NWA Anarchy ran their final television taping prior to Seasonâs Beatings 2008 on December 20.
It was finely crafted show, one that deserved a better fate than to be witnessed by the lowest crowd for 2008 in Cornelia. There were noly over 100 in attendance at the NWA Arena. A year ago, the number was 175. Like with Fright Night, I suspect the sinking economy led some fans to forgo last nightâs show so they could attend Seasonâs Beatings.
Executive Producer Kevin Marx (he of the outstanding video intros) said there would be no Kidâs Club tonight and introduced the owner or NWA Anarchy, Jerry Palmer.
Palmer informed the crowd that Shadow Jackson would not be the special ref in the main event because his newborn son was in grave condition in a Columbia, SC hospital. Palmer said Shadow IV had shown some improvement and asked the crowd to pray for the Jackson family. Palmer said he wouldnât have made it through the traumatic events surrounding the premature birth of his son, Griffin without the support of the Anarchy fans. Palmer said to think positive, and to underscore the point, he brought Griffin out to the ring for his NWA Arena debut at the age of 4 months and 9 days. It was, to say the least, an emotionally charged way to open the show.
Ring announcer Greg Hunter cut to the dressing room, where a brawl had broken out between Wild Bunch and The Technicians. It spilled down the ramp and into the ring with five refs out there trying to restore order â” a spirited affair that got the show off to a hot start. Hunter announced that two teams would meet in a Texas Tornado match at Seasonâs Beatings.
Palmer came out to introduce the ânew and improvedâ Melissa Coates wearing babyface white.
(1) Melissa Coates beat Crystal Rose in 4:20. Rose is a local favorite that always has the fans pulling hard for her, so this was babyface vs. babyface. Coates dominated, which was a good thing, since the size difference made it tough to buy Roseâs offense. Coates looked smooth and technically sound on the mat. Itâs a strength she should showcase more often. Coates hit a Samoan Drop for a near fall. Rose got her lone near fall with a huracanrana. A battle of backslides ended with Coates hitting the Facelift for the pin.
Brodie Chase entered the ring. He blamed Coates for his suspension and was about to slap her when Palmer came out. Chase shoved Palmer. Palmer decked Chase to spark a âJer-E!, Jer-E!â chant for the crowd. Palmer said he was going to whip Chaseâs ass.
Hunter threw it backstage where John Johnson was with the Talent & Money, the number one contenders for the NWA Anarchy Tag Team Championship. Dynamic Duo showed up. Chad Parham disputed T & M claim to the number one spot. Jeremy Vain & Rob Adonis joined the party. Vain said it was he and Adonis that deserved the title shot. Bill Behrens said they would settle it in match involving one member from each team â” Parham, Talent and Vain.
(2) Azrael (with the Reverend) defeated Adrian Hawkins and Hayden Young and Kyle Matthews in a four-way elimination match to win the Young Lionâs Contender Tournament in 7:59. Huge pop for Slim J out on color commentary. Wild action. Young took a scary bump over the top when he almost lost control on an aerial move. Matthews crashed and burned on the floor with the help of Azrael. Young hit a slingshot crossbody on Matthews. There was a nice visual of Young standing tall over three fallen opponents. Young gave Hawkins a backdrop on the ramp. Young took a rough looking bump on a three-way tower or doom spot. Matthews connected on some flying moves before being eliminated by Hawkinsâ spinning Liger Bomb at 4 minutes. More high flying stuff from Young here. Young fought off the Liger Bomb to eliminate Hawkins at 6:45. Young worked over Azraelâs back with The Walls. There was a snafu on the finish because Young was supposed to get shoved off the top, and it didnât happen. Azrael pinned Young with the Ted Bundy.
Postmatch: J went into the ring to confront Azrael. Iâm looking forward to that one. Itâs a match Iâve seen many times before, and a match Iâll see any chance I get.
Truitt Fields renewed his challenge to the NWA Heavyweight Champion Iceberg. The Reverend came out. He was sick of Fieldsâ demands and ordered up a taste of both Azrael and Iceberg for the NWA Anarchy Television Champion. Shaun Tempers, dressed in a suit and tie, came to Fieldsâ rescue. Tempers said Fields was the one man that saved him after he was beaten down by the Rejects, so he had Fieldsâ back. Tempers said he had to know if Fieldsâ offer of a title match still stood. They shook hands. Itâs on for Seasonâs Beatings.
(3) The Texas Treats (Don Juan & Chris Marval) beat âThe Rock â~n Roll Ninjaâ Skitzo & Big Dogg in 7 minutes. Juan came out with a red rose in him mouth and did some dirty dancing with a girl in the front row. Juan busted out the lucha style. It built to a butt bump to the face of a seated Dogg. Funny stuff. Juan back everyone off with his pelvic thrusting until ref Jacob Ashworth ordered him to âput it down.â Juan took the heat. With the bleached blonde hair and trimmed down physique, Dogg looks like a badass version of Derrick King. He had a good match. Skitzo, not so much. He totally botched a slingshot move, and made matters a lot worse by laughing instead of selling. Marval cleaned house with a backdrop driver in Skitzo. Juan put Skitzo completely out of it with a stunner. Marval pinned Dogg after an inverted surfboard/middle rope elbow drop combo.
A sneering Attorney/Agent Jeff G. Bailey cut another awesome promo. His mic work started to take on new life when Shatter joined the Elite, and since Kimo came on board, Bailey has been at the heights of his powers. Bailey blamed Kimoâs suspension on Ace Rockwellâs abject cowardice and Palmerâs abuse of power. On the WrestleVision, we saw clips of Kimoâs attack on referee Wes Grissom and the aftermath in the dressing room. Grissom was on the floor bleeding and lapsing into unconsciousness. Palmer and Rockwell were at his side telling him help was on the way. Bailey said it made him sad that the insignificant piece of dirt didnât die on the floor. He noted two things Rockwell said in the video: 1) Someone has to stop Kimo. Bailey said it sounded like Rockwell was taking it upon himself. 2) Rockwell called Kimo an animal. Bailey said an animal belongs in a cage and issued a challenge for a cage match. Rockwell appeared on the ramp with the crowd chanting his name. When Rockwell started talking about the video, Bailey interrupted to say it was hilarious. Rockwell said he felt terrible about what happened to Grissom, and he was gladly accepting the challenge. Bailey started jumping for joy. Rockwell said he was a fighter, and there would be no surrender, because he was coming to kick Kimoâs ass. Palmer came out and said he wasnât opposed to a cage, but there would be an official, and if Kimo touched that official, Bailey would be gone from Cornelia for good after 12 years. Bailey wanted to know what was up with Palmerâs obsession with referees. Palmer left Bailey to ponder the identity of the special ref for the main event. Bailey pouted as his demand to know fell on deaf ears. This entire segment was money.
(4) J.T. Talent (with Andrew Pendleton) vs. Chad Parham (with Seth Delay) vs. Jeremy Vain (with Rob Adonis) ended in a no contest at 6:46. Simple story: three heels each pullin gout underhanded tricks on the other two guys. Everyone was hitting their big moves and having their pin attempts broken up. There was a legit problem between Parham and Talent. Parham took issue with something Talent did and bailed to the back before the segment was over. Talent & Money and Adonis & Vain continued to brawl after ref Brent Wiley called for the bell.
Postmatch: New Wave were shown on the big screen. Having the larger-than-life champions looking down upon the challengers was a very effective way to stage things. In this case, more so than having them come to ringside. Steven Walters said they were already at the top. The camera pulled back to show that New Wave was standing on a ladder, and you know what that means.
Bill Behrens was introduced as Shadow Jacksonâs replacement in the role of special referee for the main event.
(5) Mikal Judas defeated Phil Shatter (with Jeff G. Bailey) in a no DQ/no count out match to earn a spot in the three-way match for the NWA Anarchy Heavyweight Championship at Seasonâs Beatings (17:30). Excellent match except for the crowd. None of the electricity that was present seven days ago when these two met. It was weird. They were hardly popping at all. Shatter kept bailing out, but Judas was stalking him. Shatter fought off a choke slam. Judas uncorked a barrage of shoulder blocks that put Shatter down in the corner. Judas gave him the face wash treatment. Shatter tried to take a time out to lick his wounds, but Judas was on him with a lariat off the apron. Judas choked Shatter with the camera cable. In a rare ECWish spot, a fan in the first row held up a chair, and Judas rammed Shatterâs head into it. The fan took a bow. A fan in the opposite corner followed suit. The tide turned when Judas got crotched on the top due to Baileyâs interference. Shatter superplexed the 6-7, 275 pound Judas with ease. Shatter launched an all out assault on Judasâ lower back. Shatter used a spinebuster and a grounded bearhug. Bailey gave Shatter a chair to grind into Judasâ back. At 11:30, Shatter went head first into a wedged chair on a spear attempt. It left Shatter with a huge lump on his forehead. Judas tried a top rope lariat, but Shatter speared him out of midair. Both men down. Judas gave Shatter a rocket launcher and leveled him with the Mafia Kick. Judas was hurting too bad to follow up quickly and Shatter kicked out. Both men in serious agony here. Shatter hit the PTSD, but was also very slow to cover, and Judas kicked out. Judas brought Shatter off the middle rope with a choke slam for a very near fall. Judas got Shatter up for El Crucifijo. Judas saw Bailey up on the apron and let loose of Shatter. Bailey pulled out a bag of powder. Behrens âaccidentallyâ knocked the powder into Baileyâs face. Bailey took a bump, his face covered in white. Judas pinned Shatter with a Chokebreaker. Given that Jackson was unavailable, Plan B worked out quite nicely.
The evil Reverend brought Iceberg to ringside to entice Judas with the sight of the heavyweight title belt. Unfortunately, a good portion of the crowd had already headed out into the cold winter night, so the show ended on a deathly quiet note.
The complete card for Seasonâs Beatings 2008 is as follows: Texas Tornado Match: Technicians vs. Wild Bunch, Brodie Chase vs. Jerry Palmer (with Melissa Coates) , Young Lionâs Title: Slim J (c) vs. Azrael (with the Reverend), Ladder Match for the NWA Anarchy Tag Team Titles: New Wave (c) vs. Dynamic Duo vs. Talent & Money vs. Vain & Adonis, Adrian Hawkins vs. Hayden Young, NWA Anarchy TV Title Match: Truitt Fields (c) vs. Shaun Tempers, NWA Anarchy Heavyweight Title Match: Iceberg(c) (with the Reverend) vs. Shadow Jackson vs. Mikal Judas, Steel Cage Pinfall, Submission or Escape: Kimo (with Jeff G. Bailey) vs. Ace Rockwell.
NOTES: Shatter is booked for the NWA Showcase card on 12/20 in Niles, Oh at the Eastwood Expo for an NWA National Title match vs. Crusher Hanson…Ace Rockwell is a now a co-holder of the NWA Prime Time tag titles along with Frankie Valentine. The beat Simon Sermon & Thomas Britain for the titles on 12/5 in Columbus.
