Two weeks away from Deadly Draw, and things are completely up in the air in Global Championship Wrestling! Who is going to win Deadly Draw and go on to main event Super Cade? Right now, it�s anybody�s ball game, and there were a lot of wrestlers looking to strengthen their positions tonight from Cincinnati, Ohio! On tonight�s show, the World�s Greatest Tag Team defend the World Tag Team Titles against Kid Kash and Lance Hoyt, Chris Benoit takes on CM Punk, and in the main event, World Heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar teams with Monty Brown to take on Booker T and Intercontinental champion John Bradshaw Layfield!
As previous competitors have in recent weeks, RANDY ORTON was the next in line to come out and guarantee his victory at Deadly Draw and how that would propel him to the main event at Super Cade. Orton said that he is ready to take the next step in his GCW career, and that there is not a single person in GCW that can stop him. Cue the music of KURT ANGLE, who has had his share of problems with Orton in recent weeks. Angle said that there would be no one that could slow him down from getting his chance to become World champion again, especially Randy Orton who he has spent the past couple of months consistently destroying. Orton got pissed and said that if Angle was so confident, he�d meet him next week on Explosion. Angle agreed, and we have a match for the final Explosion before Deadly Draw.
Wrestling kicked off for the evening with a title match as the World�s Greatest Tag Team put the belts on the line against Kid Kash and Lance Hoyt. This was a dangerous match for the champs as they have a huge title defense at Deadly Draw ahead of them against MNM. Kash and Hoyt have stepped up their game in recent weeks which is why they received this title shot. Kash and Hoyt brought their game to try to hold gold, but they just aren�t there yet as Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin have tag team wrestling down to a science. The end result was a T-Bone from Benjamin and a successful title defense for the WGTT.
The World's Greatest Tag Team (Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin) defeated Kid Kash and Lance Hoyt when S. Benjamin pinned L. Hoyt with the T-Bone in 0:05:53.
Rating: ***
(The World's Greatest Tag Team retained the GCW World Tag Team Titles.)
We were in the office of Tommy Dreamer when �The Rated R Superstar� Edge burst in with his Brothel, all looking particularly frazzled. Edge couldn�t get the words out of his mouth fast enough, telling Dreamer that he was glad that he had Matt Hardy arrested and wanted to make sure he stayed there for a long time. Dreamer let Edge know that his lawyers have been working and that Hardy is indeed out of jail at this point. Edge was freaking out, but Dreamer assured him that Hardy was nowhere near the building tonight for Edge�s match with AJ Styles. Edge said he better not be there or there�d be trouble.
Edge came out for this match against the Phenomenal One, but he was certainly distracted. It seemed just knowing that Matt Hardy wasn�t in jail was enough to throw him off his game, and your game is something you don�t want to be off when you�re wrestling AJ Styles. This was a good match from the opening bell, and despite Edge�s mind being elsewhere, he was looking to win at all costs, which he was able to do. Edge withstood Styles� unorthodox offensive style and was able to hit the Spear for the 1-2-3.
Edge pinned AJ Styles with the Spear in 0:06:11.
Rating: *** �
Edge continued the beatdown on Styles after the match looking to send a message, but he was stopped when a MASKED MAN jumped in the ring and attacked Edge! The masked man got a few good shots in before several police officers ran in. The masked man saw this and jumped into the crowd and took off. Edge was screaming the whole time, implying that Matt Hardy was going to pay for what he just did.
Our next match came as a result of a verbal confrontation last week. MNM has their opportunity to win the World Tag Team Titles at Deadly Draw, but Frankie Kazarian and Harry Smith got in their head a bit, making mention of the fact that to date, Johnny Nitro and Shannon Moore haven�t been able to get any kind of victory over the World�s Greatest Tag Team. Kazarian and Smith haven�t had a ton of success as a team themselves, but they�re still young and figuring it out, and you have to admire the gusto. And you also have to note that although MNM came out with the win here, they had to cheat to do it. Nitro hit a clothesline on Kazarian, and Nitro was able to get the pin on him. Normally a clothesline shouldn�t be enough to put you down and out, but when Shannon Moore is holding your foot down on the floor so you can�t escape, well, that�ll do it.
MNM (Shannon Moore and Johnny Nitro) defeated Frankie Kazarian and Harry Smith when Nitro pinned Kazarian after a clothesline in 0:03:14.
Rating: ** �
CM Punk says that he is committed to changing his ways. So far, no one is buying it, especially Christopher Daniels, who will be facing Punk at Deadly Draw with the X Title on the line. Punk couldn�t worry about that though, as he had to worry about former World Heavyweight champion Chris Benoit. Not only that, but Daniels was doing commentary at ringside with Michael Cole and Paul Heyman. In all fairness to Punk, he did wrestle this match a little differently. Normally he would take opportunities to take shortcuts and cheat his way to a win, but he didn�t do that tonight. Punk is highly capable and he and Benoit wrestled a doozy of a match. It was a little too mat based for some of the fans� liking, but if you were a fan of pure wrestling, this was the match for you. This could be the match that signals the breakthrough of Punk to the next level. He stayed move for move with the former World champion and in the end, shocked a lot of people when he hit the Crippler with the G.T.S. and pull off a surprise victory.
CM Punk pinned Chris Benoit with the G.T.S. in 0:14:09.
Rating: ** �
Michael Cole asked Daniels if he was at all convinced or impressed with Punk�s victory over Benoit, but the Fallen Angel was still having none of it, saying that though he was impressed with the way that Punk won, he doesn�t believe at all that he�s changed, citing that a leopard never changes his spots and that he would prove that at Deadly Draw. Benoit on the other hand showed Punk some respect by giving him a nod for a match well fought.
Rhyno was backstage being interviewed by Maria. Maria asked him about last week, and a clip was shown of Rhyno hitting Rob Van Dam with the Gore on the outside. Rhyno explained that for him, it�s not about good actions or bad actions. He said that people have gotten the wrong idea that he is helpful or he cares about anyone. �I don�t care about anything but money. Whoever pays the most is going to get my services.� He finished by saying that RVD was an unfortunate victim, but he is going to suffer tonight one way or the other.
Rob Van Dam is usually a laid back guy, but for some reason being Gored on the floor by an angry Manbeast is enough to anger you enough to take on a match on Explosion. Rhyno seemed to have a little extra fire in the tank as well, and what resulted was a good old fashioned slobberknocker of a match. Both men put a little extra behind their punches, and the fans were really into this one. This match was very reminiscent of the old ECW days because of this, something that Paul Heyman really got a kick out of at ringside. He also got a kick out of RVD losing this match when the Manbeast drove the oxygen out of the Whole F�n Show�s lungs with a spinebuster.
Rhyno pinned Rob Van Dam after a spinebuster in 0:07:25.
Rating: *** �
Rey Mysterio Jr. confronted Gregory Helms in the back about his new attitude. Mysterio and Helms used to be friends when Helms was still The Hurricane, and he wanted to know what was going on with his old pal. �I don�t need a lecture, Mysterio. I was going nowhere. I was a joke. I�m in it for myself now.� Mysterio said it didn�t have to be that way, but Helms wanted none of it, telling Mysterio that if he didn�t leave now, there was going to be some problems. When Mysterio refused to leave, Helms challenged Mysterio to a match next week. Mysterio said he had no problem fighting Helms next week and would knock some sense into him.
There was a lot of star power in the main event tonight with World champion Brock Lesnar and Monty Brown (who consequently are former World Tag Team champions) taking on Intercontinental champion John Bradshaw Layfield and Booker T. This was a great tag team match and a great way to end this night. The match saw great team work from both teams. We knew that Lesnar and Brown could work well together as they are former tag champs, but we were shocked to see that JBL and Booker could set their egos aside long enough to function as a cohesive unit. This match would go a long way to determine what would happen at Deadly Draw, as there was a lot of momentum to be had. Lesnar couldn�t wrestle a whole lot in his match because of the damage he took to his ribs from Booker T�s assault on him a week ago, but he fought through. After over 17 minutes of action that could have gone either way, it was Monty Brown who would pick up the pin, catching Booker T with the Pounce for the 3 count.
Monty Brown and Brock Lesnar defeated Booker T and John Bradshaw Layfield when M. Brown pinned Booker with the Pounce in 0:17:22.
Rating: ****
After the match though, JBL immediately took Brown down with the Stock Market Crash. He wasn�t quick enough to get out of the ring though as Brock Lesnar got a hold of him and had him in position for the F-5, but Lamont and Sharmell distracted him long enough for Booker T to have recovered to hit him with a low blow. Booker then hit the Axe Kick and again like last week, went after Lesnar�s ribs, trying everything he could to soften the champion up before Deadly Draw. It has been awhile since Lesnar has been this vulnerable going into a title defense.
Updated Card for Deadly Draw, April 23, 2006, from Indianapolis, IN:
30-man Deadly Draw Match
Participants:
1) Kurt Angle
2) Rey Mysterio Jr.
3) Edge
4) Rob Van Dam
5) Randy Orton
6) Gregory Helms
7) Rhyno
8) Bobby Lashley
9) Chris Benoit
10) Paul Burchill
11) Abyss
12) AJ Styles
13) HBK
14) Elix Skipper
15) Hardcore Holly
16) Ken Doane
17) Kid Kash
18) Lance Hoyt
19) John Bradshaw Layfield
20) Monty Brown
21) Christopher Daniels
22) CM Punk
23) Frankie Kazarian
24) Harry Smith
25) D-Ray 3000
26) Shark Boy
27) Stevie Richards
28) The Blue Meanie
29) ???
30) ???
World Heavyweight Title Match - Brock Lesnar � vs. Booker T
Intercontinental Title Match - John Bradshaw Layfield � vs. Monty Brown
World Tag Team Title Match - The World�s Greatest Tag Team � vs. MNM
X Title Match - Christopher Daniels � vs. CM Punk