1/6/01: SNE - Kick-Off Special - Chicago, IL

Mark Schrader pinned Mike Sharpe with the Schrader-plex in 0:08:18.
Rating: -*

Barry Horowitz pinned Sebastian P. Sterling with the Horowitz Roll-Up in
           0:02:19.
Rating: 3/4*

[World Tag Team Title Tournament - Semi-Finals]:
The Headhunters defeated
The Armstrong Family (Scott Armstrong and Steve Armstrong) when Headhunter A
 pinned Scott Armstrong after a power bomb in 0:09:30.
Rating: * 1/4

[World Tag Team Title Tournament - Semi-Finals]:
The Extremists (Ace Darling and Devon Storm) defeated The Grungers when Darling
 pinned Skank after an elbowdrop from the second turnbuckle in 0:11:11.
Rating: **

The Perfect Creation pinned Indiana Kidd Jr. with the
Spinning Northern Lights Bomb in 0:09:09.
Rating: **

Steve Boz pinned Doc Dean with the Boz Blast in 0:12:32.
Rating: ** 1/2

Triangle Match:
Masato Tanaka defeated Air Paris and K.C. McCulloch when M. Tanaka pinned
McCulloch with the Roaring Elbow in 0:12:59.
Rating: ** 1/2

Ken Shamrock pinned Rhino after an armbar takedown in 0:11:06.
Rating: ** 1/4

Big Titan pinned Brad Armstrong with the Power Bomb in 0:26:25.
Rating: *** 1/4

[World Tag Team Title Tournament - Finals]: Match for the vacant GLW World Tag Team Titles:
The Headhunters defeated The Extremists (Ace Darling and Devon Storm) when
Headhunter B pinned Storm after a power bomb in 0:28:17.
Rating: ** 1/2
(The Headhunters won the GLW World Tag Team Titles.)



Match observations: 

Great Lakes Wrestling is open for business!  2001 has opened with a bang in the wrestling world as the GLW is here and ready to go!  GLW CEO Ryan Niemiller has signed a great crop of stars from around the globe to definitely make the GLW a
force to be reckoned with in the new millenium.

The first GLW match goes to Mark "The Shark" Schrader, who picked up an impressive victory against perennial loser, "Iron" Mike Sharpe.  Sharpe is a veteran in this game and well known for his losing accument, and that continued here.
The Shark looked fantastic in this match and won with his Schader-plex.

The result of our second match may surprise a lot of fans out there.  Sebastian P. Sterling came out to a very long ring entrance in a fancy wardrobe, and even a red carpet that his manager Mike White laid out for him.  His opponent was
Barry Horowitz, a veteran with a reputation similar to Mike Sharpe's.  However, "The Good Lord" as he is calling himself underestimated Horowitz's abilities, and in just over two minutes, was pinned via the Horowitz Roll-Up!  Sterling just
snapped as the crowd went crazy.  Sterling proceeded to pound on Horowitz with a vengeance and had to be physically pulled off of Horowitz.  Not the way Mr. Sterling wanted to start his GLW stint.

Tonight we would see the crowning of the first GLW World Tag Team champions (we don't waste any time here in the GLW) with a 4-team tournament, the first match being the Headhunters, superstars overseas taking on Scott & Steve Armstrong of
the famous Armstrong Family lineage.  The Armstrongs were definitely at a size
disadvantage here as one Headhunter nearly outweighed the two of them together!  That fact aside, the Armstrongs fought as if they were much bigger, giving the
Headhunters all they could handle and more.  However, the fact that the Headhunters are identical twins worked to their advantage, as they made an illegal switch behind the ref's back when it looked like the Armstrongs were going to seal
the deal.  The Headhunters get a cheamp win, but a win none the less to move on to the finals.

But who would the Headhunters face?  We would find out in the next contest with Ace Darling & Devon Storm with the lovely Dawn Marie, collectively part of the Lance Storm led Extremists, taking on the Grungers, Gutterboy & Skank.  This was
a fast paced match to say the least.  The Grungers kept Darling & Storm on their toes with their unorthodox style the entire match, but the Extremists kept their cool and used some underhanded tactics (aka an assist from Dawn Marie who
held onto Skank's foot when he was trying a superplex on Darling, who then followed with an elbowdrop from the second rope to get the pin).  It would be the Headhunters and the Extremists for the World Tag Team Titles.

Our next match is one that showed just what the wrestlers of the GLW are capable of.  "Greatness Himself" The Perfect Creation, a cocky young superstar out of Pennsylvania taking on a regional fan favorite, Indiana Kidd Jr.  These two did
not put on the greatest match in the history of this sport, but it was certainly fundamentally sound one that showed what these two were made of.  This was an even match, but TPC's willingness to stretch the rules pushed him over.  With
the aid of some brass knuckles, TPC picked up a close victory over Indiana Kidd Jr.  The crowd was livid, but I think TPC was more than happy to walk away with the less than honorable victory.

The next match was another good one with hometown boy Steve Boz going up against Doc Dean from England.  Dean, much like Sebastian P. Sterling we saw earlier, is very arrogant and proud of his English roots.  To be proud of your heritage
is one thing, but you don't have to be a jerk about it.  Dean refused to lock up at the beginning of this match, claiming he was "too good" to lock up with a local yokel.  Eventually they locked up and put on a stellar match.  After a lot
of back and forth action, Steve Boz would put this one away for his hometown crowd with his Boz Blast.  Dean threw a tantrum when he came to, but tantrum or not, you lost, pal.

We had a triangle match on tap next, and this one was great.  Three very different styles here, with K.C. McCulloch being very technically sound, Air Paris taking it to the air, and Masato Tanaka, the Japanese native who will just straight
up pop you in the mouth.  These three were looking to put on a good show for
the Chicago crowd, and they definitely didn't disappoint.  This match was highlighted by a great string of moves between McCulloch and Tanaka that would give us the ending of this match with Tanaka finally putting McCulloch away with the
Roaring Elbow.  Terrific match.

The next contest we expected to be hard-hitting, and it certainly lived up to that expectation.  We didn't know whether or not Rhino would be tentative about locking up with world famous shootfighter Ken Shamrock, but Rhino went right at
the World's Most Dangerous Man, showing no fear at all.  Shamrock knew he was going to be in for a battle before this one started, but I don't think he expected Rhino to come out with that much fire.  Shamrock eventually got Rhino down and
worked over the big man's arm.  He worked it over so well that Shamrock would eventually get the duke... after an armbar takedown.  Not the most conventional way to do it, but a win is a win.

Our semi-main event was next, and what a match this was!  If it wasn't for the shady finish, this match could have been even better.  Big Titan and Brad Armstrong are two of the superstars CEO Ryan Niemiller is hoping will help lead the
GLW, and with the type of match they put on tonight, that would be a good bet.  These two went at it for over 25 minutes of non-stop action, and the crowd ate up every minute of it.  The only thing that soured this match is that Lance
Storm, the leader of the Extremists, brought out his boys and got involved, tripping up Armstrong allowing Titan to hit his devestating Power Bomb and get the pin.  The crowd was still confused as to why the Extremists got involved, but it
soon became apparant when Lance got in the ring and started to buddy up with Big Titan.  Storm obviously wants to get on Big Titan's good side early on here.  First, Lance offered Big Titan a handshake, which he accepted.  Ace Darling,
your typical flunky, tried the same, and Titan accepted, but when Darling tried to pull away, Titan pulled him in and leveled him with a lariat!  Devon Storm came to his partner's defense but received a big boot to the face for his
trouble.  Titan then looked Lance Storm's way, but Storm wisely exited stage left.  Titan apparantly walks to the beat of his own drummer.

With that, we had our main event, and the GLW World Tag Team champions would be crowned!  The Headhunters were fairly fresh as compared to Ace Darling & Devon Storm, who just had a little unexpected tussle with Big Titan.  That didn't stop
them from giving it all they had against the Headhunters.  Darling & Storm had one goal in mind during this match, and that was to survive.  They were much quicker than the Headhunters, so they tried to stay away at all costs and wear the
Headhunters down slowly, and that's just what they did.  However, after over 25 minutes of action, the last thing the two Extremists wanted was for the
Armstrongs to extract some revenge.  Yes, apparantly Brad Armstrong was none too happy with being screwed over the previous match with Big Titan, so he and his brothers came down and did a little screwing over of their own in the form of a
chair to Devon Storm's back.  A huge power bomb later and your winners, and the first ever Great Lakes Wrestling World Tag Team champions... THE HEADHUNTERS!  The show came to a close with the Armstrongs and the Extremists brawling while
the Headhunters left with their titles.

Be sure to join us next week for Saturday Night Explosion where we will have an 8-man tournament to crown the first Television champion as well as a 10-man battle royal to crown the first Midwestern champion!  You won't want to miss it!