HWA Wrestling 9.8.01
So, let's pretend it's 2001. The entire Alliance angle has already imploded, but as one of the WWF developmental territories, you're given an influx of former WCW talent and told to run with it. What do you do? WHAT DO YOU DO? Well, if you're Les Thatcher and you're running Heartland Wrestling, you push the invaders as super heels who actually have the upper hand on the home grown talent . CRAZY! I'm in the mood to watch some of the young guys from the dying days of WCW, but I have little of that era on tape. So, this'll do. Let's watch!
-We open with an interview with "Above Average" Mike Sanders, backed by the WCW crew (Mark Jindrak, Johnny the Bull and Reno). He establishes the invasion angle nicely, saying that Shane McMahon personally asked him to put together a crew and take over HWA. It's a grass roots thing, as they plan on cutting off all of the young talent before they can even make it to the WWF. He promises us that we'll see the same HWA wrestling as always tonight, but that WCW could take over at a moment's notice.
Great promo. Sanders is one of the great lost talents of the early 00's. He was never going to be much more than, err...above average in the ring, but god damn could the man talk. Whatever happened to Reno? He certainly fell off the face of the earth. Again, not all that great a talent, but he had a great look and would have fit in the WWF at the time. My guess would be that they simply didn't think he was tall enough to fit the ass kicker gimmick. Meh.
-Les Thatcher and Jim Cornette (!) are your hosts. I miss Cornette being on my television. He was even better as an announcer than he was a manager, if that's possible.
Haas Brothers v. Johnny the Bull & Reno -
First things first...the Haas Bros. are wearing some atrocious pink tie-dye singlets and it's making my eyes hurt. Yowza.
Charlie and Reno start. Neither is able to gain much of an advantage, both content with trading armbars and quick roll ups. Russ Haas tags in. He comes in off the top, dropping an elbow across Reno's outstretched arm. Cornette tells us that Gerald Brisco specifically had the Haas brothers signed to developmental deals. I did not know that. Russ rolls Reno us in a La Magistral cradle, but Reno is out at two. Russ goes back to the arm and tags Charlie.
Russ whips Reno into the corner. He then slingshots him into Charlie, who takes him over with a belly to belly suplex in one motion. Neat. He covers, but can only get two. He goes for a whip, but Reno reverses. Johnny the Bull knees Charlie in the back as he goes by. Charlie turns and nails him, but Reno takes advantage of the distraction and levels him with a clothesline. He drops a knee and tags in the Bull.
Heels send Charlie into the ropes. The double him over with a pair of elbows to the gut. Bull kicks him in the head and Reno drops him with an uppercut. Bull plants him with a spinebuster and gets two. Reno tags back in. Charlie fights back and leaps toward his corner. Reno catches him, turning it into a bearhug. He turns Charlie away from his corner and powers him over with a belly to belly suplex. Tag to the Bull.
He presses Charlie, who manages to wiggle free and counter into a sunset flip. Bull is close to his corner, though, making the tag to Reno. He drops a knee on Charlie as the Bull attacks Russ on the apron. Referee is distracted, of course, allowing the heels to stomp on Charlie. Reno whips him into the corner and follows with a clothesline. Charlie ducks it...Exploder! Both guys tag.
Russ is a house afire! And as soon as I write that, Thatcher says it! Huzzah! He backdrops Reno, then goes for the same on the Bull. He ducks his head too early, though. Bull slams him to the mat by the hair. He whips Charlie toward Reno, who elevates him onto the apron. He snaps Reno's throat across the top rope.
In the ring, Charlie and Bull trade punches. Charlie reverses a whip, then quickly slingshots Russ into the ring, directly into a shoulderblock that takes the Bull down. Russ handsprings into the ropes, then connects with a standing moonsault as Charlie simultaneously connects with a corkscrew legdrop. Russ makes the cover and picks up the win!
This was decent. It might be the only match I have with Russ Haas, so it was interesting to see him work. Tough to get any sort of idea of his ability based off of one match, though.
Jimmy Yang & Kaz Hayashi v. Shark Boy & Chad Collyer -
It's all about the Jung Dragons! Yang is friggin' awesome and Kaz Hayashi as Glacier is one of my favorite corny WCW throwaway angles.
Shark Boy works a side headlock early. He and Yang trade chops. Yang shoots him into the corner and follows with a clothesline. Another corner whip, but this time Shark Boy floats over and scores with an armdrag. Tag Collyer. I want to like Chad Collyer, I really do. But there's a line between being a Dean Malenko trainee and a Dean Malenko clone and Collyer tiptoes it way too much. Even beyond that, wanting to emulate Deano isn't a bad thing. Being the world's most boring Dean Malenko is.
Anyway, Hayashi kicks Collyer as he goes by, allowing Yang to follow up with a spin kick. Kaz tags in. He charges in, but Collyer is waiting. He takes Kaz down with a drop toehold and grabs a side headlock. They run a quick crisscross sequence, ending with Collyer countering a hiptoss into a monkey flip. Collyer adds a dropkick, then goes back to the arm. Hayashi breaks with a series of thigh kicks, but misses a senton.
Collyer bounces off the ropes, but charges into a quebradora. Cover gets two. Yang tags in. He snapmares Collyer, drops a leg and picks up a nearfall. He locks him in a sleeper, but Collyer quickly reverses. Yang lifts him for an atomic drop, then drops him facefirst to the mat. Tag to Hayashi. He holds onto a hammerlock, then single legs Collyer, sending him crashing onto his arm. He follows with a...spinning toehold? Okay then.
Tag to Yang. He stomps on the knee for a bit, then goes for a whip. Collyer ducks a clothesline and comes back with a crossbody for two. Yang pops up immediately and cuts him off with a double axe. He lifts Collyer and hits Snake Eyes, then slams him for two. Tag to Kaz. Collyer ducks a thrust kick and hits a swinging neckbreaker. Yang runs in and attacks Shark Boy to stop the tag.
The heels then whip Collyer into the corner. Yang charges in, but misses a splash. Collyer gives Hayashi a German suplex, taking him all the way over and dropping him facefirst. Hot tag! This is the part of the match where everyone brawls! Shark Boy sets up for the DSD on Kaz, but Yang breaks it up with a dropkick. He drops Shark Boy with an Iconoclasm, with Kaz catching him on the way down into a sitout powerbomb for the win!
Good match. The Yang of this period is really underrated. He wasn't the worker he would become a few years later, but he's quick as hell and just really fun to watch. Hayashi actually regressed as a worker in the US, but I've enjoyed what I've seen of his All Japan work this year. He and Spanky were a lot of fun in the Differ Cup this year as well.
-Jim Cornette interviews Steve Bradley. Man, he was supposed to be the next big thing for years, but it just never happened. Not even sure if he's still working at this point. At any rate, he tears into the WCW crew, saying that they're not taking his spot. Mike Sanders, Mark Jindrak and Jason Jett come out to rebut. Sanders offers him a WCW t-shirt and basically tells him to think for himself.
Bradley questions the odds, wondering if they'll just jump him if he declines the offer. Well, that *is* how wrestling works. Sanders plays innocent, but Bradley doesn't waste any time, jumping Sanders before he can be jumped. The WCW guys quickly overwhelm him, but Cody Hawk and Lance Cade make the save. I like Cade a bunch. Decent worker, but he has a fairly generic persona, so he's never gotten over as much as he should.
-Les Thatcher introduces the "Hangin' Out with..." segment, which, ingeniously, features Les Thatcher hanging out (!) with various workers each week! This week is the Island Boys (AKA Three Minute Warning), OG Ekmo (Jamal) and Kimo (Rosey). They have little to say, but manage to come off as cool guys. Don't know if it was just a rumor, but I was geeked to hear that WWE re-signed Jamal. He was great as the gaijin monster in All Japan as part of RO&D.
Jamie Noble v. Matt Stryker (w/Hellena Heavenly) - HWA Cruiserweight Title -
It's Jamie Noble, boy! They go back and forth for a bit and Stryker goes to work on the arm. Noble backs him into the corner and drives a few shoulders into his gut. Whip to the opposite corner, but Stryker floats over and starts laying in chops. He goes for a whip of his own, but Noble shortarms and buries a knee into his gut. Cover gets two. Noble rams him into the corner and kicks him in the gut a few times before choking him.
He slams Stryker, then drops an elbow off the second rope for a nearfall. Northern Lights suplex gets another two count. He goes for a second, but Stryker blocks it. Noble kicks him in the gut and sits him up top. He goes for a superplex, but Stryker shoves him to the mat. Noble slowly gets to his feet. Crossbody by Stryker. Noble rolls through and hooks the tights for a two count.
Stryker fires back with chops, but Noble again cuts him off with a kick to the gut. He whips Stryker into the corner, but runs into a back elbow. He goes for a second charge and this time Stryker gets a boot up. Noble catches it, but ends up on the receiving end of an enzuigiri. Stryker follows with a leg lariat and picks up a nearfall. They fight over a backslide, but neither ends up getting it. Stryker sends Noble into the ropes and powerslams him.
He whips Noble into the corner, but runs into a boot. Noble double legs him and goes for the cover, using the ropes for leverage. Stryker still escapes at two. Mark Jindrak is out, kicking game to Heavenly. Ref is distracted. Stryker plants Noble with a brainbuster and heads up top. Shannon Moore runs out and shoves him to the mat. Noble quickly hits a facebuster to the knee, then follows with a neckbreaker for the win! New Champion!
This was really good for the time they were given. Stryker (the unibrow guy as opposed to the dude on Raw) typically bores me, but he looked great here. Noble...is Noble. Need you ask anything more?
-HWA commissioner Patrick Black speaks. For about five seconds. Whoa.
Jason Jett v. Race Steele - HWA Title -
Steele has some really unfortunate tats. The sort of tattoos that will keep him from getting signed to a WWE contract. Ugly. Jett (AKA EZ Money) attacks immediately. He whips Steele into the corner, but takes too much time posing. Steels rebounds out and levels him with a clothesline. Crisscross sequence ends with a leg lariat (a la Doug Basham's Last Impression) by Steele. Cover gets two. He whips Jett into the corner and follows with a clothesline. He slingshots Jett into the corner, then goes for a whip. Jett shortarms into an inverted DDT for two.
He stomps on Steele a bit, then snapmares him. He chokes Steele in the ropes. Steele reverses a corner whip. Jett floats onto the apron. Steele charges, but runs into a back elbow. Jett follows with his nifty slingshot front flip into clothesline move (Money Clip/Afterburner). He follows with a standing moonsault and picks up a nearfall. Standing surfboard by Jett. Steele powers into a reversal, then sends Jett into the ropes. He goes for a dropkick, but Jett grabs the ropes and stops short.
Pendulum submission by Jett. He releases it, then drops an elbow for two. He grabs a rear chinlock. Steele tries to elbow out, but Jett yanks him down by the head. Steele finally counters with a jawbreaker. He goes for a corner whip, but Jett reverses, then follows with a clothesline. He hits a seated dropkick in the corner and gets two. He goes for a backdrop, but Steele counters into a swinging DDT for a nearfall of his own.
He backdrops Jett and follows with a pair of clotheslines. Jett goes for a crossbody, but gets caught. Swinging Uranage by Steele! Cover gets two. Jett reverses him into the corner, but charges into a back elbow. Steele sets up for...something, but it's blocked. Jett lifts him for a suplex, but Steele slips away.
He shoots Jett into the ropes and elevates him into a flapjack, catching him with a Diamond Cutter on the way down (apparently called the Steele Cutter). He covers, but Mark Jindrak runs out and attacks him. Ref calls for the DQ. Jindrak attacks Steele, with Steve Bradley making the save.
Mike Sanders and KWEE WEE (!!!!) run out! Fuck yes! They don't hold the advantage long, though, as the Island Boys hit the ring. A gaggle of refs look on helplessly. Everyone continues to brawl as we fade out.
Bulk of the match was nothing special, but the last minute or two really picked up. Don't know much about Steele, though Thatcher says he idolizes Chris Benoit. He seemed decent enough. Jett was awesome, but kind of stuck in that "heavyweight body, cruiserweight style" vacuum that means no one knew how to book him properly. Last I heard, he was pretty much retired. Shame, really. And, uh...Kwee Wee! I loves me some Kwee Wee. Had a great piledriver.
Next time? Stuff. Including the debuts of Lash Leroux, Kid Romeo and Evan Karagias. Who knew I'd ever be happy to see an Evan Karagias match? What the hell is this world coming to?
-We open with an interview with "Above Average" Mike Sanders, backed by the WCW crew (Mark Jindrak, Johnny the Bull and Reno). He establishes the invasion angle nicely, saying that Shane McMahon personally asked him to put together a crew and take over HWA. It's a grass roots thing, as they plan on cutting off all of the young talent before they can even make it to the WWF. He promises us that we'll see the same HWA wrestling as always tonight, but that WCW could take over at a moment's notice.
Great promo. Sanders is one of the great lost talents of the early 00's. He was never going to be much more than, err...above average in the ring, but god damn could the man talk. Whatever happened to Reno? He certainly fell off the face of the earth. Again, not all that great a talent, but he had a great look and would have fit in the WWF at the time. My guess would be that they simply didn't think he was tall enough to fit the ass kicker gimmick. Meh.
-Les Thatcher and Jim Cornette (!) are your hosts. I miss Cornette being on my television. He was even better as an announcer than he was a manager, if that's possible.
Haas Brothers v. Johnny the Bull & Reno -
First things first...the Haas Bros. are wearing some atrocious pink tie-dye singlets and it's making my eyes hurt. Yowza.
Charlie and Reno start. Neither is able to gain much of an advantage, both content with trading armbars and quick roll ups. Russ Haas tags in. He comes in off the top, dropping an elbow across Reno's outstretched arm. Cornette tells us that Gerald Brisco specifically had the Haas brothers signed to developmental deals. I did not know that. Russ rolls Reno us in a La Magistral cradle, but Reno is out at two. Russ goes back to the arm and tags Charlie.
Russ whips Reno into the corner. He then slingshots him into Charlie, who takes him over with a belly to belly suplex in one motion. Neat. He covers, but can only get two. He goes for a whip, but Reno reverses. Johnny the Bull knees Charlie in the back as he goes by. Charlie turns and nails him, but Reno takes advantage of the distraction and levels him with a clothesline. He drops a knee and tags in the Bull.
Heels send Charlie into the ropes. The double him over with a pair of elbows to the gut. Bull kicks him in the head and Reno drops him with an uppercut. Bull plants him with a spinebuster and gets two. Reno tags back in. Charlie fights back and leaps toward his corner. Reno catches him, turning it into a bearhug. He turns Charlie away from his corner and powers him over with a belly to belly suplex. Tag to the Bull.
He presses Charlie, who manages to wiggle free and counter into a sunset flip. Bull is close to his corner, though, making the tag to Reno. He drops a knee on Charlie as the Bull attacks Russ on the apron. Referee is distracted, of course, allowing the heels to stomp on Charlie. Reno whips him into the corner and follows with a clothesline. Charlie ducks it...Exploder! Both guys tag.
Russ is a house afire! And as soon as I write that, Thatcher says it! Huzzah! He backdrops Reno, then goes for the same on the Bull. He ducks his head too early, though. Bull slams him to the mat by the hair. He whips Charlie toward Reno, who elevates him onto the apron. He snaps Reno's throat across the top rope.
In the ring, Charlie and Bull trade punches. Charlie reverses a whip, then quickly slingshots Russ into the ring, directly into a shoulderblock that takes the Bull down. Russ handsprings into the ropes, then connects with a standing moonsault as Charlie simultaneously connects with a corkscrew legdrop. Russ makes the cover and picks up the win!
This was decent. It might be the only match I have with Russ Haas, so it was interesting to see him work. Tough to get any sort of idea of his ability based off of one match, though.
Jimmy Yang & Kaz Hayashi v. Shark Boy & Chad Collyer -
It's all about the Jung Dragons! Yang is friggin' awesome and Kaz Hayashi as Glacier is one of my favorite corny WCW throwaway angles.
Shark Boy works a side headlock early. He and Yang trade chops. Yang shoots him into the corner and follows with a clothesline. Another corner whip, but this time Shark Boy floats over and scores with an armdrag. Tag Collyer. I want to like Chad Collyer, I really do. But there's a line between being a Dean Malenko trainee and a Dean Malenko clone and Collyer tiptoes it way too much. Even beyond that, wanting to emulate Deano isn't a bad thing. Being the world's most boring Dean Malenko is.
Anyway, Hayashi kicks Collyer as he goes by, allowing Yang to follow up with a spin kick. Kaz tags in. He charges in, but Collyer is waiting. He takes Kaz down with a drop toehold and grabs a side headlock. They run a quick crisscross sequence, ending with Collyer countering a hiptoss into a monkey flip. Collyer adds a dropkick, then goes back to the arm. Hayashi breaks with a series of thigh kicks, but misses a senton.
Collyer bounces off the ropes, but charges into a quebradora. Cover gets two. Yang tags in. He snapmares Collyer, drops a leg and picks up a nearfall. He locks him in a sleeper, but Collyer quickly reverses. Yang lifts him for an atomic drop, then drops him facefirst to the mat. Tag to Hayashi. He holds onto a hammerlock, then single legs Collyer, sending him crashing onto his arm. He follows with a...spinning toehold? Okay then.
Tag to Yang. He stomps on the knee for a bit, then goes for a whip. Collyer ducks a clothesline and comes back with a crossbody for two. Yang pops up immediately and cuts him off with a double axe. He lifts Collyer and hits Snake Eyes, then slams him for two. Tag to Kaz. Collyer ducks a thrust kick and hits a swinging neckbreaker. Yang runs in and attacks Shark Boy to stop the tag.
The heels then whip Collyer into the corner. Yang charges in, but misses a splash. Collyer gives Hayashi a German suplex, taking him all the way over and dropping him facefirst. Hot tag! This is the part of the match where everyone brawls! Shark Boy sets up for the DSD on Kaz, but Yang breaks it up with a dropkick. He drops Shark Boy with an Iconoclasm, with Kaz catching him on the way down into a sitout powerbomb for the win!
Good match. The Yang of this period is really underrated. He wasn't the worker he would become a few years later, but he's quick as hell and just really fun to watch. Hayashi actually regressed as a worker in the US, but I've enjoyed what I've seen of his All Japan work this year. He and Spanky were a lot of fun in the Differ Cup this year as well.
-Jim Cornette interviews Steve Bradley. Man, he was supposed to be the next big thing for years, but it just never happened. Not even sure if he's still working at this point. At any rate, he tears into the WCW crew, saying that they're not taking his spot. Mike Sanders, Mark Jindrak and Jason Jett come out to rebut. Sanders offers him a WCW t-shirt and basically tells him to think for himself.
Bradley questions the odds, wondering if they'll just jump him if he declines the offer. Well, that *is* how wrestling works. Sanders plays innocent, but Bradley doesn't waste any time, jumping Sanders before he can be jumped. The WCW guys quickly overwhelm him, but Cody Hawk and Lance Cade make the save. I like Cade a bunch. Decent worker, but he has a fairly generic persona, so he's never gotten over as much as he should.
-Les Thatcher introduces the "Hangin' Out with..." segment, which, ingeniously, features Les Thatcher hanging out (!) with various workers each week! This week is the Island Boys (AKA Three Minute Warning), OG Ekmo (Jamal) and Kimo (Rosey). They have little to say, but manage to come off as cool guys. Don't know if it was just a rumor, but I was geeked to hear that WWE re-signed Jamal. He was great as the gaijin monster in All Japan as part of RO&D.
Jamie Noble v. Matt Stryker (w/Hellena Heavenly) - HWA Cruiserweight Title -
It's Jamie Noble, boy! They go back and forth for a bit and Stryker goes to work on the arm. Noble backs him into the corner and drives a few shoulders into his gut. Whip to the opposite corner, but Stryker floats over and starts laying in chops. He goes for a whip of his own, but Noble shortarms and buries a knee into his gut. Cover gets two. Noble rams him into the corner and kicks him in the gut a few times before choking him.
He slams Stryker, then drops an elbow off the second rope for a nearfall. Northern Lights suplex gets another two count. He goes for a second, but Stryker blocks it. Noble kicks him in the gut and sits him up top. He goes for a superplex, but Stryker shoves him to the mat. Noble slowly gets to his feet. Crossbody by Stryker. Noble rolls through and hooks the tights for a two count.
Stryker fires back with chops, but Noble again cuts him off with a kick to the gut. He whips Stryker into the corner, but runs into a back elbow. He goes for a second charge and this time Stryker gets a boot up. Noble catches it, but ends up on the receiving end of an enzuigiri. Stryker follows with a leg lariat and picks up a nearfall. They fight over a backslide, but neither ends up getting it. Stryker sends Noble into the ropes and powerslams him.
He whips Noble into the corner, but runs into a boot. Noble double legs him and goes for the cover, using the ropes for leverage. Stryker still escapes at two. Mark Jindrak is out, kicking game to Heavenly. Ref is distracted. Stryker plants Noble with a brainbuster and heads up top. Shannon Moore runs out and shoves him to the mat. Noble quickly hits a facebuster to the knee, then follows with a neckbreaker for the win! New Champion!
This was really good for the time they were given. Stryker (the unibrow guy as opposed to the dude on Raw) typically bores me, but he looked great here. Noble...is Noble. Need you ask anything more?
-HWA commissioner Patrick Black speaks. For about five seconds. Whoa.
Jason Jett v. Race Steele - HWA Title -
Steele has some really unfortunate tats. The sort of tattoos that will keep him from getting signed to a WWE contract. Ugly. Jett (AKA EZ Money) attacks immediately. He whips Steele into the corner, but takes too much time posing. Steels rebounds out and levels him with a clothesline. Crisscross sequence ends with a leg lariat (a la Doug Basham's Last Impression) by Steele. Cover gets two. He whips Jett into the corner and follows with a clothesline. He slingshots Jett into the corner, then goes for a whip. Jett shortarms into an inverted DDT for two.
He stomps on Steele a bit, then snapmares him. He chokes Steele in the ropes. Steele reverses a corner whip. Jett floats onto the apron. Steele charges, but runs into a back elbow. Jett follows with his nifty slingshot front flip into clothesline move (Money Clip/Afterburner). He follows with a standing moonsault and picks up a nearfall. Standing surfboard by Jett. Steele powers into a reversal, then sends Jett into the ropes. He goes for a dropkick, but Jett grabs the ropes and stops short.
Pendulum submission by Jett. He releases it, then drops an elbow for two. He grabs a rear chinlock. Steele tries to elbow out, but Jett yanks him down by the head. Steele finally counters with a jawbreaker. He goes for a corner whip, but Jett reverses, then follows with a clothesline. He hits a seated dropkick in the corner and gets two. He goes for a backdrop, but Steele counters into a swinging DDT for a nearfall of his own.
He backdrops Jett and follows with a pair of clotheslines. Jett goes for a crossbody, but gets caught. Swinging Uranage by Steele! Cover gets two. Jett reverses him into the corner, but charges into a back elbow. Steele sets up for...something, but it's blocked. Jett lifts him for a suplex, but Steele slips away.
He shoots Jett into the ropes and elevates him into a flapjack, catching him with a Diamond Cutter on the way down (apparently called the Steele Cutter). He covers, but Mark Jindrak runs out and attacks him. Ref calls for the DQ. Jindrak attacks Steele, with Steve Bradley making the save.
Mike Sanders and KWEE WEE (!!!!) run out! Fuck yes! They don't hold the advantage long, though, as the Island Boys hit the ring. A gaggle of refs look on helplessly. Everyone continues to brawl as we fade out.
Bulk of the match was nothing special, but the last minute or two really picked up. Don't know much about Steele, though Thatcher says he idolizes Chris Benoit. He seemed decent enough. Jett was awesome, but kind of stuck in that "heavyweight body, cruiserweight style" vacuum that means no one knew how to book him properly. Last I heard, he was pretty much retired. Shame, really. And, uh...Kwee Wee! I loves me some Kwee Wee. Had a great piledriver.
Next time? Stuff. Including the debuts of Lash Leroux, Kid Romeo and Evan Karagias. Who knew I'd ever be happy to see an Evan Karagias match? What the hell is this world coming to?
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