Thanks to Larry Goodman for sending in the following report:
Deep South Wrestling did a dry run for their television show at Thursday night’s weekly event in McDonough, Ga.
A lot has changed for the better since my last visit to the Deep South Arena five weeks ago. The wrestling has improved, dramatically so in the case of at least one wrestler. The wrestlers are doing a much better job of reading the crowd versus the paint-by-the-numbers feeling of the early shows. There was also more focus on working the body part on offense. The ref (Mike Posey) doesn’t get the loudest babyface pop anymore. The seating area has been reconfigured to increase the capacity from 200 to 325. The place was packed. The crowd was blazing loud all night long. They’re more into having a good time and voicing their opinions than the wrestling itself. It appears that DSW has become the place to be on Thursday nights for a certain segment of young adults in Henry County.
Ring announcer Troy Beasley introduced Steven Prazak and Dan Masters as the announce team for the first half of the show. This was a warm up for the television taping.
(1) Derrick Neikirk beat Ryan O’Reilly in 9:04. O’Reilly was one of the guys that looked significantly better in the ring. Fans brought the hate for Neikirk more than the love for O’Reilly.
O’Reilly used a keylock takedown. Neikirk hung O’Reilly out to dry on a dropkick and punished his back with a series of high impact moves. Fans instantly chanted “this is boring” when Neikirk settled into a rear chinlock. Neikirk scored knockdowns with a pair of cross-corner whips. O’Reilly made the comeback. O’Reilly hulked up and hit a pair of corner clotheslines. O’Reilly got a near fall with a sidewalk slam. O’Reilly missed on a charge into the corner and Neikirk speared him for the three count.
Palmer Cannon entered the ring in wrestling gear. Cannon has the WWE bod (as opposed to the Brian Black indie physique). The fans questioned his sexual preference. There was so much heat on Cannon that it was hard to make out what he was saying. Cannon said it was not the time for modesty. He said his in-ring debut last week as fabulous. Cannon said he wanted to face the most successful wrestler in the company. Out came “S Squared” Sean Schultz. But before Schultz could enter the ring, he was joined by Jack Bull. Schultz agreed to let Bull have the match. Bull told Cannon he was going to have to face someone his own size.
(2) Jack Bull beat Palmer Cannon via DQ in 26 seconds. Cannon started pounding on Bull, but he was attacked by the Freakin’ Deacon. Cannon and Deacon gave Bull a pair of double whips into the ring steps. They showed no signs of letting up until Nick Patrick arrived on the scene.
(3) Johnny Slaughter beat Damien Steele in 6:07. Steele got his start a number of years ago with Dusty Rhodes’ Turnbuckle Championship Wrestling. Neither one has a development deal. Lots of name calling from the crowd, as they didn’t take this match seriously. Johnny ducked a flying crossbody to turn the tide and went to work on Steele’s gut. Johnny ate the turnbuckle. Steele was on the comeback trail with a dropkick and a monkey flip. Johnny blocked a second monkey flip. Steele took the back bump and Steele covered for the three count.
(4) Jack Bull beat Freakin’ Deacon via DQ in 1:53. Deacon’s Bruiser Brody type character is over. Bull didn’t come out so Posey started the ten count. Bull wandered out in a daze. He had ice pack taped to his head with an ace bandage. Deacon pounced on him. Bull fired back. Deacon put Bull down with The Kick of Death. Deacon mounted Bull and pounded away. When Posey tried to intervene, Deacon knocked him down for the DQ. Deacon continued to destroy Bull. Mac Johnson and High Impact (Tony Santorelli and Mike Taylor) came out to make the save. Bull sold it like had lost his equilibrium.
(5) Ryan Reeves beat Mike Knox in 8:32. Best match of the night. Reeves looked to be the most improved wrestler in Deep South. I didn’t think he had a chance to make it until I saw him in this match. These are two huge men. Knox’s character has gotten a lot more wickedness about him. This crowd was into Reeves. Posey found the chain when it fell out of Knox’s trunks. Reeves put Knox over the top with a big league lariat that got a major pop. But Knox proved to be too sneaky for Reeves. He abused Reeves’ arm with pumphandle moves. Knox cut off a comeback with a bicycle kick. Knox posted Reeves’ shoulder. Knox got a cross armbreaker. Reeves tried to powerbomb his way out of it but couldn’t. Fans chanted “Silverback.” Reeves hit the powerbomb for an awesome strength spot. Reeves no sold a punch. Reeves hit a hiptoss slam for a near fall. Reeves followed with a corner clothesline. Reeves tried to end it with a pumphandle slam and Knox took his head off with a lariat. Reeves kicked out at 2.5. Knox went for an inverted DDT, but Reeves hooked the ropes and got the pin with an Oklahoma roll.
The Assassin (Jody Hamilton) received a nice round of applause. Assassin and Masters were introduced as the broadcast team for the “television taping” portion of the show. They taped a sample hot opening for TV. DSW is still in the process of obtaining television time in the Atlanta area.
(6) Johnny Parisi (with Angel Williams) beat Ray Gordy in 6:32. Parisi and Williams have good chemistry. Williams was dressed in a black outfit that provided maximum boob exposure. The males in attendance appreciated this no end. Parisi faked a knee injury and worked on Gordy’s knee. Williams slugged Gordy when the ref wasn’t looking. Parisi used a spinning toehold to set up the figure four leglock. Gordy reversed it. Gordy got a drop toehold and pounded away. Gordy went to the top. Parisi cut him off. Gordy blocked a superplex. Parisi took the bump. But Gordy missed with a swanton bomb and Parisi jackknifed him for the pin.
(7) Joe Slaughter beat Kid Kash via DQ in 7:50. Joe is Johnny’s brother. Fans were too busy making fun of Joe’s breasts to care about him as a babyface. The crowd was giving Kash hell on the one hand but respecting his ability on the other. They went back and forth on the arm. Joe injured his knee on a leapfrog. Kash used a kneebreaker for a two count. Kash lit up Joe’s chest. Kash moonsaulted to his feet and powerslammed Joe for another near fall. Kash gave Joe several near falls. The highlight of Joe’s comeback was an overhead belly to belly suplex. Kash submitted Joe with an inverted figure four leglock. Kash wouldn’t let up on Joe. Kash tossed Posey who reversed the decision. Patrick came out to restore order. Not a good match.
(8) Eric Perez beat Mac “Daddy” Johnson in 7:14. Johnson looked good. Perez’s debut was not an impressive one. He came out wearing a shirt. Not the WWE look at all. Perez got the advantage and talked trash en español. Johnson showed great spring on his leapfrog and dropkick. Perez ate two well-timed elbows on charges into the corner. Perez came back with a german suplex and a full nelson slam. Perez applied a nerve hold. Johnson hit a springboard twisting bodypress with major hang time for a near fall. Perez pinned Johnson with a DDT.
(9) High Impact (Tony Santorelli & Mike Taylor) beat The Regulators (Mike & Todd Shane) in 9:27. Good main event. High Impact is way over. Crisp fast-paced action in the opening minutes. High Impact used their smarts and quickness to dominate. Taylor found nobody home on a charge into the corner (a lot of that going around on this night) and Mike caught him with a rabbit lariat. Regulators got heat on Taylor with the abdominal stretch. They used the deal of being identical twins to switch in and out unbeknownst to the ref. But they went to the well once too often. Out of the blue, Taylor caused them to collide and rolled Mike up for the pin. Big pop for the surprise finish.
NOTES: The Miz will return to DSW next week. It was announced that he was taping Fear Factor this week…DSW will hold open tryouts from 11/11 through 11/13. Applicants must be between the ages of 18 and 32…Biohazard, Murder One and Nemesis were in the crowd.
