SCW made its debut appearance in Holly Springs, NC last Saturday night with a card featuring ECW's "Enforcer" C.W. Anderson and WCW's "Lodi" Brad Cain headlining.
To kick the show off, Nitestic Eddie Brown defeated Krash the Milkman. Brown controlled much of the match, including a nice *wrestling* sequence early in the match. Krash grabbed a chair on the outside, but it backfired and he ended up being busted open hardway at the hands of his own weapon. Nitestic finished Krash off with a nice-looking doctor bomb to take the win, but after recovering, the bleeding Krash was not terribly upset…he still had his milk.
The Southside Playas defeated the Gargoyles, Wort and Duke Richards. I really like Wort, but the gimmick in its current form doesn't really work effectively as a heel, the schtick is too funny to boo. Usual good work from the Southsides in this one, including a tope from LA Ca$h onto both Gargoyles, followed immediately by a plancha from J-Money onto all three men, drawing the first, though certainly not the last "SCW" chant of the night. The Playas eventually finished off Wort with their finisher (think the Dudley Boyz' 3D, but coming down with a face bulldog, rather than an Ace crusher). Afterwards, Duke chastised Wort for the loss and Wort stormed off, with Bubbles in tow. Good match.
Dewey Cheatum came to the ring for a promo, and after explaining his absence at the last couple of SCW shows, announced he was in Holly Springs tonight to finally take Gotti's North Carolina Title. Lilly came to the ring, followed by Gotti and the two got the upper hand on Dewey until Persephone came to the ring to even the odds against Lilly. The Other Dark Meat and the hottest woman on the indy circuit powdered, but not before accepting a challenge from Dewey for a mixed tag match.
Up next, Sean Thomas with the beautiful Brandi Richardson defeated Saltwater Redneck Thomas didn't look bad in this one, Saltwater was over with the crowd. Brandi looked hot as always. Thomas took the pin after hitting Saltwater with EZ Money's patterned "Money in the Bank"…if you've never seen it, very difficult to explain. Almost an inverted power bomb. Solid action in this one too.
Quite possibly the hottest young commodity in this area right now, William Wealth, also accompanied by Brandi was out next. Wealth worked the mic before the match and in addition to insulting the crowd also ridiculed his opponent for the night, the three-time former SCW Heavyweight champ Scab. Really good action in this one, Scab had Wealth beat when Brandi jumped on the apron to distract him. Scab turned around and walked right into Wealth's finisher for the pin. Really good stuff, Wealth shows a ton of potential.
Commissioner BC entered the ring with his Army of Won, Frank the Tank Parker and Kross. BC was angry that despite several chances for both, neither of his men had yet been able to wrest the SCW Heavyweight title away from Cham Pain. BC then announced that "the Boss" had demanded that a number one contender be determined before heading into Kings this Thursday night, so tonight, Parker would face Kross and the winner would get the shot against Pain this Thursday at Downtown Destruction.
After a brief intermission, it was Wicked Walt and the Shah of Grog out to do the TV opening, going over the events of the night thus far and introducing the feuding Drive Brothers for their SCW Brass Knuckles title match. These two have been feuding over the title for several months now, with the undefeated Jesse Drive getting the upperhand on his brother Justin time after time. On this night, a unique stipulation made for an interesting turn of events, as the match was contested under "Jersey Drive Rules", an adaptation of the WWF's "24/7" Hardcore title rule. Initially, the Drives attempted a little more in-ring work than their norm, including some nice suplexes by Jesse. After being gorilla-pressed clear out of the ring and onto the floor in a sick bump, Justin took control on the outside, leveling Jesse with a stiff chairshot. Jesse was knocked out cold right in front of the announcer's table where Walt and Grog were sitting, and Walt left his position to see if Jesse could continue the match. When he leaned over to check on Jesse, Mr. Jolly took this as indicating a pin attempt under the new "Jersey Drive" stipulations and counted Drive's shoulder's down. WICKED WALT had won the SCW Brass Knuckles title without even trying. Despite pleas from Walt to the contrary, Jolly handed him the title belt and with both Drive Brothers right on his heels, he ran off through the crowd and out of the building. GREAT angle, which got a huge pop. Really well done.
Dewey Cheatum and Persephone were up next, taking on North Carolina Champion Gotti and Lilly. Dewey may be the most underrated talent in the state right now, and as always, was right on the money. These two work great together, and the addition of the women to the in-ring mix didn't hurt at all. Gotti hit some nice high impact moves on Cheatum, who retaliated with a couple of great aerial spots of his own. Great match. Once the women were tagged in, the crowd ate up the inevitable cat fight, though both ladies took some nice bumps also, frankly, much more than I was really expecting. At one point, Cheatum got to experience my life's dream by being on the receiving end of Lilly's bronco buster. Solid action throughout from all four participants, with the end coming after Dewey hit a Benoit-quality swandive headbutt on Gotti before allowing Persephone to score the pin. After the match a challenge was made and then accepted for Downtown Destruction at Kings this Thursday night, for one more North Carolina title shot for Cheatum, with Dewey putting his career on the line against Gotti's title
The Army of Won were out next for their number one contender's match, with BC remaining in a neutral corner, and conversing with SCW's "Boss man" (not Ray Traylor) via cell phone for much of the contest. Kross and Parker did not mesh very well together, and the end came with BC passing the cell phone to Parker, who nailed Kross with it before scoring the pin. Kross was understandably upset following this, but BC reassured him that it was "just business" and the two eventually at least on the surface, patched things up.
Wicked Walt stuck his head through the curtain to a big pop, before sprinting back to the announce position just in time for the main event, which saw the "Enforcer" C.W. Anderson and partner Q-Sic take on the former Lodi and his long time partner Toad. C.W. made his way to the ring to a rousing "Anderson" chant from the Hardcore Fan Club. The always rambunctious Lodi and Toad had the crowd going during their high-energy entrance. On a side note, its nice to see Toad back as "Toad" after working a few shows under the name "Grommet" inexplicably. Pretty good stuff in this one too. This was my first chance to see Q-Sic, who held his own with the three better-known competitors. If Lodi gets picked up by a major promotion again, I think he will turn some heads, he seems to have improved a good deal since his days as Levy's lackey. CW hit a very nice ferris wheel suplex and a great superkick on Toad. Lodi and Toad picked up the win after the Lodi hit Q-Sic with the Evenflow ddt to round out a great night of wrestling.
After the show, I got to talk to and pose for a couple of pics with CW, who is a very humble and very down-to-earth guy. Some representatives from Virginia-based KYDA Pro Wrestling were in attendance as well, and I also got to meet the lovely Alexis Laree, who told me she hopes to be doing a little more work in this area in the coming months. I have seen a little of her past work, and she is liable to turn some heads too, in more ways than one. This was a great show, and I encourage anyone who has not already done so to check out SCW, as they have a deep roster of some of the very best talent in this area.
Brad Stutts