevens except killing him with his finisher.
2 – PGWA Title Match: TRACY TAYLOR vs. GENNI WRIGHT
Reno said Wright was a graduate of Montebello University with a BS in Theater, Jazz and Tap. Graham said Josianne (PGWA Wrestler of Year) had dibs on the winner. They locked up and rolled around on the ropes. Riggins said they were going tit for tat. Broke Graham up, too. Wright did a drop toehold. Taylor returned the favor and surfed on Wright’s back. They took a tour of ring apron slamming each other’s heads on all four sides. Back and forth pin attempts ensued. Reno noted that Taylor was having difficulty with her tights - a polite way of saying her boobs were trying to pop out. Collision of lariats. Graham said they were gassed. Taylor nipped up. There was a horribly botched spot. Maybe a blocked suplex. A complete mess for sure. They traded and Taylor was laying in the forearms. Wright did a boot to the gut and missed with a lariat. Did it ever look pathetic. Taylor landed a roundhouse kick to the head. Wright keeled over. 1-2-3.
Winner: Taylor retains the PGWA Title in 5:16. It was OK at first. The longer it went the worse it got. Wright was painfully bad on that finish.
3 – SAW Tag Team Champions HIGH SOCIETY (Sean Casey & Chris Michaels with Tiana) vs. DREW HASKINS & LT FALK in a non-title match
Riggins called High Society a walking porn movie. The announce team made it clear the champions were working hurt – Casey with a bum knee and Michaels with a bad shoulder. Casey was overpowering LT and loving it. Reno said SAW was in contract negotiations with LT to get him away from USWO and father Tony Falk. The babyfaces worked on Casey’s arm. Michaels gave Haskins the sneak knee to the back. Casey followed with an inverted DDT to start the heat. Michaels used a short arm lariat. It looked might fine for a guy with a bad shoulder. Graham commented on how great the SAW Mill looked. Riggins said promoter TJ Weatherby was now offering valet parking. He added that SAW was now on in England, Turkey and Israel. Meanwhile, Haskins was getting his ass kicked. They repeated a Haskins headscissors that didn’t look so hot the first time. Haskins went through the legs for the tag. Society bumped big for LT. LT had Michaels pinned with a small package. They jump cut to Michaels getting the three count with a small package and a handful of tights. The replay clearly started with Michaels having LT’s shoulders down. Haskins turned the pile but Michaels rolled through. The announcing slanted it like Haskins made a rookie mistake.
Winner: High Society in 6:06. Just OK. Confusing finish. The announcing didn’t match the video. The champions’ injuries weren’t particularly apparent during the match. Casey was way more mobile than his last time in SAW. Falk and Haskins make a good young and hungry underdog team.
4 – Bootcamp Match: “Boogie Woogie Boy†GARY VALIANT vs. MARC ANTHONY
Wild from the start with Boogie on the attack. Boogie dumped Anthony into a large plastic trash barrel by the concession stand. Anthony stood up with barrel on his head. He stumbled around and rolled all the way down the ramp with the damn thing stuck on his head. Boogie tried to brain Anthony with a metal trash can, but Anthony ducked and the can ricocheted off the post into Boogie’s head. Massive Boogie chant from the kids. Anthony snuffed out a comeback, and Valiant ended up back on the floor in a bad way. Anthony went after Boogie’s taped ribs. Bac inside, Anthony sent Boogie’s head into a wedged chair. It looked brutal as hell. Valiant took a shot into the post followed by a face first bump on the concrete. The camera zoomed in for a close up showing the blood dripping out of Boogie’s forehead. Anthony loaded the ring with chairs. Graham said Anthony was a bit of a lost young man. Boogie reversed Anthony with a drop toehold into one of the chairs. They struck at each other while lying prone on the mat. Anthony spread a bag of thumbtacks in the ring. Boogie’s face was covered in blood. Anthony teased a bump into the tacks, but had enough presence to shake the ropes and crotch Boogie on the top. Anthony took a back bump into the tacks. With a tormented look of shock on his face, Anthony mindlessly rolled back into the tacks. Boogie did a top rope splash with Anthony laying in the tacks. Boogie made a one-armed cover, but Anthony kicked out at 2.9. Boogie blasted Anthony with a chairshot to the head. Anthony asked for another one. Boogie gave him two. Anthony was still on his feet when the lights went out. The lights came back on with a crazed Boogie still in the ring holding the chair. Anthony was nowhere to be found.
Winner: Valiant via count out in 11:30. SAW does hardcore. Not my favorite type of match, but this was really good for what it was. Brutal and bloody and with great selling that this kind of match often lacks. They gave the big spots time to sink in, so it never became mind numbing. The stuff with the trash barrel on his head was stellar and unexpected comedy from Anthony.
Random Thoughts: This was more or less a pure wrestling show. It started strong and ended strong. The matches in the middle not so much. The bait and switch from Santel/Vaughn to the opening tag match was a pleasant surprise. Douglas made a great chickenshit. It was a great way to set up the first Douglas/Stevens singles match. They’re walking a fine line with putting such massive heat on A-Team and allowing Andrews and his allies precious little retribution, but the babyfaces are so over here they can withstand it. The crowd reaction says they’re doing something right…The tag team division is so on the back burner. Given that it was non-title and the way they played up that the champions were broken down with injuries, it seemed like the perfect time for Falk and Haskins to go over…Another bad women’s match. In fairness, Wright was a sub for Josianne, who issued the challenge to Taylor two weeks ago…Last week, Flash Flanagan talked about bringing some Puerto Rican violence into SAW. This week, Anthony and Boogie did just that. This was old school wrestling violence with a modern day twist. It appears to be one of Anthony’s fortes. The tacks are a cliché in TNA, but something that has never been done in SAW. More importantly, there was a well-established motives to justify the violence – For Anthony, this is a war and Boogie represents the general of the opposing army, a man to be destroyed at all costs. Boogie came to SAW’s defense, and now, his wife has been traumatized by Anthony’s unspeakable actions. A worthwhile show overall.
