HWA "High Def" - 11/24/08

Middletown, OH
11/24/08

A random HWA show at an old, condemned opera house? What have I got myself into.

Jesse Emerson vs. Eric Ryan – 3
Ryan comes out proclaiming Middletown as “the greatest city in the world”. What the hell was he smoking? That city, especially the part of town this venue is in, is about as run down as you could imagine. Ryan does a good job playing to the crazy, toothless old lady in the crowd while working over Emerson’s knee. Emerson hits a nice Bob Holly-esque spinebuster for the win. Fairly inoffensive opener as they kept it pretty simple.

J.T. Stahr, “The Madness” Chris Hall, & V-Radd vs. Benjamin Kimera & “Deja Vu” Richard Phillips – 3 on 2 Handicap Match – 4
Hall and Phillips start it off and I instantly have a flashback to when I went to an HWA Sorg show and they had a terrible main event which is forever known to me as the “baby punching incident of 2010”. V-Radd looks like a young A.J. Styles mixed with Jamie Kennedy. Kimera is so bloated he should be a balloon in the Rose Bowl parade. Surprised Stahr’s leg didn’t break with Hall dropped Phillips across it for a backbreaker. Stahr had this really awesome sell when Kimera dropped him ass first in the ring. Surprised how hot the sparse crowd is for Kimera and Phillips. Finish was kind of clunkly with resident heel manager Brock Guffman hitting Phillips with a replica WWE World Title belt that was masquerading as an HWA Tag Team title belt.

Quick Carter Gray vs. Louis Lyndon – 3
Lyndon does this 70’s karate style character complete with removable fro which I really dig. Lyndon hit a nice double knee, sort of like a reverse 6-1-9. Gray played your generic face and got a really good nearfall off some wild stand up flip. Didn’t see a lot here that couldn’t be found elsewhere on a typical indy undercard.

Hailey Hatred & Mary Elizabeth vs. Ashley Lane & Naveah – 3
Lane and Naveah are the SHIMMER tag champs here and the titles were on the line. I find it rather surreal that Lane, now working in TNA as Madison Rayne, worked a venue about five minutes from my childhood home in front of a few dozen people. Hailey’s acting while she was being held back by the ref was just atrocious. Lane’s neck almost broke on a suplex from her. A fair bit better than the divas matches.

Dustin Rayz vs. Aaron Williams – 5
What is up with that big ass trophy that Williams brought out to the ring? Damn thing is as tall as he is! Rayz took a completely wild flip bump off the apron to the floor and Williams worked some high flying into the early goings. I saw the ref bump in the middle of the match coming a mile away. Reversals of the piledrives were really good and led to some nice nearfalls. Wasn’t expecting a lot out of this but was very surprised with the result.

Irish Airborne vs. Christian Faith & Vincent Nothing –5
It’s been noted several times by me several times that I’m not a fan of Dave Crist. I think he’s a smug, arrogant prick and a lot of his matches leave a lot to be desired. Jake Crist on the other hand isn’t half bad and I actually enjoy watching his work on occasion. That being said, this was a rather good match. Selling from the Airbone was pretty good, even though Dave kept chewing on his gum while doing so. Didn’t find a lot I liked from the opposition. Dave did a pretty ballsy suicide dive up the aisle between the seats which could have ended really badly if he had been off just a hair either way.

Jon Moxley vs. Dick Rick – Last Man Standing Match – 6
This is the match I wanted to see, hence why I dug the disc out to review, and it was really wild from the start. The balcony brawl with them teasing a Moxley bump over the railing was good. There was a very unique spot where Rick threw Moxley on a stretcher and shoved him down some stairs. Mox took a big bump on the stage. Mox worked over the ankle by doing the old Pillman spot with chair repeatedly and Rick did a great job of selling it. Seek this match out if you’re a Moxley fan like me. Otherwise, this was a pretty mundane show.