FCW TV Report
April 22, 2012
Taped in Tampa, Fla.
Report by Matt Brummitt, PWTorch contributor

The show opens with Chris Russo, Byron Saxton, and William Regal discussing Jake Carter & Corey Graves’s Tag Title defense against the new team of C.J. Parker & former Florida Heavyweight Champion Mike Dalton later in the show.

1 - JASON JORDAN vs. DAMIEN SANDOW

Jason Jordan enters first. I thought Jason Jordan was part of a tag team with C.J. Parker? Apparently Mike Dalton has taken his place in that team and they now have a tag title shot tonight. Poor Jason.

Damien Sandow’s voice is then heard. He says, “Lights,” and the lights promptly dim. “Spotlight, please” and the spotlight opens on Sandow at the stage entrance with his robe, towel, and holding a mic. Sandow cuts a promo on his way to the ring in the same vein as those seen during his Smackdown vignettes. He basically accuses the crowd of incompetence and says he expects better of them and of Jordan.

As Sandow enters the ring, he appears to be engaging in an odd breathing technique. Regal informs the viewers that this is “Farmer Burns’s Stomach Flattener,” Sandow’s new conditioning technique. For those of you that are not familiar with 19th Century Wrestling (the Victorian Attitude Era), Burns is a Hall of Famer (PWHF rather than Vince McMahon’s HOF) and is a former American Heavyweight Champion.

Sandow removes his robe and is sporting some excellent hot pink trunks. Sandow and Jordan open by trading hammerlocks until Sandow goes for an early roll-up and grabs the tights, but it’s only good enough for two. They then trade headlock takedowns and head scissor escapes until Sandow sneaks out on to the ring apron.

He’s not out there for long, as Jordan tosses him back in and follows up with a back body drop, which gets him a two count. Jordan whips Sandow into the corner and hits a roll-up of his own which, again, gets him a two count. As the referee is distracted throwing a pad out of the ring, Sandow hits Jordan with an eye poke and gets in some offense culminating in a grounded double chickenwing, which he transitions into a Cattle Mutilation. Rather than staying in the submission, he goes for the pin, which Jordan kicks out of.

Sandow hits a clothesline to Jordan's back before briefly taking Jordan to the outside, where he carries on the assault. Back in the ring, Sandow celebrates with a cartwheel, which he follows up with a side Russian leg sweep. Sandow then misses a knee drop, giving Jordan the chance to get in some shots on Sandow. Jordan hits a couple of clotheslines punctuated by a suplex. Jordan then hits a running Blockbuster variation, but it only gets him a two count.

Sandow manages to pull Jordan into the turnbuckle before getting Jordan in a front facelock. Jordan reverses this into a back roll-up with a bridge, which gets him the win! Big upset there. Sandow sells shock in the middle of the ring.

WINNER: Jordan via pinfall at 7:27.

MATCH REAX: Enjoyable match, overall. Jordan’s pretty green still but his look and athleticism could take him a long way. Sandow’s really great. His promo, look, pre-match exercise, and in-ring performance show why he has been called up to the main roster. Big surprise here with Jordan getting the win.

2 - CONOR O'BRIAN (w/Kenneth Cameron) vs. JIRO

For those of you that haven’t seen O’Brian or Cameron in FCW, they are part of a stable called The Ascension. The Ascension originally had five members with Epico, Ricardo Rodriguez (yes, that Ricardo Rodriguez), and Raquel Diaz (Eddie & Vickie Guerrero’s daughter) making up the rest of the group. However, I think the stable is now down to just O’Brian & Cameron. The Ascension seem to be FCW’s version of The Brood but without the blood.

Fortunately this week, Jiro is portrayed a little less stereotypically as he hasn’t brought his fan and karate kid headband to the ring. O’Brian & Cameron enter in their typical gothic manner.

The match starts with O’Brian stomping around the ring and no-selling Jiro strikes. O’Brian gets some offense on Jiro before roaring and throwing himself to the canvas. He hits Jiro with the big boot, which gets the three. O’Brian and Cameron celebrate with some roaring.

WINNER: O’Brian by pinfall in 1:02

MATCH REAX: Squash for the uber-intense Conor O’Brian. On the intensity scale, he’s half-way between Gunner & Ryback.

The show cut to FCW Divas champion Raquel Diaz, who comes out to introduce one of the most epic, amazing, gorgeous, and multi-talented Divas that FCW or WWE has ever seen...her, Raquel Diaz. She then does her Vickie laugh. She says she’s out here to remind everyone how fabulous she is and that she gets to have her cake and eat it, too.

Back to the announce desk, the commentary team discusses a sneak attack on Leakee two months ago before his number one contender match, which put him on the shelf. They cut to a pre-taped segment with Leakee in a suit discussing his injury. He says he tore his meniscus, but it’s healing day-by-day. Leakee says he knows who attacked him and it was an act of jealousy that he will deal with soon. Leakee discusses WM28 with the return of The Rock, the induction of Yokozuna, and all his family being there.

Leakee, The Rock, and Yokozuna are all part of the Anoa’i wrestling family, which also includes Leakee’s brother, Rosey, the Wild Samoans (his father abd uncle), Rikishi, and Umaga. Leakee says WM28 was great for his family and it was difficult for him that he couldn’t be there because of his injury. He notes how The Rock and Yokozuna came through a developmental system just like FCW and it prides him to be able to say that though he missed this one, he’ll be at WM29.

Back to the ring, Bray Wyatt (Husky Harris) is on the ring apron with Eli Cottonwood standing behind him. Wyatt opens by saying he doesn’t need any newfangled Internet machine to connect with his people and that your Facebooks and your Twitters are all useless to him because his people know that he’s with them always. He says on the Internet, people say he’s a liar and a hoax, but that’s not true. He says they say he’s down here brainwashing people and they got him on that one because he’s brainwashing everyone right now. He says he is washing their brains of all the TV and media since the day they were born.

He says they also say he’s crazy and a lunatic. He says they also accused a young carpenter of being crazy, but look what he did. He says that he is not Him, as Wyatt is not a man at all, but the nagging conscience of a world which has thrown itself away to moral monsters. He says he has arrived and he is forever. He finishes by singing the chorus line from the Stones’s “Time Is On My Side” while Cottonwood smirks behind him.

PROMO REAX: I’m really enjoying the Bray Wyatt character at the moment. His vignette from the previous weeks and this week’s promo were both interesting. The problem with anything off-the-wall like this is how to follow it up, which will be a tough job for Rotunda & FCW Creative.

3 - BRAY WYATT (w/Eli Cottonwood) vs. AIDEN ENGLISH

Aiden English is described by Russo as FCW’s resident thespian.

Wyatt, in a black vest top and baggy white pants, opens up proceedings by shaking English’s hand. Wyatt tosses English around the ring a bit before charging him in the corner. He pulls English’s limp body out of the corner and ballroom dances with him (this is happening), which he transitions into a swinging reverse STO. He then picks up English before throwing him in the air and punching him in the face. That’s a nasty-looking finisher and it’s good for the three.

WINNER: Wyatt by pinfall in 1:37.

MATCH REAX: Squash debut for Bray Wyatt. It’s rare you say this in wrestling, but I’ve never seen a character like this before. I really hope they use Wyatt right because he’s been very compelling so far.

The show cut to FCW champ Seth Rollins (Tyler Black). He talks about how far he’s come before talking about his opponent next week, Kassius Ohno (Chris Hero). He says if Kassius thinks he will get a pass because Rollins respects him, he has another thing coming. He says he will stomp his face into the ground and leave him with a reminder of what happens when the man comes around.

PROMO REAX: Short but effective promo by Rollins. I’m not sure if this “when the man comes around” thing is going to become a regular catchphrase, but if it is I’m undecided on it. It obviously sounds quite cool, but it is a direct reference to a Johnny Cash song about Jesus, which I don’t think suits Rollins’s character. Wyatt’s, maybe, but not Rollins's.

On a more important note, this promo hyped up next week’s match between Rollins and Ohno. As two of my favorite wrestlers on the planet, Rollins and Ohno should put on a great match next week, which will hopefully lead to a decent rivalry before one, or both, is propelled to the main roster.

4 - FCW tag champions COREY GRAVES & JAKE CARTER vs. MIKE DALTON & C.J. PARKER - FCW Tag Title match

Parker and Dalton are in first as the announcers discuss their ability to gel as a tag team. A.W. (Abraham Washington) then appears, using the same gimmick he is using in WWE as a Superstar agent. He introduces two of his clients, “Your girlfriend’s favorite tag team,” the FCW tag champs Jake “The Great” Carter & Corey “Chicks Dig” Graves. Regal brings up a story of how Carter and Graves are banned from Disney for life after going on a rampage that involved the girls that play Pocahontas. He said Walt would be spinning in his fridge. I love William Regal. He then compares the two to Keith Moon and Keith Richards.

The match begins with Parker and Carter. Carter starts on top and hits a nice looking clothesline before doing some Rick Martel-esque posing. This is enough for Parker to blindside Carter. Carter then gets in some offense of his own including a hip toss and a scoop slam. Graves is tagged in and receives a monkey flip from Parker and a cross-body from Dalton. Good sequence there as the tag was made mid-monkey flip.

Graves gets the tag to Carter, who beats down Dalton while Regal recounts his nights out with Graves and Carter. Carter, for those of you that don’t know, is Vader’s son. Regal notes how Vader had Carter on a conditioning regime at five-years-old. Carter tags in Graves and they apply a double top wristlock to Dalton, who flips backwards and reverses it into a double Northern Lights suplex, which is enough for him to get a tag. C.J. Parker comes in and cleans house before sending both men to the outside.

Parker and Dalton follow this up by hitting a tandem cross-body and suicide dive respectively. All four men are down on the outside going to break. The show comes back to action with Parker and Carter in the ring. Graves gets the blind tag in and hits a running knee to Parker’s ribs. Graves tags Carter back in and they hit a double atomic drop. Regal mocks Russo for using the phrase “Rebel Rousers” to describe Graves & Carter. Suplex by Carter on Parker, which he follows up with an abdominal stretch. Graves pulls Carter’s hand while out of the ref’s view to aggravate the stretch.

Carter tags in Graves, who applies an abdominal stretch of his own to Parker. Carter tries the same trick as Graves, but is caught by the ref, which gives Parker time to break the hold. Carter applies a grounded abdominal stretch variation, but Parker manages to break out. Carter tags Graves back in and hits a running splash to the corner before leaving the ring. Parker tries to fight out, but Carter tags in to stop him. Carter attempts another running frog splash, but Parker gets his knees up.

Parker gets close to tagging Dalton, but the champs pull him back. However, Parker manages to send Carter over the ropes and gets the tag to Dalton before Graves can stop him. Dalton unloads some offense on Graves, hitting a running elbow followed by a huracanrana and a pin attempt, which is broken up by Carter. AW then distracts the ref, which allows Corey Graves to use the cane on Dalton which is enough for the three.

WINNERS: Graves & Carter by pinfall in 11:46 to retain the FCW Tag Titles. Graves & Carter retain the FCW Tag Titles.

MATCH REAX: Solid TV tag team main event with the heel team of Graves & Carter in control for the majority of the match. Out of the challengers, Dalton is the more accomplished of the two, but they both have a long way to go before they make it to the big-time. Carter & Graves are a team with a good chemistry and character. They are by no means a great tag team yet, but they would be a positive addition to the WWE’s tag team ranks when they’ve had a bit more time to gel.

That’s it for this week and I look forward to next week when I will be throwing superlatives at you from all angles for the Rollins vs. Ohno main event.

If you have any comments or questions please give me a hollerin’ at mvbrummitt@googlemail.com

We suggest these recent related articles...

4/15 FCW TV REPORT: Results from recent WWE Developmental show - Ambrose-Regal feud intensifies, Hero in-ring, Sakamoto, Guerrero, Woods, Ross commentary

BRUMMITT'S FCW TV REPORT 4/8: WWE Developmental TV coverage - Claudio vs. Steamboat, Ross & Regal commentary, Regal-Ambrose feud, Hero promo, new gimmicks for O'Brian & Harris

FCW TV REPORTS 11/15-29: WWE developmental TV - NXT Rookies in action, Yoshi Tatsu, Heath Slater vs. Joe Hennig, Justin Gabriel