Post by fifthhorseman on Oct 27, 2020 11:28:34 GMT -5
CHAMPIONSHIP WRESTLING FROM FLORIDA
EPISODE 32
EPISODE 32
A 60-second video montage showcasing some of the greatest stars that competed in the classic CWF, as well as FCW and NXT, opens the telecast, ending with a still shot of Barry Windham with the new CWF Television title strapped around his waist.
Lance Russell: “Good evening, wrestling fans! I'm Lance Russell, and tonight I'm joined by the newest member of the CWF family... Mauro Ranallo. Mauro, welcome to Florida!”
Ranallo: “The pleasure is all mine! I've been watching this roster and these matches from afar, and when Mr. Heenan offered me a position alongside a living legend such as yourself, with the opportunity to call the very best action in the world, I literally could not say no.”
Russell: “And you picked a great night to start, as we have six, count 'em, six matches on the docket tonight... and our main event will determine the top contender for the CWF Florida Heavyweight champion, Rick Rude. Jack Brisco versus Dusty Rhodes, later tonight! But let's get to the ring for our first match of the evening – take it away, 'Mean' Gene!”
CWF SOUTHERN TAG-TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
The BAD STREET BOYS vs. the GULF COAST VARSITY CLUB (c, w/Eric Bugenhagen):
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The BAD STREET BOYS vs. the GULF COAST VARSITY CLUB (c, w/Eric Bugenhagen):
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This was your standard big heel vs. undersized face battle, and the experience edge went to the champions as well. Rotunda was the best pure wrestler of the bunch, and Spivey was the strongest by far, but Matthews and York used their speed to keep it competitive. However, it only took the Varsity Club about ten minutes to end it, when “the Captain” pinned York with a double-underhook suplex. The veterans collected their gold, Bugenhagen enthusiastically consoled the losers, and the ring cleared.
But before the Bad Street Boys could get backstage, the Nexus – all seven of them – walked onto the ramp. The young team had to walk that gauntlet... but the Nexus didn't let them. They inflicted a quick beatdown, and Barrett addressed the crowd with a handheld microphone. “That was just a sample of what the Nexus can do, and will do whenever they feel like it! Now, you might have heard that the Survivor Series is coming to CWF. The event where teams of all sorts and sizes do battle. Well, let me assure you, the Nexus is the most powerful team in the world... and right now, we are issuing a challenge to any seven men that want to step in the ring with us. If you've got the guts, that is... now, Titus – go show these people what we're all about.”
At that, the strongman of the Prime Time Players stepped ahead of the pack, fists taped for the next match, and he strode to the ring.
COMMERCIAL
TAPED FIST SCRAMBLE MATCH
WAYNE BLOOM vs. LARRY CAMERON vs. UMAGA FATU vs. DORY FUNK, Jr. vs. TITUS O'NEIL vs. JIMMY USO:
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Before the ring filled, various camera shots showed security personnel in various parts of the arena, as Heenan didn't want a repeat of last week's chaos. No one from WCW – or anywhere else, for that matter – was getting in tonight.
Ranallo reminded the audience that the winner of this match would, alongside his tag partner, face the New Day next week, and the winner of that match would take on the Devil's Advocates for the CWF Florida Tag-Team titles at the Survivor Series. He solemnly added, “And it starts here. The man scoring the last fall or submission in this match – a full 20 minutes – will move on!”
Everyone's fists were heavily taped, and it started with Larry Cameron and Umaga Fatu, while the other four men each occupied a corner – no timed entrances in this one, they all started at the same time. Needless to say, this didn't feature much of the high-flying action that the ladder match did the week before. Instead, these were six tough guys that were going to literally punch their way into a shot at a title match.
The referee let a lot of things go, and even when the action spilled outside, he let the wrestlers battle their way back inside. The first pin of the match was scored about halfway through, when – perhaps prophetically – O'Neil pinned Uso. He was the man to beat now, and though he wanted to stay in the ring to control his fate, he didn't have the cardio to do so, so he eventually tagged out. The action continued, and a few minutes later, a new man was the interim challenger – Wayne Bloom of the Destruction Crew, who unexpectedly scored a pin on Umaga.
With just a couple of minutes left, all hell broke loose, which was to be expected in a match like this. Half the field was bleeding, and everyone wanted in. However, that just resulted in more people actually getting thrown out, and Cameron, O'Neil, Fatu, and Uso were brawling on the floor. That left Bloom on the inside with Funk, and he just wanted to run out the clock. But the tough, wily Texan caught him and put him in a spinning toehold, and with just seconds left in the bout, Bloom submitted. The last man standing – literally, in this case – was Dory Funk, Jr.
COMMERCIAL
Another Paul Orndorff vignette was shown to the crowd, the third week in a row that the imminent arrival of “Mr. Wonderful” was announced... but this time, the chyron said, “Paul Orndorff makes his debut – next week.”
JERRY LAWLER vs. TIMOTHY THATCHER:
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The heel/face delineation was obvious in this one. The shooter from Sacramento egged on the crowd every time he had Lawler on the defensive. However, “the King” was more than willing to go toe-to-toe with Thatcher, and even after absorbing a myriad of strikes and non-traditional holds from his opponent, still had enough savvy to not only escape them, but take charge of the match. They went 11 solid minutes, and Lawler had Thatcher backed into a corner – the strap was about to come down. But Thatcher escaped, and locked a rope-assisted dragon sleeper onto the Memphis legend. The ref barked a five-count at him, but he refused to release the hold, causing the DQ finish. Eventually the official pried the heel away, and he bitterly trudged up the ramp. Lawler got to his feet a few seconds later, more angry than hurt, but he gave the crowds a thumbs-up as he left.
COMMERCIAL
A sit-down interview, recorded earlier in the week, played. Gene Okerlund was with Dusty Rhodes, and the “American Dream” was as confident as ever, proclaiming that it was his destiny to take the title from “Ravishing” Rick Rude at the Survivor Series.
TOM R.Y. CARTER vs. BILLY JACK HAYNES:
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A true clash in styles in this one, and the former tag champ Haynes easily controlled the initial lockups. Carter regrouped and found a way to take the Oregonian down, and employed a variety of strikes to soften his foe up. Haynes' strength was negated every time he was on the mat, and though he have a few chances to show the crowd why he might have been, pound for pound, the strongest man in the territory, he couldn't match Carter's technical prowess. Some fans considered it an upset, but the Nexus's technical specialist forced Haynes to submit to the cattle mutilation.
After the match, Carter went over to the broadcast table and grabbed a microphone. “Hey, Lawler! That's how you get it done in the ring! I earned my win, can you say the same about yours? I really, really hope you take up the Nexus's challenge – but I don't think you have the guts to do it!”
The man known as Reckless Youth put the mike back, and Russell and Ranallo just looked at each other in bewilderment.
COMMERCIAL
Rhodes wasn't the only man getting the interview treatment; another pre-tape was shown, Okerlund questioning Brisco about his match against Rhodes. The classy Oklahoman was also confident, as well he should be given his resume, and he just needed one crack at Rude to take his Florida Heavyweight championship.
Back to the live shot at the broadcast table, where Ranallo said, “Fans, we were told earlier in the night that the scheduled tag-team match between the Blond Bombers, and Drew McIntyre and Brian Pillman, is not going to go as planned. Because of the Road Warriors' unsanctioned actions last week, Ray Stevens is unable to compete tonight due to a dislocated shoulder and a sprained neck.”
Russell nodded. “However, we've just been told that Pillman and McIntyre will still team together, and in just a few moments, we'll find out who their opponents are.”
On cue, the big Scot and “Flyin' Brian” came out – separately. Then, Pat Patterson walked onto the stage with his manager, “Classy” Freddie Blassie, who said, “Just because Ray isn't here, that doesn't mean that Pat Patterson doesn't want to fight! Why, he's ready to come down there right now and take both of you geeks on! But my good friend Bobby Heenan thought that a handicap match would embarrass you too much, so without further ado... here's his partners!”
Enter stage left, the East-West Connection, and the three men – along with Blassie – marched down to the ring, leaving the announcers to wonder why Heenan thought a three-on-two handicap match was fair to Pillman and McIntyre. The simplest answer was the right one - Heenan still hated Pillman's guts.
DREW McINTYRE and BRIAN PILLMAN vs. the EAST-WEST CONNECTION and PAT PATTERSON (w/Freddie Blassie):
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The stipulation from last week still held: McIntyre and Pillman had to win to re-enter the Southern Heavyweight championship title picture; if they lost, neither would get a shot against Muhammad Hassan for months, if not longer. The faces lacked the chemistry that their opponents did, and it showed early – Adonis and Ventura were a well-oiled machine, and Patterson – one of the greatest tag-team wrestlers of any generation – integrated himself into the match flawlessly. The heels dominated early, but after Ventura missed a splash, the “Loose Cannon” began the comeback for his team. The pace quickened, and after McIntyre cleared the ring, Pillman hit Adonis with a stunner for the victory.
COMMERCIAL
A tale of the tape video played, giving the main event an even bigger big-match feel, if that was possible. When it ended, the CWF president made his way out to the broadcast table... but he had something to say to the crowd first.
“If you all just shut up, I'll be quick... thank you. Before we get to tonight's main event, you might be wondering where our CWF Television champion, Barry Windham, is. After all, he just won the TV title – doesn't that mean he should be on TV? Well, let it be known that Bobby 'the Brain' Heenan also has a heart. Mr. Windham has a fractured nose, so I gave him the week off. Sure, it's without pay, but he still has the title. But next week – and every week after that, until the days he loses it – he'll be in that ring.”
“Now, our match tonight. We have about 25 minutes left, so I'm making it official – this match has a 20-minute time limit. If it goes to a draw, then this panel of three judges – hey, humanoids, set up a table up, willya? - will decide the winners. Judges, if you please?”
A couple of seconds later, “Superstar” Billy Graham came out and waved to the appreciative crowd. Next out was Oliver Humperdink. And after a long pause, the third man to emerge was the CWF Florida Heavyweight champion himself, Rick Rude.
BEST OF FIVE SERIES, MATCH FIVE
JACK BRISCO vs. DUSTY RHODES:
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JACK BRISCO vs. DUSTY RHODES:
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There was definitely a big-match feel for this, and as Okerlund made the announcements, the two competitors coolly stared at each other in the center of the ring. The series was deadlocked, it was winner take all, and as Heenan stated, one way or another, there would be a winner.
It was another instant classic. By now, Rhodes was used to Brisco's amateur tactics, and even though he was close to 300 pounds, he was able to evade many of those shoots. Brisco wanted to take it to the ground and wrestle a slow, methodical match. Even though he was also a fan favorite, the crowd favored Rhodes just a little bit more.
About halfway through, each with an eye on the clock,their gameplans changed. The pace picked up, and they were both throwing dropkicks and other high-impact moves. The sturdy Oklahoman went to work on Rhodes' right arm, to take away the bionic elbow; the “Dream” countered every time with stiff shots to Brisco's neck and shoulders. The best-of-five series wore on both of them; at this point, they would do anything to win, and it got increasingly vicious.
Throughout the match, the judges watched intently, Rude most of all. He was quite happy to watch the two gladiators beat the hell out of each other. If he had a preferred opponent, he didn't show it.
With less than 90 seconds left, Rhodes took over, hitting Brisco with three back-bodydrops. After the third, he bounced off the ropes and wound up for the patented bionic elbow... but he missed! Brisco rolled out of the way, just in time, and groggily captured his foe in a cross-face chickenwing while both men still laid on the mat. The burly Texan cried out in pain, and as Brisco regained his senses, he locked it on even tighter. Rhodes had nowhere to go, so with only 30 seconds left in the time limit, he pushed off and rolled so that both men's shoulders were on the mat, with him on top of Brisco as if it was a German suplex. The referee counted, one, two -
- and at the last millisecond, Brisco bridged on his strong neck. Rhodes, still captured in the chickenwing, could not. Three. Brisco was declared the winner at 19:43.
The crowd got to their feet to applaud their efforts. Rhodes slowly got to his feet, raised Brisco's hand, and graciously rolled out of the ring. The referee then came in to similarly raise the winner's hand – but it was interrupted by Rude, who charged the ring and kicked Brisco in the stomach. Without a moment's hesitation, he cinched in the Rude Awakening, and connected on his weakened target. The show ended with Brisco lying in a heap, and Rude gyrating to the disgusted crowd.