For whatever reason, OVW has been preempted the past two weeks with paid programming. I have no idea what is going on with the show, but it may be a bad sign when your program is being dropped in favor of hour-long commercials. Here are the results from the past two weeks:
January 31, 2009
The Mobile Homers won a tag team battle royal
The Insurgency defeated Eugene & Aaron "The Idol" Stevens
APOC defeated OVW Heavyweight Champion Vaughan Lilas in a non-title match
Theta Lambda Psi defeated The Mobile Homers when Nine Fingers Dewey turned on the Homers. Dewey is the newest Theta Lambda Psi pledge, replacing the departing Ashley Stefan Streetman.
Steel Cage Match for the OVW Southern Tag Team Titles
Scott Cardinal & Dirty Money defeated Totally Awesome to win the OVW Southern Tag Team Titles
February 7, 2009
Debo defeated Raul Loco
Igotta Brewski defeated "Outlaw" Ben Woods
Top Shelf Talent (JD Maverick and Pat Buck) did an interview
Theta Lambda Psi (Brent Wellington, Moose and Dewey w/Karl Martin) defeated AL B. Show, Hog Wild, & Tony Mann
3-Way Dance for the OVW Television Title Match
Mike Mondo defeated Johnny Punch and Aaron "The Idol" Stevens to win the OVW TV Title
The Insurgency defeated Fang & Rudy Switchblade
OVW Heavyweight Title Match
APOC defeated Vaughan Lilas to win the OVW Heavyweight Title
OVW Southern Tag Team Title Match
The Mobile Homers defeated Scott Cardinal and Dirty Money via DQ. Cardinal and Money retain the titles.
The next OVW TV show showing up on my TV listings isn't until the end of the month, so there may be a few more weeks of this.
OVW TV Report for January 10, 2009
- Show open...
- Dean Hill, Kenny Bolin and the recently released from WWE Developmental Timmy Baltimore are your hosts.
- Tonight... A battle royal to determine who faces JBL on January 27th.
- Battle Royal
This is under Royal Rumble rules with a new participant coming every minute. Vaughan Lilas and Dirty Money are numbers 1 and 2, respectively. Money stalls to begin, but Lilas catches him stalling with some nasty chops. Lilas tries to dump Money, but Money gets a thumb in the eye. Number 3 is Ruff Ryder Rashaad. Ruff Ryder comes in and takes out Money. Money tries to toss Ruff Ryder, but Lilas comes over to break it up. Rashaad and Money team up to work over Lilas. Number 4 is Ali Akbar from The Insurgency. Ali has lost the Insurgency gear for more traditional tights for the new year. Lilas and Ali pair off while Money works over Rashaad. Number 5 is Al B. Show, whoever the fuck that is. Lilas wastes no time chopping the shit out of him.
- Commercial Break
- Ali and Money try to eliminate Rashaad to no avail. Number 6 is Raul Loco. Triple team on Rashaad still can't get him over the top. Number 7 is Mike Mondo (the former Mikey from the Spirit Squad) and he comes in and immediately tosses Al B. Show. Ruff Ryder Rashaad tries to take out Mondo, but he gets tossed, too. Mondo almost tossed Raul Loco, but he saved himself by holding onto the ropes. Money and Ali are quick to shut down Mondo with a double team. Number 8 is 1/2 of the Southern Tag Team Champions... The Kamikaze Kid. Kamikaze Kid tries to throw out Money to no avail. Raul almost gets Mondo out, but he rolls in under the bottom rope. Ali and Raul can't get Kamikaze Kid out. Number 9 is Brent Wellington from Theta Lambda Psi. Wellington goes after Kamikaze Kid, but Kid is too quick for him. Lilas chops the skin off of Mondo's chest. Goodness those are nasty chops. Number 10 is DCW wrestler Fang. Fang almost gets tossed by Wellington, but catches himself on the top rope. Fang is barely as tall as the top rope. Mondo tries to send Raul out, but he is able to hang on.
- Commercial Break
Number 11 is Dre Blitz. Wellington almost has Fang out, but he fights out. Mondo almost gets tossed, but he hangs on. Number 12 is Tony Mann and he is immediately tossed by Vaughan Lilas. Raul almost gets Mondo out, but Mondo lands on the apron to save himself. The Kamikaze Kid is hanging on to the top rope, so Mondo comes over and starts biting his fingers. Number 13 is Sucio and he saves his partner from elimination on his was in. Kamikaze Kid recovers quickly and tosses Dre Blitz. Mondo is in a precarious position, but puts a fist in the face of Raul. Wellington hangs on after almost being eliminated by Fang. Number 14 is Eclipse. Totally Awesome and Fang try to eliminate Wellington, but Ali puts a stop to that. Number 15 is Turcan Celik. Celik comes in and just hammers Fang. Celik takes a head of steam and throws Fang over the top. Number 16 is Hog Wild.
- Commercial Break
We come back and Turcan Celik sends Eclipse out. Mike Mondo and Sucio are battling on the apron. Number 17 is Moose from Theta Lambda Psi. Mooose makes an immediate impact by tossing Hog Wild. Totally Awesome almost get Mondo out, but he slides back in before hitting the floor. Number 18 is Supergloves Dos. Totally Awesome try a double team spot on Dirty Money that fails miserably. Not in the 'fails' sense that it didn't work. In the 'fails' sense that they completely blew the spot. Geez that was badly blown. Number 19 is Scott Cardinal. Cardinal comes in and beats on Sucio. Scott Cardinal tosses Sucio and The Kamikaze Kid, but also accidentally eliminates his tag team partner Dirty Money. Cardinal looks at his eliminated partner and says "Sorry. It's every man for himself." Number 20 is Los Rojos #1 (I'm assuming it is number 1. It's like telling The Conquistadors apart.). Rojos is looking doughier than usual. Even Hill and Bolin are commenting on how fat Rojos is. Lilas stops Rojo's dancing by chopping him and tossing him. Mike Mondo almost sends Turcan Celik over the top. Number 21 is Jamin Olivencia. Olivencia makes the mistake of going after Mondo and Mondo almost tosses him. Olivencia tries to suplex Mondo out of the ring, but Mondo blocks it.
- Commercial Break
Number 22 is the OVW Heavyweight Champion Aaron "The Idol" Stevens. Idol comes in and goes after Raul Locos. Tucan Celik has Mondo over the top, but Mondo quickly catches Celik with a headscissors on his way out eliminating both of them. Idol Stevens sends Ali Akbar out. Mondo and Turcan are still fighting on the outside. Ali pulls Idol under the bottom rope and they start brawling on the outside. The officials, busy trying to break up Mondo and Turcan, didn't see Idol get pulled under the rope and they send him back to the locker room. Number 23 is Rudy Switchblade. Switchblade comes in and goes after Olivencia. Number 24 is Adam Revolver from The Mobile Homers and he goes after both members of Theta Lambda Psi. Revolver tries to send out Wellington, but he can't get him over. Number 25 is Johnny Punch and he immediately goes after Raul Locos. Locos almost goes over, but he catches himself on the apron. Punch charges at him, but Raul flips him over the top onto the floor. Moose comes over and takes out both Raul Locos and Rudy Switchblade. Big splash in the corner by Olivencia on Revolver.
- Commercial Break
Number 26 is Ted "The Trailer" McNaler from The Mobile Homers. Wellington and Moose think they've eliminate both Mobile Homers, but they catch themselves. Number 27 is Nine Fingers Dewey from The Mobile Homers. McNaler andRevolver are still on the apron and they try to suplex Wellington out. Moose makes the save and slams Revolver and McNaler's heads together to cause their elimination. Dewey tries to get revenge, but Wellington and Moose send him out. Vaughan Lilas is still in there and close to becoming the 60 minute man. Number 28 is Sergio. Olivencia hides out on the outside by hanging on the ring post. Lilas chops the shit out of Sergio before Moose attacks him. Number 29 and the last man in is Igotta Brewski. He comes in headbutting everyone and eliminates Brent Wellington. Brewski clotheslines Sergio over the top. Moose and Brewski square off. Brewski puts Moose over his shoulder and almost gets him over, but here comes Jamin Olivencia and Scott Cardinal and they eliminate both of them!
The Final Four: Scott Cardinal, Supergloves Dos, Jamin Olivencia and Vaughan Lilas.
Cardinal and Olivencia team up on Lilas. Kenny Bolin mistakenly gives away the ending by saying "You've got Vaughan Lilas in there against JBL... I mean, uh, Vaughan Lilas against Olivencia and Cardinal." Nice work, OVW. You couldn't cover that up in post production? Cardinal Irish whips Supergloves and Olivencia back body drops him to the outside. A double team fails and Lilas takes advantage, chopping and headbutting Olivencia and Cardinal. Cardinal and Olivencia take back over and set up Lilas for the elimination. They try to eliminate Lilas the same way they eliminated Supergloves, but Lilas reverses the Irish whip and Olivencia back drops Cardinal over the top. Olivencia relizes what he has done and turns around to see Vaughan Lilas. Olivencia's over the top facial expressions are outstanding, by the way. Olivencia begs Lilas for mercy, but then decides chopping Lilas is a better option. Bad idea. Lilas lights up Olivencia's chest like a Christmas tree with some stinging chops. Lilas tosses Olivencia over the top rope to win the battle royal and earns the right to face John "Bradshaw" Layfield on January 27th at the Davis Arena.
- A pretty good battle royal ruined by Kenny Bolin giving away the winner in the final few minutes. You seriously couldn't edit that out? The winner could have been any three of the final four and Bolin gives away the ending. Also, they couldn't have got an even 30 participants? TV Champ Outlaw, Pat Buck, APOC, Lumpy Magoo and Debo were all missing. Still though, a good battle royal ruined by the commentary at the end.
Order of Elimination
1. Al B. Show
2. Ruff Ryder Rashaad
3. Tony Mann
4. Dre Blitz
5. Fang
6. Eclipse
7. Hog Wild
8. Dirty Money
9. The Kamikaze Kid
10. Sucio
11. Los Rojos #1
12. Mike Mondo
13. Turcan Celik
14. Ali Akbar
15. Idol Stevens
16. Johnny Punch
17. Raul Locos
18. Rudy Switchblade
20. Ted McNaler
21. Adam Revolver
22. Nine Fingers Dewey
23. Brent Wellington
24. Sergio
25. Moose
26. Igotta Brewski
27. Supergloves Dos
28. Scott Cardinal
29. Jamin Olivencia
OVW TV Report for December 6, 2008
- Show open...
- Dean Hill and Kenny Bolin are at the desk informing the viewers that over the next few weeks we will see the Thanksgiving Thunder tag team tournament to determine the number one contenders for the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship in it's entirety over the next few weeks. This week we will see the opening round.
Opening Round Match #1
- Theta Lambda Psi (El Maestro & Moose w/Reggie) vs. Eugene & OVW Heavyweight Champion Aaron "The Idol" Stevens
Hill and Bolin are joined by one-half of the Southern Tag Team Champions Dirty Money and his manager Josie. Theta Lambda Psi enters first. El Maestro is new FCW Developmental Talent Gavin Garrison under a mask. I have no idea why Idol and Dinsmore are teaming, particularly when Idol is the Heavyweight Champion, but whatever. Hill notes that both are former WWE Superstars. Bill Clark is the referee. Maestro and Idol start out. Idol takes control with some amateur wrestling moves. Idol goes for a quick pin that only gets a one count. Big shoulderblock by Idol sends Maestro to the mat and he makes a tag to Moose. Moose says he wants Eugene and Idol obliges. Moose works the headlock but Eugene whips Moose into the ropes. Eugene starts a criss-cross and dives out of the ring to chase after Reggie (who is looking pretty hot in her skirt, by the way). Moose attacks Eugene coming back into the ring. Tag brings Maestro back in. Maestro knocks Eugene down with a shoulderblock and goes for the pin, but only gets 2. Tag brings in Moose, who goes to work on Eugene's arm. Moose goes for a big elbow drop, but Eugene rolls out of the way. Eugene and Moose both make tags and Idol comes in on fire. He unloads on Maestro and Moose. Maestro takes a double stomp to the gut by Idol. Idol hits the ropes and drills him with a sweet sliding clothesline on the seated Maestro. Idol only gets 2, as moose breaks the pin. Moose tries to send Idol into the ropes, but Eugene catches him and bites his ass. Brilliant scientific wrestling there by Nick Dinsmore. Idol Stevens hits the Idolizer on Maestro and that's all she wrote. * Match went nowhere and resulted in a patched together team of singles wrestlers beating an established team.
- Interview with Totally Awesome (The Kamikaze Kid & Sucio). They say that Thanksgiving Thunder will be the night of the underdogs.
- Commercial break
Opening Round Match #2
- Totally Awesome vs. Los Rojos Uno & Shiloh
I don't know why Los Rojos Uno isn't teaming with Los Rojos Dos. Uno decides to take his chances in the tournament with a brand new partner, which seems to go against conventional wisdom. Apparently Sucio has gone from being an ambiguously gay wrestler to being a young high flyer. I guess he gets to switch between his DCW persona and his OVW persona as he pleases. Joe Wheeler is your referee. Shiloh and Kamikaze Kid will start. After lots of stalling by TKK, he tags in Sucio without ever locking up with Shiloh. Finally a lock up which is won by Shiloh. He doesn't take control long, as they trade hammerlocks. Pin attempt by Sucio gets 2. Rojos tags in and snapmares Sucio to the mat. He does the Macrena before dropping an elbow, but he danced too long and Sucio moved. TKK tags in and hits Rojos with a leg lariat. TKK slams Rojos down and tags in Sucio. Sucio slingshots himself in, dropping an elbow on Rojos. Rojos reverses an Irish whip and Shiloh nails Sucio with a knee in the back. Rojos makes the tag and Shiloh chops away at Sucio. Shiloh slams Sucio to the mat and works the chinlock. Sucio fails at his first attempt to fight out and almost gets out on a second attempt, but Shiloh hammers him back down and tags in Rojos. Rojos tries a splash from the second turnbuckle, but Sucio is able to roll out of the way. Shiloh tries coming into the ring, but Sucio pushes Rojos into his own partner. Here comes TKK in the ring. He sets up Rojos in a backbreaker position. Sucio into the ropes... nice double stomp! That will get the 3 count. * 1/2. Not much better than the opening match, but there were some decent offensive maneuvers.
-Commercial Break
Opening Round Match #3
- Rudy Switchblade & Johnny Punch vs. Sergio & Supergloves Dos
I've never seen Supergloves Uno, so don't even ask me to explain. Apparently Sergio needed someone to replace Chris Cage. Switchblade and Punch are pretty popular with the OVW crowd. Ruben Ramos is your referee. Supergloves and Rudy will start. Rudy pushes Supergolves into the ropes, but we get a clean break. Rudy and Supergloves trade hammerlocks and waistlocks. Supergloves gets a quick takedown, but Rudy was ready. Switchblade goes for the pin, but Supergloves is quick to kick out at one. Punch tags in and goes to work on the arm. Punch goes for the pin, but only gets 2. Supergloves makes a blind tag and Sergio goes to work, hammering away on Punch. Sergio locks in an abdominal stretch. Sergio wants Supergloves to help him get some additional leverage, but Supergloves refuses. Why did they patch together a heel and a face? Sergio didn't have the stretch lock in strong enough and Punch flips him over. Rudy tags in and hiptosses Sergio. Rudy takes down Sergio with a leg sweep and follows that up with a senton. Pin attempt only gets 2. Sergio gets the advantage and slams Rudy off the top rope. Sergio nails Johnny Punch to draw him into the ring. Sergio tries to convince Supergloves to illegally double team Rudy Switchblade while Ramos is distracted, but Supergloves will have no part of it. Punch tags in and whips Sergio from one corner to the other. Punch sets Sergio up for a reverse powerbomb and Rudy comes off the top rope with a splash. Beautiful double team maneuver. That's good enough for 3. ** It made no sense for Sergio to team up with Supergloves, but Switchblade and Punch made it watchable.
- Commercial Break
Opening Round Match #4
- Anthony Bravado & Pat "The" Buck vs. Apoc & Raul Locos
Buck is no longer part of The Insurgency. Bravado is no longer OVW Champion. No word on where Ramon Locos (Raul's usual partner) or Vaughan Lilas (Apoc's usual partner) are. Bill Clark is the referee and Raul and The Buck will start. Raul takes control with a wristlock, but Buck gets to the ropes to break the hold. Raul and Buck trade wristlocks. Apoc and Bravado tag in. Bravado tries to take control with his power, but Apoc is too quick. He send Bravado into the corner and follows in with a big elbow. Raul tags back in and drops a double ax handle on Bravado. Bravado is able to use his power against Raul and drop him with a shoulder block. The Buck tags in and hits Raul with some quick, stiff kicks. Bravado tags back in and headbutts Raul in the ribs. Big vertical suplex by Bravado. Arrogant pin only gets one. Bravado locks in a bearhug on Raul. Kenny Bolin is going to town with Mexican jokes on commentary. Big clap breaks the breahug and Raul is able to tag in Apoc. Apoc pushes away on Bravado. He sends him into the ropes and catches Bravado with a huge spinebuster. Raul tags back in. Irish whip and Bravado runs into a double flapjack. Buck comes in to even the odds. Apoc runs at Buck in the corner, but misses a flying knee and sails to the floor of the Davis Arena. Clark goes outside to check on Apoc. Raul hits Bravado with a flying forearm and goes for the pin, but Buck breaks it up before Clark can even get in position to count. Bravado rolls over and a nasty kick to Raul's head and gets the three count. *** Acceptable tag team wrestling. The matches are at least improving, though I don't get these makeshift teams.
- Commercial break
Opening Round Match #5
- Outlaw & Hog Wild vs. Al Barone & Los Rojos Dos
Again, more makeshift teams. Outlaw (OVW TV Champion) typically teams with Lightfoot as The War Party. We saw Los Rojos Uno earlier teaming with Shiloh. Hog Wild is a douche stuck in the 70's. Barone has been working with JD Michaels, so you would think they would team together. Rojos and Hog Wild will start out. Wild tries to get the crowd to do the "Hangin' Tough" (yes, THAT Hangin' Tough) chant to no avail. Rojos is able to get the crows on his side, but Wild attacks and pounds away on Rojos. Outlaw tags in. Outlaw tries an atomic drop, but Rojos quickly turns that into a cross body. Barone tags in and goes to work on Outlaw's arm. Outlaw tries a sunset flip, but can't get Barone over. Barone drags Outlaw, still fighting for the flip, and tags in Rojos. Outlaw doesn't see the tag and Rojos tries to pin the distracted Outlaw, but only gets 2. Hog Wild tags back in to work an armbar. Wild tries a pin, but only gets 2. Rojos is basically getting thrown around the ring by Hog Wild. Outlaw back in. Outlaw draws Barone in to distract referee Joe Wheeler so they can do some dastardly, illegal double team moves. Outlaw covers Rojos, but only gets 2. Hog Wild back in and he's doing the cabbage patch. Hog Wild proves that he is the dumbest wrestler ever by trying a splash after Rojos rolled out of the way before he even jumped. Rojos makes the tag to Barone and he decks Hog Wild. Outlaw isn't paying attention, so Barone walks over and decks him for good measure. Barone tags in Rojos, just so he can make the pin. DUD. Awful match.
-Interview with The Mobilehomers (Adam Revolver & Ted McNaler). Whoopee.
- Commercial Break
Opening Round Match #6
- The Mobilehomers w/ OVW Femme Fatale Champion Melody vs. "The Welsh Warrior" Matt Bond & Turcan Celik
At least one of these teams are a real team. Who knows where Ali Akbar and Bin Hamin are. Ray Ramsey is on referee duty. Turcan and Adam Revolver to start. Turcan celebrates winning a tie up by praising Allah. Turcan wins another tie up, but gets caught with a dropkick while praising Allah. McNaler tags in and doesn't keep the advantage for long. Bond tags in and works a headlock. McNaler quickly reverses and put on his own headlock. For some reason (not that anything tonight has made sense) Matt Bond has Vaughn on his tights. Knowing OVW production values, it could be a real possibility that the graphics people heard Bond out of Vaughn. Revolver tags in and takes Bond down with a bulldog. Turcan sneaks in a clips Revolver's knee while Ramsey escorts McNaler out of the ring. Turcan tags in and goes to work on Revolver's knee. Bond tags back in and works over the knee. Turcan is quickly back in and drops a leg across Revolver's knee. Bond back in and kicks away at the knee of Revolver. Revolver tries to fight back, but to no avail. Turcan tags in. Turcan tags in and tries to Irish whip Revolver across the ring, but his knee gives out. Turcan wastes a lot of time praising Allah and gets caught in a small package.... 1-2-3. The Mobilehomers move on. ** Nothing offensive, but Turcan not having his regular tag team partner hurt the match. There is plenty of back story between The Mobilehomers and The Insurgency. I don't know why they just couldn't have done that match. Turcan gets in an extra shot at Revolver's knee after the bell.
- Dean Hill and Kenny Bolin recap the first round for us. No explanation on how the tournament will fill out with just 6 teams. Again, no surprise since nothing has made sense tonight. I don't know what is going on with airing the tournament over 2 weeks instead of giving us new wrestling, but whatever. Next week we get the quarters, the semis and the finals which was held in a steel cage.
Quick results from Friday night's OVW Six Flags Summer Sizzler Series Show, followed by some thoughts about the promotion:
Tank Toland defeated JD Michaels
Anthony Bravado won the battle royal; he gets the match of his choosing at next week's Six Flags show
Serena defeated Josie to retain the OVW Women's Title
Rudy Switchblade defeated Joey Matthews
Rob Conway and Pat Buck defeated The Insurgency to retain the tag titles
Elijah Burke defeated Chris Cage
Pretty lackluster card this week. I understand putting the WWE Superstar on last, as he is suppose to be what draws in a lot of fans, but the Tag Title match probably should have been the main event. Really the tag team scene in OVW is the only division worth a shit. Until last week when Serena returned, the women's division was just Josie and Melody. The TV Title division just seems like an excuse to get the inexplicably over Mobilehomers on TV each week. Nobody seems to be chasing Nick Dinsmore's OVW Heavyweight title and as I said in last week's TV report, the only credible threat at the moment is Joey Matthews, and he just jobbed to Rudy Switchblade and Jamin Olivencia at the past 2 Six Flags shows.
I just started watching OVW again recently and it seems the WWE's departure has left the promotion wandering aimlessly. With nobody to get over in order to prepare them for their call up, OVW has no direction in terms of who they need to put over. Chris Cage vs. Nick Dinsmore should be a no-brainer feud. Mr. I'm Too Good For OVW vs. Mr. OVW, who just happens to be the champion. Why they shot their load with that match on the first Six Flags show of the year with next to no build up is beyond me. This should have been the feud that could have built up all summer and had the blow-off at the Six Flags finale.
One report on Gerweck.net says only 75 people showed up at the show. A second report states between 200-250 were there. Either way, that is significantly down from the 400 or so that was at the first show. With the WWE connection gone, I wonder how long OVW can continue to work under current operations. The lease for Davis Arena is probably pretty expensive, as is production for 2 TV shows (they also do Derby City Wrestling, which is a TV show for their wrestling school). Maybe the Six Flags houses will improve with Jerry Lawler, CM Punk, John Cena and Mick Foley coming in, but honestly (and I don't mean this in a slight in any way), how many fans will Jimmy Yang, Kenny Dykstra and Cryme Tyme draw? And will WWE continue to let their talent be booked for the Six Flags shows next year? The next year could bring big changes to the way OVW does business.
A problem I see with the summer shows is that the show is live on Fridays and the TV show is taped on Wednesday. Tapings would give away the results and title switches result in the new champions defending them before they win them on TV. If I would have gone to the Six Flags show, I would have been confused as to why Conway & Buck were the champions since their Six Flags match was to have been for the titles. Their title victory didn't air until the day after the Six Flags show. Airing the TV show live probably isn't an option, both on the economical and logistical front. They have a dilemma here and I'm not real sure how they could resolve it.
OVW TV Report should be coming on Thursday, for those interested.