Southeast Scene — Larry Goodman

Remember hippies. My mom used to worry about hippies. That guy looks like he would be hanging around a pool hall. What a freak.

Adams claimed he didn’t know who the nutcase was.

Back from commercial, Andrews was still down in the ring. Riggins was shocked. He said when a fan gets involved, it usually turns out bad for the fan, but this guy obviously had been in a ring before. Andrews was carried out on a makeshift backboard.

Johnson introduced Cane’s promo. “That’s colossal Chris Cane to you, buddy.” The camera pulled back to show Cane standing no taller than Johnson’s waist. He must have been on his knees. Cane said he cut Eckos down to size the last time in Columbia and tonight, he was going to have to step up to Cane’s game.

“The Modern Man of Steel” said he was back in Southern All-Star to face a man that had trained in Stu Hart’s dungeon. “You will learn very quickly. You can’t cage the Raige.”

(4) Mason Raige beat Apocalypse in 4:30. They were putting Raige over like a guy who was headed for the bigtime. Riggins said WWE had called about him. Two big men here. Apocalypse was Reno’s choice to give Raige the competition he had been asking for. Apocalypse shied away from the test of strength. That would have been the smart choice. Raige crushed him. Raige got ahead of himself, and Apocalypse ducked his corner splash. Apocalypse went to work, putting Raige on the canvas with a stiff kick the chest. Raige rallied with a high crossbody and a sunset flip. Reno said he belonged in the X Division. Apocalypse went to the eyes. Crowd was hot for the comeback. Raige ducked as Apocalypse made a mad rush into the corner. Raige gave him a gorilla press Snake Eyes and got the pin with a jawbreaker lariat.

(5) Tribal Nation (Lennox Lightfoot & Indian Outlaw) beat Homicidal Tendencies (Kory Williams & Vic the Bruiser) to win the SAW Tag Team Titles in 13:20. Nation opened with dropkicks in stereo to clear the ring. In short order, Tendencies were torturing Lighfoot. Vic lit him up with the Pork Chops. Lightfoot went through the legs to make the tag. Vic immediately pulled the ropes down to dump Outlaw and worked him over with a chair. Reno compared Vic to Abdullah the Butcher. The beating went on Outlaw went on until the 10 minute mark. Reno called it a massacre. Johnson said Tendencies were creating their very own Trail of Tears. It appeared Outlaw was done, but Williams knocked himself loopy on the turnbuckles. Both men tagging. Four-way action. Lighfoot went for the Four Winds Tomahawk chop, but Williams snagged a foot to upend him. Vic covered and Outlaw saved. Corner splash by Vic and the big Hogan boot by Williams. Outlaw saved again. With Ricky Bell trying to get Outlaw out of the ring, Williams clocked Lightfoot with the belt. Outlaw saved a third time. On the outside, Lightfoot reversed a whip sending Williams into the post. On the inside, Vic was trying to block a roll up by Outlaw. Lightfoot toppled Vic over with a twisting springboard bodypress for the pin (called the Totem Pole). The show closed with the babyface wrestlers coming out to congratulate Tribal Nation on winning the titles.

Closing Thoughts: The title match was disappointing for heat and emotion. It was painfully obvious that in the eyes of the fans, Tribal Nation is nowhere near Boogie or Andrews as babyfaces. To me, it felt like they pulled the trigger on the title switch before the fans accepted them at that level. True, Tendencies lost the titles clean in the middle of the ring, and I can understand them taking the lion’s share of the match since they were going under, but Tribal Nation came across as the inferior team. Hammerjack/Andrews was by far the hottest match of the show. Good action and the crowd was really into it. This was the best Andrews match I’ve seen over the last two months. They added some much needed credibility by showing the “fan” (Matt Dillinger) being escorted out, and Reno admitting he looked like he put in some ring time. The stuff piledriver didn’t look all that devastating, but once again, they sold it like it was Mexico. Eckos’ punches looked pathetic. They don’t do full blown squashes on SAW, but if Santel is going to be pushed as a top heel, the situation called for it. Where was Santel’s head at during that promo segment? Adams had just finished talking about Valiant. The group hug was a great excuse for more of Johnson’s hilarious facials, as was the promo with Cane. Seeing Styles blew my mind. It was more than 20 years ago when he did those hiilarous “On the Road” segments with Dutch Mantell in Continental. Styles played Mantell’s dim bulb lackey driver, which prompted Mantell to say “It takes him an hour and half to watch 60 Minutes.” Styles is in tremendous shape for his age. Still, unless they plan to push Styles, I would have put him under a mask, and given Cain a fluke win. Raige’s press slam Snake Eyes was the move of the hour, and he’s getting more fluid in his movements. Granted, an impressive performance, but just a matter of time before main eventing at Wrestlemania? Reno is a bit like JBL on commentary. Some of the stuff he says is outrageous, and at times ridiculously over the top, but he keeps it entertaining.

– Larry Goodman
lagoodman@aol.com
(2/21/8)