Instead of doing an article, I think I’m just going to type my notes up here. Or there, after the link.
Thank to Rob for hanging out. Thank to Feely for supplying the (i)tunes for the trip back and forth. Thanks to jtron for shaking my hand. Thanks to chiprowrestling crew for trying to stick me with another one of their ads – I say NO. Thanks to the cars for not hitting me as I crossed the street. Thanks to the rain, for being around more in the last three weeks than all of summer and spring combined. Am I forgetting anyone? Good.
I still can’t believe I got home at a decent time. Show started at 7 (I assume – came later because I watched the end of LSU/Bama) and ended at about 10:10. I’m not sure what to do, being home and it not being tomorrow already.
Let’s see what I can recall…
Esteban Molina b Eric Priest (fluke rollup) – about what you’d expect from an opener. Priest complained about being screwed, threaten to attack Chuman but was held back.
Hardcore Craig & Corporal Robinson b Danny Daniels & Jason Dukes – because Carmine thought Jason was slipping and needed some help, he got Dukes a personal trainer – Even Fatter Guy. Even Fatter Guy did not have a shirt on, and brought barbecue Pringles. Dukes was upset, because he likes Sour Cream and Onion. You know, during the show, Rob asked me if parts if this show qualified as Indy Slease, and I said no at the time, but typing that out, I’m not so sure. Even Fatter Guy had no particular point after the pre-match stuff, but stuck around. Lots of work on Craig’s leg, but he ended getting the pinfall on Daniels (Corp was beating Dukes down with a chair on the outside) to set up a title match on the next show.
Since he didn’t wear it later, I’d like to take this opportunity to make fun of Carmine’s coat. My best guess is he mugged a pharmacist, but for some reason only took his coat. I have no idea what was with that thing.
Brad Bradley (w/Danny Dominion) squashed Egotisitco Fantastico. Dominion did a long promo about Venom for a guy who’s not there. EF looked better when I saw him way back ago in Aurora. Bradley looked like usual. After Ego was dead, Dominion blamed his loss on training at the wrong school.
Marek Brave & Tyler Black defended the NWA Midwest Tags against Marco Cordova and Jayson Reign. This could’ve been a three falls match, because they changed the finish a couple times before the angle-rific fun ended. Ref 1 took an enziguri from Brave (I think), knocking him out. Marco and Jayson beat Brave (I think) down while Black (I assume) was outside, used a chair at some point, put him in a crab, and, if my own eyes can be trusted, had the champion tap out just as Ref 2 slid in. *** Ref 2 signaled for the bell and a title change. A moment later, Ref 3 (Ian Rotten, special ref for the main event) stopped the title hand over, claimed he never saw a tap out (so he’s blind – good sign for a ref) and ordered the match to be restarted. Black and Brave got the instant double pin. HOWEVER, Ref 1, now finally awake, overruled Ian and called a DQ for Brave kicking him. Titles don’t change hands, so it means absolutely nothing (but eyerolling). For added fun, Ian yelled at Ref 1 for having the gall to get kicked in the face and DQing Black and Brave, which led nowhere.
*** marks where I called the DQ finish, though I had no idea the dance it’d take to get there. Like all the screwy NWA Midwest finishes, this was designed to build heat for the rematch on the next show (though it doesn’t seem to work because it’s done every match), but they had the screwyness accomplished on the restart->quick finish. The DQ was just ODD.
I think HERE was the segment with Joey bringing Mickie Knuckles to the ring, in order to establish Mickie vs MsChef at the next NWA Midwest show. This seemed to indicate the main event going one way.
Black Tiger b Ace Steel. Match while okay, was disappointing (not near the level Romero’s stuff in ROH when he’s been here, or with Lucha Va Voom). It was probably about an 18 minute match, but it felt like there was 4-5 minutes left of finisher teasing when Dominion walked out, tripped Steel, and Tiger got the La Majistral for the win. It was more a setup for a Dominion/Steel post match brawl (not the last of the night), with Steel eventually being offered – well, I’m not sure, because at first it was a match vs Dominion at the next show, then it was a match with Dominion next time they’re both free, and then it was a match against anytime Steel wants it, and then we got back to Dominion. I think the point is, at some time, Ace Steel will have a match against an opponent of some sort. And we needed five minutes to explain that.
Intermission was here. I did not help set up the cage. I enjoyed my $2 pizza instead. Even though they had two panels upside down and had to reset them, cage construction really didn’t take that long. Instead, we had a long wait after for no particular reason, and then an odd wait from between Skullkrusher’s music starting and his actual entrance. (I’m guessing now they were still preping for the spot at the end of the match.)
Skullkrusher b Ryan Boz [cage, escape only]- I was hoping this would be the second cage match, because I’d dart out early for sure. It was okay, though. Boz has his fans. He did bleed, early and a bunch. Boz was climbing out when Carmine finally appeared, getting him good with a fireball. Skullkrusher crawled out, and that was it. [somewhere in here, the cage door broke off one hinge] Joey Eastman (he of the new Kerwin White hair coloring) got in the cage, trying to wash out Boz’s eyes, but Skullkrusher and Carmine came back in, locked the door (as best they could). Joey tried to talk them out of it, but no one listens to the ring announcer, and he took a low blow. Carmine gave Cruhser a belt to use on Boz, Joey, and people trying to climb in for a save, until they were just sorta done.
Some Guy replaced Joey (dead) as ring announcer, and I hate to say it, because Joey seems like a cool guy, but he’s done. Some Guy has a great booming voice, perfect for announcing, and was great at it. Maybe he won’t take bumps?
Matt Sydal & Daizee Haze b Delirious & MsChef [NWA Midwest X, NWA Midwest Womens, pinfall, submission, Ian ref] – This was easily match of the night and really good. Delirious wrestled it straight, which was odd. They worked it as a tag match, and since the cage was right up against the ropes, they had the partners sit on the top rope when they were waiting to be tagged in. Sydal did dive off the top of the cage (something more like a turning cross body than a moonsault, and he spent the rest of the show holding his knee), and Daizee got brutalized, taking Delirious’ finisher at one point, but scarier was Delirious blocking a ‘rana and ramming her back first into the cage at high speed. Everyone hurts, and many on these indy shows do things which don’t seem quite wise if you think it out, but more than anyone else, I don’t know how Daizee does it. A running subplot of the match was MsChef being unwilling to allow Ian to check her for objects (mist) and Ian trying to pat her down when she was being held in a submission or otherwise vulnurable. She finally pulled out the mist from her hiding place when everything broke down for the last time, but Ian spotted it and hit her in the midsection to make her swallow it. She was stunned, and Daizee rolled up Delirious in the confusion for the win.
Like I said, it was a really good match, but the post match – MsChef pulls Daizee out of the ring, tries to kill her on the merchandise table, gets Ian with mist, is eventually stopped by Mickie Knuckles and they brawl forever until they’re pulled apart then apparently fight more backstage – killed the buzz. I think it sums up NWA Midwest’s flaws – even when you get a good match with a good finish, they’re more concerned with building up next show’s match (and, in this case, probably not an important match on it) then letting you have a moment to enjoy it. It wouldn’t be such an annoyance if it didn’t happen up and down the card, but that’s what you should expect with NWA Midwest shows.
Next show was announced as 01/14/06, I believe, with an odd 8PM start time. I’m not going at this point; not as much because off the booking as the matches so far announced (Craig/Daniels and MsChef/Mickie) are ones I want to spend $15 on.
I’m next going to the lucha at congress show, I think. There are other things which may or may not happen between now and then, so I don’t know till I know.