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Showtime All-Star Wrestling
Airing on May 16, 2009 on Comcast 74 in Nashville & WKRP in Lebanon, Tn
Taped on March 13 and March 27, 2009 at the SAW Mill in Millersville, Tn
LAST WEEK…Clips from the SAW Title Match: Kid Kash (c) vs. Arrick Andrews II
Michael Graham and Reno Riggins opened with a change in plans. Riggins said the barbed wire match between Marc Anthony and Gary Valiant would not be taking place due to issue with the state athletic commission (you know, the one that doesn’t regulate pro wrestling). Graham couldn’t understand why barbed wire ripping men’s flesh would cause such legal wrangling. They announced that this week’s main event would be Kash vs. Andrews III. Reno said Kash had outsmarted Andrews twice in a row.
1 – “Problem Solver†DAVID YOUNG (with Paul Adams) vs. HAMMERJACK
They were going at it hot and heavy right from the opening bell. Hammerjack was giving Young a beating. Adams interfered within the first minute. Referee Jess Fields tossed him out. Young capitalized on the commotion by driving the hammer into Hammerjack’s kidneys. Over the next few minutes, Young did a number on Hammerjack’s back. Hammerjack hit a flying clothesline but was hurting too badly to follow up. The knocked noggins and both men went down. Adams ran back out to ringside and moved the hammer out of Hammerjack’s reach. Hammerjack grabbed Adams. While this was going on, Young nailed Hammerjack with the hammer and covered for the three count.
WINNER: Young in 5:56. Ballet this was not. They ain’t exactly bringing out the best in each other. Oh well, the story works.
2 –JESSE EMERSON vs. TATT2
Tatt2 got the jump on Emerson. Riggins said Tatt2 hadn’t been blown out in any of his matches (if you don’t count getting smoked by Vordell Walker in one minute flat). Tatt2 was able to stymie Emerson’s rallies, hitting a heel kick and a dropsault for a pair of acrobatic near falls. Emerson got untracked with a series of high impact maneuvers. Emerson used a Russian legsweep for a near fall. Tatt2 feinted a springboard crossbody and came off the ropes with an elbow drop. Looked like some miscommunication there. Emerson reversed a powerbomb attempt into the Alabama Slam for the pinfall.
WINNER: Emerson in 3:10. Crisp action. Good win for Emerson. They could do something with Tatt2. He’s an athletic little guy.
Cut to Dan Masters at ringside with Emerson. Masters brought up how Jon Michael Worthington pinned Emerson last week with his feet on the ropes. Emerson challenged Worthington to a rematch tonight. Masters said how about next week.
Derrick King and Sista O’Feelyah were in the locker room area with Masters. King said he wasn’t mad about J.T. Stahr losing to Walker last week.
In Derrick King Enterprises, the buck stops here. Barrack Obama said that.
King said the fans were well aware of his mental prowess. Next week, he was going to display his physical prowess against Walker in the ring.
3 – SHANE “The Brain†SMALLS vs. CHRISJEN HAYME
Riggins brought up Smalls’ claim that his world-renowned poem “Wiener Dog Body, Regular Dog Head†would soon be published by Simon & Schuster. Graham said he wasn’t avant-garde enough to get it. They talked Hayme up as a legit title contender based on his showing against Kash. Meanwhile, it was chain wrestling early with Hayme taking control and working on the arm of Smalls. Back from commercial break, Smalls mounting frustration had led to blatant rule breaking. Hayme fired back and Smalls cut him off with a release German suplex. Smalls continued to attack the neck, first applying a cobra clutch then switching to a straightjacket choke. Hayme gradually mounted a comeback. Dropkick right on the button for a two count. Smalls blocked a suplex and used a version of The Final Cut for a near fall. Smalls took too much time positioning himself on the top turnbuckle. Hayme met him with a closed fist and knife edge chop. Hayme hit a top rope huracanrana. It looked great because Smalls flew halfway across the ring. Hayme won it with a tornado DDT. Not so great as Hayme slipped off the ropes.
WINNER: Hayme in 8:02. Good match for building Hayme. Smalls wrestling ability belies his lack of a physique. Solid execution except for the unfortunate slip on the finish. Why replay it?
As the announce team discussed the upcoming main event, Adams interrupted to gloat about Young’s big win over Hammerjack. He said they were headed to the Sizzler to celebrate. “They don’t allow your kind there. Yours neither with your lofty opinion of yourself.†Adams said A-Team was going to kick it up a notch on Chase Stevens and Flash Flanagan.
Cut to footage of Andrews inside an empty SAW Mill prior to the show. Andrews said he was warned Kash would stoop to any low to keep his title. He reviewed the circumstances of his two controversial losses to Kash. (Kash never pinned him and was left flat on his back on both occasions).
I’m going to throw the belt over my shoulder Andrews said he was going to throw the belt over my shoulder. I’m going to throw the company over my shoulder. And together SAW and Arrick Andrews are going to march into the future to the next level.
4 – SAW International Title Match: Champion KID KASH vs. ARRICK “The Dragon†ANDREWS
They locked up and rolled around on the ropes. The crowd was firmly behind Andrews. Kash caught Andrews napping with a single leg takedown. They scrambled on the mat. Kash grabbed a side headlock. Andrews shot Kash off and got blasted by a shoulder tackle. Andrews answered with a hiptoss and a pair of arm drags. Kash said adios. Kash did his usual obnoxious routine with the ringside fans. The kids started screaming their heads off for Andrews. Back inside the ring, Kash grabbed armbar. Andrews reversed it. Andrews bit Kash’s fingers and shielding rule breaking from referee Mark Owen. (Commercial break) Kash bit Andrews on the thigh to break the arm bar. Kash lit Andrews up with a chop. Andrews backdropped Kash to the ring apron and knocked him to the floor with a right hand. But Kash side stepped a baseball slide and rammed Andrews’ back into the ring apron. Kash whacked Andrews across the back with a chair. Graham said Kash was daring Owen to DQ him so he could escape with the title. Back inside the ring, Kash got in the ref’s face, but Owens wasn’t backing down a bit. Kash kicked the crap out of Andrews’ back for a two count. Kash sat on Andrews’ back and choked him over the middle rope. Kash sent Andrews down face first on the concrete floor with a brutal knife edge chop. Kash choked Andrews with the security rope while taunting his favorite fan. Another chop dropped Andrews to his knees at ringside. Kash cut off major offensive flurry and stomped Andrews’ groin (Commercial break #2). Kash applied a modified Mexican surfboard. Kash and Owen went at it again. Andrews kicked out of repeated pin attempts. They traded big shots. Kash thumbed Andrews in the eye and sent him staggering across the ring with a huge chop. Andrews made a comeback. Graham noted the lack of sting in his arm drags. Riggins said Andrews was in uncharted territory. Andrews hit a hangman’s neckbreaker. Kash kicked out at 2 and ¾. Andrews got another near fall with a backslide. Kash tried for the brainbuster. Andrews reversed into a rear waistlock and Kash mule kicked him low. Kash ate an elbow charging in, but managed to push Owen into the path of Andrews’ springboard crossbody. With Owen down and out, Kash bashed Andrews’ skull with the belt and put one foot on his chest. Jess Fields showed up to make the three count. Fields handed the belt to Kash, but Owen came to and reversed the decision.
WINNER: Andrews via DQ in 15 minutes. Good but not as good as I was hoping for after last week. There was something lacking in the final minutes. Andrews showed great heart fighting up from the bottom, but the situation called for a championship level comeback. I didn’t get the sense that Kash was so close to losing that he needed to take desperate measures to preserve the title. Kash’s chops were something else, both the delivery and way Andrews sold them. Owen was first SAW ref that didn’t look intimidated by Kash antics.
CLOSING THOUGHTS: This episode was really heavy on the wrestling. It was another one those times were you got more wrestling in 60 minutes of SAW than a two hour TNA. The wrestling was OK for the most part. It didn’t have any matches approaching the level of Stevens/Douglas from two weeks ago or last week’s Kash/Andrews II. I get the feeling that Kash/Andrews is better at 10 minutes than 15. I don’t know if Andrews just needs to get in better shape or what, but he didn’t have much steam at the end. The finish would have been more effective if Andrews hit one of his signature moves to set up the desperation belt shot. In any case, it’s now a trifecta of screw jobs for Andrews in his quest to win the title. A heavy stipulation match to force a clean finish can’t be far off…It’s easy to criticize in hindsight. Nevertheless, It was vaguely shocking to see the refs throwing their weight around in SAW. Owen was a breath of fresh air…The brief segment with Reno and Graham interacting with Adams was fun. It didn’t read like much but their facial expressions and chemistry made it entertaining…I like King politely stepping in because his protégé failed to get the job done, but then I like just about anything involving King…Emerson is so much better once the bell rings than he is on the mic…They’ve found the right gimmick for Smalls. That scrawny, pasty body of his looks better suited to writing poetry than pro wrestling…The audio was a problem again. There was that incessant clicking noise in the first match. The crowd noise was so amped up in the other match that it drowned out the announcers at times. A decent show. Not one of SAW’s best.
