GSR

Three way dance elimination match for the JAPW tag titles. Plenty at ringside for this with the Haas Brothers seconded by Little Dixie and Johnny D, while the Big Unit (Rick Silver and Dave Desire) have Kristy Kiss in their corner. Charlie Haas and Dave Desire kick things off and this is all very indy looking. Dive train sequence ends with a Monsta Mack tope through the ropes. They return to the ring and Silver struggles applying an Indian Deathlock, before countering a Mack left with a ‘Crippler crossface’. Mafia is in to break it up and a big gorilla press slam. After two of Silver’s clotheslines have no effect, Mack obliterates him with super stiff one of his own. Silver has been legit knocked silly by that, and a chokebomb from Mafia as Silver is really struggling. He somehow reverses a powerbomb into a frankensteiner (although almost breaks his neck on landing) and is able to tag his partner. Desire with a springboard elbow drop, but a top rope legdrop is missed as Mafia rolls out the way. Running powerbomb by Mafia, nasty looking regulation one from Mack and he tags Charlie. Slingshot shoulderblock by the Haas Brothers and Desire is clearly a glutton for punishment as he kicks out of the pin. Combination camel clutch/Boston crab from the brothers. Whip to the turnbuckle and Desire blows what I think was supposed to be a moonsault crossbody off the middle, however he just crashes backwards into the Haas’. Double spinebuster, but the brothers then miss a double team Tajiri style handspring into a moonsault (Russ), twisting legdrop (Charlie) as Silver moves out the way. Hot tag to Silver who clears the ring of the Haas’ and calls on DHS. Never a team to back down from a fight Mafia accepts with glee. Silver with a low blow and a DDT when some music plays. No idea who this team is but they go straight after The Big Unit, although we don’t see much as the camera man is more interested in getting panty shots of their valet and Kristy Kiss as they roll around on the outside. Unbelievably after how the match has gone so far it this results in the Big Unit being counted out! Russ slingshots Mafia to Charlie who catches and plants him with a belly to belly. A clothesline sends him tumbling through the ropes to the floor and all four are getting it on outside. Russ breaks a crutch over Mafia’s back, but then Mack creams him with a full force chair shot to the head. A cracking little realistic looking brawl at ringside, and DHS lay Charlie on a table they’d earlier set up on the arena floor. The duo then powerbomb Russ off the apron and onto his partner breaking the table. Back inside and Charlie level Mafia with three hard chair shots dropping him. The brothers manages enters the ring and makes like he’s going to hit Mafia with a kendo stick, but then turns on them and nails Charlie instead. Mafia literally collapses on him for the pin and Da Hit Squad are the new JAPW tag team champions. First off this was smartly booked as they kept the Haas Brothers and Da Hit Squad away from each other until The Big Unit had been eliminated. I couldn’t get over they were protected though and were counted out of the match! They’d took so much punishment and some seriously stiff shots and bumps yet they can’t do a clean job? Maybe that was their reward for being abused by DHS! The beatdown went on too long and there were several occasions I thought this must be it, only for them to kick out of the pin or have their partner break up the attempt. Parts of the first half were also pretty bad and it screamed indy due to all the blown moves (primarily by the Big Unit who came across as a pair of backyarders). Things picked up when it was down to the Haas’ and DHS due to the physicality they showed, and there was a tremendous realistic looking ‘fight’ on the floor at one point. You can see why WWF went after the brothers, as although green, the potential is clearly there and I was also surprised at how big they looked. DHS are the most polished of the three, but I winced at the brutality and stiffness of some of the stuff they were dishing out on the Big Unit (one clothesline and one powerbomb in particular).

Jaguar and his manager are hi-fiving the official so I hope this doesn’t mean they’re doing the heel referee gimmick here? ‘The All American’ Jeff Peterson is decked out in red, white and blue, but his gear looks really cheap. Fast paced opening by Peterson and Jaguar which ‘the All American’ gets the better of. The more technical Collyer and Andrews slow things down slightly, and a lovely dropkick from Collyer sees Scoot take to the outside for a chat with his partner. Back inside and the heels start working over Chad until Scoot misses a splash in the corner and goes head first into the top turnbuckle. They start to work over his arm, but the ‘Black Nature Boy’ is able to reverse an Irish whip and catch Peterson with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Great overhead throw/suplex. Scoot with a dropkick every bit as effective looking as the one Collyer gave him earlier. Double underhook suplex for two. Jaguar with a powerbomb for two as they’re not quite able to put Peterson away. After a vertical suplex Scoot tosses him out onto the stage are where their manager cracks ‘the All American’ over the head with his briefcase. Pump handle into a Rikishi Driver by Andrews and Collyer is in to break up the pin. Jaguar with a clawhold!!! Peterson counters a wheelbarrow suplex into a stunner and he’s finally able to make the tag. Collyer unloads with forearms on Jet and a snap suplex for two. Scoot is in although doesn’t fair much better than his partner, and a German suplex for another two. A dropkick again sends him to the floor, but while Collyer considers what to do next Jaguar jumps him from behind. Irish whip, Collyer ducks the clothesline and a suicide dive through the ropes onto Scoot. Pescado by Jaguar and Peterson completes the train with a flip dive off the top. BNB with a scissors kick and Collyer kicks out. The heel’s manager is up on the apron with his briefcase, however Collyer reverses the Irish whip and he accidentally smacks Andrews with it instead. Brainbuster by Collyer and Peterson with a splash off the top for the win. Again, just like the other matches from this show, the match was plagued by bad camera work. As action was going on in the ring, the cameraman thought we’d rather see Scoot Andrews’ back or a close up of Chad Collyer on the apron! Simple structure to the match but I was very impressed with the heel team here; they worked over Peterson well who was an effective FIP in the process. Jaguar has got no look but he’s really skilled, and hell, the first person outside of the Von Erich’s and Baron Von Raschke I’ve seen in a long time bust out the iron claw! I remember his name purely from a WCW tryout before a PPV in a tag match with Jamie Noble, Jeremy Lopez and someone else, but this was the first time in seeing him (same for Peterson). The fact he was never even plucked for the Saturday Night show says everything about that company. Second good offering of the month by Andrews after the Daniels ECWA match and I’m appreciating that guy much more than I ever did fifteen years ago.

There’s something about the Backseat Boyz entrance that puts a smile on my face. A classy ‘faggot, faggot’ chant from the crowd at these two. Kashmere thanks all their fans for the letters and emails they’d sent them requesting they came back to Bethlehem, and then accuses a rather vociferous section of the crowd of driving by their house and trying to look in through the windows. It’s called stalking and next time he’s letting the dogs out on these perverts! Trent then announces that there will be no hardcore in this match as they have a photoshoot tomorrow and don’t want to mess up their beautiful faces! Bad Crew’s entrance music is almost over by the time they come out and they’re accompanied by ‘Dirty Deeds’ Darren Wise. A bit of matwork to open with Kashmere and one of the Crew taking it in turns to work around a side headlock. Kashmere is pleased with his escape but is nailed with a clothesline as he looks for some applause from the fans. Bad Crew #2 is tagged in and they continue to work things around the headlock. He shoots Kashmere off, sidestep and then launches Johnny over the top rope to the floor. ‘Dirty Deeds’ puts the boots to him until Trent is around to help his partner. They want no further part of this and head back towards the dressing room. One of the Bad Crew goes after them and brings them back to ringside where the other member comes flying through the ropes with a suicide dive. A pair of Japanese armdrags and they start to work on Trent. Irish whip is reversed and from the outside Johnny hooks the Crew’s ankle. The distraction allows Trent to grab a breather and then level the Crew with a great looking superkick when he turns around. Double back elbow from the Backseat Boyz before a little dance routine and a double elbow drop. Trent with a missile dropkick and an even more elaborate routine resulting in Johnny pancaking Trent onto the Crew. The official misses the tag as now Johnny’s distracting him, and with his back turned trying to get the other member of the Crew out the ring, the Backseat Boyz hit a double suplex. A Kashmere assisted reverse splash off the top for two as the Crew is able to get his foot over the bottom rope. Huracanrana is countered into a powerbomb and the Crew is finally able to tag out of there. Danny Rose is down to support the Bad Crew, but after a double underhook powerbomb on Johnny he’s up into the ring and cracks the Crew member over the head with a steel chair. The other member of the Crew goes to hit Rose, however he ducks and takes out Trent with a chair instead. Darren Wise then turns on his charge levelling him, and he and Rose make off with the EWF tag title belts. Official decision was the Backseat Boyz winning by DQ due to the Bad Crew using a chair. The Bad Crew are just ‘there’ in this one and glad I’m not the only one who couldn’t work out whether they were supposedly heels or faces. The Backseat Boyz are real fun here; from their entrance, to the winding of the crowd up and to their over the top double team moves. It’s pretty sad seeing Trent all full of charisma here and knowing how his life ends up. If things had panned out differently I could almost imagine him in the Kendrick role in the Cruiserweight Classic or something. Could’ve done without all the references to the ‘Backdoor Boyz’ by the commentators, while the ref was also annoying with his faffing around at times. Lousy DQ finish.

'Awesome match' but then you only give it 3 1/2 stars? A 1/4 star more than a match you thought went on too long? I still don't get your star ratings and the way you review and rate things I'm afraid.

A match the wrestling world has been waiting for according to Mauro Ranallo! The now standard opening to a Sabu match with a bit of grappling and even going for a few submission holds. He whips Devine into the corner and comes off with a springboard sidekick for two. Somersault legdrop from the apron into the ring for another two and Devine rolls to the floor. Sabu follows him out and hurls a steel chair full force into this head. Back inside and Sabu gives up on the camel clutch when he realises Devine isn’t going to submit. He misses a double legdrop as Devine moves out the way ,and lands a vertical suplex for his first two count of the match. Lionsault and Sabu gets his shoulder up at the last split second. A missile dropkick looks as though it barely grazes Sabu and now he’s the one taking to the outside. Somersault flip dive over the top rope to out onto him and a ‘mamma mia’ from Mauro! Both are back to their feet and Sabu launches Devine stomach first into the ring apron. Triple jump plancha to the floor and as the camera zooms in on the wrestlers you can see them calling spots. High crossbody off the top from Devine and there’s a lot of your turn/my turn in this. Devine heads up again, however Sabu cuts him off and brings him back down with a top rope rana. Sabu introduces a table into proceedings and props it up in the corner. He puts Devine through it, though it’s not enough for the three. Bodyslam onto the broken table but Sabu misses the top rope Arabian facebuster. Devine with a chairshot off the middle and he heads outside to get a table. He lies Sabu on it, somersault senton, however Sabu moves and he crashes and burns. Triple jump moonsault is blown so Sabu immediately does it again. Camel clutch and Devine won’t tap. Double legdrop to the back, another camel clutch and finally Devine submits. There’s a definite structure when it comes to Sabu matches, a brief bit of wrestling before into the stunt show. This was pretty bad, as after the opening exchanges it was just a series of spots with no transitions whatsoever in between. It also went 26 minutes in total which was easily ten minutes, if not more, too long. If you like dives, moves off the top rope, chairs, tables and not much else this might be for you. If you want substance, selling, emotional investment in your match, it won’t be. I’m the latter. Keep an eye out for a couple of interesting advertisements mind, one of Davey Boy Smith promoting B.J.’s gym (presumably B.J. Annis) and then one for Ted Hart’s wrestling school. If the idea of Teddy Hart having a wrestling school isn’t bizarre enough, consider the fact that he’s only twenty in 2000! Although he does “teach them everything though, from backflips, to DDTs, to moonsaults off the top”. Says it all really!

Pearce has got some serious hair going on here and is practically unrecognizable. He jumps Bambino before the bell rings only to miss a clothesline and see his opponent tee off on him. A clothesline from Bambino sends Pearce over the top rope to the floor and he follows that with a sky high plancha off the top to the outside. Big backdrop and Pearce is backing off in the corner. He goes for a second clothesline but this time Pearce ducks out the way and he goes careering over the ropes himself. ‘Scrap Iron’ with a nice Cactus Jack elbow from the apron to the gym floor. The two of them go at it on the outside and Dino reverses an Irish whip sending Pearce flying into the rows of seating. Both take bumps into these wooden benches before they had back inside and Pearce with a missile dropkick. Great looking sit out powerbomb for two. Figure Four and Bambino is able to turn it over leading to Pearce grabbing the ropes for the break. ‘Scrap Iron’ focuses on the leg and transitions from a Scorpion deathlock to an STF. When it looks like he’s about to reach the ropes, Pearce pulls him back to the middle of the ring and a gorgeous surfboard right out of the Steve Grey playbook. DDT but he misses the somersault senton. Dino’s fired up and he drops Pearce with a spinning heel kick. Whip to the corner and a running Sabu like dive off a chair into him. He repeats it, but this time ‘Scrap Iron’ catches him mid-air and plants him to the canvas. Pearce wedges a chair between the turnbuckles and goes to whip Bambino into it, however he reverses it and Pearce’s head crashes into the chair. Dino then with a Tim Horner style roll up and bridge for the win. Two of Pearce’s associates jump Bambino after the match and ‘Scrap Iron’ superbombs him through a table before the heel trio are run off. I liked this and another where I think I’m higher than everyone else. I have limited memory of Pearce and think of him as a fairly dull wrestler, but was seriously impressed here. He can wrestle, he can fly, he can brawl, he can bump, the guy’s got the full package. The brawling section felt as though they were trying to cover all bases in the match and wasn’t really necessary as they could clearly have a very good straight wrestling match. Awesome to see someone bust out a surfboard and Pearce has got a cracking powerbomb. Minus points for Bambino stopping selling the leg immediately after Pearce missed the senton. Looking forward to hopefully seeing more of Pearce as we go forward with this.

It sounded like Horowitz got a better reaction than Janetty here. No long write up for this one as it’s a tricky watch for a number of reasons. Firstly the videotape looks as though it’s been chewed at numerous points, the footage is often out of focus, and the guy filming appears to be sat in the back row of the audience. As a result of him being sat down, whenever action is taking place on the canvas we can’t see it, whilst there is also a constant steady stream of people walking infront of the camera obstructing the view. Basic gist of the match is Horowitz using a wide variety of offense and attacks to work on Janetty’s leg. Just like last night he gets the crowd to turn on him with them chanting ‘Barry Sucks’ by the end of things, this after getting a bigger cheer than Marty at the onset. End result is a double countout with both men fighting on the outside. Great little bit right at the end as Horowitz has already headed to the back, the official is helping Marty and then Horowitz reappears through the curtain to clock him. If we could’ve actually seen everything that went on here every chance I’d rate it higher than the Montoya match, but it’ll probably be midway for the month due to the reasons outlined.

We only get about seven minutes of action which is joined in progress. A neckbrace wearing Savio Vega is the official, while Miguel Perez Jr. and Jesus Castillo are the Boricuas and Chicky Starr and Victor the Bodyguard form the Starr Corporation. Miguel jabs Victor in the head with a kendo stick and you can see him blading himself with a razor that’s taped to his thumb. The Boricuas go to work on the bloodied Victor as they continue to try and wear him down. Miguel misses a twisting senton from the middle and Victor is able to make the hot tag. Chicky’s handling them both until the two-to-one odds are too much and Perez throws him over the top rope to the floor. Victor with a DDT on Jesus and Miguel is back in to break up the pin. The Boricuas hit their finisher (although it looked like Miguel may have dropped Victor and they had to improvise) and something is up as Savio counts three but raises only two fingers. Jesus gets in his face and Miguel then cracks him in the back with the kendo stick. He sits Savio on his shoulders, Jesus climbs to the top turnbuckle but Savio channels his inner Kwang and blows green mist in his face causing him to lose his balance. Savio frees himself off Miguel, blows more mist in his face and Chicky covers Jesus for the win (and possibly a tag title change). The language barrier is an issue here, especially when it comes to trying to work out what went on when Savio counted the three. Was it the continuation of a storyline which has seen Savio screw the Boricuas? What went down that led to him wearing the neckbrace? I know IWA-PR is not something that we’ll be able to track week to week or even month to month, but despite the work being fine, you’re left with more questions than answers after watching it. Note: The 3/9 match from IWA-PR was added late, so this was watched before that.

Candido and Douglas square up to one another, they exchange words and Candido shoves him to the canvas. Some stinging knife edge chops followed by a couple of fists to the forehead. Douglas reverses a whip to the turnbuckles and a big back bodydrop. Elbow drop, but the early cover only brings him a one. Rear chinlock and Larry Rivera starts talking about how this is a traditional hold that you don’t see very often “too much flying around, too much violent crap”, before referencing his ‘cousin’ Victor Rivera and Dominic DeNucci winning the tag titles in the 70s! Nice scoop powerslam from Douglas and now he’s talking about Buzz Sawyer. Candido starts to fire back with more of those chops, and a low blow drops ‘The Franchise’. Douglas reverses a vertical suplex into one of his own, only to see Candido reverse that into a small package for two. Eye poke and ‘The Franchise’ gets some revenge for that low blow with a kick to the balls. ‘Pittsburgh Plunge’ is blocked and Candido with a DDT. He misses a diving headbutt off the top, they then have a ‘miscommunication’ on a leapfrog spot with Douglas not ducking and headbutting Candido in the groin. The crowd can’t wait to chant ‘you fucked up!’ at them, but I actually think this was planned and went exactly as it was meant to. Some chap called Josh Lacey is out and up on the apron with the commentators saying how this is the guy who’s going to save XPW, when from the back and into the ring sprints Sabu. Candido and Douglas bump and feed for him, they then decide to work together but Sabu ducks a double clothesline and takes them both out with a Lionsault. He grabs a table from the outside and puts Candido through it with a legdrop off the top, while it looks like ‘The Franchise’ is now happy to watch on from the arena floor. Douglas sneaks back in, clocks Sabu with a chain that he’d wrapped around his fist and drags Candido over to cover him. That’s not enough to get the job done though as Sabu is just about able to get a shoulder up. A foot up stops Candido in his tracks, Sabu with a DDT before going to collect himself another table. He lies Candido on it, climbs the turnbuckles, but changes trajectory and takes out Douglas with a plancha to the floor. Sabu crashes into the guardrails after and Irish whip is reversed then ‘The Franchise’ with a great looking piledriver on Candido. He doesn’t make the cover himself and tells Sabu “he’s all yours”. I’m confused! Sabu heads up top, but Douglas grabs his ankle and he loses his balance falling face first into the table. Now I’m really confused! Douglas pushes a groggy Candido onto Sabu, the referee counts the three and he retains his XPW World title. Post match dressing room interview from ‘The Franchise’ where he says he did XPW a huge favour because the company is now on track and they have the opportunity of a future because of him. He goes on to say that Chris Candido may have thought he helped him, but in fact he screwed him! Candido has never been in the ring with Sabu when there is gold on the line, but he has and when that gold is on the line he goes into a predatory mode where he’s going to beat, cripple and then take a piece of your ass with him! A surprisingly fun bout for XPW and much better than Candido’s previous effort with Damian Steele. The two of them were having a good match in the first half of this with Candido laying his stuff in. Sabu’s arrival and the crowd’s reaction to him came across as a big deal, although the match quickly descended into a typical stunt show with the tables. The ending was confusing as hell with Douglas helping Candido one minute and then Sabu the next. I think by his post-match promo it was a way of trying to put Sabu over, but that’s clutching at straws on my part as it really made no sense. Doubt we’ll get many (if any) XPW matches than this.

Priest gets the better of the opening collar and elbow tie up and Punk complains about a hair pull, to which the official tells him he’s got no hair to pull! Armbar and Punk’s selling is a bit OTT. Bodyslam escape, he goes to drop the elbow however Priest moves out the way. Punk lands on his feet after a monkey flip and some pretty bad strikes are thrown by both (although I liked Punk shaking hist fist after delivering his). An awful tilt-a-whirl headscissors by Priest before losing Punk on a press slam. He clotheslines him over the top rope to the floor and a big suicide dive which the camera misses. Back in the ring and Punk counters some punches in the corner with a ‘hot shot’. Knife edge chops and a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker, which these two surprisingly manage not to botch! A springboard dropkick sends Priest tumbling from the apron to the outside, but Punk then makes a complete hash of a springboard moonsault. He goes to moonsault from the second rope out and over the top rope onto Priest, however doesn’t get enough elevation and lands stomach first on the top rope. Priest blocks a suplex and drops Punk with a reverse DDT. Scoop powerslam, no cover though. He picks Punk back up, bodyslam, but his swinging legs take out the official knocking him down. As Priest tries to wake him back up Punk heads outside to collect a steel chair. Priest sees what’s going on and when Punk goes to hit him with it, gets in first with a boot to the mid-section. Punk drops the chair, Priest picks it up and then Punk falls to the canvas. The ref comes around, sees Punk ‘KO’d’, Priest holding the chair and disqualifies him. As Punk is leaving he turns to the camera and says “that’s brains and that’s why I’m smarter than him!” Bad match and Punk is a country mile behind his contemporaries like Ki, Bryan and Styles at this point. The only positive I can say is that his interactions with the crowd are good and he gets them to hate him, but I suppose that’s pretty darn easy when in real life he’s supposedly a fairly unlikeable character. Not a fan of that finish in what is probably just a throwaway match, and second duffer in a row for Punk after the Cabana match in January.

Chris Cruise on commentary for this one with Steve Martin. Nice fireman’s carry takedown into an armbar by Taylor. He blocks a Styles hiptoss and counters with a double arm suplex. When A.J. attempts it for a second time and again it’s blocked, this time he’s prepared and drops his opponent with a DDT. Taylor reverses a whip to the corner, A.J. leaps up to the top rope but he slips losing his footing like in the Golden ladder match earlier in the month. Unlike Golden though Taylor doesn’t just stand there, he grabs A.J. and hurls him to the canvas. Scoop powerslam for two. Styles falls face first to the ring floor after being forcefully whipped into the turnbuckles, and Taylor follows up with a diving headbutt to the back off the top for another two. A.J. regains the advantage after avoiding a charging Taylor who crashes shoulder first into the ringpost. His control doesn’t last for long though as he misses a ‘Stinger splash’ resulting in his own head colliding with the top tunbuckle. Big backdrop and a Russian legsweep for a nearfall. Break for the advertisements and we return to see Taylor getting his foot up and Styles running into it. Belly to belly suplex, but at two Jeff G. Bailey is out and up on the apron to stop the count. As the official has words with him, Onyx sneaks into the ring and clocks Taylor with his TV title belt. Styles ‘apparently’ didn’t see any of this and hits the ‘Swanton bomb’ for the win. Styles and Taylor work well together and this was a solid little TV match, the only issue was the commentary. Chris Cruise is doing a full on heel commentator act and spends the duration of the match shitting on it, the two wrestlers and Wildside itself. It detracts from the action and becomes tiresome fast. Cruise referring to A.J. as ‘Joey Styles’ is mildly amusing at first, but not by the third or fourth time you hear it, while he also calls Taylor ‘Jesse James’, ‘Scotty Taylor’ and ‘Terry Taylor’. Talk about overkill. Finish was interesting as it seems to hint at a potential Styles heel turn.

Quick promo from Jeff G. Bailey where he says that the belt, which is rightfully his, is coming back because ’24 Karat’ Eddie Golden is going to send A.J. Styles back to what he does best, cheerleading for his lover Chance Williams and hustling down infront of Ramrod and the Mineshaft! Styles rushes into the ring and they have a hot opening sequence ending with A.J. slapping on an armbar. Huracanrana, Golden with a back elbow though as he tries to slow his opponent down. A.J. reverses a whip to the corner, Stinger splash, Golden moves out of the way but Styles lands on the middle ropes preventing himself from careering into the turnbuckles. Unfortunately he then slips off the ropes and Golden is left standing there like a plum while A.J. regains his footing. Reverse crossbody countered into an ‘Ace Crusher’ and Golden heads out the ring to collect a ladder. He places it on the ring apron only to be met by a Styles baseball slide dropkick which sends it crashing into him. A.J. sets it up in the middle of the ring, slowly climbs, but Golden is able to cut him off with a rough looking ‘Rude Awakening’ neckbreaker off the ladder. Golden is an even slower climber than Styles, enabling A.J. to recover and push the ladder over, resulting in Golden crotching himself on the top rope. Bailey slides a chair in the ring to Golden, and when A.J. climbs the ladder again he cracks him in the back with it. Both men are down but A.J. is back to his feet first and props up a table between the guardrail and apron. He goes to suplex Golden from the ring over the top rope and through the table, however he blocks it and lands one of his own. The action is cut for an advert break and when we return Golden counters another Styles ladder climb with an electric chair. He misses an attack off the top and Styles grabs a couple of steel chairs from the outside, opens them up and lays the ladder across them. A.J. slams Golden on the ladder, heads upstairs but misses the ‘Swanton bomb’ with the back of his head/neck landing flush on the ladder. We then get a really lame ref bump as Golden picks up the ladder and swings it at A.J.; the problem being that he swings it the wrong way. He should’ve swung it clockwise so when A.J. ducks under he hits the official, as it was he swung it anti-clockwise, A.J. still ducks on seeing the ladder coming, but it takes out the referee before even getting to him. Golden is still holding the ladder and Styles with a dropkick to it. He falls to the canvas with the ladder landing on him and A.J. with a big splash off the top onto both. Styles climbs the ladder and just as he unhooks the belt, Jeff G. Bailey is in and pushes the ladder over. A.J. takes a tumble over the top rope and onto the table he’d set up earlier. Bailey lays the belt on his charge, wakes the official and on seeing him with the title he declares Eddie Golden the winner. Post-match, Golden powerbombs Styles through the table which should’ve broke on the previous bump when he was pushed off the ladder. I hate slow climbing! When the match is ten to fifteen minutes in and the wrestler is ‘tired’ I can understand it, but not so early when they’re still fresh. It looks like you have no urgency or are just delaying things, waiting for your opponent to get back up so he can stop you. Either way, from a kayfabe perspective, not good. The opening wrestling exchanges here were great, but I couldn’t get into the ladder portion. I don’t know if that was due to that slow climbing or because it was a lot of ‘you climb/I climb’. The ref bump was bad and while I didn’t have an issue with Jeff Bailey pushing over the ladder, in hindsight and reading the other comments, he really should’ve called for one of this charges to do it. It almost makes him look too strong and I couldn’t imagine Cornette or Heenan say ever doing that spot.

Wolfie backs King into the corner and starts to unload, however King quickly reverses things and he’s the one doing the unloading. Big backdrop and a dropkick for an early two. Tilt-a-whirl headscissors. King posts Wolfie, covers him again, but this time he’s able to get a foot across the bottom rope. Sleeper hold, Wolfie shoots him off and replies with one of his own, although King then counters with a belly to belly suplex. Rear chinlock and Wolfie with a jawbreaker to escape. Running powerslam by D for two. He misses a ‘Stinger splash’ in the corner, King ducks under a clothesline and hits a ‘Rude Awakening’ neckbreaker. Superkick attempt, but Wolfie pulls the referee in the way and he’s the one who gets hit. As King tends to the official Wolfie attacks him from behind, spinning powerbomb, however there’s no-one to make the count. A few seconds later a second referee slides into the ring and a great nearfall as King gets his shoulder up at two. Wolfie telegraphs a backdrop and King with a backslide for two of his own. Facebuster and now ‘Evil Knieval’ is and drops an elbow on the official to stop the count. King with a superkick to Evil, but Wolfie then tosses him through the ropes to the floor. Brandon Baxter is out and throws King into the ringpost. He rolls him back into the ring, spinning powerbomb and that’s enough for the win. We return after some advertisements and King is confronting Randy Hales who was commentating on the match. King says how everyone saw what just happened and he was screwed out of his dream again. He tells Hales that, after what he just did, he wants Brandon Baxter in the ring today, but Randy says how the show is loaded and they don’t have the time. King say how he’s noticed that you can’t be a nice guy around here; the guys with all the heat they get to do what they want, but he doesn’t! He gives Hales one more chance to give him a match and again he says how they’re running late. King tips over the announcer’s desk and starts pushing Hales wanting Baxter out here now. Randy again tells him that he doesn’t have time, but what he will do is add them both to next week’s ‘Evening the Odds’ match and they will be the first two men in there. Another good outing from Wolfie and King and the two of them work so well together. Just like previously though the finish drags this one down with the overbooked outside interference, ref bumps etc. The Cartel is approaching groan territory for me and that’s not good. Real strong promo from King at the end, although it would help if Randy Hales could keep a straight face when King is in his face, pushing him and tipping the desk over!

Clips aired earlier in the show of Regal defeating Reckless at the New Daisy Theatre last Saturday. Youth was suppose to kiss his feet after the match, however he put him in the STF instead and that led to this ‘I Quit’ match. Some nice wrestling between the two to start with based around working the arm. As Reckless looks to have got the better of things, Regal with a forearm and an uppercut. Headscissors from Youth although there’s no down time as his Lordship lands a double underhook suplex. He goes for the ‘Regal stretch’ but Reckless scrambles to the ropes. Youth counters a front chancery with the STF and although he’s got the legs trapped, he can’t pull back on his neck to complete the hold. Regal reaches the ropes while Lady Ophelia just wanders in and out of the ring. As the official then has words with his Lordship, Ophelia chokes Reckless over the bottom rope. Whip to the corner, however as Regal charges in Youth gets his foot up. Sicilian slice, dragon screw and the STF, this time fully locked in. Lady Ophelia enters the ring, but Reckless sees her coming and puts her in the STF. Ophelia taps and the referee signals for the bell as, for some reason, this one is over. Regal attacks Reckless post-match and puts him in the ‘Regal stretch’ on the arena floor. The official decision is that Youth wins by DQ for Ophelia’s involvement, so this wasn’t something out of the Vince Russo playbook as it looked like originally. Disappointing as this only goes three minutes before the DQ finish and there’s not a chance you can have a compelling ‘I Quit’ match in that time. Work was fine but they just ran through their spots trying to get everything in; no build, no selling, nothing meant anything. Judging by how the match ended I’m guessing that Ophelia got her cues wrong when she entered the ring and exited without doing anything, thinking that was the finish when it wasn’t.

Wolfie D joins Dave Brown at the announcer’s desk for this one, with the winner of the match getting a shot at his Power Pro title. Apparently Randy Hales decided to have another ‘Evening the Odds’ match due to how well received the previous one was. Derrick King is first man in the ring and, after Hales’ comments from last week, he’s due to start against Brandon Baxter. According to Dave though, Brandon has said that he’s not going to be here. A kicking and screaming Baxter is then dragged to ringside and tossed into the ring by two officials. Baxter does all he can to try and apologize, but when he tries to sneak a kick to the mid-section, King is wise to it, grabs the leg and nails him with a reverse atomic drop. Soccer kick to the groin, and as he writhes about in agony Seven joins the fray as participant number three. He holds King so Baxter can get some shots in, only for him to break free after a back kick low blow. Ali enters at number four and Baxter wants no part of him, immediately fleeing the ring. Rob Harlem is next and at least he’s wearing a T-shirt this week! Nice spinning heel kick to Ali, but he gets some revenge by getting the big man up for a Samoan drop followed by a good old fashioned punch to the balls. The Aristocrat, Blade Boudreaux and Deon Harlem are the next three participants, and the action has spilled out of the ring and to the studio floor again. Moondog Spot arrives and lives up to form by just waffling people with weapons and a steel chair. Havoc is the final entrant and makes a beeline straight for members of ‘The Cartel’. Ali with a uranage on The Aristocrat, however the official is dealing with something ton the outside. Wolfie leaves the broadcast position, jumps in the ring and levels Ali in the back of the head with the title belt. The Aristocrat covers him but Derrick King had seen what just went down. He stops the referee’s count at two, clobbers The Aristocrat in the head with something and then puts Ali on top of him. The official counts the three and Wolfie will have to defend his title against Ali next week. The biggest problem here was that the rules to the match weren’t made clear until about half the participants had entered. I thought it was the same as the previous ‘Evening the Odds’ match, two teams of five against each other. It was only when The Aristocrat entered after Rob Harlem did I think something was up (heel after heel), and then a shortwhile later Dave says how it’s every man for himself. I knew that the winner was to get a crack at Wolfie, but thought it was still two teams against each other and the one who got the pin would get the shot. The clear face/heel divide doesn’t help matters, as not once, did say Ali go after Derrick King or Rob Harlem jump Seven. Once the rules were fully explained it also became clear that the pin wouldn’t occur until all the participants had entered rendering the majority of the action pointless. I enjoyed the opening couple of minutes with King, Baxter, Seven and Ali, but it plateaued after that until the finish and Wolfie’s involvement. Prefered ‘Evening the Odds I’ to this.

Title match for the XPW World Heavyweight championship currently held by Steele. Candido has got his Terry Funk tights on and is seconded by a very skanky looking Tammy Sytch. The two exchange punches and chops until Steele backs Candido into the corner. Whip to the opposite on, but when Steele charges in Candido vaults over him. He then rushes at Steele only to get backdropped over the turnbuckles and to the floor. Steele with a pescado and a cover on the outside (as it transpires this is a ‘falls count anywhere’ match which the commentators had neglected to tell us). Candido whips Steele into the guardrail, however as he goes to do it a second time, Steele reverses and Candido goes flying into and over it. Up on the wooden stage area and Candido attempts a delayed vertical suplex. Steele is able to fight his way out of it though and responds with one of his own. He makes the cover but Candido just about gets his shoulder up in time. Another reversal and Candido slingshots Steels from the stage back into the ring. He collects a ladder that was left behind from one of the previous death match tournament matches and sets it up in the corner of the ring. Diving headbutt, however the ladder slips as he jumps and he comes up some way short. Clothesline from Steele and Candido steps out the ring and into the audience with Steele in pursuit. They make their way to the bar and the two trade punches whilst they are knelt on it. Steele falls to the floor and Candido with a flying elbow off the bar onto him, and that’s enough for the win and title change. As Candido and Tammy celebrate in the ring afterwards the lights go out, and when they’re turned back on Shane Douglas is in there with them. Douglas cuts an expletive laden promo on ‘old man’ Hulk Hogan and Dick Flair, before telling Bill Busch that if he wants a legal battle he’d be happy to take millions of WCW’s dollars and then use it to make XPW a player in the sport of professional wrestling. Yeah, right Shane! The finish to this caught me completely off guard as I was anticipating a much longer match than what we got. Tammy looks seriously rough here, like the kind of broad who’s touting guys to stick dollar bills in her underwear. There wasn’t actually much to the match, but we get a few nice bumps from Candido. I’m glad the guy gets a shot with WCW within the next month as he deserves better than XPW. Couldn’t really get much of a read on Steele from this mind, although glad to see I wasn’t the only one who noticed that back acne! Larry Rivera sets a new low for the standard of commentary in 2000 and I doubt we’ll hear anyone worse than him (I’ll take Steph, Bobcat and Madden over him any day). The Douglas promo is funny in hindsight when you know he’s back in WCW at the first opportunity!

This is the final of the ECWA Super 8 tournament. Opening few minutes sees them work the match around a hammerlock as both men try to gain the early advantage. As Daniels comes out on top, he goes to work on Andrews’ arm including a nice single armed DDT. Irish whip, Scott ducks the clothesline though and a dropkick to the leg takes the ‘Fallen Angel’ off his feet. Scoot then focuses all his efforts on weakening that leg. Daniels counters a suplex with a small package for the first two count of the match. Nice Northern Lights from Scoot before he’s back at that leg with a single legged crab after Daniels misses an enziguiri. Tully Blanchard-style slingshot suplex by Scoot and they’re ramping up the pin attempts and two counts. Daniels blocks a tornado DDT and levels his opponent with a palm strike. Spinebuster for the closest near fall yet. Uranage followed by the ‘Best Moonsault Ever’, however Daniels hurts his worn down leg on landing and can’t make the cover straight away. By the time he drapes an arm over Scoot it’s given him enough time to recover and he’s able to roll a shoulder. Backslide from Scoot can’t bring the three and neither can a Daniels small package. They run through a fairly choreographed looking section and Daniels with the ‘Roll the Dice’ for the win and he’s crowned the 2000 ECWA Super 8 champion. All the other participants enter the ring to congratulate him post-match and he and Scoot shake hands. This was almost like a proto-ROH match. I thought it built very well indeed, slow to start off with some focussed limbwork by both men, before ramping it up with the two counts and near falls in the final third. Daniels did a tremendous job selling the leg all the way through and not just forgetting about it. Andrews was someone who I never cared for when I watched ROH back in the day but he looked good here. The finish looking a bit too choreographed for my liking is the only criticism I have.

Janetty is still in his New Rockers gear here. He gets jumped from behind by Sullivan who then telegraphs a backdrop and Marty nails him with a facebuster. Irish whip and Janetty is primed for a superkick, but Sullivan holds on to the ropes and steps outside the ring to the stage. A dropkick sends him tumbling to the floor and we then lose the action as Janetty goes out after him and it looks like they head out the arena and go at it on the street. They make their way back inside and Marty puts a cone over Sullivan’s head which he punches. For some reason Janetty hits himself in the face with a sign knocking himself out, not sure why unless it’s part of the goofy New Rocker persona? With Janetty layed out on the stage, Sullivan drops an elbow onto him however his piledriver attempt is countered by a backdrop. Suplex back in the ring for two. Monkey flip and again Sullivan kicks out. Whip to the corner, but as Janettty rushes in Sullivan moves and he crotches himself. Marty takes a nice flip bump off a clothesline and Sullivan starts to grind his face into the canvas. This camera work is a bit all over the place, but when they zoom in you can really see Janetty’s facials selling everything. Powerbomb by Sullivan and despite repeated attempts at the pin, it gets him no more than two. Sullivan whips Janetty into the turnbuckle but is met with a back elbow when he comes charging in. Marty’s now got the advantage and he unloads with punches in the corner. Sullivan botches what I think was a leapfrog (looks like he got caught in two minds), Janetty then grabs the ropes to block an O’Connor roll and drops him with a superkick. He heads all the way up to the balcony, comes off with a crossbody, however Sullivan is able to use the momentum to roll through and get the pin (probably grabbing his trunks in the process although a photographer is blocking our view). Marty can still go that is for sure and physically looks no different than the last time he was in the WWF. First time in seeing Sullivan and he’s fundamentally sound although that botch was nasty. A bit tricky to follow in places due to the camera work (which was worse than in the Horowitz match), but as mentioned previously, probably the best thing about all that zooming in was seeing Janetty’s facials and the way he would sell things. Cool little finish to as I wasn’t expecting a balcony dive crossbody!

That's odd if he said Aries didn't ask for his release, because he tweeted the exact opposite: UPDATE: We can confirm that Austin Aries asked for his release. https://twitter.com/WONF4W/status/883463477989429248 On the Observer radio that I listened to Dave said that Aries asked for his release; no talk whatsoever of him being unpopular with the writing staff etc.

‘Bad Barry’ coming out to AC/DC and a good reaction. Don offers the hand and Horowitz goes to shake it, only to draw away and pat himself on the back. Horowitz with a deep arm drag and another pat on the bat. When Montoya responds with one of his own, he too mimics his opponent with the back patting. Hammerlock and Horowitz grabs the ropes to force the break. Nice bit of work on the arm from ‘Bad Barry’. He’s doing a great job here of getting the crowd to turn on him; shouting at individuals in the crowd, stooging and taking a ‘timeout’ on the outside before grabbing the mic and cutting a promo on everyone. Montoya with some arm work of his own and Horowitz goes into his bag of tricks to escape, complaining of his hair being pulled and then dragging Montoya by the trunks backs to the ropes with the official distracted. No clean break as ‘Bad Barry’ lives up to his nickname. A series of forearms and uppercuts with Horowitz shaking out his own arm after delivering the blows. Reverse DDT and an extended pat on the back for that one! The crowd have completely turned on him now and he cups his ear to them as they boo him. Legdrop to the back of the head followed by a jawbreaker. ‘Rude Awakening’ neckbreaker, however Montoya is able to kick out at two. A legdrop springing off the bottom rope and some clown in the crowd chants ‘you fucked up’ at Horowitz. I’m not sure what he supposedly ‘fucked up’, but Horowitz like a total pro tells him to “shut your face pal!” and then invites him into the ring. This fan is not so cocky now and surprisingly doesn’t accept the offer. Figure four chinlock, Montoya is able to power his way out of it only to miss the elbow drop. Gut wrench suplex on Don for another two. Double foot stomp and a three quarter nelson pin attempt that still doesn’t get the job done. Horowitz gives up on a full nelson when he realizes Don is too big and sweetly transitions into a ‘cobra clutch’. As Montoya fights the hold and looks like he might escape, Horowitz kicks him in the knee bringing him back down, and then stands on his leg to prevent him from getting up. That’s so freaking good! The hand drops twice but not the third time as Montoya gets a second wind from somewhere. He manages to escape and a spinning heel kick. Twisting legdrop for two and now Horowitz is backing off. He reaches into this trunks and pulls out some brass knux, but Montoya avoids the shot and drops him with a shoulder tackle. Horowitz slides the knux into his knee pad, and when Montoya telegraphs a backdrop off an Irish whip that gives him the opportunity, one knee lift later it’s all over and Horowitz comes out the winner. This was the Barry Horowitz show and what a job he did, just a masterful all around display from him. He controlled the match completely working on top for the majority of it. One thing I really appreciate is the wrestlers who do the small things, the shaking out of your own arm after delivering a forearm, the standing on the back of the leg top stop your opponent from getting back to his feet and that’s Barry Horowitz. The way he got the crowd to turn on him was a treat. I didn’t think Montoya looked as good here as he does in the Low Ki shootfight, while the camera work was slightly annoying zooming in and out and quickly darting from left to right, but those are minor gripes. If you have only ever seen Horowitz jobbing in WWF give yourself twenty minutes and see what a cracking wrestler he really is.

No worries Boss Rock. It's just a way to prevent the thread being a long list of matches with nothing more than 'yes' or 'no' next to them (which is pretty pointless). If people give their views and opinions on the matches it'll also spark up a bit of debate with folk agreeing, disagreeing etc.

For the MAW Heavyweight title and Rotten, who is the challenger, is already being called the ‘King of the Death Matches’, while Corp is accompanied by his manager Carmine Desperito and his apprentice, Dave Prazak. Shortish promo from Corp where he tells an audience member to “shut the f*ck up you cocksucking asshole!”, before claiming Ian tried to break his arm in a previous match in IWA-MS because he knew he was scheduled to face him again here. Both men have their taped fists (which are covered in glue) dipped into a box of broken glass so the shards stick to them, then what’s left is emptied into the middle of the ring and an additional box full is added to the pile. After twelve minutes already, the bell rings to get this one underway. Both start out in Boxing stances throwing tentative jabs at each other. Ian ducks a swinging right and responds with one to the bread basket. They then make their way around each corner of the ring taking it in turns to cut each others foreheads with the glass and making sure the audience gets a good view. Ian with a powerbomb onto the pile of glass and they’re back to slicing foreheads. Corp suplexes Ian into the glass which is no mean feat considering how huge he looks here. Headbutt to the groin as the crowd try to rally behind Rotten. Nice legdrop off the middle onto the apron as Ian is draped over the bottom rope. They start fighting on the floor but there’s only one hard camera so we miss a lot of this. Vicious chair shot to the head from Ian. Dragon sleeper by Corp followed by a reverse DDT into the glass. Ian with a short jab to the stomach and a swinging neckbreaker into the glass. The ‘your turn/my turn’ continues as Corp DDT’s Ian into the glass, before Ian gives him a spinebuster onto it. They’re back on the outside and Corp unloads with right after right until he finally drops his opponent. More terrible camera work means we don’t see what’s happening, but Corp with a receipt for the chair shot he received earlier. ‘Shooter’ Rotten with some sort of choke on the floor. He uses Corp’s own ‘Boot Camp’ finisher into the glass against him, but doesn’t cover him so not sure if it is his finisher at this point. ‘Crippler crossface’ in the glass, Corp taps and Ian is the new Heavyweight champion. Post-match Corp claims if he wasn’t hurt Ian would never have beaten him, and challenges him to a ‘last man standing match’ next month. Rotten accepts, but instead of a ten count you will have to knock your opponent down for a twenty count, while Dave Prazak and Carmine Desperito will be handcuffed to two fans chosen on the night. Forty minutes in total this went. Forty minutes of my life that I will never get back. Excuse the pun, but I was bored rotten by it all. I’ll cut you, you cut me, I’ll throw you into the pile of glass, you throw me into the pile of glass, you get the idea. A bit of commentary may have helped, ditto more than one camera where you can actually follow and see all the action, but the first thing I’ve watched where I would actively encourage someone not to bother. Can hardly say I’m looking forward to the ‘last man standing match’ next month.

The Harris Twins are accompanying Jarrett and Steiner for this. Hogan blocks a Jarrett hiptoss, unloads on him in the corner and gives him one of his own. Tag to Sid and a double clothesline. Jarrett gets his foot up to the charging Sid after a whip to the turnbuckle, however Vicious with a low blow when he goes for a double axe handle off the middle. Chokeslam, but Steiner is in to nail Sid in the back and put a halt to that. Steiner puts the boots to Sid and a great overhead throw/suplex. When Hogan complains about something, Steiner with a rather loud “f*ck you” whilst giving him the finger! Steinerline followed by an elbow drop for two. Whip to the corner and this time Sid is the one who gets his foot up and hot tags the Hulkster. Axe bombers to Jarrett and Steiner, ‘noggin knocker’ and Sid looks pissed that the crowd are chanting for Hogan and that he’s again taking all the glory. Big boot to Steiner and one for Jarrett. Hogan looks for the crowd’s approval and when he turns around about to drop the leg, he runs straight into Sid who grabs him around the neck. Mark Madden has seemingly reached a state of ecstasty with his “oh yeah, yeah, do it, do it big man, do it”. Chokeslam on Hogan, Sid covers him and referee Mickey Jay counts the three with the bell ringing to signify the end of the match. Mark Madden telegraphs the turn from nigh on as soon as the action begins, and Christ is he annoying! Work, bar Hogan’s rough looking punches was fine, and the turn was the payoff from last night with Sid finally having enough of Hogan’s glory hunting and hogging of the limelight. The finish itself with one of the participants pinning his partner is right out of the Vince Russo playbook though, maybe someone knew he was due to start…

Each gets the better of a shoulder tackle, Sting with a leapfrog and a press slam. Whip to the corner and Flair just about manages his flip, but it looks like it’s in slow motion. Clothesline on the apron and Flair falls to the outside where he’s joined by Sting. Poke to the eyes, Flair then whips Sting into the guardrail but he no sells it and clotheslines the Naitch who takes a bump on the arena floor. Back inside and Sting with a hip toss and a dropkick. He goes for a running bodyblock, however Flair ducks out the way and he goes flying into the top rope. Kick to the groin low blow from the ‘dirtiest player in the game’. He backs Sting into the corner but his chops don’t have the desired effect. Sting continues to no sell Flair’s offense and a second press slam. Another eye poke (which seems to be the only move that works for the Naitch!), he heads up top, but of course Sting slams him to the canvas. A pair of clotheslines and here’s Lex Luger for the DQ. Sting runs roughshot over Team Package with more clotheslines and ‘Stinger splashes’ for both. Scorpion deathlock on Flair and apparently Charles Robinson never DQ’d Flair for outside interference as he’s asking him if he gives up (Little Naitch showing his bias early!). Luger pulls Robinson from the ring and now the bell rings, with no-one (including the commentators) any the wiser as to whether this was a DQ or Ric submitted. Team Package double team Sting after the match until Vampiro makes the save. Flair doesn’t half look like a chump in some of these TV matches. Far too much of his offense is no sold and the only things that seem to have any effect on his opponents are eye pokes and low blows. An easy five minute watch but no new ground is broken when it comes to these two. Not sure why Charles Robinson doesn’t DQ Flair when Luger interfered and the finish was unclear as to what went on.

Convict 00187 is wearing what looks like a gimp mask and he’s bought to the ring under armed guard in order to try and prevent another escape attempt. Match is for Necro’s Texas Hardcore title and the Butcher is wheeling a cart full of weapons out with him which he empties into the ring. The Convict jumps Necro and he’s got his wrists shackled together which should make for an interesting match if it’s going to stay that way. The two of them exchange slaps and forearns with neither man backing down. Necro with a stop sign to the head before placing it over The Convict’s groin and striking it with a baseball bat. As he goes to hit him with a computer monitor, Convict gets in first with a boot to the mid-section and uses some of Necro’s weapons against him. More weapon shots and Necro drops the shopping cart on his opponent. Ice Hockey stick to the groin and kendo stick up the ass as the commentator quips “don’t tell me The Convict isn’t used to that maneuver!” The Convict uses his shackles to choke the Butcher and then applies something that loosely resembles a cross armbar/triangle. Necro with a short powerbomb onto a chair to break the hold. He tosses The Convict to the outside and Marshall Law (the official who had bought him to ringside to make sure he doesn’t escape), then puts the boots to him and beats him with his baton. We’re informed that the Department of Corrections officer is only there to make sure The Convict doesn’t escape and couldn’t care less if he wins or loses. Necro throws him back inside, but when he goes to get back in himself he’s met with a pair of dropkicks and tumbles back to the arena floor. Missile dropkick off the middle turnbuckle to the outside! The Convict wears a trash can lid out over the Butcher’s head with Necro encouraging him on to do it again. Marshall accidentally gets nailed with the trash can by ‘his own man’, which again leads to him attacking The Convict. As the two of them are having words, Necro with a cannonball off the top to the floor, although with an awkward looking landing right on his neck. That one could’ve hurt for real by how slowly he’s moving after it. Pescado by The Convict and Marshall is now laying into Necro with his nightstick as the TV show goes off the air. A lot of this was pretty bad as they were just hitting each other with the weapons and that was it. Don’t know how much of that was down to the constraints of one man wrestling in shackles or not though? That missile dropkick was impressive mind! Liked the idea of Marshall Law as this rogue DOC who would attack the man that he’s in charge of looking after. Again, like the Biohazard match, they tried to get over the idea of Necro liking pain with him encouraging Convict to keep hitting him with the trash can lid, although it wasn’t emphasised as heavily here. Nasty looking bump off the cannonball right near the end.