No Name Wrestling
Friday, July 9, 2004
Orlando, FL

Match 1 - Less Fortunate defeated Lance Alonte
I don't know much about these two because I don't believe that I have seen either one of them work. Early in the match, we see Less Fortunate hit a somersault plancha to the outside onto Alonte. They begin to brawl outside which doesn't seem to make sense. There was no build up to why they would be brawling outside the ring the way that they were. I don't know, but maybe it was some big feud with buildup that I must have missed from prior shows. If not, then their brawling really made no sense. Anyway, Less Fortunate got the win with a fisherman buster. I wasn't too fond of this opening match. Alonte did quite a few 'ranas which I'm told he has a tendency to do.

Match 2 - Rouge defeated Thump Dupree by DQ.
Thump Dupree comes out drawing his normal heel heat. He actually comes by my side and hurls an insult directed at me. Rouge comes out, and I'm a little confused by what exactly his gimmick is supposed to be. Is he supposed to be a rock star? Anyway, this match was way too short. The finish of the match was actually Dupree putting Rouge in an arm bar/leg lock combination which led to Rouge tapping out. I'm not sure why they did it, but they decided to do the angle where the heel refuses to let go of the submission, so the referee has no choice but to disqualify him. Rouge picks up the win via disqualification. Dupree didn't really get any of his spots in during this match. Rouge does nothing for me. He tries to do all of these high flying moves that he can't pull off. I've seen him attempt a Van Terminator and he came up half way short.

Match 3 - Barney Rumble defeated Rip Malibu
Barney Rumble comes out working the crowd, but he breaks character when he acknowledges some people who I'm assuming are probably his family. Rip Malibu comes out to probably the loudest pop of the night. This is Malibu's first match, so it hits me that most of the teenagers in attendance are actually friends of his who are here to see his first match. BoneZ the Cutthroat (I'm not sure what his role is during story lines, but he is actually the owner of NNW. He very well may also play the owner in story lines.) comes out and says that he's going to ref this match instead of the ref in the ring. Apparently the angle is that Rumble has a heel ref that works his matches. The funny thing is that BoneZ works the entire match basically as a heel. He slow counts during Rumble pin attempts and fast counts for Malibu pin attempts. As usual, Rumble gets in his suplexes. Malibu actually did a People's Elbow/5 Knuckle Shuffle combination during the match. I'm hoping that someone tells him it's not a good idea to do that. He did display some creativity though. He had Rumble lying on the mat and he stood on his chest. He acted like he was surfing and then dropped an elbow to his chest. If he eventually makes a name for himself, I can see that being one of his trademark moves. The finish of the match saw the heel ref make his way back to the ring and attack BoneZ. Rumble hit a pump handle face plant, and the heel ref made the count. After the match, BoneZ cut a promo which pretty much set up a match between Himself and Malibu against Rumble and his referee at the next NNW show. Malibu was very green, as expected, but I've seen far worse debuts. I'll keep an eye on him to see how he progresses.

Match 4 - O.G. Scarface w/ Ana Mosity defeated NNW Hardcore champion Snow to become the new champion.
Ok, now everybody knows that I don't care for hardcore matches, so when this match was being announced I was a little turned off. Now having said that, this was probably one of the better hardcore matches I have seen. Hell, it had Snow throwing a fireball at O.G.'s crotch. It also had your normal hardcore match weapons such as a pizza cutter, keyboard, trash can, stapler, etc. The stapler actually came into play as O.G. grabbed a $1 bill from Ana Mosity's cleavage and stapled it to Snow's forehead. It was funny seeing Snow sitting in the middle of the ring with a stapled dollar to his forehead. Also, the pizza cutter was used by O.G., and we had the unfortunate angle of being able to see Snow gig himself numerous times. On top of that, Ana Mosity took a nasty looking bump into a trash can in the corner as Snow gave her an irish whip right into it. The finish of the match had Snow on the second rope when Ana Mosity distracted him. This allowed O.G. to powerbomb Snow from the second rope. Actually it was just Snow taking a back bump and O.G. just pushing him along the way, but you get the idea. We have a new hardcore champion. Pretty good hardcore match.

Intermission

Match 5 - Picture Perfect defeated Deathrow Jethrow and Leon Scott w/ Tiziana
Picture Perfect come out to a decent pop. I'm not very familiar with them, but they are very charismatic and have a decent look. The team of Jethrow and Scott come out along with Tiziana. The match opens up with matching armdrags followed by dropkicks by Picture Perfect. Oh I get it, Picture Perfect........Anyway, one of the members of Picture Perfect (Sorry, didn't catch their names) hit 2 'ranas on Scott, but he made the mistake of going for a third. Scott blocked it and fell backwards towards his corner, and Jethrow grabbed him by the head and dropped him on his neck on the top rope. Scott and Jethrow tagged in and out working over the face. The hot tag eventually came, and it leads to Tiziana stepping into the ring, presumably to interfere. Jethrow ends up accidentally clotheslining her which allows Picture Perfect to roll up Scott for the win. This is the second time in a few weeks that Tiziana has taken a bump. She's slowly becoming one of my favorite valets. I hate valets that serve no purpose being out there, but she is proving that she does belong out there. Scott and Jethrow brawl to the back. Scott eventually comes back out to get Tiziana.

Match 6 - "The Latin Sensation" Ricky Romeo defeated Flatline
Romeo comes out sporting the new Ricky Romeo t-shirt. I was hoping that he would cut a promo because he's been working on something new with his gimmick, and I think it would have gotten over with this crowd. The crowd was predominantly casual fans, and it doesn't take much to get under their skin. Flatline comes out and really is just there. He doesn't really work the gimmick much. He came out to almost no reaction from the crowd. This was another match that was extremely short. When matches are as short as this one the psychology tends to suck, and it turns into a spot fest. That's exactly what happened in this match as Romeo hit some decent looking moves such as this nasty looking spinebuster, while Flatline was attempting to do springboard DDT's. It just didn't look good. The end of the match saw Romeo hit a sit out powerbomb, I believe. I'm not really sure about that one. There's really not much you can do when the match is only about 5 minutes long. I'm sorry, but Flatline doesn't do anything for me.

Match 7 - Sedrick Strong defeated Erick Stevens and Vordell Walker
Sedrick Strong comes out not in his normal gear. For some odd reason, he was wearing camo cargo shorts. Erick Stevens came out drawing his normal heel heat. Vordell Walker is quite the popular one in Orlando. I think most of the crowd was pulling for him. This was the match on the card that I was all about, and it didn't disappoint at all. There were a few cool looking spots during this three way. For one, Stevens gave Strong a sick looking powerbomb onto Walker's back who happened to be on all fours at the time. A few minutes later Stevens had Strong on his shoulders and Walker climbed the top rope. It looked like they were going for a Doomsday Device, the Road Warriors finisher. Walker hit the clothesline on Strong, but instead of Strong just falling back, he turned it into a reverse 'rana on Stevens. The crowd popped for the move. Stevens eventually ends up putting Walker into an STF, but Strong broke it up with a senton bomb from the top rope. Walker ends up hitting a 450 splash and Stevens ends up hitting a big Death Valley Driver, but it's all to no avail as Strong ends up picking up the win with a reverse cradle suplex. The crowd was into the match, but seemed a little flat for the finish. I think part of it could be attributed to most of the crowd wanting Walker to win the match. Also, Walker was on his feet, and it appeared he was together to break up the pinfall. He didn't break up the pinfall, and the crowd was just thrown off by it. Regardless, this was definitely the match of the night. It was probably one of the better matches I have seen since I've been here.

-- Immediately following the match, Stevens had picked up a water bottle from the corner that was brought out by Strong, and he threw it at the group of kids that were there to see Rip Malibu. One of them tossed it back his way, but he missed and ended up hitting a fan in a wheelchair. Real nice, guys. Keep this in mind because it kind of explains what happened next. I'm not sure how it happened, but I'm assuming that Stevens had his back turned. While he was turned, Strong threw a chair at his legs, I believe. Stevens grabs the chair, and he confronts the group of teenagers about who threw the chair at him. He didn't see Strong throw it at him. One of the them proudly announces that it was he (idiot) who threw the chair. Stevens, who is irate by now, pushes the chair into the teenager's chest and pushes the him down by his head. At this point, the kid's friends start cursing at Stevens that it wasn't him. Why the hell would you take credit for something like that then? I'm just glad that Stevens didn't pummel him because it would have been ugly.

Match 8 - NNW Overall champion Jarelle Clark and Scott Hotshot went to a time limit draw three times.

Now, following that fantastic match and then everything that ensued afterward, you had a feeling that Jerelle Clark vs. Scott Hotshot was not going to be very receptive from the crowd. The crowd seemed to be dead during the first part of this match which was unjustifiably so because it was probably the second best match of the night. The match opens up with Clark working the arm a bit. I'm not sure why he was working the arm because his finisher is the 630, but he does do the Clark Bar so that may have been his thinking. Actually the crowd picked up midway through the match after a few near falls. We get a one minute countdown which leads to a few false finishes. The match eventually ends in a time limit draw. BoneZ grabs the mic and asks the crowd what they think about having a battle royal where it would lead to a new champion being crowned. It makes no sense at all. Clark goes to the time limit, so he now has to fight probably the whole locker room to defend his title. Well, the crowd wasn't into BoneZ's proposal because they kept chanting for five more minutes. BoneZ didn't seem too thrilled about it at first, but the crowd was so adamant about getting the five minutes that BoneZ granted it. The bell rang, and you can see Hotshot asking what they're supposed to do now. Clark gets in a couple of his spots that he didn't do during the regular match like his handspring moonsault. They eventually go to another time limit draw. The crowd responds with another five more minutes chant. At this point I think BoneZ was doing it as a rib because he was laughing when he said, "Ok, five more minutes." If it was indeed a rib, then it was pretty good because Jerelle and Hotshot were extremely blown up. This one also went the time limit, so BoneZ announced that after the next match they will come out and wrestle five more minutes, and if there isn't a winner then the battle royal will begin. The final four competitors in the battle royal will compete for the NNW Heavyweight title at the next NNW show.

Match 9 - Gangrel defeated Brian "The Blade" Gamble
Gangrel comes out doing the same shtick that he had in the Fed. Well, come to think about it, he's always worked this gimmick. Anyway, he spits the "blood" out into the crowd. The Fed must have been springing for the good "blood" because this one came out in clumps. Gamble comes out to a decent pop. There were several fans in attendance who were familiar with Brian Gamble. Well, he is from Orlando. The match itself was very sloppy. I was surprised because you would expect so much more from a guy who has made it to the "big time" and another who has had his opportunities. For instance, Gangrel would send Gamble into the corner and attempt to follow it up with a clothesline. The only problem is that Gamble would be stumbling backwards and almost fall into the corner. This happened twice. Also, there appeared to be a big miscommunication between the two because Gamble went for an elbow to the back of the head and Gangrel ended up taking a back bump. I'm not sure what happened. You can see the disgust in Gangrel's face the entire match. In fact, Gangrel hit his variation DDT (I forget what he calls it) out of no where. It seemed like he ended the match sooner than it was supposed to be. After the match, he threw a chair into the ring, and it hit Gamble in the hand, I believe. You can see he was visibly pissed off. I hope he wasn't blaming only Gamble because they both appeared to be off today.

Match 10 - Vordell Walker and Sedrick Strong are the two remaining survivors of the battle royal.
This entire battle royal, from start to finish, was extremely confusing. It started off with Jerelle Clark and Scott Hotshot wrestling for another five minutes. The stipulation was that if the match didn't end in the five minutes that the wrestlers would come out from the back and a battle royal would begin. Also, it wasn't your typical battle royal. It was announced that the final four men in the ring would wrestle next month for the title. Seeing how the battle royal was already announced, you knew that the five minute match between Clark and Hotshot was going to be pointless. During the five minutes Hotshot was going to make a pin, but BoneZ announced that his five minutes were up. Out comes the entire locker room for a battle royal. Here is where the confusion starts to pick up. Wrestlers were being eliminated and then they were going back into the ring. Flatline must have been eliminated at least twice. Several others would be thrown out, and the crowd would yell for them to go back in because so many others had done it. The final four in the ring were Scott Hotshot, Sedrick Strong, Erick Stevens and Vordell Walker. I'm a little baffled by the champion, Jerelle Clark, not being in the final four. My reasoning is that he essentially lost the title because he went to a time limit draw with Hotshot. Anyway, the four are standing in the ring, and no bell is rung and/or no announcement is made. The wrestlers are just standing in the ring looking at each other. I guess after realizing that nobody was making a move to end the match, they begin to fight some more. During this melee, Stevens and Hotshot end up outside of the ring. BoneZ then announces that Vordell Walker and Sedrick Strong will meet at the next NNW show in a ladder match to crown a new champion. Huh? What happened to the four way? Now, here tops off this very chaotic battle royal. Around the time that Stevens and Hotshot had been "eliminated" Flatline had ended up back in the ring. Strong military press slams Flatline and sends him flying over the top rope onto Stevens. I think Flatline's body sent Steven's head to the ground thus splitting his head wide open. Stevens also ended up with a concussion. On a side note, Stevens ended up wrestling the very next night because, as he said, he's "A pro wrestler, dammit!" Damn, how I wish certain wrestlers would share this very same mentality.

Final Thoughts
-- The entire Heavyweight title situation was very confusing to me. It makes no sense to have Jerelle Clark wrestle to a time limit draw, and then have it essentially be stripped from him by saying the final four guys in a battle royal will fight for the title. This situation makes sense when something controversial happens. Nothing controversial happened here. It was merely a time limit draw. To top it all off, they changed the final four wrestling each other to the remaining two guys will wrestle each other in a ladder match.

-- The three way with Erick Stevens, Sedrick Strong and Vordell Walker was definitely one of the best matches I've seen from the Florida indy scene. It's hard to be creative during three way matches, but I think that they did just that. I am definitely high on all three guys, and I wouldn't mind seeing this match one more time somewhere else down the road.

-- The hardcore match was decent. Snow did his thing and I really like O.G. Scarface as their hardcore champion. Besides, he's got the coolest jacket in all of indy wrestling.

-- There were a few guys on the card who looked very green. I'll keep tabs on Rip Malibu. It's too early to tell if he's going to be good or not. I was really surprised with how big of a cluster the Gangrel/Gamble match turned out.

-- Overall, some of the booking seemed to be questionable, but the 3 way, Clark/Hotshot and the hardcore match were good enough to make it an enjoyable show. They also have a good match already booked in Sedrick Strong vs. Vordell Walker in a ladder match for the NNW Heavyweight title. I'm not sure how much that will help with bringing in fans though because World 1 is supposed to be running the same weekend in August. I know that they are doing Orlando that Friday, so if NNW does Orlando the same day then it may hurt attendance. I'm not sure what's going on though. It will be interesting to see everything unfold.

Will Rivera