The Mike Levy Incident

[USC Wuz Robbed!]

Was it IWA-MS that had that match that went a hour and half with either Punk or Chris Hero or both? Or is that Chikara?

[Guest cobainwasmurdered]

Pretty sure that was IWA MS. Punk Vs Hero

[USC Wuz Robbed!]

Yeah IWA-MS is weird. They mix in masturbatory matches like that Punk/Hero 90 minute match and then they have those bush league deathmatches (I don't care how frequently they actually do those matches, that's what they are mostly known for).

[King Cucaracha]

Most people who never watch their shows have this misconception of IWA being an all-hardcore company. Which is absolutely not the case. Half their shows have no garbage matches at all, and even the ones which do typically only have one hardcore match on a card which is otherwise just straight wrestling matches (except for the deathmatch tournaments, of course). 95% of IWA matches have no hardcore elements at all. But incidents like this one certainly help perpetuate the image of IWA being some kind of blood-soaked outlaw promotion in the minds of people who aren't familiar with the product.

 

While this is true, they've gone back more in that direction recently. They started out all hardcore, which probably doesn't help with the misconceptions. But yeah the ratio of hardcore to non-hardcore has crept up the past year or so.

 

It's not like IWA is without any merits. TPI is always great and a big percentage of the current and recent-past ROH roster got a break in IWA before anywhere else (which probably had just a little to do with Prazak's dual involvement and why ROH's now bringing in AAW guys over IWA guys). Obviously Punk and Cabana, Jacobs and Shelley, Delirious and Sydal, Tyler Black. The talent depth in the roster isn't the same as it used to be though.