her
Last Week on SAW…Derrick King Enterprises regained the SAW Tag Team Championship after Drew Haskins came to the aid of his former employer and KOed Jeff Daniels and Johnny Bandana.
Beth Brightwell interviewed DKE (King, Haskins and a perilously pregnant Sista O’Feelyah). They were in celebration mode complete with a bottle of Andres champagne. King said every single body was fooled including the smartest guy they know, Jeff Daniels. Haskins was so excited. He said he had never drunk alcohol in his life but he was going to chug the whole bottle. O’Feelyah got a funny look on her face and evidently went into labor because they packed up and ran off to have the baby.
Michael Graham said the main event would be DKE defending the titles against former champions, The Brotherhood (Daniels & Josephus). Graham was joined by Reno Riggins on color commentary.
1 – ALLEN SHEPARD vs. ELI UNDERHILL
Shepard overwhelmed Underhill right off the bat and never let up. Reno said Shepard was from the Pacific Northwest and brought up the wrestlers that came out of the Portland promotion like his former partner Steve Dahl. Shepard won it with a fireman’s carry into a fallaway neckbreaker.
WINNER: Shepard in 2:30.
A video package showing Luke Gallows attack on new SAW International Champion Vordell Walker dissolved into a shot of Gallows arriving at the gym. Gallows said he was just back from a tour with Ring Ka King and was about to leave for the Philippines. Gallows said he was coming back to take the title from Walker – “Enjoy your remaining days on two legs because big Luke Gallows is coming, and I’m going to RUN…YOU…DOWN.”
Interviews with Micah and Tracy Taylor were up next. They told the story of how they first hooked up when they attended high school together in Hawaii. This was a useless segment because the music drowned out much of what they said.
“Bond Girl” Leah Hulan was back in all her bounteous glory with Grumpy’s Bail Jumper of the Week – Cecil McGee -- wanted for sale of cocaine. “We’ve looked at your entire situation and we realized that you have a lot of issues. It’s going to be easier on you if you turn yourself in to me, and we’ll be there for you.”
The announce team put the returning Hayme over big time. They didn’t care for Bentley’s big mouth but they admitted he could get it done in the ring.
Graham went to the ring to interview Bentley. Bentley went into a long-winded diatribe during which he managed to disrespect Graham, Hayme, the fans and the city of Nashville.
2 – MATT BENTLEY vs. CHRISJEN HAYME
Bentley was thrilled with himself after scoring a pair of knockdown shoulder blocks. His display of arrogance earned a “you suck” chant. Hayme surprised Bentley with a pinning combination. Bentley did not take kindly to this, as he kneed Hayme in the gut and punched him in the face. Hayme took command with his aerial attack, but Bentley dodged a shoulder block through the ropes and caught Hayme with a slice leg drop. Bentley pounded Hayme from the mount position. Bentley hit a backdrop suplex for barely a two count. Bentley picked Hayme apart with punches in the corner. We were treated to a tight shot of Chicken Hat Charles and “Super Barney” Chad Hyatt sitting in the first row. They make a cute couple. Bentley focused on keeping Hayme off his feet. Each time Hayme rallied, Bentley would quickly cut him off. Hayme blasted Bentley with a shadow dropkick to turn the momentum. The pace quickened with Hayme dishing out the punishment. Bentley tried for a backslide, but Hayme countered with a mini flatliner for a near fall. Hayme used a senton backsplash for another two count. Hayme flew from the top rope, but altered his trajectory when he saw Bentley using ref Jesse Fields as a shield. Moments later, Bentley caught Hayme on the button with a superkick and it was lights out
WINNER: Bentley with the superkick at 7:55.
Reno said Graham was heading back to the ring for more verbal torture. Bentley didn’t think his intro was up to snuff, so he gave Graham a wedgie. Bentley then ripped the fans as stereotypical slow southerners. How original.
3 – SAW Tag Team Title Match – Champions DERRICK KING ENTERPRISES (Derrick King & “Teen Excitement” Drew Haskins with Sista O’Feelyah) vs. THE BROTHERHOOD (Jeff Daniels & Josephus with Dominique)
Reno said O’Feelyah was nine and half months pregnant (and she looked every minute of it) so I guess the scene from last week must have been a false alarm. Daniels was ruling the roost with hiptosses and armdrags on Haskins. Daniels pushed the envelope with a flying headscissors and dropped Haskins right on his head. The name Pat O’Connor crossed Reno’s lips. The former NWA World Champion must have been rolling in his grave. King tagged in to find Josephus waiting for him. King called for a truce and got a press slam instead. The fans wanted to see it again. Josephus obliged. When Haskins tagged in, the announcers broke out laughing at the sight of him stepping over the top rope. Reno said he was acting like El Gigante. Too bad the camera missed it. A cheap shot by King gave DKE the advantage on Daniels. Graham was beside himself when O’Feelyah interfered. Reno said they should call her the Maternity Mauler. King tagged in and teed off on Daniels. They traded blows to a double knockdown. A head on collision put both men down again. Tags were made. Josephus cleaned house. All four in the ring. Daniels with a dropkick on Haskins followed by a dive off the apron! King slipped away from Josephus’ chokeslam and connected with a superkick. The monster staggered but stayed upright. Lani Kealoha hit the ring with a belt shot on Josephus, and down he went for the 1-2-3.
WINNER(S); Derrick King Enterprises retain the SAW Tag Team Championship in 9:25 after interference by Lani Kealoha.
Afterthoughts: Not a good show this week. For one thing, it appeared to be a rush job of production. Several segments ended at abrupt random moments and blaring background music ruined a potentially good interview with the Taylors. When the show is clicking, SAW can be counted on for entertaining talking segments, and this show didn’t have much in that vein. Bentley has established the fact that he’s an obnoxious, annoying windbag, which would be fine if he had anything halfway interesting to say. His talking so long is a device to build heat I guess, but it made want to turn the channel. The DKE celebration scene was decent, but O’Feelyah being at ringside for the main event required more explanation. Gallows’ brief promo was effective. As for the matches, Shepard’s debut was an OK squash. Bentley’s wrestling continues to be better than his talking, thank God. He and Hayme had a good match. Hayme is a solid hand and it would suite me just fine if he was back in SAW on a regular basis. The main event told the story in an entertaining way. This was Reno’s first taping on color commentary after a long hiatus, and he hit his bombastic stride during this match. Everyone looked good in the ring. Daniels must have found the fountain of youth. He worked most of the way and his offense and selling were both top notch. The cheap finish marred what an otherwise fun match. Kealoha never rose above jobber status in his previous tour of duty in SAW, so he’s a suspect choice for a spot with DKE. Hopefully more will be revealed, and hopefully, next week’s show will be better than this one.
Feedback welcomed – larry@georgiawrestlinghistory.com
