SNYWC July 12th 2003

By Slingblade Carl

Mic Spot with promoter Greg Stengel:

Stengel talked about Livewyre's departure to OVW causing a Heavyweight title vacancy and announced that there would be a tournament for the strap at the next show. He then went on to announce that former champ Dickie Rodz would not be part of it. This prompted Commissioner John Curse to enter the ring and remind Stengel that he had equal say in all NYWC booking decisions. Both men then went on to name people who will be in the tourney. Stengel first selects both Tusk and Brock Vendetta. As a HUGE surprise to nobody in the building, Curse chose Dickie Rodz to a huge pop from the crowd. Greg announces Chief Dudley will enter the tournament, which leads to Curse choosing the master of the Hot Hand, Tony Burma. Stengel takes Nuke with his final pick, and Curse decrees that instead of picking another contestant, he will give Rodz a first round bye. Curse ends the segment by announcing that he would be the final participant in the upcoming title tourney. Nicely worked segment with a good flow to it. Smart way to build anticipation for the next show.

Nuke with Tommy King vs Tony Burma with Savanah

This was Savanah's first appearance in NYWC, and it was confirmed by a very reliable source that she was not related in any way to the XXX actress bearing the same name. Nuke has gotten into much better shape, having lost a considerable amount of weight in the past few months. Although he always moved well for a big man, he has much more quickness and agility than ever before. Savanah removed Burma's pants the same way Val Venis used to have his done back in the day.

The match started off with a nice display of chain wrestling by both competitors. In a refreshing display of psychology, Burma started out by trying to maintain a side headlock as long as possible. He continued to work on the neck throughout the match. Nuke worked on the back with a nice variety of suplexes and power moves. Savanah introduced herself to Tommy King by slapping the taste out of his mouth outside the ring. Of course, the crowd went wild when Burma nailed Nuke with the Hot Hand. In a nice display of counter wrestling, Burma escaped a Boston Crab by grabbing the ropes and flipping his opponent off of him in a catapault type maneuver. Later in the match, Nuke seemed to have decimated Burma with a savage spinebuster. After regaining the advantage, Burma nailed Nuke with a crisp brainbuster which was followed by a float over, keeping the neck psychology in the process. The match ended after a miscommunication between Tommy King and Nuke, which led to a Burmalocity for the three count. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the move, it is an Angle Slam which ends up into a German Suplex. After Nuke regained his senses, he blasted his now former manager with two World War Threes (Owen Hart piledrivers). Solid match which made both competitors look very formidable.

No Highspots Needed (Tyler Payne and Ru Star) vs Ken Scampi and Joey Braggiol

Tyler and Ru wore matching robes, trunks with their team's logo on them and headbands with their names on them. This is something that used to see a lot more of, I feel it is a very nice touch in establishing a tag teams identity, cohesiveness and recognizability. The match started with effective old school face crowd work by Scampi. Throughout the match, No Highspots Needed utilized terrific teamwork and cheating tactics. For the second straight match, the psychology was top notch. Ru worked Scampi's arm while Payne worked Braggiol's leg. The crowd had an amusing "Big Bossman" chant aimed at Braggiol, mocking his black dress pants and shirt ring attire. Say what you will about the man's fashion sense, he has blossomed into a damned good power wrestler. Great facial expressions by Scampi, who gave his usual well rounded solid effort.

The feel of the match was reminiscent of old Arn Anderson/Tully Blanchard matches, the build up to the hot tag was better than in just about any tag match I have ever seen on the indies. All four men deserve equal credit for winning over a crowd that was chanting "boring" throughout the beginning stages of the match. When the lone highspot, a simple plancha by Ken Scampi gets a "HOLY SHIT" chant.....you know all four men deserve serious credit for building up to the spot. The match ended with a Hart Attack by No Highspots Needed for the victory. I hope all aspiring wrestlers have the chance to see this match on tape, they should take copious notes. Spotfests without psychology are a disturbing trend in this sport, I hope this match can reverse this mindset.

Post match, Tyler Payne took the mic and "apologized" to wheelchair bound superfan Joey for hurting his feelings at the previous show. Payne repeatedly asked for forgiveness, which always led to a resounding response of NO. TYLER THEN USES A STAPLE GUN ON JOEY! Great shock value, I must admit to marking out like a seven year old at that point. Tyler Payne is flat out amazing on the stick...more promoters should use him this way, in my opinon. If No Highspots Needed didn't have enough heel heat before, they definitely gained it here....

Guillotine Legrande vs Tim Arson vs "The Disturbed" Damien Dragon with Foxy Dreams

Legrande started off by tapping the microphone for a considerable amount of time, followed up by screaming "IS THIS THING ON?" at the top of his lungs. No matter how many times he does it, I always crack up. He then talked about how he has never lost in Deer Park Convention Center before. Good mic work as always from Guillotine. Damien Dragon got a nice "Welcome Back" chant when he made his way to the ring, his entrance is one of the best on the indies. The match started with Damien nailing both men with a dropkick at the same time and clearing the ring. He then teased a suicide dive by grabbing the top and middle rope, swinging himself back into the ring a la Rey Misterio. Eventually, the match turned into a two on one situation with Arson and Legrande focusing their attack on Dragon's back throughout the contest. Every time either heel went to pin Damien, it was followed by an immediate apology. There was an argument tease between Arson and Legrande, which led to both men refocusing their attack on their common enemy.

I was especially impressed by the exchange of overhead belly to belly suplexes by Arson and Dragon. Much like the match before, the only highspot of the match, done by Damien, got a huge reaction due to its great build up. The match ended when Dragon spat red mist in the face of Legrande, who stumbled into a TKO style stunner by Arson..who picked up the win. Overall, one of the better worked three way dances I have seen. As he left the ring, Tim Arson looked at me taking notes about the show and loudly asked me what I was writing about, and got in my face......good stuff. Arson is scary as hell to look at in person, and he works the intimidation gimmick to perfection.

Mikey Whipwreck and Wayne vs Spyder with Veronica Payne and a mystery partner for the NYWC Tag Titles

Mikey and Wayne threw brooms, chairs and yellow police tape into the ring. Entertaining comedy with the props. Spyder had Veronica translate for him when he was on the mic. Anyone who took Spanish in high school got the joke immediately, as what he was saying had nothing to do with wrestling. Payne then "translated" that Nuke would be Spyder's partner for this match. A large portion of the crowd chanted "ECW" at Mikey, although the promotion has been defunct for years and most who worked under that banner strongly dislike Paul Heyman. Oh well........

Good chain wrestling to start things off. At one point in the match, Mikey pulled down Ref Andre's pants to the crowds amusement. Wayne and Mikey paid homage to the legendary Bushwackers by utilizing the battering ram, complete with the signature gestures by both men. In an innovative spot, Nuke and Spyder were standing on the second rope with the crowd counting along for every punch in Spanish. Before they could get to ten, Mikey dropped down and dumped Spyder over the top rope and on to the floor. Much like just about every other match on the show, there was good psychology involved. Nuke's back was the focus of attack, which included a nasty liiking camel cluth by Whipwreck with a chair draped across the big man. Mikey dropped a wicked Arabian Facebuster onto Spyder after the hold was broken. Both teams displayed good teamwork, an especially crisp move saw Nuke holding Wayne in a sidewalk slam position until Spyder nailed him with a springboard legdrop. Another example of this saw Nuke nail both of his foes with a double springboard clothesline after recieving a blind tag from his partner. Good number of two and a half counts by both teams in a very evenly fought battle. Mikey eventually pins Spyder after nailing him with the whippersnapper. More prop comedy by Wayne and Mikey after the match.

Intermission....

Very fan friendly set up saw various wrestlers sitting at tables in another room and signing autographs for anyone who approached them. I can't say a single wrestler was anything but friendly, Chief Dudley was making balloon animals for crying out loud! This kind of situation makes fans want to come back and bring their friends with them, very smart way of doing business.... At the start of the second half of the show, ring announcer Nick Verona pointed out that superfan Joey was now wearing a bandage across his head. Even though he was brutalized by the dastardly Tyler Payne, he loves NYWC enough to stick around for the duration of the show. Upon seeing the heavily bandaged Joey, many fans were laughing hysterically.

Mic Spot with Chief Dudley

Dudley berated fans that cheered him and were holding up the ballon animals he made for them during intermission. Reminded the crowd that he is "an American from Oklahoma". The veteran Dudley is a master with the microphone in his hand. He laid out an open challenge for anyone in the back. Maison Rage comes out and lays him out with a series of DVD neckbreakers to a huge pop. Rage is a powerhouse, this was a good way to introduce him to the audience. Great post scuffle selling of the neck by Chief Dudley, who responded to the fans jeers by saying "Can't you see I am in pain?" Gotta love his accent.....

Princes Palace with Prince Charles and Dickie Rodz

Intricate setup included a red carpet, a table with a vase with a flower in it and chairs set up on both sides of it. Charles introduced Dickie by referring to him as a woman. Rodz came out with a giant sized pink Care Bear under his arm, as always he worked his homosexual gimmick to perfection. Prince Charles began by mocking Dickie Rodz for losing the title and asked him if it "was a hard one to swallow". Charles then gave him a t-shirt which Dickie wiped his booty with. Rodz was then asked how he felt about his former friend Tyler Payne's recent severe change of attitude and allignment with Ru Star, which led to Ru Star and Tyler Payne makig their way to the ring. Ru Star began by offering Dickie a spot in No Highspots Needed. Tyler then mentioned how close his friendship with Rodz was in the past, and threatened to reveal a huge secret about him if he doesn't join them. Dickie responded by talking about their ring attire and insinuated they had the same sexual preference because of it. Ru and Tyler roughed up Rodz until John Curse came down and cleared the ring. Prince Charles tried to leave the ring, only to be cornered by Dickie, who rubbed his booty all over the horrified aristocrat. Curse then challenges No Highspots Needed to a match later in the show, and reminds them they have no real choice in the matter since he is the commisioner anyway. Rodz proceeds to nail Charles with his finisher, the pocket rocket. The fans then began to chant "Teabag Him!", which he did to thunderous applause. Considering Prince Charles made his wrestling debut on February 1 this year, and has only worked for NYWC during that time period. He has come a very long way in a short amount of time, he evolved from being long winded and boring to a very entertaining heel who justifies his spot on the roster.

"Everyone's Favorite Wrestler" Dan Barry vs Jay Lethal for the NYWC Light-Heavyweight Championship

This was Jay Lethal's debut for this promotion, and at the start of the match many of the fans had no idea who he was. I have seen this man work quite a few matches over the last couple of years, and he has established himself as one of the top cruiserweights in the world today. Everyone's Favorite Wrestler recently had a great match with Xavier, where he more than held his own and turned a lot of heads in the wrestling industry. Although many consider him to be one of the best on the indy scene already, he has shown tremendous improvement from match to match. I expected nothing less than a Match of the Year candidate, and I wasn't disappointed.

This encounter had everything, fluid mat wrestling and counter-wrestling, great psychology, and a plethora of high risk maneuvers. To properly do it justice, I would have to spend hours writing about this match alone....and frankly, I am way too lazy to do so. Great spots included a series rolling DDT's into a roll of the dice by Barry and a dropping 2nd rope DDT by Lethal that looked like it damn near killed Danny boy. The spot of the night was when Lethal hit Barry with a diving headbutt off the top rope and went up for a second one. In a move that required perfect timing, Everyone's Favorite Wrestler sat up and caught Lethal with a diamond cutter. The end of the match occurred when Jay Lethal had Dan Barry on the top rope and was preparing for a tiger bomb. Barry reversed it into an Irish Car Bomb for the victory. The crowd responded with a well deserved standing ovation and scattered chants of "Five Star Match".

Armand Demuerto vs Lamar Braxton Porter

This was the only real problem I had with the card. Why would you follow such a good match with something like this? Sure, both competitors are fine workers, but the fans just witnessed a Match of the Year candidate! To be fair, they worked a good big man vs little man psychology and the match was not bad at all. After a couple of minutes into the match, Crusher Doogan came out with the mic in his hand and began to berate both men. He then demands that both men leave the ring, and for some reason they both obliged him. Tony Burma emerges and yells at Doogan for interrupting a good match. The crowd agrees with him, and with good reason. Burma then challenges Doogan's protege, Brock Vendetta for the next show. J Silva, in a mask, comes to the ring wearing a J Silva shirt. He must still be a bit loopy from the con-chair-to he endured from the previous show. Both men kick the crap out of Vendetta's manager and unceremoniously deposit him on the outside of the ring. They then do the Three Amigos salute to the appreciation of those who are familiar with the movie. I must confess that I was one of those people. In homage to one of the best entertainers ever, J Silva leaves to the ring to the strains of Andy Kaufman's old Memphis wrestling theme song.

Matt Hype vs Southern Vinny Stylin for the NYWC Interstate Title (Trailer Park Rules)

Southern Vinny Stylin comes out with the "Trailer Park Rulebook" and began to read from it. Before he could get more than a word out, Hype rips the book out of his hands and hits him over the head with it. What's this? Matt Hype just beat Stylin with the flatliner after only a few minutes! New Interstate Champion! Nope, too good to be true....SVS shows ring announcer the rulebook, which leads to the announcement that the match cannot be won by pinfall. Thats what hype gets for not allowing Stylin to familiarize him with the rules! I seemed to be the only fan in attendance who felt this way, as the crowd got on Vinny's case in a big way.

The match restarts, Hype continues to control the offense and looks very impressive doing so. SVS gets frustrated, rolls out of the ring and brings a chair in. He then proceeds to nail Hype with it, leading to the referee calling for the bell. Hype wins by disqualification? The ring announcer seems to think so, until Stylin points out that as per Trailer Park rules, you can't lose by DQ. Alrighty then! Umm, if the champ loses by DQ, doesn't he retain the title? Ahh...screw it, the match continues! Good wrestling by both men culminating with a painful looking standing surfboard that SVS has no choice but to submit to. Finally!!! New champion, Matt Hype!....

You gotta be kidding me! According to the Trailer Park Rulebook, a match cannot end in a submission. Ring announcer Nick Verona finally loses it and asks how a match like this can end. Vinny advises that the only way to win is to throw your opponent over the to rope with both feet touching the floor. So....in effect, this match is a two man battle royal? Okay....terrific! SVS regains the advantage after the match continues, and brutalizes Hype with a sick looking Angle slam into a hangman's neckbreaker. Ow!!! Eventually, the referee gets knocked out right before Stylin is backdropped over the top rope. This kid can't catch a break! SVS pulls Hype out of the ring and floors him with a punch. He then rolls back into the ring and tells the ref that he threw his opponent over the top. Nice try Vinny.....wait, the ref actually believes him and calls for the bell! Your winner, Southern Vinny Stylin?

No Highspots Needed vs John Curse and Dickie Rodz

The match starts with the old school cowardly heels afraid to engage in a fair fight spot to begin the match. Ru and Tyler continually try to sneak up on Curse or Rodz, only to be met by a punch that knocks him out of the ring. When the match finally started, Curse and Dickie get the classic ten punch from the second rope spot from opposite corners. The crowd was eating this up. At one point, Ru Star had a side headlock on Dickie Rodz that he maintained for a few minutes, with Rodz trying desperately to break the hold. After Dickie finally regains the advantage, Ru runs to his corner and hugs Tyler while on his knees. When the match resumes, the fans are treated to good mat wrestling exchanges and eventual offensive advantage by Ru and Tyler. Good build up to hot tag to Curse, who goes on a clothesline spree. Payne tries to call "time out" from the outside, only to be chased by Rodz around the ring.

No Highspots Needed regain the advantage and begin to cheat in almost every way imaginable. The heels have been working on Curse's arm for a while now and begin to use a classic double team leverage armbar spot, with one man pulling back from the outside to make the move even more painful and unbreakable. Tyler Payne eventually does the Garvin Stomp, when was the last time you saw that move?

Curse eventually gets the hot tag to Rodz, who cleans house and eventually nails Ru Star with the Pocket Rocket. The referee counts to two before realizing that Star wasn't the legal man! D'oh! The heels proceed to get the win with a Rocket Launcher. Good back and forth battle to end the night. In closing, every single match had psychology ranging from good to unparalelled. Although mainstays Brock Vendetta, Mike Mayhem, The Solution, Johnny Ova, Grim Reefer and especially Livewyre were not on the show....this was easily on par with the high quality NYWC has conditioned their fans to come to expect from them.

SlingbladeCarl
Slingblade_Carl@hotmail.com

BACK TO EXTRAS INDEX