Florida Championship Wrestling TV Report
Aired: January 16, 2011
Taped in Tampa, Fla.
Report by Elliot Gibbons, PWTorch Specialist

New PWTorch Specialist Elliot Gibbons will be covering the weekly FCW TV show featuring WWE's developmental territory wrestlers.

-FCW started with a quick highlight package of what happened on last week's show. They showed Abraham Washington getting his long-awaited win over Byron Saxton before going into the opening titles.

-Byron Saxton opened the show while standing at the broadcast table and seemed to be in a good mood despite the loss he had suffered the past week. Matt Martlaro was Saxton's partner on commentary and announced that the Grand Royal was returning to FCW this week. Martlaro quickly ran down the rules of the match, which is a reverse battle royal. The FCW superstars have 30 seconds to enter the ring and after the time has passed those who make it to the ring battle it out with standard battle royal rules. It was also announced that the winner of the match would receive a title shot against the FCW Champion Mason Ryan in the main event of the show.

1-- FCW GRAND ROYAL

All of the competitors came out at the same time and so it was impossible to tell who all of the wrestlers in the match were. I noticed that Seth Rollins (Tyler Black), Xavier Woods (Consequences Creed in TNA), and Peter Orlov (Alex Kozlov) were in the match as well as NXT Season 2 Rookies Lucky Cannon, Percy Watson, and Titus O'Neill. Saxton played the heel when Martlaro mentioned Abraham Washington during the entrances and claimed that Washington turned his back on him.

As the buzzer signalling the start of the match sounded, all hell broke loose. Brad Maddox and Hunico were the first two wrestlers in the ring and were quickly followed by many more members of the roster. Kenny Li was the first man eliminated from the second part of the match as soon as the second buzzer sounded. Maddox stood in the center of the ring and scouted the competition while the rest of the wrestlers fought around the edge. Martlaro put over the unpredictability of the Grand Royal and mentioned that it was Johnny Curtis who won the only other royal match in FCW history. No one apart from Li was eliminated within the first few minutes and Brad Maddox ended up on the outside of the apron after just managing to avoid being thrown out of the match.

Damien Sandow was the first man to be properly eliminated from the match and Saxton asked Martlaro who he thought would win the match. After some hesitation where he mentioned some of the skills needed to be successful in a battle royal, Martlaro suggested Bo Rotundo was as good of a pick to win. He also name dropped Seth Rollins and Richie Steamboat for their participation in the Jack Brisco Classic. When Saxton was asked who he thought would win he simply answered "the winner." Hunico was eliminated while trying to do some sort of springboard maneuver and was followed a minute later by Richie Steamboat. Roman Leakee was the next man over the top rope before they sent it to a break. [c - a video package aired hyping the Extreme Rules PPV in Tampa on May 1 and a Smackdown house show in Orlando.]

Back from the break, Jinder Mahal was trying to eliminate Lucky Cannon, but Bo Rotundo snuck up behind them and pushed Mahal to the floor. After spending most of the match on the outside of the apron, Brad Maddox was finally eliminated and the playing field was thinned to six. Rollins was the next over the top rope and was followed by Marcus Owens after he missed a bicycle kick on Lucky Cannon.

The final four were Lucky Cannon, Xavier Woods, Calvin Raines, and Bo Rotundo. Saxton talked about the fact that the longer you spent winning the battle royal, the harder it would be to put up a fight later on in the show. Woods made a mistake and was tossed over the top rope by Calvin Raines to make it three remaining in the ring. Everyone went for quick eliminations and Rotundo and Cannon ended up on the floor to make Calvin Raines the winner.

WINNER: Calvin Raines in 11:00 to earn a shot at the FCW Heavyweight Title.

-There was tension between Lucky Cannon and Bo Rotundo after the match. They showed a replay of Rotundo saving Cannon from elimination earlier in the match before Cannon threw Rotundo over the top rope and Raines eliminated Cannon to win the match. [c]

2 -- DERRICK BATEMAN vs. BRODUS CLAY

The match started slowly as Bateman tried to scout his opponent while dodging a few moves from Clay. Bateman eventually managed to hit a few clubbing blows to Clay against the ropes and for the next few minutes the action was back and forth. After applying a nerve hold at 2:00, Clay dropped the elbow and went for a pin, but Bateman kicked out at two. Derrick fought out of another nerve hold before taking a nasty-looking t-bone suplex.

Brodus took his time before going for a running splash on Bateman which he missed. Bateman quickly went for the pin but didn't even get a one count. After a short while on offence Bateman hit a running neckbreaker and went for the pin getting a two count. Bateman went high-risk at the four minute mark but Clay caught him in the G-Grip and slammed him to the mat for the three count and the win.

WINNER: Brodus Clay in 4:30.

STAR RATING: (*) Nothing special from these two NXT Rookies. The t-bone suplex from Clay was the highlight of the match and it's hard to rate something that won't have too many implications in FCW due to these two both being on NXT at the moment.

-After the match, Brodus celebrated in ring while the commentators put over his size and strength. Bateman stayed on the floor before slowly sitting up to sell the finish of the match while they showed a replay of Clay's finisher.[c]

3-- KAITLYN vs. ROSA MENDES

Strange how the winner of NXT Season 2 (Kaval) was released a few weeks ago and now the winner of Season 3 (Kaitlyn) is back wrestling in FCW. The match started with back and forth action before Mendes went for a quick pin at 0:45. Kaitlyn kicked out at two, but Rosa kept control and quickly got another two count. Mendes continued to dominate and got yet another two count after a suplex mid-ring.

At 2:00, Rosa started to transition between several submission holds. Suddenly, Kaitlyn rushed Rosa into the corner, but Mendes was right back on the attack. Kaitlyn managed to hit an electric chair on Rosa from the corner and both women were down. Kaitlyn managed to get another two count shortly afterward and then hit Mendes with the flatliner for the win.

WINNER: Kaitlyn in 4:30.

STAR RATING: (1/2) Not a very interesting match and it was too short to get much out of. Mendes looked decent in defeat as she dominated most of the match while Kaitlyn needed the win to make her NXT win seem even a tiny bit believable.

-After the match, Saxton and Martlaro built up the main event of Mason Ryan vs. Calvin Raines and sent it to an interview with the new number one contender.

-Raines named Ryan as the most dominating force in FCW before reminding everyone that he dominated everyone in the Grand Royal earlier in the show. Raines claimed that Ryan doesn't scare or intimidate him before telling Ryan that tonight he will find out that "when it Raines, just how bad it pours." He also said that he will walk out of the main event as the new Florida Heavyweight Champion. Throughout the interview, some loud males in the crowd did the "What!" chant, which I find really annoying when trying to listen to a wrestler's promo, as it takes away from the intensity of the interview.[c]

4-- ABRAHAM WASHINGTON vs. TRENT BARRETA

Before the match, Abraham cut a promo praising the fans for helping him to overcome many obstacles in the last couple of months. He named Byron Saxton, who simply laughed off Abe's insults. Abe then promised "not only to become the most gifted, glorious guru of genius in FCW, but also to be the next Florida Heavyweight Champion." Washington then asked if there was anyone in the back that didn't like what he was saying and that anyone who wanted to face him should come out to the ring and name a time and place. Barreta then came out as his opponent.

As the bell rung, Abe immediately took his eye off the ball, making sure that Saxton wasn't planning anything, which gave Barreta the opportunity to hit a flying elbow and go straight for a pin. However, he managed only a one count. Barreta stayed on offense and kept the speedy pace of the match going before getting another one count. Barreta then slowed the pace of the match right down and kept Washington in a grounded headlock for around a minute before picking him up and pushing him back down to the mat. Abe lifted Barreta over his head at 2:99 and both men stayed down on the ground.

Washington hit a trio of clotheslines to gain control of the match before hitting his signature move, "In your face," to get a two count on Barreta. Both men were able to escape from the other's finishing move before Abe hit a nice DDT at 3:00 for another nearfall. Trent hit an enziguri and both men were back on the floor. Barreta missed a springboard move which allowed Abe to hit "The Business" for the pinfall.

WINNER: Abraham Washington in 4:00.

STAR RATING: (*1/2) The best match of the show so far. It was fast-paced and involved two of the better wrestlers in WWE developmental. Abe continues to get a push while the loss won't affect Barreta as most fans will only care about what happens to him on Smackdown. [c]

5-- FCW Hvt. champion MASON RYAN vs. CALVIN RAINES

Before the match, Saxton and Martlaro talked about the excitement leading up to the main event and I have to admit the crowd in Tampa did seem to be into this match judging by their reactions to the two wrestlers's entrances. During the opening minute, both competitors were able to show their strength and the crowd continued to be hot for the action as they chanted "Batista" whenever Ryan was on offense. Raines rolled out of the ring a couple of times during the opening minutes, which drew some heat. Ryan then took control of the matchup whenever he got back in the ring.

Raines gained control with an eye rake at 3:00 and continued to work Ryan's arm for the next minute or so. It was refreshing to see a wrestler have a clear strategy against someone of Ryan's build and skill. Raines went for a quick pin, but the ref only got to one, so he continued working over Ryan's left arm.

Ryan was down, but managed to kick out after one again and fought back with two huge clotheslines and a big boot. Raines managed to reverse a move in the corner into a pin attempt, but could only get a two count even with his feet on the ropes. Ryan caught Raines as he tried to go up to the top rope and hit his House of Pain finisher to get the win and retain his championship.

WINNER: Mason Ryan in 5:30 to retain the FCW Heavyweight Title.

STAR RATING" (*1/2) Simple structured match which helped to make Calvin Raines look clever for having a decent strategy to combat Ryan's power. Not too many big moves, which played into the story of Ryan having his arm injured. As Ryan has moved up to WWE TV, it remains to be seen how long he keeps the belt in developmental, but he definitely has the skills to be a future main eventer. Watch out for him on Raw!

-They replayed the end of the match with Ryan fighting through the pain in his arm to keep the title. Both Saxton and Martlaro showed respect for Raines despite the result. Martlaro announced that on next week's show, there will be more matches in the Jack Brisco classic as well as two titles being defended.

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