Survival Mode on March 10th, 2012
A video package is shown highlighting the featured matches on the card, including Scott Parker vs. Shank Barzini, Christian Rose vs. Cash Bordin, Matt Cage vs. A.T. Brooks, and the main event of Joey O'Riley vs. Alex Castle.
Opening Match: Christian Rose vs. Cash Bordin
Rose takes down Bordin with a shoulder tackle and runs around ringside claiming that Bordin doesn't belong in IWAU. Bordin quickly returns the favor with a shoulder tackle of his own. They battle over a knucklelock and Bordin snaps off a few armdrags. Rose snaps his left shoulder across the top rope and kicks away at it. Bordin hits a butterfly suplex but gets tripped up on the apron. Rose kicks him in the face and connects with a hard elbow strike on the floor. He throws Bordin into the barricade and uses a rope to choke him. Rose takes control in the ring until Bordin slams his left leg into the ringpost repeatedly. Bordin hits a knee-DT and continues to work over the left leg. Rose responds with an elbow strike but his leg gives out on him during a suplex attempt. Bordin finds success with a dragon screw leg whip and applies a half crab. Rose is able to reach the bottom rope. Bordin follows with a boston crab but Rose powers out of the hold. Rose locks in a boston crab of his own. Bordin reaches the ropes. He connects with a lariat and comes off the middle rope with a double stomp for a nearfall. Rose answers with a double stomp out of the corner. Bordin avoids a charge but gets caught in the tree of woe. Rose connects with a flying double stomp and pulls Bordin's shoulder off the canvas during the pin attempt. He knocks down Bordin with a roaring elbow but refuses to pin him. Rose does it again. Bordin keeps getting to his feet. He rolls up Rose for a two count. Rose connects with a flash kick. They trade slaps and kicks. Rose is bleeding above his eye. Rose connects with another roaring elbow but once again refuses to go for the pin. Bordin ducks yet another roaring elbow and sneaks in a backslide for the win at 16:54. This was the best performance that I’ve seen from Rose since I’ve started watching IWAU. His strikes were on point and his facial expressions and mannerisms went a long way in putting over the story of the match. There were numerous points throughout the contest where they tried to one-up each other and the strike exchange towards the end of the match put an exclamation point on their rivalry. The action was consistent and they were able to make a clichéd finish (Rose pulling Bordin’s shoulders off the mat during pin attempts only for it to backfire) exciting. This was a great way to start the show. ***½
A bloodied and disgruntled Rose stands in the ring as the crowd chants “you got beat” at him. Rose says that he's upset about losing and he's even more upset about the crowd's reaction towards him. A year ago, the crowd loved him because he was apart of the movement to defend IWAU. Rose blames IWAU for allowing people like Bordin on their roster. He vows to lead the charge to destroy IWAU.
Match #2: Scott Parker vs. Shank Barzini
Jason V provides a distraction so Parker can attack Barzini from behind. They continue to attack him and lay him out with a double team DDT. Barzini throws Jason to the floor and clotheslines Parker. Blake Reed runs down to ringside and powerbombs Barzini into the barricade. He hits Barzini with a cookie sheet and a garbage can. Reed follows with a big corner splash and a piledriver on the floor. He hits Barzini repeatedly with a chair. Parker tells Reed that he's earned himself a paycheck. Reed slams Barzini onto a propped chair and then powerbombs him onto the floor. Parker celebrates with Reed as they head to the back. Barzini gets carried out on a stretcher. This was more of a segment than any kind of match. Parker has been running from Barzini for quite some time and it made sense for him to hire Reed to do his dirty work. The crowd was 100% behind Barzini and I can only imagine the response that he'll receive when he finally gets his revenge on Parker.
Match #3: IWAU Club Title: Matt Cage © vs. A.T. Brooks
Cage applies his wrist tape before the opening bell and nonchalantly shoves Brooks, seemingly not taking him seriously. He spits at Brooks and slaps him in the face. Brooks refuses to take a cheap shot. Cage connects with a series of chops and Brooks finally fires back. Cage maintains control of a side headlock and hits a senton. Brooks catches him with a dropkick but gets taken down by a leg lariat. Cage avoids a plancha but gets back dropped onto the floor. They battle on the apron where Cage hits a back suplex. He takes control in the ring until Brooks connects with a springboard forearm smash. Cage responds with shotgun knees. He out-strikes Brooks and applies a sleeper hold. Brooks backs him into the corner and just punches him in the face. Brooks connects with an enzuigiri and a gamengiri. He attempts a flying crossbody but Cage catches him. Brooks reverses a spinning uranagi into an impressive tornado DDT. He reigns down punches after a thesz press and hits a senton. Cage synchs in an STO but Brooks rolls through. Cage connects with a yakuza kick and lays in more chops. Brooks gets fired up and connects with two knockout kicks. He kicks Cage in the face and hits a straight jacket backcracker for a nearfall. Cage finds life after a stunner and a fisherman neckbreaker. He connects with a knockout kick and arrogantly covers Brooks for a one count. Brooks blocks a charge. Cage counters a chinbreaker into a sleeper hold. Brooks is able to grab the bottom rope. Cage connects with a flying elbow drop but falls victim to a chinbreaker. Brooks hits an inverted DDT. Cage responds with a leaping russian leg sweep and brings a chair into the ring. Brooks blocks a chair shot and hits Cage with the chair. Cage comes back with a bucklebomb, a knockout kick, and a lariat. He follows with a running knee strike for a nearfall. Cage applies another sleeper hold to retain his title at 21:14. Despite Brooks being portrayed as the underdog fighting for the veteran's respect, the crowd was clearly behind Cage. Still, as the match progressed, Brooks found his stride and started garnering some cheers. Due to the odd dynamic that I mentioned, the match got off to a slow start but really picked up down the stretch. There's no denying that it took Cage's best to put Brooks away and he definitely came out of this match for the better. ***¼
Cage begins to leave but Brooks calls him back into the ring. Brooks says that he's not leaving until Cage respects him. Cage replies that while he doesn't like Brooks, he respects him tonight. They forcefully shake hands and Cage tells Brooks to grow up. Brooks hesitantly walks to the back. Christian Rose sneaks into the ring and boots Cage. Rose lays him out with a falcon arrow and a roaring elbow to the back of the head.
Match #4: Lumberjack Strap Match: Zach Sawyer vs. Billy Hills
Sawyer attacks before the opening bell. Hills tries to throw him to the outside but he holds onto the ropes. Sawyer eventually finds himself on the floor and the lumberjacks attack him. In the ring, Hills hits a suplex but gets caught by a kick. Sawyer takes over until Hills back drops him to the outside. The straps come into play once again. Hills gets sent to the floor but the lumberjacks don't attack him. Sawyer is in disbelief. Hills connects with a lariat. Sawyer escapes a half nelson suplex and finds success with an enzuigiri. He steals a strap and uses it against Hills. Hills gets fired up and connects with another lariat for the victory at 9:44. The crowd wanted to see the lumberjacks use their straps on Sawyer and that's exactly what happened. The stipulation probably hurt the in-ring action, but they played with it effectively enough to make the match somewhat enjoyable. *¾
Jimmy Karryt makes his way to the ring. This is his debut in IWAU. He’s dressed in a suit and wearing what look to be expensive sunglasses. He makes the ring announcer prop a chair at ringside so he can use it to enter the ring. Karryt calls the talent in IWAU overrated and accuses the crowd of applauding mediocrity. He claims that he will take over IWAU and his takeover begins at the next show.
Match #5: Reed Bentley vs. Kyle Sykes
They exchange forearms and Sykes connects with a leg lariat. He lands a moonsault to the floor onto Bentley. Back in, Sykes hits a corkscrew leg drop and a uranagi. He follows with a dead-lift german suplex. Bentley avoids a charge and connects with a running knee strike. He hits a senton and takes control. Sykes fights back with a spin kick and a forearm smash. Bentley responds with a gamengiri and applies a dragon sleeper. Bentley hits a fisherman buster for a nearfall. They exchange forearms and Bentley hits another fisherman buster for the win at 5:31. While the match was designed to highlight Bentley, Sykes put in a solid performance as well. I think some more time would have helped matters, but as it is this was an energetic showcase. **¼
Match #6: IWAU Heavyweight Title: Joey O’Riley © vs. Alex Castle
Castle has a ton of momentum after winning his feud against Christian Rose. They trade control of a wristlock. O'Riley attempts a quick small package to no avail. He avoids a facebuster and hits a bulldog. O'Riley lands a standing moonsault but gets caught by a stiff mule kick. Castle hits a half nelson slam. O'Riley answers with a slingshot tornado DDT. Castle blocks a charge with a superkick and suplexes O'Riley into the turnbuckles. O'Riley recovers by locking in a crossface. Castle turns the hold into a pin attempt for a two count. O'Riley connects with a knockout kick and hits a stroke. He misses a 450 splash and falls victim to an ace crusher. That only gets Castle a nearfall. O'Riley hits a chinbreaker and connects with an enzuigiri. Castle responds with a superkick and a saito suplex. He adds another superkick and hits a bucklebomb for a two count. Castle follows with another bucklebomb but walks into a roaring mafia kick. O'Riley retains his title at 10:51. This match featured constant back and forth action, which may have been a smart plan as these are two are crowd favorites. There were a lot of nice, fluid exchanges throughout the course of this contest and they were able to generate a few believable nearfalls down the stretch despite the short duration. While they were restricted a bit match quality-wise by the length, they made the most out of their eleven minutes. The finish also leaves room for a rematch, as Castle could argue that he was simply caught off-guard by O'Riley's kick. ***
Christian Rose charges the ring and hits a gutbuster on O'Riley followed by a torture rack backbreaker. He delivers a roaring elbow to the back of Castle's head. He also takes out the referee. Matt Cage runs into the ring but Rose knocks him down with a roaring elbow. Rose walks to the back standing tall as everyone recovers at ringside.
Overall: Survival Mode was a pretty consistent card where the three matches that I expected to come through did so. Christian Rose had a great performance in the opener and both title matches were worthwhile. Perhaps the biggest happening on this show was the start of Rose's movement to destroy IWAU. This storyline looks to last throughout 2012 and it started on this show. While WAR last month definitely had a higher match quality, I can still give this show a slight recommendation due to three solid contests and the start of a major storyline. I'll be curious to see how Rose progresses in the coming months.
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