NWA MAIN EVENT TV REPORT
By Larry Goodman on 4/13/2010 11:31 PM
NWA Main Event TV
April 3, 2010 "No Mercy"
Available for viewing at nwame.com
LAST WEEK…Chad Hyatt cashed in on the title match he earned via his fluke win in
the Mega Rumble by defeating his mentor, Will Owens to become the new NWA
Mid-America Heavyweight Champion. Owens toyed with Hyatt and eventually blasted
him with the title belt, only to get blasted his own self by NWA Mid-America TV
Champ, Matt Boyce. This was a great recap featuring an awesome performance by
Owens. His backstage stuff with Hyatt was classic.
Aaron Camaro, decked out like a confederate general from bizarro land, rallied
the troops out there in TV land.
Camaro was joined on commentary by Aaron Becker.
(1) White Tiger & Shane Smalls beat Jeremiah Plunkett & Bad Boy Dixon in 7
minutes. Sloppy mistimed spots plagued the early going. Dixon was
taking punishment and he’s still God awful. The announce team ignored the match
in favor of discussing Hyatt’s surprise title win. Tiger looked more like a pro
wrestler than Smalls. Match was sloppy in spots. Tiger took heat. It was much
better when Plunkett was in. His spinebuster looked major league. Tiger hit a
double DDT to set up the hot tag. The heels fed Smalls but it looked kind of
clumsy. They went four ways, and Tiger pounced Plunkett out of the ring. Smalls
reversed Dixon into the Last Rites. Finish looked good.
(2) Corey Hollis beat Brian Rivers in 6:20. Rivers looks to have an
amateur wrestling background. How refreshing. Rivers worked on Hollis’ shoulder
of Hollis for the majority of the match. The only bad spot was a bridging
hammerlock, where Rivers didn’t do the bridge and the ref should have counted
his shoulders down. Hollis countered a butterfly suplex with an enzuigiri, then
busted out his aerial attack, ending with the Dusk ‘Til Dawn crossface. Rivers
punched out of it. Rivers hit a fireman’s carry gutbuster that Hollis took on
his hip. Ouch. Rivers said it was over after a big lariat. Wishful thinking.
Hollis whiffed on a flying roundhouse, nailed it the second time and won it with
Silent Dawn, a flying knee off the top as best as I could tell. It was a spot
where a second camera angle might have really helped.
In the locker room, Rudy Charles asked Mike Posey if he really thought there
were aliens in Nashville. Posey claimed there was a whole colony of little green
people running around. Charles said a friend of his, Dan O’Manley - “ a lot of
people say he looks like me†– agreed with Posey and really thought a lot of him
being a champion and all. Posey said O’Manley was a smart guy. Posey said he had
to jet. Charles pulled a photo out of himself refereeing at a TNA PPV out of his
pocket. “Now, it’s Posey…WEARING A V-NECK SHIRT, when everyone knows you wear a
collared shirt to the PPV…That’s me. Should be me.†Charles snapped out of it
and said Posey was a good guy.
(3) Chrisjen Hayme beat Ace Rockwell in 10 minutes. Being that
these guys have a well-established issue, this was a stiff brawl punctuated by
the occasional hot wrestling move. Ref Mikey Winkerbean called for the bell with
Rockwell still outside the ring. After controlling the body of the match, Hayme
got frustrated with his inability to put Rockwell away. Hayme blocked Aces High
and went up top for the 450, but Rockwell crotched him. Rockwell hit a
superplex. Both men down. Hayme went for a quebrada. Rockwell moved and got a
very near fall with an Oklahoma Roll. Hayme blocked Aces High and pinned
Rockwell with his feet on the ropes. Finishing sequence was spot on. Easily the
best match on the show.
(4) Tommy Mercer & Steve-O & Matt Boyce beat Will Owens & Orion Bishop &
Se7en in 11 minutes. Camaro was laying it on thick about the babyface
trio being big buddies away from the arena. After taking 100% of the abuse for
the heels, Owens, shrewd customer that he is, capitalized when Boyce strayed
into the wrong side of the ring. Bishop and Se7en were having a field day
destroying Boyce, with Owens playing ring general. Boyce managed get out from
under Bishop’s reverse splash, but Owens interfered to prevent a tag. A standing
dropkick by Boyce shook Se7en up. He didn’t go down but it was enough to allow
the tag. Se7en then absorbed a lariat from Mercer without going down. It broke
down with all six in the ring and ref Jamie Ferrari called for the bell. Owens
and O were getting beaten down by the heels when Mercer brought a chair in to
save his partners.
Just as Camaro was started to sign off, Mercer crowned O with a chair shot.
Boyce confronted Mercer, and got a Mercy Kill onto the chair for his troubles.
The announce team was astonished. Mercer posed with Boyce’s TV title and threw
in top of him. The closing shot showed O and Boyce left laying in the ring.
THOUGHTS: This show has improved by leaps and bounds from the point it was
at when Bill Behrens at the helm. The quality of wrestling is has been upgraded
significantly. The horribly bad stuff has all but been eliminated, and they had
some pretty good matches, the Hayme/Rockwell match on this show being a prime
example. NWA ME now possesses a more varied and talented roster. With his height
and physique and at the rate he’s learning, Mercer has future star written all
over him. Bishop is a powerhouse. He was a diamond in the rough when he came
into wrestling from arena league football, but no so much any more. His
psychology and ring presence have improved dramatically over the last year. The
talent is also being used more effectively. Witness the way Bishop and Se7en
were protected from taking any significant damage in the main event. Se7en,
green though he may be, is being booked like a bonafide monster. The expression
on Hayme’s face after he beat Rockwell had me thinking he might make a good heel
after all. The previous episode gave Owens a role he could really sink his teeth
into resulting in his best acting job in NWA ME. The storylines have logical
progression and a consistency across episodes that wasn’t there before. Titles
are being made to feel important. Well, they were until Chad “Barney†Hyatt won
the heavyweight championship on a fluke, but it made for a good story, and zany
storylines lare fine in the context of a more serious overall presentation.
Speaking of zany, you have to give Behrens credit for originality on weirdness
between Charles and Posey. It’s been hilarious so far and it keeps me tuning in
to see where it’s going next. The staging of Mercer’s turn was nicely done,
although Camaro went overboard foreshadowing it. The major shortcoming of NWA ME
continues to be the production end. The first two matches on this episode were
not broadcast quality. The commentary, by Camaro and Aaron Becker, was
apparently a do over. The original commentary, by Camaro and Jeremy Arnold, was
still audible in the background. One could argue that none if it broadcast
quality since they’re using only one camera, but the camera work itself has been
pretty good.
