Why I Love/Hate Wrestling 1.06.08: Fantasy Booking (Vol. 5)

Posted by Jordan Linkous on 01.06.2008

I bring you the conclusion of PWI's PPV, Retribution! Be sure to check it out!

This week I bring you the conclusion to the PWI PPV, Retribution!

Professional Wrestling Infinity Presents Retribution 12.16.07

As usual JBL and Dave Prazak are your announcers. We are now on the second half of RETRIBUTION~!

Before the match, Paul Heyman tells James Mitchell and Armando Alejandro Estrada that if they show up at ringside, the match will be forfeit.

Abyss vs. Umaga (Last Man Standing Match)
Abyss comes down to the ring with a bag, presumably broken glass or thumbtacks. Umaga runs down to the ring and hits Abyss with a big shoulder block. Right off the back, Umaga hops out of the ring and finds a two by four wrapped in barbed wire. He takes a big swing at Abyss, but Abyss ducks and Umaga misses. Abyss off the ropes now and hits a spear. He picks up Umaga and lifts him up with a double choke hold and THROWS HIM OUT OF THE RING! Abyss off the ropes now, PLANCHA by Abyss onto Umaga. Abyss Irish whips Umaga into the stairs, but Umaga counters and throws Abyss into the steps. Abyss's knee hit pretty hard. Umaga now grabs a chair and wraps it around Abyss's knee that he just hit. Umaga to the apron now and leaps off and squashes Abyss's leg. The ref counts now. 1...2...3...4… but Abyss is up now. Umaga goes for a clothesline but Abyss ducks under and grabs Umaga for a clothesline. Throws Umaga into the ring post. Abyss grabs his goodie bag, but before he can open it, Umaga low blows him. He hits a big Yakuza kick and Abyss stumbles into the corner of the barricade. Umaga charges Abyss now and hits the Buttalanche. Again the ref counts. 1…2...3...4...5...6... and Abyss is up. Umaga right back to work and he chop blocks Abyss. He repeatedly hits Abyss's leg with the chair as Abyss crawls under the ring, and as Umaga goes to get him, he gets decked with a garbage can lid. Abyss crawls out with the rest of the garbage can, as well as his trademark chain. He tosses the can into the ring. He wraps the chain around Umaga's neck, climbs back into the ring, and begins to choke him. Umaga stumbles up to the apron and Abyss pulls him over the top rope with the chain. He Irish whips him with the chain and Abyss hits a Black Hole Slam on the trash can. The ref counts 1…2…3…4…5…6…7...8… and Umaga stumbles up. Abyss grabs the two by four wrapped in barbed wire and begins grating Umaga's forehead. Umaga is bleeding now. Abyss swings and hits Umaga in the arm with the two by four and it is stuck on Umaga's arm. Umaga is bleeding from his arm now. Abyss is limping and he goes and gets his bag o' fun. He empties the contents and it is thumbtacks. He tries to hit Umaga with another Black Hole Slam but Umaga counters it into a DDT. Abyss's face is covered in thumbtacks. The ref counts 1...2…3…4…5…6…7…8… and Abyss is up. Umaga scoop slams Abyss onto the tacks. Umaga goes to the top rope and goes for a big splash but Abyss rolls and Umaga lands stomach first on the tacks. Abyss picks him up now and goes for a Shock Treatment, but his knee gives out. Umaga hits a sick sidekick. The ref counts 1...2…3…4…5…6... and Abyss is stumbling up, to on knee now. Umaga grabs the two by four and takes the barbed wire off and wraps it around his hand and hits a SAMOAN SPIKE WITH HIS HAND WRAPPED IN BARBED WIRE! Abyss is spitting blood. The ref counts 1…2…3…4…5…6…7…8…9…10. Umaga wins at 21:05. ****

Rob Van Dam is being interviewed by Shane Douglas in the back. He says there was some miscommunication that led to this rivalry. They brawled and they are definitely not friends. But even if they were friends, he would still wrestle 110% because nothing is more important than winning the title.

PWI Tag Team Championship: The Briscoes vs. Kings of Wrestling(c)
Mark and Claudio start. Test of strength. Kick to the gut by Claudio. Wrists still locked. Mark on his back. Ref counts one…two... Mark gets the shoulder up. Claudio pushes his shoulder back down, wrists still locked. Again gets a two count. Mark now gets a kip up. Northern Lights suplex to Claudio and gets a two count. With the NLS still on, Mark rolls through and begins to pound on Claudio. Mark tags in Jay. Mark Irish whips Jay and flapjacks him onto Claudio. Pin only gets two. Jay picks him up now and Irish whips him. Claudio comes of the ropes and dodges the clothesline and rebounds of the ropes again to level Jay with a brutal lariat. He follows up with a headlock. Jay tries to power out and gets to his feet, but Claudio rams him into his turnbuckle. Claudio tags to Hero. Claudio Irish whips Jay into another corner. Claudio now monkey flipped Hero into a spear on Jay. Hero now hits Jay with a European uppercut, followed by a second one. Hero rears back and tries to Stinger Splash Jay but Jay dropped out of the way. Jay is crawling towards Mark so Claudio comes in and drags Jay back to Hero. Claudio reverse atomic drop on Jay and Hero hits him with a Superkick. Hero tags legally now to Claudio and they Irish whip Jay and hit a double clothesline, followed by a double elbow drop. Claudio with the pin but gets two. Claudio has Jay up and Irish whips him, Jay off the ropes and hits a back heel kick. He scrambles to his corner and tags in Mark. Clothesline to Hero. Same for Claudio. He dropkicks both of them. He lays them next to each other, grabs Jay and slams him on both of them with a sitout flapjack. He picks up Jay and lifts him up for a back suplex then drops him and they both hit a leg drop. Mark pins Claudio but only gets two. Hero up now and he tosses Jay out of the ring. Claudio has Mark on his shoulders and Hero on the top rope. Mark hits Claudio with a reverse hurricanrana. Hero still catches Mark with a crossbody but Mark rolls through with a pin attempt but gets two. Jay in now. Mark has Hero up with a cut-throat driver and Jay goes to the top rope but Hero chop-blocks Mark. Jay down now and hits Hero with a big Yakuza kick. Claudio grabs Jay and hits a Waterslide and pins but Jay is not legal. He grabs Mark and goes for a German suplex but Mark flips out of it and lands on his feet. Jay dropkicks Hero out of the ring. Jay hits the Jay Driller on Claudio and Mark follows with a Shooting Star Press and the pin for 3 at 23:41. ****1/4

We see Kevin Steen in the back getting pumped up. We cut away and in a different room Samoa Joe is sitting on the bench focusing.

Number One Contender's Match: Roderick Strong vs. Rob Van Dam
RVD rushes Strong and hits some low kicks followed by a spinning back heel kick. RVD cover but barely gets one. RVD off the ropes and leapfrogs over Strong, hits the ropes, and tries to slide under Strong but Strong drops down on him. He locks in a Camel Clutch. RVD fighting and manages to free an arm and grabs the ropes. Roderick holds on till 4 the four count. He drags RVD to the center of the ring and tries to lock on the Stronghold but RVD uses his leg strength to send Strong into the corner. RVD rushes Strong and hits him with some shoulder blocks and back handsprings and gets a running shoulder block. Strong now sitting in the bottom of the turnbuckle and RVD heads to the adjacent turnbuckle and goes for the Van-Terminator but Strong moves and RVD hits hard. Strong rolls out of the ring and grabs RVD's leg. He slams it into the ring post repeatedly, followed by snapping it on the ring apron. He pulls RVD out of the ring and hooks RVD's leg in the ropes. He then climbs up on the apron and stomps RVD's leg. The ref yells at Strong to stop while he untangles RVD's leg. RVD is limping now. Strong rolls in to the ring now. He levels RVD with a big lariat and then elbows the leg, and then wrenches the knees. He picks up RVD and puts him in a fireman's carry and then hits him with a gut buster to both of his knees. He pins RVD but RVD kicks out at two. As Strong tries to pick up RVD, RVD leg sweeps him. RVD is clutching his leg after that. He hobbles to the turnbuckle and climbs up, but at the top turnbuckle his leg gives out and he falls off. Strong picks up RVD and hits a powerbomb on his knee. He follows up and gets a pin for two. He goes for a tiger bomb but RVD hits a surprise hurricanrana but is two shaken up to cover. He goes over to the corner and only climbs up to the second rope and hits a splash. He pins but only gets two. He goes to pick up Strong but Strong fights out of it. Strong goes off the ropes and kicks RVD's legs out from under him. He locks on the Stronghold and RVD is close to tapping out. He somehow manages to make it to the ropes sot Strong is forced to break it. Strong pulls him back to the center off the ring and tries to lock it on again but RVD somehow grabs a leg and rolls through to a small package and gets the three count at 24:29. ****

After the match, Strong grabs a chair and beats on RVD's leg until the refs pull Strong off him. He has a sick smile on his face as he walks to the back.

We get a video package of the fighting between Samoa Joe and Kevin Steen. It makes Steen look like a total badass and an evil genius. Samoa Joe looks strong too.

PWI World Heavyweight Championship: Kevin Steen vs. Samoa Joe
Lock up to start and Steen applies a side headlock. He rolls him over with a headlock takedown. Joe rolls onto his stomach as Steen applies more pressure. Joe tries to get to his feet but Steen takes out his legs and hits another headlock takedown. Joe grabs the ropes and Steen is forced to break it. Joe rolls to the outside to gather his thoughts. He rolls back in and they lock in a test of strength. The trade off kicks to the midsection but neither man gives an inch. They break the lock and Joe chops Steen in the chest. Steen retaliates with a chop of his own. Joe then kicks Steen and Steen gets knocked back into the corner. Joe follows up with a face wash and an ole kick in the corner. He then grabs Steen's legs and lifts him up and slams him back down in sort of a sit out powerbomb. He pins but only gets two. He picks up Steen and Irish whips him into the corner. He props him up for the Muscle Buster but Steen lands some elbows to the head and knocks Joe down. Steen hits an awesome moonsault and pins but only gets two. He goes up top and goes for a 450 Splash but Joe rolls out of the way. He powerbombs Steen and follows up with a single leg Boston crab. He rolls through that and locks on an STF. He then locks in a Crossface. Steen makes it to the rope, though, so Joe breaks the hold and hits a stiff kick to the chest of Steen. He picks up Steen and Irish whips him and hits an overhead belly to belly suplex and pins him but only gets two. He then Irish whips him into the corner and sets him up. Joe climbs up and Steen fires back with some uppercuts. He maneuvers around Joe but somehow Joe is able to grab him and HITS AN ISLAND DRIVER OFF THE TURNBUCKLE~! He pins him 1…2... No! Steen barely kicked out. Joe locks on the Coquina Clutch but Steen gets to his feet. He backs Joe into the corner and slams until Joe breaks the hold. Steen clotheslines Joe in the corner now. Steen grabs Joe now and STEENALIZER~! into the corner! Steen pins but Joe just kicks out before 3. Steen is pumped up now and hits a pump-handle slam onto his and pins but again only gets two. Steen starts arguing with the ref now and Joe runs and almost clotheslines the ref by mistake but he stops himself. Steen grabs Joe and tries to hit a German suplex but Joe rolls around the back and locks on the Coquina Clutch. He falls back and keeps the pressure on. Steen is able to make it to the ropes though, so Joe holds on a little longer then breaks it. Joe tries to raise Steen but Steen hits some punches to the gut and knocks Joe to the outside. Steen hits a Package Piledriver on Joe on the mat. He pins but the ref says it doesn't count out there. Steen rolls Joe in the ring and pins him but Joe barely kicks out He really had a millisecond left. Steen goes for a powerbomb but Joe reverses into a hurricanrana and pins but only gets two! Joe grabs Steen and rams him into the corner and goes for the Muscle Buster but Steen uses his weight and fall back and hits a neckbreaker. He covers but again only gets two. He tries to pick up Joe but Joe grabs Steen's legs and flips over with the pin. One…two… two and three fourths and Steen kicks out! Steen is up and grabs Joe and hits another Package Piledriver and Follows with a 450 Splash and the pin for three at 31:48! ****1/2

Final Thoughts
Wow, what a great conclusion to the PPV. Every single match was four stars or over and they all rocked. The Last Man Standing Match was brutal as both men took some sick bumps and Umaga got cut up pretty good. They also utilized psychology with Abyss's leg which eventually led to his loss. The tag match was what was to be expected, which was awesome. The number one contender match went well and it was fun to see how RVD adapted to wrestling without being able to use his legs. RVD barely won and Strong looked like a badass and set up future matches with the after match beat down. The match that stole the show was the main event. t started out slow and picked up steam throughout the match and the final couple minutes were insane. I mean, I honestly had no idea what was going to happen. The near falls led to an amazing finish and Steen went over clean, which is weird for a heel. All in all the PPV was a success and I would give it a perfect 10.0. There were no bad matches and they all rocked.

Next week I get back to what I usually do, which is improv and do something completely against my plans. I might review the TNA PPV, but the card looks skimpy so I will read the reviews first, and then decide if I want to see it. If not, I will just do a usual. Read all the great columns and have fun watching football! Until then, stay classy, 411Mania readers!