BG Says: FIP Declarations – The Best of CM Punk Volume 1
Posted by Brad Garoon on 12.04.2006
FIP hits a home run with its first Best Of DVD.
This is FIP’s first attempt at a Best Of DVD. Dave Prazak and Mark Nulty are your hosts throughout. The DVD spans Punk’s history from FIP’s restart at Emergence to the end of 2004 and the Florida Rumble.
VS. [Emergence, Night 1]
This was a qualifying match in a tournament to crown the first FIP Heavyweight Champion. Punk gets on the microphone before the match and says he's going to accept all the outcastes and misfits of the world with open arms. He thinks he should be in the main event instead of AJ Styles and Homicide, and so he's going to start a revolution, a new dawn if you will. Walker powers Punk into the corner to start. Punk gets aggressive so Walker shoves him down. Walker hits a shoulder block and gets a roll up for 2. He hits a dropkick and puts on an armbar. He works the arm over with kicks and reverses all of Punk's attempts to escape. A chop exchange goes Walker's way so Punk bails and dusts off the super secret ultra special CM Punk time out. That made me really happy. He pulls Walker out of the ring where they trade more chops. Punk runs back into the ring and catches Walker on his way back in. Walker comes back with a back bodydrop. Punk tosses him to the turnbuckle and chokes him. Josh Masters comes out to ringside as Walker starts to fire back. He gets a roll up for 2. Punk hits him with a hard clothesline and wrenches the neck. He puts on a sleeper hold but Walker powers out. Punk hits a knee to the gut for 2. He hits a seated dropkick for 2. He chokes Walker in the corner and then gets into a shoving match with the referee. He puts the sleeper hold back on but Walker's hand only drops twice. He hits a jawbreaker to escape the hold. He hits a German suplex and a spin kick. He hits a T-bone suplex and a northern lights suplex for 2. Punk hits a pair of mule kicks but gets caught by Walker's side slam finisher. Punk gets a roll up with a handful of tights for 2. He goes to the apron. Walker tries to suplex him back in the ring but Punk lands on top. Masters holds Walker's foot down and Punk gets the win at 13:00. This was significant for being the first FIP match that I ever liked.
Rating: ***
Punk gets on the microphone and says that jocks like Walker made him what he is today. He says that Masters is the first soldier in the New Dawn. He would go on to disappear after the Emergence shows.
Next up are some highlights from the main event of night one of Emergence featuring AJ Styles taking on Homicide. Styles calls for the Styles Clash but Homicide blocks and hits a piledriver for 2. The ref gets knocked down as Styles hits a roundhouse kick. CM Punk runs into the ring with a chair and hits both men. Styles grabs the chair away from him as the referee starts to recover. Punk bails and the referee sees Styles with the chair and disqualifies him. Punk and Masters gloat at ringside until Homicide nails them with a tope. He brings Masters into the ring where AJ hits him with the Styles Clash. Styles tells Homicide to win the title tomorrow so that he can beat him for the belt later. Don’t worry about only getting highlights, the match wasn’t all that good to begin with.
Homicide v. Joshua Masters [Emergence, Night 2]
Before the match Punk tells Masters to act as a roadblock to keep Homicide from advancing in the tournament. Masters attacks Homicide from behind before the bell. Homicide gains control with a backdrop and a T-bone suplex. Masters bails and baits Homicide around the ring. He hits him with a vertical suplex for 2. Homicide sets him on the top rope and hits an Ace Crusher. He hits the Clothesline from Hell for the win at 1:25. Total squash. Punk tries a sneak attack but Homicide fights him off.
Rating: 1/2*
VS. [Emergence, Night 2]
Punk stalls at the bell and jaws with some little kids at ringside. He gets back in the ring but runs past Credible and jets to the floor. They go to the mat where Credible gets a hammerlock. He turns it into a headlock and gets 2. He hits a hiptoss and goes back to the headlock for 2. Punk pushes out and hits shoulder blocks in the corner. Credible goes back to the headlock and gets 2. Punk's leg gets hurt on a leapfrog and the referee annoyingly keeps Credible away. Punk miraculously recovers and hits a chop block. He stays on the knee and puts on a leglock. He goes for a figure 4 but gets rolled up for 2. He hits a clothesline for 2. Credible gets a roll up for 2. Punk gets a figure 4 leglock but Credible turns it over. Punk gets to the ropes. He dropkicks the knee but Credible gets a powerslam. He hits a tornado DDT... sort of. He hits the superkick but his knee gives out. It gets 2. He calls for That's Incredible but Punk reverses to a roll up with rope assistance for the win at 10:51. That was probably the best Justin Credible singles match I've ever seen, but the rating will reflect that that isn't saying much.
Rating: **3/4
VS. [Emergence, Night 2]
Punk cuts another promo, complaining about the gangster society that Homicide comes from. He doesn't think that thugs and drug dealers should be made heroes. Man, Punk sure talks a lot during his FIP run. Rainman forces Punk to the corner to start. Punk bails and argues with the fans over supposed hair pulling. Back in the ring Rainman gets a roll up for 2 and Punk bails again, complaining about tight pulling. Rainman hits him with a baseball slide and fights him on the floor. Back in the ring Punk lands on his head in the corner. He bails again and Rainman follows. He rolls Punk back in the ring but gets caught off guard. He hits a flapjack and a dropkick. He puts on an armbar and pins Punk for 2. He hits a legdrop on the arm but Punk goes to the eyes. Rainman goes for the mounted punches but Punk catches him with an inverted atomic drop and a neckbreaker for 2. Punk hits a series of kneedrops and rakes the back. He chokes Rainman out in the ropes and jaws with the kids in the crowd. He hits a bodyslam and catapults Rainman into the bottom rope. Rainman gets a backslide for 2 but Punk comes back with a clothesline. Rainman goes for a Yakuza kick but gets hung up on the top rope. He crotch drops Rainman's head for 2. He gets a bow and arrow but Rainman flips over for 2. Rainman hits the Sky High as the camera gets blurry. He hits a pair of clotheslines and a vertical suplex. Punk gets a low blow and pins Rainman with his feet on the ropes for the win at 13:35. The finish was kind of weak and came out of nowhere, but it fit the gimmick that Punk was using.
Rating: **1/2
Punk calls Homicide out for their FIP title match right then and Homicide obliges. They brawl in the ring, but Josh Masters, who was in the hospital according to Punk, comes out and helps Punk with the beat down. Rainman makes the save and the New Dawn retreats to the back.
VS. [Emergence, Night 2]
A Four Way Fray occurred between the previous match and this one. Masters attacks Homicide on the outside before the match can start, but bad communication leads to Punk hitting a suicide dive on Masters. Homicide gets in the ring and hits a tope onto both of them. He elbowdrops a popcorn bucket onto Punk's head. Punk tosses Homicide over the guardrail and brawls with him to the bleachers. Homicide tosses Punk into the wall and hits him with a trash can. He chokes Punk out with a t-shirt and brawls with him to the entrance of the building. The fight spills outside where Homicide hits a hiptoss onto the grass. He hits a vertical suplex on the grass. Punk rams Homicide into a lamp post. The wind howls as they trade chops. Punk pulls Homicide back into the building but Homicide takes over. He sits Punk in a chair and clotheslines him out of it. Punk comes back with an atomic drop onto the chair. Eww. He rakes the back and forearms him down. They fight into a restroom where Homicide pushes Punk's face into a urinal. They brawl back to ringside where Masters is still recovering. Homicide whips Punk with a velvet rope. Punk crotches Homicide on the post. He chokes Homicide with the velvet rope. Homicide gives a fan a chair and rams Punk's face into it. Back in the ring Punk hits the Shining Wizard as the match officially starts. Punk goes to the top and hits a legdrop for 2. He goes for Welcome to Chicago but Homicide reverses to a piledriver for 2. He hits a belly-to-belly overhead suplex for 2. Punk hits a pair of mule kicks but Homicide gets a backslide for 2. Punk hits Welcome to Chicago for 2. He goes to the top but Homicide cuts him off with an Ace Crusher. He hits the Clothesline from Hell for 2 when Masters pulls the referee out of the ring. Homicide dumps Punk onto Masters and then pulls Punk back into the ring. Punk falls onto Homicide and Masters tries to hold his leg again but it only gets 2. Homicide blocks the Pepsi Twist and hits a lariat for the win and the title. The actual match was only a few minutes, but the whole thing was a lot of fun and really different from usual brawls.
Rating: ***1/2
From Fallout, Night 1: Only one show after Masters did so much for Punk he is nowhere to be found and Punk initiates Azrieal as the newest member of the New Dawn. He gets on the microphone and says that he takes all outcastes under his wing, and that's what he's done with Azrieal. He's going to beat up Homicide's childhood friend Dan Maff to show Homicide what's in store for him. Highlights from the Azrieal vs. Rainman match follow. The match ends when Punk holds Rainman’s foot allowing Azrieal to counter a suplex into a pin for the win.
VS. [Fallout, Night 1]
This is match has no disqualifications and no count outs. Punk stalls before the bell. He asks Maff for a handshake. This turns out to be a mistake as Maff grips hard and swings Punk around the ring. He stomps the hand and Punk bails. Back in the ring Maff wants another handshake. Punk declines and then hurts his hand on a chop. Maff grabs a wristlock and bites the hand. He elbowdrops the hand and then wrenches it in the ropes. He gleefully stays on the hand with slaps, kicks and bites. He hits a back elbow for 2 and a hiptoss for 2. He hits a bodyslam and starts biting the hand again. Azrieal attacks Maff from behind with a can of salt. They beat him up and choke him out in the ropes. Punk forearms the ref down. He tries to throw salt at Maff but gets it kicked into his own eyes. He kicks Azrieal in the balls and throws him at Punk who piledrives him. Punk pins Azrieal and Maff counts three. He raises Punk's hand and it's too late by the time Punk realizes that Maff's not the referee. Maff hits a German suplex for 2 from the new referee. He hits the cannonball for 2. He hits a side slam for 2. He pounds Punk down in the corner but Punk pulls the referee in the way of the cannonball and then takes control. He hits a side Russian legsweep for 2. He hits a backbreaker for 2. He tosses Maff to the floor and follows him out. He nails him with a jar full of condoms and they brawl to the parking lot. Maff tosses Punk onto the hood of a truck and then violates him with a traffic cone. He slams Punk into a Ryder truck and they brawl back towards the ring. He smacks Punk with a garbage can and rolls him back into the ring. Punk begs for mercy but only gets a clothesline. Maff hits a bodyslam and climbs the ropes. He misses the diving headbutt and Punk takes over. He hits the mule kick and an inverted DDT for 2. He hits the mounted punches but Maff comes back with an inverted atomic drop and a clothesline for 2. Maff hits the mounted punches in full but gets low blown. Punk then rolls him up with his feet on the ropes for the win at 13:49. This started really fun, and although it slowed down a bit near the end it was still one of the better FIP matches to that point in the companies two-show history.
Rating: ***
VS. [Fallout, Night 2]
This is a falls count anywhere match. Punk and Homicide brawled all around and outside of the building before their match at Emergence, hence this match. Punk slugs away to start and shoulder blocks him in the corner. Homicide goes for a piledriver but Azrieal runs out from the back and cuts him off. Punk chokes Homicide out with his t-shirt with Azrieal's help. Rainman comes out and brawls with Azrieal to the back. Homicide hits Punk with a double ax handle and they brawl into the crowd and towards a pool table where Punk gets a pin fall for 2. Homicide puts a garbage can over Punk's head, and then takes it off revealing a plastic garbage bag. That's as close as I think I'll ever get to seeing the Funk/Flair plastic bag incident reproduced. They fight outside and Punk gets rammed into a Ryder truck. Punk tries to crotch Homicide on a rail but misses and Homicide goes to the eyes. He lifts the rail and rams it onto Punk's back. Punk climbs on the Ryder truck and Homicide follows him. The referee also follows. Punk goes for the Pepsi Plunge but ends up getting clotheslined for 2. Crazy. Punk hits a DDT for 2, still on top of the truck. They climb down and fight around the parking lot. They brawl towards a gate where Homicide grates Punk's face against the mesh. Punk beats Homicide onto a bench and hits the mounted punches. He hits a backdrop on the concrete for 2. The match is suddenly clipped to Punk and Homicide fighting inside a strip club. They brawl to the stage where some scantily clad women stand around. Punk uses the pole to hit an enziguiri for 2. He goes for a piledriver but Homicide reverses to a side Russian legsweep for 2. Punk hits a bodyslam for 2 as two strippers start pole dancing. They fight into the VIP lounge where Homicide hiptosses Punk onto a couch. Another clip leads us to a Punk low blow and some girl-on-girl action. They fight back to the stage where Punk shouts at the strippers for their poor life decisions. Another clip takes us back to the parking lot where Homicide hits a piledriver for the win. Homicide celebrates his win by watching strippers. The match was more creative than their match at Emergence, but had far more walking around. I can't even imagine what it'd be like if it wasn't clipped.
Rating: ***
Next up are highlights from the Florida Rumble. The matches gimmick was that the order of elimination would lay out the matches for the rest of the night and the winner would face the champion Homicide in the main event. James Gibson, is number one. CM Punk is number two. Punk takes the microphone and says that it was actually Azrieal that picked number two and he himself picked number 19. He assures Gibson that Azrieal is going to throw everyone out of the ring and then step over the top rope so Punk can get another title shot. Fast forward to later in the match as Punk comes in at number 19. He runs in all full of enthusiasm and gets immediately eliminated by Gibson. Spanky comes from behind and tosses Gibson from the ring. Punk and Gibson brawl on the floor. The order of elimination lead to the two of them facing off in a one-on-one match later in the show.
VS. [Florida Rumble]
Punk chokes Gibson out with his ring jacket before the bell. Gibson dodges a blind charge and rams Punk's shoulder into the turnbuckle. He puts on an armbar and turns it into a hammerlock. He elbowdrops the arm and then ties it up in the ropes. He stays on the arm but Punk tosses him into the turnbuckle. He hits a back suplex and a legdrop. He hits a backbreaker for 2. He hits a snapmare and a kick to the back for 2. He hits a swinging neckbreaker for 2. He calls for another kick to the back but opts for a sleeper hold. Gibson fights out and hits a crossbody for 2. He puts on the figure four head scissor lock, called by Mark Nulty. Gibson rolls over and gets a roll up for 2. Punk whips him hard into the turnbuckle and then puts on a chinlock. Gibson comes back with a roll up for 2 and a swinging neckbreaker. He levels Punk with a pair of forearms and hits a knee to the head for 2. Punk comes back with Welcome to Chicago for 2. Gibson blocks a vertical suplex but gets clotheslined down for 2. Punk puts on a cross armbreaker but Gibson reverses to a Texas cloverleaf. Punk makes the ropes. He crawls to the apron and hangs Gibson up on the top rope. He goes for a clothesline but Gibson reverses to an armbar. Punk gets to his feet but Gibson gets la magistral for the win at 11:27. This ended hot, but didn't have much going for it leading up to the finish. I was expecting more of a brawl considering the animosity between them stemming from their Florida Rumble interaction.
Rating: **3/4
The 411:
Punk was consistently the highlight of FIP’s 2004 shows, and remained so well into 2005. It was a wise choice for FIP to base their first Best of DVD on him. With his success in ECW it is nice to be able to look back at what he was doing before he was tearing it up on Tuesday nights and main eventing Pay Per Views. This DVD has some of the best action coming out of FIP’s relaunch and is worth checking out. Head on over to ROHWrestling.com to pick it up.
[Emergence, Night 2]
[Fallout, Night 1]
