By Larry Goodman, Torch Team Contributor

NWA Wildside TV review
Aired in national syndication on February 14, 2004
Taped January 3, 2004 at the NWA Arena in Cornelia, Ga
By Larry Goodman, Torch Team Contributor

This week's edition opened with clips Caprice Coleman's victory over Rainman to win the World TV Title. The finishes of all three falls aired. Segue to a promo by the Iceman with the strap on his shoulder. Coleman said he told the people that he returned to Wildside for the sole purpose of getting his baby back. Coleman admitted that it proved to be tougher task than he imagined. He had to fight his way up from the bottom to defeat the greatest TV champion in NWA history.

I'm the innovator now. Crowd motivator, commentator complicater. I'll be more devastatin' than a space modulator. My time is now and later. Plus, I've got ties to the creator. I'm the skywalker and you Darth Vader. You can't stop the sho' enough. I'm the sho' enough. I'll be the sho' enough. The man with the style, the grace, the shape, the face and the TV title. Caprice Coleman said it and that's my word. So don't hate me when TV finds out the truth. The truth works. Ha, ha ha.

Roll montage.

Steven Prazak welcomed the viewers to this week's edition of NWA Wildside "a non-profit organization and we sure as hell didn't plan it that way." Prazak was joined by "the Curt Gowdy of Soddy Daisy, TN" Dan "The Dragon" Wilson. Prazak called Coleman/Rainman a classic match that was a year in the making. The announce team gave Coleman sincere congratulations for finally getting his hands on the prize.

Wilson said that Onyx would be facing the most daunting task of his title reign tonight, when he put the Wildside Heavyweight belt on the line against "the abomination of Satan himself" Azrael.

(1) Jeff Lewis beat Danny Demanto in 5:38 (TV time of 3:55). Prazak said Lewis might be the most self-centered cretin to ever walk the aisle of the NWA Arena (a bold statement considering). The "Feature Presentation" jawed across the rail with Jacey North, the man he exiled to buying a ticket. Demanto played to the crowd. Prazak said Demantomania was running wild "in at least in two small sections." Wilson busted out his Hulkster imitation, brotha. Damn, these fans really bring the hate for Lewis. Standard chain opening. Demanto reversed a hiptoss and hit an enzuigiri, showing surprising agility for his waist size. Lewis bailed. Demanto cluelessly chased Lewis and fell into the egomaniac's trap. Demanto redeemed himself, countering a sunset flip with a big senton. "Demanto is no small potatoes, which I think is part of the diet," said Prazak. Demanto's attack had Lewis on rubber leg street. Lewis used Demanto's momentum to send him shoulder first into the post. Most of Lewis's offense got clipped. Demanto mounted a comeback with a unique double knee backbreaker. Wilson said the newcomer was looking pretty good. Demanto hit an unusual facebuster. The guy's got some original moves. Alas, there was no water in the pool on Demanto's frogsplash. Lewis rolled him up with a fistful of tights.

A "we want Jacey" chant broke out. Lewis said that since North was on the wrong side of the rail, he could say whatever he wanted and there was nothing North could do about it. Lewis continued to taunt, as North's face turned to stone. Lewis pulled out the old line about having a job opening for somebody to tote his bags and North jumped the rail. Lewis screamed for security to grab North. A mixed bag of refs and security struggled to get North under control, as the crowd chanted "let him go." Lewis screamed "Tote my bags, bitch." North finally succumbed and was last seen being dragged toward the back door.

COMMENTS: The magic of television. Not much of a match but a thoroughtly entertaining segment. The announce team played it for comedy, which was the way to go. The heat and strong visuals from the postmatch provided the payoff. North has good camera presence. It's rare to hear crowd noise (due to Wildside's technical limitations) come through like it did during North's tussle with security.

(2) Iceberg beat Kevin Matthews in 4:08.This was Iceberg's first match since being injured by Hotstuff Hernandez (again). Matthews was hesitant to get in the ring with him. "Too Cocky" Kevin ran his New York mouth. Iceberg let Matthews take his best shots, (mostly no selling them), while he did an awesome slow boil. Iceberg caught a kick in the mush and rolled to the outside. Iceberg exploded on Matthews, giving him a savage beating on the floor. Fans were loving this. Chants of Iceberg could be heard throughout. The crowd popped when Iceberg lowered the boom with the THIGH DROP OF DOOM. Matthews tried to get cute with a leapfrog. Iceberg kicked him in the nuts and finished him with the Air Raid Crash.

COMMENTS: First class squash. Nothing quite like seeing Wildside's monster babyface devour a fresh piece of meat.

(3) Nick Berk & Z-Barr beat Rebel's Army (Rockin Rebel & Greg Matthews) in 8 minutes. Wilson said this match was sanctioned by both CZW and the NWA. Prazak brought up that Berk and Z-Barr were the number one contenders for the Wildside tag titles back in December. Berk and Rebel started it out, with Berk in control. Wilson highlighted Rebel's background as a veteran of the Philadelphia wrestling scene, going back to the pre-ECW days of Tri-State and Eastern Championship Wrestling. Rebel hit a russian legsweep. Berk rolled away from an elbow drop and went to the arm wringer. Rebel started to brawl. A messed up blind tag spot set up a double team on Rebel, followed by a double hiptoss on Matthews. Matthews took a killer bump from the apron to the rail. Rebel gave Z-Barr the Moe Howard eye poke. Coming out of the commercial break, Matthews hit a tope over the top on Z-Barr and Berk. Matthews posted Berk. Back inside, Rebel kept the heat on Z-Barr. Barr got free for a tag, but Berk was still down on the outside. Z-Barr fought off a double team to hit a slingshot bulldog on Rebel. Now the tag. Berk cleaned house in silence. Matthews and Rebel had a meeting of the minds. They hit Berk low. Prazak said Berk "got his grapes bunched." Rebel and Matthews set up a tandem vertical suplex. Z-Barr broke it up and the faces scored simultaneous pins on the heels. Rebel and Matthews attacked Z-Barr and Berk in the postmatch.

COMMENTS: Trimmed to five minutes for TV. Even with the worst stuff edited out (trust me), this wasn't good. The building sounded like a morgue during this match. Matthews, the former Tough Enough contestant, looked good during the brief time that he was in.

(4) Texas Death Club (Masada & Todd Sexton) beat Jay Fury & Nick Halen in 8:53. Sexton dropped to his knees to make light of Halen's vertically challenged stature. Match opened as a battle of headlocks. Halen reversed Sexton on the mat and clamped on a good one. Sexton kept going to the ropes, but Halen refused to release the hold. Finally, Sexton climbed over the top rope and Halen dropped him on his face. Sexton took another face bump on a drop toehold. Sexton ducked once too often and Halen hit a rocker dropper. Wilson said Halen was outsmarting the champion. Double back elbow and Fury went to work. Nope. Sexton raked the eyes and tagged. Masada grabbed a side headlock. Fury went for a leapfrog and Masada potatoed him in midair with a forearm shot. Damn. Masada pounded on Fury in the corner. Whip and a charge. Fury stepped aside. Fury laced Masada with chops and scored big with a roundhouse kick to the temple. Reversals galore. Fury got a waistlock takedown, and, they worked amateur style on the mat. Masada emerged with an armbar. Fury with an acrobatic reversal and a pair of armdrags. Fury grounded Masada with a hammerlock. Masada switched it to a headscissors. They swapped legsweeps for two counts. Up and running the ropes, Fury hit a spinning headscissors. Masada took a powder to think things over. Fury came hurtling over the top rope with a tope on Masada. Returning from commercial break, it was Halen and Sexton going at it. TDC used a blind tag to get the advantage. They destroyed Halen with a kick combo. Sexton wore Halen down with repeated pin attempts. Masada did Gori Special dropped into a pinning predicament. Fury gave Halen a major assist with a sunset flip reversal. Masada cut Halen off with a swinging neckbreaker for a near fall. TDC doubled with a slice 'n dice bombs away kneedrop. Carolina Connection and Berk & Z-Barr came out to observe. TDC were decimating Halen with more double teams when they misfired on each other. Halen gave them a Road Warrior Hawk double clothesline. Hot tag. Fury was flying around and TDC were bumping. Fury hit the Enzufury on Masada and Halen followed with top rope splash. Spectacular combo. Sexton saved in the nick of time. Halen and Sexton tumbled over the top on a clothesline. Fury used the Jaytrix to duck Masada's clothesline. But Sexton was waiting with a superkick. Violation via Masadamizer for Fury and it was over. TDC taunted Carolina Connection and the CZW guys with the title belts.

COMMENTS: The standout match of the hour. Really good action. Halen and Fury made a strong showing. The Masada/Fury sequence was intense. Halen is becoming a sell monkey extraordinary. The booking team is clearly trying to highlight the increased (and much needed) depth of the tag team division.

(5) Azrael (with Mikal Adryan) beat Onyx on a countout in 8:11. Onyx retained the NWA Wildside Heavyweight title. Azrael brought a bizarre tri-blade weapon called a "Siscuss" into the ring and handed it off to Adryan. Wilson said Adryan had been granted a temporary manager's license in light of Jeff G. Bailey's suspension. Onyx ducked a spinkick and dumped Azrael on his head. Onyx perched on the top turnbuckle, mocking Azrael. Azrael sent Onyx's face into the second turnbuckle with drop toehold, but Onyx escaped the charging knee. Azrael landed some kicks. Onyx gave him a receipt. At 1:45, Onyx stunned Azrael with a powerslam. The "Angel of Death" fought back with a barrage of kicks, finishing with a roundhouse to the temple for a near fall. Azrael lit Onyx up with chops. Azrael repeatedly clotheslined Onyx in the corner. Onyx slumped to the mat. Azrael connected with a running knee to the face. Azrael choked Onyx over the middle rope. Adryan assisted with some outside interference. The champion looked like he was in trouble. Azrael ducked a clothesline, but Onyx used Azrael's momentum to dump him over the top. Onyx went after Azrael on the outside. Adryan hit Azrael by mistake. Azrael reversed a whip, sending Onyx into the rail. Azrael scored with a series of stinging blows. Azrael rolled Onyx back inside and applied a rear chinlock. Onyx elbowed out of it, but Azrael upended him with a knee to the gut. Azrael used a trio of kneedrops. Onyx with fists of fire. Onyx went up and over Azrael and hit an Ace crusher. Azrael staggered into the corner. Onyx hit a Saito suplex. Delayed cover for a near fall. Azrael slowed Onyx down with a thumb to the eye. Onyx stayed on the attack with a backdrop-clothesline-back elbow and cover for a two count. Azrael took Onyx down with a legsweep and dropped an elbow. Azrael climbed to the top, but Onyx was up quickly to crotch him. Onyx pounded Azrael. Azrael shoved Onyx off and tried for the Unholy Roller. Onyx rolled out of the way. And...there's the Blackout (spinning DDT). Adryan pulled Onyx out at the count of two. Adryan goaded Onyx into chasing him around the ring. Time was beginning to stand still. Thomas told Onyx to get back inside. As Onyx argued with Thomas, Adryan attacked him from behind. Thomas finally called for the bell. Gabriel hit the ring on Adryan. Onyx joined in to help him drive the monster out. Thomas raised Azrael's hand at ringside, winner on a count out. Prazak complained about the way Thomas allowed Adyran to interfere without being DQed.

COMMENTS: The problems with the finish marred what was otherwise a pretty decent match. The DQ was supposed to be announced as Adryan attacked Onyx. Not much heat. Crowd was light on Onyx chants this week.

Murder One and Slim J cut a promo on Urban Assault Squad. M-1 did the talking while J laughed his ass off. M-1 said that his New Year's resolution was to stay sucker free. "That means dropping two bitches like you." M-1 and J were in hysterics at the idea that UAS fancied themselves as the next Blackout. M-1 said the tradition would stay true. "You will get your ass blacked out when you come against Murder One and Slim J." M-1 challenged UAS to a match with the winners being named as the chief of The Dark City.

"...If you've got the balls to show up. And if you don't, like Tanks said, you can lick 'em. No matter who I hang out with, Murder One murders people and kicks ass. So remember that when you tuck your little balls up in your ass. And when you face us at the next TV, the pain is comin'. Slim J is comin'. And so is the smoke.

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