[2000-07-08-OVW-TV] Nick Dinsmore vs Flash Flanagan

[soup23]

We see Nick Dinsmore get laid out before we head to an interview with Flash. Flash says every match should be hardcore rules. Maybe if that was the case, we could get some finishes in this promotion. Dinsmore comes out to interrupt and guess who is yelling? That’s right Jim Cornette acting like this is an isolated event. We come back from the break and the match starts. We get some decent hardcore action and then some bullshit with the finish with the referee fighting each other and Cornette losing his voice. I swear you could pop a match in from Frebruary into the playlist of the stuff I am watching and I wouldn’t know the difference because the same bullshit happens in every OVW match and it makes nothing memorable. It is the same 4-5 people have a feud and nothing is ever clean. Neither the talent nor the production can elevate it at all. Flash wins here and does another decent but not great promo. *1/4

[AstroBoy]

I liked the action a good deal before all the ref stuff at the end. I thought both guys looked solid with Flash seeming more big league in terms of charisma and presence. They do get some good nearfalls before it really becomes overkill. Flash finally uses a ton of tricks to escape with the win and the belt.

 

**1/4

[GSR]

We start with a recap from last week’s show, where Flash interrupted a Nick Dinsmore interview with Jim Cornette. Dinsmore was in the process of thanking the fans and Danny Davis as he’d just signed a contract with the WWF when Flash confronts him. Flash is pissed! He says how he tore the house down at the Louisville Gardens, nearly broke himself in half and stole the show, yet this suck up gets a contract? Cornette replies that maybe it’s because of his attitude, maybe it’s because he beat Bruce Prichard up the one time and that’s why he hasn’t got a contract. Flash talks about how he’s worked for eight years and while Dinsmore was still in High School chasing cheerleaders, he was sleeping in his car and paying his dues. All Dinsmore did was suck up to Danny Davis, it was his night and he stole his contract! As Cornette gets between them, Flash cheap shots Dinsmore and then bloodies him up with some brass knux while Corny and a couple of officials try to get him to stop. They don’t have much luck and Flash ends up stealing the OVW title.

 

On to this week and Flash is in the ring with Dean Hill and wearing that stolen belt. Hill mentions how he lost via DQ to Nick Dinsmore at St. Therese’s Gym Tuesday night, and Flash responds that the disqualification rule is ancient and that every match should be held under ‘hardcore rules’ and claims that the only reason they’re not is because Danny Davis and Jim Cornette know he would be unstoppable. Robert Brisco screwed him on Tuesday night, Dutch Mantel screwed him at the Rockin’ Rumble, they’re doing everything they can to stop him from winning this title, but he has the belt so it belongs to him! Dinsmore joins them in the ring and Flash calls him a ‘puss’, which leads to Dinsmore slapping him across the face and then throwing him over the top rope to the outside. He picks up his OVW belt and challenges Flash to a no-DQ title match right now. Cornette is there trying to play peace maker and agrees to the match, but only after a commercial break!

 

Dinsmore starts out all hot, hits a belly to belly suplex and then launches Flash over the top rope to the outside, emphasizing that the ‘no disqualification’ rule is in effect. Crossbody off the top to the floor. He whips Flash into the ring post and then backdrops him on the concrete. Back inside and a belly to belly superplex for two. Whip to the corner, but Flash moves out the way of the ‘Stinger splash’ and Dinsmore crashes into the turnbuckles. He collects a chair from ringside, sets it up and just drops his opponent onto it. Now it’s Flash’s turn to throw Dinsmore to the outside before nailing him with a triple jump plancha to the floor. Flash jabs the chair into his ribs and lands a triple jump legdrop for his first two of the match. Dinsmore starts to fire back and gets a near fall off a modified spinebuster. ‘O’Connor roll’, however as Flash kicks out, he sends Dinsmore straight into referee Robert Brisco knocking him down. Phil Fair takes it on himself to replace Brisco, German suplex by Dinsmore, but Fair’s count is ridiculously slow giving Flash ample time to escape. Brisco is up and attacks Fair, which sadly gets a bigger pop than anything in the match so far. As the officials are going at it, Flash clocks Dinsmore with some brass knux, but he kicks out of the pin with authority and Flash lands on Brisco KO’ing him for a second time. Northern lights suplex and Nick Dumayer slides into the ring and we have our third referee of the night. As Dumayer checks on Brisco, Flash shoves Dinsmore into him for yet another ref bump. He cracks Dinsmore over the back with a chair, rolls him up (pulling the trunks in the process) and Brisco comes around to count the three as we have ourselves a new OVW Heavyweight champion.

 

Quick post-match interview where Flash again accuses Cornette of trying to screw him over, but he couldn’t keep him down and now he’s the new OVW champion. He thinks that when the WWF sees how he took care of one of their ‘boys’, they’ll have to give him a contract. Cornette then reminds him that he’s still got a title match against Nick Dinsmore at St. Therese’s on Tuesday, only this time he’s the champion and not the challenger. As they’ve been through all the refs and none of them could handle Dinsmore and him, he’s appointing The Damaja as the special guest official for the match.

 

Good promo by Flash from the previous week kicking all of this off, talking about how he paid his dues, busts his ass every night but still gets overlooked for a WWF contract. He was much better than Dinsmore who was nowhere near as confident and stumbled over his words at one point. I liked the match, up to a point, as Flash adds something different to the rest of the top guys here. The likes of Dinsmore, Conway and Damaja are all solid, if not spectacular, but Flash has that spectacular in his arsenal. Of course where this match went to pot was with all the garbage involving the referees. Three ref bumps and a spot where two of them were fighting each other. The reaction that spot got too means that the audience here like this stuff and it’s probably not the last we’ve seen of it. Did Flash ever get a developmental deal or is it just storyline? If not, I can understand why he’s aggrieved seeing others get them and then comparing them to himself.

[Tim Evans]

I'm pretty sure Flash had a developmental deal in the late 90's. I'm guessing that's why he stayed in Memphis for so long.

 

The match was alright until the finish. Flash almost injures himself with the springboard dive with the chair. The ref bumps were ridiculous but not as bad as Walking Tall Jim Cornette. I get that he's the boss but showing no fear to Flash during the interview was awful. Is Dinsmore a heel during this? It sure seems like it.