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| Image courtesy of Charles Felder |
IWE pulled off another spectacularly successful show at American Legion Post 63 Saturday night. They didn't sell the place out but they didn't miss my much (paid attendance 483). There's a level of intensity and excitement about the IWE shows I don't experience in many other places.
Never Say Die was a very well put together show. The powers that be nailed the order of the segments. I thought time management went a little askew in the second half. The show ran 3 hours and 15 minutes, a minor issue with IWE running six times a year but not ideal.
They experimented with a cinematic match, which resulted in a title change as Charlie Anarchy defeated Skrilla the Great to become the new Mayhem Champion. Chad Skywalker earned the spot as the new number one contender for that title.
Both halves of the show concluded with gimmick match. Both got great reactions from the crowd. The IWE fans seemed to love everything about the show but their response to the beloved hometown heroes, Buff and Fluff Connection vs. Exotic Youth was completely off the charts.
James Caleb KItchens wasted no time throwing his weight around as the new boss of IWE but owner Tim Blackmon put one over on KItchens in the contract signing, such that Blackmon has a shot at regaining control of his company.
(1) Chad Skywalker defeated Rob Killjoy (with Papa Joe) and Billy Brash and Hunter Young and Cornelius Pepperbottom to become the number one contender for the Mayhem Championship (9:18). I'm not gonna even to try to describe all the stuff that went on here. Pepp gave Skywalker a low blow. Papa Joe got on the apron to confront Pepp. Pepp made a move for Joe, and Skywalker planted Pepp on his face with a driver type move to win the match.
Bodies flying all over the place, every competitor executing on their offense and the crowd was eating it up. They did a goood job of keeping the ring being cluttered with to many people at a time. Four babyfaces and only one heel was magic because that one heel was Pepperbottom.
Killjoy stayed in the ring to address the crowd and said he had not informed anyone of what he was about to say. KIlljoy was starting to tear up. IWE had been his home for almost five years. It was his family and he needed them right now. Killjoy said his father had passed away less than 24 hours ago. His father was tired and ready to rest. At this point, Blackmon had come into the ring. Killjoy's tears were flowing as they hugged. The crowd quacked in support of Killjoy.
A moving, touching interlude that exemplified what is great about pro wrestling and transcended it at the same time.
Cinematic Skrilla vs. Anarchy - Part !. Karl Hager arrived at Skrilla's home to serve as the referee. The masked Charlie Anarchy was an uninvited visitor.
(2) "The Suplex Assassin" Alex Kane defeated "Rent is Due" Suge D in 11:14. Suge got on the mic and promised there would be no suplexes for him tonight. Suge took a powder at the opening bell and headed for the exit. Blackmon appeared and told Suge get in the ring or your fired. The stage was set. Suge escaped Kane's first suplex attempt. Kane inadvertently speared the post. Suge provided his own commentary while he worked Kane over. Kane finally hit a suplex at 6:30 into the match. Kane proceeded to give Suge four additional suplexes. Suge came back with an X Factor for a close near fall. Suge said he needed two percocets and was going to give Kane a new move -- The Addiction. Instead, Kane gave Suge a release suplex and speared him for the three count.
Referee Anthony Rivera gave Suge a german suplex after the match. Fun, fun, fun.
Marvelous storytelling and an opportunity for Kane to explore a different aspect of his wrestling personality. Kane has not been a babyface at IWE, and he's a more natural heel. But the crowd was 100% behind wanting to see him suplex the hell out of Suge. The spot where Rivera suplexed Suge was called on the fly.
KItchens and his short pants made their first appearance of the evening, entering to the theme from HBO's "Succession" and massive heat. He brought out All-Star to generic music but they got a big pop anyway. Kitchens said they chose the wrong side and should be fired but he was giving them an opportunity to work their way up from the bottom. Huckaby grabbed Kitchens by the throat. Kitchens threatened to have All-Star Special blackballed from the tri-state area. As a favor to Joe Black, he was putting them in a handicap match against the Hierarchy.
The Succession theme was an inspired choice for KItchen's music. Nothing original about the heel boss looking for way to punish the babyfaces but at least it was well done.
(3) The Hierarchy (Murder One & Joe Black & The Kenway) defeated All-Star Special (William Huckaby & Hold My Beer Hanson) in a handicap match (7:31). Hierarchy taunted Huck while they dismantled Hanson. Murder was entertaining himself by taunting a female fan in the front row. A "Hold My Beer" chant ensued. Huck took the hot tag and got a couple of moves in before Black forearmed him in the base of his skull. Murder choked Huck into unconsciousness while Black and Kenway beat the hell out of Hanson on the outside.
Cinematic Skrilla vs. Anarchy - Part II. Shot at Mr. Tattoo (one of IWE's sponsors).
(4) The tables match between Lindsay Snow (with Ayla Fox) and Dani Jordyn (with Superfan Emily) was called a draw (7:54). Emily had switched to Jordyn's side after being struck by Snow at the last show. Jordyn jumped Snow from behind to start the match, so Ayla started clubbing Jordyn with her high heel shoe. Before long, Fox helped Snow bridge a table between the ring apron and the rail. That got a "tables" chant. They set up a second table inside the ring. Snow was soon bleeding hardway from a gash on her forehead. These women were laying them in. As they battled for position, they both started to teeter. Jordyn fell through the table inside the ring. Snow fell through the bridged table outside the ring. Snow went through a split second before Jordyn. The crowd broke out a Lindsay chant.
After the match, Lindsay pushed Emily as she was checking on Dani.
Stiff and brutal. The execution of the finish was phenomenal. I was surprised Jordyn didn't go over. It would have been extremely difficult to get the timing precise to the split second but they were close. Snow is amazingly over as a babyface. Snow pushing Emily did not get a negative reaction from the crowd. Lindsay and Ayla do heelish things every match. The fans blow right past it and love her just the same.
-- Intermission--
The Coronation of James Caleb Kitchens. A table was set up in the ring with commentator Gerard Bonner on hand to preside as Blackmon officially signed control of IWE over to Kitchens. Kitchens was getting tremendous heat as he entered the ring. Kitchens said Blackmon failed the fans. Blackmon was cheered but looked glum. He asked the fans to forgive him and said his rep was built on doing what he said he was going to do. Blackmon asked Kitchens to sign the paperwork first. Blackmon signed and then said Kitchens overlooked the clause that gave him a shot to win the company back. The crowd popped huge for the good news.
Ye olde dumb heel fails to read the contract never fails worked like a charm.
(5) Airica Demia defeated Brittnie Brooks and Emily Jaye (with Murder One) in 10:38. As soon as Jaye appeared with Murder by her side, she was an instant heel and did a great job of leaning into the role. Demia is a product of the Palmetto Wrestling Academy (Ethan Case). Brooks is based on Arizona. She looked like a strong athete. Her slingshot elbow drop was the best move of the match. Jaye hit a cutter on Brooks. Demia broke up Jaye's pin attempt and hit a superman elbow to pin Brooks.
Jaye attacked Demia after the match. Brooks made the save and raised Demia's hand.
Not good. The IWE fans are a forgiving group and gave the match a pass. All three women worked really hard but a ring general was sorely needed. Murder did as much as he could do from ringside. The longer the match went, the more their inexperience was exposed.
(6) Buff & Fluff Connection (Sean Legacy & Cody Fluffman) defeated Exotic Youth (Zach Mosley & Bryce Cannon with Cornelius Pepperbottom) in 12:59. The crowd would not let up on the Buff & Fluff chants as their heroes ran poor Mosley through their signature hit maneuvers. Distraction by Pepp lead to EY getting heat on Legacy. Mosley broke out the gutter tactics. Legacy's springboard missile dropkick left both men down. After the hot tag was made, Fluff did a body positive tope an all three EY members. Fluff was a on roll but Cannon foiled their finisher. EY pulled of a great trlple combo of their own but Legacy kicked out. Buff & Fluff had Mosley beaten but Cannon pulled referee Santa out of the ring. Mosley tried for Wheel of Fortune. Fluff countered and Buff and Fluff used a pop up superman punch to finish Mosley.
Thoroughly entertaining from beginning to end. They used the layout from Buff & Fluff match at SCI Rumble as the blueprint and with EY as their opponents how could they go wrong? The crowd was so ridiculously into it, they could have gotten away with an average match. This was anything but average.
As the captain of Team IWE, Owen Knight apologized for letting the fans down in the War Games match. Knight said he didn't have opponent for tonight. That brought Kitchens out AGAIN. He had an opponent of Knight.
(7) Owen Knight defeated Bojack in 13:41. Knight appeared to have no chance in against 375 pound wall of humanity in the opening minutes. Bojack was throwing Knight around like he was nothing. He covered Knight with one hand and talked some trash. Knight rocked Bojack with a superkick. A crossbody off the top took Bojack off his feet for a two count. Bojack was starting to look a little woozy. Knight tried to lift Knight for the Clock Out. No way. Bojack power slammed Knight for a near fall. Knight hit a draping DDT to the ring apron, a pair of dives to the outside and a cutter in the ring. The effects of Knight's offense were registering on the big man. Knight scaled the ropes. Bojack cut Knight off and was looking for a superplex. Knight pounded on Bojack until he crashed to the mat. Knight was on him with a frog splash for the three count.
A classic example of telling a story in the ring. Knight had to find a way to overcome an immovable object and it took an authentically determined and resilient babyface to get the job done. I believe Bojack made an indelible made an indelible impression on IWE in his debut. I know this match and the one he had with Tank last weekend has made me a fan of his work.
Cinematic Skrilla vs. Anarchy - Part 3. Skrilla and Anarchy fought in a parking lot. The chain link fence and boards came into play. Anarchy stood on a picnic bench and dumped Skrilla through a table. Hager made the three count. Anarchy was introduced to the live crowd as the new Mayhem Champion. He was pretty over and took a curtain call by circulating through the crowd.
The cinematic was just OK. The video was well produced. The problem was the two video screens IWE uses aren't super large so it was difficult to see a lot of what was going on.
White Mike promo. Mike talked about his wonderful life. A wife that works three jobs so he can play PlayStation. She's 23 and he's 37. That's called game. Mike said the big goof (Krule?) wasn't there. Things came easy for him now. That comedy shit was dead. Nobody had been able to put him in his place. Said he's love to have a Corino because he was the Dusty around here.
This was great in an unhinged kind of way. Mike's promo style is unrepeatable. He's an unrepeatable character. He was given the liberty (I assume) to use foul language on a show where no one else does.
Corino said he likes to get hardcore so how about a no DQ match? The IWE fans were definitely down with that. Corino punched Mike with the mic and they were off and running.
(8) White Mike defeated Colby Corino in a no DQ match (21:48). Some highlights: Corino hit a picture perfect Tiger Driver in the early going. Mike turned Corino's baseball slide through the ropes into a powerbomb on the ring apron. They battled into the crowd. Mike got thrown through three rows of chairs. Awfully tight quarters out there. Corino used a kid (with the kid's willing participation) as a weapon. They made their way to the merch tables on the upper level. Corino put Mike in a Boston crab on one of the merch tables. Corino did a crazy flip dive off the upper level to the ringside level. Back inside the ring, Corino put a trash barrel over Mike's head,then walked the ropes to dropkick White while he was inside the barrel. Corino's swanton bomb was a crash and burn onto the chair Mike had just vacated. That landing had to suck. A second attempt at the same move hit the mark. Mike kicked out of the Corino Clash. Mike gave Corino a drop toehold into a chair and did the Raven pose.
Mike was in dire straits after taking a death valley driver onto a chair. Reyhan Inteus hit the ring with a low blow for Corino. Inteus laid Corino out with a tombstone piledriver and handed brass knucks to Mike. Mike decided "I don't need that shit" and just pinned Corino.
Well that was pretty nuts. First time I ever saw a Boston crab done on a merchandise table. That said, the way the building is laid out doing stuff in the merch area prevents almost the entire audience from being able to see what's going on. It was interesting to see one of Viral's top heels show up at IWE. Talent does cross over (Knight, Brash, Fluffman, Skywalker, Legacy) and work both shows. Inteus hasn't until now.
A little shorter might have better but that's my bias.
NOTES: IWE returns to American Legion Post 63 on May 11...Diana Michel was the ring announcer...Referees were Mike Fullilove, Paul Santa, Yolanda Wright and the aforementioned Anthony Rivera...Brian Atkinson was Bonner's partner on commentary for the IWTV release...Notable personalities in the house included AR Fox, Nick McDaniel, Myron Fancher and Heath Mullikin...As per usual, Danny Meade was helping out backstage and Justin Hancock was on production...Per co-promoter Josh Fields, IWE has been able to monetize their YouTube page due to the number of subscribers and viewing hours.
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