1/26/01: Deadly Draw 2001 - Chicago, IL

Strap No-Countout-No-DQ-Match:
Sebastian P. Sterling pinned Barry Horowitz with the Sterling Suplex in 0:13:42
.
Rating: 1/2*

[Wildcard Match]:
K.C. McCulloch made Mike Sharpe submit to an achilles tendon hold in 0:03:47.
Rating: *

The Headhunters defeated Skank and Steve Boz when Headhunter B pinned S. Boz
 after a moonsault in 0:30:43.
Rating: *** 1/2
(The Headhunters retained the GLW World Tag Team Titles.)

Two-out-of-three-Falls Match:
Indiana Kidd Jr. beat Juventud Guerrera 2 falls to 1:
         x J. Guerrera beat I. Kidd Jr. via the Juvy Driver in 0:07:54
         x I. Kidd Jr. beat J. Guerrera via a jack-knife power bomb in 0:15:58
         x I. Kidd Jr. beat J. Guerrera via a moonsault in 0:26:47
Rating: *** 1/4
(Indiana Kidd Jr. retained the GLW Television Title.)
Click here to see highlights.

The Armstrong Family (Brad Armstrong, Scott Armstrong and Steve Armstrong)
 defeated The Extremists (Ace Darling, Devon Storm and Lance Storm) when
Scott Armstrong pinned L. Storm after hitting him with a baseball bat in
           0:27:46.
Rating: ***
Click here to see highlights.

[Deadly Draw 2001]: No-Countout-No-DQ-30-Man Royal Rumble for the vacant GLW World Title:
Masato Tanaka won a 30-man Royal Rumble:
         x J. Storm and Steve Armstrong started out.
         x Scott Armstrong entered at 0:02:00
         x Steve Armstrong threw out Scott Armstrong after a tiger suplex in
           0:02:51
         x Doc Dean entered at 0:04:00
         x Steve Armstrong threw out D. Dean in 0:04:32
         x Steve Boz entered at 0:06:00
         x S. Boz threw out Steve Armstrong after a back suplex in 0:06:07
         x S. Boz threw out J. Storm in 0:06:55
         x Brian Adias entered at 0:08:00
         x Barry Horowitz entered at 0:10:00
         x Brian Adias threw out S. Boz in 0:11:03
         x Brian Adias threw out Horowitz after a backbreaker in 0:11:23
         x Lance Storm entered at 0:12:00
         x Gran Hamada entered at 0:14:00
         x Colorado Kid entered at 0:16:00
         x Mark Schrader entered at 0:18:00
         x K.C. McCulloch entered at 0:20:00
         x Hamada threw out Brian Adias after a legsweep in 0:20:38
         x Ace Darling entered at 0:22:00
         x Air Paris entered at 0:24:00
         x Colorado Kid threw out Paris after a roll away in 0:24:39
         x Darling threw out McCulloch after an armbar submission in 0:25:53
         x Rob Carlin entered at 0:26:00
         x L. Storm threw out Darling in 0:26:55
         x Sebastian P. Sterling entered at 0:28:00
         x Schrader threw out Hamada in 0:29:01
         x Mike Burton entered at 0:30:00
         x Carlin threw out L. Storm after a cradle suplex in 0:30:53
         x Devon Storm entered at 0:32:00
         x Schrader threw out Carlin in 0:32:41
         x Masato Tanaka entered at 0:34:00
         x Storm threw out Burton after the Swinging DDT in 0:35:01
         x Brad Armstrong entered at 0:36:00
         x Johnny Ace entered at 0:38:00
         x Skank entered at 0:40:00
         x Colorado Kid threw out Ace in 0:40:30
         x M. Tanaka threw out Skank after the Running Forearm Smash in 0:41:52
         x Indiana Kidd Jr. entered at 0:42:00
         x Juventud Guerrera entered at 0:44:00
         x Mike Sharpe entered at 0:46:00
         x Iron Mike threw out B. Armstrong in 0:46:39
         x Sterling threw out Storm in 0:46:44
         x Gutterboy entered at 0:48:00
         x Big Titan entered at 0:50:00
         x Schrader threw out Colorado Kid in 0:51:48
         x Ken Shamrock entered at 0:52:00
         x The Perfect Creation entered at 0:54:00
         x Rhino entered at 0:56:00
         x Iron Mike threw out Rhino in 0:56:18
         x Titan threw out Sterling in 0:58:53
         x I. Kidd Jr. threw out Titan in 0:59:43
         x M. Tanaka threw out Iron Mike in 1:05:12
         x M. Tanaka threw out Gutterboy after a piledriver in 1:07:05
         x I. Kidd Jr. threw out Shamrock in 1:08:55
         x M. Tanaka threw out J. Guerrera after a small package in 1:09:21
         x M. Tanaka threw out P. Creation in 1:11:00
         x M. Tanaka threw out Schrader in 1:17:28
         x M. Tanaka threw out I. Kidd Jr. after a flying forearm in 1:17:52
Rating: * 3/4
(Masato Tanaka won the GLW World Title.)



Match observations: 

The first GLW supercard would be pivotal to show the world whether or not Great Lakes Wrestling was here to stay or not.  Well, after the show that was put on tonight, I think there's no question that GLW has made itself a home in the
wrestling world!  From top to bottom, this one had it all, so let's get right to it!

The opening match was "The Good Lord" Sebastian P. Sterling getting his opportunity to attempt to get revenge on Barry Horowitz because he feels that "losing to a man of Horowitz's talent was beneath" him.  Sterling had his opportunity in
this hard-hitting Strap Match.  Sebastian claims to be primp and propper, but he showed he had a meanstreak as well as he left Horowitz's back red and blistered.  Horowitz got his shots in too though, as both men were worse for wear after
this one.  Horowitz made a mistake at the end though when he went to the top and Sterling pulled him off with the strap.  The Sterling Suplex followed and The Good Lord finally was able to pull one over Horowitz, but he paid the price for
it.

The Wildcard Match followed, and needless to say, this one was a domination more than it was a match.  K.C. McCulloch was the first man picked, and his opponent would be "Iron" Mike Sharpe.  I think you can figure out what happened.
McCulloch picks up the easy victory.

Our World Tag Team Title match was next, and this one was stranger than I can put into words.  This one pitted the tag team champion Headhunters against the makeshift team of Skank and Steve Boz due to the mysterious attack on Gutterboy 2
weeks ago.  This was a fantastic rematch between these two teams with Skank & Boz once again giving the Headhunters a run for their money.  It looked like Skank & Boz were going to get the upset here when Gutterboy came down to the ring in
crutches.  Boz was up top when Gutterboy out of nowhere nailed him in the back with one of the crutches to a huge collective "WHOA!" from the crowd.  Boz fell right into a Headhunter A powerslam which was followed up by a 400-pound
Moonsault from Headhunter B to let them retain the titles.  When Boz came to, he and Gutterboy got into a huge argument while Skank tried to mediate.  We'll have to find out what this was about tomorrow night.

The Television Title would be up for grabs in next bout, and what a terrific display of wrestling this one was.  The champion, Indiana Kidd Jr., has looked good thus far in the GLW, and Juventud Guerrera has looked the same.  They put on a
fantastic match two weeks ago in the TV Title Tournament Finals, and this one followed the same vein.  What made this one interesting is that it was best two out of three falls, which means there would be a lot more strategy involved.
Guerrera started this one out fast, hitting a fast explosion of offense.  Indiana Kidd Jr. would fight back hitting some offense of his own, but one mistake allowed the Juice to hit the Juvy Driver and take a 1 fall to nothing lead.
Indiana Kidd Jr. stayed focused though and gained a fall of his own, reversing a flying Frankensteiner with a jack-knife power bomb.  The crowd was really starting to get into now as the next fall would determine who walked away the
Television champion.  Near the end of the match, Indiana Kidd Jr. and Juventud Guerrera began hitting each other with everything they had respectively.  Eventually a chair would prove the difference as Juvy tried to use it to waffle the
champion, but Kidd Jr. ducked and kicked Juvy in the gut.  Indiana Kidd Jr. then brought the chair into the ring and used it to put extra pop on a moonsault and take the final fall to win the contest and remain the Television champion.

It was time for the first part of our main event, and this one was outstanding.  The Extremists and the Armstrong Family have already built up quite a rivalry here in the early stages of the GLW, and it really showed here.  The way that
these six men tore into each other would make you think that these guys had been at each other for years.  Not a whole lot of specifics to say about this one throughout the match except for a lot of great action.  These guys are certainly
the creme de la creme of the GLW.  The ending of this one was very interesting, as a mystery guy made his way to ringside brandishing a baseball bat!  This guy wasted no time letting his intentions be known as he tossed the bat to Lance
Storm in the ring... well, at least he tried to, but Scott Armstrong picked it off and belted Storm with it!  The ref made the count and the Armstrongs walked out with the victory.  It was later revealed that this man's name is Jonny Storm
and he's obviously the newest member of the Extremists, leading us to believe that this one isn't over by a long shot.

We had just one more match tonight, and that was the big one!  Thirty men would walk in bidding for their chance at being the first GLW World champion, but only one would walk away with that honor.  It started off with a bang as the first
two men in the Deadly Draw were Jonny Storm and Steve Armstrong.  Armstrong was fired up to get a piece of the newest Extremist, but he was slowed down when Storm blinded him with powder to the eyes!  Storm thought he had the upperhand,
but he was in a boat load of trouble because Scott Armstrong was #3, or at least so we thought.  Scott came down to help his brother and patted him on the back, but the blinded Steve got confused and planted his brother with a tiger suplex
and then tossed him to the floor!  A short while after, the #4 man, Steve Boz, sent Steve to the outside as well.  The match continued on, and the ring started to fill up.  Amongst the wrestlers that impressed tonight was Mark "the Shark"
Schrader, who drew an early number but managed to last in this one for just under an hour and almost pulled it out.  Tonight was just the night of one superstar though, and that man, is Masato Tanaka.  He entered at #19 and was responsible
for the elimination of 7 individuals.  Masato Tanaka wanted it, and he got it: your first GLW World champion, Masato Tanaka.  He won't have any time to rest though as I'm sure there's many wrestlers just foaming at a mouth for a chance to
dethrone him.

Be sure to join us tomorrow on Explosion.  We will attempt to sort out the whole Skank/Steve Boz/Gutterboy situation, as well as hear from our World champion, Masato Tanaka!  Don't miss it!