USA Wrestling

Jerry Lawler defeated Dusty Rhodes in the headline match of the USA Wrestling
show at the Nashville Fairgrounds last night. In what was only the second
meeting between wrestling legends whose careers have spanned over 30 years.
Rhodes totally dominated as the heel, with Lawler getting a pin out of
nowhere with his feet on the ropes. The show stealer saw Chris Harris defeat
James Storm to win the North American belt in a phenomenal match. It was far
away the best thing on the show and good enough to earn them both spots with
NWATNA

The show drew a crowd of 795 paying $11,200.

Bert Prentice, wearing a Simpson's Bowlerama shirt, opened the show by
introducing his announcing team of Jim Cornette and Scott Hudson. Fans booed
Cornette.

1) Brandon Blaze beat "Love Machine" Matt Longtime (with Mr. G) in 5:20.
Longtime said he was an elite person who only associated with good looking
people, not pigs like his manager K-9 Kohl. "You're fired fatty." He brought
out his new manager, Mr. G., NWA Main Event manager Just Gordon. No matter
because G did zero at ringside. Blaze got the early advantage, so Longtime
powdered to the outside. Longtime countered a leapfrog into a powerbomb to
take over. Double underhook suplex for a two count by Longtime. Blaze hit a
crossbody for a two count. Longtime cut Blaze off with a superkick. He
suplexed Blaze but would not allow the pin. Longtime got two with a sloppy
Michinoku driver. Longtime signaled that it was comeback time by saying it
was over. He hit a big powerbomb. Blaze dropped Longtime across his knee with
an inverted DDT. Blaze hit a weak corner splash that Longtime sold by
swinging at thin air. Blaze nailed him with a missile dropkick to the back of
the head. Longtime begged for mercy. Blaze charged and Longtime got a boot up
into his face. Longtime kicked out a rolling reverse cradle and Blaze
followed with a jackknife pin for the three count.

2) Tweek & Damian beat Kurt Jensen & Huevos De Oro in 5 minutes. Tweek &
Damian are a decent heel team but they weren't up to carrying these two
stiffs. De Oro was a horrible masked wrestler. Just way too green for this
level or any level that involves paying customers. The faces lost the crowd
right away with their lousy offense. De Oro did the worst standing moonsault
in wrestling history. Tweek did a spinning uranage to start the heel heat on
De Oro. Some nice double teaming by the heels. Tweek & Damian did a double
stunner that left them dizzy and allowed Lucha boy to make the tag. Jensen
cleaned house as best he could. Jensen did a sidewalk slam on Damian. Tweek
tried to save and elbow dropped his partner. The last 15 seconds were really
good. The heels caught De Oro with a double superkick as he stood on the
apron, and he took a brutal back bump to the concrete floor. Tweek & Damian
did a double gorilla press diamond cutter on Jensen for the finish.

3) Kevin White & Michael Shane beat Prince Justice & Anthony "The Freak"
Ingram (with Lucky West) in 7:35. Justice was scheduled to face Air Paris, so
I assume this was yet another Paris no-show. Former referee Ingram looks like
a wrestler now, and not a bad one at that. He's got the facial expressions
down. Shane got a flurry of offense against Ingram. The faces did a double
hiptoss. Ingram had enough and tagged to Justice. Shane used his speed
against the big man. Justice missed on a huge seat drop and Shane followed
with a low dropkick. Tag to White, who worked the arm. Justice missed huge
again, this time with a legdrop off the second rope. White scored with a
twisting crossbody for a two count. West pulled White's leg to set up a
Samoan drop by Justice. The heels doubled behind the ref's back. Justice
splashed White off the second rope. Shane saved at the count of two. Justice
hit a corner splash and crotched himself on the buckles trying for a second
one. Hot tag to Shane, who hit a flying burrito forearm on Justice. All four
in the ring. Ingram landed on Justice's nuts after taking a double drop
toehold. Double clothesline over the top on Justice. Finish saw White hit a
dive on Justice while Shane pinned Ingram after a stiff flying kick to the
face. Best match on a weak undercard.

4) Scotty Sabre beat Steve Sharp (with Derek Fleihr) in 4:40. Sharp is back
to the name he used prior to being known as Ali Stevens in Memphis and during
his brief stint with a WCW developmental deal. Fleihr cut a promo putting
over St. Louis, Sharp's hometown. Sabre is a former WWE developmental talent.
It's hard to see the Jarrett promotion having any use for them based on this
match. Sabre did the hiptoss-armdrag-dropkick routine. Sharp bailed. Sharp
pie-faced Sabre. He dropped Sabre on his face out of a gorilla press. Sharp
dropped Sabre with a nasty clothesline. Fleihr choked Sabre over the ropes.
Sabre ducked a clothesline and hit a mediocre spinkick. Sharp choked over the
ropes. Sharp turned Sabre inside out with a back elbow for a two count.
Stevens hit a flying shoulder tackle. Sabre countered a powerbomb with an X
factor. Sabre scored a visual fall with a moonsault as Fleihr kept the ref
occupied. Stevens missed a splash and Sabre got the pin with a roll up. Weak
finish.

5) The Hotshots (Cassidy O'Reilly & Chase Stevens) & Spellbinder beat Kory
Williams & Hot Rod Biggs & Disco Inferno (with Athena) in 9:20. Athena has
completed the rehab on her knee. She was moving well and looking as fine as
ever. Disco told ringside regular, Bonnie Baldwin to sit her fat ass down and
snow respect. Hotshot worked on Biggs early. Spellbinder applied a side
headlock that had Williams doing old style screaming in pain as he tried to
escape. Power game from Spellbinder with a shoulder tackle and a clothesline
for a two count. O'Reilly used a Beel throw on Williams, who then backed his
gonads into the ringpost. Disco tagged in. O'Reilly mocked Disco's dancing.
Disco used a poke to the eyes and a series of stomps. O'Reilly landed a
dropkick and hit a handspring back elbow. Disco held onto the ropes and hung
O'Reilly out to dry on a dropkick. Blatant choking by Disco. Hotshots doubled
on Biggs with a drop toehold/legdrop combo. The heels got heat on Stevens.
Disco used a Russian legsweep and an elbow drop. Williams landed a series of
kicks and hit a second rope legdrop for a two count. Williams dumped Stevens
over the top. Disco posted him and Athena gave him a solid whack across the
face. Both men down. Hot tag and house cleaning by Spellbinder. He's always
had the bigtime physique and size, but his movements are still kind of
robotic. Spellbinder hit a fallaway slam on Disco. They started into a hot
series of forth moves involving all six men. Spellbinder hotshotted Disco's
throat on top rope from the outside, followed by O'Reilly's frogsplash for
the pin. Big pop. Good match with a great finish.

6) Me Inc. (Mike Rapada & Big Bully Douglas) (with Synn) beat Sudden Impact
(Chris Gatlin & Steve Lane) in around 8 minutes. Synn at ringside was a
pleasant surprise. Sudden Impact came out in full Fabulous Ones mode
accompanied by Eden on his skateboard. The former NWA World Champion (if you
thought his work was poor then, you should see it now) jawed with Eden until
Gatlin surprised him with a roll up to start the match. Sudden Impact caught
Rapada with a double hiptoss. Synn reached in with a perfectly timed eye rake
to start the heat on Gatlin. Rapada hit a sidewalk slam. Douglas tagged in.
Rapada pulled the ropes down on Gatlin and posted him on the floor. Douglas
hit a stunner across the knee out of a fireman's carry. Bully with a
dropkick! Gatlin went for a roll up on Rapada, so Synn got involved again. Me
Inc. used a double backdrop. Douglas missed on a senton bomb. Will he ever
hit that move? Hot tag to Lane. Sudden Impact hit a double dropkicks on
Rapada & Douglas. Me Inc. had a meeting of the minds. Sudden Impact had both
Me Inc. members pinned with sunset flips. While Synn distracted the ref,
Eden's interference caused Sudden Impact to lose the match. Eden laughed at
Sudden Impact and celebrated his heel turn with Me Inc.

7) James Storm beat Chris Harris to win the North American Title in 16:12.
This was as good as any match I've seen live thus far in 2002. The heat, the
drama, the great false finishes and solid execution throughout were all
there. The response to Storm's entrance never ceases to amaze me. It takes a
lot of chutzpah to pull it off such a long intro and it would look ridiculous
if it didn't work, but it always builds to a crescendo in this building. I
never thought he would move beyond being a top guy locally, but he has made
tremendous improvements in the ring. WWE flat-out missed the boat on Harris.
He is so much better as heel. Harris had some eye candy from a local club,
called the Hurricane Girls, in his corner. Crowd was into this match the
whole way. It was so refreshing to see a match where the fans responded to
everything.

They opened with a handshake followed by a clean break. Good chain wrestling.
Harris did a nice dropdown-leapfrog-monkey flip sequence. Harris hiptossed
Storm. They did mirror image headlocks, headscissors and kick outs to escape.
Storm responded to a Harris kick by clotheslining him over the top. The
intensity picked up as they went at each other with punch after punch. Harris
hit a perfect Thesz press. Not that crap that Stone Cold does. Harris got two
with a bulldog and then, a beautiful top rope crossbody for another two
count. Counters back and forth into a superkick by Storm for a two count.
Harris tried to dump him, but Storm skinned the cat. Storm hit a huracanrana,
a reverse atomic drop and a lariat. Storm hit another huracanrana for a near
fall. Harris speared the ref. Now THAT was a ref bump. Harris crotched Storm
on the top buckle and hit top rope superplex. Both men were stunned. Harris
finally rolled over to cover but no ref. Harris hit a top rope elbow and ref
Kurt Turner hit the ring to make the count, but Storm was able to kick out
for the first false finish. Harris blocked Storm's Swinging Noose finisher
and hit a stunner from the second rope for a close two count. Harris missed a
top rope elbow and Storm connected with a superkick. Harris barely kicked
out. Counters back and forth lead to Storm taking out ref #2 with a
superkick. Refs down in opposite corners now. Harris planted Storm with a
spinning uranage slam. Justice hit the ring and splashed both of them. He
laid Storm on top, but Harris kicked out. Fans were pretty much in a frenzy
at this point. Prentice chased Justice to the back. Harris tried to use a
chair and missed. Storm superkicked the chair into Harris's face and got the
three count. Thunderous pop for the title change.

Prentice congratulated Storm on winning the title...and smashed him with the
chair. Prentice went crazy, pulling off his boot and beating Storm with it
like a maniac. Prentice gave his beloved Nashville fans the one finger
salute. Harris finally shoved Prentice into the corner to calm him down, only
to climb to the top for another devastating elbow drop. Prentice pummeled
Storm repeatedly with his boot again. Just when Harris and Prentice appeared
to be through, Harris ran back for another top rope elbow. An awesome heel
turn by Prentice. Storm had to be carried out of the ring.

8) Brian Christopher beat Buff Bagwell (with Ronnie P. Gossett) in 13
minutes. Bagwell directed a scathing promo at the Nashville fans. He said
that after hugging some of the loser fans, this was the first time in his
life that his underarms smelled. He said the whole building smells like ass.
Bagwell applied some deodorant. Bagwell said the ref smelled "like every
toothless damn one in here" and insisted that he apply deodorant. Christopher
said "Porky Pig" Gossett's arms weren't long enough to reach his butt and
Bagwell's breath stunk. Christopher reasoned that Gossett was wiping his ass
with Bagwell's face.

Bagwell jumped Christopher from behind. Christopher fired back, hit a
superkick and clotheslined Bagwell over the top. Bagwell stalled. Bagwell
posed. Christopher attacked. Christopher rolled Bagwell up and pulled down
his trunks in the process. Bagwell paraded around with his ass hanging out.
Christopher yanked Bagwell up by his thong for the most hilarious crotch spot
I've seen in a long time. Christopher dropped a headbutt to the nuts.
Christopher did a baseball slide to the outside and punched Gossett. Gossett
sprayed Christopher with the deoderant. Bagwell and Gossett kept choking
Christopher and using the deoderant can. Bagwell decked Christopher with a
series of punches. Bagwell tried to come off top, but Christopher got his
feet up. Christopher hit an enzuigiri and a pair of bulldogs for a two count.
Christopher went after Gossett, who couldn't make it up onto the apron to do
the spot. Bagwell hit Christopher from behind. Christopher came back with a
DDT. Christopher went after Gossett on the outside and nailed him flush in
the face with a superkick. Christopher took out the ref with a twisting
crossbody. Christopher got crotched on the top. Bagwell tried for a
superplex, but Christopher's fired back with punches and Bagwell took a lame
bump to the mat. Christopher lowered the goggles and hit the Hip Hop Drop
The ref counted one and appeared to pass out. As Christopher went to check on
the ref, Bagwell went for the deoderant can. Christopher wound up bopping
Bagwell with the can for the three count. Gossett called the fans inbreds and
said it would be his last time in the building. Given Gossett's health
problems, that may very well be true.

9) "The King" Jerry Lawler (with Joanie) beat "The American Dream" Dusty
Rhodes in 15:40. Rhodes cut a promo. He said that he heard through the
grapevine that Joanie liked his elbow. Excellent choice of attire by Joanie.
She has great looking skin. Rhodes said that after he whipped Lawler's ass he
would show her more than his elbow. Rhodes said it would only take two or
three minutes and then they could go downtown and strut their stuff. "You
know younger women love older men. Let's get on with the ass kicking."

The match was mostly a long series of standing lock ups with Rhodes
dominating the action with heel tactics. Crowd was evenly split for most of
the way. Rhodes backed Lawler into the corner out of the lock up. He broke
clean and strutted away showing Lawler his ass. Second time around Rhodes
pounded on Lawler. Next time, Lawler punched on the break. Competing chants
broke out for both men and continued to do so throughout the match. Rhodes
punched Lawler again on the break. Lawler set the referee in the corner to
get him out of the way. Rhodes got an armbar and worked on it with elbows.
Lawler punched back and Rhodes powdered out. Rhodes cheated on the break
again and gave Lawler a back bodydrop. Rhodes complained about Lawler's
punches and bailed out again. Rhodes got more blatant in ignoring the
refusing elbows and choking in the corner. Rhodes slammed Lawler at the 10
minute mark. Rhodes rammed Lawler's head into the buckles. Strong chant for
Lawler. Rhodes beat Lawler down in the corner and choked away. Lawler took a
backward bump over the top rope off a Rhodes punch. Rhodes followed Lawler
out and pulled a toolbox from underneath the ring. Rhodes bashed Lawler with
the toolbox. He took out a bungee cord and choked Lawler. He went over to
give Joanie a close up view of his elbow. Lawler choked Rhodes with the cord.
Rhodes hit Lawler with a toolbox tray. Back on the inside, Rhodes landed a
series of standing elbows and double ax blows. Lawler pulled the strap down
and fired punches, but Rhodes cut off the comeback. Rhodes tried for a pin
with his feet on the ropes. Lawler escaped at two and scored a pin out of
nowhere with his feet on the ropes. Lawler signed a ton of autographs before
he was able to make his way back to the dressing room. Rhodes later came out
to do Polaroids.

Credit: Larry Goodman