OVW! Let the madness begin

So I just got OVW TV in the mail, a TON of it, from Mid 1999 (when they became the main developmental group), to 2007, with only 2002 left out. So here I got, I'm thinking....why not BLOG IT ALL. It's at least a project to keep me interested in doing this blog.

So we begin in July 1999.

OVW TV: July 1999, Disc 1

-Dean Hill opens the show by introducing Jim Cornette as the new OVW matchmaker. Cornette explains his role, declares OVW an offical WWF developmental territory. He then hypes up new, exciting, wrestlers coming to OVW, and acutal WWF Superstars coming to work in Louisville! This includes, DROZ vs AL SNOW, later this month.

Cornette then turns his attention to Kenny Bolan, then a color commentator. He explains their relationship, and an angle for last November where Bolan had Cornette beaten up. He then fires Kenny and has him taken out of the Davis Arena. Something tells me he'll be back.

Awesome segment, simple, right to the point, and was the perfect jumping on point.

-So we have Dean Hill and Cornette on commentary, and they get right into the feud between the Damaja and Rob Conway. Footage from a recent house show match between the two. Hill calls Rob's fists "Iron Fists" and his elbows "Iron Elbows". They fight over using a chain, and eventually both shove the ref down and its a double DQ. Then RIP RODGERS comes out to help Conway beat down the Damaja. Nick Dinsmore comes out to even it up, but Damaja isn't too appricative.

-We come back to the Arena, and Rob Conway cuts a promo. This is the first non-"Con Man" and non-"La Resistance" interview i've heard him come. He's done teaming with Rip, and makes it clear he wants Damaja's title belt. Dinesmore interrupts, and tells Conway to "Zip It", and "Get to stepping". Dinsmore is street! He explains how he was the last OVW Champion, and he wants it back. Damaja comes out and tells both to piss off. This is like a RAW segment on speed, which means it's going at the speed it should. Cornette comes out and says they're gonna have a Triple Threat match on July 20th! That was five minutes, too the point, and hyped up their big card.

-Add for the July 20th match and Louisville Garden. And by add, I mean blurry footage with Cornette's voice over. These sorts of things are always fun to watch a few times.

-Match One: Johnny Spade vs Jason Lee (OVW Light Heavyweight Champion): The announcers get right into putting both guys over and discussing their characters. Lee controls early, and does look like Chris Candido's younger brother (a comparison Cornette made). Spade comes back with a dropkick (those Addis wrestling shows hurt) and a big cross body. The anouncers once again put over Al Snow vs Droz and the idea of a hardcore match. Lee takes over again with some non-descript offense. Spade starts his comeback off a Rock flip around DDT that is slightly botched. Samoan drop by Spade gets two. Lee gets dropped with a reverse DDT, but a big splash catches only knees. Sit out powerbomb by Lee, and he goes to the top, connecting with a moonsault, and pulls up Spade at two. That's not a good sign. Lee poses and dicks around too much, and gets caught with a small package for three! Johnny and his awesome Spade t-shirt are OVW Light Heavyweight champion.

Spade cuts a decent promo, he look comfortable talking at the very least.

-Another OVW commerical, giving dates for upcoming shows.

-And this is where blogger cut off my original post. Yep, I had this show done but it refused to save. To quickly recap:

-Rod Steele won a match. Afterwords, Jim Cornette hyped the soon to be debuting Rico Constantino
-The July 20th show was hyped a million times.
-The Hillbillies broke up after they failed to win the tag team titles from Flash Flannigan and Trailer Park Trash
-The American Eagle defeated Rasputin. The purpose of this match was to continue the Eagle/Chris Alexander feud and yes, hype up a return match between the two on the next big show.
-Due to Rob Conway showing him the door, Rip Rodgers grabbed less partner Juan and STILL managed to beat the tag team champions. Rip celebrates his essential one man victory
-Conway and Dinsmore both interrupt the main event, the Damaja vs a jobber. It evolves into Conway vs Dinsmore, which ends when the Damaja beats everyone down with a chair.

And that was the first show. Sorry about the blogging issues, let's just move onto the next one

SHOW 2:

-Tonight is the Damaja vs "All American" Doug Basham! A history of the three way title feud! Al Snow! And more!

-First, due to some outlets having cable problems, they replay Cornettes accouncements from last week.

-Match One: Rip Rodgers vs "Smooth" Johnny Spade: Never hurts to start out with Rip. They trade some go behinds and arm wringers, as Rip blantently uses the hair. Cornette announces Rip and a mystery partner will get a tag title shot at the July 20th show. Rip gains the advantage early with a series of stomps and chops. Rodgers takes his shirt off and chops away, but Spade comes back with a big clothesline. He misses something in the corner and gets locked into the Boston Crab for the submission. On one hand, that was the Light Heavyweight champion, but Rip is being kept strong after last week and going into a tag title match. Short and inoffensive.

-Rip cuts another promo about last week and this week's win. He says he's a 103 and he can make anyone a champion. Rule of thumb says the mystery partner is Savio Vega, but I sadly doubt it.

-Cornette and Dean Hill come back and begin a recap of the Damaja-Dinsmore-Conway feud.

-Match Two: Trailer Park Trash/Flash Flannigan vs Guido/Vito: Trash and Guido start out and Flash joins in for some quick double teaming. Trash comes back in and get caught with a clothesline by both heels. Clothesline by Guido and he tags back out to Vito. Both of these guys are dressed like low level 911's....that's saying something. Vito misses a splash, giving Trash time to tag Flash. Dropkicks for both men by Flash, and the champs run them together. Superkick by Flash, and they finish off with a powerbomb followed by a legdrop from Trash. Nice showcase for the Southern Tag Team Champions. Flash especially looked good.

-Al Snow cuts a promo from a forklift. He's ready for Droz this coming Tuesday.

-Jim spends a moment to promo the debut of Rico on that show, but is cut off by Kenny Bolan. Kenny reveals his manager lisence. It's a lot like the angle which formed the Dangerous Alliance in 1991. Jim so clearly lays out the angle; Kenny has a managers lisence, and Cornette has to deal with him if he wants to use any of his wrestlers. Problem is he has no clients, so Jim has him taken out again. That's a nice way to progress the story slowly.

-Match Three: Rasputen vs Chris Alexander: Chris' enemy took out Ras' last week, can Alexander repeat that feat? Rasputen drops him with a Downward Spiral, already overused in 1999. Big dropkick by Rasputen, but gets caught with a drop kick. Sidewalk slam by Chris, but a second gets turned into a flying headscissors. Russian lucha! Rasputen with a huge back drop suplex. Alexander sneaks out a chain and uses that to ko the Russian and get the pin. American Eagle comes in and drops Chris and remind us that if he wins this Tuesday, Chris get shaved bald.

-We get a replay of the Hillbillies break up from last week. Jack Black lays out his former partner.

-Match Four: The Damaja vs Doug Basham: Basham out wrestles Damaja to start with some ice roll ups. Damaja gets a waistlock take down, but Basham does a nice amature sit out. Damaja yells at his valet for trying to trip up Doug. He can do it on his own. Doug controles however for the next few miutes, but finally gets caught with a boot while coming off the top. Damaja with a drop kick off the second rope. And we get our second Downward Spirial! I was joking earlier! Damaja chokes away. Basham floats over a back drop attempt and nails a drop out DDT, but is hit with a spine buster a few minutes later. Damaja chokes away in the corner as Conway joins the commentary team. Basham almost gets a win off a surprise cradle. Big suplex by Damaja as Cornette goes into July 20th hard sell mode. Now I want go to this show, where's the time machine! Basham begins his comeback with a leg lariet and a drop kick. Scoop slam by Doug, but Conway trips him up as he goes up top. Basham falls and Damaja easily nails the Brain Damange (Baldo Bomb) for the win. Dinsmore runs in and starts fighting, and Basham nails the Brain Damage on Conway. He turns around into a chair shot from Dinsmore, payback from last week. The locker room empties to stop the brawl. Make sure to come to the Louisville Gardens to see who wins!

Final Thoughts: What a good set of shows. The featured players, and their roles, are easy to distiguish, and everything is explained. Great stuff, I'm already having a blast watching these. And it's only going to get better with Rico debuting the eventual formation of Bolan Services