Indy stuff that FUCKING ROCKED~!

[Guest Jay Z. Hollywood]

There's been a ton of negativity in the folder the last few days, which as a diehard fan of indy wrestling, makes coming here a lot less fun for me, and I'm sure for some of you too. I'm not going to drag this board down any further with continued participation in "I hate this/this shite sucks, you're an asshole" discussions and while I stand by the opinions I've expressed in those threads 100%, I am partially at fault for "unleashing the beast," so to speak.

 

So this stops now. Let's get this folder "back on the right track", in the words of immortal motivational speaker Matt Foley.

 

There's been a lot of cool shit going on in the indy wrestling world in the year 2003, tons of classic matches and killer angles, so what are your favorite memories of indy wrestling this year, on tape or live?

 

My personal list:

 

1. The CZW/IWA Mid-South invasion angle: This was a dream angle for fans of both promotions, that people never thought would happen, due to personal animosity between owners Ian Rotten and John Zandig. However, at CZW Truth or Consquences, Rotten, JC Bailey, and Corporal Robinson jumped the rail and brutally beat down Zandig, even attacking HIS OWN WIFE. NOBODY, not even the other wrestlers or the announce crew, knew this was coming, making their reactions all that much better. Mucho props to Zandig and Ian for putting "the war over hardcore" together, bringing us a ton of markout moments: The JC Bailey/Sonjay Dutt ladder match, the CZW debut of the man who's cooler than the Fonz, "Spyder" Nate Webb, the return of the Necro Butcher, the CZW crew getting revenge on M-Dogg 20 and Chris Hero getting his revenge on Nick Gage at KODM, the Exploding Cage match- this made the summer kick so much ass for fans of hardcore wrestling.

 

2. "Honor Invades Cambridge"/Expect the Unexpected LIVE- I was PSYCHED to see ROH live a second time after seeing them in Philly at Unscripted, and I was lucky enough to see, in my opinion, ROH's best show ever top-to-bottom, with my brother on his birthday no less. I got to shake Raven's hand and get his autograph, which hangs in a special place at my pad. I got to see CM Punk become a megastar in one night, got to slap hands with my indy heroes like the Backseat Boyz and AJ Styles, and saw FOUR memorable matches in one night. The stiffest asskicking ever (Low Ki/DHS vs. Special K) a match with ALL of my fave wrestlers in it (the scramble) the making of a star (Raven/CM Punk) and a tag title change. Thinking about it even now makes me more excited to see them coming back next Saturday, and look for a live report on TSM.com, complete with TONS of pics.

 

 

3. Wildside Freedom Fight 2003- WAR GAMES, THE MATCH BEYOND~! I've seen a lot of wrestling, and this was the perfect blowoff to one of the best-booked feuds I've seen in the indys. Build up an unstoppable monster heel faction, complete with a manager who's the most vicious and sadistic asshole on Earth. Have them take credit for the career ending injury of one of your most beloved stars. Pit this heel faction against a group of overmatched babyfaces, with ridiculously high stakes, in one of the most dangerous matches in wrestling. Have the heel promise a big surprise that could kill off the faces for good. Have the babyfaces take a tremendous asskicking (especially the smallest one) but fight back and overcome the odds to win (with the smallest dude getting the decisive win.) Have you beloved star make an emotional return and kick the everloving crap out of the asshole manager. Definitely the most genuine and touching moment I've experienced watching wrestling since Foley won the title for the first time.

 

 

I realize this was way long-winded, sorry, but moments like those above keep me interested in watching wrestling long after WWE turned to crap. What are your moments?

Edited September 1, 2003 by ShooterJay

[Nevermortal 0]

4. Homicide v. Steve Corino

- One of the most emotional and action packed half hours of wrestling I've ever been a witness to. From Corino's ultra heelish ring announcements to Homicide's tight-ass STF, this match is a match of the year candidate, no doubt about it.

[Phoenix Fury Legdrop 0]

I definately second War Games. By far, one of the more emotional matches in years. MOTY candidate, if not MOTY period, for me. The four-way double-elimination Jr. Title match from Wildside's Hardcore Hell Night One with Sal Rinauro, Jeremy V., Kid Kool, and Slim J was probably one of, if not the breakout moment for V and Sal, and just incredible. Jimmy Rave/B-Boy from CZW a couple of months back was CZW MOTY, imo. Despite the crowd absolutely sucking, it was better than Acid/Homicide; though I loved that match too. As much as I hate ROH's booking, or lackthereof, their wrestlers have tons of incredible matches this year as well. Off the top of my head: London/Whitmer/Cabana/Homicide from Revenge on the Prophecy, Williams/Daniels from Night Of Champions, London/Dragon from Epic Encounter, and the four-way from Do or Die (though I hear it's much better unedited; they took out 6 minutes of Punk & Daniels getting heat on Rave, apparently). For IWA-MS, of course you got Hero/Punk from Febuary, Punk/Rave from USC Weekend, Shelley/Jacobs from both QTR and Spirit of '76, and Whitmer/Stan Dupp (aka the best Rhodes). This is just off the top of my head. I'll probably name some more when I look through my tape lists again. Indeed, 2003 has been great for indy wrestling.

[Guest Jay Z. Hollywood]

Shoot, I just realized there was something I forgot.

 

IWA Mid-South "We Are Family"

 

Notoriously cash-poor IWA performs a fantastic mitzvah by doing a benefit show for the son of former wrestler Delilah Starr, who needs a kidney transplant. Not only that, this show was 6 HOURS LONG, with 25 matches -most of which are great. Great wrestling with star-making performances from Arik Cannon and Cody O'Neill, MOTY candidates in Alex Shelley vs. Chris Hero and Hero/Shelley vs. Danny Daniels/Jimmy Jacobs. There's a kickass Nate Webb face turn, a fun brother vs. brother match (the Lancaster brothers) and a brutal squash in Ian Rotten vs. Simon Sezz, and hilarious commentary all the way through. There's a ton of other good stuff I'm sure I'm forgetting.

 

25 matches and two tapes for 20 dollars is an AWESOME value, not only that, get this show and you may help save a kid's life. Pick it up at Smart Mark Video

[bob_barron 0]

Ring of Honor: Death Before Dishonor-

 

Tommy Dreamer shows up out of NOWHERE and chairs CM Punk down and then him and Raven stare each other down and then embrace.

 

I was getting goosebumps watching that.

 

Fairfield, CT-

 

Homicide sees Corino on the outside and gets ready to do his tope. Homicide is a little too enthusiastic and goes FLYING right into the crowd with a big thud.

 

How Corino ended up all fucked up is beyond me

[Chunk 0]

For me it would have to be Frontiers of Honour.

 

After watching guys like Low Ki, London, Whipwreck and Somoa Joe on tape, I finally got the chance to see them live and in person.

 

It was one of the biggest UK Wrestling shows of all time and the fans in The York Hall were awesome.

 

Every match was great and the all FWA Tag match had some awesome spots including a huge balcony dive by Nikita.

 

I also got the chance to meet Chris Daniels, so all in all, a night I wont forget in a hurry.

 

 

The CM Punk post match promo from ROH 07/09/03 is also another example of something that "ROCKED~!" in 2003. The emotion and heart is awesome, and showed me just how good a promo can be.

[Guest Deviant]

Having recently seen Frontiers of Honor on tape, I have to second that. I wasn't too into the FWA-only matches, but there was some classic stuff on that show. Christopher Daniels' interaction with the crowd only enhanced his status as a god of wrestling.

[Jingus 0]

I haven't seen any ROH from this year, or hardly any of the major indy stuff, so unfortunately I'm out in the cold when it comes to that.

 

However, I have seen a few kickass matches in the various little indy feds I work at around here, the best of which was easily Jerry Lynn vs. Chris Michaels, which went almost thirty minutes and was a beautiful exhibition of wrestling technique. I even got to commentate it for our TV show, too.

[Sandman9000 0]

I'm not even halfway through Night #2 of IWA-MS KODM, but I can safely say that this is the SOTY, or until/if TPI 2003 happens.