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Best of Jimmy Rave

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Guest TSMAdmin

Best of Jimmy Rave Vol. 1

 

You can get this tape from the official Wildside website, at this location. Also, while you're surfing the mega, ultra Inta'web, check out Jimmy's cool new website.

 

Onto the tape......

 

The tape starts off with a pretty cool music video, set to Jimmy's intro music. I sort of found it odd that some of the clips used were that of Jimmy being beaten up (though one clip made me miss Adam Jacobs's superkick quite a bit).

 

From Fright Night 2001....

Ladder Match for the vacant Wildside Jr. Title

JC Dazz (w/Jeff G. Bailey) vs. Jason Cross (w/Big Business Brown) vs. AJ Styles vs. Jimmy Rave

 

This match is pretty damn incredible. Coming in, AJ and Jimmy were two of the biggest thorns in the NWA Elite's sides. AJ had been feuding with Jason Cross; Rave with Dazz. The two feuds overlapped, and created so much chaos around the Wildside Jr. Title that JC Dazz, who had beaten Jimmy Rave for it at a TV taping, was stripped of the belt, and it was put on the line here.

 

The match starts with the faces (AJ and Rave) against the heels (Cross and Dazz), with them split 2's by the feuds mentioned above. Styles and Cross do a mini-version of a rope-running mirror sequence from any of their matches, while Dazz and Rave brawl outside. Then, Dazz and Rave come in as Styles and Cross wipe each other out, and Dazz and Rave go at it mid-ring, with Dazz getting the upper-hand, until AJ comes in to help Jimmy. Styles and Rave double-team Dazz until he baseball slides under the bottom rope during an Irish whip, and Cross hits both faces with a springboard lariat. Within seconds, all four guys are back in, with Styles and Cross battling in one corner, and Dazz and Rave battling in another. Mistaken blows end up splitting up the buddies on both sides, and Styles and Dazz clear the ring of Rave and Cross with some high backdrops. Dazz then gets an upper-hand on Styles in the ring, as Cross dominates Rave outside the ring. Eventually, everyone's outside, and Styles and Rave both take big bumps into the crowd area. The Elite members get the ladders, and set them up mid-ring. Dazz and Cross fight over who'll go up to get the belt, as Jeff G. Bailey enters the ring to help them calm down. Dazz shoves Bailey down, and takes Cross out. Rave and Styles then take center-stage, and Styles wins out with a Russian leg sweep off of a ladder. Dazz and Cross then play with the ladders, with Dazz bulldogging Cross off of one. Cross and Rave then play with some chairs, ending with Cross nailing a chair shot into Rave's chair, into his forehead. Dazz and Styles go into the crowd, ending up with AJ attempting to put Dazz through the gimmick table, but Dazz moving and Styles crashing into the merchandise. Dazz comes back, and they beat up Rave. Cross and Dazz turn on each other again, and end up clotheslining each other mid-ring. AJ comes back to the ring, and tries to hit a quebrada on Rave. But, Rave moves, Styles lands on his feet, and gets a double chair-assisted superkick by the Elite members. AJ ends up as the dominate guy, until Dazz crotches him on the top rope, behind a ladder, and Rave dropkicks the ladder into AJ's face. They then split back into their feud sets. Cross does a legdrop on Styles, who's on the floor, from the apron as Dazz spinebusters Rave off of a ladder. Styles takes over on offense on the floor, as Dazz beas up Jimmy some more with a chair. Dazz goes up, but Styles brings him off with a side suplex. All four come back into the ring. Styles and Rave get in some big offense, before Styles hits Rave with a Cliffhanger (DDT from over-the-shoulder bomb position). Styles goes up, but Dazz brings him down with a powerbomb. Cross and Dazz then ask the fans to throw their chairs into the ring, and the fans oblige. Rave got slammed onto the pile of chairs in the center, but moved before Cross could come off the top rope onto him. Dazz crotched Cross on the top rope, and set him up for a powerslam before Cross reversed it into a tornado DDT. AJ then came off the top rope and splashed Cross. Both guys roll to the outside, and Styles goes to the floor. Cross gets up, and tries to do a flip dive. But AJ caught him, and gave him a Styles Clash on the floor! Rave goes to legdrop Dazz's head on a set-up chair, but Rave misses, and catches his own leg. Dazz then hits Styles with a chair, and Bailey and BBB go to work on Styles. Dazz then lays Rave onto a chair bridge, and hits a springboard legdrop. Dazz then clears the chairs and sets up the ladders. Rave knocks Dazz off of the ladder as Cross nails a Burning Hammer knee-to-the-face on Styles on the floor. Cross then comes in, knocks Rave off of a ladder, but gets piledriven by Dazz. As Dazz prepares to go back up, AJ knocks out "Triple B, Dan Wilson Thought He Was A C-cup" Big Business Brown on the ramp. Cross dropkicks the ladder away from Dazz, and Dazz kicks Styles in the head. Cross and Dazz go up a ladder respectively. Styles and Dazz then hit Cross with the Boogaloo Bump (powerbomb/neckbreaker double-team) off of the ladder. Styles goes up, and Rave pulls him down. Dazz takes Rave out with Rave's future finisher, the Northern Lights Bomb. Cross then frog-splashes Rave. They're all laid out like a car wreck, but then they all climb a side of a ladder at the same time (Styles & Cross on one ladder, Dazz and Rave on another). Styles & Cross balance back on the top rope when Dazz and Rave shove them over, but Dazz and Rave take a tumble over the top rope when they get shoved. Styles then brings Cross off the ladder with an inverted Ace Crusher. Dazz then sets up a ladder horizontally on the turnpost, and whips Cross face-first into the top of it. Dazz goes up the ladder, but Cross shoves the ladder over. Styles then sends Cross over the top rope with a ladder shot. Styles powerbombs Dazz and goes up, but Dazz superplexes him off. Cross then goes up top and hits an SSP on Styles. Dazz then chokeslams Cross off the ladder, and tosses Rave out of the ring. AJ goes up top and dropkicks Dazz off the ladder. The Elite set up the ladders, and Rave gets tossed again. Styles and Cross climb as Dazz gets a chair. He then tosses it to Cross, who catches it and hold it in front of Styles's face as Dazz comes off the top rope and kicks the chair into AJ's face (Dazzinator). Dazz then puts Cross on his shoulders electric chair-style, and Rave comes off the top rope, nailing Cross with a tornado DDT. Rave and Dazz climb, Rave ducks a punch, and brings Dazz down with an Edge-o-Matic (reverse X-Factor face buster). Rave then climbs up the ladders, and grabs the belt for the victory!

 

Now, let's examine why this rocked. First, the guys bumped their asses off. They took the "Holy Shit!" bumps necessary for a ladder match. But, they also built them at a pace where the crowd would be more and more awed by each one. That's something that, unfortunately, not many of the ladder matches do anymore. Also, the bumps made sense. It wasn't just someone jumping off of a ladder for the sake of it. The motive of every time someone climbed a ladder was to win the match. That's something that about 90% of ladder matches don't take time to do. The story-telling here was off-the-charts, especially for a ladder match. Styles and Cross were the guys taking the most risks because they were the experienced high-fliers, and therefore more comfortable with the flying. Dazz played the toss guy, throwing everyone around and down, and not taking as much risk because he was, by far, the least high-flying in the group, yet the strongest and thickest. Rave was the underdog in there, as the least experienced, and the thinnest. He did a heck of a job, being the pinball of the group. Plus, when he was being beat up, everyone did a really good job getting the crowd into wanting to see Jimmy make his big comeback. The story they told of the friendships being thrown out the window early, and then new alliances being blossomed for milli-seconds before the real prize gets focused again was told well. The Big Biz bump was built well too. The building of everything overall was great. The crowd was hotter than hell for this. They were into everything, popped big at the exact right times, and reacted overall like a great crowd should. The finish was great, and exactly what they had the crowd wanting to see, which resulted in a great closing pop. The stars aligned perfect with the moon, and everyone worked their asses off. This, right here, is a great fucking match.

 

WINNER: Jimmy Rave

GRADE: 96

 

From Hardcore Hell 2002...

I QUIT MATCH:

Jimmy Rave vs. Tony Mamaluke

 

The match came about, as Mamaluke was starting to develop paranoia, anger, and frustration from all his big shots in the business (WCW fires him, ECW shuts down). He saw Jimmy Rave as a young up-and-comer in Wildside, and, in his eyes only, a snot-nosed punk. Mamaluke took upon himself to go after him, and make him realize that the business was "much tougher" than he thought. He saw the I Quit match as his domain, since he was a master of mat work and submissions. But, it sort of favored Rave too, since Rave had a reputation for being the only guy in the locker room for NOT saying "I quit" or tapping out to anything. Mamaluke was after cementing a rep and teaching a lesson; Rave was after evolving and creating his place in the business.

 

This match signified Jimmy's transformation from bump-machine to technician, and very logically. Before the match, Dan Wilson explains the I Quit rules on the house mic, as Rave and Mamaluke stare each other down. They start with a series of collar-and-elbow tie-ups, with a stalemate the first time, Mamaluke powering Rave the second time, Rave powering Mamaluke the third time, and a final chaotic jockeying of position. They then do a series of reversals on the mat, with Rave letting himself off of Mamaluke, showing his inexperience at the mat game. Then then go to dual knucklelocks, where both guys take turns being flipped over the other's shoulders. Mamaluke, however, manages to stay one step ahead of Rave since he's way more technically sound. They then move into neckhold basics, with Tony mainly relying on a headlock. Rave then gets the upper-hand by relying on his speed and quickening the pace of the match. Mamaluke then locks in a Fujiwara armbar, and despite Rave's efforts to get out, he keeps it locked in. Mamaluke then continue working on the arm, with Rave using his superior speed to get in a hope spot. Rave, in a turning point for his entire character in general, takes the action outside, where he introduces a chair into the match. He then pounds Mamaluke with the chair on the mat. Jeremy Lopez tries to interfere, but Todd Sexton gets ahold of him before anything happens. This distracted Rave (making another inexperienced mistake), who got dropped on his head with two suplexes by Mamaluke afterwards, as Mamaluke started working over Rave's neck. Rave uses a basic attack of just kicks to stop Mamaluke's momentum, but then misses a legdrop onto a set-up chair. Tony then starts working over the leg of Rave's, to both take advantage of the mistake and slow him down, which would then ruin his one big advantage he has over Mamaluke: his speed. Mamaluke uses a couple of big leg submissions, and then survives a failed punch attack by Rave. Mamaluke goes for a top rope hurricanrana, but Rave knew the move enough that he held onto the top rope and blocked it. But, Tony then fights Rave to the floor, where he locks in a ringpost figure 4. However, Bill Behrens, feeling sympathy towards Rave, breaks up the hold for him. Rave then uses Mamaluke's neck to make the match even again. Rave continues the neck work until he mistakenly goes up top, and Mamaluke uses referee Andrew Thomas to his advantage by shoving him into the ropes, crotching Rave on the top turnbuckle. Rave gets stuck in a Tree of Joey Lawrence (Whoa!) position, and Tony uses the chair on the knee. Mamaluke then locks in the Sicillian Crab (Argentine Leg Lock) on Rave's bad wheel, as Bill Behrens throws in the towel for Rave, which was sort of legal, though Rave was the one that was supposed to give up. Post-match, Rave gets pissed at Behrens and leaves on his own.

 

The work itself was quite crisp, and they seemed to really mesh well, especially during some of the realistic-looking mat duels. The psychology helped this one click big-time. The early stuff with the mat reversals and such gave the viewer the knowledge that, while Rave was learning his own on the mat, Tony was superior, while Rave's comebacks using his quick moves let the viewer know that Rave held the speed and quickness advantage. Rave going outside the ring and using the chair signified that Rave was no longer a nice-guy pushover, and could be aggressive, which has been a part of his matches since. Mamaluke's leg work late in the match, of course, slowed Rave down, killing his comebacks in the process. The match itself was Rave, again, in the underdog role, but being aggressive enough that he didn't have to be the underdog anymore. Overall, this was a really good match, and a turning point in the career of Jimmy Rave.

 

WINNER: Tony Mamaluke

GRADE: 90

 

NWA World Jr. Heavweight Title:

Jimmy Rave © vs. Jeremy Lopez

 

This was a match from a TV taping in July, right after Jimmy won the World Jr. Title at Freedom Fight 2002. Rave had become quite the technician since the I Quit match, so Lopez had to use his speed to take the early advantage. However, Rave goes after the arm, which works because Lopez needs the full strength of both arms to hit his elevated double-arm DDT finisher. Rave continues work on the arm, but Lopez picks up his pace, and the match becomes even until Lopez uses a low kick during a set of reversals to get the advantage. Lopez went for his kick/forearm combo, but Rave knew what was coming, and blocked it. Lopez then knocked Rave out of the ring to get the advantage. Lopez uses subtle neck and back work to soften Rave up for the elevated double-arm DDT. Rave gets the advantage long enough to hit From Dusk 'Til Dawn (satellite headscissors into Crossface), but Lopez comes back with a brainbuster. Lopez then cheats by choking Rave with his own shirt. But, Rave makes a comeback, and hits the Northern Lights Bomb for a near-fall. Rave then pulls out the Gravity Killer (tornado DDT) for a near-fall. Lopez gets the advantage back, and nails a double-arm tornado DDT, rolled into a Tiger bomb for a 2-count. Lopez then hits his elevated double-arm DDT, but only gets 2. So, he grabs Rave's World Jr. Title belt, and attempts to drive him down on it with a brainbuster. But, Rave reversed into a cradle pin for the win. This was a really strong TV match. They did some familiarity, since they seemed to have worked each other tens of times since the beginning of 2002. They were crisp with their stuff, the psych of Lopez working over the neck for the finish was strong, and they built well.

 

WINNER: Jimmy Rave

GRADE: 85

 

From Heatstroke...

NWA World Jr. Title

Jay Briscoe vs. Jimmy Rave

 

This was another one I was really looking forward to watching. They started with some back-and-forth chain wrestling sequences, which lead to Jay working over Jimmy's knee, and Jimmy working over Jay's arm, something Rave's become famous for in the past while. These two seemed to click really well together, especially considering this was their first singles match against each other ever. Jay didn't seem to hold back, even though he was scheduled to go over ten minutes in a four-way tag team match later in the night. The only negative point of the match was that they only got 6 minutes, though it's understandable, considering they had to go with the TV format. Jimmy won the match after reversing the J-Driller with his Northern Lights Bomb. Quick, but really good, and I'm really looking forward to seeing their rematch from the CZW Best of the Best 3 tournament.

 

WINNER: Jimmy Rave

GRADE: 82

 

From The NWA Wildside 3rd Anniversary Show...

NWA World Jr. Title:

Jimmy Rave © vs. Slim J

 

This match is the afformentioned match at the Third Anniversary that was earned via the previous match. This was quite the good match. Slim showed shades of his old rudo-self, which was quite cool, and Jimmy played hopeful babyface, which he does well. A bunch of mat reversals start the match, but Slim gets the advantage when the match starts to speed up. About two-thirds into the match, Jeremy Lopez, who was beat in a previous three-way dance with the other two to lose his match at this show, comes out. He grabs Jimmy's leg, and Jimmy goes to the outside to attack. Slim hits a moonsault onto both guys. Slim and Jimmy go back into the ring, but the finish comes when Slim goes for the 420 Splash, but Jeremy trips him up, and Jimmy hits the Northern Lights Bomb for the win. This was pretty good stuff; everything made sense (like Slim getting in most of his big moves, but they found a way for Jimmy to kick out of the moves without making them look ineffective), and everyone tried hard.

 

WINNER: Jimmy Rave

GRADE: 87

 

From CZW's Ultraviolent Freedom Of Expression

Jimmy Rave (w/Jeff G. Bailey) vs. Ruckus

 

Pre-match, Bailey gets on the mic and bashes the Best of the Best, saying that just because you beat a "bunch of backyarders" doesn't mean you're the best of anything, and that holding the NWA World Jr. Title (like Jimmy did) made you the best Jr. heavyweight in the world. The match itself was odd, in that both guys looked like they were trying to work different matches. Rave seemed focused on working a match that made sense, while Ruckus was doing his own thing, just popping off highspots like they were nothing. Jimmy really tried, but in the end, Ruckus just weighed him down too much. After some brawling in the crowd and a couple of spots with chairs (including a horrendously botched falcon arrow on three set-up chairs by Ruckus, which looked like Jimmy was an inch away from paralysis), the Lost Boys ran in, gave Ruckus the Excommunicator, and got Rave the win, in the weakest form possible, since it seemed like the whole point of the feud was to make Wildside look weak.

 

WINNER: Jimmy Rave

GRADE: 73

 

From the 2nd Round Of the Ted Petty Invitational...

Jimmy Rave vs. Chris Hero

 

They go to a struggle early, with them going at it on the mat, and Rave going for the cross armbreaker. But, Hero locked his hands together so Rave couldn't get it locked in fully. Rave goes back to the arm, and then they do a stand-off after a 2-count on a schoolboy by Rave. Rave then reverses an armbar attempt by Hero, but goes unsuccessful on another cross armbreaker attempt. Rave then decides to work on his feet. Hero gets the advantage, taking advantage of Rave's mistake, but Rave blocks a way-too-early attempt of the cravateplex. Hero get the advantage, but misses a moonsault. Rave goes for the arm, but the ropes get in the way. Rave then locked in a Fujiwara armbar. Hero got to the ropes, but Rave continued the armwork. Hero uses his superb power to get out of the cross armbreaker, but Rave gets it again, locked in, before Hero rolls into the ropes. After another armbar by Rave, the pace picks up, and Hero uses his power and size to get the advantage. But, Rave uses his quickness to rebound, including a flying top rope hurricanrana into another cross armbreaker, though Hero kept his hands locked. Hero somehow rebounds with the cravateplex (sort of no-selling the armwork). Rave comes back from that for another armbar, and then they go to their feet for a forearm and headbutt exchange. Rave hits From Dusk 'Til Dawn, and after Hero gets to the ropes, he goes for it again. However, Hero reverses into the Hangman's Clutch (STF w/ cravate) for the win. Again, another really strong match. The psychology was simply, with Rave hounding Hero's arm the entire match, while Hero kept knowing to block Jimmy's signature cross armbreaker. Hero's selling of the arm at the end, during his signature moves, was a little iffy, but overall the work was strong. One thing I really liked was how they went out of their way to make the match, especially in the opening minutes, look like a major struggle. That brings realism to the work. Overally, another really strong match to close out the tape.

 

WINNER: Chris Hero

GRADE: 89

 

OVERALL THOUGHTS: This was quite the tape. The tape showcased Rave's transformation from a good pinball bump machine into a really fine technical worker. One thing I noticed was that a change in Rave's work didn't come without reason. Again, it's something that a lot of guys today haven't picked up on. Also, not only did it highlight the change in Rave's work, it highlighted the very best of his work, not just a bunch of random matches like certain "Best of" tapes (example of which being ones put together by, amongst others, a certain tape dealer/promoter of a crappily booked promotion in Philly, but I'm not mentioning names). The tape starts out with two 90 matches, one over 95. When you have a drop-down in the workrate on a tape, and it's still at the mid-80's level, then you KNOW you have something great. The only match below really good was the average CZW match, and that makes sense to go on here since it was Jimmy's first venture into Philadelphia. By far, I would STRONGLY recommend this tape.

 

**************************************

 

To stay in the Jimmy Rave spirit, the extras today will consist of some of his most recent TV feud. You can get this extras, as always, from Melanie McKee.

 

From Best of Wildside Vol. 19....

Sitdown Interview with Jeremy V.

 

This was done on the TV taped right after Hardcore Hell, where the angle was shot for Jeremy's neck injury. Dan Wilson started off by explaining how Jeremy had hurt his neck during the four-way double elimination Jr. Title match on the first night of Hardcore Hell, and how he re-aggrivated it on the 2nd night, when he replaced Tony Mamaluke in a submissions match against Rainman, where though he scored a pin over Rainman, he still lost via tapout. Dan talked most of the way through, with Jeremy occasionally saying either, "yeah" or a short sentence, with the phrase "uh" thrown in a bit. It sort of played into the story of how V, a polite, quiet guy, got shoved into the spotlight all of a sudden, and seems to be shell-shocked. V said he was waiting for tests back on his neck, and that, even if he would have to go through neck fusion surgery, he'd be back to go after the World TV Title. Nice little segment, and it helped develop the Jeremy V. character a little more.

 

From Best of Wildside Vol. 19....

World TV Title:

Rainman © (w/Jeff G. Bailey) vs. Jimmy Rave

 

The story coming into this match was that Rave wanted to extract revenge from Rainman because he saw himself in Jeremy V., and wanted to sort of mentor and befriend him. The match starts off fast, and Rainman uses his superior brawling tactics to get the upper hand. Rave then gets the upper-hand back with his speed. The advantage goes back and forth quickly, as these two have known each other since training together at Murder One's school. Rainman worked the neck, to send a message to Jeremy. Rainman tried to use his agility, but he wasn't fast enough for Rave. Both guys used their former finishers (Rave's Gravity Killer, Rainman's Spinesplitta) early out of desperation. Rainman then went for the Dark City Street Cutter, but Rave gets out, and hit the From Dusk 'Til Dawn, but Bailey pushes the bottom rope closer to Rainman so he could grab it. Rainman then locks in the Hillside Strangler (cobra/camel clutch combo), but Rave gets to the ropes. Rave then reversed a second attempt, and hit a tiger suplex. Rave then hit the Northern Lights Bomb, but Bailey broke up the pin. Rave then chased Bailey around the ring, Rainman gets the TV belt, tries to nail Rave with it, but Rave ducked, and got La Magistral for 2. Rainman got a Oklahoma roll for 2, and they did a brief mirror familiarity sequence to follow. The match the ended with Rave falling victim to the Dark City Street Cutter. This was quite the good match. Everything made sense, the psychology was strong, the action was quick (like shorter TV matches should be sometimes), and Rave seemed to be elevated back up by almost beating the World TV Champ.

 

WINNER: Rainman

GRADE: 87

 

From Best of Wildside Vol. 19.....

Jimmy Rave & Jeremy V. vs. The NWA Elite (Jason Cross & Rainman)(w/Jeff G. Bailey)

 

Cross had turned the previous week, when he ran in and attacked David Young and Hotstuff Hernandez, for just about no reason. Lame turn, made even lamer since the babyfaces on top were already deplete, but Cross is best as a heel. Rave and Jeremy charge the ring, and clear house on the NWA Elite. When they get into tag format, Rave starts off with Cross, and dominates him. Cross uses an eyerake to get the upper-hand, and then tags in Rainman. Rave uses his speed to out-do Rainman, then tags in Jeremy. Jeremy went for a backdrop, but Rainman grabbed the injured neck, and hit a neckbreaker. Cross and Rainman then spend the rest of the match going back and forth on the neck of V., with stuff as simple as just stomping and punching the neck, to stuff as big as a KILLER brainbuster by Cross, proving why he has, as McGovern would say, THE BEST BRAINBUSTER IN NORTH AMERICA~! Rainman used a front face lock really effectively here, not as a rest spot, but as a heat-seeker to build drama towards the false hot tags. Andrew Thomas did one hell of a heel ref job here, turning a blind eye to two hot tags, and disallowing a super-close third one. When he turned the blind eye towards the second hot tag, Cross ran into the ring and knocked Rave off of the apron. Rainman then hit Jeremy with the Dark City Street Cutter for the win. Post-match, the Elite work over Jeremy's neck until Rave chases them off with a chair. Again, the psychology is really strong, as they built the match along the storyline of V's hurt neck REALLY well. V.'s performance here was great. There's a saying in tag matches about how the face-in-peril "plays Ricky Morton". For the duration of this match, Jeremy V. BECAME Ricky Morton. This was probably Jeremy's shining moment in Wildside thus far. This was just a tremendous, mind-blowing performance by all the guys involved.

 

WINNERS: Jason Cross & Rainman

GRADE: 90

 

From Best of Wildside Vol. 20...

Jimmy Rave vs. Jason Cross (w/Jeff G. Bailey)

 

This was the best 6 minute match to happen in quite a long time. Rave starts early with some quick offense. Cross gained the advantage with a cool single-duck enziguri (Rave ducked the enziguri, kept ahold of the leg, Cross comes back the other way with a kick). Cross then starts working on the neck of Rave, again sending a message to Jeremy V. and punishing Rave for befriending Jeremy. Cross uses some of his minor offense that he used on V's neck in the tag on Rave. Rave got a brief hope spot, but got hit with a flip kick on top of the head, jamming Rave's neck. But, Rave still came back to reverse Cross's signature brainbuster with a brainbuster of his own. Cross then kicked Rave in the neck, but Rave blocked the Idolizer (flipping corner Tomikaze/Unprettier), and hit a killer running powerbomb. Rave then hit From Dusk 'Til Dawn, but Bailey pushed the bottom rope forward so Cross could get to the rope. Rave took too long setting up a Shining Wizard, including pulling down his kneepad, and Cross kicked him in the leg. Cross followed up with an INCREDIBLE running Idolizer (flip Tomikaze/Unprettier). Cross then took too long setting up his brainbuster, and Rave reversed it into the Northern Lights Bomb. However, Cross got the advantage back, and hit his incredible Triple Cross (360 degree flip Ace Crusher from the second turnbuckle in the corner) for the win. Post-match, Cross folds Rave with the brainbuster, and goes for the Crossfire, but Jeremy V (wearing a neck brace and wielding a chair) chases Cross away. Everything in this match was crisp, effective, and made sense. They didn't waste any time on stalling or stuff that diverted from the story of the match. Cross's neck work was really strong, as most of his offense already attacked the neck. Rave sold and bumped quite well, and gelled really well with Jason. Excellent TV match.

 

WINNER: Jason Cross

GRADE: 88

 

*****************************

 

Next time, I'll review the first night of Hardcore Hell 2003, including AJ Styles and Ron Killings' Wildside homecomings, and one of the most purely brutal ladder matches I've ever seen.

 

Thanks for reading,

Thomas Green

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