NWA Main Event TV Review - Episode 32

Courtesy of Larry Goodman:

NWA Main Event – Episode 32
Airing November 8, 2008 in Nashville on ION affiliate
Taped November 2, 2008 in LaVergne, Tn at the HWA Arena

Opening with a promo from Ricky Syks, who has been converted from the New York Gangster to New York Rocker. Same look. He’s now a singles wrestler and he’s going straight to the top.

Jason James and Tyler Clemmons on commentary for the first NWA ME show taped in LaVergne.

1 – LARRY COOTER & BRYAN CASEY vs. “Playboy” SCOTT HAYES & “New York Rocker” RICKY SYKS

Cooter used a low blow to start the heat on Syks. They worked over his arm. A cross armbreaker was treated like just another hold. Geez. Double flying clothesline. Casey and Syks down and tagging. House cleaning by Hayes. Cooter went for a pumphandle slam, and Hayes countered with an O’Connor Roll, which was a major improvement on the version he beat Daniels with last week.

WINNERS: Hayes & Syks in 7:10. OK I guess. I just can’t buy Syks as a babyface, and Casey has zero heel presence. The best thing about it was Hayes’ fast and furious work with the hot tag.

Hayes cut a totally average promo for his match against Jeff Daniels Tuesday night at the Nashville Fairgrounds with two referees.

Promo by “Mean” Mike Woods. He was sick of Shank Barzini’s excuses for not showing up because they had unfinished business.

2 – “Mean” MIKE WOODS vs. “The Internet’s Favorite Wrestler” WHITE TIGER

They established this was man vs. boy. Woods spinebustered the bejeezus out of Tiger. Tiger capitalized on a missed elbow drop by raining down a bazillion weak blows on Woods, who ended the uprising with two punches from his knees. Awesome. Tiger made a last gasp comeback where he decked Woods with a dropkick and missed with the world’s worst looking frogsplash. Woods smoked him with Clothesline from Hell for the pin.

WINNER: Woods in 4:45. Perversely entertaining. Tiger’s offense is pathetic but he does writhing in agony with the best of them.

Tennessee Homecoming 2008 at the Nashville Fairgrounds on Thanksgiving Night featuring a two ring battle royal as the main event AND a major announcement from Commissioner George Gulas was yet to come.

Jeff Daniels (with Dominique). He was pissed about Gulas ordering two refs for his title defense Tuesday night. Daniels and said Hayes would pay for Gulas’ sins.

3 -- NWA Mid America Heavyweight Champion JEFF DANIELS (with Domique) vs. DYRON FLYNN

Daniels toyed with Flynn, but he got a lot of offense on the champion. It wouldn’t be a Daniels match unless Dominique interfered so James could call her “that little she devil.” Flynn actually had the champ pinned with a sunset flip, but Dominique had the ref (son Jamie but they didn’t make a point of it) distracted. We had to watch Flynn’s belly shake as he delivered the 10 Horrible Punches of Doom. Daniels used an Emerald Frosien as his finisher.

WINNER: Daniels in 7:30 but it seemed to last forever. A ridiculous match. Flynn is way too green to last that long with the champion. I can only assume that Daniels decided to give Flynn his next wrestling lesson on TV.

4 -- ”Magnum” SHANE SMALLS vs. AIDEN SCOTT

James mentioned that Scott and Smalls wrestled each other on one of those brutally bad shows shot at the Tennessee State Fair. Scott landed a wicked dropkick to the side of the head that sent Smalls out of the ring. Smalls countered one of Scott’s aerial maneuvers with a powerbomb, and went into ruthless aggression mode. Finish saw Smalls miss on a springboard twisting crossbody. Scott went up top and got dumped by Chris Cain to set up the pin.

WINNER: Smalls in 5:40. There were some rough spots, but this match was a breath of fresh air after the Daniels/Flynn debacle. Smalls is a kick ass worker.

Promo by Cain and Smalls for their tag match against Scott & Steve-O Tuesday night.

5 -- NWA Mid America Television Title Match: Champion STEVE-O vs. “Colossal” CHRIS CAIN

Back and forth chain wrestling until Cain dropkicked O’s bum knee. Cain used a half crab. O countered a fisherman suplex with a small package. Cain taunted O and continued his assault on O’s legs. Clemmons said Cain was disabling O’s superkick. At 9:00, O hit a desperation enzuirgiri. Comeback time. Cain kicked out of O’s neckbreaker. A ref bump occurred off camera. Visual fall for O with a sunset flip. Cain used ye olde Tennessee Chain on O. Cover. Ferrari stopped the count at one and Cain got up. Time stood still before Scott attacked Cain. Smalls attacked Scott. Ferrari called for the bell. Scott and O cleared the ring with a double dropkick.

WINNER: O retains the TV Title via DQ at 11:30 due to outside interference. Decent match. Strange finish. I’m guessing they had to improvise because Scott was late with the run-in. O did a good job selling the legs.

Promo by O and Scott for Tuesday night. O said they needed to watch each other’s backs.

Closing Thoughts: Geez, was I wrong about new venue being an improvement over the Fairgrounds for television. That plasticized ring covering screams minor league, and all the empty chairs looked terrible on camera. The commentary continues to be a bright spot. James and Clemmons do a nice job of swapping roles between color and play-by-play. NWA Main Event is really struggling right now because their roster is so thin. Again, no mention of J.P. Lightning, as Main Event's most interesting story has suddnely evaporated. Snake Jones is gone, so out of the blue, they’ve got Chaming Charles managing Shank Barzini against Woods for the Fairgrounds show. Scott is a promising cruiserweight, but when a guy that green is your #3 babyface, it’s not a good sign. I’m afraid fans are going to be sick of seeing these guys by the time they get to the Thanksgiving show, and adding a battle royal main event does nothing for me. I like the “be careful what you whine about” angle of the two referee stipulation, but it could really stand a recap of Daniels’ escapades before the match with Hayes airs. Daniels match was a great example of how to devalue your heavyweight title. Fine to do a deal where the heel toys with the rookie. Squash the guy and then refuse to make the pin until Hayes runs in. I wish I could say they made the most of a bad situation with this show, but it felt more like they made a bad situation worse.