OVW hit the airwaves this weekend on the WB in Louisville with an incredible show. Paul Heyman's continued involvement in OVW is bound to be a huge deal for OVW fans, as Heyman will have to see OVW through whatever is to become of the OVW Title and its champion, Matt Cappotelli. It was reported on WWE.COM that Cappotelli has been diagnosed with a brain tumor, but the severity is unknown. The situation was mentioned on this week's tv show, but all Dean Hill would say was "many of you know there is a situation involving Matt Cappotelli, and we will bring you definitive information when it becomes available, and hopefully it will be Matt Cappo! telli himself updating you."
The whole show had an interesting feel to it, as Dean Hill and Al Snow were not broadcasting from their usual announce position, they were broadcasting from The Wick's Pizza Party Zone. For those of you outside Louisville, Wick's Pizza is an institution in Kentuckiana, and has the best pizza in this entire region. So there's a new Party Zone inside the New Davis Arena, with two huge reclining chairs. Every week, two fans will get to sit in the reclining chairs and eat pizza during the OVW matches. So to kick it off, Dean Hill and Al Snow were broadcasting from the Party Zone.
During the show, several commercials aired for Wick's Pizza starring some OVW personalities. Jim Cornette and Kenny Bolin, former enemies, were actually in one together. It was weird seeing Cornette back on OVW television, this time in a commercial for a pizza chain. Bolin was in all the commercials. Others in the commercials included Mark Henry and Aaron "The Idol" Stevens valet Beth Phoenix.
In other big news, Aaron "The Idol" Stevens is the new OVW TV Champion. The show opened with a great video recap of the Punk vs Albright match from the end of December, when they went to a 30 minute draw, and Albright asked for 5 more minutes. Punk did not accept. But Punk did slap Albright, and Albright jumped Punk. The ref rang the bell, even though Punk didn't accept. Albright made Punk tap out. But the title didn't change hands because Punk never accepted. Punk does a promo saying "Albright you were the better man. I admit it. But I sleep well as the champion. And you will be up all night frustrated because you were better than me and still couldn't get the title." This angle rocks.
The 3 Way Dance where Idol wins the TV Title started as OVW TV Champion CM Punk vs Brent Albright vs Ken Doane in a rematch from their 3 Way Dance a month ago. About 12 minutes into the match, Doane took a clothesline over the top rope and then crashed into the OVW Announcers Table and got knocked out. Keep in mind, the announcers were in the Party Zone. As Doane was taken to the back by Sosay and Dean Visk (who hasn't been on TV for 2 months) Idol's music hits and he comes out with Beth Phoenix and Shelly, who are dressed in very sexy outfits. Idol wants to replace Doane, and both Punk and Albright accept. The match is restarted. About 10 more minutes into the match, Albright catches Punk in the Crowbar arm lock submission and Punk taps out. The TV Champion has been eliminated. Idol and Albright battle for the title in a really good fight. These two had a feud during Jim Cornette's last days as booker and have good chemistry. Beth and Shelly get involved, which distracts the referee, which allows Punk to come back out and hit a vicious shoot kick on Albright, who had Idol locked in the Crowbar and Idol was! tapping (but the referee didn't see it because of Beth and Shelly's distraction). Stevens covered Albright and won the title. This was an excellent match, and the Punk vs Albright feud continues to dominate OVW in a really good way.
The show had probably the funniest bit I've seen in wrestling in a while when Maria was in the ring but was interrupted by Heyman's favorite new project Osama Rodrigues Alejandro, who does a great promo. For those newer OVW fans, Osama was an Arab themed jobber who was phased out when Heyman took over, but was brought back as part of the doomed Spanish Announce Team, revealing his Cuban heritage and feuding with The Boogeyman. He is a superstar material and is really entertaining. So Osama complains about Maria getting so much airtime, because, as Osama says, he's the "Havana Heavyweight Champion." He hilariously gives a shoutout to all the hispanics in the house tonight. He then introduces Senorita! Roberta Dawber, and out comes Robbie Dawber dressed like a Spanish Stripper. This was the funniest thing I've seen in a long long time. Dawber hops the guardrail and gives lap dances to Dean and Al, who are trying to look disturbed but everyone is laughing out loud. Finally, Senorita Roberta gets in the ring and starts dancing around Maria. The Spanish dance music dies down, and Dawber says, "Hi, I'm Robbie Dawber," and of course Maria slaps him across the face. A brief catfight ensues, in which one of Dawber's false boobs explodes, and Maria is left in the ring to dance provocatively to the spanish music. This is a must see segment.
Elijah Burke teamed with OVW Tag Team Champions Seth Skyfire and Chet The Jet Jablonski and defeated The Dikks and Paul Birchall. Seth skyfire pinned Chad Dikk. Very good match with lots of good action with everyone looking really good.
www.ovwrestling.com now has the entire 2005 season on DVD's. Lots of interesting wrestling available. January-June is the last of the Jim Cornette era. Then July has the last 2 weeks of the Cornette era and the start of the Heyman era. August saw Heyman put the belt on Johnny Jeter and all the crazy Jeter angles, like Dean Hill flipping out and cursing and walking off the show because of Jeter's heel reaction to Cappotelli's broken leg. And from there, it's just weekly wrestling television that is more like dramatic tv than typical wrestling television. What happens next is very interesting because they have to address the Cappotelli health situation, and with Aaron "The Idol" Stevens as TV Champion, it leaves him to be hunted by CM Punk, Brent Albright, Ken Doane, and more. And what next craziness will Robbie Dawber be forced into by Heyman's newest favorite project, Osama Rodrigues Alejandro?
