Death by Midwest: IWA Mid South Hurt 2007

Just one note before we start, all e-mails to me should be sent to [email protected].

CHAMPIONS ROLL CALL
-IWA World Heavyweight Champion: Chuck Taylor (1st reign-defeated Toby Klein on 9/30/06 in Midlothian, IL)
-IWA Mid-South Light Heavyweight Champion: Josh Abercrombie (2nd reign-defeated Tyler Black on 1/21/06 in Midlothian, IL)
-IWA Mid South Tag Team Champions: VACANT (Brain Damage and Deranged were the last champions, vacated titles after Brain Damage retired from wrestling)
-IWA Mid South/NWA Midwest Woman’s Champion: Mickie Knuckles (2nd reign-defeated Hailey Hatred on 2/8/06 in Charleston, WV. Unified title with NWA Midwest Title by defeating Daizee Haze and Vanessa Kraven on 4/1/06 in Midlothian, IL)

IWA kicked off the year of 2007 with lots of momentum. The show cancellations of 2005 were a thing of the past, and new young talent like Chuck Taylor and new additions like Low-Ki have made an connection with the fans and re-invigorated the product. Chuck and Ki are scheduled to face off for the IWA Title in 3 weeks, but tonight Ki defends his undefeated streak against Roderick Strong in their first ever one-on-one matchup.

Ben Jordan and Darin Corbin on commentary to start the night.

Dark Match: JACK THRILLER vs. JEFF BROOKS
Thriller debuted a few months back, and has appeared regularly on the undercard ever since. From what I’ve seen, he needs to focus on mat work and avoid trying to be a high flyer. Brooks is young, too, and from the Rage Dojo of former IWA regular American Kickboxer. Brooks starts with some chops and then a spin kick for 2. Then he chokes him in the corner. And scrapes Thriller’s head on the rope. Corbin says Brooks looks like Giant Baba. More choking by Brooks but Thriller recovers and hits a clothesline for 2. He screamed really loud with that. Brooks hits a knee in the corner and gets a bulldog for 2. Thriller goes for his Cravat Faceplant move, called the “Thriller Driller”, but Brooks blocks it into a backslide. Thriller rolls out and hits a Straitjacket Piledriver for the pin at 3:15. ¼*. Brooks is very green. Why can’t Thriller always use that finish instead of the lame faceplant thing? Oh well.

Now onto the actual start of the show…

#1: BILLY ROC vs. VORTEKZ
Vortekz is also from the Rage Dojo. Roc has been in IWA for over a year now and has gotten much better since his debut. Armlockery to start off with into a standoff. Vortekz flips out of a arm wringer, then Roc goes all Britsh style on him with a headstand. Vortekz goes for a handspring into a headscissors but Roc catches him. Vortekz gives him an armdrag. Rolling cradle by Vortekz gets 2. Roc goes for the standing shiranui but gets met with a Arachnid Kick for 2 by Vortekz. Rana from the second rope by Roc sends Vortekz outside. Baseball slide misses by Roc and Vortekz hits a moonsault off the second buckle to the floor. That got messy. Back in, big spine kick by Vortekz fires Roc up and he looks to retaliate but stops and rolls Vortekz into a cradle for 2. Vortekz ducks over Roc and goes for a moonsault but Roc dropkicks him in the mid-move! Nice. That gets 2. Pendulum submission applied by Roc. Roc ducks the enziguri and hits a spine kick and then a catapult dropkick around the ropes. Nice again. Catapult splash from the apron gets 2 for Roc. They reverse each other, Enziguri by Vortekz! That gets 2. They trade nearfalls after that. TKO by Vortekz gets 2. Vortekz goes for a Brainbuster but Roc hits the Standing Shiranui for the win at 8:12. **1/2. Decent match and a nice opener. Roc and Vortekz are both getting better as time goes on, and the small mistakes in this match will be corrected in the future.

#2: Candido Cup Qualifying Match: THE IRON SAINTS vs. CHUCK TAYLOR and RICOCHET
Winner of this advances into the Candido Cup tournament to crown the new IWA Mid South Tag Team Champions in May. The Saints are getting a bigger crowd reaction despite still being heels. Darin Corbin isn’t happy about that. Remember that later. Sal is still being announced as the #1 seed in the 2005 TPI. Ricochet is now from Gangsta’s Paradise. Riiiiighhhttt. Some fans boo Chuck. He starts off with Vito, who gains the advantage by pulling the hair of Chuck. Sal quickly gets in and works the same headlock. Chuck tags in Ric who kicks away at Sal. Saints distract the ref and try to doubleteam Ric but he gets away. NWA Wildside foot tag by Chuck and Ric. Vito attacks Ric on the outside and throws him into the apron. Chuck avoids a clothesline from the brothers and Ric hits a somersault plancha on Sal while Chuck hits an axehandle on Vito. Back in the ring, they hit a doubleteam move for 2. A dropkick from Chuck then gets 2, then a butterfly suplex for another 2. Ric tags in and gets a HARD stunner from Vito. Sal comes in and gets 2 backbreakers on him for 2 and continues to work him over. Ric goes for a dropkick but Vito moves. The Saints drape him over the second rope and take turns kicking the crap out of him. Ric gets a pair of nearfalls but doesn’t the advantage to tag in Chuck, and Sal knocks him over with a dropkick. Vito tries to suplex him to the outside but Ric avoids it and gets away from Sal’s charge to make the HOT TAG. Chuck is a house of fire obviously. They set up Sal…..DOUBLE ENZIGURI! Ric heads up top as Chuck holds Sal….FIREMAN’S BLOCKBUSTER! Vito in but he gets met with the DOUBLE FALLING FOOT GIMMICK. Apparently called “Sole Food”. Get it? A snap back suplex gets 2 on Vito. Ric heads up top for the Double Moonsault by Sal breaks it up. He throws Chuck out and the Saints hit their double team Spike DDT (called “I Won’t Take That Vol. 1, but I absolutely am not calling it that) for the win at 11:10. ***. Good formula match. Both of these teams have really started gelling together with better double team moves and this showed that off. Nice to see the Saints in the tag tournament as well.

After the match, Chuck helps Ricochet up. Then CLOTHESLINES HIM DOWN. HEEL TURN! Which the fans cheer, but Chuck needed some personality. He takes the mic and calls Ricochet a “skinny piece of shit.” He says that Ricochet can just do a double flip while Chuck is the IWA champion. “But you cost me the chance at another belt.” He says he never needed Ricochet. “I’m gonna prove that I never need you again.” Chuck picks him up….OMEGA DRIVER! That was a sick, sick move on Ricochet. Well, things just got a bit more interesting.

#3: Finishers Match: CJ OTIS vs. DRAKE YOUNGER
These guys have been feuding ever since the 10th Anniversary weekend. Drake is looking to break out in huge ways this year across many different companies. This is under IWA Finishers’ Match rules, where you must hit your finisher before going for a pin. Otis uses a Burning Hammer, and Drake uses a Vertebreaker. Intense lockup to start and Drake hits some chops. Fireman’s carry takedown by CJ into a keylock. Both go for their finishers and get blocked. Then they go for the other guys’ finisher and CJ goes outside and grabs chairs from under the ring. CJ swings one at Drake so Drake picks up the other and we’ve got a CHAIR FIGHT. They drop them for a moment and Drake challenges CJ to a sitdown barfight. They trade hard slaps for about a minute. They’re stiff, but the crowd isn’t popping huge until CJ hits another HUGGGEEE HEADBUTT like he did at their Strong Style Tournament match. That was a just sick, sick thud. CJ goes for the Burning Hammer right away but Drake reverses into a HEAD DROP HALF NELSON SUPLEX. CJ falls to the floor and Drake follows him out for some chops. CJ drives Drake’s head against the ringpost. CJ fakes out the fans a bit, showing he’s start to heel it up. Drake takes CJ back out with a Cactus Clothesline. Drake tosses CJ into the chair. STIFF forearms back and forth. CJ sets up a chair and goes a forearm against the post but Drake moves. Bodyslam on the floor by Drake. Drake grabs a chair and smashes CJ on the back. He sets CJ up on the chair for something but CJ reverses….OVERHEAD BELLY TO BELLY ON THE OPEN CHAIR!!!!! Holy shit. Drake’s knee wrapped around that on impact. CJ throws the chair at Drake’s head afterward for good measure and that busted Drake open hardway. Drake tries to fight back but CJ takes him down with forearms. CJ wipes Drake’s blood on his chest and hits a Roaring Forearm. CJ goes for a pin but he hasn’t hit the Burning Hammer yet. Spinebuster by Drake followed by an Exploder but he can’t go for a pin yet. Vertebreaker blocked by CJ into a German Suplex. CJ grabs another chair and opens it up in the ring. Crossface punches by CJ and he heads up top. Drake stops him and goes for a Super Vertebreaker on the chair but CJ rolls out and picks Drake up….BURNING HAMMER ON THE OPEN CHAIRRRRRRR!!!!! That gets 3 of course at 14:18. ***1/2. Hard-hitting match that shows Drake Younger is insane. He took so much punishment in this. Better than their Strong Style match due to less sloppiness, but there’s still room for improvement there. They shake hands post match with Drake struggling to walk.

#4: IWA Mid-South Light Heavyweight Title Match: Josh Abercrombie © vs. Jimmy Jacobs
This stems from the incident at TPI 2006 Night #2. Jim Fannin has asked Abercrombie to take out his former best friend here tonight. It’s been about a year since Jimmy lost the IWA Title to Arik Cannon in this building. Jimmy is also a former Light Heavyweight Champion. Mixed reaction for both guys but that’s the dynamic they were going for. They go at each other right away and brawl around the building. Notice Fannin looking intently at the merch table. Jimmy puts a plastic trash can around Josh and spears him down. Jimmy then chokes Josh with Josh’s own t-shirt. Josh fights back until Jimmy smashes his head into the wall. Josh then uses a chain from some nu-metal fan’s pants to choke Jimmy. Back inside, Jimmy uses Josh as a trampoline then hits an elbow drop. Josh goes for a superplex but they fall off the top and Jimmy is holding his knee. Josh works on it and Jimmy bails to the outside. Jacobs tries to fight him off but Josh hits a Dragon screw on the outside. Back inside, Jimmy fights back with big forearms. Josh fires back with the Sidewalk Slam Driver and then a neckbreaker for 2. Josh fish hooks Jimmy’s face. Josh goes for a dropkick but Jimmy spears him for 2. The crowd gets behind Jimmy chanting “HUSS!” as Jimmy goes up top. But Jim Fannin runs out to trip Jacobs up. Josh hits a second rope lungblower for the win at 9:44. ***. Pretty good brawl. Obviously this isn’t the blowoff to this feud but these guys put in an intense struggle for 10 minutes.

After the match, Fannin yelled at Josh to keep beating up Jacobs. Josh seems to think his victory should be enough but Fannin wants him crippled. Jimmy struggles back up and grabs brass knuckles as Josh heads to the back. Fannin looks dissatisfied but congratulates Josh on the win. Jimmy grabs the mic and says that he was Josh Abercrombie before Josh was cool. Jimmy says 2007 is the year he makes up for what he did wrong in the past.

#5: IWA Deep South Tag Team Title Match: IAN ROTTEN and MICKIE KNUCKLES © vs. NORTH STAR EXPRESS
Ben Jordan mentions the growing resentment against NSE and the Iron Saints. Cruz grabs the LCD belt and asks a ringside fan if she wants to make out with him. I love this team. Mickie has 3 belts: The IWA Mid South and the NWA Midwest Women’s belts, and the tag titles up for grabs here. The North Star Express have a long and great introduction. Mickie Knuckles is the “walking episode of Cops”. I love all of this. NSE instruct Joey Eastman to announce that their LCD belts are not on the line because Mickie is too fat to wear it and Ian is too stupid to know how to use it. Nice. Ian and Corbin start and Corbin begs off. In funny fashion, I might add. Ian slaps the boy. Corbin armdrags Ian and celebrates for about a minute afterwards. By then Ian is back up and slaps him. He does the same after a hiptoss. Sal Thomaselli is on commentary, saying some nasty things regarding NSE’s constant showboating. Corbin slams Ian and does a posedown. Ian answers with an armdrag, hip toss, and slam of his own and Corbin takes a powder. I like the continuity of moves. Ian wrenches Corbin’s left arm and tags Mickie in. Mickie digs in a deep armbar with pressure from her knee. Splash from Ian and he comes back in to work on the arm with headbutts and strikes to it. Ian and Mickie continue going over the arm. Ian slaps Cruz to get him into the ring to distract the ref as they double team Corbin. Mickie goes for cross armbreaker but Corbin blocks. STIFF headbutts by Mickie. And I mean STIFF. Ian and Mickie hit the DOUBLE FACELIFT in the corner in a tribute to B-Boy. Damn that is some nasty kicking to Corbin’s face. Ian distracts the ref and goes low on Corbin. By distract, he just said “Ref, look” and pointed away. Mickie gets some hard shots in and a clothesline gets 2. Corbin sends Mickie into the buckles and tags in Cruz at about 10 minutes in. They choke her in the corner. Dropkick to the head of Mickie gets 1. Lots of quick tags from the North Star Express as they cut Mickie off from Ian. Corbin beats away at Mickie and yells “I wouldn’t fuck you with your own dick.” Yeah, that didn’t make Mickie happy and she nails Corbin with stiff forearms. Corbin goes to the eyes. Spinning back elbow by Cruz gets 2. Mickie fights back with a stiff Kawada Kick but Corbin cuts off the tag. Mickie palm strikes Corbin and gets the hot tag to Ian. House of fire time. Noggin-knocker! Big elbow drop gets 2 for Ian on Cruz. German Suplex by Mickie on Cruz leads to the Rotten Rush for 3 at 16:23. **1/4. Very basic formula match. Nothing thrilling but nothing wrong with it either except the heat section on Corbin went on too long.

After the match, Corbin and Cruz attack Mickie and Ian with belts and start duck taping them to the ropes. Much in a similar way the Iron Saints did to them back in 2005. The Saints seem indifferent on the commentary, as they dislike both teams, but run in for the save when Corbin and Cruz pull out the chairs from under the ring. Corbin is none too happy. The Saints tell Ian and Mickie they owe them for that.

After that, Mickie says that Steve Corino had terrible things to say about both of them at the last show. He asks Ian for a match against Corino, but Ian refuses. As they head to the back, Ian is still refusing while saying two funny shoot comments: “He’s the reason ECW folded. If he was a better champ than blowjob for Paul Heyman they’d might have made it. Though he had to push Tommy Dreamer out of the way all the time. ZINGGGGGG.

#6: ERICK STEVENS vs. ARIK CANNON
Stevens impressed the crowd at TPI after many fans questioned his inclusion. Now he’s facing Cannon, a 2-time former IWA Champ. Cannon is still getting a bad reaction from parts of the crowd. I think he needs to go back heel personally. They battle over a wristlock in the early on. That doesn’t last long as they go after each other with chops and forearms. Stevens wins that battle. Back suplex by Stevens gets 2. They brawl outside for a bit. Swinging neckbreaker by Cannon after ducking a lariat attempt. Henning necksnap gets 2 for Cannon. HEADBUTT BATTLE! Some of the crowd are giving Cannon X-Pac heat here. Stevens cuts off Cannon with a HUGE Overhead Belly-to-Belly. That gets 2. Suplex into a Russian leg sweep into a submission by Stevens but Cannon escapes into a Haas of Pain. Stevens makes the ropes quickly. More stuff shots back and forth. Sidewalk slam by Stevens gets 2. More chops by Stevens but Cannon answers with throat thrusts. He ties Stevens up in the ropes and dropkicks his leg and then crotches him coming back in. He locks in another submission hold but Stevens is almost able to power out. Cannon DDTs him for 2. Stevens was too close to the ropes that time. Chops in the corner. Choo Choo! by Stevens in the other corner. Fallaway slam followed by a back senton by Stevens…for 2. Damn, he is agile for a big man. Another strike battle is won by Cannon and he hooks up Stevens….HANGMAN’S SWINGING NECKBREAKER….for 2. Crowd is behind Stevens. Cannon goes for a brainbuster but Stevens blocks it. Cannon gets a front suplex from Stevens, who goes for a lariat but gets caught with a big boot. BACKDROP DRIVER by Cannon followed by a TWISTING BRAINBUSTER….for 2!!! Crowd is really behind Stevens after kicking out of that. Cannon loocks for the Glimmering Warlock but Stevens ducks, runs off the ropes for a HUGE LARIAT! DOCTOR BOMB follows up for the 3 at 13:40. ***1/2. Good match with heavy hitting from both guys. Stevens was really impressive and it’s obvious why ROH brought him up to the main roster a few moves ago. He has great agility and crispness for a bigger wrestler. Cannon was his usual solid self, though I think a heel turn needs to happen with him because of the bad reaction he’s getting from a growing percent of the crowd. Cannon apparently busted open his nose sometime during the match.

INTERVIEW: Jim Fannin. He congratulates Josh Abercrombie on his title defense tonight, and announces that he will be defending the Light Heavyweight Title in Germany later this month, marking both one year as champion and making the Light Heavyweight Title a World title. He says, however, that Josh didn’t take care of business tonight by taking out Jimmy Jacobs. Fannin says Josh didn’t have that killer instinct. “Jimmy, there’s no revenge for you to get on me. What you did, you did to IWA Mid-South and me. I put 9 years of my blood, my sweat, and my tears, and my money into this company. My money went into that trailer out there. My money went into the building at Charlestown. Tens of thousands of dollars of my money went into this company to give people like you a chance to get out of the backyards of Michigan, a chance for you to stop imitating the Ultimate Warrior in your fucking underwear and selling pictures of it at the gimmick table. It gave people like you the opportunity to show you are not a 160 pound joke, that you had talent. It was that opportunity that got you into Ring of Honor. It was that opportunity that made you who you are today. And you took a big flaming shit on it when you did what you did. So I am the one with payback on his mind. You said you would atone for what you did. Well my favorite movie is Godfather Part 2. I want you to watch that ending and look at the old man who was going to testify against Michael Corleone. And when he decided not to testify and they came to visit him in the prison, he gave a good speech that you should listen to, Jimmy Jacobs. He sat in a bathtub, took a razor blade out and said ‘When you betray your family, you take your own life.’ So if you want to atone for your sins, THAT is what you have to do. You’ve had over a year to do it. $1000 goes to anyone in the wrestling business, I don’t care if they’re from ROH or CZW, I don’t care if they drag you out of bed and curbstomp you in the street. $1000 goes to anybody, and I’m not a sexist pig like Ian Rotten. Mickie Knuckles? You want to do it? $1000 is yours. Joey Eastman, the second toughest ring announcer in the business behind me, if he wants to do it, he’s got the money for another Totally Tool Wrestling show. A thousand dollars to anyone who KILLS him, cripples him, and puts him out of pro wrestling, and I will be a happy man.” POTYC. Damn right.

#7: LOW-KI vs. RODERICK STRONG
This is a first ever singles meeting here. They were in the finals of the 06 TPI, where Ki eliminated Strong with a knockout kick. Low Ki now comes to out to his original music, as he is not a heel in IWA. He’s still undefeated in IWA. They feel each other out as Ki goes for a chop. Strong is obviously trying to avoid Ki’s kicks. Wristlock by Strong drives Ki down into a bridge. Strong tries to weigh Ki down but Ki HOLDS the bridge. That is some neck strength. Strong tries to turn it into the Stronghold but Ki trips him up. Strong rolls away to the outside. Another standoff with Strong defending himself against the kicks. Intense lockup ends up with Strong wrenching the leg of Ki floating over into a butterfly lock which Ki bridges out of. Beautiful.
They go on the ropes and Ki sneaks a chop in before the clean break. Strong backs up Ki up in the corner and CHOPS THE SHIT out of him. Ki sneaks in a short kick as Roddy is in a defensive stance again. Another hard chop by Ki into a hard headlock. Shoulder tackle by Strong but Ki answers with a dropkick that sends Strong outside. Low Ki goes for a plancha but Strong runs away. STIFF kick to the chest by Ki then an elbow drop for 2. Chops and kicks follow from Ki, and then he locks in a bodyscissors. Strong makes the ropes. Ki drives a shoulder into Roddy’s ribs. Spine kick from Ki gets 2. Strong answers back with some chops, but Ki regains the advantage by driving elbows into Strong’s ribs. Ki hits a few chops, but Strong reverses a whip into a huge STUN GUN on Ki for 2. Sidewalk slam by Strong follows up for another 2. Then a back suplex. Obviously, Strong is going after the back as per his usual strategy. Legdrop by Strong gets 2, followed by more punishment on the back culminating with a backbreaker for 2. Hard clothesline by Strong gets 2, then a Tully Blanchard-style slingshot suplex for 2. Strong definitely wants to end this quickly as he is going for a pin after many moves. More chops by Strong, but Ki answers back with KOBASHI CHOPS. Enziguri to the back by Ki, he goes for a Shining Wizard, Roddy ducks but Ki catches him with a kick to the back of head anyway. KAWADA KICKS!! TIDAL KRUSH! For 2! Then the Mongolian chops. Roddy propels Ki over the ropes but Ki hangs on and grabs Strong in the DRAGON CLUTCH IN THE ROPES. But he has to break it to avoid the DQ. Flying clothesline off the top gets 2 for Ki. Ki goes for the Ki Krusher, but Strong catches him in a HALF NELSON BACKBREAKER for 2. Raw power by Strong on that move. Strong picks up in Burning Hammer position and drops it into another backbreaker….for 2. Hey, a new backbreaker! Roderick goes for the Gibson Driver but Ki avoids it and they trade chops. Ki avoids a suplex from the apron in and BOOTS Roddy in the face. Roddy’s hung up on the second rope…..DOUBLE STOMP OFF THE TOP by Low Ki! But it only gets 2. DRAGON CLUTCH hooked on but Roddy escapes quickly. Ki slams Roddy down on his chest for 2. More rib work perhaps? They get into a strike battle, which Ben Jordan notes is a mistake from Strong as he should continue to go after the back. Flurry from Low Ki with some stiff kicks but Roddy picks him up into a POWERBOMB BACKBREAKER!!!! STRONGHOLD attempt by Roderick but Ki resists just enough. Roderick goes for a slingshot into the corner but Ki lands on the second turnbuckle and DOUBLE STOMPS Roderick!!!! Awesome! Ki stays down holding his back as the crowd chants for him. Ki goes over to Roderick but Strong picks him up for the GORILLA PRESS GUTBUSTER! Roddy runs in for a clothesline but gets met with a CAAPPPOOO KICK! JOHN WOO DROPKICK by Ki! Ki heads up top………..DOUBLEEEEE STOOOMMMMPPPPP off the top and that gets the 3 at 24:20. ****1/2. What a great match. I could have lived with another 10 minutes of that. Both guys worked over the other with strikes and going after a body part, but Ki’s offense had more focus on the ribs and chest than Roddy’s did on Ki’s back. The Double Stomp had to completely knock the wind out of Roderick’s already hurting ribs enough for Ki to pick up the win here. What propels this above that level is the crisp execution of every move and the few new things (Stun Gun, Powerbomb Backbreaker) that Roderick pulled out. It was only 5 days into 2007 and already IWA produced a great MOTYC.