Just weeks following the most publicized and talked about weekend in IWC history, the International Wrestling Cartel kicked off 2008 with another newsworthy event from the famed Court Time Sports Center in Elizabeth, Pa.

The six-month long journey of “Sweet & Sour” Larry Sweeney to regain the Super Indy Title he was screwed out of thanks to the War Machine finally reached its culmination as Sweeney fought through a tremendous amount of blood loss and punishment to dethrone “Fabulous” John McChesney in a wild Texas Death Match, dubbed on this night as a “Texarkana Death Match”. Sweeney drilled McChesney’s skull into the solid steel entrance ramp to not only score a 3-count, but also leaving McChesney incapable of answering the official’s ten count.

The battle between the War Machine and two ECW originals only escalated in two memorable encounters, the first of which pitted newest War Machine member Daivari one-on-one with Too Cold Scorpio in their first ever meeting. Former four-time IWC champion Dennis Gregory intervened and attempted to cost Scorpio the match in much the same way he had done during Scorpio’s match with Samoa Joe last month. However, Scorpio was able to recover from the interference and score a major victory with a top rope twisting powerbomb.

Gregory’s attempts at reclaiming IWC gold were not successful either. With the match’s standard one-fall rules as opposed to the wild steel cage environment where Sandman won the title, the 5-time former ECW World champion and current IWC champion Sandman was at a distinctive disadvantage, as his trademark Singapore cane was now illegal. However, that didn’t stop both men from sneaking it into the match on numerous occasions, and it didn’t stop The Sandman from hitting his trademark White Russian Legsweep en route to his first successful IWC title defense. Daivari joined his newfound leader to begin a 2-on-1 post-match attack on the champion until Sandman’s former ECW World tag title partner Scorpio made the save. With all four men having major issues with one another, the challenge was made and soon thereafter accepted for next month at Accept No Limitations when Sandman & Scorpio officially re-unite to take on Dennis Gregory & Daivari in tag team competition.

The best team in IWC today overcame perhaps the most underrated tag team in the world when Shiima Xion & Jason Gory, Babyface Fire, successfully defended their newly-won tag team titles over longstanding top title contenders “M-Dogg 20” Matt Cross & Josh Prohibition, The Burning River Brigade. But the question remains, with the IWC tag team division as competitive as it is, with teams like The Gambinos and Sexual Harassment waiting in the wings, and even duos like The Motor City Machine Guns making their presence known, what challenges will be next for BFF to try to overcome?

Ray Rowe would no doubt be IWC champion today if not for his trainer, mentor, and best friend for nearly two years, J-Rocc, slamming a steel cage door on Rowe’s head so violently and aggressively that it knocked the door from its very hinges. After weeks of speculation, J-Rocc finally explained his heinous actions, making it clear his motives were all about the jealousy and bruised ego over Ray Rowe’s success and popularity eclipsing his own. Ray Rowe had heard enough and stormed to the ring to confront his former ally, and not even J-Rocc’s best knockout shot with a steel chair could even cause the emotionless assassin to flinch. Rowe’s controlled aggression exploded onto J-Rocc as security and wrestlers frantically tried to pull the men apart. Following the fracas, the match was signed for Accept No Limitations… Ray Rowe will have his chance to face J-Rocc one-on-one

Traditionally among the most prestigious events of the IWC calendar year, this year’s will be no different when IWC presents Super Indy VII this spring. The Super Indy tournament has grown by leaps and bounds in reputation from year to year and is quite simply the place for the destiny of dreams to be realized - either they are realized and become a reality, or they are shattered to dust, perhaps never to be accomplished. Four men began that journey this past weekend…

“Balls Hot” Troy Lords was able to avenge perhaps the most personally disappointing loss in his career when he cradled Delirious for the three-count. It was Delirious who Lords met in the finals of Super Indy V, when a dehabilitating knee injury severely hampered Lords’ chances at capturing the gold. Lords fought with the heart of a champion, pushed his body beyond its limits, and passed out as his Super Indy dreams literally faded to black. Now “Balls Hot” has one more shot to go “Balls to the Wall” and go all the way and realize the destiny some said he would never be ready for.

Also qualified for Super Indy VII, the man who started the legacy in 2002, the man who raised the bar and took the championship to the prestigious levels it’s been viewed at since, the man who took the Super Indy title to Japan and back: Super Hentai, who defeated Ruckus. Hentai’s Super Indy final win over Christopher Daniels put Hentai on the map as a major player and the best the area has to offer. Hentai’s title reign, just shy of one year, still stands as the longest reign in the history of the championship. Now, six years later, can the young veteran return to where it all started and become the first man to become a two-time tournament winner?

Bizarre, unique, and slightly uncomfortable are all popular ways of describing Sexual Harassment matches, but to their credit, ever since Eric Xtasy & Justin Idol got on the same page a few months back and seemed to reach a compromise in their serious wrestling vs. mind games confliction, the team has been undefeated and unstoppable. Even The Gambino Family, who dominated IWC tag wrestling in 2007, fell victim to the unorthodox nature of Sexual Harassment. Xtasy’s mind games were successful in everything from getting the Gambino Family ejected from ringside, to freezing Marshall Gambino in his tracks with a big ol’ kiss, and Idol was there to capitalize, helping Eric drill Mickey with the Rose Creeper en route to another Harassment victory, with a little help from Michael Façade along the way.

CJ Sensation’s first singles match in nearly a year was clearly not what he had expected when he had petitioned the IWC offices to let him return to active competition. CJ found himself staring across the ring at an angry pitbull, a Havana Pitbull in former IWC champion Ricky Reyes. Sensation did incredibly well considering the level of competition and potential ring rust that may be involved, but the calculated Reyes knew of Sensation’s primary weakness - the surgically repaired neck - and targeted it, finishing the job with his patented lethal dragon sleeper. Was promoter Norm Connors sending Sensation a message by placing him in the ring with one of IWC’s most dangerous competitors in CJ’s first singles match back? What else will be in store for CJ in his return to active competition?

It was also a successful return for The Hollywood Balds as the “Prime Minister of Perversion” DeeeLicious Jimmy DeMarco returned to tag team competition with the physically imposing Vendetta, defeating former tag champs Michael “The Bomber” Façade and Johnny Gargano when Vendetta locked in a Texas Cloverleaf. Just as Vendetta had made a major statement before his sixty-day suspension with the assault on Babyface Fire, he made perhaps just as powerful a statement here with this decisive Hollywood Balds win. An attempted post-match “hit” on Façade with a baseball bat was narrowly avoided, but Façade would have the last word later that night.