RAMPAGE PRO WRESTLING IN WARNER ROBBINS, GEORGIA LIVE REPORT
By Larry Goodman on 9/20/2010 6:39 PM
Here’s what went down at the September 18 Rampage
Pro Wrestling television taping in Warner Robins, Ga at Johnny G’s.
RPW television debuts on Macon's MY 41.2 on Saturday, October 2 at 9am,
replacing Smackdown as MY 41’s pro wrestling offering. The show is currently
airing on the Cox cable Media Marketplace (cable access) channel, after a
lengthy run on FOX affiliate where it did strong ratings (see news & notes). RPW
has also added a 30 minute show, RPW Rewind, which will air on MY 41 and along
with multiple weekly airings on Cox cable (see news & notes). RPW has also added
a 30 minute show, RPW Rewind, which will air on MY 41 and along with multiple
weekly airings on Cox cable.
The company was coming off their strongest television taping since the new
booking team led by Jimmy Rave took over in June, and Saturday night was further
indication that they are really hitting their stride.
Comparing Georgia’s top tier indie promotions, I would say RPW is bit more
ROHish in its approach with a generally stronger wrestling base to their
matches. Anarchy has more violence. They also have more true heavyweights on
their roster, while RPW is primarily a junior heavyweight league.
Attendance was 135. The crowd was clearly more into the product than they were
on may last trip here in early July.
For RPW Rewind:
(1) Pain beat Anthony Andrews in 2:04. JT Smooth was out scouting the
talent. Two green guys. There’s no delicate way to put this. Anthony is one ugly
dude, and he’s got a bad body to boot. Pain (masked guy with Mohawk) was billed
as being from “The Psych Ward at Milledgevilleâ€. I’m thinking fans in this area
would know the proper name is Central State Hospital. At one time, it was the
largest psychiatric institution in the US, housing 12,000 patients. But I
digress. Pain’s top rope splash finisher looked good.
(2) Sugar Dunkerton beat Bobby Moore in 8:08. Dunkerton entertains first and
foremost. It’s fun gimmick with the basketball and the Harlem Crush jersey. They
did a lot of talking that helped to establish their characters, and the comedy
spot worked. Crowd was Dunkerton’s hope spots. He scores a lot of style points
with his moves. I liked the Afro headbutts. Moore was good here as well. Nice
bumps. He thought he was too smart for Dunkerton. You know how that goes.
Dunkerton won it with the Monster Jam. The kids in the crowd especially enjoyed
this match.
Taped for episode 107 airing on September 25:
(3) Jimmy Rave (with Chip Day) beat Drew Adler via submission in 4:26.
This was the kind of squash where the arrogant heel know he’s a better wrestler
than his hapless rookie opponent and just put the kid in the torture chamber.
Rave turned on his protégé, Kyle Matthews at the last taping and replaced him
with Day. Rave used a shadow STO to set up the Anaconda Vise.
Rave refused to release the hold. Day jumped in to egg him on. That brought GM
Sal Rinauro out with a cease and desist order. He hoped Rave had more fight in
him, because he was making a tag match. That led to…
(4) Jimmy Rave & Chip Day beat Marvelous Michael Stevens & Drew Adler in
8:44. Stevens was doing a number on Day’s arm with fans chanting for him to
break it. Rave intervened with a lariat from the outside. The heels gave Stevens
a beating with Day landing some wicked stiff shots. Rave took his signature bump
over the top. Stevens and Adler started to capitalize on Day, but Rave (the
legal man) cut off Adler’s dive attempt and speared his ass for a near fall.
Rave then pinned Stevens with The Move That Rocked the World.
Rave called out Kyle Matthews, who sneaked in to the ring from the fan entrance.
Matthews chopped Day and Rave bailed out untouched. Hot stuff.
(5) “The All-Star†Cru Jones (with Coach Shaun Banks) beat Notorious R Dog in
4:51. Banks’ coaching get up was hilarious - megaphone, fake mustache and
short shorts. Jones threw a flag on a fan for a personal foul. “Your breath is
so funky, when you burp your teeth duck†He’s now claiming to be the best
football player ever in Middle Georgia. Hmm. R Dog was a JYD clone except for
his tights read “Mr. Hollywoodâ€. As Ross Perot once said, the devil is in the
details. Perot wasn’t half bad compared to some of the imbeciles running for
office these days. Of Washington, he once said, “This city has become a town
filled with sound bites, shell games, handlers, media stuntmen who posture,
create images, talk, shoot off Roman candles, but don't ever accomplish
anything. We need deeds, not words, in this city.†But I digress again. R Dog
was representative of RPW’s weak point - undercard talent with upside. He did
the JYD headbutts on his hands and knees and that was about it. The guy I saw do
that spot the best was Ronnie Etchison in Central States. Now there’s some
ancient history. Anyway, thanks to Dog’s ineptitude, Jones’ Monster Blitz
finisher fell apart midstream, so he got the pin with a generic elbow drop.
Match was lousy, but Jones and Banks salvaged it for me with the All-Star
schtick.
(6) Jeremy Vain beat J-Rod to win the RPW TV Title in 9:16. A simple story
beautifully told. The people are developing a spirited hate for Vain. J-Rod came
out flying around doing flashy moves. But his bad knee gave out on a leapfrog.
Vain zeroed right in, opening with a stunner type maneuver on the knee. Vain
pulled the brace off and really did a number on it. J-Rod was screaming and
writhing and it came across pretty sadistic. J-Rod finally mustered a bulldog
off the ropes but it wasn’t up to snuff, and Vain pinned him with a DDT.
Matthews came out to help carry J-Rod to the back.
(7) Shaun Banks (with Cru Jones) beat Mister Jones to retain the RPW
Heavyweight Championship in 9:04. Banks humiliated Mister with a “surf’s upâ€
on his back. Mr. said Banks’ mouth was going to catch up with him. It did with a
power slam from Mister. Banks evaded a corner splash and took out Mister’s knee.
Logical but it unfortunately led the same body part being worked two matches in
a row. Banks missed a top rope elbow. Mister scored with the freight train
corner splash. Mister missed with a middle rope splash. It looked bad because
the 400 pounder absorbed the bump completely with his knees. Probably didn’t
feel too hot either. Banks pinned Mister with his feet on the ropes and an
assist from Jones. Not one of RPW’s better main events.
Taped for episode 108 airing October 2:
Sal Rinauro came out with assistant GM Stevens and assistant-to-the assistant
Adler to do a special opening for the first episode on MY 41. To the extent new
viewers are getting their first exposure the product on MY 41, I wouldn’t
Stevens and Adler to be the first thing they see. Their presence requires some
explanation.
(8) Rymer Twins beat Killer Instinct (Mike Stratus & Jake Slater) in 6:25.
Rymers are fraternal twins, but I’ll be damned if I can tell them apart. One
Rymer took bigtime heat. Tag was made and the twins hit a nice flatliner/missile
dropkick combo for a near fall. Rymer won it after a KI screw up in which Slater
supekicked Stratus. Afterwards, KI had a spat. Fans were disappointed when they
made up. Made sense for Rymers to go over. RPW is going to be a little light on
the babyface side in the short run.
(9) Marvelous Michael Stevens (with Drew Adler) beat Bobby Moore in 6:29.
There was a comical spot where Stevens tied Moore up with his feather boa. Moore
worked over Stevens’ back. On the comeback, Stevens got two with a crossbody
style leg lariat. The back punishment had taken a toll; however, as he was
unable to execute a fireman’s carry. Moore immediately went to a back breaker
for a near fall, but his flying leg drop turned into a butt buster. Stevens
capitalized on the mistake with a split legged moonsault for the pin. A
perfectly acceptable match. Moore is a much improved wrestler.
Next was the sport vs. sport push up contest between Dunkerton and Jones (with
Coach Banks). Dunkerton’s antics made Jones hot under his redneck collar. He
stared with inverted ups from a bridge position, then did “girl†push ups. He
also concerned that Jones didn’t have the proper pre-contest breakfast.
“Somebody get this man a pop tart.†Jones showed him how it was done. He reeled
off like 70 push ups before he hit the wall. Banks was exhorting “The All-Starâ€
to give him five more good ones. Jones ended up with around 80 before collapsing
face first on the mat. Dunkerton did one push, said “you winâ€, and walked away
grinning. The segment probably would have worked better with an emcee to
structure it, but the point was made. The babyface outwitted the heel and made
him look like a fool, which is the story of this feud.
(10) Kyle Matthews beat Chip Day in 14:32. Matthews is way more over than
he was a few months ago. In the meantime, of course, he got the prime spot in
the match with Bryan Danielson and had Rave turn against him. He’s also added 10
pounds of muscle. Matthews double-legged Day and pounded his face. Day bailed.
They traded chops with Matthews getting way the better of it. He must have been
warming up for the Japan tour. Day started working on Matthews’ knee. Matthews
caught Day with a german suplex and followed with a superkick, but Rave showed
up to pull ref Dustin Robinson out of the ring. Matthews hit a tope on Rave.
That got the crowd going with an “RPW†chant. Matthews tried to reenter off the
top and ate a dropkick from Day. They battled outside teasing a count out. Day
busted out the leg submissions – an Indian deathlock, a single leg crab and the
figure four. Matthews would fire back with these hellacious chops. One
particular open hand (fired from his knees) was so stiff that it looked like
Day’s eyeballs were going to pop out of his skull. Day got two big near falls,
the first with flying double knees and feet on the ropes, the second with a
tornado kick. Matthews nailed Day with an enzuigiri that was like lightning and
finished with the Slurpee Kick. Excellent match. Matthews doesn’t have anything
but good matches these days, and Day brought his A game.
(11) Exotic Ones (Simon Sermon & Tommy Too Much) & Big Bank Barfield beat Usual
Supects (Murder One & AJ Steele) & Dr. Johnny Gayton in 9:06. This was
heated. It marked RPW owner Gayton’s return from suspension to seek further
retribution against Barfield and Exotic Ones for breaking his finger. Sermon
wasted no time taking shortcuts against Steele. He wound up on the receiving end
of a powerslam and a hanging vertical suplex for his efforts. Gayton briefly got
a hold of Sermon’s arm, before yielding to Murder. Chicanery by the Exotics
turned the tide. Barfield tagged in just long enough to do one fist drop on
Murder. A true hot tag led to Gayton getting his hands on Barfield. Exotics
jumped in. Usual Suspects followed suit and they brawled on the outside. Gayton
had Barfield up for his signature Samoan drop when Sermon hit him with a foreign
object. Problem being this heinous act appeared to take place right in front of
referee Brent Wiley. Barfield pinned Gayton. Exotics celebrated, while Gayton
sold it like a knockout blow.
NOTES: The episodes from the previous taping are
available online. The one with Rave’s heel turn is 105 and can be viewed [url=www.http:rampage.zarious/streaming/streaming105.wmv]here[/url]…106
is the episode currently in rotation at
rampageprowrestling.net.
RPW uploads the most recent episode on the same day it airs in Macon…RPW is
looking a the possibility of bringing in a tag team from ROH…Matthews is headed
to Japan for a month of touring and training with Zero One…Dunkerton is
scheduled for a tour of Ireland with Irish Whip in October...RPW was the top
rated syndicated program in Saturday lineup and second overall in the key male
demographics, but the station wanted to move the time slot and charge a higher
rate, prompting RPW to look elsewhere…I had the pleasure of speaking with Ted
Allen’s fiancée, Kayron at the show. As you can imagine. she has many wonderful
stories to tell about Ted. Matthews refers to Ted and Kayron as his wrestling
parents. She’s been traveling with Matthews to some of his bookings since Ted
died…Murder One will be co-hosting an internet radio show with Trent Van Drisse
and myself. “Phoning It In†is scheduled for Monday nights at 8pm as a part of [url=http://www.blogtalkradio.com/psp]GWH
Radio[/url] lineup.
Comments welcomed –
larry@georgiawrestlinghistory.com
