411's IWA Mid-South Report: 4.28.07
Posted by Samuel Berman on 04.29.2007
A live report of the show!
IWA Mid-South
April 28, 2007
"April Blood Showers 2007: The Final Chapter"
Don Preston Rec Center - Midlothian, IL
1pm Doors, 2pm Belltime
Estimated Attendance: 200
Show got started around 2pm, pretty much on time.
1) "The Serial Killer" Jack Thriller defeated "The Hype" Jimmy Shalwin via submission with a Figure Four Leglock in about 6 minutes. Both guys were pretty green, but Thriller was intense and the match was short enough to keep things interesting.
PROMO - Brandon Thomaselli called out Ian Rotten and complained about his upcoming Strap Match. Some back-and-forth leads to the Strap Match being turned into a LUMBERJACK Strap Match, which doesn't make Brandon particularly happy.
2) Dysfunction defeated Troy Walters via pinfall with a Rubik's Cube Driver in about 7 minutes to retain the NWA Wisconsin Title. Walters reminded me a lot of Matt Sydal while Dysfunction was a bigger guy who moved around well. They initially blew the ending, but recovered and finished the match.
3) Josh Abercrombie defeated Brandon Thomaselli via submission with a belt-assisted chokehold in a Lumberjacks with Straps Match in about 8 minutes. The match was ruled non-title before the bell, as Thomaselli had not made weight. Rather than the wrestlers being connected with a strap, the lumberjacks just had belts to hit them with. Kind of a bait-and-switch tactic to be honest. Solid match, but nothing spectacular.
4) xOMGx defeated "Dangerous J" Jason Strife via pinfall with a tornado Pedigree in about 8 minutes. OMG was pretty impressive. They had a few sloppy spots, but nothing that ruined the match.
5) Pretty Unreal (Ash & Michael Elgin) defeated The Naptown Dragons (Scotty Vortekz & "Diehard" Dustin Lee) via pinfall when Elgin hit a crucifix powerbomb on Vortekz in about 14 minutes. The ending was actually botched, as Ash was supposed to simultaneously hit a neckbreaker on Vortekz. Otherwise, both teams were actually very impressive and put on a good formula tag match.
6) "The Professional" Scott Lost defeated "Pure Dynamite" Billy Roc via pinfall with a stiff kick to the face in about 10 minutes. Lost and tag team partner Chris Bosh were supposed to face Ash & Elgin in the last match, but Bosh is nursing a knee injury, so Lost appeared solo. Fun match, and a good introduction to Lost for non-West Coast fans.
7) The Iron Saints (Sal & Vito Thomaselli) defeated The North Star Express (Ryan Cruz & Darin Corbin) via pinfall with when Vito hit Cruz with an Implant DDT in a Double Dog Collar Match in about 15 minutes. This was a fantastic match. All four men were busted open and wildly brawled around the building. The NSE held their own with the more seasoned brawlers in the Thomaselli's, and there were some great moments with the NSE's manager Joey Eastman. The Iron Saints cut a promo afterwards, possibly signally a face turn.
8) "The Strong Style Psycho" Tank defeated Ian Rotten via countout in about 9 minutes. Bloodly, hard-hitting brawl that saw Tank hit a Samoan drop in Ian through a ringside table before rolling back in and earning a countout victory. The two continued brawling after the match. This match was purely for fans of brawling as the two did little other than headbutt and punch each other.
PROMO - Post-match, Ian tearfully talks about losing his friend Chris Candido two years ago to the day. He promises that the upcoming Candido Cup will be a fitting tribute to his fallen friend.
9) Chuck Taylor defeated Joey Ryan via pinfall with a crucifix into a sitout piledriver in about 18 minutes to retain the IWA Mid-South World Heavyweight Title. Unbelievable comedy match. I'm familiar with Ryan's PWG work, but those who aren't learned quickly what made him such a great champion for them. Basically comedy all the way here, though they did find time to hit some great moves like a Ryan tope to the floor and a tornado DDT from the apron to ringside.
PROMO - Jim Fannin cut a post-match promo telling Taylor that he's coming for his belt, but not until July so that he can have Taylor erase Jimmy Jacobs' name from the record books as the longest-reigning champion.
INTERMISSION - About 40 minutes to set up the barbed wire.
Chris Candido Memorial Cup 1st Round Matchups
-The Bashams vs. Dysfunction & Silas Young
-Team 2.0 vs. The North Star Express
-Up in Smoke vs. All Money Is Legal
-Low Ki & Homicide vs. Arrogance
-Ian Rotten & Mickie Knuckles vs. Tracy Smothers & Ricky Morton
-BJ Whitmer & Davey Richards vs. BLKOUT
-The Iron Saints vs. The Havana Pitbulls
Also announced for Night 2: Chuck Taylor defends his title against the Necro Butcher.
10) Drake Younger defeated CJ Otis via pinfall with a Vertebreaker in about 20 minutes to retain the IWA Deathmatch Title in a Barbed Wire Warfare Match. Pretty much as bloody and gory as one would expect. Plenty of uncomfortable moments for each guy, with the wire sticking to their skin after each bump. At one point, Ash, Elgin and the North Star Express attacked Younger, even giving him a four-man slam onto a barbed wire board, but he was able to weather the storm and pick up the win after Ian hit Otis with a stiff chair shot. If you like this sort of match, then this was a pretty good one, but be warned that this sort of match involves a lot of violence and is not for everyone.
Overall Show Thoughts: I enjoyed my first live IWA-MS experience and found it to be a great value. At $15, I was able to sit in the second row and got a great view of all the action. Though some of the matches leaned a little too much to the brawling aspects for my tastes, the show as a whole certainly had something for everyone. The Taylor vs. Ryan match in particular was excellent, and a nice change of pace from the rest of the card. Joey Ryan will be a national star one-day, mark my words. Also, the Dog Collar Match was a great mix of brawling and storytelling, and really showed how talented both teams are. The Iron Saints would fit right in as a part of either the ROH or TNA rosters and should really get a look to move into one of those promotions.
