Good As Gold on September 10th, 2011

Pre-Show Match: Houston vs. Barry Ryte

The crowd chants “Houston’s going to kill you” at Ryte. Houston shrugs off a few punches and knocks Ryte down with a hard right hand. Houston hits a delayed vertical suplex and connects with a bicycle kick. Houston follows with a spinebuster for the win at 2:46. Ryte was just used as fodder for Houston, who continues to look strong. ½*

Jay Repsel is in the ring to start the show. He runs down the card and talks about his personal issues with Austin Roberts. Repsel promises that Roberts will not win the title tonight. Roberts interrupts as security enters the ring to protect Repsel. Roberts reveals his “insurance policy” for tonight – Justin McIntyre III. McIntyre says that Roberts represents everything that is good about LaSalle but he has been oppressed by DREAMWAVE management. McIntyre threatens to shut down DREAMWAVE if Repsel gets involved in the title match later. Acid comes out and calls Roberts a disgrace to professional wrestling. He tells Repsel that he doesn’t need protection and insults him as well. Roberts tries to attack Acid from behind but his sneak attack fails. Acid stands tall in the ring as Roberts retreats.

Steve Boz and “Mr. 450” Hammett are in the back picking their number for the Good As Gold Rumble. Boz distracts the lottery director while Hammett picks the number that he wants. The same trick works for Boz. Justin McIntyre III walks in and tells Boz that he can’t compete tonight because he’s not cleared. Boz completely disregards him.


Opening Match: Nick Brubaker vs. Marshe Rockett

This is the fifth match in a best-of-five series. The series is tied 2-2. They charge at each other and exchange punches. Brubaker avoids an ace crusher and retreats to the outside. Rockett connects with a dropkick in the ring and hits a leg drop. Brubaker suplexes him from the apron into the ring. Brubaker hits a spinebuster and takes control. Rockett drop toe holds him into the middle turnbuckle. Brubaker avoids a flying crossbody and connects with an enzuigiri. He hits an ace crusher of his own for a nearfall. Rockett finds life with a fisherman buster and both men are down. They trade forearms and Rockett hits an ace crusher for a two count. Brubaker answers with a fisherman buster but doesn’t have enough energy to make the cover right away. C. Red is going crazy at ringside as Brubaker becomes increasingly frustrated. He chases C. Red around ringside and into the ring. Rockett hits an ace crusher out of nowhere for a nearfall! Brubaker fights off another ace crusher and pushes Rockett to the floor onto C. Red. Rockett goes up top but Brubaker catches him with a superplex. Brubaker transitions into a small package to win the best-of-five series at 9:28. It’s no secret that I’ve wanted to see longer matches out of these two, especially in the final match of the series. While they didn’t receive much more time, it was absolutely incredible how they made these nine minutes count. The crowd was in a frenzy for the latter half of this contest as these two worked in quite a few genuinely believable nearfalls. I also really liked how Brubaker won only after taking out C. Red, who had been giving Rockett tons of momentum as of late. Despite its short duration, this has to be one of the most memorable matches that I’ve seen from DREAMWAVE yet, as Brubaker and Rockett truly brought their series full circle and delivered a satisfying conclusion. ***½

Bucky Collins is preparing to pick his number when Ace Martino shoves him to the ground. He promises everyone in line that he’s walking out of the building tonight with the Good As Gold briefcase.


Match #2: Mason Beck vs. Dave Finlay

Finlay lays in an elbow strike across the bridge of the nose and tries to ground Beck. He stomps Beck in the midsection and connects with a vicious knee drop. Finlay outsmarts Beck during a test of strength and finds success with more strikes. Beck trips up Finlay on the apron after a distraction from Nikki. He rams Finlay into the apron repeatedly and takes control. Finlay creates some space after a quick pin attempt and hits a seated senton. He follows with a finlay roll and back drops out of a splash mountain. Finlay hits a tombstone for the victory at 10:45. Finlay continues to have consistently solid matches throughout the independent scene. It was interesting to watch him outsmart Beck early on, as no one else has been able to do that in DREAMWAVE so far. Beck was able to get in a lot of offense as well and definitely came out of this match for the better. He was the right opponent for Finlay and they had a very enjoyable encounter. ***

Ryland Foxx and Brian Nelson are in the ring. Nelson makes it clear that he likes his chances of winning the Good As Gold Rumble later tonight. Foxx says that he has a surprise for Nelson but Greg Glover’s music starts to play. Glover attacks Nelson from behind with a chair and stands tall in the ring. They will meet in a cage match next month.


Match #3: DREAMWAVE World Title: Acid © vs. Austin Roberts

Roberts attempts a pre-match attack to no avail. Acid throws him into the ringpost and lets the crowd chop him. Acid connects with corner punches but gets caught by a boot. He recovers with one last hard chop. Roberts drives him into the middle turnbuckle and takes control. In a comical spot, Roberts tries to get the fans to chop Acid but no one wants to. Acid comes back with a crossbody but Roberts fights off a lungblower. Roberts hits a butterfly suplex but Acid responds with a DDT. Both men are down. Acid connects with a series of clotheslines and hits a gourdbuster. Roberts answers with a belly to belly suplex. They exchange punches and Acid hits a spinebuster. They battle on the middle rope and Roberts plants Acid with a tornado DDT. They battle up top now and Acid gets shoved to the canvas. Roberts comes off the top but Acid catches him with a lungblower. The referee counts to three but sees that Roberts foot was on the bottom rope and calls off the bell. Roberts low blows Acid and hits a uranagi to become the new DREAMWAVE World Champion at 13:48. These two were able to establish a nice back and forth rhythm down the stretch and produced a solid title match. Roberts got in more offense on Acid than any previous challenger, causing the crowd to become extremely vocal for Acid’s comebacks. The antics revolving around the finish brought down the match quality, but I would definitely like to see Acid get a rematch somewhere down the line. **¾

Acid’s foot was on the bottom rope but the referee still calls for the bell. Another referee runs down to try to clear things up but the original referee holds his ground. Jay Repsel comes out and yells at the referee. He says that Acid’s foot was indeed on the bottom rope. Repsel asks the crowd if they want to see five more minutes. The crowd clearly wants to see the match restarted. Repsel tells the crowd that they can go to hell and shoves Acid to the canvas. Roberts hits Acid with his title and celebrates with Repsel.


Match #4: Good As Gold Rumble

This is exactly like the Royal Rumble; there are even thirty participants. The winner will receive the Good As Gold briefcase, which can be cashed in at any time in the next year for a title shot. As determined at the last show, Cousin Bobby is the first entrant. He says that a gypsy told him that the Beck Family will win the Good As Gold briefcase. C.J. Esparza comes out second. Esparza connects with a dropkick and nearly eliminates Bobby. He follows with a leg lariat but runs into a boot. Kenny Sutra enters the match and cleans house before getting leveled by a lariat from Esparza. Yabo the Clown comes out at number four. He starts choking Sutra while laughing. Esparza tries a springboard maneuver but Yabo catches him with a backbreaker. Bret Gakiya enters the match next. He immediately helps Esparza by landing a moonsault onto Yabo. Zero Gravity try to eliminate each other and collide on crossbody attempts. Matt Knicks is the next participant. He falls victim to some double teaming by Zero Gravity. They continue with their tandem offense and eliminate Sutra. Joey Hegland comes out and tries to ride his unicycle in the ring but gets caught by a neckbreaker from Yabo. Yabo walks across the top rope and lands a leg drop onto Zero Gravity. Bucky Collins enters at number eight. He lands a standing moonsault onto Bobby but Yabo stops his momentum with a flying double stomp. Ace Martino is the next participant. Yabo randomly blows up a balloon and hits Hegland with it. He is awesome. “Mr. 450” Hammett immediately makes an impact with a double missile dropkick. He has some fun exchanges with both members of Zero Gravity. Chuckles enters at number eleven followed by someone I‘ve never seen on a DREAMWAVE show thus far. Martino arrogantly tries to eliminate Hammett to no avail. Justice Jones enters next. Gakiya tries to take him out with a dive before he can get into the ring but Jones catches him and throws him back onto the apron. Jones eliminates Hegland while Martino directs him on the microphone. Collins and Chuckles get thrown out as well. Jones even eliminates Yabo. Nathan Knox comes out next on a skateboard. Jones slaps him and sends him packing. Zero Gravity team up and attempt to eliminate Jones. Martino and Knicks work together to eliminate both members of Zero Gravity. Team PRIDE stands tall and looks to be the dominant force right now.

The lights go out and the previously unknown wrestler turns out to be Prince Mustafa Ali! He tosses Knicks, Jones, and Martino. Ali takes out Team PRIDE with a dive, eliminating himself. Hammett and Bobby are the only ones left in the ring. Brian Nelson enters the match and hits a side slam on Hammett. Bobby pleads with Nelson to forgive him for the pre-match attack back at ANNIVERSARY. They decide to team up on Hammett. Steve Boz comes out next and gives some aid to Hammett. Boz superkicks Nelson and Hammett follows with a swantan. Dan Lawrence jaunts to the ring but Boz comically neutralizes him with a low blow. Scott Keyes enters the match followed by Derek St. Holmes. He gets a good pop since he hasn’t been in DREAMWAVE for quite some time. Finlay comes out next. The man is pulling double duty! Everyone is extremely afraid of the man. Nelson goes out of the ring and hides at ringside. Marshe Rockett is the next participant. He catches Hammett with a nice ace crusher. Tyler Priegel enters the match and starts throwing dodgeballs at people. The ring is starting to fill as Ahnu makes his debut in DREAMWAVE. Houston comes out next and trades strikes with Finlay. He plants Keyes with a spinebuster and eliminates him. Lawrence gets tossed as well. Dan the Man charges the ring and calls out Houston. Houston hip tosses him across the ring. Nelson tries to steal the Good As Gold briefcase but the referee stops him. Everyone works together to eliminate Houston. Rockett hits an ace crusher on Bobby and eliminates him. Boz superkicks Ahnu over the top rope and to the floor. He also sends Priegel packing with a springboard dropkick. Justin McIntyre III distracts Boz, allowing Nelson to eliminate him. Mason Beck enters the match and immediately eliminates Finlay. Greg Glover comes out next and start brawling with Nelson. Glover hits a german suplex and low bridges Nelson over the top rope and to the floor. Nick Brubaker struts to the ring and hits a fisherman buster on Dan the Man and Hammett. Beck simply hurls Dan the Man over the top rope and to the floor. Waylon Beck reveals himself as the last entrant.

Waylon enters the ring and stares down Mason. They start arguing and Super Val comes out to support Waylon. Mason shoves her off the apron and Waylon eliminates him with a clothesline as the crowd goes crazy. Waylon sends Glover into the turnbuckles with a death valley driver. Brubaker hits a fisherman buster on Waylon. Glover dropkicks Hammett over the top rope and to the floor. We’re down to the final four. Ryland Foxx comes out and distracts Glover, allowing Nelson to come back out and eliminate him. Rockett hits an ace crusher on Brubaker and eliminates him. It’s Waylon vs. Rockett to determine the winner. They trade forearms. Rockett attempts an ace crusher but Waylon elevates him over the top rope and to the floor. Waylon is your 2011 Good As Gold Rumble winner at 1:06:27. Waylon and Super Val celebrate and start kissing as the crowd applauds. There’s a lot to say about this match. I should start off by mentioning that DREAMWAVE truly excels at storytelling. They had over an hour here to intermix various feuds and highlight certain points and they did an excellent job. Zero Gravity and Hammett received a chance to really showcase their offense, Jones and Houston looked like monsters, Ali made a shocking return, Nelson nearly stole the show with his mannerisms and facial expressions throughout the match, and the Beck Family’s tension finally came to a head. If you’ve been following DREAMWAVE up to this point, there’s just so much that happens during this match that will grab your attention. The crowd has been heavily in support of Waylon recently and I think he was a fine choice to win the briefcase. While there were some slow moments that are typical of these type of matches, this was a tremendous effort by everyone involved and is the best match that DREAMWAVE has put forth this year in my book. ****


Overall
: Good As Gold is the show that I’ve been waiting for DREAMWAVE to put on. While this was essentially a four-match show, everything had its purpose and received enough time to play out. Marshe Rockett and Nick Brubaker made the most of their opportunity and capped off their series in the best way possible. Finlay continued his streak of solid matches throughout the independent scene with a worthwhile outing against Mason Beck. The DREAMWAVE World Title match, while not up to par with the rest of the card, carries some historical value and should lead to some interesting events in the future. Finally, the Good As Gold Rumble came through in spades and should definitely be seen by anyone who wants to start following DREAMWAVE. For its consistency, this show earns a solid recommendation.

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