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McNEILL's NWA Showcase on Dish Network Revue (2/6): Rage In The Cage
By Pat McNeill, Torch Columnist
Welcome to NWA Wrestling Showcase on Colours TV on the Dish Network. Episode Four begins with David Marquez and Rob Conway welcoming us to the show, taped in front of a green screen…I mean, from inside the casino at Plaza Hotel in downtown Las Vegas. Next week, we'll have our first matches from the Plaza ballroom. Right now, it's Adam Pearce defending the NWA World Title against Sean Waltman. To the ring!
(1) Adam Pearce vs. Sean Waltman – NWA World Title Match. This is one fall with a sixty minute time limit, and I like the way that sounds. C. Edward Vanderpyle is in the corner of Pearce. Todd Kennelly & Kris Kloss have the call from Corpus Christi, Texas. Waltman gets the ring mic and has two words for Pearce. Pearce attacks Waltman while the ref is checking Waltman's kneepads, and we're off and running. The referee, by the way, is named "Rusty LeBeau". That's tremendous. Pearce works over Pac in the corner. Waltman drops Pearce over the top rope and hits a springboard plancha, but comes up favoring his knee. Pearce rolls Waltman back into the ring and hits the chinlock. Pearce switches over into the sleeper. Waltman counters into a belly-to-back suplex, limps through a broncobuster and hits the X-Factor faceslam. Vanderpyle gets up on the apron to distract the referee. Waltman knocks Vanderpyle off the apron, but NWA Tag Team Champions Joey Ryan & Karl Anderson run in to attack Waltman, causing the disqualification at 4:56. The heels give Waltman a three-on-one beatdown, and then Pearce leaves with the belt. Pearce takes the mic and tells the crowd to "suck it". We go to break after a screen advertising NWA Anarchy's TV tapings in Cornelia, Georgia.
When we return, David Marquez is interviewing James J. Dillon at the NWA Mid-Atlantic FanFest. Dillon started with the NWA in 1971. He challenged for the NWA World Title three times in the seventies, and would like to see the Alliance return to its former prestige. Marquez runs down the final four in the NWA Title tournament and asks Dillon to pick a winner. Dillon has never seen any of the four semifinalists wrestle. He thinks the NWA should sign Christopher Daniels and put the belt on him. We don't get to see Marquez's reaction to this suggestion. Dillon explains that the business was better for the wrestlers and the fans back in the territory days. Marquez asks Dillon to give some advice to people considering a career in pro wrestling. Dillon does not advise them to embrace the rewarding field of manual labor.
Back in Vegas, Rob Conway proclaims Pearce and Vanderpyle the smartest men in wrestling. Marquez promises an update on Waltman's condition by next week at the latest. Time for the next match!
(2) "Canadian Bomber" Nelson Creed vs. "Sexy" Sonny Samson. Creed is the Caucasian babyface. Samson is the African-American heel. This match is from Victorville, California. Creed gets the early advantage with a waistlock takedown, but Samson makes the ropes. According to our announcers, Creed lost to Bryan Danielson in the NWA title tournament, and likes to finish opponents off with a spinning lariat. Good to know. Creed hits a series of armdrags and turns Samson over for a near fall. The Bomber misses a springboard bulldog and gets clotheslined in the back of the head for his troubles. Samson follows up with a back elbow and scores a series of near falls. Creed hits a burst of offense, but Samson cuts Creed off with a uranage backbreaker. Creed hits his finisher, the "Northern Lights Out" lariat for the pin at the 5:09 mark. This was okay. We go to break immediately following an advertisement for Adam Pearce's NWA title defense against Damian Wayne in Saluda, Virginia on February 16th.
When we return, David Marquez is interviewing Judy Martin at the NWA Mid-Atlantic FanFest. Judy talks about teaming with Joyce Grable to wrestle two men at the Omni in Atlanta. Bobby Eaton runs in to give Judy a hug. Marquez asks if Judy has heard about the current NWA Women's Champion, Amazing Kong. Of course, Judy hasn't. Her advice to prospective wrestlers is that if you don't love the business, you won't succeed.
Manny Fernandez is next for the Marquez treatment. The Ragin' Bull hasn't changed his look much in the past two decades. He's having a great time at the FanFest, and he believes the NWA title still means something today.
Marquez and Conway hype our next match, which is Puma vs. Disco Machine. Yes, T.J. Perkins has worked three different gimmicks in four weeks of NWA television. Attaboy.
(3) Puma vs. Disco Machine. This match was taped in Phoenix, Arizona. We have a lot of empty seats here. Puma's the one in the mask. Machine has the fringe on his tights. Puma hits a dropkick. Machine shimmies. Kloss mentions that both wrestlers and the ref were in Wrestling Society X. Disco misses a high crossbody and goes out over the top rope. Puma puts Disco in the surfboard, but can't maintain the hold. Then Puma misses a dive and goes through the ropes, allowing the heel Machine to take over. Disco gets in some offense, punctuation each successful attempt with a dance move. Machine finally misses a tumbleweed moonsault, giving Puma his opportunity. Puma scores with a slingshot senton. Disco nearly wins with a powerslam. Puma misses a charge into the corner, and Disco Machine rolls up Puma for the pin at 8:26, keeping both feet on the ropes. Perfectly good cruiserweight style match. Disco gets his hand raised, but cannot persuade the referee to dance with him. Commercial time.
Back in Vegas, Marquez and Conway hype our main event, the steel cage match for the NWA Tag Team Titles.
(4) Real American Heroes (Joey Ryan & Karl Anderson) vs. Los Luchas (Phoenix Star & Zokre) – Steel Cage match for the NWA Tag Team Titles. This is from Las Vegas, Nevada at the Orleans Arena. C. Edward Vanderpyle is managing the Heroes, and is out on the floor. Ryan and Anderson quickly double team Phoenix Star. Zokre gets in the mix and Star starts using him as a springboard, as the good guys flip all over Ryan and Anderson. Anderson turns it around with a front slam on Zokre. Ryan german suplexes Phoenix Star and the heels start taking over on offense. Anderson presses Zokre and heaves the luchador into the cage, and the crowd is furious. He then grabs the Mexican flag out of the Luchas corner and uses the flagpole of Phoenix Star. Ryan rams Star into the cage headfirst. Anderson tears open Phoenix Star's mask and busts Star open. The Luchas rally to flapjack Anderson into the cage as we go to commercial.
When we return, all four men have been busted open. Zokre hits a moonsault from the top of the cage onto Anderson. Ryan has to make the save. Vanderpyle tosses Ryan a set of handcuffs. Ryan knocks out Phoenix Star with them and handcuffs Star to the top rope. The Heroes hit Star with a series of double team moves, refusing to take the pinfall each time. Finally, someone named Carmine DeSpirito, the NWA official, comes to ringside and orders Vanderpyle and his team to stop screwing around and finish the match. Anderson pins Phoenix Star after a spinebuster at 12:06 of what was shown. The announcers are disgusted with Anderson and Ryan.
Back to Las Vegas, Marquez and Conway plug next week's show, the first one taped from their new home at the Plaza Hotel ballroom in Las Vegas.
***
My rating? 7.0 out of a possible 10. This show had a really good main event, and it drove home the faction of Pearce, Ryan, Anderson & Vanderpyle as the focus of the promotion. The two non-title matches were fine. We have a good idea who the players are after the first four weeks. Now it's time to see what the NWA can cook up with their own TV tapings.
The full show can be viewed on the NWA Wrestling website.
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