NWA Wildside TV 9/11/1999

NWA Wildside TV
Date: 9/11/1999
From: Cornelia, GA

Bart Sawyer cuts a promo celebrating being on the CW 36, which is the channel that Wildside is airing on. Sawyer says life is good and takes a drink of champagne.

Chance Williams and Mark Davis are in the ring to welcome everyone to the program. Davis proclaims that they are going to take over ratings. Davis notes they have “Chosen One” Rick Michaels and AJ Styles competing on the program.

Opening Contest: NWA Georgia Heavyweight Champion “Smart” Bart Sawyer vs. Colt Rivers: Sawyer wants to shake hands, but Rivers isn’t interested. Sawyer backs Rivers into a corner, but cleanly backs off. Rivers keeps wrist control in the early moments of the match. Sawyer shoulder blocks Rivers, but Rivers tries for a backslide. Sawyer counters with an inside cradle for a two count. Sawyer keeps control for a moment, but Rivers knee lifts Sawyer followed by strikes in the corner. Rivers misses a splash in the corner and Sawyer arm drags Rivers to the floor. Rivers decks Sawyer from behind with a clothesline as Sawyer was distracted. Rivers chokes Sawyer over the top rope and drops Sawyer over the top by dropping to the floor. Rivers drops Sawyer with a right hand. Rivers comes off the ropes with an elbow drop for a two count. Sawyer fights back with a strike and sends Rivers into the corner, but misses a splash. Rivers decks Sawyer with a right hand. Rivers springboards off the ropes and decks Sawyer with another right hand. Sawyer avoids a slam and rolls Rivers up for the win. (*1/2. It’s a fairly basic match, but I do have to say that Sawyer has great charisma to keep people interested in his wrestling. This ‘Life is Good’ gimmick works for me.)

Footage from June 19th is shown where Rick Michaels whacked AJ Styles over the back with a steel chair and delivered a DDT. Michaels trained Styles and now turned on him. Michaels got on the microphone and calls Styles a piece of crap for getting a phone call, but didn’t contact him. Rick’s wife came down to the ringside area, but Rick tells her to go away. Rick tells Styles that nobody steals his spotlight. Michaels takes credit for everyone in attendance. Michaels tells Styles to take his contract and shove it.

Second Contest: Ruckus vs. Johnny Wild in the Wildside Tournament: Ruckus appears to be quite over with the Wildside crowd. Ruckus plays a ghetto character. Wild tries for the early offense, but Ruckus hits a full nelson slam and a clothesline. Ruckus whacks Wild over the back with a chair shot on the floor. Ruckus sends Wild over the railing into the crowd. Ruckus hits a snap suplex on the floor. Ruckus leaps off apron to deliver a headbutt on the floor. Ruckus sends Wild into the railing face first to continue the onslaught of offense. Wild fights back with a few strikes and a clothesline. Wild takes Ruckus out with a springboard moonsault to the floor. Ruckus stops Wild on the top rope and hits a belly to belly suplex for the win. (**. I like Ruckus. No, it’s not the same Ruckus of CZW fame.)

Chance Williams is with attorney Jeff G. Bailey. Bailey says he was sickened by the racism he’s seen in the company. This segment took place on August 7th. Bailey calls Rukkus a Uncle Tom. Bailey is a white man, by the way. Bailey brings out the two guys he got out of prison. One of the men is Ron Killings. Bailey says they are fine men whose only crime was being a black man in a racist country. Bailey puts over black men as being superior to white men in every category. Bailey threatens to serve the company with a civil suit and demands the racism ends. Bailey talks about the black man never being in the main event and blames people like Chance Williams for holding the black men down. This is going to a civil rights revolution. They will overcome by any means necessary.

Backstage, Ruckus is doing pushups and says that everyday is a workout. He’s ready to compete. Ruckus is ready to bring pain to K-Krush, Stone Mountain and Jeff G. Bailey.

Outside, a guy named StarDust is cleaning out a porta potty and says he’s going to cleanup Wildside. He’s absolutely trying to impersonate Dusty Rhodes.

Third Contest: NCW Tag Team Champions The Boogalou Crew (JC Dazz & Scott Wrenn) vs. Pretty Wonderful (Handsome & Al Horn): Dazz and Handsome kickoff the match with Dazz getting wrist control. Handsome knee lifts free and ducks an elbow and clothesline. Dazz drops Handsome with a strike and a clothesline over the top to the floor. Al gets involved and is knocked to the floor, too. Wrenn shoulder blocks Al and hits a hip toss. Wrenn arm drags Al followed by a clothesline and a leg drop for a two count. Wrenn big boots Al coming off the ropes and tags in Dazz. Al is sent into the ropes and is met with a big double backdrop. Handsome knee lifts Dazz from the apron and Al delivers a clothesline. Handsome leg drops Dazz after a drop toe hold. Handsome continues with an elbow strike. Dazz is lifted into the air and driven down to the mat. Dazz is sent through the ropes to the floor. Handsome shoulder rams Dazz in the corner and hits a middle rope neck snap. Handsome leaps off the top to low blow Dazz. Dazz nails Handsome with a clothesline, but Handsome recovers quickly. Al tags back into the match and Dazz is met with a double back elbow. Al continues with a slam and a leg drop for a two count on Dazz. Dazz tags in Wrenn, but the referee didn’t see it due to Handsome causing a distraction. Wrenn gets tagged a second time, but again the referee didn’t see it. Dazz is stopped with a low blow in the corner. Al delivers a sit out slam and Handsome almost wins after a springboard moonsault. Wrenn decks Al with a clothesline and Handsome is driven down with the Boogalou Bounce (double team powerbomb) for the win. (**1/2. I enjoyed this one and feel like both teams are pretty solid. The tag champs are majorly over with the crowd. Pretty Wonderful worked their heel role very well, as well.)

Al Gaetz is interviewed with the tag champs. Al says they won’t stop until they get to the top. They want the NWA North American Tag Team Championships. Al gets whatever he wants.

Fourth Contest: NCW Television Champion AJ Styles vs. Inazuma: Inazuma attacks Styles from behind hitting Styles several times over the back with his flag. Rick Michaels is on commentary for the match saying he can take Styles out of the business. Styles counters a powerbomb with a face buster. Styles hits a modified Fame-Asser for a two count. Inazuma nails Styles with a superkick to regain control of the match. Inazuma throat thrusts Styles. Inazuma connects with a heel kick and taunts the crowd. Inazuma tosses Styles overhead with a suplex. Inazuma delivers a standing side kick to maintain control of the contest. Michaels denies that he’s jealous of Styles. Inazuma drives Styles down to the mat with a front suplex. Styles hits a springboard crossbody for a near fall. Inazuma is knocked off the ropes by Styles. Styles hits a nice spinning stunner off the top and wins the match. (**1/2. That was a good match for the amount of time they got.) After the match, Rick Michaels left commentary saying he has business to take care of.

Rick Michaels tells Styles that he’s a green piece of garbage. Michaels claims that Styles turned on him and so did the fans. Michaels believes it took Styles and Rick’s own wife to beat him. Michaels wants a title match tonight so he can win it and bring it home for his wife to polish it as she should. It looks like Styles has accepted.

Main Event: NCW Television Champion AJ Styles vs. Rick Michaels: Styles hip tosses and arm drags Michaels followed by a backdrop in the opening moment of the match. Michaels asks for a timeout in the corner. Michaels wants to shake hands, but Styles isn’t interested. Michaels drops to his knees, but is kicked by Styles. Styles continues with a clothesline for a two count and Michaels bails to the floor to regroup. Styles dives over the top onto Michaels and John Cheetum, Michaels manager. Styles hammers away on Michaels and sends Michaels into the corner to deliver a clothesline. Styles nails Michaels with a strike to the mat for a near fall. Michaels stops Styles with a low blow and hits a back suplex. Michaels runs the ropes and delivers the People’s Forearm (knockoff of Rock’s elbow). Michaels taunts the fans on the middle rope and nails Styles with a forearm strike. Michaels chokes Styles on the mat. Michaels tosses Styles to the floor where Styles is met with a few cheap shots. Michaels climbs the ropes and misses a leg drop attempt. Styles hits a standing moonsault for a two count. Styles slams Michaels and hits a springboard moonsault for a near fall. Michaels dumps Styles through the ropes to the floor. Styles continues to be met with cheap shots. Michaels backdrops Styles on the floor as the show goes off the air… (NR. The ending is so abrupt that the commentary didn’t do a quick sign off. It’s a risky thing to do on the first episode to leave the audience essentially in the middle of the match. The action was going pretty well, but I can’t give it a rating when it’s non-finished match.)

Final Thoughts:
For a debut episode, I enjoyed this quite a bit. Ruckus came across as a potential star. Jeff G. Bailey seems to be Wildside’s primary heel manager and I’m expecting to see him quite a bit. Obviously AJ Styles is fantastic even six months into the business. I thought this was a well done first episode.

Thanks for reading.