IWA-MS Revolution Strong Style Tournament 2004 – 22nd October 2004
When I was looking for some IWA-Mid South to review I spoke to a friend who was a big fan of the promotion and he raved about this show. He really liked it, and recommended that along with my purchase of the 2004 Ted Petty Invitational (huge review has been posted) I get this show as well, and won’t regret it. Admittedly, the card does look quite juicy. The Strong Style Tournament itself has an awesome line-up of talent – Roderick Strong, BJ Whitmer, Samoa Joe, Austin Aries, Super Dragon, B-Boy, Homicide…and Eddie Kingston. If a combination of those eight men can’t put on something good then wrestling has no hope. There’s also a big 8-man tag match which Dave Prazak raves about on his livejournal as one of the funniest matches he’s ever seen. It’s the late Chris Candido teaming with Steve Stone, Nigel McGuiness and Claudio Castagnoli against the team of CM Punk, Ace Steel, Danny Daniels and Matt Sydal. The talent in that match is pretty staggering as well. I’ve tentatively got quite high hopes for this. We’re in what appears to be a high school gym in front of maybe 100 people (if that) in Lafayette, IN. Hosting is Dave Prazak with a host of wrestling talent.
Mercedes Martinez/Angel Williams vs Daizee Haze/Mickie Knuckles
Getting things going is action from the surprisingly decent women’s division over in IWA-MS. I honestly believe Lacey is head and shoulders above anybody else on the US circuit (that I’ve seen) in terms of wrestling ability, but there are a few (Daizee Haze and Mercedes Martinez in particular) that look decent when given the opportunity. I haven’t seen a massive amount of Angel before. She was Jimmy Rave’s first footstool in The Embassy over in ROH for a show or two before signing a WWE developmental deal. Martinez is currently IWA Women’s Champion.
Martinez and Knuckles start, and they meet tomorrow night with the title on the line. Mickie tries to chain like Chris Hero (who trainer her I believe) but is matched by Martinez at every turn. They keep it on the mat, trading headlocks and headscissors in the feeling-out process. Williams and Haze in to throw hiptosses and armdrags. Leg drop/elbow drop combo from Knuckles and Haze scores. Mickie with an STO backbreaker then a hard-hitting clothesline to the back of the head. Necksnap on Williams, then a front choke as Mickie isolates her neck. She continues the punishment with a straight neckbreaker for 2. Daizee leg drops the neck and comes up with a headscissors crossface. Angel comes back with a big boot then sunset flips off the second rope for 2. Mercedes gets a tag and joins Angel for a messy double hiptoss. Martinez rolls through a cross-body and hits a running powerslam. She shows off her power by walking round the ring in a delayed vertical suplex. Daizee tries to fight back but gets dumped on her face. Pendulum swing applied by Mercedes, rolled into a chinlock but Haze is in the ropes. She hits back with a satellite headscissors and messes something else up right afterwards. Tags made and it’s Williams that initially has an advantage. Daizee comes from behind and clubbers her in the injured neck, and they put her away with a double northern lights suplex at 12:48.
Rating - ** - Far from being a good rating for a women’s match on may part, that could actually have been miles better. Daizee had a really off night and seemed to botch everything she tried, with Mercedes Martinez struggling to cover for her at every turn. I liked the psychology around Angel’s injured neck, and I enjoyed the way it came into play at the end. The finish was crap though, a double suplex pin is surely illegal, since two of them are in the ring. I do recommend checking out some of the IWA’s female wrestlers though…if anybody manages to do US female wrestling correctly, it’s them.
BJ Whitmer vs Roderick Strong – RSST First Round
Into the tournament we go, and Whitmer must be one of the favourites for this whole thing. He’s a veteran in IWA-MS, a former champion, TPI winner and he won the tournament last year, and renowned for his strong style abilities. Strong is still relatively new, but he put on an awesome match with Samoa Joe at the TPI. He’s a real star on the rise, and hopefully he gets a chance to shine wherever he goes on the independent scene soon.
Strong starts off by showing he’s equal to anything BJ can do when they chain, and even forces Whitmer to take a rope-break to escape him. We have the nights first stiff chop exchange and Roderick comes out on top in that. He goes to work on Whitmer’s back, shoulder ramming it in the corner and planting him with a stalling suplex. Jim Fannin puts off Strong and he gets dumped on his head from a Whitmer suplex. Fannin is ejected from ringside by the referee but the damage has been done and BJ is in charge. He slows the pace with a grounded headscissors, allowing his back time to recover as well. Swinging neckbreaker from Whitmer as Strong tries to fight free, and it appears he has a target of offence as well now. He gets with a couple of rolling suplexes. Strong with a Mafia kick to the back and both men are down. ROLLING CRADLE BACKBREAKERS on Whitmer for 2. BJ fires back with a powerbomb, all impact on that neck. He goes for an exploder but gets rolled up. HEAD DROP BACK SUPLEX FROM STRONG! Whitmer escapes the double knee gutbuster once, but leapfrogs right into it a second time. BIG BOOT and Whitmer is done at 08:46. Roderick has caused an early upset and eliminated the defending champion.
Rating - *** - That was damn good, especially for a sub-10 minute undercard match. Violent shots, solid psychology, some big headbumps and a lot more besides. I could’ve done without the Fannin interference from a purist point of view, but it gave Whitmer more heat from the sparse crowd which in the process got Rod’s victory more over so. I like Rod Strong more and more each time I see him, and seriously, 2005 could really be his year.
Austin Aries vs Samoa Joe – RSST First Round
IWA gives their fans a sneak preview of the match everyone who watches ROH will be buzzing about in two months time as we see Aries face Joe just two months before he’d go on to dethrone him as ROH World Champion. For what it’s worth, Aries isn’t pushed nearly as hard here as he is in Ring Of Honor, whilst Joe is still undefeated in singles matches I believe. If he isn’t a favourite for this whole thing I don’t know who is. This match is arguably the pick of the first round matches.
Joe immediately looks for strikes which puts Aries on the defensive. Austin tries to work a leg and ground the big man but Joe quickly rolls out. Aries pops out of a headscissors and scores with a dropkick. Joe looks for an armbar and eats another dropkick. Big forearms and kicks from Joe in response and that looked pretty horrific. Aries comes back with a couple of dropkicks in the corner, but Joe catches him going for a third and scores with a fallaway slam. Aries just tags Joe with a knee to the head for 2. He wants to suplex Joe to the floor and that ain’t happening. STO slam by Samoa and he’s in charge just like that. He scores 2 with the chop/kick combo before trapping Aries in a stretch plum. Aries has his dirty face cleaned with the bootscrapes and he looks out on his feet. Crucifix driver out of nowhere from Aries for 2, and that’s followed with a flurry of knee drops to the neck. Fishhook Crossface applied to add more pain, but that’s illegal of course. Joe hits back with a powerslam and takes it right into a cross armbreaker. Roaring Elbow on Joe, then a big lariat for 2. Superkick to the knee…SQUARE UP KICK TO THE FACE…but still Joe kicks out. Aries misses the 450 and has another Crucifix driver blocked…HEAD DROP DEATH VALLEY DRIVER! LARIAAAAAAAT! Aries is dead now chaps. I have it clocked in at 11:29. Joe moves on to a rematch from the TPI as he faces Roderick Strong in the semis.
Rating - *** - I don’t have it up there with their ROH battles, but it’s good. They hit each other so horribly hard throughout that it’s just nasty. Where this lacked compared to the ROH duo is depth. There was no plot. There was no desperate search for the brainbuster, or desperate attempts to retain the title by Aries. There was no fear of an offensive flurry by Joe, and no desire to win at all costs (like we saw at the Third Anniversary Celebrations). It had the shell of what made their matches good – hard-hitting, explosive offence and the like – but it lacked the drama that takes it to the next level.
Davey Andrews/Matt Turner vs Anthony Franco/Evan Starsmore
Four graduates of the ROH Wrestling School here, providing some filler for an IWA card with their own talent loaded elsewhere on the show. I’m quite interested in this because they might be booked in a normal match, whereas in ROH they’ve merely been squashed time and time again. Look for Andrews to shine as he has a really bright future ahead of him. And he’s undefeated in IWA with wins over Ryan Boz, Ian Rotten and Nate Webb. Fittingly their trainer, CM Punk, is on commentary.
Starsmore and Turner start and the first thing to notice is that Evan is thin as a rake. It’s him that gets physical first, and soon enough everyone piles in and starts stiffing each other. Andrews and Franco fight like crazy on the floor. Andrews is tagged in legally and he takes Starsmore to the floor and clubbers on him. Starsmore goes for a clothesline and gets nothing but ringpost. Davey takes it into the ring and works a shortarm scissors on the same arm. Neckbreaker from Evan and he races for a tag. Franco gets the hot tag and he sends Turner into a lariat from Starsmore. Starsmore chokes Turner out with a sleeper and this is over at 04:58.
Rating - * - That was certainly different. They’re not great wrestlers yet so rather than actually wrestle they just went out there and hit each other like nutters for five minutes. I will say that all four wrestlers were very good at putting over the out of control feel of the match with their antics. Davey Andrews looked good too, he looks so natural in what he does (unlike Franco in particular, in my opinion)…and he worked the arm after Starsmore clotheslined the ringpost. Psychology kicks ass.
Eddie Kingston vs Super Dragon – RSST First Round
Was there nobody else on the card that could have entered this tournament instead of Kingston? I don’t dislike him, but there’s a host of guys on the show tonight that I’d rather see putting on a first round match with the mighty Super Dragon than Eddie. He is one half of the IWA Tag Champions though, as the Wild Cards along with Blackjack Marciano. Dragon is perfect for this tournament, since a Super Dragon match is all about stiffness and head drops and all that other good stuff. He’s great…
Kingston backs Dragon into the corner right after the bell and is comically pleased with himself. Shoulder blocks from Eddie, but Dragon breaks out the first hard forearm strikes. STO backbreaker from Kingston and he follows it with a camel clutch. More slaps and elbow strikes from Super, so Eddie absolutely b*tchslaps him. ROARING ELBOW from Dragon and down goes Kingston. He hits a capo kick in the corner then scales the ropes. DOUBLE STOMP scores for 2. Dragon goes for something in the corner but gets caught with a belly to belly suplex. Dragon blocks a urinage but still eats a big boot in the corner. Dragon takes Kingston to the top rope for a butterfly superplex. Kingston ducks a lariat and this time hits the urinage for a 2. Super Dragon immediately hits back with slaps then a lariat. Absolutely murderous headbutt flurry on Kingston, then some sick Kawada kicks. DOUBLE STOMP TO THE HEAD! Kingston is eliminated at 08:22.
Rating - ** - Call it a guilty pleasure if you will I actually kinda liked that. Nothing fancy, just two guys hitting each other really hard. I can’t give it a third star because it wasn’t in the league of Strong/Whitmer or Joe/Aries but it is fun for what it was. A wrestling match with less than 10 wrestling moves and lots of stiffness.
B-Boy vs Homicide – RSST First Round
The last first round match gives us quite an intriguing bout. Homicide and B-Boy should be pretty familiar with each other. They team together a lot, and have held tag titles in JAPW, PWG and probably more as well…plus they’re teaming together tomorrow night to challenge the Wild Cards for the IWA Tag Championship. They look similar, wrestle kinda the same style so that makes a match between them fascinating. Personally I’ve always seen B-Boy as a less-good version of the Notorious 187. He’s got a lot of the same skills, but in terms of his pure wrestling abilities, I think he falls woefully short. I think he’s far less capable of telling a story in the ring, using powerful and appropriate psychology in the ring and generally taking a good match and making it into something truly special – all skills I believe Homicide has on his day. For instance…the classic Homicide had with Bryan Danielson at ROH Reborn Stage 2. Put B-Boy in that match instead of Homicide, I don’t think it’d have been as good. Both men are very solid workers, but when push comes to shove, I just always feel that Homicide has a little something extra. Oh yeah…they’re wrestling now…
They start with some pretty intense chaining which ends in Homicide rolling to the floor. Back in the ring he works a hammerlock which forces B-Boy to grab the ropes then take a break outside. Homicide looks for an STF but isn’t allowed to apply it properly. B-Boy hits an armdrag then takes evasive measures on a dropkick then a baseball slide. Homicide gets his hands on him and slows it down with a chinlock. Rolling hammerlock stretch from Cide. Neither man blinks when hitting each other with forearms, but B-Boy floors Homicide with a headbutt. He follows that with a swinging neckbreaker for 2. He follows up with a chinlock, and then cuts off any chance of a Homicide come back with a spinning heel kick. BASEMENT DROPKICK in the corner for another 2. He traps Homicide in a stretch of his own, focusing on the neck and back area…and when Homicide escapes that he hits a backbreaker. Jawbreaker from Homicide, then a running clothesline for 2. HEADBUTT DUEL…knee strikes from B-Boy but eventually he gets grounded with a dragon screw. Homicide wants the STF again but has to settle with a Rings of Saturn. He misses an elbow drop but knees B-Boy to the floor. TOPE CON HILO INTO THE FRONT ROW! Back in the ring B-Boy hits a SHINING WIZARD out of nowhere. Homicide blocks a lariat and fires off a T-bone suplex for 2. He flies off the top and misses a diving headbutt. B-BOY WITH THE BRAINBUSTER…and both men are down. Homicide catches B-Boy on the ropes and drags him down with the double underhook superplex for 2. He wants the second rope Ace crusher but B-Boy blocks and dives off the second to hit a neckbreaker. Lariat blocked by Homicide, and that flows into the Ace crusher. Homicide wants the lariat…BLOCKED and B-Boy rolls Homicide for three at 13:54. Homicide walks out without a handshake casting a shadow over their tag title match tomorrow night.
Rating - *** - Well, I used the introduction to go on a rant about Homicide being better than B-Boy for some reason, but whatever I can say about their abilities, they just produced the best match of the opening round. That was really great stuff, and it was only the lack of a better finish that stopped this pushing for an extra star. It was as hard-hitting and violent as Dragon/Kingston previously, but unlike those guys, they worked a clever and enjoyable match around all the stiffness too. The familiarity between B-Boy and Cide really helped, because this whole match had a smoothness and fluidity to it that nothing else in the first round could touch. I liked it…
That leaves us with a mouth-watering second round of:
Roderick Strong vs Samoa Joe (in a rematch from the 2004 TPI)
Super Dragon vs B-Boy (in a rematch from about 80 zillion other matches)
Blackjack Marciano vs Chad Collyer vs JC Bailey
Tell me honestly, is anyone out there really looking forward to this? I like Collyer, he’s a solid wrestler. I don’t mind Marciano, he’s a decent product of the Chikara school and can put on fun matches. I don’t even dislike JC Bailey that much, considering he’s nothing but a glorified backyarder, all big bumps, high-spots with zero psychology and minimal wrestling ability. But what is the point in making these guys wrestle each other in a three-way. It’s a total styles clash, which is hard in a singles match, and made worse when it’s further complicated by an extra man and a triple threat situation. Or maybe this will surprise me, become match of the night and a low-end MOTY candidate.
Marciano and Bailey both beat on Collyer to start with, probably angry that he’s a miles better wrestler than them. Blackjack inadvertently knocks Bailey to the floor to end that little spell. Collyer monkey flips Marciano out and prepares for a dive but JC is there to cut him off. Chad blocks a monkey flip attempt by Bailey into an overhead suplex for 2. Double Russian legsweep on Collyer, but Bailey and Marciano then argue over who gets the pin. JC hits Blackjack with a swinging neckbreaker. Spinning heel kick from Marciano, as both men keep Collyer on the floor and out of the match. Finally they squabble on the ropes and that allows Chad to sneak in and powerbomb Marciano off the ropes, and he in turn drags Bailey down with a superplex. Bow and arrow by Collyer but Bailey breaks it up with a double stomp. Bailey gets a stalling vertical suplex as punishment. Marciano gets suplexed back into the ring by Chad as well, only to clothesline him out again. Atomic drop on Bailey but he comes back with a sh*tty missile dropkick. Marciano hits an inverted powerslam on JC then walks into a dragon screw from Collyer. Texas Cloverleaf on Blackjack and he taps at 06:23.
Rating - * - Admittedly it could’ve been a lot worse, but it wasn’t all that great either. Bailey and Marciano keeping Collyer out of the match was a decent little plot within the contest, but Bailey sucked just a little too hard, and the bout as a whole was just a little too average to register anything higher.
Shane Hagadorn vs Jimmy Jacobs
Jacobs is IWA Light Heavyweight Champion but isn’t defending the belt here. Hagadorn is another one of Punk’s ROH students. I’d rather have seen him in the tag match earlier and seen Jacobs go at it with Andrews, but I’ve started being rather cynical in this review so I’ll look on the positive side. He’s heeling it up big time during the entrances and the crowd are responding by giving him some heat.
Headlock takeovers to start, before Hagadorn refuses a handshake. Snap suplex from Hagadorn, as CM Punk is singing Counting Crows songs on commentary. He gets 2 with a backbreaker. Jimmy starts HUSSing up so Shane goes to the eyes. Dropkick missed and Jacobs hits a series of flying forearms and a neckbreaker. Hagadorn tries to use the ropes for a pin but it doesn’t work. He does muscle Jacobs up into a powerslam though. Jacobs hits a cutthroat neckbreaker over the knee, then a cutthroat flatliner. The top rope senton bomb finishes the match at 04:54.
Rating – DUD – Utterly pointless and dull filler that I’m sure nobody but CM Punk and Shane Hagadorn’s parents were interested in seeing. I’m begging IWA to cut sh*t like this from their releases…
Abyss vs Ryan Boz
Because badly booked triple threats and inane filler weren’t enough, now it’s time for some big men hitting each other. In defence of Abyss, he’s a solid bigger worker, and with the right opponents (more often than not his matches with AJ Styles in TNA are good) he’s alright. Ryan Boz is just tall. Not particularly talented or untalented…just big, tall and there.
Boz with an early slap which pisses Abyss off. Abyss tries to wrestle but Boz slaps him again then runs off into the crowd. Cue an entertaining slugfest in the crowd that has me on the edge of my seat. Boz gets thrown into the wall so he comes back and launches Abyss into the ringpost. Back in the ring they lumber around and hit each other some more. Boz with a surfboard to wear the monster down but really it’s nothing more than a rest spot. Abyss with a suplex and some clotheslines. Ryan saves himself with a body avalanche by hiding behind the referee…then hits him from behind anyway. Black Hole Slam from Abyss as the ref throws the match out at 06:52. I think Abyss is your winner by DQ. He celebrates by giving the referee a torture wrack backbreaker.
Rating – DUD – I never ever want to see this match again. It SUCKED so f*cking hard…
Roderick Strong vs Samoa Joe – RSST Semi-Final
Thankfully some good wrestlers come out after three matches of absolute crap and it’s time for the semi-finals of the Strong Style Tournament. Joe and Strong met in the first round of the TPI in September and clocked in what, in my opinion at least, was the second best match of the tournament (behind Punk vs Aries). Rematch time, with both coming through decent first round opponents to get here. Strong eliminated last year’s winner BJ Whitmer, whilst Samoa Joe downed Austin Aries.
Joe takes Strong down with a drop toehold and traps him in a chinlock. Roderick escapes that but Joe grounds him again with a rolling legsweep. They go all choppy choppy and incredibly it’s Roderick that comes out on top. Atomic drop connects, and he follows it with a double underhook suplex. Joe is right back up to trade forearm blows. Strong runs into another rolling leg sweep and lands flat on his face. It’s time for the chop/kick combo, but Strong manages to avoid the knee drop and roll Joe up for 2. Fujiwara armbar on Strong but he’s able to battle to the ropes. Strong blocks a lariat and a DVD, then scores with a lungblower. He scores with the half nelson backbreaker and follows it with a diving headbutt to the back. Double stomp to the back and a big double knee gutbuster, and Strong has Joe reeling. The Samoan fires back with a clothesline. STO slam blocked…Strong with the BIG BOOT for 2. German suplex from Joe and a Crippler Crossface, but again Rod gets the ropes. Knee strikes connect to the head of Strong, and he taps to an octopus stretch at 08:52.
Rating - *** - Consider that a disappointment. Nothing was wrong with it, but it wasn’t even in the same league as the TPI match. There was no psychology (Strong barely worked the back at all), no drama and it all looked a little tedious. I mean, don’t get me wrong, watching them hit each other IS fun, but sometimes I do like to see a little more from a match, and I wasn’t given that here. Samoa Joe advances to the finals…
Super Dragon vs B-Boy – RSST Semi-Final
These two are insanely familiar with each other since they’ve wrestled each other countless times all over the indy scene. Both big west coast talents they’ve crossed paths in numerous promotions and generally the results are quite good. B-Boy has recently relocated to the east coast for anyone that’s interested, making it much easier for him to work for companies like JAPW, CZW, ROH and the like.
They don’t wait for the introductions, and Dragon sends B-Boy to the floor for an ELBOW SUICIDA! Forearm duel back in the ring, but B-Boy misses a jumping enzi. Dragon looks for an STF but B-Boy quickly finds the ropes. B-Boy misses a dropkick and that means he has to eat a CURB STOMP! AND AGAIN you sick bastard! B-Boy flees to the floor and blocks another tope with a palm strike. B-Boy with what apparently is a Buffalo sleeper then a flipping necksnap. He keeps stretching that neck down on the mat as he looks to wear Dragon down for the Shining Wizard. On their knees they brutalise each other with elbow strikes, and B-Boy takes over with a headbutt flurry. He double stomps on the chest like a trampoline for 2. B-Boy wants a top rope Exploder but he gets shoved off and DOUBLE STOMPED! German suplex and a dragon suplex from Super Dragon. He looks for the Psycho Driver but B-Boy escapes. Dragon blocks the Shining Wizard and applies an STF. EXPLODER INTO THE TURNBUCKLES from B-Boy and both men are down. Dragon foolishly crawls into the corner and he eats a basement dropkick for 2. SUPER STIFF palm strike from B-Boy, but still Dragon kicks out. B-Boy gets crotched on the ropes and Dragon drags him off the top with a Blue Thunder driver. Dragon with his violence party stiffness in the corner. He double stomps the back of the head but B-Boy kicks out at 2. Psycho Driver blocked again…B-BOY WITH THE SHINING WIZARD! BACK DROP DRIVER…ANOTHER BACK DROP DRIVER…BACK DROP DRIVAAAAAAAAAA!! Super Dragon is so dead the ref actually stomps the match at 13:21.
Rating - *** - Not the best Dragon/B-Boy match ever but whenever these two step into a ring together you know it’s going to be brutal and you know it’s going to be fun - this being no exception. Lots of head-dropping, lots of horribly stiff stuff. I did enjoy the moderate neck-work B-Boy did to soften up Dragon for the Shining Wizard, and I would’ve preferred that as the finish in all honesty but hey. I marked out more during this, but I think B-Boy/Homicide was mildly better.
Chris Sabin vs Nate Webb
I’m a mark for both these guys so this is a match I’ve anticipated as much as any match on the show. There’s not a lot of back story here, as there hasn’t been for any other of the aimless filler matches we’ve had thrown in tonight. Hopefully the difference is that this will be better than Abyss/Boz or Jacobs/Hagadorn or Marciano/Collyer/Bailey…
They trade holds at quite a pace without any real man getting an advantage. Sabin holds onto a headlock but Webb comes back with a cross armbreaker. Nate hits a hurricanrana but Sabin pops up and hits one of his own which sends Webb outside. Sabin sails to the floor with a tope and the chairs in the front row are scattered again. Sabin with a grounded octopus in the centre of the ring, but Webb isn’t tapping. He hits a reverse DDT and follows it with a standing corkscrew splash for 2. Some Nate2P stretching of the arms ensues but eventually he settles for a kick to the spine. Nebraska Tumbleweed by Webb, but he goes for it a second time and gets nothing. OCEAN CYCLONE SUPLEX INTO THE BUCKLES by Sabin! But he’s not done, and sprints across the ring to Razor’s Edge Nate into the opposite corner. He gets 2 after a Samoa Joe-style powerslam. Webb goes for the Arachnid kick and messes himself up in the ropes, allowing Sabin to hit a pack suplex. Goku Raku stranglehold with added kicks to the spine as Sabin continues to wear down Webb’s neck. Webb escapes and hits the Arachnid kick out of nowhere. He goes to the top but Sabin catches him with a jumping enzi. Webb gets sent all the way to the floor after a rolling heel kick. Nate still won’t quit though, and he scores with a hammerlock facebuster for 2. He goes for a moonsault but Sabin gets his boots up. CRADLE BACK DROP DRIVER for 2! Sabin counters Soylent Green but still takes an inverted headscissors and lands on his head. Sabin with a dropkick to the chest…FUTURESHOCK! That’s it and Sabin is your winner at 13:08.
Rating - *** - HAIL SABIN! That was right up there with the best matches of the night. After all the matches involving guys standing their ground and stiffing each other, watching two men move around the ring at pace and work a compelling WRESTLING match really was a great change of pace and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was no way perfect of course, Sabin’s neck offence was at times a little sketchy, and Webb’s selling of any neck injury was non-existent…but hey, after how bad Abyss and Ryan Boz were earlier this felt like a Misawa/Kawada classic.
Chris Candido/Martin Stone/Nigel McGuinness/Claudio Castagnoli vs CM Punk/Ace Steel/Danny Daniels/Matt Sydal
8-man tag action that had to be altered drastically during the two nights leading up to this show after injuries to Arik Cannon, AJ Styles and Delirious who, I believe, were all scheduled to be in it. Anyway, the big issue here is the team of Chris Candido and Steve Stone. At the TPI Candido joined with Jim Fannin, BJ Whitmer and Steve Stone to make Ian Rotten’s life miserable so expect some heelishness from them. They’ve also got an issue with Danny Daniels who recently walked out on Fannin’s group. Who knows what to expect from everyone else? CM Punk and Ace Steel are IWA veterans. Sydal is one of the fastest rising stars on the roster, whilst McGuiness and Double C are two very decent pure wrestlers too…
The babyface team all come out dancing which is quite an amusing sight. Before the bell even rings the ref discovers foreign objects in the possession of all the heels. Candido goes right to the eyes of Steel. Ace pulls the trunks of Candido and he’s wrestling this match with his ass hanging out it seems. Everyone comes in for some DEEP scoop slams. The referee gets involved and slams Candido…and that pisses Jim Fannin off. He comes in for a fight…and he’s wearing a bra. McGuiness and Daniels try to do some wrestling and it’s Daniels that gains the upper hand. Stone and Daniels criss-cross, before Danny sucks Stone into taking a right forearm to the jaw. Stone tries the same trick and gets smacked in the face…which causes Candido to run around with the ring steps (and stub his toe on them). Castagnoli/Sydal now and it’s a battle of speed against wrestling ability. Claudio bear hugs Sydal and Candido climbs the ropes…only to crotch himself. Castagnoli is too tall for a test of strength with Sydal, so Punk lifts Matt onto his shoulders. Candido tries to do the same thing…ELECTRIC CHAIR WRESTLING! Sydal clotheslines Claudio…and Candido goes down dropping Double C on his head. McGuiness lectures the referee and almost gets pinned by Sydal. But he’s got a foreign object in his tights that the ref missed, and he jabs Sydal in the stomach with it. Corkscrew enziguri kick from Sydal to Stone for 2…and Stone responds by clotheslining Matt onto his head. The heels take it in turns to cheat on an abdominal stretch. Second rope spinning heel kick on McGuiness and Sydal has a chance to tag out. Hot tag to Punk and this turns into an all-out brawl. Nigel goes for a low blow but Punk has one of the heels’ foreign objects in his shorts so McGuiness hurts his own arm. Candido throws powder at everyone in sight…but it’s now good as three of the heels get taken down for a six-way rowboat stretch. In the middle of all that Punk pins Nigel to win in an utterly ridiculous 13:58.
Rating - **** - If I’m rating it on a pure wrestling scale obviously things would be different, but that is, hands down, one of the funniest and most entertaining matches I’ve ever seen in my life. There isn’t even an attempt to be serious here (beyond the heels’ semi-serious isolation of Matt Sydal), it’s just all-out comedy and it’s great. Total showstealer…
The heels flee as the babyfaces start dancing again to end one of the more surreal matches I’ve ever seen…
SIDENOTE – Now I’m done singing the praises of the match itself, I’d like to pause to criticise the booking again here. This match is ridiculously loaded. There are 8 top-line talented wrestlers thrown into one comedy match which, whilst hilarious, is just that, a comedy match. Meanwhile, elsewhere on the card, there’s a load of talentless crap-artists sucking up tape-time and my life with really bad matches. There are too many of Punk’s students on this show, too many bad wrestlers and too many matches that should’ve been clipped from the tape. This match is great, but it doesn’t excuse the fact that this show would’ve been miles better had this 8-man not taken place and the talent in it be booked in more workrate-orientated matches throughout the card. I loved the comedy, but I’m a big fan of wrestling, not sports-entertainment (even when it’s done well). Having to sit through Abyss vs Boz then watch guys like CM Punk, Matt Sydal and Nigel McGuiness wrestle for about 3 minutes each in a comedy match just isn’t what I want to see.
Ian Rotten comes out before the final of the Strong Style Tournament and announces that B-Boy is injured after the Super Dragon match, and wants to award the tournament by forfeit to Joe. B-Boy isn’t having that though. He comes to the ring anyway and it is on baby…
Samoa Joe vs B-Boy – RSST Final
The final of what has been an enjoyable little tournament, but with B-Boy injured I’m not entirely sure how good it’ll be. He was noticeably carrying his arm at moments during his match with Super Dragon. Clearly that injury is serious enough to run the courageous ‘I won’t quit’ angle. It’s disappointing because B-Boy has arguably been the star of the tournament, putting on good matches with both Homicide and Super Dragon. Not that Joe’s been off-form…his displays against Austin Aries and Generation Next were hardly bad or anything!
B-Boy is on fire and blasts Joe with a palm strike. BASEMENT DROPKICK SCORES…TWO COUNT! Joe ducks the Shining Wizard and enziguri kicks the injured arm. KNEE STRIKES TO THE ARM…CHOOOOOOOOKE! But B-Boy fights free AND HITS THE SHINING WIZARD…for 2. Joe drills B-Boy with the DVD but it’s only good for 2. B-Boy blocks a lariat and uses the roll-up he used to beat Homicide for 2. Joe hits a lariat second time of asking but B-Boy kicks out. He comes up and somehow muscles Joe into a BACK DROP DRIVER, but is too injured to cover. He goes for one last offensive flurry, but Joe rocks him with a powerslam then locks in the cross armbreaker. B-Boy taps at 03:21. Joe wins the 2004 Revolution Strong Style Tournament…
Rating - *** - Best three minute-match EVER! Psychology, stiffness, big bumps, excitement, drama, passion…that was awesome. Obviously B-Boy couldn’t go because of the injury, but it was worked around marvellously and that was simply as good as could be expected. Props to both men, especially B-Boy who shone brighter than anyone else in the tournament.
Ian Rotten comes out again and big-ups Joe, even giving props to match with CM Punk in ROH just a week earlier. That was a classy speech…and I almost feel guilty for criticising his 9 million promos at the TPI now.
Tape Rating - *** - Man, where to begin on this show. First of all the bad I guess…because some of the booking was absolutely LOUSY. I appreciate that the main focus of the show was the tournament so having big name talent in big matches outside the tournament would’ve taken the focus away somewhat…but the 8-man tag really was a case of throwing all the eggs in one basket. What was left in non-tournament action was nothing but chicken afterbirth in a procession of matches that just stunk.
But now for the good. Nothing on this show is blowaway fantastic, but there’s a lot of solid, hard-hitting wrestling. The tournament doesn’t produce any MOTYC’s, but all the matches are good fun and a decent little watch. B-Boy’s performance in particular, as he put on the best match in both qualifying rounds then sucked up an injury to work the final with Joe, was memorable. Outside the tournament, the 8-man tag is one of the funniest matches you’ll ever see, and Sabin/Webb is so good it surprised even me. This show shouldn’t top anyone’s must-have list, but if you’ve got the cash to burn and nothing better to spend it on, you could to worse than this. You could do better too, but whatever. Granted Joe/Aries was better in both their ROH matches, Joe/Strong was miles better at the 2004 TPI and Dragon/B-Boy have done miles better than that countless times…but they’re all ok. Don’t rush out and buy it but a staggering EIGHT matches clocking in at 3* or higher, it’s not regrettable.
Top 3 Matches
3) B-Boy vs Homicide (***)
2) Chris Sabin vs Nate Webb (***)
1) Punk/Steel/Daniels/Sydal vs Candido/Stone/McGuiness/Castagnoli (****)