Credit: OVWrestling.com
04/02/2005 – DAVIS ARENA
* BRENT ALBRIGHT VS. MIKE MONDO
* INTERVIEW WITH BLUEPRINT
* THE THRILLSEEKERS VS. M-N-M
* A SPECIAL LOOK AT THE TOMMY DREAMER & THE DUDLEY BOYS VS. LANCE STORM & M-N-M MATCH FROM 3/26/2005
* DANNY INFERNO & TRUDI DENUCCI VS. AARON “THE IDOL” STEVENS & BETH PHOENIX
TV CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
BRENT ALBRIGHT VS. MIKE MONDO
REF: Ray Ramsey
A doozy of a week in OVW television started off with Brent Albright coming out to the ring to defend his winning streak as the TV Champion. Albright was followed closely by his opponent this week, Mike Mondo, who brought with him Kenny Bolin, Ms. Blue, and his ever-present “Godzilla fears Mondo” sign. Albright and Mondo locked up, with Albright gaining a quick advantage by taking down Mondo three times in a row.
In anger, Mondo shoved Albright and slapped him, getting a spear and a series of knuckle-sandwiches from Albright in return. Brent whipped Mike into the ropes for an over-the-head belly-to-belly suplex. Mondo was down on his knees begging for mercy, but thinking well enough to duck out of the way as a raging Albright came running at him, sending Albright straight out of the ring and to the ground in pain.
Bolin held his briefcase high to attack, yet had to fight off the urge thanks to Ramsey telling him off. As Ramsey kept after Bolin, Mondo came out and shoved Albright back into the ring for a near-pin. Mondo kicked Albright twice to maneuver him into the corner and then hit Brent with the shoulderblock three times. Still, after all that abuse, Albright refused to lay still for a pin attempt by Mondo. Mike placed Brent into the abdominal stretch, which Albright fought out of with a hiptoss.
Spying an opportunity with Albright catching a breath in the corner, Mondo ran towards him, only to get a boot in the face. Mondo staggered out into the middle of the ring, then the two ran and performed a simultaneous clothesline on each other, sending them both down. Both got up, with Mondo drawing the first two punches, getting a punch in return, and then kneeing Brent in the gut before whipping him into the ropes. Albright came back with a kick to the head of Mondo and then a clothesline.
Whipping Mondo into the ropes, Albright sent Mike to the mat with a shoulder tackle and then a belly-to-belly 90 degree suplex. Albright got a couple of near-pins before the two began trading some abuse back and forth. Mondo managed to pull off a powerful move in his array, the gutcheck for a near-pin.
Heading into the corner after the pin attempt did not work, Mondo flew off the top rope only to find Albright up and able to position himself under Mondo so that Mike ended up with an armbreaker for all his troubles. Throwing Mondo in to the Crowbar, it appeared that the match was going to end there, except that Ramsey was diverted by the charms of Ms. Blue on the apron.
Getting tired of watching Mondo tap out to the Crowbar, Albright got up and turned Ramsey around to find out what was going on. In shoving Ramsey aside to talk to him, Albright sidestepped a rampaging Mondo, who had intended a wild swing to connect with Albright’s head, yet instead clocked Ms. Blue. Ms. Blue fell backwards and on to the lumpy shores of Kenny Bolin, sending them both to the ground.
Seeing another chance to end the match, Albright threw Mondo down and placed him again into the Crowbar. Ramsey had no distractions this time, so when Mondo tapped out, it was the end of the match and another win for Brent Albright. After this many weeks with a steady streak of wins, OVW might as well start making those checks out to Albright before the matches and save everyone some time. Albright would no doubt agree, as he grabbed the mic from Dean and told Mondo that he had just tapped out to the best wrestler in OVW.
INTERVIEW WITH BLUEPRINT
Actually, this didn’t start off as an interview at all, but rather a chance for Jim Cornette to remind fans about the opportunity to see many OVW alumni, like Randy Orton, John Cena and Batista, in the biggest annual event in professional wrestling, WRESTLEMANIA 21. However, just as Mr. Cornette was about to move on to discussing a match from the previous week, The Blueprint came out to confront Cornette in an unscheduled confrontation between the two.
The Blueprint stated that he was sick and tired with the talk about the OVW alumni, especially as he was as good as they were. The Blueprint demanded to know whose fault it was that HE was not at WRESTLEMANIA 21. Was it Cornette’s fault? WWE’s? Danny Davis?
Jim Cornette demanded that The Blueprint take off his mask and then they would talk. To the surprise of the crowd, The Blueprint did just that, reveling himself to be Matt Morgan. Cornette was also surprising in being somewhat complimentary to Morgan. According to Cornette, Morgan was in great shape, had amazing skills, was still in his twenties, was injury-free, and had beaten the best in OVW. Morgan had great potential – BUT! – The reason Matt Morgan wasn’t at WRESTLEMANIA 21 was because of … MAT MORGAN! It was his own fault, as he had the tools and the skills to make it big, but he had to try to jump over others to make it to WWE before he was ready. When Morgan turned his back on the trainers and the fans, he became his own worst enemy.
Morgan listened and said that he would admit that everything Cornette said was true on one condition – that he gets a chance to face OVW Champion Elijah Burke in the ring one more time; if he loses, Matt stated that he would agree with Cornette. Cornette said that Morgan deserved the opportunity and to come back in seven days to find out if the match with Burke will happen. Morgan agreed, stating that he will prove why he is the Blueprint of OVW.
THE THRILLSEEKERS VS. M-N-M
REF: Robert Brisko
M-N-M came out and they now have their own bodyguards to fight off the adoring fans, of which I’m sure there are some somewhere. While it did seem like a normal entrance for the trio, there was no way Melina was going to enter the ring in her normal fashion, as the stipulation of this match was that Melina be handcuffed to the ringpost so she could not interfere. She seemed upset as she was being handcuffed to the ringpost, which was slightly surprising. I mean, knowing the two guys she is hanging around with, one would think she would be used to handcuffs by now.
The Thrillseekers came out making fun of the position M-N-M were in for the match, until Joey Matthews finally came into the ring to start the match proper with a kick to the guts of Matt Capotelli. After an elbow to Matt’s back, Matthews pulled Matt over to the corner, where Johnny Nitro awaited with a boot up on the top rope. Matt held off being rammed into the boot with a legblock and then threw Matthews into Nitro’s boot. Matt decked Nitro off of the apron and turned in time to get kicked by Joey. Joey attempted a whip off Matt, but Capotelli reversed it, whipping Matthews instead into a corner. Joey used the corner ropes to pull himself up, expecting Matt to run into the ringpost. Instead, Matt slid underneath Joey and out of the ring to land on his feet. In the confusion, Matt stepped over to Melina, pulled her back and planted a big wet one on her mouth, then jumped back on the apron, kicking an angry Johnny Nitro in the head along the way.
Matthews came to the ropes to get Matt, but Capotelli hit him with a shoulderblock. With Joey bent over in pain, Matt attempted a sunset flip over the ropes and back into the ring, yet Matthews held on to the ropes long enough to tag in Nitro before letting go. Matt, little realizing that Nitro was the legal man now, commenced with a pin of Matthews and did not expect the kick to the back that Nitro came him. Nitro and Capotelli traded punches until Matt slid out of the ring with Johnny in hot pursuit. Capotelli came back in only to stand up and get a shoulderblock from Nitro through the ropes. Nitro’s attempt at a sunset flip went badly, however, when Matt moved out of the way, leading to Nitro flipping hard into the ring on his back.
With Nitro in pain, Matt had more than enough time to tag in Johnny Jeter and the two Thrillseekers double-team on Nitro with shoulder tackles. Jeter then punched Matthews off the apron. Nitro punched Jeter several times and then tagged in a recovering Matthews. Nitro and Matthews tried to double-team on Jeter, but only ended up getting clotheslined by Jeter instead. Jeter shoulder-tackled Matthews, which he followed with a kick to the head. Nitro ran in to help and got hiptossed by Jeter in return. Jeter than performed a neckbreaker on Matthews for a pin attempt, which was stopped when Nitro pulled Jeter up by the hair. With Nitro still holding on, Jeter elbowed Nitro in the head a couple of times, finally sending Nitro outside. Matthews then whipped Jeter into the ropes, with Jeter bouncing back right into a backdrop by Nitro over the ropes and hard on to the floor. Matt ran over to check on his fellow Thrillseeker and was told to get back to his corner by Brisko. Nitro grabbed Jeter and tossed him back into the ring before he too got a lecture from Brisko to get back to his corner.
Matthews got a near-pin, then kneed Jeter in the stomach twice, sending Jeter flying and ultimately into another near-pin. Nitro tagged in and Matthews and Nitro performed a double suplex on Jeter. A pin attempt was stopped by Matt and Matthews was tagged back in by Nitro for a bodyslam of Jeter and another near-pin. Nitro tagged back in and the two doubled-up on a backbreaker. Matthews then came back in and whipped Jeter upsidedown into the corner, with Jeter landing on his back when he came to rest. Matthews kicked Jeter in the head and then choked Jeter with his boot. As Matthews had to back off due to the Brisko, Nitro attacked from the outside before Jeter was pulled back in and given a backbreaker and then put into a bow and arrow over the knee by Matthews. Jeter fought back with a few kicks of his knee into Matthews’ head. Jeter got up, only to find Nitro coming at him with a kick to the head. Jeter managed to grab hold of Nitro’s foot and did a spin-kick that sent Nitro flying. With an opening, Jeter tagged in Capotelli.
Capotelli clotheslined Nitro and Matthews, only to be whipped into the corner by Matthews. Matthews misses with a swing, however, and Capotelli roars out of the corner and jumps on to Nitro’s shoulders to bring him down. Matt then threw Joey on top of Nitro, with Joey bouncing off and off to the side. Matt then performed his patented Electric Slide Legdrop on Nitro for a near-pin.
Nitro managed to work his way through the ropes, but Capotelli caught him on the apron and attempted to suplex Nitro back over the ropes. Unfortunately for Matt, Joey was on the outside and helped pull Capotelli’s legs out from under him, allowing Nitro to get the crossbody and a pin-attempt that was assisted by Matthews holding down Matt’s legs. Still, Matt somehow managed to break the pin and Jeter ran in to baseball-slide Matthews away from the ring. After a kick to Nitro’s face by Capotelli, Jeter and Capotelli teamed up to double-kick Nitro in the face. A pin attempt was stopped by Matthews, who then kicked Jeter and sent him out of the ring. Capotelli sent Matthews out and got up in the corner for a final assault on Nitro. Matthews, however, had his own plans and pushed Matt off the corner. Matt hit the top rope with his face and went down. Matthews got back in to help set up the Snapshot for Nitro by putting Capotelli on his shoulder and turning away from Nitro. As Nitro did the “snap-snap” movement of an imaginary camera, Jeter came in and rolled up Nitro. Just as that happened, Capotelli wiggled out of Matthews’ hold and rolled up Matthews as well. With the Thrillseekers pinning both male members of M-N-M, Brisko had no problems in counting 1-2-3 for both at the same time for a double pin and the win.
Matthews and Nitro stated their argument against the win to Brisko, but eventually backed off due to the ref’s wise words … and because they turned to receive kicks in the faces by The Thrillseekers. On the other hand, Melina was now unchained and threw herself on to Jeter’s back, trying to choke him with the handcuffs. Jeter tossed her off and as The Thrillseekers thought of giving Melina a spanking for her bad behavior, Nitro and Matthews came back to beatdown on The Thrillseekers.
As things started to look back for Capotelli and Jeter, two men ran into the ring to fight off the attack: Seth Skyfire and the surprise return of Mac Johnson. As M-N-M struggled to make their way to the back, Mac Johnson got on the mic to tell them that they didn’t put him six feet under and that Johnson and Skyfire wanted M-N-M in a match. It appears that M-N-M is making many an enemy lately when it comes to the OVW tag-teams. Will they eventually find themselves harming their pretty-boy looks?
A SPECIAL LOOK AT THE TOMMY DREAMER & THE DUDLEY BOYS VS. LANCE STORM & M-N-M MATCH FROM 3/26/2005
Fans have been talking about a very special match that happened after the show on March 25, 2005. Fortunately for those of us who were unable to attend the filming that week, OVW has been gracious enough to give us a few snapshots of that major event.
Things started off with Tommy Dreamer coming to the ring to make a major announcement. He mentioned that he now worked behind-the-scenes for WWE, looking to OVW for the next Rock or Stone Cold and pointing out how many OVW stars had become big stars in WWE as well. However, just as he was about to make his big announcement, M-N-M hit the arena with their full red carpet treatment.
Joey Matthews grabbed the mic and told Dreamer that no one wanted to hear his “big announcement” as M-N-M were the stars of OVW and ratings were through the roof because of them. As for Dreamer, he is “just yesterday’s news.” Dreamer politely pointed out to Joey that he felt, and was sure that the fans would agree, that Matthews was a name that probably shouldn’t appear in a family-oriented review here.
Matthews returned the volley by calling Dreamer a has-been who “sucked in WWE and sucked in ECW” and who they hated. But they didn’t hate him quite as much as a man waiting in the back did.
With that, Lance Storm came to the ring, hoping to “be serious for just one moment” by telling Dreamer to hire someone “from Calgary, Alberta, Canada.” Storm then went on to point out how he had won multiple titles in both WCW and WWE, while Dreamer’s career amounted to “being a curtain-jerker” in WWE and a short-lived career in ECW, of which Storm pointed out, “I was kicking your ass there too!”
Dreamer listened and stated that his big announcement was that he wanted to come out of retirement to have one final match in OVW. And since he had a couple of friends waiting in the back, they would be his tag-team partners in a match against Lance Storm and M-N-M. At that point, the Dudley Boys came out to the roar of the crowd and the horrified looks of M-N-M.
Going into the match itself, Bubba Dudley threw Joey Matthews into the corner and chopped him so hard in the chest that Matthews fell down on his knees and started crawling away. Bubba was not to let it go that easy for him, however, grabbing Joey by the hair and throwing him back into the corner for another chop to the chest. With that, Matthews fell out of the ring.
Further on, D-Von came in to punch some sense into the head of Lance Storm. As Lance went down, Johnny Nitro ran in, only to get the same treatment from D-Von. Lance got up and went down again with another blow to the head, and Nitro repeated the same action. A whip was reversed by Lance, but D-Von came back with a clothesline so hard that Storm bounced out of the ring. D-Von then backdropped Johnny before punching Matthews off of the apron. D-von then slammed Lance Storm facefirst into the mat, before clotheslining Nitro.
A few more minutes in, Bubba was back in the ring, unsuspecting that Melina was creeping up behind him to hit him with something in her hand. Bubba fought off the attack by pulling Melina’s skirt down, and then sending her on the way with a pat on the rump. Matthews suckerpunched Bubba, but a whip attempt was turned into a bodyslam of Matthews by Bubba. With Matthews out, it was time for a little “Whazzzup” by the Dudleys and Matthews found himself in a lot of pain from D-Von’s flying headbutt to the crotch.
With Dreamer getting the win over Storm, the Dreamer team started to celebrate, only to be attacked by Johnny Nitro holding a cellphone and Joey Matthews holding a tennis racket (hmm … that seems strangely familiar for some reason, although I can’t place exactly why). They attack Dreamer and the Dudleys until The Thrillseekers run out to drive M-N-M off.
Bubba grabs the microphone and tells the audience that in the years the Dudleys had been in the business, they felt that The Thrillseekers were one of the best tag-teams in wrestling. Dreamer agreed, but said that there was another great team in OVW and brought out – The Heartbreakers with Mo’ Green!
With The Heartbreakers dancing, Dreamer asked the Dudleys to do something he had never seen them do – dance. Finally, the Dudleys break out the dancing moves for the crowd, with Bubba in particular going on for a bit with some distinct moves, while D-Von did a spinarooni for the crowd. They then enticed Dreamer to get out into the center of the ring to do some dancing as well, and reluctantly Dreamer does so, only to get into the dancing as he continued for a few moments as the segment came to a close.
A tremendous match and obviously a fun time for all (well, except Lance Storm and M-N-M, that is), of which television viewers only got a small taste. It just goes to show that if there’s one thing bigger than getting a chance to watch OVW, it is the chance to see it live, as you never know when the return of such big-name fan-favorites will happen in OVW. I know I’m still kicking myself for missing the show that week!
JERSEY SHORE MIXED GENDER STREET FIGHT
DANNY INFERNO & TRUDY DENUCCI VS. AARON “THE IDOL” STEVENS & BETH PHOENIX
REF: Chris Kay
A reminder that the Jersey Shore Street Fight is an “anything goes/ten count” match, which is also a mixed gender event this time, with the two couples facing off.
Aaron Stevens came out first with Beth Phoenix, and The Idol had a crutch to bear. No, honest, he was bearing a crutch and the look in his eyes make it clear that he intended to wrap it around Inferno’s head. As the darling, smartly dressed couple waited in the ring, Danny Inferno and Trudy Denucci ran in from the back with a bag and a trash can full of implements of destructions.
Beth Phoenix hit the road immediately, running out of the ring with Trudy in hot pursuit. The Idol stood his ground and swung the crutch at Inferno, but missed. Inferno threw Idol down and started punching away at Idol’s head. Meanwhile, Phoenix and Denucci were chasing each other around the announcers’ desk to the point that Cornette finally got up and moved out of their way.
Moving to the outside, Inferno put The Idol into a headlock and raced towards a ringpost, only for Stevens to shove Danny forward so that Danny hit the post himself head-on. Back with the girls, Phoenix ran into the ring, followed by Denucci who brought in what must have been the lethal purse of death. After hitting Beth with a trash can lid, Denucci reached into the bag, pulled out an aerosol can, and sprayed it into Phoenix’s eyes. With Phoenix down in pain, Trudy got some lipstick out and smeared it on Beth’s face, with Chris Kay watching intensely and judging it okay it appeared. Well, Kay had nothing to do for the moment, evidently. Denucci then pulled out a bra and started choking Phoenix with it, dragging her to a corner and tying her up to the turnbuckle with the bra.
Idol saw what was happening and grabbed Denucci by the hair, pulling her away. Swinging his arm back to clock her, Stevens was stopped in mid-swing by Inferno. The Idol turned to face-off with Inferno, allowing Trudy to kick Stevens from behind right in the crotch. As The Idol turned, Trudy slapped him and Inferno followed up with a punch to the head. As Stevens rolled around in the ring, Kay started counting off. He got to seven before Stevens made his way back up, only to have Inferno ripping away with a series of punches on his head.
Meanwhile, Trudy threw Beth out of the ring and continued assaulting her. While that went on, The Idol fought back with an eyepoke to Inferno and attempted to slam Danny’s head into the trashcan in the ring. Inferno blocked the move and elbowed The Idol in the gut and then the head. Danny threw The Idol out as Trudy and Beth moved their fight back to the locker room. As Stevens laid on the ground, Inferno came out of the ring and smashed a broomstick into The Idol’s chest.
The women moved through the locker room and out of the side room by the concession stand to find themselves back at the announcers’ table. Phoenix threw Dean’s water into Trudy’s face and then punched Denucci a couple of times. The Idol joined Phoenix, dragging Inferno over so that they could slam the couple’s heads into the desk at the same time. While Beth tossed Trudy on to the desk and continued to beat on her, The Idol found a push-broom and clobbered Inferno in the head with it.
By the look of things at that point, Phoenix and Stevens were very happy, and continued their beatdown on the other two, finally dragging them into the ring. They whip Inferno and DeNucci into the ropes, but miss with punches to the head. Instead, Trudy and Danny came back with several punches of their own, finally sending Phoenix and Stevens to the mat. Pulling The Idol up, Inferno carried him over to a corner and placed him upsidedown on the top rope. Trudy then ran Beth over, slamming Phoenix’s head into Stevens’ crotch.
Phoenix stumbled out of the ring, as Stevens fell over in pain. Inferno then punched The Idol and he was whipped by Trudy and Danny so that he bounced back into the trashcan they held up. With Stevens and Phoenix down, Chris Kay called the ten-count and Trudy and Danny were the winners. As they celebrated, a crazed Beth Phoenix ran into the ring and threw some type of powder into Inferno’s eyes. Clutching at his face in blind pain, Danny did not see Trudy leap on Beth and start pounding away. The Idol then pulled Trudy off and, in a move that no one could prevent in time, put Trudy into a piledriver and drove her head into the mat.
As The Idol and Phoenix left the ring, a blind Inferno tried to give some comfort to Trudy DeNucci while a team of people put Trudy into a neckbrace and began to move her on to a board. With Trudy in trouble, it is still up in the air what will happen to the running feud of hate between the former Jersey Shore Crew members. One thing is for sure, though: retribution is still to come from Danny Inferno over what happened to Trudy.
From the other side of ringside,
Dale Sherman, OVWrestling.com
