[2000-11-18-FWA] Adam Flash & Danny Rose & Jake Daniels vs Don Montoya & Dino Divine & Mike Quackenbush (War Games)

[gordi]

There were a lot of things I liked about this. Mostly the extremely indy touches: Guys who don't own any actual ring gear, the one heel who actually showed some fire on the stick, goofy announcers tripping over their own tongues, only having three guys per side in a War Games match... I'm not trying to be funny. I like that stuff.

 

I really liked that they threw each other into the cage and got busted open, and booked it so that the good guys were at a a constant disadvantage.

 

What put me off, though, was the "Money Mark who is also a Huge Mark For Himself" booking: Quackenbush faces down impossible odds alone against the heels inside the cage, hits the huge high spot, and then, on the verge of death-from-exhaustion, is forced to face down the heel champion for his belt and yet SOMEHOW AMAZINGLY the dude in charge manages to overcome impossible circumstances yet again to triumph. FFS. I can imagine Jeff Jarrett at the peak of his Stone Cold Cosplay Fantasy Booking EgoMania period watching this and going, like "Dude... really???"

 

It was a bit much, in my opinion.

 

 

[Edwin]

This seems like it was blast live, but it came off really bad on video. I'm a huge fan of WarGames and had high expectations of this, but this was really bad. I don't mind the minimum details such as the cage not having a roof or it only be three on three. The eliminations felt really rushed once the Match Beyond started. I also don't get them going for eliminations before the Match Beyond began and the commentators saying there couldn't be any eliminations until the Match Beyond began. I thought Quack looked really bad. His kicks looked awful and the commentator continued trying to put them over as the stiffest strikes he's ever seen. His cage dives looked really bad. Namely the first one where Jake Daniels just popped up and no sold it. I guess the earlier periods where Flash and Dino actually used the cage and got a gusher from using it were the highlights, but aside from that, there wasn't really much else to like. Very disappointing.

[soup23]

Some pretty awful “intense” promos to set this up with Daniels calling Montoya a nappy headed scumbag. I have no idea what time FWA tv aired but you see the attitude effect in full force with the cursing that is rampant overall. First sequence of Devine and Flash was your basic War Games start but pretty decent stuff. Flash used the cage well and Devine gets color. Of course the heels gain the advantage so at least FWA didn’t get too cute here. The announcers do allude to this weird stip where after every two minute period, there is a coin toss so conceivably a team could have a 3-1 advantage. Quack is next out though and a house of fire sending Flash into the cage. Quack was my main point of interest just seeing him in this type of match and he did some stuff good but also looked lost and awkward at other points. The Match Beyond portion with the eliminations felt rushed as Montoya was the house of fire powerhouse for the faces and then is just eliminated with a whimper. Montoya then interferes and Quack pins Rose. It is now Daniels vs Quack and Daniels does deliver a nasty looking pyramid bomb to Quack. Instead of trying to win, Daniels decides it time to cut a promo. He makes this a title match. Daniels just straight no sells some of Quacks offense including a dive from the top of the cage which is a head scratcher. Quack takes the punishment and then makes another huge comeback this time getting a double stomp from the top of the cage and winning the title. Daniels is up almost immediately after the bell. Quack dedicates the match to his late grandfather. Some good thoughts but a lot of sludge and a real indie riffic version of War Games. **

[Tim Evans]

Thia was pretty bad. I feel ita kinda hard to screw up a match like wargames but they do it. Between the early pinfall attempts that the announcers bury then ignore and all the no selling between quack and Daniels. Flash and dino try early on but it turns into a mess. Also the announcers keep talking about Dan moreland and he doesnt even show up.

[GSR]

I haven’t watched anything for a couple of months now as I don’t have much in the way of motivation and have spent way too long on this project as it is.  As a result I’m going to give myself until the end of the year and then I’ll be putting a cap on things.  According to my spreadsheet I have 94 matches left to watch and I’ll see how many of those I actually get through; it may only be a handful, it may be all 94 (unlikely) but if I don’t set myself a limit this will never end.  Onto War Games~

Mike Quackenbush received a tape in the mail from Don Montoya, he thought it was this week’s episode of Dawson’s Creek that he’d missed, but it was in fact FWA TV and he got to see for himself what these goofs tried to do once again to Colleen.  Yup, that’s how these guys started their promos for War Games, with comedy and referencing Dawson’s Creek!  Things don’t get much better from there with Daniels calling Montoya a “nappy headed scumbag”, in fact Adam Flash’s simple “blood, blood, blood” line was probably the most effective of the lot.  Rules here are similar to the old ‘War Games’ in that one person from each team will start off in the cage, they will have five minutes and then every two minutes after that they’ll flip a coin in the locker room to determine the next competitor with pinfalls and submissions not counting until all six men are in the cage.  The commentators kind of imply that there will be a coin toss every two minutes so you may end up getting heel followed by a heel, although that isn’t really clarified.  Flash and Divine start out, the latter getting busted open within the opening couple of minutes after being thrown into the cage.  R.C. on commentary talks about there being “no give” in that cage, even though give is what you can clearly see!  These two are going for pinfalls and rather than advising that they’re not in operation until all six men are in the cage, the official proceeds to count them.  The commentators are still saying that the pinfalls won’t count and are at a bit of a loss as to why the wrestlers are making them.  This is pretty slow paced and we get another pinfall attempt.  Maybe they’ve changed the rules and just not informed the commentary team?  Dan Moreland is conspicuous with his absence and it’s speculated that maybe he’s controlling the coin toss in the back.  When Danny Rose arrives as the third person in the cage R.C. is convinced that Moreland is fixing things.  As the pinfall attempts continue we’re now told that when all six men have entered it will be elimination rules.  Talk about making it up as you go along!  At least with Moreland’s absence they do have a credible excuse and can put the blame on him.  Quack and Daniels are the next two entrants and the heels with a nice double team on Quack into the cage.  Colleen tries to rally the fans on the outside but they’re not really responding.  Montoya is out last, however he doesn’t even make it inside the cage as Daniels goes out to meet him on the floor.  Double powerbomb into the cage on Divine, Flash with a top rope rana and seconds after the Don’s arrival we get out first elimination.  As Montoya hadn’t physically entered the cage you could argue that the elimination shouldn’t have counted, although I’m the only one who seems to have picked up on that.  Montoya takes out Flash with a cradle piledriver (called the Karl Gotch special), but the Don soon falls victim to a double powerbomb as the eliminations come thick and fast.  With Quack now on his own, R.C. thinks this is “horrible” and it’s pretty weird seeing him cheer the faces as every other time we’ve seen him this year he’s been cheerleading for the heels.  As Daniels goes for a ‘Pyramid Bomb’ on Quack he’s nailed from behind by the returning Montoya.  Rose, who had climbed to the top turnbuckle and was jawing with the fans, was unaware of what’s gone on and Quack yanks his leg pulling him to the mat.  Palm strike, alligator clutch and we’re down to two.  Of course that wasn’t legal but who cares it seems?  After Daniels hits a ‘Pyramid Bomb’, instead of making the cover he exits the cage and grabs the microphone.  He tells Quack how he’s always wanted a shot at his title belt, well he can have it tonight.  I wonder how this is going to end up.  Quack immediately gets a second wind, like that was all he needed to hear, and the two start trading strikes.  DDT followed by a crappy looking splash from the top of the cage, but Daniels not only kicks out, he is back to his feet and no sells it.  Huh?  Three powerbombs by Daniels to Quack and ‘Lightning’ Mike kicks out, despite R.C. screaming “Jesus Christ, somebody stop it he’s killed him”.  He hadn’t.  Quack blocks a shot, STO, before heading back up to the top of the cage, this time coming off with what looked like a double foot stomp.  Alligator clutch pin and Quack wins.  Yet again, Daniels is right up, no selling, and in the face of the official berating his count.  Divine and Montoya return to the cage celebrating with Quack who has some words for those in attendance.

I wasn’t a fan of this at all, from the lame interviews to the rules that no-one seemed to fully understand, to the rules that changes as the match went along, to the quick eliminations, to the ridiculous no selling and to the predictable outcome the moment Daniels put his title belt on the line.  Rose and Flash did provide a bit of aggression, but there was no heat to this at all.  I was expecting Moreland to show at some point in the match and it was odd that he wasn’t out there accompanying ‘his’ team.  Some of Quack’s offense looked especially bad.