After driving in a car for four and half hours, it was a relief to step into the Atkins Fire Department for the show. The venue was of considerable size and definitely was the type of aura that I’ve come to expect from NWA-VA shows as well as MECW shows as this was pretty much a joint show under the NWA banner. One of the highlights of the night was not even on the card though as before the show started, Brandon Day, Chris Dramin, Alexx Sage, Rick O’Brien, Drake Tungsten, Hugh B. Johnson, Scotty Blaze, and myself all played a huge round of Texas Hold ‘Em. Definitely a trip to be playing with these guys and a good way to sum up why wrestlers are the best folk in the world. Still though, I was a bit scared to sit next to Scotty Blaze. I swear, one of these days, Dramin, O’Brien, or Sage is going to pay him off to have him chop my ass bloody and I thought that was going to be the day. Thankfully, no chop was given and my skin remained pale rather than red for another day. It was also weird playing poker with Brandon Day, the first guy I ever interviewed. In the end, Brandon Day basically made us all his bitches and got bragging rights for the rest of the night.
Show started off like all joint shows in Virginia: a Fab Foundation segment that went way, way, way too long. Stan Lee, Sexy Kevina, Jamie, Misty Malibu, & Handsome Henry all came out and just started talking and yakking and I don’t even think they had a purpose except to get over that Stan was injured, but even then, it doesn’t take as long as they had to get that over. Eventually, they started bad mouthing the Xtreme Outlaws and they came out and had a stand off with them. Again, this part went way too long. For their defense though, the crowd never died during one moment of the promo. The crowd in the MECW region has always and will always be extremely hot no matter what anyone says or does. It’s a great place to run shows in. Eventually after more bickering, failed comedy spots, and stand offs, the Outlaws extended an open challenge for the belts and the United Nations of Devastation answered it by beating them down. UNOD then left with the Fab Foundation which I hope isn’t a sign that the two groups are combing because that is a stable that would make less sense than it already does and have way too many people in it. Segment was pretty bad and went way too long, but it was over with the crowd and definitely hyped up the crowd immensely.
Revelation Vs. Hall Brothers
I had never seen any of the Halls, 6D6, or Krotch before this night and from everything I heard, I was expecting a really great match. I didn’t get what I expected though, sadly. They basically had a generic match with some pretty good face/heel work, but not much else. I do believe the Halls make a damn fine tag team as they have their tag team spots down well and are amazing at getting the crowd in during face-in-peril spots. This match just didn’t seem to have any meaning to me, and while it did do a good job of debuting them in front of the crowd, at this point, I could have walked into the ring and taken a shit and the crowd would have popped. I don’t truly believe that any of these guys were bad in the match and don’t think less of what I heard of them; rather I just think they had a generic match with nothing special. Finish came when fellow Revelation member Brandon Day tripped up one of the brothers as they went for a double team move. 6D6 then hit a low blow and a power move and got the win. Like the match or not, it was good match to have opening the card.
Winners: Revelation
Star Wrestler: Both Hall Brothers
To be honest, I really don’t know which brother is which. Sorry. That’s not why I gave it to both though. I really enjoyed this team’s charisma in this match and their chemistry as a team. Though one of their spots was bit sloppy, I blame that partially on 6D6 and Krotch for waiting so long to catch them off the top rope. I don’t think there was a moment where a Hall was on the apron and not pumping up the crowd by stomping his feet or the top turnbuckle pad. These guys remind me so much like the Rockers, like I said in the car ride on the way back, and having charismatic guys like them in the opener was a very smart move. I may not have liked the match, but the Hall Brothers definitely impressed me in terms of gimmick, charisma, and tag team chemistry. I would like to see a lot more from them especially their work in VCW which I hear is fantastic.
Russian Assassin Vs. Alexx Sage
I enjoyed this match, but it was definitely weird. By weird, I mean it really had no story at all nor did it make any sense. Literally, none. First off, why put Sage against him? Second off, why still do a Soviet Union gimmick when it collapsed so long ago? Even though the gimmick of the match made virtually no sense to me, I still enjoyed it. I thought the styles would clash a bit in this match since Sage is a high flyer, but it didn’t in my opinion and I have to put that on Sage’s shoulders. Sage was able to work a pretty good match with Assassin by working the arm and not busting out too much high flying moves that probably would have made Assassin look weaker than he should have, unless it was in the finish. Speaking of the finish, it was a little odd as Sage won with an abrupt roll-up and count. It was just a weird finish, but a good rib. Right, Roach?
Winner: Alexx Sage
Star Wrestler: Alexx Sage
Sage keeping it mat-based was good and a gradual way to get the crowd behind him, which I like more than just doing a flip in the ring and having them pop for you for a second. His selling was on the ball as well as his offense in this enjoyable match. There wasn’t really anything memorable about the match, and while it wasn’t a comedy match, it was still just fun. To further my point about Sage, the pure fact that the supposed Shannon Moore of the NWA-VA finally got a win is enough to give him praise in my book.
MECW Omega Championship
Handsome Henry (c) Vs. Steve Harris
Jesus Christ, what a bad match. Basically, Handsome Henry is a manager. Why the hell does a manager get a title? Even more, why have a match with a manager and have him on the offense for the better part of it? I feel so bad for Steve Harris for having to put up with this because whether or not he is a good worker, no one deserves this. Henry’s punches missed by a mile and Harris still had to sell them like death. This was ridiculous. Thank god it didn’t last that long though. Finish was the same exact one from the Kevina-Mauler match in Independence, VA two weeks ago which shows you how well the MECW booking is. The ref caught Harris with a weapon he didn’t use and Henry playing possum and DQed Harris giving the manager another win that makes me scratch my head as the booking reaches new lows. After the match, I literally got the chills as they announced a rematch for this one. Why the hell would you unleash such a plague on humanity? In all honesty though, the match had nothing good about and for a crowd that would have popped for me taking a dump, they basically knew it was shit to begin with. This was sad and a waste of time, effort, and money.
Winner: Handsome Henry
Star Wrestler: Steve Harris
God bless Steve for actually trying to work a believable offense and God bless him for doing the job and selling Henry’s “offense” like no tomorrow. God bless you, Steve.
NWA-VA Alpha Championship
No Disqualification
Chris Dramin (c) Vs. Brandon Day
I enjoyed the match, but felt it either should have cut out a lot of things or switched the stipulation. The challenger gets to pick the stip in the Alpha title matches so Day picked a No DQ match. After the bell rang, he called for Revelation to come out and he basically sat out for 75% of the match while 6D6 and Krotch beat down Dramin. I feel that if they wanted to go that way, they should have had a handicap match. The No DQ stip just didn’t feel evident in this match as you hear No DQ and you think weapons or outside brawling and what-not. Well, Day and Dramin didn’t do any outside brawling and there were only two instances of a chair and one that was weak looking. I enjoyed the match and thought it did tell a story, but it could have been miles better. Crowd definitely did up the quality of the match though and having Dramin go one on two and at some times one on three was a good way to build him up as a credible face. I don’t really think it hurt Day’s credibility to have Dramin actually get the upper hand of a three on one offense because for most of it, Day just sat back and let his minions do the work. Finish came when Day hit Dramin in a nice powerbomb for the win and the title.
Winner: Brandon Day
Star Wrestler: Brandon Day
I enjoyed this match, but it was really odd. It felt like it should have so much more to it and the Day-Dramin exchanges sometimes seemed a bit weird. Day here was a star though. His heel character was pushed more because of him getting Revelation to help and he was very, very effective at getting over with the crowd as well as looking powerful when he needed to. Day’s moves made sense, his demeanor was good, his crowd working was great, and overall, he had a good match and a great way to debut to the Atkins crowd.
MECW Championship
Handicap Casket Match
Sexy Ones Vs. Underground
In all honesty, after past matches I have seen from MECW and the earlier bout, I didn’t think the promotion’s matches could get much worse. Satan has it out for me though as I was dead wrong when I was given this match. First off, the match was scheduled as a Casket match between Sexy Kevina and Midnight Mauler. Now, that would have sucked too, but it would have made sense. Adding Misty Malibu, Jamie, and Johnny Blast was pointless and mucked up the match to no end. Second off, this match just seemed to drag on and on and on and on and on. It felt like it was an hour long in all honesty, and to the biggest surprise of the night, they got the biggest reactions. I swear if Hulk Hogan showed up in this town, people might have a heart attack. This match was just pure pathetic and just did the same spots over and over again. I found out my big problem with Sexy Kevina: everything he does at this point is a repeat of everything he has done; meaning nothing he will ever do in the future will be new. Why watch him then? Finish finally came to my relief as Kevina was put in the casket, but the ref didn’t see it so Stan Lee jumped up and hit Johnny Blast who was then slid into the casket by Kevina and Lee. They revived the ref and finally got the win you know they were going to get. With matches like these, it’s really not hard to tell who the booker is in MECW. The real problem with MECW though is that they just do not know when to stop. In promos, segments, or matches, they just look like they go until they either physically can’t or the crowd dies, which is a completely idiotic reasoning. What I basically mean is: if I was in the crowd and cheering my ass of for an hour, they would be in there wrestling or talking for that hour. It’s completely idiotic and unless you’re in the main event, which you’re not, it’s totally out of place and not needed.
Winners: Sexy Ones
Star Wrestler: Yeah, right
MECW Tag Team Championship
Xtreme Outlaws (c) Vs. United Nations Of Devastation
This was probably the best Outlaws match I’ve ever seen, but the team still has a ways to go in terms of getting a lot better. UNOD was pretty good in this match and deserve all the praise in the world to carrying the Outlaws to that level. One problem I have with the Outlaws is that they are naturally over, but don’t do anything to get the crowd into the match. For instance, Hulk Hogan has always and will always been over. He doesn’t need to work the crowd to get more over, but he does anyway because he’s smart and strives for bigger and better reactions. The Outlaws here didn’t do any crowd working from the apron during face-in-peril matches or during any of the match for that matter. I think they need to take a lesson from the Hall Brothers on that note. For having such a long face-in-peril spot too, D.P. Holliday should have had a heart attack on the apron to get the crowd erupting for McMasters. This match had the potential of being the biggest crowd reaction, but because of Holliday’s laziness, it really didn’t. Another problem I have with them is just the fact that it’s the same spots in every match from them as well as the same mentality going into it. Their mentality often works against bigger teams like UNOD (with McMasters being the face-in-peril), but when you work a team of a non-worker and Stan Lee like in Independence, it just doesn’t work. The match was passable and I enjoyed it better than the opener, but it just had a lot of simple problems that shouldn’t have existed. The Fab Foundation was at ringside making the outside look way too crowded as well, and they basically no-sold the past match which was completely idiotic. After the casket match, the Underground shoved Misty Malibu into the casket and Kevina carried her off like she was hurt and she sold it well. Well, low and behold, five minutes later, she’s perfectly all right and yelling at the crowd. Yes, MECW, that makes perfect sense. On the other side of things, UNOD wasn’t as good as they have been in the past and they didn’t seem as dominating as they should have been whilst in control. Drake Tungsten just seemed off in this match, which is weird considering he’s often times the leader in my opinion. Finish came when Hugh B. Johnson nailed McMasters with the belt and put Tungsten on him for the ref to count the win.
Winners: United Nations Of Devastation
Star Wrestler: Hugh B. Johnson
His offense, bumping, and selling were really great in this match. He was amazing in control of the match and definitely got a lot of heel heat. Even more, while on the apron, since Holliday doesn’t know what the hell to do during face-in-peril moments, Johnson was over there taunting the crowd to chant McMasters which was pure genius. I don’t think I’ve ever seen something like that before, but it was definitely gold and showed what kind of a worker Johnson is to cover up for the blatant mistakes of the others.
NWA-VA Championship
Cage Match
Scotty Blaze (c) Vs. Damien Wayne
In all seriousness, this was the greatest match I have ever had the privilege of watching live. It was just all sorts of ass-kicking, last resorts, brutality, emotion, et cetera. This was simply incredible and the best NWA-VA match all year. On the flip side, the cage was definitely the most ghetto configuration I’ve ever seen in my life and I was pretty scared about it considering I thought it was going to break down and maybe fall onto the crowd which would have been absolutely horrible. The match wasn’t as stiff besides the chops as the Handicap match back in May, but it was still really, really, really brutal. At one point, Blaze and Wayne started exchanging unique submission holds that just looked incredibly painful. It made sense too and it had meaning, which some boys in the back (cough, MECW, cough) need to learn. If anything hurt the match though, it was the ref. He was just all kinds of stupid. They said in the beginning that this match was old NWA rules where only pin fall or submission would win the match. Somebody needed to repeat it to the ref a bit more slower though as he was counting against Wayne while Wayne was choking Blaze. What the hell was he going to do if he got to 10? DQ him? It made virtually no sense and was pretty idiotic. Match just had all sorts of emotion and brutality though, and I can’t believe they kept on with the stiff chopping towards the end of the match. Wayne’s and Blaze’s chests were both bright red by the end of the match too. It was just sick. Wayne even scaled the ghetto cage at one point and used the pipes and lighting on the top to get his balance and then delivered an elbow drop that was an equal if not better moment than Hardy’s leg drop off the cage. It was just surreal and I can’t believe he even got on top of that rickety old cage. You would think a cage match would breed blood, but thanks to DPOR, no blood allowed! They definitely covered up for the lack of blood with the chops, curb stomp, and painful submission holds though and they made this an amazing way to top off the night. Finish came when Scotty Blaze hit the Something Old, Something New for the win in a match of the year candidate.
Winner: Scotty Blaze
Star Wrestler: Both
There was nothing either wrestler did in this match that you could nitpick. Everything was well-placed, had meaning, was brutal, and just added to a great main event. Scotty’s chops, Wayne’s selling, Scotty’s bumps, Wayne’s cage crawling, et cetera. It all just added and added to the best match I’ve ever had the privilege of watching live.
After the match, Revelation came down to beat up Blaze setting up the Brandon Day-Scotty Blaze match at the 57th annual NWA Convention on the 8th in Nashville, TN. As much as I think they needed to set up that match, I also think it was overkill just a bit. I don’t know, I guess I would have just rather seen Blaze stand on top to finish off the night and give the crowd a good finish. Revelation did make it a bit personal by stealing Blaze’s belt, but I still think it was overkill to an extent.
Overall, the show was not as good as past NWA-VA cards, but I think you chock that up to the MECW side of things. Without MECW, it was a solid card, but you still can’t ignore MECW in a night that was built up as under the NWA-VA banner. Before the main event, I actually wondered why in the hell I drove out so long to basically just see the Fab Foundation put themselves over as much as freakin’ possible, but when I saw that main event; boy, nothing else mattered. Without that cage match, the card was mediocre at best, but with it, it was great. When one match carries a card that much, you know how good it is. For the pure aura of the event, it was worth the trip. For the pure matches, it was in my opinion, but with MECW booking half of the card, I can see why you wouldn’t want the near five hour car ride. It was also weird as in the span of an hour, I saw the best and worst matches I have ever witnessed live. Definitely a night to remember though in NWA-VA and it was effective in what it planned to do: give a brutal main event, get over Revelation, debut Hall Brothers well, get over Fab Foundation, and rib Alexx Sage. Great show and great atmosphere all in all, and I would love to go out to Atkins again. The crowd was a bit unruly at times, but definitely one of the better NWA-VA crowds in recent memory. That about wraps it up this time so until next time, this is “Squared Circle Reviews” signing off and hoping you enjoy what you watch.
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