Colling It In The Ring: MLW Summer Apocalypse 8/22/2003

Major League Wrestling presents Summer Apocalypse
Date: 8/22/2003
From: St. Petersburg, FL

Opening Contest: B-Boy & Nosawa vs. Maximo Brothers: A fast start to the match with Joel and Boy starting the contest. They traded a hurricanrana and a head scissors take down Nosawa came in to superkick Jose. Nosawa also hit a shining wizard as the fast pace action is going well. The Maximo Brothers lock in a camel clutch/Boston Crab on both men. Joel hit a Northern Lights suplex for a near fall on Boy. Boy powerbombs Joel in the corner and follows up with a dropkick right to the face! Nosawa tagged in and delivers a running boot in the corner. Boy comes over on the floor and they toss Joel into the front row! Of course, it’s the three seats that are empty. Back in the ring, Joel nearly pins Nosawa with an overhead belly to belly suplex. Jose comes off the top to hit an elbow drop for a near fall. Nosawa nearly pins Jose after a stiff kick to the head. Boy enters and continues to kick Jose. Boy chops Jose several times and when the fans want more, he just pokes Jose in the eyes. Jose hits a hurricanrana on Boy for a near fall but Boy fights back with a reverse DDT. Jose slide through Boy’s legs to deliver a leaping kick and has an opening to make the tag, which he does. Joel comes in and cleans house. Joel comes off the top to hit an arm drag on Nosawa. Jose takes both heels out with a suicide dive on the floor! Joel takes everyone out with a springboard moonsault on the floor and lands in the front row! Boy hits a fisherman buster on Jose but Joel drops Boy with a backpack driver but only gets a two count. Nosawa hits a sit down slam on Joel and goes to the top rope where he is stopped by Joel. The Maximo Brothers hit the Spanish Fly to win the match. (***1/4. A great way to start the show, without a doubt. They were able to get the fans standing and appreciate their effort. I really enjoyed the fast pace action and all four did a good job. B-Boy seems to have on and off nights at around this time. He was on tonight. A good start for what looks to be the biggest show for the company to this point.)

Second Contest: Mana vs. Richard J. Criado: The sound for this match is odd as the sound for the arena isn’t there. It’s just Joey Styles talking over dead air. By the way, Styles commentary sounds like he just not into it and doing one liners. Mana hit a senton splash early on as Criado isn’t having much success. Mana hit a gut wrench suplex where Richard lands on his gut instead of his back. Mana crotches Criado on the top rope to hit a middle rope Samoan Drop for the win. An enjoyable squash match.

Third Contest: Sonjay Dutt vs. Jimmy Yang: Dutt kicks Yang in the ribs as Yang seemingly thought they had a clean break and tugged on the ropes. They are having a rather slow start to the bout. Sonjay hits a nice hurricanrana and a tilt a whirl head scissors sending Yang to the floor. Dutt drops Yang face first on the apron and hit a sick springboard corkscrew cross body on the floor! Sonjay continues with a dropkick in the ring for a near fall. Yang sends Dutt face first into the corner and catches Dutt with a nice spinning heel kick. Yang sends Dutt upside down into the guard railing. Yang sends Sonjay into the railing another time. Jimmy uses an inverted triangle choke in the corner but can’t beat Dutt with that. Dutt counters a side slam attempt by locking in a modified abdominal stretch but Yang counters a head scissors with a back breaker. Jimmy has a rear chin lock on Dutt trying to get a submission but that’s not working. Dutt comes back with a springboard cross body for a two count. Dutt follows up with a spinning heel kick and springboard twisting leg drop for a near fall. Dutt nails Yang with a spinning back elbow. Jimmy cuts Sonjay off with a jaw breaker. Sonjay plants Yang with a tornado DDT! Dutt hits a leaping neck breaker but Yang kicks out just before three! Sonjay hammers away on Yang with a series of forearm shots. Sonjay hits a top rope hurricanrana but can’t keep Jimmy down long enough. They appear to both a exchange as Dutt lost his balance. Holy shit, Dutt comes off the top and simply plants Yang with a 450 dive turned into a sick hurricanrana but Yang kicks out. Yang stops Dutt with a gut buster in midair and wins the match with a twisting moonsault off the top. (***1/2. Wow, that was a really good match. Dutt was far more impressive than Yang, there is no doubt about it. Yang may have won the match but Dutt was the star and real winner of the match in my mind.

Fourth Contest: Mikey Whipwreck vs. Tony Mamaluke: Mikey taunts Tony and delivers a few jabs early on. Whipwreck connects with a short arm clothesline. Whipwreck misses a slingshot leg drop on the apron and Mamaluke sends Mikey to the floor where he hits a suicide dive! Whipwreck sends Tony over the guard railing and into the front row. Whipwreck misses a flipping dive into the crowd and hits the floor hard. Tony plants Whipwreck with a tornado DDT on the floor. Tony rams Mikey into the apron back first but is sent gut first into the apron and Mikey slams Tony face first onto a few chairs on the floor. Back in the ring, Mikey tries to get a submission with a bow arrow but Mamaluke doesn’t give in to the pain. Tony blocks the Whippersnapper but holding onto the ropes. Tony hits a slingshot leg drop on Whipwreck across the bottom rope. Tony knee lifts Mikey and delivers a clothesline for a two count. Mikey powerbombs Mamaluke to counter an arm bar! Mikey manages to hit the Whippersnapper but can’t get a three count. Mikey delivers a superkick after ducking a clothesline. Mikey goes up top but Tony stops him and Tony hit a top rope DDT for a near win. Mamaluke heads to the top rope but is shoved off by Sinister Minister. Mikey heads to the middle rope an hits a middle rope Whippersnapper for the win! (**1/2. A fine little match as these two worked fairly well together. The finish was a good one to finish a fine contest between two ECW originals.)

Fifth Contest: Monsta Mack & B-Boy vs. Ekmo & Samu in a Falls Count Anywhere Match: Boy is pulling double duty as Dan Maff isn’t on the show this time around. I’m not sure why. All four men start brawling in the ring as Boy and Mack tried to attack before the bell but that didn’t work in their favor too well. Boy is driven gut first to the mat and Mack is met with a double spine buster. Ekmo clotheslines Mack over the top to the floor and Boy is superkicked to the floor. Samu crotches Boy on the guard railing and Samu delivers a kick to the face. They take the action to the floor where Samu uses a chair on Boy. Mack is tossed into the crowd. Samu dumps a beer in Boy’s face and begins to bite his forehead. Ekmo whacks Mack over the back with a sign. Mack is slammed on the floor as well. Mack is tossed over the guard railing and they have returned near the ring. Samu sets a table up on the floor and it looks like Boy is in trouble. Boy avoids it by rolling off the table. Ekmo sends Mack face first into a chair in the corner. Ekmo follows up with a swinging side slam on Mack! Boy low blows Samu on the floor while Ekmo has grabbed a ladder. Boy leg drops Ekmo an kicks a chair into Samu’s head. Mack nails Ekmo with the ladder before sliding it into the ring. Samu is placed on the table on the floor. Samu tosses the chair at Boy and delivers a few more shots. Boy is placed on the table while Mack and Ekmo are down in the ring. Ekmo pops up and heads to the top rope. Ekmo leaps off and splashes Boy through the table for the win! (**. Not too great of a match but that was a great ending to the contest. Kudos to Boy for pulling double duty.)

Sixth Contest: Raven vs. CM Punk in a Straight Edge Rules Match: Nosawa is with Punk for the match. With the audio not working, aside from the Styles commentary, I have no idea what Punk says in his promo. I do know that this match is booked to wrestle under normal rules putting Raven at a disadvantage. It appears that the referee for this match is playing the role of the heel referee. CM Punk tried to get a fan ejected for drinking a beer in the front row! Raven gets the better of Punk in the opening moments of the bout with a few jabs. Punk gets frustrated and bails to the floor for a moment. Punk avoids the Evenflow and runs to the floor. Punk decides to beg off but Raven hammers away with a series of jabs. Raven gets a chair but he can’t use it. The referee has a microphone and gets rid of the chair as Punk low blows Raven. Punk uses the chair on Raven but the referee didn’t see that but Punk can only get a two count. Punk tosses Raven into the chair that was set up in the corner. Raven falls to the floor as the referee continues to not see Punk use the chair. Punk taunts Raven with a microphone talking smack to him while hammering away on Raven. Punk misses a chair shot and hits the top rope causing the chair to himself in the head. By the way, the referee was again distracted by Nosawa. Raven fights back with a clothesline and running bulldog out of the corner for a near fall. Raven tries to drop toe hold Punk onto a chair but the referee pulls it away. Punk rolls Raven up but can’t get a three count. Raven gets a two count with a superkick. Nosawa holds Raven but is knocked off the apron. Raven plants Punk with the Evenflow DDT and goes for the cover but the referee fakes an arm injury at the count of two. Punk rolls Raven up from behind and the referee does a fast count to give Punk the win. (**. Some credit has to go to Punk for being able to lead the referee and Nosawa through this. There were times where they appeared to not know what they needed to do to make it work. Nothing too great as the match was a little too obvious as to what was going on. The crowd was into it, though.)

Seventh Contest: Michael Shane & Francine vs. Norman Smiley & GI Ho: Shane and Smiley start the tag match with Norman dropping Shane with a clothesline and right hand. Smiley also hit a swinging scoop slam. They both go down following a double clothesline spot. Ho gets the tag as does Francine but she tries to bail from the floor. They begin to have a cat fight in the ring with Ho getting the better of the exchange. Shane grabs Ho and goes for a powerbomb but Smiley punches Shane so Ho could hit a hurricanrana. Francine knocks Shane off the apron on accident and Smiley does the Big Wiggle! Shane comes over and hits a superkick! Ho gets on Shane’s back but is slammed to the canvas. Shane drops Ho with a clothesline as well. Shane takes out handcuffs from his tights. Smiley is handcuffed to the bottom rope. Uh oh, this isn’t good for Norman. Shane rolls a table into the ring and clotheslines Ho a second time. Ho is placed on the table and Smiley is freaking out as Shane heads to the top rope. Shane hits a splash off the top through the table! Shane covers Ho and gets the win. (*1/2. The match isn’t all that good, but the continued angle between Smiley and Shane is nicely done here. Shane is a great heel and Smiley is an easy guy to feel sympathy for.)

Eighth Contest: Jerry Lynn vs. Homicide: This is a rematch from the last show. They start off with some mat wrestling to begin the contest. Homicide gets the better of Lynn until Jerry reaches the ropes. Homicide chops away on Lynn in the corner and delivers a running forearm shot. Lynn delivers one of his own before missing a splash in the corner. Homicide hits a running knee to Jerry’s face in the corner. Homicide takes a few arm drags but comes back with a head scissors sending Lynn to the floor. Homicide fakes a dive as Lynn moves out of the way. Homicide runs into a big boot but takes Lynn over with an overhead belly to belly suplex. Homicide takes Lynn out with a somersault suicide dive! Lynn spikes Homicide with an elevated DDT off the top rope! Homicide is laying on the floor looking like he may be hurt but Lynn doesn’t care and stomps away on him. Lynn slams Homicide chest first across the apron and follows up with a leg drop. Lynn gets a near fall after a big boot. Lynn stops Homicide on the middle rope and nearly wins with a springboard sunset flip powerbomb. Homicide avoids a DDT by holding onto the ropes and hits an ace crusher after reversing a vertical suplex! Homicide drops Lynn with a series of shots and a t-bone suplex for a two count. Lynn plants Homicide with a spinning flapjack. Homicide counters the cradle piledriver and catapults Lynn into the corner where Homicide hits a top rope hurricanrana but the referee is pulled out by the Sinister Minister. Homicide hits a baseball slide on him. Lynn low blows Homicide and tried to use a ring bell but Homicide is able to drop Jerry face first onto the bell for a two count. Homicide has been busted open, I’m not sure how. Lynn hits the TKO but can’t pull out a three count. Homicide gets the win after a roll up. (**1/2. A lackluster finish. It always bothers me when they do some big spots and the match finishes on a roll up. I’m convinced these two could have a much better match over a period of time. This was just really average.) After the match, Lynn attacks Homicide by hitting a cradle piledriver and leaps off the middle rope to drive the bell into Homicide’s head!

Ninth Contest: MLW Global Tag Team Champions CW Anderson & Simon Diamond vs. Steve Williams & the Sandman: The champs actually have championships with them this month. Anderson and Diamond attacked before the bell and double team Williams after Sandman is knocked down to the mat. Williams fights back with a double clothesline. Williams splashes Anderson in the corner as they legally start the match. Sandman enters and hammers away on Anderson. That doesn’t last long as CW tosses Sandman into a corner and Diamond tags in to stomp away on Sandman. Sandman tries to fight out of the corner but is double teamed by the champs. Diamond gets a two count following a snap suplex on Sandman. The champs hit a double dropkick to a seated Sandman. Sandman manages to hit a top rope swanton bomb on Diamond moments later. Williams tags in and hits a shoulder block off the top. Steve drives CW down with a spine buster and a powerslam on Diamond for a near fall. PJ Friedman comes out and nails CW with a chair from the apron as Anderson was on the top rope. Williams hits a bad looking running powerslam. Diamond hits a superkick on Sandman. Williams goes to cover Diamond but a masked man comes out to make the save. The masked man drops Steve over the top rope. CW superkicks a chair into Sandman’s head. CW follows up with a spine buster onto a chair for the win. (*. I’m glad this feud is apparently over because it never clicked with me. The champs are a good heel tandem and they need to get better opponents moving forward. So, the only positive from this is the fact the feud is over with.)

Tenth Contest: Christopher Daniels vs. Sabu in a Spike Match: I’m surprised this isn’t a Sabu/Whipwreck match from what happened last month. A basic start to the match trading right hands and Sabu missing a standing elbow drop. Daniels gets the control of the bout with a kick to Sabu’s chest. Sabu attempts to get control with a leg lock but that didn’t last long. Sabu is focusing on Daniels left leg. Daniels goes to work on Sabu on the floor by leaping off the apron to deliver a shot to Sabu’s back. Daniels chokes Sabu in the corner. This match isn’t as violent as I thought it would be. Sabu dropkicks Daniels knee to deliver a springboard heel kick on Daniels. Sabu tosses a chair at Daniels face. Sabu his the triple jump moonsault but can’t go for the cover. Sabu avoids Sinister Minister hitting him with a cane as he went to get the spike on the aisle way. Daniels attacks Sabu from behind. Daniels dropkicks a seated Sabu and taunts the crowd. Daniels hits a swinging neck breaker for a two count. Sabu stops Daniels with a jaw breaker and Sabu goes to the floor. Daniels rams Sabu into the guard railing before going back to the ring. Daniels slams Sabu down and hits the BME twice for a near fall. Daniels leaves the ring and goes to grab the spike which is in a table. Daniels returns to the ring but Sabu blocks the spike shot. Daniels blocks a spike shot and gets the Koji Clutch locked in briefly until Sabu uses the spike to break free. Daniels brings the table closer to ringside and puts Sabu on it. Daniels heads to the top rope and gets distracted by Alfonso. Sabu recovers and gets on the middle rope to knock Daniels back to the ring. Sabu hits a top rope leg drop for a near fall! Daniels hits an STO for a near fall. Daniels sets the table up in the ring but Sabu hits a DDT for a near fall. Sabu places Daniels on the table and heads to the top rope. Sabu gets a chair and hits the Arabian Face Buster off the top through the table! Alfonso and Minister are teasing to hit each other but don’t. Mikey Whipwreck comes out and can’t toss fire into Sabu’s face. Sabu uses the spike on Daniels! Daniels has been busted wide open. Sabu jams the spike into Daniels eye and wins the match by submission. (**1/4. For the most part, these two guys didn’t work very well with each other. A match between Whipwreck and Sabu would have been more suited for this match. I’m guessing Sabu is just feuding with guys in that Minister group to begin with. Anyway, it’s not an offensive match but it’s a forgettable one for sure.)

Main Event: Terry Funk vs. Jerry Lawler in a Bounty Match: The bounty issued is $25,000 has been issued by Steve Corino on Terry Funk. Lawler hammers away on Funk sending him to the floor. Funk is met with a kick on the apron and Lawler continues to deliver more punches. Lawler low blows Funk. I feel like this will be a punch fest. Lawler punches Funk off the apron and Terry crashes through a table on the floor. That was a unnecessary table spot. They go to the floor where Lawler goes for a piledriver and hits it on the wooden floor! Lawler goes for a piledriver on a chair in the ring and is able to hit it. Lawler leaps off the middle rope to hit a fist drop. Funk fights back by sending Lawler head first into a chair set up in the corner. Funk drops Lawler after a series of punches. They are on the aisle way where Funk hits a piledriver of his own on the wooden floor. So, these guys are just going to do the same moves to each other. Simon Diamond ran out and gave Lawler something. Lawler nails Funk with barbed wire wrapped around his fist! Funk has been busted wide open as a result. Well, the match appears to be clipped as they were brawling on the floor but it goes to them in the ring where Lawler wins with a roll up and his feet on the ropes. So, that was all kinds of bad. After the match, CW Anderson and Simon Diamond come down to the ring and attack Funk. Lawler gets on the microphone and gloats about his win. Lawler wants his money. Diamond says they were paying him to not beat Funk but to take him out of wrestling. Simon notes that Funk is still moving. Lawler is trying to convince them to get his money. Diamond reveals they were told to not give Lawler anything unless Funk was put in an ambulance so Jerry gets nothing for his efforts. Lawler demands his money one more time and Diamond says no. So, Lawler attacks the Extreme Horsemen and hits Stunners. Here comes the masked man again and attacks Lawler. It’s obvious that it’s Steve Corino, who was barred from the arena. Lawler is beaten down by the heels. Funk and Lawler shove each other on the floor so they can’t even get along on who can go after the heels. They both end up going to the ring and clean house on the heels. Funk delivers a vicious chair shot on Corino and they try to remove the mask but another masked man comes out and whacks both Lawler and Funk with a chair. The Sandman and Steve Williams run out to make the save. Funk and Lawler are choking each other in the corner! Funk tells Lawler he doesn’t want his help. Terry is saying that he will not forgive Jerry for trying to rip his eye out. Sandman is trying to get them to make peace with a beer. Simon Diamond comes out and issues a challenge for a WAR GAMES match at the next show in September. That challenge is accepted after Lawler tells Funk that he hates his guts. So, it takes Funk ten minutes from saying he will never forgive or forget about what Lawler was trying to do to him to shaking his hand. They are putting a truce on this issues for one night only.

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The 411: The main event was all kinds of bad as they literally did the same moves to each other and was uninteresting as a result. The show started off really well, but once we got to the established names it seemed like the show lost a lot of steam. I can't say it was a bad show because I had a good time watching a lot of former top names and considering this happened in 2003 most of them could still work a decent rate. However, it's not a outstanding show or even all that good. I'll consider it an average show, which is disappointing considering my high expectations for the show.

Final Score:  6.0   [ Average ]