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NWA WRESTLEBIRMINGHAM IN IRONDALE, AB LIVE REPORT: JEFF JARRETT VS. DENNIS CONDREY, JAMES STORM, DAFFNEY, MIKE JACKSON, ROBERT FULLER & MORE

By Larry Goodman on 2006-09-23 13:30:00

NWA Wrestle Birmingham returned to Zamora Temple in Irondale, Alabama with “A Night of Star Spangled Banners,” a tribute to the US soldier. The show, which featured discount tickets for active military personnel, was headlined by Jeff Jarrett defending the NWA title against Dennis Condrey with Jim Cornette in his corner, and drew in the neighborhood of 400 people. With a match that never took place and two DQ finishes at the top of the card, it was definitely a show intended to build for the future.

Prematch musical entertainment was provided by the Flames, a countryish band fronted by Wrestle Birmingham television host Larry Lloyd.

The show opened with a 10 bell salute in honor of Ricky Gibson.

American flags were stationed on each ringpost and in the center of the ring. Jimmy “Cowboy” Powell (not to be confused with Dirty White Boy) gave a patriotic speech and did a beautiful a cappella rendition of the national anthem.

(1) River D’Angelo beat El Mexicano in 8:44. D’Angelo cut a prematch promo in Spanish. Then he insulted the crowd in English. Then we were forced to watch D’Angelo try to wrestle. It finally dawned on me as to why D’Angelo gets booked on these shows: he makes all the other workers look so amazingly talented. It was freaking horrible until Mexicano made an athletic comeback. They brawled on the outside. D’Angelo took over again. He did the worst bulldog in the history of Alabama wrestling. D’Angelo blatantly fed Mexicano his head for a DDT. Mexicano went up top for a missile dropkick, but D’Angelo pulled special ref “Enforcer” Bill Franklin into its path. Tried to at least. Mexicano connected, knocking Franklin out of the ring. D’Angelo blindsided Mexicano and pinned him with a Michinoku driver.

Postmatch, Franklin confronted D’Angelo. Franklin and Mexicano gave D’Angelo a double backdrop. Then Franklin got into it with Mexicano. Ref Mike Pedey had to restrain Franklin.

(2) Chase Stevens beat James Storm in 23:50. The show stealer. It was like a taking trip back in time to Bert Prentice show at the Nashville Fairgrounds, only better, because the wrestling in this match was major league. They did a marvelous job of manipulating the crowd’s emotions. The wrestling flowed the way it does with veteran guys that have worked together many times. Storm came out swigging on his beer bottle and cut a heel promo. The sound system made it difficult to hear, but Storm has such a strong presence that it got major heat. Fans chanted “cowgirl” at Storm. Stevens picked up on it and made the inevitable Brokeback Mountain reference. Storm started to bail out on the match. Everyone was having a good time including Storm and Stevens. Storm pulled hair and hid behind ref Mike Pedey. Storm got more heat doing double biceps poses. Stevens made a fiery comeback. They did a comedy sequence where Pedey and Stevens teamed up for a double hiptoss on Storm. Crowd chanted “he’s hardcore” at Pedey. After more buffoonery from Storm, things got serious when Storm kicked Stevens in the groin on an up and over move. Storm grounded Stevens with a sleeper and used the ropes for extra leverage. Storm hit the Eye of the Storm for a near fall. Stevens started beating Storm to the punch. Storm kept going down. Stevens comeback built to a moonsault, but Storm rolled out of the way. Storm connected with a superkick, but he was slow to cover and Stevens kicked out. Storm wedged a chair between the turnbuckles. Storm hit a double underhook side slam for a near fall. Storm went to the top. Stevens shook the ropes to crotch Storm. Stevens hit a superplex. Both men down for a long count to six. Storm kicked out of Stevens’ delayed cover. Stevens brought Storm off the top with a stunner for a great near fall. A minor ref bump bought Storm just enough time to slam Stevens’ head into the wedged chair. Stevens kicked out for another false finish. Storm tried to use the beer bottle. Pedey blocked it. Stevens surprised Storm with a roll up and Pedey made a quick three count. Really a fun match.

Daffney entered the ring for her match with Mike Jackson accompanied by “Tennessee Stud” Robert Fuller. She was busting out of her “Million Dollar Baby” robe. Daffney is supposed to be the heel in this feud but the crowd adores her. Jackson’s music played. Just like last time, he was nowhere to be found. Daffney flapped her arms like a chicken. Fuller said he wasn’t one to speculate, but he was going to do it anyway. Fuller suggested that Jackson either a) got drunk and said the wrong thing to a big redneck or b) got inebriated so the beating wouldn’t hurt so much an ended up in a ditch. Out came NWA official Roy Lee Welch. He didn’t believe Jackson would no show, because Jackson had called him every day this week. Welch said he was going to Jackson some time to show up. That mad Fuller hot. Daffney egged Fuller on by asking if Welch wasn’t his cousin. Fuller said, “There’s illegitimacy in the Welch family, because you ain’t no cousin of mine.” Classic stuff.

Intermission. Cornette and Condrey signed autographs.

(3) Diamonds in the Rough (David Young & Elix Skipper) beat Scott White & Johnny Slaughter to retain the NWA Alabama tag titles in 14:12. White wrestled as Scott Fantastic for Deep South. Slaughter replaced A. J. Steele. White got into a leg kicking contest with Skipper. Not a good idea. The crowd popped when Diamonds cleared the ring. Diamonds were on and the crowd was into their cool offense. When the babyfaces cleared the ring and tried to play to the crowd, you could have heard a pin drop. A lot of White’s kicks and aerial moves lacked authority. Slaughter took over and his stuff looked a lot better. Young took a page out of Skipper’s book with a springboard lariat on Slaughter that was right on the money. Diamonds doubled on Slaughter. The crowd started feeling it for the babyfaces. Skipper got near falls with a slingshot corkscrew splash and double underhook suplex. Young draped Slaughter over the top rope and Skipper nailed him with a guillotine legdrop. Diamonds bumped like crazy when White got the hot tag. Slaughter hit a flip dive onto Diamonds. They did a round robin of big moves. Skipper gave White an Air Raid Crash. Slaughter hit an awesome northern lights suplex on Skipper. Four-way action ensued. Diamonds pinned White with a double atomic facebuster.

(4) Daffney (with Fulller) retained the NWA Alabama junior title over Mike Jackson via count out. Fuller and Daffney came out again. Daffney strutted around holding the belt over her head. Still no Jackson. “Make the 10 count and we can forget about Mike Jackson in Birmingham from now on,” ordered Fuller. The ref was bald mullet guy. I don’t think he ever did make the count. Daffney called Jackson a geritol drinking, AARP card carrying something or other.

(5) Brad Armstong (with the Bullet) beat McNasty (with Fuller) via DQ in 11:43. McNasty retained the NWA Alabama heavyweight title. Brad looked fine in one his final indie appearances prior to starting with ECW (he’s finishing up with a double shot for TNT Pro today in the Atlanta area). He replaced the advertised B. G. James. The stipulation was that Fuller would be handcuffed to Bullet. Fuller promised not to interfere if Welch would forgo the handcuffs. Welch said it was either handcuffs or forfeit the belt. Fuller made a big production out of the handcuffs being too tight. Great stuff. It was the power of McNasty early. Brad gave McNasty a backdrop and McNasty bailed. Brad brought McNasty back in the hardway. But Brad ate a boot that crossed his running lights and McNasty leveled him with a lariat. McNasty played soccer with Brad’s midsection. McNasty was channeling a bit of Crazy Luke Graham here. The crowd got behind Brad. McNasty sold an uppercut with a bump over the top rope. Brad bashed McNasty into the ringsteps. Back inside, Brad used the Russian legsweep and a follow up elbow drop for a near fall. Brad applied the figure four leglock but couldn’t put McNasty away. The ref got bumped. Brad reapplied the figure four. McNasty tapped but the ref was still down. Diamonds jumped on Brad. McNasty released Fuller from the handcuffs, and Fuller clobbered Bullet. Daffney was out there as well.

A police car pulled into the building. Jackson jumped out of the car and headed for the ring. Jackson was in torn up street clothes with blood caked on his face. He was also bleeding from a gash on his leg. Jackson cleaned house on Diamonds with a piece of something.

Welch came out and said that Daffney would have to face Jackson at the next show. Jackson was on the verge of being overcome with emotion. Jackson said he was tired of the same crap every time. Jackson said he would drive 500 miles to get his hands on Fuller. Jackson said Stud’s Stable stole the belt from him and he was holding Welch to his word.

A second intermission was followed by more music from the Flames. Even with only five matches, the show was over 3 hours long before the main event got in the ring.

(6) Dennis Condrey (with Jim Cornette) beat Jeff Jarrett (with Ronnie P. Gossett) via DQ in a match for the NWA World Heavyweight Title (10:53). There was a long delay before Jarrett made his entrance. Cornette grabbed the mic and told Jarrett to get his sorry ass out there to take his whipping. Gossett cut a promo referring to Birmingham as the “sewer of the South.” Cornette skewered Gossett with a series of fat jokes. “You’ve got more chins than a Chinese phonebook. You don’t have a waistline, you’ve got a coastline. Your bathtub has stretchmarks. You must have your own gravitational pull.” Cornette said Condrey would send Jarrett back to Nashville with his tail tucked between his legs. “And that would be the only thing between your legs.” They let the heat build for a couple of minutes before locking up. Jarrett staggered Condrey with a pair of punches, and a haymaker put him on the canvas. Jarrett pounded away. Condrey was using the ropes to stay up. Condrey raked the Jarrett’s eyes, blasted him with four punches, and mocked Jarrett’s strut. Condrey decked Jarrett with a closed fist. Cornette told ref Johnny Boone it was an open hand. Condrey dumped Jarrett and signaled that he was taking it to the balcony. The crowd popped, hoping for a replay of what Condrey did to Lee Thomas. Jarrett had other ideas. He mule kicked Condrey in the groin. Jarrett threw Condrey into the lobby and rammed him into the heavy wood door. Condrey tossed Boone through a section of chairs. Jarrett ran Condrey into the post. Jarrett continued his assault to where it looked like Condrey was down and out. Condrey was selling a helluva lot more than in any of his other Zamora Temple matches. Jarrett applied the sleeper. The crowd broke out the “go, Dennis, go” chant. Condrey started blocking Jarrett’s shots and firing back. Cornette gave Jarrett a tennis racquet thrust to the throat. Jarrett gave Condrey a low blow. Cornette jumped up on the apron. Jarrett slugged Cornette and grabbed the racquet. Jarrett used the racket on Condrey while Boone’s back was turned and tucked it into the back of his trunks. Boone made the three count. Boone won a tug of war with Jarrett over the racquet. Condrey schoolboyed Jarrett and Cornette made a three count. When Gossett came over to protest, Cornette decked him. Boone listened to the fans and DQed Jarrett for using the racquet. Heavy booing commenced when Jarrett was announced as still being the champ. Kind of disappointing, but it was a difficult task living up to the expectations set by Condrey’s previous singles matches here.

NOTES: No return date was announced. Fans were advised to watch the Wrestle Birmingham TV show on WTTO 21 Saturdays at 11:30pm for further info…Daffney and Ronnie P. Gossett were the featured guests on the 9/20 edition of Wrestling Informer Weekly. Both interviews are archived here…I believe this was the first Wrestle Birmingham show that didn’t feature Michael St. John on the play-by-play. A host of folks had a hand in the commentary including ring announcer Michael Christopher, Powell and Gossett.

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