BG Says: FIP New Year’s Classic 2007

January 12, 2007 – Inverness, Florida

When we last left FIP
Hallowicked won the Florida Rumble but lost to Roderick Strong in his subsequent title match. Austin Aries left DP Associates but lost do Delirious due to interference from Dave Prazak. Erick Stevens got the biggest win of his career by defeated Bryan Danielson with the Doctor Bomb. The YRR wreaked havoc over the entire show, interfering in multiple matches and defeating the Black Market, Seth Delay and Jerrelle Clark in the main event.

Jonathan Gold takes care of ringside announcements and Lenny Leonard is joined by Dave Prazak on commentary.

The YRR come out to the stage to start the show. Steve Madison reminds us that tonight they’ve hired Brent Albright to take out Erick Stevens. Albright comes out and towers over all of them. Daffney starts talking trash about Allison Danger, which causes Danger to run out to the ring to call Daffney out. The entire YRR gets into the ring but Stevens, Seth Delay and the Black Market make the save. Everyone except for King and Delay brawl to the back, so they have a match.

VS.
Delay starts things off with mounted punches in the corner. He hits a dropkick and a bodyslam. He gets a head scissors takedown but misses a spear and falls to the floor. King follows him out and chokes him with a shirt. Back in the ring King hits a clothesline for 2. He hits an over-the-shoulder gutbuster for 2. He puts on a body vice and rakes the eyes. Delay goes low to regain control but King cuts him off with a vertical suplex for 2. Delay gets a sunset flip for 2. He gets another roll up for 2. King goes to the eyes again but Delay catches him with another sunset flip for 2. King hits a blue thunder bomb for 2. Delay hits a leaping forearm for 2. King hits a double knee strike in the corner for 2. Delay comes back with the Edge-O-Matic out of the corner for the win at 8:05. Decent opener, but I think these two could do better.
Rating: **¼

VS.
Hagadorn stalls to start. They lock up and Claudio powers Hagadorn to the corner. Hagadorn baits Claudio into a taunt exchange and dropkicks him in the face. Claudio comes back with a knee to the gut for 2. He puts on a headlock and hits three shoulder tackles but Milo Beasley trips him and Hagadorn hits a side Russian legsweep. He goes to the eyes and Beasley chokes Claudio with Hagadorn’s shirt. He hits a running knee for 2. He puts on a chinlock but Claudio fights out and hits the Match Killer. Claudio hits a back elbow and a dropkick. He shoves Hagadorn into the corner for 2. Hagadorn blocks a blind charge and kicks Claudio’s face. He hits an elbow off the bottom rope for 2. Claudio hits a crossbody for 2. Hagadorn rolls Claudio up with his feet on the ropes for 2. Claudio comes back with a pair of European uppercuts for the win at 7:57. Hagadorn’s offense is very dull, but this was a nice introduction to Claudio. I’m surprised Hagadorn was in control as long as he was.
Rating: **

The Heartbreak Express comes out Sead Davis talks about the Cage of Pain. In a shocking move Sean spends most of the time talking about the crowd’s appreciation for the match, and in what I’m taking as the start of a babyface turn he thanks the fans for their support. Shiima Xion comes out and helps the Davises win the support of the fans by making fun of Sean for no reason. Phil and Sean decide to beat him up, but let him get a partner if he thinks it’ll help him. Xion physically drags Pelle Primeau out of the locker room and we have a match.

VS.
The Davises beat up Primeau and Xion on the floor. The match gets started with an avalanche from Sean to Xion. He hits a butt splash so Xion tags out. Phil tags in and holds tough through an Irish whip attempt from Primeau. Phil puts Primeau and the referee back to back, pointing out how short Primeau is. He hits a pair of shoulder tackles but Primeau comes back with an enziguiri. Phil hits a wheelbarrow suplex so Primeau tags out. Sean tags in and puts a headlock on Xion. Xion hits a cheap shot but Sean blocks a sunset flip by sitting on him. Phil tags in and gets hit with a low blow. Xion jumps off Phil’s back to stomp on his head for 2. He ties Phil in a knot and then puts on some hairspray. Primeau tags in and gets hit by Sean’s Michinoku driver. Sean walks over Primeau to tag to Phil and they hit a double backdrop. Phil hits a European uppercut and tags to Sean. Sean hits a short-arm clothesline and tags to Phil. Primeau comes back with a hurricanrana but Xion is distracted and misses the tag. Sean tags in and hits a backdrop driver for 2. Primeau dodges a blind charge and hits a missile dropkick. Xion refuses to tag in so Phil hits Primeau with a powerbomb for 2. Sean tags in but Primeau hits both Davises with a double DDT. Xion still won’t tag in and simply walks out on Primeau. The Davises hit the double flapjack for the win at 8:17. This was a little fun and a lot sloppy. After the match Sean gets on the microphone and lets everyone know it’s not over as far as Xion is concerned. He then gives props to Primeau and offers to find him a girl to hook up with tonight.
Rating: *½

Jonathan Gold brings out the returning Jack Evans. Evans reminds us that when he was last in FIP he’d joined DP Associates. However, Japan gave him some clarity so he quits the group. Prazak storms out and throws Shingo in Evans’s face. Distracted by the man from Japan Evans is attacked from behind by an original Associate in Jimmy Rave. Roderick Strong makes the save and sets up a tag team main event for tonight.

VS.
Sal attacks Akuma from behind to start. Akuma comes back with the old CHIKARA standby; armbars. He puts on a pendulum hold and rams Sal’s head into the turnbuckle. He hits a bodyslam and climbs the ropes. Sal knocks him off with a dropkick and goes to the eyes. Sal stays on the back with knees and then hits another dropkick for 2. He hits a vertical suplex for 2. Akuma comes back with a sunset flip for 2. Sal cuts him off with a leg lariat for 2. He hits a neckbreaker for 2. Akuma comes back with kicks and a clothesline. He hits another bodyslam and climbs the ropes again. He hits a crossbody for 2. He trips Sal up and gets a roll up for 2. He gets another roll up for 2. Sal misses a blind charge and Akuma hits a swinging kick to the face for 2. Sal comes back with a stunner and a sunset flip for 2. He goes for a hurricanrana but Akuma comes back with a slingshot powerbomb. He ties Sal up but Kenny King runs in and hits a slingshot legdrop, breaking up the hold and giving Sal the win at 7:28. This was fine and actually turned into an exciting match in the last minute or two, but wasn’t too much more than what we’ve seen so far on this show.
Rating: **½

In typical fashion the rest of the YRR come out to beat up Gran Akuma until the Black Market, Danger, Delay and Stevens make the save. A tag match for Black Market and the last two members of the YRR gets going.

VS.
Madison and Murphy start. They lock up and Murphy easily overpowers Madison. Madison knocks Machete off the apron and goes after Murphy’s gut. Murphy levels him with a clothesline so Madison bails. Machete attacks him on the floor and rolls him back into the ring. Machete tags in and gets caught in the YRR corner. Rance tags in only to get clotheslined on the floor by Machete. Madison gets the same treatment from Murphy. Back in the ring Murphy and Machete hit a double spinebuster on Madison. Machete hits Rance with a bodyslam. Madison tosses Machete to the floor and follows him out to lay in some boots. Back in the ring Madison hits a pair of kneedrops to the ribs. He puts on an abdominal stretch and gets some added leverage from the ropes. Rance tags in as Madison gets hiptossed and puts the abdominal stretch back on. Machete hiptosses Rance as well but Madison keeps him from making the tag. Madison pins Machete with his feet all over the ropes for 2. Rance comes in and puts on a chinlock. Machete tries to fight out but Rance goes to the eyes and hits a superkick. He climbs the ropes but misses a moonsault. Murphy tags in and shoulder tackles Madison across the ring. He hits a clothesline on Rance and a bodyslam on Madison. He hits an overhead suplex on Rance and a back bodydrop on Madison. He and Machete hit a side slam/neckbreaker combo just before a catfight breaks out between Daffney and Danger. Rance kicks Danger and Madison hits Machete with a chair to the gut. Murphy goes after Madison so Rance casually pins Machete for the win at 11:21. The heat portion on Machete was more interesting than usual thanks to some creative tactics on the part of the YRR. Good effort all around, despite the cheapo finish.
Rating: **¾

Jimmy Jacobs comes out to complain about the shady characters that Lacey has been hanging out with lately. He’s of course talking about Larry Sweeny and the Heartbreak Express. I just want to point out that over a year before they actually associated with one another in FIP I mentioned in a PWG review that Larry Sweeney was everything the Heartbreak Express wished they could be. So Gabe Sapolski, stop stealing using my reviews for your booking ideas! Sweeney, comes out to put Lacey down as someone who doesn’t need to be defended because of her low moral fiber. Jacobs takes offense and slaps Sweeney, leading to a match.

VS.
They lock up and Sweeney hits a cheap shot. Jacobs puts him on the mat and embarrasses him. Sweeney sends Jacobs to the floor but Jacobs comes back with a low blow. He hits the satellite head scissors for 2. He rams Sweeney’s head into each turnbuckle and then goes for the Top 8. Sweeney counters to a Manhattan drop and then rams Jacobs into the turnbuckle. He rams Jacobs’s arm into the post and then wraps it around the top of the barricade. Back in the ring he gets 2. Sweeney hits an elbow and an elbowdrop for 2. He stays on the arm until Jacobs comes back with jabs and a clothesline. Jacobs hits a neckbreaker and a crossbody off the top for 2. Sweeney comes back with a kneelift and a pancake for 2. He takes down the straps and whips Jacobs hard into the corner. Jacobs comes back with a spear but it hurts his bad arm. Jacobs goes for a back suplex but Sweeney hits him with a foreign object and hits an elbow off the top for the win at 11:11. Decent enough match, but we’re now though six matches on the show without anything notable happening in the ring.
Rating: **¼

VS.
Albright grabs a headlock to start. Stevens comes back with a pair of hiptosses. Albright beats Stevens down in the corner but Stevens comes back with by pulling down Albright’s trunks and hitting an atomic drop. He hits mounted punches in the corner but Albright returns fire by dropping Stevens’s head on the turnbuckle. It gets 2. He hits a basement clothesline for 2. He puts on a cravat and then hits a back elbow for 2. He puts on a chinlock but Stevens escapes and gets a backslide for 2. Albright cuts him off with a dropkick for 2. He chokes Stevens with his wrist tape and hits a neckbreaker for 2. Stevens tries to fight back but Albright puts on a sleeper hold. Stevens counters to a back suplex and takes Albright down with elbows and forearms. He hits the Choo Choo avalanche and a backdrop for 2. Albright goes to the eyes and climbs the ropes. He hits a crossbody off the top but Stevens rolls through for 2. Stevens hits a lariat and the TKO for 2. Albright hits a snap neckbreaker out of nowhere for the win at 16:07. There were more rest holds than I was expecting, especially considering that Albright was supposed to injure Stevens before he could get to Madison. Still this was the most smash mouth match so far, and the first one that really felt like both guys felt that something was at stake.
Rating: ***¼

After the match the YRR swoops into the ring. King, Rance and Sal hold Stevens as Madison taunts him and beats him with a chain. Murphy and Machete make the save. Stevens gets on the microphone and assures everyone that he’ll be ready for the dog collar match tomorrow night.