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NWA Championship Wrestling from Hollywood took place Wednesday night, August 25 from the Galaxy Theatre in Santa Ana, California. The taping kicked off around 7:15 and the intimate, but vocal crowd helped set the stage for an exciting night of action.
Before the show started, David Marquez came out to rile up the crowd and do a temperature check for names like The Sheik, Colt Cabana, Claudio Castagnoli, hometown favorites Willie Mack and Joey Ryan and NWA Worlds Champion Adam Pearce. The crowd responded favorably to each. Ring announcer Angelo Trinidad took the mic and the official taping began.
Episode 1
1. Colt Cabana defeated Peter Avalon by submission
This was a fun comedy match featuring what you would expect from Colt. Avalon has made a nice name for himself in Southern California and received a face reaction from the vocal minority during the match.
Cabana hits a flying splash in the corner then completes the sequence with the Chicago Crab for the submission victory. After the match, commentator Jeff Resnik heads out to the ring for an interview. Colt says he came to Hollywood to win the NWA Worlds Championship, and he's not going to stop until he reaches that goal.
2. The Sheik defeated Andrew Hellman by submission
Hellman is the quintessential American babyface, wearing trunks emblazoned with the U.S. Flag, so he had the crowd behind him against the foreign heel. Sheik attacks Hellman before the bell and goes on a vicious streak using brute force and power offense. Hellman got in some hope spots, but Sheik locked on the Camel Clutch for the win. After the match, Sheik gets on the mic and says he's gunning for the NWA Worlds Championship. He says Adam Pearce has nowhere to run and nowhere to hide.
3. Brandon Parker and Todd Chandler defeated The Tribe (Navajo Warrior and Hawaiian Lion) w/ Olivia by disqualification
Parker gets some nice high flying offense on Warrior, but this soon turned into sheer domination from the Tribe. Warrior hits a running splash in the corner, followed up by a clothesline by Lion as Olivia looks on from the outside. The match comes to an end when the Tribe hit a double clothesline on Parker, then throw him over the top rope for a DQ. The Tribe continue the beating after the match, hitting more double-team maneuvers on Chandler before leaving to a chorus of boos.
At this point, Adam Pearce walks out to the ring and cuts a promo on how he'll take on all comers put in front of him. By the end of the night, he'd have two clear challengers in his sights for the near future.
Pearce got great heel heat, as usual.
4. Joey Ryan defeated TJ Perkins (billed as TJP84) by pinfall
Joey Ryan got the hometown reaction. He had blue trunks that read “Hollywood” on the back to really stress that. Great match by these two. TJ hits a sunset flip into double knees into the chest of Ryan. Joey gets a snap suplex out of the corner for a two count, followed by a vicious cradle suplex by Joey. Later, TJP launches through the ropes for a dive to outside on Ryan. Back in the ring, Ryan hits a sick spinebuster for a close two-count.
Midmatch, the action slows down a little bit, as Ryan locks in an abdominal stretch, which Perkins countered into a hiptoss. He followed that by a jumping reverse neckbreaker. Ryan fights back with a kick to the back of the head then spear, good for another two count. An over-the-top-rope suplex by Perkins lands both himself and Ryan on the outside, match continues.
Back in the ring, the finish comes when TJ reverses a sunset flip into a leg crab, which Ryan counters and hits a superkick out of nowhere to get the pinfall. To me, this was the match of the night. Excellent showcase for both men that went longer than expected for a television taping.
5. Willie Mack defeated Joey Rico Dynamite by pinfall
Mack received a nice reception from the hometown crowd. Claudio Castagnoli made his way out and joined commentators Todd Keneley and James Morgan at the booth. Mack has very impressive and innovative offense for a man his size. Very agile and unique. Mack starts things off with a jumping reverse armdrag. Mack hits a mid-ring jumping legdrop for two. Rico scores a back suplex, but Mack ended up with the win following a fallaway slam into a powerbomb.
After the match, Claudio enters the ring where Mack extends his hand for a handshake, but leaves instead. Feud brewing here.
6. Claudio Castagnoli defeated Nick Madrid by submission
Madrid, a standout for local NWA affiliate Mach 1 Wrestling out of Anaheim, CA, received a good reaction from the local crowd. Castagnoli dominated the match for the most part despite a good effort from Madrid. He hit a running European uppercut and then locked in the horse collar stretch to the tapout victory.
7. NWA Worlds Championship Match – “Scrap Iron” Adam Pearce(Champion) defeated Scorpio Sky by pinfall
This match was billed as the main event of the first show and went longer than any match of the entire night. Crowd was split pretty evenly between the hometown Sky and the respected fighting champion Pearce. The champ heeled it all match, biting Sky on the forehead in the early going. Sky fights out and hits a tornado headscissors, followed by Sky biting Pearce in the corner, getting a measure of revenge for earlier.
Sky is his usual self, landing some flashy offense including a standing double knee stomp to a grounded Pearce. Scorpio goes up top and Pearce accidentally pushed referee Rick Knox into the ropes to crotch Sky. Pearce then lands a dropkick mid-ring and then mouths to the camera, “This is for the Sheik,” and locks in a Camel Clutch. Sky fights out and drives both knees into Pearce's sternum.
Scorpio is fired up now, and lands two Stinger splashes on the champ. Frog splash gets Sky a two count. Double knees in the corner followed by a missile dropkick has Sky has Pearce reeling. A running kneelift and a beautiful tornado DDT has Pearce down for the 1-2...foot on the rope. Crowd is on fire right now.
Action is reset. As Sky takes his time to recover from the the last sequence, the official checks on him and Pearce low blows him from behind. Pearce with the Spike Piledriver and this one is over. Pearce barely survives this title defense. Match really kicked into gear in the latter stages.
Pearce engaged in some postmatch shenanigans, attacking Sky, but he eventually comes back. Suddenly, Rocky Romero comes down to the ring and gangs up on Sky. Joey Ryan then comes out to even the score. Claudio Castagnoli then joins the fray, then Willie Mack storms in and the three heels retreat. The final shot is Mack, Sky and Ryan in the ring celebrating with the latter holding the NWA Worlds Title, sending a message that he wants the gold as well.
Episode 2
8. The Natural Selection (Shaun Ricker and Brian Cage) defeated Peter Avalon and Mike Reign
Before the match started, a message over the P.A. System aired. It was Percy Pringle III, formerly known as Paul Bearer in WWE. He said while he couldn't be there at the event physically, he said he was there in spirit. He then put over what he called “the Pringle Dynasty version 2010” - The Natural Selection. Pringle has been paired with Cage and Ricker for quite a while now and I think they work well together.
This match served its purpose well in the fact that it established Natural Selection's double-team offense. In a funny spot, Avalon tags in then, in one fluid motion, turns around immediately tags Reign back in. Avalon left behind his partner at this point and went to the back. Double suplex onto Reign good for a two-count, followed by a reverse neckbreaker by Cage. Ricker tags in and lands a nice back suplex into a uranage. Finish came when Natural Selection connected with a powerbomb/springboard clothe on Reign.
9. Shelly Martinez defeated Lucky O' Shea by pinfall
Good reaction for Shelly; she looked good. Match started off with a takedown by Shelly. She then took O' Shea down with a drop toe hold which turned into a submission attempt. Lucky came back with a slam from behind, then locked on an impressive dragon sleeper with both knees driven in to the back of Martinez. By this point, O' Shea was in control, with a nice dropkick in the corner and a somersault stunner for some nice nearfalls. Martinez fought back though and finished her opposition with a goozle into a legsweep for the three count.
10. Joey Kaos defeated Ray Rosas by pinfall
For the record, this is the same Kaos that was in XPW, and appeared on Wrestling Society X. Kaos looked pretty good in this one. It was a showcase match for Kaos, but Rosas showed some fire in the loss. Kaos landed a pretty looking tilt-a-whirl backbreaker on Rosas in the latter stages of the match. Ending comes when Kaos hits a DVD bomb. Kaos gets the win in front of the hometown fans.
11. NWA Heritage Tag Team Title Match – RockNES Monsters (Johnny Goodtime and Johnny Yuma) (Champions) defeated Los Luchas (Zokre and Phoenix Star) by pinfall
This match was a VERY close second for match of the entire night. When the Monsters' music hit, the entire place erupted. This team is extremely popular and their potential is limitless. Yuma starts things with a headscissors, followed by a slingshot legdrop. Later, Zokre comes back with a hurricanrana on Goodtime. RockNES recover with simultaneous over-the-top-rope planchas to each of the Luchas.
Back in the ring, Star lifts Goodtime in the air and delivers a low blow behind the official's back. Luchas would go on to utilize double-team maneuvers while the referee's back was turned several times in this match. Also, Luchas used quite a few submissions and groundwork to try to slow down Goodtime and Yuma, perhaps the quicker duo of the two teams. Despite this, Zokre delivered an excellent springboard moonsault, followed by a springboard frog splash by Star on Yuma.
Soon after, Yuma made the hot tag to Goodtime who, when tagged, ran back to the entrance setup and connected with a leaping double clothesline into the ring onto both Luchas. Goodtime with a dropkick in the corner followed by another hurricanrana that was good for a close two count. He hits a spinebuster on Zokre for yet another two. Yuma and Star both tag in where Star hits a somersault backbreaker in an innovative double-team move that almost crowned new tag champs. Goodtime tags in, hits a running enziguri and picks up the duke in another fantastic contest. Go out of your way to see this match onwww.nwahollywood.com when it airs.
12. Colt Cabana defeated Cedric The Hitman by submission
Failed sneak attack by Cedric at the onset. Another comedy match where Cabana is out there having fun. Crowd into Colt's antics. Cabana delivers a flying elbow to a grounded Cedric. In a humorous spot, Cabana takes off Cedric's gloves and slaps him with them. He follows this by landing a Bionic Elbow and ends things with another Chicago Crab. After the match, Colt once again says he wants the NWA Title and will throw a party for everyone after he captures the prestigious 10 pounds of gold.
13. Christina Von Eerie (with Buggy) defeated Lizzy Valentine by pinfall
All three women got nice reactions from the crowd. Early in the match, Von Eerie connects with a springboard clothesline. Valentine fires right back with a DDT for a two count. Lizzy then delivers a hangman's neckbreaker on Von Eerie, but she returns the favor with a swinging neckbreaker of her own. Von Eerie picks up the duke after a Codebreaker. Nice showcase for the NWA's Lethal Ladies during the show.
14. Main Event – Joey Ryan, Willie Mack and Scorpio Sky defeated NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion “Scrap Iron” Adam Pearce, Claudio Castagnoli and “Azucar” Rocky Romero by pinfall in a six man tag
Before the bell, Adam Pearce once again took to the mic, and put over his teammates like only the champ can. Good promo where he intimidated the referee and ring announcer and pushed them out of the ring.
Mack and Romero start off. The story of this match is the quick (illegal) tags and triple-team moves the heels perform. Mack takes much of the punishment in the early going. Sky tags in and hits some flashy offense on Romero. Ryan comes in and gets some blows in on him before Castagnoli tags in. With Claudio in the corner, Ryan climbs the turnbuckle and punches him nine times, then lays in a shot to Pearce to cap things off!
The heels take control with Ryan now taking the brunt of the beating. Romero with knees to the back as the heels cheat behind the referee's back. Romero scores an inverted atomic drop on Ryan, which brings in Pearce, who lands a big splash in the center of the ring. In comes Castagnoli, who muscles up Ryan for a powerbomb for a close nearfall.
Ryan though manages to make a comeback and hits a key spinebuster that turns the tide. Sky tags in and lands a sweet looking springboard crossbody on Claudio. Sky with a couple of Stinger splashes to Claudio. Sky tries to deliver a standing senton, but was reversed by Claudio into a submission attempt. Rocky tags in next as does Mack, and he lands a T-bone suplex, followed by a clothesline in the corner. Pearce joins in and takes a dropkick from Mack. Claudio enters and gets himself back body dropped for his efforts.
Meanwhile Romero is recovering on the floor, but Joey Ryan appears out of nowhere and launches himself through the ropes to the outside. Sky follows suit and takes out Claudio in the process. Moments later, Ryan and Pearce are the legal men in this one and square off center ring. Finish came when Joey hits his Superkick on Pearce and he pins the World Champion! Crowd comes unglued for the finish. Very good main event.
While Ryan is celebrating, the Sheik runs out and attacks him. At first, Pearce stands back and lets the Sheik continue the onslaught. Finally, Pearce attacks the Sheik from behind and he gets his first bit of payback from the attack he suffered at NWA Fanfest a couple of weeks ago. Ryan rejoins the scrap and we have a three-way war to end the taping!
Ryan gets on the mic and lays down the gauntlet; he wants Sheik, he wants Pearce, but most importantly...he wants the gold and boldly declares he is the next NWA Worlds Champion. Will those two men accept the challenge laid out by the hometown hero? That's the cliffhanger we're left on until next time.
Overall, a very good show that showcased the best the NWA has to offer. The atmosphere was very family friendly as several families were in attendance in addition to the typical throngs of rowdy wrestling fans that packed the Galaxy Theatre. The next set of tapings haven't been announced yet, but all of the up to the minute information on NWA Championship Wrestling from Hollywood can be found atwww.nwahollywood.com.
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