Went to an indy show last night (1/7/05) in Spindale, North Carolina. They kinda billed it as a Mid-Atlantic reunion type show, but with some younger talent on the card too. They had special appearances by Steamboat, Jimmy Valient (who looks near death) and Les Thatcher. I got there about 30 minutes early, and there was a line around the block. Probably 1,000 or so paid fans, as ringside was completely sold out, and I didn't see any open spots in the bleachers either. That is an incredible turnout for an indy show around here. I didn't take any notes, but I'll breifly tell you what I remember:

George South vs. Cheif Jay Eagle
The opener between to old Mid-Atlantic jobbers. South played the heel and did a good job of riling up the crowd, and also did some decent comedy spots during the match. Not a good match by any means, but short and entertaining soley because of South's efforts. He has a son working the indies around here now, George South Jr. He's more of a high-flyer from what I've seen, but seems to have a good look and enough talent to go a long way. Keep your eye out for him. Oh yeah, the match. South got the pin with his feet on the ropes, causing "Un-dead" Jimmy Valient to stagger to the ring and convince the ref to restart the match. As south argued, Eagle got the roll up for the pin. *

Justice Pain vs. Chris Hamrick
I had never seen Justice Pain, but he had a decent cruiserweight look, and some quality merchandise at his table. Hamrick is from here, so he came out to a huge pop. Those of you familiar with me know that I am a semi-Hamrick mark. Well, I have a confession to make: I am now a huge Hamrick mark. This match was the show stealer, hands down. Pain got sloppy towards the end, but there were no out and out blown spots. The highlights of the match saw Hamrick take a huge bump through the ropes to the floor, followed by a beautiful plancha by Pain. The finisher was also incredible. Hamrick lifted Pain in a reverse suplex, but then caught him and hit him with a sit-out Tombstone. I've never seen that before, and it looked like it killed the poor kid, all the more entertaining for me. Hamrick witht he pin. ***1/4

Krissy Vaine vs. Some Fat witch
Yeah, I couldn't make out her name. Basic women's match. Vaine is smoking hot, Fat Witch is not. FW actually had some good offense, and Vaine sold like a champ. The finish was Vaine hitting a snap-suplex/gordbuster and getting the pin. Afterwards, the witch went into screaming convulsions on the mat and gave those lucky enough to sit on my side of the gym a good view of her huge, pink, flowered panties. *3/4

Brad Armstrong vs. Wolf Man
First, Wolf Man is a good young indy guy. He's black, and has a rapper/thug type gimmick. So, why he has that rediculous name, I am not sure. He doesn't even howl. WHen Armstrong came out I didn't even recognize him. He honestly looks twice as good as he did ten years ago. It was unbeleivable. He can still work too. It seems odd that TNA hasn't picked him up, as he would be big-league compared to most of their guys. Pretty good match with early chain wrestling. Wolf Man took control and pounded Armstrong for about 10 minutes, then Armstrong hit a move out of nowhere and got the pin. **

Bobby Fulton vs. Bubba Jones
Fulton was one half of the Fantastics, but kinda looks like a science teacher now. It sounded like they announced Jones by another name, but I've seen him several times, and he's normally not too bad. This match was boring. The show up to this point was good and fast paced. This match wasn't terrible, but it just broke the flow of the show. Jones hit some nice Power moves, and did a lot of the "pick the guy up at 2" heel work, that you know means he is gonna lose. He did lose, on some fluke roll-up. 3/4*

the Big Islanders vs. The Val Twins
The Big Islanders are fat. The Val(?) twins have a funny gimmick where they hug, and then turn and tell the crowd "Shut up, that's my brother." The fat guys can't wrestle and I'm not sure if the twins can or not. This ended with a brawl to the back, no-contet. DUD

The Barbarian vs. The Stro
Barbarian looked to be in the best shape he's been in years. Stro was The Maestro in WCW. I don't know what kinda gimmick he's going for now, but he looks weird. The guy really can wrestle though. I was already for a snooze fest, and Stro goes and drags a very entertaining brawl out of Barbarian. I'd really like to see him against a quality worker like Hamrick or Armstrong. This match went to the outside and Stro went through a table. Lots of chair shots, and stiff chops. Just when it was getting good, the Fat guys and the twins came back out, apprently brawling in the back this whole time. Some how it lead to Stro getting disqualified which was stupid. **

The Midnight Express vs. The Rock and Roll Express
That's right. All original members. Eaton still looked good, and Morton can still work a little, but Condrey and Gibson looked rough. Fairly entertaining match for the nostalgia factor. ME got the pin by some little cheat. *1/2


All in all, a really good 3 hours. NGW has a lot more shows booked around here in the next few months, and I will be sure to go as much as possible. Their DVD's are available on Highspots.com. I think the first one is already on sale. This was only their second show, but they were planning a DVD release of it in the next few weeks.

Sounds entertaining. If I didn't hate Highspots so much, I would order, mainly because of love seeing old wrestlers in a "where are they now" form. Good to see Brad Armstrong is still around. I've always enjoyed him in NWA/WCW when he was just floating around doing nothing.

Did Ricky Morton get rid of the gut he was sporting when he last wrestled in NWA-TNA? (he fought Kid Kash in a fairly entertaining match)

Why do you hate Highspots? I've had decent luck with them.

Morton looked a little fitter, but still not in great shape.

Everyone I know personally who has dealt with Highspots has had bad luck with them. Waiting 3-4 months for stuff, or not getting the right items. I find it a little hard to want to order from them some bad reports. I would gladly order from them before I ever order from RF Video though.

And how can anyone be a mark for Hamrick? BOO! (:D)

I've only orderred from them twice. They got me my stuff within a couple of days, and had decent prices. I'll definitely be cautious before getting anything from them again.

Oh yeah, check the new sig.

He looks like a bright condom with a tattoo. :lol:

For the record, I've ordered from Highspots over 20 times.....I've never had a problem once. By the way WMD, if you're a big Hamrick mark, check out the IWC's Call to Arms 2. Him and Smothers fight the original Midnights and Hamrick probably does better in this match than any I've ever seen him in. He pulls the carry job......

Why was Hamrick such a mess for the few appearances he made for TNA?

Looks like a decent show. I might order this one down the line.

The Stro is the grandson of the original Gorgeous George. Or so I've been told. I think he wanted to use the GG name when he was in WCW, but Macho Man owned the rights.

Consider it mine.
Thank you.

IIRC, he only had two minor appearances in TNA, both as Crimson Dragon. One for sure was in a X-gauntlet/battle royal or some crap. Basically he never got a shot to show his stuff.

Not true, though his original NC indy gimmick was Gorgeous George III. He's one of those guys who has HUGE respect for the business, and actually paid the family for the rights to the name. He now says he thinks WCW only hired him so they could make him give them permission for the name, which they then copyrighted and gave to Stephanie Bellars. He took it as a huge insult, and feels that he shamed GG's family by making that move. You ought to see the guy now, he looks nothing like he looked in WCW. Super nice guy though, seriously, just overly nice.

That's similar to what I remember hearing.

I always like him from his appearances in WCW. I thought the couple of matches he had with Norman Smiley were decent.