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MCNEILL'S TAKE
McNEILL's NWA Showcase Revue (3/5): The Night The Rabbit Died Mar 7, 2008 - 4:16:11 AM
NOTE: The new episode of this show did not air on Dish Network for some reason.
Welcome to NWA Wrestling Showcase. Episode Seven begins with David Marquez previewing tonight's show in front of the Plaza Hotel in Las Vegas. Tonight, it's the Young Bucks vs. Alkatraz & Dallas Murdoch, T.J. Perkins and Brent Alrbight have matches, and Joey Ryan will battle Zokre. And, "Special E" Eugene Dinsmore is here. C. Edward Vanderpyle and Karl Anderson drop by to promise a Joey Ryan victory later tonight over the "dirty, stinking Mexican", but for now, they're off to Glitter Gulch. No surprise there. Marquez throws it to Dinsmore, who welcomes us to Showcase! To the break!
Todd Kennely, Ricky O & Adam Pearce have the call from the Plaza Hotel ballroom.
(1) T.J. Perkins vs. Tristen Gallo. Ricky O explains the "Rules of the NWA" again, except without the onscreen graphic. Pat Hernandez is your referee. Gallo is the NWA Utah champion, but is not defending his title here. Gallo is the heel, judging by the hair pulling. Pearce claims to be at ringside scouting talent. Perkins keeps the headlock and resists a couple reversal attempts by holding on to Gallo's nostrils. Perkins catches himself in the ropes as Gallo tries to toss him out. Pearce says Perkins isn't worthy of a title shot, and apparently says it loud enough that Perkins turns his head to look at the NWA champ. Perkins hit the top rope Savage elbow and then starts jawing with Pearce at ringside. The Champ is standing up and arguing back at Perkins. For what it's worth, Kennely looks a little bit like Michael Cole. Perkins surprises Gallo with a hurrancanrana for a near fall. Gallo keep trying for his TKO, called "The Perfector" by the announcers, but Perkins fights out. Then Perkins hits a reverse neckbreaker and a 450 splash from the top rope for the pin at 8:24. Ricky O narrates the replay while Pearce snots about how Perkins isn't ready for the champ. To the back!
David Marquez interviews The Young Bucks. Nick hurt his neck last week against Adam Pearce. Matt promises the Bucks will one day get revenge on Pearce. To the break!
(2) Young Bucks vs. Alkatraz & Sexy Chino. Kris Kloss is back in his usual spot at the announce position. Adam Pearce is gone. Rick Knox is your referee. No word on how "Dallas Murdoch" suddenly became "Sexy Chino". Mr. Katraz is too powerful for Nick, who tags in Matt. Nick is selling the neck injury from last week. Katraz tags in the skinny Chino, who falls victim to a drop toehold. The Bucks start double teaming and working the arm. A double dropkick nearly finishes off Chino. Chino finally hits a drop toehold to Matt so Alkatraz can make the tag. Alkatraz hits Matt with the big boot and scores a near fall with an elbow drop. Alkatraz leaves the ring to jaw with the fans at ringside. Not smart. Matt blocks a chokeslam and hits a bulldog. Nick gets the hot tag and all four men are in. The Bucks hit a double clothesline to send the big guy over the top rope. Matt Jackson then pins Chino after the "More Bang For the Bucks" combination at 8:32. Ricky O narrates the replay, explaining that it was okay for the Bucks to send Alkatraz over the top rope because Alkatraz wasn't the legal man. A decent formula match.
Alkatraz beats up Sexy Chino after the match. To the break!
The break includes a commercial for Friday night's Ring of Honor pay-per-view. How nice.
We're back from break. Eugene Dinsmore has come to the ring (in his Superman costume) to check on Sexy Chino. Alkatraz thinks about coming back to the ring to beat up Eugene, but he doesn't. And that's the Whole F'n Segment. To the break again!
Backstage, Mark Thompson is interviewing "Milk Chocolate" Willie Mack. Willie looks like a Crockett TV jobber from the mid-1980's. Willie's excited to be in the NWA.
(3) Willie Mack vs. Brent Albright. Tony Rosas (famous for ribs) is your referee. The announcers explain that Brent Albright made it to the finals of the NWA World Title Tournament. Albright start tossing Mack around. Please explain why Mack got promo time and Albright didn't. Anyone? Maybe it's because Albright is wearing his "Gunner Scott" tights. Albright works the arm. Willie goes to the eyes. Albright hits a dropkick and a springboard plancha as Kennely compares Brent to Dynamite Kid. That's not the first name I would have gone with. Albright goes to the second rope and Mack shoves Albright through the ropes to the floor. Ouch. Albright rallies and nearly wins with a high crossbody. Brent with the diving headbutt from the top rope, but he can't follow it up. Belly-to back suplex by Albright. Another. Albright does a Russian legsweep into a headscissors crossface submission and Mack taps out at 7:22. Ah, that's why the announcers kept saying "Dynamite Kid". Ricky O narrates the replay. Albright didn't look too crisp. Mack looked okay. To the break!
(4) Zokre vs. Joey Ryan. Joe Furrer is the referee. C. Edward Vanderpyle is managing Ryan, and is out on the floor, along with Karl Anderson. No one is at ringside for Zokre. Ryan has the Captain America logo on his trunks. Outstanding. They fight to the floor. Zokre gives Ryan and Anderson a double noggin-knocker. Back in and Zokre hits the quebrada, but Vanderpyle hops onto the apron and distracts the ref. The ref catches Anderson sneaking into the ring, and orders Vanderpyle and Anderson removed from ringside. A squadron of refs come on and hustle the heels to the back. Ryan tags advantage of the distraction and tosses Zokre out over the top rope. Zokre comes up selling his back, so Ryan immediately targets the back. Zokre hits a slingshot into a variation of the backcracker for a near fall. Now it's Ryan's turn to sell the back. Zokre hits a series of cross-corner whips on Ryan. Ryan goes to the eyes as a counter. Ryan hits a fallaway slam and Zokre sells it like he's dead. Zokre gets a very near fall off a small package. Spear by Ryan. Ryan goes for the piledriver, but his back can't take it. Zokre scores the pin with a la magistral cradle in 9:34. Good match. We immediately go to the back.
Backstage, Anderson and Vanderpyle attack Phoenix Star, Zokre's tag team partner, in the stairwell. The footage is a little bit dark, but it looks like they went after Star's arm. To the break!
Back at the announce desk, Kennely tells us how disgusted he is with the actions of Anderson and Vanderpyle. Boy, he not only looks like Michael Cole, but he's every bit as convincing. To the ring.
(5) "Special E" Eugene Dinsmore vs. "Sexy" Sonny Sampson Pat Hernandez is your referee. Nick Bockwinkel is back at ringside, replacing Kris Kloss. Eugene has a stuffed rabbit in his corner. This match is mostly going to be a backdrop for the announcers talking about the Los Luchas-American Heroes feud. Bockwinkel advises Sampson to ignore Eugene's silliness. Good luck with that. Ricky O asks Bockwinkel how he would handle a Sonny Sampson. Bockwinkel says Bobby Heenan could have done a whole hour of commentary on Sonny Sampson. Well, yeah. The match? Eugene is riding Sampson like a pony. Literally. Then Eugene bites Sampson's rear end, Sharkboy style. Sampson grabs the stuffed rabbit and threatens to kill it. Eugene panics. Sampson rips the rabbit in half and attacks the grief-stricken Dinsmore. Ricky O asks Bockwinkel what he'd do if an opponent destroyed his stuffed rabbit. Nick doesn’t really have a response for that. Sampson begins choking Eugene with the pieces of the stuffed rabbit. Now Sampson is biting away on Eugene. Dinsmore rallies with a rollup for a near fall. Sampson begins whipping Dinsmore with the stuffed rabbit. Sampson then removes his shirt and begins dry humping the corpse of the stuffed rabbit. A furious Eugene hulks up. Dinsmore finally gets the pin with a rollup into a bridge at 10:47. A bit long for a comedy match.
Alkatraz runs in and shoves Eugene for what happened earlier in the show. They start trading punches as we go off the air.
And we're out. If I read the spoilers correctly, we'll get the big American Heroes vs. Los Luchas return bout next week, plus Rob Conway's return to the ring.
***
My rating? 6 out of a possible 10. The Luchas-Heroes feud is carrying this show right now. We're now up to 57 minutes of content during the hour timeslot, which is fun for fans but can't be good for advertising revenue.
The full show can be viewed on the NWA Wrestling website.
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