By Chris Vetter, Torch Contributor

IWA-Mid South returned to Midlothian, Ill. – a Chicago suburb – on Aug. 11, 2006, for “Simply the Best 7,” featuring the first-ever battle between Low Ki and 2 Cold Scorpio. IWA-Mid South is the top indy in the Midwest, and this show is usually one of the best events of the year. Fans settled in for a whopping 13-match show that went 4 and a half-hours! The crowd was about 200 for this show, and it got underway at 7:40 p.m.

(1) Ryan Cruz defeats Shane Storm at 6:25. Solid opener, and this is face vs. face. Storm has lost a legit 40 pounds and is vastly improved for it; he wears a goofy mask with wild yellow hair. Cruz is the Matt Hardy-lookalike. They opened with standing switches, then picked up the pace and had a standoff. They traded some armdrags, and Cruz nailed a flying forearm for a nearfall. Storm hit a sunset flip for a nearfall at 3:00. Cruz hit a nice back suplex for a nearfall, and they traded stiff clubbing forearms. Storm hit a running knee, and they were both down, and the crowd rallied for both guys.

Storm hit a basement dropkick to the knee. Cruz hit a back suplex and a spin heel kick for a believable nearfall at 6:00. Suddenly, Darin Corbin was at ringside, and he distracted Storm! This allowed Ryan Cruz to get a schoolboy rollup, a handful of tights, and he grabbed the ropes for leverage, to score the pin. Darin ran in the ring, and he hit a Stunner on Storm. Darin & Ryan then worked together to beat up Storm; Shiima Xion made the save. Cruz clearly turned heel as this match finished.

(2) Ace Steel defeats Ricky Reyes at 14:57. This unannounced “Simply the Best Surprise match” turned out to be one of the best on the show. Ace is a Chicago native, so he got a huge pop, and he screamed his catch phrase, “Someone’s gonna die!” They opened with really good mat wrestling and reversals, and Reyes hit some knee shots to the back. They traded offense while in an intense knucklelock. Ace hit a shoulder tackle at 4:00, and Reyes hit some spin kicks to the thigh. Reyes hit a side suplex and a kneedrop to the face, then some headbutts, and he was in charge. Ace came back with a series of chops, and Reyes bailed at 7:00.

They traded stiff forearms on the floor. Back in the ring, Ace raked Reyes’ eyes & nose. Reyes hit a nice swinging neckbreaker and a spine kick. Ace applied a Horse Collar, wrapping Reyes’ leg behind Ace’s neck, but Reyes escaped at 11:30. They traded punches, and Ace hit a sitdown powerbomb for a nearfall, then a Spinebuster. Ace again applied the Horse Collar, but Reyes reached the ropes. Reyes fired back with a jumping knee to the head for a nearfall. Reyes went for the Dragon Sleeper, but Ace blocked it. Ace then hit a standing powerbomb, dropping Reyes on his head, for the pin. Very good match.

(3) Mickie Knuckles defeats Rain at 12:08 to retain the women’s title. Good match. Mickie wore a cowboy hat to ringside, and she’s popular here. They opened with standing switches, then they traded armdrags, and Mickie hit some knee strikes to the head, sending Rain to the floor. Back in the ring, Mickie hit some stiff forearms, and Rain hit a dropkick to the side of the head, then some chops on Mickie on the floor. In the ring, Rain hit a dropkick to the back as Mickie was tied up in the ropes. Mickie fired back with a basement dropkick to the face at 6:30 for a nearfall.

Rain grabbed Mickie’s hair, and Rain hit repeated knee strikes to the head. Mickie nailed a clothesline that flattened Rain! Rain hit a nice DDT for a nearfall, and she SCREAMED in anger at the ref for not giving her the three-count. Mickie fired back with a second-rope superplex at 9:30. They traded stiff forearms on the mat, and Mickie hit some thud-sounding headbutts. Mickie nailed a sitdown powerbomb, and she tied up Rain’s legs and cranked backward on her head. Rain hit a standing neckbreaker for a believable nearfall, and she again screamed at the referee for a slow count.

Mickie hit a German release suplex, dumping Rain awkwardly on her head. Mickie went for her Shining Kick to the eye, but she airballed it. Mickie then hit a Jay Driller/butterfly piledriver to score the pin. As with all of Mickie’s matches, this was hard-hitting stuff. Good match, but these two have had better ones in the past.

(4) Chuck Taylor defeats Delirious at 10:13. Good match. Taylor is new to IWA-Mid South this year; he’s a young cruiserweight and he’s having some good matches. The crowd loves Delirious, who went crazy at the bell, cut a promo in his gibberish, and he wiped slobber on Taylor’s face. Early in the match, Delirious out-mat wrestled Taylor. Taylor applied a full nelson, and Delirious, in perfect comic timing, said, “Masterlock?” Delirious then powered out of the Masterlock, and he showed off his physique! The crowd roared at this humor. Taylor hit a nice mid-ring hurricanrana. Delirious fired back with the Panic Attack/running knee in the corner at 4:30.

Delirious hit a hard running Kawada Kick to the face, and he rubbed slime in the ref’s face! Delirious hit some chops and a back suplex for a nearfall. Taylor came back with a cool chinbreaker across his foot. Neat move! Taylor hit a running forearm, then his picture-perfect dropkick at 7:00 for a nearfall. Taylor stayed on top with a belly-to-belly overhead suplex, but he missed a missile dropkick. Delirious nailed a Bizarro Driver/modified Sabin Future Shock. Delirious went for the Cobra Clutch, but Taylor avoided it.

Delirious nailed the Shadows Over Hell/backsplash for a nearfall. Delirious then applied the Cobra Stretch, but Taylor reached the ropes. Delirious hit a basement dropkick to the knee. Taylor nailed a Michinoku Driver, dumping Delirious on his head, for the pin. Very good action, with good drama in the final minutes, and this was a huge win for Taylor.

(5) Round 1: Ruckus defeats Derek Frazier at 16:15 in the ‘flippy tournament.’ My first time seeing Frazier live; he wrestles routinely in Maryland and Pennsylvania, and he wore shiny black pants. The crowd loves Ruckus, who has a great ring intro. They traded hard slaps to the face, then traded armdrags. Ruckus hit a cool headscissors takedown, and they did a quick, choreographed sequence of moves that ended in a standoff. Neat, but it felt rehearsed, too (and these two have fought many times on the East Coast). Frazier hit a nice dropkick, and he was arrogant. Ruckus fired back with a spin heel kick to the face. Frazier hit a basement dropkick to the face as Ruckus went for a handspring-back-elbow at 5:00.

There was a bump on the floor I couldn’t see, as fans were standing, but the fans popped for it. Ruckus hit a Shooting Star Press off the apron the floor. In the ring, Frazier applied a cool reverse Tarantula hold, and he hit a piledriver at 7:30 for a nearfall. Ruckus came back with a Flatliner that sent Frazier crashing into the second turnbuckle. Ruckus hit the Razzle Dazzle/cartwheel press into the corner, then he did his version of Rolling Thunder that ends with a scissors kick. Ruckus hit a nice corkscrew senton for a nearfall, and they traded stiff forearms and chops.

They began trading Mafia Kicks, and Ruckus hit a spin kick. They hit double clotheslines and were both down at 12:00. Frazier hit a sitdown piledriver for a nearfall, and he got some chairs. Ruckus hit a Gory Bomb faceplant for a nearfall, but he missed a Spiral Tap/corkscrew press. Ruckus slammed Frazier headfirst on an open chair for a nearfall. In a cool spot for the finish, Ruckus gave Frazier a Falcon Arrow slam through two open chairs for the pin. Very good finish; the action was a bit disjointed and overly choreographed, but it was entertaining.

(6) Gran Akuma & Icarus & Shiima Xion defeat Brandon Thomaselli & Darin Corbin & Marek Brave (w/Kevin Harvey) at 9:41. Akuma’s team is the face squad, although these three are usually heels out on the East Coast. Thomaselli wore his usual singlet. His teammates, Corbin & Marek, also came to ringside wearing ugly singlets! Then, Harvey also has a singlet! Funny, as these outfits are just not flattering. Marek is now a heel here, and he wore eye makeup and has morphed into a 1970s glam rocker look. Corbin is the goofy red head. Xion’s gimmick is he’s a male model (again, not really a ‘face’ gimmick.) Akuma is bald, and he kicks hard!

Darin and Xion started, and Darin couldn’t kip up, which drew some laughs. Marek and Icarus squared off for a moment, then the faces tied up Brandon Thomaselli. Akuma hit some of those hard kicks to Brandon’s chest. Brandon hit a spine kick on Akuma. Marek entered, and he hit some vicious chops on Akuma. Brandon hit a frogsplash for a nearfall at 4:00. Brandon nailed a standing moonsault, then a standing Shooting Star Press, on Akuma for a nearfall. Akuma fired back with a hurricanrana on Brandon! Icarus made the hot tag, and he hit some clotheslines, then a Sliced Bread #2/overhead bulldog out of the corner.

Xion entered, and he hit a Crucifix Takedown on Darin. Brandon hit his 450 Splash on Akuma for a nearfall. Two faces hit simultaneous dives to the floor. In the ring, Darin hit a Stunner on Akuma. Icarus hit an inverted DDT on Darin. Brandon hit his powerbomb across his knees on Icarus. Xion hit a Reverse Rana on Brandon. Marek speared Xion. Akuma nailed a flying missile dropkick to Marek’s chest that sent Marek flying! Akuma hit a series of kicks and a hard clothesline on Marek. Akuma then nailed a spinning backslam to pin Marek. Good match; I know it’s overdone, but I enjoy these finishing sequences where everyone gets to hit their finisher. I wish this match had been given more time!

(7) Round 1: Ricochet defeats “Omega” Aaron Dravin at 8:58 in the ‘flippy tournament.’ Eh, really disappointing. My first time seeing Omega, who is seriously just 5’2” or so, and he wore orange shorts. He was way too green for this show. Omega hit a delayed vertical suplex, and Ricochet hit a hurricanrana. Omega hit a spine kick and a German Suplex. Omega got a ladder that was leaning against a wall! Ricochet hit a hurricanrana and a running dropkick in the corner. Ricochet bridged the ladder on two open chairs. Omega hit a German Suplex, dumping Ricochet onto the ladder at 4:30!

Omega missed a top-rope Swanton Bomb, and he crashed onto the ladder! Ricochet hit an enziguri. They fought on the ladder, and Omega hit a one-man Spanish Fly off the ladder at 7:00. Nice. The action continued, and they eventually went back up the ladder, where Ricochet hit a sunset flip off the ladder, through a table set up in the middle of the ring, for the pin. Solid, but disappointing. Ricochet also is quite green, and he needs to be in the ring with someone experienced to help him through his matches.

(8) Tyler Black defeats Josh Abercrombie at 15:19 in a “hair vs. mustache match.” Both guys have long hair and mustaches now. Abercrombie strutted to ringside to New Kids’ “Right Stuff,” and he’s the heel. Black mimicked Abercrombie’s movements, and he rubbed his new mustache just like Josh does. Humorous. They opened with standing reversals, and Josh did a kip up, but Tyler immediately nailed him with a hard clothesline, and Josh stalled on the floor. They tied up in the ring with some good mat wrestling, but they began to pull on each other’s mustaches at 5:30! Funny.

Abercrombie hit a nice dropkick to the back, and Black fell to the floor. Abercrombie was in control in the ring. He grabbed a pair of scissors to cut Tyler’s hair, but Black kicked the scissors from Josh’s hand. Josh planted his knee in the back and he stretched Tyler. Black fired back with some stiff forearms. Tyler nailed a spin heel kick, then a dropkick to the face for a nearfall at 12:00. Black hit a senton for a nearfall. Abercrombie applied a sleeper, but Black flipped out of it in the corner. Josh set up for his Lungblower, but Tyler avoided it. Tyler then got a rollup out of nowhere for the pin! Good match, but these two have had better matches against each other before.

* Ring announcer Joey Eastman read the contract, which actually states that Abercrombie’s hair was on the line, not his mustache! Black trimmed a bit of Josh’s hair off the side of his head; Josh was NOT shaved bald, and he was able to keep the mustache. Tyler then trimmed off his own mustache. They continued to argue, and Josh made the challenge for a title match with a loser-leave-town stipulation, for the Ted Petty Invitational! Wow.

(9) Vito & Sal Thomaselli (the Iron Saints) defeat American Kickboxer & Trik Davis at 8:13. Blah. Kickboxer has a long blonde ponytail; my first time seeing him live. Sal and Trik started, and Trik hit a nice dive through the ropes to the floor on the Saints. In the ring, the Saints beat up Trik, doing some illegal switches and chokes. Trik chopped Sal, then he hit a nice hurricanrana on Vito, and he made the hot tag to Kickboxer at 4:00. Kickboxer hit a spin kick to Sal’s head in the corner. The Saints were in control, as they stomped and punched Kickboxer. Fairly dry action.

Vito accidentally fell backward onto Sal’s knees. Suddenly, Darin Corbin & Ryan Cruz hit the ring, and they attacked Trik Davis, who was standing on the ring apron! Corbin & Cruz fought Trik to the back, leaving American Kickboxer alone in the ring. Vito hit his flip splash off the top rope onto Kickboxer for the pin. They continued to beat up Kickboxer after the match. The lone dud match on this otherwise good show, and the crowd was just not into this one.

(10) Toby Klein vs. Arik Cannon went to a double count out at 7:48. Disappointing. Klein is the IWA-MS champion; he’s a death match guy, and he’s much bigger than Arik. They traded wrestling holds early, and Cannon hit a chop. (The point they are going for here is that Toby can wrestle, and not just do death matches.) Klein hit a shoulder tackle, and armdrag, and they did simultaneous kip ups. Toby nailed his first chop, and the smaller Cannon sold it like he’d been shot. Klein hit a Mafia Kick, then a nice flying back elbow for a nearfall at 3:00.

Cannon fired back with a German Suplex, an enziguri, then a Saito Suplex and a brainbuster for a nearfall. They traded punches, and Klein hit some headbutts. Cannon hit a swinging neckbreaker. Klein hit a dropkick to the side of the head, and Cannon fell to the floor. They traded chops and stiff forearms on the floor, and the ref counted them both out. The fans booed the referee for his ruling. Solid, average action, and it set up for a rematch in the future. The size difference was bigger than I expected, however.

* Cannon took the mic and thanked Klein for the match. Cannon was busted open over his left eye. Cannon told Klein he hopes he gets a rematch in the future.

(11) Finals: Ruckus defeats Ricochet at 10:28 to win the ‘flippy tournament.’ This is a tables-ladders-chairs match, with falls count anywhere. Ricochet hit a flip off of Ruckus’ chest and he hit a standing moonsault. Ricochet dove through the ropes, crashing onto Ruckus, and they fought on the floor. Ruckus hit a Shooting Star Press off the apron. Ricochet flipped over the ropes, but Ruckus moves, and Ricochet crashed through a table at 4:00. Ruckus nailed a spin heel kick for a nearfall, then a hard clothesline, and he hit a backbody drop, flipping Ricochet onto the ladder, which was leaning in a corner!

Ruckus hit a standing Shooting Star Press, but he grabbed his left knee in pain, and he couldn’t make the cover. Ricochet hit a spinning back slam, then a dropkick. Ruckus hit a spinning neckbreaker, and they were both down at 8:00. They traded stiff forearms, and Ruckus hit a clothesline to the back of the neck. Ruckus hit a fisherman’s suplex with a bridge for a nearfall, and the crowd came alive. Ricochet hit the Code Red/sudden spinning sunset flip, for a nearfall. Ruckus nailed a top-rope powerbomb through the table in the ring for the pin. Good action, but it lacked some crowd heat. The fans cheered for Ruckus after the match, and he’s definitely welcome back in the future.

(12) Low Ki vs. 2 Cold Scorpio went to a time-limit draw at 25:58. Excellent match, and best of the show. Scorpio is taller, and he was heavier than I expected, but it didn’t slow him down much. They each wore title belts – Scorpio as GHC champion (not sure! Sorry!) and Ki’s TNA X Division Title. The crowd was HOT as this match began, as they traded armholds. Ki was lying on his back, and hit a stiff kick to Scorpio’s chest. Scorpio was in charge early, as he twisted Ki’s left leg and tied up his arms. Ki did a quick kip up, springing out of a cover, and they had a standoff at 5:30. Ki hit a swift kick to the thigh.

Scorpio hit a nice dropkick, a flip armdrag, and Ki went to the floor. In the ring, Scorpio hit a shoulder tackle, but Ki kipped up immediately. They traded hard chops at 9:00, and Ki hit a shoulder tackle for a nearfall. They had another stiff chop exchange! Ki hit three stiff spin kicks to Scorpio’s chest as Scorpio was down on one knee! Awesome. Scorpio came back with a mule kick to the throat at 13:30. Scorpio hit a Mafia Kick and a Superkick, and he was in charge. Ki fired back with a running forearm and a series of Field Goal Kicks to the chest. Scorpio missed a plancha to the floor. Ki hit some kicks on the floor, and he nailed a running dropkick as Scorpio was sitting in a chair on the floor at 17:30!

In the ring, Scorpio hit a cool guillotine legdrop out of the corner. Ki hit a cartwheel kick into the corner, and he applied the Dragon Clutch! However, the bell went off at 20:17, and it is announced we have a time-limit draw! The crowd booed, and chanted for five more minutes! Both wrestlers agreed, and the match started again!

Scorpio hit a Yakuza Kick and a second-rope moonsault for a believable nearfall right away! He hit a corkscrew press for a believable nearfall, and they traded chops. Ki fired back with a Kobashi-style series of chops in the corner, then a stiff kick to the back of the head, and he nailed his ‘Coppo kick’ at 24:30. Ki nailed his running dropkick that sent Scorpio flying into the corner! Ki hit a top-rope doublestomp to the chest! He went for the cover, but again, the bell rang, and we have a draw again! Scorpio declined to allow the match to continue, saying he knows that if it went longer, Ki would have won! The crowd chanted, “Thank you!”

(13) Brain Damage & Deranged defeat Drake Younger & Ian Rotten at 12:27 to win the tag titles in a hardcore rules match. These death matches don’t interest me. Several weapons were set up at ringside, including the barbed-wire board. My first time seeing Drake, who wore a red singlet, and he’s significantly smaller than everyone else in this match. The announcer warned fans this match was going to be violent! All four fought immediately, and Ian nailed a chairshot onto Deranged, as those two fought on the floor. Ian took a wrench, and he used it on Deranged’s face.

Meanwhile, in the ring, Brain Damage hit a chairshot on Younger, then a series of headbutts. Deranged was busted open on the floor. Ian pulled out a box of fluorescent light tubes at 3:00. Ian broke a tube on Brain Damage’s head. Deranged dropped Younger hard on the floor. Everyone was bleeding now. Ian hit a hard chairshot on Brain Damage’s back at 6:00. Deranged hit a powerbomb on Younger onto the glass for a nearfall. Younger slide a ladder, then two chairs, into the ring, and he bridged the ladder across the open chairs. Younger hit a superplex onto the ladder at 9:00, drawing a huge pop.

Younger hit a Sabin Future Shock on BD through a table. In the middle of the ring, the barbed wire board was bridged across the two chairs! All the remaining light tubes were placed on the barbed wire board! Someone is about to take a sick bump! Brain Damage and Ian Rotten were the lone combatants in the ring, and Brain Damage gave Rotten a Death Valley Driver onto the light tubes/barbed wire board, for the pin! New tag champs!

The show ended at 12:25, as Ian asked the fans if they got their money’s worth (definitely yes!), and the fans chanted “Thank you!”

Final thoughts: Wow, the show topped four-and-a-half hours. Best match went to Scorpio-Ki, as they had an intense, realistic looking brawl. The crowd was totally into the match, and it was pretty awesome to see the match restarted after the first time-limit draw.

Second-best went to the unannounced Steel-Reyes match, as they had a tight exchange. I liked Delirious-Taylor a lot, and that was third best. Smart decision to give Taylor a big win over Delirious, who is busy on the East Coast, and hasn’t been in IWA-MS much lately. Fourth-best goes to Black-Abercrombie, just ahead of the six-man tag featuring Icarus, Akuma & Xion. There were many, many, above average matches here. The Cruz heel turn was smart, as Cruz & Corbin really work well as a team, and they’ll give the division a boost.

I don’t like hardcore matches, but the crowd here seemed to enjoy what they saw. My fear with hardcore matches is it will upset someone in the crowd, or the building’s owner/manager, and IWA will lose a building (Hammond, Dec. 2005 for example).

The downside of this show: I expected more from Cannon-Klein, but it appears that will come down the road. The flippy tournament was a letdown; Omega is green, and Ricochet took a step backward here. Ruckus is wildly over, though. Trik’s match never felt like it got going. Kickboxer didn’t impress me. I’ve seen Shane Storm wrestle a few times live, and he just isn’t clicking for me.

This tape and DVD will be available soon at www.smartmarkvideo.com, and I highly recommend it.

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