Death by Midwest: IWA Mid South Winter Wars 2007

IIWA Mid South presents Winter Wars 2007
January 27th, 2007
Don Preston Rec Center (aka the Midlo-Dome) in Midlothian, IL

CHAMPIONS ROLL CALL
-IWA World Heavyweight Champion: Chuck Taylor (1st reign-defeated Toby Klein on 9/30/06 in Midlothian, IL)
-IWA Mid-South Light Heavyweight Champion: Josh Abercrombie (2nd reign-defeated Tyler Black on 1/21/06 in Midlothian, IL)
-IWA Mid South Tag Team Champions: VACANT (Brain Damage and Deranged were the last champions, vacated titles after Brain Damage retired from wrestling)
-IWA Mid South/NWA Midwest Woman’s Champion: Mickie Knuckles (2nd reign-defeated Hailey Hatred on 2/8/06 in Charleston, WV. Unified title with NWA Midwest Title by defeating Daizee Haze and Vanessa Kraven on 4/1/06 in Midlothian, IL)

If you don’t notice, I’m going to get every show released by IWA so far this year. I’ve done a number of older reviews, but now I want to focus on their current product. Yay! Onto the show!

#1: THE IRON SAINTS vs. DEVIL’S REJECTS w/ Reverend Dan Wilson
The Devil’s Rejects are Tank and Shaun Tempers, coming from NWA Anarchy. Their manager Dan Wilson gets on the mic right away and screams. He promises a new hell in Midlothian tonight. “Iron Saints, we know you, we respect you, but tonight we do the devil’s work.” I like that guy. The Saints are starting to get more of a babyface reaction. Sal takes the mic and says he didn’t understand what the Reverend say, so he’ll assume it was disrespect. He mentions their past at NWA Wildside. Vito runs down the team and insults them for being southern. The Rejects attack and the action spills outside with the Saints getting chopped. Tank headbutts the crap out of Sal as Tempers fights with Vito. Tank catches Sal doing a cross body. Vito runs in to help but Tank backdrops Vito while still holding Sal. Nice. Sal tries to rana Tank but there’s no way he’ll do that. RELEASE POWERBOMB and Sal lands on Vito. Crowd chants for Tank. Rejects throw the Saints into each other. Wilson goes to hit Sal with his cane but hits Tank instead. The Saints do a double team Front Lungblower to Tempers. Sal attacks Tank with a chair on the outside. Backbreaker by Sal onto Tempers. The Saints double team Tempers with kicks to the chest. A reverse Henning neck snap gets 2. The Saints are focusing on Tempers and keeping Tank out of the ring. The Saints take turns chopping the front and back of Tempers. Vito hits a senton. The Iron Saints are looking good tonight. They set up for the Pendulum Doublestomp but Tank comes and cleans house. DOUBLE SUPLEX by Tank on the Iron Saints. Tempers helps Tank set them up for a DOUBLE DEATH VALLEY DRIVER…..for 2! Vito gets hit with a spinning DDT for 2. Tank takes out Sal with a dropkick. Yeah, a dropkick. The Rev tries to hit Vito with his cane but Vito kicks him away. Vito cleans house with the cane and they hit Tempers with the pendulum doublestomp for the win at 8:42. **3/4. Short but really, really fun. The Saints got in a bunch of new double team moves and Tank is a really good big man. Damn good way to get the crowd going at the start of the show.

#2: VORTEKZ vs. RICOCHET
I hope Ricochet gets killed. He’s using different entrance music for about the 5th time now. Armlockery to start off with Vortekz doing a nice flipping reversal. Ricochet screws up an armdrag. He was fine for about a minute. Vortekz hits a nice one followed by a hiptoss. Vortekz goes for a German but Ricochet flips out. Ricochet goes for a clothesline but gets destroyed by a LARIAT from Vortekz. That sends Ricochet outside and Vortekz hits a moonsault off the top to the outside. That was pretty. Back inside, SPINE KICKS on Ricochet gets 2. Dropkick gets 2 after that. Ric reverses a whip, Vortekz goes outside, but Ricochet gets a seated senton over the top to the floor. That gets 2. Dropkick and then a Lionsault gets 2 for Ric. Tilt-a-whirl attempt by Ric gets turned into a Spike DDT for Vortekz. Arachnid Kick by Vortekz right on the money. He heads up top for a 450 Splash but Ricochet moves. German Suplex by Ricochet on Vortekz and Ric heads up top and hits a Shooting Star Press for the win at 8:11. **. Minimal screwups from Ricochet plus Vortekz looked good. Therefore I don’t have to be cruel. I still don’t like Ricochet but he didn’t enrage me tonight.

#3: JACK THRILLER vs. TAREK THE GREAT vs. BILLY ROC vs. CHRISTIAN VAUGHN
Thriller comes out with a mic but the mic doesn’t work. He begins yelling and says no one respects him. Well then. Tarek comes out with some hot chick with him. Hell, it might be his daughter. Tarek insults the youngster for complaining, saying he was setting up the ring back when Thriller was “shitting green” and getting paid in hot dogs. Billy Roc comes out to calm Thriller down, and Vaughn comes out saying he hasn’t had to do anything to help out, because he’s a star. Er, right. Tarek asks “Who the fuck are you?” Tarek socks Vaughn in the mouth and we’re underway. Dan Wilson on commentary now with Ben Jordan. Tarek spine kicks Vaughn on the outside. Roc trips up Thriller. Sunset flip off the ropes by Roc on Thriller gets 2. Tarek is beating on Vaughn on the outside with headbutts. Thriller chops at Roc while Vaughn gets his head kicked around. Thriller gets dragged outside but backdrops Tarek on the floor. Vaughn hits a Release German on Roc for 2. Thriller hits on Tarek’s valet and asks for a kiss. She slaps him. I like it. Border City Stretch applied by Vaughn in the ring, which is funny considering Vaughn looks exactly like Alex Shelley. Roc makes the ropes and then dives onto Tarek on the floor. Vaughn goes up and hits a crossbody to the floor. Thriller hits a tope onto Roc and Vaughn. Tarek sets up a chair to dive off of but the chair collapses. Oh dear. He recovers and hits a plancha. Back inside, Thriller Driller on Tarek gets 2. Vaughn hits an elbow off the apron to Roc. Thriller goes for a superplex but Tarek stops him with STIFF headbutts. Spinning heel kick off the top by Tarek but Roc breaks up the pin. Running palm strike by Tarek gets 2 on Thriller. Vaughn dropkicks Roc to the floor. Series of stiff kicks gets 2 for Tarek on Thriller. Swinging DDT by Tarek! Roc hits a dropkick through the ropes and a slingshot splash for 2 on Vaughn. Roc hits a rewind rana on Vaughn for 2. Nice spot there. Swinging Reverse DDT by Vaughn only gets 2 as Thriller breaks the pin. Thriller goes for a superplex on Vaughn and Roc joins him. Tarek stops everyone for a Tower of Doom! Tarek hits a brainbuster on Roc while Thriller hits a piledriver on Vaughn and both men get the pin at 10:56. The crowd demands one more fall to decide a winner. Tarek clotheslines Thriller and they brawl to the outside. Back inside Thriller gets a bridging pin on Tarek for the outright win at 12:49. **3/4. I had to knock off a ¼* for that strange finish that could have been done better. Oh well. All four guys looked good here and the crowd was really into it. Plus it’d be nice to see Tarek feud with one of these younger stars.

#4: Tap Out Only Match: DRAKE YOUNGER vs. CJ OTIS
This feud is going on in the mold of other series in IWA history: Kickboxer-Tarek, Hero-Punk, Shelley-Jacobs, Jacobs-Delirious, Black-Abercrombie. This would be their fourth singles match since October. Waistlock takedown by Drake starts up the matwork. Good stuff there. Ben Jordan mentions how this match is for different bragging rights than the Finishers Match from 3 weeks ago. CJ gets a couple of headlock takedowns. They both go for dropkicks and we’ve reached a standoff. A lot less striking going on here than in their other encounters. An intense lockup spills everything to the outside. Maybe we spoke too soon as they exchange forearms and chops. A very hard chop from CJ sends Drake down to the floor. Drake gets pissed and whacks CJ with a chair. He sets up the chair but CJ reverses and hits a Neckbreaker onto the top of the chair! Ouch. Back inside, CJ pounds away at the neck. He grabs the chair, possibly for another knockout blow with a Burning Hammer, but Drake regains the advantage. He sits CJ down and goes for a flipping seated senton but CJ moves and Drake gets nothing but chair. OUCH. CJ right away delivers repeated knees to the back and a running senton splash to soften up that prone back. CJ hooks on a surfboard stretch but Drake makes the ropes. Drake reverses a whip into an armbar takedown and locks on a hammerlock but CJ makes the ropes. Dropdown shoulderbreaker by CJ. So both men have weaknesses here now. CJ tries to whip Drake with his bad arm and Drake cuts him off and gives him a stiff straight punch. Spinebuster by Drake. Both men down and I don’t understand why they chose to do that at this moment. Slaps, forearms, and chops between both guys. Drake headbutts the injured arm and hooks on an armbar but CJ makes the ropes. Drake heads up to the top but CJ comes out after him. Drake hooks CJ….SUPER DIVORCE COURT! Nice. Triangle Choke applied by Drake! CJ struggles and slams Drake down on his back to break the hold. Camel Clutch applied by CJ but Drake powers out. HALF NELSON SUPLEX by Drake…no sold. Spear by CJ who starts raining elbows on Drake. The ref stops the match at 12:33. ***1/4. Good match that had more potential. The selling of the back by Drake is patchy, and the finish didn’t come off so well, especially with CJ having a bad arm. Still, I liked the story in between and showed that these guys can mix their striking with matwork.

After the match, CJ says that he has proven he is the better man because Drake tapped out, but Drake says he did no such thing. CJ argues that he won so Drake tapped. “Was my hand not rosen?” Rosen? Did he just say that? Drake says he didn’t tap out, the ref made a judgment call. Yeah, these guys shouldn’t be on the mic. Drake challenges CJ to another match. The crowd chants for a death match. CJ says that Drake isn’t worthy of the title “Psycho Shooter”. Drake asks for a No Holds Barred Mixed Martial Arts match. Uh, what? Well I can’t say that’s a good match selection. Or name for the match.

#5: BRANDON THOMASELLI vs. JOKER
Thomaselli comes out insulting B-Boy yet again for “ducking him.” He also is wearing Joker-style makeup. Joker is mostly known from being in BLK OUT in CZW. Brandon grabs the mic and states that this is the 3rd time B-Boy has backed out of a match against Brandon. He says he’s a bully and he’s gonna prove it tonight against Joker. He calls Joker “a joke”. Brandon slaps Joker and we’re underway. Ben Jordan mentions how BLK OUT helped Eddie Kingston out in his feud against the Thomasellis last year. Joker spends the opening moments rubbing off Brandon’s facepaint. He hits a spinning back elbow for 2.

“You don’t like the Thomasellis, do you?”-Ben Jordan
“I hope they choke on their ziti!”- Rev. Dan Wilson

This guy needs to do commentary on every show. Euro uppercut sends Brandon to the floor. Spinning back kick by Joker and he rolls over Brandon going for a cross armbreaker but Brandon is blocking it. Joker reverses a whip into a back suplex on the arm of Brandon. Joker gets sent into the buckle. Leg lariat in the corner by Brandon. Snap suplex right over into a pin for 2 by Brandon. Spine kicks by Brandon but Joker just flips him the bird. Brandon measures him with kicks and chops but Joker just fires up with forearms and chops. They trade them back and forth until Joker hits a belly-to-belly suplex. Joker gets sent outside and Brandon hits a plancha onto him. Joker hits Euro uppercuts that send Brandon into the chairs. Back inside, Brandon puts Joker up top for a superplex but Joker headbutts him down. Joker comes off with a double stomp to the arm! Then he rolls again into the cross armbreaker! But Brandon makes the ropes. Joker kicks away at the arm. Brandon reverses a whip and catches him into a sort of Pumphandle Brainbuster. Nice. That gets 2. Brandon goes up top for a 450, but Joker moves, Brandon catches himself but gets tossed into the corner. Joker gets a CANNONBALL in the corner. That gets 2. Joker gets another arm submission but Brandon gets the ropes again. Joker flips out of a German suplex and waistlocks Brandon. Northern Lights by Joker for 2 but he goes right back to the arm submission only this time he’s in the middle of the ring. Brandon gets back to a standing position and reaches the ropes. Joker calls for a Joker Driver but Brandon shoves Joker into the ref and lowblows him. Powerbomb Lungblower by Brandon gets the 3 at 12:56. **1/2. Some good stuff in there, mostly from Joker. He looked good here. Meanwhile, Brandon looked sloppy and quite winded. Much like he has for most of his heel run since last 2005. I hated that finish. It was cheap and suddenly Brandon’s arm is strong enough to lift up Joker?

#6: IWA World Heavyweight Title Match: CHUCK TAYLOR © vs. LOW-KI
I’ve really been looking forward to this match. Chuck’s heel turn at the last show gave him some hope of winning here. Crowd chants “New champ” to Low Ki, and Chuck Taylor comes out heeling on the crowd. Hey, he has an actual title belt now! Neither Dan Wilson or Ben Jordan likes Chuck’s chances here. Chuck is in a defensive mode looking to stay away from Ki’s kicks. Ki climbs the ropes during a lockup and grabs a cross armbreaker in the ropes. Waistlock takedown by Ki, but Chuck turns it over into a wristlock. Ki headstands out of it with a kick to Chuck’s shoulder for good measure. Chuck grabs a leglock and floats over into an armbar. Ki gets a chop in on Chuck before the clean break. Chuck gets a headscissors and is looking out for the bridge out by Ki. Ki instead rolls out and grabs a headlock. He stands Chuck up and CHOPS THE SHIT out of him. Shoulder tackle takes Ki down and Chuck taunts him for it. Ki then dropkicks him in the face and sends him outside. Ki feigns a plancha and then tells Chuck to bring the fight. Chuck looks flustered. Then he complains of a hair pull. Hahaha. Ki grabs an armbar and backs Chuck into the corner. The ref goes in between to break it up and Chuck acts like Ki poked him in the eye. Ki shoves the ref out of the way so Chuck pokes Ki in the eye. HEEEEEEEEL. Chuck chokes Ki on the ropes while laughing at the crowd. Ki chops Chuck but Chuck bites him. What has happened here is that Chuck realized there was no way he was out-wrestle Ki, and Ki was already getting in his head. So Chuck has employed a strategy that no one else has used against Ki: fighting dirty. Chuck grabs a chinlock but Ki kicks him in the head. Chuck answers back with some stomps. Back suplex gets 2 for Chuck. He chokes Ki on the ropes some more and takes him outside for a chop. Ki answers back with one of his one but Chuck goes to the eyes. Ki fights out of a stretch into a crucifix for 2, but Chuck hammers him back down. A backbreaker by Chuck and he stretches him out some more. A fan insults Chuck and he yells back “Your parents weren’t married when you were conceived.” FANTASTIC. Ki chops away at Chuck but gets met with a beautiful dropkick from Chuck. That gets 2. “We hate Chuck.”-Midlothian. He whips Ki in the ropes but Ki jumps on Chuck’s back and hooks on a cross armbreaker! Crowd chants for Chuck to tap out. Chuck recovers with an overhead belly-to-belly suplex and keeps him down with a choke. Chuck ties up Ki’s arms and rolls into a strangehold with a headscissors but Ki escapes. Chuck goes to the eyes and then fish hooks him at 20 minutes gone now.

Chuck sends Ki off the ropes….TIDAL KRUSH by Ki! Both men down now. Chuck tries to go back to beating Ki down but Ki meets him with a series of HUGE CHOPS. KOBASHI CHOPS IN THE CORNER and Chuck is screaming like a little girl. Spin kick off the ropes followed by three HUGE STIFF KICKS….for 2. Ki goes up over the ropes and hooks on the DRAGON CLUTCH IN THE ROPES. Ki heads up top…Flying clothesline for 2! Chuck avoids a corner attack and hits a Swinging Flatliner for 2. Over 25 minutes gone now. He goes for a powerbomb but Ki knocks him down and hits a JUMPING DOUBLE STOMP…for 2! “This is awesome.”-Midlothian. Chuck ducks the Tidal Krush and goes for the Omega Driver but Ki reverses. Chuck hits a TURNBUCKLE POWERBOMB and then a FOLDOVER POWERBOMB WITH BRIDGE….for 2! Chuck looks for the Omega Driver again but Ki fights it off. Chuck grabs a Sleeper but Ki gets to the ropes. Chuck ducks the chop and hits the FALLING FOOT GIMMICK! Omega Driver….BLOCKED….CAPPOOOO KICK by Low Ki! JOHN WOO DROPKICK! That KILLED CHUCK! But only 2 as Chuck grabs the ropes! Chuck gets up and grabs a chain out of his boot. He wraps it around his hand and swings at Low Ki. Ki ducks and ref PJ Drummond sees the chain. Chuck panics and kicks PJ in the groin to draw the DQ at 28:46. ****. Despite the DQ finish, that was a HOT match. Like I said before, Chuck looked frustrated early on, but took Ki to the limit by employing a constant barrage of dirty tactics, something Ki has not been faced with in IWA. However, Ki took an opening and turned the last few minutes into his kind of fair contest. Chuck then grabbed his last beacon of hope in a foreign object, but the young man panicked and just hit the ref to draw the DQ. It was an entertaining main event that kept me locked in for the duration of it. Re-match!

After the match, Ki says he outclassed and outwrestled Chuck Taylor. He says he proved he was the better man. He says the crowd wants a rematch, and he’s here to give it to them.

INTERVIEW-Jim Fannin again. He reiterates his bounty for Jimmy Jacobs, and ups the amount to $2500. He says anyone who does it will have immediate entry into IWA. “Jimmy Jacobs, you’re living on borrowed time.

#7: IWA Deep South Tag Team Title Match: IAN ROTTEN/MICKIE KNUCKLES © vs. NECRO BUTCHER/TOBY KLEIN
Necro cut his hair. That is terrible. I loved that hair. Interesting to note out of these wrestlers, we’ve got 4 KOTDM wins and one Queen of the Death Match. Ian won in 97 and 01, Necro won in 02, and Toby won in 05, while Mickie won the first Queen’s tourney in 06. Winner of this always get into the IWA Mid South Tag Team Title tournament, and it’s under old school IWA rules. Meaning, er…none. Necro and Ian start with wrestling?! What the duce? Ian rolls Necro into a nearfall. Necro answers back with a stretch, but Ian takes him back down to the mat and snaps his leg back nasty. Ouchhhhh. Toby and Mickie come in and trade hammerlocks. Toby asks for a test of strength and gets monkey flipped by Mickie and then booted in the face. Necro and Ian back in. Ian catches Necro’s foot and suplexes him onto his foot! Nice. He stomps away at that leg. Mickie comes in….DOUBLE FACELIFT! Toby gets pissed off and scrapes a wrench across Ian’s head. Mickie headbutts Toby but gets the worst of it. And now starts the brawling. They hit each other with one of Mickie’s title belts. Toby is busted open by the wrench. Necro is bleeding, too. Mickie gets booted in the face by Necro. Mickie challenges Necro to a sitdown barfight. Oh dear lord. STIFFFFFFF punches. Necro is just waffling the shit out of her. But then Mickie lowers her head and that hurts Necro’s hand. She throws the chair at it and stomps on it. Toby gets slammed onto the floor. Mickie keeps working over Necro’s hand. They wrap it around the ringpost and slam a chair into it. Mickie and Toby exchange headbutts. STIFF, of course. Necro digs a torn soda can into the heads of both Mickie and Ian, and Mickie is bleeding. Necro can’t punch anymore because of the hurt hand. HEADBUTT BATTLE between Ian and Toby. Toby chairshots Ian’s arm. Ian takes Toby’s head off with a chairshot. Toby is REALLY busted open. Mickie and Necro brawl into the chairs. Back in the ring, Ian hits a Rotten Rush onto a chair for the win at 12:31. ***. Good brawl, but the last few minutes dragged a bit as they struggled for variety. But I can’t enough of Necro Butcher punches.

After the match, Ian puts Mickie over and says she can have her match with Steve Corino next month in Midlothian.

The 411: Well everything was entertaining on here. Out of 7 matches, none under ** and three over ***. Can't ask for much more than that. And to me, this is a testament to Chuck Taylor's talent as he had a standout match with Low Ki. What say you now, naysayer?! Thumbs up baby.
Final Score:  7.0   [ Good ]