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Tape Review: IWA-MS "Spring Heat 2005," April 8, 2005, with Jacobs-Punk, Joe-Rotten

Jun 1, 2005 - 10:55:00 AM
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By Chris Vetter, Torch Contributor

IWA Mid-South debuted in Midlothian, Ill. – a suburb south of Chicago -- on April 8, 2005. The building is well lit and the crowd is close to 200; not bad for the first time in this venue. On commentary is Dave Prazak and CM Punk.

IWA-Mid South is hands down the best independent in the Midwest, bringing in the top indy names for its larger shows, and this is no exception, with CM Punk, Samoa Joe, Chris Hero and Chris Candido on the show.

(1) Jonny Storm defeats Trik Davis at 7:43. Good match. Storm is British and a tremendous high-flyer; he was on some early ROH releases. Storm, who is fairly short, hit a twisting plancha to the floor and an enziguri for a nearfall. Trk came back with a backslide for a nearfall. Storm hit some hard chops, a Michinoku Driver, and a moonsault for a nearfall.

The crowd rallied behind Trik, who is quite popular across IWA-Mid South territory. Trik hit a Flatliner/reverse Russian Leg Sweep, and both men are down at 6:00. Storm hit a Lungblower for a believable nearfall, then he won it with a pumphandle sitdown piledriver. Good start to the show.

(2) Chandler McClure (w/Jim Fannin) defeats Emil Sitoci at 7:26. Ok match. Fannin reminds McClure of his big match the following night against Mickie Knuckles. Fannin hit a back body drop and a clothesline. Emil got in a headscissors takedown. McClure came back with a belly-to-belly suplex and a sitdown powerbomb for a nearfall.

Emil came back with a running dropkick, a nice hurricanrana and a crossbody block from the top turnbuckle to the floor. Back in the ring, Emil hit a top-rope hurricanrana for a nearfall. McClure won it with a Touchdown/inverted Bubba Bomb.

(3) Larry “Sweet n’ Sour” Sweeney (w/Jade Chung) defeats Colt Cabana at 14:32. Funny, funny stuff. Sweeney cut a promo before the match, saying the mayor of Midlothian presented him with the key to the city. They stall early, and then get into a strut contest, which was quite funny. Cabana is much taller and more muscular than Sweeney. Cabana hit some European Uppercuts, a dropkick and chops.

Jade Chung choked Cabana, allowing Sweeney to get in some offense. Cabana hit a missile dropkick and a clothesline, but Chung distracted the ref as Cabana tried for a cover. Sweeney won it with a rollup out of nowhere. They actually messed up the finish a bit, and did the same rollup moments later. Odd ending, but a fun match.

(4) El Generico defeats Jigsaw at 13:00. Very good match, one of the best of the night. Both men wear masks. Jigsaw is one of the top graduates from the Chikara Pro school in Pennsylvania. They open with some quick offense. Jigsaw hit a nice hurricanrana and chops. Generico came back with his own chops and a back heel kick. Generico stayed on offense with a standing moonsault, a nice back suplex and a split-legged moonsault.

Jigsaw hit a step-up enziguri, and both men were down. They traded blows. Jigsaw dove through the ropes onto Generico on the floor. In a cool spot, Jigsaw went for a springboard move, but Generico caught him with a rising dropkick. Generico hit a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker and a top-rope crossbody block. Jigsaw hit an impressive jump-up hurricanrana off the top turnbuckle.

Generico hit a nice tornado DDT for a nearfall, then he nailed some painful-looking Mafia Kicks, and a half-nelson suplex. Generico then won it with a Brainbuster Suplex for the pin. Very good cruiserweight action.

(5) Daizee Haze defeats Mickie Knuckles at 8:56 in a finisher’s match. Fannin joins Prazak on commentary, talking about the big match between Knuckles & McClure for the following night. Haze gets an early rollup, but the ref won’t make the count, because Haze has to hit her finisher first. Knuckles hit a German Release Suplex, dropping Haze on her head. They traded hard forearm shots.

Haze hit a heart punch. Knuckles went for a Victory Roll, but landed hard on her head. Haze hit a maneuver out of the corner, but Knuckles landed funny and grabbed her arm in legit pain. Daizee hit her Yakuza Kick and scored the quick pin. Officials helped Knuckles from the ring, as she clutched her arm.

(6) Samoa Joe vs. Ian Rotten goes to a double count-out at 12:13. Ian applied a headscissorslock and worked on Joe’s left arm. Joe got in a spinning toe hold, then later grapevines Ian’s left arm. Ian hit a dropkick on Joe’s left knee, then a Dragonscrew Legwhip.

At 8:00, the match becomes a brawl as they traded stiff clubbing forearms, and Ian headbutts Joe, but the move hurt Ian! They traded headbutts until both collapsed. Joe fired back with a series of kicks and paintbrush blows to the face. They brawled onto the floor, where they hit more hard strikes. They stopped each other from re-entering the ring and brawled on the floor until the count out. The crowd booed and chanted “we want a finish!” Final four minutes were really good.

(7) Brad Bradley & Ryan Boz defeat Vito & Sal Thomaselli and Silas Young & Eric Priest to retain the tag titles at 11:02. Boz & Bradley are the lone faces here, and the four heels immediately jump them. Vito, who has long black hair, hit a nice standing moonsault. Silas hit a plancha to the floor on everyone. Priest goes to dive over the top rope, but he hilariously (and intentionally) lands on the top rope. Funny.

Sal worked on Boz’ left leg. The crowd is quiet, then chants “Wildside sucks” at the Thomasellis. The four heels all took turns working over Boz’ left leg. Priest applied a single-leg crab on Boz. At 7:30, the Thomasellis began to argue with Silas & Priest when Silas went for the cover. Bradley hit the hot tag at 9:30 and cleared the ring. Sal hit a Butterfly Suplex on Silas. Bradley pinned Sal after a team Washing Machine/spinning faceplant, while the other three men in the match were brawling on the floor.

(8) Delirious defeats Brandon Thomaselli and Josh Abercrombie in a three-way at 8:03. Really good but short. Delirious dove through the ropes onto his opponents, then hit a hard kick on Abercrombie’s back. Abercrombie came back with a Lionsault on Delirious and some stiff forearms on Brandon. Thomaselli hit a standing Shooting Star Press on Abercrombie.

Delirious hit a guillotine legdrop and a back suplex on Thomaselli for a nearfall. Thomaselli came back with a standing side kick on Delirious, then a cool corkscrew plancha from the top turnbuckle to the floor. Abercrombie hit a jumping Lungblower on Delirious. Thomaselli hit a jump-up Pele Kick on Abercrombie, and the crowd chants “Holy Sh—.” Abercrombie hit a Tidal Crush/springboard spin kick on Thomaselli. Delirious hit his Shadows Over Hell backsplash on Brandon for the pin. Very good for the time given.

(9) Chris Hero defeats Arik Cannon and Claudio Castognoli and Chris Candido and Eddie Kingston and Danny Daniels in a six-way one-fall match at 16:05. Cannon yawns at Hero’s extended ring intro, and it is clear these two still don’t like each other. Hero and Claudio open and traded some good quick reversals. Daniels and Candido entered the ring, and Daniels hit some chops and armdrags, and Candido rolled to the floor.

At 4:30, Cannon and Kingston enter the ring and trade stiff forearms. Cannon dropkicks Eddie’s left knee and hit a nice spinning neckbreaker. The faces of Hero, Cannon and Daniels took turns nailing flying forearms on Kingston. Daniels hit his doublestomp & senton combo on Claudio. Candido entered and hit a powerslam on Daniels for a nearfall. Claudio nailed some stiff European Uppercuts on Daniels.

The heels took turns working over Daniels until Cannon made the hot tag at 11:30, and he hit a backbody drop on Claudio, and a spinning neckbreaker on Kingston. However, Cannon then hit an Exploder Suplex on Daniels! Hey, it is “every man for himself.” Cannon and Hero stand toe-to-toe and jaw, but don’t throw any punches. Candido hit a DDT on Kingston!

At 14:00, Cannon and Hero finally go at it, trading stiff chops. Hero and Kingston brawl, and Hero hit his Hero’s Welcome/spinning neckbreaker faceplant for the pin. Good stuff.

(10) Jimmy Jacobs defeats CM Punk at 28:54 to retain the IWA-Mid South heavyweight title. Jacobs current character is he pretends he is a face, repeatedly offering handshakes early in the match, but he shows more and more heelish tendencies as the match develops. The crowd is solidly behind Punk, and a mixed reaction for Jacobs.

Punk hit a shoulder tackle. They trade headlocks, standing switches, and reversals. Punk hit a back body drop, and Jacobs bailed to the floor. They traded punches, and Punk hit a dropkick to the back and several kicks. They brawled to the floor at 10:00. They brawled over to a kid-sized basketball hoop, maybe 7 or 8 feet tall, and Punk lifted Jacobs and dunked him through the hoop!

They finally re-enter the ring at 15:00; apparently this is no count-out. Jacobs dove through the ropes onto Punk. Jacobs hit some doublestomps and he started talking trash. Punk hit a Shining Wizard/running knee at 20:30, but Jacobs fell to the floor. Back in the ring, Jacobs hit a swinging DDT. Punk blocked a Contra Code and hit a nice neckbreaker.

Punk hit an impressive top-rope superplex for a believable nearfall at 25:30. Jacobs then hit his Contra Code/spinning overhead bulldog for a believable nearfall. Jacobs hit two back senton splashes. The ref gets bumped. Jacobs then grabbed the belt, and put it on, so the large metal plate is on his back. He then hits another senton splash, with the belt slamming into Punk’s chest, and Jacobs gets the pin. Good action.

Final thoughts: Show runs 3 hours, 12 minutes on tape. This was a solid show. It was not as good as the show the following night (4/9), but this was solid action. Best matches were the main event, the six-way and Generico-Jigsaw. The three-way of Delirious vs. Abercrombie vs. B. Thomaselli also stood out, and I wish it went longer. This tape can be purchased for $15 at www.smartmarkvideo.com


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