TCW Show 13-44 Recap and Review

Match #1: Jon Saxon vs. Steve Anthony
Steve Anthony comes out and claims that he cannot get into the ring with Jon Saxon tonight. Anthony believes that Saxon has fallen out of his prime. Anthony continues the verbal assault until the crowd gets to him. Anthony leaves the ring again. Anthony tells Saxon he loves him and backs off.
Winner via countout: Jon Saxon
Not a match at all, but Anthony delivered a good promo. Really waiting for these two to have a match. From all this buildup, I expect a barnburner of a match.

Backstage, Parker is shown talking to Boyd Bradford. Parker tells Bradford he must produce Rich Rude today or the Bradford Family is out of TCW for good. Bradford wants Parker to award the TCW Tag Team Title back to Hounds of Hell. Parker gives Bradford a tag team title shot instead.

TCW International Championship: Tarver vs. Titan (c)
Tarver attacks with strikes right away, avoiding all of Titan’s counterattacks. Titan lands a knee to the gut and picks up Tarver. Tarver slips out and chop blocks Titan, putting him onto his knees. Tarver goes to the top rope, but Titan stands up and socks Tarver in the jaw. Titan wraps his hand around Tarver’s neck, but Tarver resists. Titan attacks with a headbutt, and follows it with a hip attack to the skull! Both on the outside, Titan continues the attack. Tarver tries to rolls in the ring, but Titan tugs him out and fights with strikes. Titan puts Tarver’s hand into the steel steps and kicks the exposed hand. Tarver rolls into the ring, and Titan follows. Titan keeps his attention to Tarver’s hand. Titan chops Tarver in the corner, who drops to his knees. Titan picks up Tarver and knees him in the head. Titan backs up and boots Tarver in the skull! Titan stands on Tarver’s hand, locking in a submission. Tarver manages to punch his way out of the submission. Both on their feet, and Tarver lands a hard elbow strike. Another hard elbow, but Tarver is feeling the effects of the damage on his hand. Tarver charges, but Titan lays him out with a hard clothesline. Titan drops the knee onto the hand, following it up with an elbow drop to the chest. Titan twists Tarver’s wrist in a submission. Tarver stands up and elbows his way out. A hard elbow to the jaw stuns Titan. Tarver charges with a shoulder tackle, but Titan is unfazed. Titan picks up Tarver and sends him into the corner. Titan follows and splashes Tarver. Titan goes for a chokeslam, but Tarver fights out and nails a few more elbow strikes. Lily distracts the ref, and Titan nails a big boot to Tarver’s head. Lily keeps the ref’s eyes away and tosses brass knuckles to Titan. Tarver intercepts the knuckles and knocks out Titan! 1…2…Lily attacks the ref! She drops the ref with a DDT! Lily goes over and rings the bell.
Winner and still TCW International Champion via…reasons?: Titan
Surprisingly good match with an odd finish that I still don’t understand. I guess Titan was disqualified. Anyway, I enjoyed this battle more than I thought I would. A lot of good strikes from both guys, which really was the meat of the match up. Being that this was a rematch, I was hoping for a clean finish, as I’m not sure if Tarver is returning to TCW

Lance Hoyt comes to the ring with a hooded figure, saying the Empire is about to get what they got coming. The Empire come out and look at the figure, poking and prodding at him. Hoyt claims the figure has had problems with the Empire in the past. Matt Riviera says it is Hoyt’s mom. Yep. The Empire walk away from the hooded figure. Hoyt says they are scared. The Empire once again walk away. Riviera pulls the hood off and “King” Shane Williams is revealed to be under it. Williams and Hoyt brawl with the Empire. The Empire run away. This segment almost went ten minutes. A long, awful ten minutes.
I usually stay quiet when it comes to the segments in TCW, as I believe the best part is the wrestling. I feel like I need to comment as this segment was terrible, for a couple of reasons. Including Lance Hoyt, who is arguably one of the reasons a new viewer would tune into TCW, was terrible as it made him look weak, admitting he needed help against the Empire. Now having the Empire poke and prod at the hooded figure was very silly. You have the top heel group, one of which is the current Heavyweight Champion, and they are scared of a hooded figure. I couldn’t help but shake my head during this whole segment.

TCW Tag Team Championship: Genetic Perfection (c) vs. Hounds of Hell
Genetic Perfection wastes no time and attack Hounds of Hell. Cerebus is backed body dropped by the champions. Barry is in the ring with Roosevelt, slamming his head against all three levels of the turnbuckle. Quick tag to Steel, and they attack with a Hart Attack. Roosevelt manages to tag in Cerebus, who runs into Steel’s attacks. Steel charges at Cerebus in the corner, but he dodges and Steel hits the post and lands on the outside. Steels gets on the apron and is attacked by both members of the Hounds. Cerebus whips Steel into the ropes and knocks him down with a back elbow. Cerebus goes for another attack, but Steel gets a roll up. Not enough and the Hounds tag out. Roosevelt nails a hard right hand and tags back to Cerebus. Cerebus spits on Barry, coaxing him into the ring. The Hounds take advantage and double team Steel. Cerebus locks Steel in a submission, but he fights to his feet. Cerebus knocks Steel back down and gets a tag. Roosevelt hits a double axe handle from the middle rope. Roosevelt nails a neckbreaker and locks in a sleeper hold. Steel gets out with a jawbreaker. Steel charges, but Roosevelt hits a knee to the gut. Hounds tag out and attempt a double team in the corner. Steel leaps onto the ropes and hits a double back elbow! Steel gets the tag, and Barry cleans house. Cerebus cuts Barry off. Cerebus whips Barry to the ropes, but he dodges an attack and the Hounds collide with each other. Barry hits both with a Samoan drop a piece. Genetic Perfection both sunset flip the opponents. Hounds kick out and nail clotheslines to the champions. Steel superkicks Cerebus out of the ring. Roosevelt whips Barry to the corner and charges, but Barry gets the boots up. Roosevelt collides with the ref! Bradford and Kincaid bring out Rich Rude and take him to the back. Cerebus lifts up Steel, and Roosevelt comes off the top with a steel chain! Cerebus slams Steel afterwards and pins. 1…2…3!
Winner, and new TCW Champions via pinfall: Hounds of Hell
Not a bad match, but these two teams have had better outings. Felt short and was a bit sloppy at times. That being said, this match was more to advance the feud between these two teams, so it not being the best is forgivable. To me, anyway. TCW is an old-school style promotion, so I’m assuming they like the heels to have the titles for the final encounter, which seems to be coming soon.

Learn more about TCW here:
Website
Youtube
Twitter
Facebook

The 411: Besides the terrible segment with the Empire, this was an okay show. One odd thing is the omission of the commercial breaks they have, even though they 'go' to them during the matches. The two matches that were there were good, Tarver/Titan being a good show of power strikes, if you are into that kind of offense.
Final Score:  6.0   [ Average ]