Post by Dragonfly on Sept 8, 2013 19:54:06 GMT -5
Simple idea: A thread for any and all reviews that don't exactly its own thread. It could be anything from a show to a DVD to... I don't know... meeting Lanny Poffo in an elevator or something. So with that said, here's my review of the IWC DVD Mountain State Madness 5. I also included a brief rundown of what's going on, as IWC tends to be a bit storyline heavy.
Major Stables/Tag Teams/Other:
Team Big League - The major heel faction led in IWC, by champ John McChesney and former IWC owner Norm Connors. Other members include tag team champions Jimmy Nutts and Joseph Brooks, Bobby Fish, former champ Jimmy Demarco and referee CJ Sensation. (CJ only heels it up when Team Big League is involved, however.)
We Are Rockstars (aka WAR) - Aiden Veil and Jordan Lennox working a hair band gimmick. Lennox is roughly one-step shy from still being a rookie. Veil is Jimmy Nutts’ former tag partner. They spend most of their time getting their asses kicked by Team Big League.
Sexy Talented Dudes (aka STDs) - Weird gimmicks galore. There’s a 150 pound weakling (group leader Chest Flexor), a steampunk fan/”goggles enthusiast” (Andrew Palace), a professional bowler with anger management issues (Brian McDowell), a time lord from the year 2135 (Corey Futuristic) and Chest Flexor’s groupie Ginger.
The Founding Fathers - Veterans. Originally consisting of five people, the group is down to three: Dennis Gregory, Jimmy Vegas and new member Justin Idol. Idol joined the Founding Fathers after beating former member Super Hentai in a “loser leaves town” match the night before.
Blue Collar Slaughterhouse - Bronco McBride and Matt Segaris as Western Pennsylvania-style rednecks.They are booked to be the a dominant force in the style of the Dudleys, but can’t quite pull it off in-ring.
Haught and Cute - Colin Delaney and Keith Haught. Haught works a “dancing fat guy” gimmick, while Delaney is… well… Colin Delaney. They lost the tag team titles to Nutts and Brooks the night before under questionable circumstances.
ICWA (Unofficial) - Students from/recent graduates of IWC’s training school, led by standout student HD Cannon. They are currently feuding with the Founding Fathers.
Team IWC (Unofficial) - The classic “faces put their differences aside to fight a common enemy” group. The only consistent participants are former champ Logan Shulo, perennial number one contender Dalton Castle, WAR and Ray Rowe (when he’s in town). Marshall Gambino, Mike Rayne and the STDs have also gotten involved in the past.
Ashton Amherst - Mainstay (and multiple time champ) of Pittsburgh’s other major promotion, PWX. Most people who go from one promotion to the other do so with little fanfare. Amherst, on the other hand, is being billed as a major star who “jumped ship.” It gives the entire story an odd “Monday Night Wars” vibe you don’t often see in a mid-level Indy. Oh… and he was trained by Sterling James Keenan, aka Corey Graves. (The whole “trained by SJK” thing has always been a major part of his character.)
Announcers - Joe Dombrowski and Dalton Castle, Justin Labarr or Justin Plummer, depending on the match.
Other Notes: The show was held in a Courtyard in Newell, WV. All matches had a somewhat strict ten-minute time limit attached.
The Matches:
Aiden Veil (/w Jordan Lennox) vs. Alvin Alvarez - This is Alvarez’s debut in IWC. He’s a rather large man that does all of the things you'd expect a large man to do. He's also as boring as hell. The most interesting thing about the guy is his purple singlet. Veil could only do so much.
Winner: Aiden Veil
HD Cannon and Sam Cassidy vs. The Founding Fathers (Dennis Gregory and Justin Idol) - Denny entered the ring with an umbrella for some reason. It is Justin Idol’s first match in the Founding Fathers stable, and Cassidy’s third match ever. It was fun for what it was.
Winners: The Founding Fathers (Justin Idol pins HD Cannon)
Justin Labarr’s Chairshot Reality with RJ City - Labarr (host of the Chairshot Reality podcast on Wrestlezone.com) lobbed a few standard “West Virginia sucks” jokes and generally acted like an ass; RJ City (best known as Gilder on the YTV/Nickelodeon show Splatalot) sang an Ethel Merman song and insulted hometown hero Zema Ion. IWC owner Chuck Roberts came out and put West Virginia promoter Billy Johnson in charge. Johnson, in turn, put Ion in charge. Ion reiterated that he wasn’t cleared to wrestle yet, but had found someone backstage that could fill in. This led to…
Shane Strickland (/w Zema Ion) vs. RJ City (/w Justin Labarr) - Strickland is apparently from East Liverpool, Ohio, which is right across the river from Newell. City is pretty good in the ring, but he’s definitely better on the mic. I honestly wish Labarr would just go away, and the live crowd seems to agree with me.
Winner: RJ City via submission
Anthony Nese vs. Logan Shulo - Competitive back and forth match. It was honestly the best Shulo match I’ve seen. Shulo was was one second away from the pin before time ran out.
Result: Time Limit Draw
After the match, Nese teased the fans with “five more minutes” before telling them that they didn’t deserve it.
Super Indy Title Match: Facade (c) vs. Andrew Palace (/w The STDs) - Great match for the time they had. Facade is as good as ever, going as far as jumping off a Ryder truck onto the STDs. Palace is, gimmick aside, seriously underrated. Ashton Amherst made an appearance with a chair.
Winner: Facade, even with Amherst’s interference.
Harley T. Morris (/w Davidson Marmel) Corey Futuristic (/w Ginger and Chest Flexor) - Harley and Davidson (sigh) are from Newell and are making their IWC debuts. The STDs hit the ring on tricycles, hoping to impress the Harley-Davidson rep they thought would be there. I don’t know why, but I was expecting Harley Morris to be completely awful. He wasn’t amazing or anything, but he was far from terrible. I wouldn’t mind seeing them again. The highlight of the match was Corey Futuristic’s bizarre running commentary.
Winner: Harley T. Morris after Davidson Marmel got involved.
Bobby Fish vs. Ray Rowe - This was billed as the third match in their “series.” (Match one was at the ROH show in San Antonio, and the second took place at Caged Fury the night before.) Before the match began, Fish got into an argument with an older fan and a little kid at ringside. A bit short due to the mandatory time limit, but really good nonetheless.
Winner: Ray Rowe
After the match, John McChesney hit the ring. He started to run down Fish, but quickly turned his attention to the old guy in the crowd. They heckled the old fan a bit, then started to argue with each other again. The segment ended with Fish pushing McChesney into the corner and storming out of the ring. Fish was seriously great here.
Sassy Stephanie vs. Nevaeh - It wasn't bad, but nothing special. There were a lot of arm drags.
Winner: Sassy Stephanie
Team Big League (John McChesney, Joseph Brooks and Jimmy Nutts) vs. Haught and Cute (Colin Delaney and Keith Haught) and Dalton Castle - John McChesney did Team Big League’s intros; Joseph Books provided the “pyro” with a confetti cannon. Haught spent most of the intro (and the first part of the match) basically doing the Truffle Shuffle. There were also a lot of “Jimmy Nutts is taller than all of the faces” jokes for some reason. It took forever to get the match started, but was pretty good once it did. Haught was the definite weak link here, but he didn’t drag things down too much.
Winner: Haught and Cute and Dalton Castle after Castle pinned McChesney.
Marshall Gambino and Brian McDowell (/w Chest Flexor, Ginger and Marshall’s valet Madison) vs. The Blue Collar Slaughterhouse (Bronco McBride and Matt Segaris) in a steel cage - Average cage match at best. It started as a tag match, but became a handicap match after McDowell was thrown out of the cage and couldn't get back in. Chest Flexor and Ginger attempted to enter the match of his behalf, but were ejected by the ref. Segaris and McBride are okay, but not up to the level of Marshall and, surprisingly, McDowell.
Winners - Blue Collar Slaughterhouse after a top-rope leg drop from Bronco McBride.
Overall: While I wouldn't suggest it to anyone unfamiliar with the promotion - I'd go with Caged Fury or Super Indy XII instead - it was fine show. Definitely worth the $10.
Major Stables/Tag Teams/Other:
Team Big League - The major heel faction led in IWC, by champ John McChesney and former IWC owner Norm Connors. Other members include tag team champions Jimmy Nutts and Joseph Brooks, Bobby Fish, former champ Jimmy Demarco and referee CJ Sensation. (CJ only heels it up when Team Big League is involved, however.)
We Are Rockstars (aka WAR) - Aiden Veil and Jordan Lennox working a hair band gimmick. Lennox is roughly one-step shy from still being a rookie. Veil is Jimmy Nutts’ former tag partner. They spend most of their time getting their asses kicked by Team Big League.
Sexy Talented Dudes (aka STDs) - Weird gimmicks galore. There’s a 150 pound weakling (group leader Chest Flexor), a steampunk fan/”goggles enthusiast” (Andrew Palace), a professional bowler with anger management issues (Brian McDowell), a time lord from the year 2135 (Corey Futuristic) and Chest Flexor’s groupie Ginger.
The Founding Fathers - Veterans. Originally consisting of five people, the group is down to three: Dennis Gregory, Jimmy Vegas and new member Justin Idol. Idol joined the Founding Fathers after beating former member Super Hentai in a “loser leaves town” match the night before.
Blue Collar Slaughterhouse - Bronco McBride and Matt Segaris as Western Pennsylvania-style rednecks.They are booked to be the a dominant force in the style of the Dudleys, but can’t quite pull it off in-ring.
Haught and Cute - Colin Delaney and Keith Haught. Haught works a “dancing fat guy” gimmick, while Delaney is… well… Colin Delaney. They lost the tag team titles to Nutts and Brooks the night before under questionable circumstances.
ICWA (Unofficial) - Students from/recent graduates of IWC’s training school, led by standout student HD Cannon. They are currently feuding with the Founding Fathers.
Team IWC (Unofficial) - The classic “faces put their differences aside to fight a common enemy” group. The only consistent participants are former champ Logan Shulo, perennial number one contender Dalton Castle, WAR and Ray Rowe (when he’s in town). Marshall Gambino, Mike Rayne and the STDs have also gotten involved in the past.
Ashton Amherst - Mainstay (and multiple time champ) of Pittsburgh’s other major promotion, PWX. Most people who go from one promotion to the other do so with little fanfare. Amherst, on the other hand, is being billed as a major star who “jumped ship.” It gives the entire story an odd “Monday Night Wars” vibe you don’t often see in a mid-level Indy. Oh… and he was trained by Sterling James Keenan, aka Corey Graves. (The whole “trained by SJK” thing has always been a major part of his character.)
Announcers - Joe Dombrowski and Dalton Castle, Justin Labarr or Justin Plummer, depending on the match.
Other Notes: The show was held in a Courtyard in Newell, WV. All matches had a somewhat strict ten-minute time limit attached.
The Matches:
Aiden Veil (/w Jordan Lennox) vs. Alvin Alvarez - This is Alvarez’s debut in IWC. He’s a rather large man that does all of the things you'd expect a large man to do. He's also as boring as hell. The most interesting thing about the guy is his purple singlet. Veil could only do so much.
Winner: Aiden Veil
HD Cannon and Sam Cassidy vs. The Founding Fathers (Dennis Gregory and Justin Idol) - Denny entered the ring with an umbrella for some reason. It is Justin Idol’s first match in the Founding Fathers stable, and Cassidy’s third match ever. It was fun for what it was.
Winners: The Founding Fathers (Justin Idol pins HD Cannon)
Justin Labarr’s Chairshot Reality with RJ City - Labarr (host of the Chairshot Reality podcast on Wrestlezone.com) lobbed a few standard “West Virginia sucks” jokes and generally acted like an ass; RJ City (best known as Gilder on the YTV/Nickelodeon show Splatalot) sang an Ethel Merman song and insulted hometown hero Zema Ion. IWC owner Chuck Roberts came out and put West Virginia promoter Billy Johnson in charge. Johnson, in turn, put Ion in charge. Ion reiterated that he wasn’t cleared to wrestle yet, but had found someone backstage that could fill in. This led to…
Shane Strickland (/w Zema Ion) vs. RJ City (/w Justin Labarr) - Strickland is apparently from East Liverpool, Ohio, which is right across the river from Newell. City is pretty good in the ring, but he’s definitely better on the mic. I honestly wish Labarr would just go away, and the live crowd seems to agree with me.
Winner: RJ City via submission
Anthony Nese vs. Logan Shulo - Competitive back and forth match. It was honestly the best Shulo match I’ve seen. Shulo was was one second away from the pin before time ran out.
Result: Time Limit Draw
After the match, Nese teased the fans with “five more minutes” before telling them that they didn’t deserve it.
Super Indy Title Match: Facade (c) vs. Andrew Palace (/w The STDs) - Great match for the time they had. Facade is as good as ever, going as far as jumping off a Ryder truck onto the STDs. Palace is, gimmick aside, seriously underrated. Ashton Amherst made an appearance with a chair.
Winner: Facade, even with Amherst’s interference.
Harley T. Morris (/w Davidson Marmel) Corey Futuristic (/w Ginger and Chest Flexor) - Harley and Davidson (sigh) are from Newell and are making their IWC debuts. The STDs hit the ring on tricycles, hoping to impress the Harley-Davidson rep they thought would be there. I don’t know why, but I was expecting Harley Morris to be completely awful. He wasn’t amazing or anything, but he was far from terrible. I wouldn’t mind seeing them again. The highlight of the match was Corey Futuristic’s bizarre running commentary.
Winner: Harley T. Morris after Davidson Marmel got involved.
Bobby Fish vs. Ray Rowe - This was billed as the third match in their “series.” (Match one was at the ROH show in San Antonio, and the second took place at Caged Fury the night before.) Before the match began, Fish got into an argument with an older fan and a little kid at ringside. A bit short due to the mandatory time limit, but really good nonetheless.
Winner: Ray Rowe
After the match, John McChesney hit the ring. He started to run down Fish, but quickly turned his attention to the old guy in the crowd. They heckled the old fan a bit, then started to argue with each other again. The segment ended with Fish pushing McChesney into the corner and storming out of the ring. Fish was seriously great here.
Sassy Stephanie vs. Nevaeh - It wasn't bad, but nothing special. There were a lot of arm drags.
Winner: Sassy Stephanie
Team Big League (John McChesney, Joseph Brooks and Jimmy Nutts) vs. Haught and Cute (Colin Delaney and Keith Haught) and Dalton Castle - John McChesney did Team Big League’s intros; Joseph Books provided the “pyro” with a confetti cannon. Haught spent most of the intro (and the first part of the match) basically doing the Truffle Shuffle. There were also a lot of “Jimmy Nutts is taller than all of the faces” jokes for some reason. It took forever to get the match started, but was pretty good once it did. Haught was the definite weak link here, but he didn’t drag things down too much.
Winner: Haught and Cute and Dalton Castle after Castle pinned McChesney.
Marshall Gambino and Brian McDowell (/w Chest Flexor, Ginger and Marshall’s valet Madison) vs. The Blue Collar Slaughterhouse (Bronco McBride and Matt Segaris) in a steel cage - Average cage match at best. It started as a tag match, but became a handicap match after McDowell was thrown out of the cage and couldn't get back in. Chest Flexor and Ginger attempted to enter the match of his behalf, but were ejected by the ref. Segaris and McBride are okay, but not up to the level of Marshall and, surprisingly, McDowell.
Winners - Blue Collar Slaughterhouse after a top-rope leg drop from Bronco McBride.
Overall: While I wouldn't suggest it to anyone unfamiliar with the promotion - I'd go with Caged Fury or Super Indy XII instead - it was fine show. Definitely worth the $10.