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Attendance was 175-200. As per usual these days, the crowd was into every angle and hot for every match, and with good reason. It was a fabulous taping -- clear, compelling stories and solid ringwork all night long. There were no clinkers and a lot of really good matches. The RPW talent roster is most defintely gearing up for the Dragon Gate USA bonus card on April 2. It was a night of triumph for the top babyface acts. Although it ran three hours long, the evening flowed so well that time wasn’t an issue.
This was RPW’s final Saturday night taping. The April 2 taping will be at noon due to RPW’s involvement in the Dragon Gate USA show in Atlanta that night. Tapings move to Sunday afternoons starting April 16. It will be interesting to see if that affects attendance, being that the crowds on Saturday nights have been up since the first of the year.
Taped for RPW Rewind:
(1) Anthony Andrews beat Frankie Valentine via DQ in 8 minutes.
Andrews is fast becoming a quintessential undercard buffoon – a super sleazy type with a penchant for overloading that hummingbird rear end with his alligator mouth. Valentine’s calling cards were in evidence – heart, fire and smooth execution. Andrews got loads of offense. He had half a dozen near falls, about five too many for the story they were telling. It also would have helped if Andrews had sold larger for Valentines’ offense. In any case, TV Champion Jeremy Vain came out to observe. After Valentine got the advantage with a middle rope bulldog, Vain jumped up to cause distraction. Andrews grabbed his self-anointed “winner†trophy. Valentine took it away. Andrews went down like he had been shot. Referee Danny Starr saw Valentine holding the trophy and assumed the worst. It was the beginning of a night of heavy heat on the refs.
(2) Drew Adler beat Corey Hollis (with Jimmy Rave & Chip Day & Mike Posey) in 5:45.
Hollis has his heel mojo working now. Stuff like hiking up Adler’s tights so his ass was exposed when he tossed him out. Rave then knocked Adler down with a chop. Fans chanted “Jimmy’s scared of Kyle†at Rave. Adler made a monster comeback. He hit an Air Raid Crash that fans semi-believed as a finish. Posey tried to interfere. Adler clobbered him. Rave and Day got involved. Adler caused them to collide and scored the pin. The fans popped huge for Adler scoring the big upset. It was the right time and done the right way.
Postmatch, Rave Approved put a beating on Adler. Sal Rinauro and Michael Stevens made the save. Rinauro said it was “time for papa to come back to what I do bestâ€. The fans were really into Sal here. Rinauro said he and his protégés would take on any three of the Rave Approved Rejects later in the evening.
Taped for Rampage Pro Wrestling TV airing on March 26:
(3) Dr. Johnny Gayton & Mr. Jones beat The Judge & Bobby Moore (with Charlie Cash & JT Smooth) via DQ in 9:40.
Before the match, Cash squawked about how Gayton assaulted him at the last show and nobody did nothing about it. I’ve never seen Cash so enraged. The babyface team abused Moore. Mr. Jones was going at it like he meant business. The heels got heat on Gayton after a shoulderbreaker by Judge. Gayton hit a stunner to set up the hot tag, which meant more punishment for Moore. Smooth (wearing his spiffiest caddie outfit ever) pulled Moore out when Jones went for the big splash. Jones decked Smooth and was about to splash him, but Moore spoiled the moment with a flying bulldog on Jones. Gayton then had Moore up for the Samoan Drop, but Judge locked on the claw hold and refused to let up. Fans chanted “we want Sal†until they got what they wanted. Rinauro, Adler and Stevens made the save. Gayton was left in bad shape once again.
(4) Kyle Matthews beat Adrian Hawkins via submission in 9 minutes.
Rave was watching from the ramp. A furious back and forth ending with simultaneous missed dropkicks picked up the crowd. Matthews got distracted by Rave’s presence and Hawkins pounced on the opening (Rave has been seeking Hawkins’ services. They may as well turn him. Since he came up short in his quest for the TV title, he’s stillborn as a babyface). Rave exited to the back. Hawkins worked on the leg. He got the figure four but Matthew reversed it. Matthews popped the crowd with a stellar sequence of moves capped off with a superkick. Hawkins cut Matthews off and hit a german suplex for a near fall. But when Hawkins tried for his springboard back elbow, Matthews met him with a dropkick. Matthews went right to the octopus and Hawkins tapped pronto.
(5) Rave Approved (Chip Day & Mike Posey & Corey Hollis) beat Sal Rinauro & Drew Adler & Michael Stevens in 11:30.
The highlight of the shine was a triple vertical suplex spot. Hollis made a blind tag and clubbed Rinauro from behind. Rinauro became the babyface-in-peril. Posey and Day had a leg drop party on poor Sal. The amazing crowd love for Rinauro continued. Stevens ran wild with the hot tag. Then Adler ran wilder yet. He had Posey pinned with a bridging Northern light suplex. That was broken up leading to six way action and a collision of heels. Rave Approved bailed. Stevens got ahead of himself with a dive attempt. It was crash and burn city. Rave Approved did a number on Sal as well. Back inside the ring, Hollis destroyed Adler with a killer gutwrench backcracker. Rave Approved hit a round of top rope moves finishing with Posey’s guillotine legdrop for the pin. One hell of a hectic finish and it worked great.
(6) Usual Suspects (Murder One & AJ Steele) beat Hate Junkies (Dany Only & Stryknyn with Charlie Cash & JT Smooth) to retain the RPW Tag Team Championship in 13 minutes.
Suspects dished out a wicked Dark City style mugging on the Junkies. Junkies sold it great, not that they had much choice in the matter. At one point, Steele got Stryknyn’s back and pounded him in the back of the head. Now there’s something you’re NOT going to see in MMA. Only clipped Steele’s knee to turn the tide. Referee Dustin Robinson missed a legal tag due to Junkie’s shenanigans, and Murder got all amped up about it. Fans were chanting “hit the refâ€. Tremendous heat for such a standard spot. Murder was the black Superman with the hot tag. A decapitation clothesline on Only was followed with the RKO. Stryknyn made the save, Junkies hit their high-low combo but Murder kicked out of the pin. Junkies tried to set Murder’s face on fire again, but Stryknyn’s fireball hit Only instead. Suspects then hit the Violator 420 on Stryknyn with Murder getting the pin.
Taped for Rampage Pro Wrestling TV airing on April 2:
(7) Jeremy Vain retained the RPW TV Title over Frankie Valentine by getting DQed at 9:40.
Vain got a “paper champion†chant. Valentine brought Vain in the hardway and reeled off a spectacular flurry. In desperation, Vain used Valentine’s momentum to toss him through the ropes. Vain worked Valentine over and kept him off his feet. Valentine came back with a series of pinning combinations. Vain went to slug Valentine, who ducked and ref Danny Starr ate it. Valentine then hit his finisher to pin Vain with referee Stanley Robinson making the count. Geez, two refs named Robinson and two wrestlers named Jones in the same promotion. Starr ruled it a DQ, Valentine was irate and we had another “hit the ref†chant.
(8) Bull Buchanan (with Kyle Matthews) beat Jimmy Rave in 12 minutes.
Buchanan has been in a tweener of sorts, but the fans hate Rave with a passion, so Buchanan was total babyface here. Rave got a taste of Bull’s power and found it not one bit to his liking. Buchanan then showed astounding agility on a leapfrog/dropkick combo. Buchanan was brutalizing Rave at ringside, but Rave ducked a punch and Bull hit the wall. Rave was all over Buchanan’s injured hand. Buchanan reinjured his hand punching Rave’s face. Buchanan started destroying Rave with power moves instead. That’s’ when Rave’s minions showed up. Hollis blindsided Matthews. Posey and Day pestered Buchanan. He fought them off but the delay gave Rave an opening for a superplex. Buchanan kicked out of the pin. More shenanigans from Rave’s crew ensued. Posey ate a punch coming off the top and did that ever look great. Buchanan took Hollis’ head off with a lariat. Day connected with a tornado kick and dumped Buchanan. While the ref was busy with Bull, Matthews played turnabout with a Slurpee Kick on Rave. Buchanan followed with a lariat from hell for the pin. It reads like it was too much outside interference to be believable, but the ring positioning and timing made it work.
(9) Colt Cabana retained the NWA World Heavyweight Champion vs. RPW Heavyweight Champion J-Rod when the match was declared a no contest due to outside interference at the five minute mark.
The crowd was behind their boy J-Rod, but Cabana was too damn entertaining and far too talented for the fans to root against him. The RPW crowd knows a great wrestler when they see one. The size difference was hard to ignore. J-Rod is cruisweight size, as is most of the RPW roster. Cabana was making J-Rod’s head spin with all the old British style chain wrestling. They did the back and forth pin attempts. Just as J-Rod swept Cabana’s leg to get the advantage, he was attacked by Hot Like Lava (Cru Jones & Shaun Banks). Cabana came to J-Rod’s rescue swinging a steel chair.
Cabana wanted to restart the match. Rinauro came out talking on his cell phone. He said NWA Executive Director Bob Trobich would only allow one world title match, so his hands were tied. However, he did have the authority to order a tag match. RPW just did a singles match morphed into a tag match deal last month, but rather than reacting like they had been screwed, fans were totally fine with this outcome. The heat was transferred to Lava not the promotion. The RPW fans seem to be in a state of perpetual suspension of disbelief where they’re willing to roll with just about anything,
(10) Colt Cabana & J-Rod defeated Hot Like Lava (Cru Jones & Shaun Banks) in 10 minutes.
Cabana & J-Rod dragged Lava back into the ring and proceeded to beat their asses. The busted out the row boat spot to great effect. Cru capitalized on a blind tag to get heat on J-Rod. A series of screw ups lead to Lava’s downfall. They had J-Rod up for the Lava Drop when Cabana foiled it by tripping Cru and J-Rod pinned Banks.
The show closed with Cabana raising J-Rod’s hand and putting RPW over.
NOTES: The posted card for the RPW portion of the April 2 Dragon Gate USA show at the Presidential Ballroom in Atlanta is as follows: J-Rod vs. Buchanan for the RPW Title; Usual Suspects vs. Hot Like Lava for tag team titles; Rave vs. Matthews and Sugar Dunkerton vs. Rinauro. The bonus card starts at 6:30pm…Bill Behrens revealed that the RPW TV taping that day would be an outdoor event at Johnny G’s starting at noon…Cabana did autographs and photos during intermission and after the show. Expect a Cabana commercial for Johnny G’s to debut on RPW TV some time in the near future…I taped an interview with Cabana that will part of Monday night’s “Phoning It In†radio show at 8pm Eastern. Tune in at www.blogtalkradio.com/psp. Our featured guest is scheduled to be Steve Corino. We will also have former ROH and IPW star Jay Fury on the show…Referee Dustin Robinson got knocked for a loop during the main event when he was on the receiving end of an errant fist to the eye from Cru Jones…Cabana and Marty DeRosa will be doing one of their “Five Dollar Wrestling†comedy shows the night before Wrestlemania at the Academy Theater in Avondale Estates, GA. Tickets are still available for the show, which starts at 11pm. Cabana also put the title on the line in Piedmont, Al Friday night for Pro South Wrestling. The finish of what was a three way match saw Collumbine submit rival Bobby Moore…RPW presented their annual awards during the intermission. Rave vs. Matthews vs. J-Rod vs. Bryan Danielson won for match of the year…Usual Suspects won for tag team of the year…Rave vs. Buchanan is scheduled to headline the 3/26 UIW event in Temple, GA at Temple High School Gym…TV play-by-play announcer Ben Masters has a major role in the April 9 benefit show in Douglasville, GA for former TCW employee Susan Meeks. Corino vs. Glacier is the main event. Proceeds go to help Meeks with medical expenses in her battle with cancer.
