JoeDirt

The Stephanie promo before No Mercy 2003. Though that made me want to throw up more than laugh...

I'm a whore, so I'm bumping my own review.

I just want to mention that I ordered this show Sunday night and got it Wednesday afternoon. Smart Mark Video is AWESOME! Match one: Danny Daniels vs. Eddie Edwards: Edwards is making his IWA-MS debut. Perfectly acceptable wrestling, nothing really memorable. Edwards hits a nice sunset flip powerbomb but Daniels rallies, rakes the eyes, and hits a piledriver to beat Edwards at 6:00. *1/2 Match two: Sumie Sukai vs. Rain: Dave Prazak announces the pairings for the women's title tournament that would take place the next night at "Volcano Girls". Sukai is making her IWA-MS debut. Pretty good women's match with Rain dumping Sukai to the floor and tossing her into the chairs at ringside at one point. They trade fisherman's busters for 2 in the ring. Sukai comes back and hits an AWESOME moonsault (Muta style) for the pin at 6:20. ** Match three - tag title tournament first round match: Southern Comfort (Tracey Smothers and Chris Hamrick) vs. The Wild Cards (Eddie Kingston and Blackjack Marciano): The Wild Cards have shaved heads from a recent match in Chikara. Fun stuff to start. Hamrick hits a GREAT high missile dropkick. They then hook an indian deathlock/dragon sleeper/camel clutch combo submission. Kingston spits on Smothers and trash talks. Hamrick comes in and hits a sweet superkick that gets a short "HOLY SHIT!" chant. Hamrick has a sweet mullet, I might add. Hamrick takes a hot shot and Yakuza kick, and the Wild Cards take over. They work Hamrick over, but he finally hot tags Smothers. Fantastic spot to end it as Kingston gets crotched up top. Hamrick climbs up and leaps OFF OF KINGSTON'S SHOULDERS ON THE TOP ROPE with a guillotine leg drop to Marciano for the pin at about 9:00. Bland match with some fun stuff in there, and a good final spot. **1/4 Match four - first round match: CM Punk and Colt Cabana w/Tracy Brooks vs. Nigel McGuinness and Chad Collyer: Dave Prazak talks about how fans have wanted the return of Punk and Cabana for more than a year, and they get a nice pop from the fans. Collyer and Punk have a nice sequence to start. Cabana gets in with Nigel and does a hilarious "European wrestler" imitation. They have a really nice sequence too. More great comedy from Cabana it would take too long to explain. Punk and McGuinness then go one on one, and that's a match I wouldn't mind seeing someday. The match continues, and Collyer comes back and hot tags in. He floats out of a Colt 45 and hooks the Cloverleaf on Cabana. Punk sneaks in and hits a shining wizard on Collyer, and Cabana gets the pin at about 8:00. Okayish match with some fun comedy and stuff, but obviously Punk and Cabana were saving plenty for later. At least I hope they were! **1/2 Match five - first round match: Brad Bradley and Ryan Boz w/Carmine Despirito vs. Havana Pitbulls: Rocky Romero isn't here, so the makeshift Pitbulls for the night are Ricky Reyes and Puma. Reyes knocks Boz down a few times, pissing off the Barry Windham-lookalike. Boz and Bradley finally take over and destroy poor Puma. Puma gets worked over and then comes back and tags Reyes. Tornado DDT and a top rope splash to Boz by Puma gets 2. Boz and Bradley take over again but Reyes rolls up Boz for the surprise win at 9:00. Really bland match. * Boz and Bradley argue with their manager after the match. Match six - first round match: B-Boy and Homicide vs. M-Dogg 20 and Josh Prohibition: Big brawl to start. They trade lots of quick moves to start. Cide hooks the STF on M-Dogg. Homicide and B-Boy hit their powerbomb onto the knee double team move, which the crowd always loves. B-Boy just kicks the hell out of M-Dogg before he and Homicide hit their big series of moves and kicks in the corner, just _DESTROYING_ poor M-Dogg. B-Boy stretches him out with a nice submission. Homicide comes in and double stomps him. B-Boy and Homicide are great heels as a tag team because the heat segment on the face is NEVER boring. Homicide tries a suplex, but M-Dogg shoves him off and hits a flying cross body for 2. J-Pro finally gets the hot tag. M-Dogg takes out Homicide with an Asai moonsault. Missile dropkick into a t-bone for 2 on B-Boy. J-Pro gets taken out with a leaping shining wizard by B-Boy, a top rope ace crusher by Homicide, and another shining wizard by B-Boy. M-Dogg breaks it up at 2! Doomsday bulldog on M-Dogg gets 2. M-Dogg tries a shooting star move, but B-Boy hooks him with a cutter on the way down! Whoa! J-Pro hits a double underhook piledriver, but Homicide hits the Cop Killa on Prohibition for the pin at 13:30. Easily the best of the first round tag matches. ***1/2 Match seven: Seven way elimination match, winner gets immediate shot at IWA-MS title: Alex Shelley vs. Petey Williams vs. Roderick Strong vs. Jimmy Jacobs vs. Delirious vs. Nate Webb vs. Austin Aries: Strong and Shelley come out together, making the "Generation Next" sign with their hands. Aries comes out separately from them for some reason. Delrious and Jacobs start with a comedy sequence. Delrious is weird as usual. Webb and Strong go at it and Webb gets a nice springboard rana. Shelley and Aries go at it next. Nice sequence, and Aries is just explosive as usual. He's so damn good in the ring, everything he does looks like it really hurts. Delirious hits a dive onto Williams, Shelley, and Aries. Strong gorilla presses Jacobs and tosses him over the top onto everyone. Cool spot as Webb tries to kick Strong, who blocks it and flips Webb over the top onto everyone. Delirious gets back in and Shelley eliminates him with the Shellshock at 5:45. Strong blocks the Contra Code and hits a cool backbreaker to pin Jacobs at 7:00. Generation Next then beats the crap out of Petey Williams. They hit a triple slam on him and Strong gets a 2 count. The fans rally behind Petey. More triple team moves on Petey for 2. Cool stuff. Webb gets a hot tag and beats Strong with a chickenwing into a facebuster at 10:15. We're down to four. Shelley beats down Webb for several nearfalls. It becomes like a tag match now for a bit as the heels work over Webb. Williams gets the tag but Shelley and Aries hit a double team Shellshock! Webb gets the tag, though, and eliminates Shelley with Soylent Green at 14:00.Williams hits the CANADIAN DESTROYER~! for the pin at 15:00 on Webb! Williams and Aries now. Aries misses a 450 splash and Williams rolls him up for the pin at 14:15! Fun match. It was obviously rushed, as the show was long enough anyways. Hell, these seven guys could go for an hour easily. But it was still a pretty fun scramble type match. ***1/4 Match eight: BJ Whitmer vs. Petey Williams for the IWA-MS title Whitmer immediately cleans Williams' clock. Whitmer hits an exploder as Fannin tries to convince Petey to just give up, saying he'll give him a title shot down the road. Ha! They brawl outside shortly, Whitmer still beating the hell out of Williams. Williams catches Whitmer with a boot on a charge and hits the Canadian Destroyer out of the corner for the pinfall at 3:15! Williams is the new champion! Prazak and Allison Danger do a great job of selling this as a huge shock. Not much of a match, but the story was fun with Petey fighting against all odds to win the title. * for the Canadian Destroyer, though this was really just an extension of the elimination match. Fannin freaks out, saying it was a fluke. Whitmer beats down the new champ and hits an exploder on him. The crowd gives Petey a standing ovation. Match nine: Tag title tournament semifinals: Punk and Cabana vs. Havana Pitbulls: Cabana and Puma start and trade some arm drags and the like. Punk comes in and everyone is dumped to the floor except Cabana, who hits an Asai moonsault. Back in, and Cabana hooks Reyes in a bow and arrow stretch. Cabana hits a Russian leg sweep and rolls into a nice double arm submission hold. Punk hits a delayed suplex on Reyes. Double leglock/bridging neck clutch submissions by Punk and Cabana. Punk works over Reyes' back. Reyes tags out, and Puma suplexes Punk for 2. The Pitbulls isolate Punk and work him over. He tags out to Cabana after a pit, and Colt cleans house. Backbreaker/slingshot leg drop for 2. Reyes gets rolling Germans on Punk for 2. Punk hits a shining wizard on Puma and Cabana hits a cradle DDT for the pinfall at 16:15. This was a really slow match, and I was REALLY not impressed by the Pitbulls (especially Puma) here. Punk and Cabana tried to carry this the best they could, but Puma and Reyes did VERY little interesting on this show, which is disappointing. ** Match ten: Semifinal match: Southern Comfort vs. B-Boy and Homicide: Smothers bounces of B-Boy and Homicide's rap entrance, which is funny. Hamrick and Homicide start. Prazak mentions Hamrick having attitude problems in the locker room in the past. What's that all about? They trade chops and eye gouges. Smothers gets tagged in and does some old white guy dancing. Smothers and Homicide actually work really well together and have a nice sequence, even though they're about 180's personality wise. A slow first seven minutes or so. Hamrick gets locked in Cide's STF but gets the ropes. Homicide and Hamrick do the "trade a bunch of two counts" thing before Hamrick stretches out Cide. B-Boy breaks it up. Homicide ranas Hamrick off the top and B-Boy hits a guillotine leg drop for 2. They continue to work over Hamrick. Hamrick tries to get a hot tag but crawls to the wrong corner and B-Boy DDT's him. Hamrick finally comes back with a neckbreaker/DDT combo and tags in Smothers. Shining Wizard by B-Boy sends Smothers out, and B-Boy takes him out with a pescado. Hamrick hits a dive, and Homicide then hits his tope con hilo! He just _drilled_ Smothers with that. The near falls start coming back in the ring as the match picks up. Hamrick floats out of a Cop Killa and hits a back drop lift into a sitdown tombstone! CRAZY! Homicide is out, and Hamrick and Smothers hit a Doomsday Blockbuster on B-Boy for the pin at 16:15! Pretty damn good tag match, after a slow start. Homicide and B-Boy always bring the awesomeness. ***1/4 The announcers mention how the crowd is in shock about Homicide and B-Boy losing. Match eleven: Samoa Joe vs. Chris Hero: I'm pretty psyched to see this one. The crowd is pretty loud for intros, and mixed in support for each guy. Allison calls some fans "douches". Ha. Pretty normal counter stuff to start, and then the crowd REALLY starts to get into it. They hit some hard forearms to get the fans in it more. They just start beating the hell out of each other. Hero clocks Joe with a forearm shiver. Hero brings the intensity with chops and forearms, but Joe comes back with stiff shots of his own. Joe slaps Hero, who tackles him and goes nuts. The fans are going crazy. They trade slaps and more forearms and Joe hits a _HUGE_ forearm shot! Hero comes back and goes to the cravat~! Cool spot as Hero counters Joe's corner uranage thing into a rolling arm drag, but he comes back and THEN Joe hits a MONSTROUS one. Joe gets just a _massive_ pop from the fans. Hero's fans then chant for him and we're back to dueling chants. Chops and a knee drop get two on Hero. Joe gets a rolling sweep kick for 2. Joe hits knees but Hero hits an enzuigiri. Twisting neckbreaker by Hero and a senton to boot. Lariat by Hero gets 2. Big powerslam by Joe for 2, and he then goes into a cross armbreaker, but Hero gets the ropes. Roaring elbow by Hero, but Joe comes back and hits a DVD for 2. Hero counters a dragon suplex into a CRAVAT SUPLEX~! He hits a double stomp and goes to the hangman's clutch! Joe gets to the ropes. Joe counters the Hero's Welcome into the choke but Hero counters to the Hero's Welcome! He picks up Joe and tries another, but Joe counters to a huge backdrop driver! Joe chokes out Hero for the win at 14:30. This match simply has to be seen. They had to change the style of match they worked based on the crowd reaction at the start, as the fans just wanted a big fight between these two big stars. The crowd made this a spectacle, and the match itself was _SUPER_ hard hitting and a ton of fun. Star wise it probably wasn't _THAT_ great, (this would have been way different in front of a dead crowd) but fuck that, this was _fun_. **** After the match, Ian checks on Hero. Hero says he's ashamed and an embarrassment to IWA-MS. Hero talks about his past losses and how he didn't have enough to beat Joe tonight. Hero says he'll make Joe tap out on 5/30 or he'll leave for good. The crowd chants "JOE WILL TAP!" Great stuff. Match twelve: Jerry Lynn vs. Sabu: They trade headlockery to start and some pretty good matwork, actually. They do the indy applause sequence, which isn't really a surprise. Springboard leg lariat for 2 for Sabu. Lynn floats over on a suplex and hits a reverse DDT for 2. Lynn gets his leg drop in the ropes on Sabu, taking him to the floor. Sabu drills Lynn with a chair. Sabu uses the chair to do a dive to the floor. Usual stuff for Sabu, so you'll either like it or hate it I guess. They brawl into the crowd as the fans scatter. Lynn hits a dive off the bleachers onto Sabu. Back in, and Sabu springboards into the corner using a chair. He tries again, but Lynn kicks the chair into Sabu's knee! Cool. Lynn goes to a half crab. Tornado DDT blocked by Sabu into a northern lights for 2. So many spots I've seen so many times! Lynn trips Sabu into the chair. Lynn tries his own springboard move, but Sabu catches him with a clothesline. Sabu goes to the camel clutch, but Lynn gets the ropes. Prazak points out that there's no-DQ, so really the rope break shouldn't matter. Lynn DDT's Sabu onto a set up chair, which looked pretty cool. Lynn backdrops Sabu onto the chair. Lynn hits an Air Raid Crash (Kryptonite Krunch) onto the chair for another 2 count. Sabu hits an arabian press onto Lynn and then chair and hooks the camel clutch, and Lynn taps at 10:30. Well, this is something you'll either love or hate, depending on how you like Sabu and Lynn. It was slow and sloppy at times, but some of the spots were nice. I guess I'll go **1/4. Match thirteen: Southern Comfort vs. CM Punk and Colt Cabana (tag team title match) Hamrick and Punk trade stuff to start and Hamrick gets the best of him. Smothers gets in and dances, and Punk forearms him. Smothers with a cross body for 2. Flying forearm for 2. Cabana tags in and Smothers goes to work on him. Smothers dumps Punk and Cabana and does a Misterio-like fake dive thingy. He dropkicks them both. Punk and Cabana finally turn the tides and go to work on Smothers. Cabana hits a leg sweep and rolls into his double arm thing, and this time Punk flips into the ring and across Smothers' chest. Tracy Brooks chokes out Smothers behind the ref's back. Punk takes Smothers down with a sleeper and uses the ropes for leverage. Punk hits a few kicks for 2 as Hamrick breaks it up. Punk heads up top but Smothers launches him crotch first onto the ropes and tags Hamrick in. Floatover neckbreaker on Punk for 2. Cabana hits a gutbuster on Hamrick for 2. Smothers slams Cabana for 2. Punk hits a shining wizard on Smothers for 2. The end comes as Smothers sunset flips Cabana and Hamrick superkicks Punk. Smothers gets the 3 at 15:00. This was a slow paced southern style tag match, so if you like that kind of match you'll probably like this. Not a lot of hot moves or anything though. Punk and Cabana beat down Southern Comfort after the match. **1/4 Final thoughts: An up and down show, though I still really enjoyed it. The Homicide and B-Boy tag matches were both terrific, and Joe vs. Hero has to be seen. I was disappointed by the Pitbulls, especially Puma, in their matches though. The first two matches could have been cut, as they were more filler than anything. Sabu/Lynn is something you probably know ahead of time if you'll like or not, as there are no surprises in it. Petey Williams winning the IWA-MS world title was really well done, and the elimination match is very fun, though rushed. Definitely a thumbs up for this, though the tag matches not involving B-Boy and Homicide weren't that great. Check it out! Go to www.smartmarkvideo.com and order your copy. Next up: Well, I got Stylin' in the Summertime in the mail today, though I haven't seen anything from Volcano Girls up to that point. So I'll either do that next or wait until I get Volcano Girls and One More Time so I can continue in order. Also, a ROH World Title Classic review should be up sometime soon too.

Since I'm a whore, I guess I'll bump my review.

The show starts with Ian Rotten running down the lineup and promoting the TPI and the 8th anniversary show. Ian has really good repore with his crowds, its hard not to like him. MATCH ONE: Jimmy Jacobs vs. Mark Wolf vs. "Spyder" Nate Webb: Jacobs gets rid of his "HUSS" gimmick for this match and comes out in pajamas with a boombox, doing a "Say Anything" gimmick. Webb comes out with the usual best entrance in indy wrestling. This is a #1 contender's match for the light heavyweight title, which begs the question of, "Why the hell is Mark Wolf in the match, then?" We get a couple of triple lockups to start, not much happening. CM Punk on commentary, calls Jimmy Jacobs "homosexual". Prazak complains, so Punk says "hey, some of my best friends are gay!" Wolf chops the HELL out of Jacobs in the corner. Webb chops Wolf, and Jacobs chops Wolf. Jacobs tries a double noggin knocker but it doesn't work and he gets drilled. Wolf hits a big running knee lift on Webb, and he and Jacobs apply a Boston Crab/Camel Clutch combo. Jacobs then hits a seated dropkick! Jacobs gets a jawbreaker and a funky rollup for 2 on Webb. Wolf gets a corner avalanche on Jacobs. Double dropkick on the bigger Wolf by the smaller guys. Webb gets clotheslined outside. Wolf follows, and Jacobs hits a NICE dive off the top rope and to the floor. Wolf gets up and hits a double clothesline off the apron to Webb and Jacobs, who are seated in a ringside chair. Back inside, and Wolf gets a slingshot front suplex on Jacobs for 2. Webb gets caught in a tree of woe and Jacobs dropkicks him in the face. Jacobs lifts Wolf to the top rope, but Wolf blocks a rana and hits an inverted atomic drop off the top, right into a German suplex by Webb. Wolf and Webb knock each other down, and everyone's out. Webb hits his cool half nelson twisting facebuster thing on Jacobs, but Wolf puts the Carolina Cloverleaf on Webb. Jacobs breaks it up. Wolf hits an inverted DDT on Webb and Jacobs hits the Contra Code on Wolf (landing on Webb as he hits it) for the three count at about 8:00. This is about what you'd expect from a match like this: VERY little wrestling at all, but some nice spots designed to get the crowd into the match and the show. **1/4 Heel manager Jim Fannin comes out and talks about how he's the reason IWA-MS is still in business today. Punk on commentary says "yeah, because you've had so many five star matches, you stupid fuck." Trik Davis confronts Fannin, and Fannin's new client Steve Stone runs out to start a match MATCH TWO: Steve Stone w/ Jim Fannin vs. Trik Davis: Short match as Stone beats up Davis and refuses to pin him. Stone gets DQ-ed in a few minutes. Ian Rotten comes out and a BIG brawl starts between Rotten and Stone. The whole lockeroom has to separate them. Funny part as Ian is right by Prazak and Punk on commentary and looks at Punk, saying "You're the only guy who's a bigger dick than Steve Stone." Punk shrugs and says "yeah, he's got nothing on me." Anyways, Rotten challenges Stone to a match on 8/21 and Stone accepts. This match was just a setup for the Rotten/Stone angle, no real match. MATCH THREE: MsChif vs. Tracy Brooks vs. Mickie Knuckles vs. Daizee Haze: This is a real good women's match as they get about 9-10 minutes to show what they can do. Hot series of finishing moves at the end, and Brooks pins Haze with a cannonball off the top. Brooks is probably the worst worker in the match, as Mickie looked really good here, dishing out REALLY stiff shots, and Daizee and MsChif looked good as well. I like the women's division IWA-MS has put together. **1/2 MATCH FOUR: Delirious vs. AJ Styles (IWA-MS Light Heavyweight title): Styles hits a BIG dropkick to start, and he beats on Delirious until the champ bails to the floor. Fannin, on commentary, says it's stupid of Ian Rotten to give Styles a title shot when he might only show up once every three months or so. They lock up in the ring and Styles gets the best of things. Styles gets a waistlock and Delirious does his "lick by hand and slip free" thing, but Styles goes right back to the advantage. Delirious trips up Styles and takes him down. Styles sweep kicks Delirious and takes him right back to the mat. Styles gets a wristlock and kicks Delirious, who responds with a big forearm. This looks like it pisses off AJ, who takes Delirious to the corner and pounds the hell out of him. Big backbreaker by Styles, and then a knee drop. He kicks Delirious around and covers him for 2. Hanging vertical suplex by Styles for 2. Delirious dropkicks Styles to the floor and goes for a rana off the apron, but Styles tosses Delirious back inside. Delirious chokes Styles out on the ropes and then kicks him in the back. Delirious hooks a funky submission, but Styles counters to a Styles Clash attempt, but Delirious kicks him in the head to block. Delirious hits a sitdown spinebuster and then hooks some submission on Styles, flipping the bird to the crowd as he does. He pulls a strap off his mask and chokes Styles out with it. Styles comes back with a swinging ribbreaker move. Back up, they trade shots, and Styles hits a sick back drop suplex for 2. Moonsault into a DDT for Styles for 2. Delirious takes out Styles' knee and hits a running knee in the corner for 2. Styles gorilla presses Delirious and tosses him into the ringpost! Nice! Back in, and Delirous hits the Shadows Over Hell on Styles (who doesn't take the move quite right) for 2! We get a ref bump. Styles tries the Styles Clash, but KID KASH runs out to low blow him, and Deliirious gets the pin at about 15:00. This was a solid match, but didn't have the emotion or storytelling to take it to the next level. **3/4 MATCH FIVE: Brad Bradley and Ryan Boz © vs. Nigel McGuinness and Chad Collyer (IWA-MS tag team titles): The tag team champs STILL don't have any tag belts to wear, which really sucks. Collyer and Bradley start off and wrestle until Bradley knocks Collyer down with a running shoulder block. Boz gets in but Nigel and Collyer double team him. Collyer and Boz go at it and Collyer fires up with lots of chops. Boz bails and Bradley gets in and beats up Collyer before hitting a great overhead suplex. Boz then dives through the ropes onto Collyer and Nigel! BIG MAN FLYING! Nigel then grabs Boz and tosses him about four rows deep into a bunch of chairs. An angry Fannin on commentary: "I'll be damned if I have to get out of my chair and move!" Bradley and Boz work over Collyer with the usual big man offense until he gets a GREAT DDT on Bradley and makes the hot tag. Lots of European uppercuts from Nigel to B&B. Hammerlock DDT on Bradley for 2. Nigel suplexes Bradley and Collyer tags in and tries for the Cloverleaf and gets it! Boz kicks Collyer in the head to break it. Collyer takes Boz down and hooks the Cloverleaf on him, too! Bradley recovers and boots Collyer in the head. Nigel gets in but Bradley lariats him for the pinfall. Didn't get the exact time in that match, but I think it was around 10-11 minutes. Pretty average stuff. Nigel didn't look very good here, and this really isn't his type of match. Okay match, but not great. They DID bring some intensity, though, which is good. **1/4 MATCH SIX: CM Punk vs. Matt Sydal: They do some respect-type stuff early, with Punk actually shaking Sydal's hand after a nice exchange. I thought you were a major asshole, Punker! Sydal works a headlock on Punk with a goofy grin on his face. They tie up again and Sydal slaps on a submission so Punk gets the ropes. Punk goes to a surfboard on Sydal, who powers out and flips him to the mat. Nice springboard leg lariat by Sydal gets 2. They blow a tough spot but quickly recover and Punk hooks a Gory Special on Sydal. Sydal kicks free and arm drags Punk down but Punk comes back with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Punk continues to work over the back of Sydal. Bootscrapes by Punk but he misses the running dropkick and sails through the ropes to the floor. Sydal hits a baseball slide kick and then a HUGE moonsault off the top rope and to the floor, taking out a row of chairs in the process. Back in, and now Punk works Sydal's knee, yelling "tap out you little fucker!" Finally some emotion from Punk in this match! Punk tries a figure four, but Sydal rolls him up for 2, and then gets a sunset flip for 2. Punk chop blocks him to take him right back down. Punk works him over some more and then lariats Sydal in the corner, as Punk works the crowd, getting them to boo him. Sydal comes back with an awesome springboard double stomp, and does a nice sell job of the knee. They trade chops and Punk kicks the knee, but Sydal hits a dropkick and both men are down, Sydal still selling the knee. Sydal says "I gotta go up" and heads to the top rope. Punk crotches him but Sydal ends up getting a victory roll for 2. Sydal hits his reverse DDT thingy for 2. Sydal heads back up top but Punk crotches him again and superplexes him for 2. Sydal ends up getting his dragonrana thing that always looks botched for 2. I don't like that move in this match, it just seems unecessary and unrealistic. Punk ends up catching Sydal with a shining wizard and hooks a single leg crab for the submission at about 20:00. This was pretty much textbook wrestling here. The babyface got some early offense, but got hurt on a big dive. Punk worked over his knee, and it led to him winning, but not before plenty of hope spots from the babyface. Besides the fact that I didn't like the dragonrana in this match, this was a solid twenty minutes of wrestling. ***1/2 Kid Kash comes out and runs down IWA-MS. Danny Daniels comes out and challenges him. Kash says he wants a REAL challenge, which brings out Sabu in a surprise appearance, and leads to... MATCH SEVEN: Kid Kash vs. Danny Daniels vs. Sabu: Kash and Daniels team up on Sabu to start. Kash then turns on Daniels and they trade shots. Triple lockup, and Kash works the leg of Sabu while Daniels works Kash's neck. Daniels kind of blows a spot with Sabu, and Sabu kind of yells at him for it. Prazak mentions Teddy Hart "doing backflips for no fucking reason and getting fired for it" while Jim Fannin says "what the HELL are you talking about?" All three men end up on the floor. Daniels takes out Kash and Sabu with a dive off the top rope. Sabu hits a triple jump moonsault to the floor onto his opponents. Prazak keeps ripping on H2Wrestling, saying "This just in...Mr. X revealed as PJ Friedman!" Fannin: "What the HELL are you talking about, Dave?" Fannin then talks about how he doesn't know what NWA TNA is. Sabu hits Daniels off the apron with a chair but then misses a springboard move towards Kash, and Kash DDT's him for 2. This match is just REALLY sloppy. Kash and Daniels fight it out as the crowd reacts to Sabu in the crowd. Prazak says "Sabu getting into it with some fans on the floor" as I guess Sabu shoved ChicagoWrestling guy Todd Gerth while on the floor. Sabu does a springboard leg drop to Kash and Daniels on a table that looks like it hurt his ass more than anything, as the table doesn't even break. Daniels hits his swinging gutbuster thing on Kash for 2. This match looks SO thrown together, as it has no flow and looks like they're making it up as they go. Sabu gets hooked in a double submission, but Daniels puts a submission on Kash, too. Kash hits a facebuster on Daniels, but Sabu and Kash trade chair throws and the match gets even weirder as there seems to be NO communication between wrestlers. Sabu does a springboard dive and Kash tries to shove him off the ropes but Sabu just says fuck it and does the dive anyways onto Daniels. Fannin goes off on Kid Kash, calling him a "no talent piece of shit" as this match gets even weirder. Kash tries a bulldog on Daniels but does it wrong and kicks Sabu in the nuts as he does. Sabu hooks the camel clutch on Daniels while Kash hooks a chinlock on Sabu. German suplex by Daniels on Sabu. Kash hits the Moneymaker on Daniels and has to wait to cover because Sabu is supposed to break it up but isn't in position. Wow. Finally AJ Styles runs out to end our misery and Sabu hits a weak springboard moonsault on Daniels for the pin at about 14:00. This match was one giant disaster as there was clearly no communication between wrestlers and VERY few good spots. Just one big giant mess. DUD MATCH EIGHT: "Anarchist" Arik Cannon vs. "American Dragon" Bryan Danielson: "Fuck him up Dragon, fuck him up!" chant to start, and Cannon stalls and yells at the crowd. I like Cannon as a heel. They tie up to start and Dragon twists and stretches Cannon in various ways like you might imagine. Cool submissions by Dragon before they trade some quick mat stuff before facing off. The fans clap, getting into the match, and Cannon yells at them. They tie up again and Dragon psyches Cannon out when he's in the ropes, patting him on the chest. Fannin says he should have punched him in the mouth. They tie up again and trade some great mat stuff, with Dragon looking really good as always. Danielson is just a ton of fun to watch. Cannon gets more and more frustrated as they tie up again. He backs Dragon to the ropes and then slaps him in the face. Big Euro uppercut by Dragon, who trash talks Cannon. Cannon chops Dragon, who is all "what, like that hurt, bitch?" Dragon uppercuts him again. Cannon fakes a chop and pokes Dragon in the eyes to a pop from the fans, and then takes Dragon to the mat with his first advantage of the match. It doesn't last long, as Dragon takes him out with a shoulderblock and then a knee drop for 2. Dragon slaps Cannon around a bit and the fans love it. Dragon with a great high dropkick for 2. Dragon goes to work on the left arm of Cannon while twisting and pulling on his wrist. Ouch! Dragon with some more awesome arm work on Cannon. Dragon hits three sick uppercuts on Cannon, but Cannon fires back with a big forearm shot that almost knocks Dragon out. Cannon goes to work on the neck of Dragon, and then hits an STO for 2. Rolling neck snap and then a leglock/cravat by Cannon, but Dragon fights his way out of it, just forearming the hell out of Cannon. Cannon continues to work the neck, though, with some cool submissions. We're about 15 minutes in and it's been almost ALL matwork and wrestling so far, and I LOVE it. Cannon hooks a stump puller-type move, but Dragon gets up and hits an enzuigiri to break. Dragon with uppercuts and chops. Dragon hooks an awesome inverted surfboard into a dragon sleeper submission that the crowd loves. Cannon is just bent BACKWARDS. Cannon tries a sunset flip, but Dragon just sits on him, Rikishi style. Dragon goes to an airplane spin before hitting a rolling fireman's carry slam and then a DIZZY TOP ROPE HEADBUTT~! He covers for 2. Cannon rallies with an exploder for 2. Dragon rallies with an AWESOME flying forearm from the second rope for 2. Dragon puts Cannon up top and superduperplexes (both men on the top rope) him for 2! Cannon blocks the Cattle Mutilation (Fannin: "He mutilates cattle?") and hits a swinging neckbreaker and then his swinging neckbreaker on the ropes move for 2. Dragon comes back with a HUGE roaring elbow on Cannon and then hooks the Cattle Mutilation! Cannon repositions himself, though, and gets the ropes, and they talk about how Dragon's neck wasn't good enough to hold the bridge there. Dragon hits another charging forearm, but he misses a move and Cannon hits the GLIMMERING WARLOCK~! Cover gets 2. Cannon hits ANOTHER Glimmering Warlock for 3 at about 24:00. I LOVED this match. The first time I watched it I thought it was "pretty good" and gave it ***1/4-***1/2, but after watching it again it was BETTER than that. The work was hard hitting, realistic, and told a story. The psychology was solid, and there weren't any restholds or lulls in the action. Just a TERRIFIC wrestling match. **** Dragon gets a "please come back!" and "thank you!" chant from the fans. Ian Rotten comes out and puts him over, and Dragon says he'll be back next month at 8/21 to face anyone Ian wants. The fans chant "HERO! HERO! HERO!" and Ian books the match! MATCH NINE: Petey Williams © vs. Alex Shelley (2/3 falls for IWA-MS title): Fall one: They trade plenty of holds on the mat to start. Shelley is really good at this. The crowd seems a little burnt out after the last match. Shelley rips at Williams' fingers and twists him around, but Williams counters and puts him in a leg lock. They trade various matholds with Shelley focused on the shoulder of Williams. Shelley hits some rolling suplexes and hooks the Border City Stretch for the tapout to go up 1-0. The announcers talk about how he had to tap out quickly to save himself for later. Fall two: Shelley continues to focus on the arm as the second fall starts, and adds a kick to the back for good measure. He goes to a crucifix armbar type of move and then hits an arm wringer into an arm breaker. Shelley hits a great dropkick to the shoulder of Williams. He takes Williams to the floor and posts his arm. Punk says that Petey is screwed and might as well go home. Shelley continues to work the arm with all sorts of stuff. Williams comes back and hooks the sharpshooter and Shelley taps. That fall really came out of nowhere. Final fall: Shelley continues to dominate and work the arm. He locks in a REALLY painful looking armbar but Petey gets the ropes. Petey tries to fight back but Shelley hits a single arm DDT and then applies a bridging armbar. There should really be more urgency from Prazak and Punk here as the title IS on the line, even if we all know who's going to win the match. Petey hooks a sleeper but Shelley quickly gets a chinbreaker to counter. Shelley hits a hammerlock Northern lights suplex! Nice. Shelley continues to work the arm. Williams finally comes back with some neckbreakers and a Russian leg sweep for 2. Shelley comes back with a double stomp off the top onto Williams' shoulder for 2. Petey tries the Canadian Destroyer twice, but Shelley blocks and hits the Shellshock for 2, right into the Border City Stretch, but Petey counters to a rollup for three at about 18:00. This was a really technically sound match, but Petey got almost NO offense in the entire match, and it was just Shelley working the arm. Technically sound, but not exciting as it could have been. **3/4 MATCH TEN: Madman Pondo vs. "Mr. Insanity" Toby Klein (Barbed wire tables match): This match is what you'd expect. They brawl around rather slowly and bloody each other with the barbed wire. The first table bump is Klein diving to the outside and putting Pondo through a table. Nice spot. Pondo comes back and DDT's Klein off the top rope and through another table in a really nice bump. The final spot has Klein hitting a DVD on Pondo through the table for the pinfall at about 10:00 or so. The table bumps were nice...the rest of the match was not. It was a slow, plodding, uneventful and unemotional brawl. I really wish they played up the fact that at KOTDM Klein stapled flash paper to Pondo's face and LIT IT ON FIRE, but that fact seems to be lost here. Anyways, I'll be REALLY generous for the nice bumps and give it **. After the match they set up a rematch at the 8/21 show where 16 fans will get to be lumberjacks and whip the guys with straps when they come to the floor. Final thoughts: Another great show from IWA-MS. If you're a fan of Dragon or Cannon, you NEED to see their match here. Anyone who likes good, solid, realistic wrestling will love that match. Punk/Sydal is a really solid, textbook, by-the-books match, and AJ vs. Delirious is pretty solid, too. The women's match is good, as is the 2/3 falls match, and the Ian/Stone brawl is good, too.

Where did you hear that? I don't ever remember reading that, though it sounds true enough.

That is fine. But thats not what JoeDirt said. How is it different? Noble is pissed, so he beats down Kidman in revenge. He believes he's in the right, which is when heelish behavior is the best. Kidman believes he's in the right, since it was just an accident. It's not a worked shoot...it's just taking advantage of a real situation and making it into a story, which has been done a gazillion times before. Why would Kidman say its an accident? The point of any move in wrestling is to hurt him as most as humaliy possible to win a match. Anytime when a guy says "I didnt mean to hurt him" IMMEDIATLY implies wrestling is fake...BUT THIS IS REAL. Not good. Because the shooting star press is done to PIN someone, not knock them unconscious. Kidman could say he was just trying to get the pinfall, but accidentally his knee caught Chavo in the head. Noble would argue it was on purpose, and then try and get revenge.

The official announcement: (I might as well hand over my September paychecks to Ian Rotten) Fans in the Louisville area who have been wondering how much longer they'll have to wait for the return of live IWA action to the region... the wait is over! IWA Mid-South Wrestling returns to the National Guard Armory (2909 Grant Line Road) in New Albany, IN (just minutes outside of Louisville) on Thursday night, September 16th. Bell time is 7:30pm. All seats $15. We're returning to the area in the fashion we came in back during 1996, with a Thursday night event, in what will now make the Ted Petty Invitational week a QUADRUPLE SHOT of live events: Wednesday 9/15 in Evansville, Thursday 9/16 in New Albany, and Friday & Saturday 9/17 & 9/18 in Highland. This will be IWA's first show this close to Louisville since August 2003. Already confirmed for 9/16 in New Albany: "The Phenomenal" AJ STYLES, CHRIS HERO, BJ WHITMER, and DANNY DANIELS. More stars of IWA Mid-South who will be in the area for the other TPI week events who will appear in New Albany will be announced during the coming days, in addition to matchups for the event. Mark your calendars! Add New Albany to your TPI road trip plans, Thursday night, 9/16! Stay tuned to the IWA web site for further details on the TPI week events as they become available. Call the hotlines at 502-569-1701 in Louisville and 630-585-3958 in Chicago. www.iwamidsouthwrestling.com www.midwestwrestling.com

Sleepers REALLY don't work well...guys usually make a big comeback right after being put in them!

Good stuff. I think a problem is the fact that Angle isn't Vince's prototypical "main event hoss" that he loves so much...a guy like HHH or Lesnar or even a guy like Rock. Angle, therefore, really had to work hard to turn himself from the bumbling idiot to a serious guy who can snap your ankle and is a force to be reckoned with. I don't really know what to say. I guess at this point in his career Kurt knows how to play the backstage games, and wants to play them enough to ensure he stays at the top for however many matches he has left.

Eddie Kingston promo The ShareCropper beat Darkness Crabtree Mano Metalico beat Sabian Blackjack Marciano beat Trik Davis Dark Breed (Hallowicked/Ultramantis Black) beat Team F.I.S.T. (Icarus/Akuma) Mobius beat DJ Skittlez Eddie Kingston beat Chris Hero Jigsaw/Jolly Roger/Shane Storm/Mister ZERO beat Rorschach/Larry Sweeney/Crossbones/Spyrazul

Stole this stuff from the CZWfans board, figured some people here might want to read it: "Top to bottom one of the best Chikara cards to date. Mano Metalico and Sabian layed into each other with some brutal high impact spots and tons of stiff kicks and chops. Trik Davis made a good debut for Chikara against Black Jack Marciano. Trik looked good but the crowd really didn't dig him too much. If you're reading this, YES Armbars are cool. Hero vs. Kingston S-T-I MOTHER FUCKIN F-F. Picture a bar room brawl for the hottest woman in the universe, but it makes sense and involves really good wrestling and that defines this match. I don't know how either man is walking after probably the sickest headbutt I've ever seen in my life. 8 Man tag was the main event really well put together with a great aftermatch set up which leads to a best of 7 series between Larry Sweeney's team and Jigsaw's team in a best of 7 singles match series between both teams. I assume this will begin the next show, also next month, Chris Hero and a "Perfect Partner" vs. The Wildcards. I really hope the "Perfect Partner" is someone who can work as well with the Wildcards as I think he can. Top to bottom, again, well worth the cost of the ticket, definetly pick up the tape from the ONLY video distributor you need, www.smartmarkvideo.com" ===== "Real great stuff in front of an awesome crowd. Chikara's shows have slowly been getting better and better but I really think they turned a corner tonight, delivering a well-rounded show that flowed perfectly and entertained from start to finish. Hero vs Kingston was absolutely amazing, honest to god one of the most brutal matches I've ever seen. Eddie Kingston looked amazingly solid in this (both his selling and his strikes which look great), I really hope someone in CZW sees this match and gives him a shot in a singles bout. I swear I heard skull crack on that one headbutt (and the forearms they exchanged made me want to puke) but for a match as sickening as this it was largely storybased and far from a simple stiff-fest with Kingston refusing to lose on his own turf and doing whatever it took to win. Hero also proved to be a total lunatic by laying Kingston on the outside and hitting him with a tope con hilo into a swanton bomb. Think about that. And who the hell throws ice at someone during a wrestling match?? The Sharecropper is my new favorite wrestler if only for his mask which is an ear of corn with green leaves where the hair should be. This was a fun little opener with some classic Senior Assualt Team stuff, the old man took a bite out of one of his kernals at some point. Yeah, that sounds gross but it was nice wholesome fun. Sabian and Mano Metalico had a classic cat-and-mouse type match that was given some great time to develop. Really liked the formula of mixing up the multiman matches with experienced guys and newer dudes, that match was real fun and a bit less chaotic than most of their 8-mans. This one was Jigsaw, Jolly Roger, Shane Storm and Mr Zero vs. Rohrshack, Sweeney, Crossbones and some guy who looked like Abysmo Negro. Jolly Roger could be the most improved wrestler of 2004 and looked real good here, as did Rohrshach and Jigsaw. Larry Sweeney has a fun gimmick and a great presence, didn't see too much of him in the ring though. But at least the technicos finally win a match!! If you've ever wanted to check out Chikara but slept on it, this is the tape to pick up. Hero/Kingston a total must-see and this is one of those not-a-FF-match-on-the-tape type things. If you're not watching Chikara you're definitely missing out."

Yeah, that should be a GREAT week for indy wrestling. Actually, September as a whole will be completely amazing, with IWA-MS, ROH, CZW, PWG, and so many others having big shows.

I've learned that women I don't like are "jezebels". I've learned that if I don't like my boss, I should just challenge him to a steel cage match for control of the company. I've learned that a title belt is the MOST DEVASTATING WEAPON _EVER_~!~!~!

Dammit, meant for this to be in General Wrestling. Can someone move it for me? Thanks.

That is fine. But thats not what JoeDirt said. How is it different? Noble is pissed, so he beats down Kidman in revenge. He believes he's in the right, which is when heelish behavior is the best. Kidman believes he's in the right, since it was just an accident. It's not a worked shoot...it's just taking advantage of a real situation and making it into a story, which has been done a gazillion times before.

Why can't the WWE sign anyone that can actually DO different moves? Why does everyone have to be Joe Vanilla McBlandsville?

Isn't there something like Smart Mark UK or something like that?

I remember Meltzer writing that Chuck Palumbo moved to RAW because he had heat with a lot of guys on Smackdown. Don't know who, though.

Great points. I like the Hero/Cannon storyline a lot, though it seems like the fans are going to force them to HAVE to turn Hero unless something changes. I love that I have no idea where exactly they're going with it, but I really think that Hero's going to go heel sometime soon, if only in Highland and nowhere else. It's hard to say...but the Hero/Cannon feud is so simple yet effective, I'm enjoying it a lot. I really wish IWA had several more slow-burning feuds and storylines taking place, as there's really only Hero/Cannon and Daniels' split from Fannin and company.

Thanks Tom, I really appreciate it. I should add here that the postmatch Hero/Cannon/Dragon stuff is well done. Hero refuses to shake Dragon's hand. Arik Cannon comes out and interrupts and does the whole "I beat Dragon and you couldn't, Hero!" Dragon punks out Cannon by pretending he's going to smack him, and getting Cannon to flinch and back away. Dragon leaves it at that, and heads backstage. Cannon tells Hero that he's going to do one more thing tonight that Hero couldn't do in Highland, and that's beat Homicide in the middle of the ring. We get backstage interviews from Dragon and Hero. Hero talks about how he keeps telling himself he doesn't have a Highland curse, but...and walks off. Another interesting thing is that the Highland fans are really turning on Hero. Cannon got a pretty good response when he ran down Hero after the match.

I just think it would work because it's simple, makes sense, and would get people to take a tag team title feud at least SOMEWHAT seriously for the first time in how long? But instead we'll either get nothing, or like was said earlier, Paul London spraypainting "REDNECKS SUK" on a car.

I was doing some searching and found this thread, and thought it was worth bringing back for a bit. And as far as the Dreamer winning the title thing, I remember seeing clips on the TNN show, with Dreamer saying "I may not ever make it to Wrestlemania, and I'll sure as hell never be at Starcade, but I can finally say I was ECW world heavyweight champion!" Then Credible attacks, and Dreamer is all "RING THE FUCKING BELL!" and promptly loses the strap.

Except for the fact that it's a singles match and the actual xXx/AMW tag match doesnt happen till weds. No, read the spoilers...Wednesday is Naturals vs. XXX vs. AMW.

I'm looking to buy some ECW stuff from this time period. I can't promise I'll buy from you, but I'll entertain any good offers, depending on what shows you have, of course. PM me here or write me at [email protected] if you're interested.