First of all, my apologies about no OVW report last week. I had a recording error in my VCR/DVD player and was not able to get the entire show on tape as it cut off during a Brent Albright match.
Event Details:
Location: The Davis Arena in Louisville, Kentucky
Hosts: Dean Hill and Kenny Bolin
-Clip is shown of Maria interviewing Cody Runnels from last week’s show and before he can answer her question about being related to Dusty Rhodes he is attacked by KC James and Aaron “the Idol” Stevens. They deliver an old school beatdown to Runnels and then pound his head in with the locker door and then KC James takes a chair and pounds it into the locker door for a second devastating blow. OUCH. Good segment.
–Opening Contest: Ten Man Gauntlet Match to Face Randy Orton @ August 11th Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom Show
Interesting idea to start the show and I am excited because I like gauntlet matches, a lost art in my opinion. #1 is drawn by Brent Albright and #2 is drawn by perennial jobber PJ Dalton (who has really cool entrance music by the way). Before I can finish typing that sentence, though, Albright gets Dalton in a crowbar and eliminates him in twelve seconds. Well I guess that is what you call taking care of business.
#3 is “Showtime” Vic Devine and he comes into the ring to set up a directors chair. However, Albright smartly comes up from behind and schoolboys him for a pin after about three seconds prompting a funny comment from Bolin that “he must be double parked somewhere.”
#4 is Brad Bowlin (? Because they didn’t show the correct spelling due to him running in quickly and the OVW website did not have it) and he gets into a slugfest with Albright and follows it up with a swinging neckbreaker after giving him a knee to the gut for one. That should have at least been a two-count. Bowlin has his Irish whip reversed into the corner but kicks Albirght when he puts his head down on a whip and gets a slam for one. Bowlin has another whip into the ropes reversed and Albright gives Bowlin a modified overhead belly-to-belly suplex off the ropes and gets another Crowbar for the submission in fifty-eight seconds.
#5 gets drawn by “Bad Seed” John Osborne and he immediately takes down Albright upon entering the ring. Albright is able to get out of it, though, only to get hit with a clothesline for a near-fall. Osborne splashes Albright against the buckles and pulls Albright out of the buckles. Alright gets a shoulder thrust on the apron and then sunset flips into the ring to get the pin in fifty-five seconds to eliminate Osborne.
#6 is Shawn Spears and he gets a crucifix for two. Spears gets a backslide for two. Rollup gets two. Good psychology there since Albright is worn down from the other four guys. Albright trips Spears when he runs at him for zero. Albright wins the battle for a backslide for two and after a brief clapping segment Spears suddenly dropkicks Spears for a close two. Spears gets a sunset flip when Albright ducks his head on a whip for two and Albright manages to get a rollup for two. Albright rolls on top of Spears to get another two-count before Spears bridges out only to get caught in the Crowbar and he submits at 1:16.
#7 is Boris Alexyev (not sure of spelling b/c of the same problem earlier). Alexyev gets a quick series of takedowns and tries to apply the Riddle of Steel but Albright gets in the ropes only to get his foot thrown off the ropes by Stomko. Albright gets his foot on the ropes again and the referee sees Stomko throw Albright’s foot off the ropes this time and disqualifies him after forty-five seconds. Fun elimination there. Afterwards, Chet the Jet comes down and brawls with Alexyev to the back.
#8 is Mike Cruel and he smashes Albright’s head in with a chair as the referees are trying to separate Alexyev and Jet but after he covers the referee’s are still distracted and by the time one gets into the ring the pin only gets two and three-quarters. Cruel argues with the referee and throws a tantrum over the situation and Albright plays possum and traps Cruel in the crowbar for the submission after 1:09.
#9 is Eddie Craven and he immediately covers for two. Craven covers again for two. Craven covers one more time for two. Good spot there as well and I like how they are playing up the psychology in this match. Single-arm DDT by Craven gets two. Craven briefly works the arm and tries a La Magistral cradle but Albright reverses to a pinning combination for the fall in fifty-two seconds.
The final participant is Charles “The Hammer” Evans and he pounds on Albright in the corner. Albright takes a chest-first bump on an Irish whip into the corner. However, Albright flips out of a backbreaker attempt and takes Evans down in the Crowbar but Evans pushes out and dumps Albright to the canvas in a pump and handle slam type maneuver but Albright gets his foot on the ropes to break the pin at two. Evans tries Hammer Time but Albright floats over at the last second and gets a rollup for the pin at 1:08 and 10:31 for the entire match.
MATCH RATING: DEDUCTION. Gauntlet matches do not happen all that often so its tough to evaluate them but this one booked and wrestled well. It builds Albright’s credibility by having him run through all nine men in succession and since the winner was facing Randy Orton he is the only one in the match that could feasibly have won. The match did put over Evans and Spears, though, in their respective encounters and that is the sign of good booking. Plus, the eliminations were innovative and not too repetitive.
-Dean Hill says we have received a video from Dusty Rhodes in relation to the Cody Runnels incident with James and Stevens. Rhodes cuts a promo on family and legacy and says that Runnels is his youngest son. He says that on August 11th he will team up with Runnels against James and Stevens. Good little promo that is only hurt because the crowd noise nearly drowns Dusty out at times. Also, I am not sure if I would have liked a more angry Dusty promo instead of this one that was rather subdued but it did the trick either way.
–KC James & Aaron “the Idol” Stevens vs. Ramon & Raol:
James and Stevens charge the ring and Stevens throws Ramon over the top rope and that is a no-no and gets his team disqualified after only fifteen seconds. Stevens comes into the ring with the house microphone and says that Dusty Rhodes is dragging his son into his worst nightmare and that is no idle threat. James then says his daddy never came to save him and says he cannot wait to fight the thirty-eight year legacy of Dusty Rhodes. These two work well together.
MATCH RATING: PENALTY. Not really a match and was just angle advancement but no surprise there.
–Jacob Duncan vs. Lennox Lightfoot:
Duncan is the guy who has been cutting the promos in the woods over the last month. Duncan comes from “the woods” which is hilarious but it fits the character. Lightfoot looks like a midget compared to Duncan and he tries to beat on Duncan but just gets his head torn off with a clothesline for his trouble. Duncan throws Lightfoot by the ear across the ring with ONE HAND. Duncan then picks up Lightfoot by the back of his head and throws his body chest-first onto the canvas. Duncan then delivers a BRUTAL full nelson release slam for the pin at 1:21. Nicely booked debut by putting the small Lightfoot against a guy as big and strong as Duncan to showcase the brutality of the character. This was like watching Vader squash jobbers in the old WCW and I liked it a lot. I kind of expected Duncan to start yelling “momma” for no reason during the match since it was in his vignettes.
MATCH RATING: PENALTY. Typical squash match but Duncan looked impressive for a big man and if used properly in OVW could be a strong player in the future. I could also see this gimmick doing well in the regular WWE on Smackdown! but they already have the Boogeyman so maybe not.
-A clip is shown from earlier in the show where “Nightmare” Danny Davis challenges all five members of the Spirit Squad to a match against him and “four OVW originals” (The Bashams, Eugene, and Rob Conway).
-The Spirit Squad cuts a promo against Davis and says that they accept his challenge and are going to end his career for good.
-The OVW Women’s Champion, the OBD says that she beat over 200 women in Rio de Janeiro in 21 days for it. She gets into a confrontation with Serena in the back and then Evans makes advances on her until Shawn Spears intervenes. Shouting galore ensues.
-Simon Dean says that on August 11th he is ready for his blowoff match against Al Snow in a steel cage at Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom. Dean gives a rundown of his career and wonders whether the cage match will be the end of his career. I think they should give Dean another gimmick because this promo is good but it is REALLY out of character.
-Robbie Dawber interviews Al Snow but as he is listing off Snow’s accomplishments Snow takes the microphone and starts talking to the camera. Snow says his message is directed not at Simon Dean but his wife and he says she should take him on long romantic walks because he will not be walking after the steel cage match and he will also break his entire body apart. He pulls a pair of grapes out of a Kroger bag and says that Dean better bring his this coming Friday at Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom. Really gruesome interview and Al Snow’s been a roll lately with the promo business.
–OVW Southern Tag Team Championship Match: CM Punk & Seth Skyfire (Champions) vs. Deuce & Domino (w/Cherry):
Punk and Domino start the match as Bolin rants against the tag champions for bringing their respective singles belts to ringside in a funny bit. Punk kicks away at Domino, ducks a clothesline, and gets a schoolboy for one. Punk pounds on Domino in the corner an tag Skyfire. Double-arm ringer from the tag champs and they give Domino a double-knife edge chop. Skyfire gets a snapmare for one and kicks Domino in the face as he is in a sitting position but a standing moonsault misses and Domino tags Deuce. Deuce takes Skyfire to the buckle and slaps him. Deuce whips into the opposite corner but a blind charge eats buckle and Skyfire gets a clothesline and standing moonsault for two. Skyfire whips Deuce into the champs corner and tags Punk as he monkeyflips Deuce out of it.
Punk gets Deuce in a sitting position and the champs both kick him in the chest for a two. Punk applies a standing armbar and he battles Deuce over a hiptoss that allows Deuce to get an eye rake. Tag Domino but he gets hiptossed by Punk for one. Domino pushes Punk from a front facelock position into the heel corner and the challengers pound away on Punk after Deuce gets tagged in. Punk gets a backslide for two when Deuce ducks his head on a whip but when he applies another front facelock he gets driven into the challengers corner again. Tag Domino and he pounds away. Domino gets a snapmare into a neck wrench and Punk tries to fight out but Domino takes Punk back into the corner.
Tag Deuce but Punk unloads to escape. Punk takes Deuce to the buckle and tags Skyfire. Punk gets a drop toe hold off the ropes on Deuce and Skyfire drops an elbow to the back of the head for two. Skyfire takes Deuce to the buckle and tag Punk. Punk gives some knees in the corner, delivers a snapmare, and then a dropkick to the back of the head for two. Punk gets a third front facelock but AGAIN gets pushed into the challengers corner and tag Domino.
Domino unloads in the corner and tags Deuce in. I do not know if I agree with that move or not. Punk goes under a double-clothesline, floats over Domino when he tries a slam and gives him a forearm to the back, and then suddenly takes a BRUTAL running chop block from Deuce that sends him several feet into the air. Deuce covers for two as we go to commercial.
When we return we have a double KO and Punk blasts Deuce with an enzeguri. Punk is in pain with the knee and gets a momentum swinging tag to Skyfire and he gives fists, clotheslines, and modified Polish hammers to everyone. Malenko dropkick to Domino and spinning heel kick to Deuce. However, when Skyfire is waiting for Deuce to get off the canvas he gets a forearm to the back courtesy of Domino. Nevertheless, Skyfire throws a running Domino through the ropes and to the floor. Skyfire screws up his “let me run up the corner and give you a spinning kick off of it” (a spot I enjoy) so Deuce improvises and nails him from behind. Skyfire ducks a short-arm clothesline, though, and gets a spinning kick for two and three-quarters. Deuce gives Skyfire a knee to the gut but Skyfire turns it into a small package and that almost finishes before Domino runs back into the ring at the last second and breaks it up. Punk finally recovers on the apron and hobbles into the ring where he hurls Domino to the floor and the champions hit Deuce with a modified version of total elimination for two. Skyfire gets tripped up from the floor by Domino and Deuce nails him with a faceplant. Cherry gives Deuce a kiss and Deuce combs his hair before giving Skyfire a fistdrop off the ropes for two before Punk interrupts. This match is getting crazy.
Domino throws Punk shoulder-first into the ring post and then runs to the top rope where he hits Skyfire in the back with a double axehandle and Deuce hits a modified Diamond Cutter for two and five-sixths. Deuce gets a short-arm kneelift but Skyfire backdrops out of a powerbomb attempt. Skyfire then lunges into the corner and tags in Punk but he is injured and looks at Skyfire who is also beat up on the arena floor in a “why in the hell did you do that?” type of way. Before Punk can get into the ring, though, Deuce kicks him in the back of the head and then plants him with a modified DDT for the pin and the titles at 9:54.
MATCH RESULT: RETURN. Great main event and it had a good story of the champions being worn down systematically by the challengers until they could not fight anymore. I am thinking this might lead to a Punk-Skyfire program over the title where Skyfire might get the win since Punk is in ECW now but the jury is still out on that one. Also, the finish was clean which adds credibility to the champions victory.
FINAL EVALUATION: This show was heavy on hyping the August 11th show moreso than putting on a long string of matches as in past shows but all of the advancement for that show was great with solid promos from all involved. The Jacob Duncan squash match was a guilty pleasure of mine and the main event delivered yet again this week. All in all, a good show.
