*From the edition of Pro Wrestling Illustrated magazine which hit newsstands in December 1997...

BREAKING NEWS: It gives us great pleasure to announce wrestling fans will be getting quite the Christmas present this year in the form of a new promotion based out of West Chester, Pennsylvania. This new promotion will be called NWA: King of the Independents.

We had a chance to interview the promoter, a young man from Maryland named Baker. He has big plans to make his new promotion a "super indie" with talent coming in from all over the country to supplement the top local Mid Atlantic talent, whom you can read all about every month right here in the pages of Pro Wrestling Illustrated.

This new promotion will be working in conjunction with Blaine DeSantis' Reading, PA-based PCW, Jim Kettner's Delaware-based ECWA, and this very publication.

Baker believes the current upswing in pro wrestling's popularity will continue on for years to come. He also believes this leaves room for a 4th major promotion to offer things the Big 3 might not. Only time will tell...

PWI will be on hand in West Chester, PA for their first show, "Break The Barrier," which is scheduled for January 3, 1998. We are told this show will feature talent from the Carolinas, Tennessee/Kentucky, New England, and even Canada in addition to the usual stars of the Mid Atlantic region. NWA Champion Dan Severn will also be on hand to defend the title against a former NWA Champion.

We here at PWI are excited about what this new promotion has to offer. Keep an eye on NWA: King of the Independents. We've got a good feeling about this one...

NWA: King of the Independents 
Presents...
The Biggest Independent Show of All Time!
Break The Barrier
January 3, 1998
West Chester, Pennsylvania

1. The Bald and The Beautiful (Jimmy Cicero & Julio Sanchez w/ Cueball Carmichael) vs. Handsome Beef ("Beef Stew" Lou Marconi & "Handsome" Frank Stalletto)

PWI Scouting Report- Both teams are staples of the Mid Atlantic region who have also appeared on WWF programming. But that's where the similarities end. The Bald and the Beautiful are rule breaking villains. Handsome Beef are fan favorites who generally adhere to the rules of the ring unless provoked. "Beef Stew" Lou Marconi in particular has garnered a cult following second to one.

2. Inferno Kid vs. CW Anderson- Title Tournament Qualifier

PWI Scouting Report- Popular high flyer Inferno Kid needs no introduction to any wrestling fan in the Mid Atlantic region, while the Carolina-based CW Anderson is a youngster who is wise beyond his years in a way that could only come from being a member of the famed Anderson wrestling family. The winner of this bout will earn a spot in the NWA King of the Independents Title Tournament. The loser risks not being booked on future shows.

3. Ace Darling vs. "Surfer" Ray Odyssey- Title Tournament Qualifier

PWI Scouting Report- Darling is another area staple. He's a technically sound young man who won the inaugural ECWA Super 8 Tournament last year. Ace has heard both the cheers and jeers of the crowd, and nobody is quite sure which side of the fence he will ultimately land on. Right now he is experiencing one of his occasional surges in popularity alongside his "Extremist" partner Devon Storm. But who knows how long it will last? The Surfer is a popular veteran of the Mid Atlantic indie scene who holds a victory over ECW's Taz and can still fly with the best of them. 

4. Sex & Violence (Sexton Hardcastle/Christian Cage/"Steel" Sean Morley) vs. The Canadian Mafia (Rhino Richards/Joe E. Legend/Johnny Swinger)- Canadian 6 Man Tag Action with future bookings at stake

PWI Scouting Report- These men were all once affiliated under the "Sex & Violence" banner. They ruled Canadian independent wrestling for a few years, leaving a trail of bodies in their wake. But a recent split occurred with Legend breaking away from the "dictatorial rule" of Hardcastle, Cage, and Morley to form a faction of his own. He soon persuaded the monstrous Rhino and arrogant Swinger to join him on the dark(er) side. And now it will be rulebreakers vs. rulebreakers as the 6 Canadians venture south. 

5. David Jericho vs. "Bad Boy" Steve Bradley- Future Stars Collide

PWI Scouting Report- David Jericho is considered the best high flyer in Tennessee. The Ricky Morton trainee was once considered one of the brightest prospects in all of independent wrestling, and was on track to become an ECW regular until a brutal injury sidelined him for a year. Bradley is considered the best overall talent in New England, and has appeared on WWF television, but remains an unknown outside of his Northeastern homebase. He's looking to change that with a win on the biggest independent show of all time. Meaning these two lesser known individuals are both looking to break out in a big way with a win at Breaking The Barrier.

6. Venom vs. Cham Pain- OMEGA Explosion with future bookings on the line

PWI Scouting Report- Both men are stars of North Carolina's OMEGA promotion. Standing 6'5 280 pounds the monstrous Venom is one of the largest men in the promotion. The lawless behemoth has seemingly perfected every power move known to man, and invented a few of his own just for good measure. If that's not unfair enough, he also possesses a picture perfect moonsault. Cham Pain is a cocky sleazeball who is as adept at flying as he is at cheating. Both men have appeared on WWF programming where just one year ago Venom actually managed to score a pinfall victory over "Stone Cold" Steve Austin! 

7. Hardy Boys vs. Death & Destruction (Frank "The Tank" Parker & Roger Anderson)- Style Clash with future bookings at stake

PWI Scouting Report- The Carolina-based Hardy Boys are considered the best high flyers, if not the best tag team, period, on the entire independent scene. They have made extensive appearances on WWF programming, with Jeff even holding a victory over Razor Ramon! They'll be going against their polar opposites in the rugged duo of Death & Destruction. Now they may sound like a Demolition clone, but they're not. They're devotees of the old school Anderson style of wrestling who are on a mission rid of all these high flying and hardcore pretty boys. In short, they want a tag team *ahem* revival of rugged real men fighting with no flips, just fists.

8. "Lightning" Mike Quackenbush vs. "Dirty" Don Montoya- Title Tournament Qualifier

PWI Scouting Report- These two area regulars are unlikely friends on the surface with Quack weighing well under 200 pounds and Montoya pushing the 300 mark. But the two men bonded over their similar views on wrestling. They've spent years riding the road together. And alongside fellow travel buddy, Reckless Youth, comprise a faction known as "The Black T Shirt Squad." These men may be friends, but don't expect them to hold back with a King of The Independents Title Tournament berth on the line.

9. PG 13 & Doug Gilbert vs. Tennessee Volunteers (Reno Riggins & Steven Dunn) & Flash Flanagan- The Battle of Tennessee

PWI Scouting Report- PG 13 and Doug Gilbert should need no introduction to any readers of our fine publication. But just in case anybody is new.... PG 13 ruled the Memphis-based USWA tag team scene throughout the 90s. When USWA folded, they went on to find success in WWF. In the immortal words of JC Ice, "We wuz at Rasslemania, bitch!" They then went on to have a run in ECW. Doug Gilbert was another longtime USWA staple who also happens to be the younger brother of the late, great Eddie Gilbert. Dougie has appeared on both WWF & WCW pay per views.

The Tennessee Volunteers have supplanted the wandering PG 13 as the top tag team in Tennessee. And you better believe PG One Three is none to happy about being surpassed by the Music City Wrestling tag team champions. Both Dunn & Riggins have extensive experience in WWF & WCW. Watch out for Reno's dreaded RenoPlex, which is only the most lethal move in all of independent wrestling. Flash Flanagan is a young flyer who is considered a can't miss prospect and has has already achieved success in USWA & SMW during his relatively brief career. 

10. "Dangerous" Devon Storm vs. "The King of Softcore" Steve Corino- Extremist vs. Purist Style Battle

PWI Scouting Report- Two more men who are known to all readers of PWI, Mid Atlantic indie wrestling fans, and anyone who pays close attention to the WWF, WCW, and ECW programming these men have competed on. Beyond achieving great success at a young age, these two have nothing in common, and in fact despise one another. Storm is all about that high flying and hardcore lifestyle, while the self proclaimed "King of Softcore" Steve Corino fancies himself a wrestling purist. So much so, that his tag team with "Superstar" Lance Diamond is known as "The Purists." Both men have already been entered into the upcoming King of the Independents Title Tournament. This one is about seed position (everybody wants to avoid seeds 6-8) and, perhaps more importantly, bragging rights. 

11. Dan "The Beast" Severn (c) vs. Terry Funk- NWA Championship Match

PWI Scouting Report- UFC Champion Dan Severn has singlehandedly restored the prestige of the NWA Championship he has carried for nearly 3 years. But might his time on top finally be drawing to an end? Because he has to wrestle the one true Living Legend of professional wrestling in Terry Funk. Funk has seemingly discovered the Fountain of Youth. Just last year at age 52 he became ECW Champion at their very first pay per view Barely Legal. The immortal Funker will surely be the sentimental favorite of the crowd as he tries to regain the NWA Championship he lost over 20 years ago. Both men will be available for autograph signings at intermission!

12. Cheetah Master vs. Reckless Youth vs. "Superstar" Lance Diamond- 3 Way Dance to become the UNOFFICIAL King of the Indies

PWI Scouting Report- Bold move perhaps in having this main event over Severn/Funk, but we believe in looking to the future, and we believe in these three men. All three have already been entered into the OFFICIAL King of the Independents Title Tournament. And all three men have a claim to the unofficial "King of the Indies" title. Let's talk about it...

Cheetah Master is the most popular wrestler in the region. Lawler had Memphis. The Von Erichs had Texas. Cheetah Master has that stretch of Americana ranging from approximately Reading, PA to Wilmington, DE. All the women want him. All the men want to be him. And he is the Hero of the Children. Of course, this show will be taking place smack dab in the middle of Cheetah Country. "The Only Cheetah That Flies" wants to be crowned King of the Indies not for himself, but for his lovely fans.

Many say Reckless Youth is pound for pound the best pure wrestler on the independent scene. Reckless himself disputes that. He's not the best pound for pound wrestler. He's the best wrestler, period. That about sums up Reckless Youth. He can fly with the best of them or he can tie you in knots with all sorts of tricky submissions. It was also Reckless who first popularized the term "King of the Independents."

And then there is "Superstar" Lance Diamond....The anti-Cheetah Master. If Cheetah Master is the Hulk Hogan of the region, then Lance Diamond is professional wrestling's George Warleggan. Just the absolute worst person. Diamond & Cheetah have been feuding ever since they were at wrestling school together some 8 years ago, and there is no end in sight. Diamond also objects to Reckless Youth's claim of being King of the Indies. For in Lance Diamond's mind, only one man may lay claim to that title- Lance Diamond- Master of the Northern Lights Suplex and 1/2 of the Purists tag team alongside Steve Corino.

3 men will enter. Only 1 will prevail. Who you got? 

NWA: King of the Independents
Presents...
The Biggest Independent Show of All Time!
Break The Barrier
January 3, 1998
West Chester, Pennsylvania

Results: Part One

1. The Bald and the Beautiful ("Wise Guy" Jimmy Cicero & Julio Sanchez) w/ Cueball Carmichael defeated Handsome Beef ("Beef Stew" Lou Marconi & Frank Stalletto) in an 8 minute formula tag match between popular good guys (Handsome Beef) and hated bad guys (Bald & Beautiful) when Carmichael's interference lead to Stalletto eating a Sanchez Superkick for the 1-2-3. The crowd loved Handsome Beef, Marconi in particular. First they come out to this...



And the crowd broke into a Pavlovian "Beef Stew" chant as soon as ring announcer Gary Michael Cappetta(!!!) introduced Marconi by his awesome nickname. Due to their popularity, The Bald and the Beautiful didn't have to do a whole to get heat. But the awesomely named Cueball Carmichael still cheated like a champ just for the heck of it, and the crowd was all over them with a "You Messed Up" chant when they called for a "Midnight Express" only to botch it when Sanchez dropkicked air as Cicero hit a drop toe hold on Marconi. The two men then started shoving each other and got rolled up for simultaneous 2 counts before righting the ship and ultimately scoring a victory. 

Post-match saw Cueball grab the mic to put over The Bald (here Cicero rubs his bald head) and The Beautiful (Sanchez fluffs up his long locks) as the best tag team on the independent scene today while Handsome Beef nurses their wounds on the long walk up the aisle to the loser's pay window. Carmichael issues an open challenge to any independent team stupid enough to come to Pennsylvania and lose to his boys.

This brings out owner, Baker. He introduces himself to the crowd (big "thank you" chants) and announces he plans to run shows right here in West Chester (big pop) every 3 weeks (bigger pop). But you won't be seeing much of him. He's not going to be like Vince McMahon over in WWF, or Eric Bischoff in WCW where he's out here 5 times a night hogging the spotlight from the wrestlers. He only plans on handling the boring backstage stuff. BUT he has hired a Commissioner to issue edicts and enforce the rules when necessary. He's a man all you great fans are familiar with. None other than former longtime WWF Commissioner, Jack Tunney! Huge pop for Tunney!

It turns out The Bald and the Beautiful have done Tunney a favor. He has just the team in mind to answer their challenge. These guys called the NWA: KOTI offices to ask for a spot on this very show. Unfortunately, the card was all booked up. These guys would have been a lock for the inaugural show had the NWA: KOTI office known they were available. In 3 weeks, The Bald and the Beautiful will be facing former ECW Tag Team Champions....

The Pitbulls!!!!

HUGE pop! The Bald & Beautiful are apoplectic as the bloodthirsty Pennsylvania fans chants "Pitbulls are gonna kill you!"

2. Inferno Kid pins CW Anderson to earn a spot in the King of the Indies Championship Tournament. This was another so-so match, but it had far less crowd heat than the opener. Crowd liked Inferno Kid well enough (I'm sure entering to Dokken's Into The Fire played a role in his popularity), but were unfortunately unfamiliar with CW Anderson, who failed to get a strong reaction one way or the other. A good example of what I'm referring to is CW scoring a nearfall off his Spinebuster finisher to little reaction due to the fans not knowing it was his finisher. Inferno Kid got his foot on the ropes at 2.9 to save himself and a second Spinebuster attempt not long after the first was countered by a DDT for the 1-2-3.

3. Ace Darling advances in the King of the Indies Title Tournament by defeating "Surfer" Ray Odyssey with a Superkick after Odyssey kicked out of a bridging German Suplex at 2.9. Ace Darling is a strange case. He's in a tag team with Devon Storm called "The Extremists." Yet he did nothing extreme. He slapped hands with the fans on his way to the ring like a right proper good guy. But then he cheated a few times during the match without provocation. Crowd doesn't really know what to make of him and gave him a mixed reaction. Odyssey was the more popular of the two. Anyway, this was a back and forth low flying match. Not good. Not bad. Just kind of there. 

4. Sex and Violence (Sexton Hardcastle/Christian Cage/"Steel" Sean Morley) defeat Joe E. Legend/Rhino Richards/Johnny Swinger to earn future bookings when they finish off Swinger with a cool "Stacker" Superplex by Hardcastle & Cage followed by a Superfly Splash from Morley. These Canadian boys sure are big. With the exception of Christian, all these Canucks were tall, thick, or jacked.

Took a long time for the crowd to get into though due to the lack of a clear cut fan favorite. Sex & Violence were obvious villains. Look no further than their entrance, where Morley, who seems to be some sort of medieval male stripper, came out in a knight's suit of armor(!) that was slowly stripped away by Cage & Hardcastle.

But on the other side, you had Swinger (another male stripper type) and the very vocal Joe E. Legend, who loudly shouted "yes!" "no!" or "eyyy!" depending on how his squad was faring. Crowd hated Legend even more than the other team. But they eventually found their guy in Rhino Richards, who went on a wild flurry of power offense, and is built like a tank. Unfortunately for Rhino, he was on the losing side, which means he is not guaranteed future bookings.

5. David Jericho defeated Steve Bradley by countering a top rope powerbomb in mid-air with a frankensteiner to bring the house down and score the 1-2-3. This actionfest started off heatless, but the crowd got more and more into it as these two went balls to the wall with all sorts of flips, bombs, and dives, culminating with an eruption for the finish, and loud "Please Come Back" chants in the post-match. That chant transitioned into a lot of boo birds when Bradley dickishly refused to shake Jericho's hand.

6. Venom destroyed Cham Pain in under 5 minutes. Cham Pain is yet another male stripper type.

***BREAKING KAYFABE: Good grief! Was every 1998 indie heel a male stripper? And there's still one more to come! I'll have to do something about this on the next show. OK, I guess I didn't have to give Morley that gimmick. But at the time I thought it would be a fun mash up of his gimmick in Mexico and his future Val Venis gimmick.*** 

Where was I? Oh yeah. Cham Pain. Well, at least he's a sleazy male stripper, whereas Morley and Swinger are more your high class male stripper. Anyway, this was mostly all Venom. And boy does this crowd love them some Venom. Being a badass always gets over. And Venom got over here in like 2 minutes by tossing the stupidly named Cham Pain around with all sorts of nasty powerbomb variations. Cham Pain did get in a little bit of early offense with some fancy armdrags, and a diving frankensteiner, but it was all Venom after the big man countered a second diving frankensteiner attempt with Powerbomb #1. Venom kept picking ChamP up at 2 to inflict more punishment. The ref had some words with him about that. Venom snapped back at him as the bloodthirsty fans chanted "Venom's Gonna Kill You." The poor, terrified ref behaved himself after that. Then came the biggest bomb yet- an Awesome Bomb where Venom launched Cham Pain from inside the ring to outside. Cham Pain went SPLAT. As if that wasn't enough, Venom then dragged his carcass back in to hit a MoonVenomsault for the 1-2-3 as the fans chanted "Venom! Venom! Venom!" 

*Part 2 tomorrow

NWA: King of the Independents
Presents...
The Biggest Independent Show of All Time!
Break The Barrier
January 3, 1998
West Chester, Pennsylvania

Results: Part Two

7. Hardy Boys defeat Death & Destruction (Frank "The Tank" Parker & "Ruthless" Roger Anderson) with Event Omega after 13 action packed minutes. Despite both teams being newcomers to the area, the crowd immediately cheered the pretty boy Hardys and booed the comparatively big, brutish D&D. Those cheers for the Hardys only intensified after a series of wild high risk moves. But D&D soon took over after a wild Jeff Hardy crash and burn. Anderson & Parker slowed down the pace and cut the ring in half in textbook fashion while not being afraid to slip in some illegal double teams. This only caused the "Hardy! Hardy! Hardy!" chants to intensify. Jeff finally did make the hot tag and we got a hot finishing sequence with D&D knowing just where to be as the Hardys flew all over the place. Matt & Jeff finally win it with their flying splash/flying legdrop combo. HUGE pop for the Hardy victory. Young Matt & Jeff Hardy just became stars in one match.

*PWI put this match over huge when they covered this show in the "Arena Report" section of the magazine by quite accurately calling it "an updated version of the Rockers vs. Brainbusters."

***Breaking Kayfabe: Yeah, throwing the Hardys up against York & Matthews, or some combination of Helms/Moore/Mike Maverick, would have been the sexier choice. But those guys can come in later. The idea here was to get the Hardys over huge as babyfaces against a competent, but less flashy, tag team. 

8. "Lightning" Mike Quackenbush defeated "Dirty" Don Montoya with some tricked out submission move I've never seen before that I'm just going to refer to as "Mr. Salty." This battle between friends started out with clean wrestling, but the much larger Montoya soon resorted to fisticuffs after constantly being bamboozled by the much quicker Quack. First came punching and choking. Then some power offense. And finally an offensively long chinlock which generated "Quack" chants that soon morphed into actual quacking a la everybody's favorite hockey team, The Mighty Ducks. Quack made his comeback until Montoya countered a Tornado DDT with a sitout spinebuster for a nearfall. Big Don went up top for a fat guy moonsault. Quack moved out of the way and locked in his indescribable Mr. Salty submission hold outta nowhere for the quick tap out victory. 

*PWI quite accurately described this match as proof a good little man can beat a big man any day. Re-educating the fans on just that point was the major purpose of this match in which Quack was outweighed by over 100 pounds.

Post-match saw Montoya lay in the ring nursing his multiple sore limbs as The Stripper played (Rick Rude's WWF theme). This heralded the arrival of hated local villain Mr. Ooh La La. Ooh is a pudgy "French" stripper who has one of the thickest Mid Atlantic accents I have ever heard. The overweight La La launches into his strip tease routine as the crowd boos him out of the building. In an amusing bit, a somewhat recovered Montoya stands behind Ooh La La giving the "thumbs down" whenever he asks the fans if they want to see him remove this or that garment of clothing. Whenever Ooh turns around, Montoya acts the innocent while still giving the "thumbs down" behind his back. Ooh eventually catches Montoya in the act. He takes a swing. Montoya ducks, hits a body slam, and goes up top to connect with a fat guy moonsault (Montoya is about 5'6 in both height and girth) to raucous applause. 

9. The Memphis Mafia (PG 13 & Doug Gilbert) defeat Flash Flanagan & The Tennessee Volunteers (Reno Riggins & Steve Dunn). Flanagan and The Vols are out first to a lukewarm at best reaction. Lots of "Well Dunn" and "Jobber" catcalls to be honest. PG 13 and Doug Gilbert come out to boos and those boos only intensify with their pre-match mic work which includes shots at "you Yankee bastards" and big leaguing it (We was at Rasslemania! And the Royal Rumble!). PG 13 also claims to be the Team of the 90s and the greatest indie tag team of all time, while Doug Gilbert lies about the being the one true King of the Indies. This mic work turns the Vols & Flash into firm fan favorites...

And Flanagan wins the crowd over for good with an early dive on the Memphis staples. PG 13 and Dougie pulled out every low down dirty trick in the book, and even invented a few new ones. This match had all the glorious Memphis shenanigans you know and love, but with cooler moves. Finish comes with Riggins & JC Ice in the ring while everybody else is out on the floor after a second Flanagan dive.  Riggins calls for it! The brutal "Banned In The State of Tennesse" RENOPLEX~! OK, so this is even harder to describe than Quack's submission. But I'm going to try this time. Reno grabs JC Ice's arm and does a do-so-do into Pumphandle Slam position. Then he does another do-si-do and grabs Ice’s leg with his free arm like he's going for a PerfectPlex. Then he goes into yet another do-so-do....Only to be interrupted Coal Miner's Glove-wearing Doug Gilbert cheap shot! Dammit! I really wanted to see the RenoPlex! But during all that do-si-doing a fracas broke out on the floor which distracted the ref, enabling Dougie to slip on the Coal Miner's Glove and knock out Reno Riggins. The 1-2-3 is academic after that. The Memphis Mafia prevails. Aww nuts.

10. "Dangerous" Devon Storm defeats "The King of Softcore" Steve Corino to earn a better seed in the upcoming King of the Indies Title Tournament by countering a superplex attempt with a sitout front superplex of his own for the 1-2-3. The story here was the differing styles between Extremist high flying and hardcore babyface Storm and Purist "old school" heel Corino. Examples include Storm introducing a chair into the match. It backfired and Storm ended up sitting in the chair. Rather than using the chair as a weapon, Corino slapped a chinlock on the seated Storm! Another time Corino climbed up to the top rope only to climb back down and do a simple stomp to Storm's head. Corino got nuclear heat for his anti-hardcore gimmick. The fans loathe a guy who looks like a flyer and flat out refuses to fly. Storm would later score with a flip dive onto a seated Corino and miss another dive which set up the finishing stretch. 

11. NWA Champion Dan "The Beast" Severn defeated "The Living Legend" Terry Funk with a Rings of Saturn-style submission after Funk missed a moonsault. The current and former NWA Champions shook hands before the match. Severn wrestled a clean match, but the crowd was 100% behind their hero, Terry Funk. It started out with mat wrestling. The 53 year old Funker was continually overwhelmed by the UFC Champion. So the crafty veteran Funk then switched to wild and wooly brawling tactics which put Severn on the ropes. Twice Funk brought the crowd to its feet by calling for the piledriver. The first time Severn backdropped out of it and the second he countered with a leg pick and nasty submission hold which would have ended the match right then and there had Funk not been so close to the ropes. Severn put on a clinic in counter wrestling all match long. Another example is Severn countering the patented Funk spinning toehold with another leg pick into a Grapevine Ankle Lock, which again would have ended the match if Funk, a master of ring positioning, wasn't so close to the ropes. The crowd was annoyed by Funk tapping, but applauded both men after they once again shook hands after the match. Funk then grabbed the mic....

To put over Dan Severn and proclaim the future of wrestling was right here in NWA: King of the Independents! He put over the crowd, the promotion itself, and all the young, hungry competitors he had seen tonight. Terry Funk says he got the same feeling watching this show that he had when he was first in an ECW locker room. He'd love to stink around and help this promotion grow, but Terry Funk is already an old man, and he needs one last big payday so he can ride off comfortably into the sunset. You're going to be seeing him real soon on Monday nights. Don't worry though. This promotion doesn't NEED Terry Funk. Not when it has Dan Severn. Not when it has all that hungry, young talent. And certainly not when it has the three men competing in tonight's main event. Terry Funk is gonna have a seat right here in the front row and watch these three young men tear the house down. A HUGE round of pro-Funk chants break out. We get "Terry!" "Thank You!" And ultimately "Thank You Terry!" wins out.

12. "Superstar" Lance Diamond wins a Three Way Dance over Cheetah Master and Reckless Youth to be crowned the unofficial King of the Indies and earn the #1 seed in our upcoming Tournament for the Title of that very same name. Match went over 20 minutes and featured all the three way spots you know and (once) loved. Cheetah was beloved. Diamond was hated. And Youth had a mixed reaction. Mostly positive, and some fans even preferred him to Cheetah (gasp!), but they were outnumbered by Cheetah fans whenever Cheetah & Reckless interacted. Youth flew around a lot and slipped in some submission that would make even Quack and Severn blush. Cheetah flew a little bit, brawled a little more, and spent even more time selling, which only made the constant "Cheetah" chants grow louder as the crowd urged on their hero. Diamond was, of course, hated. He cheated like crazy, ducked out whenever possible to let the other two kill themselves, and slipped in the occasional suplex on an unsuspecting opponent.  

Highlights include an Undertaker at Wrestlemania dive by Cheetah. Diamond hitting his Northern Lights Suplex on Reckless only to have the pin broken up by a Cheetah Superfly Splash. The same sequence again only with Cheetah as the suplexee and Reckless breaking it up with the froggiest of Frog Splashes. Finishing stretch began when all three men down after a wild sequence. The crowd rose to their feet to give the 3 gladiators a standing ovation. That jerk Steve Corino wandered out to shout encouragement to Diamond. Cheetah was the first man up in the ring. He went up top. Rather than going for the win, he did a bonkers top rope dive onto Corino! Lance & Reckless then went into a series of holds and counter holds culminating in Diamond hitting a Northern Lights for two. Diamond incredibly then rolled through still holding onto Reckless and hitting an advanced version of the Northern Lights Suplex with a leg hook a la Mr. Perfect. And Diamond pinned Reckless with this move PWI dubbed "The Perfect Lights Suplex" to become the unofficial King of the Indies. 

Fans gave all three men (yes, even Diamond) another standing ovation after this incredible encounter and this is the match PWI chose to give the full play by play treatment when they covered this show.

Break The Barrier Quickie Results

1. The Bald and the Beautiful defeated Handsome Beef by pinfall. 
2. Inferno Kid pinned CW Anderson to earn a spot in the King of the Indies Title Tournament.
3. Ace Darling pinned "Surfer" Ray Odyssey to earn a spot in the King of the Indies Title Tournament.
4. Sexton Hardcastle/Christian Cage/Sean Morley defeated Joe E. Legend/Rhino Richards/Johnny Swinger by pinfall.
5. David Jericho pinned Steve Bradley
6. Venom pinned Cham-Pain
7. Hardy Boys defeated Death & Destruction by pinfall.
8. Mike Quackenbush defeated Don Montoya by submission.
9. PG 13 & Doug Gilbert defeated Flash Flanagan & The Tennessee Volunteers by pinfall.
10. "Dangerous" Devon Storm pinned "The King of Softcore" Steve Corino to earn a better seed in the King of the Indies Title Tournament.
11. Dan Severn retained the NWA Championship when he defeated Terry Funk by submission.
12. Lance Diamond pinned Reckless Youth in a 3 Way Dance also including Cheetah Master to become the unofficial King of the Indies and earn the #1 seed in our coming Tournament for the title.
===============
BREAKING KAYFABE: So there's my take on 1998 ROH with my own idiosyncratic Bakerisms. Hope you liked it! The biggest ROH influence aside from just bringing in a lot of top independent talent (with much more to come!) is the ordering of the last two matches. Severn vs. Funk = Eddie vs. Crazy and Diamond/Cheetah/Reckless = Ki/Daniels/Dragon.  
===============
PWI is all in on NWA: King of the Indies and have already bestowed the promotion with prestigious Top 10 honors on its back pages where it fills in the now-defunct USWA position after WWF, WCW, and ECW; but before New Japan, All Japan, CMLL, and Promo Azteca. They've also devoted a whole page of advertising RF Video advertising a tape of Break The Barrier and tapes of all future NWA: King of the Independents shows. Here are those official PWI rankings...

NWA: King of the Independents

NWA Champion: Dan Severn
1. Lance Diamond
2. Cheetah Master
3. Reckless Youth
4. Devon Storm
5. Ace Darling
6. Mike Quackenbush
7. Steve Corino
8. Inferno Kid
9. Doug Gilbert
10. Venom
===============
Next Show: Road To The Title- January 24, 1998
*Features first round matches from the NWA: King of the Independents Title Tournament with the 1-8 seeding being the same as the PWI rankings.

1. Bald & The Beautiful vs. The Pitbulls
2. Steve Bradley vs. Don Montoya
3. PG 13 vs. Handsome Beef

4. David Jericho vs. Flash Flanagan
5. Doug Gilbert vs. Mark "The Shark" Shrader
6. Team OMEGA (Hardy Boys & Venom) vs. Sex & Violence (Sexton Hardcastle/Christian Cage/Sean Morley)
7. Lance Diamond (#1) vs. Inferno Kid (#8)- King of the Indies Title Tournament
8. NWA Champion Dan Severn vs. "Scrap Iron" Adam Pearce- NWA Championship Match
9. Devon Storm (#4) vs. Ace Darling (#5)- King of the Indies Title Tournament
10. Reckless Youth (#3) vs. Mike Quackenbush (#6)- King of the Indies Title Tournament
11. Cheetah Master (#2) vs. "The King of Softcore" Steve Corino (#7)- King of the Indies Title Tournament

Scouting Report on Newbies and Other Things of Note

-The Pitbulls are of course former ECW Tag Team Champions who answered the open challenge of The Bald and the Beautiful.
-Mark "The Shark" Shrader is a popular cruiserweight from the Maryland area.
-Adam Pearce is a 19 year old phenom from the Midwest who became the youngest person in history to earn an NWA Title shot on the strength of an impressive string of victories in his local NWA affiliate.
-Storm vs. Darling and Youth vs. Quack are battles between tag team partners. Storm & Darling wrestle as The Extremists and Quack/Youth as The Black T Shirt Squad.

I thought that Severn/Funk and the triple threat main might be nods to the OG ROH card! Love the subtle nods like that!

Breaking News

We regret to inform you that Mark "The Shark" Shrader suffered an injury on a recent Maryland Championship Wrestling show and will be unable to compete against Doug Gilbert at our upcoming Road To The Title event. The injury is not thought to be severe and we still plan on giving "The Shark" a tryout match when he makes a full recovery.

Shrader's spot against Gilbert will be taken by "Colorado Kid" Mike Rapada. Rapada is one of the fastest rising young stars in the South. The most popular man in Music City Wrestling is also a former USWA Champion who already holds a pinfall victory over the legendary Jerry Lawler in his young career. 

While it hasn't been confirmed, rumor has it the winner of Gilbert/Rapada will be in line for a title match against NWA Champion Dan Severn. 

The normally fiery Gilbert was uncharacteristically calm when we told him the news. All he said in regards to the match was "excellent." Then he asked for pre-match mic time because he has "a few major announcements to make." Interesting...

And now for potentially even bigger news. It gives us great pleasure to announce former ECW & WCW star Stevie Richards will be at Road to the Title in a non-wrestling capacity.

NWA: King of the Independents
Presents...
Road To The Title
January 24, 1998
West Chester, PA

Results: Part One

1. Sex & Violence (Sexton Hardcastle/Christian Cage/Sean Morley) defeat Team OMEGA (Hardy Boys & Venom) when Morley pins Matt Hardy with a Superfly Splash following the eldest Hardy being hit with a Stacker Superplex from Hardcastle & Cage.

S&V ultimately prevailed because they were the more cohesive unit. The writing was on the wall during the intros. S&V came out together. The Hardys and Venom entered separately. Venom then refused a pre-match handshake from his partners. The commentary team (which I'll get into later) acknowledged the heated history between Venom and the Hardys in their home promotion of OMEGA.

Team OMEGA started off like gangbusters with Venom throwing Christian around and the Hardys hitting fancy double teams on all members of the Canadian trio. Crowd was bigly into Team OMEGA as a babyfaces. Their hot start was brought to a halt when Venom accidentally got caught in the crossfire of a Hardy double team. The big man was pissed, and he took it out on his partners with a double clothesline before leaving the ring entirely, putting the Hardys in a de facto handicap match situation. This lead to a long control segment from S&V on Matt until the eldest Hardy was finally able to make the hot tag. Jeff came in as a house of fire, bewildering all three members of S&V with some breathtaking high flying. Jeff managed to keep all three Canadians at bay and tagged back out to Matt with Christian down in the middle of the ring. The Hardys went for their Event Omega finisher. NO! Hardcastle pushed Jeff from the top rope causing the youngest Hardy to land with a hard THUD on the floor. Meanwhile, Christian moved out of the way of Matt's top rope leg drop. After some brief triple teaming, S&V hit their finishing combination to prevail. 

2. David Jericho pinned Flash Flanagan when he countered a Super Razor's Edge (which I really want to see hit one of these days) with a Frankensteiner. This was a good face vs. face actionfest. Lots of armdrags, dives, frankensteiners, standoffs, and rollup exchanges. But it honestly could have used the presence of a heel. The crowd remained respectful through the encounter, and they liked these guys well enough (Jericho a little more than Flash), but they do not yet love them. The moves were more over than the wrestlers using them. Few in attendance really cared who prevailed.

*Baker introduces Stevie Richards. Huge pop! Quickly morphing into multiple chants- "ECW," "BWO," "Welcome Back," "Stevie," and even "NWA." The "Stevie" chants ultimately win out as "The King of Swing" enters wearing an NWA: King of the Indies half shirt. Stevie half-jokingly thanks the fans for remember him. Then he gets serious... 

This time last year he was the hottest young star in the business. His BWO was revolutionizing the industry (this time the "BWO" chant does catch on). He was in a high profile match at ECW's very first pay per view, Barely Legal. Many predicted he would soon become ECW Champion, with other pundits going so far as to proclaim him "the next Shawn Michaels" (which lead to multiple anti-HBK chants). Then it all came crashing down...

First he suffered a severe neck injury. Then he took bad career advice from somebody he thought was a friend only to have that so-called friend stab him in the back (lots of fans shout out "Raven," but Stevie names no names). Then he realized you can't go home again. So in one year Stevie had gone from the penthouse to the outhouse....from the future of the business to washed up at 26. He suffered a possible career ending injury and no longer had a home in wrestling. He was now a pariah in two thirds of the Big Three. Stevie grew up loving professional wrestling. Now he had grown to hate it. Stevie was looking to get out of this cruel business that used him up and spit him out...

When his good friend Terry Funk invited him backstage at our last show. Stevie thought this would be the end- his last brush with the professional wrestling business he had once loved and now grown to hate. He only went at all because he wanted to see Terry again and it was a mere half hour from his home in Philly. But seeing all those hungry young wrestlers doing what they love in front of an appreciative crowd reignited his love of professional wrestling. He remembered this was the only thing he had wanted to do ever since he saw the Midnight Express defeat Anderson & Blanchard for the NWA Tag Titles just down the road at the Philadelphia Civic Center. He felt the same vibes, the same energy, he had felt when he first broke in with ECW. He realized right then and there that NWA: King of the Indies is the future of professional wrestling. And he wanted to be a part of it. He asked for this interview time and the rest is history. 

Stevie still can't wrestle. In fact, he may never wrestle again. But if he ever does, it will be right here in NWA: King of the Indies. Stevie then announces he has signed on to be Baker's broadcast partner on NWA: King of the Indies video releases. 

Stevie received a positive reaction from the crowd with multiple chants for his heartfelt speech and was about to depart at last when....

The Stripper plays, heralding the arrival of Mr. Ooh La La. Ooh makes a "go away" gesture to Stevie and is about to launch into his strip tease routine when BAM! Steviekick! HUGE pop! Stevie then introduces his old ECW rivals....

The Pitbulls! Stevie & The Pitbulls, Philly boys all, embrace in the ring as the crowd chants "ECW," "NWA," "Stevie," and "Pitbulls" with the latter ultimately winning out. 

Stevie finally does leave to take a seat next to Baker at ringside as The Bald and The Beautiful make their entrance to a chorus of boos.

3. The Pitbulls make quick work of The Bald and The Beautiful w/ Cueball Carmichael. The 'Bulls jumped Julio Sanchez & "Wise Guy" Jimmy Cicero as they entered the ring, hitting a few power moves on both guys. Sanchez soon got clotheslined over the top rope by Pitbull #1. The same thing then happened to Carmichael when he interfered courtesy of Pitbull #2. The Pitbulls then finished Cicero off with a brutal SuperBomb much to the delight of the crowd.

4. Steve Bradley defeated Don Montoya with a split legged moonsault. This match failed to get over with both men generating mixed reactions. They did come around a little on Bradley after he hit a series of cool moves, but this match must ultimately be regarded as a failure.

5. PG 13 defeated Handsome Beef after a stringing together a series of nice double teams on "Handsome" Frank Stalletto while his partner, the popular "Beef Stew" Lou Marconi, was incapacitated on the floor following a Wolfie D hubcap shot.

PG 13 did some pre-match mic work to nuclear heat. "Asshole" and "We Don't Wanna Hear It" chants were heard.  JC Ice complained about having to rassle two jobbers. He mocked Marconi's nickname and issued an open challenge for our next show demanding more credible competition. A loud "Pitbulls" chant immediately broke out. Ice downplayed the threat posed by the Pitbulls while putting over the accolades of his own team. Now Wolfie finally speaks. He never heard of the Pitbulls. So he asked around. Turns out The Pitbulls are just a couple of steroid monkeys who were ECW tag champs one time for three weeks. Big deal! PG 13 was at Rasslemania! They were 15 time tag champs in a real rasslin' promotion- the bah gawd USWA! They're the team of the 90s! Handsome Beef finally comes out to put an end to PG 13's grandstanding.

Crowd was hugely into this good guy vs. bad guy battle and they erupted with every Marconi spinkick and suplex. Handsome Beef had PG One Three on the ropes for much of the match, but the clever young veterans kept surviving. Marconi chased Wolfie around the floor after D interfered one time too many. And that proved to be Handsome Beef's downfall. Wolfie lulled Beef Stew Lou into a false sense of security when WHACK! Hubcap shot. Marconi was down and out. Wolfie then saved Ice and the undersized duo strung a series of double teams maneuvers to pick up the win. Then this hit...



Bringing out The Pitbulls! PG 13 quickly skedaddled back to the locker room as the Pitbulls accepted PG 13's open challenge for our next event.

6. NWA Champion Dan Severn retained by defeating 19 year old challenger "Scrap Iron" Adam Pearce by submission around the 6 minute mark. The commentary team of Baker & Stevie Richards put Pearce over strong on the home video release as the youngest man to ever challenge for the NWA Championship. But he didn't get all that over with the crowd. Nor are they into Severn. "Boring" chants were heard as Severn methodically outwrestled Pearce in this dated 70s style match. Severn put the crowd out of their misery with a suplex not dissimilar to Andre the Giant's 87-88 finisher, only better executed. "The Beast" retained hold of the headlock on his way over to draw the quick submission victory. 

Still To Come

Doug Gilbert vs. "Colorado Kid" Mike Rapada with Gilbert promising multiple major announcements and the winner rumored to be in line for NWA Title shot. 
"Superstar" Lance Diamond vs. Inferno Kid- King of the Indies Championship Tournament Match
"Dangerous" Devon Storm vs. Ace Darling- Partners collide in what we expect to be a friendly King of the Indies Championship Tournament Match 
Reckless Youth vs. Mike Quackenbush- Partners collide yet again in another King of the Indies Championship Tournament Match
-Cheetah Master vs. "King of Softcore" Steve Corino- King of the Indies Championship Tournament Match

NWA: King of the Indies
Road To The Title
Part Two

7. Doug Gilbert vs. "Colorado Kid" Mike Rapada

Rapada enters to a minimal reaction while Dougie is booed on his way to the ring. Gilbert grabs the mic upon entering said ring. The boos which greeted his entrance only grow louder. Doug understands why the fans are booing him. He deserves it. This is where the old Doug Gilbert would have fired back with a few witty remarks. But that Doug Gilbert is dead. Doug Gilbert has seen the light! Doug Gilbert has been reborn...

You see, Doug Gilbert was a bad man....a very bad man. There was no shortcut he refused to take. The old Doug Gilbert was a sinner, and a proud one at that. But it left him feeling empty inside. Now the fans are just confused as Doug claims he had a revelation sitting in a cheap, dingy motel after our last card. Doug's unsavory victory brought him no joy. He was not a better man than his opponents. He just took yet another shortcut at the right moment. And here he apologizes for cheating to beat the Tennessee Volunteers and begs the promotion to give them another shot. Then he goes back to his story...

Doug was sitting in that dumpy motel chain smoking in a non-smoking room because that's how Doug rolled. He had gotten all the way down to the last cigarette in his last pack while guzzling down his 12th and final beer and lazily flipping through channels when he encountered the man who would change his life. Doug saw this man heal the blind, cure the crippled, and reform a convicted criminal right there on tv. This great man asked if anybody watching was a sinner. Doug admitted to himself that he was. This man on tv said he could help. There was no sinner too far gone to be saved. This man claimed he could reform the worst of the worst. And Doug admitted to himself that he was the worst of the worst. But on whim....call it diving inspiration if you must, Dougie called that number on that tv screen. And that is how he got in contact with the man who changed his life. The old Doug Gilbert is no more!

And with that he empties out his tights and boots. A chain, pair of brass knuckles, coal miner's glove, and a bag of powder were hiding in Doug's wardrobe. Some wrestlers use armbars and suplexes. These were Doug's tools of the trade. But no longer does he require them. Because he has found something more powerful than any weapon. He has found the path of righteousness courtesy of his new spiritual advisor. It gives Doug Gilbert great pleasure to introduce his savior "The Purveyor of the Way" Brother Midnite!



Neil Diamond's Brother Love's Traveling Salvation Show plays as a masked man in a suit saunters down the aisle accompanied by a masked giant who looks like a cross between a ninja and a member of Demolition. The smaller masked man carries on a stream of conversation with the ringside fans. "Baby" is heard a lot. The masked giant carries a big bowl. The bewildered fans don't know what to make this most perplexing situation.

Brother Midnite shakes hands with Doug before grabbing the mic. He largely reiterates Doug's story (only with more "babies") and says he can do the same for you! But his mission of saving souls is an arduous and, alas, an expensive one. So he could really use some money to help spread The Word. He then introduces his giant sidekick as "Master Mayhem" Angus Manx. He may look violent, but he is a man of peace raised by monks in a little known monastery in a forgotten corner of Europe. He sends Manx into the crowd to collect money for his ministry...

Some fans are sold! They willingly drop coins and even dollar bills into the collection plate. But most are not. And a few reluctantly contribute only because of the ominous 7 footer hovering over them while refusing to budge until they do so. 

This whole time Rapada just quietly stands with an "are you kidding me?" look.

Finally the match begins with a handshake which Rapada was reluctant to accept. It's a 50/50 old style match which would look more at home in 1978 Memphis than in the 1998 Greater Philly area. Doug teased going back to his old wicked ways a few times when in trouble, but he never did give into temptation, and eventually catches Rapada with the Hot Shot finisher of his late, great brother, Eddie, for the clean win. 

Doug shakes Rapada's hand after the match and gives him a hearty pat on the back. Brother Midnite once again puts over Doug's transformation before sending his masked giant back into the crowd to collect some more money for his ministry. The coins come fast and furious this time around as their act has now won over almost half the people in attendance. Midnite hands Dougie the mic to a mixed reaction...

Doug admits he still has a long way to go. He understands why some fans haven't been converted yet. You may not like him, but he knows every fan in the building respects his late, great brother, Eddie. The crowd responds with a loud "EDDIE" chant as Doug explains next month is the 3 year anniversary of his brother's death and drops the bombshell that our next event will be the Eddie Gilbert Memorial Show. Doug goes on to explain that Eddie's ultimate goal from the time he was eight years old was to become NWA World Heavyweight Champion. Eddie tragically died before he could achieve that goal. But the new and improved Doug Gilbert wants to fulfill his brother's dream by winning the NWA Championship for Eddie! The crowd seems cool with this. And NWA Champion Dan Severn soon comes out to accept Doug's challenge. Another handshake seals the deal...



Brings out #1 seed "Superstar" Lance Diamond for the next first round match in our Tournament For The Title. Diamond is accompanied by a scantily clad woman whom he introduces as Dawn Marie.

8. Lance Diamond w/ Dawn Marie defeats Inferno Kid in a King of the Indies Title Tournament Match. Inferno had the crowd believing in the upset with a flurry of offense down the stretch. He ascended the turnbuckles looking to finish Diamond off with a high risk maneuver. A desperate Diamond used the referee as a shield. As the ref was chastising him Dawn Marie grabbed Kid's feet, crotching him on the top turnbuckle. Diamond went in for the kill with a Northern Lights Superplex for the win. The #1 seed has advanced. 

*Backstage segment with The Extremists: Devon Storm & Ace Darling. The two friends were booked as the 4 & 5 seeds in our next Tournament For The Title match. They're having a friendly argument over which wrestling style is better with Storm opting for hardcore and Darling going to bat for traditional. Storm is all like "Dude, we're called The Extremists!" and Darling is all "Well, maybe The Purists have it right!" And Storm all like "tell me he did not just say that" since The Purists tag team of Lance Diamond & Steve Corino have been the The Extremists arch-rivals in most of the surrounding promotions.

9. Devon Storm advances to the second round of our King of the Indies Title Tournament by defeating his Extremists partner Ace Darling after blocking a Darling superplex attempt and hitting a front superplex of his own for the win. This was a back and forth match with Darling's technique going 50/50 most of the way with Storm's extremism. Storm struck early with a big flip dive, but would later crash and burn on another flip dive which had Darling pointing to his head like "I told you so." Darling was awfully peeved after the match, and Storm added insult to injury by joshing him a little, but the two men did leave as friends after a (rather hasty) handshake.

10. Reckless Youth defeats Mike Quackenbush with a Frog Splash to advance in our King of the Indies Title Tournament. These two tore down the house for 19 minutes in a mind blowing match that that generated multiple standing ovations by blending state of the art high flying with state of the art technical wrestling. This match sold a lot of tapes with some calling it "an updated version of the Malenko/Guerrero ECW series" and others stating "it wouldn't have looked out of place in a Super J-Cup." 

We go from the sublime to the ridiculous as "King of Softcore" Steve Corino enters to Wannabe by The Spice Girls and a chorus of boos. The place then ERUPTS as Cheetah Master enters to Welcome To The Jungle by Guns N' Roses. The song plays twice as Cheetah makes sure to slap the hands of every single fan in the building. Cheetah has a 100% approval rating. Children look up to him. Women want him. And men want to be him. Steve Corino responds to this admittedly absurd scene by bringing a chair into the ring and sitting on it while pretending to take a nap. Cheetah finally enters the ring but what really rouses Corino from his faux slumber is the triumphant strains of Jesus Christ Superstar bringing out Lance Diamond & Dawn Marie...

Diamond makes some cracks about Cheetah's only female fans being teeny boppers while he has a REAL woman. And out of the goodness of his heart, he is going to loan Dawn Marie (who has a manager's license) to Corino for this one match to counterbalance "Cheetah's cheating." Cheetah never cheats. Corino is overjoyed and promises to win one for Lance...

11. Steve Corino does not, in fact, win one for Lance. He doesn't even really come close despite the best efforts of Dawn Marie cheating like a champ. Cheetah overcomes it all to advance in the King of the Indies Title Tournament with his "Cheetahs Can Fly" top rope splash. 

Quickie Results

1. Sex & Violence (Sexton Hardcastle/Christian Cage/Sean Morley) defeat Team OMEGA (Hardy Boys & Venom)
2. David Jericho pins Flash Flanagan
*The retired Stevie Richards debuts in a commentary role. He also Steviekicks an interrupting Mr. Ooh La La 
3. The Pitbulls make quick work of The Bald and the Beautiful
4. Steve Bradley pins Don Montoya
5. PG 13 defeats Handsome Beef
6. NWA Champion Dan Severn retains by defeating young Adam Pearce by submission
7. Doug Gilbert pins "Colorado Kid" Mike Rapada
8. Lance Diamond pins Inferno Kid to advance in the King of the Indies Title Tournament
9. Devon Storm pins Ace Darling to advance in the King of the Indies Title Tournament
10. Reckless Young pins Mike Quackenbush to advance in the King of the Indies Title Tournament
11. Cheetah Master pins Steve Corino to advance in the King of the Indies Title Tournament

Matches already signed for the Eddie Gilbert Memorial Show

NWA Champion Dan Severn vs. Doug Gilbert
PG 13 vs. Pitbulls
Tournament Match: Lance Diamond vs. Devon Storm
Tournament Match: Cheetah Master vs. Reckless Youth
*With more to come!

Eddie Gilbert Memorial Show
2/13/98 in the Philly suburbs as always

1. Six Team Gauntlet Match featuring...

Christian York & Joey Matthews 

Shane Helms & Shannon Moore

The Lords of the Ring (Nick Dinsmore & Rob Conway)

The Tennessee Volunteers (Reno Riggins & Steven Dunn)
Handsome Beef ("Handsome" Frank Stalletto & "Beef Stew" Lou Marconi)

The Bald & The Beautiful (Jimmy Cicero & Julio Sanchez w/ Cueball Carmichael)

Scouting Report

-York, Matthews, Helms, and Moore all compete in North Carolina's OMEGA promotion which has already given us the Hardy Boys, Venom, and Others. The four newcomers comprise a faction in OMEGA known as Badstreet, but both duos have told us friendship is out the window for this one match with both tandems swearing they're in it to win it. They will start the match to ensure no funny business ensues. 
-The Lords of the Ring will enter next. This technically proficient young tag team competes mainly in Tennessee's Music City Wrestling while also making the occasional excursion to Kentucky's Ohio Valley Wrestling.
-We've seen the other three teams before. All three could use a win. Bald & The Beautiful will enter last because they're the only team of three who actually has scored a win here. 
-Baker promises a special announcement at the conclusion of this match. 

2. "Steel" Sean Morley vs. "Bad Boy" Steve Bradley vs. "Dirty" Don Montoya- Three Way Dance
-Three heavyweights looking to climb the ladder in what has quickly become an independent all star promotion

3. Venom vs. David Jericho
-Has all the makings of a classic power vs. speed match

4. Inferno Kid w/ Missy Hyatt vs. "King of Softcore" Steve Corino w/ Dawn Marie
-Steve Corino was apoplectic when Missy Hyatt, the ex-wife of one of his heroes Eddie Gilbert, rejected his advances and opted instead to be in the corner of Inferno Kid on the anniversary of Gilbert's death. Corino's friend Lance Diamond took pity on the whiny nerd by once again loaning him the services of his manager Dawn Marie to counteract "The Walking Riot" Missy Hyatt. You can see these events transpire in a special segment at the end of our last video release.

5. Hardy Boys vs. Sex & Violence (Sexton Hardcastle & Christian Cage)
-These two high flying young teams hinted at magic in a six man tag at our last show. Let's see what they can accomplish without the wild card of Venom being thrown in the mix...

6. Ace Darling vs. "Lightning" Mike Quackenbush
-Two technicians each looking to get back into the win column after hard fought tournament losses at our previous show.

7. Pitbulls vs. PG 13
-The bloodthirsty Philly area fans are salivating at the prospect of their beloved Pitbulls destroying the annoying pipsqueaks that are JC Ice & Wolfie D

8. Cheetah Master vs. Reckless Youth- King of the Independents Title Tournament Match
9. "Superstar" Lance Diamond w/ Dawn Marie vs. "Dangerous" Devon Storm- King of the Independents Title Tournament Match

10. Dan "The Beast" Severn (c) vs. Doug Gilbert w/ Brother Midnite & "Master Mayhem" Angus Manx- NWA Title Match
-Can Doug Gilbert honor his brother on the 3rd year anniversary of his death by fulfilling Eddie's childhood dream of seeing a Gilbert hold the prestigious NWA Championship?

BREAKING NEWS: Former NWA Champion, and longtime friend of the Gilbert family, "Wildfire" Tommy Rich has just signed on to be the special guest referee for the main event. We here at NWA: King of the Independents extend our sincerest thanks to ECW's Paul Heyman for loaning us the NWA legend for this one show only. 

More BREAKING NEWS: The sensational Kaientai DX (Dick Togo/Men's Teioh/Shoichi Funaki) from Japan's Michinoku Pro will debut against the makeshift trio of Flash Flanagan, the renamed "Champagne" Marty Garner, and a fellow debutante in Maryland's Mark "The Shark" Shrader.

The three youngsters will be huge underdogs fighting an uphill battle against international superstars, but all three men know an upset would have international repercussions that would turn them into household names overnight.

You may remember Togo & Teioh from their show stealing ECW appearances last year. We have to give a shoutout to our own Stevie Richards who is already paying dividends by bringing his international BWO friends aboard our rapidly growing promotion.

Eddie Gilbert Memorial Show
2/13/98- Philly suburbs
Part One

*Tape starts with a highly illegal Eddie Gilbert video package with clips from WWF, WCW, Memphis, Mid South, and elsewhere accompanied by the sounds of Donna Summers' Hot Stuff.

The show itself begins with Doug & Tommy Gilbert in the ring along with Missy Hyatt & Tommy Rich. Eddie's family and friends put him over to "EDDIE" chants. Doug vows to "win one for Eddie" when he takes on NWA Champion Dan Severn in tonight's main event.  Then we get a ten bell salute...

1. Tag Team Rumble Gauntlet- Match is contested under Tornado Rules. First two teams wrestle for five minutes. Then another team enters every two minutes. Eliminations can be by pinfall, submission, DQ, countout, or being thrown over the top rope.

Joey Matthews & Christian York and Shane Helms & Shannon Moore are the first entrants. They do 1998 state of the art stuff for five minutes with no eliminations. The Lords of the Ring (Nick Dinsmore & Rob Conway) are out next. Gosh darn it! The OMEGA boys break the rules by uniting to attack Conway & Dinsmore. The LOTR are eliminated when Conway is thrown over the top rope right before the Tennessee Volunteers (Reno Riggins & Steven Dunn) enter. The Vols fare a little better. The crowd gets excited when Riggins calls for the dreaded Reno-Plex on Moore. But York, Matthews, and Helms quickly swarm the Master of the Renoplex before he can execute the most dangerous move in all of wrestling. But the Vols manage to make it two minutes and the place comes unglued as The Spinners Mighty Love heralds the arrival of fan favorites Handsome Beef ("Beef Stew" Lou Marconi & "Handsome" Frank Stalletto). It's now a fair fight at 4 on 4 and all four members of Bad Street are eliminated before two minutes are up as the Vols dump Moore while Handsome Beef dumps Matthews on the other side of the ring. The remaining teams fight for a few seconds until The Bald & The Beautiful (Julio Sanchez & Jimmy Cicero) arrive. B&B soon eliminate Dunn leading to the Vols departure. It comes down to Handsome Beef vs. B&B with the crowd 100% behind Marconi & Stalletto. But as Stalletto runs the ropes B&B's dastardly manager Cueball Carmichael pulls the top rope down eliminating "Handsome" Frank. BOO! The Bald & The Beautiful are your winners! But it's not all bad because you just know the crowd is destined to explode if Riggins ever hits the Renoplex, or Handsome Beef actually win a match. Sometimes you have to look on the bright side...

Speaking of bright sides, it's Commissioner Jack Tunney! The Commish has a very important announcement. In two weeks a tournament for the NWA: KOTI Tag Team Titles will commence. All six teams acquitted themselves well. So all six teams will be entered into the tournament!

2. "Steel" Sean Morley defeats "Bad Boy" Steve Bradley and "Dirty" Don Montoya in a Triple Threat Match. Montoya, being the biggest guy in the match, ran wild early. So the other two teamed up to neutralize him before inevitably fighting among themselves. Bradley had it won a few minutes later with a split legged moonsault on Montoya, but Morley flew in with a Superfly Splash to break the count and steal the pin for himself to a smattering of boos. But only a smattering since these guys just aren't that over with the crowd aside from Morley's weird pre-match knight strip tease thing and entering to the theme of Medieval Steel by Medieval Steel.

3. Kaientai DX (Dick Togo/Men's Teioh/Shoichi Funaki) make relatively easy work of Flash Flanagan/Marty "Champagne" Garner/Mark "The Shark" Shrader. Each member of the makeshift trio hit a big move or two, but it was mostly Kaientai taking them to school with slick double and triple team Midnight Expresses. There is no kill like overkill which is how they pinned "The Shark" after a Funaki Fisherman's Buster rolled into a Teioh ChokeBomb to set Shrader up for a top rope Togo senton for the win. Kaientai ensured they would be booed by taking off their BWO shirts and stomping on them right in front of commentator Stevie Richards before the match. Oh the humanity!

4. Venom pinned David Jericho by countering a top rope Frankensteiner attempt into a sitout Superbomb. Similar to Morley/Bradley, this was perfect cromulent wrestling, but the crowd wasn't really with them. Neither man has fully clicked yet with this audience in spite of them doing a lot of cool moves and crowd pleasing big vs. little stuff. That whole "1998 ROH" thing seems easier said than done. Meh. 2001 ECWA vibes are more my thing anyway.

5. "Lightning" Mike Quackenbush defeated Ace Darling with a fancy pin. Story of the match is the state of the art Quack was quicker, better on the mat, and had cooler moves than the self-proclaimed technician Darling with his 1992 high spots. So Ace changed his gameplan by using his size advantage and resorting to roughhouse tactics. But it was still not enough and Quack trapped him with a fancy pin around the 8 minute mark for the win.

6. Pitbulls defeat PG 13 in a crowd pleasing glorified squash. This was 5 minutes of PG One Three cheating and being annoying while the Pitbulls threw them around to the crowd's delight before winning with a Superbomb on JC Ice.

Oh brother. It's Mr. Ooh La La. Great sign- "Boo La La" Now here is a guy who has clicked with this crowd. Ooh trash talks the Philly faithful in his patented cheesy fake French by way of Mid Atlantic accent before going into his chubby man strip tease routine when this music interrupts him...



C..could it be?...

It is!

OH MY GOD!

THE MASTER AND RULER OF THE WORLD IS HERE!

SID! SID! SID! SID! SID! SID! SID!

Yo 🤯 get in here!

HUGE pop. And a HUGE get for the promotion. Sid main evented Wrestlemania as WWF Champion within the past year!

7? Sid Vicious destroys Mr. Ooh La La with a Chokeslam and Powerbomb. This wasn't even supposed to be a match but Sid covered Ooh and a ref ran out to avoid awkwardness by making the three count.

SID! SID! SID! SID! SID! SID! SID!

*Sid puts over his old friend Eddie Gilbert for giving him his first big break before proclaiming the future of professional wrestling is right here in NWA: King of the Indie Pants...err...King of the Implements. Whatever! You know what he means! SID! SID! SID! SID! SID! Sid promises he's here to stay.

Sid is still at ringside basking in the adulation of the crowd when the Spice Girls Wannabe brings out Steve Corino & Dawn Marie. Corino and Sid happen to meet in the aisleway. Corino tries walking around him to avoid a confrontation, but Sid keeps blocking his path. Finally Corino can take no more. "Umm. Excuse me, Mr. Sidney. I'd like to get by now." Sid laughs maniacally. It seems as if Sid is offended by Corino's continued existence. Sid speaks. "You. Me. Two weeks. You're gonna diiiiiiiiiie!" SID! SID! SID! SID! SID! Corino gulps before whining to Dawn Marie "I'm gonna die." But a clearly smitten Dawn Marie is too busy undressing Sid with her eyes. Sid smiles, winks, and flexes his pecs as Dawn swoons. Corino puts an end to these flirtations by grabbing Dawn's hand and quickly sidestepping Sid to finally reach the ring.

8. "King of Softcore" Steve Corino w/ Dawn Marie pins Inferno Kid w/ Missy Hyatt after powder to the eyes, a low blow, and a loaded boot superkick. This was a fun sports entertainment popcorn match highlighted by Missy winning a CATFIGHT over Dawn and Corino incorporating some Eddie Gilbert tribute spots while being his usual world class comedic putz self.

Post-match sees a gloating Corino suddenly feeling awfully confident about himself challenge Missy Hyatt to an impromptu fight. Hyatt makes quick work of Corino by taking him down with a tackle and raining punches down on his face. Missy cuts a heartfelt promo about her ex-husband Eddie Gilbert after a beaten Corino escapes by rolling out to the floor.

Still To Come 

Hardy Boys vs. Sexton Hardcastle & Christian Cage
Cheetah Master vs. Reckless Youth NWA King of the Independents Title Semifinal Tournament Match
Lance Diamond w/ Dawn Marie vs. Devon Storm NWA King of the Independents Title Semifinal Tournament Match
Dan Severn (c) vs. Doug Gilbert w/ Brother Midnight & Angus Manx- NWA Championship Match w/ Special Guest Referee Tommy Rich

I'm #AllIn for the SID push.

And also possibly getting to finally see a Renoplex.

Eddie Gilbert Memorial Show
Part Two

9. Hardy Boys gain a measure of revenge on Sex & Violence (Sexton Hardcastle & Christian Cage) by defeating them when Matt pins Cage after Event Omega in a wild state of the art match that brought the house down. This was like a Midnight Express vs. Rock & Roll Express match with cooler moves and bolstered our reputation as the hottest independent promotion in wrestling. Between this, the 3 Way main event on the first show, and Quack/Youth at our last show, we've quickly gained a hardcore fanbase which sees us as good for one must see "four star match" per show.

Jack Tunney came out to put both teams over and give them a spot in our upcoming Tag Title Tournament. The Pitbulls, PG 13, Kaientai, The Extremists, The Purists (Corino & Diamond), Black T-Shirt Squad (Youth & Quack), and Death & Destruction were also announced for the tournament, bringing the field to a whopping 15 teams. 

10. Cheetah Master vs. Reckless Youth- NWA King of the Indies Title Tournament Match

Skid Row's Youth Gone Wild (which Reckless Youth would later admit to hating in a shoot interview) brings Youth out to a positive reception, but he would lose some supporters during his pre-match promo by big leaguing it about being "the real King of the Indies," and calling this tournament for the title "a waste of time." The crowd would then erupt when Welcome To The Jungle heralded the arrival of Cheetah Master with his pop blowing the roof off as usual. Youth mimed looking at his watch while Cheetah took 10 minutes to meet and greet every single fan in the building. Finally both men are in the ring. Dueling chants! It's still only about 80/20 in favor of Cheetah. Youth is OVER! 

Youth may be popular, but he is not a nice guy as evidenced by him hitting an armdrag when Cheetah went for his customary opening handshake. That made it more like 90/10 in favor of Cheetah. This was a solid meat and potatoes match that failed to reach the next level. Youth was quicker, more technically adept, and more willing to take shortcuts, while Cheetah was bigger, stronger, and the better brawler. Youth became increasingly drawn to chicanery as he continually failed to put Cheetah away. He really crossed the Rubicon after feigning a knee injury which lead to a cheap rollup and scary close 2.9 nearfall. Now it's more like 98/2 in favor of Cheetah. And The Master of Cheetahs would prevail by rolling through a Youth crossbody block for the 1-2-3. A clearly upset Youth did reluctantly shake Cheetah's hand after the match. Cheetah than raised Youth's arm up and pointed at him like "you're the man" while Youth's annoyed expression was more like "whatever, dork."

Cheetah Master advances to the tournament final.

11. Lance Diamond w/ Dawn Marie vs. Devon Storm- NWA King of the Indies Title Tournament Match

Nice contrast to our last match, which was more face vs. tweener, whereas this was one was pure face vs. heel. Diamond cheated early and often to gain advantages. He would then use his technical proficiency to maintain control with a "slow and steady" approach. Meanwhile, Storm made use of his athletic advantage and daredevil tactics to keep Diamond in a state of near-constant vexation. Storm also showed himself to the better brawler and even had a slight size advantage. The pace was picking up when...oh no! A ref bump...

Diamond was now like a kid in a candy store with no referee to hold him back from cheating. He immediately called for Dawn Marie to throw him a chair. She did as asked. Diamond swings....

NO! Devon Storm's Extremist partner Ace Darling grabs the chair from Diamond as the former college baseball star was in the middle of a home run swing. Now Darling has the chair. He swings....

Diamond ducks...

Oh no! Darling just whacked his own partner! It's like Bret/Taker/HBK at Summerslam '97, only with less spitting. Darling is all "what have I done?" Diamond takes advantage of that momentary lapse in concentration to throw Ace out of the ring. Diamond covers as the groggy ref regains his senses. 1-2-NoNotThisWay!-3. The dastardly Diamond has done it.

Lance Diamond advances to the tournament final.

It is some time before Darling and a gaggle of refs bring Devon Storm back to life and escort him from the ring to the backstage area.

Still To Come

The big one- Dan Severn vs. Doug Gilbert for the NWA Championship on the anniversary of Eddie Gilbert's death. You won't want to miss this...

Five stars for using the word cromulent.

Eddie Gilbert Memorial Show
Part Three: The Main Event

The sweet sound of Neil Diamond heralds the Brother Midnite and "Master Mayhem" Angus Manx. Manx walks around ringside with his collection plate. Business is good tonight. Midnite grabs the mic. Saving souls is risky business, baby. It's also an expensive business, baby. And it can lead to some hard times, baby. But Brother Midnite is no cold blooded sausage maker in it for the money, baby baby. He believes in giving back to the community, baby. And to that end he has commissioned a portrait of the late, great Eddie Gilbert to hang in the NWA Arena. The portrait looks like this with an NWA Championship photoshopped in place of whatever belt "Hot Stuff" is wearing in the pic...



The crowd chants "EDDIE" as Manx makes bank at ringside. The collection plate fills so quickly Brother Midnite is forced to provide a second, which he produces as if by magic.

Donna Summers' Hot Stuff brings out Tommy Gilbert, Missy Hyatt, and Tommy Rich. Eddie's father will be the guest timekeeper, his ex-wife will handle ring announcing duties, and his former tag team partner will be the special guest referee. The trio shake hands with Brother Midnite, but keep their distance from the ominous Angus Manx.

Hot Stuff continues to play as Missy introduces Doug Gilbert to a raucous ovation and "Next World Champ" chants. Doug is wearing the orange tights Eddie often wore as a tribute to his beloved Tennessee Volunteers (the college football team, not the tag team). He puts over everybody associated with all this hoopla while saving his highest level of praise for "his savior" Brother Midnite and Eddie himself.

Missy then introduces NWA World Champion Dan "The Beast" Severn with far less enthusiasm than she mustered for Doug. Severn walks out sans entrance music as per usual. The crowd boos him. This is a pro-Gilbert crowd all the way. Nobody could have predicted the NWA faithful giving Doug Gilbert a near Cheetah Master-level reaction a month ago. Yet here we are. Severn just stands there stoic as ever while the NWA smell a title change. Have to admit there is something in the air tonight...

Dan "The Beast" Severn (c) vs. Doug Gilbert- NWA Championship Match

The bell rings. Wholesome handshake to start the proceedings. NO! Doug leaves Severn hanging and punches him in the face. What the hell?!? I thought he was reformed? Guess not because there's an inside cradle. Whoa! Tommy Rich with the quick count! 1-2-NO! Severn just does get his shoulder up. Severn's stoicism finally cracks just a little. He is clearly perturbed by this unexpected turn of events. Gilbert takes advantage of his confusion with a field goal kick to Severn's crotch. Oh the humanity! Rich pretended not to see it. Severn is writhing in pain. That writhing may have saved him because it cost Doug valuable seconds to maneuver him into a pinning predicament. And Severn lives to find on in spite of another Rich quick count. This is turning into a travesty of justice. The crowd instantly flipped from pro-Doug to a Doug-hating pro-Severn crowd. In fact, this is the most over Severn has ever been in this building. 

It goes like that for a few minutes. Gilbert pulls out every low down dirty trick in the book- chokes, cheats, low blows, punches, Brother Midnite interference. You name it. Doug does it. Severn does what he can just to hang on and survive. Occasionally he will create some breathing room with a suplex out of nowhere, or a flash submission. But those submissions aren't much good when Tommy Rich straight up ignores Doug's taps and then kicks Severn in the head to break his holds. Severn eventually rolls out of the ring in the hope of gaining some valuable rest only to end up having to block a Missy Hyatt mic shot. Good grief! Is there no end to this chicanery? Severn breaks out the Dikembe Mutombo finger wag on Missy as if to say "this is your first and last warning." A minute later Severn tries the other side of the ring where Tommy gets in on the action by swinging the ring bell at him. Now you know where WWF got the idea for Austin/Dude Love in a few months!

Severn had no choice but to go Beast mode in order to survive. It starts when he catches Tommy with an armbar takedown on the floor as the eldest Gilbert went for the aforementioned ring bell shot. Then it was Brother Midnite's turn to feel his wrath. And feel the wrath he did when Severn caught him with a belly to belly suplex on the floor which sent oodles of change flying out of his pockets. Two down. Four to go.

All pretenses having been dropped, Rich joined Dougie to stomp a mudhole in Severn upon his return to the ring. It was two on one while Angus Manx patrolled the aisleway to make sure nobody would interfere on Severn's behalf. A few did try. Those who did were quickly dispatched with a giant brain chop in the style of Great Khali. After Severn foiled Plan A of Rich & Gilbert using an ether soaked rag (really!) to incapacitate him by kicking it away, Rich & Dougie moved on to Plan B- Doug holding Severn for a Rich collection plate shot. But Severn ducked. BONK! Now Dougie is out. Severn went for the pin but of course Rich refused to count. So Severn got up and suplexed him. Luckily he turned around just in the nick of time to avoid Missy swinging for the fences with the glass-framed Eddie Gilbert portrait mentioned earlier. Severn then put Missy over his knee and spanked her to a big pop. It's breaking loose in Tulsa! Pure pandemonium! 

The already loud crowd only gets louder when Angus Manx enters the squared circle by stepping over the top rope to stare down "The Beast." This staredown was like our very own Taz/Sabu from November To Remember '96. They're about to go at it when a bunch of hen a bunch of good guy wrestlers lead by Cheetah Master swarm Manx in an attempt to bring some order to all this chaos. Manx fights most of them off by the way. But they do get him from the ring with some help from. Severn, who then turns around...

Right into a Doug Gilbert portrait shot which shatters the glass frame. BOO! Severn is busted open and seems to be unconscious. Gilbert covers with one foot...

1
2
No? What's this? Gilbert takes his foot off. He points to the sky and says "This one's for Eddie." The crowd boos! Think about this for a second. Doug Gilbert just got the crowd to boo a dead man who most of them idolize. What a heel! He then flips off the booing crowd. Ahh. Now I see. Gilbert wants the Hot Shot. Irish Whip. Hot Shot. NO! Severn blocks it at the last second by cinching in a TIGHT front facelock, repositioning, hitting a Front Chancery Suplex, and rolling through while still maintaining grasp of the front facelock. Gilbert's face turns red as a tomato. Rich's kicks have no effect. Severn has went full Beast Mode! Gilbert is tapping so hard. We'd later find out he's trying to scream "I QUIT" but can't even speak due to the pressure being applied. Rich looks around for guidance. Tommy (still nursing his arm) and Missy (rubbing her butt) both reluctantly nod as Rich, with equal reluctance, calls for the bell. Dan Severn has done it! 

Your winner and STILL NWA Champion Dan "The Beast" Severn

Verdict- Sports Entertainment Spectacular on par with Pitbulls vs. Raven & Richards from ECW or the Best of McMahon. 

Eddie Gilbert Memorial Show Quickie Results

1. The Bald & The Beautiful won a 6 Team Rumble Gauntlet over Handsome Beef, Shane Helms & Shannon Moore, Christian York & Joey Matthews, Tennessee Volunteers, and Lords of the Ring
2. Sean Morley won a Triple Threat Match over Steve Bradley and Don Montoya
3. Kaientai DX defeated Flash Flanagan/Marty Garner/Mark Shrader
4. Venom pinned David Jericho
5. Mike Quackenbush pinned Ace Darling
6. Pitbulls defeated PG 13
7. Sid debuted by squashing Mr. Ooh La La in an impromptu match
8. Steve Corino pinned Inferno Kid
9. Hardy Boys defeated Sex & Violence
10. Cheetah Master pinned Reckless Youth
11. Lance Diamond pinned Devon Storm
12. Dan Severn defeated Doug Gilbert by submission to retain the NWA Championship.

NWA News and Notes from the WKO Newsletter

-The Severn/Gilbert match has generated some criticism with the most notable example being a scathing Bruce Mitchell column in the PW Torch newsletter calling it "disrespectful" and "a disgrace to the memory of Eddie Gilbert." Baker and Doug Gilbert responded with Doug saying the angle was "99% his idea" and claiming Eddie would have rolled his eyes at a more stereotypical over the top maudlin tribute. Doug decided a far better homage to Eddie would be orchestrating a fake face turn since Eddie was the one who popularized that booking technique in the first place. Doug and Baker couldn't be happier with how things turned out.

-The Eddie Gilbert Memorial Show kicked off a busy stretch which will see NWA: KOTI run four shows in a six week period. Inside sources are saying this will make or break the promotion. Baker decided to go big in a hurry for reasons which will become apparent when you watch WWF tv this spring. 

-Baker was over the moon with how Sid was received and plans on introducing more mainstream superstars with two names already being thrown around for the upcoming slate of shows. 

-He does plan on streamlining a bit once this stretch of four shows in six weeks is over. He also expresses some regret about stuffing these early cards so full that they suffer from bloat. Tough cuts will be made in the near future. But he assures us that does not mean those wrestlers will never return. 

-He's been using a lot of wrestlers from the North Carolina/Tennessee/Kentucky and Ontario areas because it makes logistical sense to book a lot of wrestlers from the same areas since it cuts down on travel costs for both the promotion and the boys. Right now the plan is to do the same for the Midwest in the spring or summer and hopefully the West Coast by this fall.

-David Jericho suffered a serious injury and will be out of action for the foreseeable future.

-Wally Yamaguchi has been brought in as the manager/spokesman for the only DX that matters. His first order of business was to decide which members of Kaientai DX will enter into the tag title tournament. He chose Togo & Teioh. 

-The upcoming tag title tournament will feature only 15 teams with The Purists (Diamond & Corino) receiving a first round bye due to having held all the other tag titles in the region. Leave it to Reckless Youth to say out loud what all the other babyfaces were thinking when he channeled his inner Bobby Heenan by complaining about "On The Take" Tunney. 

Crowning A Champion 2/28/98
*Card subject to change

Lance Diamond vs. Cheetah Master- KOTI Title Tournament Final
Dan Severn (c) vs. Sean Morley- NWA Championship Match
Sid Vicious vs. Steve Corino
Battle Royal featuring Doug Gilbert, Venom, Steve Bradley, Don Montoya, Shoichi Funaki, Flash Flanagan, Marty Garner, Mark Shrader, and the debuting "Master Mayhem" Angus Manx
PG 13 vs. Lords of the Ring- Tag Title Tournament
Hardy Boys vs. Christian York & Joey Matthews- Tag Title Tournament
Pitbulls vs. Death & Destruction- Tag Title Tournament
Black T-Shirt Squad vs. Shane Helms & Shannon Moore- Tag Title Tournament
Kaientai DX vs. Handsome Beef- Tag Title Tournament
Sex & Violence vs. Tennessee Volunteers- Tag Title Tournament
Extremists vs. The Bald & The Beautiful- Tag Title Tournament
*Mr. Ooh La La will also be appearing

I loved the fake face turn, and what little I do know about Eddie Gilbert... Seems like something he would've loved. Fuck Bruce Mitchell!

Crowning A Champion
2/28/98- Philly Suburbs

1. Pitbulls defeated Death & Destruction (Frank "The Tank" Parker & "Ruthless" Roger Anderson) with a Superbomb to advance in the Tag Title Tournament. If you squint really hard you could see this as an indie version of Road Warriors vs. Andersons. Which makes sense given this is an indie promotion.

2. PG 13 defeated Lords of the Ring (Rob Conway & Nick Dinsmore) following two of their patented double teams to advance in the Tag Title Tournament. This was slightly less heated than most PG One Three encounters due to the greenness and blandness of their opponents.

*Backstage segment where Steve Corino implores Lance Diamond to once again loan "The King of Softcore" his "good luck charm" Dawn Marie for his upcoming match with Sid. Diamond refuses, saying he'll need Dawn 100% focused on helping him beat Cheetah Master to become the inaugural KOTI Champion. Corino pouts. So does Dawn. Methinks she was looking forward to once again being in close proximity to Sid...

3. Sex & Violence (Sexton Hardcastle & Christian Cage) defeated Tennessee Volunteers (Reno Riggins & Steven Dunn) with a Stackerplex on Dunn. Crowd was desperate to finally see a Renoplex, but those darn Canadian blondes kept interrupting Reno's rather frequent attempts. This Renoplex is starting to become a crutch for the Vols...

*A rather haggard looking Mr. Ooh La La came out for a very slow, very painful strip tease. He's clearly still feeling the effects of Sid's rude beatdown from two weeks ago. His bad luck continued as the big Battle Royal was up next. Unfortunately for Ooh, Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D Minor (Dracula's theme) brought out "Master Mayhem" Angus Manx. Pretty sure Mr. La La soiled himself. That, coupled with his injuries, made him too slow to leave the ring. He begged, but the merciless Manx was not having it. And it would take the medics to remove Mr. Ooh La La after a big brain chop from "Master Mayhem." 

4. Doug Gilbert & "Master Mayhem" Angus Manx co-won a 10 Man Battle Royal over Venom, Steve Bradley, Don Montoya, Flash Flanagan, Shoichi Funaki, Mark Shrader, Inferno Kid, and Marty Garner. Manx grabbed Shrader & Garner in a double Clawhold right off the bat while everybody else fought. "Champagne" and "The Shark" were soon eliminated by the giant. The rest of the match saw Gilbert hide behind "Master Mayhem" while the 7 footer cleaned house on anybody who came close. Other wrestlers did other things. Venom was the only wrestler to even phase Manx which drew a big pop from the crowd. The big man never did go down though. Bradley, Flanagan, and Inferno Kid had a few crowd pleasing spots while Funaki & Montoya went at it like arch rivals.  Manx dished out brain chops and clawholds like they were going out of style. Inferno Kid & Funaki were victimized by his much-hyped HEART OF GOLD finisher.  Brother Midnite entered the ring after Manx eliminated Venom down the stretch leaving just Doug and the giant. Midnite refused to have his two charges fight and declared them co-winners much to the consternation of literally everybody else in the building. 

5. The Extremists (Ace Darling & Devon Storm) defeated The Bald and the Beautiful (Jimmy Cicero & Julio Sanchez) w/ Cueball Carmichael with a Double Superkick to advance in the Tag Title Tournament. The Extremists had been plagued by miscommunication, some would even say dissention, at our last few shows, but seemed to put that all behind them by wrestling like a well oiled machine here. They did, in fact, have better teamwork than Cicero & Sanchez who drew laughs and "You Messed Up" chants when an attempted Midnight Express went terribly wrong. 

6. Kaientai DX (Dick Togo & Men's Teioh) w/ Wally Yamaguchi defeated Handsome Beef ("Handsome" Frank Stalletto & "Beef Stew" Lou Marconi) with an intricate series of Midnight Expresses followed by a top rope Togo senton on Stalletto to advance in the Tag Title Tournament. Crowd was solidly behind Handsome Beef, but their support would not be enough to overcome the teamwork of Kaientai and their willingness to be EVIL.

7. Dan "The Beast" Severn retained the NWA Championship when "Steel" Sean Morley submitted to the Rings of Severn. This was a misfire. It was a slow, technical match which never got out of first gear and even received some dreaded "BORING" chants. Morley's technically sound, yet mechanical offense lacked fire, while Severn's stoicism often comes across more like apathy. It's becoming clear that Severn either needs to be in there with an all time great like Terry Funk, an all time heat magnet like Doug Gilbert, or needs all the hoopla associated with those matches to get over with this crowd. 

*So we gave him some bells and whistles by having the legendary multiple time NWA Champion Harley Race endorse the current NWA Champ. That helped a little. Race will be on hand to award the winner of Cheetah Master/Lance Diamond with the new NWA King of the Independents Championship. Race goes on to introduce 5 time NWA Referee of the Year Tommy Young as the special guest official for tonight's main event. Crowd enjoyed cheering for the two legends in this segment.

8. Hardy Boys defeated the Hardy Boys lite duo of Christian York & Joey Matthews with an Event Omega on Matthews to advance in the Tag Title Tournament. This was another state of the art match from the Hardys. They're over like rover and can do no wrong at this point.

*The Spice Girls Wannabe plays over the PA system. It plays for a really long time before "The King of Softcore" Steve Corino finally comes out. He's on crutches accompanied by a Ricky Morton lookalike. A tearful Corino is devastated, but he won't be able to wrestle Sid tonight. You see, he just saved a grandmother and her grandchildren from a burning building. But when that greedy granny said "what about my cat?" Corino heroically went back INTO THE FIRE~! to grab Pussums. The fire took out the stairwell and he was forced to jump out the 10th story window. The cat is fine, but Corino broke his leg in 11 places and won't be able to compete tonight. He's very sorry since he was looking forward to kicking Sid's butt in front of all these great fans. But he'd never let you down! So he recruited a good friend of his to take his place- "Confederate Currency" Chris Hamrick. Nobody is buying Corino's b.s. We just saw him backstage with Lance Diamond on the brand new NWATron!

Scorpions China White brings out Sid and he is furious.

9. Sid Vicious destroys "Confederate Currency" Chris Hamrick in an epic squash which sees Hamrick outdo even the great Lee Scott by taking crazy bump after crazy bump. A Powerbomb mercifully ends things. SID! SID! SID! SID! SID! But wait! Corino wallops Sid with a crutch shot. He was fine the entire time! What a jerk! But Sid no sells! SID! SID! SID! SID! The bell rings....

10. Steve Corino just about dies at the hands of Sid Vicious who toys with "The King of Softcore" for a few minutes before pinning him with one finger after THREE Powerbombs. Oh the humanity! Oh well. Can't say Corino didn't deserve it. SID! SID! SID! SID! SID!

11. Black T-Shirt Squad (Reckless Youth & Mike Quackenbush) defeat Shane Helms & Shannon Moore to advance in the Tag Title Tournament. This was right up there with the Hardys match in its state of the artness. This was wrestling at the speed of light with Youth & Quack seemingly inventing moves as they went along while Helms & Moore kept up with them in terms of the rapid pace and throwing in some cool moves of their own. 

*Harley Race & Tommy Young are out to lend gravitas to the main event. That gravitas will only increase when most of the wrestlers come out to watch said main event with the good guys on one side and the bad guys on the other.

Jesus Christ Superstar brings out "Superstar" Lance Diamond and Dawn Marie to a chorus of boos. The anticipation builds...
And the NWA Arena erupts when Welcome To The Jungle brings out Cheetah Master. For once Cheetah is all business. No walking around slapping fans with every single fan in the building. He heads straight to the ring. The arch-rivals who have been feuding in the region for years have a stare down. The tension is so thick you can cut it with a knife. Crowd is 100% behind the Master of Cheetahs. At last the bell rings...

12. Cheetah Master vs. Lance Diamond w/ Dawn Marie- NWA King of the Independents Title Tournament Final

It starts with a slugfest. Cheetah's lefts vs. Diamond's rights. A great roar is heard when Diamond goes down. He rolls to the safety of the floor. He rubs his jaw. Then Dawn Marie rubs it for him. 

Back in the ring Diamond tries a different tactic- pure wrestling. And it works! Diamond is clearly the superior man on the mat. But things once again go Cheetah's way after he fights to his feet. Cheetah hits a leapfrog, arm drag, hip toss, dropkick, bodyslam, and back body drop before Diamond again rolls to the safety of the floor. But even the floor isn't safe when you're in there with the only Cheetah that flies! Cheetah with a HUGE Undertaker dive....

But Diamond, ever the thinking man's wrestler, had it scouted. Cheetah crashes and burns! A hush falls over the concerned crowd. Diamond points to his head while feeling awfully good about himself. Now we go to school...

Diamond methodically works Cheetah over for a few minutes, though referee Tommy Young does spoil his plans somewhat since the 5 time NWA Referee of the Year is too smart to fall for Diamond's patented trick of grabbing the ropes for extra leverage while applying holds. It eventually leads to a shoving match between Diamond & Young. Young shoves Diamond right into a Cheetah rollup. 1-2-NO! And Diamond is quickly back on the offensive with his version of Three Amigos where he hits two rolling suplexes rolled into a front suplex. That gets another two count and Diamond follows that up with his Northern Lights Suplex that has defeated many men. 1-2-NO! Cheetah just does inch his shoulder up. But Diamond is feeling it. He's so close. Like a shark who smells blood, he goes right into the Perfect Lights Suplex which has never been kicked out of...

1-2-NO! Well, Cheetah didn't exactly "kick" out. Pretty sure that's impossible. But he did escape with a left hook to Diamond's gut at the last millisecond. The "CHEETAH" chants grew louder with each kickout. And they reached a fever pitch as Diamond showed real frustration for the first time.

But he still had one last weapon in his arsenal- the Northern Lights Superplex. He perched Cheetah on top and attempted his coup de grace. But Cheetah showed signs of life by fighting back. And a big left knocked Diamond down to the canvas. Cheetah did the Snuka pose! Cheetah Fly Splash!....

NO! That dastardly Dawn Marie hooked Cheetah's leg. Cheetah crashes and burns once more. Diamond with a la majistral cradle! 1-2-NO! Cheetah escapes again. Diamond is like "what does it take to put this guy away?" He once again looks for the Northern Lights Superplex. Cheetah fights back. So does Diamond. It's high drama high above the ring....

When Cheetah hits Diamond with an UNBELIEVABLE Super Tornado DDT! Diamond is out. The crowd is feeling it. "CHEETAH! CHEETAH! CHEETAH!" But Cheetah takes forever to get up. And when he does he opts to go back up top rather than cover Diamond. Cheetah is perched up top. Superfly taunt. Cheetah Fly Splash....

YES! This time he leapt over the swiping hand of Dawn Marie....

Cheetah hangs in the air for what feels like an eternity...

The fans collectively hold their breath...

The wrestlers at ringside numbering over two dozen do the same...

And they see Cheetah land full force on Lance Diamond!

1...
2...
THREE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Cheetah Master has done it! He has just defeated Lance Diamond to become the first NWA King of the Independents Champion. The great Harley Race presents him with the belt as the crowd chants "CHEETAH! CHEETAH! CHEETAH!

And that's how the live show ends...

But there is an Easter Egg on the taped version....

Brother Midnite is flanked by Doug Gilbert & Angus Manx backstage. Enjoy it while you can because we're cashing in, baby. Battle Royal winners Dougie Baby and Big Angus are bringing me all the belts, baby. In two weeks Dougie is gonna beat Cheater Master to become King of the Indies and "Master Mayhem" is going to destroy Danny Boy to become NWA Champion and there's nothing you can do about it, baby. Because I AM The Cold. Blooded. Sausage. Maker. Hahahahahaha.

Quickie Results

1. Pitbulls defeated Death & Destruction in a Tag Team Tournament Match
2. PG 13 defeated Lords of the Ring in a Tag Team Tournament Match
3. Sex & Violence defeated Tennessee Volunteers in a Tag Team Tournament Match
4. Doug Gilbert & Angus Manx co-won a 10 Man Battle Royal
5. The Extremists defeated The Bald & The Beautiful in a Tag Team Tournament Match
6. Kaientai DX defeated Handsome Beef in a Tag Team Tournament Match
7. NWA Champion Dan Severn beat Sean Morley by submission to retain his title
8. Hardy Boys defeated Christian York & Joey Matthews in a Tag Title Tournament Match
9. Sid Vicious squashed Chris Hamrick
10. Sid Vicious squashed Steve Corino
11. Black T-Shirt Squad defeated Shane Helms & Shannon Moore in a Tag Title Tournament Match
12. Cheetah Master pinned Lance Diamond in a tournament final to become King of the Independents Champion

Next Show: 3/14/98

Pitbulls vs. PG 13- Tag Title Tournament Match
Kaientai DX vs. Black T-Shirt Squad- Tag Title Tournament Match
Hardy Boys vs. Sex & Violence- Tag Title Tournament Match
Purists vs. Extremists- Tag Title Tournament Match
Cheetah Master (c) vs. Doug Gilbert- King of the Indies Title Match
Dan Severn (c) vs. Angus Manx- NWA Championship Match
Commissioner Jack Tunney will be on hand to make a major announcement
And more!

I'm so digging this. It feels like the spiritual successor but predecessor to OG #NWAPowerrr.

Two Minutes To Midnite
3/14/98
Part One

1. The crowd ERUPTS when Handsome Beef finally score their first win by upsetting Shane Helms & Shannon Moore in a match with future bookings on the line. 2/4ths of the Badstreet faction seemed to have the match firmly under control with their Kaientai lite Midnight Expressing until missing stereo Halo Splashes. "Handsome" Frank Stalletto clotheslined Helms over the top rope and turned around to aid "Beef Stew" Lou Marconi in hitting a Double Goozle outta nowhere on Moore. The crowd was feeling it even before Marconi covered Moore for the shocking 1-2-3. Handsome Beef celebrated with a hearty hug before triumphantly parading through the adoring crowd hugging the male fans and shaking hands with the female ones as The Spinners Mighty Love added to the festive atmosphere. A shocked Shane Helms just stared at Moore in a state of disbelief while young Shannon appeared to be fighting back tears.
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*Our primitive website announced a pair of Do Or Die Triple Threat Matches for this show. The gimmick is the two winners will earn future title shots while the losers are likely to miss out on future bookings.
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2. Venom won a Do Or Die Triple Threat Match over Shoichi Funaki and Don Montoya. This was largely a Venom showcase. He threw Kaientai's Funaki around with multiple Powerbomb variations and managed to slip in his textbook vertical suplex while also managing to keep big Don Montoya off balance with biggish guy high flying. Finishing stretch started when Venom impressively muscled the rather rotund Montoya up to deliver a Venom Bomb (Razor's Edge). But OMEGA's resident monster wasn't done yet. He went up top to finish Montoya once and for all with a high risk maneuver. But wait! Funaki is finally up from an earlier Awesome Bomb(!) to the floor. The still groggy Funaki meets Venom up top. Slugfest....won by Venom. OH MY GOD! Venom just Marty-on-Skip style top rope Powerbombed Funaki onto Montoya! The three count on Montoya is academic after that. Uh oh. What's this? Venom gestures that he wants a belt. Just what belt he's after remains to be seen... 
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*Shane Helms is chewing Shannon Moore out backstage while Joey Matthews looks on with a smug smirk and Christian York does his best to console the future Moore-on. Moore is taking Helms' abuse without a fight. He knows he messed up big time. Helms wraps it up by saying "the wrestling business might not be for you" and "maybe you should come back when you finish high school." Moore seems to concur. A smug Matthews vows to "show them how it's done" while York gives Moore a pat on the back and tells him "it'll be alright."
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3. Christian York & Joey Matthews defeat Tennessee Volunteers. The Vols came close a few times, and the crowd was feeling another upset, but lightning would not strike twice. Reno Riggins' attempted Renoplex on Matthews was interrupted by a York Superkick on the third do-si-do. Steven Dunn just could not fend York off long enough for Reno to hit Matthews with his incredibly contrived Renoplex. The members of Badstreet followed it up with with a double team elevated DDT known as The Snapshot to pin Riggins for the win.

Wait? What's this? BOOOOO! Post-match sees Dunn turn on Riggins with a sick Romanian Bulldog! Oh the humanity! Dunn grabs the mic. Why did he ever team with a LOSER like Reno Riggins in the first place? Has Reno Riggins EVER won a singles match? Dunn thinks not! Dunn is TIRED of carrying his sorry butt. Steven Dunn is a SUPERSTAR. He was in WWF! Where he actually WON MATCHES! And HAD MUSIC! Not like that JOBBER Reno Riggins! Steven Dunn was involved in one of the most memorable moments in WCW HISTORY! Steven Dunn competed in AWF where he WRESTLED IN ROUNDS! And you know what? The Renoplex isn't even a real move! Oh yeah. He went there! Not since Santa Claus has so much noise been made about something that doesn't even exist. Yeah, that's right kiddies. The Renoplex isn't real. And neither is Santa Claus! Bwahahahahaha! Crowd is booing so hard right now. A few fans actually tried getting in the ring to fight Dunn. Good thing the goons at Atlas Security were on hand to prevent an incident.
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4. Steve Bradley wins a Do Or Die Three Way Dance over Sean Morley and Inferno Kid. Two shows ago it was Morley swooping in to steal a 3 Way win over Bradley. This time the roles were reversed with Bradley stealing a 3 Way win from Morley. "Steel" Sean had Inferno pinned after his Superfly Splash (is it just me or does everybody in this promotion do a Superfly Splash?) but Bradley kicked Morley out of the ring with a stiff basement dropkick and hit a split legged moonsault on Inferno the win. This match is also notable for the being the birth of Bradley's "Who's Your Daddy" nickname. He shouted "Who's Your Daddy?" after hitting double Japanese armdrags on his opponents and the amused fans just ran with it.
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*Backstage with Reno Riggins who is still selling the effects of Steven Dunn's Romanian Bulldog with an icepack on his head. For the record, Dunn really did hit the Romanian Bulldog one time in a 1996 episode of AWF tv. Anyway, Reno is FIRED UP. He ain't no jobber! Well Dunn SUCKED! And so did AWF! And so does wrestling in rounds! And happening to be in the ring when Scott Hall showed up that one time means NOTHING! Oh, and the Renoplex is real! It's darn real! This town isn't big enough for the both of them. So in two weeks Riggins wants Dunn in a Loser Leaves Town Match. Yeah, MAYBE Reno Riggins never has won a singles match. But he knows he can so long as he has the support of these great people in the Greater Philadelphia area. And maybe, just maybe, he'll finally hit the Renoplex after a decade of tease...

Dunn would later accept Reno's challenge. 
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*The Bald and the Beautiful are out next. Readers of our primitive website know they issued an open challenge for this event. And the fans in attendance now know it as well. Who can it be...?

Aww yeah! It's SID! "SID! SID! SID! SID!"

But wait. Whoa! Hold up there, big guy. Sorry, Sid. You see, the open challenge was for any TAG TEAM to wrestle "Wiseguy" Jimmy Cicero & Julio Sanchez. Sid is big and bad. No doubt. But one man, even one as big and bad as Sid, does NOT constitute a tag team. Therefore, Cueball Carmichael, Esquire has no choice but to refuse Sid's open challenge. Nothing personal, but rules are rules. Crowd boos.

Yet Sid is surprisingly calm. He had a feeling "Screwball" would try something like this. Sid is no dummy. He has half the brain you do! You want a tag team match? Fine! Sid has the perfect partner in mind...

Cicero and Sanchez are becoming increasingly nervous. Carmichael tries to reassure them by reminding them the only unbooked wrestler backstage is Mr. Ooh La La, and he barely counts as a wrestler. Yet Sanchez are Cicero are still "But we'd still have to wrestle Sid! Yikes!" 

But nah. It's not Ooh. Sid has somebody better in mind. An old friend he invited backstage to watch the show. This man is a former WWF Intercontinental Champion who made the Top 5 in the PWI 500 a few years back...

Uh oh. Now even Cueball Carmichael is beginning to feel mighty uncomfortable. Sid continues...

His old friend from The People's Posse...

AHMED JOHNSON!!!!! HUGE pop! And a HUGE acquisition. Ahmed was considered the future of the business a mere 18 months ago. He was Goldberg before Goldberg even a thing. And the crowd recognizes this with huge "Ahmed" chants.

5. The People's Posse squashes The Bald and the Beautiful in under a minute. This one is getting the full play by play treatment. Sid & Ahmed rush the ring. Sid chokeslams Julio Sanchez as Ahmed hits Jimmy Cicero with a spinebuster at the same time. Fist bump. Sid powerbombs Sanchez and covers with one finger as Ahmed simultaneously hits Cicero with the Pearl River Plunge. Referee counts the double pin. 1-2-3 done twice. Another fist bump. The People's Posse are your winners!

*The three remaining members of Badstreet are backstage. Shane Helms compliments Christian York & Joey Matthews on their victory in a backhanded manner. "Congratulations! You guys just beat a jobber and one half of Well Dunn. VERY impressive!" York thanks Helms in a sincere manner, while Matthews is all "LOL at least we won." Helms didn't like that and muttered something about "sending the kid back to high school." Anyway, Helms is impressed with Sid. It gives him an idea. But that can wait. Because he has a more pressing idea he wants to share right now. Helms thinks it's high time Badstreet made an impact. Joey Matthews is like "Bro, WE just made an impact." Helms brushes that aside. Breaking up the Vols is all well and good, but Helms has something bigger in mind....something that will permanently put Badstreet on the map. Matthews is intrigued while York has already wandered off to stare at himself in a mirror.
===============
6. Vampire Warrior made his NWA: KOTI debut a successful one by defeating "Confederate Currency" Chris Hamrick with Barry Windham's old Impant DDT which he calls The Impaler. Hamrick took the Impaler right on his head and also took Vamp's handful of suplexes in the most hurty ways possible while also finding time to slip in his signature Hamrick Bump. Post-match sees Vampire Warrior stand over the fallen Hamrick and perform some bizarre ritual which culminates in Vamp dumping a chalice full of some mysterious thick red liquid on the unconscious Hamrick. The enigmatic Vampire Warrior is definitely one to keep an eye on. He embodies the independent spirit by having wrestled all over the world in his still young career. 
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*Venom and Steve Bradley are backstage for an uncomfortable joint interview. Both men want to "cash in" their Do Or Die Triple Threat victories against King of the Independents Champion Cheetah Master. They almost come to blows when The Champ himself arrives. Cheetah Master vowed to be a fighting champ the fans can be proud of. So he'll tell ya what. You guys both won Triple Threat Matches tonight. So IF Cheetah can get by that dastardly Doug Gilbert tonight, and he knows he can with the fans backing him, then he will put his NWA KOTI Championship on the line against Venom & Bradley in two weeks in another Triple Threat Match. Venom & Bradley are more than happy to agree, with Bradley in particular being amazed at what an idiot this Cheetah Master is. It's worth noting Doug Gilbert agreed to none of this should he win the title tonight...
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7. Pitbulls vs. PG 13- Tag Title Tournament Match

First 99% of this was crowd pleasing stuff with the beloved Pitbulls throwing around the hated PG 13. The only offense PG 13 landed was a pair of punches to the Pitbulls' rock solid abs at the start of the match. All this did was hurt the hands of PG 13. The 'Bulls had the match won several times, but chose to keep inflecting punishment because it was fun and easy and the crowd liked it and the Pitbulls are really just big bullies at heart. But their hubris would come back to bite 'em in the butt... 

The Pitbulls were finally about to wrap it up with a Superbomb on Wolfie D. Referee Mike Kehner admonished Pitbull #1 for all this overkill after he handed D off to Pitbull #2 for the Superbomb. JC Ice, who was press slammed to the floor two minutes earlier, took that moment to strike with a hubcap shot the head of PB2. Wolfie had just enough wherewithal to instinctively hit a top rope frankensteiner on his dazed opponent. Kehner turned around and counted a shocking 1-2-3.

PG 13 are your winners in the second HUGE upset of the night.

PB1 was looking the other way and raised his arms in victory when heard Kehner's hand slap the mat a third time. It wasn't until the ring announcer announced PG 13 as the winners that PB1 realized what had happened. And he was FURIOUS!

The Pitbulls took out their frustration with a Superbomb on poor Mike Kehner which actually drew a smattering of boos. 
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*Sid & Ahmed are celebrating in the back with more sweating and shouting and fist bumping. Ahmed thanks Sid for bringing him here. He feels reborn. Sid is like "See, I told you it's actually FUN here. Not like the place we both left..." Ahmed agrees. He enjoys teaming with Sid and all, but he's a singles wrestler at heart, and what he really wants is another singles championship. Sid admits to feeling the same way. It all leads to a friendly argument about who would win a match between the two. One thing leads to another and Sid vs. Ahmed in a HUGE #1 Contenders Match is signed for our next show. In terms of star power this frankly blows away any other match in the promotion's short history.
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8. Black T-Shirt Squad pulls off the third huge upset of the night by defeating Kaientai DX w/Wally Yamaguchi in a Tag Title Tournament Match. This was 15 minutes of state of the art wrestling with all four men flying around and exchanging submission holds at the speed of light. It was a seesaw battle with the Midnight Expresses coming fast and furious. But it wasn't just an actionfest since KDX are much too good to ever forget they're bad guys. After an incredible amount of nearfalls Mike Quackenbush trapped Men's Teioh in the first ever Chikara Special right after Reckless Youth took Dick Togo out of the equation with the umpteenth dive of the match. The crowd roared when they saw Teioh unexpectedly tap. If Youth & Quack weren't already made men, they definitely are now. This one would get major play in the magazines. 

Quack gets on the mic after the match to put Kaientai over as a major influence on Reckless and himself. WWF & WCW have always bored us. "Because they suck!" Reckless chimes in for the first and only time as Quack continues giving KDX the verbal blowjob. Because WWF & WCW bored them, they got into Japanese wrestling, and were blown away by the things Kaientai did. Half the stuff Quack & Youth do is just recycled Kaientai moves (Reckless makes a gagging motion). It was an honor just to be in the ring Kaientai. Quack then admits he never thought they'd actually beat them (Reckless rolls his eyes this time). "Domo arigato" says Quack. He bows to Kaientai. Even Reckless manages a half hearted bow of respect. They then shake hands to the cheers of the crowd....

Until Kaientai jumps them from behind because they're EVIL~! Hahahahaha. Crowd boos. Kaientai flips them off. The best.
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*Intermission

Still To Come

Cheetah Master (c) vs. Doug Gilbert- King of the Indies Championship Match
Hardy Boys vs. Sex & Violence- Tag Title Tournament Match
Dan Severn (c) vs. "Master Mayhem" Angus Manx- NWA Championship Match
*Mr. Ooh La La makes an appearance
Purists vs. Extremists- Tag Title Tournament Match

Fucking STOKED for Sid vs. Ahmed, and really either of them subsequently facing Severn.

Two Minutes To Midnite
3/14/98
Part Two

*Handsome Beef are backstage in the good guy locker room continuing to celebrate their first victory. "Beef Stew" Lou Marconi is enjoying a hearty bowl of beef stew because how else would you expect him to celebrate? "Handsome" Frank Stalletto is also there...looking handsome. The Pitbulls barge in still smarting from their shocking loss to PG 13. Handsome Beef invites them to join the celebration and goes to greet them with a pair of hugs. The Pitbulls are not amused. They greet the hugs with punches! BOO! Adding insult to injury, the Pitbulls stuff "Beef Stew" Lou and "Handsome" Frank into lockers. Not cool!

The Pitbulls have officially crossed the line. Attacking a referee in the heat of battle is one thing. I don't approve, and the fine they'll undoubtedly have to pay will be justified, but a part of me does understand. People occasionally lose their cool in the heat of the moment. It happens. I get it. But attacking Handsome Beef like that after they offered hugs and hearty beef stew is a step too far And stuffing the poor lads into lockers is several steps too far. The Pitbulls are officially jerks.

9. Cheetah Master (c) vs. Doug Gilbert w/ Brother Midnite & Angus Manx: NWA King of the Independents Title Match

Dougie is out first with his entourage. He is still using Hot Stuff for his theme. Nobody is dropping any coins into the collection plate at this point. The crowd roars as Welcome To The Jungle brings out Cheetah Master. It plays twice from start to finish as Cheetah meets and greets all his Little Cheetahs. Whoa! Commissioner Jack Tunney is here. What's this? Angus Manx has been banned from ringside! HUGE development. Tunney explains Manx is officially a wrestler now which supersedes his old Bodyguard License. You can't be both a wrestler and a bodyguard. It just doesn't work that way. Manx threatens doom by adjusting his black glove. Gilbert & Midnite hem and haw. But Tunney's decision is final. Angus Manx is escorted to the back by half a dozen members of NWA staff as the crowd chants "Na na na na. Na na na na. Hey hey hey. Goodbye."

We're underway. Cheetah shows he's the stronger man by winning a test of strength. Cheetah then proves to also be the quicker man by flustering Gilbert with leapfrogs, drop downs, arm drags, and hiptosses. Now they go to the mat. While he'll never be confused with Dean Malenko, Cheetah gets the better of that exchange too. A desperate Gilbert finally resorts to fisticuffs. Only to get knocked on his keister by a big Cheetah left! But Gilbert has the last laugh after an unclean break. Cheetah hits harder, but Gilbert's willingness to bend the rules allows him to take over. Gilbert works Cheetah over with more unclean breaks, chokes, and general chicanery. Brother Midnite also gets involved on a few occasions. The crowd gives a seemingly weary Cheetah life with their loudest "CHEETAH" chant of the evening. Cheetah fights back only to duck his head too early on an attempted back body drop. DDT by Gilbert! The Cheetah-loving crowd collectively holds their breath until Cheetah kicks out at 2.7. Cheetah would soon knock Gilbert over the top rope with a clothesline. Cheetah takes flight with an Undertaker dive....

But Gilbert sidesteps it. Cheetah crashes and burns! Now the crowd is getting nervous. Dougie hits a piledriver for 2.8 and a Hot Shot for 2.9. He's getting closer and closer. Until Cheetah....Cheetahs Up! The crowd is really feeling it now as "CHEETAH" chants once again echo throughout the building. But wait? What's that dastardly Brother Midnite doing? He's stuffing his mask full of coins! That's what! Midnite is up on the apron. Gilbert goes to ram Cheetah's head into Midnite's masked forehead full of coins. NO! Cheetah reverses at the last millisecond! Dougie and Midnite bump heads. Midnite falls to the floor. Gilbert TIMBERS...in perfect position for the Cheetah Splash! 1-2-3! Cheetah Master has done it! He retains the NWA King of the Indies Championship!

Winner: Cheetah Master

*The three remaining members of Badstreet attack Kaientai DX backstage. So random! But we soon find out the logic behind this unproved assault when Shane Helms tells the camera "I told you it was time we made an impact."

10. Hardy Boys wrestle Sex & Violence to a 20 minute time limit draw in a Tag Title Tournament Match meaning both teams are unfortunately eliminated from the tournament. This was another show stealing barnburner from these tremendous young tag teams marred only by the presence of an interfering Sean Morley down the stretch. With his S&V mates in trouble, Morley came out to offer assistance around the 18 minute mark as Jeff Hardy was about to finish Christian Cage off with a top rope maneuver. The youngest Hardy Boy instead opted to wipe Morley out with a high risk dive to the floor before "Steel" Sean could pull any funny business. Hardy did just that, but sadly hurt himself in the process. This left Matt Hardy alone with Cage & Sexton Hardcastle. The Canadian blondes went deep into their arsenal of Midnight Expresses, but the eldest Hardy showed extreme toughness and heart by managing to hold on for the final two minutes. NOBODY was pleased with the time limit draw finish, but at least the Hardy Boys didn't lose.

Matt grabbed the mic after the match. This town isn't big enough for both teams. Right now they're tied up at 1-1-1. Matt proposes a winner take all rubber match where the losing team LEAVES TOWN! Whoa! Bombshell!

Cage & Hardcastle look ready to accept when Morley whispers something in Hardcastle's ear. Hardcastle accepts the challenge on behalf of his team, but he's throwing in a little wrinkle. Because Morley pinned a Hardy for S&V's lone victory in a six man tag match, and since Cage got pinned by a Hardy last month (no offense, Christian!), Hardcastle proposes the match be Hardy Boys vs. Hardcastle & Morley rather than Hardcastle & Cage. Matt & Jeff are fine with this. So in two weeks it will be the Hardy Boys vs. Hardcastle & Morley in a Losers Leave Town Match!

*Oh brother. It's Mr. Ooh La La. He's in a body cast and looking rougher than ever after suffering a cruel & unusual beating at the hands of Angus Manx two weeks ago. Yet he "shows the heart of a warrior by coming out here to give the people what they want"...in his own French-by-way-of-Delaware words.  He goes into the most pained striptease in recorded history when this theme hits...



OH MY GOD! The greatest WCW Television Champion of all time LORD STEVEN REGAL is in the NWA Arena!!!!!!!



^But the only person actually doing that in the building is longtime Lord Steven Regal fanboy Baker....secretly...under the announce table. Everybody else in attendance boos His Lordship. Crowd is split in their Regal hatred with 45% chanting "USA," another 45% chanting "Regal Sucks," and the smark contingent comprising 10% chanting "Goldberg." Yet it's the "Goldberg" chants which ultimately win out. Not because most people know anything about the recent Regal/Goldberg incident, but because the people love Bill Goldberg.

Regal grabs the mic and holds it in the classy style of Damien Sandow. His Lordship has been to some miserable cesspools in this jumped up rogue colony over the past five years, but this place takes the cake. He then steals Bret Hart's line about how if the United States were to have an enema this is where you'd stick the hose. (And with that the "USA" chants supersede the chants of "Goldberg") The buzz for this promotion was so strong that Regal even managed to hear about it in WCW. He decided to leave "Wheel Chair Wrestling" behind because he was tired of carrying greenhorns while watching talentless old men hog all the glory. He decided to make his way to what he'd heard was the home of real wrestling. What he imagined to be catch as catch can style in the manner first described by the Honorable Ninth Marquis of Queensbury. But Regal is disappointed. He points at Ooh. This...THIS is what you Yanks consider real wrestling! Ooh takes offense to Regal besmirching him. Regal tells him to watch it, sunshine, because the bloody French are the only thing His Lordship loathes more than the infernal Yanks. He gives Ooh a choice. Leave his ring right now or face his wrath. Ooh opts to exit Regal's ring. Regal makes a crack about how the French are still cheese eating surrender monkeys before inviting himself to the commentary booth to see if someone, anyone in this wretched bush league bingo hall outfit is worthy of getting in the ring with His Lordship....

11. Dan Severn (c) vs. "Master Mayhem" Angus Manx w/ Brother Midnite- NWA Championship Match

Midnite is still woozy from his earlier meeting of the minds with Doug Gilbert. Severn and Lord Steven Regal have an interesting pre-match staredown. The crowd is into this from the outset which hasn't always been the case with Severn matches.

Severn shows no fear of the very large Manx. Quick go behind by Danny Boy. German Suplex. NO! Severn couldn't even budge his opponent. Wow. First time I have ever seen Severn fail to execute a suplex. Manx separates Severn's hands and flings him backwards with an Andre-style butt attack. Undeterred, Severn comes right back at the giant for a fireman's carry takedown. But that too fails. Manx with some Demolition-style clubbering. 

And it goes like that for a while. Severn tries something. Manx blocks it by simply being big. The masked giant has his way with Severn for about five minutes with chokes, punches, simple slams, and brain chops while Midnite keeps the crowd invested by talking smack, baby. Severn gets his first opening by countering a Baldo Bomb with an armbar takedown into a grounded armbar. But the big man rather easily reaches the ropes to break the hold. Yet a short time later Severn finally scores with a big release German Suplex. Only for Manx sits up in the style of Undertaker or Kane! Whoa! Is this guy even human?!? Probably not! Because it happens again after a Severn belly to belly. It looks as if the UFC & NWA Champion has finally met his match. Brother Midnite calls for the dreaded CROSS OF GOLD....

Midnite hoists Severn up in reverse Razor's Edge position. CROSS OF GOLD connec...NO! Severn with an armbar takedown in mid-flight! What technique! He transitions into the Rings of Saturn! Will the monster tap.....?

NO! Manx powers out of it to a standing position. What strength! But Severn counters THAT with a crucifix pin! 1-2------

3! Dan Severn has just retained the NWA Championship by pinning Brother Midnite's giant! WOW! The crowd is impressed. Even Lord Steven Regal is impressed if his golf clap is anything to go by. But Brother Midnite is FURIOUS...

His Lordship applauds Severn and openly admits to being impressed. FINALLY a wrestler worthy of stepping into the ring with His Lordship. Regal has a proposition. He wants a match with Severn- Marquis of Queensbury Rules to be contested in 12 rounds with each round lasting 5 minutes for the NWA Championship. Severn accepts. Regal thanks him for being "a rare American man of honour." His Lordship then promises to become the first Englishman to hold the NWA Championship. He even vows to present that very title to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II!

Meanwhile, back in the ring, Brother Midnite is giving Angus Manx the business. Uh oh! Midnite just slapped his pet giant! And Manx responds by slapping on THE CLAW! Crowd is LOVING it! But it's that dastardly Doug Gilbert out to save his manager with a chairshot from behind! That's enough to break the hold. Manx is down to one knee....when Gilbert covers his masked face with the dreaded ether soaked rag! Oh the humanity! Doug Gilbert has just put the giant to sleep! Midnite berates his former charge some more before inflicting the ultimate indignity by unmasking the giant! Gilbert & Midnite haven't merely crossed the line...They've obliterated the line!

*Fans watching this today will recognize Manx as Albert. (I came up with the idea of Manx being Albert at work this morning and just decided to run with it )

12. Purists w/ Dawn Marie vs. Extremists- Tag Title Tournament

*Video package chronicling the history of these teams featuring footage generously loaned to us by a bunch of other local indie promotions. The gist of it is they have been THE teams in the Mid Atlantic region over the past few years. They've traded all the other local indie tag titles back and forth in a long series of matches which is conveniently tied up at 6-6-2. Making this the rubber match...

The Purists wrestle how exactly how you'd expect given that name by slowing things down, isolating an opponent (Devon Storm in this case) on their half of the ring, and making quick tags. The Extremists, however, only half live up to their name. Devon Storm does indeed wrestle a fast and furious "extreme" style by flying around the ring with reckless abandon, but Darling wrestles a more conservative "purist" style when he enters the squared circle. 

The turning point comes when Storm is on a roll. He's just sent Lance Diamond tumbling over the top rope with a dropkick. He follows that up by running the ropes for a flip dive. Ace Darling makes a blind tag as Storm was running said ropes as is the norm with these guys. Their usual spot is back to back dives. But this time Storm crashes and burns on the flip dive when Steve Corino (who's a much better tag wrestler than singles competitor at this stage of his career) saved Diamond by pushing him away as Storm was in mid flight. Storm is now in a bad way after landing with a sick THUD... 

Leaving Ace Darling to fend for himself. And he starts off great! By following up Storm's missed flip dive with a slingshot plancha of his own which takes out both "The Superstar" and "The King of Softcore." But the numbers game soon catches up to Darling, and now we go to school...

Purists work Darling over with their signature offense. Darling finally catches a break by countering Diamond's Northern Lights Suplex finisher with a DDT. Ace Darling slowly crawls to his corner for the hot tag...

But Devon Storm isn't there! He's still on the floor selling the effects of his missed flip dive. What's this? Diamond is all "See! I told you he wouldn't be there when you needed him!" Darling is huffing and puffing from all the work he's put in. He's just about on his last leg. He's also clearly annoyed. Darling rolls out of the ring to get his partner. Diamond....let's him? That's weird. Even Corino is like "What the heck are you doing?" But Diamond seems confident. I guess because he figures Storm is still even more hurt than Darling? Anyway, Darling props Storm up for the tag. Now it's Diamond against an injured Storm when BAM! Ace Darling superkicks his own partner! Darling then spits on Storm. "I told you this extreme crap would come back to bite you one day!- Ace Darling. What the hell is going on here?!? Why it's like a small time version of Windham turning on Luger! Diamond covers Storm. The three count is academic. The crowd may be slightly confused, but they're not confused enough to boo. 

Diamond grabs the mic. Lance Diamond and his best friend Steve Corino have just proven once and for all that the pure style is superior to the hardcore style. Lance and Steve have been telling us this for years. They've also been telling Ace Darling this for weeks. They told Ace a time would come when Devon Storm wouldn't be there when he needed him. Low and behold that's exactly what happened! And Ace Darling has finally seen the light. Ladies and gentlemen, the three men you see standing in the ring right now are the very FOUNDATION of independent wrestling. And in two weeks they will take the first step towards their inevitable domination of this promotion by winning the NWA Tag Team Titles. And there is nothing anybody can do to stop them. Hahahahahaha. The increasingly hostile crowd pelts the ring with trash as Stevie Richards says "Ace Darling, you can go straight to hell."

*More backstage segments at the end of the tape

-An unmasked Angus Manx cuts a shooty shoot shoot promo. First of all, the whole "Angus Manx" persona was just a gimmick concocted by that charlatan Brother Midnite. "Manx's" friends call him Baldo and that's the name he wants to be known as from here on out. "Brother Midnite" is nothing more than a low level Canadian conman named Stan Saxon. Baldo & Saxon happened to meet in a Boston bar where Baldo was bouncing. The two got to talking. Turned out Saxon conned his way into the wrestling business. Baldo happened to be a lifelong wrestling fan who wanted to get into the business himself. Midnite said he could do just that and then launched into his whole ridiculous spiel where they would become Brother Midnite and Angus Manx. Baldo was desperate to get into the business so he just ran with it. Now he realizes what a colossal mistake he's made and plans on repenting FOR REAL. Baldo is sick and tired of all the lies. He's sick and tired of Midnite taking all his money. And he's definitely sick and tired of that good for nothing low life Doug Gilbert. So he's challenging Dougie to a match at our next event. 

Midnite rebuts by saying it's all lies, baby. But he and Dougie Baby will be more than happy to accept Baldo's challenge, baby. Doug seems to be far less enthused than his "spiritual advisor."

-A fired up Devon Storm challenges Ace Darling to a No DQ Falls Count Anywhere Street Fight at our next event.

THE FOUNDATION was backstage where Lance Diamond & Steve Corino were gloating about getting a bye to the Tag Title Tournament Finals due to the Hardy Boys/Sex & Violence draw when they heard the news. An irate Ace Darling straight up rejected Storm's challenge, not wanting to lower himself by competing in such a vulgar match. But Commissioner Jack Tunney showed up to be all "Screw you, pal." Darling just turned on his partner. Storm has every reason to be out for blood. So Tunney is signing the match. Darling and his new mates put up a fight, but Tunney's word is final. Meaning Storm vs. Darling is officially signed for our next show in what will be our first true gimmick match.

Two Minutes To Midnite Quickie Results

1. Handsome Beef upset Shane Helms & Shannon Moore to score their first victory
2. Venom pinned Don Montoya to win a Do Or Die Triple Threat Match also involving Shoichi Funaki
3. Christian York & Joey Matthews defeat Tennessee Volunteers
4. Steve Bradley pinned Inferno Kid to win a Do Or Die Triple Threat Match also involving Sean Morley
5. Sid Vicious and the debuting Ahmed Johnson squashed The Bald & The Beautiful
6. Vampire Warrior debuted with a pinfall victory over Chris Hamrick
7. PG 13 upset Pitbulls to advance in the Tag Title Tournament
8. Black T-Shirt Squad upset Kaientai DX to advance in the Tag Title Tournament
9. Cheetah Master pinned Doug Gilbert to retain the NWA King of the Independents Championship
10. Hardy Boys wrestled Sex & Violence to a 20 minute time limit draw eliminating both teams from the Tag Title Tournament
*Former WCW Superstar Lord Steven Regal debuted in a segment also involving Mr. Ooh La La
11. Dan Severn pinned "Master Mayhem" Angus Manx to retain the NWA Championship
12. The Purists defeated The Extremists to advance in the Tag Title Tournament
====================
Upcoming Show: The End of the Beginning 3/28/98

Dan Severn (c) vs. Lord Steven Regal- NWA Championship Match
Cheetah Master (c) vs. Venom vs. Steve Bradley- Triple Threat NWA King of the Indies Championship Match
Black T-Shirt Squad vs. PG 13- Tag Title Tournament Match
Purists w/ Dawn Marie vs. winner of Black T-Shirt Squad/PG 13- Tag Title Tournament Finals
Sid Vicious vs. Ahmed Johnson- #1 Contender Match
Devon Storm vs. Ace Darling- No DQ Falls Count Anywhere Street Fight
Doug Gilbert w/ Brother Midnite vs. Baldo- Grudge Match
Hardy Boys vs. Sex & Violence (Hardcastle & Morley)- Losers Leave Town Match
Kaientai DX vs. Badstreet- Grudge Match
Reno Riggins vs. Steven Dunn- Loser Leaves Town Match
Pitbulls vs. Handsome Beef- Grudge Match
The Bald & The Beautiful vs. Christian Cage & Vampire Warrior

Man, I had no idea how much of an offbeat dream match Regal/Severn was until now. Did their paths never cross in 1998 WWF?

A quick google reveals that they did, in fact, have a match at the NWA 50th Anniversary show in October '98

Sept 21, 2021 22:41:07 GMT KITN said:

A quick google reveals that they did, in fact, have a match at the NWA 50th Anniversary show in October '98

Oh, I know now. Thanks to Baker-man, and my gluttony for punishment, I endured the offbeat dream today.

The End of the Beginning
3/28/98
Somewhere near Philadelphia
Part One

1. Black T-Shirt Squad advance to the Tag Title Tournament final by defeating PG 13 when JC Ice submitted to Mike Quackenbush's Quack Special (later known as the Chikara Special). This was another fast paced, high octane BTSS match. PG 13 brought the heat with their classic Memphis heel stylings while Quack & Reckless Youth brought the workrate. The match saw lots of cool Midnight Expresses and crowd pleasing spots. JC Ice & Wolfie D are just as quick as Quack & Reckless Youth. They just use their speed in different ways. BTSS have gained crowd support throughout the tournament. Now the fans are doing the Mighty Ducks thing of QUACKing for Quack. It's great. BTSS are sleeper NWA MVP candidates. Dudes have been on fire with strong MOTN candidates on four of the last five shows. But they'll have their work cut out for them later tonight against the well-rested Purists in the tag title tournament final.

2. Reno Riggins pinned Steven Dunn in a Tennessee Volunteers explode Loser Leaves Town Match with...wait for it...THE RENOPLEX~!
Or did he??

This was basically a de facto Finisher Match with Riggins frequently going for the Renoplex while Dunn was even more persistent in his attempts to hit the Romanian Bulldog. Crowd was HOT. Rarely will you see a group of people want something as badly as these good folks wanted to see a Renoplex. After countering Dunn's tenth Romanian Bulldog attempt, Riggins went into his now-familiar series of do-si-do's when the lights went out....

A colossal BOOM was heard seconds later. Many in attendance, including the commentary team of Baker & Stevie Richards, thought a bomb went off. NO! The mysterious power outage ended immediately after the big BOOM. Riggins was covering an unconscious Dunn when the lights came back on. Everybody was confused for a split second. Then the ref shook off his bewilderment to make the three count as the crowd burst into a HUGE "RENOPLEX" chant after realizing what they had just almost potentially witnessed. Riggins went into the crowd to celebrate his victory in the style of DDP. Dunn finally woke up a minute later to chants of "Na na na na. Na na na na. Hey hey hey goodbye."

The End the Beginning
3/28/98
Not far from Philadelphia
Part Two

3. The makeshift odd couple team of Vampire Warrior & Christian Cage defeat The Bald and the Beautiful w/ Cueball Carmichael when Cage pinned Jimmy Cicero with his version of the Tommykaze (which the commentary teamed dubbed "Caged Fury" because it sounds suitably 1998) as Gangrel put an end to Julio Sanchez's attempted save by cutting him off with the Impaler DDT.

Cage & Vamp controlled most of the way by being better at every aspect of wrestling save teamwork. A few communication breakdowns between Christian & Vamp created the only openings of the match for the Bald & Beautiful. Post-match saw Vamp do his weird bloodbath ritual on both of his fallen opponents as Cage looked on with a mix of bewilderment and disgust. Even with the victory I don't think Cage & Vamp are suited to be a long term team. They're just too different.
=============
4. Baldo defeated Doug Gilbert w/ Brother Midnite by DQ when Midnite interfered as Baldo hoisted Gilbert up into his dreaded CROSS OF GOLD finisher. This was the first DQ in the promotion's history.

Doug's large arsenal of cheats and tricks had little effect on the big Bostonian as Baldo ran through them and generally ran through Dougie to the crowd's delight. Baldo even made his own save during the attempted post-match beatdown before challenging his tormenters to a No DQ Handicap match at our next show. Brother Midnite hemmed and hawed before Commissioner Jack Tunney came out to make it official. Then Brother Midnite really blew a gasket with his histrionic performance culminating in a Fred Sanford-style fake heart attack which not one person in the building bought as legit.
==============
5. Pitbulls ended Handsome Beef's winning streak at one with a relatively easy victory over the popular duo when Frank Stalletto was pinned following a Superbomb.

Pitbulls ensured their longtime fans would turn on them completely by attacking Handsome Beef from behind during their wildly popular entrance. Pitbulls were more like the Pitbullies as they roughhoused their beloved opponents with power moves and brawling. Crowd greeted them with chants of "Pitbulls Suck!" and an even louder chant of "STEROIDS" in reference to their arrest in mid 1997 for possessing large quantities of that illegal drug with intent to distribute.
=============
6. Cheetah Master retained the King of the Indies Championship by winning a Triple Threat Match over Venom and Steve Bradley.

First half of the match was nothing to write home about. Even the "CHEETAH" chants were restrained by the standards we've come to expect. That part of the match mostly saw Cheetah selling an early Venom Bomb on the floor as Venom and Bradley had a big/little movez match which didn't really get over because there wasn't a strong face/heel story, and also because they were too similar in size to effectively pull it off. Things would pick up when Cheetah recovered from his injuries. Finish saw Bradley down in the middle of the ring after a Venom Edge. Cheetah flew in to break Venom's cover before ascending to the top for his Cheetah Fly Splash. But Venom was too quick for him. Both men were fighting up top when Cheetah slammed Venom's head into the turnbuckle and jumped OVER Venom to hit the Cheetah Fly Splash on Bradley for the win, proving once again that this is one Cheetah who can fly.
=============
7. Badstreet upset Kaientai DX w/ Wally Yamaguchi when Shane Helms pinned Shoichi Funaki with the first ever Vertebreaker.

There was an interesting moment in the introductions when Helms asked to be introduced as "Kid Vicious." Giving yourself a nickname is gauche. Giving yourself a nickname based on another wildly popular wrestler in the same promotion is an even bigger no no. But that's Shane Helms for you. It will be interesting to see if anything comes from this.

Anyway, story of the first 95% of the match was "Badstreet are good. Kaientai is better." But things unraveled for the only DX that matters down the stretch. Dick Togo was shoved to the floor by Christian York after going up top to finish Joey Matthews off with his patented Senton. York and a recovered Matthews than hit Men's Teioh with the Snapshot and Helms brought the house down by debuting the Vertebreaker on Funaki.

Post-match saw an irate Wally Yamaguchi fire his charges only to see it backfire when KDX turned on their manager by hitting him with one of their patented triple teams to the delight of the capacity crowd.
=============
8. Sid Vicious wrestled Ahmed Johnson to a draw when both men were counted out.

Crowd was hyped for this big boy battle between bonafide superstars. But their enthusiasm turned to disappointment within two minutes of slow brawling. It's not easy to have a match when neither man is interested in selling, let alone bumping. So this was 5 minutes of slow brawling that eventually turned into slow brawling up the aisle and all the way to the back as both men were counted out to "BOOS" from a crowd that felt ripped off.

In a total coincidence nobody could have possibly seen coming, Sid bumped into "Kid Vicious" Shane Helms during his backstage brawl with Ahmed and shouted this at the much smaller man- "You! Me! Next month! You're gonna die!!!"
============
*Intermission
============
9. Hardy Boys defeated Sex & Violence (Sexton "The Edge" Hardcastle & "Male Venus" Sean Morley) by double pinfall in a Losers Leave Town Match to win the series 2-1-1 when Jeff pinned Morley with a Shooting Star Press on one side of the ring as Matt pinned Hardcastle with a 450 Splash on the other end of the squared circle.

Most fans thought the Hardy Boys were taking this until S&V were introduced with their new nicknames. The more astute fans then thought S&V were sending the Hardys out of town because what kind of dorks would adopt new nicknames on the very night they were leaving town? So that was a clever bit of business from the promotion.

Anyway, this was a good match, albeit a step down from the Hardys vs. Hardcastle & Christian Cage series since Morley is a less dynamic performer than the man now calling himself "The Instant Classic." Speaking of Cage, he appeared at ringside late in the match to help his S&V mates, but it would all be for naught in the end as the Hardys won convincingly. Post-match saw the crowd chant that "Na Na Na Hey Hey Hey Goodbye" song at the departing Canadians.

S&V then put over Christian as the last man standing from their group before rather surprisingly putting the Hardys over. The Hardys would return the favor before cryptically saying "we'll meet again some day." Crowd applauded all this lovey dovey stuff with respectful golf claps before once again chanting for the increasingly over Hardy Boys.
============
10. Devon Storm pinned his former partner Ace Darling with a somersault dive off a 10 foot structure in the far corner of the building to win a wild No DQ Falls Count Anywhere Street Fight.

This was a fight from start to finish with Storm out for blood and the self-proclaimed "Technician" Ace Darling having no alternative but to get down and dirty. It was a seesaw battle with many crowd pleasing spots, but Darling looked increasingly out of his element as the violence increased.

Darling's Foundation stablemates, The Purists, were conspicuous by their absence, though Lance Diamond & Steve Corino had a good excuse as they were no doubt preparing for their Tag Title Tournament Final later in the evening. Cheetah Master came out at the conclusion of the bout to congratulate his longtime friend Devon Storm.
============
11. Dan Severn defeated Lord Steven Regal with an STF in Round 4 of a Marquis of Queensbury Rules Match for the NWA Championship. Legendary former NWA Champion Dory Funk Jr. served as the Special Guest Referee.

Similar to Sid/Ahmed, this started with a big fight feel due to all the pomp and pageantry. You had Dory officiating. His Lordship walking the aisle looking resplendent in a justacorps and periwig. And finally Dan Severn came out dressed like Apollo Creed when he fought Drago in Rocky IV as Born In The USA echoed throughout the arena. Crowd was feeling it... 

Until they proceeded to wrestle a match so boring and tone deaf that it made Benoit/Malenko from Hog Wild '96 look riveting.

Round 1 was spent entirely on the mat with no real story to speak of. Just two guys rolling around on the mat interspersed with the occasional lengthy hold that went nowhere. Crowd's "USA!" "Regal Sucks!" and "Goldberg!" chants went from 10/10 to 4/10 by round's end.

Round 2 was more of the same as the crowd grew increasingly hostile. Their hostility culminated in the dreaded "BORING" chant rearing its ugly head.

Round 3 started as more of the same as the bored crowd went from merely chanting "BORING" to amusing themselves by heckling both wrestlers, though the brunt of it was directed at Regal. His Lordship wisely adjusted halfway through the round by throwing the first punch of the match and slipping in some more dirty moves on the mat. Took long enough, but this did get the crowd back into it to some extent. And they were won back around for good when Regal hit Severn with a blatantly illegal European Uppercut after the bell. BOO! His Lordship and Dory exchanged heated words in between rounds.

Round 4 saw Regal cut the crap and wrestle a more traditional heel style. He was looking for the Regal Stretch after a Butterfly Suplex when Severn deftly turned the tables and trapped Regal in an STF to get a near instantaneous submission. 

Post-match saw Regal & Dory have another heated exchange that ended when Dory put Regal on his can to the crowd's delight with a European Uppercut of his own.

Severn then took the mic and sat down in a chair provided by a ring attendant for a rare monologue. First he put over Regal to boos. Then he put over Dory to respectful golf claps. Finally he thanked the promotion for giving him a place to ply his trade and put over the fans for coming out to support him. He said the future of wrestling is right here in the NWA. And he hopes to be back again one day. But this will be his last appearance in the promotion for the foreseeable future. Until then you'll be able to see him on Monday nights.

This shocking announcement was met with a mixed reaction. Not gonna lie. About half the fans seemed pleased with the news. But losing Severn will undoubtedly create a major void in the main event/upper midcard of these shows.
=============
12. The Purists (Lance Diamond & Steve Corino) w/ Dawn Marie defeated Black T-Shirt Squad (Reckless Youth & Mike Quackenbush) to win the Tag Title Tournament and become first ever NWA: King of the Independents Tag Team Champions.

But first let's take a look at the drastically different paths these teams took to reach the finals... 

The Purists received two byes to get here- the first earned by their regional dominance, and the second due to a Hardys vs. Sex & Violence time limit draw. The lone match they had to actually wrestle in order to reach the finals saw them defeat their longtime regional rivals The Extremists when Ace Darling turned on Devon Storm to join The Purists, thereby creating The Foundation.
 
Meanwhile, the Black T-Shirt Squad put in the work by winning three incredibly competitive "four star matches" over Badstreet, Kaientai DX, and PG 13. The PG 13 match happened earlier on this very night! As The Purists were no doubt resting up and strategizing...

Anyway, the tag title tournament final was infinitely faster paced than the last match (though still slower paced than the other BTSS tournament matches). Think an updated version of something like Brainbusters/Rockers. BTSS were quicker and more technically sound, but The Purists managed to neutralize those advantages by wrestling a smart match. They cut the ring in half while relying on double teams, quick tags, and timely cheats, including some Dawn Marie interference like when she put Corino's foot on the rope after Youth hit him with a potentially match ending Snow Plow.  

Finish came when Youth was looking to end Diamond with a Brainbuster only to get whacked with a Corino Superkick to the back of the head. Diamond was more or less out on his feet but had the muscle memory to go with Youth's momentum into his Northern Lights Suplex secondary finisher for the win. Quack couldn't make the save because that dastardly Ace Darling (with his ribs taped DDP style in a nice touch) picked that moment to interfere by grabbing Quack's feet in the manner of Heenan on Hogan when Bundy beat The Hulkster that one time on SNME.

Crowd obviously hated this. They pelted the ring with trash as The Foundation flaunted their new gold in a post-match gloating session. Lance Diamond FINALLY won a title and he couldn't have done it without his two best friends- Steve Corino and Ace Darling- and his best girl, Dawn Marie. This is Step One in The Foundation's takeover. They're taking ALL THE GOLD! Severn feared The Foundation so he left town. That only leaves Cheetah Master...

"CHEETAH" chants instantaneously ring out. And of course The Man himself couldn't let that aggression stand. Cheetah comes out to a huge pop. He's flanked by Devon Storm and a haggard looking Black T-Shirt Squad soon reemerge to join the two fan favorites.

Cheetah has seen what happens when gangs of ruffians are allowed to run roughshod over wrestling promotions. We see it in WCW with the NWO. And we see it in WWF with DX. But Cheetah won't allow that to happen here. He's going to crumble this Foundation before they can rebuild this promotion in their image. And he's got friends willing to back him up. And here Devon Storm and The Black T-Shirt Squad stand side by side with Cheetah.

Corino grabs the mic from Diamond and quickly blurts out a challenge- "You four against us. Next month. Right here at the NWA Arena. In a WAR GAMES MATCH!

WHOA! Cheetah and friends quickly accept... 

As Diamond, Darling and Dawn look ready to strangle their big mouthed, small brained stablemate. Diamond in particular is all like "WTF? You idiot! There are 4 of them and only 3 of us!" But Corino tells his boss not to worry. He has a plan. Corino claims to already have a 4th man in mind. And who knows? Maybe it's one of them?

Cheetah & Devon immediately look at Reckless. Youth responds by rolling his eyes. Then he fires back at his suspicious allies. Quack tries to defuse the situation by saying "Youth might be a jerk, but he's OUR jerk." Cheetah & Storm remain leery as Youth is like "whatever" and walks off.....alone.

The rest of the Foundation are either world class actors, or they're generally perplexed by Corino's claims of having a 4th man...

The End of the Beginning Quickie Results

1. Black T-Shirt Squad advanced to the Tag Title Tournament Final by defeating PG 13
2. Reno Riggins pinned Steven Dunn with the RENOPLEX(?) in a Loser Leaves Town Match
3. Christian Cage & Vampire Warrior defeated The Bald and The Beautiful
4. Baldo defeated Doug Gilbert by DQ
5. Pitbulls defeated Handsome Beef
6. Cheetah Master retained the NWA KOTI Championship by pinning Steve Bradley in a Triple Threat Match also involving Venom 
7. Badstreet defeated Kaientai DX in a major upset
8. Sid Vicious wrestled Ahmed Johnson to a double countout draw
9. Hardy Boys defeated Sexton Hardcastle & Sean Morley in a Losers Leave Town Match
10. Devon Storm pinned Ace Darling in a Falls Count Anywhere No DQ Street Fight
11. Dan Severn submitted Lord Steven Regal to retain the NWA Championship in Round 4 of a Marquis of Queensbury Rules Match
12. The Purists defeated Black T-Shirt Squad to win the Tag Title Tournament
================
Upcoming Events...

Right Now
4/18/98

Cheetah Master/Devon Storm/Reckless Youth/Mike Quackenbush vs. The Foundation (Lance Diamond/Steve Corino/Ace Darling/??)-
WAR GAMES
Baldo vs. Doug Gilbert & Brother Midnite- No DQ Handicap Match
Sid Vicious vs. "Kid Vicious" Shane Helms
Ahmed Johnson vs. "Confederate Currency" Chris Hamrick
Hardy Boys vs. PG 13
Pitbulls vs. Christian York & Joey Matthews
Christian Cage vs. Steve Bradley
Vampire Warrior vs. Venom
Handsome Beef & Reno Riggins vs. Two Bald, Too Beautiful
Second City Sinners (Christopher Daniels/Kevin Quinn/Steve Boz) vs. Ace Steel/Jimi V/Danny Dominion- Do Or Die Tryout Match
Shark Boy/Ian Rotten/Adam Pearce vs. Suicide Kid/American Kickboxer/Tarek The Great- Do Or Die Tryout Match
==============
*The upcoming edition of the Wrestling Knowledge Organization newsletter Wrestling Reviews And Previews has a ton of NWA: KOTI news. It's expected to come out either tomorrow or the next day. So be on the lookout.

Loving Shane's rebranding and wishing so bad Waltman had rebranded as that in late 95/early 96 for the SID & KID tag run.

Also, CM Punk clearly ripped off Dan Severn.