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I paid a long overdue visit to the Stadium Inn in Nashville for a United States Wrestling Organization/ATL wrestling event Friday night.
Pulling into the parking lot, a line from Dutch Mantell’s wonderful book came to mind regarding his first hotel in Puerto Rico – “the place was so rundown that I left some dental floss on the dresser one night, and when I got up the next morning, the rats had hung themselves.”
Truth be told, the seedy nature of the venue didn’t bother me, and I would gladly go back again. I’ve watched pro wrestling in worse places. Yes, the lobby smells funky, but the room itself has a nice ambience for wrestling. The lighting and sound are decent. The negative characteristics are the low ceiling and low ring, which gives it a minor league look.
Promoter Tony Falk was happy because the crowd was back up to 115 after being down for the rest of May. They’re hoping for more on May 28, which will be USWO’s five year anniversary show. Falk handled the ticket sales from a strategic position that allows him to see all the matches, and quickly get involved when the need arises.
The crowd was pretty hot last night. Most of the action is over in the north section, where the new breed of USWO fans described in the Nashville Scene article congregate and get rowdy.
<B>(1) Lee Cross beat James Duncan in 6:05.</B> Generic opening match. The distinguishing thing about Duncan was that he wrestles wearing a bow tie. I don’t see anything in Cross as a babyface. His punches were horrible, and the physical contact in this match was pretty light on the whole. Cross made Duncan miss with the sitdown squash. Duncan ate the buckles charging and Cross rolled him up.
Afterwards, the Hoodrich Brothers ran out and started beating on Cross. USWO Tag Team Champions LT Falk & Rudy Switchblade made the save. Falk said they were going to take care those guys from Kentucky and assured the fans that the belts weren’t going anywhere.
<B>
(2) Psycho Medic & Saint beat Dyron Flynn & Johnny Demento and Tiny Bear & Bad Boy Dixon in a three way dance when Medic pinned Demento with a TKO at 7:57.</B> Medic is way, way over. Flynn is still bad, but to his credit, he’s not as horrible as when he was in NWA Main Event. Then again, that would be almost impossible. Saint took the great majority of the punishment. We were treated to the sight of Bear pulling his straps down and rubbing his man boobs in Saint’s face. Damn, that was disgusting. It did fire Saint up. Saint hit a spinebuster on Flynn for a near fall. The heels teams starting fighting amongst themselves, allowing Saint to make the tag. Medic came in wearing the skeleton mask. Signifying the impending death of his opponent I presume. It’s pretty cool looking. Fans were itching to see Medic finish Demento off and chanted his name afterwards. “You’re da ****!” was the way one guy put it.
<B>(3) Josh Crow beat Dustin Hanson in 7:12.</B> Hanson has the Drew Haskins teen thing going, except this is robbing the cradle. He’s 17 but could pass for 14. Hanson reminds me of the way former NWA Anarchy Champion Jeremy Vain was early in his career, in that he has all the right instincts despite such limited experience. He’s already great with the facial expressions. Crow grew on me as the match progressed. The crowd was into him. Hot Rod Biggs made the first of three appearances to scout talent. Crow hit a belly to belly suplex and a springboard back elbow, but Hanson ducked a springboard and used a grounded leglock. Smart move. Hanson is one skinny kid, but he’s reasonably tall and the leglock accented his length. Hanson also used the Austin Aries pendulum elbow. Crow hit a Pele (better than the ones Corey Hollis does over at NWA ME) and won it with a spinning crucifix drop. Good match – the best of the first half.
Crow made it clear he wanted a shot at Damien and his Music City Title. Gordon vowed that he and Tony would get it done. This program seems to have some steam behind it.
“The Black Diamond” Kliff Hanger said he was born to be the USWO Champion. He claimed to have never lost a match at the Stadium Inn. Gordon reacted with raised eyebrows. with skepticism. Hanger went on to say he never got the birthday surprise he was promised on April 30. Commissioner Gordon brought out Jocephus, and encouraged fans to sing happy birthday to Hanger. The old ladies in front row east substituted “happy birthday dear asshole” and Hanger went nose-to-nose with one of them. All in good fun I’m sure. A family show this is not.
<B>(4) “The Black Diamond” Kliff Hanger beat “Shelby Street Brawler” Jocephus via DQ in 9:15.</B> Jocephus has the size and physique – he’s got the Bruiser Brody/Nord the Barbarian thing going except not that large. He’s more of a gentle giant type, though, and green in the ring (less than one year of experience). Hanger did a ton of stalling. It got to where it was getting the wrong kind of heat. Biggs was out scouting again. Jocephus wouldn’t sell Hanger’s stuff. Hanger begged for mercy. Jocephus hit a corner clothesline and Hanger took a face first Flair bump. Jocephus got two with a big body slam. Hanger went to the eyes, and was all full himself when he finally put Jocephus down with a leg lariat. But Hanger’s blows weren’t having any impact. He goozled Jocephus. The big bearded one shrugged that off and started pounding Hanger’s midsection. A stray elbow caught ref Mark Owen. Hanger tried to use Jocephus’ chain. Jocephus kicked the chain into Hanger’s head. Hanger was done, but when Owen gathered his wits such as they are, he saw Jocephus holding the chain.
Tony Falk addressed the crowd concerning the five year anniversary show next Friday. Tony said crowds were from February through April before dropping off in May. He put Gordon over and said Gordon was tired from the long hours at Advance Financial.
<B>(5) Damien beat Eric Hodge to retain the Music City Championship in 8:24.</B> The fans really like Hodge, who resembles a southern version of David Hart Smith. My previous exposure to him was limited to see him get his ass kicked by Marc Anthony on SAW TV. He did a nice northern lights suplex with a bridge for a near fall. Damien went on the run and used the ropes to low blow Hodge, then delivered a single arm DDT. Solid psychology here, as Damien worked the body part with a crossarmbreaker. Hodge got a ropes break. Hodge hit a push up neckbreaker and his comeback offense was generally OK. He ran the damaged shoulder into the post on a missed spear, and Damien go the pin with the hammerlock short arm clothesline. These guys showed promise. I have a much better impression of Damien after seeing his work the last two nights.
Biggs was out scouting the above match as well, and I guess he liked what he was seeing because he offered an envelope of cash – “more money than you’ve ever seen” – to Damien, in return for allowing Biggs to manage him. Tony was not happy with this. He said Biggs was a cheater and he was teaching others his cheating ways.
<B>(6) ATL Southern Champion Chrisjen Hayme pinned Nore Havoc in a non-title match at 8:58.</B> Hayme tried to rough Havoc up. Nore did not take kindly to this. Hayme bailed out with Havoc in hot pursuit, and it had this frenzied intensity because Hayme was flailing his arms as he ran. Back inside, Havoc speared Hayme and pounded his face. Hayme took over with the punt on the up and over he used the previous night. Duncan came to ringside. Havoc hit a drop into a DDT or some such. It looked messy. But his uranage backbreaker for a near fall popped the crowd. Hayme blatantly tossed Owen hard enough that he didn’t see what happened next. Seems like a DQ was in order. Duncan gave the belt to Hayme. Havoc cut off the belt shot. As Owen was securing the belt, Hayme kicked Nore in the yam bag to get the three count. I enjoyed this match despite the weirdness with the ref.
<B>(7) LT Falk & Rudy Switchblade beat Chris Lightning & Chris Ganz to retain the USWO Tag Team Championship in 13:16.</B> Before the match, Ganz made an ugly remark to this redhead over in the rowdy section, and next thing you know, she’s up on the ring apron and all hell is breaking loose. For a hot minute, it appeared the champions were going to make her their valet for the evening. Lightning and Ganz are West Georgia guys. I usually see them in Cedartown where they are the top babyface tag team. They made surprisingly good heels. Lightning has a mouth on him, and Ganz got chickenshit heat. Really good heat for this match. Of course, it doesn’t hurt to be in the ring with the supreme babyface team in USWO. The champs executed a series of combo moves. Lightning showed good instincts on a messed up crossbody. Instead of selling it, he kicked the crap out of the offender. Switchblade and LT both took extensive heat. Ganz busted his butt on a missed guillotine legdrop, and they were off and running. It turned into a fun roller coaster ride of near falls and saves, with a ceiling bumping double dive for good measure. Finish was a Hart Attack on Lightning with Switchblade using a jackknife (was there any other choice?) for the pin. The had some rough moments, but for pure action, it was the easily the best of the night.
LT did mic work. I was forewarned that he liked to talk a lot. A voice behind the curtain started urging him to take it home. Long story short, LT said it didn’t matter their opponents were, he and Rudy would bring their A game.
<B>(8) ATL Champion “Boogie Woogie Boy” Gary Valiant vs. USWO Heavyweight Champion Jeff Daniels (with Dominique) with both belts ( there’s that nasty wrasslin' term again) on the line ended as a double count out at 10:12.</B> This was favorite match. There was a smoothness about the way they worked that was a pleasure to watch. It also had great heat. Boogie surprised Daniels by coming through the front door. He clotheslined Daniels over the top. That bump looks hellish for the victim’s back with that low ring. Tons of interference by Dominique in this match. Son Jamie Ferrari was the ref. It turned into a gutter brawl with both men on their knees out on the floor right in front of the rowdies. Boogie walloped Daniels with some woman’s purse. He applied the testicular claw, and people were clearly feeling Daniels’ pain. Back inside, Boogie missed a middle rope splash. Daniels, in turn, missed a middle rope elbow drop. Boogie speared the post bigtime. It’s an overused spot these days, but this was awesome because Boogie hit that sucker full speed. Boogie kicked out of Daniels’ pin attempt and launched a comeback. He nailed Daniels with a haymaker and grabbed Dominique by the hair. Fans were begging Boogie to let her have it, but he declined. Finish looked great. It was a high speed running the ropes deal with multiple leapfrogs building to a midair collision that left both men on the floor. The foul-mouthed old ladies on front row east were pissed about the count out.
Gordon said he wanted to see both men in his office this week. He teased barring Dominique from ringside the next time. It was vague and disappointing. If you’re going to do an inconclusive finish that leaves the fans frustrated, then you owe them a return match they can look forward to, some inkling of where the thing is headed. As it was, the show finished flat.
NOTES: USWO television is in week six of its run on WRTN (Ch-6.2 digital in Nashville, Channel 21 on Charter Cable in Lebanon & East Middle Tennessee). The show is on Wednesdays at 9pm, Saturdays at 11am and Sundays at 11pm…Jocephus has started training with Dutch Mantell at University of Dutch…I had an interesting conversation with USWO/SAW television producer Timmy Thompson. He works for Budweiser and a half million cases of Bud were lost in the flood and as you can imagine, it left quite a mess.
