The Alternative Reunion Tour made its final stop of the year on November 3rd in Ramseur, NC at Southeast Randolph Middle School. Under the banner of Atlantic Pro Wrestling, the former Alternative promotions presented a huge show headlined by internationally-renowned superstars and some of the best talent in this region.
In the opener, Ramseur's own Scott "The Rebel" Williams scored a big victory over Chris Cairo following a flying forearm. After the bout, Williams took the mic and thanked his hometown crowd for their support.
Slick Rick made his way to the ring with the gorgeous Special K to accept what he thought would be a forfeit victory over the recently retired Rob the Bull McBride. Rick was extremely confident and said he wished McBride were there. As a formally, Rob's music played, but his wife and the owner of RCW Persuasion made her way to the ring. She announced that Rick had better be careful what he wished for as Rob the Bull made his way out, fully dressed to compete, to the shock of everyone in attendance. Commissioner Randolph Hedrick cleared up the situation for us by stating that even though Rob WAS retired, he had agreed to fulfill his prior commitments. Special K got involved several times but was counteracted by Persuasion at every attempt. The end came when Rick missed a frog splash and got caught in McBride's Saturday Night Superstar, but Special K broke up the count. Rob then lifted HER up to execute the Superstar, but was caught with a low blow by Rick, who grabbed a handful of trunks and rolled him up for the pin. Good match.
Up next was tag team action as The Amazing Sideshow, with the lovely Enigma by his side as always, teamed with the 7' "Man of the Future" Granite to battle the American Steele Ninja and the veteran L.A. Wild One. L.A., as always, got the crowd going early on. Granite and Sideshow spent much of the match working over the Ninja, who showed a lot of heart and resiliency. He finally connected with a cross body to Granite, who caught his much smaller opponent. L.A. slid in and dropkicked Granite in the knee, causing Ninja to fall on top of Granite for the upset three count.
Lumbee Warrior was out next to face The Redeemer in a fast-paced contest. Redeemer nailed Lumbee with a top-rope frankensteiner late in the match and attempted the move a second time, but it was countered by Lumbee, who hit a sit-out powerbomb off the top rope for the pinfall.
Former WCW and WWF competitor The Barbarian took on "Loose Cannon" Mike Gunner. The big man dominated much of the match until Gunner went for his trademark blockbuster, but Barbarian moved and Gunner caught referee Robbie Auman. Barbarian laid Gunner out with a powerbomb and with no referee left to count, merely walked out. Auman got into a verbal confrontation with Gunner after the match, which ended with Auman challenging Gunner and Flex Phenom to face him and Beastmaster Rick Link at the CCW event scheduled for January 5th.
In the main event, the Beastmaster Rick Link took on the "Madman from the Sudan" Abdullah the Butcher. As can be expected from these two, tons of blood was spilled. Abdullah's trademark fork was used several times which Link countered late in the match with a chain. The two men spilled to the outside where Link took a table leg in the mouth in addition to several more shots with the fork. Both men were a bloody mess and eventually brawled to the back to end the match in a double disqualification.
The Beastmaster returned to the ring to soak in the cheers from the fans in Ramseur, while Abdullah and manager "Honest" John Cheatum ran in fear out the back door, proving beyond a shadow of a doubt that Link is the dominant hardcore legend. Another "Reunion" show is tentatively scheduled for the first quarter of the new year, but many of these same stars will be in action on January 5th in Asheboro.
Final Analysis: Ok, this is not the Insider, I can totally shoot here...Abdullah the Butcher is the biggest prick I have ever met in this business. The specifics aren't really all that important, but if any of you ever get the chance to see Abdullah again at a show near you...save your money. Lumbee/Redeemer and Slick/McBride were both quite good and Gunner bumped his ass off for Barbarian in another fun match, but the non-finishes in the last two matches dragged the show down. As far as the action that occurred from bell to bell, APW is BACK~! But with regards to Abdullah the Butcher's total lack of professionalism (something that surprised me, given his 30+ years in the business) and downright rude attitude, he can keep his decrepit, non-bumping ass in Japan as far as I'm concerned.