Super Indy

Super Indy XII on June 15th, 2013

The show begins with the participants of Super Indy XII in the ring for a group picture. Gory appears on the balcony and stares down at everyone. We cut backstage to Justin Plummer. He runs into Justin Idol and a group of his new students. Plummer asks him what he’s doing here after crumbling up his contract last month. Idol brushes him off and walks away.


Opening Match: First Round: Facade vs. Jimmy Rave

Rave stalls early on. Facade kips up out of a headscissors and they trade control on the mat. They battle over a knucklelock and Facade sneaks in a quick victory roll for a nearfall. Facade slingshots off the ropes and snaps off an armdrag. Rave continually becomes frustrated when he can’t figure out Facade’s offense. Rave connects with a lariat and gains control. Facade fights back with a series of kicks. Rave retreats to the floor, where Facade takes him out with a springboard dive. In the ring, Facade connects with a springboard spin kick. Rave escapes a german suplex but gets caught by another springboard kick. Rave hits From Dusk till Dawn and connects with a shining wizard for a nearfall. The action goes to the apron where Facade connects with a superkick. Facade charges but runs into an STO onto the apron. He is barely able to beat the ten-count. Facade walks across the top rope for a dive but Rave catches him with a jackknife pin for a two count. Rave misses another shining wizard and Facade rolls him up for the win at 14:17. Rave was all about making Facade look strong and I would love to see him be brought back. I’ve mentioned that Rave is the type of wrestler you want to give a big storyline to work with and I think he’d be a good fit in IWC. You never really know what you’re going to get from Facade but he worked well with Rave to deliver a solid opener. ***


Match #2: First Round: Bobby Fish vs. Extreme Tiger

Fish circles the ring and starts yelling Spanish phrases at Tiger. He asserts his power advantage early on by shoving Tiger out of the ring. Tiger connects with a dropkick and teases a dive. Fish shoves the referee into the ropes to crotch Tiger and dragon screw leg whips him to the canvas. Fish takes control and works over the left leg. Tiger fights back by trapping Fish in some crazy gory special variant. Tiger connects with a tiger feint kick and lands a split-legged corkscrew splash. Fish hits a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Tiger snaps off an armdrag and rolls up Fish for the victory at 9:32. I know Tiger traveled a long way to compete in Super Indy, but it’s sad to see Fish get eliminated. Tiger brought exactly what you’d expect to the table and Fish complimented him well. The finish felt a bit abrupt and hopefully the rollups don’t become a trend tonight. A decent showcase that could have been better with more time. **½


Match #3: Corey Hollis vs. HD Cannon vs. “Mr. 450” Hammett vs. Mike Rayne

The winner will automatically advance to the semifinal round to face Anthony Nese. Hollis runs his mouth and everyone teams up on him. Rayne connects with a dropkick on Hammett. Hammett recovers with an asai moonsault to the floor onto all three of his opponents. In the ring, Hollis dodges a flying crossbody attempt from Hammett and works him over while keeping Cannon and Rayne on the outside. The action eventually breaks down after a tower of doom spot in the corner. Cannon plants Hollis with a spinebuster but Hollis responds with a reverse backbreaker. Rayne connects with a double missile dropkick on Cannon and Hollis. Hollis knocks Rayne and Cannon to the floor. Hammett connects with a gamengiri on Hollis and lands a 450 splash for the win at 7:33. This was just a quick way to showcase some more talent on the biggest show of the year. I think Hammett was the right choice, although Hollis impressed as well. **


Match #4: First Round: Kyle Matthews vs. Gory

They trade control on the mat and Matthews synchs in a muta lock. He snaps off a satellite headscissors. Gory blocks a dive with a forearm smash and connects with a springboard dropkick. He takes over until Matthews hits a chinbreaker and lands a dive to the floor. In the ring, Matthews lands a flying crossbody. Gory snaps his neck across the top rope and hits a slingshot lungblower. Matthews connects with an enzuigiri along with a basement superkick. He hits a flatliner for a two count. They battle over a tombstone and Gory hits Trepidation for the victory at 8:18. This was another match that could have been better with more time, but that’s the breaks with a one-night tournament. Matthews gave a terrific performance here and it’s a shame that the crowd didn’t give him more of a reaction. Perhaps it was the inevitability of Gory’s win, but Matthews is another individual that I would like to see back. **½


Match #5: First Round: ACH vs. Shane Strickland

They have a dance-off before the match, which Strickland wins with his best Carlton Banks impersonation. Strickland snaps off a headscissors. They dodge each other’s kicks. ACH backs Strickland into the corner and connects with a chop. Strickland dodges a lariat, snaps off another headscissors, and connects with a corner yakuza kick. ACH answers with a basement lariat and lands a flying crossbody. He takes control until Strickland fights back with a few strikes. They cut-off each other’s dives. ACH is finally able to land a kick-flip dive to the floor. Strickland sends him into the guardrail. He connects with an axe kick to the back of the head in the ring. Strickland follows with an electric chair lungblower for a nearfall. ACH blocks a charge with a gamengiri and hits a slingshot ace crusher for a two count. Strickland dazes him on the top rope with an enzuigiri and hits a super falcon arrow. They exchange kicks. ACH gets the advantage with a punt to the head and hits a sick implant DDT for the win at 13:40. The vibe I got coming into this show was that the majority of the fans were most excited to see Extreme Tiger. ACH quickly made them change their minds. I can’t ever remember these two having a singles match and this one was as good as expected. They put a lot into their strikes, showcased their unique offenses, and the dance-off at the beginning made sure the crowd was with them. This was easily the most enjoyable first round match. ***½

Justin LaBar comes out for a live edition of Chairshot Reality. Before he can talk for very long, an angry Marshall Gambino comes out to interrupt. Marshall makes LaBar leave the ring and challenges the Blue Collar Slaughterhouse to a street fight next month at Proving Grounds 2.


Match #6: Semifinal Round: Anthony Nese vs. “Mr. 450” Hammett

Since Nese is the reigning Super Indy Champion, he received a bye into the semifinal round. Hammett springboards into an armdrag. He snaps off a hurricanrana and Nese narrowly avoids a roundhouse kick. Nese retreats to the floor and argues with a child in the front row. Hammett lands two consecutive dives. Nese blocks a third dive and wheelbarrow slams Hammett into the apron. The champion takes control until Hammett blocks a lionsault with knees. Hammett hits a bulldog and comes off the middle rope with an elbow drop. He follows with a basement DDT. Nese misses a spin kick but gets caught by an enzuigiri. He takes Hammett over with a pumphandle suplex. They trade forearms and Hammett connects with a knockout kick. Nese can’t quite get the dead-lift powerbomb but he hits a jig’n tonic for the victory at 10:23. This was a decent back and forth match that never quite reached a higher level. I don’t think anyone saw Nese not making the finals, so the crowd wasn’t as hot for Hammett’s offense as they could have been. **½


Match #7: Semifinal Round: Facade vs. Extreme Tiger

Neither man is able to gain the advantage on the mat. Tiger eventually uses some innovative stretches and Facade does his best to escape. They exchange kicks and armdrags. Both men attempt a dropkick at the same time and we’re at a stalemate. Facade walks the ropes and snaps off an armdrag. Tiger hits an implant DDT. Facade fools him with a headstand in the corner and snaps off a headscissors. Tiger answers with a german suplex and a swinging neckbreaker onto the floor. Facade slows him down with a superkick and takes him out with a double-jump dive. Facade tries to walk the ropes again but gets dropkicked to the floor. Tiger drapes him across the guardrail and comes off the top rope with a guillotine leg drop. Back in, Tiger connects with a basement superkick and a missile dropkick. Facade responds with a springboard kick and applies the Dreadlock for the win at 10:36. I guess this was fun in the car-crash sense, but it just felt like a worse version of ACH/Strickland. There were little instances of miscommunication that hurt the flow of the action throughout. Like I said, I know Tiger traveled pretty far to compete in Super Indy, but Bobby Fish would have made for a much better opponent for Facade. I also didn’t like that Facade won with the Dreadlock despite never touching Tiger’s neck, especially because Tiger used some submissions in the opening minute that seemed much more threatening. This has all been longwinded, but you have to be careful when progressing a big babyface through a tournament. **


Match #8: Semifinal Round: Gory vs. ACH

ACH holds onto a side headlock, not sure what to make of Gory. He hits a bulldog and rolling suplexes. Gory takes control with some of his normal tactics, such as biting and scratching at the eyes. Gory connects with a dropkick and hits a crossbody. ACH takes advantage of him slipping on a springboard attempt and lands a corkscrew plancha to the floor. In the ring, Gory comes off the middle rope with a lungblower. ACH responds with a swinging backbreaker and an exploder. Gory slows him down with a low blow behind the referee’s back and rolls up ACH for the victory at 8:30. The match was fine but the finish took the wind out of everyone’s sails. The crowd loved ACH, so him being eliminated was deflating enough, but that’s not the problem. Why does Gory need to be cheating? Blood drips out of his mouth at times and he once brought a Freddy Krueger claw to a match. A fun first round has been followed by an odd semifinals. **


Match #9: Andrew Palace vs. Super Hentai

Chest Flexor and company are in Palace’s corner. Hentai snaps off a nice satellite headscissors. Palace whiffs on a crossbody attempt and Hentai lands a dive to the floor. Hentai fights off Palace’s associates at ringside but falls victim to a neckbreaker in the ring. Palace takes over until he spends too much time on the top rope and gets crotched. Hentai hits a superplex followed by a back suplex. Hentai adds rolling northern lights suplexes for the win at 7:52. After the match, Justin Idol challenges the Founding Fathers to a six-man tag team match at Proving Grounds 2. This was an extended squash for Hentai, but an entertaining one at that. Hentai showcased some offense that we haven’t seen from him in awhile and his demeanor fit with the current storyline of him being the weak link in the Founding Fathers. *¾


Match #10: John McChesney, Joseph Brooks, and Jimmy Nutts vs. Logan Shulo and Dalton Castle

If Shulo and Castle win, whoever won the match will receive a title shot against McChesney at Caged Fury. However, if they lose, they will never receive another title shot while McChesney is champion. Nutts and Brooks don’t fare very well early on as Shulo and Castle work together without any tension. McChesney gets back dropped to the floor onto his teammates. Shulo follows out with a springboard dive. Upon reentering the ring, Brooks catches Shulo with a flatliner and Team Big League isolate him. Shulo hits a huge superplex on McChesney and makes the tag. Castle connects with a running knee strike on Brooks and lands a dive to the outside onto Nutts. Shulo lays out Brooks with a discus lariat. McChesney hits a TKO on Shulo. Castle connects with a missile dropkick on McChesney. Shulo and Castle hit a flying double stomp-powerslam combination on Brooks. They battle over who should pin Brooks. Shulo hits his electric chair powerbomb on Brooks. Castle blind-tags into the match. He catches McChesney in mid-air with a german suplex. Norm Connors jumps onto the apron but Shulo kicks him to the floor. Castle hits a dead-lift german suplex on Nutts for the victory at 13:00. This was an enjoyable non-tournament match that worked in a lot of storyline elements. Castle being able to steal the win away from Shulo while he was too preoccupied with Norm was brilliant, as Shulo obtained his revenge at a cost he didn’t want to incur. Castle should take the title in August since Team Big League has looked pitiful since forming. **¾


Match #11: Final Round: IWC Super Indy Title: Elimination: Anthony Nese © vs. Facade vs. Gory

Facade connects with a spin kick on Nese and lands a nice dive to the floor onto both of his opponents. Nese prevents Gory from diving and lands a fosbury flop to the outside. The man landed on his feet. Nese throws Gory into the ringpost and works over Facade in the ring. Gory reenters the ring with double knees on Nese. Gory lands an awesome twisting crossbody to the floor onto both of his opponents. He tries to hurricanrana Facade from the apron to the floor, but Facade counters with a powerbomb onto the apron. Back in, Gory recovers with an implant DDT on Nese, who responds with a spider german suplex. Facade walks the ropes and connects with an elbow drop on Nese. All three men are down. Gory hits the QAS on Nese. Facade and Gory hit a lungblower-german suplex combination on Nese. Buddy Moonsault!! Gory tries to spit mist into Facade’s face, but Facade ducks and the referee catches the mist. Gory is disqualified at 8:58. Gory low blows Facade on his way out of the ring. Nese and Facade matrix to avoid each other’s strikes. Nese connects with a stiff superkick for a nearfall. Facade recovers with a shining wizard. Nese ducks a roundhouse kick and hits a one-armed bucklebomb. Facade dazes him on the top rope with a kick. Facade hits a super Arashikage Driver to win Super Indy XII and become the new Super Indy Champion at 13:19. Facade and Gory have been feuding since December 2011 and their interactions added a lot to this contest. I cannot believe the fans didn’t explode when they hit the Buddy Moonsault, but maybe I’m just weird. Anyway, their hesitant teamwork to accomplish a shared goal and Gory’s obsession with hurting Facade costing him the title were both very well done. The wrestling itself was solid as well and I’ll be sad to see Nese leave IWC if this is his final appearance for awhile. Facade wouldn’t have been my first choice to win Super Indy this year, but he was apart of two quality matches tonight. ***¼

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