GSR

Suicidal Tendencies are introduced as being John Phoenix & Adam Jacobs, Air Paris is with them so I wonder if they’ll be operating under Freebird rules again? Paris is wearing a Sabu T-shirt, as he’s got an upcoming World title match against him (on 12/14), although providing the dates are correct, it’s weird to know that this is airing after that match has already taken place. A cool spot early when Phoenix holds onto the ropes to block the Onyx O’Connor roll, so Knight just clotheslines him across the top rope from the apron. Phoenix lands on his feet off a backflip and hits a swinging neckbreaker. High crossbody by Jacobs on Knight. The commentators have either got short memories or the dates are definitely wrong here as they’re talking about this being Jacobs’ debut as a member of Suicidal Tendencies on TV, even though we saw him as a part of the group in that match against Onyx & A.J. Styles a fortnight ago. We go to a commercial break, however unlike previous occasions where the advertisements have interrupted the flow of things, we don’t miss anything here, luckily, because that means we don’t miss a great drop toe hold/standing shooting star combination by the Tendencies. Onyx presses Jacobs overhead and hurls him out to the hard wooden floor. That brings Air Paris into the ring to replace him and it does look again like they’re going to be using all three members of the team against the NWA Elite. As Phoenix checks on Jacobs, Onyx belly to backs Paris over the top rope and onto them in a great little spot. Phoenix gets the jump on Onyx as he’s not paying attention before a second standing shooting star of the night. Paris has taken off and it sounds like he’s leaving his fellow Tendencies to it, realising that wrestling so close to a World title match isn’t the wisest of ideas. Middle rope moonsault by Jacobs. Jeff G. Bailey is up on the apron distracting referee Andrew Thomas after a Phoenix frog splash, which in turn allows Knight to get in there and the Elite with a double flapjack. Knight works over his lower back, while at the same time Paris has made his return and is trading verbals with Styles (who is in the Elite’s corner). The fans seem torn over who to cheer for here. It’s mentioned that David Flair vs Romeo Bliss will be on the big show this week and while I’m not that fussed we don’t have that, I wouldn’t have minded seeing the Total Destruction, Tank Abbott, Cole Twins and White Trash one that is also talked about. Slingshot suplex and Jacobs is in to break up the cover. Phoenix with a running crossbody for a two, however Knight knew what was coming next so pulls Thomas around so that his back is turned and he misses seeing Phoenix make the tag. As Thomas looks to get Jacobs out of there, the Elite switch places not bothering with a tag themselves. Onyx throws Phoenix to the floor where Styles and Bailey put the boots to him. Running high knee by Knight who then draws Jacobs into the ring so he can get in some illegal shots. For the third time Thomas fails to see a tag before Jacobs is drawn in...again. Knight with a bombs away kneedrop. Phoenix rolls out the way of the Onyx Swanton and at the fourth (I think) time of asking he makes a tag which is seen. Jacobs cleans house on the Elite and Knight is forced to save his partner following an Alabama Jam. That brings Phoenix back in and as the four duke it out in the ring, Styles and Paris go at it at ringside. The Cole Twins join Styles in the attack as the bell starts ringing, Thomas having thrown the match out. Paris is left all alone as Phoenix & Jacobs fights Onyx & Knight to the dressing room. Bailey yells at Paris about how he won’t even be alive to wrestle Sabu before Styles puts a foot on his chest and does the Sabu “pointing at the ceiling pose”. A final taped promo from Bailey and Styles airs, Jeff G. saying that a new World champion will be crowned on December 14th (these dates have to be wrong). A.J. has fought his way from the very bottom of the card to the very top and this is the culmination of all that hard work which is going to be rewarded. Sabu can’t compete with A.J. Styles, he’s not the same calibre of athlete he is. Him going to Japan and all over the USA to wrestle doesn’t matter because the wrestling in Cornelia, GA is the best in the world and A.J. Styles is at the front of it. There were moments of real goodness in here such as the FIP section on Phoenix and the work of Terry Knight, who is almost suited to a long form match like this, while Suicidal Tendencies are group I’m enjoying, especially Phoenix who I had never seen before this project. However like so many Indy matches, and I have no idea how many times I have written this, the match went too long. From start to finish this went thirty minutes and the match was dragged out for no viable reason. There was no call for three false tag spots or a multitude of “drawing your opponent in” spots on top of those and the less said about the super cheap finish the better. The thing is I did enjoy it, but at the same time find it hard to recommend as a one off match. Maybe it’s because I know the context. There’s an excellent match in there, just realise you don’t need to go long to achieve it. Oh, I’m convinced the dates are incorrect also.

A slight variation as Psicosis teams with Mikey Whipwreck to take on the tag team champions. Psicosis catches Guido with a headscissors and tags in Mikey who is immediately met with a headbutt as Guido then tags his partner. A cool little roll up out of the corner which he follows with a victory roll. Mikey fights his way out of the Camel Clutch and applies a variation of his own. Missile dropkick by Psicosis. It looks like Mamaluke takes an uncomfortable fall out to the floor as Mikey and Psicosis double team Guido (which was missed by Feinstein). The FBI look to regroup at ringside but Psicosis wipes the three of them out with a Mikey assisted flip dive. A nasty looking kick to the face KO’s Mamaluke but he’s still able to get a shoulder up on the cover. Mikey obliges when the crowd chant “one more time” although Tony’s selling is ridiculous. He ties him in the ‘Tree of Woe’ and the Minister is in for the testicular claw. At least the referee is busy, over in Guido’s corner, and this isn’t done in front of him like it has been in the past. Mikey misses the blind tag and the FBI with a double powerbomb. ‘Sicilian slice’, Psicosis in there for the save. The FBI utilise distraction spots to get in some double teaming, Sal even proving his usefulness from the floor. Guido telegraphs a backdrop and Mikey spikes him with a DDT. Both men make the tag and it’s not too long before all four men are going at it in the ring. Whippersnapper, however Sal puts Guido’s leg over the bottom rope to save the titles. Psicosis intercepts as he throws one of the belts to Tony, then clobbers him with it, Sal going feet first from the apron through the ringside table. As Psicosis celebrates he’s caught with a German suplex for the three. I did miss Tajiri in this which is ironic considering I end up getting tired of this match up (note: this was watched months ago, I made my initial notes as I was watching the match but didn’t “flesh it out”, make it literate, so am doing it some time later as I tidy up some bits). Watching this on the back of the Psicosis/Kash I do wonder how much WCW beat the enjoyment out of him.

“Hallelujah as the Holy Rollers and Platinum Matt are finally back together”. Tonight was supposed to be a triumphant night for them because they were scheduled to be in six-man action, however MCW couldn’t get their act together so they don’t have opponents. As that’s the case Matt informs everyone they’ll see them next show then, though just as they’re about to leave out comes Christian York and Joey Matthews, also making their return to MCW. Earl tells them that he doesn’t know why they bothered coming back, but ECW doesn’t intimidate them one bit. A PG crowd for MCW who yell “shut the hell up” as opposed to the more offensive version that most wrestling audiences chant. He goes on to say that it is easy to do flips and hit each other with chairs although wonders if they still remember how to wrestle? Well those PG chants didn’t last long, the fans now chanting “faggot, faggot” at him. The Pearl plays on them, getting consoled by Myers but also placing a hand on his backside as he does so. When the homophobic slurs turn to “boring, boring” as he outwrestles Matthews, the Rollers have heard enough and take off towards the dressing room. Naturally they have a change of heart and return. So much for Earl “wrestling” as he’s already resorting to hair pulling. Lengthy criss cross spot, Matthews changing direction and flattening the Pearl. He paintbrushes him across the back of the head and then does the same to Ramblin’ Rich, a bit of payback for what Earl dished out to him earlier. Springboard bulldog by York. We see some of that ECW influence, a double ‘Tree of Woe’ with York and Matthews climbing the turnbuckles to stand on their groins, a staple of Tajiri’s repertoire. Stereo suicide dives. Front superplex/senton combo, a staple of their own. Earl gets clobbered after kneeing York in the back as he runs the ropes, however the distraction allows Myers to floor him with a superkick. The Holy Rollers work him over until Earl misses a diving headbutt from the top. Hot tag and all four men end up in the ring. Earl telegraphs a backdrop but is able to counter Matthew’s counter and the Rollers with a combination Russian legsweep/blockbuster for the win. I enjoyed the shtick at the start and Earl doesn’t bother me anywhere near as much as he seems to bother Chad. The Rollers control segment wasn’t the most exciting but this was alright. Which probably says plenty just describing it as that.

Andrews reminds everyone that the last time they wrestled he sent Low Ki to the hospital, tonight he’s going to break his neck so that he will never wrestle again. They’re cutting a much quicker pace than you would expect out of these two, it’s relentless and you’re not getting a chance to catch your breath. Scoot ducks out the way of a charging Ki and pulls down the top rope, sailing out over it to the floor. Flip dive from the ‘BNB’. That was actually the same spot I watched in his King of Indies match against Vinny Massaro earlier today, only the rotation was a touch quicker here. He starts taking liberties with his covers, on one occasion putting a solitary single foot on Ki’s chest following a vertical suplex. Ki starts to fire back but Scoot counters the bulldog with a uranage. A high release exploder. Again Ki looks to be getting back into things, ducking a clothesline and landing a Koppu kick to the back that sends Scoot sprawling through the ropes to the outside, however he gets flapjacked onto the apron after taking off after him. Falling headbutt by Scoot. He misses the top rope legdrop, not the first time I’ve seen him miss that, only for Ki to then straddle himself across the middle. Pumphandle Driver, but rather than get the win he decides to lift him up at the count of two. That backfires as Ki escapes the second Driver and counters into a ‘Ki Krusher’. The Phoenix Splash barely connects although still has enough behind it for him to pick up the win. The speed they were working at really through me as I expected a slower affair, where things sink in and stuff means something, that wasn’t the case. It was almost “spot” driven. Nothing wrong with the execution, bar that Phoenix Slash, but overall a forgettable match, something that you can’t say about the majority of Ki’s output this year. Even stuff like that terrible JAPW three way or that car crash tag match in CZW, while they weren’t as good as this, they were more memorable.

Well the crowd who I was praising in the Christopher Street Connection match were pretty darn obnoxious here, constantly chanting for tables throughout. Eventually one fan has heard enough and yells back “We don’t need a table, this is a damn good match”. Bravo sir, and he was right. This was two guys in a hard hitting contest, putting everything into everything as they just laid into each other. The forearms and chops were stiff, Ki’s chest being turned bright red after one exchange. Some standout moments include Ki’s tope suicida forearm smash, the double underhook suplex which he floats over on into a butterfly stretch, Mack pressing Ki overhead and pushing him up into the low ceiling above, a buckle bomb and a section where Mack catches Ki as he attempts the handspring kick, countering into an awesome powerslam, then whilst over his shoulder runs him into the turnbuckles and finally dishes out an almighty powerbomb. Mack misses a diving headbutt and Ki is able to get him up for the ‘Ki Krusher’ although that takes so much out of him that he doesn’t notice that they’re right by the ropes when he makes the cover, easy therefore for Mack to get a leg over. The ‘Ki Krusher 2000’ is blocked and Mack counters with a stomachbreaker. Another powerbomb, he tries to lift Ki up to deliver a second, however the match has legitimately taken so much out of him that he struggles to do so, getting him no more than a foot or so off the mat. After a ‘Rikishi Driver’ referee Sean Hanson says “one minute”, he’s either being loud on the go home or there’s just sixty seconds remaining. It was the latter, the two trading more bombs in the centre of the ring before Mack catches Ki with a rabbit lariat just as the time limit expires. The draw gets the Pavlovian “five more minutes” chant (what? So they can yell for tables again?). Mack thinks the decision is bullshit as he’s been in JAPW for three years and they’ve never had a time limit draw in that time, the two then put the other over and say how they always give it there all for the fans in attendance.

Scoot has got some large chested woman in his corner alongside a stereotypical generic Indy manager whose name I don’t catch. Ditto Massaro, although not the largest chested woman! Big Vincenzo shows some agility with the leap frog. He rushes at Scoot who ducks out the way and he goes careering over the top rope to the outside. Slow motion flip dive to the floor. It’s missed by the camera, but I think big tits slaps Massaro, he takes off after her but gets cut off by Andrews. Back inside Scoot targets Vinny’s leg, even distracting the ref at one point so that his manager can wrap it around the ringpost behind his back. Massaro’s manager is doing nothing to stop this, just aimlessly gesticulating at the ref. Vinny reverses the whip to the corner, however, as he hobbles in, Scoot avoids the running (?) knee, the knee colliding directly with the turnbuckle and inadvertently injuring himself even more. Andrews grapevines the leg, his manager providing added leverage from ringside. He misses the top rope legdrop and very nice to see Vinny hobbling around on his comeback, not blowing off everything that has gone before. Side slam for a near fall. Scoot rolls out the way of the middle rope moonsault and applies an inverted figure four for the submission. A slight tinge of disappointment on my part as I was hoping Scoot was going to lean back into the Gibson leglock but he never. Massaro sells the leg all the way to the back as he is helped to the dressing room. Good focussed limb work by Scoot, top selling from Vinny, especially on his comeback and the submission, the culmination of everything that had gone down earlier. Not sure the point of either of the managers, or the valet, as all three were nondescript.

The Snott Brothers look like a couple of business men, wrestling in trousers, short sleeve buttoned down shirts, ties and glasses, they’re also giving away a substantial size disadvantage to their opponents. Just as I’m writing that Boom Boom is pretty bad, he hits a nice spinning sideslam. The Snotts have overweight “family” members in their corner, so maybe it’s more like a Dudley brother gimmick that they’re doing? One of the Snotts counters a powerbomb into a facebuster as the crowd start chanting “Snott, Snott, Snott”. I’m pretty convinced that’s the only reason they are using that name. This is pretty bad actually. Looks like the heels manager was also early on the spot where he climbed up to the apron, as about a minute after he is first up, he is back up again. Double chokeslam by SD and Boom Boom on one of the brothers, the Destroyer then with a heart punch for the win. Not good, but short, and really only there as an intermission after the first round of the tournament.

Strong words from Allister Fear, promising the fans that tonight is the last they will ever see of Corporal Robinson in the IWA. Some smug doufus in the crowd is pleased with himself when he changes his fist to a middle finger as Corp goes to bump it. Prick. Jim Fannin reminds everyone that pinfalls don’t count, hopefully that means we won’t be seeing the wrestlers go for covers. Fear’s initial confidence disappears fast as he stalls for all he’s worth outside of the ring and then hides behind the referee. Corp eventually grabs hold of him and launches him through the ropes to the floor, clobbering him with whatever he can get his hands on. A light tube over the head busts him open hardway I think. I do like Fear’s sort of wibbly wobbly selling that he does. He gets suplexed onto the barbed wire Christmas tree and I think bar the Todd Morton one that has now been used in every other match on the show. Fear rams Corp’s head into a ring post before positioning a couple of chairs adjacent to each other. Corp blocks the bulldog and reverses things into a gourdbuster, however those chairs part like the Red Sea and Fear hits hard on the concrete. Slingshot guillotine legdrop back into the ring. Fear just beats the count and despite my initial concerns no pinfalls have been attempted yet. Cradle piledriver onto a pile of chairs, this time though he’s up quicker. As he gets to his feet he grabs hold of the referee, pulling him in, allowing someone to sprint from the dressing room and KO Corp with an object of some sort. Corp doesn’t beat the count, Fear stealing a victory after being beaten on most of the match. ‘Rugby Thug’ Trent Baker introduces himself after, he being the one who did the KO’ing. Hmmm, he sounds like a Brit? He is here to shame the USA and what better way to start that with Corporal Robinson.

Torrie last year wasn't it? I imagine it's only a matter of time before Molly gets in, still on good terms with the company, seems to be a regular guest at the HoF most years and does the Axxess signings too.

Dave Prazak informs us that the loser of the match must leave Mid-American Wrestling and never return. Audio isn’t the clearest here but it sounds like Pearce played a role in training Punk and Prazak and that will end up being the biggest mistake he ever made. Punk jumps Pearce on the floor as he is slapping hands with the fans and then throws him into the wall, this has already got a completely different vibe to it than the ACW match. Pearce blocks an attempted sunset flip, scoots round and mounts Punk, unloading a flurry of punches. “Pepsi sucks” chant. Prazak interferes from the floor, grabbing Pearce’s ankle, however, as Punk comes rushing in, he backdrops him over the top rope and out onto Prazak. Suicide dive. The crowd are baying for tables so Pearce slams Punk’s head into one. As they return to the ring Punk gets the jump and yells at the fans “let’s hear Pepsi sucks now”. Of course that sets them off again and Punk says that he didn’t mean it, putting his hands over his ears to muffle the sound. Pearce ducks a clothesline and lands a big spinebuster before taking off after Prazak. He’s unable to catch him though so gives up, preferring to flatten Punk instead. Figure Four. ‘Scrap Iron’ looked to be, slowly, having success with that, so it’s a bit strange when he gives it up to drop a headbutt to Punk’s groin. Prazak again grabs Pearce, this time the interference pays off as he turns his back on Punk who clubs him from behind, sending him sprawling through the ropes to the floor. Pescado. Punk jumps off a chair but gets caught and kind of hotshotted onto a table. Pearce tells the fans to scatter and then whips Punk hard into a row of, now empty, chairs. Piledriver on the concrete! A fan holds a chair up which Pearce rams Punk’s head into. Bloody hell, a piledriver onto an unbreakable table!!! Inside, Punk escapes the attempted powerbomb, however as he goes to clothesline ‘Scrap Iron’, Pearce ducks and he takes out the referee. German suplex, Pearce getting the visual pin as there is no-one to count the fall. He’s holding him in position for what easily seems a like a twenty count. A second ref is out to replace the original, but as he slaps the mat for the second time Punk kicks out. That was a suspiciously slow count so I hope we’re not going to have any bullshit with heel referees. Punk slows the pace with a rear chinlock while Prazak is getting into it with a fan at ringside. MAW security and staff have to be on their toes with these two. Spinning heel kick by Pearce. ‘That’s Incredible’ tombstone piledriver, the ref counting normally, although it looks like Prazak drags him from the ring to stop the count (missed by the camera). After a ‘Pepsi Plunge’, Prazak again saves his man, climbing up onto the apron this time. Pearce has had enough and not caring for the referee’s efforts to admonish Prazak gives the pair a noggin knocker. Punk grabs a chair which he blast Pearce over the head with three times and after playing it straight previously, the ref is back fast counting Pearce’s shoulders to the mat as he is forced to leave Mid-American Wrestling “forever”. A nice, heartfelt, post-match speech where he says his goodbyes and thanks everyone for the memories, even bringing up something involving himself and WCW, although not going into detail, which I had not heard about before. Easily Punk’s best match of the year and while it’s been a long time since I watched Pearce’s match with Dino Bambino, which I enjoyed, at worst his second best match of the year. The brawling sections were awesome and as I said in my commentary, a completely different match to the one they had in ACW less than a week previous. Without the ref bump and a cleaner finish I would’ve gone higher than I did. I also think the order I watched the matches played some part in my rating. Had I watched this prior to the Ian/Dino match, which featured two ref bumps, the one here wouldn’t have been as much of an issue, and every chance I would’ve ranked this above that one, but I’ve seen so many matches featuring them recently that it downgrades this. Absolutely worth watching though, especially for anyone who is a fan of Punk and has not seen any of his early Indy work. You also see some clear development of the Straight Edge character in his pre-match promo.

Awesome rotation on the Schultz powerslams. Combination drop toe hold/legdrop to the back of the next and Smothers ducks out of there to the floor. Rocker is in, but Cade presses him overhead and launches him out at Tracey. A cheap shot by the Rocker stops the rot as they start to take over on the Kliq. Arabian moonsault, erroneously called a senton. Good stuff by Kevin Kelly, giving us Tracey’s T-H-U-G catchphrase from behind the mic. Cade kicks out after the Rocker Swanton, Smothers doing the bulk of the work for his team with Rocker only coming in for the high spots. As it looks like Lance might be getting back into this, more interference from Rocker slows his momentum. DDT by Tracey for a two count. Lance gets his knees up on the ‘Rocket launcher’, Tracey misses something, also missed by the camera, and he makes the hot tag. Brock Lesnar may have ‘Suplex City’ but he’s got nothing on Shooter Schultz; butterflies, T-Bones, release belly to backs, he’s throwing Rocker and Smothers all over the place here. Fucking hell, as he lifts Rocker up onto his shoulder a swinging leg KO’s the referee. I’ve seen that spot so many times this year. As Shooter checks on the official Rocker cracks him in the back with a chair. He hooks the trunks on the cover and after getting the three wants a King Kong Bundy style five count, allegedly one for every child he’s fathered! That was funny. The last I’ll be seeing of Shooter Schultz in 2000 and I really wish he would’ve stuck with the wrestling business, like Dragon and Spanky, when they were released from their developmental deals. Out of the three I’d have him ahead of Spanky and if I had a choice I would certainly watch him over a young Mr Kendrick. Overdone finish which I could quite happily never see again, but this was a decent TV match.

Glenn Osbourne has got the Nate Hatred face paint and looks like a heart attack waiting to happen. The Briscoes get another strong ovation, their fans having brought giant sized letters with them to spell out their surname. Great choice of entrance music, RHCP’s cover of Stevie Wonder’s ‘Higher Ground’, the same music that Josh Koscheck would use in the UFC. I’ll forewarn you, I have no idea who is Johnny Maxx and who is Vincent Goodnite, they’re not making the strongest of first impressions though as they go at it with Fontaine. Standing moonsault by Mark on Mozart, the Briscoes seemingly working together with Maxx and Goodnite as they try to wear him down. Face jam by Fontaine and he’s finally able to tag out to his partner Fast Eddie. Valentine struggles on a suplex and then struggles with a Scorpion Deathlock. One of either Maxx or Goodnite saves the other and all eight men are in the ring fighting it out. Patch catches one of them with a powerslam, hooks the tights and Johnny & Vincent are the first team out of there. Double gourdbuster by the Briscoes on Valentine. Combination side slam/middle rope legdrop. Fast Eddie with a low blow as he and Mozart take over on Jay. Some weird walking Boston crab where Valentine drags Jay around the ring. Brainbuster and Mark is in there to break up the cover. Jay blocks a second roaring elbow, connects on the enzuigiri and hot tags to his brother. It looks like Patch and Osbourne are content to let the other teams do all the work here. A unique flatliner/top rope bulldog by the Briscoes. Mozart accidentally drops a big elbow on Eddie and Jay tags the ‘walking heart attack’, making his first foray into the match. Immediate ‘Dominator’ on Valentine and we’re down to two. No messing around by big Glenn. The final fall follows a very similar pattern to the previous one, only this time Mark is the FIP as opposed to Jay. It looks like Patch and Osbourne have got this in the bag, when, for unknown reasons, Osbourne collects a chair from ringside and cracks it over his own partner’s back. There had been no miscommunication spots between them, the only thing I can think of is that Patch on a couple of occasions picked Mark up at the count of two when he had him beat to dish out more punishment. Maybe that old adage of “not getting paid by the hour” applies to Osbourne and he didn’t appreciate Patch dragging the match out any longer than necessary? Patch is easy pickings and the Briscoes come off opposite turnbuckles with a splash and legdrop respectively for the win. Now number one contenders the tag team titles they are jumped by the Haas brothers, Kevin Kelly even taking out the referee with a forearm. Some old, out of shape guy rushes the ring and starts doing football tackles and throwing bad looking clotheslines until he’s beaten down and handcuffed to the ropes. Now we’ve got another civilian in there (a female? I can’t tell), the Haas brothers giving them the much missed Banana split/flying elbow to the groin. Kelly is drawing some serious heat from the fans, security and event staff getting between them as they want to fight him. Long after they’ve gone there is still this one guy having to be calmed down and it looks like he ends up leaving the building to cool off. Switch the Briscoe brothers with any other team the calibre of the opposition they’re facing and you’ve got a fairly unappealing match; they’re the only thing that holds your interest here. It’s crazy to think how young they were back in 2000, but at the same time how good and even innovative they were with some of their double teams. Both heat segments are pretty meh, not helped by the fact that the teams in control are neither exciting nor dynamic. Post-match shenanigans is far more exciting than the match itself especially with the antics of Kevin Kelly and he way he incites the Briscoe section.

Some wolf whistles for Shorti, have this crowd never seen a woman before? Unfortunately it looks like the video quality is every bit as bad as during the Horowitz/Capone match. The O.G. has a valet of his own, her name being Climax. Very tough viewing due to the aforementioned VQ which is unwatchable at times. I can bypass it in say a Barry Horowitz match because I enjoy watching him wrestle, and while I do enjoy Ric Blade, for completely different reasons I may add, when it’s the same contrived, co-operative routine he’s been doing all year the attention span drifts. Admittedly not helped by Scarface showing nothing bar one cool sunset flip powerbomb from the top, although it looked like it even took them two attempts at executing that correctly. Oh yeah, Blade landed on the top of his head when attempting a backflip on another occasion. We get an almost obligatory ref bump and then a bunch of run ins from guys I don’t recognise. Someone in a CZW T-shirt (ditto) comes to help Blade and as everyone disperses almost as quickly as they arrived, Blade hits the four storey moonsault for the win. Surely I could’ve found something better to do with fifteen minutes than watch this?

No Shorti tonight. I doubt she’ll be missed anyway in this match for the vacant EWF Light-Heavyweight title. A choreographed opening between the pair which tends to be the norm for most matches involving Blade. Berk sidesteps a charging Blade and gives him a hand over the top rope, however he skins the cat and locks in a Tarantula. Dirty Deeds thinks the match could be over just like that and we’ll have a new champion, seemingly oblivious to the fact that the referee is counting to get him to break the hold! Berk escapes the abdominal stretch, hip toss and then clotheslines Blade out to the floor. He grabs himself a chair, which he positions in the ring, and leaps off it out onto Blade with a flip dive. Exploder suplex. Whip to the corner, Blade with the tip up but Berk catches him and hits a Michinoku Driver. Dragon Sleeper by Berk that forces Blade to go to the ropes for the break. Blade flips over his incoming opponent and tees off with some crappy looking kicks before catching Berk with a sort of tornado DDT. Berk takes to the floor and Blade connects on a gorgeous top rope quebrada. Slingshot senton from one side of the ring straight into a springboard guillotine legdrop from the other. Blade is back on the apron, waiting for Berk to get to his feet, and then snatches him for the ‘Blade Runner’. A nice call back as this time, showing he’s learned from last, Berk blocks it and hits an inverted suplex followed by a moonsault off the middle for a two. Swanton bomb. Both men get near falls as they run through a series of cradles until Benz counters into a face jam. Frog splash. Blade escapes the Benz rolling Fisherman’s suplex and hits a ‘Ki Krusher’. A table is bought into the ring but Blade is caught when he heads upstairs and Berk puts him through it with a release super belly to back. He takes too long clearing the ring of broken wood, so by the time he does make the cover Blade is able to get a foot over the rope. Blade, after being practically dead only moments ago, now looks like there is nothing wrong with him, landing on his feet from a German suplex and then running through an array of moves ending with the four storey moonsault to become the new EWF Light Heavyweight champion.

A match to determine the new IWA-MS Light Heavyweight champion; I’m guessing there are no height restrictions for this title then? The crowd are already chanting at Morton to “shut the fuck” and all he’s done is grab the microphone. He’s giving Hy-Zaya one opportunity to go back to the dressing room and give this one up before he comes in there and “beats the black” off his ass. Don’t worry, it gets worse. The audio is a bit distorted/unclear but there’s proper race baiting stuff going on, referring to Zaya and his second (a black guy I don’t recognise) as “your type”, he mentions assassinating people and finally gives Zaya one final chance to give it up before “I beat your black f****** ass n****!” There’s your most distasteful promo of the year Ladies and Gents. As unacceptable and uncomfortable as all that was it has lit a fire under Zaya. Morton counters a ‘Code Red’ with ‘Money in the Bank’, halting his opponent’s initial burst. After his previous match against Suicide Kid I was expecting another wrestling based encounter here but it has been all kick, punch, choke from him. Different approach due to his obvious distaste for Zaya? Jeez, now Morton is putting his foot on the bottom rope in front of the second and telling him “I need my shoes waxed boy, shine my shoes boy”. Every time it looks like Zaya might be getting back into it he’s cut off. Nice delayed brainbuster. Morton drops a knee and then it sounds like he mockingly tries to get the crowd to start a “Go N**** Go!” chant. He front suplexes Zaya, dropping him across the top rope, but when he makes the cover, lifts him up at the count of two “he needs more of an ass whipping”. Like when, bar squashes, has someone who’s ever done that gone on to win the match? As expected he takes one too many liberties and Zaya gets the pinfall following a frog splash. Three guys rush from the dressing room joining Morton in a post-match beat down on Zaya and his second (one is Chris Hero the other two maybe Harry Palmer and Mark Wolf). Suicide Kid tries to make the save but the heels have too many numbers, it is only when Corporal Robinson, Ian Rotten, Rollin Hard and Cash Flo run out do they get out of dodge. Morton has final words for everyone, calling Kid a “wigga”, a white boy who wants to be black. After the opening shine Morton beats Zaya for the rest of the match interspersed with a few hope spots that get cut off pretty much straight away. Zaya’s portrayed as if he can’t really hang and the finish, almost as if Morton slipped on a banana peel (he sat Zaya on the top turnbuckle, went up after him, Zaya got in some shots, Morton fell backwards to the mat, frog splash, over). Probably too long for what it was and needed to be, I know, in IWA-MS, who would’ve thunk it? The racial stuff from Morton was way past uncomfortable.

Lawler wanted Lance Russell to induct him, I think Finlay inducting Batista has every bit as much chance as happening as the former.

Thought the same in regards to Orton and Edge. Dave was "trying" to not to give anything away with Garrett but then started talking and the implication was neither made it this time.

The chap who was managing Christian York & Joey Matthews is here managing Michaels, getting tough with a member of security as he makes his way to the ring, although ends up falling on his ass (deliberately) as he vaults over the top rope. He wants quiet from the audience which leads to them wailing at him like he’s a baby. The attempts at garnering heat from them is not drawing much, but at least I’ve found out what his name is “because whatever Al wants, Al Getz”. After leaving a stray hand on the apron, Styles stomps on it, resulting in Michaels exiting the ring and kissing the hand better. There’s a horrible screw up by A.J. and I’ve no idea what he was even attempting. A pair of drop toe holds into a side headlock, Michaels using a belly to back to escape. Styles takes a great bump into the turnbuckles, Michaels sidestepping his charge and kicking him up the backside and sending him flying into them. Think the Chris Hamrick bump, only into the turnbuckles as opposed through the ropes to the floor. Michaels throws him out to ringside where Getz puts the boots in (getting far more heat here than in his pre-match verbals). A.J. reverses the whip to the corner, but then slips as he goes for the backflip off his opponent’s chest. Not to be defeated he whips him to the opposite corner, tries it a second time...and slips again. Michaels must’ve greased his chest! Sky high guillotine legdrop, cover, Getz climbs up onto the apron and the ref just stops his count to go over to him. With his back turned to the wrestlers, Michaels grabs his title belt and KO’s A.J. with it for the win. Even with all my notes, lists and the like I do struggle to remember things, especially stuff I watched almost three years ago, however I can comfortably say one of the worst, if not the worst, A.J. matches of the year.

A battle of the two previous ECWA Super 8 champions, Steve Bradley having defeated Christopher Daniels in the finals of the 1999 tournament, although Daniels promises to avenge that loss tonight. Dropkick to the mush sends Bradley to the outside and Daniels with a plancha from the top turnbuckle to the floor. After being thrown into the ringpost Bradley quickly dives inside, on his knees and begging for mercy. Belly to belly suplex. The Irish whip is reversed, Daniels goes for a spinning headscissors but Bradley counters, slamming him to the mat. He takes over and tosses Daniels back out to the floor, ramming his head into the guard rail right in front of Hat Guy. Two separate rear chinlock spots. Daniels ducks a clothesline and dumps Bradley with a belly to back. Middle rung missile dropkick by ‘Who’s Your Daddy’. Bradley gets caught when he climbs the ropes for a second time and Daniels slams him to the mat (giving him the same move that Bradley gave him earlier in the match). Uranage followed by the ‘Best Moonsault Ever’ for a two, Daniels thinking that the official slow counted him. As he complains, Bradley snatches and drills him with a DDT. Attempted backdrop is telegraphed, Daniels with an up kick and Bradley goes flying backwards into the referee. Daniels gets the visual pin after the ‘Angels Wings’ but with the ref still down the match must continue. ‘Roll the Dice’, when out from the dressing room runs Scoot Andrews who attacks Daniels. Scoot is followed by Reckless Youth and as all four go at it at ringside the bell just rings. I can’t see what for at first, but the official decision is a groan worthy double disqualification. They eventually get separated and Reckless challengers Scoot and Bradley to a tag match down the line. Very disappointing considering the talent of both men and that was even before the non-finish. It almost felt like a Memphis TV main event, complete with ref bump and run-ins, only difference being that Daniels has a more modern arsenal than the majority of guys Bradley faces there.

Joel Gertner is more interested in the fact that Elektra isn’t with Hot Commodity because she is at an exclusive photo shoot, Joey Styles going on to inform us that we can see those pictures at ecwwrestling.com. I’ll pass if you don’t mind. Hot Commodity are already interfering and we’re not even a minute in, Chris Hamrick tripping Kash from the outside. Kash lands on his feet from a monkey flip and then backdrops Money out to ringside. A pair of dropkicks for HC who’re up on the apron followed by a double jump springboard plancha to the floor, taking out everyone. Dinero hooks Kash’s boot as he goes to get back in the ring allowing Money to stomp him from behind. The ongoing theme is Hot Commodity having the number’s advantage and their constant interference thwarting Kash whenever he looks like he’s got things going his way. On one occasion Hamrick provides the distraction allowing Dinero to slide a chain to Money which he wraps around his fist, bloodying Kash up. Perfect double jump springboard huracanrana by Kash. Snapping he ends up giving referee Mike Kehner a shove, fed up of his inability to keep things under control. It looks like there is no chance he’ll be able to overcome the three-on-one odds, however does end up picking up the win courtesy of a ‘Money Maker’. Not sure why Dinero and Hamrick didn’t break up the pin considering how much they had interfered in the match, the only thing I can think of being that they turned their back on things thinking that Money had everything under control. Hot Commodity attack Kash post-match, including a cool combination springboard dropkick/powerbomb by Hamrick and Dinero, Spike Dudley, on one good leg, making the save.

Blaze is not happy that they’ve stuck a pretty guy like him in a barbed wire match with a maniac like Bull Pain. He’s introduced as being from “anywhere but Charlestown” which made me laugh. An open handed slap to the (covered) chest and Blaze is already taking time out on the floor. The thirty minute timer on the counter does not look appealing at the moment! Blaze is struggling to deal with big Bull and takes three separate trips to the outside within the opening three minutes. Back inside he rakes Pain across the eyes, although can’t maintain any sort of advantage whatever he tries. Bull goes over to collect the barbed wire bat, however Blaze with a low blow before he can do so. Nice teasing of the crowd there. Neckbreaker by Blaze gets him a two count. He tosses Pain to the outside and connects on the pescado, Bull’s fall broken by landing in a chair. The crowd are there with light tubes but he just ignores them. Pain jabs a chair into Blaze’s head before suplexing him on the concrete. Returning to the ring he misses an elbow drop from the middle and Blaze with a Russian legsweep. He goes straight for that barbed wire bat, bringing it down on Bull’s head. Belly to back suplex. Blaze sits him on the top turnbuckle, rana, but Pain holds onto the ropes. Flying clothesline. Payback time as Bull grabs the bat and swings a home run into his mid-section. DDT onto the barbed wire. There’s no mercy being shown, Bull continuing to use that bat as a weapon, even grinding it into Blaze’s forehead. Blaze counters the belly to belly and Bull takes a fall onto the bat. Another DDT by Bull. He pulls Blaze to the centre of the ring and heads upstairs, unaware though that Blaze has placed the bat onto his stomach, so when he jumps, he lands on the barbed wire. Double clothesline sees both men go down. Bull blocks a piledriver, jawbreaker and some sort of sit-out slam onto the bat which puts Blaze away. The fight carries on after the match Blaze getting launched into the Christmas tree and also choked with barbed wire. Better than I expected even if it did suffer like numerous IWA-MS matches of going too long. I liked the story at the start of Blaze not being able to get the better of his opponent as well as the teases of the bat, saving the actual use of it for the final third. It did start to lose its way towards the end and could’ve done with having five minutes knocked off (not the first time I’ve written those words in 2000).

Not sure whether this one is first pinfall or elimination rules, sure that’ll become clear as we go along. Jeez, Feinstein is moving back and forth between the two pairs of wrestlers so quickly it’s like he’s filming a Tennis match. “You suck” chants aimed at Pain, the Puerto Rican fans astute with their judgment of him. Tajiri gets thrown to the outside as Banderas and Pain then team up against TNT. Banderas with a frog splash, leaping off Pain’s shoulders so he’s coming from higher than the top turnbuckle. Pain gets brought to his knees by a flurry of lightning fast Tajiri strikes before ‘the Buzzsaw’ traps Banderas in the Tarantula. TNT breaks up a Banderas STF on Tajiri, it being fought more like a Tornado tag match, the faces and heels sticking together. At least so far anyway. Great spinning heel kick in the corner by TNT, going over the top rope himself and the momentum of the kick sending Pain over too. Tajiri misses the wheel kick as Banderas hangs onto the ropes, he then blasts him with the Puerto Rican flag and covers him for the three. The match is continuing so elimination rules it is. Those eliminations comes pretty quickly from there, Pain pinning Banderas following a chokeslam (this after he’d broken up a TNT pin for some daft reason) and finally TNT putting Pain away with a thrust kick, this after he had misted him to escape the chokeslam. A glamorous looking lady enters the ring for the presentations, handing over the Bruiser Brody Memorial Cup to TNT. I think I had a different version to Chad as there was none of RF’s bizarre clipping that can plague his fancams. Predictable outcome with TNT getting the win here. I did a bit of digging on Pain because with his size (6’9”) you would think the WWF would’ve had some interest in him, as it is Cagematch only has thirteen matches listed for him, all bar three from November and December 2000. Not that he’s any good and there is some noticeable back acne, but considering they signed the likes of Russ McCullough, Nathan Jones, Kip Christianson etc. you would’ve thought he would be a shoe in.

The ring announcer is adamant in his belief that “there is no doubt you’ll see them (Modest and Morgan) in WCW and the WWF soon” when doing his introductions. Well he was right, although I reckon he was hoping for better than what they actually got. A slap to the back of the head after some chain wrestling riles Morgan and he starts firing off some forearms. Modest rolls to the outside but Morgan follows him out and rams his head into the guard rail. Back inside Modest catches him on the tip up and crotches Morgan on the top rope. It looks like Modest hurt his leg on the leap frog. I thought he was doing the spot where the wrestler fakes an injury to lure his opponent in, but after clotheslining Morgan he takes a few additional seconds on the mat and is clearly favouring it, still shaking it out later. The backdrop is telegraphed, up kick by Morgan who then immediately goes for that leg with a submission. Bravo, they were working me and I fell for it. Tiger Driver, but he doesn’t go for the pin, preferring to opt for an ankle lock instead. Modest ducks a swinging arm and folds Morgan up with a release Dragon suplex. Another leglock variation by Morgan, clearly feeling that a submission is his most likely route for victory. As he comes rushing in Modest snatches him, lifts him onto his shoulders and hits a running Death Valley Driver. A second Dragon suplex is blocked and Morgan with a sit out pedigree, getting the ‘upset’ of sorts over the number one seed and moving onto the finals. Solid match with a clearly defined face and heel divide, something that has been an issue at times with APW. I was expecting a twenty minute epic out of these so it was nice to see them tell a story in under ten, no doubt limiting things because they’re working multiple times on the night. I enjoyed the leg work here, Modest’s selling and moreso the fact that they completely duped me.

Even though Steve Corino defeated C.W. Anderson at the PPV earlier in the month to become the number one contender the for World title, and then both were defeated last week in a World title match, this is also “number one contender’s match” (only in ECW). Joey Styles talks about C.W. being on a quest to win the only title his family has never held, which I think is pretty laughable that they’re still trying to pass him off as a member of that family. The story of the match is Anderson going after the left arm of Corino, so in a way, very similar again to Anarchy Rulz. Jack Victory does take one crazy bump through a table on the floor, literally going through it head first, no using his hands to protect himself. After Jacko’s torpedo, back inside, C.W. launches a chair at Corino, who ducks, and it takes out referee Mike Kehner. Anderson blocks the ‘Old School Expulsion’, countering with a DDT, when into the ring slides Danny Daniels to replace Kehner. Dawn Marie breaks up Daniel’s count by jumping on him leading to Styles screaming “cat fight”. Corino accidentally superkicks Dawn before we get the tedious trope of Daniels trying to fast count Corino’s shoulders to the mat at every opportunity. H.C. Loc is next in, he goes after Daniels and now we’ve got referee’s fighting. Fucking hell. Everyone finally out of there Corino hits the ‘Expulsion’ and retains his number one contendership. The run-ins aren’t done yet as Justin Credible, New Jack and Rhino all make an appearance, Credible left standing tall over the bodies of Corino and Jack, Rhino having been the difference maker. Everything up to the Kehner bump was good, everything that followed was not.

As we learned on Hardcore TV, Doring and Roadkill have promised to split up if they don’t win the straps tonight. With that added factor weighing on their minds they’re got much more serious expressions on their face than usual. Guido slaps Doring, who charges, and gets taken down with a Fujiwara armbar. He gives up on that pretty quickly, opting for a rolling cradle, but considering it’s so early in the match maybe he would’ve been better fared sticking with the submission as Doring hangs with him on the mat, picking up some covers of his own before the inevitable “stand-off”. The two trade hard open handed slaps to the chest and when Mamaluke enters the fray he gets the same treatment. Quesadora bulldog on Roadkill. A textbook armdrag from Mamaluke, who keeps hold of the arm to transition into an armbar, although Roadkill just lifts him up overhead and drops him to the mat to escape. Guido tries an attack from behind but he gets caught and floored with the ‘Lancaster Lariat of Lust’. Now Big Sal is interfering so Roadkill steps out and goes toe to toe with him, both throwing big haymakers. Leaping tornado DDT from the top turnbuckle to the concrete by Mamaluke. Doring, not to be outdone, heads upstairs himself, however Guido cracks him over the back with a chair. Double powerbomb onto the flattened out chair as the FBI go about getting the heat. ‘Sicilian slice’ for a two, referee John Finnegan out of position and not paying attention. ‘The Dastardly One’ avoids an uppercut and hits the ‘G-Spot Sweep’. Hot tag to Roadkill who is like an unstoppable freight train in there the way he’s running through the FBI. ‘Barn Burner’ on Guido and a big Amish-bomb for Mamaluke that turns him inside out. He’s not forgotten about earlier, springing from the top rope out onto Big Sal, taking him out of the equation. Some ugly looking stomachbreaker from the top by Doring to Mamaluke. Guido KO’s him with one of the title belts, however he still kicks out of the cover. Roadkill misses the attempted double springboard clothesline and the FBI with a double Fujiwara armbar. Mamaluke lets go as he sees Doring about to break things up, but ends up getting backdropped over the top rope. He manages to land on the apron, but a Doring superkick sends him flying into the guardrail, ending up in the front row due to his momentum. That was a seriously amazing bump. Roadkill blocks the ‘Kiss of Death’, which Cyrus calls ‘the Tomokaze’ and the challengers hit the ‘Buggy Bang’ to, at last, become the new ECW World tag team champions. I wasn’t feeling this match as much as I had done the teams previous encounters, while the crowd too didn’t seem to be as loud in their support of Doring & Roadkill either. A case of putting off the title change, putting it off and they put if off past the point where folk now don’t care? Even the added stipulation of Doring & Roadkill splitting up didn’t add anything to proceedings. We’ll see how they fly as champions for what’s left of the promotion. Not one of Danny Doring’s better outings either and there is better out there for these teams.