Written by: Bob Colling
Premier Wrestling Federation presents The Last Stampede
Date: 5/5/2002
From: Pottstown, PA
It took forty-four seconds for someone in the front row to get in a wrestlers face. It seems like every PWF show I have watched there is some serious interaction between the wrestlers and fans. Of course, it’s usually ECW Hat Guy or someone close to him.
Opening Contest: Divine Storm (Quiet Storm & Chris Divine) vs. Chris Kole & Tony Kozina: Kozina and Storm start off the tag match trading some mat wrestling with neither man getting a clear advantage. Storm gets control with a modified surfboard but can’t get a submission. They go for a test of strength with Storm getting control briefly. Storm botches a hurricanrana and the fans let him know. Kozina takes Storm over with a head scissors but misses a dropkick. They have a standoff, but nobody seems to be buying into it. Kozina cheap shots Storm with a forearm to the face and works over Storm with strikes. Storm takes Kole over with a belly to belly suplex and clothesline. Divine gets tagged in and they hit an STO/dropkick combo for a two count. Divine controls Kole with a backbreaker for a two count. Divine continues with a spinning back elbow strike. Divine arm drags Kole to the floor. Divine continues to work over Kole until his manager distracts Divine and Kole decks his manager on accident. They get back in the ring where Kole continues to work over Divine. Kozina tags back in and stomps away on Divine. Kozina comes off the middle rope to elbow drop Divine followed by a chin lock. Divine gets worked over by Kole and Kozina. Kozina keeps Divine on the mat with a snap suplex.
Divine gets a near fall with a rollup on Kozina and Storm tried to get his hands on Kole on the apron. Divine tries to tag in Storm but Kole distracts the referee. Kozina scoop slams Divine and tags in Kole. Kole works over Divine with knee strikes and a kick to the back. Kozina comes off the top missing a swanton dive. Divine crawls to his corner and tags in Storm. Storm hammers away on Kole and Kozina. Storm backdrops Kole followed by a forearm strike. Storm lifts Kole up and spikes him with a brainbuster for a two count. Kozina misses an elbow in the corner and Storm hits a Gory Special for a near fall on Kozina. Kole power slams Storm. Divine drops Kole with a brainbuster. Divine and Kozina fall to the floor while Storm has Kole and hits a side suplex. Kozina misses a top rope head butt and hits Kole. Storm signals for the Storm Cradle Driver and hits Kole with it for the win. (**. They went over twelve minutes and it felt like it went longer than that. Divine Storm is a tough team to find enjoyment. Quiet Storm has a nice finisher, I will say that. I really don’t know why they don’t connect with me when viewing their matches.)
Second Contest: Biggie Biggs vs. Mike Preston: Biggs gets the early advantage on Preston with chops in the corner. Preston comes back with a couple of dropkicks to send Biggs to the floor. Preston takes Biggs out with a suicide dive on the floor. Preston sunset flips into the ring but Biggs kicks out. Biggs kicks Preston in the groin and argues with the referee. Preston chops Biggs several times and continues to hammer away on Biggs. Preston avoids a splash and takes Biggs down with a side Russian leg sweep. Preston hammers away on Biggs with right hands. Preston takes Biggs over with an overhead suplex for a near fall. Biggs tries for a suplex but Preston counters with a backbreaker for the win. (*. They seem to be keeping Preston’s matches rather short, but he isn’t awful. I certainly didn’t want to see these guys in a ten minute match or anything.)
Third Contest: Matt Striker vs. Billy Bax: They keep it rather basic early on with Striker getting near falls with rollups and Bax getting a two count as well. Striker wants to shake hands but Bax hammers away on him instead. Bax dropkicks Striker for a two count. They trade a few right hands and then botching a spot in the corner. Striker drops Bax with a big boot for a two count. Bax low blows Striker right in front of the referee. Bax puts a half Boston Crab on Striker but Striker breaks free with a kick to the head for a near fall. Bax takes Striker down to the mat and puts a modified surfboard on Striker. Striker puts his mouth on the ropes to break the hold. Bax misses a splash in the corner and Striker arm drags Bax several times. Striker plants Bax with a DDT for a two count. Striker keeps Bax on the mat with an Indian death lock. Bax dropkicks Striker on the leg and continues to strikes against the ropes. Striker counters a belly to belly suplex with an ace crusher. Striker comes off the ropes to deliver a running bulldog. Striker puts on the Happy Monkey in the middle of the ring. Bax is forced to bite the ropes as well to break the hold. Bax takes Striker over with a northern lights suplex. Striker quickly comes back with a Play of the Day managing a two count. Bax drives Striker down with a belly to belly suplex for a two count. They counter inside cradles until Bax counters a victory roll and pins Striker. (*1/2. It was more a mat wrestling oriented match and not much for excitement. I didn’t enjoy the match as much as others might.)
PWF Universal Champion Steve Corino, Jack Victory and Guillotine LeGrande make their way down to the ring. Corino threatens to knock the black off a fans teeth in the third row. Corino threatens to stab an old man with his sword. Corino is in a bad mood because he flew from Japan to Houston. He hates Houston’s airport and then came here. Corino tells fans that they are losers for spending $12 on tickets only to turn their back to him when he talks. Corino tells the old man he will chop his head off if he says one more thing. Corino says there is a 30-day rule when you’re a champion. Corino talks about winning a big match on pay per view in Japan. With his victory also came defeat. The fans are still heckling Corino and it’s a great interaction. Corino announces that his title match is cancelled. Corino talks about Victory and LeGrande and they will beat the SAT. They will then leave and party like it’s 1999. Rob Dimension comes out and says that Corino isn’t stepping out of a match. Dimension is going to let the fans see Corino get his ass kicked. Corino says he has 30-days between title defenses. Corino notes he is black and blue and in no condition to fight. Corino says Rob can put him against anyone on June 9th. Dimension says there will be a title match.
Dimension notes that Corino owns a small portion of the company. Dimension does all the promoting for the match and all the fans pay their money to see Corino wrestle. Dimension tells Corino he needs to do the right thing. Corino talks about losing money when the company started because he took the lost of money. Corino prays for God to strike a fan dead. Corino says he has a torn bicep and goes back to Japan in twelve days. Dimension tells Corino to either defend the championship or do the right thing. Corino ask the fans if they would rather him risk his career for their entertainment or strip the title. They of course they want that to happen. Corino decides to do the right thing and is going to vacate the title. Jack Victory and LeGrande want to prevent Corino from doing that. Corino knows the fans paid to see a title match and that’s what they will get. Corino vacates the title and shakes hands with LeGrande. Victory attacks Corino from behind as does LeGrande. They are pissed that Corino would give up the title. Victory uses the sword on Corino and that busts Corino wide open. Victory comes off the ropes to deliver an elbow drop. Victory tells Corino that he has thirty-days to defend and pummels him with right hand. LeGrande uses the sword on Corino and Victory says that Corino doesn’t have balls. LeGrande says that Corino doesn’t have a friend in the world. Corino is left a bloody mess and looks like this was a face turn for Corino.
Rockin’ Rebel comes out and cuts a promo saying that he never agreed to a three way match against the Rachies and thinks this is happening because he’s banging Rob Dimension’s wife. Apparently, Rebel has to pin both opponents to win while they just need to pin him. That’s not a triple threat, but rather handicap rules.
Fourth Contest: Adam Flash vs. Rockin’ Rebel vs. Danny Rose in an elimination match: Rebel fights them both off at the start. I’m fairly sure that Rebel is a heel and is being put in a spot to be a face. The fans appear to be supportive of him. Rebel gets driven down to the mat with a double flapjack but kicks out at two. Flash leaps over Rose to splash Rebel over the top rope. Rebel comes off the ropes and is met with a double spine buster. Of course, Rose and Flash can’t agree on who gets to pin Rebel. Rebel takes Hat Guy’s hat and spits on it. Rebel walks out of the arena. Hat Guy put his hat back on. He’s hardcore. Rose meets Rebel at the doorway and tosses him back into the ring. Rebel is held by Rose but low blows him and sends Flash into Rose to pin him. Rebel focuses on Rose hammering away on him and sends Rose into the ring post face first. Rebel is actually pretty funny as he continually talks to Hat Guy in the front row. Rose plants Rebel with a Death Valley Driver to win the match. (*. Thankfully this was quick. The best part of the whole match was Rebel’s interaction with the crowd.)
Fifth Contest: The Damned (Draven & Mad Dog) vs. Christian York & Joey Matthews: Matthews and Dog kick off the tag match with Matthews getting sketched out and bails to the floor. Dog punches Matthews in the corner and follows up with a shoulder block. Matthews stops Dog with a dropkick and plays to the crowd. Matthews continues to work over Dog with right hands. Dog big boots Matthews and scares York back into his corner. Matthews cheap shots Dog and tags in York. Dog fights out of the corner and drives York into his corner. York is double teamed for a few moments. York tries for an atomic drop on Dog but that doesn’t do much for him. Draven gets slapped but doesn’t sell it. Draven cleans house with right hands. York suffers a leg drop/big splash combo and Matthews is met with a spine buster from Draven. York accidentally elbow drops Matthews and is sent to the floor. York plants Dog with a reverse DDT and chokes him for a few moments. York and Matthews take Dog over with a double vertical suplex for a near fall. Dog has an inside cradle on Matthews but the referee is out of position. Dog has another backslide on Matthews but York is distracting the referee. Matthews cuts Dog off with a clothesline and York is tagged back in. Dog attempted a middle rope moonsault but didn’t make a full rotation and had to settle for an awkward looking stunner. York thinks he broke his nose. Draven gets the hot tag and cleans house with clotheslines and a side walk slam on York. Draven dropkicks Matthews in the corner. Dog botches a top rope clothesline as he slipped and missed Matthews. Draven plants Matthews with an elevated DDT but York makes the save. Draven and York brawl on the floor while Dog misses a frog splash. York gets back in the ring and along with Matthews hits a double Burning Hammer for the win. (DUD. The team of Draven and Dog are absolutely horrible. This was one of the worst examples of wrestling I can remember. I’m honestly surprised the fans didn’t shit all over this.)
Chris Hero comes out and introduces himself. He runs down his history and has had matches with guys like CM Punk and Colt Cabana. He’s going to show his opponent what being stiff is all about. Dylan Night comes out and cuts a promo saying that he doesn’t care where Hero came from. Night talks about the various stiff matches he has had with guys in PWF. Night makes a stiff penis joke in regard of his female valet.
Sixth Contest Chris Hero vs. Dylan Night in a strong style match: Hero works over Night early on with kicks to his legs. Night gets frustrated and knocks Hero down with several kicks to Hero’s legs and then head. Night takes Hero down with an arm bar but Hero reaches the ropes quickly. Night continues to hammer away on Hero with right hands and they both go over the top to the floor when Night delivers a clothesline. Night kicks Hero in the midsection as they brawl around ringside. Hero puts Night’s valet in front of him and cheap shots Night. Hero sends Night face first into the ring post. Back in the ring, Hero dropkicks a kneeling Night for a two count. Hero controls Night with a camel clutch and nails Night with a flurry of strikes for a near fall. Hero comes off the ropes with a senton splash for a near fall. Hero continues to work over Night with kicks in the corner. Night wants more and is met with a big boot. Night starts to get a second wind but Hero nails him with a forearm strike again. Hero beats on Night with more kicks and strikes. Hero gets distracted by the valet on the floor and Night delivers a super kick. Night talks to her valet about needing some help. Candy gets on the apron but Hero has a chain. Hero decks Night with a chain but Night is able to power out at two. Hero grabs the valet but is slapped. Hero brings Candy into the ring and is met with a low blow. Night spikes Hero with three piledrivers for the win. (*1/2. It certainly wasn’t a strong style match and was more of just a regular match. They kept it rather short and to the point. I didn’t think Hero was going to win on a random appearance for PWF. Night is growing on me as a performer, though he is quite green. I might like him because he reminds me of Farva from Super Troopers.)
Seventh Contest: PWF Universal Tag Team Champions Guillotine LeGrande & Jack Victory vs. The SAT: Jose and Victory start the tag title match. Victory takes Jose down to the mat and plays to the crowd after getting up. Jose takes Victory down to the mat and does the same thing that Victory had just done. Victory complains of a hair pull. Victory gets control with a headlock but is sent into the ropes and collides with LeGrande. Victory and LeGrande argue. Victory wants to do a test of strength with Jose but Jose backs away. Victory gets the test of strength and drops Jose to his knees. Joel comes in and low blows Victory while the referee was distracted. Victory controls the test of strength following a boot to the midsection and keeps Jose on the mat. Jose gets up and avoids a low blow from LeGrande with a boot and that causes LeGrande to accidentally low blow Victory with his head! Victory works over Joel in the corner with strikes but gets met with a dropkick moments later. Victory wants a timeout in the corner to regroup. Victory controls the left arm of Joel with a few elbow strikes. Victory keeps Joel on the mat and taunts the fans while spitting at Jose. LeGrande pulls Joel’s arm down across the top rope and Victory works over Joel some more. LeGrande continues to pull down on Joel’s arm over the top rope while the referee was distracted by Jose.
LeGrande pulls down on Victory’s arm unaware that it’s not Joel. SAT stand on the floor in front of LeGrande and he realizes it was Victory. It was rather obvious they were going for that spot. Victory argues with LeGrande and LeGrande assures him it was an accident. Joel dropkicks a seated LeGrande to keep control of the match. Victory gets a knee lift on Joel from the apron and LeGrande drops Joel with a clothesline. LeGrande scoop slams Joel followed by an elbow drop. LeGrande takes Joel over with a snap suplex for a two count. LeGrande continues to work over Joel with strikes and rams him head first into the corner. Victory chokes Joel in the corner while Jose tries to get in the ring. Joel nearly pins LeGrande with a cross body but LeGrande cuts him off with a clothesline. Victory tags back in and kicks Joel in the midsection. Victory dumps Joel to the floor where LeGrande gets a few shots in while the referee is distracted. Victory keeps control with an elbow drop and chokes Joel on the mat. LeGrande keeps Joel on the mat with basic offense. Victory and Jose get tagged in with Jose hitting a missile dropkick and dropkicks LeGrande. LeGrande stops Jose with a tilt a whirl slam. LeGrande holds Jose as Victory comes in but accidentally hits LeGrande with a boot. SAT put LeGrande on the top turnbuckle. LeGrande looks like he doesn’t want to take a top rope bump and fights Jose off. That leads to a simple clothesline and LeGrande is pinned. (*1/2. Talk about a match going way too long with not much actually taking place. Victory and LeGrande were entertaining as the comedy heel duo, but it’s a drastic change from the beating they gave Corino earlier in the show. I wouldn’t want to dish out money to see them feud with Corino when they aren’t presented as serious wrestlers or brawlers. I’m glad the SAT got the titles here as they’ll bring much needed work rate to the division and likely have good matches.) After the match, Christian York and Joey Matthews come out to confront the SAT. York talks about ECW and their developmental deal they had with the WWF. Now, all they hear about is the SAT on the independents. York doesn’t think they speak English. Matthews chimes in and says that SAT is falling into the same trap they did. They are falling into the trap of being the hot new thing. Matthews says that the business isn’t hitting all the highspots. They use to do that shit but they are broken down now. Matthews says the business is about money and gold. They want to fight the SAT for the tag titles at the next show in June. They are going to wrestle in a best two out of three falls match. York and Matthews leave. Matthews called the SAT “wetbacks” during the promo. I wonder if these guys ever regret these promos.
Eighth Contest: The Amazing Red vs. Big Slam: Slam tosses Red across the ring by his neck and shows off his strength by doing it again. Billy Bax holds a chair in the corner but Slam accidentally hits the chair. Red hits a missile dropkick and wins the match rather quickly. After the match, Bax is pissed that Slam messed up and is slapped. Slam proceeds to chokeslam Bax. Slam drops Bax with a clothesline. Slam delivers another chokeslam. Slam drives Bax down to the mat with another chokeslam and leaves the ring.
Ninth Contest: PWF Junior Heavyweight Champion The Amazing Red vs. Jay Briscoe: Briscoe attacks Red on the floor with right hands and stomps away on Red. Briscoe wants a title match right now and he gets one. Red is lifted into the air and dropped gut first to the match. Briscoe comes off the ropes with a swinging neckbreaker. Red dropkicks Briscoe in the corner and hits a springboard hurricanrana to send Briscoe to the floor. Red takes Briscoe out with a somersault dive over the top to the floor. Red tries for a springboard back into the ring but Briscoe connects with a superkick. Briscoe delivers a jumping elbow strike in the corner but Red kicks Jay away and hits a swinging STO off the middle rope for a two count. Red continues to work over Briscoe with strikes in the corner. Red nails Briscoe with a running forearm strike and a spinning kick to the back. Red hits a middle rope Code Red but Briscoe kicks out at two. Red kicks Briscoe against the ropes a few times. Briscoe misses a kick and Red comes off the ropes to deliver a shining wizard. Red runs into a boot and Briscoe plants Red with the Jay Driller! Jay slowly goes for the cover but Red gets his boot on the bottom rope. Red gets shoved off the middle rope trying for a tornado DDT. Jay hit a front slam for a near fall. Red shoves Briscoe off the middle rope and Red hits a shooting star press. Red follows up with a standing shooting star press for the win. (***. A good match that had constant action and they both looked good in the showing. Red was really great at this point before injuries slowed him down a bit. Briscoe was still rather new to the scene but got himself over even in defeat.)
Rob Dimension is in the ring and says that their surprise isn’t able to arrive. Thus, all tickets for the next show are $10 and kids are free under the age of 12. The next match is for the PWF Universal Championship.
Main Event: Chris Hamrick vs. CW Anderson for the vacant PWF Universal Championship: Anderson starts off with a headlock and Hamrick counters with one of his own. Hamrick shoulder blocks Anderson followed by a hip toss. Anderson misses a clothesline and Hamrick blocks a superkick. They trade arm drags and have a standoff. Anderson takes Hamrick down to the mat with a crucifix but can’t get a count. Hamrick keeps Anderson on the mat and locks in a modified surfboard. Hamrick dropkicks Anderson to the floor and goes to the apron. Hamrick kicks Anderson and hits a moonsault to the floor. They trade right hands in the ring until Hamrick delivers a running boot for a two count. Hamrick misses another kick and Anderson delivers a left hand punch for a near fall. Anderson focuses his offense on the left arm of Hamrick after an arm breaker. Anderson sends Hamrick to the floor and grabs a steel chair. Anderson slides the chair into the ring and rams Hamrick shoulder first into the ring post. Anderson smashes the chair into Hamrick’s left shoulder. Anderson goes for a cover but Hamrick kicks out at two. Anderson works over Hamrick with a chop but is met with a low blow in the corner. Hamrick goes to the top rope but Anderson stops him. Anderson hits a delayed superplex for a near fall. Hamrick plants Anderson with a DDT and this a top rope leg drop for a near fall.
Anderson tosses Hamrick with an exploder suplex for a near fall. Anderson goes for a back suplex but Hamrick counters and hits a vertical suplex turned stunner for a near fall. Hamrick runs into a super kick and Anderson gets a near fall. Hamrick nails Anderson with a superkick for a near fall. Anderson catches Hamrick coming off the middle rope and hits a spine buster for the three count! (**1/2. They actually did quite a bit for a rather quick main event. There was a good pace and I enjoyed what they did. I wouldn’t be opposed to seeing them wrestle a longer match. These two are completely underrated and are capable of some good matches.) After the match, Hamrick hands the title to Anderson and they shake hands to show respect. Jack Victory and LeGrande come out and attack Anderson. Steve Corino comes out with a bandage on his forehead to clean house sending the heels to the floor. Chris Hamrick and Dylan Night come out and attack Victory and LeGrande on the floor. Night and Hamrick get in the ring with Corino and Anderson to show unity. Corino and Anderson end up brawling with Night and Hamrick. Corino and Anderson knock them to the floor to stand tall with the new champion.
Corino says he never liked Dylan Night and he kept Jack Victory’s career going. Corino talks about the Japanese magazines putting over the PWF fans. Corino even says he hates being a babyface. Corino knows that fans are tired of three way matches. He proceeds to announce a three way steel cage match for the next show on June 9th. The show will be known as Lockdown In Pottstown. Corino says the Extreme Horsemen will stand tall.
Final Thoughts:
The in-ring action was rather lackluster until the final two matches. Corino going good guy is a little bizarre to me since he’s so much better as a heel and gets great heat. I suppose he’s doing the Jerry Lawler in Memphis route and will likely switch roles often. The segment that featured his face turn was nicely done, but the match involving LeGrande and Victory looking as a comedy heel team would likely hurt the drawing ability of future matches. The overall show isn’t strong, but the angle with Corino and his former friends has my interest a little bit. I’m looking forward to future PWF shows and the cage match could be fun.
Thanks for reading.