Over six hours and a few hundred miles later, I arrived in Independence, Virginia for the latest stop on the Great Virginia Bash of 2005. It was definitely not a night to forget thanks to NWA-VA. It had unwilling blood, impromptu turns and matches, and a few more surprises here and there for all the fans in that school gym and like most shows, it started with a promo.
The Fab Foundation of Misty Malibu, Stan Lee, and Sexy Kevina came out and cut a heel promo. Well, kind of. They brought out the Xtreme Outlaws’ manager Handsome Henry bound and gagged since Lee and a mystery partner were facing the Outlaws later tonight. Lee starts to go off on the mike, but the Outlaws run out and chase them away. After they freed their manager, he turned on them to get some pretty big heat in the old school crowd. Henry ran out and hid out with the Fab Foundation in typical heel manner while Rick O’Brien announced that Lee would have to go against the Outlaws with a member of the Fab Foundation: Handsome Henry! Typical turn segment, but it doesn’t mean it was bad. Outlaws have a pretty decent following and rapport with the fans and they used that in this segment well. The Fab Foundation throws a hissy fit and we go into our first match.
NWA-VA Junior Heavyweight Championship
Grail (c) Vs. Alexx Sage
Definitely was looking forward to this match on the way over. Action was here and there for the most part with Grail doing some nice work on Sage’s neck. In layman’s terms, Grail has the gimmick of Taker and the strategy of Benoit so it’s a nice combination and I think he pulls it off pretty well. It was a pure back and forth match with not a lot of high flying for two cruisers. Some may criticize that, but I would rather them just have a good match and give meaning to everything as opposed to flipping around. Finish came with Sage getting the win, but Grail’s foot was on the ropes. Sage celebrated and lost his focus and as the match went on, Grail capitalized and went for the Tombstone to end it all.
Winner: Grail
Star Wrestler: Grail
I really enjoyed this match. It was a great opener and it fired the crowd up in action sense. I think Grail deserves most of the credit in this match though. Everything he did from the stares, taunts, pokes, suplexes, and more had meaning. Don’t get me wrong, Sage was great here too, but Grail was the star in this star opening.
Sean Callaway Vs. Big Tony
Definitely the sleeper match of the night for some reason. Before the match, Callaway cut a great promo on the crowd and even tying in Bush to it somehow. It was great because the crowd was a little confused as to who was the face and who was the heel, and Callaway did his job to a T of letting them know who the mean guy here is. The match itself then started after the promo and let me just say: wow! This match really, really surprised me. It definitely wasn’t the best match of the night, but the best surprise. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think badly on the two workers, but they are still learning the ropes. This match was great though. Callaway was pushing the leg work on the 400 pound Tony very well with chop blocks and lots of holds. Tony, on the other hand, played to his strengths though with pure power. Pure power versus pure strategy. At one point, Tony went for a Belly-to-Belly suplex but instead of falling through, it literally looked like he picked him up and tossed him like a freakin’ rag doll. That was impressive and set the tone for the story of the match very early on. Only part of the match I didn’t like was the mounted punches in the turnbuckle spot. Callaway did some, taunted to the crowd, and Tony powered out. It just felt a little too drawn out for me. Finish came when Callaway tossed Tony the chain he used on the Italian early in the match. Callaway passed out a la Eddie Guerrero and Tony was DQed.
Winner: Sean Callaway
Star Wrestler: Sean Callaway
I think Big Tony really surprised me in this match the most for being a relatively new worker, but major props go to Sean Callaway. His promo was off the wall, his psychology was top notch, and his character was amazing. I loved this match and couldn’t believe what I was seeing and I definitely can’t wait to see another match between these two!
