NYCW

HAMMERSTEIN BALLROOM
NEW YORK, NY
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2003

* RINGSIDE:
The opening credits roll and we are taken inside the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City, where Jerry Georgatos is standing inside the ring for tonight’s episode of New York Championship Wrestling. The NYCW Commissioner announces that tonight, the tournament to crown the NYCW Heavyweight Champion will begin. We are told that there are twenty-five participants, and have been broken up into groups of five. Tonight, each of the five groups will wrestle each other, double-elimination turmoil style. In other words, in each group, two people will start the match, one person will win, they continue, to wrestle the next person to come back, and it continues in this manner until four of the five are eliminated. The only way to be eliminated is to lose two decisions. The five winners will advance to next week in the tournament, and the person, in any group, that scores the highest number of victories in defeat will advance as well. If there should be a tie for that final spot, it will be settled in the ring tonight before the show goes off the air.

* MATCH 1: NYCW CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT: GROUP A: DYNAMITE DEAN NASH VS. MARTIN BLACKBURN VS. DAMIEN FIELDS VS. ANTHONY “BK” DESIO VS. ROB GRAVES:
Dean Nash and Martin Blackburn start the match, and start very fast-paced. Nash scores the quick pin with a rollup. Damien Fields then enters, and the battle is taken more extreme. Fields and Nash battle viciously, until Nash pins Fields with a butterfly suplex. Anthony Desio enters and takes advantage of the weakened Nash, pinning him with a jumping DDT. Rob Graves comes out, completing the first go-round, and battles Desio hard. However, Desio gets the better of him, pinning him with a handful of tights. Martin Blackburn enters for the second time and redeems himself, pinning Desio with a belly-to-belly suplex. Moments later, Damien Fields enters and pins Blackburn with a diamond cutter, making Blackburn the first man officially eliminated from the tournament. Fields doesn’t follow far behind, as he rematches with Dean Nash and again comes up on the losing end, catching Nash’s dynamite dragon attack. Nash goes on to further impress by reversing Rob Graves dominator into a rollup, and eliminating him. We are now down to Dean Nash and Anthony Desio, with Nash having won four matches already tonight. Unfortunately for Nash, his luck runs out and Desio drops the deuce on him, hitting his finisher for the three count and the right to advance to the next round. However, with Nash’s four victories, he is not yet eliminated from the tournament, and looks to be in decent shape to earn that wild card spot.
WINNER: ANTHONY “BK” DESIO (16:31)

* MATCH 2: NYCW CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT: GROUP B: BOBBY BURRIS VS. CHARLES WALKER VS. MAVRIC VS. JERMAINE HARRIS VS. THE TYRANT:
The match starts with Bobby Burris and Charles Walker, two men who already know they don’t like each other after last week’s tag team match. Burris, of the Old School, and Walker, of the team reportedly now referred to as Da Banditz, fight it out hard, but Walker further irritates the Minnesota-born Burris, pinning him after a spinning heel kick. The next to enter is Mavric, a man we know very little about, as he makes his NYCW debut. The only thing that we do know about him is that he did not enter NYCW alone, but alongside his tag team partner Darkstar, who we assume will be participating in this tournament later on tonight. Mavric looks impressive in his debut appearance against Charles Walker, and eventually pins Walker with his feet on the ropes. However, Mavric’s luck does not last, as the next man out is Walker’s tag team partner Jermaine Harris. Harris proceeds to quickly earn revenge, pinning Mavric with a pumphandle drop. Harris seems to be on a roll, until the Tyrant enters. The Tyrant proceeds to effortlessly dispose of Harris with a full nelson slam. Bobby Burris comes out for round two, and is sent packing by Tyrant just as quickly. Charles Walker comes out, and set right down. Tyrant is on a serious roll. The rookie Mavric tries his luck against The Tyrant, but the big man destroys him with multiple rib breakers and a merciful pin. This leaves only Jermaine Harris, who has already lost to Tyrant tonight, to defeat him twice in a row and advance. He fails to win even once, falling victim again to the full nelson slam. Tyrant advances, and Dean Nash is still in the wild card spot.
WINNER: THE TYRANT (11:22)

* MATCH 3: NYCW CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT: GROUP C: ALEX MASON VS. JON DULBERG VS. FRANK BRIGGS VS. ANDREW LIVINGSTON VS. DEION YOUNG:
Old School member Alex Mason starts it off with the veteran Dulberg, and finds no luck, quickly submitting to the Seventh Inning Stretch. Dulberg then meets a much more formidable challenge in big Frank Briggs from Calgary, who challenges him like Dulberg did not expect to be challenged. Briggs, the big 328-pounder, catches Dulberg in the jaw with an enziguri and scores the upset pin. Briggs then meets someone his own size, impressive Mission Viejo, California native Andrew Livingston. The two engage in an epic battle, but Livingston emerges victorious after a northern lights driver. Big Deion Young is next out, but is no match for Livingston, falling victim to a gutwrench powerbomb. A fearful Alex Mason makes it back out and finds a fate no different than his partner earlier tonight; he is fed to a big man. Another gutwrench powerbomb is served up for Mason, eliminating him. Jon Dulberg then comes out, with not many in the audience giving him a chance against big Andrew Livingston, despite Dulberg’s career records. However, Dulberg proves them all wrong, knocking him down, heading to the top rope and hitting Sudden Death for the pin. Despite having everything taken out of him to get the win over Livingston, Dulberg now meets Frank Briggs, the man that defeated him earlier tonight. Dulberg digs deep and rolls up the big man, continuing on in the tournament and eliminating the impressive Briggs! Deion Young comes out next, and easily submits to Dulberg’s Seventh Inning Stretch. We are now down to Dulberg and Livingston, part two. The two battle hard, but it is Livingston that pulls out round two, pinning Dulberg with his gutwrench powerbomb. However, Dulberg’s four victories tie him with Dean Nash and keep his hopes of advancing alive.
WINNER: ANDREW LIVINGSTON (17:15)

* BACKSTAGE:
After the match, NYCW backstage reporter Josh McGuire catches up with Jon Dulberg. Dulberg tips his hat to Andrew Livingston, but states that he will find a way to advance in the tournament tonight, even if it took going out there and winning a match. Dulberg then makes a bold promise, guaranteeing to become the first NYCW Heavyweight Champion.

* MATCH 4: NYCW CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT: GROUP D: DAMON SAVAGE VS. KILAUEA VS. ROLAND HOLCOMB VS. THE BLIZZARD VS. D-GUNZ:
Damon Savage and Kilauea start it off, but the devious Savage pulls out the victory with a flying elbow smash. Roland Holcomb is out next and outsmarts Savage, rolling him up and grabbing the tights for the win. The Blizzard enters to no reaction, nor does he deserve one. Holcomb has a painfully easy time with him, pinning him with a curtain call. However, Holcomb’s day get a lot worse when D-Gunz enters as the fifth man. D-Gunz pins Holcomb with a powerbomb effortlessly. Then he eliminates Damon Savage with ah chokeslam. Another chokeslam does in Kilauea. A powerbomb to hell destroys Blizzard. And finally, Roland Holcomb refuses to wrestle D-Gunz a second time, retreating to the back and forfeiting his opportunity to win the gold, realizing that it wasn’t really an opportunity at all, seeing as how he’d have to defeat the man that demolished him earlier in the night twice in a row to even have a chance. Needless to say, D-Gunz wins.
WINNER: D-GUNZ (9:52)

* MATCH 5: NYCW CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT: GROUP E: DARKSTAR VS. RYAN VALENTINE VS. BIG VERNON GOODWIN VS. SOLOMON VS. MYSTERY ENTRANT:
Darkstar starts off the match and his career against the highly touted Ryan Valentine. Valentine lives up to the hype, pinning Darkstar with a Michinoku driver. Big Vernon Goodwin then enters, and after a hard-fought battle, pins Valentine with a sidewalk slam. A hush then falls over the arena as Solomon enters, preparing to compete for the very first time. Goodwin fights a great match, keeping Solomon off base and frustrating the rookie. Solomon then snaps, exiting the ring, grabbing a chair, and plastering Goodwin in the skull with it, prompting a disqualification. We then learn that the mystery entrant is PWA superstar Ryan “The Boss” Knakal, who easily disposes of the reeling Goodwin with his Boss Bomb. Darkstar then returns, but only to fall victim to the Boss Bomb. Knakal and Ryan Valentine then engage in a lengthy brawl, with Knakal and the Boss Bomb emerging victorious once again. The fans then buzz as Solomon returns to the ring and locks up with Knakal. Knakal holds his own in there, but is ultimately pinned by Solomon’s Deep Freeze. Vernon Goodwin comes back out, and this time does not earn a DQ win over Solomon. Rather, Solomon upends Big Vernon, putting him away with the Deep Freeze. Ryan Knakal then returns to the ring, battling Solomon for the final slot in the next round. Regardless of what happened, no one will break the tie between Dean Nash and Jon Dulberg, so both of those two are officially still alive. The winner of this Solomon-Knakal match advances, the loser does not. Knakal gives it his all, but again, it is not enough. Solomon proves his legitimacy, pinning Ryan Knakal with the Deep Freeze twice in one night and advancing on to the second round of the NYCW Championship tournament.
WINNER: SOLOMON (13:59)

* BACKSTAGE:
Backstage reporter Josh McGuire is standing by with Commissioner Jerry Georgatos, who announces that since Dynamite Dean Nash and the Human Highlight Jon Dulberg are tied with four victories for the sixth and final spot in the second round of the NYCW Championship tournament, the two will wrestle each other in tonight’s main event, winner take all.

* MATCH 6: ALLISON KELLY, TINA HOOVER, AND LIZ RUSH VS. JENNY OTTATI, DANA CHAPMAN, AND LI MEI:
We are then presented with an interlude of women’s wrestling, with the six females that competed in a battle royal last week split into teams of three. As was the case last week, Allison Kelly and Jenny Ottati are clearly the most impressive, dazzling audiences in that ring with a slew of high-risk maneuvers. In the end, Liz Rush and Dana Chapman engaged in a brawl, Jenny Ottati got distracted beating Tina Hoover’s ass on the outside, and Allison Kelly hit the eye of the hurricane to pin Li Mei and earn the victory.
WINNERS: ALLISON KELLY, TINA HOOVER, AND LIZ RUSH (5:24)

* BACKSTAGE:
Josh McGuire is now standing by with Dynamite Dean Nash. Nash is elated to have this opportunity to go against a man like Dulberg, and promises to make good on that opportunity tonight. He did not come here to lose, and will defeat Dulberg tonight and advance on in the tournament.

* MATCH 7: “THE HUMAN HIGHLIGHT” JON DULBERG VS. DYNAMITE DEAN NASH:
These two wrestled brilliantly, especially considering how much they had already wrestled earlier in the evening. Both turned their game up a notch, and both showed an unmatched desire to win. Of course, only one could win. The fans were split on this one, staying loyal to longtime favorite Dulberg, but also expressing tremendous respect for the newcomer Nash, who has been nothing but impressive since the second he walked in the door. In the end, Dulberg reverses out of Nash’s butterfly suplex and into the Play of the Day, which he hits with crushing impact, and covers for the three count. Pantera’s “Walk” resonates throughout the Hammerstein Ballroom and Dulberg celebrates his victory. Nash then gets to his feet and the two shake hands in a show of respect, which the crowd loves. Dulberg and Nash celebrate together in the ring as this week’s show comes to a close.
WINNER: JON DULBERG (9:42)