wrestling / TV Reports

411’s FCW TV Report 10.12.08

October 14, 2008 | Posted by Michael Melchor

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 again for checking in. This, of course, is for those that may not be able to see the WWE’s developmental territory in action. Before we get to the show proper, I’ll just make a simple point, if I may.

A lot of people – and I mean a LOT – have commented on the joke made about Owen Hart at the Iron Sheik Roast that sent Scott Hall to the stage ready to kill comedian Jimmy Graham. Mostly it’s from the type that was really offended by the gag itself. Now, the joke itself doesn’t so much offend me (although it wasn’t really that funny, either), but that’s not the point I’m after here…

Didn’t anybody tell Graham what kind of audience he’d be in front of? This is a crowd of wrestlers and wrestling fans who will laugh at most gags, no matter how mean they are. But not that one. How “offensive” the gag was is immaterial – it’s knowing your audience and what they’ll find funny as well as what they won’t. In that respect alone, Graham doesn’t sound like a very good comedian to me.

It’d be like making fun of rape victims at a RAINN conference. It’s not about the offense or shock value; I’d bet that if this gag were told anywhere else or amongst friends, no one would have even noticed. However, it was dropped at the wrong place and time because Graham has no concept of knowing what material to use in front of whom. Simply for doing something that stupid, I wish Graham would have taken an ass-kicking from Hall before they hauled him away.

Anyway, with that done, let’s do the damn thing.

Okay, This Is Boring – What Else Is There To Read?

Thanks again to Sir Larry for letting me do this sort of thing again. And to Randle for going along for the ride.

Kudos to Lansdell for taking a tougher-than-hell gig and serving well those that came before him.

Don’t let the haters get to you, Tim – you’re absolutely right.

Ari, I’d vote for Team F.I.S.T. off of that list.

Bayani rocks. And he makes some great points about why Sarah Palin is the devil. Or at least close enough.

And finally, a hello to JP, Small, and JT – three gentlemen I had the pleasure of eating lunch with at Margaritaville during WrestleMania weekend. I have no idea how we’d pull this off, but we should do that again, chaps.

FCW – 10.12.08

Show opens with the old clips of the original FCW and the current promotion. Logo, credits, and we are at the FCW Arena in Tampa, FL (located at 4535 S Dale Mabry) with our hosts, Todd Grisham and Dusty Rhodes. The two once again ingrain the idea into our heads that this is the future as we go straight to the first match:

Sheamus O’Shaunessy vs. Ricky Ortiz

I so had to pause the DVR to type out O’Shaunessy’s name. And yes, I’m copying-and-pasting it here, too. This is one guy that would actually benefit from a name change should he get called up to the main roster.

I wonder if the contrast in personalities here – to quote Todd Grisham, “one from Ireland who hasn’t seen a ray of sunshine in his life, and the other one a beach bum from the West Coast” – will bleed over into their styles as well. Certainly seems so thus far, as O’Shaunessy is definitely more belligerent, dominating early on with roughhousing and wear-down holds (already?!). Ortiz reverts to athleticism and surprising power to work his way out of the basic ground game of O’Shaunessy and take control. Ortiz gets overzealous, though, and O’Shaunessy takes advantage by simply letting Ortiz launch himself over the top rope. In trouble, Ortiz is a prime target for O’Shaunessy as he simply continues the ground game (with a little bit of brawling for good measure) he started off with.

O’Shaunessy would seem to have an experience advantage here. Either that or Ortiz doesn’t understand the disadvantage of being overzealous and telegraphing his moves. After a good amount of punishment, Ortiz does fight his way out of a bearhug, though, and begin his comeback with the agility that’s becoming his trademark. Unfortunately, the overzealousness is becoming a trademark as well – and it costs him dearly…

Finish comes when Ortiz misses a top-rope legdrop and O’Shaunessy takes advantage with a chokeslam/powerbomb variation for the pinfall victory. Not a bad match or performance by either man at all. Solidly entertaining.

Post-match, O’Shaunessy is interviewed ringside and takes the time to dispel a few misconceptions about Ireland. He’s not out here with a Leprechaun eating Lucky Charms and he blames Finlay for perpetrating the stereotype. He says some people love to fight, but he loves to win.

TONIGHT: The FCW Tag-Team Championship will be decided as champions Stu Sanders and Drew McIntyre will defend against Eric Perez and Eddie Colon (~!) as we go to commercial.

Back to our next match:

Evan Bourne vs. Afa

That would be Afa Jr., by the way, as Sr. is in the crowd – sitting beside Rocky Johnson once again – to see his son and the other FCW talent in action. (I’m also assuming, haven’t actually seen a whole lot of Raw lately, that this is Manu.)

This, by the way, has potential written all over it. Big-guy-vs.-little-guy matches have become somewhat of a trend lately, but give the right talent that same assignment and you could have something memorable. We’ll see if that’s the case here…

Bourne starts out letting Afa attempt to use his power, but escape and confound Afa with his quickness. Bourne takes it to the mat and – surprise – Afa outwrestles him for a second before Bourne goes back to the agility to score a 2. Bourne sticks with his game of speed and style and Afa uses some of his power, but doesn’t rely mainly on that; the cunning and ruthlessness of his dad was handed down, as he shoves Bourne off the top rope and simply pounds the crap out of him before sling-shotting his throat on the bottom rope. Once Afa has a clear advantage, Afa then reverts to his size to mow Bourne down but doesn’t abandon the wrestling altogether, either. A dangerous combination from someone that size.

Afa misjudges a charging attack and Bourne’s subsequent assault comes from all directions, but mainly uses the feet. Strikes and takeovers are used to wear Afa down before going for the picture-perfect Shooting Star Press – and missing. Bourne’s cardinal mistake was in not wearing down Afa enough, giving Afa the perfect opening…

Finish comes when Afa hits a spinning slam (think the F5 on steroids…wait, maybe that’s a bad reference…) on Bourne for the pinfall victory. Excellent stuff; too short to be anything magic or memorable, but these two made the most of their time as we go to commercial.

Back to an appearance by “Y2J” Chris Jericho at the FCW Arena. Jericho runs the crowd down, calling them hypocrites and liars for being big fans of Sports Entertainment – and HBK. Jericho runs down all the talent for being cheaters but singles out one for wanting to be a follower of Jericho – “The Natural” Nic Nemeth. “Natural”, my ass. Nemeth calls it an honor for both of them (heh) as they are men of integrity unlike Evan Bourne and TJ Wilson who think the fans are behind them. Jericho questions whether the fans have a clear conscience but honors Nemeth for being a man of integrity.

Jericho then calls out Joe Hennig (~!!), who looks so much like his dad it’s almost chilling. Jericho gets on Hennig’s case for basically being a fan favorite. I would, too; that just goes against the family tradition! Jericho says Hennig should be more like him and asks which way he’ll go. Hennig says he’s not sure which way he’ll go, but he won’t be a loudmouthed punk like Jericho. Jericho asks if Hennig’s a tough guy who thinks he can beat him and Hennig says he knows he can beat Nemeth like HBK could Jericho. Jericho and Hennig shove each other and Nemeth jumps Hennig from behind for the 1.5-on-1 (since Nemeth doe most of the work) beatdown. Jericho and Nemeth celebrate and Grisham pimps the tag-title main event as we go to commercial.

Back to:

“The Campus Legend” Brad Allen, Tyrone Jones & Jack Gabriel vs. Johnny Curtis, Gabe Tuft & Kevin Kiley

Allen and…you know, it’d be nice of they named some of these guys in action because it’d be quite a bit easier to follow. Just saying is all. After a one-upsman exchange, Allen and Tuft tag out to Curtis and Jones to continue more of the same. Curtis gains an advantage after a brief bit of catch-as-catch-can and tags in Kiley to maintain it. Kiley, however, gets dragged into the heels’ corner after being beaten on a bit and Gabriel transitions into a pinning combo that gets 2. The heels then settle on using the numbers game, which Gabriel almost – but not quite – fights his way out of. Allen in now to wear Kiley down before Gabriel beats on him some more. The quick tags, pounding, and wearing down all serve to disorient Kiley, but Kiley uses desperation to escape and make the needed tag to Curtis.

Curtis is the proverbial house afire as he targets Allen. The match breaks down and all but Allen and Curtis exit the ring so Curtis can score the big move…

Finish comes when Curtis hits a leg lariat on Allen to score the pinfall victory. You may have noticed I wasn’t attempting as much to recap the strategy, as it was pretty standard stuff. If you’ve seen any given midcard 6-man tag match in the last few years, you’ve seen this one. Decent performances but not enough time to gauge anyone’s talent as we go to commercial.

Back to Kelly Kelly in the ring. She says we’ve all heard about the guys in FCW, but what about the Divas™? She brings them out to answer that question as she’s about to host…a twisting contest. Okay, now I’m starting to regret volunteering for this gig.

The 6 FCE Divas™ start to Twist The Night Away before Alicia Fox bumps one of the Bella twins and they start catfighting. All 6 Divas™ start going at it before the Bella twins take turns on Alicia Fox. Without the threat of empty promises, that might be titillating. Instead, the twins clear the ring and celebrate as we go to commercial.

Back to:

FCW Tag-Team Championship Match: “The Empire” (Stu Sanders & Drew McIntyre) © vs. Eric Perez and Eddie Colon

Sanders and McIntyre have Union Jacks on the backs of their long jackets. Oh, I get it – The British Empire! Cool! I have to mark for that simply because I thought a stable of that name on SmackDown with William Regal, Dave Taylor, and the Burchills would be so damned awesome.

McIntyre and Colon start and McIntyre jumps the gun by jumping Colon, taking him out of his game and making him easy pickings for a tag to Sanders. The Empire seem intent on using their power to overrun the smaller challengers (and former champions), but Colon tags Perez in and he gets their team back in the game with his dexterity. Perez also surprises Sanders with a little power and leaping ability to score a 2-count. The champs are cagey, however, as McIntyre distracts Perez so Sanders can hit him from behind and take over.

McIntyre in to continue the power game as Rhodes points out the mistakes made so far by the challengers. (If he were to tie that in to how that could delay their start in WWE, this show would become 1000% cooler.) The Empire doesn’t even bother with actual wrestling at first, content to let their strength and brawling abilities speak for them. After weakening Perez significantly, they then begin to wear him down. Perez opts for desperation and quickness to escape this situation and make the needed tag.

Colon uses his agility and adrenaline to outwit and steamroll the Empire at first, but McIntyre is too strong to stay down. McIntyre looks to end it with a super-power move, but Colon reverses it with his own quickness. Sanders interrupts, but Perez takes him outside so Colon can finish his game…

Finish comes when Colon hits a Codebreaker on McIntyre (while Perez keeps Sanders occupied on the outside) for the pinfall and the FCW Tag Team Titles. I desperately wish this match were longer and that the Empire would vary their game plan a little but. 7 minutes for a tag-title match is almost criminal, but these four made a good show of it, at least. The new champs celebrate to end the show.

This second episode went from day to night. The first two matches were rather good as was the segment with Jericho. From there, it took a sharp dive into banality and almost ended that way. Thankfully, the tag title match kept this as an overall suitable outing and a slight improvement on the debut.

L8. Thanks again for reading.

For more interesting reading, click here. There are few things I dig more than a good, knock-down-drag-out Hulk fight with plenty of collateral damage, and this looks like it should fit the bill.

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Michael Melchor

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