Post by cavedweller73 on Feb 19, 2012 10:44:02 GMT -5
I found out about this show from flyers that were handed out at the CZW show in Indianapolis a couple of weeks ago. Since it seemed as though there was a decent mix of guys I know with guys I've heard of but never seen before, I thought I'd give this show a shot. Here's what happened:
The show was held at a National Guard Armory in Bloomington. They had an interesting set up, with a full light show and a DJ that wasn't just playing songs but also playing videos on a screen and on one of the walls....a nice touch. The crowd came in slow, but man, did they come in. The place was full. There had to have been at least 200-250 in there by the time the show started. I saw a few people I recognized from IPW shows in Indy. Before the show started, the ring announcer and the guy in charge, who only went by the name "The Bossman" came out and welcomed us to the show. The Bossman was a strange little guy but he seemed to be having fun. Ha ha!!
Pre show:
Hollywood Dream vs. Dale Patricks
I saw both of these guys work the opening match at the CZW show a few weeks ago. Neither one was overly impressive then and they weren't now either. Hollywood did get in a few decent moves, but overall, both guys seemed a bit timid. The biggest interesting note was that the ref was Ollie Tharp. Anyway, Hollywood won the match by dropping Patricks on the back of his head. After the match, they did some kinda thing where the fans were suppose to pick who could come back. Hollywood won, despite being a heel because of the heel heat he drew. I don't think the fans really understood what was going on. Ha ha!!
Anyway, on to the main show. Apparently, this Infinity Pro company has their own little set of rules and for tag team matches (or "duos", as they call them) each match is an elimination match some once one person is pinned, the match becomes a 2-on-1 match until both members of a team is eliminated. However, since this was a full tournament, they announced that the first round would be one fall per match and then the second and third rounds would be elimination.
Round one:
5 Year War (Ryan Epic & Jake Omen) vs. Attitudes (Scotty Young & Greg Glover)
I've actually seen Omen before. He was at the first few IWA:MS shows I ever attended back in 2008. Back then, he was just a sloppy, jobber type guy with goofy tattoos. He's come a long way and was super-over with the fans. He kinda looks like a cross between a smaller Brodie Lee and the lead singer of System of a Down. Epic was a smaller guy. The Attitudes were two young guys. Apparently, Young is really over as a heel and was drawing some big heat. The match was decent, but nothing special. They kind of worked a R'n'R Express-style match with Epic getting beat down until Omen got the hot tag. In the end, Epic got the pin on Young when him and Omen hit a series of quick super kicks and then Epic back-dropped him for the pin.
The Tsunamis (Donnie & Jonny) vs. The Painkillers (Donnie & Jacob Hollows)
The Tsunamis came out to "Come Out and Play"....insert Raven joke here....and were doing a surfer gimmick. I'm not sure who was who but one guy looked like an in-shape Arnold Horshack from "Welcome Back Kotter" and the other guy was a short, bald, dumpy kinda guy. The Painkillers were kinda like a cross between Thumbtack Jack, Horace the Psychopath and The Brisco Brothers before they got completely jacked-up. Both teams worked well and looked decent, but nothing stood out as special until the end. The Horshack guy went for a Lion Tamer and one of the Painkillers pushed the bald guy under him, flattening him. Then, they grabbed the Horshack guy did two back breakers onto him and then hit a swinging neck-breaker and pinned him.
Joseph Schwartz vs. Jack Thriller (w/Max Morrison) vs. Antonio Equis
This was a non-tournament match. It was an elimination match where the winner gets to be in some kind of singles tournament. Jack Thriller came out first. Man, I didn't even know he was still around, but he was as goofy (and entertaining) as ever. He had a manager with him who looked familiar and was trying really hard to be Dave Prazak. Speaking of guys who I didn't think were still in the business, Joseph Schwartz was in this match too. Last time I saw him, he looked like an extra from "The Life of Brian". This time, he was back to his old Kosher Klub ring attire. Equis was a Spanish/Mexican guy who kinda looked like a thinner, non-deathmatch "Lowlife" Louie Ramos. The match was pure comedy and while it was a bit entertaining at first, the comedy stuff got a little old after a while. Thriller was the first to be eliminated when Equis did a splash off the top onto him. The weird thing was though that once Thriller was gone, the match got even MORE goofy. At one point, they both went under the ring and pulled out light sabers and they tried to have a duel but Equis' saber broke. Then they started using the Force on each other and yeah....it got pretty silly. In the end, Schwartz got the win after hitting a front lung-blower. Both guys then walked out together. Not a horrible match but the comedy stuff wore thin really quick. The fans ate it up though and enjoyed it, so I guess that was the point.
Revelation (Kenneth James & Drew Lykos) vs. Unbreakable Tolerance (Michael Elgin & Tolerant Xero)
Talk about a mis-match here! This Revelations team came out with these huge egos but Lykos was a tiny little guy and James looked like a high school English teacher with a beer gut and bad tattoos. Oh...and both guys were dressed up like "punks" from "Death Wish 3". I'd never seen or heard of Tolerant Xero before, but he looked like a shorter, out-of-shape Big Van Vader, with the mask and everything. Then there was Elgin....OH MY GOD!!! That dude is just an absolute BEAST!!! To say he's built like a tank is understatement because I don't think they even build tanks as thick as him! Lykos and James shouldn't have even been in the same state as him, much less the same wrestling ring. Lykos started off against Elgin and needless to say, Elgin destroyed him! Xero wasn't nearly as impressive, despite being such a large guy. He moved slow and wasn't exactly horrible, but wasn't that great either. Basically, Elgin and Xero beat the crap out of the two guys until the both hit HUGE powerbombs on both of them at the same time and pinned them both. After the match, Lykos and James attacked a fan (who looked oddly like the bald guy from The Tsunamis) and The Tsunamis ran out to save the fan. Must be setting up a feud, I guess.
Unsafe & Unprofessional (Russ Jones & Adam Bueller) vs. RAAGE Dojo (Scotty Vortekz & Hyzaya)
Before the match, Bueller got on the mic and cut some promo about finding a partner or something to that effect. He was a tall, skinny guy who kinda reminded me of that Pitstain guy who jumped off the rigging at that one Gathering once. Jones was a HUGE guy who kinda looked like a cross between Taz, Hotstuff Hernandez and Albert (the guy that used to work in WWE and is now in Japan). Scotty came out with his CZW world title belt and Hyzyya was his usual, awesome self. most of the match, Scotty and Hyzaya worked over Bueller. Jones got in there some and could do some decent moves for his size. In the end, Scotty and Hyzaya hit a big leg drop combo move on Bueller and pinned him. After the match, Jones attacked Bueller and threw him into the corner. Everyone from the back ran out and carried him to the back.
Next was intermission. Man...there were a LOT of little kids running around at this show. It was like "Romper Room" in there!
Round two:
The Painkillers vs. 5 Year War
This match was AWESOME!!! All four guys worked really well together and were pulling off all kinds of great, stiff moves. Omen and Epic were a little bit less-smooth than The Painkillers but nothing stood out as being bad. Everything was happening so fast and guys were flying all over the place. I was mega-impressed by all of them, especially these Painkiller guys! Epic was the first to be eliminated from the match but Omen did a quick back slide onto (I think) Donnie and eliminated him. Jacob then hit Omen with a wicked brain buster and pinned him. All four guys showed each other respect after the match. Easily, match of the night!!!
Unbreakable Tolerance vs. RAAGE Dojo
This match was definitely more suited for Elgin. It started off with Elgin and Scotty trading shots. At one point, they were doing quick arm drags and Scotty didn't move the right way and Elgin hit him VERY hard under the chin. How Scotty didn't break all his teeth out is beyond me. It was obvious too that Elgin felt bad about it as he then shook Scotty's hand once he got his head back into the game. Whenever Elgin was in there with either Hyzaya or Scotty, the match was good. Xero held his own, but once again, wasn't all that impressive. Xero was the first to be eliminated when Hyzaya hit an awesome Swonton bomb on him and pinned him. Elgin then hit a HUGE powerbomb on Hyzaya and pinned him. It was down to Scotty and Elgin and both guys worked pretty well together. Scotty ended up hitting Elgin with a HUGE Eddie Kingston-style swinging backfist and then rolled him up for the quick pin. After the match, Elgin and Scotty hugged each other and showed each other the respect they both deserve.
Drake Younger vs. GT Vega vs. PJB vs. Austin Manix
This was another match were the winner was to win a spot in this singles tournament thing...or whatever. For some odd reason, this one wasn't an elimination match though. PJB came out first. He sorta looked like a smaller Frankie Kazarian. Manix then came out. he kinda looked a cross between a smaller BJ Whitmer and Chris Micheals. GT Vega came out next. He's kinda like the top babyface in Infinity Pro. He looked like a less-then-in-perfect-shape cross between Marek Brave, Tyler Black and The Ultimate Warrior. He was also wearing really small tights....ewwww!! Ha ha!! Drake came out in his full-on "Golden Boy" gimmick and even cut a huge heel promo. I guess him and Vega have been having a feud as of late. They warned us that the match was coming out into the crowd and it did.' Drake threw Vega out of the ring and told me and the people around me to move. He then went to throw Vega into the chairs, but Vega reversed it and Drake went flying. Drake then set up some chairs and slammed Vega onto them. Meanwhile, PJB and Manix were fighting in the ring. One Drake and Vega got back into the ring, all four guys were brawling around the ring. The end came Drake had Vega up for the Drake's Landing and PJB super-kicked him, causing Drake to still drop Vega. Manix then speared PJB and pinned him. After the match, Drake rolled to the outside and him and Vega were still fighting. The refs tried to break them up, but Drake threw the smaller ref into the chairs (and he hit HARD) and him and Vega kept fighting. Vega ended up dropping Drake on his head. Drake sold it like a million bucks and once he got up, he cut a promo challenging Vega to "his kind of match"....I doubt we're talking a barefoot barb wire, thumbtack match here though....haha!!
Main Event
Final Round
The Painkillers vs. RAAGE Dojo
This was a really strong final match and it was obvious that Scotty and Hyzaya were doing what they had to do to get the younger Painkiller guys over....and they did too! All four guys looked great in the match. They each did huge dives onto each other on the outside right in front of me. Hyzaya was the first to get eliminated when The Painkillers hit a back breaker into a leg drop combo on him. Scotty then rolled up Donnie and pinned him quickly. The crowd was red hot for the action as it came down to Scotty and Jacob. Both guys were hitting huge moves and getting near-pinfalls but then, Jacob caught Scotty and hit a HUGE sky-high powerbomb type move on him and pinned him. It was a heck of a way to end an awesome match! Everyone from the back came out and The Painkillers were given trophies. Scotty and Hyzaya both got on the mic and put them over HUGE!!
In the end, this show was a lot of fun. The first half left me a little cold because of all the comedy matches and mis-matches. However, the second half MORE then made up for it. I gotta say that Jake Omen and these Painkiller guys really won me over. I hope I can see more of all of them in the future. Overall, I can't say this was the greatest show ever, but it was sure enjoyable and I felt as though I got my money's worth. I'll have to keep watch on this Infinity Pro company and if they book another good show and I can make it, I'll go check them out.
The show was held at a National Guard Armory in Bloomington. They had an interesting set up, with a full light show and a DJ that wasn't just playing songs but also playing videos on a screen and on one of the walls....a nice touch. The crowd came in slow, but man, did they come in. The place was full. There had to have been at least 200-250 in there by the time the show started. I saw a few people I recognized from IPW shows in Indy. Before the show started, the ring announcer and the guy in charge, who only went by the name "The Bossman" came out and welcomed us to the show. The Bossman was a strange little guy but he seemed to be having fun. Ha ha!!
Pre show:
Hollywood Dream vs. Dale Patricks
I saw both of these guys work the opening match at the CZW show a few weeks ago. Neither one was overly impressive then and they weren't now either. Hollywood did get in a few decent moves, but overall, both guys seemed a bit timid. The biggest interesting note was that the ref was Ollie Tharp. Anyway, Hollywood won the match by dropping Patricks on the back of his head. After the match, they did some kinda thing where the fans were suppose to pick who could come back. Hollywood won, despite being a heel because of the heel heat he drew. I don't think the fans really understood what was going on. Ha ha!!
Anyway, on to the main show. Apparently, this Infinity Pro company has their own little set of rules and for tag team matches (or "duos", as they call them) each match is an elimination match some once one person is pinned, the match becomes a 2-on-1 match until both members of a team is eliminated. However, since this was a full tournament, they announced that the first round would be one fall per match and then the second and third rounds would be elimination.
Round one:
5 Year War (Ryan Epic & Jake Omen) vs. Attitudes (Scotty Young & Greg Glover)
I've actually seen Omen before. He was at the first few IWA:MS shows I ever attended back in 2008. Back then, he was just a sloppy, jobber type guy with goofy tattoos. He's come a long way and was super-over with the fans. He kinda looks like a cross between a smaller Brodie Lee and the lead singer of System of a Down. Epic was a smaller guy. The Attitudes were two young guys. Apparently, Young is really over as a heel and was drawing some big heat. The match was decent, but nothing special. They kind of worked a R'n'R Express-style match with Epic getting beat down until Omen got the hot tag. In the end, Epic got the pin on Young when him and Omen hit a series of quick super kicks and then Epic back-dropped him for the pin.
The Tsunamis (Donnie & Jonny) vs. The Painkillers (Donnie & Jacob Hollows)
The Tsunamis came out to "Come Out and Play"....insert Raven joke here....and were doing a surfer gimmick. I'm not sure who was who but one guy looked like an in-shape Arnold Horshack from "Welcome Back Kotter" and the other guy was a short, bald, dumpy kinda guy. The Painkillers were kinda like a cross between Thumbtack Jack, Horace the Psychopath and The Brisco Brothers before they got completely jacked-up. Both teams worked well and looked decent, but nothing stood out as special until the end. The Horshack guy went for a Lion Tamer and one of the Painkillers pushed the bald guy under him, flattening him. Then, they grabbed the Horshack guy did two back breakers onto him and then hit a swinging neck-breaker and pinned him.
Joseph Schwartz vs. Jack Thriller (w/Max Morrison) vs. Antonio Equis
This was a non-tournament match. It was an elimination match where the winner gets to be in some kind of singles tournament. Jack Thriller came out first. Man, I didn't even know he was still around, but he was as goofy (and entertaining) as ever. He had a manager with him who looked familiar and was trying really hard to be Dave Prazak. Speaking of guys who I didn't think were still in the business, Joseph Schwartz was in this match too. Last time I saw him, he looked like an extra from "The Life of Brian". This time, he was back to his old Kosher Klub ring attire. Equis was a Spanish/Mexican guy who kinda looked like a thinner, non-deathmatch "Lowlife" Louie Ramos. The match was pure comedy and while it was a bit entertaining at first, the comedy stuff got a little old after a while. Thriller was the first to be eliminated when Equis did a splash off the top onto him. The weird thing was though that once Thriller was gone, the match got even MORE goofy. At one point, they both went under the ring and pulled out light sabers and they tried to have a duel but Equis' saber broke. Then they started using the Force on each other and yeah....it got pretty silly. In the end, Schwartz got the win after hitting a front lung-blower. Both guys then walked out together. Not a horrible match but the comedy stuff wore thin really quick. The fans ate it up though and enjoyed it, so I guess that was the point.
Revelation (Kenneth James & Drew Lykos) vs. Unbreakable Tolerance (Michael Elgin & Tolerant Xero)
Talk about a mis-match here! This Revelations team came out with these huge egos but Lykos was a tiny little guy and James looked like a high school English teacher with a beer gut and bad tattoos. Oh...and both guys were dressed up like "punks" from "Death Wish 3". I'd never seen or heard of Tolerant Xero before, but he looked like a shorter, out-of-shape Big Van Vader, with the mask and everything. Then there was Elgin....OH MY GOD!!! That dude is just an absolute BEAST!!! To say he's built like a tank is understatement because I don't think they even build tanks as thick as him! Lykos and James shouldn't have even been in the same state as him, much less the same wrestling ring. Lykos started off against Elgin and needless to say, Elgin destroyed him! Xero wasn't nearly as impressive, despite being such a large guy. He moved slow and wasn't exactly horrible, but wasn't that great either. Basically, Elgin and Xero beat the crap out of the two guys until the both hit HUGE powerbombs on both of them at the same time and pinned them both. After the match, Lykos and James attacked a fan (who looked oddly like the bald guy from The Tsunamis) and The Tsunamis ran out to save the fan. Must be setting up a feud, I guess.
Unsafe & Unprofessional (Russ Jones & Adam Bueller) vs. RAAGE Dojo (Scotty Vortekz & Hyzaya)
Before the match, Bueller got on the mic and cut some promo about finding a partner or something to that effect. He was a tall, skinny guy who kinda reminded me of that Pitstain guy who jumped off the rigging at that one Gathering once. Jones was a HUGE guy who kinda looked like a cross between Taz, Hotstuff Hernandez and Albert (the guy that used to work in WWE and is now in Japan). Scotty came out with his CZW world title belt and Hyzyya was his usual, awesome self. most of the match, Scotty and Hyzaya worked over Bueller. Jones got in there some and could do some decent moves for his size. In the end, Scotty and Hyzaya hit a big leg drop combo move on Bueller and pinned him. After the match, Jones attacked Bueller and threw him into the corner. Everyone from the back ran out and carried him to the back.
Next was intermission. Man...there were a LOT of little kids running around at this show. It was like "Romper Room" in there!
Round two:
The Painkillers vs. 5 Year War
This match was AWESOME!!! All four guys worked really well together and were pulling off all kinds of great, stiff moves. Omen and Epic were a little bit less-smooth than The Painkillers but nothing stood out as being bad. Everything was happening so fast and guys were flying all over the place. I was mega-impressed by all of them, especially these Painkiller guys! Epic was the first to be eliminated from the match but Omen did a quick back slide onto (I think) Donnie and eliminated him. Jacob then hit Omen with a wicked brain buster and pinned him. All four guys showed each other respect after the match. Easily, match of the night!!!
Unbreakable Tolerance vs. RAAGE Dojo
This match was definitely more suited for Elgin. It started off with Elgin and Scotty trading shots. At one point, they were doing quick arm drags and Scotty didn't move the right way and Elgin hit him VERY hard under the chin. How Scotty didn't break all his teeth out is beyond me. It was obvious too that Elgin felt bad about it as he then shook Scotty's hand once he got his head back into the game. Whenever Elgin was in there with either Hyzaya or Scotty, the match was good. Xero held his own, but once again, wasn't all that impressive. Xero was the first to be eliminated when Hyzaya hit an awesome Swonton bomb on him and pinned him. Elgin then hit a HUGE powerbomb on Hyzaya and pinned him. It was down to Scotty and Elgin and both guys worked pretty well together. Scotty ended up hitting Elgin with a HUGE Eddie Kingston-style swinging backfist and then rolled him up for the quick pin. After the match, Elgin and Scotty hugged each other and showed each other the respect they both deserve.
Drake Younger vs. GT Vega vs. PJB vs. Austin Manix
This was another match were the winner was to win a spot in this singles tournament thing...or whatever. For some odd reason, this one wasn't an elimination match though. PJB came out first. He sorta looked like a smaller Frankie Kazarian. Manix then came out. he kinda looked a cross between a smaller BJ Whitmer and Chris Micheals. GT Vega came out next. He's kinda like the top babyface in Infinity Pro. He looked like a less-then-in-perfect-shape cross between Marek Brave, Tyler Black and The Ultimate Warrior. He was also wearing really small tights....ewwww!! Ha ha!! Drake came out in his full-on "Golden Boy" gimmick and even cut a huge heel promo. I guess him and Vega have been having a feud as of late. They warned us that the match was coming out into the crowd and it did.' Drake threw Vega out of the ring and told me and the people around me to move. He then went to throw Vega into the chairs, but Vega reversed it and Drake went flying. Drake then set up some chairs and slammed Vega onto them. Meanwhile, PJB and Manix were fighting in the ring. One Drake and Vega got back into the ring, all four guys were brawling around the ring. The end came Drake had Vega up for the Drake's Landing and PJB super-kicked him, causing Drake to still drop Vega. Manix then speared PJB and pinned him. After the match, Drake rolled to the outside and him and Vega were still fighting. The refs tried to break them up, but Drake threw the smaller ref into the chairs (and he hit HARD) and him and Vega kept fighting. Vega ended up dropping Drake on his head. Drake sold it like a million bucks and once he got up, he cut a promo challenging Vega to "his kind of match"....I doubt we're talking a barefoot barb wire, thumbtack match here though....haha!!
Main Event
Final Round
The Painkillers vs. RAAGE Dojo
This was a really strong final match and it was obvious that Scotty and Hyzaya were doing what they had to do to get the younger Painkiller guys over....and they did too! All four guys looked great in the match. They each did huge dives onto each other on the outside right in front of me. Hyzaya was the first to get eliminated when The Painkillers hit a back breaker into a leg drop combo on him. Scotty then rolled up Donnie and pinned him quickly. The crowd was red hot for the action as it came down to Scotty and Jacob. Both guys were hitting huge moves and getting near-pinfalls but then, Jacob caught Scotty and hit a HUGE sky-high powerbomb type move on him and pinned him. It was a heck of a way to end an awesome match! Everyone from the back came out and The Painkillers were given trophies. Scotty and Hyzaya both got on the mic and put them over HUGE!!
In the end, this show was a lot of fun. The first half left me a little cold because of all the comedy matches and mis-matches. However, the second half MORE then made up for it. I gotta say that Jake Omen and these Painkiller guys really won me over. I hope I can see more of all of them in the future. Overall, I can't say this was the greatest show ever, but it was sure enjoyable and I felt as though I got my money's worth. I'll have to keep watch on this Infinity Pro company and if they book another good show and I can make it, I'll go check them out.
