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Lance is backstage with Randy Hales and he doesn’t see his name on the booking sheet for today’s show. Randy confirms that he hasn’t got a match and while he’s okay with that, tells him that he’s got business to take care of with ‘the Kliq’ and that’s starting today. Later in the show we return from a commercial break to see the American Dragon laid out in the dressing room with Cade standing over him and holding aloft his mask saying “one down, three to go”. Jason Sensation, Shooter Schultz and an unmasked American Dragon enter the ring with a message for Lance Cade. Jason describes Dragon as a ‘hazardous weapon’, having seen him chop and kick holes in other men, so there is no way Lance could’ve taken his mask by himself. He must’ve paid off ten stooges to do it for him, and for that he’s going to pay. Shooter says how he proved last week that Lance Cade doesn’t belong here, he made him tap and showed everyone what he’s really made of. After what he started though, it looks like he’s going to have to do it again! Dragon finds it hypocritical that Lance doesn’t approve of the Kliq’s actions, as they’ve never attacked an injured man or done anything as disrespectful as stealing someone’s mask, but he’s come to the conclusion that people around here don’t respect the mask anyway so from now on is going to wrestle without it. Even though he’s still injured he begs Cade to come out right now and fight them. Lance doesn’t need asking twice and even gets a shot in on Jason Sensation before being overpowered by the two on one odds. Joey Abs rushes to help him out and gets a great powerslam in on Dragon. A leg lariat to Shooter, who ducks to the floor, as Corey suggests that referee William Gibson just rings the bell and makes this a match. Gibson must’ve heard him as he calls for the bell and we’ve an unscheduled tag team encounter on our hands. Big clothesline by Abs on Dragon and a nice looking suplex gets him a two. He grabs a waistlock, O’Connor roll, but unbeknownst Schultz tags his partner as he hits the ropes. Boot to the mid-section by Shooter followed by a butterfly suplex. An exploder gets him a two before Dragon and Abs trade hard chops. A stiff lariat folds Dragon up and that gives Joey the chance to make the hot tag. Lance jabs away at Shooter and then powerbombs him to the mat forcing Dragon to break up the pin attempt. That brings Abs back into the fold as all four men fight it out in the ring. Schultz saves Dragon from ‘the Absolution’ and, after a forearm smash takes care of him, they look to double team Cade. Lance ducks the double back elbow and a sunset flip on Shooter. Dragon grabs hold of his hands to stop him from being taken down, but Abs nails him with a dropkick. Cade completes and the sunset flip is enough to put Shooter away. On the conclusion of the match Spanky sprints from the dressing room and clocks Abs in the back of the head with his title belt. He handcuffs him to the bottom rope and it’s four on one against Lance. Shooter puts Cade in ‘the Clutch’ until Pete Gas with the unexpected save runs ‘the Kliq’ out of there.
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Same for which current promotions do I follow; I don't follow any so left that blank and when I tried to submit my response it wouldn't let me saying "this is a required question".
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Xavier jumps Low Ki after his bout with Tajiri, pounding away on him until Little Guido makes the save. The bell just rings so it looks like we’ve got another impromptu match on our hands. Guido counters the wheelbarrow with a Fujiwara armbar and Xavier scrambles to the ropes for the break. They trade chops before Xavier goes for the powerbomb, but he loses control of Guido who falls uncomfortably to the mat. Mikey Whipwreck’s music starts and Xavier turns to the entrance awaiting his arrival, only for Mikey to appear behind him from the opposite direction. Guessing the impromptu match is now an impromptu three way. Flapjack by Mikey, however Xavier takes it all wrong, tucking his chin and landing on his head. The commentator says that looked painful and he’s not wrong, as it could easily have broken his neck. Guido and Mikey make a pact to work together and slam Xavier to the mat. E-C-Dub chants breaks out after that one. The unison doesn’t last long as Guido goes to boot Mikey in the mid-section when he was looking for a Hi-Five, but Mikey grabs the foot and levels him with a clothesline. Mikey steps to the outside, pulls Guido out with him and dumps him over the guard rail. Twisting tope from the top turnbuckle to the floor by Xavier. The action returns to the ring where Xavier catches Guido with a powerslam for a two. He counters the ‘whippersnapper’ with an arm whip and transitions to the cross armbar, however a Guido leg drop breaks that up. Russian leg sweep followed by a ‘Sicilian slice’. Guido and Xavier continue to go at it as Mikey takes a seat in the corner more than happy to let them do so. A series of near falls before Guido walks into a ‘whippersnapper’ and Mikey gets a three on him. The bell rings as everyone assumes the match is over, everyone except the referee that is who informs them it’s ‘elimination rules’ and not the first pinfall which decides it. Release overhead belly to belly by Xavier. You then see Mikey telling the ref to get into position as Xavier reverses the Irish whip, sending Whipwreck careering into the official and squashing him in the corner. Xavier grabs a chair from ringside and runs at Mikey who kicks it into his face. He lays him on the chair, moonsault off the middle but Xavier moves and his head crashes onto that chair. The neckbreaker is reversed, Mikey with another ‘whippersnapper’ and he’s the new ICW champion. Guido, who had sold his ‘whippersnapper’ for the remainder of this, is back to his feet the moment this is over and spikes Mikey with a ‘Maritato’. Low Ki jumps Xavier as payback for earlier and they go at it until they’re attacked by a pair of unknowns. The two of them seen the unknowns off before returning to trying to beat seven bells out of each other. Security eventually separates them as a bit of calm and order is restored to the Elk’s Lodge. In typical fashion for me I watched the matches from this event out of order, so have already seen the car crash that follows. Who on earth thought it would be a smart idea to book two impromptu matches on the same show? This was all over the place and I wouldn’t be surprised if the wrestlers genuinely didn’t know this was a three-way, especially with how quickly they breezed through the Mikey/Xavier portion. Was Guido ribbing the way he sold his ‘whippersnapper’? The post-match was overbooked and this whole show has been a disaster from the moment Red/Maximo finished. One of the main takes from this month is what a let-down the former ECW guys have been on the independent scene. It really feels like a lot of them are just going through the motions hoping, waiting for a call from either WCW or the WWF.
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[2001-01-26-ICW-The Revolution Continues] Low Ki vs Tajiri
GSR replied to Superstar Sleeze's topic in January 2001
Low Ki offers Tajiri his hand before the bout gets underway, which is accepted, clearly showing the respect that he has for his opponent tonight. After the initial lock up Tajiri spits the mist, something that he’s done in all three matches of his that I’ve watched this year so far. Ki gets the better of a shoulder tackle, Tajiri then blocks the hip toss and kicks him in the top of the head. High kick fails to connect, with Ki rolling under it, and a dropkick sends Tajiri sprawling through the top two ropes to the outside. Combination suicide dive/forearm smash. Handspring kick to the face by Ki. He whips Tajiri to the opposite corner only to run into a thrust kick. Backdrop over the top rope and, although he lands on the apron, a further shot sends him flying into the guard rail. Spinning heel kick, but a lacks cover sees Tajiri only get a one count from it. Ki reverses the Irish whip, keeping hold of the arm in the process, and lands a butterfly suplex which he floats over on and turns into a butterfly stretch. That looked nice. Tajiri blocks a head kick, drop toe hold and he locks on a camel clutch, playing the bongo’s on Ki’s head at the same time. Tarantula and after breaking the hold he grabs his own back, mocking his opponent who’s in a bit of pain at this moment. Ki ducks a clothesline and catches Tajiri with a Pele kick. ‘Ki Krusher’ but they’re too close to the ropes and Tajiri grabs them to break the pin. One of the commentators then takes a random swipe at Billy Kidman accusing him of stealing that move after he used it on Nitro. A second ‘Ki Krusher’ in the centre of the ring is blocked and Tajiri hits a brainbuster for the win. The finish is almost missed by our announcers who’re disagreeing on whether the big wigs in WCW have been watching the local indy scene and stealing ideas from them (citing the Natural Born Thrillers and Boogie Knights). Tajiri encourages the crowd to give Ki a round of applause as he helps him to his feet, but as he acknowledges them, he’s jumped from behind by Xavier. Over before it really had a chance to get going and in that sense reminding me of Ki’s match with Little Guido from JCW. Did ICW try to cram so many matches onto this show that they had to cut them short? Not a lot to add and I’ll just repeat what I said for Ki/Guido, disappointing. -
Echoing what others have said, wishing you nothing but the best with this venture.
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Reckless cuts a brief promo on ECW and the ECW Arena (where this event is being held) to establish himself as the heel. Blade is accompanied by Rick Silver and Berk, the Jersey All Pro Light Heavyweight champion, is seconded by a valet called Poison; both seem pretty generic on first look. The expected ‘triple stand off/show of respect’ to end the opening portion. Berk pulls out what can be best described as a side frankensteiner on Blade, although I absolutely loathe the repeated ‘leg trip/cover/roll off’ spot they do which just looks shit. Blade and Reckless drop Berk with a double clothesline and Reckless then gives the orders, telling him to “kick him”. RF is right on top of things filming this and you blatantly see Blade clapping his hands to make the sound of his foot connecting (which it doesn’t) with Berk’s face. Reckless with a dropkick to Blade, however after being on the receiving end of a boot to the gut and a spinning neckbreaker he takes to the outside. An inverted suplex by Berk before Reckless DDT’s Blade on the ring apron. He likes that one, shouting “Who’s the man?” not Reckless as he gets nailed with a baseball slide dropkick. Silver comes off the top turnbuckle to the floor with a plancha that hits Blade, although you can’t tell if it was accidental or whether he deliberately aimed for him. Berk with an Asai moonsault and Blade and Silver don’t do much of a job of catching him as he cracks his shins on the guard rail. Flip dive through the ropes by Reckless and Blade finishes things off with a slingshot senton (like he was going to be selling for long!). It looks like Reckless caught the back of his head on that same guard rail as he’s now holding it. Handspring kick to the jaw of Berk, but he then reverses the Irish whip and plants Blade to the mat with a facebuster. Springboard moonsault body block by Reckless. ‘Dragon sleeper’ and when he realises that isn’t going to get the submission, drops into a reverse DDT. He turns his attention to Blade, sitting him on the top turnbuckle after a running double knee to the chest. Berk catches Reckless with a heel kick and then looks to continue what he’d started with Blade. He positions himself for a superplex but they’re taking too long and are joined up there by Reckless. Youth with a sunset flip to Berk who at the same time superplexes Blade. The pace picks up and we get some nice stuff such as fireman’s carry take down into a cradle by Reckless, a wheelbarrow suplex from Berk and a high impact belly to back suplex where Reckless dumps Berk on his head. Top rope ‘Ace Crusher’ to Blade and the champion breaks up the pinfall just in time, saving his title. Berk sits Reckless on his shoulders and Blade comes off the top with a missile dropkick to him. Those two have got no idea whatsoever when it comes to selling. 450 splash and just as you’re thinking “Ric Blade hasn’t blown anything tonight”, it appears he knocks himself out on landing! I kid you not; he’s his own worst enemy. Reckless realises when he tries to pull Blade up and he’s just dead weight, so he stalls for a bit and shouts to the crowd “I think he’s dead”. Tornado DDT to Berk followed by a moonsault for a near fall. Blade is laid out in the corner and still hasn’t moved. ‘Sky High’ by Berk and he hops out the ring to collect a table. It turns out the table leg is broken so he opts for a couple of chairs instead. He has Reckless set for a ‘Death Valley Driver’, when Youth escapes and gives Berk a brainbuster onto those upright chairs. Blade has somehow got to his feet and Reckless sits him on the top turnbuckle, however he gives him a shove backwards and Reckless crashes to the mat. Corkscrew moonsault (which is all kinds of crazy considering the state he’s in) and that puts Reckless away as we have ourselves a new JAPW Light Heavyweight champion. Now the bout is over the referee immediately calls for some medical help for him. Reckless helps Blade to his feet and I’d be amazed if he isn’t concussed seeing how dazed and groggy he still is. I’ve a horrible feeling that I’m really going to struggle with a lot of these three way matches. My issue is when things look like they’ve been rehearsed, practised in the back, looks co-operative, inorganic, which was this match right from the get go. I imagine this is just the beginning too for those ‘cutesy’ sunset flip/superplex spots as we’ll see slowly see that evolve and more people added and it’ll become even ‘cutesier’. Reckless didn’t do a bad job of holding this together and there are some nuggets in there, though this has reaffirmed what I thought after the JCW three-way on 1/6, that this style just isn’t for me. I don’t know whether Blade should be applauded or scolded for finishing the match (and finishing it with a corkscrew moonsault of all things!) after KO’ing himself. An audible of Berk retaining the belt by pinning Reckless should’ve been the way to go, but they’d booked the title change and they were going to have it no matter what.
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Sandman’s entrance last a good five minutes, lowlighted by pouring beer into the mouth and down the chest of a woman who’s a good bit older than him and who is old enough to know better. So much for Da Hit Squad’s talk of it just being the two of them from now on after their manager turned on them in the match against The Moondogs, as they’ve got someone called Johnny D in their corner here. The Sandman’s first move is to crack Mafia over the head with his cane twice before tossing him to the floor and whipping him into the guard rail. Homicide whips Mack into the turnbuckles, Sandman slams a ladder against him and they then whip Mafia into the ladder and his own partner. The action quickly returns to the outside and with Sandman seemingly more concerned about finding himself a table, Mack jabs him with one of Johnny’s golf clubs. Meanwhile over on the other side the camera looks up just in time to catch Homicide with a flip dive through the ropes and out onto Mafia. The Sandman has got his table, positions it over the barricade and launches Mack through it. Three blistering knife edge chops by Homicide with Mafia taking a flat back bump on the concrete off the last one. Sandman suplexes Mack onto a ladder, before heading to the back to collect something. I really don’t like the way he does that, especially as moments after jumping out the ring Mafia slammed that same ladder into Homicide. Instead of turning around to help his partner, he carries on his way. Anyway he collects a guard rail and lobs that over the top rope and into the ring. After suplexing Mack onto a ladder earlier, this time he gets suplexed onto the rail. He’s taken some uncomfortable bumps tonight although does kick out of the cover at two. Homicide places a chair over Mafia’s head and jumps off the middle onto it with a foot stomp. Ouch! Senton off the top by Sandman onto a ladder covered Mafia, double ouch! Homicide picks up the ladder but doesn’t see Mack who levels him with a chair shot. ‘Rikishi driver’ on Sandman and a powerslam for Homicide. Sandman leaves his partner again to go grab himself a table; eventually finding one while everyone has to sell in the ring waiting for him. Another senton off the top, this time putting Mafia through the table. Assisted ‘Cop Killa’ on Mack and the Sandman and Homicide team pick up the win. This was filmed by RF and he does a pretty poor job. Instead of standing still he’s constantly on the move around ringside trying to get close to the action, as a result this is really shaky and I almost felt sea sick watching at times. Your typical Sandman garbage match with Singapore cane, tables, ladders, guard rails, all the usual suspects. Not great, maybe not good, but easily watchable with DHS’s bodies taking plenty of punishment. The one thing I really hate when it comes to the Sandman though is when he ups and leaves a match to head to the back or search for something under the ring, even worse when his partner is being beaten on. It’s as though his ‘table spot’ or whatever is more important than helping his partner. Final point on that I was surprised how dominant Homicide & Sandman were here, controlling the vast majority of the match.
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The crowd are thoroughly behind Scoot here with a loud “B-N-B” chant as the bell rings to get us underway. Drop down, leap frog, shoulder tackle and both me go down. Capone whips Scoot into the turnbuckles and we get a horrible botch as he’s far too close to Scoot on the tip up and he kicks the inrushing Capone under the jaw with his ankle as he goes to vault over him. That gets a mixture of “Oooohs” and laughter from those in attendance. Nice elevation on the dropkick but it barely grazes Capone, although he sells it like caught him flush in the face and he takes a powder to the outside. A terrible looking spin kick by Capone and a scoop powerslam for a two count. Lots of choking by Frankie and not much else. Scoot reverses the whip into the corner and is losing him on the side slam so just lets him fall to the canvas instead. That gets even more laughter from the crowd! They go right back to the same spot where from the side slam Scoot continues the rotation and pancakes Capone, but Frankie even struggled second time out! A “Frankie sucks” chant breaks out as the fans let him know exactly how they feel about his efforts here. Capone holds onto the ropes after being whipped into them resulting in Scoot dropkicking thin air, and now he’s getting a “you can’t sell” chant. They’ve completely lost all faith in him as a lone voice yells “he’ll mess up again” and he almost does right away with the side slam. More choking (not much variety here from him either) and when you think this can’t get any worse, the ‘Earl Hebner shove spot’ which sees Capone bump for the mulleted official. Scoot cuts off whatever Frankie had planned with a clothesline but then runs into a knee to the mid-section. Capone takes an eternity climbing to the top rope and you know he’s going to get crotched up there, which he does! Scoot slams him to the mat and add that to the list of things Capone is incapable of doing even adequately. He catches Scoot with some variation of a jawbreaker, but picks him up at the count of two as obviously dishing out more punishment is of greater importance to him than winning the Light Heavyweight title. Irish whip, however Scoot keeps hold of the arm and hits the ‘Pumphandle driver’ to save us all from any more of this. Capone was shockingly bad and, despite his efforts, there was nothing Scoot could do; he was fighting a losing battle in there. He did try to cover for the many blown spots (and it wasn’t like Capone was screwing up on tricky stuff) but in the end it was like he just god fed up of doing so. When the fans realised they were watching a train wreck they amused themselves with chants at Capone’s expense, and while I’m not usually a fan of stuff like that, he kinda bought it on himself. Poor, make that a very poor match.
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I was expecting something closer to Rasta the Voodoo Mon with Rastaman, but it’s a ‘Rastafarian’ gimmick that he’s working. I think this is probably the same Rastaman who worked IWA-PR, which means its former WCW jobber Leroy Howard. ‘Mr Technical’ Barry Horowitz gets a nice ovation, with some fans standing up and patting themselves on the back in tribute to him. For some reason Rasta points and starts laughing at Horowitz, not sure why considering he’s a far bigger star than he has ever been. When he turns around to mockingly pat himself on the back too, Horowitz nails him with a dropkick. A pair of forearms followed by an uppercut and Barry tells him “that’s what you guess when you mess with me!” Jawbreaker. Rasta reverses the Irish whip, hip toss, a couple of arm drags and finally a dropkick, which sends Horowitz tumbling through the ropes to the outside. He walks around ringside rubbing his back and as someone tells him to “get in the ring” his response is “shut your fat face!” They go for a lock up but Horowitz pulls out, still having a bit of trouble with that back. This is brilliant. He’s really not happy with the stick he’s getting from the fans, informing them that while he’s wrestling to “shut your stinking mouths”. ‘Magistral cradle’ by Rasta, but Horowitz ends up in the ropes and the ref has to stop his count. Rasta focuses his attack on the arm, but after whipping Barry into the corner, he avoids the charge and Rasta goes shoulder first into the ring post. “Now it’s time to go to school!” and a pat on the back for good measure. He methodically goes about working over Rasta’s arm as payback, not forgetting to sell his own while doing so. When someone in the crowd starts getting on his case, he instructs the referee to get them out of here, the moment he turns his back though, a cheap shot poke to the eyes. Big “Rasta, Rasta” chant. Horowitz never fails to get the crowd to turn on him and react the way he wants. As it looks like their cheers are paying off, he complains of a non-existent hair pull and drags Rasta back to the mat. An ‘Americana’ submission and he’s smirking at the fans whilst applying the hold. Horowitz drops a knee to the elbow and wonders “how is it punk?” Standing Kimura, but Rasta summons the strength to pick Barry up and drop him chest first across his own knee. Headbutt by Horowitz, however that hurts him more than it does Rasta. He goes for it a second time and the outcome is the same. I can’t believe they’re doing the black man/hard head stereotype in 2001. Rasta unloads, firing back and Barry reaches into his trunks for something. He’s got some brass knux, and cold clocks him, although Rasta is able to get a foot over the rope on the cover. Horowitz goes to slug him again, but Rasta ducks the punch and a double shoulder tackle sees both men go down. Rasta snatches the knux off his hand and now Horowitz is telling the ref to check him for them. As he’s about to, Rasta shouts “look, Bob Marley” and when the official turns he KO’s Barry. The ref counts the fall and Rasta hops out of there sharpish before he gets a chance to find them on him. I do enjoy a random Barry Horowitz house show match, he’s just a complete professional; always working, always busy, always doing something so you daren’t take your eyes off the action. The regular interactions with the crowd keeps them invested, making them feel like they’re a part of things. He did it last year and did it here too, getting them to react the way he wants and while they may come in cheering him, before too long they’re booing and fully behind his opponent. I also dig the way how he concentrates on a body part, he never strays. If he goes for the arm, every offensive move is designed to weaken and soften it, he doesn’t deviate from the plan and change tact. The headbutt spot was an unwelcome throwback to the 80s, but that aside, this was a fun match and highly entertaining performance by Horowitz.
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Before you start any more polls, please offer your own take on some of this stuff. It sometimes feels like you're data mining us. In reality, now I'm forming my knowledge and my critical ability. I'd like to give my opinion, when I will have the full knowledge. I consider all of you as superior to me, now. So you are forming an opinion on whether you are a fan of wrestling history or not? Yeah, that makes sense. I think we've been here before don't you?
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Just like last week’s show, this episode of MCW features more matches from the big ‘Corinth Chaos’ card. Slash is already complaining to the official about a pull of his pants after a fireman’s carry take down. Charlie whips his way out of the double underhook, arm bar and Slash grabs the ropes for the break. Again he is on at the referee, claiming that was the second time he’s pulled him by the side of his pants already. Inverted atomic drop followed by the Tajiri handspring elbow. Tag to Russ, Charlie with the Irish whip and he slingshots his brother into the onrushing Slash. Russ runs face first into a big boot and Slash has had enough of this for the time being. Seven fares every bit as poorly as his partner until Slash’s interference from the apron distracts Russ and Seven plants him with a powerbomb. Double back suplex for a two count. Seven goads Charlie into the ring but that does more harm than good, as while the referee is trying to get him out of there Seven and Slash are double teaming Russ behind his back. It looks like Seven screws up the neckbreaker although is still able to get a near fall. Over the shoulder backbreaker by Slash into an ‘Alleycopter’. Double dropkick by Russ after ducking the double clothesline and he makes the hot tag to Charlie. High back drop on Slash, an exploder suplex for Seven and Slash is there for the save in the nick of time. Russ has caught a second wind and is back in the mix, only to get tossed through the ropes to the arena floor. Slash pulls out a fork, but Charlie frees himself from Seven’s grasp and he accidentally spikes his own partner instead. A clothesline sends Slash over the top rope to the outside, and the brothers hit their handspring moonsault/corkscrew leg drop finisher on Seven for the win. Good little Southern tag bout here, certainly better than expected knowing that Seven was one of the participants. Scott Vick came out post-match and read the riot act to Slash, either blaming him for the loss or for what he did to Seven.
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‘The Kliq’ are already out in front of the commentary desk and they’ve got a few things they want to say. Spanky tells Lance Cade, or that Kendall Windham wannabe as he calls him, that he made the biggest mistake of his life last week when he turned his back on ‘the Kliq’, though believes that now they’re much better off without him. Jason Sensation gives us his Shawn Michaels impersonation before Shooter says how he knew that Lance didn’t have what it takes to make it in he wrestling business, and right here today on TV he’s going to prove it. Last of all we hear from the American Dragon who hates being injured, who hates that he can’t wrestle and who hates that he can’t get in there and kick Lance Cade right in the face! They’ve got three guys here though that are going to do the job for him and teach Lance Cade and his new found buddies a lesson. Those buddies are Derrick King and Alan Steel and they also stop off for a chat with Dave prior to the match. Lance says how everyone knows they were in the same class at Shawn Michaels’ school, but he thinks those guys must’ve been dozing off the day he taught them to fight fare, to respect this business and to fight for what you believe in. He then addresses Shooter saying how he got kicked out of college because he couldn’t play by the rules and if he wants to throw the rulebook out the window today that’s fine by him. It’s a busy old opening of the show for Dave and Corey as right as the bell rings to signal the start of the six-man tag, out wonders Rob Harlem to join them. Dave’s got a couple of questions that they want to ask him, but he tells them that he’s asking the questions around here. Neckbreaker by King on Legend for a two count. Steel blocks the Schultz hip toss and counters with a double arm suplex. Cade with an elbow off the middle and Spanky is in for the save. I should point out that none of this action is being called as Harlem is ranting to ‘Mr Weather Man’ and ‘Mr Advertising Man’ about how he’s been coming to the studio for the past six or seven weeks, yet hasn’t had one match and recommends that Randy Hales gets him on the show or he’s going to hurt someone real bad. Shooter makes the tag to Spanky after a belly to belly, but he gets caught in mid-air on the flying crossbody attempt. Swinging full nelson! Spanky shoots King into the ropes to escape the side headlock, drop down and Shooter with a knee to the back of DK. Heel kick by Spanky and Legend with a side slam for a near fall. King evades ‘Sliced Bread #2’ and then floors Spanky with a superkick. Hot tag to Cade and he takes it to ‘the Kliq’ showing plenty of fire as he does so. The match breaks down with all six men in the ring and the referee struggling to keep control of things. Facebuster by DK to Spanky and Jason Sensation pulls King off his man at two to stop the count. Cade with a powerbomb on Schultz, lateral press, but the ref is now on the outside trying to separate everyone else. Jason is interfering again, stomping Lance, although ends up on the receiving end of a clubbing right hand. Schultz with a running knee to the back and the American Dragon, who is up on the apron, clotheslines Cade across the top rope. ‘Shooter Clutch’ and ‘the Kliq’ pick up the victory. I think this is Joe E. Legend who is the honorary member of ‘the Kliq’ for a day, for even though we got an interview from them, their opponents and he wrestles in the match NO-ONE, NOT ONCE, EVER MENTIONS HIS NAME! If you give this a go, mute the audio the moment Rob Harlem comes out. The action is barely called from that point on and his ranting and complaining is one giant distraction from what you’re trying to watch.
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Why should I tell you? You start all these threads/polls, but not once have you ever given an opinion or view point yourself. If you don't feel the need to post your answers or views why should anyone else?
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Disco is more interested than dancing than wrestling so Son gives him a swift kick to the head to get his attention. Neither man is really able to gain an early advantage as the two of them trade holds. More dancing from Disco and this time Son tries to catch him off guard with a sunset flip. They attempt the Guerrero/Malenko pinning sequence, but it’s shoddily executed and they give up half way through to tag their respective partners. A ‘respect’ spot and I kinda hoped that one wouldn’t have permeated its way across to Revolution Pro. A pair of stiff open hands to the side of Dragon’s head, who responds with a forearm across the face and one of the hardest slaps to the chest you’re ever likely to hear. It’s doubtful that Taro’s T-shirt he’s wearing offered much protection to that! Not satisfied, he gives him one more and Dragon shakes out his hand after those two. He and Son work some unique double team manoeuvres including a combination rocking horse/baseball slide dropkick to the head (with Son starting his run on the floor and sliding under the bottom rope and into the ring to land the dropkick). Dragon picks Taro up, as if for a backbreaker across the knee, but Son with a bicycle kick that connects to the side of his face. Taro takes to the outside, and after a string of dives are cut off one way or another, he flapjacks Son onto the apron. The action briefly returns to the ring before stereo shotgun dropkicks send Dragon and Son tumbling through the ropes. Taro climbs up on Disco’s shoulders and flip dives off them to the floor, although it looks like he comes up a little short and takes an uncomfortable bump on the concrete. Side slam/guillotine leg drop combination for a two. For some reason the referee turns his back on things to have a word with Dragon which allows Gu-Ren-Tai to hit a triple dropkick (their unnamed Japanese second also getting in on the action) on Son. The set up to that spot looked really weak. Son flips over on the double back suplex and a double dropkick to the back of both of them. He’s millimetres away from the tag to Dragon when Disco grabs him and DDT’s him to the mat. Son avoids the double knee strike in the corner and floors Disco with a jumping spin kick. As Taro runs at him, drop toe hold and he headbutts his own partner in the groin. Finally he can now make the tag to Dragon. Tilt-a-whirl backbreaker on Taro and a basement dropkick to Disco. Rolling kick in the corner, but Disco reverses the Irish whip and Taro levels him with a clothesline. Dragon ducks the double clothesline and lands a double dropkick. It’s dropkick overload here as with Dragon down on all fours, Son leaps off his back with a dropkick to Taro and Disco as both take another spill to the floor. Springboard flip dive out on to them followed by a corkscrew Quebrada by Dragon! Back inside and Dragon with a suplex on Taro for a two. He escapes the ‘Psycho Driver’ but then gets driven upside down, chest first into the turnbuckles. Taro fights his way out of the superplex and a forearm sends Dragon crashing to the mat. Quality leaping huracanrana from the top as Son is forced to break up the pin. Son counters the frankensteiner with a powerbomb and Taro manages to get a shoulder up just in time. Fisherman buster, but he then lands on his face after missing the ‘Shooting Star press’. Scoop powerslam by Disco for a near fall. He holds on after a suplex to deliver a sit-out face first variety and this time its Dragon who’s in for the save. The whole premise about having to tag in your partner appears to have been ditched as Dragon just stays in the ring and hits a brain buster on Disco. There’s no-one home on the ‘Phoenix splash’ and Disco rolls out the ring to be replaced by Taro. Maybe they’ve changed it to Lucha Libre rules? Rolling ‘Rude Awakening’ neckbreaker. Leaping Tornado DDT and a Son ‘Swanton bomb’ puts a stop to that pin attempt. Top rope frankensteiner on Disco, but as Son runs the ropes he has his ankle hooked by the second (right in front of the official) and is pulled to the outside. High crossbody to the floor and as the second puts the boots to Son it allows Taro and Disco to double team Dragon. Double chokeslam off the top and Tokyo Gu-Ren-Tai pick up the win. If you were to plot a graph correlating work ethic against the number of fans in attendance, I doubt you’d find anyone who would work harder than the Revolution Pro guys do in front of such a small crowd. Despite that ethic I had some serious problems with the match, the main one being if the wrestlers can enter whenever they want like they did in the closing stretch, then why didn’t Dragon do so earlier when Son was being worked over? That makes no sense. Unless of course they weren’t ‘supposed’ to, but then why wasn’t the official enforcing the rules? It all got a little confusing. Talking of which, why did he just let Gu-Ren-Tai’s second interfere right in front of him. Oh, and that distraction spot earlier in the match was weak as. It might be a touch hypocritical after praising how hard they do work, but think they actually probably do too much and they could easily cut down on the excesses. All in all I’d say this falls slap bang in the middle of the three Revolution Pro matches that I’ve watched so far.
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Synn is suffering after her altercation with Lita earlier in the night, although is confident that no man can defeat her ‘Demon of the Deep’, Leviathan, not even ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin. Only extended highlights of this are shown, but bar one ugly clothesline (where there may well have been a miscommunication issue), this wasn’t too bad. Leviathan is presented as an equal to the ‘Big Red Machine’, going toe to toe with him, whilst Kane gives him a ton including taking a belly to belly, a spinebuster and a great looking powerslam. After a flying clothesline off the top, Kane signals for the tombstone. He gets Leviathan up, but he slips down Kane’s back and shoves him into referee Robert Brisco knocking him from the ring. Chokeslam by Kane, however there is no one to count the pin. Synn’s attempted interference is thwarted when he sees her coming and grabs her around the throat. Payne & Damien come to her aid and an almighty spear takes Kane off his feet as it’s now four on one. The Hardy Boyz and Lita run off the ‘Disciples of Synn’ and here’s Steve Austin. This is great! Stunner, Kane with a second chokeslam and Leviathan tastes defeat for the first time. You had Brock in the opening match looking like a future WWF star, and you had Leviathan closing out the show looking every bit the same. The presentation of Leviathan was tremendous; he didn’t look overawed or out of place in there (it could easily have passed for being on a WWF card) Kane gave him plenty of offense, sold for him, went up for his power moves and it took a combination of a ‘Stone Cold stunner’ from the biggest star in the industry and a pair of chokeslams to finally put him away. That’s how you make someone look strong in defeat. Yes he may have lost for the first time but due to how he was presented, that’s not what you’ll take from watching this.
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“A feud that was so big it spanned two federations!” Show returns to OVW after his cameo appearance at the Royal Rumble to face Mark Henry in a ‘Battle of the Giants’. Henry gives Show a shove in the chest that barely registers and he responds with one that sends him flying back to the corner. He tries to rush him but Show with a nifty little drop toe hold. Irish whip, Henry ducks the clothesline only to run into a big boot (although there’s about two feet of daylight between Show’s boot and Henry’s head!). Cornette is saying how you can’t expect two men this big to move at this pace for very long, not so subtly hinting that we’re in for a short night here! A pair of clotheslines have no effect and when Henry tries a third, Show stops him in his tracks with a great looking thrust kick. Show’s attention is diverted from the match by Thurston Throckmorton and he’s nailed from behind by ‘the World’s Strongest Man’. Henry clips out a leg, bringing Show down to size, before putting the boots to him. Soccer kick to the ribs. Kenny Bolin has made his way to ringside and is making a nuisance of himself. He distracts the referee’s attention and Throckmorton is now up on the apron wielding the ‘BS’ briefcase. Henry goes to run Show head first into it, but he shoves him off and Henry goes crashing into the briefcase himself (a briefcase that Corny speculates has probably been loaded again like it has been in the past). Huge chokeslam and Show gets the win. Bolin attacks Show with the briefcase after the match but that doesn’t end well for the ‘Starmaker’. Henry hasn’t finished yet mind, clubbing Show and then taking him down with a belly to belly. Two standing splashes as ‘the World’s Strongest Man’ leaves him lying. All action short match with both men cutting a surprisingly fast pace. Some cool stuff in there too like that drop toe hold and thrust kick, and while Cornette telegraphed that this wasn’t going long, I preferred this to Show’s bout with Leviathan that was of a similar length. This was his OVW swan song and the finish with him being left laying gives the man who will be sticking around his heat back.
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Paul Lewis (who appears to be a local manager) says that Sean Regan was due to defend the Hardcore title tonight, but unfortunately he has a family emergency in Oklahoma City so he’s not here. He goes onto explain how he was the one who taught Regan about the hardcore lifestyle, how he’s gone through tables, how he’s bled and how is himself a former TCW Hardcore champion. After claiming to be the most hardcore person to ever step foot in this building, the Necro Butcher’s music kicks in. Necro’s carrying a ‘Stop’ sign and staple gun, whilst all of Lewis’ earlier bravado has now gone, wanting no part of ‘the Butcher’. He gets down on his knees, almost pleading for mercy, but Necro wants a fight and offers him first shot. A pretty flimsy looking slap by Lewis and Necro responds with an open hand of his own that sends Lewis cowering to the outside. ‘The Butcher’ rams him into the ring post and then obliterates ‘Pitbull’ Kevin Dark (who’s cornering Lewis) with one brutal unprotected chair shot to the head. A chair shot to Lewis, although he takes it a tad easier on him than he did ‘the Pitbull’. Necro staples him on the backside and nipples, but Lewis manages to escape the powerbomb and low blows his opponent. Payback time! He wallops Necro with his own ‘Stop’ sign, before driving a chair into his throat. ‘The Pitbull’ also gets in a bit of revenge, choking ‘the Butcher’ with a crutch. Chair shot to the head and Necro is calling him on wanting some more. Lewis staples a dollar bill to his shoulder, but Necro blocks the DDT and counters with a reverse atomic drop. One final ‘Stop’ sign shot and this one is over. Oh not quite, as Necro staples a bill to Lewis’ forehead in a parting shot. From the set up you’re expecting Regan to show up and jump Necro early in the match, catching him off guard so to speak, but that didn’t happen so maybe he did have a family emergency after all? Necro is still wearing the face paint in 2001 and this is essentially a garbage style squash, so you don’t get much of a read where he’s at as a worker or if he’s improved since last year. Lewis has one brief hope spot, but that doesn’t last long while the match doesn’t overstay its welcome either. That chair shot to ‘Pitbull’ was nasty as.
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A backstage interview from Pete Gas where he explains that it’s no secret to the fans in Memphis that the Mean Street Posse have had their problems in the past, so for the time being they’ve decided to go their separate ways. They’re both going to compete in singles competition and see if things work out in their favour that way. Today he’s got a match against Steve Bradley for the Unified title and, while he knows the odds are not in his favour, he likes the underdog role and at the end of the show, he’s taking that belt! Steve Bradley and Victoria stop off for a chat with Corey before the main event and ‘Who’s Your Daddy?’ is sick and tired of Spellbinder coming out here every week crying and moaning about how he beat him for the Power Pro title. Spellbinder knows where he is and challenges him that if he wants it, to come get it! Pete Gas has ditched the tank top and slacks now that he’s gone solo, opting for more traditional wrestling garb in the shape of a leotard. The match has barely got going when Spellbinder is out and having to be kept at bay by security and a bunch of officials. Gas starts out strong but is distracted by Victoria on the outside which allow Bradley to catch him with a Russian leg sweep. He tosses Pete through the ropes to the floor and then keeps the ref otherwise engaged while Victoria puts the boots to him. Bradley slams Gas into the ring steps before throwing him back inside. Swinging neckbreaker for a two. Gas reverses the whip to the turnbuckles but then runs into a back elbow, however as Bradley charges he catches him with a powerslam. Some sort of weird slam and I’m not sure what goes on as the ref just stopped counting the cover at two even though Bradley clearly never kicked out. Spellbinder is back and he’s got another bottle with him. As Gas wonders what he’s playing at interrupting his title match, Binder breaks the bottle over him. Victoria tries to come to Bradley’s aid, but she ends up over Spellbinder’s knee on the receiving end of a spanking. The show then goes off the air with Binder stomping a mud hole into ‘Who’s Your Daddy?’ The more I see of Victoria at ringside the more I think she’s been studying Sherri Martel. It’s a bit ‘wise after the event’ saying this now when you know how things end up, but I’m not sure the breaking up of the Posse was the smartest idea unless they wanted to give them experience as singles. Gas just looks like a less talented version of Joey Abs here and his promo announcing their split wan’t very good either. Rodney, or should I say Rodrageous, is facing Bradley next week so it’ll be interesting to see how he does. Not sure went on with that pinfall unless it was a timing screw up and Spellbinder should’ve been out a few seconds earlier than he was.
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The new Unified champion (Bradley defeated Spellbinder at ‘Corinth Chaos’ last week) doesn’t think Joey Abs has got much of a chance of beating him for the gold because he likes his belts like he likes his women, two at a time! Victoria then tells Joey that she doesn’t want his grubby little hands anywhere near her perfect body and there is no way he will put ‘the Absolution’ on her. It’s not often that Dave Brown is wrong, however it turns out he is here when he says how he wants everyone to take a close look at these two wrestlers because both are going to be big stars in the WWF in the very near future. Abs with the splash out of the corner but Bradley gets his knees up. Spinning neckbreaker before dragging Joey across to the ropes and choking him over them. As the official reprimands the champ, Victoria chokes him herself behind his back. Nice looking quick fire moonsault off the middle for a two count. Bradley climbs the turnbuckles but is caught up there and Abs lands a superplex. He has him up for ‘the Absolution’ when a swinging leg catches the official in the face. We’ve seen some dreadfully lame ref bumps in Memphis but this may very well take the biscuit with how soft it was. ‘Absolution’ and Victoria is in, grabbing Joey by the hair and pulling him off her man. As Dave reminds everyone how he had promised to put ‘the Absolution’ on her, just as he’s about to, Bradley clocks him with a garbage can lid. That brings out the Spellbinder who enters the ring AND BREAKS A BOTTLE OVER BRADLEY’S head for the DQ. He calmly turns back around to leave and although Dave tries to grab a word, he just looks at him and heads back through the curtain. I suppose at the time when Dave talked about these two going on to be big stars in the WWF, it would’ve been laughable had anyone suggested that neither would even make it there (Abs actually retired less than six months after this match) and that Victoria would be the one to have a long and successful career. Looking back at things now with 2018 eyes, it’s not so clear cut. Plain old ‘Joey Abs’ was going nowhere without a gimmick overhaul, Bradley had all the talent in the world and deserved a shot but there’s just something ‘scuzzy’ about his look, while Victoria is almost like a hybrid of Sherri Martel and Sunny; an attractive looking woman, great body, good gimmick, can talk and gets heat at ringside. Forget about her being a wrestler, if she wanted she could’ve had a career as a manager/valet. The match itself goes less than five minutes and I get the impression from Dave and Corey’s commentary that this week’s episode aired in a later timeslot than usual, which would certainly explain Spellbinder being able to get away with breaking a bottle over Bradley’s head!
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Shooter avoids a charge in the corner and the Bulldog goes sailing through the ropes, shoulder first into the ring post. Schultz immediately goes to work on that shoulder, driving Raines to the mat with a single armed DDT. He crowbars the arm, but when Bulldog doesn’t tap, hammerlocks it behind his back and stomps on it. A belly to back suplex gets him a two as Jason Sensation accuses the official of slow counting his man. Bulldog ducks the clothesline and comes back with a big flying shoulder tackle. After then ‘ten punch’ spot in the corner, Jason passes Shooter a pair of brass knux. He drills Raines who collapses like a felled tree. The ref counts the pin and we have a new TV champion. Jason is inside leaping around with the belt and I just find something really annoying about that guy, and not in a good way. Schultz has got the brass knux tucked under his armpit at this point and watch him have to fight as Jason tries to raise his arm! Lance Cade rushes to the ring to tell the referee what just happened, who then lifts that arm causing the knux to fall to the floor. The official grabs the belt away from Jason and Shooter makes a beeline straight for Lance, holding him responsible. Cade blocks a right hand, slugs him with two of his own and a schoolboy by Raines sees him eventually end up retaining the title in the end after all.
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Lance Cade is in the ring ready for his match, before his opponent arrives though, out walks The Kliq 2000. The American Dragon asks Lance to join them for a second as they have some things that they need to straighten out. He says how that when they came to Memphis they all promised to stick together through thick and thin, something that Lance agrees with. Spanky wonders where he’s been recently then, for while Shooter and Dragon have been watching his back and he’s been watching theirs, he (Lance) has been nowhere to be seen. He informs him that he’s either with them or against them and wonders what it’s going to be? Lance tells him that at the moment he stands by himself as he doesn’t agree with anything they’ve been doing here recently. Spanky takes that to mean he’s against them, but Cade reiterates he’s not and that right now he stands by himself because they’re an embarrassment to Shawn Michaels, and embarrassment to the Kliq and an embarrassment to everything they’ve worked hard for. The Kliq then jump Lance four on one (including Jason Sensation) and Schultz puts him in the ‘Shooter Clutch’ until Alan Steel, Blade Boudreaux and Bulldog Raines make the save. This segues into a match between Spanky and Steel for the Light Heavyweight title that had been scheduled for later in the show. Full nelson slam by ‘All That’ for a two count. Whip to the corner, Spanky leaps to the middle turnbuckle and back flips over Steel who then leaps to the middle himself and catches Spanky with a flying back elbow. A forearm drops Steel, but when Spanky climbs to the top rope he’s caught by a dropkick that sends him tumbling to the outside. Plancha to the concrete floor. As Steel tries to follow Spanky back inside, Jason Sensation grabs his leg, distracting him from the match and his opponent. Pescado by Spanky. Snap suplex followed by a slingshot senton, but Steel gets his knees up. Sensation’s interference turns the tide again, this time pulling the legs out from under his own man when Steel charged at him so that ‘All That’ went crashing into the turnbuckles. Tornado DDT, although there’s no-one home on the frog splash as Steel moves out the way. Great press slam into a Samoan drop. He counters the wheelbarrow, pancaking Spanky to the mat, but then misses on a big splash of his own. ‘Sliced Bread #2’ and that’s still not being used as a finisher as Steel kicks out of the cover. ‘All That’ gets a couple of near falls with a small package and a sunset flip, hits a tornado bulldog, when at the count of one Sensation pulls the referee to the floor. Steel has finally had enough and hops out the ring to deck him. As the official check on Jason, Spanky KO’s Steel with his Light Heavyweight title belt behind his back and picks up the three.
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I'm sure the man himself will post if he sees this, but from memory think it was he just didn't have the time to devote to it any more with everything else he had going on.
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It sounds like a couple of fans have been on the back of the wrestlers all night, so before this get started Pondo takes it on himself (well claims he was ‘elected’ by all the boys in the back) to deal with the hecklers but stumbles through the line he’d pre-prepared to say to them! Hero and Morton jump their opponents before Jim Fannin has even finished the introductions, throw Pondo to the floor and start to double team Tony. He ducks the double clothesline, Pondo hooks Hero’s ankle and pulls him to the outside while Tony nails Morton with a lariat. They steal the Dudley’s ‘Wassup’ spot, although with 2 Tuff doing a twisting headbutt off the top to the groin. The crowd start chanting “monkey boy” at Hero and he makes out as if he’s leaving, but quickly returns from the dressing room. Hero and Tony engage in a nice bit of wrestling that ends when Hero resorts to a hair pulling when caught in the top wristlock. 2 Tuff gets the better of the ‘test of strength’, stomps on Hero’s hands and he’s back on the arena floor again. Spinning DDT by Tony for a one count, while Pondo gets a two after a flying clothesline. Hero rakes him across the eyes and he makes the tag to Morton. There’s an aggressiveness about Morton here as Pondo ends up slumped in the corner following a barrage of forearms and stomps. Morton whips him into the turnbuckles but then runs into a big boot. He takes a spin bump off the clothesline and ducks to the outside to try and regain his senses. Pondo makes the cover after a bodyslam, but the ref is otherwise engaged with 2 Tuff who’d been goaded into the ring by Morton and Hero breaks it up with a leg drop to the back of the head. Hero and Morton start to utilise the double team behind the official’s back, while those “monkey boy” chants are getting more annoying the longer this goes on. An ugly miscommunication between Pondo and Morton which they follow with an ugly looking DDT. Just as Pondo is about to make the tag, Hero with the distraction and the ref doesn’t see it, ordering Tony back onto the apron. Morton misses the frog splash and Pondo finally makes that tag. 2 Tuff whips Hero into the turnbuckles and he goes flying over them to the arena floor. They cover him with chairs and Pondo with a careless leap from the middle rope down onto him. As Pondo and Morton go at it at ringside, Tony misses the twisting splash and Hero small packages him for the win. Pondo turns on Tony after the match holding him responsible for their loss, saying how he’s the one that “works in motherf*cking Japan, not this jabroni asshole” and how Tony wouldn’t be on the clown show if it wasn’t for him. He’s annoyed that Allister Fear got a bigger pop than him and wonders what he has to do for these people to realise that he isn’t a jabroni like everyone else in the back? That match wasn’t enough for Morton and “the biggest little man in professional wrestling” is itching for another fight. He says that there is no-one in the IWA that can go toe to toe with him and if anyone has got the balls... Sabu answers the challenge and quickly gets the better of both Morton and Hero who high tail it from the ring. The fun isn’t over yet as Sabu is then jumped from behind by Tracey Smothers. The pair of them go at it as the locker room empties in an attempt to try and separate them. They have no luck and it becomes a wild and chaotic scene with chairs and furniture flying all over the place, Tracey attacking other wrestlers, flipping off fans and giving everyone the middle finger. As it looks like they’ve dragged Sabu off out of there, Smothers starts cutting a profanity laced promo only for Sabu to return. Ian Rotten tries to calm the situation but it ends up having the opposite effect. He says how Tracey wasn’t booked on the show tonight and just showed up, while ‘Sell Out’ Smothers tells him that he goes where he wants and does what he likes. Tracey wants a match with Sabu on the next show, which Ian agrees to, and fed up with his behaviour goes as far as saying he’ll give Sabu a $500 bonus for every bone of his that he breaks. Like Ian’s honouring that! With everything seemingly sorted, he once more tries to get Smothers to leave which this time results in the two of them fighting on the floor and exchanging blows. When I saw the time counter on this, then when Jim Fannin announced it had a thirty minute time limit, I was convinced it was going the duration and we were getting a broadway. That was reinforced by how pedestrian like Tony and Hero were in the opening ten minutes, so I was pleasantly surprised when it didn’t. I think it was Chad who said something like would we ever see a good Pondo match in 2000, I’m now wondering if we’ll ever see a good Pondo match in the decade. Pondo as the FIP and working a twenty plus minute weapon free match really isn’t playing to his strengths (that’s if he has any at all!). There was some decent wrestling between Hero and Tony (the latter being much more competent than I expected) and the Hero/Morton team had some basic old fashioned heel antics, but there’s nothing here worth going out of your way to see when it comes to the match. What you need to do is skip all that and go to the post-match as Tracey Smothers is on fire! This was some performance; crazed, scarily out of control, looking for a fight and is damn sure he’s going to get one. Believable in everything he did and you were just transfixed waiting to see what he would do next. I could’ve done without Ian interjecting himself into this mind and his repetitive knocks about Cornette were tiresome.
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Pinoy Boy is T.J. Perkins, not sure about Gallinero as several people have been under the mask, although it looks like he was the inspiration behind the Hallowicked character in Chikara. The opening exchanges are between Pinoy and Reyes but that has a sense as if it’s not really going anywhere. They tag out and things pick up as Gallinero drives B-Boy face first to the mat from the full nelson. He’s a bit too pleased with himself after that, climbing the turnbuckles to celebrate instead of following up on the attack. Boot to the gut by B followed by a DDT and Pinoy gets a two count after a slingshot Arabian moonsault. He blocks the piledriver and counters with a backdrop. Reverse cannonball from the top. ‘Michinoku Driver’ by B and Reyes is in for the save. B pancakes Pinoy onto Gallinero and Reyes is in again to break up the pin. Lariat and, after being worked over, Gallinero makes a cover of his own rather than tagging his partner. Oh, now he makes the tag! Northern Lights suplex for a two. Slingshot senton and this time B is the one making the save. Gallinero and Pinoy botch a headscissors and a murmuring of “You f*cked up!” can be heard. B tosses Reyes to the outside and then nails him with a pretty reckless dive over the top rope to the floor. That’s the start of a train ending with a Pinoy springboard flip dive. Back inside, Pinoy runs up the turnbuckles and lands a moonsault body block, something else that is broken up. Cool pump handle sit out slam by Reyes but you’ve already guessed what happens after he makes the cover. Brainbuster/frog splash combination and amazingly Reyes just stands on the apron for that as Gallinero kicks out. It doesn’t last much longer though as B picks up the win after hitting his finisher on Gallinero. I couldn’t get into this at all. There didn’t appear to be any story or structure to the match, just one team controlling things for a bit, then the other, rinse, repeat. There was no ‘heat’ section and if anything the face team dominated more than the heels did. Bar that one blown headscissors the work was adequate, but again nothing to get you fired up or excited about what you’re watching. Selling was at a minimum (Perkins was the worst culprit) and they overdid the breaking up of pinfalls something rotten. Not the kind of match to make you want to seek out any of these four again in a hurry.
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Steve Corino walking out to The Smiths’ ‘How Soon Is Now?’ is an early highlight of 2001 for me! This is announced as a singles match between Corino and Inferno, the latter being accompanied to the ring by Reckless Youth and their manager Tommy 2 Cutie. Cutie talks about Corino being an ECW superstar, but he thinks he’s a piece of garbage and is just an independent wrestler who caught a lucky break. He says that Reckless Youth is the best wrestler in the business and he could work circles around him. Cutie goes on to mention how Reckless busted his ass in Memphis and got nothing for it, while Corino thinks he’s this big superstar just because he cuts his forehead, before challenging the ‘superstar’ to a handicap match against Reckless and Inferno. Corino gets in some jibes about Tommy being a Scotty 2 Hotty knock off and insinuating that he’s gay, then says that while a lot of people don’t like him, he does have one friend here tonight to be his partner, Mikey Whipwreck (the whole handicap challenge has been glossed over and appears just to have been an excuse for some cheap laughs about T2C liking it ‘2 on 1’). Corino peppers Inferno with jabs backing him into the corner. As Reckless rushes him, drop toe hold and he ends up head first in Inferno’s crotch. That brings in Tommy who gets behind Reckless telling him to “get off” and we get the visual of some sordid three way taking place. This is desperate! Bionic elbow to Reckless. Nice counter out of the wristlock and hopefully we get more wrestling and less ‘comedy’. Youth tries to get the crowd to clap along and give him some encouragement but that’s met with silence. It’s the polar opposite when Corino and Whipwreck try the same mind. Ankle trip by Mikey from where he transitions to an Indian deathlock. He whips Reckless into the ropes, however T2C isn’t paying attention and accidentally grabs his leg while he’s got his back turned and is mouthing off to the fans. Reckless wonders what on earth he’s playing at, but as Mikey charges he backdrops him over the top rope and although he lands on the apron, Tommy redeems himself pulling him to the floor, sending Mikey’s head smashing into the apron. Reverse neck snap by Reckless. Abdominal stretch and they’re using the most basic of distraction spots here. Mikey hip tosses his way out of it, but is immediately dropped by a clothesline. Front facelock and moments before he’s about to tag Corino, Inferno is in to divert the referee’s attention. The tag is made, although not seen, and despite his protestations the official ushers Corino out of there. A trio of leg drops to the back of the neck (the third proceeded by Reckless running around Mikey so Inferno can quip that he’s “working circles” around him) followed by a rear chinlock. Russian leg sweep for a two count. Mikey ducks the double clothesline, double DDT and he’s finally able to make that tag. Corino with a pair of dropkicks before tossing Inferno to the outside. T2C is around to check on his man, meanwhile Corino kicks out of the ‘O’Connor roll’. He must have some super human power in those legs because the kick out sends Reckless flying through the ropes to the floor, taking out Tommy and Inferno with a plancha. That looked ridiculous and as hokey as anything. Corino and Inferno go at it on the gym floor with the ‘King of Old School’ launching him into the wall and then the wooden bleachers. Action continues in the ring with T2C in the squared circle and freely interfering right in front of the referee. ‘Whippersnapper’ on Tommy. While the official finally tries to get him out of there, Reckless clocks Mikey with his JCW title belt behind his back. Lateral press and that’s the win. Reckless isn’t done yet and wants to insult their credibility even more. He challenges the two of them to a pair of singles matches next month; him versus “that Great Muta wannabe” and “that old school idiot” against the Inferno Kid to decide who is best. Corino doesn’t want to wait until next month though and wants to do it right now. Reckless asks the fans if they want to see that right now, and when they reply in the affirmative, he tells them “tough” and to buy a ticket for next month because he’s done for the night! One thing that 2000 taught me is that you get a completely different Steve Corino that works on an independent show compared to the one that works ECW. At times this came across as if it was being played for laughs, but I just didn’t find the stuff funny. The heeling by Youth and Inferno was rudimentary and predictable, while absolutely nothing memorable or of note took place for the duration of the match. Including all the pre and post-match antics, thirty minutes of my life that I’ll never get back. I suppose Reckless tried, but in essence it was all downhill after The Smiths...