The Black Tiger Review: 2CW: Field of Dreams – August 18, 2006

This is 2CW’s debut in Utica, NY, and along with 2CW debuting in a new city there are a couple of other debuts as well: Dynamite Derek and King Kong Bundy. Also Jason Axe becomes “The Main Event,” and Slyck and Scorpio have a little rematch!

Strangler Steve King . . . wins his 2CW contract (again), only for Johnny Law to steal it (again).
Isys Ephex . . . continues his trend of having good matches with his opponents.
2 Cold Scorpio . . . gives Slyck Wagner Brown a rematch, and puts the title on the line.

LOCA VIDA vs. AJAX 820
At first glance this looks a lot like their previous singles match, but when one examines it a bit more closely, it becomes obvious how much better this match is. The offense looks rather simple, but Loca does a rather admirable sell job of it, and when they get a little more aggressive with the stiff shots, especially the knees from Loca, the good selling continues. And they work the knees relatively smart, after Ajax had worn down Loca with several knee strikes, he comes off the top for an attempted knee drop and Loca bolts in a hurry. Ajax shows that he’s done his homework a bit after losing the last match they had, so he’s ready with escapes and counters for Loca’s roll ups and cradles, and even gets a bit of revenge by rolling through the cross body press and getting his own flash pin. It’s nothing groundbreaking or anything, but it’s a good example of how smart work and simple offense can go a long way.

JOHNNY LAW vs. STRANGLER STEVE KING (Contract on a Pole Match)
Steve tries to get the contract and Law stops him and they trade shots. Law tries to get the contract and King stops him, and they trade shots. Rinse and repeat. King does get in a nice low blow, but it’s just throwaway. The only redeeming part of this is the donut comedy, where King distracts him with donuts ‘It’s got sprinkles!’ allowing Steve to get the contract. Law maces him and steals it . . . again.

VIOLET FLAME OPEN CHALLENGE
Violet’s opponent (a big guy in the audience) is never named, and I somehow doubt that it’s ‘David Copafeel.’ It’s got a few good comedy moments, like the test of strength ending with Flame stomping his foot, and him carrying her around and getting eye-raked. But the big size difference didn’t allow Flame to really get a chance to take him to school, the way she had done to Sparks in April. If nothing else, he took a decent bump from the bulldog she finished him with.

The feud between The Killer Steves and All Money Is Legal takes another twist, after a best of three falls match last time, they’re doing a best of three singles match series, with Dynamite Derek giving the Steves a little backup. If nothing else, it’s not repetitive.

STEVE McKENZIE vs. K-PUSHA
Punch, punch, punch. It makes sense with the big feud and all, but it gets repetitive and boring after a while. There are a few redeeming qualities though, namely the fun in watching McKenzie bump and stooge for Pusha. Pusha brings a few cool spots with him, like the charging hurricanrana, and the leaping facebuster that puts Steve away. It makes sense to come relatively light, with two other matches still to come, but they didn’t seem to have anything to compensate for it. There’s only attempt of interference when Kruz trips Pusha, and it doesn’t lead anywhere, and there’s no real story to the work they do bring. Both of these guys are quite good, but this isn’t a shining example of why.

STEVE KRUZ vs. K-MURDA
It’s a bit on the short side, which is another side effect of matches like this, but it manages to make its point. Within two minutes, they manage to accomplish what the previous match didn’t, being able to compensate for the length of the match not giving them time to really do a whole lot. Murda pulls down Steves trunks and Steve waddles with his ass hanging out, and in a brilliantly funny spot, tries an Irish whip, that causes Kruz to take a belly flop. Kruz outsmarts Murda to get control, only for Murda to start a comeback, which causes the McKenzie and Derek to interfere, only for it to backfire and put the heels in another in appropriate looking position. Like the last match, it’s only really got a few notable wrestling spots (all from Murda), like Steve dropping down and Murda stepping on him, Murda’s own running rana, and the charging DVD in the corner, that would have been the end, if not for some more interference. But again, they’re able to make up for it in other ways.

DYNAMITE DEREK vs. DIZZIE
Lucky for Derek that the Steves kicked his ass for losing, he’s got the look and charisma of a Chris Jericho/Edge smart ass heel, but if this is any indication, not the work. All he brings to the table are two dropkicks, and a pair of leapfrogs, the only other things he does, is the baseball slide that Dizzie avoids, choking, and a few kicks to the midsection. When Dizzie is on offense, he bumps and sells like nobody’s business. And has been the routine in this little series, there’s a few good spots from Dizzie, like the standing snap mare and the fisherman spine buster that puts Derek away. And McKenzie and Kruz beat him down afterwards for losing.

GORDY WALLACE vs. ISYS EPHEX
The winner here gets a bye in the 2CW Title Tournament (which happened about eight months after this), and it’s only really worth mentioning here, because both Isys and Gordy show exactly how much the win and the bye mean to them. Gordy brings a lot of the violence he wasn’t able to bring in his matches with J.D. Love, and Isys bumps and sells as well as he was doing for Spike. They brawl into the crowd (and out the back door) at one point and come back into the ring with Isys bleeding, and Gordy working the cut over. And as good as Isys was at selling and bumping around for Gordy, he manages to bust out some nice stuff, the springboard Phoenix looked more like a corkscrew headbutt due to the limited room that Isys had to pull it off, but he had a few more tricks up his sleeve, like what I can only describe as a reverse Sliced Bread #2. The last couple minutes are really fun with both of them picking up near falls, and Isys catching Gordy with a powerbomb when Gordy was doing the ten punch spot in the corner, and being smart enough to sell blood loss/fatigue by collapsing and then rolling over for the pin. Easily the best Gordy match so far, and it’s not a surprise with Isys involved.

KING KONG BUNDY/JASON AXE vs. ZACHARY SPRINGATE III/J.D. LOVE
On the surface it looks odd that this match was the catalyst for Jason Axe’s change from the spunk underdog babyface to cocky heel, but considering that Bundy does a whole lot of nothing until afterwards, it makes sense. Axe basically takes beating while Bundy stands there and does nothing. It’s sort of telling when Axe’s biggest offensive move in an arm wringer, and that’s only because Springate puts in over so well. Springate and Love supply lots of punching, lots of kicking, a little bit of ass-based comedy, and lots of Jason Axe death. Axe hot tags Bundy, only for Springate to keep him at bay in the corner and finish off Axe with a Giant Swing/dropkick. And Bundy does the Avalanche, Splash, and five count afterward. Jason Axe spent about ten minutes getting his ass kicked, only for Bundy do to his 2 spots and get all the glory afterwards.

SLYCK WAGNER BROWN vs. 2 COLD SCORPIO © (GHC Openweight Title)
An at-times fun match that doesn’t quite hit the level of their previous match in Syracuse, but is still quite enjoyable at times. The title being at stake puts the outcome of the match in zero doubt, which winds up leading to the biggest failing of all: The match just doesn’t feel very competitive. Sure, both Scorpio and Slyck get in plenty of offense, but it’s just that. Scorpio standing/laying there while Slyck does stuff and vice versa. Aside from the couple exchanges on the mat in the early going, and the last minute or so, culminating with Scorpio getting the win from the roll-up, the whole match is just one person doing stuff and then the other person doing stuff.