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The show this week started off with a decent promo from the debuting Sexy Kevina, Stan Lee, and Gregory Vercetti. They talk about their upcoming six man tag team match against Scotty Blaze and how Lee and Kevina brought in Vercetti as their mystery partner to counteract Blaze's two mystery partner. Sexy Kevina literally freaks me out. I really wonder where they go with this whole thing. A transvestite and a guy with "Buns of Steel" on his tights confuse me. They ended with a nice tag line though: "We are your champions, like it or not." Pretty decent promo and they have a good sense of heel charisma.
We then go to the Action Zone video package which I wish included more clips from the brutal OSE-Blaze/Dramin match from two months ago. That was amazing live, people. Match of the year candidate in my eyes.
Next, we see a backstage segment with the returning "Rock and Roll" Matty Dee asking O'Brien why he is here. Scotty Blaze whispers something in his ear and Matty knows why. Matty seems like he should lay off the speed just a little. There is a rocker gimmick that Jeff Hardy dabbled in which is a fast paced look, but the way Matty does it just screams tweeker to me.
They then show the information for the upcoming shows in the Great Virginia Bash 2005 and we head right into our first and only match of the night!
Sexy Kevina, Stan Lee, & Gregory Vercetti Vs. Scotty Blaze, Chris Dramin, & Matty Dee
The heel team comes out with a dull valet, Misty Malibu. She's got the "I'm better than you attitude" act down pat (or at least I hope it's an act), but she definitely needs to interact in the match and with the crowd a lot more if she wants to make it big. Scotty Blaze then comes out as the crowd pops for him. It's still weird to say that a crowd actually pops for Scotty Blaze. Very weird. Blaze gets on the mike and talks down about the team calling them a confused guy, transvestite, and a guy with a package. I really don't get the package gimmick at all with Vercetti. This was my first time seeing him, so maybe he uses it in his matches, but in this match, he did nothing. Just something I don't get. Blaze also starts the tramp chants at Misty Malibu, which happened at least five times in the evening. That's pretty good heat for someone who did practically nothing but stand there. If only she would do something! Oh well, can't have everything.
Scotty Blaze introduces his two surprise partners in Chris Dramin and Matty Dee and the match starts off, or kind of. For about the first five minutes of the match, Blaze and Kevina just kind of shoot the bush and taunt each other or lock up and Blaze powers out. It's mostly a comedic beginning which I really didn't dig, but the crowd seemed to. Blaze and Kevina finally tag in Chris Dramin and Stan Lee respectively and we finally see the action.
Lee and Dramin lock up and do a standard headlock/whip/shoulder takedown combination with Lee coming out on top and then doing an interesting strut which had him shaking his butt a lot more than I wanted. A hell of a lot more. They then do the same routine, except Dramin comes out on top with two hip tosses and a dropkick. They then do a shoving contest which was a nice pace to get Dramin in control and the heel retreats to his corner and tagged in Vercetti who demands Matty Dee. Kind of weird that two people have each demanded an opponent. Scotty wanted Kevina, Lee wanted Dramin, and now Vercetti wanted Dee.
The two go at it with some arm working and Blaze is tagged in and business definitely picks up. Lee gets tagged in and Lee and Vercetti try and do a double chop on Blaze, but the human chop machine isn't fazed and takes them down and then gives them some Blaze chops. For those not in the know, NO one in this business chops harder than Scotty Blaze. I have seen this live and you literally feel it in your own chest when he chops. I have even seen the aftermath of his chops. The wrestlers say it feels like sunburn and it looks like third degree burns. No one chops harder than Blaze, so when I say a Blaze chop; I mean an uber stiff chop. Got it? Good.
Blaze eventually takes them all out and they leave the ring area like heels do, except the faces don't chase them. After eight counts, they get back in and after a minute more, they get back in. This is why I didn't really like the beginning: too much dry spots. It seemed like a good show with tons of commercial breaks to be honest. The match picked up from here, really picked up, but the beginning could have been a little better. The crowd ate it all up though. This is probably one of the stronger crowds I have seen in Virginia in a long time. These people were kayfabe all the way and so hardcore into every word and move and even look that it sold the whole event that night back in June when it was recorded.
The heels eventually get back in and we see an interesting spot. Blaze chops Vercetti in the corner then whips Lee into Vercetti in the corner and then he whips Kevina into the corner too. So basically a triple sandwich, but there was no face splash. Instead, Kevina fell straight down, Lee then fell into his crotch, and then Vercetti fell into a doggy style position with Lee's butt. Seeing that live has haunted my dreams for weeks. God darn transvestites!
Then the best part of the match happens, or rather the sickest. Blaze takes Vercetti into the corner, pulls up his shirt, and gives him about five chops. Five Blaze chops, people. Scratch that. Five SUPER Blaze chops. It was sick, and I don't even think Vercetti had to sell. He was out of it, and it worked. I almost started crying thinking of that pain. I wish that on no one, not even Vince Russo.
Dramin is then tagged in and a fun, little spot occurred. Vercetti tagged in Lee, but Dramin sent Vercetti into the ring. Lee and Dramin then dove on the mat twice as Vercetti jumped over twice, and eventually, Lee and Vercetti collided in the middle of the ring. Kind of fun, and a nice change of pace. Kind of like the crotch/doggy style spot. If they wanted to open with comedy, they should have done more of this instead of messing with Kevina's pink hat.
Action continues and we eventually see Blaze back in the ring to do some more damage to Vercetti. He gives him a few more super Blaze chops and then delivers two curb stomps (someone's been watching their Ring of Honor). The first one didn't work too well, but the second one was just sick as hell. I really want to see a Blaze-Vercetti feud after this one match. The brutal nature the two could have would be great.
Matty Dee is tagged in and this tag team enters the "fading face" part as Matty Dee desperately needs the tag for about ten minutes, but never gets it. Some of the highlights are Matty ducking out of a bronco buster in the corner, and trying to make it to the corner, but Lee grabbing and holding for dear life. I love little spots like that. They show pure desperation in both men which I think is conveyed better than walking outside for a chair. Eventually, Matty and Vercetti collide and Vercetti is able to tag in both of his partners. I really hate that in tag match, especially six man tag matches. I know that the ref is lenient, but ninety percent of all tag matches really undermine refs and just show how dumb they are in the ring. It's not just NWA-VA; it's every promotion out there.
With all six men in, the faces back all the heels into the corner, climb the ropes, and give them each top turnbuckle punches. They then whip them all into the middle. Kevina falls down, and Vercetti and Lee walk into big boots. They then all cover them for the win in a fun little match that had a really good build up. Basically, I was bored in the first five minutes and hardcore into the match by the end. It was a great six man tag match.
Winners: Scotty Blaze, Chris Dramin, & Matty Dee
Star Wrestler: Gregory Vercetti
Now, I really dig Blaze, Dramin, and Lee, but I got to tip my hat to Vercetti. I have never seen anyone take the amount of punishment in a match (in terms of stiffness) and keep going for another ten-twenty minutes. Blaze and Dramin at one point were really taking it to him, especially Blaze. Between the back and front chops, big suplexes, and curb stomps, Vercetti was the human rag doll in this match and sold everything magnificently. Kudos to Vercetti, though I wouldn't want to see his bruises the next day.
Even though the show didn't have much, it was really good. It had a great promo, a funny little segment, and a nice comedic/brutal/climatic match. I thought it was really well done, and when you think about it, there is not much you can fit in a thirty to forty-five minute time slot, so for the time they had, they used it really well. Make sure to watch new episodes of NWA-VA Action Zone every Saturday on WrestlingNetwork.net. Well, that's it from this review. Until the next time you hear my incessant rambling, this is "Squared Circle Reviews" signing off and hoping you enjoy what you watch.
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