Want more wrestling news, rumors, and results? Be sure to visit PWInsider.com and PWInsiderXtra.com.
It’s a winning formula -- entertaining storylines, great talking segments, memorable finishes, a few surprises and enough action to satisfy without overdoing it. It was virtually perfect for TV without sacrificing anything as a live show.
As a pro wrestling product, NWA Anarchy is in much better shape than they were in December, when Jerry Palmer announced that come April 9, he was stepping away as owner, opening up the possibility that pro wrestling’s 12 year run at the NWA Arena could end.
Bill Behrens returned as booker for Palmer’s farewell tour. Behrens has the green light to pull out all the stops and he’s been doing exactly that.
April 9 once loomed as a potentially cataclysmic day of reckoning for pro wrestling in Cornelia. Instead, it now appears likely that a smooth transition to new ownership will occur, although the details will be kept under wraps until the opportune moment.
The new ownership will need to address how to better promote the product. Attendance last night was 110. They were a fired up group, however, less in number than the previous tapings in 2011 and down 20 from the same weekend last year.
Palmer opened by asking for a moment of silence for Lil Mike, long time bell ringer at the NWA Arena, who is in the ICU at Stephens County Hospital. Palmer then dedicated the show to Mike. In reference to his six years of ownership coming to an end Palmer said, “I’m ready for the show but not for the moment.â€
Rave Approved (Mike Posey & Corey Hollis) entered the ring with a message from their leader. They got a “Munchkin†chant. Jimmy Rave appeared on the WrestleVision, advising the people to rejoice because their savior was coming to Cornelia on April 9.
Adrian Hawkins came out alone. Posey asked if he was going to take them both on. Wishful thinking. Being no fool, Hawkins had Slim J waiting in the wings.
(1) Slim J & Adrian Hawkins beat Rave Approved (Mike Posey & Corey Hollis) in 10:52. This rock solid, nothing fancy tag match was a nice way to kick off the evening. Hawkins took the heat, using his signature springboard back elbow to set up the hot tag. Out of the four-way, Hawkins took Hollis out with a pescado, and J used a flying armbar to submit Posey. The crowd delighted in Slim forcing Posey to tap.
The light went out. When they came on, Azrael was in the ring and Reverend Wilson was at ringside. A slimmed down Azrael I might add. He left J laying with the Ted Bundy (Morgasm which was an original creation of Azrael’s sick mind) followed by the cutthroat piledriver. Palmer and a mess of referees came out to tend to J, who was able to leave under his own power, more or less. This is bound to result in great stuff. Always is when J and Izzy hook up.
(2) Aden Chambers won a Mega Rumble Ladder Match to become the new NWA Anarchy Young Lion’s Champion in 18:26. The ladders were in play right from the get go, so the unique thing about the match was the prospect that it could end before all the participants got in the match, althought that’s not the way it panned out. Sugar Dunkerton started by bopping Tommy Daniels in the head with his basketball. Sugar’s had a lot of good matches lately. This wasn’t one of them. Dunkerton pinned Daniels in a mere 41 seconds. CB Gibson was next. He and Dunkerton wasted no time breaking out the ladder spots. John Skyler entered. He and Gibson doubled up on Dunkerton. In a highlight reel spot, Gibson did a crash & burn Poetry In Motion into a small upright ladder. The ladder was obliterated. Probably didn’t do wonders for Gibson’s body either. Gibson was eliminated taking a bump of a tall ladder. Bo Newsom was next. He and Skyler teamed up on Sugar. Chambers entered just in time to rudely yank Newsom off the ladder, fully exposing his ass cheeks in the process. Chambers showed a ton of fire here. Lane Vasser cleaned house on all four guys in the ring. When Skyler tried for Sliced Bread #2, Vasser tossed him out. Jacoby Boykins was next. Boykins and Vasser s quared off to see which one was the “Bull of the Woods†in this deal. Vasser was triple teamed. Johnny Dangerous was next. The psychology was breaking down badly. Plenty of chaos and crazy spots, which were fine. However, guys were ignoring the chance to climb the ladder, and when someone did climb, they went up too fast and had to stall until someone pulled them down. Boykins was doing these great looking power spot, but wasn’t using them to eliminate people. Jacob Ashworth got things back on track, as he went right for the prize. Skirra Corvus (with Enoch Tsarion) made his presence felt via a stiff chop exchange with Sugar. Korvus soon eliminated Dunkerton. Boykins gave Dangerous a belly to belly suplex onto a ladder. Vasser eliminated Boykins. Newsom blindsided Vasser with a dropkick that sent him over the top. Ashworth got rid of Newsom. Chambers gave Dangerous a gutbuster on a bridged ladder, then dumped his mangled body out. It was down to Ashworth, Chambers and Korvus. Ashworth cut off Chambers’ climb with a killer half nelson slam and scampered up to the ladder. The crowd popped huge when Ashworth captured the belt. Ashworth has worked his ass off (literally) to get in top shape and improve his game. He has the people fully behind him now. But ref Dee Byers was down and didn’t see it. Korvus pulled Ashworth off the ladder and the belt was up for grabs. With all three down, John Johnson ran down from the announcer’s booth and handed the belt to Chambers. Byers came around to find Chambers holding the title. Chambers left with Johnson. Tsarion went ballistic since he and Johnson had supposedly formed an alliance. Ashworth also went nuts since was the legit winner. A great finish beautifully executed. My misgivings about the match were more than made up for by it. That and some of the more psychotic spots are what people will remember.
(3) Konkrete Gorillaz (Jay Fury & Nemesis with Jeff G. Bailey) defeated Tank & Shadow Jackson via DQ in 6:35. Before the opening bell, Tank and Shadow used tandem offense to clear the ring. Match opened with Fury bumping like mad. Gorillaz got the upper hand on Tank. Bailey was gleefully bating that poor first row fan again. Referee Ian Buchanan caught Bailey tattooing Tank with his Gucci loafer and ejected him. The crowd ate that up. The turnaround spot saw Tank reverse a double suplex. Gorillaz sold huge for Jackson’s Dusty style house cleaning, but Nemesis cut him off and Gorillaz took turns dropping elbow on him. Tank grabbed a chair and knocked down Buchanan, who called for the DQ. This was right on the money – a superheated confrontation that left fans wanting more.
The returning JT Talent opened the second hour by thanking the fans. Talent said he had given all he had and it had been every bit worth the career ending back injury, and if he ever came back, Cornelia would be his first stop. Out came Rich & Famous (Talent’s former partner Andrew Pendleton III & Mike Mosley). Pendleton gave Talent props before sticking the knife in. He said they were never friends and Talent was just a means to an end. Talent said maybe his bad back was due to carrying Pendleton. “I can’t wrestle but I can fight.†Talent clobbered Pendleton and was more than holding his own until Mosley kicked him in the back. Rich & Famous were about to give Talent the Bail Out when Youth Gone Wild made the save. That led to…
(4) Youth Gone Wild (Anthony Henry & Dustin Knight) with JT Talent vs. Rich and Famous (Mike Mosley & Andrew Pendleton III) was thrown out at 7:37. The Anarchy tag champs, the Hate Junkies (Dany Only & Strykyn with Reverend Dan Wilson) came out to observe, as YWG worked over Pendleton’s arm. Pendleton tried to dump the pesky Henry, who skinned the cat only to get clotheslined out where Mosley was ready to pounce. Mosley moves the same, but he looks a little different than in his previous Anarchy run, like he’s five months pregnant, just starting to show. After Rich and Famous worked on Henry for a while, he managed to hot-tag Knight. From there, things quickly went to hell in a handbasket. Henry got thrown out and attacked by Hate Junkies. Billy Buck & Andrew Alexander came to the rescue and a wildly intense 8 man pull apart brawl ensued. Talent steered clear of the mayhem. This was everything a pull apart should be.
To resolve the mess, Dee Byers ordered an atomicos tag match.
(5) Andrew Alexander & Billy Buck & Henry & Knight (with JT Talent) defeated Hate Junkies (Dany Only & Stryknyn with Reverend Dan Wilson) & Mosley & Pendleton in 9:57. Great heat for this match. Knight was the babyface-in-peril and a fine one at that. The heels trapped him and gave him a relentless beating. The Rev used his cane on Knight. Stryknyn got especially nasty. Alexander was losing it, which gave the heels a chance to inflict more punishment on Knight. Stellar finish. Talent bashed the Rev with his cane and waved at Only, who was so horrified by this that he walked right into Buck’s superkick.
“The Temptation†Shaun Tempers entered the ring with his Temptation spray and his protégé Bo Newsom. Tempers said the spray was so intoxication that it made his opponent mere putty in his hands. Tempers directed our attention to the WrestleVision screen for a viewing of his new commercial, which can be found [url=www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYQ9yH2rBsw]here[/url].. This is a must see. The double fisting routine with the routine with the spray cans was totally ridiculous. Tempers said his essence was in each can – “Out of the man and into the can†– and is available at www.thetemptation.net.
They were joined by Brodie Chase, who is amazingly over as a babyface at this point. Tempers ridiculed Chase. He said “Temptation†might kick start Chase’s sex drive, adding that Chase looked like he was on his way to woman’s fitness contest. Chase retaliated by suggesting that Newsom had the Tempers temptation every night. Chase stayed on the temptations theme. Funny stuff. Tempers said Chase was jealous of his title. Chase said Tempers never could have beaten him without the help of “bird boyâ€. Tempers said Chase would get no more chances and left. A tremendous segment with both men delivering major league mic work. Tempers’ character achieved a new level of greatness.
“The Deadly Sin†Seven was led to the ring by Jeff G. Bailey. Seven is one awesome monster, and the presentation is enhanced by the theme music from “SAWâ€. Bailey accused Palmer of conspiring against him, while protecting his favorite son, Shadow Jackson. Bailey broke out some classic lines from the vault, referring to the Gorillaz as being “blacker than South Atlanta and three times as dangerousâ€. Bailey went off about humiliation of his ejection and said it would never happen again.
That brought Palmer out. He said all Bailey did was bitch, then admitted it was unfair and he was going to make it right. Palmer said Bailey could stay at ringside for the main event on the condition that he was handcuffed to Palmer, and if any of his other goons interfered, they would be gone for good. Bailey agreed to the stipulations.
(6) Seven (with Jeff G. Bailey) beat Shadow Jackson (with Jerry Palmer) in 5:30. Bailey was all slumped shoulders and pouty face once the handcuffs were in place. Seven set out to destroy Jackson. A barrage of clubbing forearms sent Jackson down in a heap. Jackson got in some blows that barely staggered Seven, who responded with a Crackerjack (overhead choke slam). Seven made what appeared to be a fatal mistake on a missed Vader Bomb, but came right back with a bicycle kick. A hell of move for a guy that size. Out of nowhere, Jackson hit the 1031. Bailey immediately threw powder into Palmer’s eyes. Jackson got distracted and fell victim to Seven’s choke slam for the 1-2-3.
The Gorillaz ran out to ringside. Bailey got free of the handcuffs. They all started beating on Jackson. Tank hit the ring but he was beaten down as well. Fury was choking Jackson with his chain. The geek squad ran out to break it up. Jackson recovered and went nuts trying to get at the Gorillaz. They were egging Jackson on, safe in the knowledge they were separated by a wall of Anarchy personnel. The fans chanted “fire him!†Palmer said no way. Palmer said what Bailey did was like jabbing a bear with a stick. He vowed to get his hands around Bailey’s throat.
NOTES: NWA Anarchy returns to action on March 12 with Tempers vs. Chase for the TV title, Posey & Hollis & Chip Day representing Rave Approved, Slim J addressing Azrael’s return plus appearances by Young Lion’s Champion Aden Chambers, Tag Team Champions Hate Junkies, Youth Gone Wild, Ashworth, Vasser, Dangeous, Corvus, Boykins, Sev7n (with Bailey), Jackson, Koncrete Gorillaz, Newsom, Alexander & Buck, surprises and more…Palmer’s announcement regarding the ownership situation will not take place until March 26 or April 9…Timmy D handled the ring announcing as well as joining Johnson on the broadcast team….Superfan Bo subbed as bell ringer. Laura Jones from WCON in Cornelia handled the sound system. The new ref, who could pass for Cory Maclin Jr. is Antrone Brewer…The first hour main was scheduled to feature a reunion of former NWA Anarchy tag team champions, Iceberg & Tank. Iceberg cancelled feeling he was not ready to do a match at this point…Wilson is pleased with the progress of NWA Chattanooga. They’re drawing a steady 200 for their monthly events at the Soddy Daisy Middle School. Their next event is March 18 with Hate Junkies (with Bailey) vs. Hellbillies vs. Seven & Tempers (with the Rev) vs. Hollis & Adam Jacobs in an elimination match with the winners to earn a shot at NWA World Tag Team Champions, The Dark City Fight Club on their April 5 show….March 18 also has Tank vs. Rave and Alexander vs. Ace Rockwell, and Slim J vs. Kyle Matthews.
