GSR

Don Montoya welcomes everyone to the ‘Haas of Pain’ as he and Kristy Kiss are seconding the brothers tonight. When he says how they are the future of tag team wrestling, it gets a “WWF” chant, so everyone is wise to where they’ve been recently. Charlie has a few words of his own and the crowd’s response to that is “no mic skills” which takes smarkiness to a whole new level. Da Hit Squad’s manager Johnny D, who sounds like a potty mouthed Vince Russo, has someone he claims is going to break Kristy Kiss’ neck for a second time. This person is never introduced, identified and I don’t recognise her, but she does come out to ‘Last Resort’ which is fast approaching ‘Bawitdaba’ as the most overused entrance music of the year. Stereo back drops by DHS before they clothesline the Haas’ over the top rope and to the outside. Big suicide dive by Mafia, using some wooden steps to leap off to help him clear the ropes. Double military press slam on Charlie. Reverse falling headbutt for a two. Mack with a stiff clothesline, but as he sets himself for another, Russ pulls down the top rope and the brothers dump him over it to the concrete. Montoya gets in some cheap shots too as the Haas’ go about wearing Mack down. There’s now a “where’s your angle?” chant going on which means zip to me. Double shoulder tackle. Mack is thrown to the floor and Charlie then slugs Mafia on the apron. It’s all a ploy to distract the official though as Montoya interferes again behind his back before Russ flattens him with a somersault senton. That unidentified woman comes around and grabs Kiss as we get a super lame ‘catfight’, the one of them even appearing to be laughing as they ‘fight’. Clearly enjoying herself then! Combination Boston crab/camel clutch by the brothers. Mack avoids the Russ flip splash and levels Charlie with a clothesline. Hot tag to Mafia and these smarks are calling for “tables”. Stereo diving headbutts from opposite turnbuckles and Charlie with the save in the nick of time. Mafia kicks out of the Haas’ handspring moonsault/corkscrew leg drop finisher (which it sounds like they’ve called ‘Haastruction’) and they’re complaining to the official about the slowness of his count. Banana split/flying elbow to the groin and again Mafia kicks out. First time I ever recall seeing a ‘banana split’ done in wrestling. As they go for it a second time Mack hooks Russ’ ankle causing him to fall from the top. Small package by Mafia and DHS retain their Jersey All Pro tag titles. Mack’s parting shot for the brothers who it seems are on their way out is “have fun in Connecticut bitch!” The finish did feel as though it came out of nowhere, the crowd were ungodly annoying and I could’ve done without the ‘catfight’ but this was a really good tag match. Both teams looked great, especially the brothers on offense, and even writing this up now I’m still smiling at that ‘banana split’ they pulled out in the closing moments. They do need to come up with a better name than ‘Haastruction’ though for their finisher mind! Recommended.

The match that was made last week after Ricky Reyes interfered in Rocky Romero’s singles bout with B-Boy. Peterson and Romero start us off and after a double dropkick that sees both men hit nothing but air, Primetime offers his hand, only for Rocky to make out like he’s going to accept but then run it through his hair instead. The two men tag out and B and Reyes work some nice exchanges, including Reyes busting out a ‘Cattle Mutilation’ and a single leg crab from B-Boy where he bends his opponent’s leg around his head. As B expects a ‘test of strength’ he’s wide open and a cheap kick to the sternum is the beginning of the Gringos working him over for a bit. B-Boy reverses the Irish whip, sit out hip toss and after making the tag they blast Rocky around the head with a double enziguiri. Brainbuster for a two count as Reyes is in to break up the pin attempt. Double basement dropkick to the front and back by Peterson and B-Boy. Rocky ducks a clothesline and catches B with a springboard DDT. Combination belly to back/middle rope elbow and now it’s Primetime saving his partner, something that will become a common theme over the next few minutes. Reyes tosses B-Boy out to the concrete where Rocky puts the boots to him behind the official’s back. Seated abdominal stretch with Primetime doing his best to rally the crowd from the apron. The back drop is telegraphed and B-Boy with an implant DDT on Reyes. Hot tag to Primetime who doesn’t really do much before tagging B back in. Crossface and as it looks like Reyes is about to get to the ropes, B-Boy drags him back into the middle of the ring. He appears to tap but Romero and Peterson are fighting it out in there and the match is continuing so guess he didn’t. B-Boy holds on after the piledriver, cradle piledriver and finally a Death Valley Driver as he gets a pin over the United States champion. That’s not lost on him and he challenges Reyes to a title match next week thinking that after that he deserves one.

The first time I ever saw B-Boy (in CZW) he had hair, so even though you imagine him bald, seeing him with hair didn’t surprise me. He gets down on his knees and puts his hands behind his head to let the ref check him, almost like a criminal being frisked. Ricky Reyes is accompanying his Gringo partner to the ring for this bout. A good fast paced opening here, Romero landing on his feet as B-Boy rolls out the way of the Lionsault, but as he then runs at him, Boy ducks and pulls down the top rope, Rocky flying over it to the outside. Sit out hip toss for our first two count of the match. Romero is whipped into the corner, however he catches B with a headscissors and drives his head into the middle turnbuckle. Flying back elbow smash followed by his springboard senton/springboard twisting senton combination. Rocky’s chops wake B-Boy up and he hits some sort of spinning powerslam, although that takes as much out of him as it does his opponent. Top rope frankensteiner by Rocky for a near fall. B-Boy reverses the Irish whip and gets a near fall of his own after a chokeslam into a diamond cutter. Rocky ducks a clothesline and dumps B with a great looking belly to back suplex. Springboard DDT and this time its B-Boy getting a foot over the rope to stop the count. B counters the tornado DDT but as he heads upstairs Reyes trips him, interfering for the DQ. Primetime Peterson makes the save and Los Gringos bail at the earliest opportunity before a bit of mic work sets up a tag match for next week. A bit indyriffic at times, but I quite enjoyed it with the pace that they were both cutting and the innovation shown, however it’s yet another IWC SoCal match with an incredibly poor finish.

This event is being held in an actual bar, no ring, and the Shamrock/Lawlor match is the main event on a four match card. The vibe they wanted was more your ‘bar room brawl, hence the name of the show, but it generally comes off more like a WWF hardcore match from the late 90s/early 2000s, especially when Shamrock was in control. Cosmetically he looks tremendous for a 54 year old man, although not sure the ‘World’s Most Dangerous Man’ moniker is still fitting. Things were much better when Filthy Tom was on offense as it actually resembled a fight then as opposed to a wrestling match. Lawlor applies a triangle choke at one point which Shamrock escapes from by slamming him to the concrete. As a TUF alumni you would think he’d remember what happened between Noah Thomas and Marlon Sims! They disappear into the women’s bathroom for a bit (all off camera) and next time we see them Lawlor is crawling on the floor, soaked and carrying a plunger. Are we meant to think that Shamrock gave him a swirlie in there? The plunger comes in to play, Lawlor using it for a modified camel clutch but it’s the ‘World’s Most Dangerous 54 year old’ who comes out on top, getting the ankle lock submission.

Not sure about this red and black shirt that the referee is wearing! It also looks like there is a much larger crowd in attendance than last for the final night of the Sweet Science 16. One thing about Hero is to keep an eye on the little things he does, here he reverses a Kickboxer full nelson, but actually strikes him on the hands, causing him to release his grip, as opposed to just switching positions on the reversal like most seem to do. Boxer with a huracanrana followed by a headscissors and Hero takes to the outside. He tries a different tact, looking to make the most of his size and power advantage, but Boxer has an escape for the ‘test of strength’ and he ends up trapped in an arm bar. Hero whips his way out of it and lands a flying forearm as he starts to take control of the match. Spinning heel kick for his fourth two count in the space of about a minute. A pair of European uppercuts and Boxer tumbles between the ropes to the floor. The sportsmanship that was on display in the early parts of the match has gone, Hero grabbing and then suplexing him back inside. Hero telegraphs a backdrop and Boxer goes about cutting him down with a series of kicks to the knee. That seemed to be working and maybe he should’ve stuck with that plan, instead he goes for a backdrop, Hero snatches him, lifts him over his shoulder and then plants him to the mat. Frog splash but Boxer gets a shoulder up. Running powerbomb is countered into a huracanrana, however Hero rolls through into a sunset flip for a great near fall. Boxer reverses the whip into the corner and Hero’s momentum sends him over the turnbuckles to the outside. Slingshot rana to the floor by Boxer. He goes to the well once too often though and on the second leaping rana Hero counters into a Boston crab for the submission. It would’ve been nice if Kickboxer had tried to fight that Boston crab for a bit as opposed to tapping straight away, still this was a good match. Hero generally based well for Boxer’s flying and you sense him getting more frustrated with his smaller opponent as the match wore on. Can definitely see those ‘bully’ tendencies that Astro mentions in him here.

Axl is a late substitute for “that spineless prick” Bull Pain, I’d say a very late substitute considering that he’s wrestling in jeans. The teams pair off, Corp and Axl going at it in the ring while Ian and Craig take it to the floor. Ian piledrives Craig on a chair as Corp snatches a pair of scissors away from Axl and uses them on him. There’s a “holy shit” chant going on but we don’t see what led to that. Axl cracks Corp over the head with a helmet and Craig rakes some barbed wire across Ian’s forehead. Unsurprisingly all four are already busted open. Ian with a ‘Razor’s Edge’ on Craig into the ringside chairs. Axl no sells Corp’s punches, which I don’t like to see, before Ian wallops him in the head with a baseball bat covered in drawing pins. The Bad Breed position a bunch of light tubes between two chairs and superbomb Craig off the middle through the lot for the win. Ian goes head first into the tubes when delivering the finisher and Axl says how he’s got glass in his eyes which I can well believe. In what will go on to become an annual tradition, Ian then takes the mic from his mentor and puts over the talent in the dressing room and the shows that they have put on for everyone these past two days. I preferred this to the previous night’s hardcore main event; all action, short, intense and delivered what they promised beforehand.

The ropes have been removed, replaced by barbed wire on two sides of the ring, while on the other there are pits of glass. Jim Fannin’s longwinded introduction of Page is actually pretty amusing. Cash can’t get big Mitch all the way up for a bodyslam and falls backwards into some drawing pins that were scattered on the mat. I’ll always have respect for someone who works a match like this shirtless as those tacks are now embedded into his back. Page drags him over to the barbed wire, but an extreme close up shows him just holding it next to his face while Cash retrieves his blade and cuts himself. Cash reverses the Irish whip and Mitch gets stuck in the barbs, the referee having to help get him free. It’s not long before he’s bleeding and the visual of the blood smearing across his forehead as Cash punches him does looks cool. As they venture to the floor Cash breaks a light tube over Page’s back and then digs it into that cut. After suplexing him into one of the pits of glass Cash goes off searching for some pliers. They return to the ring and it looks like Page is getting back into this until Cash hot shots him onto the barbed wire. He then wraps some of the barbed wire around him, trapping his arms to his sides in the process. With Page helpless Cash cracks him twice over the head with hard unprotected chair shots, however when he goes for a third, Mitch ducks, kicks him in the ass and Cash takes a flip bump from the apron and into the second glass pit. ‘Mean’ Mitch manages to get down from the ring and covers him on the floor for the win. The opening trading of punches was really good but it never sustained that level for me, ending up being fairly pedestrian. That flip bump Cash took also didn’t look the most realistic and probably hurt a ton.

And so begins what would go on to become the biggest independent tournament of the year. Ian must’ve been expecting a large crowd for this judging by how many chairs have been put out, although there’s literally no more than two dozen there. I like how the wrestlers are seeded for the tournament too. Colt wants a handshake and when Hero accepts, he pulls him in and slaps on a side headlock. They get a bit caught up and lose their momentum but Hero is smart enough to step through the ropes and take a powder on the floor to organically get things back on track. Flying forearm, however Colt takes a step backwards to avoid the dropkick which leads to Hero being on the receiving end of some heckling from Dave Prazak. Spinning heel kick by Hero and now its Cabana taking a breather on the outside. Oh great, audible homophobic slurs aimed at Cabana. Hero slingshots him back inside but Colt ducks the clothesline and drills him with a back elbow. Russian leg sweep that he floats over on for a two count. Hero gets tied up in the ropes and Prazak throws Colt something that he empties down his pants. Itching powder maybe? A nice looking powerslam followed by a Lionsault, but again Hero kicks out of the cover at two. Top rope frankensteiner is blocked and Hero comes off the middle catching Colt with a spinning neckbreaker. A couple more near falls until the ‘Hero’s Welcome’ sees the man it’s named after advance to the second round. As a first round tournament match I thought this served its purpose fine.

Joey Jackson’s mullet is straight out of the 1980’s. Torch is a former NWA Canadian Junior Heavyweight champion and is in the midst of a name change, apparently wrestling for the first time without a mask and now going as Adam ‘Torch’ Firestorm. There’s a couple of additional guys on commentary, one of whom could well be Dino Bambino, so that should be a stark improvement on when it’s just ‘Mr Subdued’ flying solo. Torch ducks a Jackson clothesline and comes back with a running crossbody for a two. Nice little side headlock takedown as he uses the turnbuckles to his advantage. ‘Gorgeous’ Joey tries to bodyslam his way out of the arm bar but Torch holds on and he’s still trapped. After backing him into the corner he resorts to cheapshotting him in the mid-section on the break. Big side slam from Jackson. He drops a knee to Torch’s lower back and then applies a modified bow & arrow. A second side slam is countered and Torch with an atomic drop before returning to that arm bar. This time Jackson goes to the eyes to escape and he then returns to targeting Torch’s lower back. After a suplex he pulls out a comb to make sure his mullet is still looking pristine when Chuck Gordy walks down and into the ring. Gordy stomps Torch the once and then exits, costing Jackson the match, payback for him blasting him with the title belt in the SEX/Moretti & Bluto tag. As much as I’ve slated Portland this was a pleasant way to say goodbye to them, at least for 2000. The two were building a nice match, nothing fancy but something that was actually telling a story, where the holds they were applying actually meant something. Even the finish, which was really weak, I can get pass because at least is leading somewhere. Glad I’m not the only one who got the Gary Young vibe off of Jackson.

Z-Barr introduces Nick Gage as he claims he’s got an exclusive interview with the new CZW Iron Man champion. As Barr goes about conducting that interview, pretty unsuccessfully I may add, his camera man suddenly hits Gage over the head with the video camera. He collects a ‘Stop’ sign from under the ring, the majority of fans having now guessed what’s going on, before unmasking to reveal himself as Madman Pondo. For clarity, Pondo was the most recent Iron Man champion but no showed a prior event and was subsequently stripped of the belt, Nick Gage then defeated Wifebeater to become the new champion. Pondo throws Gage to the outside where he whips him into several rows of chairs. When he tries to repeat it Gage blocks the attempt and powerbombs him onto them instead. Bloody hell, a fan has bought a glass mirror with the letters ‘CZW’ written on it, those letters being made out of four inch nails! Gage takes it from the ringsider and shows it off, however as he does so Pondo kicks him in the ribs. The Madman gets someone to pass him a chair, sets that up in the corner and stands the mirror on it. The champ reverses the Irish whip and sends Pondo chest first into it. You can see him try to brace himself, still that can’t have been pleasant. Diving headbutt for a two. Sunset flip by Gage but Pondo waffles him with the ‘Stop’ sign to prevent himself from being taken down. Fuck, he’s now carving Gage’s forehead open with a pair of scissors. Pondo ties him in the ‘Tree of Woe’, places the sign in front of his face and then blasts it with a chair. He heads to the back, returning with some fluorescent light tubes and builds a two tiered contraption; the light tubes and a pane of glass bridging across two chairs stacked on top of a table. That ends up working against him though, Gage eventually recovering due to how long Pondo was taking setting everything up and superplexing him from the top turnbuckle through it all. The crowd are losing their shit at that. With both men down out runs Wifebeater who breaks light tubes over the pair. It looks like Pondo and Gage are going to work together against him but they end up fighting each other too as the three go at it all the way to the back. There is every chance that the opening angle may well end up being the highlight of Pondo’s year, really well done and better than any match he’s had. As for the match, I’m afraid it was another that I didn’t think much of. I don’t know whether it’s the lack of urgency he always seems to have or what, but disappearing mid-match to the dressing room to collect light tubes, the slow build on that contraption for the finish, it doesn’t feel like I’m watching a match. Superplex at the end looked great though and I’m imagining we’re getting a three way on the next show.

I’ll try and set the scene here as a ring has been set up in the middle of a street, flats and houses on all sides, the ropes replaced with barbed wire and covered in soaked rags which are to be set alight. Matsunaga mows down Zandig with a car that he and Kasai drove to the ring in and now Gage is stood on the roof of it trying to keep his balance while he drives it. After tying Zandig to the back of the motor and dragging him along the dirty road, he then ties him to the ring post as it looks like the plan is to crush him with the car. Bloody hell it is! Zandig having to lock his outstretched arms to keep the car at bay until Gage can come to his rescue. It’s a tad surreal to hear a “C-Z-Dub” chant in a Japanese accent, but surreal sums this match up to a tee. There are people literally hanging off the buildings to watch Gage and Kasai go at it beneath them. Zandig repeatedly slams the car door into Matsunaga before throwing him into the ring. Fucking hell, one of the wooden slats comes loose and Zandig loses his balance on it, almost falling into the firey rag. Scary shit right there. Someone is trying to extinguish the rags while at the same time Wifebeater (who is acting as a second for the CZW duo) lights more! This does look like something out of a movie with all the black smoke bellowing upwards. Things get crazier as Kasai goes to leap off the back of Matsunaga, over the flames and onto their opponents on the floor, only to botch the dive and land on the barbed wire bringing everything on that side down. The heat must be something as both Zandig and Gage are dowsing themselves with water to cool off. The madness doesn’t stop as Matsunaga nearly breaks Zandig’s neck when powerbombing him from the bonnet of the car and onto a flaming table by not launching him far enough. Kasai dives off a truck that was driven closer to the ring but manages to miss the three men he was aiming for landing flush on the wooden boards! Zandig shows Matsunaga how you should powerbomb someone off a bonnet, only it’s a reinforced table that doesn’t break. Kasai climbs back onto the roof of the truck where he’s met by Zandig who press slams him from it and through a couple of flaming tables on the concrete. Death Valley Driver by Gage for a two and I’d completely forgotten that you need to pin someone to win, getting totally lost in the spectacle. Frog splash off a ladder and that finally does for Kasai. The match is continuing so this must be elimination rules, Matsunaga getting Gage to submit just fifteen seconds later by choking him with a barbed wire baseball bat. Zandig attacks Matsunaga with the bat and hits a Falcon Arrow. Gage hasn’t left and is still involving himself and nothing is being done so maybe this is two out of three falls then? If so why isn’t Kasai helping out his partner? Whatever, Gage sets some of the ring boards on fire and Zandig leaps from the roof of the truck, into the flames and onto Matsunaga for the final fall. One of the craziest things in (and out) a wrestling ring that you are likely to see. In highlighted form, limited to the big spots and with all the fat trimmed, this would look like one of the most amazing matches ever.

They are getting under each other’s feet here, trying to be overly smart and over complicating things. It doesn’t take long for my most annoying elimination match trope to make an appearance either, Warrior saving Kaz from a Reyes double leg cradle pin attempt. It looks like Reyes and Kazarian are then going to work together but of course that doesn’t last, Reyes nailing Kaz with a dropkick when he turns his back on him. The spare man breaking up the pin trope continues with regularity. A great looking superkick by Kaz to Warrior and a springboard elbow to Reyes who is on the apron. The Irish whip is reversed and Reyes pulls down the top rope sending Kaz careering out over it. Warrior with a Silver King dive to the floor, although he does look to come up a bit short. As the ref starts to count both men out, Reyes is happy for him to do so, however the moment he sees them get back to their feet and realises he’s not going to pick up the easy win, wipes out the pair with a corkscrew plancha. The action returns to the ring where Kaz ducks a double clothesline and lands a springboard double back elbow. Springboard double blockbuster for a two. A lovely Northern Lights suplex on Warrior and Reyes breaks that up. More of the same until Reyes reverses a Kaz tombstone piledriver and Warrior then comes off the top with something that is missed by the camera. As he makes the cover, this time Reyes joins him in doing so, eliminating Kaz. If only they’d thought about doing that earlier! Kaz isn’t done yet though, dumping Warrior with an inverted slam before heading on his way. Nice counter of the powerbomb with an arm drag which is the start of a cracking fast paced sequence ending with Warrior getting a near fall after a huracanrana. Reverse crossbody off the top and the outcome is the same. Reyes grabs the leg and ties Warrior in a deathlock as he looks to slow his remaining opponent down. Well that didn’t really work as Warrior is now bouncing and flipping off the ropes. Reyes reverses the Irish whip and catches Warrior with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker, dropping him across his own knee. One cradle tombstone piledriver this is over and the champion retains his IWC United States title. I thought I was going to hate this after the opening exchanges which stank of guys trying to do too much and to be too complex. While I don’t think I will ever get past the breaking up of pinfalls in an elimination match, this turned into a pretty good three way. If I was having to recommend and IWC SoCal match for someone of all the stuff that I’ve watched, this would be the one I’d show them.

An IWC SoCal show that’s taking place outdoors for a change, as opposed to being held in Billy Anderson’s gym like usual. Actually this looks like its part of some local fair/fete to celebrate Independence Day. Lots of loud “USA” chants aimed at those nasty Cubans! Romero catches ‘Tempting’ Devon with a headscissors take down, putting an end to PHAT’s early shine. Los Gringos work the double team before Reyes picks up a two count after a butterfly suplex. Slingshot senton. Willis ducks the double clothesline, connects with a double handspring elbow and tags out to Matlock. Romero lands a satellite headscissors followed by a huracanrana, but when he goes for it a second time Matlock counters with a sit-out powerbomb. Lionsault by Willis and Reyes is in to break up the cover, putting the boots in at the same and turning the match back in their favour. Double face jam, but the ref is dealing with Matlock and misses seeing the Reyes cover. Willis busts out his second handspring elbow of the match, this time a la the Great Muta as opposed to Tajiri. Matlock gets a two after a tornado DDT and he and Reyes then run through a series of pinfall attempts and counters. Combination belly to back/middle rope elbow by Los Gringos and now Willis is the one saving his partner. He doesn’t escape the double team, ending up on the receiving end of a side slam/guillotine leg drop combo. The match breaks down and Los Gringos end up getting disqualified for shoving the referee as he tries to stop the two of them from putting the boots to Willis in the corner. At least rules are being adhered to then, even if this was a really weak ending. The Gringos aren’t finished, Reyes coming off the top with a missile dropkick to Willis who is sat on Reyes’ shoulders. This started out promising and could’ve told a nice story had they stuck to a traditional Southern formula, but the longer it went the more it seemed to lose its flow and direction. Finish was really weak too and with this being held as part of some Independence Day celebrations you would think the U.S. team could’ve gone over clean.

The graphic informs us that this is ACW’s ‘Match of the Year’, so those are some lofty expectations going in. Apparently the WWF, WCW and ECW have all been looking at ‘Scrap Iron’ which is news to me as I don’t ever recall him getting a try-out for any of those companies around this time. The commentator talks about how there is a hatred between these two, although clearly not much as Bambino accepts Pearce’s offer of a handshake after the opening stanza. Of course he double crossed him but you knew that! Headscissors takedown by Bambino, followed by a big boot to the face. He charges at ‘Scrap Iron’ but Pearce hot shots him into the cage. This is one rickety, unstable looking cage by the way. Pearce launches him into the cage a couple more times before connecting with a diving headbutt. Bambino ducks the clothesline and lands a flying crossbody as this match goes back and forth. Low blow by Pearce who then calls for a chair from ringside. Whomever it is who throws it in for him throws it too hard, overshooting, as it ends up in Bambino’s hands. Dino waffles him over the head with it busting Pearce wide open. Rolling senton splash in the corner off the chair. Bambino looks to escape over the top, but Pearce snatches and powerbombs him to the mat. Lionsault for a two. Pearce slingshots Dino into the cage and then grinds his forehead across it. He’s about to escape himself however, with Bambino prone on the canvas, decides against it and drops a leg from the top instead. Dino reverses the figure four and the official breaks the hold when Pearce grabs the ropes. We’ve already been told this is ‘no disqualification’ so surely that shouldn’t have been an automatic break like in a regular match? Pearce telegraphs the backdrop and Bambino with a DDT. As he goes to crawl out the cage door Pearce’s manager, Angelo Stefano, slamS it into his face. The Dallas Sportatorium in ’82 this ain’t though! Great looking piledriver by Pearce. Rather than walk out the cage door he again goes to climb out over it, but takes far too long and is met up there by Bambino. The two fight whilst stood on the top rope until a Bambino right causes Pearce to lose his balance and crotch himself. Jeez, that cage is one wobbly contraption. Lovely moonsault from Bambino. Pearce trips over Dino as he drops down and collides into the referee wiping him out. That was a very unconvincing looking bump. Sam Hain runs out and into the cage to help Pearce, the two stuff piledriving Bambino. That’s only the start of the run ins, the cage filling with a bunch of folk I don’t recognise bar ‘Kamikaze’ Ken Anderson. Pearce actually leaves the cage during this brawl or ‘gang warfare’ as the commentators call it, so in theory has won the match but no-one bar me has seemed to notice. Stefano ends up in the cage and after a ‘Rock Bottom’ by one of those who ran in, Bambino comes off the top of the cage with a leg drop onto him. A pretty decent cage match until the shitty ref bump and then all the run ins. Maybe it was a way of interweaving various feuds by having everyone at the end, but it just looked like a giant cluster to me. It also grates on me watching a thirty minute match and not even knowing what the outcome was. Logic would suggest Pearce won, but I doubt there is any logic going on here.

Tracey’s jawing away at Mosh although it’s Thrasher who starts for the Headbangers. Smothers with a tip up over the charging Thrasher before dropping him with a flying forearm. After a pair of kicks he goads Mosh on the apron by doing his hip thrust/dance. Tag out to Michaels who looks to continue the strong start that Smothers has given them. He misses seeing the blind tag though and Mosh catches him with a flying clothesline off the middle. Brilliant, Mosh is now doing Tracey’s dance back at him! That brings Smothers is in, but as the referee tries to get him out of there Mosh clubs him from behind and he falls to the floor. ‘Stage Dive’ on Michaels and the Headbangers pick up the win. Fun two minute bout all down to the work of Tracey Smothers who, in the space of under a month, has now worked as enhancement talent in WCW and WWF as well as continuing to work in Memphis.

The action is joined in progress with Thunder & Lightning in control. Kendall with a knee to the back after Barry whips one of them into the ropes and the Windhams take over. There is nothing fancy out of the brothers, although everything is solid and Barry’s offense, such as the gut wrench, the DDT looks effective. Kendall takes a great bump into the corner when one of the oppo moves out the way (they’re masked and wearing identical costumes) and he hot tags his partner who takes it to the Windhams. ‘3-D’ on Barry and Kendall with the save. The match breaks down with everyone in the ring at which poing the Texas Hangmen run out and attack Thunder & Lightning. A bunch more run ins follow as the match is thrown out.

Jericho is over huge with the Puerto Rican fans, even cutting the opening part of his promo in Spanish for them. Hmm, the referee looks very much like Bruce Prichard. Y2J flips over on the belly to back suplex and dropkicks Benoit who sails out through the ropes to the floor. As he climbs back up on the apron he’s met by a springboard dropkick. Baseball slide dropkick, however ‘the Crippler’ reverses the whip on the outside sending Y2J crashing into the guard rail. They return to the ring where Benoit picks up a two count after a running elbow smash. Jericho’s arm drops twice while in the rear chinlock, but before it does for a third time he fights his way to his feet and forces the escape with a series of elbows to the mid-section. Flying forearm, bulldog, no Lionsault though. Benoit reverses the tombstone into a shoulderbreaker but fails to connect on the diving headbutt. ‘Walls of Jericho’ when the referee, who I’m now sure is Bruce Prichard, falls to the mat clutching his knee and doesn’t see Benoit tapping. Y2J lets go to see what he’s playing but when he turns around, Benoit snatches his arm and locks in the crossface. Prichard’s knee recovers instantaneously and he immediately calls for the bell even though Jericho never submitted and is waving his finger to signal he didn’t. Is Bruce Prichard a heel ref in IWA-PR? Was this some angle they were working for the local market? Not at the level of their WWF TV matches and this was worked on autopilot by both.

A special UCW vs FWA challenge match with Jonny Storm and co representing the UCW. There are people far more qualified to talk about the British 2000 scene than me, but Ross Gordon sounds very much like Ross Hutchinson who I thought was more of a promoter/mouthpiece (as well as being the former editor of Suckerpunch fanzine) as opposed to a trained wrestler. If it is him it would explain why his stuff looks so bad (including struggling to apply a Figure Four) and why he mainly sticks to being a chicken shit heel who picks his shots. LX Blade is an Alex Shane gimmick and he towers over everyone else. Nice counter of the Fleisch top rope frankensteiner and one armed press aside, he was pretty lumbering and cumbersome. Jodie was the obvious standout here and he and Jonny work some fast paced Lucha inspired sequences. I adore their match from ‘Best of the Best 2’, but on the whole Jonny Storm is someone I’ve never truly been sold on. I don’t know who is Kevin O’Neill and who is Blade, although it doesn’t matter as neither showed anything anyway. Jodie lands a gorgeous Shooting Star Press and Gordon breaks up the pin. LX with that one armed press into a fireman’s carry sit out slam on Fleisch for a two. He tags in Gordon and gets him to hold Jodie while Jonny passes him a chair. If you don’t know how this is ending you’re clearly new to the world of wrestling! Of course Fleisch moves and Shane nails Gordon over the head with the chair. Someone from the dressing room then runs out and attacks LX as Ross ‘the Boss’ is pinned by one of O’Neill or FWA Blade. Gordon doesn’t sell the shot after dropping the fall, running around ringside and even forcing himself on the female ring announcer. An all over the place match and not the best of starts to the British scene on the back of Dirtbike Kid/Sabu.

Mafia was supposedly arrested on the way to the arena so Drew Lozario has found Mack a replacement in the form of Mace Mendoza. I dread to think what kind of abuse Mendoza is getting from these fans. Mack and Mendoza head to the back of the building and jump Ki and Montoya as they make their entrance. Lozario is also involving himself, helping out Mendoza against Montoya as everything is legal in this match. Ki brings Mack to his knees following a couple of kicks to the head, while over on the other side, Montoya whips Mace into the ringside chairs. They make their way around to the merchandise table where Montoya chokes him with a T-shirt. Ki lands on his feet after a backdrop and levels Mack with a Koppu kick. Handspring forearm smash. Double clothesline by Montoya to Mendoza and Lozario as all four men are in the ring. Ki lifts Mace up as if he’s going for the ‘Ki Krusher’ but instead rushes him into the turnbuckles. Mack throws Ki to the outside and lands a tope, although it’s more like a ‘slow-pe’ from the big man, Lozario helping to break his fall. Everyone then hits dives of varying degrees (Montoya’s middle rope plancha looking like garbage), finishing with a Ki flip dive from the top rung of a giant ladder which was set up in the ring. I was having flashbacks to that CZW match so thankfully nothing went wrong this time! A dodgy looking ‘roaring elbow’ by Montoya that the commentator has the gall to liken to one Masato Tanaka would throw. Mack with a low blow and as Montoya collapses in the corner, he positions a ladder into his groin and then bashes it with a chair. Mendoza hits an exploder after escaping the ‘Ki Krusher’ and Mack gives Montoya a spinebuster onto the ladder. ‘Bottoms Up’ elbow by Mace and Ki has recovered to break up the pin just in time. Huge powerbomb on Ki. Montoya wedges a ladder over the heads of the opposition and runs it into the turnbuckles. He lays Mack on a table and starts climbing the ladder, unaware that Mace is now up and helping Mack off it. Mack grabs Montoya while Mendoza sets the table upright in the corner. As he is making sure the legs are safely tucked away, here comes Mack with a running powerbomb, launching Montoya through the table and damn near killing Mendoza who is still behind it. Holy fuck!!! Amazingly he is not dead and is soon back helping his partner. The finish takes a bit of setting up and they don’t quite hit it right, but Ki ends up putting Mendoza through a table with a ‘Ki Krusher ‘99’ off that giant ladder. Some of the spots here did take a bit of setting up and weren’t the most natural, but this was a fun, garbage style spot fest. Mace Mendoza held his own as an equal in there and I was pleasantly surprised that they didn’t resort to the easy option of ‘the gay’ getting destroyed the whole match. Admittedly he got destroyed when Mack launched Montoya through the table but that’s a different matter altogether! Enjoyable stuff with a couple of truly memorable moments in there.

The bed of nails is brought out in front of the first row and the fans are encouraged to check that they are real and that nothing has been done to alter them. The ring announcer then drops a lemon and an onion onto the nails to show that when you hit them you stay stuck and that there is nothing fake about this contest. They’re doing a grand job putting over how dangerous this match is, even going as far as to mention that an ambulance is on call ready. Title match for Bambino’s MAW Heavyweight title and the only way you can win is by pinning your opponent on the bed of nails. Both men make unsuccessful early pin attempts on the canvas just to remind everyone that they can’t be made unless they’re on that bed of nails. Corp throws Bambino to the floor where he blocks the suplex and counters with a DDT. This is a touch tricky to follow on the outside due to the crowd obscuring the camera’s view. They return to the ring and Dino with a tornado DDT onto some chairs. Corp is now bleeding, although I think that was courtesy of something we didn’t see. Running cannonball in the corner. Bambino goes for a second, but Corp moves and he flies between the turnbuckles, into the ring post and falls to the concrete. Piledriver on the floor by Corp. Again this is tough to follow with the crowd blocking the view. Now the video camera is shaking so much it is like the guy filming it is having an epileptic fit! I’ve probably said this before about him but Corp really does throw some fantastic looking worked punches. Spinebuster onto a chair. Corp cracks Bambino over the head with the chair and I’m kinda glad he held a little back and didn’t brain him like he would say someone like Ian Rotten. He misses on the top rope leg drop as Dino looks to get back into this. Hangman’s neckbreaker with Corp sat on the top and now Bambino is going for a pin, this after Corp did so twice when he was in control. ‘Bootcamp’ onto a chair and Corp then collects the bed of nails and brings it into the ring. Bambino blocks the powerbomb and carefully slams Corp onto the nails for the win. He quickly helps gets him off them as it looks like he’s in a fair bit of pain from that. Tricky to follow whenever the action left the ring for reasons already outlined above. I don’t think there was ever any doubt as to who would take the bump onto the nails, but I know if I was ever going into a fight, Corp would be the one person I would want on my side. Dude is just a tough, hard man.

Two out of three falls, Tables and Ladders match, where the first team to put two member of the opposition through a table will be declared the winners. Punk introduces Prazak as the “Sausage King of Chicago” (which I so hope is a reference to Ferris Bueller) and he makes his entrance to the Sherri sung version of ‘Sexy Boy’. CM Punk working with Sensational Sherri is not something I ever expected to see. The commentators talk about how she can hold her own with anybody and proves that here, Punk quickly wanting no further part of her. Jason Kronnan fares no better and with only one man left, she slingshots Prazak into the ring. He face plants after being whipped into the corner and Sherri goes for a cover, forgetting there are no pinfalls here. Prazak ducks a clothesline and bails to the floor where he is surrounded by the Bambino brothers, Kronnan saving him just as they lay him on one of the tables. We’ve three separate fights going on here as the camera struggles to keep up with everything. Prazak takes off again with Sherri in pursuit and seems to think that climbing a ladder in the ring is the best way to escape her. It may not have been but it works for him, for as Sherri climbs up after him he gives her a shove and she falls backward taking a painful looking bump onto a table that doesn’t break on impact. It’s as if that takes something out of the fans seeing Sherri be the one to drop the first fall. Sex & Violence work over Dino, slowing things down ready for the next bump. Cradle suplex by Punk who has to have it explained to him again that there are no pins in operation here. Dino with a coast to coast leg drop on Punk, who had gotten straddled across the middle turnbuckles after missing a charge. Sherri’s barely moved out of their corner since she landed on that table so I wonder if she’s legit hurt. Fisherman’s buster by Bobby, but as he then heads upstairs he’s snatched by Kronnan who Liger bombs him to the mat. Sit-out powerbomb for Dino onto a ladder which must’ve hurt every bit as much as Sherri’s table bump. After S&V lay him onto a table, they ascend opposite corners ready to put him through it when Sherri and Bobby give the ropes a shake causing them to lose their balance. Top rope frankensteiner by Bobby on Kronnan and Sherri with a press slam for Punk. Prazak is left all alone and after Bobby slugs him, Sherri drops a leg to his groin. It looks like they were meant to hip toss him through an upright table, but they end up launching him head first into it! The table still cracks and although the commentators think that should count as a fall, the referee waves it off. A quick improvisation sees them whip him into it and this time it breaks proper so we’re officially all tied up. Only for a matter of seconds mind as Punk is already laid on a table at ringside and Dino comes off the top with a shooting star press putting him through that giving them the third and deciding fall. I thought Sherri was working stiffer than the guys here with the way she was laying her stuff in! Surprised to see her take a bump through the table period, let alone the first one. Although at times it did take a while to set things up, this was an enjoyable spot fest and my favourite Punk outing so far. Dino looked good here in this environment too with his athleticism and agility. Out of Sherri and Prazak though it’s a tough call on who took the worst, as in most painful, table bump!

Smooth Billy D comes out looking like a member of the Jackson 5 with a great afro, white flares and silver sparkly shirt. Turns out the afro is a wig sadly. D makes the most of his size and power advantage, just lifting Reyes off his feet and dumping him to the mat after he grabs a side headlock. When the same happens again, Reyes slides to the floor, grabs his title belt and heads back towards the dressing room. There’s plenty of time left on the counter so no fear of an early finish here! Still, he returns only just in time to beat the count, tripping D whilst still on the outside. Slingshot senton followed by a baseball slide dropkick. Crossbody for a two. D reverses the Irish whip and lands a spinebuster for a two of his own. Side kick and Reyes is off to the dressing room again, this time D is in pursuit though and drags him back to the ring. Reyes with a dropkick to the knee and he then goes about taking one of Smooth Billy’s wheels out. Another Irish whip is reversed and D with an impressive looking military press, however this immediately renders the previous few minutes where Reyes had worked over his leg as inconsequential. Running powerslam into the corner and now he remembers to sell that leg! The official is standing too close to Reyes and I smell a ref bump coming. Yup, Reyes pulls him in front of him and then scoots out the way of a charging D who ends up squashing the ref in the corner. Smooth Billy gets the visual pin after a ‘Sky High’ and with the referee still down, a replacement rushes out to take his place. Dear me, now he gets bumped, Reyes pulling him in the way of a D missile dropkick. The original ref has recovered and as D ascends to the top for a second time, Reyes pushes him into the ropes causing ‘the Smooth One’ to crotch himself. To cap this off, the camera then misses catching whatever it that Reyes hits to give him the win. Out of everything I am finding IWC SoCal an almost constant slog to get through and finishes like this don’t help in the slightest. Rewind ten days to the 7/4 show and that weak DQ finish, well the officials (plural!) were manhandled here more than then and no sign of a disqualification today. Billy D has got size, agility and potential, but the work between the two was clunky and at times it looked like they were stood there thinking about what to do next.

I described Barry Horowitz vs Cuban Assassin as woeful, well in that case this was truly woeful. After fifteen minutes of some of the most tedious, pedestrian and laboured action you’re likely to see, Joey Jackson runs out to help the tag team champions (SEX). Gordy holds Moretti in a full nelson so that Jackson can blast him with one of the title belts, however the Moondog moves and he nails ‘Bam Bam’ instead. The referee, who had been on the outside dealing with Hawke and Bluto, sees the interference and calls for the bell signalling a DQ. You would think that would automatically be a win for Bluto & Moretti, you would be wrong. In the backwards world of Portland Wrestling, even though Jackson came out to help SEX, because he struck Gordy, it is the challengers who are disqualified. I know! At least there is no more Portland after the end of this month.

‘Smart’ Bart nails ‘Super’ Chad with a chair before the ring announcer has finished his introductions. About two minutes in Billy Two Eagles joins the action and it’s never explained why. Was he originally supposed to be part of this? Does he have an issue with these two men? A generic hardcore match where they just hit each other with weapons, including the kitchen sink! The hammer seems to be a favourite implement of these three. Sawyer comes off the top with a skateboard to the head of Eagles and Hawke is there to break up the pin. The way that this has been edited when they change camera shots is weird. Hawke and Sawyer agree to work together and land a double DDT. Mark Large is now out and he too is in the match, of course no explanation is given to that either. ‘X-Factor’ by Sawyer on Eagles and he follows that with a second one on to his title belt. Still lots of weapon shots and zero substance. Large with a suplex on Sawyer, all three pile on top for the cover and the match is over. No idea who won and the unenthusiastic commentator doesn’t seem to know either. Marvellous! (Which this was absolutely not!)

Prior to the recommencement of the match we’re privy to a backstage interview where Ki is seen telling someone that they started this tonight and are going to finish it tonight. Reckless Youth and Kevin Kelly also show up and it seems like Reckless was trying to interject himself into the match, although Kelly wouldn’t let him because of his WWF contract. I think that was the basic gist of things but like so much of the Indy stuff we have seen, audio isn’t the clearest. After the two wrestlers make their entrance, Reckless Youth walks out to a decent reception. He explains that Kevin Kelly wouldn’t let him be in this match due to his WWF contract, but that’s not going to stop him from sitting out here and watching from ringside. Scoot is a bit hesitant at first on seeing Ki hobble around and gestures to the official that he doesn’t think he should be wrestling. It’s only when Ki kicks him in the head with his good leg does his demeanour and attitude change. The opening minutes are all Scoot who kicks, twists and wrenches at that knee. As he climbs the ropes to say something to Reckless, Ki with a schoolboy, but all the does is refocus him. Figure four attempt is countered with a small package for a two. Ki manages to lock on a cross armbar from the ground, however Scoot gets to his feet and rakes a boot across his face. He grabs a waistlock, belly to back suplex and the ref counts the three. Scoot celebrates the win, but it turns out Ki rolled his shoulder on the pin and Scoot lost, effectively pinning himself. Reckless rubs the loss in, although it’s Ki who he takes his anger out on, hitting the pumphandle driver and then applying the figure four. Unable to do anything because of being tied by his WWF contract Reckless is left to watch on helpless. When Scoot finally does let go, Reckless challenges him to a match next month, explaining that as of tomorrow he’ll be a free agent. A flat finish, even getting some “you fucked up!” chants as the fans thought someone had messed up. With Ki going over, I would have preferred him to get the win via a cradle or roll up while Scoot’s concentration had slipped as opposed to what they did. Finish aside I enjoyed Scoot’s work, Ki’s selling and the hope in that cross arm bar. I’m still unsure as to whether the injury was a shoot or a work, although I would always hunch on the latter.