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Attendance was down to 75 coming back just seven days after their big Doctoberfest event -- a deflating experience for a crew that was coming off working in front of hot crowd twice that size last week.
It was a very solid taping except for the obvious issue of limited heat. Same story as many indies these days, the people that come are into the product. There just aren’t enough of them, and it’s not a quality issue. RPW is doing a lot of things right. It’s a long haul approach designed to minimize burnout. The booking doesn’t rush the angles, and generally maintains logic and consistency. They’ve slowed down the inring. The matches are steeped in basic wrestling and tend more towards the feel of a real contest.
(1) Kyle Matthews & Mike Posey beat Anthony Andrews & Zac Edwards when Matthews submitted. Edwards. This was taped for the 30 minutes RPW Rewind show that is aired multiple times each week on Macon TV. Teaming him with Matthews is a nice rub for Posey. Also a good fit in that they’re both so technically sound. This was a dominant win with all of their stuff looking crisp. Matthews won it with the new octopus submission he brought back from Japan.
(2) AJ Steele (with Murder One) beat J Stakka in 5:23. Suspects have gone from being top heels to top babyfaces. This was like the heyday of Bruiser & Crusher in Chicago. Suspects can do whatever and the people will back them all the way, the more brutal, the better. Gotta give Stakka credit. He was a real dick the way he went after Steele’s knee early. And oh did Steele make that uppity little snot pay. Crowd popped for Steele’s one hand suplex. Murder was all up in Stakka’s face. “You bounce off the ground! Murder that fool!†Steele took Stakka’s head off with a lariat. He kept pulling Stakka up by fish-hooking his mouth. Finisher was a devastating push up powerslam. A classic TV studio squash.
(3) Rave Approved (Corey Hollis & Chip Day with Jimmy Rave) beat Drew Adler & Marvelous Michael Stevens in 10:35. Rave has subtly transformed into a cult leader. Last week, he did a reverse Punk deal where he allowed his head to be shaved as an example to his minions. His new look lends itself to the emergence of really crazy character. Adler and Stevens were greeted with dead silence. Love or hate, the energy was all about Rave Approved. They do the faux scientific gimmick where they carry themselves like superior grapplers, but get down and dirty whenever the need arises. Day’s strikes have gotten 1000% better in the last year. The same holds true for Hollis’ mat wrestling. They did a deal where the referee Dustin Robinson (one of the best around) disallowed the babyface tag because he didn’t see it, but let the heels get away with the very same thing. Hollis got frustrated when he couldn’t put Adler away. The tag was made. While Stevens was having his way, Rave took care of Adler on the outside. Stevens hit his fireman’s carry gutbuster on Hollis but Day broke up the pin. Hollis stunned Stevens with the Pele kick. That was the intent anyway. Day pinned Stevens with a flying double knee off the top.
Charlie Cash entered the ring with his new stable – Pain (with JT Smooth) and the newly signed Killer Instinct (Mike Stratus & Jake Slater). There was mini “welcome back†chant for Cash, who made his return at Doctoberfest. Cash gave Smooth props on the scouting work that led to acquiring the services of Pain. Cash said they wanted belts. Good promo.
(4) Shaun Banks beat Adrian Hawkins to retain the RPW Championship in 8:51. Decent pop for Hawkins. He controlled the early action with a side headlock. When Hawkins tried for a monkey flip, Banks dumped him on his neck and worked it over. A springboard crossbody caught Banks on the knees and had both men hurting. Hawkins hit a Russian legsweep for a double down. Hawkins’ comeback built well. As Hawkins was setting up the Unprettier, he was distracted by the arrival of a masked man on the ring apron. Banks then rolled Hawkins up using the tights.
(5) Murder One beat Simon Sermon via DQ in 8:02. This was advertised as a tag title rematch. Sermon said his life partner, Tommy 2 Much was too injured from the cage match to be there. He challenged Murder to get rid of “his monkey friend†Steele and fight him one-on-one. Murder had absolutely no problem with that. The action quickly moved the floor. Sermon took a backdrop on the ringside pad, and Murder put the boots to him. But a missed charge set up Sermon’s signature Saito suplex. He crotched Murder on the top rope, body blocked him to the floor, then dropped his throat across the rail. The guy sitting next to me called Sermon “a friggin fruitâ€. Sermon was unusually vicious and aggressive here, fishhooking Murder and punching him in the face. Murder’s selling as a babyface is surprisingly good. After a missed legdrop, Murder started his comeback with a wickedly stiff lariat. Finish saw Sermon take the Flair flip bump and try to come off the top, and Murder got him with the RKO. Good match. Best of hour number one.
Afterwards, Killer Instinct attacked Murder. Steele ran out and Suspects ran KI’s heads together. Pain came out with Cash. He was about to use his SPIKE finisher, when Doc Gayton and Mr. Jones made the save. Steele argued with Jones (a nice touch since they’ve had major issues in the past) and the Doc played peacemaker, pointing out that they had a common enemy.
Commissioner Sal Rinauro came out to start the second hour. Rinauro said that thanks to the Doc, his vision was 20/20 and he knew it was Cru Jones under the mask Rinauro said J-Rod had begged him to reinstate Jones and on that basis, he was allowing Jones to return. So the loser leaves town stipulation lasted all of three weeks. Why bother? The sad part is WWE and TNA have taught fans that stipulation won’t be adhered to. So much damage has been done that fans are steadily moving past the point of caring about such things.
(6) Mike Posey beat Bobby Moore in 7:37. Moore is a surly individual with a huge chip on his shoulder. He started beating on Posey right from the opening bell. Posey is kind of over. It’s funny. He works like and looks like an undersized babyface dynamo, but there’s something about his energy that runs counter. Posey did a sweet up & over rolling reverse cradle. Unfortunately, Hawkins had used the same move. At least it will be on a different week of TV. Moore rudely dropped Posey’s back on the top turnbuckle. It looked fairly devastating, but Posey launched into his comeback without selling it much. Posey planted Moore with his draping double underhook move to set up the guillotine leg drop for the pin.
Rave Approved surrounded Posey in the ring. Rave is getting the most heat of the RPW heels these days. He gave Posey one last chance to accept the offer he couldn’t refuse. Posey said no deal. Rave advised him not to make the same mistake Matthews did. It was looking bad for Posey, but Matthews hit the ring and Rave Approved bailed. This was a logical next step for getting Posey over.
(7) Killer Instinct (Mike Stratus & Jake Slater with Charlie Cash & JT Smooth) beat Rymer Boys (Evan & Kevan) in 10:10. Rymers got a good pop. I still can’t tell them apart. One of them had a taped wrist, but I don’t know which one. It started as a display of power by the beastly Stratus. Rymers busted out a stellar sequence of double teams. The taped wrist Rymer (I’ll call him Rymer #1) blitzed Slater with his speed and flying. But he got carried away with a flip dive on Stratus and KI capitalized. Slater got the “greaseball’ chant again. Rymer #1 ducked Slater’s superkick and made the tag. #2 used a Pele kick for a near fall. Oops, that’s Hollis’ move. Rymers had Slater beaten with a top rope splash/standing moonsault combo, but Cash put his foot on the ropes. Slater ran Rymer #1 into the post, and pinned #2 after KI nailed him with a powerbomb/neckbreaker combo. It was the only outcome that made sense if KI are going to challenge for the tag titles, though I don’t see them at that level. Rymers are on track to carve out the high flier niche in this promotion.
(8) J-Rod beat Cru Jones in 12:12. Definitely some Jones haters in the crowd, and he loves to egg them on. Jones said J-Rod was Randy Mulkey to his Ric Flair. J-Rod responded with the cravate/knees to the face and hit his slingshot combo. Jones turned the tide with a series of shots to the back of J-Rod’s neck. Jones was grinding away on J-Rod. He dropped him hard on the ring frame. They knocked noggins. J-Rod came back with a backstabber for a near fall. They each escaped the other guy’s finisher. Ref Brent Wiley got bumped. J-Rod dumped Jones, hit a pescado, then covered him back inside the ring. Banks tried to break up the pin with a top rope elbow. J-Rod moved and the elbow connected on Jones. Wiley recovered to make the three count. Match was pretty good until the finishing sequence, which lacked logic and timing.
(9) Kyle Matthews defeated TV Champion Jeremy Vain via DQ in 8:55. I liked this match a lot. Matthews wasn’t falling for any of Vain’s slimy tactics. Vain tried bailing out, and Matthews nailed him with a tope that got an “RPW†chant. Vain did a number on Matthews’ right hand to take away his chopping ability. That was a nifty piece of strategy. It’s so rare to see the right side worked in American wrestling. Matthews rallied using the left, but didn’t have much steam behind his strikes. He went aerial with a super huracanrana, then delivered one chop with the right, selling the hand huge. Matthews hit the Slurpee Kick and had Vain pinned when Rave Approved hit the ring for the DQ.
Rinauro, Posey, Hawkins, Stevens and Adler all ran out to make the save.
NOTES: RPW is bringing in Dark City Fight Club for their taping on December 4…The two hour of television from this taping will air on MY 41.2 in Macon on November 13 and November 20. The show can also be viewed at rampageprowrestling.net. Rinauro announced Banks vs. the return Vordell Walker in a title match for November 20…Usual Suspects headed out for Orlando and whatever it is they’re doing at the TNA PPV tonight…Hollis is up for Pro Wrestling Illusrated Rookie of the Year award. Hollis, who is the only non-WWE contracted wrestler nominated, said he has no idea how the nomination came about...Jones had a small part as a convict in Tyler Perry’s “For Colored Girls Onlyâ€, which opened on Friday…Tommy 2 Much missed the show due to car trouble. The match with Murder One was Sermon’s swan song at RPW, at least for now.
