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PWU At the Arena
By Brett Schwan
Since we were already in Philly for last night's WEW PPV taping, we figured that we would stick around for today's PWU show. This was before I realized the WEW show would actually end at a reasonable time.
Since we had some time to waste, and since Nick is no so whipped (the kid turns 21, discovers alcohol and a cute girl and we lost him), we went to the movies and saw Snakes on A Plane and Accepted. Laugh and mock all you want but Snakes was a hell of a good movie. It had everything including Sam Jackson giving his trademark lines and a speech that did not conclude with him getting eaten by a shark. Accepted was funny and Lewis Black stole the entire movie.
PWU began on time, or it least it seemed to begin on time. Reality... there was a countdown clock. When it hit zero a long (10 minute or so) video package played.
The main reason we decided to come to the show was Hayabusa. Had I known
I would have seen him at WEW, in the crowd, I could have saved a night
in a hotel! In addition, Tod Gordon sent out a "From the Desk Of"
earlier in the week that stated " At this time I would like to announce
that there will be
a major unannounced surprise at this event. It's possible that there may
be more than one, but I guarantee you, at least one surprise star will
be in attendance. I don't make promises I can't keep, so I urge you to
check us out at 7:30 Saturday night to not only meet Hayabusa, but to
be prepared for one or more unexpected surprises."
Well, if Tod Gordon says there is going to be a surprise, I would think it's gotta be big.
Bob Artese and Rocco head to the ring. Bob throws out some hats.
Luminaries in attendance - Paul, Jay, Dan, Artie, Karen, Missy Samson and the Magees!
The PWU Ladies Title is on the line in the opening match with Mercedes Martinez defeating Sumie Sakai. Mercedez hit a beautiful (20 second) hanging suplex on Sumie and finished her with a fishermanbuster, after Sumie missed a moonsault. Unfortunately, the time it took me to write these few sentences about the match lasted longer than the match itself. What a disappointment, for me at least.
Referee John Finnegan hits the ring. General Manager John House gets on stage and talks about honoring Hayabusa this evening. Hayabusa is wheeled out (he is in a wheelchair for those who may not know it). He is accompanied by Too Cold Scorpio, Pitbull Gary Wolfe, and the SAT's. Hayabusa receives a standing ovation. He takes the mic to thank the fans then sings a song in his native language. Unfortunately, many of the kids and fans in the audience had no clue who Hayabusa even was or what he gave to the sport. It's sad to see a legend making a rare appearance in the US in front of a crowd that was 400 tops. After his song, Hayabusa stood (with help from the guys) as Sumie thanked him and welcomed him back to the ECW Arena.
Afa Jr destroyed Drew Blood.
Mike the Ref was up next! Johnny Kashmere and The Complete (Something) w/ Simply Luscious were defeated by Krash Krew (Gemini and Kwame). Krash Krew went nuts and ended up hitting a double gore on The Complete kid, for the pinfall.
In a First Blood match, Amy Lee defeated Mickie Knuckles. The two women beat the hell out of each other inside and outside the ring (and even into the crowd). Some guy, who in the storyline has the hots for Amy, distracted the referee as Ian Rotten ran out and NAILED Mickie in the head with the sickest chair shot I have seen in years (if not ever). The damn steel chair fell apart upon impact. This caused Mickie to bleed and lose the match. Post match - the guy who distracted the ref gave Amy Lee flowers (which she ate) and a half eaten box of candies. Amy ended up kicking his ass leaving.
A Ladder Match for the PWU Tag Team Titles was next with the SAT taking on AMIL. Even though it was a ladder match, they did announce that the winner would be by pinfall or submission. One of the better ladder matches I have ever seen. Some highlights saw Joel hit a moonsault off the ladder for a 2 count. One of AMIL set up Jose on a table as the other came off the top of the ladder and hit an XFactor through the table. Joel got dropped (very hard) on the back of his neck on the top of a chair. The finish saw the SAT hit the Spanish Fly onto a pile of ladders and chairs for the pinfall.
Intermission. Somehow, Mickie Knuckles is still alive. Got to meet Amy Lee's lil cuz.
Slugga defeated CJ O'Doyle and The Rising Star in 2:02. After the match Annihilation comes out. Can you say Ugh? What this guy is doing in a ring is beyond me. He's been around for a long time (as we saw him years ago, alongside Tod Gordon, at shows). He was horrible then (doing a bad 911 imitiation) and seems to have gotten worse. He hit a clothesline on O'Doyle and nearly fell down. This was supposed to come off as a face to face challenge between Annihilation and Slugga but no one seemed to care. After the traded moves on the opponents, the entire "security", referee staff and half the locker room ran out to break the two up (before they even got close to each other). Let me know when this match gets signed so I can stay as far away as possible.
Detox defeated Aramis in a match filled with unnecessary highspots and no psychology.
In a Grudge Match, Pitbull Gary Wolfe defeated ZBarr by DQ when ZBarr would not stop choking Gary with his chain. ZBarr's entrance music is Madonna's "Dress You Up." Very funny. ZBarr announced that he had a manager tonight and out came Bill Alphonso (to a less than stellar crowd reaction). It was good seeing Fonzie again but was this the "major unannounced surprise"? Lots of interference by Bill caused Gary to go to the back and bring out Tod Gordon. Tod ended up chasing Fonzie to the back. Kind of a waste of Fonzie, especially if that's the surprise.
The PWU Heavyweight Title Match is up next. Devin Moore defeated Trent Acid and Too Cold Scorpio to become the new PWU champion. Very good match that saw Scorpio hit his 450 on Trent, only to be kicked off him by Devin. Devin then hit a standing moonsault on Trent for the pinfall. Like I said, a good match but Devin just does not have the look to be in a main event let alone the Heavyweight Title. After the match BLK Out came in and destroyed Trent and Devin. They (who work for CZW) then left up the ramp and into the locker room. If they work for, as Trent put it, a "lesser company", then why are they heading back to the PWU locker room after the attack? Side note: This is evidentally huge if you are a hardcore follower of CZW. Evidentally, these are the CZW Tag Champs and this is their "jumping ship". Unfortunately, for those of us in attendance that do not follow all these feds on a regular basis, we had no clue.
The main event was a Tai Pei Something or Other Match. A pane of glass was set up in 3 corners of the ring (either they could only afford three or one broke backstage LOL). Ian Rotten was beaten by Cpl Robinson. Security was more concerned with moving people back than anything else. (like the shattering safety glass is going to fly that far). Sick bloodbath that saw Ian place one of the panes on Cpl then dropkick it into his face. Ian then suplexed Cpl through a second pane. All that and Cpl was able to hit a Side Russian Leg sweep onto Ian, through the final pane, for the pinfall.
At this point, we said our goodbyes and headed out. As we were driving away we heard somone on the mic but could not make out who it was or what was being said. Maybe the "major unannounced surprise" finally showed up!
Overall, a very long show with a lot of unnecessary matches highlighted by Amy Lee v Mickie Knuckles, the SAT v AMIL, and for those of us who are just plain sick, Ian v Cpl. My first PWU show and probably my last for a while.
Want to see pics?? Check them out here!!
