NWS [National Wrestling Superstars]
Bunnell High School
Stratford, CT
5/31/03 7:00PM
Guesstimated attendance: 250

This show was benefit for the local fire department, who provided a large free program to each ticket holder. So while waiting for the show to start I read all about fire safety and how to keep my children from being kidnapped. I don't have any children and I rent so I don't care if the place burns down, but the thought was nice.

The show took place in a high school gym and by order of the Board of Ed there were NO refreshments of any kind available. Good thing I brought gum. I didn't expect it to my dinner though.

The show was booked to start and 7 and they actually announced that it would start about 15 minutes late. It did in fact start promptly at 7:15. A nice touch considering how many Indies start hours late without even acknowledging it.

This was definitely booked to be a "family" wrestling show, which meant tons of kids in the crowd and lots of 80s-WWF type cornball stuff I the ring. It was fun for what it was. Crowd was almost like a Memphis crowd in that they were about the least 'smart' crowd you'll ever see and just played along with everything that was presented. Kind of refreshing in a way.

Just like PWA, NWS did not use ANY kind of ring barrier at all. A questionable choice given how many kids were running around, but they got it to work. There were definitely kids getting much too close to the ring and the wrestlers during a couple of matches though. They didn't put any seats on the floor at all and just had everyone sit in the bleachers, but walked and ran around the floor all night anyway.

One old school touch NWS had that I really liked was that they announced the time elapsed in 5 minute increments during each match, just like the old NWA used to do. I wish more promotions would do this. It's a very small thing that somehow makes it feel more like a big league show.

1) NWS Regional Cruiserweight Champion Mike Kruel retained his title over Dave Webb in slightly over 10 minutes when Kruel pinned Webb with a double leg hook/rollup. Very good scientific match. Kruel had a bloody nose after, probably getting dropped a little too hard on a nasty looking DDT from Webb. Neither man really played the heel and they shook hands before and after, so I assume they're both faces in this federation.

2) Canadian Connection (w/Mohoward Ali) defeated The Power Company via the use of a chain around the fist that was tossed in the ring by Ali. Tons of old school cowardly heel tactics and stalling by the CC, playing the anti-American heels. The Power Company used to be 2 brothers but the larger (and less talented) of the brothers was gone, replaced by a big young kid who was not too bad at all. Crowd really got into this match with tons of "USA" chants and so forth. Not much from a wrestling point of view (though the Power Company's stuff looked good) but as mentioned the crowd went nuts for it so the match definitely did what it was supposed to do and entertained the people. I was a little surprised they gave the heels the win. A guy in front of me yelled at the Canadian heels to "Go back to Europe!" during this match.

3) The Patriot d. Hasheem "Chemical" Ali (w/ Mohoward Ali) with schoolboy rollup after a decision reversal by the ref. You know it's getting to be a screwed up world when a stereotypical heel manager cuts an anti USA promo before a match and I actually agree with some of what he says. But I digress. To tell the truth I am really not at all a fan of promoters who run these types of angles during times of war. I didn't like The Sgt Slaughter angle during Desert Storm, I detested the "Anti Americans" in WWE, and I wasn't nuts about this match either. However there's a reason why people continue to book these types of matches: they work. The crowd went HOSS for The Patriot [who looks suspiciously like Tom Brandi] the whole time he was out there and booed the living hell out of Hasheem and Mohoward Ali. [Love that name btw.] They did all the expected lengthy pre-match crowd milking, including Patriot getting a bunch of kids to come down out of the stands and chant "USA! USA!" into the microphone. Match itself was * in terms of wrestling but ***** in terms of crowd response. Hasheem "Chemical" Ali pinned Patriot after knocking him out with brass knux, but the Honky Tonk Man came out and got the ref to reverse the decision. Honky as a face?!? Yep. The ref reversed the decision and Hasheem stumbled backwards and tripped over the prone Patriot who quickly cradled him for the pin.

After the flag match they called intermission. Honky Tonk and Patriot stayed in the ring and took polaroid’s together with fans. I wouldn't have minded a pic with Honky but I didn't feel like being the only adult in line not accompanied by a kid so I passed. Honky was given an NWA replica belt to have people hold while they took the pics with him and Brandi, er, I mean "The Patriot", and when they were all done Honky gave a couple of Ric Flair "whooooo!"s on his way back to the locker room.

4) NWS Regional Heavyweight Champion Big Biggie Bigs (w/Sports Agent) defeated Man Who's Name I Could Not Hear. I think the guy was called Bonecrusher but I really couldn't make it out nor could I find him on the NWS website. Anyway Big issues an open challenge and this chiseled young black guy came out to answer it. Big made it a title match, then tied to change is mind when eh started getting his butt kicked, but the promoter/matchmaker wouldn't let him. Okay match. Crowd liked it. Big's manger ha the biggest man breasts I've ever seen. Yes, worse than Abdullah The Butcher. The guy looked "bitch tit" Bob from the movie FIGHT CLUB.

5) Rob Eckos pinned Josh Daniels with a small package. The crowd, presented with a modern style wrestling match after a night of old style corn, basically didn't know what to make of it. Eckos cannily assessed the situation and challenged Daniels to a quick pose down to try and get some crowd heat. Eckos heel work got the crowd somewhat into the match but they still seemed mostly nonplussed. A shame as it was the best match of the night. Eckos was very good and Daniels was his usual crisp self. Daniels reminds me of a young Benoit and his work is very close to that level. He is definitely someone to watch.

6) Honky Tonk Man pinned Sal Sincere (w/ Mohoward Ali) with a rollup. Sincere was doing a Gorgeous George type gimmick with a pink boa and a bonnet. He worked the crowd well and they were booing him like crazy and dying to see him lose before he ever stepped in the ring. I do not think one person in the audience realized that this was the exact same guy they were cheering as the masked Patriot an hour before. Honky came out in the Elvis suit and, yes, sang [his old WWF theme] and danced for the crowd, which drove the heels to the back. When they returned Honky threatened to sing *again* but finally said "I'd rather beat up on him with my fist than my music". Match itself mostly consisted on Sincere beating up on honky using a variety of old school dirty heel tricks, like choking him with an Italian flag and hitting him with a foreign object that somehow the ref could never find on Sincere when he checked him. Honky has a bit of a gut and longer hair but otherwise looks and wrestles almost exactly the same as in his WWF days. Bizarre to see Honky playing the underdog face but the crowd bought it 100%. Finally Al was holding Honky against the ropes for a Since punch when Honky ducked, Ali and Sincere collided, and Honky rolled up a stunned sincere for the pin. Fun match to watch. No shake rattle and roll, which was the only disappointment.

FINAL WORD: I wouldn't want to live there, but it was fun to revisit the wrestling 80s for 2 hours or so. Nothing very memorable but enough entertainment to be worth $10, plus it was a benefit so the money went to a good cause.

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