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Showtime All-Star Wrestling
Taped February 13, 2010 at the Nashville Fairgrounds Sports Arena
Airing February 27, 2010 in Nashville on CW58
LAST WEEK…PG-13 capped the domes of Derrick King Enterprises to win the SAW Tag Team Championship…SAW International Champion Kid Kash makes Arrick Andrews his bitch, then attacks matchmaker Reno Riggins…High drama between Reno and Kash moves behind closed doors.
Michael Graham and Dutch Mantell opened the show from an empty Fairgrounds arena with canned crowd noise. Graham promised to reveal what took place between Reno and Kash behind those closed doors.
1 – ANDY DOUGLAS vs. JESSE EMERSON
Graham noted that Paul Adams was absent from Douglas’ corner. Mantell brought up Emerson passing the bar exam. Match was mainly Douglas abusing Emerson, while Dutch made clever legal references. Douglas came out brawling. He cut off a high energy rally with a short arm clothesline that had Emerson checking his grill. Douglas punished Emerson with his signature moves - the guillotine leg drop and the Harley Race high knee – and kept make lazy, arrogant covers. Dutch said Emerson should object. Emerson turned a telegraphed backdrop into a swinging neckbreaker for a double down. Mantell said it didn’t take much to ring Douglas’ bell because he was no MENSA candidate. On the comeback trail, Emerson got a close near fall after a Russian leg sweep. Moments later, Douglas reversed Emerson into the Natural Selection for the three count.
WINNER: Douglas in 4:56 with the Natural Selection. Nothing wrong with the work. Emerson sold big for Douglas’ offense. Problem was very little heat. It felt like the crowd was biding their time until Douglas won.
Riggins addressed the viewers from his office at the Tennessee State Fairgrounds. He said Kash held the program hostage last week with his antics. Andrews was a worthy opponent, and Kash knew he couldn’t beat him in a fair match. Riggins said Kash had behaved in a despicable manner to hold onto the title, and it wasn’t the way SAW wanted their champions to be perceived. Riggins said the outcome of the last week’s closed door meeting was a lumberjack match between Andrews and Kash for today’s main event.
Natalie Van Eron tried to do a backstage interview with Andrews. It didn’t work out any better than last week, but at least this time she was ready to run. Kash blindsided Andrews with the belt and started beating his head in. A posse of refs had to drag Kash away. Cut to a close up Andrews out cold. The announce team said the main event was in doubt.
“Teen Excitement” Drew Haskins made God’s gift to wrestling entrance. Cut to a replay of Kash destroying Andrews. Graham said they were trying to get a status update on Andrews, and talked about Kash holding the program hostage with his disruptive behavior.
2 – DREW HASKINS (with Sista O’Feelyah) vs. VORDELL WALKER
Haskins started talking trash and shoving Walker. Haskins slapped him. Walker returned the favor only much harder. They went to intense lock up. Walker ducked a cheap shot on the break. Walker outwrestled a very wary Haskins and starting working over his arm. Haskins bailed out with this great hurt expression on his face. (commercial break) Walker continued to befuddle Haskins with his superior wrestling. Mantell questioned how much moral support O’Feelyah could lend. “I wouldn’t feel very moral if she was standing outside the ring.” Haskins reversed an Irish whip and Walker threw himself over the top rope. Bad fake wrestling spot there. When Walker was shown lying on the concrete floor, Mantell said he would be out there making him eat a boot sandwich. Brimming with overconfidence, Haskins went on the attack. Walker fired up, and Haskins walked right into a series of stiff blows. Walker popped up after taking a German suplex and hit an overhead belly to belly suplex. Walker had Haskins pinned with a Michinoku driver, but O’Feelyah was distracting the ref. Walker also fell for the distraction and Haskins fouled him. Haskins was in disbelief when Walker kicked out. Haskins got vicious – pounding Walker’s head into the mat and applying the mouth stretcher. Walker appeared to have nothing left. Walker came out of left field with a lariat that leveled Haskins. Walker hit the wind up uranage, made the cover, and got attacked by Derrick King Enterprises. PG-13 hit the ring with their hubcaps to make the save.
WINNER: Walker via DQ in 10:32. This match was way, way better on TV than it was watching it live from the balcony. The editing was spot on. The close up shots really upped the intensity, and Mantell’s commentary was most entertaining.
“Bond Girl” Leah was back with this week’s edition of Grumpy’s Most Wanted Bail Jumper, Steven Martin, and she needs him now! “It is seldom as bad as you may think. You need to face it and walk through it, and we’ll be there to help you.”
Next up was a video package on the Hammerjack/Anthony feud with a voiced over promo by Hammerjack. He said if Anthony knew what he had been through, he would have taken his photo off that dartboard, because he had picked a fight he could not win.
You say you wanted your father to grant you a chance at redemption? And in order to do that, in order to satisfy whatever twisted relationship you had with Raven, you decided you were going to involve my family. Bad move, Marc.
Anthony said he had survived on the streets since he was fourteen years old, but it was one thing when he only had to take care of himself and it was whole different ballgame when it came to taking care of his family.
I’ve said it before. I don’t want to wrestle you. I’m not worried about pinning your shoulders to the mat. I’m not worried about having a referee raise my hand. It’s personal, and the next time we meet, Marc, all the rules are out the window. It’s a Tennessee Street Fight. There going to throw us in the Nashville Fairgrounds Sports Arena and let us fight. They’re not gonna try to separate us. They’re not gonna try to keep us from using weapons. They’re not gonna try to set limitations. It’s going to be anything goes. And Marc, I can’t wait. You’re gonna find out why they say, ‘don’t turn your back on Hammerjack’.
TENNESSEE STREET FIGHT: MARC ANTHONY vs. HAMMERJACK
THE RULES ARE…THERE ARE NO RULES!
Saturday, March 13 Nashville Fairgrounds Sports Arena
Kash made his entrance. Mantell noted there were no lumberjacks. Another replay of Kash’s heinous attack on Andrews aired. Riggins entered the ring and said Kash vs. Andrews was not going to take place. Riggins said Kash wasn’t the champion in his eyes. Kash owned up to beating the hell out of Andrews. He didn’t like Reno, and Riggins couldn’t handle it because he had beaten everyone SAW put in front of him. Riggins said when he became SAW matchmaker, he had to set his personal feelings aside.
I promised my family that I would never step back in the ring, but unfortunately tonight, I’m going to have to break that promise.
Riggins took his sports coat off. Fans started chanting his name. Riggins brought up the days when he and Steven Dunn ran roughshod in the building. Riggins challenged Kash to put the belt up. Kash said Reno finally grew some cojones. “We have a ring. We have a referee, and we have somebody that wants a piece of your ass!” said Reno. Out came Chase Stevens looking like a million bucks. Huge pop. In the ring, Riggins was wearing a referee shirt.
3 –SAW International Title Match: Champion KID KASH vs. CHASE STEVENS (with Reno Riggins as special referee)
Stevens on fire with a gorilla press. Kash took a TO. Stevens chased and got cut off as he rolled back under the ropes. Not for long, as a standing dropkick had Kash bailing again (commercial break) Stevens was doing nasty things to Kash’s arm, including an elevated armbar. Graham said the odds were stacked against Kash. Mantell ran down a list of Kash’s conquests as champion and said not to sell him short. Stevens’ knee went out and Kash was all over it. Kash applied the figure four. He was using the ropes for extra leverage, and the crowd was getting hot about it. Reno kicked Kash’s hands to break his grip on the ropes. Kash got in Reno’s face again and they exchanged shoves. Kash kneed Stevens in the groin and went after a fan at ringside. Stevens made a one-legged comeback, but Kash kicked his knee. Mantell noted that Stevens’ boot was loose. Kash moonsaulted onto the injured leg. Kash covered and Riggins made a super slow two ount. (commercial break) Kash did a second moonsault to the leg, and Reno was in no hurry to count two. Kash was livid. The boot was off now, and Kash was destroying the leg. Kash used the boot on Stevens, and Reno made another slow count. Kash was losing it. He pushed Riggins into the turnbuckles. Riggins shoved Kash down. Kash jumped up into Reno’s face and got rolled by Stevens and quick three count by Riggins. Mantell said to credit Riggins with an assist.
WINNER: Stevens in 14:33 to become the new SAW International Champion. Not a great match by any means, but more importantly, it told a great story. Stevens’ sells with the best of them and unselfishly left center stage to Riggins and Kash. Crowd was into it, though the audio didn’t do justice to the atmosphere in the building.
Kash picked up the belt. Riggins grabbed the boot. Kash hit Stevens with a parting shot and jumped out of the ring. Stevens was in a bad way. The refs had to hold Stevens up so he could raise the belt over his head. They cut to a close up of Douglas watching from the entrance way. Was that steam rising from his ears?
CLOSING THOUGHTS: When I saw the opening with the fake crowd noise in
an obviously empty building, I thought “here we go again with the
shoddy production”. But my worst fears were not realized. In fact,
from that point forward, this was an excellent episode of wrestling TV,
and one of the best editing jobs ever on an episode of SAW. I really liked
the way the story unfolded over the course of the hour. For paying off
a long term storyline, it doesn’t get much better than the main event
on this show. Reno and Kash had been at each other’s throats for
a full year of more, the entirety of Kash’s title reign, and this
was comeuppance. Match reads like Kash was made into a sympathetic figure
with the deck stacked against him, but the guy has been the consummate
manipulative bully for so long, and a complete a-hole for so long, that
it didn’t play that way. I wound up hating to see him lose, if only
because he has been the man fans love to hate. The swerve where Reno went
from would be challenger to special ref was great stuff. Really, it was
double swerve with introduction of the lumberjack match involving Andrews.
The cutaway from Stevens’ painful moment of triumph to the close
up of Douglas was an effective hook to bring viewers back…The Hammerjack
video/promo produced by Paul Adams was a stellar piece of work. The verbiage
made a compelling case for the streetfight scenario, and this program
is bringing out the best in Hammer on promos…The commentary on this
episode was a major plus. Graham was on his game. Mantell was much better
on color this time around. He was more obviously favoring the heels, and
got in some funny lines in the process…Thumbs way up for this show.
