Fan Report - August 24 - Tampa

Ice Palace Arena
Tampa, FL
Submitted by Earl Anderson

Hey CSWA fans! I got to check out an awesome house-show at the Palace this weekend. Here’s what went down:

“The Original King of Cool” JJ DeVille vs. “Big Time” Michael Gettis
Does anyone else get the feeling that JJ’s a lot smarter than he acts? Before the match DeVille put on another martial arts exhibition complete with nunchucks and a lot of yelling. Towards the end of his pre-match routine, JJ brought out a cardboard cut-out about the size of Gary Coleman with a picture of GUNS taped to the face. With a banshee’s shriek, DeVille nailed an axe kick that squashed the mini-GUNS. Shortly thereafter, Gettis came out and squashed JJ. Gettis basically went through his offensive repertoire and put JJ down for the count with a high-altitude elbow drop. As usual DeVille bumped all over the mat and made a very good Michael Gettis look even better.

“The Pride” Aelias Fierte vs. Deacon
Fierte is 6’8” and 300 pounds. Deacon is 7’1” and 300 plus. Needless to say there weren’t a lot of springboard hurricanranas or corkscrew suicide planchas during the battle of two true giants. I think Fierte was a little off his game as he wasn’t able to dominate Deacon the way he does opponents smaller than him (virtually every other wrestler in CSWA). Deacon is still a bit rusty and we saw a couple of awkward spots as a result of it. Both guys gave a great effort though. Deacon has always impressed me with how hard he works, even at small house shows like this. Fierte is still a little inhibited in the ring, but he shows flashes of brilliance. His sit-out powerbomb was thunderous and no small feat to pull off on a monster like Deac. In the end Deacon dug deep and hit an Altar Call that made lights flicker in the next county. A nice display of sportsmanship after the match; Deacon helps Aelias up and shakes his hand to an ovation from the crowd.

Evan Aho vs. “Fearless” Jones
This was a really weird situation. Aho came out to no music, grabbed a microphone and demanded an opponent. The most confusing thing was that he was booked on the card but no referee was showing up for his match and neither was his original opponent Eddy Love. At any rate, Aho said he wasn’t leaving until he got a match. “Fearless” Jones came out to a nice pop and after talking off the mic with Evan he asked for the fans to count the pinfalls. I still don’t know why there was no ref, but the crowd got HOT to be so involved in the match. I haven’t seen a lot of Jones, but he looked great and Aho is always on. This was just great, hard-ass wrestling from beginning to end. Late in the match, Fearless reversed a hammerlock and BLASTED Evan in the armpit with a kind of uppercut front kick. Aho immediately hit the mat and rolled out of the ring where he stayed for a nine-count (by the crowd, awesome!). This was a pretty scary moment. I think Evan’s shoulder is in rough shape. Aho made it back in the ring with an aggressive streak and after shortly thereafter hit Jones with a reverse suplex followed by a SICK back-mounted inverted facelock that got him to tap.

Nathan Cross vs. Dan Ryan
Dan Ryan had control for the majority of this match. His size advantage was a big factor. It was nice to see him get back to the stuff that made him a champ in GXW rather than copping-out of matches. Cross is a flippin’ fighter, but he was out-gunned in this one. Ryan sold well and hit his big spots, but Cross really busted his ass. I always like seeing the rookies paired off with veterans because the older guys have to work to keep up and the youngsters get to learn a lot in the ring. Of course I’m sure Cross would rather have not been learning the effects of the Humility Bomb. Ryan dominates, but Nate Cross really endeared himself to the crowd with his work ethic.

Michael Plett vs. “Triple X” Sean Stevens
This was easily the most heated contest on the card. Plett and Stevens knocked each other around with little regard for their own bodies and severe contempt for each other. Planchas to the floor, STIFF strikes and high-impact throws were on par for the match, but neither man would give the other the satisfaction of a victory. Unfortunately this was contest was cut short by Rob Sampson and Nate Logan who decided to crash the party and leave Trip lying in the ring. Until the run-in both guys looked awesome with Trip dishing out a little bit more of the offense.

“The English Gent” Lawerence Stanley vs. Shane Southern
Definitely match of the night. Like Stevens and Plett, both of these guys are on top of their game right now and neither held anything back for this match. I really can’t do it justice in writing, but Shane really has a never-say-die attitude. Stanley is underrated as a hard-hitter. He pasted Southern with European uppercuts throughout the match mixing in a lot of big throws and suplexes. Control went back and forth but The Gent took over for most of the later portion. At the twenty-five minute mark, Stanley hit a great looking spinning backdrop and got near fall that had most of the crowd fooled into thinking we had a new US Champion. Shane Southern kicked-out and rallied back to hit a Frankensouthern that nearly pinned Stanley. At thirty minutes the match was called a time-limit draw. Both wrestlers were exhausted but took time to embrace after the match to a standing ovation from the crowd.

Once again CSWA puts on a great show! All the matches were solid and the top of the card was OUTSTANDING. The young guys, Cross and Fierte, looked good and could end up being major players as they gain experience. Deacon is getting back to old form and Ryan is finally busting out his REAL repertoire. The Aho/Jones match was curious in its set-up and I’m anxious to find out what the hell was going down with that. But as long as they keep delivering great matches, who cares? Can’t wait to see the next show!