From Jeff Richards: Post-Intermission Saves Superstar Wars IV in Gastonia GASTONIA (NC) -- Basic formula for good to great wres...
From Jeff Richards:
Post-Intermission Saves Superstar Wars IV in Gastonia
GASTONIA (NC) -- Basic formula for good to great wrestling extravaganza: undercard features decent workers leading to hot semi-final and main events. Sometimes there are larger expectations when a show bills itself as WrestleMania, Triplemania, Wrestle Kingdom or even Superstar Wars.
In conjunction with WrestleMerica, Superstar Wars returned to its home base, Forestview High School, for its fourth installment. There were no "Worst Match of the Year" candidates this April and the biggest turnout yet during a prom season. Promoter Michael Griffie works all year long with the Gaston County Sheriff's Department to put on the best show possible.
Actual crowd attendance passed the 300 mark thirty minutes into the show, but the paid was much more. Allison Rose handled the National Anthem soulfully, and Griffie looked dapper announcing the ring participants.
1) The Mid-Atlantic Outlaws (Matt Houston/Louis Moore) & the Barbarian disposed of Baron Bullard, Johnny Smooth & Joshua Cutshaw in 11:55. Opening bell was 7:51 for a 7:30 pm start. Bullard reminded fans of the "Carolina Slumlords" 'open challenge from last year. Sometimes being trained by George South serves you too well, and the music fortunately cut Bullard off. The Outlaws, who might remind you of the Funk Bros., could make a nice heel team. Houston's split-legged moonsault received the first huge crowd pop. Cutshaw reminded me of "The Human Eraser" Marvin Webster for some reason. He has been working in Forest City's SWA lately. Bullard & Smooth combined for a flapjack on Moore. A donnybrook broke out, as the Outlaws and Slumlords brawled at ringside. Inside, Cutshaw hit a spear on babyface Barbarian. He then went up for a top rope splash but missed. Barbarian recovered and landed a big boot to pin Cutshaw. Rating: 3/4 of a star
2) "The Bullet Babe" Amber O'Neal-Gallows (Kimberly Dawn Hankinson) pinned Alexis Parrish (Mary Beth Rhymer) in 9:36 of a slugfest. Amanda "Carolina" Rodriguez served as the special guest referee and was announced lastly. Crowd was dead for the beginning of this match which was puzzling. Sometimes starting shows with a hot opener or even a six-man sets unusually high expectations for the night's remainder. Parrish, coming off a no-show at the 3/14/15 Queens of Combat event, connected with a legdrop that might have been a split-second late. Gallows rolled out to regroup and immediately posted Parrish. Then the "Bullet Babe" took her much less experienced foe to school. Parrish battled back with a Russian legsweep. There was this disastrous double clothesline spot which was duplicated. Meanwhile, Rodriguez was doing a fair job of refereeing and showed no partiality to either female combatant. The ladies exchanged forearm shivers mid-ring, and Parrish was squealing like former WTA star Monica Seles. Parrish executed a bulldog, and Gallows was lucky to get an arm on the ropes. Gallows promptly went to the finish with a sit-out facebuster. Rating: 1/4 of a star
3) Tracer X pulled off a mild upset, outlasting former NWA World Jr. Heavyweight Champion Chase Owens and Jeff Lewis-Neal in a 11:05 triple threat. Neal, who has been a regular of these Superstar Wars shows, was sporting Shane Douglas attire colors. X needs some size badly but is quite agile. Neal butterfly-suplexed Owens into the corner pads. X was cut upside down and inside out from Lewis-Neal's lariat. Owens' package-piledriver failed when Neal countered with a neckbreaker. Neal superkicked Owens, as the "Crown Jewel" was possibly attempting a "Death Valley Driver" on X. The more established veterans, Neal and Owens, kept dissing X by tossing him to ringside and leaving him there. Outside, X took a backdrop from Neal to the gym floor. Owens instantly sized Neal up for a plancha. Back inside, the former Mid-Atlantic Jr. Heavyweight Champion rocked Neal's world with a discus forearm. X had to make the save. Interesting sequence: Owens held X in a Boston crab, so X slid over to try & one-arm cover the still stunned Neal. Owens pulled him off and immediately got rolled up by X for the shocker pinfall. Rating: 2 stars
4) The Rock 'n' Roll Express (Robert Gibson & Ricky Morton) tamed the Heatseekers (Elliott Russell & Sigmon) in 8:38. Heatseekers are currently the NWA U.S. Tag Team Champions but did not carry the straps with them. Sigmon threatened to beat up all the fans who chanted "Drunk & Old" (I mean, "Rock and Roll". Morton's annoying son stayed at ringside to serve as a cheerleader. Fortunately, Sigmon is a tad tall to work for Micro Championship Wrestling. Russell recently upset Owens to win the Mid-Atlantic Jr. Heavyweight Championship in Mt. Airy, GA. Sigmon announced, "One more 'Rock 'n' Roll' and everybody dies"....not a smart thing to say with gun-toting deputies present. Gibson school-boyed Sigmon after miscommunication from the Heatseekers. Everyone was out of position. Rating: 1 star
5) After intermission, Scotty Matthews pinned Big Shane in a ridiculously short 2:46 squash. This was a "popcorn match" in the truest sense of the words. With his non-dry cleaned white shirt, Shane needed suspenders to complete his Irwin R. Shyster look. He was not ready for this stage, but Big Shane would make a good tree in an elementary school play. Matthews polished him off with a superkick out of nowhere. Even the timekeeper was asleep. Rating: DUD
6) Team South (George South Jr. & Sr. with "Manscout" Jake Manning) handled the team of Chris Hamrick, Corey Hollis & John Skyler in 18:20. And South said Amber's match went too long (shaking my head). Formerly promoted as a shoot match between Hamrick and South Sr., the two local legends only faced each other at the end. South's gimmick table vendor sported a t-shirt which read "When I'm in the ring the rest of the world can wait." An elderly couple at ringside caught South's attention: "The greatest reason not to have sex is right here." Hamrick, Hollis & Skyler were introduced as "the three best friends anyone could ever have." Who knew that was an angle alert! Hamrick admittedly does not have a lot of fun at shows anymore, but you could tell he was enjoying accompanying his friends. George Jr. pulled off an Asai moonsault from the second rope to down below. Hamrick worked one in too, performing his from the top turnbuckle onto an awaiting Manning & South Jr. Hollis came off with a frog splash but flew right into a "Manscout" boot. South Sr. took Hollis for a ride with the airplane spin; Hollis nearly no-sold it with a too-quick dropkick. Team South worked over Hollis. Manning held the "Country Jacked" member high for a vertical suplex, but no fans counted ( *:( sad). Okay, bear with me for this finish: Skyler has South Jr. in the sleeper. Sr. reaches into his trunks for a foreign object, but Hamrick pushes Skyler out of the way (and ring). Hamrick accepts the blow, but South does not capture the ensuing pinfall. Recovering, Hamrick rises and takes a springboard spear from Skyler, who then deserts his partners. Older South easily makes the cover. Hamrick angrily confronts Griffie with "You booked it"! Rating: 2 1/4 stars
7) Ring of Honor's Cedric Alexander outdueled TNA IMPACT WRESTLING's Gunner in a true 19:49 following two restarts. This was the best match Superstar Wars has ever booked. Political reasoning fueled the rumor of a "broadway," but one mishap in a five minute extension might have resulted in an audible being called. Gunner (Chad Lail) was a last minute addition for Meng/Haku who could not appear this year. Alexander had maybe three days' notice that he was facing Gunner 24 hours before his anticipated match-up with Samoa Joe. This was the first encounter between the two wrestling superstars. A 15 minute time limit was announced - the first one all evening. Both men played total babyface with almost 50 PWX fans knowing who Alexander was. Gunner attempted the former "FU," but Alexander flipped out and hit an amazing dropkick. Alexander soared with a bodypress, BUT Gunner caught "Kick to Kill" and crumpled him with a fall away slam. A heavy duty enzuigiri from Alexander stunned Gunner. Alexander crashed and burned on a tope, as Sunday afternoon's PWX ticket holders collectively held their breaths. So what did Alexander do but return to the scene of the crime with a tope through the bottom rope! Gunner's slingshot suplex of Alexander would have made Tully Blanchard happy. Alexander lived up to his nickname "Kick to Kill" in this bout for sure. With two minutes left in regulation, Alexander floored Gunner with a springboard lariat. Following his third corner dropkick in a row, Alexander grew greedy and attempted the fourth. However, Gunner snatched his opponent up for a spinebuster and almost garnered a three count. The wrestlers took a bad tumble over the ropes after an exchange of small-packages did not secure victory. We finally reached the "15:00 time limit," and fans begged Griffie for five more minutes.
This was the first time all night non-"Rock & Roll" chants of any type were heard. Our first overtime period saw Alexander stretching Gunner with the "Walls of Jericho," but the ex-Marine made the ropes. The match almost accidentally ended (ironically) with another series of small-package attempts. Alexander was on Gunner's head, and PWX senior referee Mitch Blalock counted three but waved it off. After another 5:00 draw with no winner was announced, Gunner demanded extra time. As soon as the bell sounded, Alexander raced in for a corner kick, dropkick and the finishing brainbuster. Gunner got in NO offense in fall #3. Both men received a standing O. Rating: 3 stars
8) "Double J" Jeff Jarrett pinned Knux (Mike Knox), representing the Menagerie. Jarrett was wearing his "Bullet Club" jacket but brought no guitar to the ring. It was already late (10:45 pm), so no one expected this to last long. Following a Jarrett lariat which sent Knux over the top rope, the "King of the Mountain" broke out the "Fargo strut." Knux sunk in a sleeper, but Jarrett elbowed his way out. The second time Knux attempted a sleeperhold, Jarrett picked his bigger foe up for a back suplex. A DDT by Jarrett stood Knux straight up on his head. Refereeing his second straight contest, Blalock bumped. Knux obtained a plastic chair and clocked Jarrett with it. JJ was able to break Knux' pin up with a foot on the ropes. Knux propped his chair in the corner buckles, but Jarrett reversed the whip. All it took then was a "Stroke," and the 3 hour 22 minute show was complete. Rating: 1 1/4 stars
NOTES: Griffie was ecstatic about the attendance. He had messaged me last month about wanting to book "six strong matches," but more wrestlers showed up. Griffie would like to run again this June and hinted about bringing in a "5-time World Champion." He mentioned Curt Hawkins (ex-WWE) and Drew McIntyre (Galloway) possibly being available to book. Griffie especially enjoyed the ladies action and commented it was one of the "hardest hitting matches" he had promoted....PWX CEO Brian Kanabroski also sat down for a moment and was handing out flyers for his "The Line Has Been Drawn" show in Charlotte, NC yesterday (3/19/15) at Club Escapade....Dan Parris filmed the Superstar Wars event for the fourth consecutive year....Mrs. Gallows was complimentary of Parrish laying in the blows "tight" and recalled some women are afraid to strike that hard. She is eager to return to New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) and anxious to work with her husband, DOC Gallows. The "Bullet Babe" also complimented her husband's tag-team partner, Karl Anderson, who, she said, is a joy to be around....Owens will be heading back to NJPW on May 20th for a two-week tour. Working with Jushin "Thunder" Liger twice was "awesome," Owens revealed. Owens also has his sights set on new NW?A World Jr. Heavyweight Champions Greg Anthony, who unseated Liger seven days ago....Indy talent at this show but not used included un-retired Abel Adams, Donnie Webb, Brock Phoenix, etc. Gastonia's own premiere referee Charles Culler attended and should have been utilized....Knux just returned from Japan himself, debuting for Antonio Inoki's IGF (Inoki Genome Federation). He did so well that Knux has been asked back this month.
BREAKING NEWS: I conducted an interview with Global Force Wrestling's own Jeff Jarrett and will have that interview on this site tomorrow evening.