Welcome, one and all, to my latest OVW TV review. This week sees the aftermath of SNS1K, so let’s dive right into it.
OVW Episode 1031
On commentary this week is Ted McNaler, Shannon The Dude, and Josh Ashcraft.
We open with highlights from the end of the big Saturday Night Special 1,000 main event. The final two in the OVW Heavyweight Title Gauntlet Match were Justin Smooth and Michael Hayes. Smooth removed Hayes’ prosthetic leg and beat him over the head with it, causing a DQ finish. The result means that Smooth keeps his belt, and the fans aren’t happy. After that, we get the usual opening sequence, then cut to Smooth walking to the ring.
The ring is adorned with Trinidad flags, which is a nice touch. The crowd starts a Michael Hayes chant, and Smooth tries to quieten them down so he can celebrate. Commissioner Dean Hill interrupts him and reminds him that he defended the title in a gauntlet match. Which means the title can change hands by disqualification. Smooth brushes it off, and Dean spells it out loud and clear: we have a new Heavyweight Champion!
Michael Hayes comes out to a great ovation, and Dean Hill demands that Smooth hand the belt over. He tells him that he can keep it if he wants, but he’ll be removed from the roster and will be contacted by the OVW legal team. Smooth is not happy, but he relents and hands the belt over. Being a fighting champion, Hayes says he doesn’t want to win it on someone else’s mistake. So, he wants to defend the belt tonight against Justin Smooth, so that he can earn the title the right way.
That was a great opening segment. Both competitors came across very well, the crowd was hot, and the main event should be a good one. Well done to OVW there.
Next, we see more highlights this time of Sam Thompson vs. Ca$h Flo from SNS1K. Sam is hurting, but keeps getting back up every time Ca$h tries to kill him. Eventually, he escapes a Buckle Bomb attempt and scores the win with a quick roll-up, earning some cheers from the crowd. We get a quick chat with the commentary team, including a plug for the Dream Factory charity, then head to our first match.
OVW TV Title Gauntlet Match
Jay Bradley is out first, followed quickly by ‘The Boy Wonder’ Sam Thompson. This was a simple, back and forth story: Jay is the most powerful of the two, but Sam is quicker and looks for opportunities. Though he managed to come out of it looking good, Sam was put away with the Boom Stick after three minutes. Youngster Corey Storm is out next, looking like a cross between The Flash and Flash Gordo. Storm gets a good response from the crowd, and goes for a similar approach to Sam. He avoids a Boom Stick late on, and scores an upset by reversing a suplex into a small package after two minutes.
Nigel Winters is in next and starts pulling out pinfall attempt after pinfall attempt. The pace remains high throughout this one, with Nigel controlling much of the action until Corey hits a Storm Breaker for two. From there, it’s all Corey Storm, culminating in him reversing a head scissors into a pin after two and a half minutes. ‘The Hood Ninja’ Hy-Zaya is out next.
Hy-Zaya tries to take control but is left rocking very quickly. He manages to take over just before the ad break. When we return, Corey scores another pin out of nowhere. OVW TV Champion Drew Hernandez is the final man in, and immediately starts working over the tired Storm. Hernandez basically plays the bully here, stomping the life out of the youngster. The crowd get behind the challenger, spurring him to try doing whatever he can to get some shots in. Interestingly, the commentary team mention that Tony Bizo was supposed to be I the match too, but was injured at SNS1K, and so is out of action for the foreseeable future. That’s a shame because, while green, he was looking good.
Corey starts a gutsy comeback, rocking the big man, but makes the mistake of going for a hurricanrana. That gives the champ the chance nail his powerbomb for the finish. The gauntlet ran to around sixteen minutes in total and was an improvement over last week. The match-ups were simple, Storm looked great, and Hernandez remains dominant. My only real complaint was that I’d have liked to see Sam Thompson get on a roll after beating Ca$h. Still, good fun, and worth a god ***.
Thunder Kitty vs. Valerie Vermin
We’re heading straight into the second match of the night here. Before they can start though, DL3 comes out with a birthday cake, a guitarist, and Big D so that he can wish Kitty a happy ninety-eighth birthday. He’s written her a song about how pretty she is. It’s as bad as you’d think, in all the right ways. Big D playing the triangle was hilarious too. He asks her on a date, and she takes the cake. Valerie tries to steal it, and Kitty smashes it in her face and scores the win with a roll-up.
After the match, DL3 reminds her that he asked her on a date, and asks her for a response. The crowd chant no, but she says, “Alright, fine, whatever.” DL3 is over the moon! This was more of an angle than a match, so no rating. It was good fun though, and was a good next step in the storyline.
OVW Heavyweight Title Match: Michael Hayes [Champion] vs. ‘The Trinidad Titan’ Justin Smooth
Michael Hayes was likely regretting his decision to request the match early on, as Smooth was all over him in the early going. He eventually gets a comeback going with some headbutts, including the Al Snow style trapping headbutts, and the action spills to the outside. Smooth manages to take over with a DDT on the floor, and scores a beautiful powerslam back in the ring.
We get a ref bump, and Smooth nails a spinebuster that should get a clear three. By the time the second official hits the ring, Hayes has recovered enough to kick out. Smooth is irate, and Hayes hits a codebreaker, which accidentally knocks the second ref out. Again, it’s a clear three, but by the time a replacement gets to the ring, Smooth is able to kick out. The third referee is then knocked out, followed quickly by a fourth ref.
A fifth referee is knocked out before he can get into the ring, and Smooth nails a Street Justice. All of a sudden, a masked man runs in and nails a Change Maker, then runs away. The first referee wakes up and calls for the bell after eight minutes of action. He disqualifies Michael Hayes, meaning Hayes retains. Hayes isn’t happy, and neither is Smooth. The commentary team ponder who the masked man is, though it’s pretty clear that it’s Dimes.
The match was decent. I’d say that the sheer number of referee bumps was a little silly, and the DQ call by the first referee was odd. Honestly, there were better ways to get that result. I can’t fault either guy though, and they made good use of the time they were given. I give this one another ***.
All in all, this was a breeze of a show to watch. The action was strong, the angles were enjoyable, and everything is looking great going forward. This was a fine example of a compact, effective wrestling show.
Matt Doyle Media 