TEAM EPICENTER (1st Round TiT Recap: Memphis and Boston)

[TH]

[Fade into Tom Holzerman in front of the big screen; Larry Tact, Andy O'Brien, Ulysis Solian, Simply Beautiful, Kodiak Vic Creed, Thomas Young, Jason Payne and Foxx all standing in front of a TEAM backdrop in the Pizzitola Sports Center.]

TH: The next two regions in the TEAM Invitational Tournament were decided tonight. Would the action be as wild as the first two? Of course! This is TEAM, it's always hot, but would it be too hot for some? Find out in the next hour...

[Cue up "Down" by Stone Temple Pilots.
Cut to BEAST thumping JOE AVERAGE with a powerbomb.
Cut to MR. AMAZING! assaulting D! with the Championship of Champions Belt.
Cut to KARINA WOLFENDEN delivering the Dual Halo to ADAM BENJAMIN.
Cut to ULYSIS SOLIAN staring down DANNY BOY VEGAS.

Cut to KARL BROWN hoisting the Merrit Trophy, then flash cut to D! with the Championship of Champions Belt across his waist, then flash cut to Team NEW hoisting the Dupree Cup.

Cut to: The Epicenter logo once more, fading into Tom Holzerman and Steve Murray at the Epicenter desk.]

TH: Hello again everyone, and welcome to EPICENTER! I'm Tom Holzerman...

SM: And I'm Steve Murray. Let's get down to the action, because there was a lot.

[Cut to Steve Murray, close up, with a Payne/Foxx inset.]

SM: Battle of the sexes, size versus speed, a battle of two up-and-comers, no matter how you classify it, Boston's six-eleven matchup was a veritable slobberknocker. The higher-seeded Jason Payne is coming off a huge win at SuperShow II, taking the FREE FOR ALL~! Championship. However, the young Foxx might have something to say about everyone crowning Payne already.

[Cut to the ring in the Pizzitola Sports Center, Foxx and Payne in the middle of the ring.]

SM V/O: And this match started off quickly for the San Antonio vixen here. She tags Payne right between the eyes with that spinning heel kick.

[Cut to Foxx running the ropes.]

SM V/O: Here she is with another quick strike, this time, a running dropkick right in Payne's face! When you're outweighed by that much, quick strikes are the way to go, and Foxx landed them early. In fact, she didn't attempt a grapple until three minutes into the affair, which is an eternity in wrestling match time. However, that's where she went wrong. Payne reversed it, and used his size to his advantage.

[Cut to Payne with Foxx in a bearhug.]

SM V/O: And the best way to use that size advantage is to wear the foe down. Payne's doing that here with a bearhug, a simple move, but effective.

[Cut to Payne with Foxx in a front headlock.]

SM V/O: The next best way to use that size, huge impact. Payne has Foxx up in that suplex for a good minute before slamming her down hard on her belly. Front suplex and a big one.

[Cut to Foxx on the top rope.]

SM V/O: This match became a see-saw affair, Foxx staying in it with guerilla moves like this. Missile dropkick right to Payne's dome-piece.

[Cut to Payne whipping Foxx.]

SM V/O: And here, shades of Arn Anderson with this huge spinebuster.

[Cut to Payne with a half-nelson applied to Foxx.]

SM V/O: Payne going for the Payne Killer here, the move that's put down so many foes, but he can't get the full nelson on. Just a half, and this gives Foxx an out... she hits the stunner and then goes up to the top rope, leaping with the Vixen's Dive, an inward inverted 450 and Jason Payne falls in the upset in the match of the night.

[Cut to the same ring, Ulysis Solian grappling Simply Beautiful.]

TH V/O: Next up, still in Boston, still at Brown, the fifth seed Ulysis Solian taking on the twelve, Simply Beautiful, and Solian was simply beautiful to start the match off. Uranage suplex and a beauty, high impact move to start, which is rare, but SB would come back.

[Cut to SB with Solian in a front headlock.]

TH V/O: Here he is working the neck. He calls that variation of the swinging neckbreaker the Spin Doctor.

[Cut to SB running to the ropes.]

TH V/O: And he's a pretty acrobatic mover, hitting Solian with a springboard elbow.

[Cut to Solian running the ropes.]

TH V/O: But in the end, it was all Prodigal Son. ROOOARING ELBOW!, killing SB right in the face.

[Cut to Solian with SB in an inverted cobra clutch.]

TH V/O: And Solian advances, finishing SB with a move he calls the Capicoo, that inverted clutch into a Complete Shot.

[Cut to the Bryce Jordan Center ring.]

TH V/O: Staying in Boston but heading to Penn State, seven seeded Rocko Daymon battles the "Torture King" Jarod Poe, and Poe was torturing Daymon early on. Right here, cobra clutch locked on and pretty tight too. Poe worked a lot of submissions in this match, keeping Daymon locked in six minutes and twelve seconds out of a total eighteen minutes and thirty-three seconds, about a third of the match.

[Cut to Daymon kicking Poe in the gut.]

TH V/O: Rocko would get his licks in, like right here, big boot to the gut and a DDT, sending Poe to the mat.

[Cut to Daymon winding up.]

TH V/O: And a big discus punch here.

[Cut to Poe running the ropes.]

TH V/O: But Poe comes storming back, right here with a HUGE lariat! He's looking to finish Daymon off here.

[Cut to Poe going to whip Daymon.]

TH V/O: Poe tries to whip Daymon in the corner, but referee Kevin Bates is in the way and he gets wiped out. Before Poe can do anything, a figure rushes out of the crowd, heads in the ring, turns Poe around and WHAM! Tombstone piledriver. Poe's out, and Daymon has no clue what happened, other than Poe being laid out for him. Bates recovers and counts the three.

[Cut back to the studio.]

TH: After the match, Daymon was asked if he knew anything about the masked assailant, but he denied knowing anything.

[Cut to Northwestern U.'s ring.]

SM V/O: Memphis region, the seven/ten here. Troy Douglas the high seed, Chris Storm the low. Storm started the match off quickly, nailing Douglas first with these knife edge chops, and then with the thrust kick out of the Irish whip.

[Cut to Douglas winding up.]

SM V/O: Douglas would fire back with this big haymaker right to Storm's grill.

[Cut to Storm with Douglas in a front waistlock.]

SM V/O: Back and forth match here, as Storm nails Douglas with that belly to belly suplex.

[Cut to Douglas with Storm in a front facelock.]

SM V/O: But it would be the end of the road, literally, for Chris Storm. Here he suffers a facebuster suplex...

[Cut to Douglas with Storm in the corner.]

SM V/O: And then the devastating second rope underhook piledriver called The End of the Road. Douglas moves on, and Storm miraculously got up from that with only soreness in his neck.

[Cut back to the studio and a closeup of Holzerman.]

TH: TEAM officials thought the double forfeit phenomenon was a one time thing, or in the last wave's case, two-time thing, but it struck again, and it struck twice. Felix Red failed a drug test. Alias failed a physical. Shawn Westing notified TEAM offices of his resignation of the tournament to personal reasons and Kurt James just went AWOL. Because of those four outsings without wrestling, the four losers from our first four highlight packages, Payne, SB, Poe and Storm, will all get sudden death playin matches. Storm and Payne will grapple for the spot vacated by Red and Westing, while SB will take on Poe for the Alias/James spot.

[Cue up Led Zeppelin, "No Quarter." Cut to a shot of Devin Shakur with Corcidon in a headlock.]

TH V/O: Coming up next, more action from Memphis and Boston, including a PRIMEate battling a former 4WW star, plus more of your favorites in action. Stay tuned.

[Cut to commercial, Head On, apply directly to the forehead!]

 

[TH]

[Fade in from commercial to Tom Holzerman close up at the TEAM desk with a YYJ/Zellor inset.]

TH: Yori Yakamo Jr. has been one of the most controversial figures in wrestling over the last two years, but he's been one of the best too. Boston's number one seed didn't earn an easy draw in the first round though, as he got one half of NAPW's Tag Team Champions, Stone Zellor.

[Cut to the Bryce Jordan Center.]

TH V/O: Zellor had the advantage early, attacking Yori with a big mule kick.

[Cut to Zellor running the ropes.]

TH V/O: And this nifty kneelift/clothesline combo. Pretty good from the Midnight Cowboy.

[Cut to Yori with Zellor in a full nelson.]

TH V/O: But Yori came back roaring, here with a page from his brother's notebook. Dragon suplex.

[Cut to Yori with Zellor in the Stretch Plum.]

TH V/O: Painful submission move here, Yori leaving his trademark cheating at home in favor of a more grounded approach. Could it be that rumor about the Wiccan turning him into a great pro wrestler is true?

[Cut to Yori with Zellor over the shoulder.]

TH V/O: And here, the Cerebral Cocksassin finishes Stone Zellor with the YORI=AWESOME! (reverse sitout tombstone)

[Cut to the same ring, Mr. E with Andy Gilkison in a side headlock.]

TH V/O: Staying in the same region, same pod, Mr. Entertainment, last year's Calgary Bracket Champion getting the disrespect with a nine seed, tackles the eight, Andy Gilkison. Here, Gilkie shoves off the side headlock, but Mr. E comes back with a big lariat.

[Cut to Mr. E behind Gilkie.]

TH V/O: And here, backdrop suplex and a beauty from Mr. Entertainment.

[Cut to Gilkison behind Mr. E]

TH V/O: Gilkie mounts a comeback though, here he delivers a backwards DDT he likes to call Gilkination.

[Cut to Gilkie with Mr. E in a front waistlock.]

TH V/O: And here with the nice side belly-to-belly suplex.

[Cut to a dazed Gilkison with Mr. E stalking.]

TH V/O: But in the end, That's Entertainment! Stun gun to roll up German suplex and Mr. Entertainment moves on.

[Cut to the Anderson Arena ring.]

SM V/O: Memphis eight/nine matchup, the higher Corcidon against the PRIMEate Devin Shakur, and Shakur starts the affair off by introducing Corcidon's face to his palm. Sumo style strike, and that just makes the woman scorned.

[Cut to Corcidon leaping onto Shakur's shoulders.]

SM V/O: The former 4WW star nails Shakur here with the Frank'n'Parsons (rana) into a pin that's kicked out of.

[Cut to Shakur running the ropes.]

SM V/O: Shakur fires back with a huge Yakuza kick, rocking Corcidon's brain into itty bitty scrambled bits. But apparently, you can do a lot with a mashed up brain.

[Cut to Corcidon on the top rope.]

SM V/O: From the top, she nails a picture-perfect dropsault, sending Shakur to the mat.

[Cut to Shakur with Corcidon standing, leg hooked.]

SM V/O: But it's Shakur who moves on with shades of the late Curt Hennig. PerfectPlex and a beauty, and he gets the pin.

[Cut to the Brown ring.]

SM V/O: Boston's fourth seed, Larry Tact, battling the thirteen Andy O'Brien. Lucky number for the Awesome One? Not early on. Tact starts out with a STIFF front suplex.

[Cut to Tact behind O'Brien.]

SM V/O: And then this move is just beautiful. Pumphandle to a side slam.

[Cut to O'Brien running the ropes.]

SM V/O: The Awesome One makes a comeback though. Here he is with a big clothesline.

[Cut to O'Brien with Tact in a front headlock.]

SM V/O: And here, lifting Tact up and dropping him with a modified brainbuster. Big impact there.

[Cut to Tact with O'Brien in a modified bow and arrow.]

SM V/O: But it wasn't enough, as Tact gets the advantage and lassos O'Brien in a Tactful Surrender. Match is over and Tact moves on.

[Cut to the same ring.]

TH V/O: The Juggernaut, Vic Creed, Boston's third seed, taking on Thomas Young of NAPW here, and KVC just manhandling the youngster. Hanging chokehold to a throw, and the ease at whcih the Main Man did that... the amazing thing is that Young is 245 pounds!

[Cut to Young running the ropes.]

TH V/O: But the fiesty Young ducks a clothesline attempt from Creed here and on the rebound nails him with a running STO.

[Cut to Young whipping Creed off the ropes.]

TH V/O: And here, Young with the big boot, although compared to Creed's, it should be a baby booty. Still effective, but that wouldn't last.

[Cut to Creed now whipping Young.]

TH V/O: Off the Irish Whip here, Creed LEVELS Young with a powerslam.

[Cut to Creed on the top rope.]

TH V/O: And I don't care if you're Achilles, you're not getting up from this. Creedzillinator (frogsplash) from the top, and this one's academic!

[Cue up Zeppelin, "No Quarter." Cut to Sonny Silver yelling at a fallen Draco St. Christ.]

SM V/O: Stick around, because after the break, we've got some highlights of the PRIME grade. You won't want to miss these. Stay tuned.

[Cut to commercial for Nationwide Insurance, featuring K-Fed! Popozao!]

 

[TH]

[Fade back to Murray with a Gamble/Darko inset.]

SM: Tony Gamble, PRIME's Jewel in the Crown, has a lot on his plate right now, so you might think the least of his worries would be a low seeded foe in a tournament, right? Well, not when you're the third seed in the Memphis region, and your corresponding fourteen is one Prince Darko.

[Cut to the Anderson Arena.]

SM V/O: Gamble with the early advantage, kicking Darko in the gut and nailing him with a DDT.

[Cut to Darko running at Gamble.]

SM V/O: Darko returns in kind, nailing Gamble with a DDT of his own.

[Cut to Gamble on the top rope.]

SM V/O: Gamble showing here he can fly, nailing Darko with that missile dropkick.

[Cut to Darko with Gamble in a claw hold.]

SM V/O: But the Prince from Zamunda fires back, claw-hold STO.

[Cut to Gamble with Darko in a double underhook.]

SM V/O: The Jewel in the Crown finishes this one off Misawa style though. Tiger Driver and a beauty right into the pin.

[Cut to the Bryce Jordan Center.]

SM V/O: Another highly seeded PRIMEate in action, this time Boston's second seed Sonny Silver against Draco St. Christ, and Sonny with the early advantage with this Edge-o-Matic.

[Cut to St. Christ with Silver dazed.]

SM V/O: Draco comes with the martial arts though. Throat thrust and a beaut, followed up by a spinning back chop, sending Silver to the mat.

[Cut to St. Christ again in front of Silver.]

SM V/O: And this move... he calls this a Kangaroo Kick, and it's an impressive signature move. See, he uses the momentum on the dropkick to backflip away from Sonny.

[Cut to Silver behind St. Christ.]

SM V/O: But you've got NO CHANCE of keeping the Chairman down too long. Here he nails St. Christ with a Kayfabe Breaker (lungblower).

[Cut to Silver with St. Christ in a Rock Bottom clutch.]

SM V/O: And here, Great Jesus Driver. I'm going to hell for even saying that, but I don't care, Sonny Silver advances.

[Cut to the Northwestern ring.]

TH V/O: And now for some of the matches that weren't so competitive. Memphis' number four Kin Hiroshi rolls to an easy win over the thirteen Cobris Grayson. Here he nails the EUWC star with the Nagasaki Fat Man (Canadian Destroyer).

[Cut to same ring.]

TH V/O: Lloyd Rees, the fifth seed, had just as easy a time, locking The New Sh*t Bobino in the Conception Bay Chinlock (Dragon sleeper/grapevine) here.

[Cut to the Anderson Arena.]

TH V/O: And finally, a mild upset, as eleventh seeded Ace Mason goes wire to wire against sixth seed Steven Shane, shown here having his Gavones Iced (camel clutch).

[Cut back to the studio.]

TH: That's a wrap folks! Tune in next time when we recap the second round! I'm Tom Holzerman.

SM: And I'm Steve Murray.

TH: Goodnight everyone!

[Fade.]

 

[TH]

Credits:

Writing: Holzerman

Judging: Holzerman, Lindsay Branca, Skylar Green, Pete Russo, Shane Gerlach, Chris Skowronski