wrestling / Video Reviews
Views from the Hawke’s Nest: TWC International Showdown 2005
Loading...March 19, 2005
Coventry, West Midlands, England
The first match was Chris Sabin vs. Jonny Storm vs. Spud vs. Petey Williams. This was an indie-fatal-four-way-spotfest. I like these kinds of matches. They add great variety to the show and give underexposed wrestlers a chance to showcase their abilities. This one committed a sin though in that it used tag rules. That just shouldn’t happen with single-fall matches like this. It was especially annoying here, because the wrestlers kept changing their mind about whether or not they wanted to follow the rules. The match was a ton of fun though in spite of that. They did a nice dive sequence early on. Spud used to be quite the high flyer. Petey eventually finished Sabin with the Canadian Destroyer to pick up the win. They didn’t build to the finish all that well or anything, but this match simply never stopped being fun. Spud was the standout performer here. It’s hard to believe how different of a performer he used to be. (***)
Steve Grey vs. Mal Sanders was next in a “World of Sport” match. Tony Scarlo was the special guest referee. They did a 50/50, babyface vs. babyface version of a World of Sport match. I find this style very appealing and easy on the eyes. It does not lead to the most dramatic of situations from what I’ve seen, but it absolutely adds something unique to every card it’s on. Sanders was the one who was using more aggressive maneuvers as the match went on. I think this match would have benefited from sticking to the original tone and ending the match earlier than Round 4. Grey pinned Sanders out of nowhere with a leaping crossbody. A fun match but a bit of a letdown all the same. (**1/2)
There was an Apter’s Alley where Bill Apter presented a Lifetime Achievement Award to Mick Foley.  Greg Lambert interrupted the proceedings. This Lambert fella looks like John Oliver. Lambert said Alex Shane was the person whom this award should be given to. Shane came out and cut a promo on everyone. Mick Foley showed up. Foley mentioned having the sense to step aside so other guys could get a chance. He won the TNA four years after this show. After Mick left, Shane gave Apter a low blow. Foley came back and said he’ll see Shane again tonight. This whole thing did not entertain me, but it was for this crowd in 2005. I’ll forgive it.
Samoa Joe vs. CM Punk was next. Punk had a taped up leg.  Joe mostly dominated the match, but Punk would sporadically make a comeback. The match was inevitably never going to feel as important or epic as their trilogy of matches for the ROH title in 2004. That’s not a bad thing though, as it’s nice to see these guys go out there without those kind of expectations. It’s also almost always nice to revisit Samoa Joe from the 2002-2006 range, as he just moved around the ring and carried himself in a manner that made him one of the most compelling wrestlers of this century. He eventually finished Punk with the Muscle Buster. Despite the lack of stakes here, they managed to put together a very fun match that was about Punk desperately trying to keep it competitive until he finally was put down for the three count. (***3/4)
Punk cut a fantastic promo in the back about how there will always be “one more match” until he defeats Joe.
Mitsuharu Misawa, Yoshinari Ogawa, & Tiger Emperor vs. Doug Williams, Scorpio, & James Tighe was next.  The story was that Emperor and Tighe were the two “weak links” on the teams due to their size. As such, they each got worked over for a somewhat lengthy period of time. The finishing sequence featured a ton of back and forth action with Emperor surviving a ton of offense. He did eventually fall victim to Doug Williams’ Chaos Theory though to give Doug’s team the win. This was not overly impressive. They all worked hard, but the exhibition-y feel to the match caused me to feel disconnected to it. It’s cool to see Misawa in a different environment, but his involvement did not lead to much unfortunately. (**1/2)
Raven vs. Alex Shane had a hardcore match. This was exactly what I feared: a tedious brawl. Perhaps a 2003 Raven would have had a more interesting match, but he was not the same performer in 2005. They built to a big spot where Raven tossed Shane off a balcony onto a mess of people. They did a surprisingly large amount of back-and-forth in the ring after that with limited plunder. The crowd got a lot more interested when the overbooking with Shane’s posse and Mick Foley getting involved. That eventually led to a Raven victory. This was not for me, but the crowd liked it by the end. (**)
The main event was AJ Styles vs. Christopher Daniels for Daniels’ X-Division Championship. (Why did AJ’s entrance for so long involve AJ using his hood to play peekaboo with the crowd?)  There was nothing surprising about the way they worked this match, but I enjoyed it throughout. Daniels controlled the majority of it. His work was not particularly boring nor interesting. It was just good enough. AJ made a good comeback that led to a back-and-forth finishing stretch (complete with finisher kickouts!). In other words, it was a standard independent wrestling match (just artificially elongated because it was a main event). Daniels eventually hit the Last Rites to retain the title clearn to finish this fun match. (***1/2)
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