HWA ran an excellent house show at the Allen County Fairgrounds in Lima, Ohio last night. Hard work up and down the card for an appreciative crowd of 170. There's a lot of healthy competition within this crew.

1) "Disgruntled" Dexter Dementia (with the Postmaster) beat Dusty in 5:02. Match featured "hometown heroes" that are not part of the HWA crew. At least the psycho postal worker gimmick was a new one to me. Match didn't look as bad as I expected either. Dementia dominated. Dusty did missed spear into the post number one on the night. Dementia used a spinning suplex for a two count and won it with a cradle front slam.

2) Mike Sanders beat Steve Bradley (with Lance Cade) in 7:17. Bradley has that major league aura in the way he carries himself. Can anyone explain just why Bradley is still in HWA? He's so ready it isn't even funny. If WWF promotes Rob Conway and Nick Dinsmore ahead of him, it's a crime. Bradley has that major league aura in the way he carries himself. Bradley said Mike Sanders was jealous of Cade and himself. He called the building a cow barn and claimed it was the typical of the places that people in Lima went to have sex. Big face response for Sanders, who ridiculed the idea that he would be jealous of "Big Bird ... the Sesame Street Nerd", and he certainly wasn't jealous of being "Steve Bradley's b****." Sanders said Bradley robbed him of the HWA title by breaking his foot three months ago, so after he was done with Cade, he was going to beat Bradley's ass.

Bradley was looking real cocky as he got the early advantage. With Bradley running the ropes, Sanders responded with a leapfrog and then used Bradley's momentum to throw him over the top rope. Bradley and Cade got upset. They tried to head to the back, but Sanders was having none of that. Sanders got Bradley back in the ring and landed a dropkick. Bradley and Cade bumped. Bradley came back with a neckbreaker. He tossed Sanders to the floor, so Cade could get in some cheap shots. Bradley dropped an elbow for a two count. Bradley dumped Sanders again and distracted the ref by puffing on an inhaler. Never saw that one before. Sanders made the comeback with a sunset flip and a leg lariat for two counts. Sanders hit a Roll of the Dice, but Cade pulled him out. Chris Kanyon came out to attack Cade. Bradley used a low blow on Sanders. Bradley tried to go after Kanyon and charged right into a boot in the face. Sanders hit a neckbreaker on Bradley for the pinfall.

3) Matt Dillinger (with Brother Clay) beat Mark Manis in 7:20. Weird to see the guy with the fundamentalist preacher in the babyface role. Must be an Ohio thing. Clay is no Brother Earnest, but he was pretty good in the role. Clay said that he had joined forces with Dillinger to get rid of the sinners. He said the hot pink trunks that Manis was sporting were not proper attire for a young man. Dillinger said HWA wasn't a Mary Kay party. Dillinger got two counts with a rolling reverse cradle and a Russian legsweep. Manis powdered out. Manis gave Clay a stiff forearm shot at ringside. Manis did a snap suplex for a two count. Manis brawled. Dellinger threw a loud chop that popped the crowd. Dellinger did missed spear into the post number two for the night. Manis regained control for more near falls. Dellinger countered a sleeper hold with a back suplex. Crowd was not into Dillinger's comeback at all. Dillinger got two with a powerslam. Manis hit spinebuster for a two count. That brought Clay up onto the apron with a gimmick for Dillinger, who used it and DDTed Manis for the three count.

4) The Island Boys (Kimo & Ekmo) beat R.C. Haas & Jason Sugarman in 6:45. The Island Boys offense looks majorly brutal. Haas said "your asses are ours" and charged the ring, connecting on stereo dropkicks. Kimo responded with a double clothesline. Island Boys collided. Haas and Sugarman mounted the ropes in opposite corners for the ten punches and whipped Island Boys into a meeting of the minds. Kimo collapsed, headbutting Ekmo in the nuts. Ekmo interfered from the outside and Kimo got heat on Sugarman. Kimo missed on a charging splash in the corner, allowing Sugarman to make the hot tag. Haas cleaned house with clotheslines. Haas hit an overhead belly to belly on Ekmo, which was pretty damn impressive. Haas had Kimo staggered by a series of clothesline when Ekmo caught him a chairshot from the outside. Kimo squashed Haas with a belly to belly for the pin. Ekmo said that if you mess with Island Boys, you're likely to wind up with a chair wrapped around your head.

5) Nigel McGuinness beat Rory Fox in 8:04. Fox has picked up on some subtle heel touches for his routine. Match opened with chain wrestling, featuring some nice reversals by McGuinness. Fox cheated on the break. Fox landed a weak dropkick the back and McGuinness blocked the follow up suplex. McGuinness got a flurry of offense, before doing MISSED SPEAR INTO THE POST NUMBER THREE for the night. Fox went to work on the arm, ramming it on the post and the ring apron. Fox chicken-winged the arm in the ropes. Fox hit a single-arm DDT for a two count. A midring collision sent both men down for the count of four. McGuinness got two counts with a backslide and a roll up. McGuinness went for a dropkick, but Fox held onto the ropes. Fox covered for two. Finish saw McGuinness get Fox in a sitting position, and then sit on the back of his neck while pulling up on his legs. Kind of double leg variation on the submission that El Satanico uses. Fox tapped out. Good match.

6) The A-Squad (Chet Jablonski & Derrick Neikirk) beat Race Steele & Cody Hawk to retain the HWA tag team titles in 8:18. A super solid match. It was one of those deals where the whole was greater than the sum of the parts because everyone involved more than held up their end. A-Squad look to have a lot of athletic ability. Jablonski said the loser fans should show respect for the champs. Neikirk said the A-Squad was the sweetest team to ever set foot in the HWA ring. A-Squad made fun of Hawk being five time tag team champion, all with different partners. Hawk came out solo. He talked about his former tag title partners all being out of the game. Steele came to a big pop. He offered to be Hawk's partner and said they would beat A-Squad's ass for the belts.

A-Squad some a good comedy to start the match. They collided and got into a shoving match on the outside. The faces controlled the early going with Steele looking particularly strong on offense. Steele dropped Jablonski off the apron with a DDT, but Niekirk caught Steele with a baseball slide to turn the tide. Stiff shots from Jablonski, which was the case throughout the show. When Steele hit a German suplex, Niekirk distracted the ref, so that he could not see the tag. A-Squad did a double suplex. They worked on Steele's back with an Arabian clutch, building heat by switching without tagging. Niekirk tried to drop down on Steele's back, but Steel flipped over and got his knees up to crotch him. Hot tag to Hawk, who hit the ring with clotheslines, back elbows and double ax chops. Hawk did a cool electric chair facebuster on Jablonski. It broke down to a four way. The heels bumped. Steele dumped Neikirk and followed him out. Jablonski got two with a fallaway slam. Hawk got near falls with a series of pinning combinations. Niekirk tried to use a title belt to break up a rolling reverse cradle pin, but Steele pulled him back to the outside. In the confusion, Jablonski used the belt on Hawk to get the pin.

7) Lance Cade (with Steve Bradley) beat Chris Kanyon by DQ to retain the HWA heavyweight title in 17:14. Tremendous credit to Kanyon on this match. He made Cade look like a million bucks because he's so smooth with everything he does. No way did he have to work as hard as he did here. Match had a tremendous series of near falls building to the finish. Good pop for Kanyon, who got the crowd to his "who's better than Kanyon?" catch phrase. Cade started kicking the crap out of Kanyon, who was selling big. Kanyon surprised Cade with a drop toehold and hit a swinging neckbreaker for a two count. Kanyon used a backbreaker out of backdrop driver position for another near fall. Bradley pulled the ropes to gain the advantage for Cade. Nefarious heel tactics ensued with Bradley and Cade both doing the dirty work. Kanyon fired back with punches and a pumphandle fallaway slam. Cade escaped to the outside and reached up to pull Kanyon's throat down on the ropes. Cade hit a beauty of a springboard back elbow for a two count. Kanyon countered his sleeper hold with a back suplex for a near fall. Cade punished Kanyon on the outside. Back inside, Kanyon hit a single leg suplex and a flying shoulder tackle, before missing on a huge splash off the top. Bradley choked Kanyon while Cade distracted the ref. A double clothesline had both men on the canvas for a count of eight. Kanyon hit a spinning heel kick and a side slam.

Cade used a boot to the gut, but Kanyon caught him with a belly to belly for a close two count, to start the false finishes. Bradley pulled Kanyon's leg from the outside to set up a full nelson slam by Cade. 1...2...last instant kickout by Kanyon. Kanyon hit the flatliner for another false finish. Kanyon did a top rope crossbody and Cade rolled through with a handful of tights, but Kanyon kicked out again. Cade got a chair with the ref threatening to disqualify him. Kanyon countered Cade with a wicked whiplash maneuver onto the to chair for another near fall. Bradley and Cade bumped for a roll up two count by Kanyon. Cade hit a DDT and a top rope elbow, but still could not get the pin. Cade dumped Kanyon in frustration and got a chain from Bradley. As Kanyon went for a back suplex, Cade used the chain. Kanyon kicked out again. Sanders came to ringside to deck Bradley. Kanyon clocked Cade with the chain in full view of the ref for the DQ. Bradley had Kanyon laid out with a chairshot to the head and another to the back, when Johnny the Bull hit the ring. Bull used a big corner splash on Bradley and Sanders caught him with superkick to clear the ring. The battered heels headed to the back, with Cade clutching his title belt.

NOTES: HWA hopes to be carried on Fox Sports Ohio by January 2003. The promotion is seeking an alternative to the Davis Arena for television tapings. They did a dry run for television in Covington, KY, but the promotion was not satisfied with the facility. This was the last night in for sound man/production ace/ring announcer Jack Brown, who is moving back to Nevada. ... E.Z. Money was in the building. ... Return date for Lima was announced as 8/31.