Wrestle Birmingham gave their fans a preview of next Sunday’s TNA PPV match up between Samoa Jones and A. J. Styles at their show last night in Irondale, Alabama, drawing a crowd of over 700 to the Zamora Temple.

It was two shows, really, with legends all over the undercard and the TNA talent on top. It made for a very slow first half and the natives got restless. This was not the usual forgiving crowd at Zamora, as a healthy percentage of these fans clearly came to see Joe/Styles.

The good news was that the TNA matches delivered well enough to send the fans home happy.

(1) Mike Jackson beat Wrestler (Ted Allen) to become the first NWA Wrestle Birmingham Junior Champion in 11:42. This was a decent opening match. I think they would have been better off doing about 8 minutes. Jackson made it clear that he wasn’t going to let Wrestler take advantage of him. They wrestled Jackson got his pop for his ropes walking spot. Wrestlers hit a back suplex and took over on Jackson’s arm. It heated up with back and forth action until Jackson caught Wrestler with an Oklahoma roll.

Wrestler challenged Jackson to a rematch at the show scheduled for the following evening in Jasper. This was straight out of the old school textbook. Wrestler said it would be snowing in San Juan before Jackson beat him again. He called Jackson chicken manure. Jackson said he would put the belt on the line if Wrestler put up his mask. Wrestler said it was on, because he wasn’t the kind of guy that made errors twice in a row. Jackson let’s do it now. Wrestler backed off.

(2) Adrian Street (with Miss Linda) pinned Chick Donovan with La Magistral cradle at 10:18. Terrible match. I pitied Street. He’s in marvelous shape for his age and can still go, but there was no way to get a good match out of the utterly immobile Chickster. The kindest thing to say about Donovan is that he looked way rusty. At least he was booked as the heel. There were times when this match was literally moving in slow motion Street paused to remove his wig and invited Donovan to do the same. Donovan’s big hair is amazing. Donovan was useless on the mat. In what Trent Van Drisse described as a marionette spot, Street wrapped Donovan up by his Ultimate Warrior tassles. Donovan came back with a decrepit looking spinning toe hold and busted out Junkyard Dog’s Diamond Headbutt. Donovan applied the figure four. Street reversed it, forcing Donovan to go for the ropes. At this point, Street decided to end the misery.

(3) Scott Armstrong pinned Butcher (Bobby Hayes) in 7:41. Hayes has done several flavors of insane characters during his career. Lately, it’s been an Arab butcher gimmick, and he’s got the forehead to prove it. I liked Hayes freaky hairstyle: shaved head except for a triangle of hair on each side. The referee was Johnny Boone, and I’m going to plug him again. He’s like instant credibility because he treats every match like a serious athletic contest. Hayes controlled the action with the dreaded Oriental nerve hold. Scott made the comeback and had Hayes reeling. Scott appeared to hurt his knee on an up and over move. Hayes tried to zero in on the injury, but Scott caught him with an inside cradle for the three count. Armstrong rolled to the floor and pointed at his brain.

Scott told announcer Michael St. John that wrestling was also a mental game and he just came on top. St. John asked Scott about his knee. Scott said it was so sound that he had been medically cleared to wrestle just 5 months after surgery for a torn ACL. “It’s good to be back in Birmingham, baby.”

(4) The Bullet versus “Mr. Motivation” Jimmy Powell was called a double DQ (7:25). No disrespect intended, but Bullet needs to update his gear. Powell told the people he loved them, even the ones up in the cheap seats. Bullet chopped Powell. Powell heeled on Bullet. Their facial expressions were the only saving grace. Powell is great as the cowardly but conniving heel and Bullet can sure do agony. Powell had Bullet looking pretty wobbly, or were those 40 years in the ring finally catching up with him? The finish was botched. Powell brought his briefcase into the ring and pulled a chain out of it. It was probably supposed to be a deal where they both used gimmicks at the same time. Instead, Bullet bopped Powell with the briefcase in full view of referee Roy George. George saw the chain lying on the mat and called it a double DQ. Bullet told the crowd to wave goodbye to “Mr. Constipation.”

(5) Jimmy Golden beat McNasty via DQ (8-9 minutes) Golden was the mystery opponent doing his “Bunkhouse Buck” character. No explanation for why or how he returned as a babyface after leaving due to a Loser Leaves Town stip. McNasty worked on Golden’s knee. Golden was slapping the mat to sell the pain, which has a taken on a new meaning since Golden’s heyday. It got better once McNasty started to brawl. He choked Golden with his suspenders. Golden landed a haymaker. McNasty resorted to a low blow. Golden started to whip McNasty with his belt. Ref Roy George confiscated it. Golden got a near fall with the high boot to the face (and he can still get it up there). Young, Skipper and Powell hit the ring for a beatdown on Golden, until BG and Scot ran out to save dad.

Bullet said he had no love for Golden, but he can’t stand to see anyone getting beaten on four against one. Golden told Bullet he appreciated the help and suggested that they form a tag team to go after “the geeks.” Bullet said anytime he got involved with the Fullers it had lead to trouble. Golden wanted to make a match against Powell and McNasty. Bullet told Golden he would get back to him. Golden begged Bullet to give him a chance.

(6) B.G. “Roaddog Jesse” James beat Dennis Condrey to retain the Alabama Heavyweight Title in 10:02. James said Condrey cost him the NWA World Title the last time, so he was going to cost Condrey his ass. James went to a southern style variation of the ground and pound. Condrey came out on the losing end of a knuckle lock. Condrey cheated. While James was suffering, Condrey got heat with some hilarious muscle poses. Condrey used a karate thrust to the throat. James gagged at ringside. Condrey came off apron with an elbow and sent James into the rail. Condrey signaled that the belt would be his. Condrey initiated a ref bump with James. A masked man interfered. The regulars knew it was “Loverboy” Lee Thomas, who had lost a Loverboy Leaves match with Condrey a few months back. Thomas was supposed to trip up Condrey but his timing was off, and Condrey had to feed him the leg. James scored the pin. Oh well, the postmatch was best part anyway.

As Thomas departed down the aisle, Condrey nailed him in the back with a high knee and kicked it into high gear. Condrey beat the living hell out of Thomas. It was all over the building, and it was all Condrey. The dude was relentless. He started slinging the refs around. Boone took some big bumps. The crowd wasn’t reacting much at the start, but Condrey’s intensity got them into bigtime before it was over.

Condrey followed up with a great promo. He threatened to turn Thomas into one of Jerry’s kids. Condrey said he was fed up with Thomas’ interference and would not come back to Birmingham unless he got a match against the imposter lover boy.

“Mr. Number One” Sonny Siaki serenaded the fans with an insulting version “You Are My Sunshine.” Funny stuff. WWE sure needs guys that can work the stick the way Siaki can. Saiki said the sad thing was that he was not wrestling (Siaki sustained a foot or ankle injury during his match the previous evening at Deep South). Siaki introduced David Young as his replacement.

(7) Diamonds in the Rough (Elix Skipper & David Young) beat The Naturals (Chase Stevens & Andy Douglas) to retain the NWA Wrestle Birmingham tag titles in 13:05. Strong display of athleticism and hot moves in this match. No explanation for Robert Fuller being absent from ringside with his cherished tag team champions. Naturals got to shine with some well-executed double teams in the early going. Young did a great sell taking a facebuster to the knee. Stevens hit a twisting flying bodypress and Douglas hit a top rope huracanrana. Skipper had to save both times. Young hit his patented spinebuster on Douglas to turn the tide. The heels ran ref Roy George in circles with their chicanery. Douglas came back with a high crossbody, but Skipper slithered out with the Matrix move and hit a spinning heel kick. That got a pop. With Douglas draped over the top rope, Skipper hit a guillotine legdrop to the back of his neck. Young got way up on a dropkick. Young went up for the moonsault that never seems to find the mark. It didn’t. Douglas hot-tagged Stevens for the house cleaning. Stevens his a cool scissors kick for a near fall, but the finishing sequence was missing something. Young interfered to block the Natural Disaster. Skipper pinned Stevens with a reverse rolling cradle and a handful of tights.

Commentator Dan Masters announced a return date of 4/7 with Bullet & Buck vs. Powell & McNasty, Condrey vs. Thomas and appearances by Young and Skipper.

(8) Samoa Joe submitted A. J. Styles with the Kokina Clutch to retain the NWA X Division Title in 14:15. A nice tune-up match for the PPV. They certainly didn’t pull out all the stops, but there were some blistering hot sequences. I doubt many fans went away feeling shortchanged. Joe showed no obvious ill effects from the staph infection. The pop for Joe’s entrance was a clear indication that this was not the typical Wrestle Birmingham crowd. The When this match was announced at the December show, the crowd popped for Styles. Joe got zero pop. Nada. Tonight, it was split even or maybe 60/40 in Joe’s favor. Styles asked Joe if he had the “coconuts” to put the belt up. Joe said it was Styles’ funeral. A “TNA” chant broke out. Joe put Styles on the deck with all kinds of strikes. Joe’s fans were the instigators in a duel of chants. Styles nailed the leapfrog-dropkick sequence, sold most awesomely by Joe. Styles came perilously close to landing on his head when he overshot a pescado, but exploded to his feet to show the crowd he was fine. Joe blocked a suplex. Styles softened up Joe’s neck and hit the move. Out of the blue, Joe caught a charging Styles with a nodowa. Joe got sustained offense, including a climbing knee to the chin and high angle back suplex. Joe’s cold-blooded attitude drew heat. In between the big moves, Joe used his weight to wear Styles down on the ground. The crowd got vocal for Styles. Styles pounded Joe in the face. Joe ripped at his eyes to cut him off. At 9:30, Style launched a comeback with the Pele kick. Styles got the best of a stiff exchange. Styles hit a spectacular springboard elbow right on the button. Styles did the moonsault reverse DDT for a near fall. Joe blocked the Clash and reversed the momentum with a high kick and a senton back splash for a near fall. Joe hit a powerslam for a near fall. Ref Mike Pedey’s hand made contact with the mat for an apparent three count. Unfortunate confusion ensued. Styles escaped from the Musclebuster. They went back and forth with wicked strikes. The crowd chanted, “This is awesome.” Styles came out on top again. Styles went up for a 450, Joe rolled out of the way and Styles rolled through. Styles put on the brakes up to avoid a collision with the ref. Joe kicked Styles in the groin (from behind no less) and snuffed him out with the choke hold.

NOTES: The next Wrestle Birmingham show at Zamora Temple is set for 4/7 with Wrestle Birmingham moved their TV to the WB affiliate in Birmingham airing at 12:30am on Saturday nights…This was Siaki’s last night in, as he’s now under contract to WWE and assigned to Deep South Wrestling…Humongous (the Gary Nations version), Lash Leroux and Adrian Street are also on the card tonight in Jasper.
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