by: Phillip Barnard, Houston Pro Wrestling Examiner
NWA Top Rope invaded Cypress, Texas this past Friday night for a showdown with NWA Houston. It was a very interesting evening, as it was headlined by two Champion vs. Champion matches. NWA Top Rope, led by Mike Sircy from the NWA Board of Directors, is based out of Tennessee.
NWA Showdown: Texas vs. Tennessee opened up with their version of "interleague play," as Hammerjack (from NWA Top Rope) squared off with NWA Houston's own Hambone. After a brief verbal exchange between the two, both big men went back and forth throughout the match. The Cypress crowd was firmly behind Hambone, as he surprised Hammerjack with a small package rollup and picked up a big win to start the night. It was a good win for one of the younger talents on the NWA Houston roster.
There had to be some sort of appearance by the Pyscho Circus, and there was certainly no disappointment there. "Mr. Showtime" Scot Summers led his crew of "Benchmark" Silky Baines, Jen-Alise and "One Man" Mike Dell to the ring to address the fans as well as NWA Houston President, Tugboat Taylor. Summers, the reigning NWA Houston Heavyweight Champion, told the fans that the Psycho Circus had dominated the Houston area all the way back to the WoW Texas days.
Summers went on to praise his opponent for the night, NWA Top Rope's Arrick Andrews. Summers touted that Andrews was a great athlete and a great wrestler, but bragged that he was better and would prove it later in the night. He then mentioned that Circus members "One Man" Mike Dell and Ryan Genesis were slated to defend the NWA Houston Tag Team Titles against the fan favorite Crusaders (Pop'n & Lock), but said that Genesis was off making money on "official Psycho Circus business." At this point, Dell took the mic and said he had been given the opportunity to choose his own parter for one night to help defend the titles, and that it would be somebody that NWA Houston fans would least expect.
Summers then turned his attention to the recent feud between NWA Houston Outlaw Champion Silky Baines and the monstrous Jayukus Plisken. Summers looked down at Tugboat Taylor, who was at ringside, and asked him point blank how many times would Silky have to beat Plisken. Silky beat Plisken in May at "Shut Up & Wrestle," to retain the Outlaw Title but was informed he would have to put Plisken down one more time in Cypress. Then Summers took his attention to the often-crazed Jen-Alise. She has been in middle of the NWA Houston Women's Title picture for quite some time, and Summers noted that and told everybody that she should be the one facing Tasha Simone for the NWA World Women's Title, and not Barbi Hayden.
Before Summers could say much more, Mike Sircy from the NWA Board of Directors stepped into the ring. He warned Summers about criticizing the fans, because they were the best in the world. Then he upended Summers altogether, by announcing that only the NWA Houston Championship would be on the line as he faced NWA Tennessee Champion Arrick Andrews in the main event. An enraged Summers retreated to the back with his crew, having words with Sircy and Tugboat on his way to the back.
After that exchange, fans were ready for some inter-league tag team action, as Chaz Taylor and "Backdraft" Chris Lee defended hometown pride against two very large individuals collectively known as The Asylum (Pappy and Psycho). They came to the ring wearing straight jackets, and were being herded to the ring by Mike Sircy. Throughout the match, The Asylum held their own very well. They kept Chaz and Lee from tagging while making their own tags to keep the fresher man in. However their size advantage wasn't enough, as a top rope elbow drop from Chaz claimed victory for NWA Houston.
The third match on the card featured former championship partners at war, as Ken Carson teed off on former "Impeccable" partner Joey Diamond. These two have held numerous tag team titles throughout Texas, as well as multi-time NWA Houston AND NWA Texas Tag Team Champions. After dropping the belts last month to Mike Dell and Ryan Genesis, Carson snapped and turned on his former friend. It led to a physical confrontation on Friday night as Carson used tactic including attempting to use a steel chair, which resulted in the referee taking it away from him before he could use it on Diamond. After hitting a Stunner on Diamond, Carson thought he had things well in hand. However his arrogance in the ring cost him, as Diamond scored with a boot to the face and a simple roll-up to pick up the win. After the match, Carson made a statement that will have a major consequence for July 8. Carson challenged Diamond to a rematch, stating that if he couldn't beat him...he would LEAVE the organization! Diamond took a moment to take in what he just heard, and responded that if HE couldn't beat Carson, then he would be the one to leave. So on July 8, Ken Carson will face Joey Diamond in a match where the loser must leave NWA Houston.
Up next was a highly anticipated matchup, as Psycho Circus member "Benchmark" Silky Baines defended the NWA Houston Outlaw Title against Jaykus Plisken. The bell no sooner had time to ring and these two were in the center of the ring trading punches. Once things settled down, Baines actually controlled the majority of the match. And when your opponent is Plisken, not too many people can make that statement and live to tell about it. Mike Dell made an appearance midway through the contest, but was quickly diverted by Hambone and chased to the back. The champion tried to take advantage of the situation, but made a costly error. He made his way to the top rope, and was met by Plisken. The challenger shocked the Cypress crowd by hoisting the larger champion onto his shoulders while standing on the turnbuckle, and then hitting a rolling fireman's carry from the corner. The crowd stood and applauded while the impact of the move tossed the referee around the ring. Jaykus made the cover and walked away your new NWA Houston Outlaw Champion.
After a brief intermission, fans were treated to an exciting title match, as NWA Houston Jr. Heavyweight Champion Bolt Brady put the gold up against ACH. Both men are highly respected by the fans, and were ready for a great match between the two. Suprisingly enough, this match was mostly dominated by the challenger ACH. It seemed several times in the match that every time Brady tried to mount some kind of offense, ACH was there to shut it down. ACH would get a golden opportunity to lock in the Regal Stretch submission. Brady made every effort to escape, even risking potential injury to not give up the title. However the pain of the submission was too much to bear, and he was forced to submit. ACH is your new NWA Houston Jr. Heavyweight Champion. But celebration quickly turned to disaster, as recent rival Mr. B hit the ring and laid out both men. He then grabbed the mic and talked about the lack of respect he's been shown and how he deserves a title shot. Mike Sircy cut him off, reprimanding him for his actions and tell him that he would indeed get that title shot. However he would have to wait until July 8 to get it.
The NWA Houston Tag Team Titles were on the line next, but first there was the matter of revealing who Mike Dell has chosen to fill in for Ryan Genesis for the night. That person turned out to be "The Name That Entertains" Jasper Davis. In recent months, Davis had turned himself around. Siding with the fans and getting a new sense of respect, Jasper had gotten himself back into the good graces of NWA Houston management. However that quickly went awry as he was revealed to be Dell's partner in their match against The Crusaders (Pop'n & Lock). Dell and Davis made relatively short work of The Crusaders, as they looked like a team that had been tagging every night for a long time. However there was some shock that was yet to be seen. During the celebration, Dell got the mic and asked Davis how it felt to be on a winning team. His response was that it felt great, and then asked if Dell could relay a message to ringleader Scot Summers. Davis then stunned Dell with a straight right punch that put Dell on the mat. This brought out the rest of the Psycho Circus, who then proceeded to level Davis by hitting each of their finishers on him. The attack on Davis left him badly injured and as of now there is no update on his condition.
The final two matches featured Champion vs. Champion, as this match saw NWA World Women's Champion Tasha Simone put her gold up for grabs against NWA Houston Women's Champion Barbi Hayden. This was a great match between the two. Barbi held her own throughout the matchup and nearly pulled off a huge upset on a couple of occasions. At the 20 minute mark, Tasha pulled a signature piledriver out of her arsenal and spiked Barbi's head into the mat. Three seconds later, Tasha had successfully retained the Women's Championship. After the match, she continued the beatdown on Hayden. This brought Mike Sircy back out to inform Tasha that there would be a tournament in San Antonio featuring eight of the toughest women in Texas. The wiinner would receive a future shot at her gold. Much to her dislike, it was also announced that Barbi would be participating in the tournament.
And with that, Cypress was set for what could easily be considered Match Of The Year for any card in the state of Texas, let alone NWA Houston. NWA Houston Heavyweight Champion Scot Summers was set to defend his title against the NWA Tennessee Heavyweight Champion, Arrick Andrews. Summers' title would be the only title up for grabs. This match didn't take long to get out of control, as they started brawling from the opening bell. With the Psycho Circus at ringside cheering Summers on, the NWA Houston Champion managed to get into full control. He put Arrick on the mat with everything he knew to throw at him, including a vicious brainbuster that could've easily ended the match on impact. In what turned out to be a highly competitive and back-and-forth brawl between the two, the referee got a little too close to the action. While Summers and Andrews were trading punches, Andrews ducked a swing by Summers and the referee got knocked unconscious by a Summers punch. Andrews then hits a spinning heel kick that sent Summers to the mat. He made the cover, but there was no referee! Finally, a second referee came out to help out and take over for the original referee. Silky Baines and Mike Dell jumped onto the apron to cause a distraction, but Andrews shoved Summers into them and sent them crashing to the floor. Andrews rolled up Summers and the referee counted to three. Fans went crazy, as Andrews was declared the winner and NEW NWA Houston Champion. Then controversy struck. The original referee came to, and reversed the decision. He was disqualifying Summers for intentionally punching him in the face. So the official ruling is that Arrick Andrews wins by disqualification but Summers retains the NWA Houston Championship since titles can't change hands on a DQ or countout.
Following the match, Summers bragged about being the smartest wrestler, and how he had stuck it to Tugboat and NWA Houston again. Then he took it a step further, and said he wanted to wrestle Tugboat. This brought the NWA Houston President into the ring. He said that while he would never WRESTLE Summers, he would FIGHT him. And on that note, he proceeded to deliver a thunderous punch to Summers' face and sent him crashing to the mat. The fans cheered loudly, as they finally got to see Tugboat get a measure of revenge on the leader of the Psycho Circus. He then followed that up by stating that on July 8, he was bringing in the recognized Independant World Champion, a man by the name of Tim Storm, to face Summers.
So with that said, there are now three matches set for July 8 at the Cypress VFW. Loser Leaves NWA Houston, as former Impeccable teammates Ken Carson and Joey Diamond will battle for their respective job, Mr. B will finally get his shot at ACH for the NWA Jr. Heavyweight Championship, and Scot Summers will face Tim Storm in a match that will no doubt have many eyes in the state of Texas looking in.
More information about those matches, as well as injuries to Bolt Brady and SIlky Baines, and more information can be found at www.nwahouston.com. There is also a new store feature that has recently been added to the website. It is still under construction and being worked on, but you will be able to buy merchandise as well as event tickets from the website once it is fully available.
