Florida Championship Wrestling TV Report
May 24, 2009
Aired on the Bright House Sports Network
Report by Cody Endres, PWTorch contributor

-Following the opening montage, we went straight to the ring.

1 – TYSON KIDD (w/Natalya) vs. YOSHITATSU

Announcers Dusty Rhodes and Josh Mathews comment that with Natalya being drafted to ECW, she is now completely aligned with Kidd. That didn't seem to stop her before. Dusty refers to Yoshitatsu as "the man from Japan" since he probably can't pronounce his name. The match begins with an exchange of offense. Kidd tosses Yoshitatsu on the floor and distracts the ref, giving Natalya the opportunity to kick Yoshitatsu in the face. Kidd hits a baseball slide to the outside. Back in the ring, Kidd works on a headlock. The announcers talk about Kaval's (Low-Ki) and Joe Hennig's injuries. In the storyline, Kaval was injured by a mystery assailant who has yet to be revealed. Hennig was the FCW Champion, but had to forfeit the title due to injury. Dusty expects FCW to change greatly when those two return.

Yoshitatsu breaks out of the headlock with some elbows and a kick. Yoshitatsu lands a Muta elbow and hits a springboard missile dropkick for a nearfall. Kidd goes for a sunset flip, but Yoshitatsu rolls through and hits a running kick for another nearfall. Not long after, Kidd sinks in the Hart Lock (a sort of figure-four and triangle choke combo) for the submission win.

WINNER: Tyson Kidd in 6:30. Started slow, but picked up near the finish.

-At the announcer's booth, Dusty and Mathews previewed the main event of Drew McIntyre defending the FCW Title against D.H. Smith. Next week on the show, we get to see the debut of Dawson Alexander.

-Fletcher Chase hosts "FCW Spotlight" which is a pre-taped sit-down interview with Dawson Alexander. Chase said that Dawson is a Harvard law graduate, a former cast member of "I Love New York" on VH1, and is the fiance of Jennifer Hudson. Dawson said he hasn't had the typical path of becoming a wrestler. After graduation, he worked as a lawyer at a top firm in Chicago for a year. He then wanted to pursue his dream of being in entertainment which led him to being on the VH-1 show and later meeting Jennifer Hudson. Now Dawson wants to pursue his dream of being in SPORTS entertainment. Dawson said someday he'll be FCW Champion and then WWE Champion.

[Commercial Break]

-FCW President Steve Keirn brought out both candidates for FCW General Manager position: Fletcher Chase and Abraham Washington with his security team. Each man gets one minute to explain how they are qualified for the job. Chase started and said he was the highest ranking executive at the network. A group of fans walked to the ringside area and started chanting something to drown out the speech. Chase ranted and raved until his time was over. Washington started his speech, but a group of babyface wrestlers surrounded the ringside area and chanted over him. Washington asked, "What the FCW is going on in here?" Keirn thanked them both for the speeches. He announced that next week would be their final challenge and then voting would start to name the new GM. Complete waste of time. Horrible.

[Commercial Break]

2 – NATALYA (w/Rosa Mendes) vs. ANGELA – "Queen of FCW" Match

Angela is the current "Queen of FCW." Instead of a title, she gets to wear a tiara. Mendes has been unable to win the crown herself, so she's brought Natalya to do her dirty work. Why doesn't she bring in Beth Phoenix? Natalya takes Angela down right away and swats at the back of her head. Angela is barely able to leapfrog over Natalya. Angela hits a huracanrana. Natalya catches Angela jumping off the second rope and hits a Samoan drop. Natalya dominates with a snap suplex followed by a surfboard submission. Angela rallies back with a pair of dropkicks. Angela climbs to the top rope, but Mendes shoves her off for the DQ. Mendes tries to steal the tiara, but Sweet Papi Sanchez makes the save.

WINNER: Angela by DQ in 4:55 to remain "Queen of FCW." Angela is beyond bad.

[Commercial Break]

-Footage aired from last week of Johnny Prime attacking Alex Riley. The mixed tag match advertised last week has now been changed to a singles match.

3 – ALEX RILEY (w/Beverly) vs. JOHNNY PRIME

Angela was supposed to team with Prime in the advertised mixed tag, but now she's not even accompanying him to ringside. Riley slaps Prime to start the match and quickly ducks outside the ring. Back and forth offense. Prime with a delayed overhead suplex. Prime climbs to the top rope, but Riley leaps up Shelton Benjamin style and executes a superplex. Prime fires back with multiple back elbows. Riley hits a swinging neck breaker. Prime surprises Riley with a schoolboy for the fluke win. Afterwards, Prime hoists Beverly over his shoulder and carries her to the back with him.

WINNER: Johnny Prime in 4:33. Decent action.

[Commercial Break]

4 – DREW MCINTYRE vs. D.H. SMITH – FCW Title Match

Joe Hennig vacated the title a while back due to injury and McIntyre defeated Eric Escobar to become the current champion. Mathews mentioned that Smith was trained by MMA superstar Josh Barnett. News to me. Feeling out process early on. Smith attempted an arm bar submission, but McIntyre got to the ropes. McIntyre went to the outside to regroup.

[Commercial Break]

Back to the match and McIntyre is now in control after a snap suplex. Smith shoulder tackles McIntyre into the turnbuckle. Both men exchange blows. Dusty calls it a slobberknocker. Smith with a Northern Lights suplex. McIntyre connects with a running boot. Smith retaliates with a double underhook suplex. McIntyre hits a DDT. McIntyre climbs to the top, but Smith crotches him on the ropes and gives him a superplex. Both men are out and the ref begins a 10 count. Smith slowly crawls over for a nearfall. Immediately after the kick out, both men pop up to their feet. Nice selling. They both exchange roll ups and schoolboys for a series of nearfalls. Out of nowhere, McIntyre hits the Scot Drop (flatliner) for the win.

WINNER: Drew McIntyre in 11:11 of what aired to retain the FCW Title. Boring match with a bad finish. Neither of these guys captivate attention. The definition of two guys performing moves with no story, ring psychology, or selling.

-Next week: The debut of Dawson Alexander.

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