Ground Xero Road Report, Hopewell Community Center, 07.19.2008 Options

[Tyler]

1st Match
Prince Malik vs Eddie Diamond

Malik starts off by taunting Diamond with some pushups. Diamond then goes up top to get the crowd cheering. Match starts off with some back and forth chain wrestling. Diamond gets the advantage early on, but Malik forces the rope break. Malik tries to get the upper hand, but Diamond turns the tide and does an Arm Drag that sends Malik to the outside. Diamond brings Malik back in, but Malik hits a Forward Slam for a 2 count. Malik maintains the advantage, cutting off Diamond after briefly gaining momentum by hitting an Uppercut and a Soccer Kick for a 2 count. Malik fires Diamond off the ropes but Diamond hits a Northern Lights Suplex for 2. Malik cuts Diamond off after the pin and hits a Spinebuster for 2. Diamond comes back on Malik with a series of Clotheslines and finishes off with a Shining Wizard. Diamond calls for the end and whips Malik, but Malik counters Diamond's move attempt into a Front Lungblower to get the pinfall.

Winner: Prince Malik
Match Rating: **

Commentary
Tyler: This was a decent opening match, it got a little sloppy here and there, but it held up for the most part. The counter into the Northern Lights Suplex off the Irish Whip was pretty sweet.

GXW Television Champion Mark Bravura and his Valkyrie hit the ring next. Bravura cuts a promo , talking about his vacation in Rio and Playboy Pete exercising his rematch clause. Bravura shoots on Virginia's alleged lack of athletes and then says he needs a deep tissue massage. He leaves the ring and goes into a booth to take off his clothes. He then comes back out and gets into the ring wearing nothing but a towel and lays in the ring, but Playboy Pete comes out and attacks him and lays him out with a Diamond/Kanyon/Bubba/RKO Cutter and leaves the ring with Bravura's clothes. Bravura recovers and cuts another promo on Pete, saying he won't get his match because he has no gear. Brent Fleenor tells him that's not a clause and he will defend the title tonight. Mr. Cullen then comes out and says that he will have to defend the title in Val's outfit.

2nd Match
'#1' Jefferson Early vs Deimos
They go to lockup and Deimos just pushes him off. Early tries to mat wrestle him but fails. Deimos dominates him early by working over the arm, Early gets a Headlock but Deimos sends him into the ropes and hits a Shoulderblock and sends Early outside. Deimos goes to pull Early back in but Early hits a Hot Shot and starts working over the leg. Early Grapevines the leg in the ropes and stomps on it, then applies a Spinning Toe Hold. Deimos pushes him off and goes for a Pumphandle Slam, but his leg gives way and allows Early to hit a Chop Block. Early picks Deimos up but Deimos fires back and hits a Sidewalk Slam and a Sitout Powerbomb, but his knee is looking weak. He picks up Early and gives him an F5 for the pin.

Winner: Deimos
Match Rating: **1/2

Commentary
Tyler: Another good but short match here. Deimos looks fairly new and green, but taking on the much smaller Jeff Early allowed him to hide his weaknesses and get him over as a powerful brawler.

3rd Match
Standards and Practices (Kevin Daniels and Gordon Braswell) vs Tiger Blue and William H. Holla

Tiger starts off by firing away on Daniels, shooting him into the ropes for a Dropkick. Tag to Holla, they hit a Double Hiptoss. Holla with a Corner Splash and 10 Count punches. Tag to Tiger, they hit a Double Dropkick and Tiger pins for 2. Tiger keeps the pressure on Daniels, and a tag to Braswell fails to turn the tide. Tag to Holla, working over the arm of Braswell. Braswell whips Holla into a Side Slam and tags to Daniels . Daniels and Braswell tags in and out and uses an unfair disadvantage on Holla. They choke him on the ropes and hit an Atomic Drop and Clothesline combo for 2. Holla fights back but continues to get cut off and gets murdered with a Lariat, landing right on his head. Daniels applies a Boston Crab, but Tiger breaks it up. Holla finally makes it to his corner and tags in Tiger. Tiger comes out a house of fire and takes out both men, nailing Daniels with a Tiltawhirl Head Scissors, but Braswell come in and hits a Tiltawhirl Backbreaker for 2. Tiger then comes back and nails Daniels with a Stratusfaction for 2. All 4 men in now and Daniels and Braswell go for a Decapitator on Holla but he fights back. Tiger goes for a DVD, but Braswell rolls off and hits a Facebuster for 2. Tiger and Braswell both get chairs and swing for the fences, nearly hitting the ref and colliding with each other. The ref calls for the bell and Tiger hits a DVD on Braswell, and Holla follows up with a Frog Splash.

Result: Double DQ
Match Rating: ***1/4

Commentary
Tyler: This was a pretty good, basic tag team match. Standards and Practices seem to gel well together and their double team offense looks nice. Holla took a fair amount of punishment in this match, including a ridiculous Lariat that landed him square on the back of his head. Holla and Blue seem to have some good chemistry, and should only get better if they continue working hard on it.

Time for intermission. Luminaries in attendance include Mike Vaughn, Robert Royal, Shorty Smalls, Kacee Carlisle, and Rob Hoffmann.

Reverend J. Boogie came out on crutches to greet the crowd. He then cuts a promo about his injury, but then Martin Stanley Fuqua comes out to the ring looking like a straight up plantation owner. Fuqua cuts a promo on Boogie and tells him to leave the ring. He then offers Boogie money, but Boogie turns him down and says he's doing the Lord's work. Fuqua then offers Boogie $200 to get on his knees and shine his shoes. Boogie asks the crowd what he should do, but Fuqua attacks Boogie and lays him out and stomps his bad leg.

4th Match
Street Fight
Ground Xero Television Championship
'Playboy' Peter Spade vs Mark Bravura © w/ Valkyrie

Per stipulations set by Mr. Cullen, Bravura is dressed in a women's tied up shirt, a mini skirt and fishnets. Comedy spot to start as Spade ducks a lockup and spanks Bravura. Spade pushes Bravura to the corner, but the ref breaks it up after lack of activity. Bravura then pushes Spade to the corner and slaps him in the ear. Bravura goes between the ropes and Spade spanks him out of the ring. Bravura comes back in and eats a Drop Toe Hold, and gets spanked to the outside again. Bravura gets back in the ring and fires away on Spade, but Spade hits an Atomic Drop and a Clothesline to send him back outside again. Spade then pulls Valkyrie's hair off her head. They get back in the ring and Bravura pearl harbors Spade, hitting a Suplex and stomping on him. Bravura then hits an Elbow Drop for 1. Bravura controls Spade and hits an Elbow Smash from the second rope for a 2 count. Spade comes back for a rollup, but Valkyrie distracts the ref. Bravura chokes Spade with a chain and plays dumb to the ref. Bravura then hits a Backbreaker for a 2 count. Bravura gets a Headlock on Spade on the ground and uses the ropes for leverage before the ref breaks it up. They get to their feet, shoot off the ropes and collide with each other. They slowly get back up and Spade regains control, hitting a Bodyslam and two Elbow Drops for a 2 count. Spade whips Bravura into a Spinebuster for another 2 count. Spade hits his Cutter and pins, but Bravura gets a foot on the ropes. Spade whips Bravura into the corner but whips back and takes out the ref. Spade and Bravura go back and forth, but then Malicious comes out to the ring. Malicious grabs Bravura, but Valkyrie throws powder on his eyes. He grabs them both still, but Valkyrie low blows him. Bravura pushes Spade into the blinded Malicious, who chokeslams Spade, allowing Bravura to score the pinfall as the ref comes to.

Winner and still GXW Television Champion: Mark Bravura
Match Rating: *1/4

Commentary
Tyler: I just really couldn’t get into this match. Their promo earlier in the show ran way too long and just drained me, and then the match, while technically sound and executed properly, was just too much comedy for my tastes. The crowd seemed to eat it up though, so what can you do.

Timmy Danger and Mr. Stone come out to the ring before the start of the main event. Timmy Danger cuts a promo on the Hopewell fans. He then talks about how Christian York was going to beat Phil Brown at the last show, but Mr. Stone cost the match. Danger verbally lays into Stone and promises that the next time Phil Brown shows up, he would leave in an ambulance.

Main Event
Pharaoh vs Bazooka Joe

They tieup and Joe tosses Pharaoh off. Pharaoh comes back with an Amateur Takedown and they go back and forth with mat wrestling, but Joe pops up and Clotheslines him down. Pharaoh goes out of the ring and goes to leave, but Joe chases him and throws him into the barricade. Pharaoh fires back with some chops and bounces his head off the apron Pharaoh goes to whip Joe but Joe counters and whips him to the barricade. Pharaoh comes back with an eye gouge, and they trade shots back and forth before Pharaoh gets thrown back in the ring. Pharaoh cuts Joe off coming back in and goes to work on him, nailing the midsection with Shoulder Thrusts. Joe fires back and hits a Suplex for a 1 count. Joe hits two Atomic Drops and a Clothesline for a 2 count. Pharaoh turns the tide back with a Suplex and whips him to the ropes for a Forearm Smash. Pharaoh keeps the heat on, but Joe catches a kick and hits a Chokeslam for 2. Pharaoh then gets whipped to the ropes, but grabs them and drops Joe down, hitting an Apron Leg Drop. They fight on the outside again with Joe getting the better of it. Joe rolls Pharaoh back in for a 2 count. Joe goes up top but Pharaoh cuts him off and hits a Butterfly Superplex but only gets a 2 count after stalling for the pin. Pharaoh calls for the end and goes up top. Joe cuts him off and hits a Northern Lights Superplex, leaving both men down. Joe finally pins him for a 2 count. They trade blows back and forth but Joe hits a Jumping Senton, getting a 2 count after Pharaoh gets the ropes. Joe goes to put Pharaoh away, but Pharaoh rolls him up and grabs the tights for the pin.

Winner: Pharaoh
Match Rating ***1/2

Commentary
Tyler: This was a really good back and forth brawl with two similar sized guys just beating the shit out of each other. I’ve never seen Bazooka Joe before, but he looked good in this match, and Pharaoh did well, hitting Joe with some pretty heavy stuff. I enjoyed it, and the back and forth action from bell to bell really entertained the crowd.

Overall Thoughts
Tyler: This was a fairly good show, especially considering the audibles that had to be called at the last minute. With Phil Brown, Christian York, Shorty Smalls and others unable to work the show, Ground Xero did the best they could with what they had that day. The show as a whole seemed to entertain the crowd, which was between 100 and 125, but was pretty lively. The Pete/Bravura angle as I mentioned earlier just dragged and got boring. The J.Boogie promo was spirited, and Martin Stanley Fuqua equals fucking MONEY. Timmy Danger cut a good promo on Mr. Stone, but given that the promo didn't lead to anything on the rest of the show, it felt a bit out of place.

Match of the Night: Pharaoh vs Bazooka Joe
Spot of the Night: Standards and Practices’ Lariat to William J. Holla