[2000-03-11-APW-5th Anniversary Show] Michael Modest vs Donovan Morgan

[soup23]

Mackenzie the Fun Girl is accompanying Morgan here. I may sound like a broken record with the APW stuff but there is just something about most of the competitors in that while I can see they are very good workers, a disconnect happens and I am not into the match much at all. The heat here felt all over the place a bit as to who was the heel and who was the face and there wasn’t much focus overall. Modest ends up picking up the victory with a DVD. **3/4

[Loss]

Modest really worked like a season pro at this point. I thought this was a borderline great match that suffered because they got a little too cute with some of the counters and reversals a couple of times, and because Morgan needs more ground offense. Modest's offense looked awesome and I thought he was a tremendous heel. One of my favorite things about the APW has consistently been the atmosphere, as it continues to remind me of a NWA Worldwide taping from 1986. I'm not sold on Donovan Morgan at all, but I thought Modest looked great and this was an effective carryjob. ***1/2

[Moonsault Marvin]

The crowd would boo one guy and then the other, and they both acted heelish at times. I didn't know who the face was, so the action seemed meaningless. The match didn't flow at all with the reversals seeming convoluted. The post match didn't make sense, as Morgan grabs and kisses the other girl while the girl in his corner didn't seem to care. Below average.

[Tim Evans]

These guys remind me of the OVW guys like Dinsmore and Conway. They are good to really good wrestlers but have very little charisma. Even with the women in both corners I couldn't get into this. It was long with moves and the story didn't make any sense. Modest had potential while Morgan looks like a white version of La Fiera without the great talent.

[Robert S]

Morgan was pretty bland here while Modest definitely was not. I wonder if this match could have been better with reversed roles - i.e. Morgan the guy playing heel incorporating shtick. Modest is a guy who should have had a much better career. He probably burned too many bridges in the early 2000s.

 

That clotheline that Morgan took looked pretty scary. Didn't Oro die doing that spot? (though in this case the landing definitely was not planned)

 

Typical Attitude era crowd here: "we want puppies", "catfight" etc.

[GSR]

Morgan is accompanied by some woman called McKenzie, whilst Modest has also got an entourage that includes a token female. The match hasn’t even begun and the crowd starts a “catfight, catfight” chant at the girls. Morgan gets the better of the opening grappling exchanges and as Modest is on the floor re-evaluating, we get a “we want puppies” chant! He makes out as if he’s heading back to the dressing room, but when Morgan calls him a “chicken” over the house mic, he does an about turn and returns to the ring. A cartwheel escape off a monkey flip by Modest and some super stiff knife edge chops. Morgan with the drop down after reversing an Irish whip, and Modest counters with a lovely pinfall attempt where he puts Morgan in a camel clutch, tucks his head and then rolls forward. As Morgan focuses his attention on Modest’s arm, there is a loud and prolonged “boring, boring” chant. That seems to affect him as he yells “you liked this before you bunch of marks!” Modest turns the tide and utilizes those cool looking arm whips into the canvas. Lariat to the back of the head, flipping Morgan over in the process. Whip to the turnbuckle and Modest distracts the official allowing his entourage to post Morgan. Awesome looking T-Bone suplex. Modest then tosses Morgan through the ropes and slams him on the gym floor. He gets back in the ring, however some sort of dive to the outside is completely missed because the cameraman would rather focus on McKenzie’s cleavage. A clothesline turns Morgan inside out, before again throwing him to the floor where one of his seconds can get in some more shots behind the referee’s back. Modest with a backdrop driver, although the camera work is appalling at this point. He misses a splash off the top as McKenzie tries to rally her man. Dropkick by Morgan and a Russian legsweep. Split legged moonsault gets a two and a Lionsault does the same. Modest does the Flair flip over the turnbuckles and onto the apron, but a Morgan back elbow sends him flying into his seconds. Somersault dive to the floor is actually caught by the camera this time! Back inside and Morgan with a side headlock. Modest shoots him off, shoulder tackle, drop down, however he then sidesteps Morgan and launches him over the top rope sending him crashing through a ringside table. That woke the crowd up! Modest rolls him back into the ring and a ‘Death Valley Driver’ for the win. Post-match Modest spits on Morgan and attacks the official. He goes to give Morgan a second ‘DVD’, but this time he escapes and hits a Michinoku Driver instead. Modest’s female slaps Morgan and his response is to kiss her??? He then hits a combination DDT/neckbreaker on Modest and one of his entourage before leaving with McKenzie and a couple of randoms who just showed up.

 

I struggled with this, and as much as I hate “boring, boring” chants, I can kinda understand why this match got them. I found Morgan to be seriously bland, much more so than Modest, and wondered if the purpose of the women and the seconds at ringside was a way to add a bit of personality and character to things? Just like the Daniels match I really enjoyed Modest’s work (the arm whips, the T-Bone, that camel clutch into a pin) and everything is so smooth with him, but this was a far tougher watch than that by some way. In regards to the face/heel dynamic, to me it was clear Morgan was the face and the only time he moved into heel mode was when he seemed legit pissed at the prolonged boring chant early in the match. Also that bump he took through the table at the end, he caught his back on the edge of the apron as he landed which couldn’t have been comfortable for him. Camera work was really bad at points through this missing key parts of the match.

[Edwin]

It's crazy to think these guys had been working together for 3-4 years before this took and had worked together all over the world for every major and indy company that comes to mind from WWF to NOAH to ROH to APW.

 

Poor camera work again, but I'm not sure that would have made that much of a difference.

 

Keep in mind these fans were just going nuts for the extensive highspots in the tag match between the Westside Playaz 2000 vs. Jardi Frantz and Vinny Massaro, so them chanting boring at Morgan's extensive arm work. I'm surprised they didn't pop more for Modest head drops as they seem like the type of thing that would've really popped this crowd. That table spot was pretty odd and unexpected.

 

This never kept me captivated and I myself lost interest for the most part. This also felt pretty long. Morgan calling the fans marks for chanting boring was pretty odd.

 

Despite this not captivating me, I thought those lariats from Modest and that bump he took in the corner during the Irish whip were nasty.

[TravJ1979]

Best Indy match of 2000 up to this date.  Not overdone with highspots and worked very well.  Camera work and crappy atmosphere brought it down.