411’s FCW TV Report 03.19.09

The views and opinions expressed herein are those solely of the author and may not necessarily reflect those of the rest of the human race.

Hey there and thanks for checking back in. I know, I’m as surprised to see me 2 weeks in a row as you are…

FCW – 03.19.09

Show opens in the back, with several faces and Norman Smiley (~!) gathered around someone who’s apparently hurt their knee. As Smiley yells for someone to get some ice and a trainer (wait, I thought he was…?), we can’t quite see who it is, although it kinda looks like Kaval…

Opening credits and clips run and we are in the FCW Arena in Tampa, FL with Josh Matthews and Dusty Rhodes. Hate to say it, but I’m glad that Fletcher Chase didn’t make a second appearance. Matthews and Rhodes discuss what’s going on in the back and Matthews throws it to Fletcher Chase (looks like I spoke too soon), who’s in the backstage area…

Chase is – aw, you know where. It was Kaval who was attacked and injured by an unknown assailant. Chase is appalled as tonight’s FCW Title match between Kaval and Eric Escobar is now in jeopardy.

Drew McIntyre vs. Joe Hennig

Neither man has been pinned since the Fatal Four-Way where Escobar won the title. Both men start out hot & heavy, throwing punches. Hennig gets the better of the exchange and asserts his dominance early on to let him know whose ring this is. McIntyre disagrees, though, and takes Hennig down before going after the neck and left shoulder. Hennig escapes and uses his agility to evade a clothesline, but McIntyre matches him there as well with a dropkick. Now Matthews decides to tell us that this is a Championship Challenge match, with the winner moving into contention for an FCW Title match. Thanks for the update, Josh.

McIntyre stays all over Hennig and goes back to the neck and shoulder – a smart idea on both counts. Hennig fights his way out, but McIntyre keeps the heat on, not giving his opponent a chance to breathe. Hennig, though, shows how dangerous he can be – and just how able he is to end a match out of nowhere…

Finish comes when Hennig reverses a tilt-a-whirl slam attempt into a PerfectPlex for the pinfall victory. Umm, okay. The absolute zero-setup to Hennig’s win was anti-climactic, but I have to say this is the best match I’ve seen McIntyre wrestle in a long time – and it’s a shame, because the matter of not being pinned in almost 3 months seems kinda moot now. Hennig leaves the ring victorious to take us to commercial.

Back to FCW News and Gossip with Jenny Cash. Her big scoop this week is that Rosa Mendes and Angela are squaring off this week and she could care less. You know, instead of something useful to build the show, like, a rumor about who may have taken out Kaval. This segment gets more and more useless as the weeks go on. Ain’t necessarily her fault, but still…

Rosa Mendes vs. Angela

Little things that make a match better already: Rosa immediately goes after Angela’s crown, and Angela starts beating the hell out of her for it. Angela then lets her superior agility speak for her, but Rosa is a little cagier, sending Angela outside. Oddly enough, Rosa goes outside after her only to send her back in the ring, thinking the trip outside would be enough to put her away. When it isn’t, Rosa resorts to her viciousness to try and keep Angela down, but Angela has too much heart to stay down. Rosa then slows down the pace to counter Angela’s speed and goes for wearing her down with a surfboard. Angela is able to use her speed to surprise Rosa with a sunset flip (for 2) and then retake control of the match. Rosa gets the better of her opponent again, but Angela decides that this one has gone on long enough…

Finish comes when Angela hits the Sake Bomb (reverse DDT) for the pinfall victory. Angela takes her crown back and Rosa looks a bit like Stephanie McMahon after being dumped by Triple-H when they renewed their vows (doesn’t that seem like a lifetime ago?) to take us to commercial.

Back to Josh Matthews in the ring to welcome the President of FCW, Steve Keirn.

Whoa. That looks nothing like the Skinner I remember…

Matthews asks Keirn if he knows the status of the Kaval/Escobar title match and Keirn is in the dark at this moment due to Kaval’s uncertain condition. Keirn then has an announcement to make about next week – but, first, he thanks the fans for their support. Then he tells us that DH Smith and TJ Wilson Tyson Kidd will go 1-on-1 next week. Nice!

Kidd hits the ring and wants to apologize to Keirn for his actions and blowing the issue with Smith out of proportion – but he can’t, because he’s not sorry that he’s better than Smith and that Smith is jealous of him. Smith, he claims, tried to screw him over and get on TV first, but Kidd beat him to it. Smith is out now and gets in Kidd’s face and says he’s the one that paved Kidd’s way into FCW in the first place. He’s sick of hearing Kidd’s claims of jealousy and gives him “something to be jealous about” – a bitchslap heard throughout the arena! The fight is on now and Keirn calls out some of the refs to break the two up. That doesn’t work, so half the roster is out to help pull them apart. Order is finally restored as we go to commercial.

Back to a recap of the slap and ensuing brawl moments ago. I actually attempted a screencap, but Smith hit him so damn hard that Kidd was just a blur upon impact.

Ryback vs. Ricky Ortiz

Pre-match, Dusty Rhodes is the first to ask the question of who attacked Kaval and why.

Ryback and Ortiz feel each other out early on to see who may have the strength advantage. First collar-and-elbow doesn’t settle much, but Ryback takes the alpha position on the second, tossing Ortiz to the corner. Both are at a standstill, so Ortiz opts for dexterity. Ryback, though, catches Ortiz (no small feat considering they’re both almost the same size) and answers the power question with authority, sending Ortiz outside with a fallaway slam. Ryback sends Ortiz back inside and stays with the power attack. Ortiz tries for the comeback, but Ryback is too strong. Ortiz plays Ryback’s game and finally beats him at it…

Finish comes when Ortiz comes of the ropes and Pounces Ryback for the pinfall victory. I actually would have liked to have seen this go a little longer simply to see Ryback treat Ortiz like the proverbial small child.

Post-match, Sheamus O’Shaunessey hits the ring to attack Ortiz. O’Shaunessey beats Ortiz near-senseless, including hitting the Fiery Red Hand 2.0. O’Shaunessey celebrates and leaves, taking us to commercial.

Back to Johnny Curtis and Tyler Reks backstage. Curtis brings the intensity~! – but Reks tells him to bring it down a notch because they’re the longest reigning FCW Tag Champs to date. Actually a pretty decent exchange; who knew these two had personality.

Steve Keirn addresses the viewing audience from his office, telling us his father, Col. Richard Paul Keirn of the USAF, was only one of two men in history to be a prisoner of two wars. Damn. The worst torture his dad ever suffered…was hunger. This segues into a PSA to help the hungry in Tampa by soliciting donations to:

Metropolitan Ministries
2002 North Florida Ave
Tampa, FL 33602

Dylan Klein & Jon Cutler (w/Wesley Holiday) vs. FCW Tag-Team Champions Johnny Curtis & Tyler Reks – non-title match

Klein and Reks start and Klein offers a test of strength. Reks answers by taking Klein in the corner instead and going after the body with shoulderblocks. Hah. Klein answers in kind and sends Reks outside, but doesn’t bother to check if Reks actually hit the floor. Reks skins the cat back in and makes Klein pay for his overconfidence before the pin attempt. Reks and Curtis get some teamwork in and Curtis keeps up the pattern of power + speed that Reks used to keep Klein away from his corner and on the defensive. More teamwork from the champs keeps Klein dazed until Holiday swipes at Reks. That’s enough for Klein to take the advantage (with some unseen help from his partner on the outside).

Klein pounds away at Reks (because that’s all he knows how to do, really) and brings in Cutler. The two then work Reks over in their corner, upping the teamwork ante with frequent tags. Klein goes for the dreaded rear chinlock and Reks escapes only to meet up with more footwork from Klein. Back to the frequent tags and striking offense now for Cutler and Reks, but Reks escapes with a dropkick and a neckbreaker – two moves designed to give Reks just enough time to bring his partner.

Curtis is in now and opts for his strength and speed to keep Cutler down. Klein is in, but Curtis – just to show them how teamwork is done – backdrops him toward Reks. Reks then takes Klein outside to keep him away from the ending…

Finish comes when Curtis hits the Falcon Arrow on Cutler for the pinfall victory. Well played, Clerks. Nice ending to a match that the champs dominated – and Klein still showed me absolutely nothing.

Ryan Braddock tells us that he thought he made it clear before – he’s done with the fans. He gave us all he had for 18 months and no one cared, so now neither does he. He pushes the camera away to take us to commercial.

Back to Matthews and Rhodes joined by Braddock with his computer in hand. He tells Rhodes that if he wants his informational services, he has to pay like everyone else.

Eric Escobar is out to defend his title – but will he have an opponent? He takes the mic and lets everyone know he’s disappointed in what happened to Kaval. However, the fans came to see an FCW Title match so he throws an open challenge to the locker room. Lo and behold, the challenge is answered…

DH Smith vs. Eric Escobar (c) – FCW Heavyweight Championship Match

Schweet! Let’s see if this compares to their first encounter…

Smith and Escobar jockey for position and Smith opts to get under Escobar’s skin with a slap, looking to let Escobar’s temper take him out of his game. Smith takes it to the mat, but Escobar, showing what he’s learned from last time, counters Smith to the point that Smith has to back off. Escobar takes the matwork a little further, going after Smith’s leg to take away the size advantage. Smith tries to employ his power, but Escobar is ready for that as well. The champion is in full control in the early going of the match, turning around Smith’s opening gambit of frustration.

Smith goes for hard strikes to maneuver himself back into a position of control. (At one point, Escobar falls against the ropes and breaks the second one off of its buckle.) Smith keeps the advantage by using his power, knowing he has that on Escobar. Smith targets the neck and back of Escobar to leave him vulnerable to a pinfall in the most obvious way. Not a bad gameplan at all. Escobar tries to rally his way out of this predicament, but Smith uses his full might to retain domination—

Until Tyson Kidd comes out to observe. Smith lets himself get distracted long enough for Escobar to mount a comeback. Escobar keeps Smith off-balance with high-impact, but Smith takes control once again, only to fall victim to Kidd’s trickery…

Finish comes when Smith hoists Escobar up for the running powerslam, but Kidd grabs Escobar’s leg. Escobar falls out of the move and surprised Smith with a roll-up for the pinfall victory. Once again, excellent showing by these two. Escobar and Smith seem to bring out the best in each other; this is a feud I’d love to see continue, but the bookers have other plans…

Post-match, Escobar celebrates and Smith is beside himself, turning his attention towards Kidd. Kidd retreats to the back and Escobar leaves as we end the show.

Hurrm. Seems there’s no immediate answer forthcoming on who took Kaval out of tonight’s match; we have a mystery on our hands! A neat wrinkle to an already good show that not even Dylan Klein – try as he might – could ruin.

L8. Thanks again for reading.

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