[2000-11-25-EWF] Ric Blade vs Nicky Benz

[soup23]

Nicky Benz is Nick Berk. Ric Blade continues to be a chore to get through almost all of his matches. Here he hits a lot of stuff cleanly so that is an improvement but some of the flippy spots are so contrived and ridiculous that it is tough to take the match as a whole seriously. Blade introduces a table but Berk gains the advantage and does a back suplex from the second rope with Blade through the table. Of course after that crazy spot, Blade comes back and is on offense running through a flurry of big dives and nearfalls. The corkscrew dive that does win the match from Blade is gorgeous and hits cleanly. We have a new EWF Light Heavyweight Champion. **
 

[GSR]

No Shorti tonight.  I doubt she’ll be missed anyway in this match for the vacant EWF Light-Heavyweight title.  A choreographed opening between the pair which tends to be the norm for most matches involving Blade.  Berk sidesteps a charging Blade and gives him a hand over the top rope, however he skins the cat and locks in a Tarantula.  Dirty Deeds thinks the match could be over just like that and we’ll have a new champion, seemingly oblivious to the fact that the referee is counting to get him to break the hold!  Berk escapes the abdominal stretch, hip toss and then clotheslines Blade out to the floor.  He grabs himself a chair, which he positions in the ring, and leaps off it out onto Blade with a flip dive.  Exploder suplex.  Whip to the corner, Blade with the tip up but Berk catches him and hits a Michinoku Driver.  Dragon Sleeper by Berk that forces Blade to go to the ropes for the break.  Blade flips over his incoming opponent and tees off with some crappy looking kicks before catching Berk with a sort of tornado DDT.  Berk takes to the floor and Blade connects on a gorgeous top rope quebrada.  Slingshot senton from one side of the ring straight into a springboard guillotine legdrop from the other.   Blade is back on the apron, waiting for Berk to get to his feet, and then snatches him for the ‘Blade Runner’.  A nice call back as this time, showing he’s learned from last, Berk blocks it and hits an inverted suplex followed by a moonsault off the middle for a two.  Swanton bomb.  Both men get near falls as they run through a series of cradles until Benz counters into a face jam.  Frog splash.  Blade escapes the Benz rolling Fisherman’s suplex and hits a ‘Ki Krusher’.  A table is bought into the ring but Blade is caught when he heads upstairs and Berk puts him through it with a release super belly to back.  He takes too long clearing the ring of broken wood, so by the time he does make the cover Blade is able to get a foot over the rope.  Blade, after being practically dead only moments ago, now looks like there is nothing wrong with him, landing on his feet from a German suplex and then running through an array of moves ending with the four storey moonsault to become the new EWF Light Heavyweight champion.