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Showtime All-Star Wrestling – Episode 102
Airing in syndication and on WKRP in Lebanon, Tn
Taped at the SAW Mill in Millersville, Tn
This a company with a lot going on these days. Check out the [url=http://gwhforum.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=news&thread=7058]Upcoming Events List[/url] and stayed tuned to [url=www.sawonline.tv]sawonline.tv[/url] for further developments.
LAST WEEK…Jon Michael Worthington was DQed for cracking Jesse Emerson with a chairshot heard round the world…A bloody and intensely physical battle between Chase Stevens and Andy Douglas ended with a double knockout.
Michael Graham previewed the upcoming matches.
1 – JON MICHAEL WORTHINGTON vs. JESSE EMERSON
Emerson surprised Worthington on the ramp by jumping him from behind. The dude is pissed. Joining Graham on commentary, Reno Riggins said Emerson was giving it to him hockey style by pulling his ring jacket down to tie up his arms. Graham reminisced about Bob Probert. Emerson used the ring jack to Biel throw Worthington across the ring. At 2:00, Worthington yanked Emerson’s tights to send him head first into the turnbuckle. Worthington hit a Stinger splash for a near fall and taunted Emerson. Worthington cut off a chop exchange with a thumb to the eyes. Both men down on a double clothesline. Worthington locked in a sleeper hold, but Emerson countered with a back suplex, and it was both men down again. The tiny crowd showed a little life. Emerson hit a powerslam for a two count. The action spilled outside the ring. Graham said that was where Worthington took advantage the last time, and he did so again, with a whip reversal into the brick wall. Ouch. Worthington grabbed a chair. A tug of war ensued. Worthington brought the chair in. Swing and a miss and the chair ricocheted off the ropes into Worthington’s noggin. Emerson covered but Worthington kicked out. Emerson blasted Worthington with a chairshot to the head prompting the DQ.
WINNER: Worthington via DQ in 7:54. Another good brawl but the crowd killed it for me. Less than 50 people and most of them weren’t paying attention. Way too many sleeper holds being used in SAW. It’s 2009. How about some modern submissions? The chair off the ropes spot made a great false finish.
Emerson continued to beat Worthington senseless. Riggins said Emerson had snapped and headed into the ring. Security pulled Emerson off. Worthington was out cold, but Emerson jumped on him again. Security intervened. Riggins warned Emerson to lay off. Just when it looked like things were settling down, Emerson jumped on Worthington again.
Top 10 list: SAW International Champion–Kid Kash 1-Stevens 2-Hammerjack 3-Worthington 4- Emerson 5-Rick Santel 6-Arrick Andrews 7-Sean Casey 8-Shane Smalls 9-Big Dolla (making his first appearance in the top 10) 10-David Young.
TWO WEEKS AGO…Su Yung challenged Tracy Taylor to a rematch…and smacked Graham with her Oriental fan.
2 – PGWA Title Match: Champion TRACY TAYLOR vs. SU YUNG
Bleachers were suddenly full. Go figure. Taylor and Yung opened with a long collar and elbow tie up. Reno said the stuff between Emerson and Worthington had gone beyond competition. You think? Yung did a lot of stalling. The announce team wondered why she was being so tentative. They joked about Graham being traumatized by the fan attack. Yung used the tight to send Taylor into the buckles. How original. Yung used a hair mare to set up a surfboard. Taylor started popping her with forearms, so Yung took her down by the hair and bit her belly. That was weird but Reno seemed to like it. Yung used a double chop to the base of the neck, and Reno brought up Tojo Yamamoto. Yung did a monkey flip and went for the 10 punches of doom. Taylor cut her off halfway and hit Hawaii Five-O – she puts her foot against the victim’s jaw, and drops to her back while pulling the victim’s arm. Reno said, “Book ‘em Danno!†Wow. Hadn’t heard that one in 25 years.
WINNER: Taylor retains the PGWA title in 5:37. As PGWA TV matches go, this wasn’t bad. Easy on the eyes and the length was right. Poor quality control for the heel to use the identical takeover spot two matches in a row. Taylor’s finisher looked pretty cool.
EARLIER THIS WEEK…Footage of LT Falk at home. Falk said he wouldn’t be at the SAW Mill this week because he was still healing up. Falk said Derrick King Enterprises was trying to end his career but it wasn’t going to happen. Falk said he was trying to follow in the footsteps of the living legend, Tony Falk, and take the Falk name higher. He brought the advice his father got from Bill Dundee – “Tough times don’t last. Tough people do.†(LT remembered this from a road trip with his father, when Dundee was feuding with Eric Embry, but that would have made LT about 2 years old.) Falk said he and Drew Haskins would be giving 110% in their title defense next week.
Cut to Drew Haskins at the SAW Mill. Haskins said the way his body felt, he wasn’t too excited about next week’s title match. He admitted DKE had beaten them down the last three times running. Haskins said he there to watch Big Dolla’s match, listen to what DKE had to say, and use it for inspiration.
Next up --- a series of clips to update viewers on the feud between Rick Santel and Flash Flanagan. During the intros, the announce team explained that Santel claimed to have run Flanagan out of the territory, when in reality, he was on tour in Puerto Rico.
3 -- FLASH FLANAGAN vs. RICK SANTEL (with Paul Adams)
Flanagan blocked Santel’s attempt to cheat on the break, and dropped him with a great right hand for a one count. Flanagan scored with a punch series that left Santel flailing about in the ropes. Flanagan lit Santel up bigtime with a chop and gave him three consecutive body slams. (Commercial break) Santel ate a right hand and went fell flat on his back for a two count. When Flanangan slammed Santel again, Reno compared all the slamming to an NBA game. Adams tripped up Flanagan and choked him with the towel. Santel’s offense mainly consisted of digging in Flanagan’s eye. Flanagan retaliated by biting Santel’s finger. Stunner by Flanagan for a double down. Full fledged comeback by Flanagan with Santel taking some huge bumps. A Flanagan clothesline spilled both men over the top, but Flanagan landed on his feet. Flanagan went for a slingshot sunset flip, and in his attempt to fight it off, Santel thumbed referee Kurt Herron in the eye. Graham called it incidental contact. In any case, Herron didn’t see Santel grab onto Adams’ towel to gain extra leverage for the pin.
WINNER: Santel in 8:32. This match had some heat. Flanagan continued his domination of Santel, only to get screwed in the end. Santel’s bumping was one of the highlights of this episode. Crummy finish with what looked like a phantom finger in the ref’s eye. It’s a crapshoot any time Herron is involved in a key spot.
4 – BIG DOLLA (with Derrick King & JT Stahr) vs. BAD BOY DIXON
Dixon got one look at Dolla’s mean face, and headed for the front door. They cut to the parking lot where Dixon was frantically trying to open the door on his pick up truck. Dolla dragged Dixon’s sorry ass back inside the building and pinned him with the Dolla Bill (full nelson slam).
WINNER: Big Dolla in 1:41. Highly original and quite hilarious.
DKE cut a ringside promo to close the show. This got heat. King said Dixon was the smartest guy in the building with the way DKE was taking people apart. He alleged that Vordell Walker was history. Stahr said they weren’t evil people and renewed his request to Falk & Haskins to hand the belts over now. “Don’t make us do the inevitable.†King said they must be gluttons for punishment, because DKE was taking the title and ending their careers next week.
CLOSING THOUGHTS: Coming off last week’s peak moment, this was a back to earth episode. As Dowtown Bruno used to say, it’s going to bees that way sometimes. They can’t all be like last week or SAW would risk burning through storylines at an alarming rate. This episode, instead, focused on story development setting up bigger and better things for the future – the tag title match for next week being priority number 1, and on that level, it worked well. It’s been a well booked program. The stage has been set for the title change based on the psychological and physical toll DKE has taken on the champions. Falk and Haskins are both getting better on interviews. I really liked Falk’s…It must get frustrating for the wrestlers who work the SAW Mill these days. It feels like they’re there for a social outing more than for the wrestling. The crowd was so blasé about the Worthington/Emerson brawl, it was like they weren’t clued in to the angle…Joe Williams is the best ref SAW has right now. Herron has his good points, but he gets noticed for all the wrong reasons…Falk and Haskins are both improving on interviews…Excellent use of highlight clips for Santel/Flanagan. That feud has been off TV for a while, so it was a much needed refresher. I don’t where they came from, but the crowd was back and fully engaged for that match. Santel took some textbook heel bumps – the kind that help get the babyface over. Now that was the right way to use Bad Boy Dixon. Dolla (Charles Evans) ha been booked as the ultimate badass monster in SAW. Might his appearance in the top 10 indicate a singles push?
