WWA 2: "Our Time to Shine" Results (PICS!)

The WWA's second offering may have lacked some of the hype of the debut, but WWA's Pound-for-Pound Heavyweigth Championship tournament was an undeniable success, and the non-title matches were epic.

FIRST ROUND MATCH: Christian def. C.M. Punk (12:22)
If the opening bout between "Captain Charisma" and the "Straight Edge Superstar" was any indication of what was to come, the fans at Detroit's Joe Lewis Arena were in for quite a night at WWA 2. The back-and-forth battle saw both mens earn the advantage, but it was Christian who came out the victory as he planted Punk to the mat with his patented Killswitch. After the match, Punk refused a handshake.



FIRST ROUND MATCH: Cody Rhodes def. Kofi Kingston (8:34)
When Cody Rhodes came to the ring, accompanied by his father, "The American Dream," he didn't seem too interested in the advice that the WWA Living Legend gave him, but tactics learned from his father seemed to help the younger Rhodes. Rhodes slithered away from Kingston's hard-hitting offense, kept the match at his own pace, and finally, when Kingston did speed up the tempo, picked up a surprise victory with a roll-up.

FIRST ROUND MATCH: Santino Marella def. Evan Bourne (10:43)
Before the match began, the "New Italian Stallion" sang the praises of "Air" Bourne, calling him his favorite wrestler before saying how "it will be an honor to beat him." Marella then cheap shotted Bourne, and held on to a considerable advantage for a few minutes before Bourne finally got a break, knocking Marella from the ring. The high-flier took the advantage for several minutes, but as Bourne climbed to the top rope for a shooting star press, Marella hit him with a superplex, and then locked him in the small package for an upset victory!



FIRST ROUND MATCH: The Miz def. Jamie Noble (5:22)
The self-proclaimed "Awesome" Miz earned a surprisingly one-sided victory over "The Redneck Messiah," which goes a long way in proving himself right. It was the most one-sided victory so far in WWA history, with Miz finishing off his opponent with his Reality Check finisher, but would he have the same ease in his next contest?

Backstage, Brent Musberger caught up with Tyson Kidd as he prepared for his non-tournament match-up with Chris Jericho tonight. Kidd said that he thoroughly believed what he said at WWA 1, and he would prove that he was the biggest snub from this tournament tonight. The Miz interrupted, and said that only one word can describe his performance so far tonight: "Awesome."

NON-TOURNAMENT MATCH: AJ Styles def. Lance Storm (12:54)
The first of two non-tournament matches pitted "The Phenomenal One" against the serious Canadian, and it was one of the best technical bouts we have seen in WWA's short history. Storm showed off his wide array of submissions while Styles flew around the ring like only he can. It was the agility of Styles that won the match ,as he was able to take control for the final moments before planting storm to the mat with the Styles Clash for a pinfall victory.



Brent Musberger interviewed WWA Heavyweight Champion, Jack Swagger, backstage. Swagger said that he was excited to see who would become the Pound-for-Pound champion tonight, but he was more interested in getting back in the ring. In response to the challenge of Regal and Burchill, he had just one line: "Any place, any time."

SEMIFINAL MATCH: Christian def. Cody Rhodes (8:24)
The first semi-final match did not go the way Cody Rhodes had hoped for after an impressive victory earlier in the evening. Christian dominated much of the match, looking to be the superior competitor throughout. Whatever words of encouragement that "the American Dream" gave Cody this time did not help as he fell victim to the Killswitch for Christian's second pinfall victory of the night, as "Captain Charisma" advanced to the WWA Pound-for-Pound Heavyweight Championship match.

Backstage, Commissioner Malenko announced that the next show would feature the "Losers Bracket" of heavyweight title competitors which will feature Charlie Haas vs. Edge and John Cena vs. Randy Orton in the first round. We would also see some competitors make their WWA debut!

SEMIFINAL MATCH: Santino Marella def. The Miz (7:34)
"The Italian Stallion" continued on the upset trail, defeating the "Awesome" one, despite Miz seeming to have the upper hand throughout the match. As commentator Joey Styles commented, "The Miz had this match won up until the point where Santino pinned him." Miz must have worn himself down, as nearly every offensive maneuver came off his hands before Santino hit him with a roll-up for the victory.



NON-TOURNAMENT MATCH: Chris Jericho def. Tyson Kidd via split decision (15:00)
This night's panel of judges consisted of Vince McMahon, Terry Funk, and John "Bradshaw" Layfield, who, after fifteen minutes of back-and-forth action determined that Chris Jericho was the victor. Unlike last week's judges decision, this one saw Jericho win in overall points awarded, but did not win every judge's score. After the match, Kidd seemed very disappointed, as he very nearly could have won the bout in the final minutes, but couldn't come up with the big move when he most needed it. Jericho gloated all the way up the ramp like he just won the championship for himself.



Backstage, William Regal and Paul Burchill pummeled the Heavyweight Champion, Jack Swagger, as Regal called Swagger out on his "any place, any time" comment from earlier in the evening. Before they could do any serious damage, Shelton Benjamin and MVP chased them off, checking on the fallen champion.

WWA POUND-FOR-POUND CHAMPIONSHIP: Santino Marella def. Christian (14:43)
In one of the greatest upsets that may ever happen in WWA, "The Italian Stallion" went all the way, much like his namesake, and capture the Pound-for-Pound Heavyweight Championship in the final seconds of the match. Marella opened the match by getting on the mic. He tried to use the same schtick on Christian that he used with Bourne, but "Captain Charisma" had none of it, slapping Marellla across the face. With the match firmly in control, Christian set up Santino for the Killswitch, but Santino reversed it, and rolled Christian up! It was Marella's third roll-up victory of the evening, and arguably the most unpredicatble. Christian hit Marella with every move in his arsenal, but the new champion would not stay down.



After the match, Marella marched around the ring, celebrating his victory, as Christian sat in utter shock, arguing the pinfall with the referee to no avail.

(C) 2009 World Wrestling Athletics: The New Era in Sports Entertainment