TCW I: Zero, Night Three Recap

TCW World Heavyweight Championship Tournament - Semifinals

Pre-Match: As Bruiser Brody walked down to the ring, Angelo Poffo came out of the entrance tunnel after him. Brody turned to face him, but Poffo took him down and rained down punches on him until security separated the two men. Brody was bloodied from the assault as he entered the ring.

"The Wild Bull of the Pampas" Pampero Firpo vs. Bruiser Brody
Pampero Firpo defeated Bruiser Brody via disqualification at 12:33. *3/4

The two brawlers wrestled a wild match, with Brody controlling the action early and almost getting a pin with a JUMPING KNEE DROP, but Firpo barely kicked out. Firpo took over in the back half of the match, much of which was spent out of the ring. The last such brawl got out of control, spilling briefly into the crowd before Brody finally crossed the line in frustration, hitting Firpo with a steel chair and taking the first DQ loss in TCW history.

Pre-Match: Before the bell rang, Curt Hennig extended an offer for a sportsman's handshake to RVD. It looked like he would accept, but halfway to the shake, he instead pointed to his shoulders in his trademark gesture as the crowd chanted, "Rob! Van! Dam!" Disappointed, Hennig shook his head and backed down into a grappler's crouch as the bell rang.

"The Whole F'N Show" Rob Van Dam vs. "Mr. Perfect" Curt Hennig
Curt Hennig defeated Rob Van Dam via pinfall (HENNIG PLEX) at 23:17. ****1/2

Hennig almost won early, but a familiar voice interrupted over the PA system. "Ladies and Gentlemen, my name is Paul Heyman. And I'm sure you are confused as to why I am interrupting this match right now, but rest assured that most of you are also confused by Rice Krispies and how they make their signature "Snap!", "Crackle!", and "Pop!" But I stand before you now, with only an interest in assisting a man that I've shared many a long deep conversation with, albeit when he was high. I assist my guys. Now some of you may call them ‘Paul Heyman Guys' and yada yada, which makes me kvetch some. But I protect my guys, and who better to do the protecting than the most synonymous 'Paul Heyman Guy' BRAAAAAAACK LESNAR!"

Lesnar came down to the ring, and Hennig moved towards the ropes to confront him as the referee interposed himself. RVD took advantage and nailed Hennig with a dropkick that knocked him into the ref, and Lesnar sprang into action. He slid into the ring and suplexed Hennig once before hitting a big F-5 and leaving with Heyman back to the back. RVD covered and got the visual pinfall, but it took the ref so long to recover that he was able to kick out.

At the end of a fantastic showing that had the crowd on their feet, RVD missed a third Van Terminator outside of the ring and got caught with one of Hennig's trademark dropkicks in response. He threw Van Dam back into the ring quickly and locked in a second HENNIG PLEX to advance to the finals.

TCW US Heavyweight Championship Tournament - Third Round

Pre-Match: As The Destroyer's music played, he tumbled out from backstage in a pile with Bruiser Brody and James Snuka. The violent assault was ended quickly, but the damage was clearly done. As they were escorted away, Buddy Rogers followed up, dragging The Destroyer into the ring and calling for the ref to ring the bell.

The Destroyer vs. "Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers
The Destroyer defeated Buddy Rogers via pinfall (FIGURE FOUR LEGLOCK) at 14:02. **3/4

The vicious attack by Natural Selection seemed to backfire, firing The Destroyer up more than it softened him up. Every time Rogers would get an advantage, The Destroyer would find the way to swing the momentum and sneak in a pin attempt. Rogers had him set up for a big high-risk move late and came off the top for a dropkick, but The Destroyer gathered himself and somehow turned it into a sit out powerbomb as Lance Catamaran called, "You don't jump off the top at the Intelligent Sensation!" The Destroyer followed up with Bombs Away and a big top-rope leg drop, and the combination of those three high-impact moves left Rogers knocked out cold. The Destroyer then locked in the FIGURE FOUR LEGLOCK, and the ref immediately counted the three on the immobile Rogers.

Barry Windham vs. James Snuka
Barry Windham defeated James Snuka via pinfall (LARIAT) at 8:49. *1/4

Snuka controlled the action from the opening bell, but he could never quite keep the big Horseman down. He made the mistake of throwing him outside the ring and following him out, where the lightning-quick Windham caught him out of nowhere with a LARIAT. As Heenan went apoplectic on the outside, Windham threw Snuka back in and hit his finisher again to snatch away a victory.

TCW US Heavyweight Championship Tournament - Fourth Round

The Destroyer vs. Bruiser Brody
Bruiser Brody defeated The Destroyer via pinfall (JUMPING KNEE DROP) at 4:21. *1/4

The two big men exchanged blows to start, but Brody got the better of the exchange and caught The Destroyer with a big backbreaker. He tried to roll out of the ring to catch a breath, but Brody taught him that was a mistake. He outbrawled The Destroyer on the outside and introduced him to his great equalizer, the ring post. With The Destroyer reeling, Brody threw him back into the ring and hit a JUMPING KNEE DROP, but The Destroyer kicked out at one! Furious, Brody dropped him with a boot to the head and then hit a second JUMPING KNEE DROP before getting the pin on his motionless opponent.

Barry Windham vs. "The Whole F'N Show" Rob Van Dam
Barry Windham defeated Rob Van Dam via pinfall (LARIAT) at 5:23. *

Even RVD's world-famous endurance was put to the test after his earlier match with Hennig, and it showed here. After a brief exchange early, Windham wore down his opponent with grinding holds and power moves before putting him away with a LARIAT.

TCW US Heavyweight Championship Tournament - Fifth Round

Bruiser Brody vs. Barry Windham
Barry Windham defeated Bruiser Brody via pinfall (SWEETWATER SUPERPLEX) at 2:32 **

Brody almost got the pin immediately, catching Windham with his trademark backbreaker and getting a two-count right after the bell. The action devolved into brawling from there until Windham gave Brody a taste of his own medicine, whipping him into the ringpost outside. He brought the big man back in and hit a SWEETWATER SUPERPLEX, but pulled him up at the count of two to set him up for a second. As he was perched on the ropes, he pointed to Heenan and shouted, "This one's for you, Brain!" before bringing Brody crashing back down and floating over into a cradle pinfall.

Pre-Match: Andre the Giant came to ringside for the two tournament finals matches on Commissioner Dragon's orders, given the ridiculous amount of shenanigans he'd seen tonight. "We're going to have clean finishes!" the commissioner barked before stomping off back to gorilla.

TCW World Heavyweight Championship Match

"The Wild Bull of the Pampas" Pampero Firpo vs. "Mr. Perfect" Curt Hennig
Pampero Firpo defeated Curt Hennig via submission (EL GARFIO) at 12:08. ***
Pampero Firpo won the TCW World Heavyweight Championship

Lord Ewan McGregor and Jeff Jarrett both tried to make their presence felt on the outside, but the referee was too focused on the action in the ring, making multiple counts that seemed very fast to the announcers on both Firpo and Hennig alike. The end of the match saw Firpo go for a cover after a massive knee lift - Hennig kicked out at a 2.9 that should have been a 2.5 - but he then immediately applied EL GARFIO. Hennig got to the nearby ropes quickly, but the referee didn't see the rope break, and Firpo dragged Hennig back into the middle of the ring as Jarrett gesticulated wildly at ringside. With no hope of escape, and clearly still feeling the effects of the assault earlier in the evening, Hennig tapped out after a gutsy performance tonight, making Pampero Firpo the first TCW World Heavyweight Champion!

TCW US Heavyweight Championship Match

"Mr. Perfect" Curt Hennig vs. Barry Windham
Barry Windham defeated Curt Hennig via pinfall (float-over cradle) at 10:55. *1/2
Barry Windham won the TCW US Heavyweight Championship

As the bell rang, the two teammates shared a sporting handshake to the delight of the crowd. Hennig was battered and exhausted from his earlier matches, but Windham refused to take unfair advantage, so the crowd witnessed what was mostly a pure wrestling match. Windham had Hennig down late after a big power slam and went up to the top for a splash, but Curt rolled out of the way. He hit a flying dropkick off the top as Windham got back up and went up one more time to hit a flying cross body. Windham caught him and used the momentum to roll through, much like with his superplex, and cradled Hennig for the three-count to take the TCW US Heavyweight Championship.