Tape Review
IWA Mid-South
Simply the Best V
04/10/04 - Highland, IN
by Scott Christ

Got this baby on the tape because Larry Sternshein of Chicago Wrestling really loved the Hero/B-Boy match and I love the Hero, and I like the B-Boy a lot lately, so I figured I had nothing to lose. Plenty of other junk on here I'm interested in seeing too. Plus I like the pretty labels. Smart Mark Video!

MICHAEL SHANE v. AUSTIN ARIES

Why in the hell is Michael Shane using "Du Hast" for entrance music? I like to write DU HAST on the frozen windows of my friends' cars. And on the frozen roofs, too. Michael Shane is of course a superstar from the big city of NWA-TNA and I've never been a big fan from what I've seen of him there, but I have to assume he's at least slightly neutered in that environment. Shane fakes the indy handshake to start and gives Aries DA BIRD. Dave Prazak and Arik Cannon are commentary. Austin returns the bird after a break in the corner. Aries is smooth as silk from a headstand right into a dropkick to the seated face of Michael Shane and Shane bails. Shane plays coward some more. God, Aries is really fluid. Aries chases Shane around the ring and comes in to get attacked. Cannon wonders if Aries watches wrestling. The nice thing about the commentary on these tapes is they understand their audience but also generally don't just out-and-out break kayfabe all over the place. Gutbuster -> STO -> powerdrive elbow from Aries and he is really looking good in this match. Shane throws a pussified short-arm clothesline, and another, and then a flapjack and you can just tell the difference between the guy that spends his time wrestling five-minute sports entertainment spotfests in TNA and the guy that works the indies and has the opportunity to work longer matches more frequently. Shane damn near kills Aries with the Owen Hart belly-to-belly by dropping him right on his head. Aries takes a breather. Cannon is a great heel because he calls Aries an idiot for trying to impress "these stupid people." Aries breaks the count and takes another breather after a few stomps. Shane up top and misses a SHITTY looking elbowdrop which is absolutely mind-boggling because I've seen him do really good ones. Aries throws forearms and hits a roaring elbow off the ropes for two. Aries considers exposing himself but then does not. Shane with a flatliner for two. Aries with the FINLAY ROLL followed with the 450 and it's a BEAUTY - 1, 2, 3 in about 11 and a half. This is an Aries showcase where Shane looks like total shit in comparison. This Austin Aries can do some thangs. Michael Shane is just no freaking good at all, he wrestles like a B-show jobber.

ALLISON DANGER & MSCHIF v. DAIZEE HAZE & MICKIE KNUCKLES

Believe this - Allison Danger is the best color commentator in wrestling. And not bad looking either. MsChif is such a serious metal babe with the spiked plate on her chest and all the screaming and she even scares Allison. This is an interesting group of girls with spaced-out stoner Daizee Haze, small-town hard-working gal Mickie Knuckles, metal witch MsChif and mall punk Allison Danger. Man, MsChif hails from The Inferno. You look at a girl like Daizee Haze and the shape she's in with her pretty long blonde hair and face that says she was born to end up chopping most of it off to become a soccer mom married to an accountant, and you wonder what in the hell she's doing being a pro wrestler. Allison won't shake hands and the heels jump, but that doesn't last. Alex Shelley is the color guy for this match and just sits there, assumedly nodding, as Prazak goes on and on about the loser slut fake wrestlers you see on TV. Allison Danger may be Corino's kin but she sure didn't get any of the wrestling talent in that family. MsChif doesn't join hands for a double clothesline on Mickie, instead just kicking her herself, so Allison gets pissed off and breaks her own team's pin. MsChif and Allison Danger wouldn't get along in the real world so it makes perfect sense that they don't get along here, and they're even playing it right with Allison pushing her luck a LITTLE bit with MsChif, but if it really comes down to it she doesn't wanna fuck with this girl. Boy no offense and I like Allison Danger a lot but I don't see what makes her any better than Lita, and in fact, I see a lot of things that make her worse. Watching her work here just makes all of Prazak's shit talking seem ridiculous. I'm not mentioning that Mickie Knuckles is playing a good face-in-peril here and that MsChif is pretty a-ok. More heel miscommunication allows Daizee to get the hot tag, and she's perfectly decent, too. Allison Danger curses like a sailor to win me right back. Daizee with some goofy thing that damn near breaks MsChif's freakin neck. Daizee Cutter (stunner)! 1, 2, Danger breaks the pin. Allison pulls the ref out to argue, and Mickie runs over to smack her in the face with a forearm. MsChif hits Daizee with the desecrator, in which she steps over an arm extended at the side and then hits a DDT. Cover, 2, Mickie breaks, maybe a bit late but who's counting besides me. Danger gets a blind tag and hits the inverted DDT on Mickie, but the ref didn't see the tag. But she'll stay in and he's okay with it? Yeah this is losing it. MsChif doesn't want the tag, and Mickie gets Allison up in the electric chair. Daizee comes off with a crossbody - 1, 2, 3 in about 09'30". Allison gets an STO on MsChif after the match. The faces come in to make the save but she spits the GREEN MIST at Mickie Knuckles. This was totally watchable and honestly the women's division here is interesting because they are allowed to at least try to wrestle.

DANNY DANIELS (w/Jim Fannin) v. COLT CABANA

Danny Daniels is the kind of guy dedicated promotion fans really end up appreciating because he's always there. You need those guys and IWA has always been good at having those types. Plenty of stalling to start. Lame "sports entertainment" chant as there is more stalling following some Cabana comedy. Listen, maybe it is, maybe you're right, but believe me, everyone else knows, too, and furthermore, just shut up. Cabana could get a little leaner via nutritional supplements and be a comedy success with WWE. That's not shitting on him because the guy can go like a motherfucker when the situation calls for it, but I haven't seen him in a situation that does for a while now. And plus, well, the dude's funny. First big move of the match comes over seven minutes in when Daniels hits a flying 'rana and follows up with a missile dropkick. Fannin chokes Cabana outside. Outside and Colt ducks a chop, which causes Daniels to chop the post, which must really hurt. Prazak sounds bored as hell, possibly because he's calling this one by himself, but I don't think it helps that this match is going nowhere fast. Or nowhere slow. Cabana with the swinging pendulum, Daniels comes back with a seated version. Daniels with a flying knee to the head and I can enjoy a flying knee to the head. Sit-out butterfly power bomb by Cabana and both are down. Cabana with a flurry of offense to get some near-falls and this would feel a lot better if this match had built well. Cabana misses a second-rope legdrop and Daniels goes for the piledriver, but Cabana blocks and goes for a air raid crash or whatever he's going for. Fannin tries to trip, which doesn't work, so he gets on the apron and spits in Colt's face. Rollup, 2, 3 and Danny Daniels wins in about 14 minutes. This match was highly disappointing because both of these guys can just bring it, but they just didn't.

ZACH GOWEN (w/Alex Shelley) v. TRIK DAVIS

Gowen is heeling it up heavy being all cocky and wearing an As Seen On TV t-shirt and coming out to some DMX. Gowen is dressed like a mix between a poor wigger and a poor scenester and he's got a pimp cane with him. Boy these people really hate him legitimately. It's tough to blame them. "Single-leg takedown" chant. Gowen takes the mic. "My name is ZACH - MY NAME IS ZACH MOTHERFUCKING GOWEN! I go from Madison Square Garden to THIS? Are you kidding me? I go from Brock Lesnar, Matt Hardy, to THIS? Trik Davis? I'm ZACH MOTHERFUCKING GOWEN, BABY!" Shelley: "Who are you?" "ZACH MOTHERFUCKING GOWEN, BABY!" Well. That was pretty great. Oh man Gowen pulls his pants down and grabs his dick. This guy is something else. How much more entertaining is this than sappy one-legged sob story babyface?

Mickie Knuckles is on color now. Sorry, Zach, you have one leg and thus you suck dick. Davis with a dropkick to send Gowen to the floor to hobble around. Davis charges on the floor and rams him into the wall. Gowen with his pussy forearms. Prazak says "southwest Michigan" and I pop. Weak brawling around ringside and I know he's got one leg and that's a crying shame, but listen, I'm trying to watch professional wrestling, and clearly guys with one leg just don't belong here. If I were blind I wouldn't take up birdwatching, you know? Gowen takes his leg off and slugs Davis with it behind the ref's back - 1, 2, 3. About three minutes of crap. Shelley with the shellshock on Davis, then he throws the referee out. Hey, there's Soup Ladle. Zach teases the moonsault and doesn't deliver. Shelley with the bordy city stretch on Davis. "We've got two legs" chant at Gowen and a dude insults Gowen for having one leg, I think, which gets him invited into the ring. Shelley and Gowen seem actually pissed off. Gowen leads a "he's a pussy" chant which is pretty lame. It gets answered with "he's got two legs." It would be meaner if the dude wasn't such a dick and these people weren't just sort of making the point clear that they don't want to see Gowen. Another guy wants to get into the ring with Shelley but security talks him out of it and this is fucking ridiculous. Also, if I were picking one of these two to fight, it wouldn't be Alex Shelley. "We've got two legs" is back. Gowen waves goodbye. Enough already. Nice BRMC shirt, Alex Shelley.

ARIK CANNON v. RODERICK STRONG v. PETEY WILLIAMS v. EMIL SITOCI v. NATE WEBB v. JIMMY JACOBS (w/Becky Bayless)

Nate dances with Petey and Emil and this is awesome. This is so much better than lame WWE "comedy." Not to be crass but holy crap look at the jugs and that phat ass. Becky Bayless or Jimmy Jacobs, if you ever read this, I mean that in the nicest and most respectful way possible. Allison Danger is on commentary and that's alright by me. Great bit to start as Jacobs and Williams go to paper/rock/scissors to decide who starts with Strong, and Williams wins with scissors because Jacobs only uses paper via HUSS wrist slapping. Strong tags Cannon in before we get started. Allison: "You know, if I had tits like Becky Bayless, I'd get a good ovation, too." Amen sister. Trade of basics, Webb and Strong come in. Webb works the wrist and tags Sitoci, and Sitoci continues. Sitoci husses and makes the tag to Jacobs, who tries to slingshot in and gets his feet caught on the top rope and almost busts his ass. Jacobs with a half-crab as Allison Danger talks about marrying Becky Bayless in Asbury Park. Jacobs bites the ass. Reverse flying ass into a headlock takeover. Strong takes to Cannon after Jacobs flusters him with goofy offense and Jacobs tags to Webb. Nothing going there and this is all slow feeling-out wrestling so far. Petey and Sitoci in and we continue. "I like baby Becky, we go way back." "Are you moving in on my territory? I'll cut you. I will cut you." Sitoci with some decent offense and you'd really never know how inexperienced this guy is from his offense, because it's all very crisp. His selling is what gives it away. Williams and Sitoci fight on the floor and Strong kicks Petey in the face and gives him a forearm shiver off the apron, nearly crushing his skull. Cannon joins the floor mess and Jacobs walks the turnbuckles and somersaults onto them. Thank God they caught him a little because he was going to land on his head. And just when you're worrying about the health of the wrestlers, that crazy fucker Nate Webb overrotates and overshoots on a reverse 450 plancha to the floor and nearly breaks his back on the chairs. Strong and Cannon check on him and I guess he's okay. You can't kill the Spyder. "I wonder if Becky's gonna dive. She dove into my heart." Cannon and Sitoci go in and fight some, and Strong is in and now we're at the part to break it down. Cannon with an enzuigiri on the kneeling Sitoci - 1, 2, 3. Strong and Cannon with a double-team spinebuster on Williams. Jacobs and Cannon in now. Strong with a - what the fuck was that. Strong lifts Jacobs into a fireman's carry, shoots him up like Dean Malenko's gutbuster, but also falls to his back for the gutbuster, so it's the same deal, but he goes to his own back. Seems a little added-on for the sake of adding-on but it looks cool anyway. YAKUZA KICK and Jimmy Jacobs is dead. Foolish Strong does not hook the leg. Strong looks really good in this match. Becky starts a huss chant and Jacobs responds with a dropkick. Strong with further brutal punishment. Cannon in and he pokes Jacobs in the eye. Cannon with Reno's overdrive and for once it looks halfway logical. Nice submission stuff from Cannon but he doesn't stay on it. Jacobs turns the tide and tags to Nate Webb who's thankfully not dead. Strong in too and Webb is the house of fire on both of them. Webb with palm strikes on both and he can't pin either of them. Nate breaks out all his wacky offense and gets the Webb of Death on Cannon. Jacobs off the top with the demon stomp on Cannon, but Strong is in. And he's after Cannon now because Strong hates you all. Some weird neckbreaker that Cannon isn't going to kick out of and Strong lets him up. Webb tries the pin and Cannon kicks out this time. Soylent Green hits on Cannon - 1, 2, 3.

We're down to Jacobs, Webb, Strong and Williams, who has gone ignored. Oh there he is. Jacobs in and he gets killed with a backbreaker -> gutbuster -> t-bone suplex into the turnbuckles. Webb in with a tumbleweed into the corner and he tries Soylent Green again, but it doesn't go. Strong's crazy neckbreaker and Webb is eliminated. Strong into the camel clutch but he uses Petey's arms to strangle him. Jacobs with a blind tag and Strong doesn't see it - Berzerker Boot! Contra Code! 1, 2, 3, Strong is eliminated. So it comes to Jacobs and Williams, a weird choice for the final two. Sharpshooter from Williams but Jacobs makes the ropes. Jacobs with a neckbreaker from the second rope, two count. Senton from the top also gets two. Look motherfuckers don't "holy shit" a senton. Canadian Destroyer puts it away which makes it even weirder to have the other final guy be Jacobs, but Williams gets a good ovation anyway. Petey could really be the next Great Canadian Wrestler. These guys like each other just fine. I think the thing about these matches is they never flow really well. While they aren't just spot-spot-spot like we've been conditioned to expect from a match like this, and that's refreshing, it's also hard to have a good slow-paced wrestling match with six people in it, even if you give it 30 minutes like this. Petey gets a standing O. This was about a half hour and Nate Webb is there to greet him at the door which is a little strange. Anyway, this was alright and Roderick Strong stood out.

ADAM FLASH v. STEVE STONE

Fucking Steve Stone is awesome and another one of those organizational trooper guys that are great to have, but a different kind than Daniels in that Daniels is the sort of guy that could move to a different territory and probably do pretty well, but Stone is made for where he's at. Adam Flash mainly works for CZW now and is one of those mid-to-late 90s indy cruiser guys that never much got anywhere. Danny Daniels is on color being a douche. Forearm trade on the floor looks good, and Stone throws some armdrags once they go back in. Stone with a snap suplex and then a brainbuster. Sit-out vertical suplex bomb mess gets two. Adam Flash isn't bringing much to this match. It's not that he's bad but he's not adding anything anyone else couldn't. Spinebuster from Flash as Stone comes off the top. Flash with the concrete crack for two. Flash with a facebuster from the top rope that looks stupid. Stone with the whiteout (flatliner) and he goes up for the moonsault. It hits, Stone wins in about ten. Not much of a match but I still like Steve Stone.

MATT SYDAL v. AJ STYLES

Sydal was IWA light heavyweight champion coming into this match but it's non-title, so he doesn't bother bringing his belt. This is one of those "proving grounds" type matches for Sydal taking on the former NWA world champion and established stud. Really nice looking mat exchange, very quick reversals that look like they're actually fighting for it instead of just working together. Styles hits the first big move, catching Sydal off the ropes in a powerslam, then spiking him with the huracanrana. Styles is playing the heel subtly here, allowing the younger local guy to look sympathetic and being cocky after hitting the first big offense. Sydal is a step ahead on some basics trade, so Styles chops him. Sydal nails Styles with a hard forearm, but then runs right into a nice dropkick and this match is getting its point across in spades. Sydal with a roundhouse kick to send Styles to the floor. Sydal wants to take flight but Styles hits a shoulderblock. Back in, Sydal sweeps Styles' legs, which sends him back out. Twisting crossbody to the floor. Sydal with a fisherman suplex for two. Gutwrench layout suplex and Sydal gets two off a twisting senton. Sydal wants a tornado DDT, but Styles blocks and suplexes him. Sydal kicks out at one on a snap suplex and Styles gets pissed off. Styles backdrops Sydal out and hits a crappy rana where he slides through the top and middle rope. Styles is getting progressively annoyed with Sydal keeping up with him, throwing hard kicks and scowling and arguing with the crowd. Styles tries a release German, but Sydal lands on his feet. Sydal wants an Asai moonsault or something, but Styles kicks his legs out from under him and then kicks him again to send him to the floor. Styles goes for the moonsault -> reverse DDT, but once he's there with it hooked, he's too arrogant and it gets turned around. That's really cool, but unfortunately Sydal hits a dumb move with the counter. Sydal wants the crucifix, but Styles powers up and swings him around. Horrendous backbreaker by Styles. "Holy shit" is officially the worst chant possible now that "you sold out" is all but gone and "ECW" is never effective anymore. Now they're getting goofy with the kicks, but hell, Styles is sick of that and just hits a good one. Sydal tries the dragon suplex, Styles blocks. Sydal tries the German suplex, Styles blocks. Sydal tries the back suplex, Styles flips back and hits a spinebuster for another nearfall. Styles with a brainbuster for ANOTHER nearfall. Styles has had enough of this bullshit and wants the Styles Clash, but Sydal kicks away. Styles tries it again, this time Sydal 'ranas him over for two. Pumphandle driver by Sydal, another two count. Sydal is going up for the first time this match. Shooting star is avoided, but Sydal lands on his feet. His back is bad. Styles with a LARIAT - 1, 2, 3! About 16'30". Standing ovation for this match and while it isn't superbly excellent and not a MOTYC in my opinion, it's well deserved and this was a real good match. Styles gets the mic and says Sydal isn't the next AJ Styles, he's the first Matt Sydal. How lovely. Danny Daniels doesn't care about this match, he just talks about how he wrestled Nikolai Volkoff. "Huracanrana - ha! I gave Nikolai Volkoff a high knee and he bumped for me."

DELIRIOUS v. JERRY LYNN

You don't get a lot more fun than Delirious. Lynn is fresh off losing the IWA heavyweight title the night before to BJ Whitmer in Oolitic at April Bloodshowers, which is probably the best name for a wrestling event ever. Delirious gets a stuffed bunny from the crowd and offers it to Lynn. Lynn accepts. After some comedy, the bunny comes back into play and the crowd chants for it. Delirious yells "Buckwheat!" Daniels talks about the last match some more and the MOTY chant, and now relates how he tore it up with Doink the Clown a couple weeks ago. Lynn gives the bunny to a girl in the crowd. Delirious takes it back and puts it under some guy's hat. Lynn breaks off the evenly matched standoff junk and it looks like shit. Delirious gets the bunny again and puts it in some guy's shirt. Delirious with nine clotheslines in the corner. He can do it. He will do it nine times. Tenth one gets countered into an STO. Lynn's hobbling and it looks like his knee has really given out on him. Shitty headscissors from Delirious and Lynn takes a breather. The match, which wasn't going real well to begin with, just dies from here on out as Lynn can't really get around. Lynn hits the TKO for two. Why they insist on extending this match is beyond me. Shadows Over Hell (flying splash to the back of the leaned-over Lynn) by Delirious gets two. Lynn gets the Air Raid Crash for two. Lynn gets the ropes after an inverted bulldog from Delirious. Shadows Over Hell misses this time, Lynn gets the cradle piledriver and it's finally over at a little under 23 minutes. Just too long for Lynn to be hobbling around, and there was no substance for this match. Lynn takes the mic and apologizes if the match sucked because his back gave out. What a nice man.

RYAN BOZ & BRAD BRADLEY (w/Jim Fannin & Carmine DeSpirito) v. CHAD COLLYER & NIGEL MCGUINNESS

This is a qualifying match for the tag team tournament. Carmine bitches that his boys have to qualify and calls Prazak a disgrace as a booker. Carmine is leaving this one up to Jim Fannin, and he's going to do some commentary. No pop or ovation or anything for Collyer. Carmine doing commentary by himself is sort of like someone getting a talk radio show for the first time in his life and being utterly unprepared for it. Prazak finally joins Carmine after about four minutes of him struggling for his very life. This is your standard Bradley & Boz match where they have the big size advantage and break out lots of double-teaming and power offense, and it works against the two technical wrestlers. McGuinness is face-in-peril and the crowd isn't into this at all. Heel miscommunication leads to the hot tag to Collyer, and his Malenko offense works well enough for a hot tag. Leg lariat on Boz and a nice DDT on Bradley for two. Nigel and Boz hit the floor. Dragon screw on Bradley, Collyer gets the cloverleaf on big ass Bradley. Bradley taps out but Fannin has the referee distracted. Collyer releases and turns right around into a lariat. Fannin is in the ring for some reason and this allows McGuinness to come in and German suplex Boz, which allows Collyer to cradle Bradley for the win. Dull but perfectly okay. Fannin explains to Carmine that Collyer hit him and he wanted to get revenge. Carmine says Fannin is useless and fires him. Carmine still wants Bradley & Boz in the tournament and says he's the greatest wrestling manager and mind ever in the midwest. Ian Rotten is out to have Prazak's back. Carmine hammers home he's the greatest manager this promotion has ever seen. Ian gives them another shot to qualify: May 8 in Highland against the Havana Pitbulls, managed by Bobby "The Brain" Heenan, and if they don't win, they have to split up for good. Of course, that didn't happen, they beat the Ring Crew Express, not managed by Bobby Heenan.

BJ WHITMER (w/Jim Fannin) v. SAMOA JOE

IWA champion BJ Whitmer is out, one day after winning the belt from Jerry Lynn. Fannin says he still has Whitmer and Daniels, and what happened in the last match could be a blessing in disguise. Whitmer is not happy that his surprise opponent is Samoa Joe. This is non-title since it's Joe's IWA debut. He's way over. AJ Styles is doing commentary with Colt Cabana, which is a weird team. Trade of crappy big boots and Whitmer hits a high knee. Joe takes over but Whitmer cheats to regain the advantage. Joe gets the standing STO and the kneedrop for two. This show is really STO-heavy. Hell indy wrestling is STO-heavy. Joe can't get him over in the Boston crab, so he brings the legs over the shoulders and sits down that way. Boy that sounds DIRTY. Styles is not eloquent, but he's to-the-point: "Jab, chop, jab, chop." Ole ole ole! AJ Styles says "booger" and it's sooo cute with his adorable southern accent. Whitmer with a leg lariat but Joe comes back with an enzuigiri and Whitmer is on the floor. Joe's gonna fly - suicide dive forearm! Ole ole ole! One more? Sure! Ole ole ole! Whitmer comes back with a roaring elbow that gets two. EXPLODER! 1, 2, Joe kicks out and Whitmer looks like a total chump as the new champion. Joe with a power bomb, 2, and Joe floats over into the STF. Whitmer taps but Fannin is distracting the referee, so that's two matches in a row they've done that, and with the same manager. They fuck up a Joe kick spot and he's mad. German suplex! Half-nelson suplex! Dragon suplex! 1, 2, 3 at about 15 minutes. Ehhh. This one missed.

2/3 FALLS MATCH
B-BOY v. CHRIS HERO

I have fucking loved B-Boy the two times I've seen him live on IWA shows after never really getting into him that much before. This is Hero's return to the promotion after spending a few months in Europe. B-Boy gets the claps going for Hero which is a strange but somehow nice touch. Big "welcome back" chants for Hero (they would boo him a month later), but here comes Samoa Joe. Joe says hi to B-Boy. He's heard all about Chris Hero and wants him in the ring TONIGHT. Hero says after he's done with his unfinished business with B-Boy, anytime Joe wants him, they'll do it. "Alright, champ - oh wait, that's me." They shake hands and agree it'll happen someday down the line. And it DID. This has a one-hour time limit.

Prazak and Joe are on commentary. This is a rematch from 12/20/03 in this very building that went to a draw. God, Joe is so the new Taz, except he's pretty tall and can really go. Even as a color guy he's a lot like Taz. We begin with the slow Hero start. Joe leaves and Allison Danger joins, best news I heard all day. She thinks it'll go 40. Hero breaks the cravate out no more than seven minutes in. B-Boy throws the first strike of the match with a hard forearm at over nine minutes, staggering Hero. Hero gets a nearfall off a back elbow and goes right back to the cravate. Dropkick to the face from B-Boy, followed with a couple chops, but Hero goes right back to the wear-down offense. Hero blocks a forearm and throws his own, which throws B-Boy off and he bails. Hero snaps the leg when B-Boy gets back in, and gets a great roll trying for the hangman's clutch, but B-Boy gets the ropes. Hero tries for it again, same result, and instead he hooks an armbar. B-Boy with a belly-to-back suplex, the first high-impact offense so far. B-Boy with some kicks to the back and one to the chest, cover, two count. B-Boy drills Hero in the face with a standing dropkick for another near-fall. They're just throwing vicious shots now. Hero's Welcome! 1, 2, 3, Hero goes up 1-0 in over 17 minutes.

B-Boy starts the second fall strong with a double stomp right into a senton for a near-fall. B-Boy with kicks to the chest as Hero is on the apron draped over the middle rope, and Hero comes back with chops. Trade of forearms, DDT from B-Boy. Cover, 2, kickout. B-Boy with some submission work, Hero tries the hangman's clutch again and B-Boy reaches the ropes for the third time. B-Boy goes for a straitjacket piledriver, which is nuts, but Hero gets away and hits a concrete crack. Hero with sort of a figure-four cloverleaf, and he reaches out to add an STF-style chinlock with the hold. B-Boy gets the ropes again. B-Boy with another near-fall off a piledriver. Hero comes right back with a release German suplex, and both are down. B-Boy gets a triangle choke locked on, and Hero taps out at about 25'30". We're tied 1-1. Prazak and Danger are so my favorite commentary team because they bother to explain stuff while also having fun banter.

Third fall starts fast with forearms and a B-Boy brainbuster for two. Allison insults the crowd repeatedly. B-Boy tries a suplex to the floor, but Hero isn't going. Swinging neckbreaker with B-Boy hung over the middle rope, both men down again. Hero with clotheslines and a yakuza kick as we pass 30 minutes. B-Boy set up shattered dreams style in the corner, and Hero hits another kick to the face for a two count. Hero with a kneedrop to B-Boy's arm, and he continues to destroy the arm. Hero with some wacky submission. B-Boy gets a close near-fall on a crucifix, but Hero goes back to the arm. Arm-capture hangman's clutch is locked on but B-Boy gets the ropes with his foot. B-Boy with another series of forearm shots, and he follows them up with a flying reverse neckbreaker. Both men down again. B-Boy can't do much with his weak arm, but he gets another neckbreaker in for another near-fall. B-Boy goes for a belly-to-back, Hero counters into the arm-capture hangman's clutch, this time in the center of the ring. B-Boy digs deep and gets the ropes again, and Hero is at the point where he can't put B-Boy away. Hero with two demon stomps, up top, this one misses, B-Boy gets the 2K1 Bomb! 1, 2, Hero gets the shoulder up! Hero tries the Hero's Welcome, B-Boy grabs the ropes to counter, shining wizard! 1, 2, Hero kicks out and now they're both at the point of being unable to finish it. B-Boy gets the facelift (running kick to the face in the corner). Hero's Welcome from B-Boy! Another kickout and now I guess we're pulling out all the spots. Hero with a kick to the arm - SHINING WIZARD FROM HERO! 1, 2, and B-Boy kicks out. So we've gone through very good mat work, tons of stiff shots, B-Boy escaping multiple submissions, a trade of each others' finishers, and nothing has looked bad in 40 minutes. B-Boy is pretty much out. Hero with a slap to the face and some forearms, B-Boy shakes them off and throws some back, and now we trade several more and repeat Hero's left-right forearm combo from earlier. Hero's Welcome - countered with a backslide! 1, 2, 3! B-Boy wins 2-1 in about 41 minutes. Joe is back out and tells her to get on his feet as Allison calls the fans "fat retards." Joe says he'll be back on May 29, and he wants Chris Hero. Hero says that's the tag tournament show, and he says he had planned to team with B-Boy at the tag tournament. Joe says maybe Hero's a bitch and this is ON. Hero gets in Joe's face and accepts the match. This was just a fantastic match, I think the best I've seen this year.

2/3 TABLES MATCH
WIFEBEATER v. CORPORAL ROBINSON

I have a certain respect for what these guys do but I don't care about this shit. Robinson juices right away and Wifebeater works the forehead with scissors. Corp with a hellacious chairshot and Wifebeater is bleeding too. We're about three minutes in. Robinson puts Wifebeater through the first table about four minutes in. Robinson is absolutely one of the best punchers and overall brawlers in wrestling right now. Pretty terrible spot and Wifebeater gets a side suplex through the second table in about 05'30". Wifebeater brings the third table into the ring. Wifebeater goes up to legdrop Robinson through or something, and now Corporal is up with him. They fall through and the table breaks horribly unsafely in the corner as Robinson isn't really strong enough to lift Wifebeater. The referee declares Robinson the winner in a little over six. Corp decides he doesn't want to count that one. Another table is brought into the ring. Table set up leaning in the corner, and Corporal power bombs him onto it. Yeah, onto it. It doesn't break. Back suplex this time, still doesn't break. Fan: "Hey, it's a real table! What do you know?" German suplex now, still doesn't break. "Please don't die" chant. How clever of you all. Nate Webb isn't sure about all this. Power bomb #2, still doesn't break. Poor Wifebeater (yeah, I said that) is just dying here. Corp sets it up at ringside now, and they try a Russian legsweep off the apron. The fucking thing doesn't break for both of them. At what point do you decide to just fucking stop? Oh, at this point. Dave Prazak announces it's a draw due to a stubborn table. "Bullshit" chant and you wonder if the FANS of the death matches have any real respect for what these guys put themselves through. Oh, they're not going to stop. A vertical suplex from the apron doesn't break it. "IWA" chant for no real reason at all. Now Prazak makes it clear that due to a stubborn fucking table, it's not going to continue so these guys can go to the hospital.

Really a very good show with a fantastic Styles/Sydal match and what I see as a legit MOTYC in Hero/B-Boy. Recommended purchase!

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