Texas Tapout 2008

By: Charles Rice
February 16, 2008

Texas Tap Out has come and gone but the dust is far from settled in its aftermath.

The night began on a sour note as the show opened with Chris Adams coming out to the ring to address the PWA and his former fans. He immediately began going on a tirade about how from this point on he was to only be addressed as “The Pride”. In the middle of his rant it looked as if the fans were going to be saved when both NEICO and Samson made their way to the ring. Yet, it was not to be because Team 3-D had paid for “The Pride” to get his time in the ring, and both men were forced to return backstage or be given heavy fines. It was at this point that Adams continued to go on about how Team 3-D was the best, only to once again be interrupted - this time by 2 Cold Scorpio. Scorpio, having heard enough made it clear that while he was not out there to start trouble he had had enough of "The Pride". Scorpio got face to face with Adams and told him that Booker T. was his (Scorpio's) friend and that Adams was being disrespectful. The hatred between the two men was too much to remain just a battle of words and no sooner than Scorpio started speaking, fists started flying. It took security piling into the ring to separate the two. A match was then made between the two for later that night.

Next PWA Tag-Team gold was on the line as the rivalry between the Steele Dawgs (Jared Steele & Dawg Cheatum) and KRYLL (A.D. & CREET) was about to have another chapter written. First to the ring was the team of The Steele Dawgs being accompanied by Rosa Salvaje. Then came KRYLL being accompanied by Lady Poison. As soon as the tag champs got in the ring, all hell broke loose between Lady Poison and Rosa. Both of them were spitting words back and forth with each other and had to be separated by the referee. When this did not stop the two ladies, both were banned from ringside and escorted to the back by PWA security. Finally, the hotly anticipated match was underway. It was clear that both teams knew what was on the line from the very beginning. For the Steel Dawgs, this would presumably be their last chance for the titles against KRYLL. KRYLL wanted to maintain their dominance atop the PWA tag team division. In a match that had many near falls, it looked as if KRYLL was going escape with another win when they set Dawg up straddling the top rope. A.D. was able to hit an elbow off the top rope on him and rolled Dawg up for the cover. Just as the ref's hand was coming down for the three count, Dawg was able to kick out getting his shoulder off the mat. Shortly after that, mayhem ensued resulting in all four men being knocked out. With the ref beginning his 10 count, it seemed that whoever made it their feet first would have the advantage. It didn't work out that way; however, as all four men began to come to and were soon exchanging punches. In the end though, it was the team of “The Steele Dawgs” who picked up the victory after double teaming A.D. and hitting him with a Samoan drop with a neck breaker. Steele rolled him up and got the three count. With that, Rosa came running down to the ring to celebrate with her boys while they had their hands raised as the new PWA tag team champs! This was the first time that the PWA was crowned with new tag champs since KRYLL became the inaugural champions last year.

After the match, PWA reporters caught up with Jared Steele and he had a few things to say. Showing that he was a class act he gave his respect to KRYLL and acknowledged that it was one of the Steele-Dawgs’ toughest challenges to date. He also made it clear to all would be challengers:

"We will take on any comers, we won't back down from anybody because we play by our rules,"

Steele said that he has already begun to prepare himself for what is to come. “We know that we haven't seen the last of KRYLL”. It will be interesting to see what happens in the tag team division now. KRYLL will probably want to invoke their rematch clause. At the same time, both the Wrecking Crew and 3:10 Express have made it clear that each have their sights set on tag team gold.

While new tag champs had been crowned that was not the only tag team action the PWA fans were given during Texas Tap Out. Next up we had fan favorites “The Wrecking Crew” taking on Surfin’ Surge and Gabe Hollier. Before the match began, Surge promised the fans that they were going to see a “new” Surfin’ Surge in the match that night. Apparently the only thing new about Surge was his childish behavior. This is because in a match that had both teams exchanging knocks and many quick tags, things seemed to be pretty evenly matched. This was until Gabe got thrown towards the ropes in his corner and inadvertently knocked Surge from the ring apron into the guard rail. This caused Surge to get a face full of metal and put him out of action for a few minutes. During that time, Tank and Mike B. Nasty took advantage and double-teamed Hollier. Finally, Surge made it back up and to his corner. While he seemed a little shaken up, he was asking for the tag in. Finally, Gabe made it to the corner and was going for the tag only to have Surge jump down at the last second and walk out on him. Obviously Surge was blaming Gabe for how he got knocked into the guard rail. Hollier looked on in disbelief as his partner returned to the back. With the two-on-one advantage, “The Wrecking Crew” was able to make easy work of Hollier and set him up for the Hood Drop. After that it was an easy 1-2-3 for the pin fall. Though they had just beaten Gabe, both Tank and Mike B. Nasty shook his hand in the middle of the ring after the match. What will Holler do with the “new” Surfin’ Surge?

Next up Gustavo Mendoza, being accompanied by his Secretary of Defense Rubio, was getting set to take on TNA superstar and special guest KAZ! This was a great match and PWA fans can see why Gustavo is a force to be reckoned with in the PWA. In a match that went back and forth, Gustavo held his own for the most part with the quick footed, daredevil KAZ. Rubio managed to give Gustavo an advantage several times in the match by holding KAZ down against the ropes while Gustavo distracted the ref. There were several near falls in this one. The highlight of the match came when both Gustavo and Rubio were on the outside of the ring and KAZ took a running dive over the top rope to take them both out. From then on the match was pretty much all KAZ and he eventually put Gustavo away.

After the match KAZ was full of praise for Gustavo and had nothing but good things to say about him. “Mechanically Gustavo Mendoza is very sound in the ring and his manager gives him a great advantage. He hung with me for a while but my experience was able to give me the victory.” Furthermore KAZ was very complimentary of the PWA as a whole. “For an independent promotion the PWA is top notch. It is one of the best, if not the best that I have worked for in the U.S.” KAZ went on to say that he would know about this because in his time he has worked many independent shows. KAZ also said that he could not say enough good things about the PWA, as well as Booker T and Sharmell’s professionalism in putting on a great show!

It was now time for the match that had been signed earlier after 2 Cold Scorpio and Chris Adams’ altercation in the ring. Both men made their ways to the ring and got right at it. This was a match that was fueled by nothing more than hate. It seemed as if both wrestlers were hitting just a little bit harder than usually in an attempt to gain the upper hand. After all, this match was about so much more than who won in the end. It was about respect, honor, and pride. At one point it looked like Adams had Scorpio right where he wanted him as he was getting ready to slam him off the top rope. Scorpio, being the veteran that he is, was able to block the attempt and connect with his own bit of offense from the top rope. Yet, it was far from over as Adams was not about to lose like that. In a turn of events, Adams knocked Scorpio down with a flurry of offensive blows, and then he went to the outside and grabbed a chair from under the ring. The newest member of Team 3-D obviously didn’t care about winning anymore but only cared about inflicting pain. The referee tried to grab the chair away from Adams but was unsuccessful and lost his balance during their tug of war for the lethal steel weapon. Just when it looked like Scorpio was about to get a mouthful of steel, SAMSON hit the ring and speared the living hell out of Adams. Followed closely by NEICO, the two set Adams up and NEICO smashed him over the head with “The Pride’s” very own chair! Samson grabbed Adams’ arms and NEICO grabbed his legs, while 2 Cold went up top. 2 Cold hit Adams with the 450, covered him, and the ref made the three-count. It was a huge victory for the PWA, and it sent a message to all the members of Team 3-D. Don’t mess with the PWA. This rivalry is far from over though, as Team 3-D will be at March Mayhem 2008!

After the match, “The Pride” Chris Adams had some choice words. Adams was clearly angry about his match and had this to say. “It took three of them to beat me up, because Too-OLD Scorpio couldn’t do it by himself…and it took a steel chair.” Adams continued, “To the two chumps that came into the ring…NEICO and SAMSON, you better watch your backs.” Adams went on to say that he had been on the phone with Team 3-D right after the incident took place and they had promised retribution. In closing he said, “2-Cold is lucky I even graced him with my presence in the ring. Next time he will be fighting for something more…his pride.”

Don’t think that Adams was the only one who had something to say. Although 2-Cold Scorpio picked up the win, he was nothing but serious after the match. “I don’t know if you wanna call him the Pride or Chris the Wannabe…but he stepped over the line and disrespected someone who is my friend and that is disrespecting me,” Scorpio said. 2-Cold also had a warning for the self proclaimed “Pride”. “Now that I am in the PWA you better be looking over YOUR shoulder because you never know who is coming for you. It may be NEICO, it might be SAMSON, and it may even be ME. But one thing is for sure, when the three of us get together we are unstoppable!”

Next up Adrian, the PWA Ring Announcer, told the fans that Franco Valentino had an important announcement for them. To the groans of many of the PWA fans in attendance, the self proclaimed “Perfect One’s” music began to play. Franco made his way out to the ring accompanied by the lovely Vixen. Franco began to talk about how he was perfect and how you can’t have a PWA show without him. He then went on to mention that he came out because even if he didn’t have a match, he had to make his presence known. However, Adrian cut him off telling him that he just got word from Booker T (who was in Japan for a wrestling match) and that he did in fact have a match with an up and comer in the PWA, Tim Dixon! This got a huge belly laugh out of Valentino as Dixon made his way to the ring. His laugh was cut short however by the entrance music of the giant CYRUS. As Franco’s face dropped so did Dixon’s body. CYRUS came out and choked Dixon into unconsciousness. Dixon was left lying motionless in the middle of the entrance ramp as CYRUS and Lady Poison made their way to the ring. Valentino, exercising some “perfect” sense, quickly made his way out of the ring. Vixen however got caught in the stare of the 7-foot psycho, and was transfixed by his gaze in the corner of the ring. Lady Poison, by this point had already snatched the microphone from Adrian and shoved him into a corner. Poison went on and on about how CYRUS would not be ignored. Lady Poison was in the mid sentence when she noticed that CYRUS had his attention fixed on Vixen, and not on her. In a rage she grabbed the giant’s face and got his attention. As if she had awakened a sleeping giant, CYRUS began to back her into corner. Lady Poison quickly grabbed Adrian and pushed him into CYRUS’s path. CYRUS then choked Adrian out and gave him a huge leg drop to the throat. As if nothing had happened, Lady Poison and CYRUS made their way to the back. The same could not be said for Adrian. PWA security and other staff members had to come out and help him to the back. With one match still to go, Adrian had to be replaced by PWA ace reporter Johnny Bravo.

The final match of the night pitted the number one contender VIP against the reigning PWA champion Brett Idol. This was a dream match for many PWA fans with two of the top stars in the PWA going one on one. Neither man disappointed, as both men came with tons of offense and exchanged holds back and forth. At one point there was a barrage of exchanged and countered submission holds, one after the other showing that both men truly were evenly matched. In the end though, it was VIP who was able to hit his patented Trend Setter which allowed him to pick up the victory and become the new PWA champion!

One has to wonder if Idol’s mind was totally in the game on this one though. After all he had heard shortly before his match that Team 3-D would be returning next month to the PWA. One can only imagine that Idol could only think of revenge for being put through a table the month before. Was this clouding his vision in the match with VIP? Or was VIP indeed just the better man?

After the match Brett was quick to acknowledge that VIP had beaten him but offered this, “I think I am still the best wrestler in PWA and I’ll beat VIP 9 out of 10 times we step in the ring. It just happened to be his night.” Upon asking Brett if regaining the gold was on his mind, he said if VIP was a fighting champ he would give him a rematch. Yet, is that even what Brett really wants right now? When questioned on it, Brett only had this to say. “Whichever way it goes, whether it’s Team 3-D or VIP, I am not walking out a loser again.” VIP spoke with us during his champagne celebration, “I have been on a hot streak since the end of last year, I knew tonight would be my night”. VIP concluded “Tell Idol, and anyone else that I will be a fighting champion!”

In closing, the special guest of PWA this month wanted to add his opinion of the rivalry between the PWA and Team 3D. Here is what KAZ had to say, “There is a reason that Brother Ray and Brother Devon (Team 3-D) are one of the best tag teams in the business, they are dastardly. So the PWA guys have to be careful. Having said that, I’m rooting for the PWA.”

As one can see there are a lot of things that need answering. March Mayhem is sure to hold the answers to such questions as…

Who will be the number one contenders for The Steele-Dawgs newly won tag-team titles?

What will happen between Surfin’ Surge and Gabe Hollier? Will they reconcile their differences or will it have to be settled in the ring?

Who will be next on CYRUS’s path of destruction?

What will happen in the ongoing feud between Team 3-D and the PWA?

Finally, who will step up and challenge the newly crowned champion V.I.P.?

You can find out the answers to all this and more next month when TNA knockout Roxxi Laveaux and Team 3-D, Brother Ray and Brother D-Von come to the Pasadena Convention Center for March Mayhem, Friday, March 14, 2008! Get you tickets now!

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