[2001-01-26-ICW-The Revolution Continues] Da Baldies (Angel & DeVito) vs Balls Mahoney & Chris Candido / Chris Candido vs Kid Kash

[GSR]

Da Baldies (Angel & DeVito) vs Balls Mahoney & Chris Candido

Candido is introduced by Balls as his mystery partner. Tammy Sytch is also there, dancing in the audience at first before coming down to ringside; she’s covered up way more than you would expect for her in 2001, like she’s going to spend the day at home lounging in front of the TV. Balls catches DeVito with a lovely arm drag and then we get some crowd participation as they chant “Balls” while he jabs away at ‘Da Baldies’. DeVito nails him from behind before he can make the tag and a combination kick to the mid-section/kick to the head. Candido looks pretty disinterested on the outside, paying more attention to Tammy than the match. Even though she didn’t, the commentator mentions how Tammy tried to grab Balls’ ankle as he hit the ropes. Hmmm, I smell a rat… Accidental clash of heads and both men go down. Balls ducks the double clothesline and takes down ‘Da Baldies’ with one of his own. He goes over to his corner but Candido’s not interested at all, gesturing at Balls to carry on with what he’s doing. Balls persuades him in the end, the pair of them both pick up a steel chair but Candido turns on his partner, cracking him over the head with that chair. ‘Da Baldies’ make the cover together, and two and a half minutes after it started, it’s over. The three of them triple team Balls after the match (complete with some terribly pulled Candido punches), until Kid Kash runs out for the save. He clears the ring of ‘Da Baldies’ and, as he and Candido trade punches, the ref signals for the bell to signify the start of this impromptu match.

 

Chris Candido vs Kid Kash

‘Bawitdaba’ is playing and not stopping despite the match being in progress. Candido rolls to the outside after a dropkick and Kash nails him with a pescado. He’s able to reverse the whip on the floor though and Kash goes crashing into the guard rail. Not satisfied by giving away the turn in the previous match, as Candido climbs the turnbuckles the commentator says how he hasn’t seen him do a top rope move (to the floor) in five years. Naturally then he doesn’t here either, as Kash is back to his feet before Candido has the chance to fly and crotches him on the top turnbuckle. Kash slips off the ropes when attempting the top rope frankensteiner, but ‘Bawitdaba’ is still playing so any chants of “You f*cked up!” are drowned out. He hits it the second time of trying. Kash runs into a big boot before being dropped with a lariat right at the time ‘Bawitdaba’ finally stops. Good job as this was starting to resemble a New Jack match, minus all the weapons and garbage! The Equalizer (not Dave Sullivan), having arrived from God knows where, attacks the referee, stripping him of his shirt and putting it on himself. Great, we have a self-appointed heel ref now! An impressive one armed delayed vertical suplex by Candido which has been the highlight of all this so far. Lateral press but the Equalizer screws up the fast count, counting three even though this wasn’t the finish and Kash kicked out at two! The match continues and Candido and the Equalizer are now working together. Double boot to the gut, double suplex, but again Kash kicks out of the fast count. ‘Suicideplex’ followed by a diving headbutt. Instead of going for the cover he heads back upstairs for another diving headbutt, only for Kash to this time move out the way. With Kash looking like he’s gained the upper hand, he’s jumped by the returning ‘Baldies’ as the commentator says “this is ridiculous!” Never has a truer word been spoken. Balls repays the favour from earlier, cleaning house including a superkick to DeVito that is about a foot short from connecting but is sold anyway. ‘Nutcracker Suite’ on Candido. Kash then twice screws up the tornado DDT, getting the “You f*cked up!” chants this time, before hitting a regular one. The Equalizer is still laid out so Balls grabs his hand and slaps it three times to the mat to count the fall. ‘Da Baldies’ take their frustrations out on security, obliterating them with chair shots, whilst Balls gets a bit of revenge on Candido. Tammy slaps the Equalizer a couple of times, blaming him for what’s just happened to Chris. He and Candido then go at it, Tammy with a low blow on the Equalizer and he’s had enough as this train wreck is finally over.

 

One giant mess from start to finish.

[Migs]

Give it to ICW - the production is at least good enough that you can hear the promo, beating most of the indies we've seen on this project.

 

Tammy legit is dressed like she's going to walk the dog.

 

Candido turning on Balls is really poorly disguised. At least it keeps Da Baldies match short. Kash comes in and it leads to an impromptu match, as we're not just using ECW talent but booking tropes as well. The energy is good, but this is sloppy. The Equalizer comes in and makes himself the ref while also turning this into a handicap match - this is pointlessly convoluted, especially since none of these guys would even be on the next show. And more run-ins! The Nutcracker Suite from Balls looks pretty great, though.

 

Not worth the time.

[soup23]

Back in Black is such a generic theme I didn’t know who it was until I saw Tammy dancing. At first with how lowly Tammy looked, I figured she just made trip with Chris but she was so involved I assume she got paid as well. In which case her presentation was awful. The match was a mess and leading to Candidos turn and the Kash interjecting himself. This is about the show as a whole but ICW really tries to be ECW lite and fails horribly. Add to that the racist commentary from Big Dick Dudley and this show overall has some interesting matches on paper but was extremely disappointing in execution. *1/2