The Gangstas v. Lee Thomas(?)/Johnny Studd(?)

 

New Jack is really great in the pre-match stuff, ripping up Confederate flags and jawing at methed out redneck women in the front row. I have no clue who this babyface team is though I am guessing Kris will recognize them from the North Georgia indy scene of the period. It's almost hard to believe how good New Jack was at this point in his career. Not that he was tremendous, but he was good at begging off, good at setting up for and taking the babyface offense, and good at all the other basic shit that makes a good traditional Southern heel. Babyufaces are very basic, but energetic. I was impressed to see a fireman's carry used as a set up move, even if their was a needlessly long delay on the subsequent highspot. Eventually one of the babyfaces gets bumped off the top and the Gangstas work him over. Gangstas heat segment is actually really good as they bring more offensive than you might think - some of it pretty clever - and all of it really intense. New Jack ends up going for a piledriver on the floor and gets backdropped and they do a great teased hot tag off of that. Mustapha ends up taking a good head bump into the corner to set up the hot tag and the finish is one of the babyfaces hitting a really big time moonsault only for Curtis to be distracted long enough for New Jack to hit a really nasty looking elbow drop to set up the the pinfall. This may not make the cut, but I am putting it through to the next round as something that people ought to at least consider.

 

The Thrillseekers v. Well Dunn

 

They work tons of bullshit stalling in the early part of this and I really enjoyed that. Jericho was fun interacting with the crowd and Well Dunn were good pouting at his antics. This ends up going on a wee bit too long for my taste, but I thought the payoff highspots were pretty decent at least, especially the Jericho lionsault which Dunn took from a standing position. Storm ends up going FIP here after the old cheapshot during the rope running spot. Storm is actually pretty good here, bumping around like a fish out of water, going limp at points while Well Dunn drag him around, and piecing together some good teaser spots. Well Dunn are targeting the back and they sort of alternate between bigger spots and more traditional spots. Hot tag comes kind of out of place and this ends with a flash pin a schmoz. Still a prety good match overall.

 

Ricky Morton/Bambi v. Chris Candido/Tammy Fytch

 

Really loved the early punching exchanges and rope running spot with Morton and Candido. Wrestling could really use more of both of those things in 2010. Follow up comedy spots with test of strength spots and Candido selling nutshots were fun as well. Candido ends up taking over after punching Morton right in the fucking mouth twice but instead of a real heat section we get another good rope running exchange and Candido taking a bump off a dropkick and going all the way to the steel. Candido tags in Tammy who begs not to come in. Morton ends up tied up with the ref so Candido blindsides Morton's gal, slamming her in the process. Tammy comes in and works a chokehold with some tape and they start to work a real heat section but it immediately turns into Tammy getting her asskicked. She quick tags out and Candido ends up taking over after a neckbreaker off the ropes on Morton. Ricky's FIP is typically good and he takes a really great powerslam, but when he's not building to a hot tag it comes across kind of silly. Candido ends up getting bumped on the top rope, Tammy takes an airplane spin and then Robert sneaks in and the R N R's hit a double drop kick on Candido for the pin. I enjoyed this, but thought the psych was sort of all over the place.

 

Tracy Smothers v. Bruiser Bedlam

 

Boy Bedlam sucks. Tracy is in overalls and using his Confederate flag as a weapon early so this may be some sort of Street Fight. Tracy does sell his ass off in this and takes a mean racket shot from Cornette. Cornette is outside the ring tossing in weapons that he has in a milk crate of all things. Naturally the capstone to this is Bedlam using the milk crate as a weapon. Cornette throws in a table which Bedlam throws on Tracy. Finish is Bedlam taking a quick face bump into the table. This is short and actually pretty decent due to Smothers.

 

The Funk Brothers v. The Armstrongs

 

This is Scott and Steve. This is on Will's Funk Set so I have seen it recently. Pre-match has Terry challenging Bob Armstrong to wrestle Dory as well as some other great mic work. Cornette gets in a rednecks face and Funk runs out and threatens to hit him and there is an awesome showdown with Funk and the redneck. Then Terry chases after the camera man of the handheld screaming at him for not having the right to tape him. In the ring Steve tries to do some razzle dazzle stance and Terry mocks him and gives the ref a "What the fuck?" look that is classic. Steve ends up chasing Terry who retreats deep into the crowd which is really great. Terry also is hilarious showing frustration when Steve escapes a double team. Scott comes in to work Dory and is able to make Dory look somewhat interesting which is not always easy. He takes Dory's amateur stuff well and does a good job playing overmatched kid to Dory's grizzled vet. Dory tosses Scott to the floor and Terry throws him over the guardail, chops him a few times and then DDT's him on the floor. The Bullet ends up chasing Terry all over the Arena again, with Terry eventually faceplanting into some chairs. After a good vertical suplex nearfall Dory tags Terry in and he is screaming shit at the crowd before he hits his awesome hangman's neckbreaker. He paintbrushes Scott and then hits a pretty good stuff piledriver for another nearfall. he goes for a second but Scott rolls through for a nearfall only for Terry to sit down into a sunset flip position and tag in Dory. I am amazed at how interesting Dory's shit looks here in large part due to the way Scott is selling. Seriously either Dory is really laying it in here or Scott is taking these forearms like a shotgun blast from Dick Cheney. Terry comes back in and they did a double headbump off of a rope running exchange that ends with Terry hitting a bunch of stagger headbutts before falling the canvas and then out to the floor. Naturally he comes back into the ring just int time to eat a couple of shots and then Steve gets the hot tag. Terry ends up bumping over the top and half way over the guardrail where he just hangs himself out to dry before Scott tosses him back int he ring. Armstrongs hit double shoulderblocks on everyone including Cornette. Bruiser comes out and starts brawling with the Bullet and then Terry gets the branding iron and brings it into the ring and waffles Steve with it. Post-DQ finish the heels end up beating the shit out of Bob. This was pretty awesome.

 

Dirty White Boy v. Bruiser Bedlam (Cage Match)

 

Cornette essentially commentates over a live house mic for this. Nothing to this as it goes about three minutes, the Cage is never used and DWB wins with a single racket shot. Waste of a Cage and shitty end to an otherwise very entertaining show.

NGWA Tag Titles: Johnny Studd & "Loverboy" Lee Thomas © vs. The Gangstas (Mustafa Saed & New Jack) (7/3/94)

 

Here is another NGWA special match in Marietta and you gotta love the Gangstas ripping up the rebel flag and wiping their noses with it. Lee Thomas still wrestles but Johnny Studd pretty much vanished. DANNY DEES was their manager and he sucked as a babyface manager but he was fucking great as a heel manager especially feuding with Sir Samuel F. Kent. This was a total Gangstas performance as the babyfaces weren't that good per se but New Jack more than made up for their shortcomings. I think this definitely should be an extra on the set to show everyone that the Gangstas actually could work a southern style tag match without depending on weapons.

 

Penalty Box Match: The Thrillseekers (Chris Jericho & Lance Storm) vs. Well Dunn (Timothy Well & Steven Dunn) (7/3/94)

 

They brought out Chris LiPuma before the match and he was a player for the then Atlanta Knights and that added a nice extra element to the stipulation. Out of the three matches though this is the lesser version mainly due because it went a little too long plus the ending was iffy for me.

 

Ricky Morton & Bambi vs. Chris Candido & Tammy Fytch (7/3/94)

 

Morton & Candido were fine here but again this is a mixed match which drags it down.

 

Street Fight: "Wild Eyed Southern Boy" Tracy Smothers vs. Bruiser Bedlam (7/3/94)

 

This is a shorter version of their other two matches with the same ending as the one from the day before. This is also the least of the three as well.

 

Scott & Steve Armstrong vs. Dory & Terry Funk (7/3/94)

 

Armstrongs in Marietta is always great. The bullshit before the match was great with Corny & Terry being hilarious as they were challenging fans and Bullet Bob then Terry going after the camera guy awesome. This has a lot of different stuff going on than in the match the day before as Bullet was involved in some schtick such as chasing Terry around plus Armstrongs got more offense in early and Steve had a little more to do in the action. Terry was again awesome as a one-man show with Scott being good again as the FIP and even Dory was better here. Plus it helped the camera was right there and not in the second deck which really helped a lot. They did the same finishing sequence though with the DQ finish but damn this was awesome. Definite nomination.

 

Steel Cage Match: "Dirty White Boy" Tony Anthony vs. Bruiser Bedlam (7/3/94)

 

Terrible.