Photo courtesy of Tim Walker From Larry Goodman: The second television taping by Southeastern Championship Wrestling was another...
Photo courtesy of Tim Walker |
From Larry Goodman:
The second television taping by Southeastern Championship Wrestling was another excellent southern style wrestling show.
Opportunities
to see the Tennessee brand done with this kind of quality are few and
far between these days, so these shows are a pleasure for me as a
long-time fan of the genre, and evidently the Knoxville fans think so
too.
Another
full house was in attendance at the Knoxville Civic Auditorium Ballroom
of approximately 200. Like last time, the fans were super responsive
all night long. What was more impressive is that this was almost a 3
hour show and the crowd was hot for every match and showed no signs of
tiring.
There were many similarities with the June event, mostly good and one definitely not so good.
There were many similarities with the June event, mostly good and one definitely not so good.
Match
quality was as good or better than the first show. A few additions and
upgrades have been made to the roster. The crowd is into the key angle
and they all advanced nicely. Vordell Walker and Shane Williams had
another top notch bout.
Now
for the bad news -- both shows suffered from production issues that
reduced the total usable television footage to four hours instead of the
planned six hours. Camera operation problems at the June taping
resulted in lost footage. Last night, the production crew from FOX 43
didn’t have enough memory cards to last out the show. Two key matches
were scrapped and the Walker/Williams probably won’t be seen in its
entirety. Fortunately, the TV show doesn’t debut until July 26, so SECW has enough footage to air until the August taping.
(1) Vordell Walker defeated Chris Michaels in 10:08.
All Vordell for the first five minutes capped off with a clothesline
over the top. Michaels does that bump so well. Michaels suckered Walker
in so he could snap his neck off the ropes. Michaels went to work on
Walker’s ankle. Michaels signaled for the superkick but Walker countered
with an overhead suplex and both men were down. Each man thwarted the
other guy’s finisher before Walker used an Olympic slam to set up the
tombstone driver. Solid action from wrestlers that look and perform like
real pros is never a bad way to open a show. The Knoxville fans have
taken to Walker.
(2) Tate Twins (Brent & Brandon) defeated Mitch Miller & Ricky Blues in 4:15. Tates got a monster pop. I
knew they were over but not this over. Tates totally dominated with
their Young Guns in miniature act. They were crisper on their doubles
than last time. Their timing was spot on but some of blows looked really
light. Tates finished with the flying bodypress/neckbreaker combo. I
still have no idea which Tate is which and probably never will.
Hensley
tried to tout the stars of United Wresting Network and was interrupted
by Shawn Shultz. Shultz isn’t a good talker. He is a world class talker.
Shultz said he was man enough to admit that he got beat last time by a
guy that used to be household name and called out Chase Stevens. Shultz
told Chase they didn’t have much in common. Stevens lived in a bar while
he lived in a gym. Stevens’ career was on the decline while his was on
the incline. But the one thing they did have in common was passion.
Shultz said if they teamed up they could be the most dominant force in
pro wrestling. Stevens appeared to be giving serious thought to Shultz’s
offer before answering with a resounding NO! Shultz said Stevens
embarrassed him and challenged him to a match where he promised to take Stevens out of the business.
(3) “The King” Shane Williams defeated Dylan Bostic in 4:17.
Williams wasn’t happy that Bostic was able to hang with wrestling wise,
so he resorted to the shortcut. King finished with the Lawler fist drop
followed by the piledriver. I hope they do something with more with
Bostic.
(4) Jessie Belle defeated Rae Lynn in 3:53.
A familiar match up to OVW fans. Lynn was the babyface minus the
clueless bimbo character from OVW. Belle has put on some weight. She
never fit the diva mold to begin with and she’s now built closer to an old style lady wrestler. She’s also developed into much better worker. Lynn busted out
a rana and series of butt butts. Belle bailed and did a number on Rae
when she followed her out. Back inside, Belle locked in a fine looking
Boston crab. Rae made the ropes. Rae’s comeback dropkick landed waist
high. Belle won it with a spinning Gori Bomb.
The
ref for matches 3 and 4 was atrocioius and was never seen again.
Veteran Nashville ref Kurt Herron worked all of the other matches.
(5) Ryan Mitchell defeated Shane Andrews in 5:02. Fans cheered the heelish Andrews at first because he’s a local hero, but Mitchell was able to win them over as the match progressed. He's got size and a good look.
This was a competitive match with fast-paced action. Mitchell looked a
bit rusty in spots. Mitchell being so much larger than Andrews created a
dissonant visual. There was no water in the pool for Andrews’
frogsplash and Mitchell capitalized with the implant DDT.
(6) Shawn Shultz defeated Chase Stevens in 5:38.
Shultz tried an up and over. Stevens wasn’t having any of that and
decked him with a punch. Shultz went for a leapfrog and got decked
again. Stevens used a 10 count stalling suplex for a near fall. Shultz
got untracked with punches, a big back elbow and a beat down in the
corner. Chase turned the tables on him, and ref Kurt Herron got bumped.
Taking believable bumps has never been Herron’s strong suit. With the
ref down, “Bam Bam” Lance Erickson hit the ring with a spinebuster on
Stevens, and he was dead meat for Shultz’s cover.
Postmatch, Erikson and Shultz bumped knuckles. A partnership had been formed.
partnership has been formed. Shultz taunted Stevens. I popped for
Erikson showing up in SECW. They needed a heel monster, and a guy with
Erikson’s old school vibe is the perfect fit.
(7) Washington Bullets (Trey & Jon Williams) defeated Mitch Miller & Ricky Blues in 3:40.
Bullets got tremendous heat and all their stuff looked good. Bullets
took some big bumps before Blues fell victim to the Marion Barry
(backcraker/cutter combo).
The
Nitros Noise segment with Chris Michaels as the guest was next. This is
the best way to use Nick Nitros as he really fires up the crowd.
Michaels announced his retirement again. The segment was a redo of last
month due to lost footage. We shall see where this leads.
(8) Ryan Mitchell defeated Shane Williams in 9:23.
Williams took a high back body drop with perfect form. Don’t see enough
of those any more. Mitchell ate King’s boot charging in. Williams timing
on that move is so stellar. Williams took over but couldn’t but
Mitchell away. Williams missed the Lawler fist drop. Comeback time.
Williams escaped from the DDT and hit a leg lariat but Mitchell kicked
out. Williams pulled out a set of brass knucks. Walker came to ringside
and took them away. Mitchell then hit the implant DDT for the pin.
Postmatch
- King threw a pissed off, turn buckle kicking tantrum. “I’m the King.
I speak the truth.” Williams said he laid Walker out once and he would
do it again in his kingdom.
(9) Misty James defeated Nina Monet in 2:58.
Monet got the spot that opened up when Amber O’Neal’s booking was moved
to the August show. The match was fine except for the visual aspect of
the babyface (James) being so much larger and taller than the heel.
Monet isn’t one to shy away from trading stiff blows and is a willing
bumper. James was able to reverse Monet’s figure four leglock and won it
with a running bulldog.
(10) Chase Stevens defeated Lance Erikson (with Shawn Shultz) via DQ in 12:34.
Big chant for Chase right off the bat. I loved the simplicity of this
match and how it looked distinctly different than anything else on the
card. Erikson caught Stevens with a stiff punch. Chase went down face
first and was in deep trouble for the entire match. Stevens tried to
fire back but really couldn’t get his bearings, and Erikson continued to
land big shots. Stevens tried to mount a comeback, but Erikson turned
his high crossbody into a backbreaker. Stevens took a chest bump into
the buckles and rebounded into Erikson, sending both men down -- a
unique and well executed choice to set up Stevens’ long awaited
comeback. Erikson got tied up in the ropes. Stevens pounded away on him.
As Stevens went for Death From Above, Shultz attacked him for the DQ.
Shultz
and Erikson gave Stevens a beating until Crimson made the save. Crimson
extended his hand and they let the tension build before Stevens
responded in kind. The handshake got a great pop and it’s not like the
Knoxville fans knowing their history of their feud in SAW. It was kind
of thing that stars with experience on a larger stage know how to pull
off.
(11) Vordell Walker defeated Shane Williams in 17:33.
This was a hell of a match with the intensity of a real fight. Walker
was giving Williams a beating and lighting him up with wicked chops. The
King was wincing in pain and fell out of the ring. The punishment
continued on the outside, but Williams caught Walker with a cheap shot
as he was coming back through the ropes and finally got the advantage.
Walker ate a boot charging in and Williams hit his patented hangman
neckbreaker. Williams worked two submissions. Walker powered out of both
of them with shows of pure strength. Williams hit a second neckbreaker
for a near fall and went up for the fist drop. Walker shook the ropes to
crotch Williams and followed up with a scarily dangerous superplex.
Walker got a crossface. Williams came back with a figure four. Twice
Walker made the ropes. Williams went for it again, and Walker nailed him
with a desperation enzuirgiri, but Walker was still in bad shape. As
Williams set up for the piledriver, Walker hooked him with an inside
cradle.
Postmatch – Williams tried to cripple Walker and reapplied the figure four. Walker needed assistance to get the back.
Crimson
and Stevens came to the ring. Crimson said they came to fight and
called out Shultz and Erikson. Shultz asked Stevens if he didn’t have
enough of a fight earlier and kicked Crimson in the gut. Crimson chased
Shultz out of the ring and went nose to nose with Erikson. Erikson
laughed and backed off. Stevens said Shultz was a peeny POS that ain’t
never been nothing and never will be nothing, and all he had going for
him was Erikson and he wouldn’t be there for long. The crowd was hot to
see the four of them go at it and it was the scheduled main event, but
with no way to tape it, the match was made for August 16.