| OVW TV TAPING Davis Arena - Jeffersonville, IN Wednesday, September 5 |
| Wednesday nights are reserved for the taping of the OVW weekly television program. Their one-hour program is designed to promote the upcoming St. Therese's event or a local house show. Davis Arena serves as both the training facility for OVW and the production facility for OVW and Cincinnati's Heartland Wrestling Association (another WWF developmental territory who have just started taping their own tv show on Sunday nights.) Fans are addicted to this place, as many were lined-up well before 2 hours before showtime. The taping was free and attendance was around 110. |
| INTERVIEW BOLIN SERVICES |
| MATCH 3 DAVID FLAIR VS. JASON LEE |
| MATCH 2 RANDY ORTON VS. STEVE BRADLEY |
| Well, I'll be dag-gummed, if it ain't St. Louisian Randy Orton. It was my first time seeing the son of Cowboy Bob, so I was curious. I have already seen Bradley countless other times in other feds, and he never disappoints. This was Bradley's OVW debut, so he cut a quick promo to establish his motives (HEEL). This was a pretty nifty back-n-forth contest, with Orton getting plenty of offense in. Bradley scores the win in his OVW debut. |
| MATCH 1 NICK DINSMORE & ROB CONWAY VS. JOHNNY SPADE & BIG BAD JOHN |
| Lee, a Tennesee mainstay, is one-half of the Suicide Blondes tag team, which Flair might have fit in perfectly in at one time. Flair, still scientific in approach, goes for the moonsault, but misses. Lee connects with an over-the-top rope DDT for the victory. Now the question has to be asked: When does OVW tag Flair and Orton together and call them "2nd Generation?" Yeah, I know Orton's a 3rd generation wrestler, but it needs to be said anyway. |
| Hey, now this was unexpected - the unlikely duo of LeRoux and Jett, survivors of the WCW contract buyout by the WWF. Tagging against the face team of Payne and Damien led to some confusion early on for no one knew who to cheer for. That was erased when Jett began to put on a textbook clinic in the ring. He was doing moves that I could never begin to describe, and won't, for text wouldn't do it justice. It also made me mad at myself not bringing a better camera with higher speed film. |
| MATCH 5 - OVW HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE MATCH - 2 REFEREES MACHINE VS. RON "H20" WATERMAN |
| This event becomes a no-contest when Bolin Services attack the ring, looking to continue the brawl earlier in the program. In the process, Synn gets pummeled. I don't think many will get a chance to see Jett too much longer, he's ready to move up. He doesn't need polishing. |
| Right on! Sounds like a solid main event, with dual refs and a title up for grabs. Count me in. This was a solid main, as Waterman tried to get Machine to tap out with the ankle-lock submission early, but with no luck. One ref bump led to special guest referee Trailer Park Trash, an OVW wrestler, to take of the lead officiating. But that was followed by a second ref bump. Machine loads up the mask to KO Waterman, winning with a flying headbutt off the top rope to retain the title. |
| Ron Waterman ready for action at the crowded tv taping. |
| Spade offers a hearty handshake to Conway. |
| Imitation's the most sincerest form of flattery? |
| A TV set that could block out the sun |
| Jett & LeRoux ready to tag in their OVW debut |
| Orton with a boot to the ribs of Bradley |
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| And of course...visit the site of the WWF's Developmental Territory! |
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| If you're used to the GCW TV studio, then you'd feel right at home here, for the configuration is exactly the same for the audience and the cameras, with the exception that the wrestlers enter through a non-descript door near the exit. It also gets pretty warm in there, although they have plenty of oscilating fans circulating. The action is quick-paced, the crowd is electric. It's indy tv the way it should be. |
| The opener was a repeat performance of last night's tag team match, albeit shorter in length. However, the ending was changed. John powerbombs Dinsmore en route to lead to a Spade cover and pin. |
| Actually, this becomes a skit in which Bolin Services imitate some of OVW's other stars. Bolin, with bad red wig, too-tight spandex and love slave in tow, portrays Synn. Tag Champs Prototype & Rico Constantino play the Discyples of Synn, Payne and Damien. And 400-pounder Mr. Black plays former OVW champ Leviathan. Although I'm not I fan of imitation skit, this was pretty damn funny, punctuated often with Bolin's punchline "Oh, I want to sleep with you. Oh wait. I've already slept with you." |
| But look out, here come the targets of ridicule, ready to hand out a beating. This also gives me my first look at Leviathan. Oh my god, he's freaky scary! The real Synn and her love slave also hit the ring. And in the jaw-dropping moment of the night, Synn unleashes the biggest fireball I've ever seen on local tv. Aimed for Bolin, it nails his mock love slave and we cut to a break. What's the saying about a woman scorned?? |
| MATCH 4 JASON JETT & LASH LEROUX VS. PAYNE & DAMIEN |
| The next match listed on my program was "Leviathan vs. Bobby Eaton," although that never happened which meant (1) I didn't get to see Leviathan work in the ring and (2) I didn't get to see Bobby Eaton for the second time in a span of five months, a feat I knew I was surely going to beat . DAMMIT! With no picture to offer, I bring you Jim Cornette in front of the world's largest announcers set. By the way, Jim's wearing a black suit coat, yellow shirt and red tie, breaking his color co-ordination streak at one. |
| MATCH 6 - NON-TELEVISED PROTOTYPE W/RICO CONSTANTINO VS. DAMIEN w/PAYNE |
| This concluded the television tapings, but there was still a non-telelvised main event scheduled to go after a brief intermission. Consider it a bonus match. These are the things you can get away with at one-hour television tapings. |
| A continuation of what we had seen earlier. There was a lot of stalling by Prototype and Constantino, who were both working the crowd over real good. There wasn't too much to the match itself, which saw Damien get the victory via DQ after Rico jumped into the ring. |
| And there you have it. Six matches in under two hours. It was really neat to see how others do their television. GCW has something in common with OVW, we can squeeze the blood out of a turnip when it comes to getting the most for your money for tv. OVW sells videotapes featuring month's worth of television on their website. I suggest you go check it out. |