Dark Pegasus Video Review: Full Impact Pro — Hot Summer Nights 2007 (Night One) Posted by J.D. Dunn on 04.02.2008
The YRR have a beach party in the middle of the venue while a Melbourne Street Fight breaks out in the ring.
Full Impact Pro — Hot Summer Nights (Night One) by J.D. Dunn
Last time out, all the champs successfully defended their titles as the Briscoes beat Marek Brave & Tyler Black in the main event, Roderick Strong successfully fended off Jimmy Rave, and Erick Stevens retained the Heritage Title against Danny Daniels.
Way back at In Full Force 2007, the YRR team of Sal Rinauro and Claudio Castagnoli defeated the Black Market with the stipulation that the loser leave town. Tonight, the Black Market suspension is up.
June 29, 2007
From Melbourne, Fla.
Your hosts are Lenny Leonard and Dave Prazak. Jonathan Gold handles the interviews.
The Black Market and Allison Danger are back in town after the suspension. That means the YRR have a bullseye on their backs. Lacey and Rain offer to show the BM boys a good time (unless that was targeted at Allison Danger, and you know I'd pay for a front-row seat to *that*). The Black Market guys refuse, so all the YRR boys jump them and lay them out.
Opening Match: Larry Sweeney vs. Rex Sterling.
Sweeney wants to finish the match and get the hell out of Melbourne. Leonard and Prazak argue over whether or not the Texarkana TV Title should be on the line because the show is being filmed with TV cameras and appearing on TV monitors even if it isn't a broadcast. Even Leonard can't stifle a guffaw when talking about that "very prestigious title." Sweeney gets hit in the face and ducks out to argue with the ref about it. Sweeney no-sells a shoulderblock, so Sterling challenges him to try a shoulderblock and then trips him. Big pop for that. Sweeney yanks down the straps but eats a spinning wheel kick. He cuts off a Hammerlock DDT and gets two off a Fisherman's Suplex. Sterling hits another spinning wheel kick and gets the small package for two. The fans actually seem to be buying the nearfalls. A backslide gets two more, and Sterling tries a crossbody. Unfortunately for him, Sweeney rolls through and grabs a handful of tights to pick up the win at 11:57. Sterling didn't look at all bad, and Sweeney was Larry Sweeney. It came off kind of like an old PrimeTime match. **
CZWer Eddie Kingston has come for competition and the World title. You know, he used to look a lot like Homicide. Now, he looks like the third Briscoe brother.
Eddie Kingston vs. Gran Akuma.
Kingston makes a big impression – mostly on the back of Akuma's head – by mixing in some faux martial arts strikes with his occasional wrestling hold. Akuma makes it respectable by peppering him with kicks as only Akuma, Low Ki and about a half dozen other guys can do. None of them can look like Kif from Futurama while doing it, though. It looks like they might have screwed up the finish as Kingston hits a backfist and a Dragon Suplex, but Akuma's shoulder slips off the mat enough that the ref can't realistically count it. Akuma gets one last desperation Crucifix Bomb, but Kingston blocks the Yoshi Tonic and locks in the Gannosuke Clutch to pick up the submission at 7:42. This was just a squash to introduce Kingston, so Akuma's kicks didn't get much respect. There were a few times when they seemed like they were on different pages too. *3/4
SHIMMER Four-Corner Survival, Non-Title: Sara Del Rey vs. Daizee Haze vs. Allison Danger vs. Lacey (w/Rain).
Del Rey put out an open challenge, which was answered by Daizee. Lacey, the self-described "greatest wrestler in the world," objected. Allison is still pissed at Lacey over the opening segment. All that leads to this match. Haze and Danger go to a respectful stalemate on the mat. They both offer to tag out, but Lacey refuses to tag in, so Haze has to get her ass kicked by Death Rey. Finally, Lacey tries to be sneaky and blind tags herself in, but it backfires as Haze sees her coming and tackles her. The Minnesota Home-Wrecking Crew cheat behind the ref's back, allowing Lacey to dominate Allison Danger. That's kind of a cool dynamic because it turns into a three-on-two tag match with Rain (who isn't even legally in the match) and Lacey taking on the other three. Danger comes back with a rolling cradle to set up a double KO spot. Lacey reaches out for the tag, hoping to get away from Del Rey, but Haze drops off the apron at the last second. PAYBACK~! Haze hits Lacey with a missile dropkick, but Rain interferes from the outside. Lacey is able to hit the Implant DDT to pick up the win at 11:31. Fun stuff with lots of little touches like Haze getting payback on Lacey for being such a sneaky bitch. They need to work some other women into the mix, though, because watching combinations of these four is getting repetitive. **1/4
Jigsaw vs. Hallowicked.
Both are CHIKARA guys, and both guys are babyfaces here. This would have been much better had they just decided on a style and stuck with it. As it is, it seems like they just want to exhibit that they can work different styles by doing a little segment from lucha, flying, striking and mat wrestling. Actually, they probably should have just gone with a striking battle because their best moves throughout are kicks. The huracanranas are pretty sloppy. Hallowicked gets two off the Sky High. He didn't yell, "Who sucks now?!" though, so it probably didn't have the impact it should have. Jigsaw gets two off a Fisherman's Buster. He ducks a big boot and turns it into the Jig and Tonic for the pin at 10:14. It was a bit mechanical, like they mapped it out too much in advance. Jigsaw was over with the crowd, though. **
The YRR come back out to announce that Black Market cannot wrestle tonight.
The YRR (w/So Cal Val) vs. The Irish Airborne.
The sound is out of sync on this one. He introduces Jason Blade as the newest YRR member. By the way, So Cal Val's body is INSANE. Sal piefaces Dave Crist, so Dave dropkicks him while he's trying to skin the cat. Blade cuts off Dave's dive, so Jake has to do it instead. Blade somersault planchas on both of them, and then Dave hits a twisting plancha. Sal and Blade isolate Jake. Blade hits a suplex into a cover for two. Jake tosses Sal into Blade and leaps into the tag. Dave Crist cleans house and hits a Hammerlock Backdrop on Blade. Rinauro springs off the top turnbuckle into a backflip kick. Jake slingshots into a neckbreaker for two. The YRR team up for a flipping neckbreaker/Russian Legsweep combo. Jake makes the miracle kickout, though. Val breaks up the Irish Air Raid behind the ref's back. Sal hits a Stunner for two, but the Crists tough it out and hit the Irish Air Raid for the upset win at 11:36. Val is apoplectic. Good, solid tag action. **1/2
FIP Florida Heritage Title: Erick Stevens vs. Damien Wayne.
Wayne is the hot prospect out of N. Carolina. He looks like the lost Basham brother. This is a much more traditional match than the others; it would be at home on an old episode of Championship Wrestling from Florida. Wayne hotshots Stevens and cheats like a bastard. Stevens comes back with the Oklahoma Stampede for two. The TKO gets two more. Wayne goes low to take over again. He drops the big elbow for two. Stevens blocks the piledriver and finishes with the Doctorbomb at 14:14. If Stevens can ever develop a decent personality, he'll be great. Minus Wayne's leather pants, this felt like solid 1980s match. **3/4
Dave Prazak presents Mr. Milo Beasley with a gift – the new DP Associates T-shirt. He also complains that they announce Jimmy Rave as the "challenger" for the title when he clearly won the title but for the crooked ref actually enforcing the rules and restarting the match. Roderick Strong attacks, and it's on.
FIP World Title, Anything Goes: Roderick Strong vs. Jimmy Rave (w/Dave Prazak & Milo Beasley).
They brawl up into the bleachers and out into the hallway where Roderick dumps Jimmy in the trash. Strong slams Jimmy's head into the lockers. The brawl works its way back to ringside where Strong drops Rave on a piece of the railing he had stretched across the ring apron. Milo Beasley cowers, so Roderick shoves him and his wheelchair into the railing. Finally, Rave sidesteps a charge and sends Roderick headfirst into a chair that was wedged in the corner. Milo tosses him a chain, and Rave punches Roderick with it for two. Roderick ducks a clothesline, boots Rave in the chest, and finishes him with a Tiger Driver at 9:32. Well, that ending seems rather abrupt. The match was just fine, though, as Roderick seems at home as the ass-kicking babyface and Rave is a perfect sleazy heel. **1/2
Melbourne Street Fight: Chasyn Rance, Kenny King, Madman Pondo & Ricky Vega (w/So Cal Val) vs. The Heartbreak Express, Seth Delay & Steve Madison.
Pondo and Vega are the YRR's hired assassins for the match. This is good, old-fashioned indy fun. Everyone brawls all over the building as the 200 or so fans in the audience scatter. Too much to do play-by-play, but highlights include Rance getting crotched on the railing, Sean Davis coming out of nowhere to smash Kenny King's head in with a chairshot, and King dropkicking a chair into Phil Davis' head. Pondo bleeds. No surprise there. Seth Delay dives off the top into the crowd. It eventually boils down to Phil and Sean Davis taking on Vega and Pondo in the ring. Sean is bleeding like a stuck pig, and Pondo staples a dollar bill to his head. Crazy. He does manage one last desperation low blow on Vega, allowing Phil to sunset flip him for the win at 11:51. It was kind of random chaotic brawling, but at least it didn't rely on multiple high spots. If it had more intensity, it would have been a great match. I like that they let Sean & Phil do the brawling with Pondo and Vega, roles that they look comfortable in, while Delay and King did most of the wrestling. ***
After the match, the rest of the YRR hit the ring to attack the babyfaces, but the Black Market and Allison Danger make the save.
The 411: This one has a lot of different styles and a little something for everyone, but most of the matches are only in the average-to-good range. The main event is a good brawl, but it's not worth the purchase unless you need to see how Night Two was set up.
