Welcome, one and all, to my latest OVW TV review. This week, the show is titled Boomstick vs. Bro, and I’m going to trying out a new review style. No star ratings, just a recommendation on the quality and a few bonus points at the end. So, let’s see how the OVW roster deals with the fallout from the last Saturday Night Special.
OVW Episode 1034 – Boomstick vs. Bro
On commentary this week is Ted McNaler, Gilbert Corsey, and Shannon The Dude. They run down the card, and it sounds pretty good. We have King’s Ransom defending the Southern Tag Titles in an open challenge for one. We’re also informed that, in the TV Title Gauntlet, Melvin Maximus was supposed to have the last spot but couldn’t make the show, so nobody knows who will be last in now. And then, Jay Bradley and Dustin Jackson are due to clash in the main event. First though…
Let’s Hear From Megan Bayne
Megan, on her twenty-first birthday no less, won the OVW Women’s Title at the last Saturday Night Special. She talks about how she always viewed herself as not being emotional, but she couldn’t help herself when she won and the fans were cheering. She’s worked hard for over a year and a half to win the championship. Former champion Cali Young then interrupts and says she wants her rematch because Megan didn’t beat her in the three-way for the title, she beat Madi Maxx. She calls Megan a bigfoot, and the champ accepts the challenge for Fight At Fort Knox on June fourteenth. She ends the interview by telling Cali that she’s gonna stick her big foot up her little ass. Great line there.
This was a strong segment overall; It was kept relatively short, nailed the points it needed to make, and the fans reacted appropriately. Good work from all involved.
Michael Hayes Speaks I
We cut to pre-taped promo with the now former OVW World Champion Michael Hayes and he talks about how he was not only born at Fort Knox but did his basic military training there. Now, he’s going back there on June fourteenth to represent OVW. Short and sweet to hype the upcoming show.
OVW Southern Tag Titles match: King’s Ransom [champions] vs. William Lutz & Ashton Cover
The champs cut a short promo before the match, and say that it’s been boring since winning the titles. They’re confident they can beat anyone, hence the open challenge. The former champions, The War Kings. appear on the screen and tell us that they’re appearing at the Fight At Fort Knox to challenge for the OVW Southern Tag Titles. After that, William Lutz and Ashton Cover come out and declare themselves the third and fourth War Kings. They note that they’ve beaten the champs twice already, and are accepting the challenge tonight.
By the time the bell rings, King’s Ransom have already double teamed Lutz and ejected him from the ring. Twenty seconds later, they pin Cove. The champs get back on the mic after the match and hype the match with The War Kings.
This was more of an angle than a match. It was enjoyable though, and the Tag Title rematch should be awesome. I also got a kick out of Lutz and Cover doing their Road Warriors routine, which was a reference to The War Kings being endorsed by Road Warrior Animal. The only downside to this was that the crowd reacted a little oddly to King’s Ransom tonight, giving them a few ‘what?’ chants. My guess is that, even when they say they’re humble, statements about being bored may be making them come off as a little heelish for the fans.
Shiloh Jonze, DL3 And Thunder Kitty
This was a short, black and white comedy segment with Thunder Kitty juggling her two suitors again. Shiloh starts off by saying they should spend a romantic evening watching his old tag matches, then leaves to get popcorn. DL3 appears and thinks Kitty is watching his matches, so she avoids a kiss and sends him away to get some popcorn too. Shiloh returns, and Kitty excuses herself on the grounds of indigestion, and DL3 comes back shortly after. They both say they were watching their matches with their girlfriend, and decide to watch them together.
I’m still enjoying this angle. This week made it look less like Shiloh is stealing DL3’s girlfriend though and more like he didn’t actually know. It’ll be interesting to see what the payoff is in the end.
Drew Hernandez Upsets Everyone
Back in the ring, Drew Hernandez kickstarted a TV Title angle by pleading his case for the last spot I the gauntlet match. He does a great job of riling the crowd up here and starts running down the other competitors until one-by-one, they all come out to interrupt. Surprisingly, due to their segments feeling like self-hype rather than match hype, it was Zo and the TV Champion Randall Floyd that came out looking weakest on the mic here. In the end, Ted McNaler stands up and puts an end to the segment by telling them that Commissioner Dean Hill has authorized an impromptu battle royale with the order of elimination determining their entry number.
Battle Royale
This was a short brawl. Randall Floyd eliminated Drew Hernandez during the break, and Sam Thompson and Brandon Wolfe followed shortly after. Ca$h Flo eliminated Zo, and Floyd eliminated Ca$h. There wasn’t really much to see until after the bell, as that was when Drew Hernandez returned and attacked Randall Floyd, injuring his knee. Given that Floyd has just returned from a leg injury, that was a nice callback to that. That leads us directly into the match proper.
OVW TV Title Gauntlet
Drew Hernandez and Sam Thompson squared off first, with Sam using his speed to control the early going. Both Sam’s promo before the battle royale and his performance here were a little more aggressive than normal, which was nice to see. Unfortunately, his run of bad luck in the gauntlet continued and it took just one powerbomb to finish him. Brandon Wolfe took the same approach as Sam and also had Drew rocking for the brunt of their confrontation. One missed frog splash led to another powerbomb win for Drew though.
Zo proved to the middle ground in transitioning the match pacing, as he came out and started nailing power moves on Drew, but kept the speed up. He ended up reversing a powerbomb attempt into an Alabama Slam for the win. Ca$h Flo was out after that and the two former tag partners tore into each other. This was given a little more time and saw an interesting clash of styles with Zo’s flash against Flo’s bullying. Flo ended up winning a physical match with an impressive frog splash.
Defending champion Randall Floyd was out last, limping all the way. Flo kept the pace slow, deliberately targeting the injured knee here. While he was working the champ over, Gilbert made a comment about the winner of each TV Title match getting $1,000. That was a nice touch, as it gives a clear monetary prestige to the belt.
In the end, the injured Floyd started trying to mount a couple of comebacks, but his injury meant that he was unable to lock in the figure-four leglock. The move still played into the finish though as, during his last attempt, Ca$h reversed into a roll-up, only for Floyd to roll through and score the win to retain his belt.
When you look at the TV Title story as a whole package this week, it was decent. It’s a very competitive division, and some real roster standouts are regulars within that setting. The finish to the final match was a little sloppy, but the story of the injured face champ pulling off the upset in the face of adversity usually works, so the crowd didn’t seem to notice. I’d like to see Sam keep evolving with his aggression, and a singles match between Ca$h Flo and Randall Floyd could also be good going forward. Overall though, worth a watch.
Michael Hayes Speaks II
Michael talks about Hell being a state of mind and forcing the positivity in his life. He has no sadness about returning to Fort Knox, because he didn’t get to finish his deployment, and as a soldier, he wants to complete his mission. Again, short, simple build for the show.
Saturday Night Special Highlights
We see the closing stretch from the SNS main event, where Justin Smooth captured the OVW World Title from Michael Hayes in a No DQ Match. With Hayes down, the masked man ran in again, and Smooth managed to pull his mask off, only to reveal that he was wearing another mask underneath. Smooth tried to remove that one too, and the masked man hit the Change Maker on Smooth again, all but confirming that it’s Dimes. Hayes hit the Dishonorable Discharge on Smooth, but before he could pin him, Jay Bradley ram in and nailed him with a Boomstick. Smooth crawled over and made the cover.
Jay Bradley [w/OVW Heavyweight Champion Justin Smooth] vs. Dustin Jackson [w/Lily and Michael Hayes]
The commentary team mentioned that the Fight At Fort Knox will feature Bradley and Smooth against Jackson and Hayes. Providing the faces can remain on the same page, that should be good.
This one was back and forth from the get-go but was really a tale of two matches. The first half was a good showcase for both competitors, but Dustin Jackson in particular. He has a natural fire to him, and between him having Bradley scouted and Gilbert putting him over on commentary, it’s clear that OVW sees a lot of potential in him.
It was a case of inconsistent refereeing that marred the second half of the match for me. The referee missed Smooth interfering but caught Hayes tripping Bradley, so ejected Hayes from ringside. While she was dealing Hayes, Dustin scored a pin that was a clear three. No issue there, it’s a common enough trope. Unfortunately, it broke down from there. Bradley got frustrated and grabbed a steel chair, only for Jackson to dropkick it into his face. That was understandably not a DQ, but the follow-up Michinoku Driver and frog splash on the chair should have been DQs. While the commentary team argued about that, Smooth pulled Jackson off of Bradley, and Hayes came back out, leading to the referee bailing from the ring to escort him backstage.
While that was happening, Smooth jumped Jackson, and Lily got I the ring to make the save, slapping the champ. When Smooth tried to retaliate, Jackson fired up and got between them, leading to Smooth accidentally catching Lily with Street Justice. Jackson snapped and went for Smooth, at which point the referee returned but didn’t try to eject Smooth. Bradley then rolled Jackson up for the pin.
Honestly, the inconsistency was frustrating for me. Really, the referee should have either thrown the match out or been seen to be struggling to keep control rather than just ignoring things. Still, we did at least get confirmation that Smooth and Jackson will be meeting one-on-one for the title. Give it a watch, but try to look at the bigger picture than the faults.
Overall
So, this week was all about setting up the Fight At Fort Knox. It does a good job in that regard, and it’s been nice seeing some evolution for the characters. I do hope we get more a balance towards matches than angles next week, but the show was solid, so I can’t really complain. Let’s pick some highlights:
MVP: Draw – Drew Hernandez and Dustin Jackson. Drew’s mic work was really good, and his in ring performance was strong, as he drove the TV Title angle forward. Meanwhile, Dustin Jackson put in a performance that highlighted why he’s moving up the card, and managed to come across well in the main event.
Best Match: TV Title Gauntlet. Everyone pulled their weight, and the match told a decent story that saw everyone get a chance to shine. It gets bonus points for giving Ca$h Flo something meaningful to do after losing to Dustin Jackson at the last SNS too.
Best Angle/Promo: Megan Bayne and Cali Young. The ladies kept it short and to the point, and it did a great job of not only building up the new champ, but hyping the upcoming rematch.
Matt Doyle Media 