[OVW] OVW TV Report for April 30, 2005

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04/30/2005 – DAVIS ARENA

* ELIJAH BURKE VS. GANGREL
* A LOOK AT M-N-M’S WWE TAG-TEAM WIN
* DANNY INFERNO VS. STEVIE RICHARDS
* THE FAREWELL APPEARANCE OF THE HEARTBREAKERS
* THE BLUEPRINT VS. BRENT ALBRIGHT

ELIJAH BURKE VS. GANGREL
REF: Ray Ramsey

A night of surprises were in store of OVW fans this past week, including both former and current WWE Superstars performing in the ring, as well as an unexpected upset in the main event.

Coming out of just losing the OVW Championship belt to Blueprint Matt Morgan, Elijah Burke is still in the hearts of the fans as he arrives to cheers and chants. His sunny disposition was quelled a bit, however, by the emergence of former WWE Superstar Gangrel out to the ring. Gangrel came out in style – as always – with sunglasses, a frilly shirt, and bearing a goblet in his hands. Getting on the ropes, Gangrel saluted the crowd, drank from the goblet, and then spit out a reddish liquid that one could guess as to what it could have been. After screaming at the audience to be quiet so he could concentrate, Gangrel and Burke began the match with a lock-up, followed by a wristlock from Gangrel that was reversed by Elijah and held for quite some time no matter how hard Gangrel tried to break out of it. Gangrel finally had to dive to the ropes and hold on, forcing Burke back by Ramsey.

Gangrel held his arm in pain, but only for a moment, as the two wrestlers were once again in a lock-up. After struggling with each other for a bit, Gangrel elbowed Burke in the head and then bounced off the ropes to send Elijah to the mat with a stiff arm to the face.

Elijah rebound for a time as the two fought back and forth, until Gangrel pulled off an eyerack on Burke. With Burke in pain, Gangrel easily picked him up and dropped him, gut-first, on the top ropes. Falling back into the ring, Burke was open for a swift elbow-drop from Gangrel, followed by a pin-attempt that Elijah stopped at the last second.

Gangrel threw the dazed Burke to the ropes to choke him, followed by a punch to the back. Threading Burke through the ropes, Gangrel positioned Elijah between the middle and top rope, pulling Burke backwards to wrench the back, followed by a chop across the chest. Releasing his hold on Burke, Gangrel then pushed Elijah out of the ring, whereupon he kicked Burke in the head before throwing him back in. Even after all that, Elijah was still able to fight off another pin-attempt.

Elijah rose above the pain to fight back with a series of blows to the body and head, yet an attempt to set up a backdrop only found Burke vulnerable to the bite of Gangrel’s sharp elbow to the back. As Gangrel pulled Elijah’s head up, Burke responded with several punches to Gangrel’s stomach. Gangrel slammed Elijah to the mat, but missed with a follow-up elbow-drop, giving Elijah a chance to come back with punches to Gangrel’s head as well as a clothesline. Gangrel reversed a whip into the ropes, but Elijah came back with a crossbody to slam Gangrel into the mat. Still, no pin was possible by either man.

Gangrel eyeracked Elijah again, followed by a kick to the stomach and a relentless DDT on Burke. Ramsey managed to give Gangrel three slaps of the hand, but it was negated by Elijah rising a foot up to the ropes, canceling the win.

Not that Gangrel wanted to hear it, feeling the flush of victory. Ramsey had to try three times before Gangrel realized that the match was not yet over. Going back over to Elijah, Gangrel attempted to hold him in check, but Burke broke free and performed a DDT on Gangrel. With Gangrel laid to rest, Elijah was able to pin him for the win.

A LOOK AT M-N-M’S WWE TAG-TEAM WIN

Breaking away from the in-ring action, Dean and Jim told viewers about MNM’s latest appearance in WWE, where they won the WWE Tag-Team belts from Rey Mysterio and Eddie Guerrero. Viewing a clip from the match, OVW fans would not have been surprised to find that MNM won the belts with their usual candor of deceit, having Melina wrap herself around Eddie outside of the ring in order to distract everyone so that Mercury and Nitro could perform the snapshot on Mysterio.

How will this affect the already swelled heads of the MNM team? OVW fans will find out next week when they return to Davis Arena.

DANNY INFERNO VS. STEVIE RICHARDS
REF: Chris Kay

The scene in Davis Arena started off innocently enough (if one can call awaiting Danny Inferno to discuss his feud with Aaron Stevens to be anything associated with “innocence”), with a video review of Inferno’s attack on The Idol last week in Davis Arena. After the clip aired, Jim Cornette stood in the ring, describing the most recent events in the feud between Inferno and The Idol when a figure appeared in the entrance way.

However, things got a bit weird, as it was not Inferno that came out to the ring, but rather WWE Superstar Stevie Richards. Surprised, Jim Cornette asked Richards what he was doing there, and Stevie responded that he was there to call out Danny Inferno in order to clear things up with him.

That was enough to bring Inferno out and after entering the ring as well, Inferno and Richards locked eyes as Cornette asked what the problem was between the two. Richards told Inferno and the audience that Aaron Stevens’ father had put a bounty on Inferno’s head, with Richards sent to collect on the money. That was not why he was there, however, Richards stated, as he didn’t need the money. Instead he was there because he had heard Inferno talking about how he had been raised on the mean streets of Jersey and how he had paid his dues. That was a problem to Stevie, as he couldn’t stand by and let Inferno talk about how big of a survivor he was. After all, “everyone knows that there is a bigger survivor” – Stevie Richards.

As a chant for ECW came from the crowd, Richards continued: “I survived all those hardcore matches in ECW. I survived Sandman, Raven, the Steiners, the Pitbulls. YOU are a superstar in OVW. A Superstar of tomorrow. What you are not is what I am, which is a superstar of yesterday, today, and forever.” Claiming that Inferno needed to be tested before he could prove himself against The Idol, Richards demanded a match against Inferno, right then, on television.

Inferno agreed, stating he was not going to back down. Richards warned him that if he couldn’t beat him, what chance would he have with someone like Aaron Stevens. As Inferno readied himself for the match, Richards went on to ask Inferno if he was “ready to go through hell with Stevie Richards? You’ve never seen anything yet! I’ll cheat and hurt you to win.” With that, Chris Kay entered the ring and Jim Cornette made a hasty exit as the match between the WWE Superstar and his Jersey Shore opponent, Danny Inferno began.

A lock-up found the two jostling for dominance, with the two tugging each other around the ring until they finally broke apart. A moment later they were back into a lock-up, only for Richards to gain an advantage with an iron-clad headlock on Inferno. Richards hiptossed Inferno, bringing him down to the mat while never letting go of the headlock. After some time, Danny managed to rise up from the mat and break out of the headlock, only for Stevie to them slam him down to the mat once again.

After a few moments to compose himself, Inferno locked-up again with Richards. This time, Inferno put Stevie into a headlock. Richards retaliated by pushing Inferno into the ropes, whereupon Danny came back with a shoulderblock, driving Richards down. Getting up, Richards then found himself the victim of a clothesline after miscalculating Inferno’s springing off of the ropes. Richards scrambled to the corner and held on to the ropes, signaling for Chris Kay to tell Inferno to back off.

Moving back in, Inferno punched Richards three times before Richards used Danny’s momentum against him and tossed Inferno out of the ring. With Danny in pain on the ground, Stevie came out and pulled him up and then threw Inferno into the guardrails at ringside. As Danny tried to move back towards the ring, Richards gave him a hard chop to the back and then another to the chest. Inferno tried to fight back, chopping Stevie, but it did little to impress upon Richards anything other than to shop Inferno two more times before the duo got back into the ring.

After stomping Inferno, Richards performed a neckbreaker on Inferno and went for the pin. Inferno managed to push off the pin-attempt, but got more chops in the back from Richards for his troubles. After breaking out of a complicated hold on his shoulder and head by Richards, Inferno began punching at Richards, and the two traded blows and chops around the ring until Inferno whipped Stevie off the ropes and straight into a shoulderblock. Richards tried to get up twice, only to get hit with a clothesline by Inferno each time.

Whipping Inferno into the corner, Stevie came running and found himself straddling the turnbuckle when Danny darted out of the way at the last split-second. In pain, Richards fell back into the ring, allowing Inferno to attempt a pin. Richards fought out of the pin and threw Danny into the corner where Chris Kay was. Fortunately for Kay, Inferno managed to stop before hitting the cringing referee. Unfortunately for Inferno, he turned around to taste boot, as Richards hit him in the face with a spinning kick. Stevie went for another pin-attempt, but once again it was no good.

Dragging Inferno to the corner, Richards placed him on the top of the turnbuckle. As Richards attempted to climb up the turnbuckle as well, the two began to trade blows until finally Inferno managed to push Richards off and flat on his back into the ring. Inferno attempted to climb up to jump off of the top rope, yet when he was about ready to jump, Richards rose up from the mat and kicked Inferno’s foot off of the rope. This sent Inferno down, landing squarely on the bar that held the top rope to the ringpost.

The two began to fight again on the ropes, until Inferno managed to clobber Richards and send him into the ring. Inferno then followed it up with a flying elbow-drop from the top rope on to Richards’ chest. With the air knocked out of Stevie, Danny was able to hold Richards down for the 1-2-3 and the win.

So Inferno has now proven himself against Stevie Richards. According to Richards, Inferno may be ready to face The Idol; but what about this bounty on his head that Richards mentioned? Will others come after Inferno before he gets a chance to prove himself against Aaron Stevens? OVW fans will have to wait and see how times continue in the escalating feud between Stevens and Inferno.

THE FAREWELL APPEARANCE OF THE HEARTBREAKERS

At the announcers’ table, Jim Cornette told viewers about the appearance the previous week of the Heartbreakers in OVW. At that time, the Heartbreakers announced their departure from OVW, as they were already on their way to WWE’s RAW program to work as a tag-team (and, in fact, had gone up against the Tag-Team Champions – Tajiri and William Regal – on RAW that previous Monday). Even though their departure was a sad thing for OVW fans that had grown to enjoy their antics on the program week in and out, their final goodbyes was like a big party for the fans who were in attendance that night at OVW.

The Heartbreakers came out in their usual way, with confetti popping, their boas flying, and Mo’ Green in dollar-sign sunglasses dancing them out before the fans. Before hitting the ring, however, The Heartbreakers grabbed two kids from the crowd how had been appearing in their own makeshift Heartbreaker outfits, along with a longtime fan who had been dressing in the role of Mo’ Green for the past several weeks. The three fans were sent into the ring so that the boys could perform the patented Heartbreakers dance, while the finest imitation of Mo’ Green around rallied the audience to cheer them on.

After the imitators, the originals entered the ring to do their dance and then went to deliver their message to the crowd, with the trio breaking into a song that sounded vaguely familiar.

Antonio: My partner has a first name: it’s R-O-M-E-O
Romeo: My partner has a first name: it’s A-N-TONIO
Mo’: I’m the paragon of pimpin’, and my name is Mo’
All: Now that we have said hello,
It’s the time to start the show!
We are the Heartbreakers!!

Antonio asked the audience if they had seen RAW and what was different about it? Romeo and Mo’ suggested that there were new faces, doing impersonations of Hulk Hogan, Vince McMahon, and even the Heartbreak Kid himself, Shawn Michaels. But the biggest difference was that THEY were there!

Antonio then told the fans in sincerity that it was not “Mo’, Ro, or even Antonio that made the Heartbreakers,” but each and every fan in OVW. Without them, the Heartbreakers agreed, they probably never would have made it to the next step, and the OVW fans would be in their hearts forever.

Mo’ then got on the microphone to announce that he was sorry to see his team go. However, he already had his eyes on some new stars for Pimp Productions. He wouldn’t say who they were, but one thing was for sure as Mo’ saw it: “They won’t be Heartbreakers, but they’ll definitely be moneymakers!”

With that came the end of the final Pimp Production with the Heartbreakers. OVW fans are surely sad to see them go, but happy to see them move on to where they are going. I’m sure all fans join me in wishing them the best in what is sure to be an exciting time for them.

OVW CHAMPIONSHIP
THE BLUEPRINT, MATT MORGAN VS. BRENT “SHOOTER” ALBRIGHT
REF: Robert Brisko

Last week, OVW viewers saw the show end with The Blueprint and Brent Albright in each others faces about who was the best in OVW. In that situation, The Blueprint found himself in the Crowbar and tapping out to Albright. Still, that was not a true match situation. How would these two blockbusters in OVW fare against each other in a proper match? OVW fans were about to find out.

Albright was out first to the ring, followed closely by Morgan. The two did not even wait for the match to start before laying into each other with insults and finally a slap across Albright’s face by Morgan. Albright returned the favor by diving on to Morgan and punching away at The Blueprint’s face. Before he would have to be renamed The Black-and-Blueprint, Morgan threw Albright off and got up, only for Brent to swing his legs under Morgan, kicking Matt’s legs out from under him and having him fall back to the mat.

As The Blueprint attempted to pick himself up from the mat, Albright went in for the kill by attempting to place the Crowbar on Morgan. Matt, however, was like a mighty oak and refused to bend, finally punching Brent in the face to drive him off. With Albright off, Morgan bailed, holding his arm and heading towards the exit. Albright would have none of that, however, ripping out of the ring to steer Morgan back in with a series of punches to the head.

As Albright started to slide back into the ring, Morgan attempted an elbow-drop. Brent, seeing Matt setting up the move, slide back out, causing Morgan to land hard on his elbow. The Blueprint, feeling a certain amount of pain in his arm, was in perfect position for Brent to clamor back in and try to get Morgan into the Crowbar again. Still, Matt won’t fall. Instead, Morgan whipped his hand to Albright’s throat and looked to be ready to chokeslam Brent. Albright countered with a knee to the gut and then a punch to the head, sending The Blueprint reeling into the corner, where Brent met him with a spear.

A whip by Albright was reversed by Matt into the other corner. Matt attempt his own spear on Albright in the corner, only to eat turnbuckle as Brent moved out of the way. This allowed Albright to finally put The Blueprint into the Crowbar, but Morgan was able to grab a rope and have Brisko force Brent to release the hold. Being released from the hold, Morgan threw Albright out and then tossed him back in for a pin-attempt. When Albright foiled the pin, Morgan began kicking and stomping Brent. Brent tried to fight back with some punches, but it was not enough to stop Morgan from clothelining him for another pin-attempt.

Albright still had enough resolve to fight out of the pin, which only made Morgan angrier. Morgan choked Albright, slammed him, and then performed three brutal elbow-drops on Albright’s chest. Still, even after that, Brent refused to lie still for a pin.

Again, Albright tried to fight back with some punches, but he was slammed to the mat by The Blueprint for another pin-attempt. Brent then found himself being choked by Morgan, but was able to move out of the way as Matt tried to drop another elbow on him. Albright followed with some more punches, but ran smack into Morgan’s boot after coming off the ropes.

When Albright still refused to accept a pin, Morgan picked Albright up for a vertical suplex. At the pinnacle of the move, with Brent upside-down, high above Morgan, Albright managed to swing around to Morgan’s back, landing feet-first and able to throw Morgan into a German Suplex. Albright punches away until Morgan headbutted him. Brent managed to suplex Morgan, with Matt hitting his forehead hard on the mat. Albright attempted a pin, but Morgan came back with a knee to the chest and then slammed Brent to the mat.

Ranting to the crowd, Morgan kneeled down to choke Albright, but Brent twisted around and grabbed The Blueprint’s arm, sending Morgan to the mat and into the Crowbar. With the ropes taunting Morgan by being so close, yet too far away to grab, The Blueprint finally submitted by loudly tapping his hand. After only two weeks, Morgan was defeated and a new OVW Champion has been named: Brent Albright!

Credit: Dale Sherman and OVWrestling.com

Matthew Michaels is editor emeritus of Pulse Wrestling, and has been since the site launched.