JoeDirt

Match review: Jimmy Jacobs vs. Brandon Thomaselli (IWA-MS 12/18/04) This is from the "Rumble in Rensselaer" card. For your story, Thomaselli is the hot young newcomer in IWA-MS, and has been in several big matches since arriving in October. Jacobs is the frustrated IWA veteran, who just lost his light heavyweight title to Delirious in a contraversial decision, and has been getting more and more frustrated over the past few months. Jacobs beat Thomaselli in a competitive 25 minute match back in November, and this is a 2/3 falls rematch: First fall: Jimmy goofs around to start, putting on a girl's sweatshirt/jacket at ringside and locking up with it on. He then wears a guy's sweatshirt and continues goofing around. They then lock up and Thomaselli controls for a bit before Jacobs goes after the arm and then into a wristlock. Thomaselli does a great backflip into a reversal. Jacobs gets the ropes. Another lockup sequence, and Thomaselli works over Jacobs on the mat and then hits a beautiful bridging suplex for 2, with Jacobs countering out of it into a pin for a 2 count. Jacobs takes Brandon back down and continues going after the arm, and shows some frustration with a palm strike to the head. Thomaselli gets out of it and pins Jacobs for 2 and then into a chinlock. Jacobs continues to get more frustrated. They do a sloppy sequence in the ropes where Jacobs flips Thomaselli to the floor and then fakes a dive. Back in, and they shake hands and Jacobs fakes out going for a cheap shot, and Thomaselli does an "I saw that" kind of joking around motion. They lock up again. Jimmy grabs the leg and Thomaselli does another great counter out of it but Jimmy goes to a headlock and Thomaselli counters out of that into a suplex/pinning combination for 2 and then another one for 2, getting out of the headlock. More applause from the fans as Jimmy gets more frustrated. Jacobs bails to the floor and just stands there as if he's contemplating something. He gets back in and they lock up again. They have a hard break and then do it again. Jacobs REALLY takes Thomaselli down hard this time and hits more palm strikes to the head. Brandon is close to the ropes, but instead of taking the break he proves he can outwrestle Jacobs and takes him to the mat for a pin for 2, and Jacobs bails, getting more and more pissed off. Back in, at 12:00, Jacobs gets a waistlock and then goes for the Contra Code but Thomaselli counters to the Air Raid Crash which Jacobs counters to a sunset flip for 2, which Thomaselli counters to a pin for 2. Back up, and now Jacobs is pissed, and they talk trash. Jacobs pushes Thomaselli and asks him if he thinks he's a big shot. He tells Brandon he isn't shit and slaps him, and now they trade chops and punches and forearms. Thomaselli splashes Jacobs in the corner. They fight over a suplex and Jacobs swings it into a hard neckbreaker. Back up, and Jacobs hits a REALLY HARD chop, talks more trash, and then hits headbutts before dumping Brandon with a suplex. The fans still cheer Jacobs, even when he's turning heel before their eyes. More trash talk, and a forearm to the back and then a second big suplex puts Thomaselli down. More trash talk from Jacobs. Jacobs looks to Ian Rotten on commentary and asks "is this your boy?" He pins Brandon for 2. Jacobs takes a break to tell the fans that he's been in the company way longer than Thomaselli and that he deserves respect. Thomaselli fights back with chops but Jimmy rakes Brandon's eyes. "This is my spot!" Jacobs says as he blasts Thomaselli with forearms. Thomaselli fights back with more chops but then gets caught with a HUGE boot to the face by Jacobs in the corner for a 2 count. That almost got a "holy fuuuuuuuck" from Prazak. Jacobs pulls him to the middle and hooks an Indian deathlock into a chinlock but Thomaselli won't tap. Jimmy goes for his Tomikaze type move, but Thomaselli counters into a pinning combination for the first fall at 18:00! Second fall: And now Jacobs is REALLY pissed. He chops away at Thomaselli. They trade shots. Inverted STO by Jacobs into a camel clutch. He blasts Thomaselli with HARD crossface shots. He then goes from the camel clutch to a quick pin for 2. Jacobs still can't put Thomaselli down for a fall. Jacobs tosses Thomaselli to the floor and hits a tope on him. He then hopes Thomaselli will get counted out, but Thomaselli gets back in at nineteen. That's a great touch right there. Jacobs is pissed. More shots to the face. Vertical suplex for 2. Senton across the chest for 2. Jacobs pins him repeatedly, but Thomaselli always kicks out. He goes to a surfboard and just slams Thomaselli's face into the mat, almost like Super Dragon's curb stomp. More repeated pinfall attempts, but Thomaselli counters one to a two count of his own. They trade shots, hard forearms. Thomaselli hits a handspring leg lariat and both guys are down. Thomaselli hits a reverse suplex type thing for 2, and Jacobs then rolls him up for 2 right out of that. Still 1-0 Thomaselli. He goes for the Air Raid Crash (Kryptonite Krunch) and Jacobs rolls him up again for 2. They fight up top and Thomaselli hits a superplex, but Jacobs leans back and pins him...for 2! Jacobs sets up for a top rope Tomikaze, but Thomaselli blocks. He misses a 450 and gets caught by a Jacobs lariat. Jacobs hits a SICK SICK SENTON BOMB off the top with all his weight going into Thomaselli's chest for only 2! Jacobs now realizes he has to go to the contra code, and he goes for it, but Brandon counters into a tombstone which Jacobs counters into a piledriver attempt which Thomaselli counters to an Air Raid Crash which Jacobs counters to a pinfall for 2 which Thomaselli counters to a pinfall for 2. Jacobs goes to the apron and Thomaselli scoops him up and hits the Air Raid Crash for the second straight pinfall at 28:15! Thomaselli wins it in two falls! Post match: Jacobs goes to shake Brandon's hand and then slaps him in the face and tells him to stay "down there, in YOUR spot." Jacobs goes off on Ian Rotten, about how he shows favoritism to this new kid, and how Jacobs got screwed out of the light heavyweight title. Jacobs goes total heel, telling the fans and Ian to get a life. Ian tells him he respect Jimmy, but Jimmy can't forget where he came from. Ian books him in a rematch with Thomaselli at the next Rensellaer show where the loser must say "I respect you" to the other guy. This match was storytelling in wrestling at its finest, with the bitter Jacobs finally snapping after months of buildup. It shows the difference between having a random match between two guys and having a match with a story to tell, and how much difference that makes when you have the latter. Great work by both guys here, a great near-30 minute match, a great story told, and a great set up for the next show. The announcing by Dave Prazak and Ian Rotten was also good, as we got to hear Ian surprised as he watched the match unfold at how frustrated Jimmy was getting. Great storytelling. One of the best IWA-MS matches in 2004, in my opinion, (and they've had a lot of good ones) because of the storytelling and the great, realistic work by both Jimmy and Brandon. The 12/18 show as a whole is a lot of fun, and I suggest everyone should check it out at www.smartmarkvideo.com because there isn't one bad match on the entire tape, there's some good matches, some funny stuff with Alex Shelley, Ian, and Petey Williams, and a cage match main event. Good stuff from IWA. I just hope people get the tape to find out for themselves, as Ian can't afford to book guys like Styles, Joe, Danielson, etc that often anymore. Thoughts, comments, opinions are welcome. Thanks for reading.

I'm not positive, since I haven't seen any of the shows with Sal and Vito on them yet, but I THINK they're separate, but I could be wrong...anyone want to help me out here?

Of all the cruiserweights they could bring in...

1) Tajiri d. Steven Richards 2) Grenier d. Val Venis 3) Trish d. Molly Not very exciting. Oh, and Masters won a dark match. CREDIT: Wrestlingobserver.com

DOI posted this: " Shane Twins Sign WWE Contracts In a sign of WWE looking for new talent, the WWE signed The Shane Twins to three year deals today. The Shane Twins are Mike and Todd Shane and are a tag team out of the Florida area. The Shane Twins worked for NWA TNA briefly in 2002. Ron Niemi, who assisted the Shane Twins throughout their careers told the DOI the following: "I am extremely proud of the Shane Brothers and feel this signing is LONG overdue but comes at a great time as they are in the greatest condition of their career and are one of the best tag teams in the world right now. Mike and Todd are like family to me and I couldn't be any happier for them and the entire roster and office of NWA Florida feels the same way. Watch for Mike and Todd to make a LOT of noise in the WWE!" Niemi worked closely with the Shane Twins in NWA Florida. The Shane Twins will join a very tag team depleted WWE. It is not known when they will debut, but with the lack of true tag teams on Raw and Smackdown, I wouldn't be surprised to see them debut sooner than later. The DOI congratulates The Shane Twins on their new jobs. Special Thanks to Will Rivera for major assistance on this story "

WWF...WWE what's the difference.

Apparently Gabe Sapolsky has been impressed with Mike Shane, who he's starting to give a push in FIP. So maybe he's decent. But I really have no idea.

According to PWInsider, New Jack wasn't in any dark match.

Bret Hart and Chris Benoit are shown briefly on the opening of FOX's "Malcolm in the Middle". Leave it to me to bring the major tidbits. Why did Vader leave WCW in 95?

I tuned in late...why does Jack have hostages?

This is HILARIOUS.

According to WWE.com, Hassan beat Lawler with a "reverse Rock Bottom". I don't know why that's funny to me, but it just is.

That's hilarious.

I have tons of stuff to trade or will pay a few bucks via paypal. Somebody help me out here. I'm always on the lookout for old WWF and WCW TV as well. Thanks.

Full Impact Pro returns to Florida this weekend for two loaded shows featuring the best talent from the Sunshine State in addition to the top independents superstars from around the United States. Be a part of the intimate atmosphere and studio like setting that makes FIP so unique. Tickets will be available at the door for both nights. ROH merchandise will also be there with a selection of DVDs. Check out these lineups coming to Lakeland and Tampa this Friday and Saturday: Friday, January 7th, 2004 - New Year's Classic Latino's Night Club (LNC The Club) in Lakeland, FL 1325 Combee Road, Lakeland, FL, 33801 Tickets are $15.00 and kids 13 and under are only $5 Belltime is 8 p.m. FIP Heavyweight Title Match Homicide defends against James Gibson (formerly Jamie Knoble) Grudge Tag Team Match Jerrelle Clark & Sal Rinauro vs. DP Associates Jimmy Rave & Fast Eddie Vegas with Dave Prazak Strong Style Challenge Samoa Joe vs. Roderick Strong Special Challenge Match The New Dawn's CM Punk vs. Antonio Banks Cruiserweight Dream Match Puma vs. The New Dawn's Azrieal Vordell Walker vs. "The Soul Assassin" Rainman Scoot Andrews & A Mystery Partner vs. Heartbreak Express 911's Mike Shane with Ron Niemi vs. Brian "The Blade" Gamble Saturday, January 8th, 2004 - Unfinished Business The Party Zone in Tampa, FL 5634 E. Hillsborough Ave., Tampa, FL 33619 Tickets are $15.00 and kids 13 and under are only $5 Belltime is 8 p.m. Anything Goes match FIP Champion Homicide & Rainman vs. The New Dawn of CM Punk & Azrieal Special Challenge Match James Gibson (formerly Jamie Knoble) vs. Puma Grudge Match Jerrelle Clark vs. DP Associate Fast Eddie Vegas with Dave Prazak Winner Goes To ROH On 2/19 For A FIP Title Shot Antonio Banks vs. 911's Mike Shane with Ron Niemi Special Attraction Match Steve Madison vs. Sal Rinauro Plus: Samoa Joe in action and more with Roderick Strong, Scoot Andrews, Kahagas, The Heartbreak Express and more!!! FIP Headlines: Former WWE Star Going After FIP Heavyweight Title James Gibson, formerly known as Jamie Knoble in WWE, really enjoyed his matches in FIP on 12/17. Gibson's reputation in the wrestling business, lengthy stay in the Florida Rumble and victory over CM Punk make him the #1 contender to Homicide's FIP Heavyweight Title. Homicide said he will defend the belt against the best wrestlers in and out of FIP in order to build the reputation of the title. Homicide has already won the tournament to become the new FIP champion with victories over AJ Styles, Austin Aries and CM Punk. He has also successfully defended the belt against BJ Whitmer, Punk and Spanky. If Homicide can add Gibson to the list of defeated challengers there is no doubt that the FIP title deserves some prestige. Meanwhile, Gibson is looking to establish himself as a top player on the indy scene and a FIP title victory would shoot him into the forefront of the scene. Homicide & Rainman To Settle Unfinished Business With New Dawn In Tampa FIP Heavyweight Champion Homicide's feud against The New Dawn led by CM Punk has seen the two fight in strip clubs, on top of a truck, in parking lots, in grass fields and all over buildings. Now the feud will explode again in an anything goes match when Homicide teams with Rainman against Punk and his lackey Azrieal. Rainman wants revenge on The New Dawn since both Punk and Azrieal have cheated to gain victories over him. Rainman has come to Homicide's aid before and has proved he can brawl with the best. This tag team fight could end up anywhere in Tampa!!! Samoa Joe Comes To Florida To Take On The Best Former ROH World Champion Samoa Joe will make his first public appearances since losing the ROH title this coming weekend in FIP. There is no telling what mood Joe will be in. Joe wants to take on Florida's best. Roderick Strong has already stepped up for Friday night in Lakeland. This popular homegrown Florida talent says that Joe better be ready for a hard-hitting match. A number of athletes want to test Joe on Saturday in Tampa and we will find out will wrestle Joe the night of the show. It will be one of Florida's elite. A victory over Joe will propel someone into superstardom while Joe looks to wipe out Florida's best and go for the FIP title. Jerrelle Clark Wages War Against DP Associates "New Year's Classic" on Friday and "Unfinished Business" on Saturday will see Jerrelle Clark continue his feud against Dave Prazak's DP Associates of Jimmy Rave, Fast Eddie Vegas and Insane Dragon. Prazak returns to Florida this weekend and there is no telling what he has up his sleeve. Clark is looking to settle this high-flying feud in both tag and singles matches. FIP Title Shot & Ring Of Honor Booking On The Line In Tampa Antonio Banks will collide with Mike Shane on Saturday in Tampa at The Party Zone with a huge prize on the line. The winner of this bout will be flown to Elizabeth, New Jersey on 2/19 to compete on Ring Of Honor's "Do Or Die IV" show. Not only that, but the winner will main event "Do Or Die IV" and receive a FIP Heavyweight Title shot that day. Ron Niemi is confident his giant Mike Shane will storm into ROH while Antonio Banks sees this as a huge opportunity. This will be the battle of two of the biggest bulls on the FIP roster. Puma Ready For FIP Debut The exciting Puma of the New Japan LA Dojo is set to make his FIP debut this weekend. He is ready for all competition and wants to make an immediate impact. He has his work cut out for him with Azrieal the first night and fellow New Japan wrestler James Gibson the second night. Don't blink or you might miss one of Puma's lightning quick, damaging kicks!!! Scoot Andrews Looks To Embarrass Heartbreak Express Again Scoot Andrews said that he had a fun time embarrassing The Heartbreak Express at the last show with the freaky LaDuke Jakes as his tag team partner. Andrews says he has an even bigger freak lined up to take on The Heartbreak Express this Friday in Lakeland. The Heartbreak Express want to even the score against Andrews.

I believe that was during his feud with Steiner in early 2003 and he got stripped out of his clothes after a posedown in their super gay feud.

HHH works his ass off just about every night, and a heel should have the belt going into WM anyways. Kudos and huzzah, Trips. Kudos and huzzah.

Whose idea was Renegade? And out of all the people in the world that could have played the part, why pick THAT piece of crap?

I'd be really interested to see what the WWE would do if HHH tore his ACL sometime in the next few months and they had to go without him.

If anyone thought Kane wasn't going over clean tonight, they need to be slapped across the face with a dildo. It was more obvious than Hunter winning the Chamber. Any other result would make zero sense (well, most show overall made zero sense, but thats not the point). I guess I need to be slapped across the face with a dildo then. I expected the feud to continue until WM I guess. Wait did I just type that?

What I'd do: Triple threat match for the women's title tomorrow night on RAW. Trish, Molly, and Victoria. Trish wins. Bischoff comes out and says congrats. He tells her its the last women's title match and strips her of the belt because they don't have a big enough division. Trish, Molly, and Vickie start an alliance over the next few weeks. They say the women's division is gone because the stupid fans just wanted to see a pair of tits more than women's wrestling, so we have all the new divas signed who can't even wrestle. Maybe then they get behind a new wrestler, someone like Chris Masters, and serve as a PMS type heel group with him, helping him up the ranks.

Anyone else surprised they blew off Kane/Snitsky clean? What next for those guys?

Just scrap the women's division. They have four wrestlers left, and three without Lita.

FACT: Batista gets more cheers than Orton. That's the only thing that matters. And it is a problem if Orton is designated as the next big thing. Orton will always get a pop for the RKO. DDP always got a huge pop for the diamond cutter, too. But the fans aren't latching onto the guy. That's pretty obvious. I'm not here saying they should push Benoit back to the top or something, because they shouldn't. I'm just saying that Orton shouldn't be a face. He'll get screams from the girls who think he's handsome, but he will never be over bigtime as a babyface. (unless his character changes completely or something)

Benjamin is still IC Champ. You mean Shelton "Generic Old School Face" Benjamin? No thanks. But he's a great athlete! He played football and ran track and wrestled! If he was only a third generation athlete, JR would cream his pants everytime he saw him!