Showtime All-Star Wrestling presented “Unfinished Business”, their first major event of the year last night at the Civic Center in Gallatin Civic Center Saturday night. It proved to be an apt name, as the culmination of several long running storylines took place over the course of the night, including the crowning of Kid Kash as the new SAW International Champion.
It should no doubt make for three excellent hours of television. It was a full house set up – no empty chairs – with a hot crowd. It’s one thing to have great heat when the crowd is fresh, but these people were still going strong when the main event went into the ring over three hours later.
There’s something about the way Paul Adams tell stories that often makes major SAW events more memorable over time, and I suspect last night will be one of those for me.
While the ringwork last night was solid across the board, the thing that differentiates SAW from most southern independents is that a high percentage of the roster has major league size and looks.
Attendance was 325, almost all of it paid. SAW drew over 500 last summer in Gallatin, but fewer paying customers.
The advertising heavily pushed a special appearance by “Sunny” Tammy Sytch, attempting to capitalize on her recent WWE Hall of Fame induction. Although Sunny’s road to stardom was paved by her time in Tennessee with Smoky Mountain Wrestling, Nashville was never part of that territory. Her peak year as a national star was 1996. Last year’s Gallatin event was built around hometown hero Arrick Andrews going up against crazed monster “Maniac” Marc Anthony. Andrews was booked elsewhere this year.
A year ago, SAW was coming off a series of well-attended events at the Nashville Fairgrounds, where they also taped TV. Until last night, all of the TV this year has been taped in the tiny confines of the Stadium Inn. Viewers of the Saturday night prime time TV show likely perceive that product as being less than what it was as a result. I dare say that after last night, SAW is in a stronger position going forward.
Reno Riggins and Michael Graham did an in ring open for TV. This should look great. The crowd was amped.
(1) Ryan Genesis beat Jesse Emerson (with Paul Adams & Rudy Charles) in 9 minutes. The crowd popped huge for Genesis, who is coming off a stint in Japan for the DDT promotion, and now appears ready to be a major force here. His overall work looked better than ever. Charles has become Paul Adam Jr. All that was missing was the towel. He imitated Adams’ signature mat pounding to spur Emerson on. Genesis kicked out of Emerson’s DDT. That brought Adams up onto the apron. Genesis popped Adams and his towel went flying. Genesis then pinned Emerson with a top rope elbow.
Afterward, David Young attacked Genesis to set up a tag match for later.
(2) David Young (with Paul Adams & Rudy Charles) defeated Micah Taylor in 8:15. Crowd was into this match, but not quite as much as the first one, probably because Taylor’s SAW appearances have been rare. Charles had a towel of his very own this time. Taylor won a muscle posedown with a pec dance. Young was sweating profusely in the muscle suit, and they did a hilarious spot where Adams and Charles both fanned him with their towels. Taylor made a comeback with a salvo of 10 corner lariats. He tried for a sunset flip and Young grabbed the ropes. The ref kicked Young’s hands, but Charles used his towel as a lifeline, and Young sat down on Taylor for the pin.
(3) Sigmon beat Matt Korbaine in 4 minutes. Crowd wasn’t dead, but this match received the least enthusiastic response of the night. Korbaiine was one of the few wrestlers on the show lacking that major league look. He did an indytastic version of the Pele, but missed with the 450. Sigmon then used his massive cranium to win it with a diving headbutt.
(4) Jeremiah Plunkett beat Chris Cane via submission n 3:30. Plunkett’s deal is that he sadistically brutalizes his opponents with suplexes and submissions. I like it because it sets him apart from the others heels in SAW. His offense looked devastating against the diminutive Cane. Plunkett. Plunkett used a double underhook to choke Cane out.
Postmatch, Riggins went to the ring to check on Cane. Plunkett returned and put Cane in a Walls of Jericho while stepping on his head. Nice.
(5) Scarboni Brothers (Vinnie & Sonny) defeated SAW Tag Team Champions The Brotherhood (Jeff Daniels & Jocephus with Dominique) via DQ in 14 minutes. Brotherhood got as much of pop as Scarbonis, who recently returned to SAW after a long absence. The crowd didn’t warm up to them much. Match built heat though because the fans got resentful of Brotherhood’s cheating. Daniels was in most of the way as the ring general. It’s scary how much Jocephus looks like Bruiser Brody now. He has a ways to go in the ring, but he’s also come a long way. Vinnie had Daniels pinned after Scarbonis hit their Hot & Ready finisher. Dominique jumped on Vinnie for the DQ.
Postmatch, Jocephus gave the ref a body slam. That got a reaction. Dominque tried to hit Vinnie with a chair and hit her hubby by accident. Vinnie then grabbed Dominque by the hair, but Jocephus leveled Vinnie with a high boot to leave him laying.
Sunny was given a special introduction prior to the intermission. She looked like a star and got a strong if not overwhelming response from the crowd. Sunny said she was delayed over four hours at the Baltimore airport (forcing cancelation of the pre-show meet and greet) and brought up getting her start in Tennnessee with SMW. There line for autographs and photos was quite long.
Dyanna Dawnn “treated” the fans to a mercifully brief live performance.
(6) Ryan Genesis & Byron Wilcott beat A-Team (David Young & Jesse Emerson with Rudy Charles & Roxy Rossi) in 8:45. Genesis came out like he had no partner. Wilcott joined him and they cleaned house. They beat on Emerson for a long time. A-Team finally got heat on Genesis. Wilcott ran wild with the hot tag and brought Emerson off the top with a running powerslam for the pin.
(7) Derrick King (with Johnny Bandanna) pinned JP Magnum at 3;20 with an X Factor. The story here was Bandanna growing ever more reluctant to be King’s lackey. Bandanna has been awesome in the role.
(8) Cody Melton beat Drew Haskins (with King & Bandanna) in a Loser Leaves SAW match at 11:50. The huge pop for Melton made it obvious that the crowd has been following the TV. Melton is not a Nashville guy, but a tremendously well done angle off the legit injury he suffered at the hands of King has generated huge sympathy for him. Melton sent Haskins off the apron with a southpaw lariat and followed with a dive, but that’s where King did his dirty work. When Melton showed life, King tried to use a chain. Bandanna took it away. Haskins hit Katy Perry’s Favorite Finisher on Melton. Bandana put Melton’s foot on the rope. Ref Mark Herron took a good bump. King got the chain away from Bandanna and went to the top rope. Bandanna dumped him into the ring. Melton picked up the chain, clocked King and Haskins, and tossed the chain to Bandanna. Bandanna revived the ref to make the three count. Very good match. Crowd ate up the finishing sequence, which played out beautifully.
Afterward, Bandanna left with Melton. King was befuddled. Haskins used his scarf to wipe away the tears as fans sang the goodbye song.
(9) SAW International Title Tournament Semifinal -“Crimson” Tommy Mercer vs. Chase Stevens ended as a double count out at 10:54. Big pops for both coming out. More females for Mercer. They opened with a furious exchange of blows. Mercer took over and spent most of match grinding Stevens down. The Stevens fans got vocal here. Stevens sprung to life and got a big near falls with the scissors kick. The action moved to the stage area where the bleachers were set up. Stevens teased suplexing Mercer off the stage, which would have been certain death. Ref Joe Williams’ count reached 10 with the battle raging on behind the bleachers. Good stuff as usual when these two hook up.
Postmatch, Mercer tossed Stevens off the stage and did a number on him with a steel chair. A slew of wrestlers came out to break it up. They couldn’t get the job done, so a second wave of wrestlers ran out. The crowd was going nuts for this. Mercer’s lip was busted. Six wrestlers finally carted Mercer to the back.
Riggins said both men were out of the tournament as a result, so the other semifinal match would be for the title. The “let them fight” chant was massive. People were pissed. Reno said he would sign a rematch for later supercard. The crowd booed the hell out of him. As Graham was trying to explain things, Mercer ran back out and jumped on Stevens inciting another round of chaos. The crowd was buzzing when this was over.
(10) Tracy Taylor beat Miss Rachel in 3:36 with Sunny as the special referee. Not much to it. Rachel replaced Mickie Knuckles, who canceled due to a booking conflict a few days before the event. It wasn’t much of a problem, because there was no issue between Taylor and Knuckles or any particular reason that Sunny was the special ref for that matter. Rachel started doing sneaky cheating during the chain wrestling exchanges. Taylor did the Surf’s Up on her back. Rachel missed charging in and Taylor rolled her up.
Rachel griped long and loud about Sunny’s decision, claiming she was cheated. Sunny came back to the ring and gave her a stunner for the big pop.
(11) SAW International Title Tournament Final - Kid Kash defeated Chris Michaels to become a three time champion in 18:40. I feared they wouldn’t be able to follow the Stevens/Mercer brawl, but they pulled it off. Since Kash returned with the stated mission of finding the person that stole the SAW tapes, he converted into a hard-nosed babyface. Michaels has also undergone a change of heart. He is on a quest to win the title so his son can look up to him. It started as a snug, conservative wrestling match. One of the things Kash does better than just about anyone is give a pro wrestling match the feel of a real fight. Kash got frustrated. The old Kash started to rear its ugly head. He was in the ref’s face, using nut shots and such. It became a question of Michaels fighting fire with fire. At one point, it turned into a dog fight with each guy biting the other guy’s back, which was pretty awesome. Michaels inadvertently superkicked ref Joe Williams. Herron ran down as the second ref. Michaels kicked out of Kash’s standing suplex. It was the only match where with a lot of false finishes, and the crowd was popping for all of them. Kash decked Herron. Riggins ran down as the last line of authority, and much to his dismay, Reno had to count the pinfall in Kash’s favor after he hit a brainbuster to on Michaels.
Kash rubbed it in bigtime. He said SAW had a real champion again instead of those “jibroni boys” and blamed Reno for costing him the title in the first place.
Kash said it was time to reveal the identity of the thief. “It was me you moron. You cost me the title. I cost you your show.” Reno attacked Kash and almost lost him on a backdrop. Reno telegraphed a second backdrop, and Kash started beating his ass. Kash ended up with a bloody nose. The dressing room emptied to pull them apart. Kash called Reno a washed up old man and said he would kill him. Reno said he hadn’t wrestled in 12 years but he could beat a piece of snot like Kash.
Reno made two matches (he is the matchmaker after all) for a return to Gallatin in September. He would take on Kash, plus Stevens vs. Mercer inside a steel cage.
On his way out, Kash got physical with announcer Graham, who was at ringside minding his own business. Graham fired up verbally. It looked like no joke. Hell of way to end the night.
Credit: Larry Goodman
www.georgiawrestlinghistory.com
2 comments:
I find the business about "major league looks" silly and kinda weird.
Some of the very best wrestlers on the Indy scene do not meet that criteria.
Might be why they aren't in the major leagues, though. Skill can only take you so far when the biggest company in the world is more interested in looks with most of their guys than how they wrestle.
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