Big Time Wrestling 2/10/2017

Written by: Bob Colling

Big Time Wrestling
Date: 2/10/2017
From: Raleigh, NC

The opening video highlights that it’s going to be DX vs. NWO when Billy Gunn takes on Buff Bagwell. BTW Heavyweight Champion Flex Armstrong has changed his attitude in order to keep his championship. Plus, Matt Hardy battles Ricky Morton in a continuation from their interaction at Impact Wrestling. They will be battling it out in a Final Deletion match.

Teddy Long opens the show as the special guest General Manager for the night. He does his usual routine to get the crowd riled up. Long recalls his days in the arena earlier in his career as a referee. Long introduces Sting to the ring and out comes Sting to a good reaction. Sting puts over Teddy as a great referee and goes over his history in the arena, too. He does a good job to amp up the crowd before leaving to the backstage area. As he is leaving he gets a good laugh at a guy wearing a Shockmaster helmet.

George South gets on the microphone and runs down the crowd and Tony Atlas even when Atlas came down to the ring.

Opening Contest: George South vs. Tony Atlas: South comes off the ropes and runs into a shoulder block from Atlas. South works over Atlas in the corner with right hands. South thinks he has the match won after a few strikes. Atlas rams South head first onto all four top turnbuckles for a two count. South works over Atlas with more strikes in the corner and an eye rake. South goes for a claw hold but Atlas blocks it and fights back with a head butt and an elbow drop for a two count. South recovers and keeps Atlas in the corner by hooking Tony’s right arm over the top rope. George has a sleeper hold on Atlas but isn’t going to get a submission or make Tony pass out. Atlas gets up and knocks South down with strikes. Atlas puts a sleeper hold on South. Atlas manages to put South away for the win. (DUD. It’s rare for a sleeper hold to actually win a match. The match was extremely basic and they didn’t do anything that was exciting. Luckily for them, the live crowd appears to be pumped for a wrestling show.)

Second Contest: Danny Miles vs. Mr. TA: Before the bell, TA goes on the attack hitting Miles from behind with several strikes. TA delivers several chops and strikes in the corner. TA kicks Miles and drives him face first into the canvas. Miles dropkicks TA to the floor and takes TA out with a suicide dive to the floor! Miles works over TA with an uppercut but TA pie faces him and hit Miles with a fans drink it looked like. TA goes for a right hand but Miles ducks it and rams TA face first into the ring post. Miles rolls TA into the ring and goes to the top rope. Miles gets stopped by TA with a power slam which gives TA a two count. TA drops Miles with a clothesline and a dropkick to Miles, who was laying on the canvas. Miles is hung upside down in the corner and TA charges to deliver a running dropkick. TA casually delivers a knee drop for a two count. TA misses a second knee drop attempt and Miles pulls himself up in the corner. Miles elbows TA and kicks TA away. Miles chops TA followed by a dropkick. Miles kicks TA on the head but doesn’t get a three count on the cover. Miles decides to go to the top rope and hits a diving head butt only getting another near fall. TA clotheslines Miles from behind and covers Miles with one boot for a two count. TA puts Miles on the top turnbuckle but gets knocked off with a head butt. Miles comes off the top with a cross body and wins the match. (*1/2. Mr. TA is a really awkward wrestler. His moves aren’t crisp and I noticed he delivers a weird looking dropkick. On the other hand, Miles was fun and seemed full of energy. I think Miles would be good against a better opponent.)

Third Contest: CW Anderson & Johnny Swinger vs. Facade & Teddy Goodz: Anderson and Goodz kick off the tag match with Anderson controlling Goodz with a waist lock. Goodz gets out of that and has a hammerlock on CW before being taken down to the canvas. Goodz rolls out and taunts CW with a karate pose. CW works over Goodz in the corner with several strikes to regain control of the match. Goodz avoids CW in the corner and puts a headlock on briefly before switching to a shoulder block. Facade and Swinger tag into the match with Facade dropping Swinger with a right hand. Facade tricks Swinger and delivers another right hand to drop Johnny. Swinger stops Facade with a right hand and tags in Anderson to keep control of the match. Goodz tags in as Facade got to the corner and Anderson is knocked down with a double back elbow. Swinger and Anderson are on the floor as Goodz and Facade were going to dive but Swinger grabs their female manager to protect them. Swinger gets rolled into the ring and Goodz hammers away on him. Facade is working over Anderson in the opposite corner. Anderson nails Goods with a right hand and maintains control in his corner. Goodz tries to fight out of his corner but is sent into Swinger’s boot and Anderson hits an arm bar takedown.

Swinger tags back in and works over Goodz with a snap mare before tagging back out to Anderson. Goodz counters a backdrop but CW goes for a cross arm breaker nearly getting a submission. CW and Swinger are making quick tags while keeping control of Goodz on the canvas. Ted rams Swinger into the corner and kicks Johnny away before hitting a rolling ace crusher out of the corner! Facade gets the tag and atomic drops Anderson a couple of times. Facade and Goodz work over the heels in opposite corners. Goodz elbows Swinger several times while Facade punches CW. Swinger and CW are sent into each other and are taken out by Goodz with a suicide dive to the floor. Facade hits a double springboard 450 dive, which saw him just barely clear the top rope. Facade goes for a head scissors out of the corner and switches to a tornado DDT for a near fall on Anderson. Goodz knee lifts Swinger and gets a left hand from CW. Facade springboard kicks Anderson and all four men are wiped out. Goodz runs into an elbow from CW but uppercuts CW. Goodz hits a backpack stunner off the middle rope. Facade hit a springboard bulldog but Swinger breaks up the cover. Swinger boots Goodz but gets stopped on the middle rope. Swinger gets out of a backpack stunner and catapults Teddy into a super kick from CW. Facade super kicks CW again and walks the ropes before hitting a kick to the face. Swinger gets dumped to the apron and Facade goes to the top again only to be crotched. CW plants Facade with the spine buster and gets the three count. (**1/2. Swinger seemed like he was just there for the ride, for the most part. Anderson, Goodz and Facade worked pretty well here. I find Goodz to be a great baby face and his entrance is easy to find yourself singing and clapping to it.)

Fourth Contest: The Great Khali vs. Jake Manning: Considering Khali is wearing dress clothing, this isn’t going to be long. I’ll guess Manning runs towards him and gets chopped and pinned. Manning gets a chair and uses that for a test of strength with Khali. Instead, Khali chops Manning and wins the match.

Fifth Contest: BTW Heavyweight Champion Flex Armstrong vs. Carlito: Armstrong attacks before the bell hammering away on Carlito followed by a clothesline. Flex drives Carlito into the corner back first and shows off his body before missing a right hand in the corner. Carlito rams Flex face first into the turnbuckles before delivering a chop to drop the champ. Flex stops Carlito with a boot but is stopped by a dropkick. Carlito dangles Flex for a few moments with a delayed vertical suplex before dropping Flex to the canvas. Carlito misses a splash in the corner and hits the middle turnbuckle groin first. Flex tries for a cover but only manages a two count. Flex chokes Carlito on the canvas and argues with the referee. Armstrong snap mares Carlito to the canvas and keeps his knee across his throat. Flex takes Carlito over with a snap suplex. Flex takes some water in the corner and runs over Carlito with a shoulder block and spits some water out. Flex whips Carlito down to the canvas by his hair for a two count. Flex comes off the ropes to hit a bulldog. Flex goes to the top but misses a big splash. They trade a couple of strikes until Carlito hit a running knee lift and clothesline for a two count. Carlito connects with a swinging neck breaker for another near fall. Flex avoids the Backstabber and hits the spear but Carlito kicks out at two! Flex attempts and gets Carlito in the Torture Rack, but there is a referee bump. Flex drops Carlito and checks on the referee. Carlito goes to the corner and bites his apple. Flex has the championship and wants to hit Carlito with it. Carlito spits the apple into Flex’s face and hit the Backstabber. The referee is alive and Carlito pins Flex to win the BTW Heavyweight Championship. (*1/2. This apparently ended a two year title reign for Flex, who has held the title for almost three years. There wasn’t anything overly impressive here and the shock title switch is fine by me. I didn’t see anything from Flex that impressed me.)

Sixth Contest: Ricky Morton vs. Matt Hardy in a Final Deletion Match: I’m surprised this isn’t the main event. Hardy is deleting Morton who responds with a middle finger and a hip thrust. Morton sends Hardy to the floor to quickly start the match. Hardy sends Morton into the apron and uses a chair ramming Morton in the midsection. Hardy rolls Morton back into the ring and has a chair with him. Hardy rams Morton face first into the chair but Morton comes back by tripping Hardy into the chair face first. Morton jabs Hardy in the midsection with the steel chair. Hardy dumps Morton to the floor where they brawl for a few moments. They are brawling towards the backstage area and head towards the empty section of the arena. Morton jabs Hardy several times but Hardy rams Morton into the merchandise tables. Morton slams Hardy’s face into a vendor table. There are actually a few people in the bleachers in what have to be really cheap seats. Hardy chokes Morton with a t-shirt. Morton comes through the curtain to hit Hardy with a trash can a few times. Morton runs into a back elbow in the corner and rams Morton face first into the corner. Hardy elbows Morton to his knees and comes off the middle rope with an elbow strike. Hardy is selling his right knee being jammed on the move and Morton quickly goes to work on the injured knee. Morton locks in the figure four right in the middle of the ring. Hardy is able to reach the bottom rope to break the hold. Morton nails Hardy with a running knee lift but Hardy quickly comes back with a Twist of Fate and that wins the match. (**. I’m not entirely sure what I expected this to be. It was mildly entertaining mostly because they brawled throughout the match and didn’t try a real wrestling match of any kind. The pace allowed the match to go by rather quickly and for that I can’t complain.)

Main Event: Buff Bagwell vs. Billy Gunn: Bagwell attacks Gunn while he is talking on the microphone. Bagwell hammers away on Billy until Gunn stops him with an atomic drop. Bagwell hits the turnbuckle and is met with a clothesline. Billy hammers away on Bagwell on the apron and rams Buff face first into the guard railing. Billy sends Bagwell face first into a fans foot in the front row. Gunn drops Bagwell gut first onto the railing and they return to the ring. Bagwell sends Gunn back first into the apron and face first into the ring post. Bagwell rolls Gunn back into the ring and chokes Billy in the corner. Bagwell tosses Gunn back first into the corner and choeks Billy for a few moments. Bagwell tosses a sandbag on Billy, who doesn’t sell it because Buff missed him. Buff eventually drops the bag over the back of Gunn. Bagwell has a nerve hold on Gunn and taunts the fans. Buff gets a near fall after dropping Gunn to the canvas. Gunn gets out of a nerve hold and they collide with double clotheslines. Gunn blocks a right hand and hammers away on Buff. Gunn flips off Bagwell and tosses him into the corner before hitting a running big boot for a two count. Bagwell avoids the Fame-Asser instead hitting a swinging neck breaker. Buff chokes Billy over the middle rope for a few moments. Buff tries for a DDT but here comes Johnny Swinger and CW Anderson to ruin the main event. Bagwell hits a DDT on Swinger and Gunn hits a Fame-Asser on Anderson. They cover the two run-ins and that’s the end of the match. (1/2*. I really dislike these kind of finishes. The video promoted the settlement between who is better DX or NWO and we get a cop out finish like that. I wonder if one of them didn’t want to job and they had to go with this finish. Bagwell doesn’t seem like he can go at a high level while Gunn is similar to Goldust in getting into better shape as he gets older.)

Final Thoughts:
This is the first BTW show I’ve watched and there isn’t much entertainment attached to it. The company feels like it is mostly a nostalgia oriented company and have a couple of local talents they use. There’s nothing here to see.

Thanks for reading.