BG Says: FIP Big Year One Bash Night One

September 2, 2005 – Arcadia, Florida

When we last left FIP
Spanky and Sal Rinauro knocked DP Associates down a peg by beating Fast Eddie and Jimmy Rave for the tag titles. Eddie was then presumably fired from DP Associates and FIP as a result. CM Punk left FIP looking up at the lights as he lost to Roderick Strong in the main event. Homicide beat Tony Mamaluke to retain his title, but was attacked by DP Associates after the match. Up north in Ring of Honor James Gibson beat CM Punk for the ROH World Championship and will be defending it on this show as a way to help FIP celebrates its first anniversary.

Your hosts are Dave Prazak and some other guy who sounds too much like Mark Nulty at certain points througout the DVD.

VS.
Starsmore tries to take advantage to start but Stevens cuts him off with a powerslam for 2. He pounds Starsmore down and then hits a backbreaker for 2. He goes to the eyes but misses a senton. Starsmore hits a pair of clotheslines but Stevens catches him with a backdrop driver and the Sarasota Screwdriver for the win at 2:01. The match was just a squash to establish Stevens as the enforcer of the team.
Rating: ½*

Steve Madison gets on the microphone after the match and offers another person the opportunity to put Erick Stevens down. The debuting Chasyn Rance answers the call.

VS.
Rance uses his quickness to dodges and pound Stevens to start. Stevens comes back with a shoulder tackle but Rance hits a dropkick and a pair of armdrags into an armbar. Stevens hits a bodyslam to escape and hits a kneedrop. He hits a back suplex for 2. Rance hits an enziguiri and a hurricanrana for 2. He goes for a moonsault press but Stevens catches him and hits the Sarasota Screwdriver for the win at 2:45. A little more competitive, but this pair of matches was exactly the same as Joe’s matches against Starsmore and Rainman when he became the enforcer of the New Dawn. FIP loses points for copying themselves.
Rating: *

Madison sends Stevens to the back and asks that someone come out to face him. This would have been an ideal time for Gibson to come out and get his revenge, but instead we get the man who beat Gibson, Tony Mamaluke.

VS.
Madison attacks Mamaluke on his way into the ring and hits an elbowdrop for 2. He hits a back suplex for 2. He puts on a chinlock and slams Mamaluke to the mat by his hair. He chokes away but Mamaluke comes back with a sunset flip attempt. Madison tries to grabs the ropes, at which time the referee should have told Mamaluke to stop trying to sunset flip him, but instead he knocks Madison’s hands away and Mamaluke rolls him up for 2. This match just lost my good faith and I’m boycotting play-by-play until the finish. [Play by play would have gone here.] The finish sees Mamaluke force Madison to tap to a Fujiwara armbar at 5:28. Madison had dominated the first part of the match and then spent the second half looking for different ways to escape a triangle choke. This was a unique match, but that spot really soured me on it.
Rating: **¼

Lenny Leonard brings Homicide out for a special anniversary moment. Homicide talks about having a great year as champion, defending against all comers. He plans to be champion for another year. Nigel McGuinness comes out of nowhere and blindsides him, putting on a hammerlock and running his shoulder into the post. Nigel says that if Homicide is going to take on all comers then he needs to fight a wrestler from England. Tonight, he’ll be that wrestler, and he’s going to take the belt to England and never bring it back to Florida.

Lenny Leonard brings out Antonio Banks to try to help him get to the bottom of his problem with Rainman. That didn’t work out so well for Homicide, maybe Banks should stay in the back. Banks comes out anyway and says that he doesn’t care why Rainman turned on him, because at this point the war is on. LaDuke Jakes comes out of nowhere and blindsides Banks. I CALLED IT! They brawl around ringside and into the ring for a match.

VS.
Jakes starts in control, pounding and jabbing banks across the ring. He hits a bodyslam and an elbowdrop for 2. Banks comes back with the slowest enziguiri ever. He hits another and Jakes goes down. Banks hits a series of forearms and a roundhouse kick for the win at 3:05. This was awful.
Rating: DUD

Rainman attacks Banks after the match and Jakes joins in the beating. Some guy comes out to make the save, and we find out that it’s Bruce Steel. Well, that’s enough reason for another match.

VS.
Steel starts things off with a headlock hits an exploder suplex. That opening sequence looked awful. Steel hits a clothesline for 2. He hits a running forearm and a vertical suplex for 2. They screw up another spot in the corner, getting me ready to give up on this match. Rainman hangs Steel up on the top rope and he falls to the floor. Rainman follows him and runs him into the post. Back in the ring he gets 2. He puts on a chinlock and chokes him around the ring but Steel comes back with a hammerlock DDT. He hits a back elbow and a clothesline. He hits a back bodydrop and the ugliest Samoan drop ever for 2. Rainman comes back with the Spine Splitter for 2. He goes low and rolls Steel up with a handful of tights for the win at 3:57. That’s four minutes of my life that I’d like back. This was one of the worst matches in the company’s history, and I’m not surprised Steel wasn’t brought back in after this weekend.
Rating: DUD

Dave Prazak introduces Jay Lethal as Fast Eddie’s replacement in DP Associates and promises to win the tag titles back tonight.

VS.
Spanky and Rave start. Rave stalls for a long while so Spanky mocks him with some stalling of his own. Spanky puts on a headlock and takes Rave to the mat. He hits a series of shoulder tackles for 1 and then goes back to the headlock. Sal tags in and puts on a headlock of his own. He hits an atomic drop on Rave and one to Lethal when he tags in. He puts a headlock on Lethal and follows up with another atomic drop. He rinses and repeats the atomic drop/headlock cycle and then atomic drops Lethal over the top rope and to the floor. He tries to follow Lethal out with a plancha but Lethal dodges it and Sal hurts his knee. Back in the ring Lethal hits a back flip kick for 2. Rave tags in and puts on a camel clutch. Sal fights out and gets a sunset flip for 2. Rave comes back with a clothesline and tags to Lethal. Lethal dumps Sal to the floor where Rave hits a bodyslam. Lethal comes off the top with a double ax handle and gets 2 back in the ring. He hits a seated dropkick for 2 and tags to Rave. Rave chops Sal hard against the ropes but gets caught with a stunner. Lethal comes in illegally and cuts Sal off from making the tag. He sets Sal up top but Sal fights him off and hits a flying elbowdrop. Spanky makes the hot tag and cleans house on DP Associates. He hits a back bodydrop on Lethal and a dropkick on Rave. He hits a splash in the corner on Rave for 2. Rave dodges a splash and gets a roll up with his feet on the ropes for 2. He hits a spear for 2. Lethal tags in but Spanky hits a stereo bulldog on Rave and Lethal. He dropkicks Lethal into Rave and hits him with Sliced Bread #2 for the win at 15:26. This was a paint by numbers tag team encounter, but the finish was hot so there’s something to be said for it.
Rating: **¾

The Heartbreak Express come out into the crowd and hit on Spanky’s girlfriend Taylor Matheny. Spanky and Sal take offense, although Taylor seems to be having a decent time with Phil and Sean. She was something of a wrestler for a while; can’t she be bothered to look upset when the heels bother her? Sean Davis says that Spanky can take his aggression out on them right now if he puts the tag titles on the line. Spanky and Sal agree.

VS.
Phil and Sean attack Spanky and Sal on their way into the ring. Spanky and Sal run them into each other and hit them with superkicks. They run Sean into the turnbuckle so he bails. The champs follow the Express out and pound them down. Back in the ring Sal hits Phil with a bodyslam and Spanky follows it up with a frog splash for 2. Sean elbowdrops Phil by mistake and the champs run the challengers’ heads together. Sean rams Sal into the post on the floor and then hits Spanky with a title belt. Back in the ring Sal hits Phil with a hurricanrana. He goes for another but Phil and Sean hit a double-team stun gun for the win and the titles at 2:35. All I can think of at the moment is that this is going to lead to longer HBE matches, and that makes me die a little inside.
Rating: ¾*

VS.
This match isn’t listed on the DVD cover. Clark and Azrieal start. They trade wristlocks and Azrieal grabs a headlock. They trade armdrags to a stalemate. Delay and Fury tag in. They fight to the mat where Delay gets a cross armbreaker. Fury escapes and they trade armdrags. Fury grabs an armbar but Delay reverses to a headlock. Azrieal tags in and hits a dropkick. He hits a bodyslam for 2. He hits a dropkick for 2. Fury comes back with a hurricanrana and tags to Clark. Clark hits a bodyslam and a series of legdrops for 2. He misses a crossbody and Azrieal tags out. Delay hits a leg lariat for 2. He dodges Clark’s kicks until the Pele kick makes contact. It gets 2 for Clark. Fury tags in and they hit a double hiptoss. They follow it up with a double pancake for 2. Fury hits a dropkick for 2. Clark tags in and they both dropkick Delay’s knees. Fury hits a senton and Clark follows up with a handspring moonsault for 2. Clark hits a vertical suplex and a slingshot legdrop for 2. Fury tags in and hits his capture kicks. Delay comes back with the Cruncher DDT for 2. Azrieal tags in and kicks away. He hits a back elbow for 2. He hits a vertical suplex for 2. Delay tags in and hits a leaping forearm for 2. He hits a clothesline in the corner and tags to Azrieal. Delay drop toeholds Fury for an Azrieal dropkick. It gets 2. Azrieal puts on a chinlock and then hits a slingshot senton for 2. He misses a double stomp and Fury comes back with a brainbuster. Delay and Clark tag in and Clark cleans house. Azrieal dropkicks Fury to the floor and follows him out with a somersault. Clark catches Delay with a spinebuster for 2. He hits an atomic drop and a Manhattan drop. He hits a clothesline but Delay comes back with the X-Factor for 2. Fury hits the Jaytrix Enzifury on Azrieal. He then lifts Delay up and Clark comes down on him with a 450 splash for the win at 14:01. The finish was a tad sloppy but the match did a lot to make Clark and Fury look like a well-oiled tag team machine.
Rating: ***

Spanky and Sal Rinauro come out for some microphone time. Sal apologizes for shouting out Bushnell during his match when he meant Arcadia, and then thanks Spanky for all his help as his mentor. Spanky then gives a nice little farewell speech. Well, I didn’t realize this was Spanky’s last match in FIP, and it makes me wonder why he didn’t go out taking the pin in the tag title switch instead of Sal who is sticking around. He tells Sal to get the tag titles back and wishes him the best of luck.

VS.
Strong grabs a hammerlock to start but Gibson forces him to the floor. Back in the ring Strong puts on a wristlock but Gibson suplexes out and puts on his own. Strong does the same and gets his wristlock back on. They knuckle up and Strong steps on his hands. Gibson slips free and pins Strong for 1. Gibson puts on a headlock and drops an elbow before putting on a hammerlock. He puts on a wristlock but Strong gets to the ropes. Gibson puts heavy pressure on Strong’s arm and then dropkicks it. He hits a hammerlock suplex for 2. Strong comes back with a backdrop for 2. He hits the uranage backbreaker and pulls Gibson to the floor. Gibson’s wife and son (wearing a lucha mask) watch on as Strong chops Gibson and rolls him back into the ring for 2. He puts on a chinlock and hits a dropkick for 2. He hits a butterfly suplex and puts on the leggy nelson. Gibson leans back and gets 2 before putting on the Kayak. He puts on a Mexican surfboard but Strong gets to the ropes. Strong dumps Gibson over the top and to the floor. He brings him back into the ring and gets a cocky pin for 2. He puts on a sleeper hold but Gibson hits a chinbreaker to escape. He lowers the bridge and Strong falls to the floor. Gibson dives out onto him and rolls him back into the ring. He climbs the ropes but Strong catches him and hits an overhead suplex for 2. He puts on a waistlock but Gibson fights out. Strong quickly catches him with the half nelson backbreaker for 2 and goes back to the waistlock. Gibson fights out and hits a German suplex for 2. Strong cuts off his momentum with a backbreaker for 2. He kicks Gibson to the apron but Gibson comes back with a sunset flip for 2. He puts on a surfboard stretch but Gibson reverses to a back suplex. They trade forearms and Gibson hits a high knee. He hits a back elbow and a bodyslam. He hits a second rope elbowdrop for 2. He goes for the tiger driver but Strong blocks and hits the capture backbreaker for 2. He sets Gibson up top but Gibson fights him off. He comes down with a knee to the head and then hits a brainbuster for 2. He hits a dropkick and sets Strong up top. He brings him down with a hurricanrana and gets 2. He tries to put on a cloverleaf but Strong gets to the ropes. Strong hits the gutbuster and the Sick Kick for 2. He hits another uranage backbreaker for 2. He goes for the Stronghold but Gibson gets to the ropes. He goes for the half nelson backbreaker but Gibson reverses to a crucifix pin for 2. They trade forearms and Gibson goes down. He goes for a powerbomb but Gibson reverses to a guillotine choke. Strong escapes but Gibson gets a sunset flip for 2. Strong puts on the Stronghold but Gibson reverses to a roll up for 2. Strong cracks on Gibson’s ribs but walks into a DDT. Gibson holds on with a butterfly hold and then nails the tiger driver for the win at 28:03. This reminded me of Punk’s FIP match against Cabana in that it didn’t need as much time as it had to tell the story it told. This match had much more action than that one did and kept my interest for longer stretches. The final third of the match was great stuff all around, even if none of the back work from Strong or arm work from Gibson went anywhere. They’d top this in ROH for Gibson’s farewell match. This would be Gibson’s final successful title defense, as he dropped the belt to Bryan Danielson at Glory by Honor IV a short time later. It was also his last match in FIP, disappointing me given that they never had a proper finish for his feud with Madison.
Rating: ***¾

VS.
Nigel’s newly won ROH Pure Championship is not on the line here. They lock up and Nigel powers Homicide to the corner. They trade strikes and Homicide bails. Huh? Back in the ring Nigel grabs a wristlock. Homicide reverses to a hammerlock but Nigel gets his hold back on and puts Homicide on the mat. Homicide comes back with the STF but Nigel gets to the ropes. Nigel focuses on Homicide’s arm but can’t hit a vertical suplex. Homicide gets a roll up for 2. He gets a headlock takedown and thwarts Nigel’s attempts to reverse. Nigel comes back by slamming Homicide’s arm to the mat and putting on a side cobra clutch. He unravels Homicide into a shoulder tackle for 2. He puts the cobra clutch back on but Homicide reverses to the Rings of Saturn. Nigel takes control by attacking the arm. Homicide hits a knee kick to the back and Nigel falls to the floor. Homicide hits a baseball slide, knocking Nigel into a row of chairs. He hits him with a water bottle and rolls him back into the ring. He gets a sunset flip for 2. Nigel hits a hammerlock DDT and puts on TAS. Homicide escapes and hits an Ace Crusher. He hits a hiptoss and a dropkick. He hits a tornado DDT for 2. He hits an exploder suplex for 2. He hits a neckbreaker and climbs the ropes. He hits the diving headbutt for 2. Nigel comes back with a kneedrop and puts on a modified version of TAS. Homicide rolls out and puts on the STF. Nigel gets to the ropes. Homicide hits a weak clothesline with his bad arm and then a full on lariat with his good arm for the win a 14:14. I appreciate that the arm work paid off in the end, and the match more than passable, but much like Homicide’s reign since defeating Punk it was nothing special.
Rating: **¾

The 411:  Fast and Furious put on a good show and the tag titles change hands. You’ve also got a tremendous if drawn out ROH World Championship match here, so it’s hard to go wrong here. This gets a solid recommendation, but skip the first half of the show. You can pick this up at ROHWrestling.com.
Final Score:  7.0   [ Good ]