GSR

World Wrestling Entertainment NXT #324 on WWE Network Aired October 31, 2018 (Taped October 17, 2018) No review yet Nikki Cross vs Mercedes Martinez Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins & Montez Ford) vs The Mighty (Nick Miller & Shane Thorne) Matt Riddle vs Luke Menzies Oney Lorcan & Danny Burch vs Raul Mendoza & Humberto Carrillo Bold matches are PWO recommended

Shank has a poem for Knight that he reads off a roll of toilet paper because he wrote it while on the throne in his cell! Given the content of said poem, I wouldn’t be surprised if Jeff G. Bailey had a hand in penning it for him. Knight paces up and down at the side of the ring, almost as if he’s psyching himself up in readiness for this chain match. Before it gets underway Al Getz leaves his position at the commentary desk and heads to ringside. He informs Bailey he’s fining him a total of $9,000 for various misdemeanors and is also banning him from ringside for this match. Jeff doesn’t take too kindly to that, although when Getz threatens him that if he’s not out of here by the time he reaches the count of ten he’ll hold him down and let the whole front row kick his ass, he decides to do as he’s told. Four corners rules are in operation, meaning that you have to touch all four turnbuckles consecutively to win. There’s nothing fancy going on here, just plenty of punches and plenty of use of the chain. Knight is the first to bleed after having the chain ground into his forehead. The action spills to the floor where Knight places a chair over Shank’s face and stomps it. That doesn’t do too much damage mind and Shank shortly after is choking Knight around the ring post with the chain. When they return to the ring, as is par for the course with these rules, we get plenty of wrestler (a) touching three corners but stopped by wrestler (b) before he touches the fourth, rinse, repeat. I like how Knight later wraps the chain around his own knee so it makes the knees he delivers to the mid-section and jaw of Shank that more vicious. He also goes after the arm that Shank broke in the Cellblock match, something I think he should’ve focused on more than he actually did. More back and forth between the two as Knight then puts Shank over his shoulders and makes his way around all four corners, touching the turnbuckles as he goes. What Knight doesn’t realise though is at the same time Shank is also touching them. He gets three quarters of the way around when Shank frees himself and clocks Knight. He’s now literally inches away from picking up the win when Jeff G. Bailey returns accompanied by two policemen. The officers arrest Shank and Knight touches that fourth turnbuckle, even though the momentum which the commentators had just been talking about was clearly broken, to steal the victory. Shit ending and I’m starting to wonder if Shank’s gimmick is that he just gets arrested towards the end of each match as I’ve only seen him twice and that’s what happened on both occasions. It did get repetitive at times in the middle but there was a nastiness about the match, especially the way that they would use that chain. As said in the write up I would like to have seen more focus on that previously broken arm because I think they could’ve told a very good story around it under these kind of stipulations.

Whoa, NWA Wildside house show footage, I wasn’t expecting this. This is being held in ‘The Mecca’ and Jeff G. Bailey says that these people finally have someone in their presence worthy of worship in the shape of ‘the Role Model’ A.J. Styles and Onyx (“he’s blacker than South Atlanta and ten times as dangerous!”). There’s a long shot of the arena and it turns out that that this isn’t an NWA Wildside show, but is in fact the NWA 52nd Anniversary ‘Battle of the Belts 2000’ show. Lazz has ramped up the Britney look tonight with a knotted shirt and short skirt, although still collects those dollar bills off the fans. While I did like Rob Norwood coming out to ‘Brick House’, Lazz’s entrance is right up there with the Backseat Boyz’s as my favourite for the year. Lots of comedy with Lazz backing into Styles, taking him down and writhing on him, slapping his backside etc. all of which the crowd enjoys. A.J. backdrops Lazz over the top rope to the floor but Lazz drags him out with him. He’s about to slug him when Onyx hooks his arm to prevent him from doing so. Styles swings at Lazz, who ducks, and he nails his partner instead. Lazz has got his work cut out here as not only are Onyx and Bailey seconding Styles, but so is Steve Martin too and on more than one occasion finds himself being either double or triple teamed. Lazz escapes the over the shoulder backbreaker only to walk into a kick to the face. DDT for a two count. Styles floats over on the German suplex, pancakes Lazz to the mat then looks on in disbelief as his opponent kicks out of the cover. He runs into a big boot and Lazz with a shotgun dropkick. Missile dropkick off the top, ‘Britney Spear’ and Onyx breaks up the pin for the cheap DQ. A light “bullshit” chant from the crowd over that finish. The ‘Hot Shots’ save Lazz from a post-match beating and they turn the fans around with Lazz kissing Martin before lap dancing both he and Bailey. Interesting to see Styles in a house show setting and they work it differently to as if this was a TV match. I subsequently found out that this is the opening match on the Anniversary Show, so that would explain why it was a more grounded, even slower, affair. These screwy finishes, DQ’s aren’t as bad as OVW yet but I do hope they limit them from here on in because there have been too many for my liking over the past month or so.

The former Ice with a name change, now going as Caprice ‘Ice’ Coleman. He and Jacobs don’t come up for air with the pace that they cut here, although perhaps they should’ve because this is pretty rough in places. Jacobs avoids an ‘Air Sabu’ in the corner and Coleman takes a nasty looking bump on his head and neck. It looks like Jacobs realizes Coleman hurt himself on that as they sit in a rear chinlock for a bit in order to give him time to recover. Both men go down from a double clothesline when out strolls Air Paris and John Phoenix to ringside. While Phoenix distracts Coleman, Paris trips up Jacobs from the floor. An unaware Coleman then hits a springboard splash for the three. Silky Boom, who is also out there, takes it to Phoenix and Paris and the American Males fight it out with them until security restore some order.

A cracking music video for Shank prior to the match which includes clips of a bout held outdoors at night, with no ring and the wrestlers fenced in. That’s a hell of a visual with the fans watching on in the dark and the highlights from it look crazy. The ‘odd couple’ of Lazz and Shank are clearly on the same page here. Double clothesline by Shank and Lazz with a double dropkick. Lazz goes for a double ‘Stinger splash’, however Onyx snatches him but they blow whatever it was they had planned. Things don’t get much better for the heels as Knight proceeds to lose his balance and fall over on the very next move when delivering a high knee. Spinning belly to back by Onyx, ‘Swanton bomb’, but Lazz is able to get a shoulder up. Knight drops a knee across his forehead as it becomes clear their plan is to try and keep Shank on the apron for as much of the match as possible. Onyx telegraphs a backdrop however, when Lazz goes for a leap frog, Onyx catches him mid-air and turns it into a powerslam. Lazz counters the jumping DDT with a Northern Lights for a near fall. Overhead throw and he struggles to his corner where he finally makes the hot tag. Shank cleans house and hits that awesome finisher of his that starts out like a superplex but he then rotates 180 degrees and it ends up as a face first variety. Just as he does we cut from the action to the parking lot to see a Sheriff’s car arriving at the arena. Jeff G. Bailey, who has been conspicuous by his absence, is in the car too informing the officer that the thieves are in the ring. He says how Lazz stole Onyx’s title belt and tonight they’re going to jail. Lazz assumes the position to be handcuffed a bit too eagerly as Bailey calls him a “sick freak” and how he’s going to be “someone’s prize tonight”. Preferably Big Bubba Black’s if Jeff were to have his way! Onyx cheap shots a cuffed Lazz who continues to protest his innocence as they’re taken away. An announcement then comes over the house mic saying that the referee threw the match out and the official result was a no-decision.

The varying looks of these four encapsulates what’s so great about NWA Wildside with the wide variety that the promotion has to offer. Double team backdrop into a powerslam by the Taylor/Bliss duo. Taylor with a lightning fast arm drag on Golden and Bliss just about saves a spinebuster when his foot slips on the mat. Combination drop toe hold/flying elbow drop and Knight breaks the count by grabbing the official. He comes off the top himself but Taylor catches and plants him with a belly to belly. Golden goads Romeo into the ring and we have a weak looking moment as the ref just stops counting. As he tries to get Bliss back on the apron (why? It’s no DQ after all), double flapjack by Golden and Knight. The Elite then cut the ring in half, the man on the apron often involving himself to provide assistance. Taylor rallies the crowd and as it looks like he’s getting back into this, falls prey to a low blow. Knight slams Taylor’s arm into the ring post, Prazak and Getz surmising as a way to remove the belly to belly from his arsenal. More double teaming with Knight dropping Golden onto Taylor’s outstretched arm. Rear chinlock as Taylor again tries to get the fans behind him. Double whip to the corner and Taylor musters what energy he’s got left to run up the turnbuckles and crash into the Elite with a somersault cannonball. That’s taken more out of him than his opponents though and he’s unable to take advantage. Knight misses an elbow off the top and Taylor finally makes the hot tag. Bliss is all over the Elite while Taylor has gathered a second wind. Knight sails over the top rope to the outside and despite their best efforts, Taylor with a belly to belly on Golden for the win. Good Southern tag match and Taylor was super effective in the FIP role. I’ll reiterate what I said about him after his match against Styles on 7/29 and, with this added string to his bow, I’m certain he would’ve migrated over to WCW had the company stayed around.

I'm sure it was Meltzer who wrote that WCW were under the impression that Haystacks was this Vader-esque level super heavyweight worker, until they actually saw him on his first night and realized he was nothing of the sort (which makes me wonder did they even bother to search out footage of this guy or was someone like Regal ribbing them?). That reminds me, does anyone know if any of Haystacks' sole All Japan tour from 1985 ever made tape?

Jacobs gets a two count after a middle rope moonsault and then sits Paris on the top turnbuckle. Air blocks the superplex with a punch to the gut and lands a sunset flip powerbomb for a two of his own. Interestingly Prazak and Getz compare Paris to an early Devon Storm as someone who would fly all over the place from the opening bell but learned to slow things down and is now working in WCW as Crowbar. Michinoku Driver and Jacobs gets a shoulder up as we head into a break. Figure four chinlock, however the official catches Paris using the ropes for leverage and orders him to break the hold. Fisherman buster but he then misses connecting on the tumbleweed. As Jacobs unloads with punches in the corner Cassidy O’Reilly, Paris’s former partner in ‘The Hot Shots’, comes out to watch on from ringside. ‘Alabama Jam’ by Jacobs and O’Reilly is up on the apron distracting Jimmy Rivers from counting the pin. Jacobs goes over to have a word as O’Reilly just drops back to the floor. Paris with a low blow, ‘Roll the Dice’ and that’s all she wrote. O’Reilly attacks Jacobs after the bell and the seemingly reunited ‘Hot Shots’ double team Jacobs until his own partner, Silky Boom Boom, makes the save. The action was fast paced but that was it, I had no connection to the match whatsoever. The Devon Storm reference felt like the commentators way of saying that Paris needs to tone it down, make his stuff mean more etc. In regards to Chad's point, if WCW were insistent on using Styles in a Cruiserweight team, I would've tagged him up with Onyx instead because A.J. is light years ahead of Paris in every way at the moment.

Lazz’s entrance is so entertaining and the fans are wonderful the way they play into it. As the match is about to begin they start a “kiss the ref” chant, luckily for Andy Thomas though A.J. comes to his rescue moments before Lazz lays one on him. Styles hits a beautiful leg sweep early and they mix in some comedy with the wrestling until A.J. dumps Lazz with a belly to back suplex. As Lazz gets to his feet, grabbing hold of the top rope for balance, Styles with a missile dropkick to the arm. That’s the start of A.J. going to work on that arm, showing aggressiveness and athleticism as he does so. Double leg take down by Lazz followed by a pair of headbutts to the groin. Bailey hooks Lazz’s ankle as he runs the ropes and he sets off after Jeff G. eventually getting hold of him. Missing out on smooching the official he’s about to plant one on Bailey when Styles wipes him out with a somersault flip dive over the top rope to the floor. A.J. slams his head into the ring apron before throwing Lazz back inside. We return from a commercial break to see Lazz level Styles with a missile dropkick. After kicking out of the pin A.J. returns to working on that arm. He interlaces the fingers when Lazz runs up the turnbuckles, bounces off the top rope and takes Styles down with a huracanrana. ‘Brittney Spear’, but A.J. avoids it with a leapfrog and Lazz connects with referee Thomas instead. The official KO’ed, Onyx runs out to help his fellow member of the NWA Elite as the two of them double team Lazz. Jumping DDT by Onyx, Styles with a high top rope splash and A.J. gets the three. The American Males save Lazz from a post-match beating, although not before Styles gets a piledriver in. As Thomas checks on Lazz, he grabs hold of him and finally gets that kiss. Lazz showed here that he’s clearly more than an entrance and is a decent wrestler too, although I do wish he hadn’t blown off that arm work on his comeback. I doubt A.J. was too keen on those “A.J.’s gay!” chants as well that permeated at the start of the match!

Steven Prazak is interviewing Kid Kash in the ring when they’re interrupted by Jeff G. Bailey and Eddie Golden. Bailey takes exception to the fact that ECW’s David Jericho, Kid Kash, or whatever he’s calling himself now, is out here on NWA Wildside television and thinks that the way he is talking is an insult to a man of Eddie Golden’s status. Kash says that he’s got the weekend off and thought he would come and hang out with some of his old friends. Golden then questions, since he is his friend, how many times he has called him since he became a big ECW superstar before slapping him across the face. Kash takes off his shirt as Golden hides behind Bailey while a couple of officials are out to try and calm the situation. Bailey threatens Kash saying that if he puts his hands on Golden they will sue him, and that ECW contract of his will be supporting him for the rest of his life, but if he wants to wrestle the NWA Wildside TV champion they will be up for that. Kash reminds Golden that he always beat him in the past and accepts the match for later in the show. The commentary team point out that while Eddie Golden is the TV champion this will be a non-title affair because Kid Kash is an ECW contracted athlete and, as such, he’s not allowed to compete for a title belt in another organization. Not one stand-off, but two! Golden backdrops Kash over the ropes and onto the apron, however when he charges at him, Kash pulls down the top one and Golden goes flying out over it to the floor. As Bailey helps his man to his feet, Kash with a pescado onto both. We return from a commercial break just in time to see a Kash leaping rana from the top. That draws a “Kash is money” line parodying what Joey Styles would constantly scream. Golden blocks the ‘monkey maker’ and they run through an ugly series of pinfall reversals and counters. Kash hits his finisher at the second time of asking, but before he can get the three count is jumped by A.J. Styles and Onyx for the DQ. The Boogaloo Crew run out to even things up and Kash with a ‘money maker’ on Onyx as the NWA Elite scarper out of there. The commercial break did hurt the flow of the match but it wasn’t like we were witnessing an all-time classic as Kash pretty much wrestled like it was his weekend off. Golden wasn’t much better and that series of pinfall reversals towards the end looked terrible. The only surprise was that it was a DQ finish as I was convinced by the commentary that Golden was lying down. Really not much to see here.

We’ve already seen Corbin and Samir earlier in the project and their respective partners are also from the NWA Southwest promotion in what appears to be a bit of a showcase match for the four in Wildside. Snap suplex by Corbin on Samir and Douglas with a release cradle suplex. A big powerbomb to counter Samir’s huracanrana as the heels go about getting the heat on him. Combination camel clutch/baseball slide dropkick to the face. Brainbuster for a two count as Steven Prazak hopes that the ‘Master of the Brainbuster’ Koko B. Ware won’t be suing them for using that move! Douglas with an Irish whip, however Samir leaps to the middle rope and springboards off, catching him with a tornado DDT. Hot tag to Morris who takes out all that pent up frustration on his two opponents. A forearm sends Douglas tumbling through the topes to the floor and before he has chance to think, Samir nails him with a pescado. Some sort of weird ‘Tomokaze’ on Corbin and Samir comes off the top with a frog splash for the three. Solid match and you can tell that these four have all worked together plenty. Didn’t really feel like the crowd got fully invested despite the heels doing a good job at heeling it up. Interestingly I though Douglas and Corbin stood out more than the other two.

Ice is the future Caprice Coleman. Another Lazz match and another kiss for the official, Ice not saving Jimmy Rivers like A.J. Styles did Andy Thomas! An early Guerrero/Malenko series as the two run through a whole host of pinfall attempts, counters and reversals. Ice gets a two count with a German suplex, Lazz responding with an exploder. Spinning heel kick by Ice before he takes a page out of Muhammad Ali’s book with the way he picks his shots. He whips his opponent into the corner however Lazz avoids the charge as Ice goes crashing into the turnbuckles. Lazz telegraphs a backdrop and Ice with a sit out spinebuster. Springboard senton for a two. He slaps on a rear chinlock when out runs Onyx who attacks him and throws him from the ring. Onyx doesn’t care for Ice though, just interested in getting some revenge on Lazz for what happened earlier in the show. Jeff G. Bailey is carrying a noose which they tie around Lazz’s neck before hanging him over the ropes. The show goes off the air with Bailey screaming in Lazz’s face “tonight you’re going to die Lazarus!” That’s some cliff hanger for next week!

Steve Martin and the NWA Elite (including the WCW Cole Twins!) are out to celebrate the one year anniversary of the NWA taking over what was formerly NCW. Not much expense has been spent on those celebrations mind as only a handful of balloons and a bit of glitter drop from the ceiling! Jeff G. Bailey says how they’re the envy of every other NWA promotion, while Martin says that he doesn’t need Bill Behrens telling him what to do, doesn’t need Howard Brody, there’s a new man in town and they’ve taken over. Behrens, who is the Vice President of the NWA, joins them and pulls out a bunch of receipts that show Martin has been spending the company’s money on strip clubs, rental cars and items for his home. He says that he didn’t give him the opportunity to run the company to inflate his ego, he did it because he thought he had what it takes to move it forward. Now though he’s taking credit for things he had nothing to and informs him that he can be fired a quickly as he was hired. Martin responds that they’re going nowhere, that with these men behind him the NWA doesn’t have a prayer and tells Bill Behrens “old man, your ass has been replaced”. Behrens calls him an idiot and slaps him across the face but is quickly grabbed by the Cole Twins. Bailey tells him that you don’t put your hands on Steve Martin before delivering a great looking superkick. The rest of the Elite put the boots to Behrens as Jeff G. cuts another scathing promo. Martin is about to brain him with a chair shot when the Boogalou Crew and Total Destruction run out and clear the ring, Al Getz having left his position at the commentary desk to get help. Behrens and Getz then shake hands as the VP thanks those who came to his aid. Gemini has got a cool look and sends Onyx retreating to the floor after a clothesline. He acts as though he’s already had enough, heading towards the dressing room before Bailey calls him back. As they talk on the outside, Gemini with a crossbody off the top turnbuckle. Onyx blocks the attempted superplex, flips Gemini off and nails him with a missile dropkick, lifting his opponent up at the count of two preferring to dish out some more punishment. Scoop powerslam and this time he doesn’t even bother with a cover. Gemini reverses the Irish whip, modified Death Valley Driver and Bailey is in for the DQ. Lazz makes the save and ends up lap dancing a trapped Onyx before kissing Jeff G. He looks for a hug off Gemini as a ‘thank you’ for helping him out, but he’s clearly not as open minded as all the fans, bailing instead.

Onyx & Terry Knight vs American Males (Adam Jacobs & Silky Boom Boom) (NWA Wildside 9/2/00) If only this was a one night reunion of Marcus Bagwell and Scotty Riggs! The match is joined in progress with the NWA Elite in charge, working over Silky Boom Boom and following a very similar pattern to their first round match against Ultimate Creation. Silky makes a tag which the official misses and ushers Jacobs back on to the apron as the Elite take advantage. After a double clothesline Boom Boom makes the hot tag which this time is seen. Jacobs runs rough shot over the Elite and hits an ‘Alabama Jam’ on Onyx. As he makes the cover, Knight distracts the referee allowing Bailey to clock Jacobs over the head with his shoe and the Elite move on to the finals. Only a couple of minutes of action so hard to rate, but as I said, if you watched the Ultima Creation match you get pretty much the same here (heat section, ref fails to see the tag, hot tag, Bailey interference leads to the Elite grabbing the win). Onyx & Terry Knight vs Boogaloo Crew (Scotty Wrenn & J.C. Dazz) (NWA Wildside 9/2/00) Scotty Wrenn is flying solo having made it all the way to the finals on his own, although is showing the effects of previous battles with a bandage wrapped around his forehead. Scoop powerslam on Onyx however he’s jumped by Knight who levels him with a back elbow. High knee, but Wrenn then ducks a lariat and nails Knight with a springboard back elbow off the middle, something unexpected from the big man if you haven’t seen him previously. Onyx distracts the referee as Jeff G. Bailey drapes one of his men’s title belts over the top turnbuckle so that Knight can ram Scotty’s head into it, reopening that old wound. Knight grinds his boot into the cut before giving the cameraman an extreme close up of it. Bailey gets in a shot with “that damn shoe” of his, while Steve Martin is now at ringside to cheerlead the NWA Elite on. Double flapjack as the Elite continues to target that cut. Wrenn ducks a double clothesline and comes back with one of his own when out runs J.C. Dazz who slides into the ring attacking Onyx and Knight, as well as Bailey and Martin who had both climbed up on the apron to complain about what was going on. As the commentators talk about how he’s injured and shouldn’t be out here, Dazz rips off his neck brace and takes his place in the corner. Release overhead pumphandle throw and Wrenn makes the hot tag. Dazz is on fire, wanting revenge on the Elite after the stuff piledriver they gave him the other week. Leg lariat to Onyx, ‘Boogaloo Bounce’ on Knight and Onyx is able to break up the pin in the nick of time. Dazz ties Onyx up in the ‘Rings of Saturn’, Wrenn hits a springboard leg drop and with no-one to make the save, the Boogaloo Crew get the win and become the new NWA Wildside tag team champions in the process. Backstage interview from the Elite where a seething Jeff G. Bailey calls what went down one of the biggest crimes in the history of the NWA and is convinced that Al Getz was behind it. The Boogaloo Crew have signed their own death warrants as the NWA Elite is going to be swatting around them like maggots on a rotting corpse. The titles are rightfully theirs and they will get the belts not at the expense of pinning them, but by ending their stinking lives! You have to query the logic of having a solo wrestler in a tag team tournament, it’s like one of those bizarro booked Vince Russo WCW ones. Still, the end result was the reuniting of the Boogaloo Crew which gives the fans a great feel good moment and as an actual match, I enjoyed this a fair bit.

Ultima has got the Baron Corbin pre-shaven head look going on, while I wasn’t expecting someone who calls themselves the ‘Perfect Creation’ to look as nondescript this. The NWA Elite get the jump on their opponents however the Ultimate Creation quickly turns things around. Lovely cradle suplex by Ultima for a two count. An Onyx low blow puts a stop to the Creation’s shine and, with the referee trying to get Ultima back on the apron, the Elite hit a double flapjack. From here they cut the ring in half, utilising plenty of quick tags, illegal tags, distraction spots and cheap shots, Jeff G. Bailey getting involved from the floor too. Knight comes off the top with a flying clothesline for a near fall as Creation manages to get a shoulder up in time. Referee Jimmy Rivers misses seeing the tag, but when Creation ducks out the way of an Onyx crossbody, he sees it second time of asking. Ultima unloads with a series of forearms to both members of the Elite followed by an awesome Saito suplex to Knight, dumping him on the back of his neck. Creation and Onyx are now going at it on the outside and the official has gone out after them trying to restore a bit of order. Bailey is in the ring and about to clock Ultima with Onyx’s title belt when he spots him. Jeff G. bolts out the ring but drops the belt in the process. Knight picks it up, nails Ultima with it and the NWA Elite pick up the win to advance in the NWA Wildside tag title tournament.

I reckon I must mention the commercial breaks in every Wildside write up and the match has barely got begun and we get one here. Great release/catch military press into a powerslam by Taylor a la Goldberg. Styles bails to the floor to get some advice from Jeff G. Bailey, although they don’t get the chance to talk for long, Taylor following him out. A.J. ducks inside and gets the jump on his opponent when he slides back in. Nice snap swinging neckbreaker. Taylor with a tip up but Styles sees it coming and kicks a field goal between his legs as he comes down. DDT for a two. A.J. whips Taylor into the corner however he runs up the turnbuckles, springs backwards and catches Styles with a flying elbow. A glorious dropkick by A.J. who then throws Taylor to the floor and distracts the official so Jeff G. can punt him in the ribs. Frog splash but Taylor manages to kick out in time. Another whip to the corner, Styles rushes in for a lariat, however Taylor ducks under and catches him with a belly to belly suplex for the upset win. Bailey wallops Taylor with his shoe after the match and the two of them attack him until Jorge “he doesn’t even work here” Estrada runs out and makes the save. Third time seeing this match up this year and Taylor and Styles continue to show that they have good chemistry when working together. The more I see of Taylor the more I’m surprised that he never really did anything or went anywhere outside of Wildside as he’s both athletic and powerful. Who knows if WCW had stuck around maybe he would’ve transitioned over there at some point as he looks tailor made for them.

Jeff G. Bailey is in Mark E. Mark’s corner as he’s promised Onyx that by the time he gets back from his vacation Lazz will be gone and out of the picture. There’s no blasphemy in Wildside as “God damn” is bleeped out of Bailey’s promo, unlike “hermaphroditic trans testicle” which is what he refers to Lazz as! He then tells him to come out and take the beating of a lifetime, if someone can drag him away from the truck stop rest room that is! The two security guys who Lazz lap dances during his entrance look really uncomfortable as he does so. Lazz plants a smacker on referee Andy Thomas and then gets in position to be searched, however with Lazz looking a bit too keen for his liking he just calls for the bell to get this one underway. After a couple of headbutts to the crown jewels Mark rolls to the outside where Lazz nails him with an awesome looking flip dive from the top turnbuckle to the floor. In typical Wildside fashion we cut to a commercial break and return just in time to see Mark catch Lazz with a reverse springboard crossbody off the middle. Some sort of reverse DDT is botched by the pair of them although they make up for it with a nice looking high backdrop. ‘Swanton bomb’ by the big man. He opts to pin Lazz with one foot on his chest, but removes it at the count of two wanting to dish out some more punishment instead. Mark whips him into the corner only to run into a big boot. Face plant and Lazz picks up the win after the wonderfully named ‘Brittney Spear’, moving one step closer to a match with Onyx in the process. Flip dive to the floor aside, this went downhill after Lazz’s entrance for me. I found it scrappy and clunky, punctuated with the odd nice spot, while jokes about “go behind” and “rear” get tiresome very quickly.

The match is joined in progress with the Rock & Roll Express working over David Young. Robert Gibson telegraphs a backdrop and Young spikes him with a DDT. Hot tag to Michaels who comes in like a ‘house on fire’. Young is quickly back to his feet and Bad Attitude whip the Rock & Rolls into each one another. Frog splash by Michaels on Morton, David Young with a middle rope moonsault and we have new NWA Wildside tag team champions. As Bad Attitude celebrate the title win Steve Martin comes to ringside and informs them that this is a 2/3 fall contest and the match isn’t over. Preoccupied by Martin the Rock & Rolls jump Bad Attitude from behind and within seconds have squared things up one fall apiece courtesy of a double dropkick. We return from a commercial break to see the champions in charge and working on the injured knee of Michaels. Martin has stayed at ringside and gets in some cheap shots on his former friend behind the referee’s back. Figure four leglock by Morton and when it looks like Michaels is about to reverse things, Gibson is in and stomps him in the chest. Michaels slaps his own knee, trying to get some feeling back into it and then manages to turn the hold over. He avoids a charging Morton, who goes flying shoulder first into the top turnbuckle, before making the tag. Young throws Gibson to the outside and plants Morton with a spinebuster. Steve Martin is upon the apron distracting the official and preventing him from counting the pin. He throws a chain into the ring for the Rock & Rolls but it’s intercepted by Michaels who clocks Ricky Morton and this time we do have new NWA Wildside tag team champions. Members of the NWA Elite jump Bad Attitude after the match as Jeff G. Bailey encourages the Rock & Rolls to join in the attack. Still pissed that Martin, who is part of the group, cost them their tag team titles, they end up helping Bad Attitude instead. Another good Rock & Roll Express/Bad Attitude match, although below the one that they had in March. It’s a shame the match was jip as I would’ve liked to have seen the first fall in full. Michaels’ selling of the knee was first rate, and I loved the way he crumpled to the mat when Morton went for an Irish whip, unable to put any weight on it. Morton also had some very nice touches in here such as pulling down Michaels’s knee pad so the offense would do more damage. Only a small thing but something that adds to the situation. Gibson wasn’t as good as his partner and actually appeared lost on several occasions, wandering around aimlessly. Nice pop for the title change at the end with Martin’s interference leading to his enemies regaining the gold.

K-Dogg is showing no sign of last night’s attack post-match attack as he accompanies the Filthy Animals to ringside for this match, although is carrying a poster of Mark Jindrak ‘basketball player’, his gimmick from earlier in the year. Jindrak makes fun of the size difference between him and Rey and when Rey slaps him across the face he responds with a stiff clothesline. Rey with a springboard that Jindrak attempts to counter with a tilt-a-whirl, however Rey counters that with a headscissors. Nice continuation from the spot they did at Halloween Havoc, with Rey prepared almost expecting Jindrak to try what he did last night again. Mark Madden is back comparing the Thrillers to the Andersons, the Fabulous Kangaroos and the Road Warriors again. Cool variation on the arm drag by Jindrak, where he whips Kidman into the turnbuckles but keeps hold of his hand, leaps to the middle rope, spring off and takes Kidman down with the arm drag. O’Haire levels Rey with a clothesline followed by a press slam into a Falcon Arrow. Slingshot sit-out powerbomb. Springboard lariat by Jindrak. He whips Rey into the corner but then runs into a big boot and, after a huracanrana, Misterio is able to make the hot tag. Kidman with a jawjacker for Jindrak and a dropkick for O’Haire. He climbs the turnbuckles to pound away on O’Haire when Jindrak snatches him from behind. Torture Rack into a neckbreaker and a Rey springboard guillotine leg drop breaks up the subsequent pin attempt. After Jindrak goes sailing over the top rope to the floor, the Animals whip O’Haire into the corner, however he runs up the turnbuckles, sticks a backflip and levels the pair of them with a double clothesline. The crowd liked that. Jindrak misses a springboard splash and Kidman with a missile dropkick to the back of O’Haire. Rey with the ‘nutcracker’ when Alex Wright runs out and up onto the apron (you can clearly see Scott Armstrong delaying his count here waiting for Alex’s arrival). Misterio decks Wright who falls to the floor and nails him with a pescado. With Armstrong distracted by what’s going on, Disco Inferno enters the ring from the other side and hits the ‘Chartbuster’ on Kidman. O’Haire puts Jindrak on top, informs Armstrong and the Thrillers retain. The Boogie Knights put the boots to the Filthy Animals post-match but are very quickly run off by Konnan making the save. Another strong outing from these teams.

Jeff G. Bailey is talking about the ‘Role Model’ A.J. Styles being the greatest wrestler in the company, someone who can work Lucha, can work the Japanese style. A.J. interrupts him and says “hardcore too”, which leads to Wildside’s resident Hardcore exponent, White Trash, rushing to the ring. He wallops Styles over the head with a ‘Stop’ sign and A.J. bumps around for him until Trash takes too long to climb the turnbuckles. When he leaps off them, Styles nails him with a spinning heel kick, sending the sign that he was carrying clattering into his own face. A.J. puts everything into a ‘Stop’ sign shot of his own, the sign fortunately flying off into the top rope when it could easily have ended up in the crowd. The match spills to the outside where Styles holds Trash so Jeff G. can clobber him with one of his $300 dollar shoes (after listening to Jeff talk about 80s NWA on ‘Exile on Badstreet’ you can really see the J.J. Dillon influence in him). Suplex on the wooden floor, however while A.J. is messing around with a half broken table it allows Trash to grab a second wind. He elbows Styles in the mid-section before whipping him full force into the barricades. Trash then runs at his opponent but A.J. snatches him and hits a Death Valley Driver through the half table that he’d positioned earlier. This being contested under ‘hardcore rules’ also means it’s ‘falls count anywhere’ and A.J. picks up the win, pinning Trash at ringside. Bailey and Styles continue to attack Trash after the match until they’re run off by J.C. Dazz. A good one for the Styles resume, showing that he can do ‘Hardcore’ just like he said. He took some hard bumps in here (actually breaking the wooden barricade when he was whipped into it) and I thought the finish looked real cool. Also despite there being a couple of ‘stop’ sign shots in there, this never developed into your stereotypical 2000 ‘hardcore’ match.

The Head Hunters jump their opponents before the bell and plant them with nice stereo powerbombs to counter the rather foolish double backdrop attempt after Banderas and Christobol had reversed a pair of Irish whips. Banderas ducks a clothesline and brings one of the Hunters to their knees with a spinning wheel kick. Tag to Jesus who is quickly overwhelmed though and Banderas is forced to break up the cover following a double leg drop. A Christobol spinning wheel kick doesn’t have the same success as his partner’s and he ends up running into a lariat. Double hip toss, diving headbutt and again Banderas is in for the save. When ‘A’ misses a diving headbutt off the middle it allows Jesus to make the hot tag. DDT on one of the twins and a tornado DDT on the other. Christobol has made a quick recovery and is back in the thick of things, although perhaps he should have left it to Banderas as the Hunters reverse the respective Irish whips and crush the faces with stereo Avalanche splashes in the corner. A sloppy double press slam on Jesus, dropping him chest first to the mat, followed by a big splash/leg drop combination. Banderas then comes off the top with a flying crossbody and the twin stumbles backwards over Christobol, losing his balance as Ricky picks up the three. Post-match the Head Hunters attack their opponents including giving Christobol a superbomb off the middle. Okay match that followed a basic formula. I wasn’t enamoured with the finish the way one of the Head Hunters just disappeared, while Jesus Christobol didn’t show much.

Onyx would rather dance than wrestle at the onset, not J.C. Dazz though who kicks him in the face to put a stop to that. He immediately crawls over to his corner and while the rest of the NWA Elite drop rom the apron to the floor out of reach, A.J. Styles isn’t paying attention and gets tagged in. Irish whip by Styles and Dazz leaps to the top rope and backflips off it; he’s a lot more agile than you would expect looking at him, evidenced by another fast pace section between these two that follows. The two teams are stood in the ‘wrong’ corners making this look weird. Those bloody Wildside mid-match commercials are back and we miss a chunk of the action, returning with the NWA Elite now in control and working over Rick Michael’s knee. Bill Behrens gets involved, and seems rather excited to be so, although quickly tags out when Michaels boots him in the gut. Even with two referees they’re struggling to see everything, A.J. causing a distraction and allowing Jeff G. Bailey and Behrens to cheap shot that knee. Styles with a single leg crab, really wrenching back as he cinches it in. Figure Four leglock by Behrens as the commentators say how Ric Flair must be spinning in his grave. Michaels turns it over reversing the pressure and A.J. is forced to make the save. The officials aren’t doing anything in regards to getting him out of there so, having seen enough, David Young is in to help out his ‘Bad Attitude’ partner. The match falls apart at this point with everyone now in the ring and when Scotty Wrenn and Terry Knight (more members of the Elite) involve themselves, the ref calls for the bell and throws it out. Stone Mountain gets handcuffed to the bottom rope to take him out of there when Steve Martin shows up. He acts as though he is going to blast Behrens over the head with a steel chair only to turn heel himself and clobber Michaels instead. This seriously pisses the fans off who pelt the ring with drinks and debris while the Elite bloody Michaels up. Security is eventually able to restore some order as Martin says “there’s an old saying, if you can’t beat them, join them”. There was definitely an air of the NWO with the visual at the end and the Martin turn reminded me of when Eric Bischoff turned and joined ‘the cool bad guys’. Still this was completely out of the blue and amazing that something could still gather this much heat in 2000. A.J. was the workhorse for his side and this, on the back of the tag match last month really makes me want to see him face Dazz in a singles match. Stone Mountain is seriously bland mind and I kinda now see why he never got a looksee by the WWF considering he’s the size of guy you’d expect them to be all over. I felt the heat section on Michaels was probably a tad long and the post-match, filling the ring with trash compensates for what was actually a weak finish to the match.

As a Brit, while my interest in the Observer HOF has diminished greatly over the years, I'm always interested to see if anyone from the UK gets in and how they do on the ballot. I've not been actively searching them out, but have now seen six ballots from voters voting in this region and Allan's is the only one to feature either Daddy or Pallo. One person voted only from Rocco, the other four all voted Saint (and a couple of those had Billy Joyce on theirs too).

Yeah, he had a try out for WCW in September '92 during the period Bill Watts was in charge but it never came to anything.

Jeff G. Bailey says that everyone has been running down A.J. Styles, how he’s turned his back on the fans, but all he’s done is come to his senses and realised he wants to be on the winning team. Tonight everyone will get the opportunity to see the TV champion, Eddie Golden, and A.J. Styles as a tag team against J.C. Spazz (sic) and Jorge Estrada. Bailey goes on to mention that Dazz has been in some film recently and how he’s happy that he got to play bottom to Jeff Stryker’s top! Dazz and Estrada storm the ring but the heels immediately duck out of there. After Estrada gets the better of the opening exchanges Golden is back on the outside and things don’t bode well for the Bailey team, A.J. prodding Eddie in the chest and telling him to get back inside. Estrada takes advantage of the situation nailing Golden with a baseball slide dropkick followed by a flip dive to the floor, clearing the top rope with ease. Leg drop off the top by Dazz and A.J. is in to break up the cover. Double clothesline and Styles again makes the save. Golden with a poke to the eyes then a tag to his partner as A.J. makes his first legal foray into the match. He fares little better mind until a poke to the eyes of his own. Double backdrop and Estrada remembers to tuck his head in the nick of time as it looked for all certainty that he was landing on the top of it. A high frog splash and this time it’s Dazz who is forced to save his partner. Dragon sleeper into a reverse DDT. ‘Diamond Dust’ by Golden, but he doesn’t go for the pin. He and Estrada then run through a rather sloppy Guerrero/Malenko series of pinfalls and counters, starting with a Lucha style cradle that Estrada struggles to execute cleanly. A big bulldog by Jorge and he makes the hot tag to Dazz. He and Styles have a great minute or so of action, ridiculously fast paced with a bunch of near falls. When a double clothesline takes out both it brings their partners in as the match breaks down. Golden backdrops Dazz, however Styles walks into his trajectory and as he comes down catches him with a sunset flip for the win. A.J. has taken being a heel like a duck to water and I’m glad we got an explanation for his heel turn after it almost coming out of nowhere in the Golden match. Good tag match with a cool, innovative finish, while the lightning fast, super crisp Dazz/Styles stretch prior to that finish was the highlight. Estrada struggled at times (the backdrop, the Guerrero/Malenko section) but not enough to take this one down. Well worth watching.