Baltimore, MD – 10.3.2009
Commentary is provided by Lee Canfield and Frank Lawson.
Derek Frazier comes out to open the show but gets attacked by Notorious Inc (Drew Blood & Devon Moore). He’s saved by Adam Flash. Flash says he won’t put up with their crap and states the he will fight both of them if necessary. As Notorious Inc. bails, Flash switches gears and says there will be a qualifying match for tonight’s tag team title tournament. Flash introduces The Best Around, saying he doesn’t think they deserve to be in the tournament, but did promise them a qualifying match for a chance to make it in.
RCW Tag Team Championship Tournament Qualifying Match
Zach Matthews & Mr. Wrestling #7 vs. The Best Around (TJ Cannon & Bruce Maxwell)
Wrestling wins a wristlock exchange and tags in Matthews. He comes in with a double axe handle to Maxwell’s arm. Matthews and Wrestling each hit an axe handle. Matthews takes Maxwell down with a trifecta of armdrags. Wrestling hits a dropkick, but there’s no referee in the ring to count his pin. Cannon knees Wrestling in the back. He stands on the ropes so that Maxwell can push him out to the floor. A referee makes his way out as Cannon hopes off Maxwell’s back with a senton. Maxwell pins Wrestling for the win at 2:56. Not much to say here, but only a couple moves in and I am interested to see more of Cannon and Maxwell. ½*
The Best Around celebrate outside the ring. Flash says their opponents for the tournament will be Delirious and Frightmare, and they will face them right now.
RCW Tag Team Championship Tournament Qualifying Match
Incoherence (Delirious & Frightmare) vs. The Best Around (TJ Cannon & Bruce Maxwell)
Incoherence chases The Best Around and fire up the crowd. Cannon tentatively gets in the ring with Delirious. Cannon fails to knock him down with a shoulder block. Delirious takes him down with a waistlock. He then trips Cannon and delivers a pair of armdrags before applying a headlock on the mat. Frightmare tags in and lands a senton on Cannon’s back. Frightmare takes him over with a step-up Frankensteiner and an alita. Cannon shoves Frightmare to his corner and tags in Maxwell. Maxwell wears down Frightmare in his corner with a little help from Cannon. Frightmare comes back with a leaping clothesline to Maxwell. He tags in Delirious after evading a suplex. He takes down Maxwell with a leg lariat. He ducks a clothesline from Cannon who accidentally hits Maxwell. Maxwell accidentally clotheslines Cannon right back. Delirious then slams Maxwell onto Cannon and pins them both for two. Delirious tags in Frightmare. He comes in with a crossbody to TBA. They catch him and hit a Samoan drop/neckbreaker combo for two. Delirious pitches Cannon to the floor. Frightmare suplexes Delirious. Delirious hits Shadows Over Hell and Frightmare follows up with the Kneecolepsy for the pin at 7:41. Fun match overall. Considering that The Best Around had just competed, it made total sense for them to lose to such an acclaimed team. The tournament is off to a solid start. **1/2
Cruiserweight Scramble Match
JT Roberts vs. Steve Diaz vs. Skull vs. Greg Excellent
The commentators and wrestlers make note that Excellent is in no way a crusierweight. All three other competitors fail to knock him down with shoulder blocks, even when working together. Skull drops the top rope to send Excellent to the floor. Roberts and Skull try pescado’s, but Excellent moves out of the way. He also moves to avoid a springboard twisting senton from Diaz. In the ring Excellent slaps Roberts and takes him down with a pair of armdrags. Diaz sends Excellent out with a springboard dropkick. Skull and Diaz engage in a bit of Lucha, ending with Skull dropping Diaz out of a wheelbarrow. Roberts kicks Skull. Excellent tries to powerbomb Roberts form the apron. Roberts blocks and drops Excellent back first on the apron. Diaz and Roberts argue over who will pin Skull. A stacked-up superplex forms in the corner, with Excellent coming out of it unharmed. Excellent hits all three men with a flying hip attack in the corner. He goes for a cannonball senton but eats a superkick from Roberts. Roberts delivers a Hero’s Welcome, but Skull breaks the pin. Diaz drops Skull with an ace crusher for two. Skull sends Diaz to the floor and follows with a pescado. Excellent nails Roberts with a cannonball senton. He delivers a Tiger Driver for the pin at 6:18. The story revolved around Excellent not being a cruiserweight and everyone else trying to take him down. It got Excellent over in the end, but really didn’t do much to showcase the other three competitors. **
Backstage, Excellent is drinking a Mountain Dew to refresh himself. A no-named female asks Excellent if it was hard to fight those “little people.” Excellent corrects her and puts over his opponents. He says he’s the most full-figured cruiserweight. He says he’s on a quest to make the world a better place (which to him is filled with cheap snacks and Mountain Dew rain). He says he will be in yet another crusierweight showcase when RCW comes back January 16th.
RCW Tag Team Championship Tournament Qualifying Match
The Briscoe Bros. (Jay & Mark Briscoe) vs. The Gym Rats (Alex York & Scotty O’Shea)
O’Shea ducks down for some push-ups as Jay runs the ropes. Jay looks confused and tags in Mark. Mark and O’Shea each do a set of regular push-ups. Mark does some one-handed push-ups. O’Shea stomps on him, but Mark comes back with a spinwheel kick. York tags in and gets muscled down by Mark. Jay tags in and the Briscoes nail York with tandem football shoulder tackles. Jay mauls York with a clothesline, snapmare, and low running boot for two. O’Shea knees Jay from the apron. York gives Jay a lungblower, and O’Shea doublestomps Jay onto York’s knees for two. The Gym Rats double team Jay. Jay drops York face first in the corner and delivers a spinebuster. The Briscoe give O’Shea a double biel out of the corner. Mark drops York with an exploder suplex. Jay military presses York into a Death Valley Driver for the pin at 5:08. A glorified squash for the Briscoes, but a fun match nonetheless. **1/2
Sara Del Rey vs. Daizee Haze
This is a rematch from RCW’s last show; Haze won that match. Haze takes Sara over in a headlock. Sara shoulder blocks her down for one. Haze trips Sara and drops an elbow on her leg. Sara locks up Haze using her leg and right arm. Haze grabs Sara’s leg. Sara picks Haze up, but Haze transitions into an armdrag. Haze delivers a flurry of chops. Sara responds with a big headbutt. Haze lands a tilt-a-whirl headscissors and takes Sara back down with a headlock. Haze avoids asuplex but then gets caught with a quebradora. Sara drops Haze a few more times across her knee for a two count. Haze applies a crucifix stretch. Haze transitions into a jackknife pin for two. Sara boots Haze and hits a snap suplex for two. Sara gives Haze a few more backbreakers. Haze reverses into an inverted DDT. She hits a huracanrana. Sara blocks a monkey flip and puts Haze on the top turnbuckle. Haze lands a tornado DDT for two. Sara blocks the Heart Punch. She puts Haze in the Torture Rack. Haze drops down a schoolgirls Sara for two. Sara drops Haze across her shoulders into a torture rack for the pin at 7:25. As much as I’ve seen these two women wrestle each other, this is the best story I remember them telling. Sara bullied Haze all match long while working over her back. Haze tried to use her speed and smaller stature to outsmart Sara, but in the end it didn’t pay off. Good stuff from both women. **3/4
A man interviews Sara backstage, calling her one of the top five women in all of wrestling. Sara takes offense to that, assuring him that she is THE best woman’s wrestler overall. Sara says that she made Haze pay for the fluke win she got last month. Sara says she’ll take on any woman’s wrestler in the world.
RCW Tag Team Championship Tournament Qualifying Match
BLK Out (Ruckus & Sabian) vs. The Entourage (Joey Kings & Ethan Page)
Chrissy Rivera accompanies the BLK Out. Kings and Page attack BLK Out at the bell. Kings and Ruckus fight on the floor. Sabian dropkicks Page mid-air. Ruckus throws Kings into the ring post and moonsaults off the apron onto him. Sabian pitches Page to the floor and follows with a pescado. Ruckus brings Kings into the ring and hits a springboard spin kick. Kings drops Ruckus with a falling fist drop to the neck. Page spins Ruckus into a Blue Thunder Bomb from Kings. Sabian slams Page into the guardrail. Sabian dropkicks Kings in the corner. Ruckus delivers the Razzle Dazzle. They trip Page face first into Kings crotch. Page throws Ruckus to the floor and drops Sabian with a full nelson sit-out powerbomb. Ruckus gives him the Sling Blade. Kings slams him face first. Sabian comes off the second rope with a Codebreaker. BLK Out land stereo enzuigiri’s on Page and Kings. Kings throws Ruckus to the floor. Page and Kings hit a kick/elbow combo on Sabian for two. Kings and Page go for a superplex. Ruckus shoves Kings to the floor. Ruckus gives Page a twisting neckbreaker. Sabian doublestomps him for the pin at 5:20. This was non-stop action from bell to bell and the fans dug every minute of it. The BLK Out look strong as they head towards the gold. **3/4
Jerry Lynn vs. 2 Cold Scorpio vs. Claudio Castagnoli
Claudio shows disrespect to Lynn and Scorpio before the bell. They team up on Claudio, sending him to the floor with a dropkick. He stays on the floor as Scorpio and Lynn vie for control. Upon reaching a stalemate, he comes back in. He goes right back out after getting hit with a double back body drop. Scorpio takes Lynn down. Lynn sends Scorpio to the floor with a tilt-a-whirl headscissors. From behind, Claudio forearms Lynn in the back. He baseball slides Scorpio. Claudio chokes Lynn with his boot and whips him across the ring. Claudio avoids an O’Connor, but Lynn takes him down with Déjà vu. Claudio hot shots Lynn before sending him to the floor. Scorpio and Claudio exchange shots mid-ring. Claudio delivers some hard European uppercuts. He blocks Scorpio’s superkick and clotheslines him down. Lynn breaks the pinfall atempt. Claudio pops Lynn up, and Lynn comes down with a huracanrana. Claudio boots Lynn into a flying crossbody from Scorpio. Claudio forearms Scorpio as he ascends the ropes. Claudio gives Lynn a Giant Swing. Scorpio clotheslines Claudio from the apron. Claudio uppercuts and Giant Swings Scorpio. Lynn breaks the pin. Lynn drops Claudio with an inverted DDT for two. He sunset flips Claudio for two. Claudio goes for the Ricola Bomb. Lynn reverses into a Yoshi Tonic. Scorpio breaks the pin attempt. Claudio chokeslams Scorpio and Lynn simultaneously for two. Claudio holds Lynn. Lynn moves and Scorpio superkicks Claudio. Scorpio delivers a rolling kick to Lynn and side slams Claudio. Scorpio superkicks Lynn into a DDT on Claudio. Scorpio hits the Scorpio Splash on Claudio for the pin at 9:45. Although I don’t agree with the winner, there’s no doubt that Scorpio and Lynn brought their working boots for this match. Claudio delivers as usual, and I liked the dynamic he added to the ECW legends. A nice surprise all things considered. ***1/4
Backstage Scorpio says he had it going on in the match and puts over the RCW fans. He says you never know when Scorpio could be back.
Human Tornado vs. Pinkie Sanchez
Tornado does a little dancing after taking Sanchez down in a headlock. Sanchez is too short to engage in a test of strength. Sanchez rolls away to avoid dancing with Tornado. Neither Tornado or Sanchez budge when the other tries a shoulder block. They even try one simultaneously, but both men Matrix back up to a standing position. “You Wanna Be Startin’ Something” by Michael Jackson hits as Sanchez and Tornado have a dance-influenced wrestling battle. Sanchez damages Tornado’s lg. Tornado gives him a back elbow in the corner. He delivers the House Party in the corner. Tornado wears down Sanchez on the floor while also getting in a little dancing. Sanchez snapmares Tornado into a hip attack. The song is still playing by the way. Sanchez runs Tornado back first into the ring apron. Tornado pops Sanchez onto the apron, then kicks his legs out so that Sanchez lands back first on it. Tornado applies a headscissors back in the ring. Sanchez turns Tornado over and gives him a literal dirty Sanchez. Gross. Sanchez delivers a few flying elbows. Tornado blocks a Ram Jam with a Pimp Slap. He slams Sanchez right on his behind for a two count. Sanchez dropkicks Tornado on the middle rope. He drops Tornado into a Beach Break whoopee cushion for two. The music stops as Sanchez sets up in the corner. He misses a flying hip attack. Tornado drops him with the DND for the pin at 9:09. A super fun and unique match that the crowd ate up. It’s not hard to take two charismatic, fun guys, put them in the ring, and just let them loose. It worked, that’s for sure. Giving this a star rating would be pointless.
The nameless woman interviews Tornado. Tornado says he beat Sanchez tonight and now he’s ready to beat some muffins. He hits on the woman who is confused by all of Tornado’s euphemisms.
RCW Tag Team Championship Tournament Qualifying Match
Ophidian & Rich Swann vs. Notorious Inc. (Devon Moore & Drew Blood)
I think Ophidian and Swann should have been coined as “The Osirian Drive-By”. Blood gives Swann a few strikes. Swann responds with an armdrag and a hard dropkick. Blood punches Swann and tags in Moore. Swann ducks a clothesline and hits a flying forearm. Ophidian tags in and Skins the Snake. Ophidian applies a modified Octopus stretch and rolls Moore up for two. Swann tags back in and hits a tandem Japanese armdrag with Ophidian. They hit tandem dropkicks and a flapjack as well. Moore drops Swann face first in his corner and tags Blood in. Notorious Inc. cut the ring and half, beating down Swann and preventing him from tagging out. Swann musters up the energy to hit Blood with a tornado kick. He gets the tag. Ophidian flies in with a crossbody to Blood and nails Moore with a spinwheel kick. Ophidian gives Blood a bulldog for two. Swann drop Blood with a 2k1 Bomb. Ophidian hits a moonsault for two. Ophidian comes off the top with double knees for two. Moore pulls Ophidian to the floor and hot shots him on the guardrail. Swann hits the Standing 450 on Blood for two. Moore boots Swann down. Blood drops Swann with a modified tombstone piledriver for the pin at 7:43. Swann and Ophidian worked really well together. The two teams had a few miscommunication issues at times but overall delivered an enjoyable contest. **3/4
RCW World Championship
B-Boy (Champion) vs. Homicide
Strong Style Thugs explode! Homicide shoves his palm in B-Boy’s face as a sign of disrespect. B-Boy does the same, only more aggressively. B-Boy lands a dropkick and a right hand. He follows with a legdrop. Homicide delivers a dragonscrew leg whip. B-Boy kicks Homicide to the corner, and Homicide bounces back and snaps B-Boy’s leg once more. Homicide continues to target his attack on B-Boy’s leg. B-Boy fights back and springboards from the second rope into a modified ace crusher. Homicide armdrags B-Boy to the floor and follows out with a senton off the apron. They slug it out on the apron. B-Boy drops Homicide with a reverse DDT on the apron. In the ring, B-Boy drops his knees on Homicide’s back and delivers a low DDT for two. Homicide dives onto B-Boy’s neck with a knee strike. He hits a Rude Awakening for two. B-Boy ducks a clothesline and hits a butterfly powerbomb for two. Homicide ducks a clothesline and hits an ace crusher. B-Boy ducks a clothesline and suplexes Homicide. B-Boy gets to his feet first and heads up top. Homicide evades an attack and connects with a Sick Kick for two. B-Boy applies a sleeper hold on the mat. Homicide gets to his feet and backs B-Boy into the corner. B-Boy comes back with a choke sleeper and puts the hold back on. The referee calls for the bell at 10:41. The aggression from both men really put over the importance of the title. Homicide can be hit or miss, but he seemed motivated here. It also helps that him and B-Boy have a history together. A worthy title match that further legitimizes B-Boy as the top guy in the company. ***
Homicide is angry because he didn’t tap out. Homicide grabs the title belt and threatens to leave with it. After dissing some fans in the crowd, Homicide respectfully places the belt at B-Boy’s feet and gives him the old Strong Style Thugs hand gesture. Backstage, B-Boy says he expects tough challenges in the future, but he will knock them all down and remain champion.
RCW Tag Team Championship Tournament Finals; Elimination Match
Incoherence (Delirious & Frightmare) vs. The Briscoe Bros. (Jay & Mark Briscoe) vs. BLK Out (Ruckus & Sabian) vs. Notorious Inc. (Devon Moore & Drew Blood)
Incoherence freak out at the opening bell. Delirious and Mark feel each other out. Delirious blocks a hip toss wih an armdrag. Mark slams Delirious and Blood blind tags himself in. He lays in multiple punches. Delirious slams him on his stomach and hits a leaping clothesline. Moore comes in and eats a flapjack. Frightmare hits a tope con hilo onto Notorious Inc. In the ring, Frightmare gives Moore a step-up Frankensteiner. Sabian tags in. He and Frightmare engage in a Lucha sequence. Frightmare crucifix pins him for two. Frightmare misses the Kneecolepsy. Ruckus drops Frightmare stomach and back first onto Sabian’s knees. Sabian hits a frogsplash for the elimination at 3:43. Blood suplexes Sabian and tags in Moore. Notorious Inc. beat down Sabian in their corner. Sabian evades a suplex from Moore and tags in Ruckus. Ruckus rolls forward and Japanese armdrags Moore for two. He hits a rolling fisherman’s suplex for two. Ruckus misses the moonsault senton, and Moore tags in Blood. Blood goes for a superplex. Ruckus blocks and doublestomps Blood in the tree of woe position. Sabian tags in. He takes down Moore with a reverse STO for two. Moore evades a doublestomp. He rolls up Sabian and holds the ropes for the elimination at 9:54. Wasting no time, Jay nails Moore with a big boot. Jay drops him with a Falcon Arrow and Blood breaks the pin. Mark and Blood exchange punches. Mark drops him with a brainbuster. The Briscoes hit the Redneck Boogie for two. The Briscoes go for the Doomsday Device. Blood crotches Mark on the top rope and Moore low blows Jay. Moore goes up top, but Derek Frazier runs out and pushes him off the top rope. Jay catches Blood and the Briscoes hit the Doomsday Device for the pin at 10:58. The storyline comes full circle with Notorious Inc. getting their come uppence in the end. All four teams provided a fun, action packed main event that the crowd loved. The Briscoes are always a good choice to put your tag titles on and I look forward to seeing their future title defenses. ***1/4
Adam Flash, Derek Frazier, and others congratulate The Briscoes and hand them the title belts.
Overall: The one thing I’ve come to love about RCW is it’s variety. The types of matches and competitors vary from match to match, allowing for there to be something everyone can enjoy. That’s exactly how “October Onslaught” is. There is plenty of great wrestling to make this purchase worthwhile. Being that this is my first RCW DVD, I’m already looking forward to see how some of the storylines put into place progress over time. I certainly recommend this show, and you can pick it up at RCW’s website or at The Wrestling Nation.