Qeenan Creed vs Chris Hero
This is to replace Jay Lethal, who has no-showed the event.
Basic match, pretty inoffensive. Hero is pretty obviously the better wrestler,
but Creed adds a few bits to the match with his heeling. Stalling to annoy the
crowd, doing a quick pose before missing a corner charge – just little bits to
add colour to the bout. His offence is basic, but well executed and, though it’s
not a match you’ll remember for long, it’s fine. Hero wins with the Hero’s
Welcome.
Sabian vs Jigsaw
This was a step up. Both guys are pretty good by this point,
and achieve some nice looking sequences. Liked how even this was until Sabian
took a chance with a big flip dive, which gave him control. He’s able to easily
counter the Jig’N’Tonic into a bulldog in a nice sequence, and hits a big top
rope elbow. You can tell they’re putting in a real effort here, some nice stiff
shots by both, and they manage to get the small crowd really into the match.
There’s one bad botch, where Jigsaw gets his feet caught on the rope on a plancha,
and I liked Sabian having presence of mind to mock him to buy time for the ref
to check Jigsaw over. There’s also an odd moment where Jigsaw sells having his
nipples tweaked by poking the ref in the eye. That oddness aside, the end is
pretty fun, as Jigsaw shows decent strength to catch a Sabian crossbody and
transition it to the Jig’N’Tonic to win.
Eddie Kingston vs Blackjack Marciano
The Wildcards collide here. This is pretty long, but is also
good fun. A lot of schtick to start, with Kingston demanding Marciano take a
dive for him, only to Blackjack to roll him up for two. A load of stalling,
with both guys mocking the way the other looks or celebrates hitting a move.
Eventually, things get rolling, and it’s pretty good. Kingston in particular is
happy to work stiff with his partner. Marciano also takes a big bump to the
hard floor, landing with a splat. Kingston shows himself to be slightly better
than Marciano at this point, a few things like a bad reverse slam don’t look
good by Marciano. There’s a fun ending where both guys decide to walk out
rather than wrestle in front of an undeserving audience, then suddenly both
sprint back to try and get the other counted out, before a bridging pin wins it
for Marciano.
Larry Sweeney vs Shane Storm
Truth be told, I was a little anxious heading into this one.
Storm isn’t particularly impressing during these early shows and I didn’t know
if Sweeney would be a guy to get a good match out of him. As it was, this was
pretty fine. Sweeney slaps Storm early, and this seems to fire him up with his
corner splashes actively looking good. Storm even hits a reasonable looking
suicide dive. There’s a bit of poor refereeing work, as Sweeney’s henchmen mug
Storm outside the ring in such a manner that you’d think it’d be impossible to
ignore. Sweeney’s offence is pretty basic, but is well executed, so his heat
section on Storm is perfectly fine. There’s a few sloppy moments in the match,
most notably when Storm hits a shining wizard on his comeback and tries to pin
Sweeney right up in the ropes, but nothing glaringly so, before Sweeney gets
the roll up win off a distraction.
Chris Hero vs Gran Akuma
Good bit of storytelling this one, though the match
definitely goes on a bit too long. Hero has recently started taking the
training in the Chikara school, so there’s a sense of domination throughout as
Hero tries to see what one of his students is able to offer against him. It
feels like a competitive exhibition, as they work control sections on that mat,
but Hero soon starts to build up his strikes and moves, striving to push Akuma
to perform at the next level. Hero keeps laying in stiff sounding blows, and
Akuma just about remains on his feet. Even when Akuma starts to fire back, Hero
remains one step ahead and never really looks in danger of losing. Akuma gets
the ropes after surviving the Hangman’s Clutch and gets a nearfall from a
falcon arrow, before Hero pins him with the Hero’s Welcome. This does go just
over 15 minutes, which is too long for the story, but the meat of this was
really good.
Jigsaw vs Blackjack Marciano
Pretty straightforward win for Jigsaw, thought it might be a
bit more competitive. Marciano shoves Jigsaw to the floor at the bell, causing
a big bump, but Jigsaw isn’t fazed for long and soon is in control, hitting a
big cannonball from the top to the floor. You can see just how good Jigsaw was
getting by this point, as all his strikes look on point. Real vicious looking
kicks. Jigsaw hits a neat leap up rana from the top rope, puts Marciano in a
tree of woe for a coast-to-coast dropkick and hits the Jig’N’Tonic to win. Pretty
much a squash.
Chris Hero vs Larry Sweeney
Hero gets mugged by Sweeney’s henchmen at the outset, but is
still able to put up a fight in the ring. That is, until Sweeney hits him with
a foreign object to get the win barely 2 minutes in. It’s the only way you’d
really buy Hero losing, and it gives Sweeney a freshness advantage for the
final, so it makes sense.
Icarus, Mr Zero & Jolly Roger vs Share Cropper, Mano
Metalico & Crossbones
2/3 falls match designed to put over Sweeney’s stable of
goons. Share Cropper stands out as the most polished of the three, with a nice
bridge on a Northern Lights suplex and moving really well in the ring. Metalico
is working a gimmick where is right hand is really solid (and it’s at this
point I realised his name translates to “Metal hands”, so that makes sense),
and is a big guy. Zero takes most of the heat, as well as making one of his key
spots – reading the paper whilst holding a Camel Clutch – look like shit by
applying it so sloppily. They bravely give the heels a 2-0 win with the falls,
winning the first by dogpiling Zero after a big blow by Metalico, and then winning
the second by pinning Icarus following a low blow by Crossbones.
Larry Sweeney vs Jigsaw
This was a suitably decent final. Sweeney’s on top form
here, stalling outside the ring, complaining that Jigsaw must have something in
his hand after eating a hard chop, and beautifully nailing a shot with a
foreign object over the refs shoulder. For his part, Jigsaw’s running knee in
the corner looks terrific and he’s got some great timing on his comeback
superkick. Again, Sweeney’s control is basic, but it’s effective in getting the
crowd behind Jigsaw. Jigsaw does hit a sloppy looking top rope stomp that’s
pretty poor. There’s a ref bump before Jigsaw hits Jig’N’Tonic, before his
former tag partner Rorschach comes in and nails him with a superkick, with
Sweeney hitting a piledriver to get the win. They pretty much made Sweeney in
one weekend here, whole tournament worked wonders in getting him over.
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