1/27/01: Saturday Night Explosion - Chicago, IL

[Dark Match]:
Pierre Oulette pinned Air Paris with the Cannonball in 0:06:52.
Rating: ** 1/2

[Dark Match]:
Erik Watts pinned Mike Sharpe with the Uranage in 0:08:40.
Rating: -* 3/4

Interview:
A little light is shed on the Gutterboy/Steve Boz situation.
Click here to see highlights.

The New Powers of Pain defeated
The Armstrong Family (Scott Armstrong and Steve Armstrong) when Bull Pain
 pinned Scott Armstrong after a frog splash in 0:05:40.
Rating: -* 1/4

Rhino pinned Rob Carlin after a power bomb in 0:00:47.
Rating: *
Click here to see highlights.

Jonny Storm pinned Barry Horowitz with the Split Legged Moonsault in 0:07:17.
Jonny Storm suffered an elbow injury. He will be out for approximately 2 cards.
Rating: * 1/4

Interview:
The Extremists issue a few challenges.
Click here to see highlights.

Indiana Kidd Jr. pinned Sebastian P. Sterling after a swinging neckbreaker in
           0:23:01.
Rating: ** 1/2
(Indiana Kidd Jr. retained the GLW Television Title.)

The Extremists (Ace Darling, Devon Storm and Lance Storm) defeated
The Grungers and Steve Boz when L. Storm pinned Skank with the Piledriver in
           0:00:13.
Rating: *
Click here to see highlights.

[Winner gets Midwestern Title shot next week]: Number-One-Contenders-Four Corners Match:
Mark Schrader defeated Juventud Guerrera, The Perfect Creation and Colorado Kid:
         x Colorado Kid beat J. Guerrera via the Rocky Mountain Flattop in
           0:08:35
         x Schrader beat P. Creation via the Schrader-plex in 0:15:56
         x Schrader beat Colorado Kid via the Schrader-plex in 0:21:47
Rating: ** 3/4

Interview:
Masato Tanaka's title reign gets moving right away.
Click here to see highlights.

The Headhunters defeated The Movement when Headhunter A pinned Ace after
a moonsault in 0:22:23.
Rating: *
(The Headhunters retained the GLW World Tag Team Titles.)

Ken Shamrock made Brian Adias submit to the Ankle Lock Submission in 0:12:07.
Rating: *** 1/2

Masato Tanaka pinned Big Titan with the Roaring Elbow in 0:14:34.
Rating: ** 1/2
(Masato Tanaka retained the GLW World Title.)



Match observations: 

Before the televised action began, Pierre Oulette and Erik Watts made their debuts in dark match action, defeating Air Paris and Mike Sharpe respectively.

The cameras began rolling and Saturday Night Explosion was on the air!  The show opened up with Gutterboy coming down to the ring and immediately calling down Steve Boz.  Gutterboy wasted no time accusing Steve Boz of being the one who
attacked him a couple of weeks ago so he could sneak in and take the World Tag Team Titles.  Boz denied the allegations, but then Gutterboy pulled out a pair of sunglasses similar to the kind Boz was wearing.  The argument continued & they
were just about to come to blows when Skank came in and separated them, telling them both that they needed to concentrate because the 3 of them had a match with the Extremists later in the night.  If they want any chance to beat the
Extremists, they'll need to all be on the same page, and I don't think they can do it.

Our first match of the evening was tag team action between Steve & Scott Armstrong and the New Powers of Pain.  The Armstrongs dominated every facet of this match.  NPoP tried everything but they just didn't have an answer to the Armstrong
Family.  Everything went right for the Armstrongs... except for the finish.  Ace Darling & Devon Storm decided they would interject themselves in this match, tripping up Scott allowing Bull Pain to hit a frog splash and take the win.  The
Armstrongs chased after Ace & Devon, but they high-tailed it out of there.

The next match was domination, plain and simple.  Rob Carlin had a huge mountain to climb as he was vastly undersized against Rhino.  Carlin came out fast, trying to get the big man off his feet, but Rhino caught him, crushed him, & pinned
him.  Carlin was brave, but he was fighting an uphill battle.  Rhino gets the win.

Next up we saw the wrestling debut of the newest member of the Extremists, "Wonderkid" Jonny Storm, who was instrumental in the Extremists 6-man tag victory over the Armstrongs last night.  He had his hands full with Barry Horowitz tonight
in this match, but Horowitz wasn't in top condition as he was still suffering the ill effects of his grueling strap match with Sterling P. Sebastian last night.  Jonny Storm picks up his first GLW victory with the Split Legged Moonsault.
Storm was holding his elbow awkward after the match.  We later learned that he slightly injured his elbow and he'll be out for a couple weeks, probably until the next supercard, Slam Masters: Crunch Time, on February 23rd in Chicago, Illinois.

After Jonny's match, the rest of the Extremists joined him in the ring for an interview.  During this interview, Ace Darling & Devon Storm challenged Scott & Steve Armstrong to a match at Slam Masters, as well as Jonny Storm challening
Brad Armstrong for the very same night.  Those matches have since been confirmed and will take place on February 23rd!  The GLW is really starting to heat up!

The Television Title was up for grabs in the next contest as Indiana Kidd Jr. put his belt on the line against Sebastian P. Sterling (along with manager Mike White).  This was one helluva match.  These two tried anything and everything to
keep the other down, but neither could seem to find that big move to put it away.  Eventually after a hard fought match, Indiana Kidd Jr. hit a swinging neckbreaker out of nowhere that stunned "The Good Lord" and got the 1-2-3.  Sterling
may not have won the title tonight, but the GLW Championship Committee was definitely watching this one.  Meanwhile, Indiana Kidd Jr. continues to roll.

Skank is absolutely livid, and I have to say that I can't blame him!  Skank was the only man on his side of this match that seemed to be focused.  The Extremists are a strong unit, and the team of the Grungers & Steve Boz were not.  Before
Skank & his team even made it to the ring, Gutterboy and Boz were arguing and fighting.  When the match started, this fighting continued.  Skank tried to separate it, but he was grabbed from behind, and Lance Storm nailed him with his
Piledriver and got the pinfall in a mere 13 seconds!  When Skank came back around, he was extremely upset as he yelled at both Gutterboy & Boz before storming to the back.

Next up we had an exciting match, four corners style, with the winner walking away with a shot at the Midwestern Title next week here on Explosion.  Four of the top young superstars in the wrestling world locked horns in this one: The 
Perfect Creation, Mark "the Shark" Schrader, "The Juice" Juventud Guerrera, and Colorado Kid.  These 4 all knew how important this match was, and therefore they pulled out everything they had.  Colorado Kid would be the first to score a
fall here, as he was able to ground Juventud's air attack and put him down with the Rocky Mountain Flattop.  After a few minutes of furious action, Mark Schrader just took over.  The Perfect Creation was the first to feel the bite of the
Shark as Schrader put him down with the Scrader-plex.  A few minutes later, Colorado Kid would meet the same fate.  Schrader will go on to face Doc Dean for the Midwestern Title next week.

After that, GLW announcer Mario Riviera got into the ring and introduced the man who went through 29 other competitors last night to be crowned the first World champion, Masato Tanaka.  Tanaka explained that he was honored to be the first
champion, but before he could get much further when Big Titan came down and got into Tanaka's face.  Titan said that he should have won the title last night and he was going to prove that he is champion worthy as he challenged Tanaka for a
match tonight!  Tanaka's first title defense will be tonight against Big Titan!

We weren't expecting any technical masterpiece in our next match with the Headhunters defending their World Tag Team Titles against the Movement, but what we did expect was 4 guys beating the tar out of each other, and that's exactly what
happened!  It took over 20 minutes, but eventually the Headhunters were able to retain their titles after their powerslam/moonsault combo on Johnny Ace.  The Movement may not have won the titles, but they definitely showed that they are
ready to compete in the GLW tag team division.

If Brian Adias is aiming to make a lot of people angry at him, he's doing a pretty good job.  Unfortunately for him, he made the wrong man angry here tonight.  While Ken Shamrock was doing his pre-match routine, Adias foolishly started
mocking him behind his back.  Shamrock turned around and caught Adias in the act, much to Adias' dismay.  Shamrock was none too happy about Adias antics, and he made that clear.  A very good match much to the surprise of a lot of people.
Adias put up a very good fight against the World's Most Dangerous Man, even getting out of the Ankle Lock Submission once (thanks to the ropes).  The second time it was locked on, however, Adias couldn't escape as Shamrock picks up the
victory here on Explosion.

It was now time for the main event, and there was much anticipation in the air as everyone was anxious to see Masato Tanaka make his first World Title defense and subsequently, the first title defense ever for that belt, taking on Big
Titan.  We haven't seen much of Titan's repetoire as of yet in the GLW, but one thing we know for sure about this guy is that he's big, he's mean, and he's a no nonsense kind of guy.  After this match though, we weren't sure if this guy
cares about winning or just straight up hurting people.  These two went at it back and forth early, but then Titan started to take control.  There was a few instances where many thought that Titan could have put Tanaka away, but instead he
opted to keep punishing the champ.  This would end up backfiring on him.  Near the end of the match, Titan set Tanaka up for his Power Bomb finisher, but he wasted some time as Tanaka scooped his legs and then hit him with a slingshot into
the turnbuckle!  Tanaka got up and then hit the Roaring Elbow and pinned Titan to retain the title.  As Tanaka celebrated his victory, Titan couldn't believe that he was pinned as he got up and nailed Tanaka in the back of the head with
the World Title belt!  Titan began to pummel on the champion and went as far as to nail him with the Power Bomb!  He then went to hit another Power Bomb, but thankfully Gran Hamada was in the house!  Hamada ran in and with a flurry of
offense sent Titan to the floor.  Titan wanted back in the ring, but a swarm of GLW officials held him back.  We'll see how this one develops next week.

Also on tap for next week, the first matches for the next GLW supercard, Slam Masters: Crunch Time, will be announced, as well as Doc Dean defending his Midwestern Title against Mark "the Shark" Schrader and a 10-man battle royal to see
who the #1 contender for Masato Tanaka's World Title at Slam Masters will be!