[2000-03-18-OVW-TV] Rico Constantino & Russ McCullough & Damaja vs Rip Rogers & Jason Lee & Derrick King

[Loss]

This was a good match, probably the best from OVW, and I wouldn't have minded the finish if OVW ever booked any finishes that didn't involve run-ins or ref bumps at all, but they don't seem to do so, at least not that we've seen. I was even prepared to give Cornette credit for dialing it down but by the end, OVW is its usual nauseating self. Ugh. *** match and a fun viewing experience until the finish if you stop immediately when the bell rings.

[soup23]

Derrick King helps everything. This guy is truly a lost treasure and I will say it until a time machine is invented to give him more of an opportunity overall. I liked seeing how chicken shit the heels here were. We get interference from Flash who piledrives Damaja on the floor. Interference in OVW? I’m shocked. Cornette is on commentary screaming his head off. In a slightly better use of interference this does lead to the heat instead of the normal non finish it has resulted in. Hot tag to McCollough and there is the ref bump to complete the OVW hat trick as he does a fast count giving the heels the win. Rinse and repeat and extremely disappointing here as the action was really good. Heat at the end of the show is on the referees which is ridiculous. **3/4

[GSR]

Constantino and King get us underway and King isn’t having much success so tags in his Suicide Blondes partner. Rico and Damaja with a double suplex on Lee and they just about manage a double nip up. Damaja with a pair of dropkicks and a cradle for two. McCullough is tagged in and Lee and he botch an Irish whip (although Cornette claims that he flung him so hard he was moving faster than his feet could carry him!). Lee is in his corner and no-one is overly keen on getting in there with big Russ until King reluctantly makes the tag. King tries a bodyslam but can’t even lift him off the floor, and McCullough overhead presses and slams him instead. Damaja and Rico work the quick tags until a right from King stuns Constantino. King reverses a whip to the corner, Rico hops over the top rope to the apron, and as King comes charging in, rams his head into the turnbuckle. Constantino with a backflip off the top and as King points to his head thinking he’s outsmarted him, Rico with a belly to belly. Cover, Lee is in and drops an elbow to break up the pin, but Constantino moves and he hits King instead. Belly to belly on Lee, Rogers is in, the same thing happens again and the ‘Ripper’ finally ends up receiving a belly to belly too. The Blondes distract McCullough and Flash is out and piledrives Damaja on the arena floor. As the referee tries to get Russ out of there, Lee nails Rico from behind and Team Blonde are finally able to gain some control. Rogers and Lee with a double clothesline as McCullough calls for the officials to help Damaja to the back. King with a lariat in the corner and the Blondes with a high double back drop. A bodyslam from Rogers, but Lee misses an elbow off the middle and Rico makes the hot tag. Russ is singlehandedly taking care of all three of them. Big boot to King and as he makes the cover Lee kicks him in the back of the head. All five of them are in the ring, Rico with an atomic drop to Rogers and he collides with the referee. Phil Fair is out to replace him, Rogers with a double leg dive on Rico and covers him with his feet on the ropes. Fast count from Fair and Team Blonde come out victorious. Rico goes after Fair, however he is jumped from behind by Flash who kicks him to the floor. The Blondes are beating on McCullough in the corner, but the camera is more concerned with Fair and Robert Brisco (who is now back to his feet) fighting instead. Flash comes over to help Fair and stuff piledriver on Brisco. A baseball bat wielding Damaja returns to eventually put a stop to this.

 

Good match until you guessed it… For those not keeping count for March, that’s three matches, all three featured outside interference and two had referee bumps. The Blondes are a good little team; charismatic, both work hard and utilise the quick tags and team work so well. McCullough is someone who I remember Meltzer talking about and always comparing him to Kevin Nash. This was my first time in seeing him and you can see the similarities for sure. From this match I wonder why he never got a shot on the main roster. I enjoyed his spots with Derrick King and he was a good hot tag. Despite them botching that first Irish whip, he certainly didn’t look like some horrible worker that is for sure.

[Moonsault Marvin]

This was good until OVW's regular interference and fighting referees happened. In addition to being a good face in Memphis, King shows his versatility by playing heel well here.

[Tim Evans]

Everytime I see him, it amazes me that WWF did nothing with Russ McCullough. He's gotta be bigger than Big show right? King and Lee make a good tag team and Rogers was good at directing traffic. However, the commentary and ref situation continue to kill this promotion dead. Flash looked like a top guy though.