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I've asked a few people this, but nobody seems to know anything about it. A story from JC Ice in his shoot about him purposely doing a lot of headlocks in his match because he was pissed off. When the fans started shitting on it, he gets on the mic and tells them that their promoter is a goof because he fined Jamie and Bobby Eaton. Anyone know if this actually happened?

Sounds like a different IWA?

 

No, something along those lines happened.
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I've asked a few people this, but nobody seems to know anything about it. A story from JC Ice in his shoot about him purposely doing a lot of headlocks in his match because he was pissed off. When the fans started shitting on it, he gets on the mic and tells them that their promoter is a goof because he fined Jamie and Bobby Eaton. Anyone know if this actually happened?

This was definitely in IWA-MS. It may be the same night as the Smothers "riot" or around that time. Jamie is working the headlock and jawing with the fans. The fans keep getting pissed off until Jamie is the biggest heel in the copany and at the end of the match, he just looks in the camera and says that is what he calls working. Fuck, I need to rewatch it but it may have been Tracy Smothers who said that to the camera. Shit, anyone who has my Tracy Smothers set should be able to watch it.

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I'd pay good money for an IWA comp. One of those promotions I never took enough notice of when it was churning out great stuff, most of us were to caught up in ROH and then PWG and even Chikara around that period to see more than the really pimped stuff (e.g. Joe/Necro).

It was pretty big among the DVDVR circle for a while, on par with ROH in terms of buzz/talk. Hard to imagine given how things are now but individual shows (not just the promotion itself) used to spawn multiple page threads.

 

Anyways, here's a partial list of the best IWA MS stuff i've seen

 

08/11/2001 (Elimination Match) 2 Cold Scorpio, Suicide Kid, Cabana & Ian Rotten vs Punk, Hero, Ace Steel & Danny Dominion

11/21/2001 Chris Hero vs Tracey Smothers

11/22/2001 (30 Min Iron Man) CM Punk vs Colt Cabana

 

02/08/2002 CM Punk vs Chris Hero

02/09/2002 (TLC Match) Chris Hero vs CM Punk

11/02/2002 CM Punk vs Chris Hero

12/21/2002 CM Punk vs Chris Hero

 

08/01/2003 (KOTDM) Toby Klein vs Necro Butcher

 

04/10/2004 AJ Styles vs Matt Sydal

06/25/2004 (FBTW) Necro Butcher vs Toby Klein

09/15/2004 AJ Styles vs Matt Sydal

10/21/2004 Danny Daniels vs Chris Candido

09/18/2004 Rain vs MsChif vs Knuckles vs Haze vs Lacey vs Martinez

 

02/12/2005 MsChif vs Sara Del Ray vs Knuckles vs Haze vs Melissa vs Ariel

06/11/2005 Samoa Joe vs Necro Butcher

06/17/2005 Danny Daniels vs Jimmy Jacobs

07/02/2005 (3 Way Wargames) Chris Hero, Corporal Robinson, Bull Pain, Ian & Axl Rotten vs Tank, Eric Priest, Chandler McClure, Sal & Vito Thomaselli vs Eddie Kingston, BJ Whitmer, Mark Wolf, Steve Stone & JC Bailey

08/19/2005 (Strap Match) Rain vs Mickie Knuckles

08/19/2005 Chris Hero vs Arik Cannon

09/09/2005 (I Quit, Respect Match) Arik Cannon vs Chris Hero

09/24/2005 Chris Hero vs Arik Cannon

10/15/2005 (Iron Man Tables Match) Josh Abercrombie vs Tyler Black

12/16/2005 New Jack vs Jimmy Jacobs

12/16/2005 (No Rope Barbed Wire) Necro Butcher & Toby Klein vs Deranged & Brain Damage

12/17/2005 (Elimination Street Fight) Ian Rotten, New Jack, Nate Webb, Necro Butcher & Corporal Robinson vs Eddie Kingston, Josh Abercrombie, Brandon Thomaselli, Sal Thomaselli & Vito Thomaselli

12/30/2005 Necro Butcher vs Eddie Kingston

12/30/2005 (Elimination Match) Josh, Vito & Brandon vs Matt Sydal, Tyler Black & Marek Brave

 

01/12/2006 Necro Butcher vs Samoa Joe

01/20/2006 (6 Team Scramble) Lotus & Crazy J vs Tyler Black & Marek Brave vs Chris Hero & Claudio Claudio Castagnoli vs Necro Butcher & Toby Klein vs Deranged & Brain Damage vs Josh Abercrombie & Brandon Thomaselli

01/21/2006 (NO DQ, Falls Count Anywhere) Jimmy Jacobs vs Arik Cannon

02/08/2006 Necro Butcher vs Toby Klein

02/08/2006 Tracey Smothers vs Chris Hero

03/17/2006 (4 Corners of Pain) Mean Mitch Page vs Corpral Robinson

03/18/2006 (Barbed Wire Taipei Death Match) Ian & Pondo vs Iron Saints

03/24/2006 Low Ki vs Tyler Black

03/24/2006 Necro Butcher vs Roderick Strong

04/01/2006 (9 Man TLC) Marek Brave vs Tyler Black vs Trik Davis vs Billy Roc vs Lotus vs Chuck Taylor vs Ricochet vs Crazy J vs Darin Corbin

04/01/2006 Low Ki vs Necro Butcher

05/18/2006 Sabu vs Mad Man Pondo

05/19/2006 (Elimination Match) Brandon, Vito & Sal Thomaselli vs Ricochet, Chuck Taylor & Marek Brave

06/02/2006 (FBTW) Brain Damage vs Deranged

06/03/2006 (FBTW) Ian Rotten vs Mickie Knuckles

06/17/2006 (Falls Count Anywhere) Mickie Knuckles vs Ian Rotten

07/14/2006 (No Rope Barbed Wire) Brain Damage vs Deranged

08/02/2006 (Street Fight) Brain Damage vs Bull Pain

08/11/2006 Low Ki vs 2 Cold Scorpio

08/12/2006 (Street Fight) Bull Pain vs Toby Klein

09/29/2006 Low Ki vs Gran Akuma

09/30/2006 Davey Richards vs Low Ki

09/30/2006 El Generico vs Low Ki

09/30/2006 Low Ki vs Rodrick Strong vs Arik Cannon

09/30/2006 Mike Quackenbush vs Claudio Castagnoli

11/03/2006 (Barb Wire Boards) Mayumi Ozaki vs Sumie Sakai

11/03/2006 (Light Tube Log Cabin Match) Mayumi Ozaki vs Sexxxy Eddy

11/03/2006 (Electrified Light Tubes Barb Wire Weapons Cage Match) Mayumi Ozaki vs Mickie Knuckles

12/16/2006 (Knockout or Tapout) Necro Butcher vs Low Ki

 

01/05/2007 (Finishers Match) Drake Younger vs CJ Otis

01/05/2007 Low Ki vs Roderick Strong

02/09/2007 ($2500 Bounty Match) Jimmy Jacobs vs Colt Cabana

02/09/2007 Low Ki vs Drake Younger

02/09/2007 Chuck Taylor vs Davey Richards

02/23/2007 (Special Ref Sherri Martel) Steve Corino vs Mickie Knuckles

03/31/2007 (Chicago Street Fight) Low Ki vs Chuck Taylor

03/31/2007 Ricochet vs Ian Rotten

04/06/2007 (Barbed Wire Cage) Ian Rotten vs Drake Younger

04/06/2007 (Texas Tornado Match) Vortekz & Diehard vs Hillbilly Jed & Indiana Kidd Jr vs Ash & Michael Elgin

04/06/2007 ($5000 Bounty Match) The Barbarian vs Jimmy Jacobs

04/06/2007 Chuck Taylor vs Z-Barr

04/06/2007 Chuck Taylor vs Tracey Smothers

04/22/2007 Low Ki vs Hernandez

04/22/2007 (Hardcore Match) Ian Rotten & Drake Younger vs Vortekz & Diehard vs Hugh Rogue & Chuey vs Children of Pain

04/22/2007 (Hardcore Match) Necro Butcher vs Masada

04/28/2007 (Barbed Wire Mayhem) Drake Younger vs CJ Otis

06/30/2007 Chris Hero Claudio Castagnoli Cheech & Cloudy vs Ruckus Sabian Ricky Reyes & B-Boy

06/30/2007 Hernandez vs Drake Younger

06/30/2007 Homicide & Low Ki vs Necro Butcher & Toby Klein

10/27/2007 (No Rope Barbed Wire Electrified Light Bulbs FBTW) Mickie Knuckles vs Lufisto

 

05/04/2008 Sara Del Rey vs Mickie Knuckles

06/20/2008 Sara Del Rey vs Mickie Knuckles

06/21/2008 (4 Corners Of Pain) CJ Otis vs Insane Lane

06/21/2008 (FBTW) Diehard Dustin Lee vs Mad Man Pondo

06/21/2008 (Barefoot Thumbtacks, Bottle Caps & Broken Glass) Scotty Vortekz vs Danny Havoc

06/21/2008 (Cinder Block Death Match) Insane Lane vs Deranged vs Danny Havoc

06/21/2008 (200 Light Tubes, No Rope Bared Wire, Scaffold Match) Devon Moore vs Danny Havoc

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I'll see if I can start going through listings over the weekend. Off the top of my head...

 

I'd say no to the 8/11/01 elimination tag. Everything that can go wrong does go wrong. For starters, Suicide Kid suffers a career ending shoulder injury, Scorpio isn't as motivated as you'd expect and knocks Hero silly with a shoot soccer kick breaking up a pin, the finish is changed during the match for no apparent reason so it becomes a clusterfuck, and...I feel like I'm forgetting stuff. Plus it's 50 minutes of this.

 

The Ian vs Hero vs Cash Flo match that's reviewed in a DVDVR is really good and I'd include it over the elim tag. Hero and Flo went an hour around that time but I've never seen it.

 

The Punk gauntlet match (vs Hero, Ace, and Cabana) the night before the Hero TLC match is something I remember liking a lot.

 

There's a lot of great stuff on random shows shot by IWA on a single camera, including an oddly great Ian vs Corp "Whatever Me and Steve Feel Like Doing Match" (that's what it was called) where they do Muga style matwork for 20 minutes and then do their usual brawling for the finishing stretch. Corp is a guy who I could see looking really good on a yearbook since he was fantastic when given a chance and not stuck with crappy death match opponents. Ditto Mitch Page to a lesser extent.

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This could take a while and require copious examination of matchlists since they often ran weekly during the best period (late '01-fall '03, though there's plenty of great stuff later like Necro vs Joe).

Thinking about this, they hit their 500th show in 2008, ran reg until 09 and then on & off since then until atleast late 2011 (don't know if there's been any shows this year) so prob 6-700 shows totall of which atleast 90% have to have been released on tape so yeah you'd have to be insane to try and tackle all of it.

 

The Punk gauntlet match (vs Hero, Ace, and Cabana) the night before the Hero TLC match is something I remember liking a lot.

Don't think i've ever seen the full thing, I got the Hero match as part of that Hero vs Punk comp someone put out around the time of their 90 min match.

 

Corp is a guy who I could see looking really good on a yearbook since he was fantastic when given a chance and not stuck with crappy death match opponents. Ditto Mitch Page to a lesser extent.

Couldn't think of too many specific ones to add to my list but I recall liking a lot of the Page vs Corp feud over the years.

 

Another one I liked that I didn't add was the Punk vs Delerious 60 min draw from shortly before Punk went to WWE. Lots of comedy & hijinks mixed in with the wrestling but it was fun for what it was.

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Hero v Rotten from some show in 2002 is really good. Kind of Benoit/Finlay-ish but sloppier (with stiffness, still). I remember Hero taping his own leg together; he bent his knee and wrapped tape around his thigh and shin or something. I'm pretty sure you can buy the match on ClickWrestle for a buck. I tried once but something fucked up (translation- I'm pretty shitty with computers).

 

Not long before megaupload shut down I managed to find dozens of IWA-MS on some sites. Might watch them pretty soon.

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Not long before megaupload shut down I managed to find dozens of IWA-MS on some sites. Might watch them pretty soon.

Shit, that reminds me i've got like 40 unwatched IWA shows sitting on an old HD including the one from 2001 with the topless stripper bubble bath match.....I should really get to those :)

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- BJ Whitmer vs Jimmy Jacobs - April Bloodshowers 2008

- Mike Quackenbush vs Claudio Castagnoli - TPI 2006 Night 2

- Arik Cannon vs Roderick Strong vs Low Ki - TPI 2006 Night 2

- Low Ki vs Davey Richards - TPI 2006 Night 2

- Bryan Danielson vs Samoa Joe vs AJ Styles - TPI 2004 Night 2

- Bryan Danielson vs Chris Hero - TPI 2005 Night 2

- Bryan Danielson vs Chris Hero - A Phenomenal Invasion

 

Can add dates if needed.

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Haven't seen any of this but here's some random stuff that looks good or atleast interesting on some early shows I saw listings for on SMV

 

IWA MS Eddie Gilbert Memorial Show 3/13/97

Ricky Morton vs. Tommy Rich

Debbie Combs vs. Luna Vachon

American Kickboxer vs. Tarek the Great

Tommy Gilbert vs. Dory Funk, Jr.

Chain Match: Terry Funk vs. Doug Gilbert

 

IWA MS 4/3/97

Ian Rotten vs. Tarek the Great

Ian Rotten vs. Bull Pain

 

IWA MS 5/8/97

Wolfie D vs. Ricky Morton

Bull Pain vs. Ian Rotten

Jamie Dundee & Doug Gilbert vs. Mad Man Pondo & Ox Harley

 

IWA MS 7/19/97

Debbie Combs Vs. Robbie Rage

Lady Vendetta Vs. Candi Devine - Thumbtack Death Match

Buddy Landel Vs. Tommy Gilbert

Ian Rotten Vs. Bull Pain - Barbed Wire Cage Match

 

IWA MS Eddie Gilbert Memorial Show 2/21/98

American Kickboxer vs. Suicide Kid vs. Tarek the Great

Buddy Landel vs. Tommy Gilbert

Doug Gilbert & Dutch Mantel vs. "The Beast" Dan Severn & Terry Gordy - Guest Referee is Buddy Landel

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IWA MS Eddie Gilbert Memorial Show 2/21/98

American Kickboxer vs. Suicide Kid vs. Tarek the Great

Buddy Landel vs. Tommy Gilbert

Doug Gilbert & Dutch Mantel vs. "The Beast" Dan Severn & Terry Gordy - Guest Referee is Buddy Landel

I was at this show. I remember the three-way being pretty insane at the time.

 

Also, the Schneider Comps have quite a bit of stuff on them from IWA MS around 01-02 or so. Don't know if all of that stuff is in the list above.

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I started watching IWA-Mid South in the spring of 04 & loved it. I was never a big ROH fan but IWA-MS was right up my alley.

 

It kind of reminded me of ECW @ it's best in that it had something for everyone but @ the same time the announcing was totally off the wall which I loved.

 

off the top of my head I would go w/

 

Chris Hero vs Bryan Danielson from Hero meets Dragon

 

Nigel McGuinness vs Delirious from April Bloodshowers 04

 

Chris Hero vs CM Punk from One more Time 04

 

CM Punk, Ace Steel, Danny Daniels & Matt Sydal vs Chris Candido, Claudio Castagnoli, Nigel McGuinness & Steve Stone from Rev Strong Style 04

 

I enjoyed the entire Rev Strong Stlye card as well as the bulk of the Nigel, Chad & Hero matches from that peroid so I may not be a reliable source. Granted I haven't seen any of it in about 5 years so who knows if it holds up.

 

Plus all of the already mention matches & cards

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  • 1 year later...

Oh Loss, You have spoken to my wheelhouse on this one. IWA-MS is my absolute favorite indy and at its best was a perfect fusion of the indy scene of the 2000's and the old territorial system. I also think IWA-MS gets kind of shafted by the fact that the time they had the most noteriatity (2004-2006) while full of great stuff also is the most indy dream match as the promotion got. I have seen limited stuff from 1997-2001 and then nearly all the shows from 2002-2004. I will C&P below what I wrote in the 2002 match recommendations thread for the yearbook:

 

IWA-MS: I would include Tarek/Ian from 10/4/02 and Hero/Ian from a show in May. I would also include the Tracy Smothers riot from No Blood No guts No Glory. After that it gets more selective. The Eddy IWA-MS matches are good but nothing extraordinary. The 4 way match from night 2 of the TPI would be a good comparison to the Scramble Madness match in ROH from around the same time. Hero/Punk had 3 matches that all have merits (the 55 minute tables, the TPI match, and the 60 min draw). Of those three I actually like the TPI match the best but would probably include the T,L,C match first for historical purposes.

 

Other fun stuff you might want to include:

Tracy/Bull 6th anniversary

Mdogg/Hero 6th anniversary

Drunken Death Match

Ian/Mark Wolf vs. Ryder/Corp Robinson Bloodfeast

Riot from Bloodfeast

Ian/Bull I quit from Christmas Carnage

 

2002 IWA-MS was an interesting year where they still was a lot of shit, a lot of death matches, and more "workrate" style matches that really set the stage for the "peak" of IWA-MS that most people remember from 2003-2006 of great wrestling, bizarre match ups, new talent uprising, a token death match, and a true territory promotion feel.

 

2003 is my personal favorite year and they were running weekly in Clarksville.

 

show 300: Ian vs. Bull Pain cage match, Mark Wolf vs. Adam Gooch, Cm PUNK vs. Ace Steel vs. Vic Capri

301 Show: Mark Wolf & KO vs Michael Todd Stratton & Adam Gooch, Chris Hero vs J.C. Bailey

Punk vs. Hero 93 minute match ( I actually watched this a few months ago and thought it held up surprisingly well)

There are a couple of Ian vs. Bull tags with various partners from around the first few months of 2003 but none of them ring a bell

Michael Todd Stratton vs. Chris Hero 2/8/03

Styles Clash Weekend:

Bull Pain vs. Corporal Robinson

CM Punk vs. Jimmy Rave

AJ Styles vs. Ace Steel

Ian Rotten vs. Michael Todd Stratton

Jc Bailey vs. Corporal Robinson ( Circus Death Match, not a good match but clips for a compilation would be appropriate due to the insanity of the bumps)

Mark Wolf vs. Mitch Ryder Simply the Best 4

Mark Wolf vs. Mitch Ryder I quit 3/14

Ian Rotten & Mark Wolf vs. Michael Todd Stratton & Mitch Ryder and CM Punk & Ace Steel vs. Chris Hero & BJ Whitmer 3/21

Michael Stratton vs. Ian Rotten I quit, Jimmy Jacobs vs. Alex Shelley 2/3 falls, mark Wolf vs. Mitch Ryder throw in the towel 3/28 Quote the Raven

Jimmy jacobs vs. Alex Shelley hair vs. boot hair, Michael Todd Stratton vs. Ian taped fist April bloodshowers 2003

Ian Rotten vs. Jimmy Jacobs An IWA Freak A Thon 2003

Chris Hero vs. Danny Daniels IWA- Wanted Dead or Alive 5/17

Michael Todd Stratton vs. JC Bailey, BJ whitmer vs. Stan Dupp, Chris Hero vs. Ace Steel, CM Punk vs. Chris Hamrick 5/24 Spirit of 76

Chris Hero vs. Mark Wolf When Good Friends go bad

Mark Wolf vs. Jimmy jacobs 6/14

Chris Hero vs. Mark Wolf 6/21

Chris Hero vs. Tracy Smothers, CM Punk vs. BJ Whitmer 6/27 Strong Style Tournament

Chris Hero & Alex Shelley b Danny Daniels & Jimmy Jacobs, Double C & Ares b Chris Hero & Mark Wolf, Chris Hero vs. Alex Shelley 7/4 We are Family

Chris Hero vs. Danny Daniels 7/12

Chris Hero vs. Mean Mitch Page 7/19

Necro Butcher vs. Toby Klein, Chris hero vs. Homicide, Jc Bailey vs. Necro Butcher, Ian Rotten vs. Balls Mahoney, Jc Bailey vs. Ian Rotten, Chris Hero vs. Danny Daniels KOTD 8/1-8/2

Danny Daniels vs. Jimmy Jacobs 10/2

Ian Rotten vs. JC Bailey 10/24

Alex Shelley vs. Ian Rotten, Chris Hero vs. BBoy Ted Petty 11/1-2

Chris Hero vs. Alex Shelley, Ian vs. JC Bailey Cage Match Anniversary shows

Chris Hero vs. Steve Stone 11/22

Danny Daniels vs. Chris Hero 11/27

Chris Hero vs. B Boy 12-20

 

This is a real exhaustive list and I would rate every match I listed as at least good a couple of years ago when I watched it. This is also leaving out stuff that was important to the promotion like some Nate Webb and Colt Cabana matches. There is also some pretty good early Aries and Nigel in 2003. This list definitely could be narrowed down to essential stuff for a yearbook, but 2003 IWA-MS is really great.

Hey, just bumping this to see if you'd be willing to help narrow this down to the essentials. I'm working on the 2000-2004 yearbooks all at the same time right now. Anything to avoid jumping into WWE TV ... :)

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Sure thing:

 

Like I said in that post I am hazy on 2000-2001 so I cant be of any help there. I do agree with Bix that I was not fond of the 8/11/01 elimination tag and did enjoy the Cash Flo 3 way match.

 

Must have for yearbook in 2002:

Hero vs. Punk 2/9/02 - 2nd Anniversary House of Hardcore

Hero vs. Rotten 5/4/02 - I dont think this show has a name but was in Dayton

Tracy Smothers starting a riot after the Mitch Page & Rollin Hard and Mark Wolf & Bobby Eaton 6/15/02 - No Bloods, No Guts, NO glory 2002

Ian Rotten vs. Tarek the Great 10/4/02 - IWA Retro Night

Drunken Death Match Corporal Robinson vs. Necro Butcher 11/1/02 - TPI Night 1

CM Punk vs. Chris Hero TPI Night 2 11/2/02 - TPI Night 2

Ian Rotten & Mark Wolf vs Bull Pain & Mitch Ryder 11/28/02 - Wrestlefeast

 

I think that is the upper tier stuff that should make the yearbook at a bare minimum. Unfortunately, I also see 2002 as a year with a ton of edits because there is a lot of US indy stuff showcased as CZW was still pretty relevent. ROH had stuff on almost every show that could be in contention for yearbook, and you had upstarts like Chikara that I would at least have one match on the yearbook to showcase their beginning pop up days. JAPW and ECWA was also still churning out some good stuff like the 6/8/02 Danielson vs. Low Ki match.

 

If you wanted to expand on 2002 IWA-MS here are the matches I would go with with the first one being the first I would put on the set.

 

Chris Hero vs. CM Punk 12/21/02 - one hour draw and single cam with no commentary but a match I like a good bit

Brawl to end the Bloodfeast show immediately following the conclusion of Necro Butcher & ODD vs. Mad Man Pondo & Rollin Hard on 11/28/02 - essentially Ian and Bull Pain come through the dry wall of the locker room and they have a 30 min sprawling brawl and cut promos on each other. Still really good even though it felt like they were trying to recapture the magic of the Smothers riot.

Bull Pain vs. Ian Rotten 12/28/02

Tracy Smothers vs. Bull Pain 10/5/02 - 6th anniversary show

M Dogg 20 vs. Chris Hero 10/5/02 - 6th anniversary show

A.J. Styles vs M-Dogg 20 vs Super Dragon vs Matt Stryker 11/2/02 - TPI night 2

Eddie Guerrero vs. CM Punk vs. Rey Mysterio 3/1/02 - Spring Heat

 

I do think some of this stuff belongs on but I realize it becomes an editing game and that is where something like PUnk vs. Hero from 12/21 could fall by the wayside to include three matches in its place.

 

The if you have room for it or something that really interests you pile includes:

CM PUnk Gauntlet 2/8/02

MDOGG 20 Guantlet 10/28/02

BJ Whitmer vs. CM Punk 11/2/02 - TPI Night 2

BJ whitmer vs. CM Punk vs. Chris Hero 10/4/02 - IWA Retro Night

Necro vs. Mitch Page 7/13/02 - KOTDM Night 2

Guerrero vs. Punk 3/2/02 - Morris Mayhem

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2003 Essential stuff:

Ian vs. Bull 1/24/03 - Show 300

Punk vs. Hero 2/7/03 - When Hero Met PUnk, Yes it is 93 minutes but i do think it should be included as full because it is one of the matches that transfixed the indy landscape of 2001-2006

Hero vs. Stratton 2/8/03

Jimmy Jacobs vs. Alex Shelley Hair vs. Boot hair 4/18/03 - April Bloodshowers

Ian vs. Stratton Taped Fist 4/18/03- APril Bloodshowers

Hero vs. Ace Steel 5/24/03 - Spirit of 76

Stan Dupp vs. BJ Whitmer 5/24/03 - Spirit of 76

Wolf vs. Hero 6/7/03 - I really liked this match and think Hero's reign was really good throughout with a variety of oppoents - When Good Friends Go Bad

Hero vs. Smothers 6/27/03 - Revolution strong Style Tournament 2003

Necro vs. Toby Klein 8/1/03 - KOTDM Night 1

Ian Rotten vs. JC Bailey 8/2/03- KOTDM Night 2

Ian vs. JC Bailey 10/24/03 - Anything Goes

Hero vs. B Boy 11/8/03 - TPI Night 2

Hero vs. Daniels 11/27/03 - Wrestlefeast

Hero vs. B Boy 12/20/03 - Stylin and Profilyn

 

I would really include a few more gems though from the stuff I listed in my original post though because I think 2003 IWA-MS is vastly superior to ROH and felt like a true territory with Hero being the guy vs. a variety of opponents. It also really felt like a breeding ground for stars in the business today as once Hero vs. Punk was elevated to the top, it was replaced by Jacobs vs. Shelley. Once they became established they brought it Delirous and Sydal.

 

Going through all this stuff has made me really want to plow through all the IWA-MS stuff Waco style as there is so much interesting shit even on those early 2002 shows with Road Dogg and Candido in interesting matches.

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I'm finding myself agreeing with soup but I'd argue for Punk vs Hamrick as a must-have, especially with the promos earlier in the show that set up the shenanigans surrounding it and a clip of the TNA match where Punk was injured 3 days earlier since that plays into it.

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Absolutely add this -

 

The Necro Butcher v. Toby Klein (IWA-MS King of the Death Match 6/25/04)

Sweet holy motherfucking sweet fucking fucking sweet holy SHIT. This was incredible. I will cop to not seeing very many death matches, but if I ever see one of the US that comes close to this I will be surprised. Necro isn’t your normal death match wrestler; instead of just hurling shit at people’s faces for the sake of spectacle (or for the sake of hurling shit at people’s faces), he’ll hurl shit at people’s faces because he needs a break from having similar shit hurled in his face. He works from underneath. How often do you see a wrestler throw a set of light tubes at another wrestler’s face and call it a fucking hope spot? None? Probably none. Well Necro can be added to the list of ‘probably none’, so, I guess, that list now becomes ‘probably one’. Necro takes a fucking ass whooping. He eats a powerbomb off of the fucking bleacher onto a barely-padded concrete floor, and I say ‘barely padded’ as in ‘legitimately may as well have had no padding’ and not ‘those shitty indy mats’ – this was much thinner than a shitty indy mat. He has chairs thrown directly at his head, one of which Klein just shot-puts and pretty much misses, so the leg of the chair missiles into Necro face fucking face. He gets his face shredded with a rolling pin with thumbtacks attached to it (the fuck came UP with that!?). He gets SALT POURED ONTO HIS OPEN FUCKING WOUNDS. He sells his stomach when hit, and then moves his fucking arms out of the way so Klein can get a clear shot at him. Who fucking does that!? He takes shit directly to the head without even moving his arms the slightest bit up. He even fucks himself on his own moves; he almost misses a senton from the top of the turnbuckle to the floor and lands on that shitty barely-padded concrete. Do you know how times I uttered ‘Fucking HELL’ aloud is this match!? I’m not kidding. I legitimately, with all honesty in soul, was babbling like a mental patient watching this. ‘Fucking HELL’ ‘WHAT THE FUCK!?’ ‘Holy FUCK” ‘FUCKING HELL!!!’ I literally held my head from cringing on some of this shit. At some points I was also smiling like a mental patient, as well. At one point Necro throws one of the greatest FUCKING punches I’ve ever seen and one of the greatest FUCKING stomps I’ve ever seen, while trying to battle from underneath. Turns out practically everything he does looks that good. I don’t think I’m exaggerating when I say he looked like a top 10 punch of all time in this. They were incredible. This was incredible. Someone trying to fight an uphill battle is the best possible thing to do in a death match. It really makes the weapons feel worthwhile; not just props to get a shock reaction. Necro’s amazing ass punches and headbutts and stumbling around like a blind man who got stuck being twirled around in a revolver door and desperation chair shots and light tubes and wholllly shit. This didn't have the fully pro-face crowd that the 2003 Rotten/Hero v. Stratton stuff did, but it clearly felt like a babyface trying to outfight a heel. The ‘Necro’ chants WERE pretty clear, and I remember Klein trying to shut them up and then smiling when one random dude chanted ‘Klein’, so there’s that. Necro even uses a sleeper that he quickly turns into a spike to the throat. That becomes a pretty big spot, where Klein tries to hurl light tubes at Necro’s skull and the ref gets wiped a couple of times. But Necro won’t fucking let go. The ending death valley driver on a chair looked goddamn brutal. That chair did not fucking budge. I’m sitting here trying to remember more about this because there was stuff I think I actually forgot. This was incredible.

 

Maybe I just got caught up in it, but I think it might be a top five match of 2004.

 

 

I think I'd add Matt Sydal v. Austin Aries from 6/11/04 ("One More Time"), too. It felt like a really good WWE TV match in an indy ring, with Aries heeling on Sydal's broken arm, and Sydal working upwards. Joe/Hero 5/28/04 should probably be added because it's a first-time-meeting 'Dream Match', as well (it's also a good match).

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