OVW TV 1057
On commentary this week are Gilbert Corsey and Ted McNaler.
Smooth Back / Chaos Contained
After a brief run-down of last week, the show proper opened with Justin Smooth on the phone to his Mum, talking about Max The Impaler. He then ran into Leonis Khan and insinuated that his Mum said that his injured brother Maximus Khan was the better of the two. Leonis asked to speak to Mama Smooth and told her that he’s sorry, but he’s gonna have to whip her son’s ass. Decent, short opening to set up the title match for Christmas Chaos 2019.
We then cut to Gilbert and Ted who not only confirmed the match but also that every match at Christmas Chaos will be held inside a fifteen-foot high cage. That has the risk of being overkill, but we shall see how it goes. The OVW roster is good, so hopefully, it’ll work out.
Mahabali Shera def. Luscious Lawrence
Both of these guys are making their OVW TV debuts. Prior to the match, Lawrence got the referee to hold his mirror for him so that he could pose. Shera is, of course, an Impact star and a former NXT talent. He also apparently has more than 35 million followers on Tik-Tok in India. The match itself was a short showcase of Lawrence’s speed and Shera’s power that saw the big man score the win with the Sky High. Perfectly watchable, but Lawrence relies a little too much on gyrating.
The Mayan Is Ready To Maul
Drew Hernandez came out and ran down Tony Gunn’s action over the last few weeks. He confirmed that, as the OVW TV Title is gone, Dean Hill has stated that any former TV champion can face Tony Gunn. Drew mentioned his won accomplishments in the OVW TV Title Gauntlet and accused Tony of crapping on them, then told him to come out so he can kick his ass. This was a really good promo. Drew’s face turn kinda came out of nowhere, but he fits the role well in this scenario.
Tony Gunn def. Drew Hernandez
On paper, this is a great match. Both guys are wonderfully consistent, and their styles should mesh well too. While too short to be the classic they could have, it was still a fun TV match. For the most part, it was a fast-paced, scrappy brawl, and the crowd was happy to cheer Drew on in his efforts. In the end, though, Gunn was able to escape the Mayan Apocalypse powerbomb and nail the Kill Shot for the win.
Ashton Needs To Duck And Cove-r
Backstage, Ashton Cover was complaining about Tony Gunn to Valerie Vermin. When Gunn then came in, Ashton confronted him but got nailed with a Kill Shot. When we returned from the break, Cove was awake and blamed Drew Hernandez for his predicament. Drew then came in and kicked him unconscious again. That was pretty funny.
Leonis Kahn def. Dimone Salvino
The debuting Dimone is nicknamed The Nephelim and entered breathing smoke and sporting some black wings. Given that Leonis is gearing up to face Justin Smooth for the OVW Heavyweight Title, the result was never in doubt though. Justin Smooth came out to watch from the commentary table, and also further injured Maximus Khan when he came out to confront him. Late on, Smooth tried to hit Leonis with Street Justice but missed, and Leonis dispatched him before hitting a match-winning Spear on the half-angel. This did a good job of giving Leonis some momentum going into Christmas Chaos but was really too long for what it was supposed to achieve.
Randall Floyd Is Suspended / More Chaos
This was exactly what it sounds like. Randall entered the arena but was immediately ejected by the staff as he has been suspended for his action last week.
We then cut to Gilbert Corsey in the ring, who confirmed that Christmas Chaos will see a Femme Fatale Reverse Rumble inside the cage. Basically, everyone starts in the ring and the first to escape over the top wins. The winner will get a title shot against Max The Impaler that night. That news brought out former OVW Women’s champion Megan Bayne. She said that her contract says she should get a rematch as the former champion, so she shouldn’t need to enter the reverse rumble. Before Gilbert could respond, Max The Impaler came out to interrupt. The two women started brawling, and Megan did an absolute number on the champ, ending the segment standing tall.
Speaking as someone who has taken part in many modified rumbles/battle royales…once you start changing the rules of that match type, it has a tendency to fall apart. So I don’t have much faith in that one. The brawl here was good though and helped re-establish Megan as not only a powerhouse but a real threat to Max. I’ve said it before, but Megan is one of the biggest stars in the company, so this was really good to see.
Rummaging Through The Roster
Radio World Champion Steve Rummage joined Gilbert and Ted at ringside with his new title. Shannon The Dude, accompanied by Adam Revolver, came out to confront him. Steve pointed out that both Shannon and Adam tapped out at the Fightmare and Adam demanded a title shot as he’s a Triple Crown Champion. That brought out Aamon, the one and only Grand Champion in OVW, and told Adam he could face him. This was a really well-executed segment. Shannon and Steve played their parts well, and Adam Revolver’s facials when Aamon announced the match were great.
OVW Anarchy Title Match: Aamon def. Adam Revolver
This was only ever going to go one way. Aamon no-sold a bunch of weapon shots, then took it to ‘The Snake’ with some plunder of his own. Steve Rummage prevented Revolver from escaping, which let Aamon hit Straight To Hell and count the pin himself. Short, but entertaining battle.
OVW Southern Tag Titles Match: Corey Storm & Dimes def. The Legacy Of Brutality
Corey and Dimes earned the title shot by winning the Nightmare Cup and were out for revenge after the LoB’s attack last week. Representing the heel stable this week was my preferred team of Ca$h Flo and Jay Bradley. The heels started off on the backfoot too, as the referee immediately ejected Hy-Zaya and Big Zo from ringside due to them not having manager’s licenses. That did still leave Josh Ashcraft to potentially run interference though.
This was exactly what it needed to be as a match. It opened up with the popular duo of Dimes and Storm taking advantage of their speed and high flying skills to maintain control. Eventually, the heels were able to get back on top by using pure power to bully the smallest man in the match, Dimes. When Dimes finally made the hot tag to Storm, the pace picked up again. In the end, Dimes hit a Change Maker on Jay Bradley, and Corey Storm followed up with the Eye of the Storm for the pin.
This was a great TV main event. All four guys had their working boots on, and the crowd loved the finish. Two things need to happen now. One, they need to give Corey Storm a mic and find a decent heel team for the new champions to feud with. Two, The Legacy of Brutality needs to find a victim ad destroy them. The reason for this is that Corey Storm is remarkably charismatic, and can talk people into seats. Meanwhile, the LoB lost momentum after the King’s Ransom feud and need to regain that.
Overall
This was an even better show than last week. Other than the Leonis Khan match going on longer than it needed to, everything was executed perfectly. If OVW can continue at this level in terms of the product, and sort out the persistent technical issues, they’ll be on course for some growth, in my opinion. Excellent work.
Matt Doyle Media 