19): Chaos Reigns!

The night began on a high note and a low note. First
off, the manager of the Franchise Players, JC Slick
made his way to the ring with a very apparent change
in attitude. He announced that he was appointed to an
empty spot in the NWA East Championship Committee, and
that he wanted to be very fan-friendly. But he had the
unfortunate duty of informing the fans that NWA
Upstate talent Brodie Lee, Hellcat, and Jimmy Olsen
would be unable to appear, with the NWA Upstate
contingent giving no reason.

He informed everybody
that the card needed to be slightly revamped due to
the no-shows. The main event would be chosen by the
fans, as they would vote for who would take on Scottie
Gash and Chris LeRusso!

This drew out the Franchise Players, who saw their
friend’s newly-found place of power as a bargaining
tactic, attempting to get an NWA North American Title
shot. But Slick told them he wouldn’t do them any
favors, and they promptly fired him.

“Syko” Sean Dahmer eliminated NWA East Three Rivers
Champion Dash Bennett in the Burgh Brawl battle royal
and earned himself a shot at the title as a result.
But he was attacked after being eliminated himself by
members of Team Bennett, Dash, Stacy Hunter, and
Bulldozer.

Those members of Team Bennett accompanied
Dash in the title defense, while Dahmer’s Straight
Jacket Mafia partner Apollyon was in his corner. The
match went well enough, with both men having an even
advantage. But with outside shenanigans as Team
Bennett and SJM brawled around, referee Cowboy Bill
Wright ruled the match a no-contest and turned it into
a tag team match.

Team Bennett focused on Dahmer’s arm, bruising it
severely throughout the course of the match. But he
finally got himself a breather, tagging in the fresher
Apollyon. But the smaller Apollyon got taken out by
the much larger Bulldozer, taking a huge cannonball in
the corner.

Dahmer came back in and had Dash up for
the Syko Driver 07 when Team Bennett member Bobby
Shields appeared at ringside, distracting the referee.
This allowed Stacy Hunter to slip in unseen,
delivering a low blow to Dahmer. Dash hit the Skull
Splitter for the win. Team Bennett attacked SJM, and
it took James Ross hitting the ring with a chair to
fend them off.

Afterwards, Dahmer issued a challenge
to Dash for a rematch at May 3rd’s In Harm’s Way 2,
where both members of SJM would get a title shot if
they won. Dash responded, accepting only with the
stipulation that if Team Bennett wins, the Straight
Jacket Mafia will split up! Also, James Ross
challenged Bobby Shields to a match… later that
night!

While Sterling James Keenan was across the pond in
England, two of his trainees had big matches in NWA
East. “The Legacy” Samuel Elias took on Patrick Hayes.
Hayes was obviously distracted by members of the crowd
when Elias was able to roll him up for a big win. But
this was not the last we’d hear from Hayes that night.

The Franchise Players were able to somehow weasel
themselves into an NWA East Tag Team Title match with
Iron Justice. They seemed to be more focused in this
match than any previous effort of theirs. They had the
champs down and out, but Gregory Iron was able to
execute his Handicapped Parking finisher along with a
Matthew Justice springboard dropkick to score the win
and retain the titles.

As a result of the chaotic tag team match that opened
the night, “Division 1″ James Ross took on Team
Bennett member Bobby Shields. The crowd was solidly
behind the hometown boy Ross, who picked up the
victory with a Red & Blue Scare.

After months of being attacked, called out, and
threatened, Pepper Parks was set to defend his NWA
National Heavyweight Title against his tormentor,
Crusher Hansen. Before the match, Hansen’s manager &
NWA East ring announcer BC Steele announced the match
as a 2 out of 3 falls match, old-school NWA style.
Parks quickly picked up the win with a Pepper Shaker.
But Steele helped Hansen win the second fall with a
steel chain after Hansen accidentally took out referee
Tom Dunn. In the final fall, Parks went for the Pepper
Shaker again but Crusher caught him coming off the top
and delivered a Crusher Slam, winning the NWA National
Title and picking up possibly the biggest win of his
storied career.

Kid Cupid answered the NWA’s open challenge to take on
the Wrong Crowd. This was his first assignment as a
manager, and he picked a young team to take on Curtis
Stevenson’s team: another SJK trainee, Ashton Amhurst,
and coming wrestler from the Cleveland area, Bobby
Beverly. The young men were answering the NWA’s open
challenge. Unfortunately for them, their opponents
were the veteran NWA North American Tag Team Champions
the Wrong Crowd. Atlas & BA were able to dispose of
the young wrestlers with relative ease. But the real
story is after the match, when the Franchise Players
hit the ring and brawled with the North American Tag
Champs. The Franchise Players showed showed they are
willing to step up and answer the open challenge, and
Atlas & BA finally have some competition whether they
like it or not!

“The Spotlight” Scottie Gash was out for his match
against the fans’ choice. If he won and LeRusso lost,
he would get LeRusso’s Burgh Brawl title shot. He was
informed he had 2 opponents that evening. The first
was somebody from Gash’s past who has a huge win over
the former NWA East Heavyweight Champion… weighing
in at 112 kilos… from the Soviet Union…

There’s more to come. Just click to continue:

THE BROOM! While it was obvious a certain group of
fans were trying to have some fun at Gash’s expense,
he was enraged. He performed a suplex, a Gash2Sleep,
and a pounce on the broom before tossing it out of the
ring. When referee Tom Dunn started to count out the
broom, one of the fans on that side of the ring
playfully tossed it back in. Furious, Gash pinned the
broom quickly, just to spite the crowd. Then, he took
on his second opponent… KID CUPID! Cupid took the
fight to Gash, even hitting a huge splash in the
corner and his new finisher, the Pink Frosion. But
with Krystal Frost on the apron distracting the ref,
Gash fought out of Cupid’s Stunner, low blowing him
and locking in the Spotlighter Crossface for the win.
Gash’s actions after the match were reprehensible, as
he attacked the fan who threw the broom into the ring.

Chris LeRusso’s opponent for the night, as chosen by
the fans, was none other than Stacy Hunter. While
LeRusso acknowledged that she had caused trouble for
he and his girlfriend Morgan Rockafeller in the past,
he couldn’t fight a woman. He wanted a test, so he
said he’d take on the second place vote getter…
which ended up being the new NWA National Champion
Crusher Hansen. LeRusso offered that, since he was
putting his Burgh Brawl title shot on the line, that
Hansen should put his newly won National Title on the
line. Hansen agreed and the match was on! BC Steele
attempted to distract the referee while Scottie Gash
hit the ring. Gash went to take out LeRusso but hit
Hansen instead. As LeRusso hit his new neckbreaker
finisher and went for the pin, Steele attempted to hit
LeRusso to break up the pin. To say his attempts were
weak is an understatement, but they were illegal
interference so the referee called for the
disqualification. Gash and LeRusso had to be pulled
apart, as it’s very obvious they haven’t had enough of
each other!

– The NWA East/PWX Headquarters Staff
(4/21/08)

Thanks to Michael Weaver

April 21, 2008 | Filed Under Recaps