Post by fifthhorseman on Jan 1, 2017 22:28:16 GMT -5
UWF FRIDAY NIGHT’S MAIN EVENT
EPISODE 11
EPISODE 11
60-second highlight package from Mid-South Mayhem to start the show.
Tony Schiavone: Hello, wrestling fans – we are live from the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, and this is UWF Friday Night’s Main Event! We have four great matches on tap for you tonight, and after everything that took place at Mid-South Mayhem, it truly is a brand new day here in the UWF. Tonight’s main event features Mid-South Junior Heavyweight champion Roderick Strong against “Gentleman” Jack Gallagher, but that’s far from all, right, Mike?
Mike Tenay: Indeed – tonight also sees the Midnight Express take on the Motor City Timesplitters in Trios action, as well as the UWF debut of Randy Orton, who battles Michael Elgin of War Machine! And coming right up, you’ll also see the debut of Jake “the Snake” Roberts, who –
Schaivone: Hold up, partner. I’m been told that Jake Roberts is not in the building tonight due to travel problems. But… yes, we will kick off the show with not just a debut match, but a match where both men are literally fighting for their spot in the UWF! What a way to start the night; let’s get right to the ring!
DREW GALLOWAY vs. LANCE STORM:
vs.
Despite signing a contract earlier in the month, this was Storm’s first UWF match. Commissioner Bill Watts was getting close to his self-imposed 50-wrestler roster limit, and after negotiating with Galloway a few days earlier, decided to kick off the new year with a match that would send a message to the locker room: never take your spot for granted.
Two of the best all-around wrestlers and athletes in the world went at it for 16 minutes, with hardly a second of inactivity. It was a combination of top-notch mat grappling, aerial tactics, and power, with the two men suddenly and unexpectedly wrestling for a position in the UWF. With such high stakes, they used every legal and borderline illegal trick in the book. However, it ended with a high-impact “Future Shock” DDT on the ECW alumnus, and the Scottish superstar earned his way onto the roster.
COMMERCIAL
Before the next match began, Kevin Kelly stood backstage with Hot Stuff International, but Jim Cornette did all the talking. “Whoever thought that America’s Least Wanted was gonna finish the so-called feud with us is, was, and always will be insane. Did you see the bunkhouse battle royal? You saw who won, right? Heck, even the Eliminators didn’t want to stick around to lose with them! Now it’s time to move onto bigger and better things. First, we take care of the Motor City Midgets, then I go to Bill Watts’ office and get us a title shot against the Freebirds.”
THE MIDNIGHT EXPRESS (w/Jim Cornette and Matt Morgan) vs. THE MOTOR CITY TIMESPLITTERS:
vs.
The Express sneered their way to the ring first, still riding the high of their big win at Mayhem. The MCT followed, eager to put them in their place and prove to the UWF championship committee that they shouldn’t be overlooked.
The first couple of minutes belonged to the fastest team in the UWF, as Sabin and Kushida kept Lane off-balance with a dazzling array of double-team moves. Condrey fared no better, as Shelley and Sabin worked him over until the “personal assistant” Morgan interfered. After that, the Express slowed it down Southern-style, and Eaton took over on Shelley. The next several minutes saw the heels tag in and out fluidly. After a hot tag to Kushida, a pier-sixer broke out. Cornette nailed the legal man (still Kushida) with his tennis racket while the referee was busy scolding Morgan, and one “Veg-O-Matic” later, the Express stole the victory.
COMMERCIAL
Still pictures from the bloody brawl between Dusty Rhodes and Manny Fernandez were shown, after which Kelly stood backstage with the victorious “Raging Bull”, who still wore the blood-stained bullrope around his neck. He proudly declared that Rhodes was in his rear view mirror now, and that he would set his sights back on the UWF North American heavyweight championship – and he didn’t care if Jack Swagger, Jay Lethal, or God himself held it, the belt would belong to Fernandez in 2017.
MICHAEL ELGIN (w/Hanson and Raymond Rowe) vs. RANDY ORTON:
vs.
War Machine marched down the ramp and into the ring en masse to a chorus of boos. The crowd was much more eager to see the debut of "the Viper", who wasn't taking the easy route by challenging Elgin, a former ROH World champion. As Orton posed on the middle rope, he was surrounded by Rowe and Hanson. They did not touch him, but their big bodies screened his vision, allowing Elgin to attack him from the outside.
"Unbreakable" dragged him to the floor, but Orton quickly regained his balance, and the two men exchanged punches all the way around the ring. They both rolled back inside, and the bell finally rang to officially start the match. Elgin used his low center of gravity and superior strength to briefly overpower his foe, and he bulled him into a corner with shoulder-tackles. But the tide turned back to Orton, and he quickened the pace with uppercuts and snap bodyslams. It went back and forth for a couple of more minutes, but when Elgin lifted Orton up into his delayed high suplex, the third-generation wrestler slipped out and hit Elgin with an RKO. Three seconds later, he picked up the win, and rolled out of the ring before Hanson and Rowe could attack him.
Schiavone: We are getting a phone call now... Jake Roberts, hello. It's a shame you can't be with us tonight, but I have been told that you have been booked for next week's show.
Roberts: That's what I hear, too, and if it wasn't for this damn flat tire, I'd be there tonight. But I suppose you're doing just fine without me, that's alright... but that's not the main reason I'm calling. You see, as I was crossing the final t's and dotting the final i's in my contract, I was listening to the last Main Event show. One of the competitors here was complaining about his lack of competition. He said that he was better, and smarter, and craftier, than anybody Bill Watts could put in front of him. Well, Nick Bockwinkel... if you want to match wits with me, you're welcome to try.
COMMERCIAL
UWF MID-SOUTH JUNIOR HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
JACK GALLAGHER vs. RODERICK STRONG (C):
JACK GALLAGHER vs. RODERICK STRONG (C):
vs.
Both men were cheered as they made their entrances, and Strong held his title belt high overhead as the two shook hands in the middle of the ring. The first few minutes were a clinic in chain wrestling, as Gallagher's unorthodox tactics meshed perfectly with the champion's traditionalist style and made for a highly entertaining match. The Brit also used his MMA background to go strike-for-strike with Strong as well, and he took charge of the first half of the contest. However, a missed corner dropkick gave the champ his opening, and Strong laid in a variety of backbreakers that put the challenger on the mat in obvious pain.
He continued to work on the back, dropping knees on him before setting into a “Strong Hold” Boston crab. But Gallagher was tougher than the gentlemanly façade would seem, and he fought out of it. However, it drained the last bit of energy he had, and he couldn’t evade a flying high knee. Strong rolled him over for the pin, and after Gallagher regained his senses, the two men shook hands.
As the ring was prepped for an interview, Schiavone and Tenay hyped the next television show. Kevin Kelly entered the ring, and introduced the newest UWF champions: the Fabulous Freebirds, and Jay Lethal. The Trios titlists entered first, followed a few moments later by the new North American champion. Kelly congratulated the four, but before the segment could go any further…
…the lights went down, and “The Game” played over the arena’s sound system…
(And from here on in, imagine the debut of the Nexus.)
…and about 15 seconds later, when the lights came back on, Triple H and the Newer Age Outlaws were standing midway down the ramp. The crowd erupted, and the intruders calmly walked to the ring; Kelly bolted in the opposite direction, and Lethal and the Freebirds dared them to step inside. The dare, needless to say, was immediately accepted, and a brawl was on. However, the odds quickly changed to Triple H’s side when Randy Orton ran down to join him, and before long, the Freebirds and Lethal were laid out.
Triple H, Orton, and the Outlaws fended off a horde of referees, before an even more unthinkable thing occurred – “the Viper” hit Palumbo with an RKO! His partners, Gunn and James, were shocked, and before they realized what was happening, Orton and HHH attacked them – an RKO to James and a “Pedigree” to Gunn, and they were down as well.
As they hit the mat, Strong and Gallagher sprinted to the ring, followed by fellow Junior Heavyweights TJ Perkins and Kenny Omega. They ganged up on HHH and Orton, taking them down, seemingly turning the tide “back” to the UWF… but they were betrayed by one of their own, when “the Cleaner”, Omega, hit Strong and Perkins with simultaneous low blows. As the beatdown continued, Omega and Orton caught each other’s eye, laughed, and hugged.
Officials frantically tried to clear the ring. Anytime someone tried to get to his feet, Triple H, Omega, and Orton knocked them down. The audience was in a frenzy, and it became even more frenzied when more reinforcements ran down the ramp – a bandaged Dusty Rhodes, “Dr. Death” Steve Williams, and the UWF World heavyweight champion, Bret Hart. The three got to the apron, but they were repelled by kicks from the higher ground of the ring.
And then, depending on your view, it got worse.
Two men jumped over the rail, wearing loose-fitting hoodies – one tall and strong, one shorter but no less muscular – and attacked Hart and Rhodes from behind. Williams, not knowing what happened behind his back, dove in the ring, only to get triple-teamed by the “Cerebral Assassin” and his partners. Outside, the taller stranger reached under the ring and found two sledgehammers, and he and his colleague nailed Hart and Rhodes with them, cutting them open and practically knocking them out. Meanwhile, Williams was still fighting but losing, and he was mercilessly laid out by all five men.
The quintet stood tall in the center of the ring, and the two trespassers revealed their identities – it was Perry Saturn and Sean O’Haire! As the show ended, the five men raised their hands high overhead, surrounded by furious officials and the beaten bodies of a dozen men.