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NWA RAMPAGE PRO WRESTLING 3rd ANNIVERSARY SHOW LIVE REPORT

By Larry Goodman on 2011-09-06 07:10:00

NWA Rampage Pro Wrestling presented their 3rd Anniversary event Sunday afternoon in Warner Robins, GA, drawing a crowd of 150 to Johnny G’s Fun Center. The product has come a very long way over the last three years.

This was indy pro wrestling at it’s best, beginning to end, a beautifully constructed and executed show. Not an ounce of filler material. All clean finishes. Every segment of the 2 hours television taping was a success. The crowd response was strong throughout the afternoon.

The Bash was a good show. This was a great show. The wrestling by the most talent roster in Georgia was balls to the wall, and the the less-is-more approach of limiting it to just 6 matches worked to perfection. The story telling at RPW blends the old and  the new in a way that is built for the long haul.

Whereas the heel side got the best of it at Sizzling Summer Bash, the babyface contingent clearly came on top this time around, winning all of the key matches.

The show opened with a tremendous in ring segment featuring the legendary Thunderbolt Patterson interviewed by RPW play-by-play announcer Ben Masters. Patterson thanked God he was still standing at the age of 70. He referenced the difficulty other legends of his era were having getting around. Fan chuckled at this, as many of them had obviously attended the NWA Legendsfest in Atlanta two weeks ago. Patterson said he hadn’t been watching much wrestling until he met “sweet soul” and RPW owner Dr. Johnny Gayton at Legendsfest and started looking at RPW. Patterson said stars were being born and something was going right. Patterson uttered the immortal words – “You just call somebody, and tell somebody what y’all just saw.”  

(1) Bull Buchanan beat Rob Adonis (with Charlie Cash) to retain the NWA Rampage Heavyweight Title in 10:45.
Buchanan has dropped weight and looked to be in his best shape in some time. Adonis clipped Buchanan’s bad knee before the bell and continued to work on it throughout the match. The crowd was behind Bull big time as he struggled to mount a comeback. Adonis went for a powerbomb on the ramp. Bull countered with a backdrop, and they teased a double count out. Back inside, they traded big punches from their knees. Adonis dodged Bull’s scissors kick and hit an exploder suplex for a near fall. Adonis slipped out a Bull’ running bulldog and went up top. BIG mistake. Buchanan crotched Adonis on the top turnbuckle and hammered him to the mat with a lariat  to score the pinfall. Good match. Simple but effective.

(2) Anthony Andrews & Bobby Moore (with Charlie Cash) & Anthony Andrews defeated Drew Adler & Michael Stevens (with Chris Jacobs) in 10 minutes. Damn, the crowd was hot for this match. Fans were chanting for Jacobs (a legit police officer) to tase Andrews. That Andrews gets as much heat as he does, speaks well of Rave’s ability as a booker, as well as the length to which Andrews has gone to personify the slightly delusional “winner” character. Moore told the ref to get the feathers (Stevens boa) out of his ring. The theater like acoustics of the venue made this match more entertaining. Moore and Andrews were bickering and the fans could clearly hear every word of it. Stevens took the heat. When Stevens clocked Andrews with an enzuigiri, Moore yelled, “Winning is not laying on your back. Get up!” The hot tag led to a fast and furious finishing sequence filled with twists and turns. Adler got a near fall with an Air Raid Crash. He’s yet to win a match with that move, but you would think he had with the way the crowd reacted. Stevens made a blind tag and scored a near fall of his own. Stevens kicked out of a big double team. The heels collided and Stevens almost had it won again. In the end, Moore pinned Stevens with his running kick.

Afterward, Jacobs decked Andrews and the crowd begged him to break Andrews’ hot pink “winner” trophy. It took a strong man to resist the temptation.

Jimmy Rave came to the ring and said he didn’t have a match due to Ace Rockwell’s broken ankle, so he was going to call it an afternoon. The fans chanted “Go Home Jimmy”. That brought Doc Gayton out with happy anniversary wishes and a surprise opponent for Rave ---- the debuting Patrick Bentley.

(3) Jimmy Rave defeated Patrick Bentley in 10 minutes. The crowd immediately took to Bentley aka ”The Human Action Figure”. Despite his small stature, Bentley was presented as somebody special and he looks the part, as he is also a competition level body builder. Plus the guy can wrestle. After a preliminary trading of holds, Bentley offered a handshake and Rave spit his gum at him. Such a brat that Rave. Rave tried to stomp Bentley’s elbow. Bentley escaped and worked on Rave’s arm. Rave spit on him again, and the situation evolved into a humiliating beating.  Bentley fired up and Rave kicked his face off. They traded big chops. Bentley did an insane cannonball tope, then a flying bodypress for one near fall and a Blue Thunder Bomb for another. The execution of the finishing sequence was terrific. Bentley ducked the shining wizard and rolled Rave up, but Rave kicked out and hit The Move That Rocked the World. “Welcome to RPW, kid.” Excellent match. Both men looked very sharp.  

(4) The Usual Suspects (Murder One & AJ Steele with Rico) defeated 7OH!4 (Caleb Konley & Cedric Alexander) to retain the NWA Rampage Tag Team Championships in 11:15. Babyface vs. babyface but Suspects were way, way more over than 7OH!4. Rico performed a rap he wrote for Suspects as they entered the ring. What a drubbing this was. 7OH!4 came into the match as top contenders by virtue of defeating then champions Hot Like Lava via DQ at the previous taping. Suspects totally dominated the challengers. They had no answer for Steele’s massive power. Suspects sent Alexander to the moon with a double hiptoss, but the worst punishment was reserved for Konley. 7OH!4 made a brief aerial comeback that was good for a couple of near falls and that was about it. Suspects put Konley out of his misery with the Crush Groove. Based on the way this was booked, it would appear that 7OH!4 don’t figure in the plan for the tag team division going forward.

(5) Frankie Valentine defeated Jeremy Vain (with Doug Somers) to win the NWA Rampage TV Title in 19 minutes.
RPW has dispensed with the intermission, so the crowd lost some steam here before getting their second wind for the main event. It surely wasn’t related to match quality. These guys worked their asses off. These two have produced a great series of matches and this was another intense bout. Valentine was on fire early. He’s like a coiled spring on offense. A missed moonsault gave Vain a brief advantage, but Valentine recuperated quickly and hit a springboard crossbody. Vain continued to work on Valentine’s gut. Valentine hit his “eat the feet” move and Vain rolled to safety on the outside. Tried to anyway, but Valentine brought him back in the hardway. Valentine tried another springboard crossbody, and Vain rolled through using the tights for a close near fall. Vain hit his VDT, and Valentine just barely got a foot under the ropes. Valentine crotched Vain on the top turnbuckle, and tried for a superhuracanrana, but Vain hooked the ropes sending Valentine crashing to the mat. Valentine kicked out after eating a superkick. Shortly thereafter, Valentine reversed an inside cradle to get the three count. The finish was a bit of anticlimax after all the great near falls.

Postmatch, Somers blasted his stepson, Valentine, with the title belt. Valentine was busted open. Somers then gave him a piledriver. Valentine’s hand was twitching as he laid face down on the mat. Doc Gayton hit the ring with a steel chair to prevent further mayhem. This surely leads to the father vs. son match, which is pure gold.

(6) Kyle Matthews & J-Rod & Adrian Hawkins beat Rave Approved (Mike Posey & Corey Hollis & Chip Day) in 14:45. Wall-to-wall action in this one. The returning Hawkins got a pop equal to other babyfaces. A positive sign being this was Hawkins’ first RPW appearance since he shunned Rave Approved’s membership offer at Memorial Mayhem. Rave Approved didn’t have Sal Rinauro to save them, because Gayton suspended him after his shenanigans at the last taping. J-Rod literally made Posey the butt of his joke. The fans chanted “poser” at Posey. The faces busted out a triple team/triple dive sequence that was killer. Rave Approved isolated J-Rod, but he got out of it with a backcracker on Hollis. Hawkins ran wild until Hollis damn near broke his jaw with a back elbow. From there, it was see saw craziness right to the finish. J-Rod and Matthews hit a cool stereo move. Rave Approved destroyed Matthews with a triple team. Hawkins made the save. Matthews made Posey miss on his top rope guillotine leg drop, but Posey got his knees up on Matthews’ frogsplash. Finish saw Matthews get Posey in the Hidaka Lock. Hollis tried to break it up, but J-Rod caught him with a triangle, and Posey submitted.

Rave attacked Matthews after the match. In turn, Bentley attacked Rave. All of the babyface hit their big moves on Rave, and Bentley killed him dead with his version of the Canadian Destroyer. I don’t believe that move has ever been done in an RPW ring, and the fans popped huge for it.

Gayton announced RPW’s first ever War Games for the Doctoberfest show with Matthews and Rave as team captains. Team members TBA.

NOTES: RPW is pulling strong ratings in Macon where they get huge exposure via two shows (RPW TV and RPW Rewind) that run on two stations. Fox 24 did a story on the 3rd Anniversary event…RPW picked up an outlet in McDonough, GA (SBN) that reaches seven counties…Miss Allie joined Ben Masters as the co-host of the 30 minute RPW Rewind show…Gayton performed successful eye surgery on Mr. Wrestling #2. RPW filmed a segment with Gayton doing an eye exam on Wrestling 2 with his mask on that airs as a commercial on RPW TV…The September 3 edition (episode 156) of RPW TV contains a series of interviews with NWA legends including Baby Doll, Wrestling 2, Greg Valentine and Austin Idol. To view that episode click www.rampage.zarious.com/streaming/streaming.wmv…Episode 155 has Rave vs. Davey Richards. Episode 154 features Adam Pearce and Colt Cabana vs. Vain…Bentley earned a regular spot on the RPW roster…Prior to the show, they set up the Patterson interview by airing footage from Crockett era WCW on the big screen. It was an angle involving Patterson & Manny Fernandez vs. the Andersons (Ole & Arn) and it was so much more realistic than 99% of what passes for pro wrestling these days that the crowd popped when it was over…Jimmy Rave recently did an interview in which he revealed that his second ROH run was cut short due to serious substance abuse issues. Rave went to rehab and is currently the director of a peer counseling center that is part of the Georgia mental health system. The interview can be found  ww.maniaweekend.blogspot.com/2011/08/interview-with-jimmy-rave-of-rampage.html…The “RPW Rap” written and performed by Rico is going to be one of RPW’s theme songs going forward…Referee Dustin Robinson continues to get the “Meatloaf’ chant every time he comes out for a match, so as a rib Behrens cued up “Bat Out of Hell” as he entered the ring. The funny part was that Dustin didn’t even notice it…The DVD releases of Memorial Mayhem and Sizzling Summer Bash will be available at the September 18 taping.   

 

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