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NWA 55th anniversary show shines
By
CHRIS SCHRAMM -- SLAM! Wrestling
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  Rocky Reynolds on his way to a major concussion and 12 staples to his
head. -- Courtesy Highspots.com
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PARKERSBURG, W.V. -- America\'s Most Wanted, Tracy Brooks, Synn, NWA
Senior Referee Fred Richards and more highlighted this past weekend\'s
NWA 55th Anniversary Show. The NWA, or National Wrestling
Alliance, brought together talent from Hawaii, Ireland, England, Canada,
NWA TNA and all over the United States for their annual anniversary show.
Sadly, the results of the shows were never posted on any major wrestling
news web sites. The two shows, held October 10 & 11, 2003, drew a total
of 600 fans with sell out crowds each night (standing room only on the
second night). The events were held in the wrestling friendly town of
Parkersburg, W.V., who came out to see some of the best talent from the
independent scene.
Richard Arprin, the NWA President for the year, without any Internet
promotion, put together two solid shows not only for their talent but
also their timing. Past Anniversary shows had complaints of long shows
filled with 15 matches or more. This year, the nights featured ten and
eight matches respectively. Also, because the gym where the show was
held was full a half hour before the show on Saturday, Arprin sent out
some local talent in a sort of a dark match to warm up the crowd,
something unheard of in independents. Arprin reacted well under pressure
of a hot and ready crowd.
The crowd was almost brought to a sad standstill during the second
night, as Rocky Reynolds, a local West Virginia wrestler fell off a
ladder onto the hard tiled ground. He did not jump far enough, and hit
head first. He ended up with a major concussion and 12 staples to his
head. Reynolds did not recall the drive to the arena early that day but
wanted to see a film of his fall after talking to those who visited him
in the hospital.
NWA-TNA\'s America Most Wanted put out a great 20-minute match for the
crowd with The Naturals. AMW was able to work a longer match they
normally would not be able to do at a NWA-TNA PPV.
Among those in attendance were NWA-TNA\'s Bob Ryder, new NWA President
Bill Behrens, new NWA Vice President Ernie Todd and press from Japan.
Here are the results from Friday, October 10, 2003 (300 attendance):
1. NWA Florida Junior Heavyweight Title Match (NWA Florida): Kevin
Rhodes defeated C.B. Cool to win the title
2. NWA Tri-States: Bruce \"The Hulk\" Banner defeated Romeo Godwinn (NWA
Tri-State)
3. NWA Bluegrass Match: Vinnie Viagra and Beautiful Bobby Jay defeated
Zach Mercury and Rob Stardom
4. NWA Hawaiian Tag Team Championship Match: The Hawaiian Power Company
defeated Cholo and Chris
Cavanaugh to retain the titles
5. NWA British Commonwealth Championship (NWA UK-Hammerlock): Spyder
defeated Fergal Devitt to win
the newly formed NWA British Commonwealth Championship
5. NWA-UK Match: Paul Tracey defeated Muscles Mansfield.
6. NWA Missouri Championship and NWA National Title Match: Ricky Murdock
defeated Showtime Shane Sommers to unify the belts
7. NWA Tri State/Bluegrass Championship: Chance Prophet defeated Trik
Nasty to retain the belts
8. Synn with Tracy Brooks (NWA TNA) defeated Mason Hunter (NWA Tri-State)
Here are the results from Saturday, October 11, 2003 (325
attendance):
1. NWA Tri-States Dark Match: Kid Inferno and Twisted Youth defeated
D.J. Skittles and Clark
2. NWA Florida X Title Match (NWA Florida): In the match of the night,
Roderick Strong defeated Jerrelle Clark and Danny Doring.
3. NWA North American Title Match: J.T. Wolfen (NWA Hawaii) defeated
Chance Prophet (NWA Tri-State) to retain the Title.
4. NWA Women\'s Title Match: Leilani Kai defeated A.J. Sparx to retain
the Title.
5. America\'s Most Wanted (NWA TNA) defeated The Naturals (NWA Bluegrass)
in a great match
6. 4 Way Ladder Match for The NWA Junior Heavyweight Title Match: Vinnie
Viagra, Doubble Dragon, Rocky Reynolds and Champion Chris Draver ended
with no winner as the match was stopped due to the injury to Rocky Reynolds.
7. Battle Royal: Trik Nasty won.
Previous NWA Anniversary show and convention stories:
Chris Schramm lives in Charlotte, N.C. and has written a number of
stories for SLAM! Wrestling.
