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Wrestling
UWC TV taping on-site report (7/29/2003)
Posted by Jared "JHawk" Hawkins on Jul 31, 2003, 12:57
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UWC TV Taping on-site report (7/29/2003)
by Jared "JHawk" Hawkins
Another Tuesday night at Shamrock Nite Club in Barberton, Ohio, and another taping for the United Wrestling Council's "Ripped". As usual for my Akron/Cleveland area readers, just hit the back button or click the link to the home page if you want to be surprised about this broadcast this weekend.
For those of you wondering, I was not at last week's taping, which is why there was no report for it.
Onto this week's taping, and once again, the pre-TV dark matches are without ring introductions. Luckily I've been able to get the names for all but one of these guys at this point, but that is starting to get quite annoying.
Dark Match: Mike Smiley vs. "The Louisville Slugger" Rip Cripple
Smiley is now throwing smiley face frisbees out to the crowd. Smiley busts out the Smiley Crossface, a crippler crossface using the frisbee. The advantage doesn't last very long though, as Cripple executes a roll up (with an apparent handful of tights) for the pin at 2:01.
Dark Match: The Ninja vs. Super Sydal
There's more to this man's name than "The Ninja", but I don't know the exact name so I'll go by The Ninja until that point. Before the match, the ninja looks out to the crowd and says "I swear to God I'm Chinese." Unfortunately, Confucious says "You no win match" as Sydal picks up the victory with a jumping DDT at 1:36.
Dark Match: The Suicide Kid vs. Lone Oaks
Probably the best of the pre-taping matches, simply because it was the only one that got some time to develop. Oaks dominates most of the early part of the match, but refuses to get pins when he has the opportunity. The Kid makes his comeback and puts Oaks away with a slingshot splash at 4:24.
It's almost time for the actual taping to start, but first, President Bo Smirnow announces that the next big show will be "Outrageous in the Cages" on September 6 at Akron's North High School, and several of the matches for that show would be announced tonight. A similar segment was taped backstage for air on Sunday. After that, they pass out some free T-shirts for 1350AM in Akron and tape the TV opening.
Hollywood has taken over the interviews since two weeks ago, and he starts off by interviewing The Four Henchmen. "Timebomb" Fred Potok defeated Rip Cripple last week and is therefore scheduled to take on "Your Rolemodel" Ric Lieb, but Lieb claims that since Timebomb cheated last week, he's not getting his match. So instead, he'll take on The Red Spyder, and Lieb's so confident that he sends the rest of the Henchmen to the back.
The Red Spyder vs. "Your Rolemodel" Ric Lieb
Lieb takes Spyder lightly early on, enabling Spyder to gain the advantage. Lieb eventually gets upset about being shown up on television and takes control, including one spot where every time he gets caught choking Spyder, he chokes Spyder with another part of his body while arguing with the referee. Lieb soon takes the fight to the floor and grabs one of his trademark platters, but "Timebomb" Fred Potok grabs it from Lieb and nails him with it. That gives Lieb the DQ win at 4:03, and Potok goes to Lieb's gimmick table, purchases three additional platters, and nails Lieb three more times with the platters. I didn't like the blatant bait-and-switch, but the angle was solid.
After a break, Hollywood interviews Timebomb, who thinks his attack on Lieb was the funniest thing ever. Lieb makes his way to the interview area to complain about Timebomb stealing his move, and that brings out Smirnow to keep them separated and make the first match for September 6: Lieb vs. Timebomb in a steel cage.
Sumo Match for the UWC Hardcore Extreme Championship: Chef Meeker (champion) vs. "Sex Symbol" Keith Young (w/Salena)
This was set up backstage after Meeker's interview two weeks ago, where Meeker accidentally bumped into Salena. After an argument last week, this match was signed. The rules are that the first person to be taken off his feet three times loses, and the match is won by Meeker easily in 2:05. Very bad match. However, Jason Thunder, Unknown, and Darkstar immediately attack Meeker following the contest, which includes Thunder hitting Meeker with a paper fan. Meeker even sells it. Young introduces Thunder as the newest member of the Inner Circle.
Justin Dreams is interviewed by Hollywood, and after reading his fan mail, he decides to insult Phattie Dattie's mother. "His mother is so hairy, they didn't even give her a costume when she auditioned for Planet of the Apes." Here comes Phattie Dattie, and they trade momma insults until Bo Smirnow shows Dreams a contract that says he'll defend the TV Title against Phattie Dattie on September 6. Doesn't Dreams have to sign that contract before it's official? Maybe they're filiming something backstage for that.
The Purple Hooter vs. "The Champ" John Potok
Potok's shoulder has finally "healed" well enough for singles competition. Remember two weeks ago when I said Hooter might get over whether they want him to or not? Well, if he gets any more over they might have to start pushing him, as there was a huge "hooter" chant breaking out. Potok dominates most of the match, but when he plays to the crowd, Hooter's waiting on him. Hooter goes for a choke slam, but he can't do it, and it's Potok quickly hitting his version of the Pedigree at 2:50. Immediately following the match, Tack makes his way down to the ring. They stare nose-to-nose before Bo Smirnow comes out to separate them and signs one more match for Outrageous in the Cages: Tack vs. John Potok for the UWC Heavyweight Title. Potok gets a cheap shot in on Tack from behind just before the break.
TV Main Event for the UWC Tag Team Championship: Virus and "High Impact" Bret Myers vs. The Shadows of Darkness (champions)
Last week, Myers was set to team with Atlantis against Mikey Showtime and his new partner in Feature Presentation...and Atlantis turned on Myers to reveal himself as Showtime's partner before Virus made the save. This was a pretty solid TV main event before Feature Presentation interfered and attacked Unknown and Darkstar, giving them a disqualification victory at 6:09. The crowd seemed completely confused, andthat includes myself, as why would they attack the champions when the beef from the previous week was with the challengers?
As usual, there are always a couple of extra dark matches for those who attend the tapings.
Wrecking Ball and Ricochet vs. The Hidden Dragons
I honestly don't know if Ricochet was just a step or two off or if his offense was supposed to look off a la J.T. Smith, but there were a couple of times where he missed something that was apparently supposed to connect. I tried to like this match, but this was a bit too long despite all four guys giving it their all. One of the Dragons pins Ricochet with an airplane spin into a neckbreaker at 8:18, which probably would have been better served as a four-minute special.
For the UWC Heavyweight Championship: Jason Thunder vs. Tack (champion)
Poor Tack. A few of the workers watched the match from the crowd and were quite vocal in cheering for Thunder. I assume it was a rib. Thunder works the leg for the bulk of the match (overheard: "Tack's actually selling for you!"). Tack does his high flying offense in his comeback, remembering to sell the leg after every move. Thunder eventually locks in a half Boston crab ("Montreal! Ring the bell!") before Tack breaks the hold by moving into a small package for the pin at 7:28. One of the better matches I've seen since the UWC's tapings started.
End of show.
Overall, this wasn't one of the UWC's best shows from an in-ring standpoint, but they're starting to build toward the big show on September 6, so the focus was on angle development instead of wrestling matches. But most of the angles made sense, and for the most part they're getting over with the live crowds. I'd prefer a bit more wrestling than I saw at this show, but as long as things move along in a coherent manner and keep the crowd's interest, then they're getting something right.
I'm back later for SmackDown, and don't forget to drop me a line about this or any other column.
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