Post by EWAPublicity on Sept 8, 2003 21:57:00 GMT -5
MATCH 6) Chris Hamrick v. Luis Ortiz
RT: I was really looking forward to this matchup, because both these guys seem willing to go the extra mile in their matches. Coming out during the ring entrances, it seems weird to root for Ortiz as the face, because unlike other sympathetic figures, he looks like an intimidating freak. I mean that in the best possible way, of course. Hamrick started out with some comedy heel schtick, duping referee Holyoke Joe into thinking Ortiz was striking him with closed fists. The crowd was eating this up by the way, and the joint was rocking with noise at this point. Finally, Ortiz wised up Holyoke to the deception, and Hamrick got on the defensive.
Hamrick transitioned into some crotch psychology, as Ortiz hit an atomic drop, a reverse atomic drop, and finally watched passively as Hamrick crotched himself on the ringpost. Ortiz then raised things up a notch by launching himself with a springboard moonsault to the outside. Ortiz slapped on a cross armbreaker, but Hamrick got the rope break. Hamrick started to match Ortiz with a high-flying offense, using a springboard to initiate a sweet armdrag sequence. Hamrick took control with an eyepoke, some brutal stiff chops, and another eyepoke.
Hamrick stayed on offense by kicking Ortiz in the groin, and signaling a field goal, then driving a knee into the crotch while the ref got distracted. Hamrick was feeling so overconfident that he indicated a big elbowdrop, then stepped down from the ropes instead, and flopped onto Ortiz for a cover. Ortiz countered with a handful of strikes that showed an awful lot of daylight, but the crowd was willing to go with it. He knocked Hamrick down with a somersault mule kick. Hamrick cut him off though with a stiff kick, then a trademark leaping clothesline out to the apron.
They moved into the dramatic near fall section of the match with some crazy highspots. Hamrick hit a standing floatover into an ace crusher. Ortiz gathered himself and hit a monster running death valley driver. Hamrick raised the stakes by catching Ortiz in mi-flip, then driving him down with a piledriver. All this stuff took your breath away. Hamrick attempted a 2nd-rope piledriver, which he’s whipped out in the past on some poor hapless EWA victims like Frankie Armadillo. Ortiz managed to reverse it with a backdrop, following up with a split-legged moonsault, and ending the match with a sunset flip for a 3-count. A great match that serves as an excellent example of what two strong workers can do when they trust each other as professionals. Fantastic work from both guys, complemented with excellent heat.
CT: The always awesome Hamrick comes out to "Love Theme from Dukes of Hazzard." How can you hate this guy? But, sho’nuff, he gets some real, live, genuine Southern Heel Heat. He’s just a master at working a crowd into a frenzy before the bell even rings. Just textbook stuff that everyone should pay attention to.
Ortiz (making his EWA debut, by the way) is another of the New England guys that doesn’t get nearly the credit he deserves. Everyone who sees him knows he’s good, but there’s no "buzz" on him. So, let’s get buzzin’, okay?
Ortiz in this one is such a great foil to Hamrick’s Southern heelishness. He’s all intense and silent, and wants to just get it on. But Hamrick does all of his great stalling, and fakes like Ortiz keeps breaking non-cleanly by clapping his hands and falling to the mat. He even adds to it by making faces at the (irate) children in the audience. On the third try at it, Ref Holyoke Joe catches him in mid-clap, and Hamrick tries to explain that he’s just applauding the great job Holyoke is doing. Awesome.
Ortiz finally gets control with some groin-related psychology (reverse Atomic Drop, Hamrick crotches himself accidentally, etc.) Then the first and only out of the ring dive by Ortiz. Stuff like that is good—too much of it burns ya out, but sporadically it’s spectacular. Hamrick cheats to transition, and it’s (again) textbook stuff when he’s on offense. He makes everything count, and works the crowd into HATING him. Beautiful stuff. And, just when you think Hamrick’s gonna mail it in and work the match via yelling, he busts out all of his cool offense. The Suplex/Stunner gets 2, and Hamrick yells at the ref. Ortiz comes back and goes for a suplex, but Hamrick reverses it (shockingly effortlessly) into an amazing K-Driller for 2.99999. Again, the close nearfalls worked because they weren’t overdone on the card. Hamrick even shows his guts by going to the top rope and setting up for his Flying Piledriver, only to be backdropped out. That was great because he really, really had to work hard not to whack the ceiling. With Hamrick down, Ortiz goes for a Split Legged moonsault for another GREAT nearfall. Finally, Ortiz reverses a Hamrick corner charge into a Sunset Flip for 3. The exhuberent Ortiz goes to the back, and Hamrick sells the frustration of losing a match he "had." The appreciative crowd gave ‘em both a Standing O. Which is good, since this is Hamrick’s last EWA appearance (at least for awhile). Good sendoff for a great worker.
MATCH 7) Nick McKenna and Cueball v. Brian Black and Mighty Mini (EWA tag championships)
RT: Both these teams are ostensibly face teams in the EWA, so rooting interest was a little difficult to determine. From contextual clues, I felt like McKenna and Cueball were more friendly during the ring entrances, and Black and Mini were radiating more intensity, but it wasn’t obvious either way. McKenna and Mini started out and they traded repeated legtrips for quick counts. After the sequence, they shook hands and tagged out to the big guys. Black hit Cueball with a hard kick to the back, but the action was very even, and both teams seemed closely matched.
Black and Mini worked a nice double-team combo, linking an atomic drop to a neckbreaker. McKenna became the default face in peril at this point. Black started working him over, clubbing him with forearms then chopping him mercilessly in the corner. Black and Mini broke out a chinlock and seated dropkick combination move. McKenna finally caught Mini with a spinning heel kick to make the hot tag. Cueball and McKenna then broke out an extended mirror sequence of double-team moves that demonstrated nice coordination. Cueball rounded things out by breaking out his trademark seated hiptoss.
Black took his turn with Cueball and ended up on the receiving a hotshot for his troubles. Cueball made the cover, but Mini broke it up. McKenna went on offense, with Black thrust in the role of face in peril. Cueball broke out a spot yelling "Old School," then hitting the heart punch and following it up with the stomach claw, to the delight of the audience. Mini, again, was forced to break things up. Cueball hit a stiff clothesline and started celebrating with some push-ups.
Finishing sequence started to heat up. McKenna ran his knees into Black, then got caught in a huge spinebuster. Mini joined the action with a beautiful tornado DDT. Black hit a big boot, but could not make the cover since he wasn’t the legal man. Cueball snuck in with a schoolboy, and after the 3-count, we had new EWA tag champs. The match was very solid, and both teams have the nice traditional structure of a power worker teamed with a quicker partner. I suspect that if this feud continues, one of them will have to turn heel, most likely Black and Mini who already work as heels for Chaotic up in Maine.
CT: Again, my confusion rears its ugly head, since Black & Mini (the faces earlier) behave sorta heelish when they come out, and Cue & Flash (the heels earlier) play to the crowd a bit more. I decided to make the best of things and just cheer for individuals. In order: Cueball vs. Black: Cueball, Cueball vs. Mini: Mini, Black vs. Flash: Black, Mini vs. Flash: Flash. It sounds lots more complicated here; I just sorta went with the flow of things and sorted it out later.
They worked sort of an "even" match, shaking hands beforehand, and each team getting a heat section and a hot tag. Notable stuff: Brian Black reverses the Busted Alternator into a HUGE spinebuster, and Cueball goes Old Skool~! and uses a Heart Punch and a Stomach Claw. Awesome. But it’s Black who comes out as a superstar, kicking out of the Heart Punch and not submitting to the Claw. He’s a monster!!
Ending sequence went something like this: Hot tag to Mini, cleans house, Black comes in and waffles Cueball with something and has him pinned. The ref, realizing that Black isn’t legal, kicks him out. As Mini and Black are arguing with the ref, Cue schoolboys Mini for the 3 and the titles. HUGE pop for the shockingly over Cueball winning. Good, logical finish.
Postmatch, Mini and Black act all upset, but reluctantly shake hands with the winners. Weird psychology aside, this was another good match. Maybe I just like my faces to be facey, and my heels to be heelish a little too much. I have high standards.
CT: Raffle Time: Some guy named Kevin wins. Another fan yells "You suck, Kevin!" at him. That was kinda mean. But without security out there, it was anarchy. Where are you, Jim Nastic???
RT: I was really looking forward to this matchup, because both these guys seem willing to go the extra mile in their matches. Coming out during the ring entrances, it seems weird to root for Ortiz as the face, because unlike other sympathetic figures, he looks like an intimidating freak. I mean that in the best possible way, of course. Hamrick started out with some comedy heel schtick, duping referee Holyoke Joe into thinking Ortiz was striking him with closed fists. The crowd was eating this up by the way, and the joint was rocking with noise at this point. Finally, Ortiz wised up Holyoke to the deception, and Hamrick got on the defensive.
Hamrick transitioned into some crotch psychology, as Ortiz hit an atomic drop, a reverse atomic drop, and finally watched passively as Hamrick crotched himself on the ringpost. Ortiz then raised things up a notch by launching himself with a springboard moonsault to the outside. Ortiz slapped on a cross armbreaker, but Hamrick got the rope break. Hamrick started to match Ortiz with a high-flying offense, using a springboard to initiate a sweet armdrag sequence. Hamrick took control with an eyepoke, some brutal stiff chops, and another eyepoke.
Hamrick stayed on offense by kicking Ortiz in the groin, and signaling a field goal, then driving a knee into the crotch while the ref got distracted. Hamrick was feeling so overconfident that he indicated a big elbowdrop, then stepped down from the ropes instead, and flopped onto Ortiz for a cover. Ortiz countered with a handful of strikes that showed an awful lot of daylight, but the crowd was willing to go with it. He knocked Hamrick down with a somersault mule kick. Hamrick cut him off though with a stiff kick, then a trademark leaping clothesline out to the apron.
They moved into the dramatic near fall section of the match with some crazy highspots. Hamrick hit a standing floatover into an ace crusher. Ortiz gathered himself and hit a monster running death valley driver. Hamrick raised the stakes by catching Ortiz in mi-flip, then driving him down with a piledriver. All this stuff took your breath away. Hamrick attempted a 2nd-rope piledriver, which he’s whipped out in the past on some poor hapless EWA victims like Frankie Armadillo. Ortiz managed to reverse it with a backdrop, following up with a split-legged moonsault, and ending the match with a sunset flip for a 3-count. A great match that serves as an excellent example of what two strong workers can do when they trust each other as professionals. Fantastic work from both guys, complemented with excellent heat.
CT: The always awesome Hamrick comes out to "Love Theme from Dukes of Hazzard." How can you hate this guy? But, sho’nuff, he gets some real, live, genuine Southern Heel Heat. He’s just a master at working a crowd into a frenzy before the bell even rings. Just textbook stuff that everyone should pay attention to.
Ortiz (making his EWA debut, by the way) is another of the New England guys that doesn’t get nearly the credit he deserves. Everyone who sees him knows he’s good, but there’s no "buzz" on him. So, let’s get buzzin’, okay?
Ortiz in this one is such a great foil to Hamrick’s Southern heelishness. He’s all intense and silent, and wants to just get it on. But Hamrick does all of his great stalling, and fakes like Ortiz keeps breaking non-cleanly by clapping his hands and falling to the mat. He even adds to it by making faces at the (irate) children in the audience. On the third try at it, Ref Holyoke Joe catches him in mid-clap, and Hamrick tries to explain that he’s just applauding the great job Holyoke is doing. Awesome.
Ortiz finally gets control with some groin-related psychology (reverse Atomic Drop, Hamrick crotches himself accidentally, etc.) Then the first and only out of the ring dive by Ortiz. Stuff like that is good—too much of it burns ya out, but sporadically it’s spectacular. Hamrick cheats to transition, and it’s (again) textbook stuff when he’s on offense. He makes everything count, and works the crowd into HATING him. Beautiful stuff. And, just when you think Hamrick’s gonna mail it in and work the match via yelling, he busts out all of his cool offense. The Suplex/Stunner gets 2, and Hamrick yells at the ref. Ortiz comes back and goes for a suplex, but Hamrick reverses it (shockingly effortlessly) into an amazing K-Driller for 2.99999. Again, the close nearfalls worked because they weren’t overdone on the card. Hamrick even shows his guts by going to the top rope and setting up for his Flying Piledriver, only to be backdropped out. That was great because he really, really had to work hard not to whack the ceiling. With Hamrick down, Ortiz goes for a Split Legged moonsault for another GREAT nearfall. Finally, Ortiz reverses a Hamrick corner charge into a Sunset Flip for 3. The exhuberent Ortiz goes to the back, and Hamrick sells the frustration of losing a match he "had." The appreciative crowd gave ‘em both a Standing O. Which is good, since this is Hamrick’s last EWA appearance (at least for awhile). Good sendoff for a great worker.
MATCH 7) Nick McKenna and Cueball v. Brian Black and Mighty Mini (EWA tag championships)
RT: Both these teams are ostensibly face teams in the EWA, so rooting interest was a little difficult to determine. From contextual clues, I felt like McKenna and Cueball were more friendly during the ring entrances, and Black and Mini were radiating more intensity, but it wasn’t obvious either way. McKenna and Mini started out and they traded repeated legtrips for quick counts. After the sequence, they shook hands and tagged out to the big guys. Black hit Cueball with a hard kick to the back, but the action was very even, and both teams seemed closely matched.
Black and Mini worked a nice double-team combo, linking an atomic drop to a neckbreaker. McKenna became the default face in peril at this point. Black started working him over, clubbing him with forearms then chopping him mercilessly in the corner. Black and Mini broke out a chinlock and seated dropkick combination move. McKenna finally caught Mini with a spinning heel kick to make the hot tag. Cueball and McKenna then broke out an extended mirror sequence of double-team moves that demonstrated nice coordination. Cueball rounded things out by breaking out his trademark seated hiptoss.
Black took his turn with Cueball and ended up on the receiving a hotshot for his troubles. Cueball made the cover, but Mini broke it up. McKenna went on offense, with Black thrust in the role of face in peril. Cueball broke out a spot yelling "Old School," then hitting the heart punch and following it up with the stomach claw, to the delight of the audience. Mini, again, was forced to break things up. Cueball hit a stiff clothesline and started celebrating with some push-ups.
Finishing sequence started to heat up. McKenna ran his knees into Black, then got caught in a huge spinebuster. Mini joined the action with a beautiful tornado DDT. Black hit a big boot, but could not make the cover since he wasn’t the legal man. Cueball snuck in with a schoolboy, and after the 3-count, we had new EWA tag champs. The match was very solid, and both teams have the nice traditional structure of a power worker teamed with a quicker partner. I suspect that if this feud continues, one of them will have to turn heel, most likely Black and Mini who already work as heels for Chaotic up in Maine.
CT: Again, my confusion rears its ugly head, since Black & Mini (the faces earlier) behave sorta heelish when they come out, and Cue & Flash (the heels earlier) play to the crowd a bit more. I decided to make the best of things and just cheer for individuals. In order: Cueball vs. Black: Cueball, Cueball vs. Mini: Mini, Black vs. Flash: Black, Mini vs. Flash: Flash. It sounds lots more complicated here; I just sorta went with the flow of things and sorted it out later.
They worked sort of an "even" match, shaking hands beforehand, and each team getting a heat section and a hot tag. Notable stuff: Brian Black reverses the Busted Alternator into a HUGE spinebuster, and Cueball goes Old Skool~! and uses a Heart Punch and a Stomach Claw. Awesome. But it’s Black who comes out as a superstar, kicking out of the Heart Punch and not submitting to the Claw. He’s a monster!!
Ending sequence went something like this: Hot tag to Mini, cleans house, Black comes in and waffles Cueball with something and has him pinned. The ref, realizing that Black isn’t legal, kicks him out. As Mini and Black are arguing with the ref, Cue schoolboys Mini for the 3 and the titles. HUGE pop for the shockingly over Cueball winning. Good, logical finish.
Postmatch, Mini and Black act all upset, but reluctantly shake hands with the winners. Weird psychology aside, this was another good match. Maybe I just like my faces to be facey, and my heels to be heelish a little too much. I have high standards.
CT: Raffle Time: Some guy named Kevin wins. Another fan yells "You suck, Kevin!" at him. That was kinda mean. But without security out there, it was anarchy. Where are you, Jim Nastic???