By Larry Goodman, Torch Team Contributor

NWA Wildside TV review
Aired in national syndication on January 10, 2004
Taped at the NWA Arena in Cornelia GA on December 6, 2003
By Larry Goodman, Torch Team Contributor

Scott Hudson asked Murder One for his thoughts on his upcoming title match against Onyx. M1 calmly said that being a three-time tag champion was one thing, but being the king of Wildside was something he always wanted. M1 said he had a sitdown with Dark City Soldiers/Urban Assault Squad (are they ever going to settle on the name?). "To prove that I am an urban legend, I got to do it on my own...If I lose, I want it all on me. Just me." M1's street thug persona has undergone a dramatic transformation. Hudson wished him good luck. M1 said he was going to need it because Onyx was a big jacked dude. M1 said tonight was his night.

The opening montage rolled.

Dan "The Dragon" Wilson asked Hudson what was up with his usual sidekick, Steven Prazak. Hudson said Prazak suffered a pulled groin muscle trying to buy a $29 DVD player at Wal-Mart the day after Thanksgiving. "That's life in America. Get well soon, buddy."

Wilson said last week's brutal main event between Azrael and Gabriel ended with a shocking run-in by Mikal Adryan to aid the NWA Elite. A clip showed Adryan giving Gabriel a Mafia kick for the DQ and laying him out with the Assisted Suicide. Wilson said that Jeff G. Bailey and James Mitchell were trying to lure Gabriel back to the dark side, but beating the hell out of him was not a good marketing strategy. Also on last week's show, Caprice Coleman climbed the ladder with a victory over Slim J, and Ray Gordy was stripped of the NWA Wildside Junior belt because he failed to defend within the 30-day time limit.

Hudson said that in addition to Onyx/Murder One, this week's show had a World TV Title match with Rainman defending against Jimmy Rave.

(1) Jeff Lewis beat Jacey North in a Loser Becomes a Fan Match (4:56). Joined in progress as North came off the top rope and absorbed a thrust kick to the gut. Lewis looked way casual on offense. Lewis did some low down dirty choking. The announce team discussed the unusual stipulation, which Wilson described as an indefinite suspension. Hudson decided that it was more like a Loser Stays in Town match with an extra heap of humiliation. Lewis worked North over in the corner. Lewis did a rolling neck snap. Lewis dropped a headbutt to the groin for a two count. Lewis tried some chops. North started hulking up and firing back. North decked Lewis with a double chop. Wilson said North had brought his A game tonight. North executed a slop drop backbreaker and dropped Lewis on his head with a reverse brainbuster. Hook of the leg for a near fall. Lewis was on rubber leg street as he ducked between the ropes. Lewis put on a set of knucks, but referee Andrew Thomas was doing his job for a change. While Thomas had his back turned disposing of the knucks, Lewis dug a chain out of hit trunks and clocked North for the 1..2..3.

COMMENTS: Lewis looked unusually lame on offense here. Good showing by North. The finish was a variation on the two chain finish that I first saw used by "Hot Chocolate" Kory Williams at the Nashville Fairgrounds.

(2) Seth Delay & Delirious beat Fast Eddie & OuTtKaSt in 7:49. Joined in progress at 3:30, as Delay hit a slingshot headscissors takeover on Eddie. Tag to Delirious. Pause to reload on a drop toehold/Muta power elbow combo move. Delirious darted his tongue for the camera while he made the cover. Eddie ducked a clothesline and caught Delirious with a quebradora. Wilson credited Eddie's mentor, Rudy Boy Gonzalez. OuTtKaSt and Delirious did dueling powerbomb attempts, until OuTtKaSt said f*** this and hit the Spine Shank, an over the shoulder backbreaker. OutTKaSt, the GCW Junior Champion, came from the blind side with a second rope missile dropkick. The heels folded Delirious in half with a double chokeslam. Delay saved on the pin attempt. OutTKaSt tried to do rolling northern lights suplexes, but Delirious blocked number two and hit a twisting fisherman suplex. Delirious jacked himself up for a tag. Delay hit the ring with fists of fire. Delay did a beautiful snap huracanrana from the top on Eddie. Delay tried for the cradle DDT, broken up by OutTKaSt. Delirious drilled OutTKaSt with a top rope lariat. Delirious went to the top again, but Eddie shook the ropes to crotch him. Eddie and OutTKaSt teamed up for a full rotation fallaway slam/neckbreaker off the top rope. Delay saved again. Eddie cutoff Delay's Kool Krusher by crotching him on the top turnbuckle. Eddie sprung from the turnbuckle and picked Delay off the top rope with a huracanrana. Eddie couldn't believe it when Delay kicked out. "Eddie looks pretty good...and Delay looks pretty unconscious," said Hudson. Delay came to life with a nip up rana. Delay took out OutTKaSt with the cradle DDT and hit the Kool Krusher on Eddie for the pinfall.

COMMENTS: Good action. They all hit hot moves. No story to speak of, other than Eddie vying for a spot in the Junior tournament. Eddie must be doing the South Beach diet. He's sporting a very lean (as opposed to juiced) look.

(3) Daizee Haze beat Tara in 2:37. Wilson put Haze over huge, calling her one of the pound-for-pound best female grapplers in the world. Hudson didn't like Tara's basic black, accusing of her having lousy fashion sense. Haze led Tara through an extended chain wrestling sequence, climaxed with an inverted DDT for a two count. Tara raked the eyes to take over, hitting an X factor and a legdrop to the neck. Tara stood on Daizee's hair and pulled on her arms. Hudson said that's why he kept his head shaved. Tara bitched at Speedy and Haze surprised her with a schoolgirl for a two count. Boot the gut with Tara reacting before the blow. Haze won it with an Ace crusher.

COMMENTS: Smart to keep it short with talent as green as Tara. Any match with Daizee Haze in it is OK by me.

We saw brief glimpses of Onyx and Murder One warming up backstage.

(4) Nick Berk & Z-Barr beat Carolina Connection (Jeremy V & Brandon P) in a non-title match (6:36). P started off against "The Ultraviolent Manwhore" Z-Barr. Hudson said that nickname would get heat. They traded holds for a bit. Z-Barr opened up with a shoulder tackle and leapfrog. P took control with a headlock takeover. Blind tag, but P was ready for it, causing Berk and Z-Barr to collide. V went to work on Berk. Wilson said Berk was a former CZW Heavyweight Champion, who felt his technical abilities were overlooked in CZW. CC mistimed a double team. P got things back on track with a dropkick for a near fall. V did a standing switch and went for reverse roll up. Z-Barr barged in with a uranage on V, and Berk followed with a basement dropkick. The heat on V was clipped. Back from the commercial break, Berk cut V off as he crawled towards his corner. V escaped a back suplex and went through Berk's legs to get the tag. P cleaned house with the Freefall on Z-Barr and a springboard leg lariat on Berk. P and V went to the top to finish off Berk. P hit the top rope elbow. Some extracurricular activity between Z-Barr and P diverted the ref's attention. Masada ran in for a headbutt on V, who sold it with an awesome plunge to the mat. Berk covered for the pinfall. Masada and Sexton took exception to the announcement that Berk and Z-Barr had earned the number one contenders position and with it, a title shot at Christmas Chaos. The CZW guys sent the TDC over the top rope with stereo clotheslines and celebrated their victory.

COMMENTS: An Ok match. It served its purpose. Berk and Z-Barr got almost no offense with the way it was edited. The better to heighten the outrage when they were named number one contenders, I guess. The live crowd didn't know what to make of the postmatch. Looks like the CZW guys are either in the role of cool heels or tweeners.

Carolina Connection cut a backstage promo. P said that it was no secret that there was a rivalry between CZW and Wildside. P said they would have won tonight's match if not for the interference by Texas Death Club. V said TDC didn't know how to pick their spots. V said they had beaten TDC and weren't hiding from anybody. V gave props to Z-Barr and Berk. Said they could have a title shot anytime.

(5) Onyx beat Murder One to retain the NWA Wildside Heavyweight Title in 8:12. The announce team discussed the M1's personality changes. He went ballistic on the cruiserweight division after losing to Slim J at Fright Night. Wilson said The Board then awarded M1 his first title shot based on his past victories over Onyx, and that seemed to sooth the savage beast. M1 chained to a quick roll up attempt. M1 signaled that the belt would be around his waist. Onyx flashed a big grin. Onyx used a standing switch into a waistlock takedown. Onyx floated over on the mat. Back in the day, Onyx looked like a football player trying to wrestle but no more. M1 scored a reversal but as they came off the mat, Onyx was in control of the waistlock. M1 blocked a reverse roll up. They traded legsweep takedowns. Onyx rolled away from a pair of elbow drops. Onyx overshot a standing moonsault. Onyx countered the Blazin' Lariat with a backslide. Onyx took M1 down with a drop toehold and went for the dragon sleeper. M1 dove for a ropes break. M1 returned the favor with a drop toehold and tried for a full nelson. Ropes break by Onyx. Both men went down on a midair collision of shoulder blocks. Onyx rolled to the floor and the Urban Assault Squad made their move. Wilson said it was just like M1 to go back on his word. But M1 broke up the beatdown and ordered his minions to the back. Hudson could not believe his eyes. M1 applied a full nelson as the fans cranked up the "Ahh-nix" chant. M1 slammed Onyx face first and dropped a Harley Race style headbutt. Onyx rolled a shoulder just before the three. Onyx ducked another Blazin' Lariat and hit the Angry Man Slam. M1 kicked out a delayed one-arm cover. They traded punches. M1 faltered and hit the canvas. Onyx used a double leg and pounded M1 from the mount. Onyx was looking for the dragon sleeper. Nope. M1 tried to go back to the full nelson. No. Onyx countered with the Blackout DDT for the victory.

COMMENTS: The build up and the "championship" style of work made the match and the title seem important. The style is not M1's forte but it was a nice change of pace from his usual stuff, and the straight arrow approach all but cemented his turn. Onyx is having a good little run with the title. Not to take anything away from Tank Toland, but it's puzzling that WWE chose to sign Toland and continues to pass on Onyx, who is of comparable ability, size and physique.

Z-Barr and Berk cut an effective introductory promo. Z-Barr can talk. He said they drove 14 hours with one goal in mind: the NWA Gold. Berk said they beat the champions, "those P and V guys," to become the number one contenders. Z-Barr predicted they would win the titles at Christmas Chaos, take the belts back to Philly and travel the world as the Wildside Tag Team Champions. But he admitted there was just one problem, The Texas Death Club. "You seemingly have a problem with us coming in and stealing your thunder." Z-Barr said they had beaten the champs and they could beat the scrubs too. He offered TDC a shot at the number one contender spot.

(6) Rainman beat Jimmy Rave to retain the World TV Title in 8:27. Rainman slapped Rave on the break. Rave got the best of a chop-a-thon. Rave with a deep arm drag. Rainman ducked a chop and landed a haymaker. Rainman bounced off the ropes with a shoulder tackle. Rave dropped down and leapfrogged. Rainman countered a second leapfrog by drilling Rave into the mat with a Michinoku driver. Two count. Rainman trapped Rave's arms and drove him to the mat with a series of headbutts. Lateral press for a two count. Rainman gave Rave a dirty Dark City beating. Rave fought back with a northern lights suplex into a cross armbreaker. Rainman struggled to the ropes. Rave went back to the chops, but Rainman shut him down with a high backdrop. Rainman used a climbing wheelkick a corkscrew dropkick for near falls. Rainman was looking frustrated. Rainman took a giant butt bump on a missed guillotine legdrop. Rave shifted the momentum with a huracanrana counter on Rainman's Spinesplitta attempt. Rave used a pair of clotheslines and a release overhead suplex to soften up the champion. Rave used a driving back suplex for a two count. Rainman came up punching. Rainman went for a powebomb. Rave tried to counter with a backdrop, but Rainman hung on for sunset flip. Rave rolled though and hit a Shining Wizard. Cool sequence. Bailey was getting happy feet as Rainman kicked out of the pin attempt. Rainman hit the Spinesplitta for a near fall. Rave surprised Rainman with an inside cradle. Two count. Rave got a backslide. Rainman kicked out and pinned Rave clean with a three quarter nelson.

Coleman came to ringside and demanded another shot at the title. Said he had beaten everyone in his way. Coleman toyed with Thomas over possession of the mic. Fans were loving it. Bailey said everything was funny to Coleman, but it wasn't funny when Rainman pinned him in the middle. Bailey gave Coleman his due for climbing up from the bottom, but there was one man he hadn't beaten, Jimmy Rave. Bailey said that in the spirit of Christmas, he would give the winner of Coleman/Rave a shot at the World TV Title, "aka Rainman's belt," at Chaos. Coleman baited Rainman. "Are you mute or something?" Rainman lost it. Ref Andrew Thomas kept Rainman at bay. Coleman called for security to hold him back, using the decrepit head of security, Pops, as a shield. "You lucky this muscleman holding me back or I would be in your neck." Coleman asked Rave if he would do the match. Rave thought about it before offering his hand. Bailey taunted Coleman with the belt. "This will never be yours. You understand that? This will never, ever be yours."

COMMENTS: The edited TV version was a good match, better than it was live except for the heat (due to the usual sh***y micing of the crowd). Postmatch was hilarious. One of the many things that makes Coleman such a great babyface is the knack he has using his quick wit to make the heels look bad.

Wilson and Hudson were a pleasure to listen to during this show. They were really hitting their stride as a team. The quality of the editing has picked up noticeably in the last few episodes.

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