BG Says: FIP The Usual Suspects

April 22, 2005 – Brandon, Florida

When we last left FIP
CM Punk and Bryan Danielson had the best match in the company to date, and Punk was still in possession of Homicide’s FIP title. Austin Aries defeated Roderick Strong in an ROH title match after Strong went through Insane Dragon of DP Associates to get the match.

Your hosts are Dave Prazak & Lenny Leonard

This is a show to crown the first ever (not really, but the first ever under this booking regime) FIP Tag Team Champions. In FIP anything goes, so the format of this show is strange. As I understand it the way this works is that any team can challenge any other team at any time and any team that gets pinned is out of contention. This goes on until one team is left.

The Heartbreak Express come out and try to take the tag title belts because they’re the only real tag team in FIP so far. Not really true but it doesn’t matter because the Carnage Crew come out and cut their same boring promo before challenging the Heartbreak Express to the first match of the evening.

VS.
Phil and Loc start. Phil stalls forever before locking up. He slaps Loc but Loc slaps him down. He gives him a purple nurple and armdrags him to the mat. DeVito tags in and the Crew hit a double back bodydrop. Sean tags in and puts on a fat man headlock. DeVito kicks his ass out from under him and puts on a wristlock. He spanks Sean around but Sean goes to the eyes. DeVito hiptosses the Express and Loc comes in for a pair of double clotheslines. They send Phil and Sean into each other and the Express bails. Back in the ring DeVito spanks Sean again and Phil tags in. He blocks a blind charge and hits a clothesline. Sean tags in and hits a neckbreaker. Phil tags in and they hit a double flapjack. Sean comes in illegally and puts on a front facelock. Loc finally gets the tag but the referee misses it and sends Loc out. They all botch a Rocket Launcher spot and Loc makes the hot tag. Sean clotheslines Phil by mistake and Loc hits him with a neckbreaker. DeVito nails Sean with a moonsault for the win at 10:00, despite not being legal. For a match this length between these four guys it wasn’t as bad as it could have been, but the time would have been better served going to guys who aren’t guaranteed to fuck something up.
Rating: *1/2

The Ring Crew Express come out and challenge the Carnage Crew right away, promising to rock them like a hurricane.

VS.
Everyone brawls to start and the Express hit stereo victory rolls for 2. They run Loc into DeVito and Marcos hits the high five bulldog for 2. Loc hits Marcos with a side suplex and they hit the Splash Mountain/neckbreaker combo on Dunn. They go for the Carnage Driver on Marcos but Phil Davis runs in and blocks it. Marcos hits Loc with the Assisted Sliced Bread and the Stacker Senton for the win at 2:03. Total mess of a match.
Rating: 1/2*

Up until this point the commentators had no clue how the tag title contention would work, and the wrestlers all assumed that they’d won the tag titles when they’d won a match. Just now the commentators start putting things together as Dave Prazak makes his way to ringside. He sends Jimmy Rave and Fast Eddie in after the Ring Crew Express and an opening bell rings. DP Associates bail and Prazak says that they need time to prepare. They’ll be back later, and they’ll be the new tag team champions. According to Prazak that is.

VS.
I guess one of these teams challenged the other in the locker room. Homicide and Strong start. They lock up and Strong grabs a wristlock. Homicide gets his own but Strong takes him to the mat with a front facelock. Homicide gets a hammerlock and switches to a leglock before Strong gets to the ropes. They knuckle up and Strong puts on a hammerlock. Homicide goes for an STF but Strong scrambles away. Strong grabs a headlock but Homicide comes back with a dropkick. Strong hits a dropkick and Homicide bails. Strong follows him out with a plancha and rolls him back into the ring. Homicide puts on a hammerlock and tags to Walker. Strong puts on a wristlock and tags to Clark. They lock up and Walker proves he’s Strong while Clark proves he’s faster. They run with that story for a little while and it’s pretty fun the whole way through. Clark takes him down with a hurricanrana and a dropkick for 2. Walker hits a clothesline in the corner but Clark comes back with a back elbow. Strong tags in and they double-team Walker. Strong hits a slam on Walker and tags to Clark. Clark puts on a cross armbreaker but Walker reverses to a powerbomb for 2. Homicide tags in and hits a belly-to-belly suplex for 2. Walker tags in and they hit a double suplex for 2. Walker rakes Clark’s eyes against the ropes and gets 2. He hits a powerslam for 2 when Strong saves. Homicide tags in and hits a butterfly suplex for 2. He hits a T-bone suplex for 2. Walker tags in and puts on a sleeper hold. Clark fights out and hits a dropkick. He puts on the Clark Bar but Homicide breaks it up. Homicide tags in and they hit a double back elbow. Homicide puts on an abdominal stretch but Clark hiptosses out. Homicide goes to the eyes but Clark comes back with a springboard moonsault press for 2. Walker tags in and puts on a leglock. He hits a shinbreaker and tags to Homicide. Homicide hits a piledriver for 2. He sets Clark on the top turnbuckle but Clark fights him off and catches him with a DDT. Walker and Strong tag in and Strong cleans house. He hits a powerslam on Homicide and the uranage backbreaker on Walker. He hits the Sick Kick on Homicide but Walker catches him with a side suplex. Clark dives onto Homicide on the floor as Walker pins Strong for 2. Clark catches Walker with a clothesline and climbs the ropes. Homicide crotches him and brings him down with the Ace Crusher. It gets 2 for Walker after he convinces the referee that he’s legal. LAME. Homicide dumps Strong to the floor and follows him out with a tope. Back in the ring he goes for the Cop Killer on Clark but Clark dropkicks him to the floor. Walker kicks Clark to the floor but Strong sneaks in the ring and puts on a Boston crab. Clark holds onto Homicide as Walker fights for the ropes. He reverses out but Strong catches him with a roll up for the win at 20:41. This started off as a really good match but lost some steam as it went on.
Rating: ***1/4

VS.
Sal and Spanky look like they’ve been teaming for years. Sal and Madison start. Madison controls the match. He hits a big hiptoss and Sal regroups. Sal comes back with a pair of armdrags and a bodyslam. He puts on an armbar but Madison goes to the eyes to escape. Gibson tags in and gets caught in an armbar. Spanky tags in and stays on the arm. He puts on a hammerlock but Gibson reverses to a front facelock. He hits a northern lights suplex and puts on a wristlock. Spanky gets a fireman’s carry and tags to Sal. Sal comes in with a double ax handle to the arm and stays on it. Madison tags in and hits a back elbow. Sal comes back with a hurricanrana and an armdrag into an armbar. Gibson tags in but Sal catches him with an armbar. Madison breaks it up and everyone brawls. Sal and Spanky get the Southerners disoriented with a ho-down and then dropkick them out of the ring. They follow them out with planchas and the crowd boos. Didn’t see that coming. Sal slingshots Madison back into the ring and gets 2. He hits a flying forearm for 2. Madison comes back with a stun gun and tags to Gibson. Gibson hits a legdrop and an elbowdrop. He hits a short-arm clothesline for 2. He puts on a camel clutch but Sal fights out and gets a roll up for 2. Madison tags in and rakes the back. He hits a gutwrench suplex for 2. Gibson tags in and hits a guillotine bulldog for 2. He hits a vertical suplex for 2. He puts on a chinlock but Sal gets a roll up for 2. Madison tags in and hits a bodyslam. He comes off the second rope with a legdrop for 2. Gibson tags in and hits a second rope legdrop for 2. He hits a backbreaker for 2. He puts on a surfboard stretch but Sal fights out and gets a roll up for 2 when Madison saves. Gibson hits a running knee sending Sal to the apron. Madison comes in illegally and suplexes Sal back into the ring for 2. He goes for a sunset flip but Sal blocks and puts on a sharpshooter. Gibson breaks it up and Madison hits the Axe Bomber for 2. He sets Sal up on the top rope. He goes for a back superplex but Sal reverses to a crossbody. Spanky tags in and cleans house. He dropkicks Gibson into Madison and then hits Madison with a huge DDT. Sal stops Gibson from hitting Spanky with the tiger driver and dropkicks him to the floor. Madison hits Spanky with a brainbuster for 2 when Sal saves. Sal and Spanky hit a double suplex on Madison. They go for a two-post massacre but Gibson crotches Sal and Madison dodges Spanky. Spanky kicks off Gibson to hit Sliced Bread #2 on Madison for the win at 17:48, much to the crowds dismay. Despite the neat finish, the match was pretty plodding and overall disappointing given the participants.
Rating: **3/4

Gibson shows respect to the winners after the match. Madison recovers and nails Gibson with the Axe Bomber and beats him down. Spanky and Sal make the save. Madison tells Gibson that he was the weak link of the tag team, and he challenges him to a match for the following night. Gibson chases him to the back, which probably confirms the match.

CM punk comes out, still in possession of the FIP title belt. Punk says he’s the champion because even Homicide hasn’t been able to get the belt away from him. He says that he will wrestle Homicide the following night in an FIP title match, so that he can win the title in essence, in addition to his physical ownership of it. He introduces Don Juan as the newest member of the New Dawn, and his tag team partner for the evening. See, Punk likes to bring misfits into the New Dawn, and Juan is the biggest nerd he’s ever met. Juan rattles off a list of high school accomplishments to change Punk’s mind about his nerd claim. This distracts Punk long enough for Homicide to attack him and chase him to the locker room.

VS.
Prazak hand picked these opponents for Rave and Eddie to give them the easiest first challenge possible. You can’t pick a bigger loser than Evan Starsmore, I’ll tell you that. Rave hits Starsmore with a lariat and Eddie hits Epic with a spiked Russian legsweep. Starsmore gets a nosebleed as Rave hits Epic with the running knee. Starsmore hits a series of clotheslines on Rave for 2. Prazak trips him up and Rave hits him with the Rave Clash for the win at 2:14. Starsmore looked a little better here than in previous matches, but this was still pretty worthless.
Rating: 1/4*

As DP Associates celebrates the Ring Crew Express come out for a little revenge, only to get jumped from behind.

VS.
Dunn and Marcos hit stereo dropkicks but get hiptossed down. Rave holds Marcos for Eddie to hit him and Eddie unloads. He turns around allowing Marcos to slip behind Rave and Eddie starts pounding on Rave, being blind and not seeing what he’s doing. Cute stuff. He realizes what he’s doing but gets dumped to the floor. Dunn and Marcos double-team Rave and hit him with the Stacker Senton for 2. Marcos hits Eddie with a crossbody for 2. He misses an enziguiri and Eddie slugs him down. Rave tags in and DP Associates double-team Marcos for 2. Rave hits a backbreaker for 2. Prazak chokes Marcos on the ropes and Eddie makes an illegal tag. He hits a stiff kick to the back and a Canadian backbreaker for 2. Marcos comes back with a hurricanrana and a neckbreaker. Eddie cuts off the tag with a knee to the face and tags to Rave. Rave puts on a surfboard stretch but Marcos fights out and hits a hurricanrana. Rave comes back with a spear and tags to Eddie. He beats on Marcos for a bit and tags back to Rave. Rave goes back to the surfboard stretch but Marcos nails him with an enziguiri. Dunn gets the tag and cleans house. He hits Eddie with the Gory bomb for 2. He hits Rave with a pumphandle powerbomb and tags to Marcos. They go for the Super Stacker Senton but Eddie blocks it and hits Marcos with a fall away powerslam off the second rope for the win at 9:42. There was some cute stuff in there but it was mostly an extended squash.
Rating: **1/4

Punk gets on the microphone and says that he’s had Homicide taken into police custody, but he’s not going to press charges because he wants Homicide to get out of jail tomorrow and wrestle him for the title. He calls out any team to wrestle them and Spanky and Sal answer the call.

VS.
Punk and Spanky start. Punk forces Spanky into his corner and goes for an eye poke but hits Juan by mistake. Spanky gets a wristlock and then pokes Punk’s eyes. Sal tags in and they hit a double eye poke. Punk gets a wristlock and then gives Sal’s arm to Juan for him to destroy. With the referee distracted they do it again. They try to do it a third time but Juan doesn’t look and misses when Sal feeds him Punk’s arm. Spanky tags in and gets a roll up for 2. He hits an atomic drop but Juan pulls him down by his hair. He hits a clothesline for 2. He hits a back suplex for 2. Punk makes an illegal tag and hits a side Russian legsweep for 2. He tags to Juan who puts on a sleeper hold. Spanky fights out and hits a crossbody for 2. Juan comes back with a basement dropkick for 2. Punk tags in and chokes Spanky in the ropes. Spanky dodges a butt splash and tags to Sal. Sal hits a dropkick for 2. Juan gets a blind tag and Punk nails a clothesline. Sal blocks a blind charge but Juan blocks a springboard move. He hits a pumphandle backbreaker for 2. He hits a bodyslam and climbs the ropes. He misses a double jump moonsault and tags to Punk. Spanky tags in and hits a flying forearm. He hits a leg lariat for 2. Punk comes back with a spinebuster for 2. He blocks Sliced Bread #2 and uses the ropes, Don Juan and Milo Beasley for leverage to get a roll up for the win at 8:45. This was a little messy but was probably the most enjoyable match overall so far tonight.
Rating: ***

VS. VS.
The last three way elimination match FIP hosted was not great, so I really hope this is an improvement over it. Steel actually won that match. Steel and Rainman double-team Banks to start. Banks nails them with clotheslines. He boots them down and goes for a crossface on Rainman. Steel breaks it up because he’s a moron. Rainman clotheslines Banks and Steel hits Rainman with a dropkick for 2. He hits a leg lariat for 2. He knocks Banks to the floor but Rainman catches him with a sit-out powerslam for 2. Banks comes back and hits the 305 Kick in the corner. He hits a boot scrape but Steel catches him with a knee to the back. He hits Banks with a spinebuster and an Asai moonsault for 2. Rainman dumps Steel and pokes Banks’ eyes. He hits a sidewalk slam and climbs the ropes. Steel crotches him and hits him with a superplex as Banks hits Steel with a German suplex. You could hear Rainman calling spots there. Banks hits Steel with a powerbomb for 2 when Rainman saves. He hits Steel with the Dark City Street Cutter to eliminate him. He hits Banks with a dropkick for 2. He hits a snap suplex but Banks comes back with a German suplex. He hits an ugly dragon suplex for 2. Rainman gets a roll up for 2. He hits an enziguiri for 2. Banks catches him with a crossface out of nowhere for the win at 7:19. Eh, this could have been worse, and I dig what Banks does.
Rating: **1/2

Punk gets on the microphone and demands that they be handed the tag team titles because they’ve beaten a team. Strong and Clark, who have also beaten a team, come out to challenge them. Prazak will have none of this and suggests it be a three way elimination match for the titles. Punk goes to take the tag titles but Lenny Leonard grabs them away and promises that Punk won’t be stealing two title belts in FIP.

It would have made more sense to have Clark & Strong wrestle Punk & Juan in a match to see who would face DP Associates in the finals, as only they are coming into this match with two wins while the other teams only have one. Prazak actually mentioned this earlier in the show, making me wonder why he’d insist on a match that puts his team at a disadvantage. Punk and Strong start the match. Punk hits a pair of backbreakers and stomps away. He hits a knee to the gut and tags to Juan. Juan hits a back elbow and tags to Punk. Eddie tags in for Punk and chokes Strong in the ropes. Rave tags in and puts on a surfboard stretch. Strong’s back is really dirty. Rave hits him with a clothesline and tags to Eddie. Eddie steps on Strong’s face and tags Juan. Juan hits a vertical suplex for 2. He puts on a chinlock and tags to Punk. Punk hits a back suplex but Strong catches him with chops in the corner. Punk goes to the eyes but Strong hits him with the half nelson backbreaker. Clark gets the tag and cleans house. He hits Juan with a hurricanrana but Juan comes back with a neckbreaker for 2. Clark hits a hanging neckbreaker to eliminate Juan and Punk. Eddie attacks Clark from behind and hits a tombstone piledriver for 2. Strong comes in and hits the flip suplex for 2. Rave blocks the half nelson backbreaker and hits Ghanarea for 2. Clark nails Rave with a faceplant but Eddie breaks up the pin. He hits the spiked legsweep on Strong. Clark sets Eddie on the top rope and hits a reverse hurricanrana for 2 when Rave saves. Clark reverses the Rave Clash but Rave hits the running knee for 2. Strong hits the flip backbreaker on Rave. Eddie dumps Strong and Prazak distracts Clark long enough for Eddie and Rave to hit Double Penetration for the win and the titles at 9:59. A total mess of a brawl, but it was actually pretty fun once Punk and Juan were eliminated. Unfortunately the match was so short that Punk and Juan looked like goofs for not being able to last much longer than five minutes.
Rating: **1/2

After the match Strong drags Prazak into the ring. He hits him with the half nelson backbreaker and Clark finally gets a piece of him when he nails him with a handspring moonsault.

The 411:  One of the bigger problems I had with this show is that there was no explanation as to why many of the teams were teaming up. Madison turning on Gibson would have probably meant more if there was any kind of history between them. The structure of the show worked pretty well actually and wasn't quite as hard to grasp as early reports had claimed. The matches themselves were disappointing but never boring. This falls into the curse of the Friday night show, as it was fair but not great, although it set up the following night very well. It gets a mild recommendation for being the final build to the Punk/Homicide showdown and the historical significance of crowning the first tag team champions. You can pick this DVD up at ROHwrestling.com.

Final Score:  6.5   [ Average ]