Best IWA-Mid South Show

[Guest ShooterJay]

The shows that made IWA prominent the past year or so have been the Ted Petty Invitational (TPI), the Ultra Styles Clash weekend, and the 300th show-all of which have been reviewed at our fine site. However, those are all 2 tape sets, which cost $35, and I'm a cheap bastard, so what are the best single tape shows from Ian Rotten's promotion?

 

I've perused SMV, and I was impressed with the card for Simply the Best 4, which has CM Punk vs. Jonny Storm, Shark Boy vs. Tracey Smothers, Spyder Nate Webb vs. Corporal Robinson, and Jerry Lynn vs. Dino Bambino.

 

I've also heard good things about 301, April Bloodshowers, Bloodfeast, and When Hero Met Punk (although the card other than that match looks like a bunch of filler crap.)

 

Can anybody elaborate on the quality of these shows, or have a different opinion on a good tape?

[Guest ConspiracyVictim]

Well lets see...

 

301 is a good show. The main event has alot of stalling and is kinda boring but Steel v. Capri and Hero v. Bailey make up for that. Mondo v. Webb was better than the 300 show match but still not that great overall.

 

April Bloodshowers 2003 had alot of crap on it, but also some good stuff that should be seen by any IWA fan. The Shelley v. Jacobs match was very good as always but nowhere near their Iron Man match. Bailey v. Webb is insane and there are some bumps that need to be seen in that one. Corpral v. Bradley was actually very watchable and the aftermath is brutal as Corp gets beat down. Rotten and Stratton have another entertaining southern style brawl that is pretty good also. The three way was slightly dissapointing but still a good match...not near the best 3 way in IWA history. The Main Event is a pretty decent brawl and Pondo is a funny guy so I would recommend the tape although alot of the beginning stuff is crap.

 

Bloodfeast 2002 was a pretty good show. Steel/Dupp, Punk/Stryker/Murphy, Hero/Gooch, and Cabana/Whitmer are all good matches. The brawl at the end is entertaining for a few minutes but it goes on forever. All in all a good show...but there are better out there for your money

 

When Hero Met Punk does have alot of filler stuff, but nothing is actually horribly bad. I would buy the tape mostly for the main event...but there is some other decent stuff on the card.

 

As for suggestions...

 

2003: An IWA Freak-A-Thon was a really good show. Ian Rotten v. Jimmy Jacobs and Robinson v. Boz are pretty good, watchable matches. The two breakout matches though are Daniels v. Hero and Punk v. BJ. The Punk v. BJ match is one of the indy matches of the year so far and the Daniels/Hero match just shows how underrated Danny is.

 

I would recommend both the 6th Anniversary Show and Retro Night which are Oct 5th and 4th. IWA puts on its best shows alot of times when there are few people in the audience and Retro Night was no different. Retro features a great Tarek/Ian match, Punk/ Webb, and Punk/Hero/BJ. Also BJ/Wolf is a decent match. The 6th Anniversary show has a good full card with the exception of maybe one match. Webb/Dysfunction is a pretty good match along with Lynn/Punk. Tracey and Bull put on a good brawl and there is an insane 200 Lightubes match that goes over 20 minutes to close out the show. The most surprising match is certainly M Dogg/ Hero which is M Doggs best match ever.

 

The most recommended shows however are the 5/04/02 show and ''Morris Mayhem'' 3/2/02. The reason I recommend these is bc most people dont talk about them. The 5/04 show is great. On that show alone you get Hero/Ian, which is one of the best IWA MS matches ever, Cabana/Punk 30 minutes, and Capri/Steel 2 out of 3 falls. The Morris Mayhem show is great too. Hero/Capri, Bambino/Cabana, and Steel/Mysterio Jr are all good matches. Eddy G/ Punk is very dissapointing though it is still decent. But overall its a good show.

[Guest Youth N Asia]

I have a hand full of first gen copies of newer shows, but just haven't gone through them. I'm glad IWA stepped up from being a total garbrage fed. Any tapes with Chris Hero, CM Punk, Colt Cabana, Danny Daniels, Ace Steel, Truth Martini, and Chris Sabin, you really can't go wrong with.

 

And just for the record. Smart Mark is the very best to buy from. Great tapes, better prices then RF and Highspots, and they're great to their customers.