Post by fifthhorseman on Nov 3, 2018 20:00:29 GMT -5
MLW FRIDAY NIGHT HEAT
EPISODE 13
EPISODE 13
60-second video montage recapping last week’s show, followed by title graphics and explosive pyro.
Lance Russell: “Good evening, wrestling fans, and welcome to a special two-hour edition of Friday Night Heat! My name is Lance Russell, and I’m joined on color commentary tonight by the MLW World Tag-Team champions, two of the Horsemen, Curt Hennig and Brian Pillman –“
Hennig: “Yeah, and the only reason we’re not wrestling tonight is because that simple Commissioner, Chuck Norris, decided that no one can hold the World Tag-Team title and the World Heavyweight championship at the same time –“
Pillman: “Which he obviously did only to keep Curt and me from winning all the gold around here! So instead, we’re just sitting here with you, Russell!”
Russell: “That’s your opinion, Brian, but be that as it may, we have four incredible matches for you tonight, and each of them serve as a qualifying match to determine the top contender for the new MLW World Heavyweight champion, Ted DiBiase. So without further delay, let’s get to the ring!”
16-MAN BATTLE ROYALE:
The first team to walk down the ramp drove the crowd into a frenzy – they were the mighty Road Warriors, led by Paul Ellering. MLW Chief Imagination Officer Jeff Jarrett decided that this would be a difficult test not only of ability, but of loyalty – the 16 participants were, in fact, eight united teams. They were followed by the Revival, Davey Boy Smith and Owen Hart, and the Fabulous Freebirds, who were making their MLW debut as a team, and the crowd let them have it. They waved the Confederate flag, and waved at the camera, saying, “Hey, Barry Windham! When you comin’ back?”
The Latin American Exchange were next, then the Main Event Machine, followed by another debuting duo, a pair of wrestlers very familiar to Jarrett… America’s Most Wanted, Chris Harris and James Storm. The eighth and final team turned the welcoming cheers to cascading boos; the Great Britons, who were deservedly attacked as soon as the bell rang by Smith and Hart.
While those two teams fought – finally, with real fury behind every punch and kick – tooth and nail, most of the other teams turned their attention to the co-favorites, Hawk and Animal. And they absorbed a tremendous amount of punishment, but they gave it right back. One by one, minute by minute, the wrestlers were launched over the top rope and to the floor. Even the Road Warriors, who were targets all night long and made it to the final six men in the ring... but they also took Terry Gordy and Hernandez with them.
The last two men standing were Paul Orndorff and James Storm. “Mr. Wonderful” and “the Cowboy” locked up, eager to get that much closer to a World Heavyweight championship shot. Orndorff was vicious, and with no rules in a battle royale, he was in his natural element. However, every time he had Storm on the ropes – literally – the native of Tennessee fought his way back to his feet. He turned the tables on Orndorff, and after 15 grueling minutes, the TNA stalwart threw Orndorff outside for the upset win.
COMMERCIAL
A final graphic for Beauty and the Beast was shown to the audience, followed by another graphic that simply said, “Next week.”
LADDER MATCH
AUSTIN ARIES (w/Jim Cornette) vs. MARK BRISCOE vs. BOBBY EATON vs. EDGE vs. BUDDY MURPHY vs. RUSEV:
AUSTIN ARIES (w/Jim Cornette) vs. MARK BRISCOE vs. BOBBY EATON vs. EDGE vs. BUDDY MURPHY vs. RUSEV:
vs. vs. vs.
vs. vs.
Without question, these were six of the most uniquely qualified men to battle in a ladder match. Five of them were equally at ease on the mat or in the air, while the sixth, Rusev, was just sheer power.
A brass ring was hung high over the ring, and ladders were scattered on the floor. The action was intense and innovative, and even the “Loose Cannon” was at a loss for words at times. Throughout the contest, bitter rivals Eaton and Aries tore into each other; Edge and Rusev squared off frequently, as did the two with perhaps the most to prove, Briscoe and Murphy.
At various points during the bout, each man has his chance to literally grab the ring, and hands were often within inches of victory. There were several crash and burn moments, both inside and outside the ring, and a couple of men were busted open. However, it should have been no surprise that at the 25:11 mark, the “ultimate opportunist” climbed the ladder and seized the brass ring… and that man was Edge.
COMMERCIAL
Before the next contender’s match began, house show footage was shown from the Extreme Violence Connection/Cactus Jack and Umaga match a couple of weeks earlier. Russell noted that because it was so violent, three of the four men – Mike Awesome, Masato Tanaka, and Umaga – were no longer with the company. Tag-team wrestling, apparently, was not for everyone.
30-MINUTE SCRAMBLE MATCH
ELIAS vs. GINO HERNANDEZ (w/Jim Cornette) vs. JEFF JARRETT vs. FRANKIE KAZARIAN vs. NIKITA KOLOFF vs. STAN LANE:
ELIAS vs. GINO HERNANDEZ (w/Jim Cornette) vs. JEFF JARRETT vs. FRANKIE KAZARIAN vs. NIKITA KOLOFF vs. STAN LANE:
vs. vs. vs.
vs. vs.
Hernandez and Lane insisted on starting the match, and would have happily stayed in for all 30 minutes to beat the living hell out of each other. However, the other four men desperately wanted in as well, knowing that the last man to score a fall before time elapsed was one step closer to a World Heavyweight title shot.
The tags were fast and furious, and when one man looked weak, the other five competitors were eager to pounce. The first fall took place at 10:09, when the “Russian Nightmare” nearly decapitated Kaz with the Sickle. After that, he looked invincible. Koloff repelled everyone for the next several minutes, and after the action spilled out to the floor and all six men were brawling, he still looked strong.
Until the double guitar shot by the like-minded Jarrett and Elias.
The spontaneously double-team maneuver went undetected by the referee, who started a count to get the action back in the squared circle. Koloff could not beat, and he staggered underneath the bottom rope just after the official signaled that there was a new man reigning as the interim winner… the “Handsome Half-Breed”, Gino Hernandez.
He and Cornette went into stall mode after that, but the final couple of minute were the proverbial finisher-fest. One after another, it was a mad dash to the end, with a series of two-counts by everyone and on everyone. Lane landed a spectacular enziguri kick on Hernandez at 29:17 and momentarily seized the win – however, it was short-lived, as Jarrett nailed “Sweet Stan” with the Stroke just a few seconds later. The wily veteran survived the frantic last moments, and limped back up the ramp victorious.
COMMERCIAL
Russell set up the next segment, a pre-taped interview with World Heavyweight champion Ted DiBiase. He was at his seasonal residence in Bel Air, California, with his associates Irwin R. Schyster and Keith Lee on either side of him. Typical “Million Dollar Man” monologue, delivered with the confidence of a man who had it all: ability, resources, and back-up.
BURIED ALIVE MATCH:
WESLEY BLAKE vs. JAY BRISCOE vs. CACTUS JACK vs. CHRISTIAN vs. CHRISTOPHER DANIELS vs. TERRY FUNK:
WESLEY BLAKE vs. JAY BRISCOE vs. CACTUS JACK vs. CHRISTIAN vs. CHRISTOPHER DANIELS vs. TERRY FUNK:
vs. vs. vs.
vs. vs.
Hennig: “I’ve never seen a ‘Buried Alive’ with more than two competitors before; I don’t know what the hell Jeff Jarrett was thinking, but I sure hope the building is insured!”
“Mr. Perfect’s” words were prophetic, because this match was sheer chaos. All six men started in the ring, and the newcomer to MLW, Terry Funk, eyed them all with disdain. Pillman noted that the only man not to ever wear a World singles title was Wesley Blake, and this was his best chance to get one. The rules were simple – fight until one man threw another man into a “grave” located to the side of the entrance ramp, and shovel dirt on him until the referee calls for the bell.
THIS was the type of insane entertainment that MLW Owner George Steinbrenner wanted. Alliances were formed and broken on a whim, and double- and triple-teams were commonplace – inside the ring and throughout the arena. They all took risks: Daniels, Christian, and Blake were very calculated, while Funk, Briscoe, and Cactus Jack were decidedly more self-injurious. As if the grapplers involved weren’t dangerous enough, chairs and other tools of the trade were used as weapons throughout the match, and blood was shed by nearly all involved.
The endgame started at about the 20-minute match. The half-dozen battered, bruised brawlers paired off at varying distances from the grave. The “Fallen Angel” was going toe-to-toe with the “Instant Classic” mere inches from the burial site, and the two veterans traded right hands as they teetered on the literal brink. Suddenly, Funk and Jack knocked them both into the grave, holding either end of a broken shovel handle to clothesline them down. They looked into the hole, then began arguing and shoving each other. The cameras couldn’t pick up exactly what was being said, and Russell inferred that things were about to get even uglier.
Imagine his shock – and the Horsemen’s, and the 18,000 fans in attendance - when Jack jumped into the grave, splashing Christian and Daniels and imploring Funk to start shoveling.
By the time Briscoe and Blake realized what was going on, it was too late. “The Funker” threw several piles of dirt on all three men – one willing, two trying to escape. The referee called for the bell at 22:48, and a few moments later, a weary Cactus Jack crawled out of the grave, and gave his mentor and hardcore inspiration a giant embrace. The show ended with the two holding a shovel over their heads, and next week’s high-stakes fatal four-way was set: James Storm, Edge, Jeff Jarrett, and Terry Funk.