NWA Smoky Mountain Wrestling results
April 26, 2013
Kingsport, Tenn.
Report by James Caldwell, PWTorch assistant editor

NWA Smoky Mountain's annual Smoky Mountain Cup will determine who faces NWA World Hvt. champion Rob Conway at the next show on May 18.

(1) Jeff Connelly beat Zac Vincent via submission at 12:08 in a First Round Cup match.

(2) NWA National champion Damien Wayne beat "King" Shane Williams at 12:09 in a First Round Cup match. Williams worked heel, setting up Wayne for a big comeback and top-rope elbow drop for the pin and the win.

(3) Adam Pearce beat Vince Brent at 11:37 in a First Round Cup match. Brent came out to a Jason Aldean theme and slapped hands with the crowd to make it clear he was the face. Pearce stalled early on, then tried to intimidate the less-experienced and much-smaller Brent. Brent made a comeback to the crowd's delight, but a distraction allowed Pearce to low-blow Brent and deliver a piledriver for the pin and the win.

(4) Sigmon beat NWA Smoky Mountain champion Jason Kincaid at 16:10 in a First Round Cup match. Going over 16 minutes, the promotion's top champion - who could pass as a member of the Highlanders - was given a lot of in-ring time in this match. Sigmon's "stooge" interfered early, in the middle, and at the end, with the ref not giving him the boot. It led to Sigmon delivering a Fisherman Suplex to Kincaid after a foreign object shot for the win.

(5) Rock 'n Roll Ricky Morton beat Tony Kozina at 7:27 in a First Round Cup match. Did You Know: Morton is only two years older than TNA's current top babyface, Sting? For the finish, Morton escaped a corner attack, grabbed a handful of Kozina's trunks to yank him down to the mat with a half-moon, and scored a quick three count.

Post-match, Kozina angrily attacked Morton and drew blood. Ringside, Morton shook and twitched as he bled and Kozina taunted him. The announcers wondered aloud if Morton will be able to make it to the Cup Finals as babyfaces spilled out of the locker room to check on Morton. Morton was eventually helped to the back.

(6) Kyle O'Reilly beat Menace at 11:30 in a First Round Cup match.

[Intermission]

(7) Air America (Skylar Kruze & Gavin Daring) won a 6-team gauntlet match at 35:10 to retain the NWA Tennessee Tag Titles. The iPPV feed cut out at the end of the match, but NWA SM tweeted that Air America won the match.

Time for the Cup Finals featuring the six winners from the first-half of the show. Ricky Morton slowly made his way out to the ringside area, still selling the effects of bleeding in the first-half of the show. They did a long build-up to letting Morton wrestle in the match to try to fulfill his journey to compete for the NWA Title.

(8) Ricky Morton won a six-way match at 14:55 to win the NWA Smoky Mountain Wrestling Cup to earn an NWA World Title shot against Rob Conway on May 18. The first elimination was Jeff Connelly. Then, Ricky Morton and Kyle O'Reilly battled, leading to Morton small-packaging O'Reilly for the next elimination. Final Four - Morton, Pearce, Sigmon, and Damien Wayne. Wayne was then DQ'ed for using a piledriver in front of the ref. Morton then opportunistically covered Sigmon for a quick elimination. So, the Final Two - Pearce vs. Morton as the crowd came to life. Morton then surprised Pearce with a roll-up for a quick three count, stunning Pearce.

After the match, Morton gave a babyface speech about giving it his all on May 18 when he challenges Conway for the NWA World Title. He was then presented with the Cup and limped away from the ring to sell the effects of his night.

(9) NWA Jr. Hvt. champion Chase Owens beat Davey Richards via submission at 23:20 to retain the NWA Jr. Hvt. Title. Owens played Tommy Dreamer in this match, which was initially stopped due to Owens selling a knee injury, but then Richards cheap-shotted Owens to keep the match going. Owens proceeded to escape multiple submissions and pin attempts to eventually apply a submission of his own on Richards for the victory.

Prior to the teased referee stoppage, the story of the match was whether Davey would wrestle a clean match or show disrespect to Chase Owens and the promotion. Davey went heel, then engaged in a strong back-and-forth, submission-based match with Owens. At 19:00, Owens sold a knee injury and the announcers sold with hushed tones. As wrestlers came out to check on Owens's knee, Richards took the mic and said if anyone is going to hand over the title belt to Owens, it will be him. Davey cleared the ring and helped Owens to his feet, then smashed him in the knee and applied a submission. Owens survived, though, and eventually submitted Richards after escaping multiple nearfalls.

Post-match, the announcers signed off before they went to a final shot of Owens being helped out of the ring, selling the injuries. Overall, the main event was very good before the teased referee stoppage. It seemed like the undercard was full of booking tricks, so yet another booking trick in the main event seemed over-done. Overall, a good show and a good first showing for NWA Smoky Mountain on Internet PPV. The iPPV can be found here at NWASmokyMountain.com.

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