Special 2 Hour program tonight in honor of it being the Barry Windham Farewell Tour 2002 stop in NPW.
NPW Heavyweight Championship Title Defense
Al Hardamann (c) v Diamond Dallas Page
Al Hardamann defended his NPW Heavyweight title against his allie Diamond Dallas Page. Hardamann took advantage of a DDP mistake and won clean. DDP had Hardamann right where he wanted him but he wasted some time signalling for the Diamond Cutter and Hardamann sent him into the turnbuckle. Hardamann followed up with a belly-to-back suplex and then a swinging neckbreaker to take the win. Kimberly looked a little pissed off at DDP for losing.
[Al Hardamann pinned Diamond Dallas Page after a swinging neckbreaker at 12:55]
[commercial break]
The Patriot v Eric Scott
The Patriot defeated Eric Scott with the Uncle Slam, but was decimated after the match by an attack from behind by Scott.
[The Patriot pinned Eric Scott after the Uncle Slam at 7:15]
[commercial break]
LAST BLOOD MATCH
Jesse Hennig v Steve Corino
Next up was a "Last Blood" match between bitter rivals Jesse Hennig and Steve Corino. All wrestlers, referees, and other NPW officials were banned from ringside. ONLY the Illinois State sports representative and the medical doctor were allowed to sit at ringside. The match would continue until the state (at the guidance of the MD) called it off because one man could not continue. Not much of this match was able to be shown on Television. Both men were bloodied early, and as the doctor began to look pretty concerned the match began to drift from ringside. The State rep and doctor simply could not keep up with the wrestlers as they fought through the arena. Finally the two stopped long enough while fighting in the parking lot for the doctor to have a good look. He called for the bell declaring that Steve Corino had lost too much blood and could not continue, awarding the match to Jesse Hennig.
[Jesse Hennig beats Steve Corino in a Last Blood Match when the match is stopped because of blood loss to Corino at 16:08] [5:00 televised].
[commercial break]
4-Way Tag Match - For the vacant NPW Tag Titles
Malenkos v Freebirds v Young Guns v Caruthers/Enos
Next up was a 4-way tag match for the vacant NPW Tag titles. It was done elimination style and the tag team of the Malenkos was eliminated first by the Freebirds. Next the Young Guns were eliminated by the Freebirds. Finally however, the tag team of Bryan Caruthers and Mike Enos (seconded by Nick Bockwinel) won the contest when Caruthers pinned Hendrix after a spinebuster. Caruthers and Enos are the new NPW tag team champions.
[Bryan Caruthers & Mike Enos win the NPW Tag Team Titles in a 4-way match at 20:11] [10:00 televised]
[commercial break]
Catfight
Madusa v April Hunter
The male fans really enjoyed the next match, a catfight between Madusa and April Hunter, with Kimberly as the special guest referee. Since Madusa is a member of Jericho's BAI group, and Steve Riley also a member of Jericho's group has been trying to recruit Kimberly, it looked like this might be a good test of Kimberly's allegiances. Well for what it was worth Kimbelry began to call the match right down the middle but in the end she helped April Hunter defeat Madusa by flipping Madusa's leg off the bottom rope and then still counting the 1, 2, 3. following a DDT by Hunter.
[April Hunter pinned Madusa after a DDT at 5:54]
[commercial break]
Sinister Stan Baker v Playboy Vincent Regliatti
Sinister Stan Baker beat Playboy Vincent Regliatti, but Baker was punked out after the match by Regliatti and Eric Scott.
[Stan Baker pinned Vincent Regliatti after the heart punch at 7:40]
[commercial break]
MAIN EVENT
WWA/NWA Undisputed World Heavyweight Championship Match
"The Champion of Champions" Barry Windham
v
"Your Hero" Chris Jericho
The match started when Jericho offered his hand to Windham who then slapped Jericho across the face instead. Jericho looked surprised and bailed out of the ring. He grabbed a mic and tried to get the fans to cheer for him "their hometown boy" only to receive a chorus of boos and jeers. Windham got Jericho to toss him the mic and then told Jericho to stop stalling just to be able to say he lasted 5 minutes with the greatest of all time.
Jericho got into the ring and tried to take Windham down with a single leg takedown but ate a knee instead. Windham tossed Jericho around the ring like a ragdoll delivering many trademark chops to Jericho's chest as he pinned him to the turnbuckle. Five minutes into the match and Jericho's chest was beat red.
Windham's first mistake in the match was going for a bulldog without it being properly cinched in. Jericho managed to throw Windham head first into the turnbuckle. The Canadian then took control and even managed to deliver two consecutive powerbombs on the bigger champion.
Jericho thought he had the match in hand and went for the Hero's Welcome (formerly the Liontamer). But Windham's superior reach allowed him to block it by reaching backward and pulling on the foot of Jericho, causing him to lose his balance. Jericho continued his assault but it became apparent that he did not have enough conventional moves to damage Windham enough to pick up the win.
So he went outside the ring to grab a steel chair and risk disqualification. But Windham caught Jericho climbing between the ropes carrying the chair, with a nasty dropkick which drove the chair into the head and shoulder of Jericho who tumbled out of the ring.
Windham followed the challenger out of the ring and threw him around the guardrails and the ringposts. Jericho was busted wide open, and Windham twice re-entered the ring to break the 20 count. Finally Windham put Jericho through the announce table with a double underhook piledriver. Jericho was bleeding profusely at this point. However, the challenger got a short reprieve when the ringside doctor stopped the match for a few seconds to take a look at Jericho's cuts along with the ref.
As Windham strutted around the inside of the ring Raymond Bingham entered the ring with his new WWA North American Heavyweight Championship. But Windham was moving around too much and saw Bingham in time to duck. The champion then took Bingham down with a double underhook suplex. Jericho re-entered the ring at this point and took Windham down with a knee to the back.
Jericho took his second long advantage of the night working over Windham's lower back before delivering a herosault and getting a 2 count. Frustrated Jericho went for a powerbomb, but Windham countered with a backflip, and then got on top of Jericho for a series of mounted punches. Every time Windham hit Jericho in the head a little bit of blood would splatter up.
Picking Jericho up by the hair Windham pulled him into the center of the ring and delivered the Western Lariat.
[Barry Windham pinned Chris Jericho after a Western Lariat at 25:33]
Post-Match: Windham had the mic and was about to speak when he was interrupted by NPW President Jack Larkin who came to the ring in a suit, accompanied by April Hunter in an evening gown. They carried a trophy to the ring. This was the first time Larkin ever appeared LIVE on a Mid-AM or NPW show. He wanted to pay tribute to the champion of champions. Instead Windham mocked Larkin and refereed to comments Larkin had made recently on the PWA site about Windham. Windham took the mic away from Larkin, cut his closing promo, pushed Larkin to the ground, took the trophy in one hand and April Hunter in the other arm and left the arena...still the undisputed World Champion..still the champion of champions.
Farewell Mr. Windham
FADE TO BLACK
