July 14 NWA Anarchy Report from Cornelia, GA

From Larry Goodman:

NWA Anarchy returned to action for the first time since Hostile Environment 2012, and the evil doppelganger of former owner Jerry Palmer is now in charge. Much to his dismay, Palmer quickly learned that some things are beyond his control.      

The NWA Elite’s title load just got a little lighter. Azrael and Slim J defeated the NWA Elite to become the new Anarchy tag champs. 

It was a good show, a prime opportunity for story development and it worked well in that regard. A lot of good talkers got to talk, and nobody talked more than once. The ladder match between TV Champion Bo Newsom and Seth Delay provided enough pyrotechnics to satisfy the thrill seekers.

At a couple of points my ability to suspend disbelief was severely challenged. I'm more bothered by that stuff lately. Must be old age. 

One of the many things Anarchy has been doing right is giving fans compelling reasons to come back for the next show, and this show once again came through on that score. 

Attendance at the NWA Arena in Cornelia, Ga was 100. Not the liveliest of Anarchy crowds, and it can’t be blamed on that ungodly heat wave this time. It was actually relatively comfortable inside the building.         

(1) Johnny Dangerous defeated Tommy Daniels via DQ in 3:08.  Daniels disgusted the crowd with his uber chickenshit ways. He went the back and trotted partner-in-crime CB Gibson out to ringside. Dangerous hit a baseball slide on the both of them. When Dangerous tried for a cover, Gibson blatantly interfered for the DQ. 

Billy Buck ran out and helped Dangerous to clear the ring. Referee Dee Byers ordered the bout restarted as a tag match.

(2) Billy Buck & Johnny Dangerous defeated Tommy Daniels & CB Gibson in 8 minutes. Buck took control with authority. He clotheslined the hell out of Gibson. Dangerous followed with a suicide dive. Dangerous also did a nice monkey flip on Gibson, but ended up on the short end of the stick. No water in the pool for Daniels’ diving headbutt and the hot tag was made. Buck ran wild, complete with strap pulldown, and pinned Gibson with the superkick.  In Buck, Dangerous was teamed with one of the most popular wrestlers in the building. Dangerous took the beating and didn’t score the pin, so the rub was lukewarm. Given that Buck and Moore knocked it out the park at Hostile Environment, Buck shouldn't be bogged down with stuff at this level. 

John Johnson (wearing a neckbrace due to alleged injuries suffered at Hostile Environment) introduced Jeff G. Bailey accompanied by the NWA Elite (NWA North American and NWA Anarchy Champion Shaun Tempers, NWA TV Champion Bo Newsom, Jagged Edge and Jacoby Boykins). Bailey said the Elite were playing chess, while Anarchy owner Franklin Dove was playing checkers and the word was check. Bailey welcomed Urban Assault Squad (Shadow Jackson & Nemesis) back into the fold. Bailey did the “beast up” routine with Nemesis. 

Jackson cut a great promo to explain the UAS turn. The fans were irate during this. “Where’s the love?” Jackson said. He said the more the fans booed, the more UAS would punish their heroes. Jackson said the fan looked to UAS to save their asses, but when the fans cheered the “Hate Pukies” in their mascara and lipstick instead of them, what did they expect?  Jackson said his friend Palmer talked to him about how he hadn’t gotten any title shots since Dove took over, and how UAS weren’t allowed to wrestle as a tag team because the company was afraid of them. Jackson said the fans never saw it coming and it their fault. “Don’t hate us for what you made us.”  

Jackson introduced Palmer as the new general manager. Palmer said step one was successfully completed and it was on to step two - total takeover. Palmer said he had a plan to take the company back to its original glory, and summoned the entire locker room to ringside to hear it. Slim J was about to lose it. Palmer said he could either control his emotions or go somewhere else to do the backyard thing. Palmer said priority #1 was professional officiating and he was installing Brent Wiley as senior official based purely on performance. Palmer saying going forward, all referee decisions would be final. Palmer said he tried to Newsom out of it, but he was going to have to defend the TV title a ladder match. Palmer then reinstated “special enforcer” Brodie Chase as a wrestler, and gave him a warm up match…against Jagged Edge. “That will knock the rust out from your wheelwells son.” Palmer said the advertised tag team title match wasn’t going to happen because Se7en & Bryan Casanova had the night off. 

That brought Dove and NWA Representative Bill Behrens to ringside. Behrens asked Palmer if he was going to finish up of take all night. Big pop for that line. Behrens said Palmer had guaranteed Azrael & Slim a title match if they defeated the Elite, and he was only making Palmer live up to his word. Palmer was livid. He accused Dove of hiding behind the NWA rep, but they could have their damn match. There was a price to pay, however. Palmer said that Tempers was scheduled to have the night off, but let’s have us a title match right now… against little Joey Rhymer. All in all, this was a strong segment. The only drawback was when the entire locker room was called to the ring, it looked pretty sparse out there. Anarchy is known for having a large roster, but not this time around.

(3) Shaun Tempers defeated Joey Rhymer to retain the NWA North American Heavyweight Title in 4:59. Tempers was laughing and having a good time abusing the kid. Rhymer was such a massive underdog that he got a pop for an armbar reversal. Tempers made like a bull in Pamplona. Rhymer avoided his mad charge and seized on the opening. He got a near fall with a swanton bomb that missed the target.  Tempers clubbed Rhymer in the back of the skull and quickly ended it with the hangman neckbreaker. Not the worst idea for match and it got the desired crowd reaction, but the sight of a pipsqueak being a split second away from beating the  champion with a move that barely made contact was troubling. 

(4) Bo Newsom defeated Seth Delay in a ladder match to win the NWA Anarchy TV Title in 17:38. Delay’s knucks were hung from ceiling with the stipulation that they had to be used to win the title. After a stiff opening exchange, Delay hit a pescado and took it to Bo in the seating area. Delay set up a suplex on the ramp, but Newsom slipped away. Newsom introduced a 6 foot ladder into the match. Delay did some innovative spots with the small ladder. Delay went for a plancha to the outside, and slammed midair into the ladder thrown by Newsom. Delay was in bad shape. Delay took a hard whip into the ladder. Great sound effect there. Delay reversed a whip, sending Bo into the ladder. Delay did a leg drop onto the ladder with Bo buried underneath it. Delay used the ladder discus style to land sick blow to the side of Bo's head. Delay brought a 10 foot ladder in and climbed for the knucks. He got a hand on them before Newsom grounded him with a spinning uranage. Newsom climbed for the knucks, but Delay spilled him off the ladder with a missile dropkick. Delay launched a huracanrana off the tall ladder to bring Bo off the small ladder. That was fairly psychotic. Delay tried for a flying bodypress, but Bo caught him and turned it into a spinebuster onto the ladder. Newsom retrieved the knucks. As Newsom went for the kill shot, Delay kicked a field goal with his gonads. Delay put Newsom's lights out with the knucks, but before he could cover, he got decked by Bobby Moore. Moore put Bo on top of Delay, and Wiley gladly made the three count. With the knucks involved the deck appeared to be stacked in Delay’s favor but it was not to be. This was really good ladder match. The stuff with the small ladder gave it a unique quality, and the psychology was different the typical ladder match that climaxes with the climb for the belt.

(5) Jagged Edge (with Jeff G. Bailey) vs. Brodie Chase was ruled a no contest at 1:35. Chase made a beeline for Bailey. Jagged Edge attacked from behind, running Chase into the announcer’s booth and camera stand before the match was officially underway. Jagged was about to finish Chase off, but froze when the music of Mikael Judas played. Judas and Edge squared off. Newsom ran out and got in between them. Judas gave Newsom a massive chokeslam. Jagged Edge bailed. Judas dared Jagged Edge to get back in the ring. Works for me. This match I want to see.

Judas & Chase vs. Jagged Edge & Newsom was announced for July 28. 

(6) Urban Assault Squad (Shadow Jackson & Nemesis with Jerry Palmer) vs. Hate Junkies (Dany Only & Stryknyn with the Reverend Dan Wilson) was ruled a double DQ at 12:42. Junkies waded in and put a ring clearing ass whipping on UAS before the bell. The punishment continued once the match was officially underway. Only choked Jackson with his belt. Jackson’s facial expression was awesome – eyes bulging, tongue hanging out. Jackson was overall great as a heel with is bumping and cowardice. Jackson grabbed the more-than cooperative Brent Wiley so Nemesis could club Only from behind. UAS worked on Only’s arm with a Fujiwara armbar. Only babyface selling has become a real strength. He gets a lot of sympathy. Only kicked out of Jackson’s 1031 and got his knees up went Nemesis went for his big senton. They kept going and there was some bad ring positioning where it was obvious Stryknyn could have made the tag but didn’t because that wasn’t the plan. The tag was finally made, Stryk speared Nemesis, and the match ended with all four brawling. 

Reverend Dan Wilson challenged UAS to a hangman’s match in two weeks. Speaking as a big fan of Wilson’s mic work, there hasn’t been enough of it lately. Wilson said the prophecies had foretold him that they would burn the fireman, dig a hole for the lawyer, and leave UAS swinging in the breeze.  

(7) Andrew Pendleton III defeated Jacob Ashworth in 6:40. The match was OK, but it was in the filler spot and fans treated it as such. Plus, it was a change from the scheduled card. All Ashworth early. APIII worked Ashworth over and kept cutting him off. Fans tried to get the staccato clapping going but it quickly faded. Ashworth made the full-fledged comeback, but in the end, Pendleton rolled him up with his feet on the ropes. Ashworth shoved referee Dee Byers down in frustration. This behavior was quite out of character for such a respectful young man.  

(8) Azrael & Slim J (with the Rev) defeated NWA Elite (Jacoby Boykins & Shaun Tempers with Jeff G. Bailey) to win the NWA Anarchy Tag Team Championship in 11 minutes. Azrael and Tempers started with their chopfest. Tempers got off first. Azrael got the last word. After an assisted tornado DDT by Slim, it was time regroup. Didn’t help though as Tempers was still getting pounded. Tempers blocked Slim’s huracanrana and turned it into a buckle bomb. Boykins unleashed the devastation. This was some serious heat. Poor Slimmy was getting the stuffing knocked out of him, and the agony was etched on his face, but time and time again he kicked out. J fought off Tempers’ hangman neckbreaker and made the tag. Azrael hit the superman punch on Tempers but he got blindsided by Boykins. Referee Wiley was obliterated by Boykins when Azrael put him in harms way. J hit a rocket launcher version of his flying reverse DDT, Azrael nailed Tempers with a top rope elbow drop, and displaced senior official Byers slid in to the ring for the 1-2-3. Not the prettiest of finishes, and J's recovery was too miraculous after the beating he absorbed,  but poetic justice was served.

The pissed off NWA Elite came to ringside. It didn’t look good for the champs until all the babyfaces hit the ring to congratulate the new champions. Palmer and Bailey were left to stew in their own juices.