Showtime All-Star Wrestling TV Review - Episode 71

Courtesy of Larry Goodman:

Showtime All-star Wrestling – Episode 71
Airing on November 22, 2008 in Nashville on Comcast 74
Taped on November 8, 2008 at the SAW Mill in Millersville, Tn

LAST WEEK AT THE SAW MILL…A bloody Arrick Andrews is helped out of the ring by SAW security. The fans are chanting “Arrick!” non-stop. He refuses further assistance and collapses to the floor. Andrews claws his way up the ramp, his face a crimson mask.

To the stand up segment with Michael Graham and Reno Riggins. Graham called the Andrews footage disturbing. Riggins said it was Rachel Worthington’s birthday, so God forbid Shaun Shultz and Chrisjen Hayme don’t make her happy. Today’s “main event anywhere in the country” is Chris Michaels vs. Chase Stevens. Reno lets Graham have the honors…and SAW STARTS NOW!

1 – SIGMON vs. JESSE EMERSON

Sigmon out with a gas can and a lighter, and that can’t be good. The announce team speculated about his intent to burn the flag a few weeks back. Emerson’s variations on the atomic drop had Sigmon hobbling around at ringside. Back inside, Sigmon cut Emerson off with a standing dropkick. Sigmon busted out the high impact offense. Riggins sad Sigmon was a little delusional for believing he was the victim of profiling due to his Middle Eastern heritage. Delusional? Maybe not so much. Both men down on a midring collision of clotheslines. Sigmon up first, but Emerson won the exchange of blows and popped the crowd with a lariat over the top. Sigmon posted Emerson and whacked him on top of the head with a chair for the DQ.

Winner: Emerson via DQ in 5:20. Enough of Sigmon’s “I’m the superior wrestler” facade, his true personality shines through. Cool.

Sigmon emptied the contents of the gasoline can on Emerson. He flicked his lighter to tease the unthinkable. Tribal Nation, Drew Haskins and LT Falk all came out to make a slipping and sliding save.

Graham and Riggins recapped clips of the gasoline incident. Riggins said Emerson was getting his eyes flushed and a medical team had been called. They moved on to the horrific beating Andrews took last week.

Natalie Von Eron interviewed Paul Adams and David Young. Adams said the A-Team dangled the carrot of a crumbling empire in front of Andrews. Then, he lulled Andrews into a false sense of security and took one for the team. Adams said he hoped Andrews enjoyed replaying the footage of his lucky pinfall over Young, because after last week, his wrestling career was history.

Von Eron cued up a taped response from Andrews. He said Young put 15 stitches in his head and he was challenging him to a match.

Young tried to hit on Von Eron. He called Andrews the stupidest man alive for getting all hot and bothered about getting a pin on him.

You’ve opened up a can of beans, son, that you’ll never be able to eat…I will come to this building for free if I have to, but either way, Arrick Andrews, your career is over.

Adams said he should be the one bragging, not Andrews, because his career record in SAW was a flawless 1-0. He invited Andrews to bring it next week.

In the back, the always lovely Ms. Rachel Worthington was wearing a tiara in honor of her birthday. Shultz pulled Hayme out of his way and told Ms. Worthington how glad he was about getting to spend her birthday together. Shultz promised her anything.

Daddy’s done parked my big gift out in the driveway, and I do have some cash to go shopping on, but what you two can do, is get rid of TJ Harley, once and for all.

Shultz waited for Worthington to leave before blasting Hayme for constantly screwing up.

This time, because I obviously have to do the job myself, I want you to sit back here, so you don’t screw it up for me, and if I happen to need you, I call for ya.

2 – TJ HARLEY vs. SHAUN SHULTZ (with Rachel Worthington)

Harley brought Shultz in the hard way and repeatedly mounted and pounded his sorry ass. Harley teased using Shawn’s DDT finisher. Shultz reversed it, but Harley countered by gnawing on Shultz’s hand. Harley tossed Shultz out at Rachel’s feet. Riggins made the point that Shultz had been the one messing up not Hayme. As Harley pulled Shultz up by his golden locks, Shultz snapped Harley’s neck off the top rope to take over. Shultz used any means necessary to cut of succession of comeback attempts. A collision of lariats left both men down. Rachel showed her support for Shawn by grabbing his hand. This time, Harley’s comeback had serious steam behind it. Shultz poked Harley in the eyes. Shultz countered a blind swing with the DDT. Shultz brought Worthington’s purse into play. In the ensuing struggle, Harley took the purse away from Shultz, but ref Jim Kleckner grabbed it away from Harley. Hayme hit the ring. He snatched the purse out of Kleckner’s hands, shoved Harley out of the way and nailed Shultz with it. Kleckner shrugged his shoulders. Graham said he heard the bell. Worthington got in the ring to check on Shultz. Harley walked off with Rachel’s purse and a big smile on his face.

Winner: Shultz via DQ in 8:40 after getting nailed by Hayme. It had to come to this. It was just a matter of when. The wrestling was secondary to the story. The way Shultz sold it, I sure hope there was more in that purse than Ms. Worthington’s shopping money. More suspect reffing in SAW, as Kleckner never motioned for the DQ. Graham had to cover for him.

Graham and Reno introduced the premiere edition of “Paul’s Pulpit” hosted by Paul Adams– “Where I get to come out here and pontificate.” It opened with Paul Adams superimposed over 50’s black and white stills of the Rat Pack set to “Big Spender.” Fade to Adams and Ric Santel at ringside. Adams introduced Jerry Lynn. The crowd started a “Jerry! Jerry!” and kept it going throughout the segment. Adams buttered Lynn up about being a stand up guy and a fighting champion, then turned the mic over to “Nature’s Greatest Miracle.” Santel said title shots should be granted on win-loss records and his was impeccable, so he was the number one contender. Lynn said it wasn’t his call. It was up to the Board of Directors, and it would be his privilege to give Santel a shot when the BOD said so. Adams and Santel looked shocked.

Commissioner Freddie Morton announced that Jerry Lynn’s first defense of the SAW International Championship would take place against Kid Kash next week. Morton explained that Kash’s 30 day suspension would be up tomorrow and he was guaranteed a rematch.

3 – CHRIS MICHAELS (with Sean Casey & Lexi Pillman & Tiana) vs. CHASE STEVENS

Stevens on fire right from the opening bell. Reno noted the absence of Fallon from either corner. Casey took a shot from Stevens for mouthing off. Michaels collapsed after taking a hard whip into the corner. Stevens followed up with a rolling neck snap for another near fall. Michaels looked half dead, but mustered up a jawbreaker. He stomped away on Stevens and jacked his jaw with a series of short lefts for a two count. Heavy interference from Casey ensued. Out of nowhere, Stevens hit a sick snap suplex on the outside. Michaels’ back visibly bounced off the concrete. The announce team put the move over as doing major damage. No shit. Back inside, it was desperation time for Michaels. He decked Stevens with a kick to the knee, and attacked the leg with a vengeance. Stevens withstood a barrage of punches in the painful process of regaining his vertical base. Stevens fired up. Big backdrop and Michaels was begging for mercy. With Casey distracting ref Kurt Herron, the masked man in black ran down and clipped Stevens’ knee with a martial arts kick, and he was easy pickings for Michaels.

Winner: Stevens in 7:30 via DQ when the mysterious masked man in black interfered. This was pretty ho-hum stuff for the first five minutes, but it took a major turn for the better with that killer snap suplex on the floor. There were positioning problems with the finish. Casey’s distraction occurred on the same side of the ring as the masked guy running in, so Herron had to be blind not to see him. At least the camera angle kept it from being too obvious.

Random Thoughts: An OK episode. Nothing reached the high points of the previous two episodes. That would be a tall order. On the other hand, there was nothing close to as bad as those tag team matches. The first half was the better half of the show. The opening footage of Andrews was gold. Andrews was fantastic as a gory mess of never-say-die babyface. The other thing that made the segment stand out was the crowd reaction. It was exceptional. Rarely does a SAW crowd do justice to the quality of the angles…The gasoline angle was pretty spicy. If threatened to set your opponent on fire doesn’t get heat I don’t know what would. The athleticism of the Sigmon/Emerson program sets it apart the other feuds…If Hayme was on Shultz’s level as a performer, the Worthington triangle could be something special…Graham seemed more at home this week. His stand up segments with Reno flowed nicely.…The opening to Paul’s Pulpit the kind of thing you just don’t see on typical indie wrestling shows- truly, a cut above the rest. I thought the interaction with Lynn was fair. It felt like they didn’t fully achieve what they envisioned with that segment…I really like Freddie Morton as the Commissioner. He makes for an entirely credible authority figure…There was a telltale clue in the previous episode as to identity of the mysterious masked man...The closing was flat compared to the drama of the previous two episodes. Again, this show had tough acts to follow…The next episode looks loaded: Lynn vs. Kash, Young vs. Andrews and Marc Anthony vs. Gary Valiant.