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Attendance was 160. The crowds at the NWA Arena have been better throughout 2012, and last night’s attendance was the largest since Franklin Dove succeeded Jerry Palmer as Anarchy owner last summer. But it was more than the size was impressive, this was a raucous crowd that was red hot all night long.
The main goal of this taping was to set up matches for Hardcore Hell on March 31. On that level, it was a resounding success. It was night when the talking and stories were stronger than the wrestling. A hot crowd can disguise a multitude of sins. There were were more sloppy, rushed spots than usual for an Anarchy show. The stand out wrestling match was the main event, featuring a terrific performance by Mikal Judas (aka Murphy), one that left me feeling like Impact completely missed the boat on him.
The night’s festivities hit the ground running. Adrian Hawkins took a seat in the ring and refused to leave until somebody brought him Todd Sexton. Hawkins bragged about beating up Sexton’s brother (referee Brent Wiley). Sexton entered through the front door. They brawled like crazy. An army of Anarchy personnel came out to pull them apart and they got the “let them fight†chant before it was over.
(1) NWA Anarchy Tag Team Champions the NWA Elite (Se7en & Brian Casanova with Jeff G. Bailey) defeated Mike West & Raymond King in a non-title match at 7:13. West and King got a bit of early offense on Casanova. Se7en made a blind tag and leveled the jabronis. Elite destroyed West. He has a good look but didn’t show much here. He made a sloppy counter to Casanova’ TKO finisher. Se7en pulled King of the apron and annihilated him to prevent the hot tag. Casanova then hit a TKO that looked half-baked and pinned West. It was OK. In hindsight, it would have been better off with a pure squash.
Mike Posey whined about how he got no respect, even though he was the biggest star to ever come out of the building. As for almost every segment all night long, the heat for this was huge. Posey said that unlike him, AJ Styles and Consequences Creed had never appeared at Wrestlemania. Posey demanded that the crappy owner get off Twitter and give him a main event match. Dove came to the ring. The fans chanted for Dove to knock Posey out. Dove said he had a mind to slap the snot out of Posey, but he called is best friend out instead. Out came Gunner to a pop that blew the roof off. He got the “welcome back’ chant and the whole bit.
(2) Gunner defeated Mike Posey in 9:29. Posey was on the receiving end of an intense “munchkin†chant. Posey stalled and referee Ken Wallace was all over him. Gunner took matters into his own hands. Posey seized on a brief opening with a dropkick than sent Gunner off the apron into the rail. Posey finished his usual leg drop sequence with his version of Christy Hemme’s FFG. Gunner powered out of Posey’s guillotine legdrop finisher so hard that Posey ended up on the floor. Posey tried for a high crossbody. Not smart. Gunner finished him with the F5. Good match. Great heat. Gunner really seemed to enjoy being back.
(3) Hate Junkies (Dany Only & Stryknyn with Reverend Dan Wilson) defeated Ambassadors (Jacoby Boykins & Chris Mayne) in 10:52. Boykins was greeted with a Fat Albert sign. A disgusting highlight saw Only rub Mayne’s face in Stryknyn’s armpit. Junkies broke out the boot party on Mayne. It’s a fun spot that always gets a crowd reaction. Stryk took his belt off to distract the ref. That allowed Rev to choke Mayne with his belt. Ambassadors got heat on Stryk with Boykins busting out his arsenal of power moves. Only hit a killer Saito suplex on Mayne for a near fall, but interference by Boykins set up a tornado kick by Mayne. At that point, the music of Ambassador’s arch enemies, the Urban Assault Squad blasted over the PA. Ambassadors lost their focus. Junkies smoked Mayne with a spear/lariat combo, and he was pinned by Only. Match was OK. The finish furthered the UAS/Ambassadors feud. Since turning babyface by popular demand, Junkies have oddly been put on the back burner.
(4) Bro Newsom defeated Jacob Ashworth and Skirra Corvus and Steven “The Fever†Walters in a four corner match to become the number on contender for the NWA Anarchy TV Championship in 6 minutes. Corvus’ entrance got the loudest pop. Newsom was the only heel, however Walters appears to undergoing an attitude change. Lots of love for TV Champion Seth Delay coming out to do color commentary. Frenetic four way action ensued with everyone hitting big moves. Walters sent Ashworth and Corvus crashing to the mat with a tower of doom powerbomb and hit a Codebreaker on Ashworth. Walters was furious after all three opponents kicked out of his pin attempts. I smell a heel turn. Corvus hit the Graveyard Shift (curbstomp) on Walters and appeared to have victory in his grasp, but Newsom caught him with a spinebuster for the pin. Match was the right length (short!), and the story with Walters came across well. It’s questionable if the fans view Newsom as a serious threat to Delay’s title at Hardcore Hell.
Fan cued up to get their $5 8 x 10s signed by Gunner. The line stretched all the way to the front door.
Tommy Daniels called out his best friends CB Gibson and Jacob Ashworth. Tommy got a “Jersey Shore reject†chant. Tommy said he didn’t want to bore his friends with his personal problems, but he had too much on his brain lately and apologized for actions. Tommy promised to give 110% despite his knee…er hamstring injury and win it for his friends.
(5) Zack Daniels defeated Tommy Daniels and Vandal in 4 minutes. Tommy bailed and limped around ringside. However, he showed amazing recuperative powers any time there was a pin attempt and was quick to break it up. When Tommy boldly tried to steal a pin attempt, Zack nailed him with an Air Raid Crash, dumped Vandal out and pinned Tommy. Gibson and Ashworth came out on the ramp to show their displeasure with Tommy’s bad behavior. For an undercard story, this wasn’t half bad. Tommy did a good job with the disingenuous character.
NWA North American Champion “The Temptation†Shaun Tempers addressed the fans. Tempers said he traveled to territories all over the country, and he was disgusted by the local talentless nobody challengers. Tempers said he would have accomplished his ultimate goal at Season’s Beatings if not for local nobody Azrael (the NWA Anarchy Heavyweight Champion). Tempers said he had filed a complaint with the NWA Board of Directors regarding Azrael’s subsequent matches. That brought NWA rep Behrens out. Behrens said Tempers had joined a growing group of people threatening to sue the NWA. Behrens called Azrael’s manager, the good Reverend Wilson out. Behrens said Tempers had a lot of guts to call Azrael a local yokel, being that he had sacrificed life and limb for 15 years. Rev reminded Tempers that Azrael pinned him in a tag match a few months AND pinned him in the NWA title match at Season’s Beatings. Behrens resolved the situation by booking a title vs. title – winner take all match for Hardcore Hell. Tempers said the only thing that enticed him about the match was the opportunity to embarrass the Rev. Tempers compared Devil’s Rejects to an aging rock band, down to two originals and a couple of fill ins. Rev said his best friend was now a different form of life, and he would be leaving Hardcore Hell with his bag 15 pounds lighter. Stellar mic work by Temper and Rev made this segment a winner.
Ambassadors called out UAS for screwing up their match. They brawled for what seemed like an eternity. The battle eventually moved up the ramp and into the dressing room where it was briefly visible on the Wrestlevision screen. The screen went black prompting a “where did they go?†chant. This was the only segment that didn’t work. One impromptu brawl per night is enough. They haven’t yet announced what these teams are doing at Hardcore Hell, after it felt like we’ve already seen the match.
(6) Anthony Henry defeated Bobby Moore via submission in 12:32 to retain the NWA Anarchy Young Lion’s Championship. Moore, in his standard purple, tried to beat up one of the Barney dolls the fans bring to mock him. Barney gave Moore a tough fight. More shenanigans after the bell rang with Henry and Wallace playing keep away with another Barney doll. Henry showed European tendencies with a euro forearms and a cravate. Moore did damage to Henry’s shoulder with a flying double ax. Henry was hurt, but Moore didn’t really go after the injury like he should have and they kinda went off into la la land. Henry won a contest of big forearms and hit a DVD for a close near fall. Fans called for the Texas Cloverleaf. Moore cut Henry off and applied a Fujiwara armbar. About time. The crowd really got behind Henry after he made the ropes. Moore tried for a cross armbreaker, and Henry reversed it into the cloverleaf, forcing Moore to tap out. This was a hard fought match. Moore is an entertaining heel, and fans are passionate for Henry, so it worked despite the shaky psychology.
Moore did a crazed sore loser attack on Henry’s arm. He grabbed a chair and was about to Pillmanize the arm when Corvus made the save. Corvus politely handed the belt to Henry.
Bailey called out Anarchy enforcer Brodie Chase to address the fairness issue. Bailey said Chase was aligned with Judas and allows the faces to outnumber his guys. A twisted version at best. His monsters were destroying two little guys when Judas and Chase got involved. Bailey said Casanova had done five overseas tours defending his country, while Judas was a painted up, devil worshiping freak with an upside down cross and a disturbed man. The day of reckoning was coming and it would all be on Chase. All he wanted was a fair match with Judas.
(7) Mikal Judas (with Brodie Chase) beat Brian Casanova (with Jeff G. Bailey) in 13:48. This match by far told the best story in the ring. Everything made sense. The moves had meaning. Judas trapped Casanova in the corner and punished his ass. Casanova tried for a suplex. Judas threw him off and hit a stalling suplex with the fans counting to 10 seconds. Judas goozled Casanova for the chokeslam and Casanova dug his fingers into Judas’ eye sockets, then connected with a standing dropkick, spilling Judas over the top rope. Great choice. Judas sold big without going down. No pretense of matching skill, Casanova was all choking and gouging. Judas again goozled Casanova for the chokeslam, Casanova raked the eyes. Casanova at last with a wrestling move – a swinging neckbreaker. The crowd chanted “Mikalâ€. Casanova dropped an elbow to the nuts. Casanova scored the knockdown with a spinning forearm off the middle rope. Casanova tried for the TKO and Judas raked the eyes big time, while Chase distracted the ref. Bailey went nuts. Dangerous and Slim came out. Se7en came out and slammed little Dangerous against the camera stand like a rag doll. It was the singular brutal, visceral moment of the night. J took Se7en down with a corkscrew dive off the top. Judas went for El Crucifijo. Casey slipped away and tried for the TKO. It was a no go and Judas hit the chokeslam for the pin and a colossal pop. Casanova has the look and the desire. If only he had better instincts. With that said, Casanova more than held up his end. Judas was fantastic. He’s never been better as a babyface.
Chase said it was beyond his powers to change the referee’s decision. “Judas wins. Casanova loses. And you’re cryingâ€. In a tone dripping with sarcasm, Chase empathized with Bailey’s woe. Chase announced a four on four match for Hardcore Hell. Chase said he would be the fourth good guy. The fans were way ahead of him on the fourth bad guy, chanting Bailey’s name before Chase could get the words, “It’s you!†out of his mouth. A total homerun.
NOTES: The March 24 taping will have ticket prices reduced from $10 to $8. Hardcore Hell tickets are on sale for $15. In addition to Azrael vs. Tempers and NWA Elite vs. Judas & Chase & Slim & Dangerous, Newsom gets his TV title shot at Hardcore Hell…Happy Birthday to camerawoman Cathy Canup on March 11…John Johnson was absent due to the impending birth of his baby, so ring announcer Bret Wolverton joined Tim E. D on commentary…There’s been a rash of births at NWA Anarchy. Anni Wilson was in attendance with Rory, the baby girl she and Reverend Dan had in December…Congratulations are in order to Azrael and Krystal on the birth of their first child…During his promo, Bailey explained the absence of Elite member Lane Vasser was because he was in New Orleans doing bodyguard work for Tom Cruise…Walters is booking for ECWA on April 8 (along with John Skyler), a return to Chicago for Billy Corgan’s Resistance Pro Wrestling on March 23 and a tour or England with Brian Dixon’s All-Star Wrestling starting later in April.
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