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[GCW] Monday Night Explosion - 11/28/05

Snabbit888Posted on 08/20/06 at 11:32:55

Welcome everyone to the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and welcome to Monday Night Explosion! On tonight's show, the Best of the Best Tournament continues with the other four first round matches, including the huge one pitting Abyss and Randy Orton against each other in a rematch from Glory! The World Tag Team Titles will also be on the line as the World's Greatest Tag Team defend against Shark Boy and D-Ray 3000, and in our main event, Kurt Angle looks to add the North American Title to his already impressive resume' as he takes on Lance Storm!


JBL MAKES SOME GUARANTEES FOR TONIGHT
The show started off with the Corporation - John Bradshaw Layfield, Bobby Lashley, the World's Greatest Tag Team, and Lamont all making their way down to the ring for an interview. JBL was not in the best of moods after how the end of last week's show went, but he vowed that things would be different this week. JBL guaranteed that not only would Charlie Haas and Shelton benjamin retain their World Tag Team Titles, not only would Bobby Lashley destroy Rob Van Dam to move on in the Best of the Best Tournament, not only would Rhyno be taken out of commission, but that there was "no chance in Hell" that Kurt Angle would leave the Air Canada Centre as the North American champion. This brought out reigning champion LANCE STORM and his associate EDGE, along with Edge's brothel of Lita and Mickie James. JBL handed Storm and Edge a large chunk of money, a little "extra incentive" as he called it for Storm to be certain that Kurt Angle is taken out tonight. This is not looking good for the Olympic champion.


Match #1
Best of the Best - First Round
Frankie "The Future" Kazarian vs. CM Punk (w/ Daffney & Shaniqua)
The wrestling kicked off in the Best of the Best tournament as Frankie Kazarian and CM Punk hooked up, the winner of the match to move on to face the winner of the Abyss/Randy Orton clash later. As you would expect with these two, this one was a technical display. These men are truly part of the future of this business, and watching them go at it in matches like this shows us why. The Toronto crowd were very into this well-wrestled match that had many false finishes. Kazarian has began to garner quite the following since he has been under the tutilage of Chris Benoit as he continues to wrestle better and better. As far as young stars go though, there are few better than CM Punk, who is already a two-time Television champion. Punk is strange and his methods are often questionable, but he is a winner, barnone, and that's what he did here after he locked on his deadly Anaconda Vice.

[Best of the Best - First Round]:
CM Punk made Frankie Kazarian submit to the Anaconda Vice in 0:07:23.
Rating: ****

A great match to kick off the night, and CM Punk makes his way to the quarterfinals, where he will look forward to either Abyss or Randy Orton. Either way, he will be in for a challenge. Meanwhile, a good showing for Kazarian. He continues to improve, but he is still having trouble putting away the big matches. A few more lessons with Benoit should do the trick.


Match #2
"The Phenomenal" AJ Styles/"American Dragon" Bryan Danielson vs. Anarchy
There's an old saying that goes, "When it rains, it pours." Just ask Doug Williams and Paul Burchill. These two are a highly talented and have all of the tools to be the best tag team in the world, but since Lance Storm told them he no longer needed their services, they have gone into a tailspin. That trend continued tonight as the Commonwealth duo took on AJ Styles and Bryan Danielson. Styles and Danielson are both young and talented, and that has made them a team to be reckoned with. They work very well together and their styles mix well, the Phenomenal One covering the skies and AmDrag covering the ground. Anarchy was completely out of sync which resulted in a victory for Styles and Danielson.

AJ Styles and Bryan Danielson defeated Anarchy (Doug Williams and Paul Burchill) when Styles pinned D. Williams with the Styles Clash in 0:04:18.
Rating: ***

Williams and Burchill need to do something fast before they fall so far down they can't get back up.


TOMMY DREAMER RECEIVES SOME VISITORS
As seems to be a weekly occurance for Tommy Dreamer, the Commissioner received some visitors in his office. The first visitor was "The Teen Phenom" Ken Doane, who oddly enough was without his tag team partner Hardcore Holly. Doane told Dreamer that he hasn't caused any trouble for weeks and wanted to know if he could wrestle in singles matches again, citing that he wanted to go after singles gold. Dreamer told him to be patient and that now wasn't the time for him to wrestle singles matches. He told Doane to keep up what he is doing, and that if he and Holly start winning a few more matches, he would consider it again. Doane begrudgingly agreed, but he told Dreamer that he wanted a match next week for he and Holly, to which Dreamer okayed. As Doane left, the Commish was then met by LANCE STORM and EDGE, who of course had his women, Lita and Mickie James, with him. Storm said that with the unstable nature of Kurt Angle and the fact that the Corporation could interfere at any time means that there could be a mishap of some sort and Storm could lose the North American Title. That's why Storm was asking Dreamer to allow Edge to be at ringside with him for the main event. Dreamer said that would be a good idea, which made Storm and Edge thrilled. They were almost surprised that it worked so easily, which is when Dreamer added that Angle gets to have somebody in his corner too. Talk about your backfires.


Match #3
Best of the Best - First Round "The Manbeast" Rhyno vs. Lance Hoyt (w/ Kid Kash)
Lance Hoyt has shown himself to be highly useful as the corner man for Kid Kash, but as of yet he hasn't been challenged in the ring. That would change dramatically tonight as he met Rhyno in the first round of the Best of the Best Tournament. Rhyno has had his share of troubles with the Corporation as of late, especially with JBL's hired muscle Bobby Lashley. This has served to make Rhyno an angry beast, and he took that out on Hoyt tonight. Kash played the corner man this time, but he proved not to be nearly as good at it as Hoyt is. It took Kash little to no time to get decked by Rhyno when he tried to sneak up on the Manbeast but was found out. Kash later would try to make up for this by trying to trip Rhyno up nonchalantly, but what he didn't realize is that Rhyno had reversed the irish whip. Hoyt yelled at Kash about his mistake, but when he finally turned around, he was met with the Gore and an early exit from the tournament.

[Best of the Best - First Round]:
Rhyno pinned Lance Hoyt with the Gore in 0:06:26.
Rating: * 1/4

While Kash and Hoyt bickered their way to the back, Rhyno grabbed a microphone and called out Bobby Lashley. Lashley came out with every intention to go to the ring, but JBL came out and told Lashley not to. The crowd booed, but no one was more upset than Rhyno who said that if Lashley won't come to him, he'll come to Lashley.


Match #4
World Tag Team Title Match
The World's Greatest Tag Team (c) vs. Shark Boy/D-Ray 3000
Due to all the recent successes Shark Boy has had in singles competition, he and D-Ray 3000 were granted a World Tag Team Title shot against the reigning four-time champs, Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin. Shark Boy and D-Ray have become immensely popular in recent weeks, and a title win here would have caused this building to absolutely explode. They brought it to the WGTT, but Haas and Benjamin brought it right back as they were looking to rebound after being defeated by Brock Lesnar and Rhyno in a non-title match last week. Neither team would get their chance to prove they were the better though, as JOHNNY NITRO and JOEY MERCURY, frustrated that they have yet to receive their title shot, ran in and attacked both teams, resulting in this match being thrown out.

The World's Greatest Tag Team (Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin) and D-Ray 3000 and Shark Boy battled to a no contest in 0:04:16.
Rating: **
(The World's Greatest Tag Team retained the GCW World Tag Team Titles.)

Melina barked instructions at her men as they stomped away at both teams in the ring. They had D-Ray 3000 set up for the Snapshot when BOOKER T and REY MYSTERIO JR. ran in and broke it up. MNM's frustrations continue as not only can they not get their title shot, but Booker and Mysterio continue to be thorns in their side.


PALUMBO'S PIZZA PLACE - SPECIAL GUEST - CHRISTOPHER DANIELS
X champion "Fallen Angel" Christopher Daniels was the guest this week on Chuck Palumbo's inanely goofy interview show, and the Italian Stallion laid it all on the line right away. "When are you going to rest, Daniels?" Palumbo rattled off examples of Daniels' obviously hurting body costing him victories, most notably last week when Elix Skipper defeated him to move on in the Best of the Best tournament. "You're right, Chuck - I'm hurting. No doubt about that. But I'll take time off when I retire, because right now, I am the first X champion, and I am going to make sure I go down as the greatest X champion of all-time. No man, and especially no injury, is going to slow me down." At this point, KID KASH interrupted the proceedings, still a little peeved about how Lance Hoyt's match went down earlier. Kash wasted no time in running Daniels down, telling him he was too broken down to be the X champion and that the title would be better off around his waist. "You can come out here with all your excuses, and talk about your injuries and try to sound like a tough guy because you're going to wrestle hurt. But you know what? I don't think you're hurt at all. I think you just SUCK." Daniels is a lot of things, but he certainly doesn't suck. The Fallen Angel told Kash that if he sucked so bad, Kash would have no problem wrestling him at Best of the Best. Kash agreed to the match, and added that Daniels should keep the title warm for him because it's going to be his very soon.


Match #5
Best of the Best - First Round
"The Whole F'n Show" Rob Van Dam vs. Bobby Lashley
Rob Van Dam is one of the more highly gifted athletes in wrestling today, but even those gifts seemed to be futile against Bobby Lashley. RVD knew he had to come out fast if he wanted to have any chance against Lashley, and he did so by jumping Lashley from behind during his ring introduction. RVD slammed Lashley head first into the post and whipped him into the guardrail before throwing him into the ring to get this match officially started. RVD stayed on the attack, never slowly down and doing whatever he could to rock Lashley. The problem is, with Lashley's size, it takes a lot to rock him. Lashley felt the brunt of RVD's feet early on, but the Whole F'n Show made a big mistake when he sprung up to the top, but Lashley shoved him off to the floor, causing him to crack throat first over the railing. From there, this match was all Lashley, who toyed with RVD in the ring, hitting a huge side suplex and a delayed vertical suplex where he held the former tag team champion up for at least 15 seconds before sending him crashing to the canvas. Lashley continued his brutality on the outside, bodyslamming RVD on the concrete before throwing him back in. Referee Antonio Santangelo was checking on RVD's health and he did not see RHYNO sprint to the ring and hit Lashley with the Gore right into the ring steps! This was the most we have seen Lashley in trouble since he has been in GCW, and though he was able to get up and shake off the effects of Rhyno's Gore, it was too late as he was counted out.

[Best of the Best - First Round]:
Rob Van Dam defeated Bobby Lashley by countout in 0:07:48.
Rating: ***

Rob Van Dam defeated Bobby Lashley, albeit by countout and with a huge assist from the Manbeast. I don't think RVD is going to complain. Rhyno said earlier tonight that if Lashley wouldn't come to him, he'd come to Lashley, and he did that in a big way. RVD will now meet Chris Benoit in the quarterfinals of the tournament.


Match #6
Best of the Best - First Round
Abyss vs. Randy Orton
Perhaps the most compelling first round matchup was our last one, the rematch between Abyss and Randy Orton. Each time that these two lock up, the pure hatred these two have for each other shines through that much more. When this whole situation started, Orton's only goal was to make a statement and get himself back into contention for the World Heavyweight Title. If he wins this tournament like he did last year, he would get that chance, but as is evident from this match, his priorities have changed. Orton has become colder and more intense, and taking out Abyss has become his obsession. Abyss, of course, doesn't seem to have many aspirations at championship gold - he wants to fight, and that's what he did here. To Orton's credit, few men have been able to take it to Abyss like he has. This fire under Orton is scary, quite frankly. JD Sanders lost control of this match by the end when they refused to keep it in the ring. They either didn't hear the count, or didn't care as both men got counted out.

[Best of the Best - First Round]:
Randy Orton and Abyss battled to a double countout in 0:11:25.
Rating: ***

Due to their hatred for one another, Abyss and Randy Orton are now ELIMINATED from the Best of the Best Tournament. This means that CM Punk receives a bye into the semi-finals and has earned his spot on the pay-per-view. Meanwhile, the battle between Abyss and Orton raged on until a slew of officials finally got them separated.


ELIX SKIPPER SAYS THAT HE IS THE BEST OF THE BEST
Before our main event, Elix Skipper spoke with Maria, our very beautiful but very clueless new backstage interviewer. Maria in her sweet innocent way asked Skipper if he liked his chances at winning Best of the Best. Skipper was offended that Maria would even ask him something so stupid. "Don't you know what time it is?" Skipper asked Maria, who cheerfully responded with, "Yes! CHRISTMAS TIME!" Though the live audience was amused, Skipper was not as he corrected Maria and told her it was Prime Time. "And you know what that means? That means that Elix Skipper is going to WIN this tournament, and there's not a damn thing anyone can do about it!" Someone who thinks differently is MONTY BROWN, whom Skipper will take on in the quarterfinals next week. Skipper's cocky disposition took a 180 degree change as the imposing Brown told him that nothing was going to stop him from winning this tournament and that Skipper would feel the Pounce just like everyone else... PERIOD.


Match #7
MAIN EVENT
North American Title Match
Lance Storm (c) (w/ Edge, Lita, & Mickie James) vs. Kurt Angle (w/ Brock Lesnar)
Lance Storm thought he pulled off a huge coup when he got Tommy Dreamer to agree to let Edge (and therefore Edge's bordello of beauties) to be in his corner. He didn't plan for Kurt Angle having someone in his corner as well, and that someone was World Heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar! Angle and Lesnar, once fierce enemies, have been brought together by a common enemy, JBL and the Corporation. Angle was screwed out of the Best of the Best tournament last week in a match with Storm, which prompted Dreamer to sign the rematch, this time for the Canadian superstar's North American Title. As would be expected, the Corporation tried to make their way down to the ring, but Tommy Dreamer was quick to intervene, threatening JBL with fines if he didn't turn around. JBL laughed it off because he has the money to pay any fine, but when Dreamer threatened suspension, JBL thought better of it and returned to the back.

The match itself was a great technical battle. You could make a case for either of these men being named the top technical wrestler in the world and this was a wrestling clinic. The two exchanged holds for several minutes with neither man getting the clear advantage. The presence of Lesnar neutralized Edge and let Angle wrestle the kind of match he wanted to. The more they traded holds, the more Angle pulled away. Where Storm had the clear advantage though is that he is a better flier than Angle, and he showed that by cutting off Angle's momentum with a springboard clothesline. Storm followed with a superkick that got a nearfall. Storm saw that he had Angle hurting and locked on the Maple Leaf. It certainly wore Angle out, but couldn't put him out as Angle got to the ropes. Storm was getting frustrated as he couldn't figure out what move to use to put Angle away. Out of frustration, he called Edge into the ring, but before Edge could make it in, Lesnar nailed him with an overhead belly-to-belly suplex on the floor! Storm was in disbelief, but it got worse for him as Angle caught him from behind with the Angle Slam. The crowd was on its feet as Angle pulled the straps down on his singlet and locked in the Ankle Lock. Storm clawed with all he had to get to the ropes, but Angle was like a vice as Storm tapped out! Kurt Angle is the brand new North American champion!

Kurt Angle made Lance Storm submit to the Ankle Lock in 0:14:33.
Rating: *** 1/2
(Kurt Angle won the GCW North American Title.)

Kurt Angle, in addition to being the two-time World Heavyweight champion, can now add the North American Title to his resume'. Lesnar jumped in the ring and celebrated with Angle as the two held up their respective championships.

Updated card for Best of the Best, December 18, 2005, from the Verizon Wireless Arena in Manchester, New Hampshire:

Best of the Best Semi-Finals - TBD vs. TBD

Best of the Best Semi-Finals - CM Punk vs. TBD

Best of the Best Finals - TBD vs. TBD

X Title Match - "Fallen Angel" Christopher Daniels (c) vs. Kid Kash

Booker T/Rey Mysterio Jr. vs. MNM
rey619Posted on 08/20/06 at 12:48:17

Punk bests Kazarian in a great opening contest. Whatever happened to the Benoit/Kazarian dissension? Did it fizzle out quietly?

Lance Storm must be crazy to think that Dreamer would fall for that ploy. Maybe if he had said "If I can be serious for a minute".

I'm a little confused about Rhyno. You seemed to be putting him in a "big man jobber" role when he played the assassin for hire gimmick, then he enjoyed a small push, only to be squashed by Lashley. Then he main events Explosion, and now he wants a piece of Lashley, the very same guy who destroyed him... hmm...

Swerve! Kash gets the title shot, not Skipper... hmm... but if his momentum continues, I'll wager that he gets a shot very soon.

CM Punk must be laughing his ass off when those two battled themselves out of the tournament. None of them really needed the win, only to further their own feud, so wise decision. Now I'm even more convinced that Punk will take it home.

Didn't see Angle win the North American belt, but it certainly raises the stakes for the unavoidable JBL vs Angle match at Best of the Best. I really didn't think Storm was a very good champion either. A little disappointing that they could only churn out 3,5 stars though..

No tag titles or world titles on the line at Best of the Best?
91Posted on 08/20/06 at 15:43:42

Storm and Angle again? I can't see Storm getting a second straight win... new champ on the horizon?

Great win for Punk, he's been getting an awful lot of clean victories in recent weeks, unusually so for a heel. I smell big plans for him.

Four minutes? Ouch, Anarchy are really dropping down the pecking order right now. As a Brit, this mildly angers me. Still, Styles and Danielson look good. Danielson hasn't really done anything of note yet in GCW but there's time...

Is the Doane/Holly partnership coming to a quick end then? As for Storm, he wouldn't have done it one on one so having cornermen around actually serves to increase his chances, even if it means Angle has one too. Not sure who Angle will pick though.

Teasing us with another Lashley showdown? Tres' interesting. And is the Hoyt/Kash partnership also coming to a swift conclusion too? Seems like most of the partnerships in GCW have crumbled in recent months - Booker/Goldust, Low Ki/Skipper, CM Punks army, team Commonwealth, Benoit/Kazarian was teased too, and probably a few others I've forgotten. GCW truly does destroy relationships.

Wow, Shark Boy and D-Ray didn't lose. That's got to be good enough for the titles. MNM though have GOT to be in the hunt here and get their shot sooner or later, even if it means pissing EVERYONE off.

Kash/Daniels? Works for me.

Good for RVD, I was worried his recent run of defeats would continue against Lashley. Naturally the Corp are going to want to KILL Rhyno now, and Lashley is being built as the guy who probably could get that job done, he absolutely murdered Van Dam here.

A draw - didn't think of that possibility. Another loss might have hurt Orton and with neither Orton nor Abyss having any other allies or enemies, I couldn't see Abyss taking a clean loss, so that was probably the smart move. CM Punk will be laughing and to be honest, I hadn't thought of him as a potential winner but now that I think about it, I wouldn't want to bet against him.

Poor old Maria, she does try. At least she's got Christmas to look forward to. Skipper... can't see him taking the tournament, but Monty Brown there remain my pick.

Brock Lesnar! Duh, I should have thought of that. And a brand new North American champion. I don't see Angle as a long term champion but it keeps him happy for the time being and I've got a sneaking suspicion I know what the main event for Best of the Best will be as a result of this.
AzraelPosted on 08/20/06 at 16:47:03

Storm v. Angle Round II! This time with bankroll.

CM Punk gets the win after apparently shaking off the ladder match with a week's rest. If only Daniels would learn to do that.

Styles and Danielson pick up the win over Anarchy. Anarchy's plummeting in the ranks, but Styles/Danielson seem to be stagnant now.

Doane's still selfish. But there's nothing really wrong with that. And now Angle gets a cornerman, who's probably going to be Lesnar because of the lack of other choices.

Rhyno picks up the win (Hoyt's first loss?) and the Hoyt/Kash partnership shows some strains.

Surprising that Shark Boy and D-Ray didn't lose to the WGTT, even in a four minute match. MNM keeps trying to get a title shot, but Booker and Rey are always there.

Daniels vs. Kash should be a good match.

Lashley destroys RVD, but Rhyno costs him the match afterward. For some reason, I didn't see this as a possibility. Maybe at Best of the Best, Rhyno will be able to put up more of a fight.

A hard-hitting double countout seems like the best finish for Orton and Abyss. Doesn't hurt either man too bad by having to lose before the PPV. Plus, CM Punk looks like a favorite now.

Maria don't know what time it really is...well, what time it is when Monty Brown's not around.

Angle picks up the win and the North American Title! I certainly didn't see Storm losing relatively clean, but he can claim he was distracted against the former World champ. This adds another facet to the JBL/Angle feud.

Good job.
americamamushiPosted on 08/20/06 at 20:07:42

*to the batman theme* Dun-nun-nun-nun-nun-nun-nun-nun-nun-nun-nun-nun-nun-nun-nun-nah FEEDBACK!

JBL is makin' a lot of promises and I'm inclined to believe that tonight he's made ones he can actually keep.  Hahaha!  I love that "The Brothel of Lita and Mickie James"

Kazarian doesn't catch a break tonight, but with Benoit as his mentor it's only a matter of time til he brakes through in a big way

Anarchy has definitely taken a turn for the worst.  I never should've let you call them up. ;)  I think they can put things back together though if they want to, or they'll break up and feud with eachother, either or really.

That heats things up.  The question is who will Angle put in his corner.  There are a couple possibilities that wouldn't be bad in the least bit.

Hoyt is a big guy... but Rhyno was not ever going to take the fall for him.  Awwww, JBL should've let Lashley go... I wanted to see him get GORED!~

Well... even without the MNM interference I don't think Sharky & D-Ray were gonna win this one... just a shot in the dark though ;)

OoOoOoOo, one promise down bitch!  Theres my GORE!~  Thanks to teh Manbeast, RVD advances and JBLs gotta be pissed.

Oh snap!  CM Punk lucked out big time.  To me he's definitely sitting pretty at the moment.

hahaha!  Maria is so fucking awesome.

Definitely a good choice by Angle.  Part of me didn't think Angle was going to take it tonight and part of me thought he would after I saw that Lesnar was in his corner.  Nice way to end the show

Good stuff as always
Snabbit888Posted on 08/20/06 at 21:57:37

On 08/20/06 at 12:48:17, rey619 wrote:Punk bests Kazarian in a great opening contest. Whatever happened to the Benoit/Kazarian dissension? Did it fizzle out quietly?
I'm playing it down for awhile because the reason there was dissension was because of Eddie Guerrero's actions.  With the timing of his death, it didn't seem appropriate to keep it going based on that match.  It'll spring back up, but I need some time for it to breathe and find a different reason for it.

I'm a little confused about Rhyno. You seemed to be putting him in a "big man jobber" role when he played the assassin for hire gimmick, then he enjoyed a small push, only to be squashed by Lashley. Then he main events Explosion, and now he wants a piece of Lashley, the very same guy who destroyed him... hmm...
Essentially, Rhyno is still be pushed.  He got squashed by Lashley, yes, but my story behind that is a) Lashley is a huge beast who is going to be difficult for anyone to beat and b) Rhyno was unprepared the first time.

Didn't see Angle win the North American belt, but it certainly raises the stakes for the unavoidable JBL vs Angle match at Best of the Best. I really didn't think Storm was a very good champion either. A little disappointing that they could only churn out 3,5 stars though..


Yeah, I wasn't happy with Storm's NA Title reign either.  I have a soft spot in my heart for him which is why he is getting pushed.  The thing with Kazarian fizzled (probably more Kazarian's fault than his).  I have more for ol' Storm to do, for sure.

No tag titles or world titles on the line at Best of the Best?
Give me a week. :)
91Posted on 08/20/06 at 23:20:44

Snabbs, would I be right in saying the main event for Best of the Best in some way resembles one of the early In Your House mains?
Snabbit888Posted on 08/20/06 at 23:45:56

On 08/20/06 at 23:20:44, 91 wrote:Snabbs, would I be right in saying the main event for Best of the Best in some way resembles one of the early In Your House mains?
Yes.  Diesel and Bam Bam Bigelow will be taking on Sid and Tatanka at Best of the Best!

Though that may have been a King of the Ring main.  Whatever. :)
91Posted on 08/20/06 at 23:53:57

Regardless of the announced main, I'll explain what I meant and what I was predicting after it's disclosed on the next show. And yes, that was a King of the Ring main. King of the Ring 1995.