The Furious Flashbacks – IWF Ring of Faith

The Furious Flashbacks – IWF Ring of Faith

A tournament to determine who IWF’s worst worker is…

Seeing as I was hired at 411 to review British wrestling I figured it was probably about time that I did another UK tape release. I don’t recall exactly where I got this tape from but it features action from Newcastle based IWF. The last time I saw IWF in action it was competing against 3CW in the show that Raven made an appearance on. To say I wasn’t impressed was an understatement but I was encouraged to check them out on their own turf and see what they could do on their own. The worst that can happen is it sucks and we can all have a jolly good laugh about it. I like downsides like that.

3rd July 2004. Eric Scarborough is in the ring to announce the line up. Tonight we have a tournament for ‘wrestlers who wrestle by the rules’. The shakycam makes me want to be sick. Assassin will be defending his title. The women’s title will be back because Jetta is back. Lee Kyle comes out here to tell us the draw for the tournament. Competitors are – Sean Avery, Hot Ed (who is masked), Jimmy Blade, Liam “The Player” Atkinson, Youngsta Avery, Bobby Jackson (he’s Unbreakable don’t you know), Jed Masters and Weapon X. Two officials tonight and it’s the Normals (Johnny & Jackie).

Ring of Faith QF – Sean Avery v Weapon X

Shall I call you Logan, Weapon X? No, WOLVERINE! Snickety snick, snick, snoo! See he’s replicating Wolverine’s berserker attack with his adamantium claws. Kyle does commentary over the house mic, which is just weird and drowned out by the fans anyway. Avery does his usual thing of running through something that looks pre-planned and then clapping at the crowd a lot. I HATE that. Avery escapes the powerbomb and hits a brutally bad armdrag. He encourages some more clapping. Knock it off, Sean. Whirl into an armbar from Avery, which is hurt somewhat by him approaching it at quarter speed. If you can’t do it full tilt, don’t do it at all. Scoop slam and Avery completely fucks up a Shining Wizard. Oh lord. X hits him with a few clotheslines for 2. Avery flips into the ring but gets a spear for his troubles and X advances at 5.21. ½*. Avery looked really out of sorts. He has bags of potential but he REALLY needs to train with someone different to make him a better rounded wrestler.

Youngsta Avery v Jimmy Blade

Blade, as per usual, owns all because he comes out here to Instruments of Destruction by N.R.G. off the Transformers: The Movie soundtrack. Youngsta does that same irritating clapping thing. Blade gets armdragged, which he claims is illegal. Blade follows up with the worst clothesline ever. Youngsta ducks a few more and hits a shoulderblock in super slo-mo. Double springboard moonsault misses. Let’s learn to walk before we learn to fly, eh? Blade promptly chokes him out at 2.21. ¼*. The Avery’s didn’t fare too well tonight. I’m happy though because Instruments of Destruction plays again. Rockin’. Tools of foul play!!!

Liam Atkinson v Jed Masters

Loser has been entering first so far. Masters is all over and babyface here. I can’t get used to that. This immediately miles better than anything before it as they hit stuff at speed and lariat each others arms. To the mat with them switching on headlocks. Liam gets a single leg and locks that leg up but Masters is in the ropes. Masters gets a backslide for 2. He tries for another one but Liam fires away with forearms and hits a big one in the corner. FACE WAAAAAASSSSSH! Atkinson gets publicly warned for that so legdrops Masters’ exposed head. That’s another public warning. Masters rolls him up but Liam has the rope. Masters hooks up a Stretch Muffler but Liam gets the ropes again. La Mahistral gets 2. Liam gets one as well for 2. Suplex with a roll through and Liam tries to tap Masters with a front facelock with crank, which he does at 7.52. **1/4. Way better than the first two matches because it actually looked credible most of the time.

Bobby Jackson v Hot Ed

I like the guy in the IWF shirt by the entranceway shouting “Ed” into the back after he’s been announced. I’ve only ever seen Jackson get used a punching bag and a job guy. Ed controls on the arm to start. They do some near misses into headlock takeovers, armdrags and a clothesline. Jackson misses with a dropkick and Ed headlocks him over. They run it back the other way and this is actually really good. Ed gets the arm and starts working it over. Jackson gets out into a waistlock. ROLLING GERMANS! Ed gets back on using Jackson’s weakened arm and hits a Russian legsweep. Jackson bails so Ed follows with a suicide dive. He springboards back in with a leg jam for 2. Ed sets up the Code Red in slick fashion as he slides in from the side and just nails it. Jackson goes to give him one back, blocked but that just gives him more momentum to NAIL ONE OF HIS OWN for 2. Jackson goes for Splash Mountain but Ed reverses into a sunset flip for 2. CANADIAN DESTROYER! Good fucking GOD. Jackson should be dead but he’s unbreakable so he kicks out. Trust me, that is believable with Jackson. I’ve seen take a piledriver bump on to the top of his head. SPRINGBOARD 450 SPLASH from Ed gets 2. Sky Twister Splash misses. Ed pulls out a FISHERMAN SUPERPLEX. And doesn’t pin. He goes to add a Fisherman buster but Jackson counters into a roll up to go through at 8.06. **1/2. An absolute spotfest towards the end with no selling or anything approaching psychology but at least they hit everything.

Semi-Final round: Weapon X v Liam Atkinson and Jimmy Blade v Bobby Jackson.

Weapon X v Liam Atkinson

X falls on his face on the first exchange possibly because Liam didn’t go high enough on a leapfrog. X comes back with one of his patented shitty armdrags. Liam hits a far better one. X stalls, which gets him legdropped across the neck. More stalling from X before he goes after Liam’s legs. Liam with a Japanese armdrag and he hangs onto the arm. Full nelson is on but X gets out so Liam goes to a leglock instead. X turns him over and stands up into a half crab. Liam gets out sideways and we have some more stalling. X hooks up the Shades of Wilbur Snyder and there’s just no focus in this match. They try to chain on the mat and go to a near falls sequence out of that. BORE-HUG! Liam survives in that but as soon as he’s out he’s back in it. He survives again so X hooks him up in the Gory Special. Then puts him down. Then it’s the Sharpshooter and Liam taps at 8.32. ½*. No focus at all and virtually no point to the match. X was just going after random submission holds one after another. Some were on the ribs if that helps. Liam did his best to try and create something in between but ended up tapping like a bitch.

Jimmy Blade v Bobby Jackson

Yes, more Instruments of Destruction! I so mark for that. So does Dave Styles. But then, he would. Jackson has been dumped on his head multiple times already tonight so he’s probably not in the best of health for this match. Blade clubs away at that general area. Jackson fires back with his corner forearm smash. Blade switches on him with a nasty GERMAN SUPLEX of the snap variety. Jackson looks fucked but fights his way out of a full nelson. He makes the mistake of applying his own leaving him prone for the Diamond Cutter. Blade opts to not pin for 3, which he easily could have but instead goofs around for no reason. He offers Jackson a handshake but then DDT’s the life out of him at 2.34. ¼*. Blade keeps up his fine average but once again…INSTRUMENTS OF DESTRUCTION, baby!

Women’s title – Jetta (c) v Phoenix

Sean Avery takes over on introductions for some reason. I can’t understand a single word he’s saying. Phoenix is a big lass. Avery mumbles into the mic for a few minutes. Jetta rants at small girls on the way to the ring. She soaks up some adulation but the belt looks like it’s made of cardboard. Jetta is badly outsized here. Phoenix fucks up a headlock. Jetta tries to do a nifty escape but Phoenix lets go in the middle of it. Urgh. Jetta hits a suplex for 2. Phoenix hits a shitty clothesline for 2. She misses woefully with another one so Jetta hits her with an STO for 2. Running senton gets 2. Crowd has been chanting “Jetta” constantly throughout this showing that it’s not that easy to be a heel in the Northeast. Phoenix hits a fisherman suplex but pins herself in the process so the ref doesn’t count. Phoenix ambles slowly into hitting a BRUTAL looking Death Valley Driver at 5.29. If I was Jetta I wouldn’t be thrilled with that particular finish. DUD. Jetta tried her best but when you’ve got nothing to work with…

POST MATCH Scarborough promises an all female show in August. Hopefully not featuring Phoenix.

IWF British Independent title – Assassin (c) v Cameron Knite

Apparently Assassin has been unbeaten in some time and has 22 successful title defences. He looks like Cameron Kraze with hair. Knite locks up but finds himself short in the power department. Knite gets up a head of speed and knocks Assassin down with a running forearm. Assassin takes a breather to show how much he’s in control of the situation. He calls for a test of strength and takes over from there. Knite reverses back on an arm ringer while the crowd take the piss by shouting “ooooooh” after everything. Those wacky Geordies. Knite hits his swinging neckbreaker at speed for 2. Assassin bails so Knite hits a suicide dive and the crowd is all “IWF, IWF, IWF”. Back inside Knite hits the High Crossbody for 2. Knite gets himself caught in the Fireman’s Carry Spinning Spinebuster and Assassin flips him over into the STF. Knite refuses to give it up. Delayed suplex from Assassin to make him think about his failure to tap. Wind Up HATEBREAKER! Knite has had the stuffing beaten out of him now and is showing no signs of recovery. Assassin pins for 2. Assassin is all ‘you’re having it now’. SIT OUT LAST RIDE…for 2. Knite foolishly attempts a comeback, eats a lariat and Assassin breaks out the Urinage Stunner and the Crucifix Stunner. Knite is out on his feet and the Downward Spiral gets…TWO. Knite just won’t stay down despite taking a bucketload of abuse. Knite gets out of more punishment and hits a Trifecta of Stunners for 2. Assassin is finally down though and up goes Knite looking for the finish but he misses with a senton bomb. They fuck up a reversal and repeat the spot with Knite hitting an Enzuigiri to avoid further retribution. Knite breaks out a flying headscissors to stay in touch. He flips up from a wheelbarrow into a DDT for 2. Well, that was his chance. Knite charges but Assassin goes with his momentum into a TKO for the pin at 14.16. ***1/4. It was a beating with Knite selling tremendously well. Assassin is highly effective throwing out power moves and Knite is great at bouncing around off those so the dynamic worked really well. Crowd chants “IWF” after the bell although this never approached a sense of epic. Crowd give them a Standing O. Hey, there’s Jeremy Vengeance!

Ring of Faith final – Weapon X v Jimmy Blade

Blade goes after his DDT but X throws him off. Blade has the advantage having only wrestled about 5 minutes to X’s 14. It’s appropriate then that he dominates the early proceedings. He hits a suplex and they both stay down. Bit early for that. X comes back with a crossbody for 2. Blade is now into his longest match of the night. He hooks up X’s arm and adds in an elbow drop for 2. X’s kickouts suck. Blade promptly pops off his Diamond Cutter…for 2. He goes for the DDT again but X suplexes out. Blade misses with knees off the top. X hits a load of American clotheslines. I bet Majik would hate those. X misses with a spear and hits the buckles. Apparently that doesn’t make the blindest bit of difference though as moments later he hits the spear for the win at 6.51. ½*. Well that was about the perfect way to finish off a bad tournament.

The 411: Horrendous tournament show booked entirely around a push for two guys, neither of which are particularly good at anything. The only worthwhile entertainment came from Assassin’s title defence against Cam Knite and some decent workrate from a few undercard guys who promptly got squashed by the big guys later on. Amazingly the IWF were more entertaining here than during the 3CW show where they looked out of their depth. Atkinson, Masters, Hot Ed and Bobby Jackson all looked capable while Assassin looked like a champion. It’s still not a good show but some of the workers showed more promise than before. Thumbs down.

Final Score:  3.0   [ Bad ]