- Previously on Underground: Wrestling's Greatest Tag Team put all potential tag team championship matches before the 1/1/13 on the line. They battled DOOMSDAY to the limit, but Claudio Castagnoli interfered - costing WGTT a title opportunity until the new year.
- Opening video.
- Speaking of Claudio Castagnoli, here he is with Ares at the commentary table. Lenny Leonard introduces them (and JML - back at color!). Ares rants in German. Claudio says he finds it very insulting that a team such as WGTT can get so many title matches for doing so little. He says that people have raved of Benjamin and Haas for years as being only one step away from the next level of stardom. He says even as tag team champions in WWE, people would tell them they just need that one more thing. He says that was almost ten years ago - and people are still telling them that. He says that here is a team that is skilled in combat, charismatic in nature, and proud of their origin. He says that a team of such obvious class and grace should not be forgotten about in the face of team that is (he does hilarious air-quotes here) "almost there." He ends with, "Benjamin and Haas might be 'almost there.' The Cross are here." Good stuff and really the first time he's been able to cut a full-blown promo of that magnitude.
Match #1: The Cross vs. Mike Black/Ric King
New jobbers~! The Cross of course dominate them in violent fashion. The crowd responds unfavorably, so they're doing their job right. Some new tag manuevers here, with my favorite being one where Ares slingshots King into the bicycle kick - which is apparently now called the Panzer Boot. I like that, actually. They beat up both men pretty well before finishing off with the sidewalk slam/flying body splash combo known as Blitzkreig.
Result: The Cross win via pin w/ Blitzkreig
Time: 4:32
- Lenny speculates we have not heard the last of this situation between The Cross and WGTT. They then talk about everything that happened at Dos Caras vs. Jericho 2. JML comments that he's happy to have rid WCW of that idiot Aries, while Lenny questions what exactly it means for Joey Ryan and Brian Kendrick - who will be here next week to talk about it. Lenny that introduces Jimmy Jacobs and DOOMSDAY to discuss the big announcement that they will defend the tag team championship against Bad Intentions in the main event at Superbrawl on 4/28. Jacobs says the politics of life do not matter to the force of nature standing behind him. He says that the contractual status of the individuals involved or even whether not a team may deserve a championship opportunity matter very little in the grand scheme of the cosmos, as all that ultimately matters is the ultimate conclusion. He says what does bother him, however, is fallacies and delusions that Giant Bernard spoke to a national audience. He says that while DOOMSDAY may have never bested Bad Intentions, it is only because DOOMSDAY has never fought Bad Intentions. He says that if necessary, he will remind you that DOOMSDAY - in either incarnation of the team - remains undefeated. He says as we approach April 28 and iPPV that many things will happen, but two things will remain unchanged - they will be WCW Tag Team Champions and Bad Intentions will face the inevitable: DOOMSDAY.
- Commercials.
- Lenny introduces the returning Brent Albright. Lenny asks him what he thinks about what happened several weeks ago when it seemed he had finally beaten Eddie Edwards for the United States championship, only to go to a draw. Albright shoves Lenny away and grabs the microphone. He says, "This is going to happen until I get my damn title shot." He then throws the mic aside.
Match #2: Brent Albright vs. Cru Jones
Albright seems angry. Big boot - half-nelson suplex - half-nelson suplex - half-nelson suplex - half-nelson suplex (the crowd starts booing) - half-nelson suplex - and the ref finally stops the match. Albright then locks in the Crowbar, forcing a huge group of referees to separate him from Jones.
Result: Brent Albrights win via ref stoppage
Time: 1:41
- Eddie Edwards comes out and says that it's easy to kick a man when he's not looking and drop him on his head twenty times. He says there's definitely a lot of controversy with what happened last month and he's definitely not content with it. He says he went to the Executive Director and begged for another chance to beat Albright's ass. He says they're going to settle it the best way he knows how - one-on-one on iPPV at Superbrawl!
- Commercials.
Match #3: Fastball Special vs. Caleb Konley/Sal Rinauro
Glorified squash, basically. It ends, briskly, with the Brainbuster/SSP combo.
Result: Fastball Special win via pin w/ the Brainbuster/Shooting Star Press-combo
Time: 2:14
- No promos as we move right into:
The Event Center
The HOG~! debuts on iTV! Hogewood welcomes us to the new Event Center. He recaps the Aries/JML-match from Dos Caras vs. Jericho 2, showing the match in full. He says next week on Underground we'll hear from Joey Ryan and Brian Kendrick on what it means for them. He then talks about the great, great Brodie Lee-promo - replaying it in full. He says Brodie Lee will be in action next week. He then recaps the Jericho/Dos Caras match. He says next week he'll talk to the Briscoes before Jay battles Tyler Black in the main event. Overall, an almost uneventful Event Center even if it went the usual 5-10 minutes.
- Commercials.
Match #4: Billy Buck vs. Chris Masterson
Masterson is really developing into a great heel with his body language and facial expressions. It's the usual squash, including a few new twists - Masterson locks in the abdominal stretch, grabbing the rope for heel-leverage. I used to love when Razor Ramon did that. Masterson does a lot of stuff to work the neck, though, which I really appreciate as it builds into his finish. My favorite is the Air Raid Crash/Kryptonite Krunch neckbreaker which I believe he lifted from Colt Cabana. In any event, he finishes the extended squash with his Torture Lock (full nelson).
Result: Chris Masterson wins via submission w/ The Torture Lock
Time: 4:52
- Not finished, Masterston locks Buck in the Torture Lock again. The crowd explodes, though, when Windham Rotunda storms out for the save. Rotunda unloads with the punches on Masterson and hits a spinning clothesline that knocks Masterson out of the ring. Masterson flees the scene.
- Commercials.
- Lenny and JML talk about what happened before the break between Rotunda and Masterson. Lenny then announces that during the break, the Executive Director informed them that it's officially set for Superbrawl: Chris Masterson vs. Windham Rotunda! Lenny then runs down the rest of the card: Bad Intentions vs. DOOMSDAY [c] for the WCW Championship and Brent Albright vs. Eddie Edwards [c] for the WCW United States Championship. JML mentions that by the end of the show we'll have one more match signed for Superbrawl: who Chris Jericho will defend against. That brings out Chris Jericho himself. His arm is still taped up. Lenny asks Jericho if he happy to be finished with Dos Caras. Jericho says he's glad to put the past behind him and move on to more exciting challenges. Lenny asks him who he'd rather face: Davey Richards or Chris Hero. There's this moment there where I swear Jericho rolled his eyes when Davey's name was mentioned. Jericho says he's a defending champion and he'll take on whoever earns it.
Match #5: Bo Newsom vs. The Patriot
Insert my usual THIS IS KURT ANGLE-line here. I swear it has to be, even if the usual guys like Meltzer or Scherer won't confirm. Standard Patriot-squash here. I think he uses a suplex for the first time since he debuted, but it's a stalling vertical suplex which I can't ever remember Angle doing. Patriot finishes with the Sharpshooter, I guess ditching the slam-like finisher he used last time.
Result: The Patriot wins via submission w/ The Sharpshooter
Time: 3:31
- While The Patriot is celebrating having his hand raised, Alberto Dos Caras walks out rubbing his chin as though he just discovered a startling secret - such as how many licks it takes to get to the center of Tootsie Roll Pop or, perhaps, KURT ANGLE IS THE PATRIOT!
- Commercials.
- Lenny talks about next week's main event as we'll get a little bit of resolution from the Briscoes/Midnight Guns-feud that started a couple of weeks ago when Jay Briscoe takes on Tyler Black.
Main Event: Chris Hero vs. Davey Richards - Top Contenders Match
Nice, new graphic for the match logo. So these two have becoming the big rivalry of WCW. It's not so much a feud, because while they might not like each other - the thing that drives their storyline along is their competitiveness against one another. Compare that to last year's Punk vs Butcher, where it was driven by - initially - a straight-edge vs. substance user ideology of hate that evolved into a pro wrestling vs. garbage wrestling ideology. Too much? My review. Anyway, this is the third match in their series. Davey picked up the first win which was, interestingly enough, a Top Contenders Match as well. Davey went on to face Alberto Dos Caras in a losing effort. They faced off again at Starrcade but went the time-limit and settled nothing. Leading up to this, Chris Hero defeated Windham Rotunda while Davey Richards went over Richie Steamboat. With those big wins, they kind of set themselves up for a potential title-shot, which is what lead to this match. Also of note is that concurrently to those matches, CM Punk was talking a big game about deserving a title match but he was not defeating the caliber of opponents they were. SO with that said, they start off with - what else? - chain-wrestling. Lenny mentions that these two know each other very well not just from WCW, but the independent wrestling scene as well having battled everywhere from Ring of Honor to Pro Wrestling Guerrilla. Lots of back and forth stuff to start as becomes a bit of a game of oneupmanship. Davey does a bunch of stuff, then Hero does the same stuff. JML talks about mind games here saying that it's the final piece of the puzzle either man needs to really hit the next level. Davey dominates by nailing Hero with a solebutt kick. Davey uses his normal offense and works Hero over for a good bit. The tide turns when Davey goes for his running forearm smash in the corner, but Hero charges out with a big boot. Hero works head over with tons of strikes to set up the Deathblow. Hero goes for a roaring elbow at one point but Davey back drops Hero to the outside, charges across the ring and back, and dives out onto Hero in one great sequence. Davey tries a DR Driver on the outside but gets backdropped back-first on the apron. Ruh roh! Hero stretch Davey around the ring-post back-first. Hero spends a good portion of the match working the back over now. Davey finally mounts a comeback though with an Alarm Clock out of nowhere. They trade a bunch of strikes in the ring and then Davey goes for the handspring backflip spinning kick, but Hero catches him with a VICIOUS Flash Kick during the handspring that the crowd loses it for! That gets a near-fall. They trade some big moves and near-falls for fun. They battle onto the turnbuckle and it results in a HUGE superplex by Davey off the top. There's ten minutes left. Davey tries the DR Driver, but his back is spent, so he goes for a kimura but Hero rips him around into a VICIOUS roaring elbow! Davey falls on the ropes and bounces off into a second one. That gets a near-fall. Davey counters the Deathblow with a roll-up for a near-fall and then they roll around with the multiple near-falls spots. Davey hits Hero with a vicious kick but it only gets two again for what I was certain was the finish. Davey goes for the DR Driver again, but again his back is too beat up, and Hero ripcords Davey around and hits another roaring elbow - then grabs Davey, spins him around, and MURDERS Davey with the Deathblow. Davey goes down like a ton of bricks and that's enough to give Hero a pretty huge win. Gotta say, maybe THAT should have been on FOX last Saturday. That was a hell of a display.
Result: Chris Hero wins via pin w/ The Deathblow
Time: 25:43
- Lenny and JML are pretty impressed after that match. CM Punk runs into the ring from the back and lifts the groggy Davey Richards up and DRILLS him with Go 2 Sleep for good measure! Lenny is pretty pissed off, but JML thinks it was a great move. That ends the show.
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