9/1 Deep South Wrestling Results
by Larry Goodman
Deep South Wrestling ran their debut event at the WWE training facility in McDonough, Georgia. It was an experimental show to get the kinks out of the operation. Attendance was 160 on very limited publicity and only a few days notice. For the most part, the crowd was responsive and seemed to be having a good time.
The Deep South Arena is located in a new strip mall about 30 miles south of downtown Atlanta. I was told that it’s very similar to the OVW Arena only on a smaller scale. With the black walls and ceiling, it reminded me of a spiffier version of the building NWA Wildside used. It’s has the making of a great venue for a hot TV show. Capacity looked to be about 250.
DSW announced a return date for September 8 and plans to run shows at the Arena every Thursday night.
Attorney Jeff G. Bailey entered the ring to open the show. Bailey bragged about getting acquittals for Enron executives and famous athletes. Bailey said that he was going to cherry pick the talent and serve as a father, a mother and a troubleshooter all rolled into one. Bailey said he was there to conquer DSW.
(1) Mike Mizanin beat Johnny “The Swinger” Parisi in 12:19. Crowd was clearly familiar with “The Miz.” He got about the best entrance pop of the night. Parisi looked jacked. Parisi used the slap and run technique to establish the heel/face dynamic. Mizanin cinched in a side headlock. Parisi hung Miz out to dry on a dropkick and leveled him with a clothesline. Body of the match saw Parisi do Heeling 101 while repeatedly cutting off Mizanin’s comebacks. Mizanin finally launched a full fledged comeback building to the 10 punches. Parisi fell flat on his face. Mizanin came out on top of a back and forth series of pin attempts.
(2) Jack Bull (with Angel Williams) beat “Irish” Ryan O’Reilly in 5:18. Bull and Williams did some country dancing during their intro and boy, does that ever need work. Bull offered O’Reilly a warm welcome to Georgia. O’Reilly had no manners whatsoever. Bull tried it again. O’Reilly slapped him. Bull’s hat went flying and it was on. The two big dudes brawled. Bull gained control and told Angel to give him his hat. O’Reilly put his dirty mits on Bull’s hat. Bull pinned O’Reilly with a haymaker.
Ring announcer Troy Beasley introduced a special guest “from the network,” Palmer Cannon (formerly indie wrestler Brian Black). Cannon said he was DSW to scout talent that he would personally mold for Smackdown. Cannon said the Deep South Arena was an oasis amidst a desert of trailers, mullets and missing teeth.
(3) Deacon Deville beat “Big Time” Nick Mitchell in 4:05. Deville is a 300 pounder doing a crazy gimmick that’s roughly equal parts Buzz Sawyer and Berzerker. He got over pretty welll because he worked stiffer than anything the crowd had seen up to this point. Mitchell is a high- energy alumnus of the most recent Tough Enough competition. Deville squashed him. For his finisher, Deville hammered Mitchell with his fist while hitting a reverse DDT.
(4) Team Elite (Derrick Neikirk & Mike Knox) beat “Silverback” Ryan Reeves & Lash Leroux in 4:47. Elite established themselves as the badass tag team in DSW. They beat Tough Enough Reeves like a drum. Reeves’ chest was beet red after absorbing a series of wicked chops. Leroux looked really pudgy and his offense is suffering for it. Knox pinned Reeves with a guillotine legdrop. NOTE: DSW actually has tag ropes in the corners.
Neikirk said they had spent five months in this podunk town and were itching to show what they were all about. Neikirk said they were the best tag team in DSW and issued an open challenge.
Cannon came back out. He slipped on the ramp and fell on his ass. The crowd got a big kick out that. Cannon redid his entrance. Cannon announced that he had four tickets to give away for Smackdown’s first Friday night taping at Gwinnett Center.
(5) Mack Johnson beat Kid Kash in 12:45. This blew away anything else on the show. Johnson is a transfer from OVW, a black guy with bleached blonde hair. He was OK, but on this night, Kash could have pulled an entertaining match out of a broomstick. His reputation as a total jerk notwithstanding, the workers in the crowd were popping for Kash’s performance. Kash did a great job of inciting the crowd. Kash refused Johnson’s handshake. Kash encountered some resistance and offered Johnson a handshake. Johnson fell into Kash’s trap. Kash lit up Johnson’s chest. Johnson made the comeback so Kash bailed out to build more heat. At 4:15, Johnson took a corner chest bump and Kash dropkicked him in the back. Kash reversed a vertical suplex for a near fall. Kash was giving ref Mike Posey hell. Kash stayed on Johnson’s back with La Tapatia and an American style surfboard. Posey had his fill and shoved Kash into a roll up two count. Johnson went up and over Kash, who moonsaulted over the top of Johnson and landed on his feet. Johnson hit a springboard back elbow for a double down spot. It popped the crowd and was the best sequence of the show. Johnson made the comeback with a dropkick and a swinging neckbreaker for near falls. Johnson got a taste of Kash’s boot polish. Kash hit the double jump moonsault for a near fall. Kash went for a powerbomb and Johnson got the pin with a nice sunset flip counter. Kash got into it with a little kid in the crowd which was really hilarious.
(6) High Impact (Tony Santorelli & Mike Taylor) beat The Regulators (Mike & Todd Shane) via DQ in 11:30. Nick Patrick refereed this match. Santorelli, the artist formerly known as Tony Stradlin, has added green highlights to his hair. Impact used their quickness to work on Mike’s arm. Mike hit an overhead suplex to turn the tide. Todd dropped a barrage of elbows on Santorelli. The twins put the heat on him. Regulators doubled on Santorelli while Patrick turned a blind eye. The crowd got behind Santorelli. Taylor cleaned house off the hot tag. Taylor hit a middle rope legdrop on Mike. Todd pulled the old switcheroo and hit a full nelson Russian legsweep but Taylor kicked out. Santorelli caught Todd with an enzuigiri and Taylor followed with a Samoan drop. Taylor hit a moonsault and Team Elite hit the ring for the DQ.
Postmatch, Regulators got into it with Elite for costing them the match. Impact nailed Regulators with stereo sledgehammers off the top. 6 way action ensued until the locker room emptied out to break up the brawl.
NOTES: Georgia-based wrestlers Biohazard, Cru Jones and Scott Steel were among the onlookers…Biohazard is booked for Smackdown at Gwinnett Center on 9/6 and the combined Raw/Smackdown in Little Rock on 9/12…Jody Hamilton and Bill DeMott were backstage…Steven Prazak was at the announcer’s table observing the action…It was a two camera shoot but not for television purposes. Bill Behrens was operating the hard cam. There is no further word on a start date for television.
