Showdown in Utown - February 25th, 2005
Uniontown VFW - Uniontown, PA
Wild at the Palisades - February 26th, 2005
The Palisades - McKeesport
Complete results by Joe Dombrowski
|
Short-Form Results
Showdown in
Utown:
The Velvet Mafia
(J-Rocc & Troy Lords)
def. The Gambino Brothers Moving Company
(Marshall Gambino & Jimmy
Demarco)
Glenn Spectre def. Mickey Gambino
Jason Gory def. Dean Radford in a Super Indy Qualifier
IWC International Champion Soldier wrestled Christopher Daniels
to a time-limit draw
Southern Comfort (Tracy
Smothers & Chris Hamrick) def. Matt Cross & Josh
Prohibition
Shiima Xion def. Tyson Dux in a Super Indy Qualifier
Chris Sabin def. Fabulous John McChesney in a 2 out of 3 falls
match
IWC Super Indy Champion Sterling James Keenan def. AJ Styles
IWC Heavyweight Champion Shirley Doe def. Sebastian Dark in a
street fight
Wild at the Palisades:
Shiima Xion,
Chris Maverick, & The Velvet Mafia
(J-Rocc & Troy Lords)
def. Jason Gory & The Gambino Brothers Moving Company
(Mickey Gambino, Marshall Gambino, & Jimmy Demarco)
Dean Radford wrestled Sebastian Dark to a double-DQ
Bubba the Bulldog def. Kingdom James
IWC International Champion Soldier def. Chris Hamrick
AJ Styles def. Christopher Daniels
Glenn Spectre def. Matt Cross in a Super Indy Qualifier
Fabulous John McChesney def. Josh Prohibition in a Super Indy
Qualifier
IWC Super Indy Champion Sterling James Keenan def. Claudio
Castagnoli
IWC Heavyweight Champion Shirley Doe def. Tracy Smothers
|
Saturday, February 26 in Uniontown, Pa and Sunday afternoon February 27 in
McKeesport, Pa officially kicked off the IWC 2005 calendar year with the amazing
athleticism and unbelievable action that is a staple of every IWC live event.
However, overshadowing some of the most exciting competitive bouts in recent
memory was a display so disgusting it caused the entire locker room to band
together in a very rare showing of unity.
This weekend belonged to “The Bastard Son of 1,000 Corpses” Sebastian Dark.
Heading into Uniontown, Dark was confident he would be able to continue his very
impressive winning ways against Shirley Doe, and be able to win the IWC
Heavyweight Title in this streetfight. Dark tried to bait Doe in to a
straight-up wrestling match, which saw everything from both men chain wrestling,
to even a Doe huracanrana, however before long action spilled to the outside as
garbage cans and chairs came into play in a brawl that reached every corner of
the building. Action re-entered the ring with several chairs in hand, but
despite everything he dished out Doe refused to die and was able to come back
and retain the championship using the Sillyhead 33. Unfortunately, this would be
far from the last we would hear of Dark this weekend.
The next night in McKeesport it appeared like Dark would be done for the night
quite early. Moments after his match with Dean Radford degenerated into an
uncontrollable brawl that was ruled a double-disqualification, Dark stormed the
ring to complain about the decision, when he was interrupted by promoter Norm
Connors. Connors went on a passionate diatribe blaming Dark for cutting Super
Hentai’s career short, and warned Dark that when it comes to being screwed,
nobody in the area is better at returning the favor than Norm Connors, and as a
result of what Dark did to Hentai, that’s exactly what was going to happen. So
as not to ruin Hentai’s night, Dark was physically dragged out of the building
by security and wrestlers.
When the moment came for Hentai’s ceremony it was one of the most emotional
situations ever in IWC. Promoter Norm Connors spoke from the heart about Hentai
and his career and what he has meant to all of us. Several members of the IWC
locker room, all of which were positively influenced by Hentai, put aside
professional animosity to pay their respects as well. IWC Champion Shirley Doe,
Hentai’s greatest rival who later grew into one of his closest friends, spoke
from the heart as well, and eventually the superstars made their way to the back
to give the spotlight to Hentai.
As an apparently choked-up Hentai addressed the crowd, Dark re-entered the
building, now clad in a suit and holding a briefcase. Dark taunted and berated
Hentai for being “a quitter” and returned Hentai’s mask in a sarcastic
going-away gesture. As Dark continued to run his mouth, Hentai pulled out a
bottle eerily reminiscent of the bottle of alcohol Dark used to partially blind
Hentai last fall. As Dark turned back toward Hentai, Hentai flung the liquid
into Dark’s eyes, causing him to go down in great pain.
As Connors rushed into the ring, putting past personal animosity in order to
make sure another serious injury didn’t take place, Connors realized something
just wasn’t right. The liquid covering Dark’s eyes and face wasn’t rubbing
alcohol…it was just water. As Connors turned to Hentai, Hentai blinded Connors
by throwing powder in his eyes, as Dark popped up to help Hentai double-team
their employer. Hentai grabbed the microphone and told Connors that this time is
was Norm that ended up getting screwed. Hentai & Dark embraced and celebrated as
the entire locker room began to empty into the ring, running Dark & Hentai clear
out of the building.
At this point things were at their ugliest. Super Hentai, arguably the most
respected man in IWC had just betrayed the entire locker room with this ruse
that has apparently been months in the making. As Connors was seeking medical
treatment, tempers understandably flared up much more than they should’ve and as
a result of the volatile moods of everyone, the situation almost became even
more out of control, but thankfully cooler heads prevailed and Connors was
transported to a local hospital where, at the time of this writing, was believed
to have had 3 or more broken ribs.
IWCWrestling.com hopes to have more on this situation in the coming days and
weeks, with hopefully an update on Norm Connors’ condition as well as perhaps a
further explanation to why Super Hentai, IWC’s most respected hero, would align
himself with the least popular man in the locker room, Sebastian Dark.
Despite that situation, as always IWC presented the best professional wrestling
in the area, and one of the weekend’s best matches included two men who still
have the respect of the locker room, IWC Champion Shirley Doe defending his
title against “The Original Wild-Eyed Southern Boy” Tracy Smothers. Doe again
showed his progression as a well-rounded champion by hanging with the 21 year
veteran on the mat. Smothers, in turn, proved he can still get hardcore a full 7
years after his reign as one-half of the ECW World Tag Team Champions, brawling
with Doe all over the building. As action returned to the ring, several members
of the locker room came to ringside as a testament to how highly so many people
view both of these competitors. Much like the previous night, a pile of chairs
ended up in the ring, and much like the previous night, Doe used them to his
advantage. After a series of breath-taking near-falls that left the future of
the IWC Title very much in doubt, Doe hit Sillyhead 2 on the chairs to score the
victory. After the match, both men showed respect for each other, but Smothers
took a cheap shot at Doe and made it clear he wanted a rematch down the road.
He'll get it at IWC's next event, Night of Legends 2!
This weekend also featured the return of Japanese sensation and reigning IWC
International Champion Solider who had his toughest test to date as he met “The
Fallen Angel” Christopher Daniels for the very first time. Daniels had a set
strategy going into the match, and that was to take apart the left knee of
Soldier and attempt to get a submission victory. However, one thing Daniels
couldn’t have expected was an appearance by “The Phenomenal” AJ Styles at
ringside to give moral support to Soldier. The appearance of Styles, on top of
Daniels excessive show-boating may have been his greatest enemy, as those
distractions may very well have cost Daniels the International Championship. As
Daniels has weakened Soldier to the point where it looked like a submission
would be eminent, the 20 minutes time limit to the match expired as the match
was officially declared a draw. Styles and Daniels stared each other down center
ring, but Daniels left before any physical contact was made.
Later that night it was AJ Styles who had title aspirations, as he tried to
dethrone Sterling James Keenan to become the only 3-time IWC Super Indy Champion
in history. However, Sterling James Keenan’s win-streaks have become infamous
and when he’s on a tear he’s almost unstoppable. However as AJ Styles looked
like he was going to get the job done, and capture the title again, referee
Steven Colter was inadvertently knocked down as Styles attempted to put Sterling
away. However, Daniels, who was lurking in the shadows, saw his opening and
intervened, offering Sterling some illegal leverage which, with the help of the
ropes, was enough to hold Styles down for a tainted victory. As Sterling &
Daniels celebrated AJ’s defeat together, Styles issued a challenge to Daniels
right then and there, however security intervened before things got too out of
hand. This all set up their 2004 Match of the Year rematch the next day in
McKeesport.
There was no feeling out process this time around as both men started the match
with a slugfest and wasted no time breaking out high-risk aerial attacks. The
rivalry between Styles and Daniels had shifted from being about competition and
respect to bitter feelings about who really is better than who. The high-risk
offense is eventually what led to the end of the match, as The Fallen Angel went
for the B.M.E (Best Moonsault Ever), Styles was able to move out of the way, hit
the Styles Clash, and score the pinfall thus making AJ’s record 2-0 against
Christopher Daniels in IWC.
After narrowly escaping AJ Styles, Sterling James Keenan had something to prove
when he walked into McKeesport for his second title defense, this time against
European sensation Claudio Castagnoli. Castagnoli took it to Sterling with
several hard chops and European-style uppercuts, and the big man even took to
the air for a breathtaking tope con hilo, however Sterling did a tremendous job
of grounding the big man, focusing on it for almost the entire match. After
surviving Claudio’s trademark swinging neck breaker, Sterling was able to slap
on the stretch muffler submission hold, and transition that into a very deeply
applied half boston crab. After several moments of intense agony, Claudio came
to the realization he just had nowhere to go to escape the hold and was forced
to tap out, making him another notch on the belt of the “Super Indy Killer”.
The former Super Indy champion Chris Sabin was back in action in Uniontown,
taking on his frequent rival “Fabulous” John McChesney which as a result of how
competitive their prior matches have been, was made 2/3 Falls. Nothing more
really needs to be said, both men tore the house down delivering another one of
their classic encounters. The lasting image will be that of Chris Sabin winning
with a devastating Cradle Shock off of the second rope, but the major headliner
here is the fact that the first fall was indeed won by McChesney making him the
very FIRST man to pin Chris Sabin in Sabin’s 15 month IWC career, and the first
time McChesney has pinned Sabin anywhere after nearly 2 years of trying. It’s a
testament to how much McChesney has improved over the months and years, and
although he didn’t win the final decision, overcoming that hump has to give him
a definite boost as he sets his sights back on the Super Indy Title.
On the subject of Super Indy, preparations are already underway for Super Indy 4
to be held Saturday night, April 30 in Monroeville, PA. Already signed to the 8
man tournament: the ever-dangerous Low Ki, “The Notorious 187” Homicide, and the
master of the “Canadian Destroyer” Petey Williams. This weekend saw 4 qualifying
matches to determine who would earn a spot in the tournament that could make or
break your career in just one night.
“The New Face” Jason Gory faced his biggest test to date in the form of 260 lb.
former IWC Champion Dean Radford. Radford was able to go back to the offense
that propelled him to the main event in the first place: total overpowering
domination of smaller opponents. However, the thing Gory possesses that many of
Radford’s past victims have lacked is that unbelievable quickness and undeniable
heart that kept Gory in the match the entire time, surprising Radford several
times after finally being able to adjust his style to a larger opposition. One
such instance saw Gory take advantage of a Radford mistiming to hit that
rapid-fire sunset flip, the QAS, followed by a breathtaking 450 splash to score
the biggest win of his career and qualifty for Super Indy 4.
Wrestling’s first male Filipino supermodel Shiima Xion, with his advisor “The
Prophet of Profit” Chris Maverick, took on the debuting “Textbook” Tyson Dux,
yet another prodigy of Scott D’Amore’s training school. Dux has been seen
several times on WWE programming in the past and is perhaps best remembered for
his very unusual dance moves, which have made him a favorite to many. Much like
his heated rival Jason Gory did earlier, Xion was able to score the biggest win
of his career here, after the reversal of an attempted Dux small package. As
always, Maverick interjected himself into the proceedings on more than one
occasion but what matters now is Shiima Xion is the first male Filipino
supermodel to qualify for Super Indy 4.
“Wonderman” Glenn Spectre’s qualifying match came against someone who he
actually held tag team gold with many months ago, “M-Dogg 20” Matt Cross.
Spectre hasn’t had his eye on Cross however, as in recent matches during guest
commentary he’s expressed interest in Shiima Xion…a lot of interest. Spectre
seems to be looking forward to potentially meeting Xion in Super Indy 4, which
served as more motivation in this match. As a result of their prior association,
Spectre was able to have Cross well-scouted, countering just about every M-Dogg
high risk attempt by burying the knees into the abdomen, and eventually Spectre
scored the victory to qualify for his second straight Super Indy tournament, but
could Spectre be distracted by his newfound infatuation with Shiima Xion?
The man who many claim to be the uncrowned Super Indy Champion “Fabulous” John
McChesney participated in the final Super Indy 4 qualifier against former tag
champion Josh Prohibition. Fresh off his impressive match with Sabin, McChesney
was still on a roll but was quickly dropped by signature Prohibition offense. An
attempt at Josh’s Drunken Driver was countered into McChesney’s Cliffhanger DDT
for the win, giving McChesney another chance to compete for that Super Indy
Championship but the road for all of these men only gets harder from here.
Shiima Xion opened up our McKeesport event attempting to deliver his acceptance
speech for winning “IWC Newcomer of the Year” for 2004, yet was interrupted by
the man who was TIED with him in that voting, “The New Face” Jason Gory. Chaos
ensued and the locker room emptied, as the referee made the contest and
impromptu 8 man tag pitting Xion, Maverick, “Balls Hot” Troy Lords and “The Big
Daddy of Destruction” J-Rocc against Jason Gory as well as Mickey & Marshall
Gambino as well as their cousin Jimmy DeMarco. Action was uncontrollable from
the start as an 8 man brawl erupted all over the building, followed by a series
of high-risk dives on the arena floor. All 8 men proved once again why the
future of IWC is shining brighter than ever before. A miscommunication between
teammates caused Xion to hit “From Lust To Dust” on his own partner, Lords,
however the team was saved by “Mastermind” Jake Garrett who had his own agenda.
Still feeling slighted over not being added back to the main IWC roster yet,
Garrett targeted IWC’s newest addition to that roster, Jimmy Demarco. Garrett
clobbered Demarco with a police baton, afterwards the pinfall was academic.
After the match, Jason Gory, still looking for revenge on Xion, chased him to
the back.
The other shocker of the weekend came in the form of the return of Bubba the
Bulldog. With a trophy in hand, Bubba proclaimed himself the best wrestler to
ever come out of Pittsburgh and challenged ANYONE to a match to prove him wrong.
The announcement of the opponent was just as shocking, as ring announcer and
color commentator Kingdom James brought himself out of retirement to accept the
challenge. Bludgeoning Bubba with a series of hard shots that busted Bubba’s
head open, Kingdom James was well in control of the match, until he took a risk,
attempting his top-rope 1812 legdrop. Bubba moved out of the way, and was able
to score a tainted win with a roll-up using the ropes for leverage.
Also on the card this weekend: IWC International Champion Soldier successfully
defended his title against Chris Hamrick, Glenn Spectre defeated Mickey Gambino,
Troy Lords & J-Rocc defeated Marshall Gambino & Jimmy DeMarco, and Southern
Comfort defeated “M-Dogg 20” Matt Cross & Josh Prohibition. |
