GODSON
10-17-2004, 02:52 PM
USA CHAMPIONSHIP WRESTLING MUSIC CITY MEMORIES IN NASHVILLE, TN LIVE REPORT INCLUDING A RARE TNA VS. WWE MATCH
by Larry Goodman @ 12:05:00 PM on 10/17/2004
USA Championship Wrestling presented Music City Memories at the Nashville Fairgrounds Sports Arena last night. Memories, the company’s third show since returning to the Fairgrounds, was named for the Bert Prentice promotional incarnation that ruled the building, then known as the Mecca, from late 1997 through 1999.
It was a solidly booked show. Outside of an appearance by Jerry Lawler, who went 25 minutes in a victory over Kid Kash, there were precious few ties to Music City Wrestling. It was probably for the best, because I doubt there were many in the crowd of 275 (gate of $3691) that had much attachment to MCW.
(1) Germel Quinn beat Cat Taylor. Quinn rolled Taylor up right away. Taylor complained that he wasn’t ready or it wasn’t fair or some such. Ref Kurt Turner called for a restart. Quinn rolled Taylor up for another three. As Taylor continued to whine, Quinn made it a trifecta. Worked as a quick comedy opener.
(2) Void Effect (Zero & AM Vision) beat Jason Brisbane & Shawn Schultz in 10:39. Void Effect is a promising new team that’s getting a push. They’ve got the physiques and the athleticism. Pretty strong heel presence about them, too. Brisbane was formerly known as Kid Thrilla. Shultz seemed to be a fan favorite. Vision took good bumps as the face team had the early advantage. Brisbane didn’t see the tag and got leveled by Zero’s clothesline. Effect looked good on offense, as they applied the heat to Brisbane, who made a tag while still trapped in Vision’s sleeper. Schultz hit a Side Effect type move for a near fall. It broke down to a four way. Schultz got dumped and Effect hit an ax kick/sideslam combo move to pin Brisbane. The beatdown continued in the postmatch until “Hot Chocolate” Kory Williams made the save.
(3) Ryan Wilson beat Hammerjack via DQ in 7:20. Wilson is a freaking monster. I still can’t believe WWE passed on him for Tough Enough. Wilson subbed for Doug Gilbert, one of the four advertised performers that actually worked for MCW. Gilbert was said to have called in sick. Hammerjack jumped Wilson and bailed when Wilson tried his Kick of Death. Wilson gave Hammerjack a helluva lariat. Hammerjack’s shoulder blocks bounced off Wilson. Sensing he was dead meat, Hammerjack stuck his sledge hammer into Wilson’s gut. They brawled with Wilson making the comebacks while selling his weakened condition. Wilson goozled Hammerjack, but couldn’t follow through after taking another shot to the gut. Wilson hit (sorta) the Kick of Death. Wilson did the Road Warrior Hawk flying shoulder block. It would be an awesome move for him if he got off his feet more. Hammerjack went for the sledge again, but it wasn’t happening this time. Wilson had Hammerjack up on his shoulder when Dallas interfered for the DQ. Chris Harris ran out to make the save.
(4) Cassidy O’Reilly beat Chris Michaels in 9:56. The two veteran workers had by far the best match of the first half. I’m a Michaels mark going back to his days in MCW. Michaels did a Pearl Harbor job and stomped a mudhole in O’Reilly. Michaels jacked O’Reilly’s jaw with a punch that Lawler would have appreciated. O’Reilly made a classic babyface comeback. Michaels used a shortcut to set up a rendition of Rick Michaels’ Double Shot. Michaels slowed O’Reilly down by cutting off his air supply. O’Reilly ducked a superkick and hit a spinebuster. Both men slow to rise. O’Reilly took over with a handspring back elbow and a tornado DDT for a two count. Michaels rolled O’Reilly up using the tights. O’Reilly kicked out for a good false finish. Michaels turned O’Reilly inside out with a clothesline. Michaels brought two chairs into the ring in an attempt to make a head sandwich. Ref Ricky Bell grabbed one chair. O’Reilly gave Michaels a drop toehold on the other one for a near fall. Michaels crotched O’Reilly on the top rope. O’Reilly blocked a superplex. Michaels took the big back bump. O’Reilly got the pin with a frogsplash.
(5) Chris O’Neal beat Seth Knight (with John Michael) in a bullrope match (6:15). These guys all had a distinctly indie look to them. The bout was better than I expected. This was a return grudge match, and the crowd was into it. The bullrope stipulation came about because Knight has a penchant for running. USA official Mike Sircy handcuffed Michael to the ropes to prevent any chicanery. O’Neal showed good fire on offense. Knight went to the outside, so O’Neal yanked the rope to post him. O’Neal whipped Knight with the rope. Knight pulled the rope to post O’Neal’s shoulder. Not a good spot. Knight used a divorce court and tried to rip the shoulder out of its socket. O’Neal hit an enzuigiri and made a one arm comeback. Michael reached in a pulled Knight’s leg by mistake, as he was busy fooling with the handcuffs. O’Neal got the pin with tornado DDT. Michael and Knight teased a break up. Knight told Michael he could take his money and shove it.
There was a long line for Polaroids with Lawler during the intermission.
(6) Jerry Lawler (with April Pennington) beat “The Notorious K. I. D.” Kid Kash (with Dallas) in 24:40. Kash is an awesome heel. It’s hard to imagine a more ideal opponent for Lawler at the twilight stage of his career. Ring announcer Steve O brought out Scott Hudson to do the introduction for this match. Hudson mentioned Jerry Jarrett and gave a nod to Nashville’s rich wrestling history. It was the only reference to the past that took place during the show. Hudson introduced Lawler as “The King of Wrestling.” If your tastes in women run to long blonde hair, big fake tits and a tight ass, April is the ticket. Kash said this might be Lawler’s old stomping grounds, but the legacy was no more. Lawler told the little runt to shut up. Stomping grounds was correct. “I’m going to stomp you right through the ground right here in Nashville. You don’t send a kid to do a man’s job.” Fans chanted “TNA reject” at Kash, who threatened to walk out. Kash slid into to the ring just in time to beat the 10 count. The first lock up came at the 4:25 mark. Kash was having his way with Lawler. Kash was doing jumping jacks and double biceps poses. Lawler made the comeback and Kash took a powder. Kash pounded on Lawler. King decked Kash with one punch. A key spot occurred while Dallas was battling with Lawler on the outside. Pennington went after Kash and he laid her out with the Moneymaker. Pennington was carried out. Kash said everybody knew that he would never hurt a woman (he protected her well on the move). The crowd was going nuts as Kash denied everything to ref Rudy Charles. Kash wanted a test of strength. Lawler punched him in the face. “You’re a big deal in TNA. I’m going to show you a move a friend of mine in WWE taught me.” Lawler gave Kash the stunner. Crowd wanted another one, but Kash went to a low blow. Lawler used an inside cradle for a great visual fall while Charles was busy with Dallas. Kash worked on Lawler’s leg with the spinning toehold and the figure four. Kash got greedy. He missed with a tumbleweed. Lawler sold like his leg was gone. Kash charged. Lawler told him hold up…and pulled the strap down. Lawler jackhammered Kash. Dallas got involved. Kash was holding Lawler for Dallas. Lawler ducked and Kash took the shot. Lawler gave Kash the piledriver to score the pinfall. Mega pop for the finish.
(7) Matt Catalano won a Loser Leaves Town match over Bully Douglas (6:04). Match came about because Douglas had been tagging with Catalano, and then turned on the young lad. Douglas had also gotten physical with Mrs. Bully at last week’s show. Douglas attacked Catalano at the bell. Douglas worked on Catalano’s back with high impact stuff. Douglas’ wife came to ringside to lead the cheers for Catalano. Catalano broke a bear hug with the old ear clap. Douglas took his sweet time making the cover after hitting a TKO and Catalano kicked out. Douglas grabbed a chair. Déjà vu. The ref took it away. Catalano surprised Douglas with a sloppy roll up. Bully’s wife said she was done with Bully’s shoddy treatment. “Sucker, you lost. Here’s your ring. I’m through with you.” Prentice lead the crowd in serenading Bully with the goodbye song.
(8) Chris Harris beat Abyss in 4:21. Not much to it. They opened with a furious exchange. Abyss beat Harris down and cut off his comeback with a high boot. Abyss hit a middle rope splash for a near fall. Abyss took a charging crotch bump on the turnbuckle. Harris took over with a flying lariat, Thesz press and vertical suplex. Harris escaped from the rack drop and rolled Abyss up using the ropes.
(9) The Naturals (Chase Stevens & Andy Douglas) beat Risky Business (Chris Vaughn & Rick Santell) to win the USA Tag Team Titles in 13:25. Crowd was amped for this one. Douglas came out with his left leg heavily bandaged from the stabbing wound. Risky Business destroyed Douglas, who was selling the leg bigtime. Ahh, but it was a ruse. Douglas suddenly turned it on against Santell. Naturals went to work on Santell. Charles didn’t see Santell’s tag and Naturals switched without tagging. That drew more heat. Stevens did some cool double underhook pin attempts. A missed elbow drop lead to the hot tag. Vaughn was on fire. He hit a sitout chokeslam on Stevens and drove Douglas’ face into Stevens’ knee. Santell hit a spinkick on Stevens and Douglas saved. Douglas hit a hanging DDT on Vaughn for a near fall. Douglas went for the powder, but Santell kicked his hand and the powder blinded Charles. Business hit a double team on Douglas and got Charles to make a three count. The crowd popped. Stevens clocked Vaughn with a chair and Charles made another three count. New champions. The crowd was livid. I guess the deal was that Charles couldn’t actually see the first pin.
The crowd had thinned out some by the second intermission. It appeared that a number of people came to see Lawler.
(10) James Storm beat Michael Shane via DQ in 14:47. A good match that was somewhat diminished by a smaller, tiring crowd. Storm’s entrance is to USA what “Spyder” Nate Webb’s entrance is to IWA Mid-South. I knew Storm was bigger than Shane, but I didn’t realize the size difference was that pronounced. Billed as a battle of superkicks. Shane escaped from Storm’s superkick twice in the early going. It was all Storm until Shane hit a hotshot at 4:30. Shane went for a chair and, you guessed it, the ref took it away. Shane blocked a superkick and fouled Storm. Shane ruined Storm’s skin the cat with a rude dropkick. Charles caught Shane using the ropes on a pin attempt. Storm started to fire up. Shane applied a sleeper. They went back and forth with the sleeper. Storm launched a full fledged comeback, gaining near falls with a Russian legsweep and a powerslam. Storm tried for the 8 second ride, but Shane counterd with an Ace crusher for a near fall. Ref bump on Shane’s flying clothesline. Shane hit a classic Showstopper top rope elbow and it was time for the Sweet Chin Music. Storm blocked it and hit some kind of finisher. Chris Michaels disrupted the count for the DQ. Storm superkicked Michaels. Shane superkicked Storm.
All hell broke loose. Shane ordered Michaels to pick Storm up for a second superkick. Harris hit the ring, but the Naturals and Abyss weren’t far behind. Neither were Risky Business and O’Reilly. The heels laid out the faces and handcuffed Harris to the ropes. Storm was bleeding heavily from the mouth. Shane and Michaels gave Storm a double superkick. Douglas threw Charles into a slew of chairs, where he laid motionless for a good 10 minutes. The heels taunted Harris as Shane delivered superkicks four and five on Storm. Shane said his superkick was the best in the business. Storm was carried to the back to close the show.
NOTES: USA returns to the Fairgrounds Sports Arena on 10/30…USA has an 11am Saturday slot on WNAB in Nashville…Jerry Jarrett and Jeremy Borash were engaged in what appeared to be a focused discussion for a good portion of the show…Johnny Devine was in the house. Devine is doing color commentary for USA, alongside Scott Hudson…Bob Ryder had a hand in running things. He’s helping out while Jarrett regains his strength after surgery.
I want too see Kash vs. Lawler. I hope Lawler showed the world what good ole southern wrestling is like because Jarrett seem to forgot his roots. It's too bad that Lawler is announcing with JR. I wonder can Tazz still wrestle.
Is it me or does USA Championship wrestling seems like TNA minor leagues?
by Larry Goodman @ 12:05:00 PM on 10/17/2004
USA Championship Wrestling presented Music City Memories at the Nashville Fairgrounds Sports Arena last night. Memories, the company’s third show since returning to the Fairgrounds, was named for the Bert Prentice promotional incarnation that ruled the building, then known as the Mecca, from late 1997 through 1999.
It was a solidly booked show. Outside of an appearance by Jerry Lawler, who went 25 minutes in a victory over Kid Kash, there were precious few ties to Music City Wrestling. It was probably for the best, because I doubt there were many in the crowd of 275 (gate of $3691) that had much attachment to MCW.
(1) Germel Quinn beat Cat Taylor. Quinn rolled Taylor up right away. Taylor complained that he wasn’t ready or it wasn’t fair or some such. Ref Kurt Turner called for a restart. Quinn rolled Taylor up for another three. As Taylor continued to whine, Quinn made it a trifecta. Worked as a quick comedy opener.
(2) Void Effect (Zero & AM Vision) beat Jason Brisbane & Shawn Schultz in 10:39. Void Effect is a promising new team that’s getting a push. They’ve got the physiques and the athleticism. Pretty strong heel presence about them, too. Brisbane was formerly known as Kid Thrilla. Shultz seemed to be a fan favorite. Vision took good bumps as the face team had the early advantage. Brisbane didn’t see the tag and got leveled by Zero’s clothesline. Effect looked good on offense, as they applied the heat to Brisbane, who made a tag while still trapped in Vision’s sleeper. Schultz hit a Side Effect type move for a near fall. It broke down to a four way. Schultz got dumped and Effect hit an ax kick/sideslam combo move to pin Brisbane. The beatdown continued in the postmatch until “Hot Chocolate” Kory Williams made the save.
(3) Ryan Wilson beat Hammerjack via DQ in 7:20. Wilson is a freaking monster. I still can’t believe WWE passed on him for Tough Enough. Wilson subbed for Doug Gilbert, one of the four advertised performers that actually worked for MCW. Gilbert was said to have called in sick. Hammerjack jumped Wilson and bailed when Wilson tried his Kick of Death. Wilson gave Hammerjack a helluva lariat. Hammerjack’s shoulder blocks bounced off Wilson. Sensing he was dead meat, Hammerjack stuck his sledge hammer into Wilson’s gut. They brawled with Wilson making the comebacks while selling his weakened condition. Wilson goozled Hammerjack, but couldn’t follow through after taking another shot to the gut. Wilson hit (sorta) the Kick of Death. Wilson did the Road Warrior Hawk flying shoulder block. It would be an awesome move for him if he got off his feet more. Hammerjack went for the sledge again, but it wasn’t happening this time. Wilson had Hammerjack up on his shoulder when Dallas interfered for the DQ. Chris Harris ran out to make the save.
(4) Cassidy O’Reilly beat Chris Michaels in 9:56. The two veteran workers had by far the best match of the first half. I’m a Michaels mark going back to his days in MCW. Michaels did a Pearl Harbor job and stomped a mudhole in O’Reilly. Michaels jacked O’Reilly’s jaw with a punch that Lawler would have appreciated. O’Reilly made a classic babyface comeback. Michaels used a shortcut to set up a rendition of Rick Michaels’ Double Shot. Michaels slowed O’Reilly down by cutting off his air supply. O’Reilly ducked a superkick and hit a spinebuster. Both men slow to rise. O’Reilly took over with a handspring back elbow and a tornado DDT for a two count. Michaels rolled O’Reilly up using the tights. O’Reilly kicked out for a good false finish. Michaels turned O’Reilly inside out with a clothesline. Michaels brought two chairs into the ring in an attempt to make a head sandwich. Ref Ricky Bell grabbed one chair. O’Reilly gave Michaels a drop toehold on the other one for a near fall. Michaels crotched O’Reilly on the top rope. O’Reilly blocked a superplex. Michaels took the big back bump. O’Reilly got the pin with a frogsplash.
(5) Chris O’Neal beat Seth Knight (with John Michael) in a bullrope match (6:15). These guys all had a distinctly indie look to them. The bout was better than I expected. This was a return grudge match, and the crowd was into it. The bullrope stipulation came about because Knight has a penchant for running. USA official Mike Sircy handcuffed Michael to the ropes to prevent any chicanery. O’Neal showed good fire on offense. Knight went to the outside, so O’Neal yanked the rope to post him. O’Neal whipped Knight with the rope. Knight pulled the rope to post O’Neal’s shoulder. Not a good spot. Knight used a divorce court and tried to rip the shoulder out of its socket. O’Neal hit an enzuigiri and made a one arm comeback. Michael reached in a pulled Knight’s leg by mistake, as he was busy fooling with the handcuffs. O’Neal got the pin with tornado DDT. Michael and Knight teased a break up. Knight told Michael he could take his money and shove it.
There was a long line for Polaroids with Lawler during the intermission.
(6) Jerry Lawler (with April Pennington) beat “The Notorious K. I. D.” Kid Kash (with Dallas) in 24:40. Kash is an awesome heel. It’s hard to imagine a more ideal opponent for Lawler at the twilight stage of his career. Ring announcer Steve O brought out Scott Hudson to do the introduction for this match. Hudson mentioned Jerry Jarrett and gave a nod to Nashville’s rich wrestling history. It was the only reference to the past that took place during the show. Hudson introduced Lawler as “The King of Wrestling.” If your tastes in women run to long blonde hair, big fake tits and a tight ass, April is the ticket. Kash said this might be Lawler’s old stomping grounds, but the legacy was no more. Lawler told the little runt to shut up. Stomping grounds was correct. “I’m going to stomp you right through the ground right here in Nashville. You don’t send a kid to do a man’s job.” Fans chanted “TNA reject” at Kash, who threatened to walk out. Kash slid into to the ring just in time to beat the 10 count. The first lock up came at the 4:25 mark. Kash was having his way with Lawler. Kash was doing jumping jacks and double biceps poses. Lawler made the comeback and Kash took a powder. Kash pounded on Lawler. King decked Kash with one punch. A key spot occurred while Dallas was battling with Lawler on the outside. Pennington went after Kash and he laid her out with the Moneymaker. Pennington was carried out. Kash said everybody knew that he would never hurt a woman (he protected her well on the move). The crowd was going nuts as Kash denied everything to ref Rudy Charles. Kash wanted a test of strength. Lawler punched him in the face. “You’re a big deal in TNA. I’m going to show you a move a friend of mine in WWE taught me.” Lawler gave Kash the stunner. Crowd wanted another one, but Kash went to a low blow. Lawler used an inside cradle for a great visual fall while Charles was busy with Dallas. Kash worked on Lawler’s leg with the spinning toehold and the figure four. Kash got greedy. He missed with a tumbleweed. Lawler sold like his leg was gone. Kash charged. Lawler told him hold up…and pulled the strap down. Lawler jackhammered Kash. Dallas got involved. Kash was holding Lawler for Dallas. Lawler ducked and Kash took the shot. Lawler gave Kash the piledriver to score the pinfall. Mega pop for the finish.
(7) Matt Catalano won a Loser Leaves Town match over Bully Douglas (6:04). Match came about because Douglas had been tagging with Catalano, and then turned on the young lad. Douglas had also gotten physical with Mrs. Bully at last week’s show. Douglas attacked Catalano at the bell. Douglas worked on Catalano’s back with high impact stuff. Douglas’ wife came to ringside to lead the cheers for Catalano. Catalano broke a bear hug with the old ear clap. Douglas took his sweet time making the cover after hitting a TKO and Catalano kicked out. Douglas grabbed a chair. Déjà vu. The ref took it away. Catalano surprised Douglas with a sloppy roll up. Bully’s wife said she was done with Bully’s shoddy treatment. “Sucker, you lost. Here’s your ring. I’m through with you.” Prentice lead the crowd in serenading Bully with the goodbye song.
(8) Chris Harris beat Abyss in 4:21. Not much to it. They opened with a furious exchange. Abyss beat Harris down and cut off his comeback with a high boot. Abyss hit a middle rope splash for a near fall. Abyss took a charging crotch bump on the turnbuckle. Harris took over with a flying lariat, Thesz press and vertical suplex. Harris escaped from the rack drop and rolled Abyss up using the ropes.
(9) The Naturals (Chase Stevens & Andy Douglas) beat Risky Business (Chris Vaughn & Rick Santell) to win the USA Tag Team Titles in 13:25. Crowd was amped for this one. Douglas came out with his left leg heavily bandaged from the stabbing wound. Risky Business destroyed Douglas, who was selling the leg bigtime. Ahh, but it was a ruse. Douglas suddenly turned it on against Santell. Naturals went to work on Santell. Charles didn’t see Santell’s tag and Naturals switched without tagging. That drew more heat. Stevens did some cool double underhook pin attempts. A missed elbow drop lead to the hot tag. Vaughn was on fire. He hit a sitout chokeslam on Stevens and drove Douglas’ face into Stevens’ knee. Santell hit a spinkick on Stevens and Douglas saved. Douglas hit a hanging DDT on Vaughn for a near fall. Douglas went for the powder, but Santell kicked his hand and the powder blinded Charles. Business hit a double team on Douglas and got Charles to make a three count. The crowd popped. Stevens clocked Vaughn with a chair and Charles made another three count. New champions. The crowd was livid. I guess the deal was that Charles couldn’t actually see the first pin.
The crowd had thinned out some by the second intermission. It appeared that a number of people came to see Lawler.
(10) James Storm beat Michael Shane via DQ in 14:47. A good match that was somewhat diminished by a smaller, tiring crowd. Storm’s entrance is to USA what “Spyder” Nate Webb’s entrance is to IWA Mid-South. I knew Storm was bigger than Shane, but I didn’t realize the size difference was that pronounced. Billed as a battle of superkicks. Shane escaped from Storm’s superkick twice in the early going. It was all Storm until Shane hit a hotshot at 4:30. Shane went for a chair and, you guessed it, the ref took it away. Shane blocked a superkick and fouled Storm. Shane ruined Storm’s skin the cat with a rude dropkick. Charles caught Shane using the ropes on a pin attempt. Storm started to fire up. Shane applied a sleeper. They went back and forth with the sleeper. Storm launched a full fledged comeback, gaining near falls with a Russian legsweep and a powerslam. Storm tried for the 8 second ride, but Shane counterd with an Ace crusher for a near fall. Ref bump on Shane’s flying clothesline. Shane hit a classic Showstopper top rope elbow and it was time for the Sweet Chin Music. Storm blocked it and hit some kind of finisher. Chris Michaels disrupted the count for the DQ. Storm superkicked Michaels. Shane superkicked Storm.
All hell broke loose. Shane ordered Michaels to pick Storm up for a second superkick. Harris hit the ring, but the Naturals and Abyss weren’t far behind. Neither were Risky Business and O’Reilly. The heels laid out the faces and handcuffed Harris to the ropes. Storm was bleeding heavily from the mouth. Shane and Michaels gave Storm a double superkick. Douglas threw Charles into a slew of chairs, where he laid motionless for a good 10 minutes. The heels taunted Harris as Shane delivered superkicks four and five on Storm. Shane said his superkick was the best in the business. Storm was carried to the back to close the show.
NOTES: USA returns to the Fairgrounds Sports Arena on 10/30…USA has an 11am Saturday slot on WNAB in Nashville…Jerry Jarrett and Jeremy Borash were engaged in what appeared to be a focused discussion for a good portion of the show…Johnny Devine was in the house. Devine is doing color commentary for USA, alongside Scott Hudson…Bob Ryder had a hand in running things. He’s helping out while Jarrett regains his strength after surgery.
I want too see Kash vs. Lawler. I hope Lawler showed the world what good ole southern wrestling is like because Jarrett seem to forgot his roots. It's too bad that Lawler is announcing with JR. I wonder can Tazz still wrestle.
Is it me or does USA Championship wrestling seems like TNA minor leagues?