Caged Fury on August 24th, 2013
Opening Match: RJ City vs. Sam Cassidy
This is City’s long-awaited debut in IWC. The man sings without music for his entrance so that’s cool. Cassidy is not impressed. Cassidy connects with a few punches and adds a dropkick. City hits an inverted atomic drop out of the corner and takes control with a back suplex. Cassidy fights back with a lariat and comes off the middle rope with an uppercut. He stunners out of a sleeper hold from City but eats a knee strike. City locks in a rear-naked choke for the win at 4:46. Watching City for the first time reminded me of watching Dalton Castle for the first time in IWC. There’s certainly something there and I look forward to seeing how City develops as a character in the promotion. This was just a squash for him, but it accomplished its goal of establishing City. *¼
Match #2: Bronco McBride and Matt Segaris vs. Chest Flexor and Brian McDowell
Flexor’s group is now known as the STDs (Sexy Talented Dudes). McBride snaps off an armdrag on McDowell, who responds with an eye rake. Flexor runs into the ring but gets caught by a few armdrags as well. Segaris connects with a missile dropkick on McDowell. The Blue Collar Slaughterhouse hip toss McDowell and connect with stereo boots to the head. Andrew Palace trips McBride from ringside and the STDs isolate him. Segaris tags into the match and cleans house with a spinebuster on Flexor. Marshall Gambino appears on the apron to distract the BCS. It doesn’t work, as the BCS hit a double team DDT on Flexor for the victory at 7:04. Marshall attacks the BCS after the match to setup their cage match tomorrow night. I think there’s a problem with how serious IWC wants us to take Flexor’s group. If they want to continue being silly, then it doesn’t make sense that they’d be able to give a team in tomorrow night’s main event a run for their money. If they want to become a serious group, they certainly aren’t acting like it. This match was just fine but mostly about the aftermath with Marshall’s involvement. *½
Match #3: Shane Strickland vs. Logan Shulo
They begin with some chain wrestling and find themselves at a stalemate. Strickland teases a shoulder block and connects with a mule kick. He follows with a dropkick and teases a dive to the floor. Strickland blocks an incoming charge with a gamengiri and lands a flying crossbody as the crowd comes alive. Shulo dodges a springboard maneuver and takes over. Strickland creates an opening by avoiding a senton. They exchange chops. Strickland ducks a lariat and connects with an enzuigiri. Both men are down. Strickland connects with a bicycle kick to the back of the head and hits a leaping DDT for a nearfall. Shulo shakes off a second DDT and connects with a high knee strike. Strickland tries a few rollups to no avail and kicks Shulo in the head once again. Shulo avoids a double stomp and connects with a huge lariat. Shulo adds his electric chair powerbomb for the win at 9:09. This was an extremely solid back and forth match given the time they had as Shulo makes his way back into the title picture. Strickland could certainly use a big win in IWC and this could have been it, but he continues to win over the crowd with his offense. **¾
Justin LaBar comes out for his interview segment. He introduces his guest, Zema Ion. Ion gives everyone an update on his injury. His appendix ruptured and he later found out that he had a tumor in his colon. Fortunately, the tumor was not cancerous and Ion will be back in the ring soon. RJ City interrupts. After initially paying respect to Ion, City starts accusing him of being a charity case. Ion gets into City’s face and promises that his first match back in IWC will be against City. City attacks Ion and leaves him laying in the ring.
Match #4: Bobby Fish vs. Ray Rowe
Rowe asserts his power advantage early on. Fish finds an opening to connect with a dropkick but spends too much time gloating. Rowe takes him down with back elbows and hits a delayed vertical suplex. Rowe connects with a few chops. Fish hits a nice gutbuster and takes control with a slingshot senton. He even northern lights suplexes Rowe into the turnbuckles at one point. They collide on stereo crossbody attempts and fall to the canvas. Rowe hits an exploder and connects with shotgun knees. He follows with a dead-lift german suplex for a nearfall. Fish responds with a nasty saito suplex and connects with a knockout kick for a two count. Rowe anticipates a knee strike and hits a one-armed powerbomb. Fish counters Death Rowe into a crucifix bomb for the victory at 11:43. This was the first time that we’ve seen Fish really fend for himself since joining Team Big League and pick up a big win (Rowe does not lose very often in IWC when he makes appearances). I enjoyed their match at Ring of Honor’s Honor in the Heart of Texas and I felt that they improved upon that contest here. They will be wrestling each other in a rematch on the next show and they gave themselves a solid foundation to build off of here. ***¼
Match #5: IWC Tag Team Titles: Colin Delaney and Keith Haught © vs. Jimmy Nutts and Joseph Brooks vs. Aiden Veil and Jordan Lennox
Before the match, Norm Connors chases Justin LaBar out of the ring to introduce his team. Connors claims that Team Big League will win tonight without any interference. Haught snaps off a japanese armdrag on Lennox. Color me impressed. The champions and WAR start dancing, so Team Big League comes in to break it up. The other teams make Nutts and Brooks dance. Haught tries to hold the ropes open for Delaney to dive, but he falls down. Delaney lands a dive to the floor anyway. In the ring, Nutts hits a chinbreaker on Haught and Team Big League isolate him. WAR eventually enters the ring and the match breaks down. Everyone connects with strikes. WAR take out Delaney with stereo enzuigiris. Haught and Delaney hit a double team senton on Veil. Brooks blind tags Nutts and rolls up Haught. Team Big League become the new IWC Tag Team Champions at 7:30. There were frequent moments of miscommunication that plagued this match. I never got the sense that Delaney and Haught clicked as a team the way that was intended, but them losing the titles should’ve been a bigger deal. The finish was an absolute mess, as not only did Team Big League steal the win, but there was some disagreement over who would do the honors of stealing the win. Now it seems as though we have tag team champions that aren’t fully on the same page. I think the tag team division needs some work moving forward. *½
Match #6: Loser Leaves IWC: Justin Idol vs. Super Hentai
The Founding Fathers accompany Hentai while HD Cannon accompanies Idol. CJ Sensation, current referee and former wrestler familiar with both participants, asks everyone to leave ringside. They charge at each other at the opening bell and exchange strikes. Hentai lands a crossbody and reigns down punches. Idol retreats to the floor, where Hentai takes him out with a dive from the middle rope. Hentai charges at ringside and Idol hits a spinebuster onto the entrance ramp. Idol runs into the ring and demands that the referee count. Sensation refuses to count Hentai out and says that this match must have a decisive finish. Idol rams Hentai into the barricade repeatedly. Hentai finds life with a nice dive to the floor. In the ring, Idol hits a backbreaker and takes control. Hentai comes back with his signature headbutt and connects with double knees. He hits rolling northern lights suplexes for a nearfall. Idol answers with a tiger suplex into the turnbuckles. He follows with a split-legged moonsault for a two count. Idol connects with a basement superkick and hits a basement flatliner. He connects with a charging knee strike for a nearfall. Hentai shrugs off a dragon suplex but runs into a knee strike. Hentai recovers with a running powerslam and hits a back suplex. He connects with double knees from the top rope for a nearfall. Idol catches him with a top-rope dragon suplex for a two count. Idol adds the Spirit Crusher for the win at 12:15. This was a shorter match than I expected, but the duration made sense given the severity of the offense that they were throwing at each other. Personally, I think both men still have a lot to contribute to IWC and Hentai will be missed. The crowd may have been unfamiliar with the amount of history involved in this match, but ultimately this contest will be a pleasure to watch for any fan who has followed these two throughout their careers in IWC. ***½
After the match, Dennis Gregory and Jimmy Vegas say goodbye to Hentai. Gregory tosses a Founding Fathers shirt to Idol, who isn’t sure how to react.
Match #7: IWC Super Indy Title: Cage Match: Facade © vs. Anthony Nese
Mark Madden joins commentary for the double main event, so that’s exciting. Facade snaps off a satellite headscissors and connects with a spin kick. He hurricanranas Nese off the top rope and to the canvas. Nese tries to escape to the floor, but the only way to win this match is by pinfall or submission. He slams the cage door into Facade. They exchange strikes around ringside. Nese hits a powerbomb into the cage and takes control back in the ring. Facade avoids a splash and comes back with another spin kick. He lands a springboard moonsault and repeatedly throws Nese into the cage walls. Nese responds with a pumphandle powerbomb for a nearfall. They trade kicks and both men are down. Nese dead-lifts Facade into a powerbomb into the cage wall. Facade fights off a superplex and hits a sunset bomb. He connects with a basement superkick and climbs to the top of the cage. Facade lands a splash from the top of the cage to retain his title at 14:53. I’m glad that Nese was able to get a rematch for the Super Indy Title, but this match just never clicked. I was failing to see why a cage match was even warranted here in the first place. Of course, every Facade cage match must end with him doing something from the top of the cage. The final spot looked incredibly awkward, as Facade could not gain his bearing on top of the cage and came down knees-first. Nese was impressive as usual but I think a straight singles contest would have been much better. **½
After the match, the lights go out in the building. Everyone expects Gory, but Ashton Amherst appears and hits the Ashton Experience on Facade.
Match #8: IWC World Heavyweight Title: Cage Match: John McChesney © vs. Dalton Castle
The only way to win this match is to escape the cage. Castle connects with a few clotheslines and hits a northern lights suplex. He follows with an overhead suplex. McChesney tries to climb but gets dropkicked into the cage wall. McChesney finds an opening to throw Castle into the cage and takes control. They battle over brass knuckles but McChesney hits a suplex to slow Castle down. Castle comes back with an overhead suplex. McChesney lays in a superkick. Castle back drops him to the canvas but eats another superkick. McChesney comes close to escaping but Castle stops him. They battle on the top rope and McChesney gets knocked down. Castle hits a sit-out slam and a nice dead-lift german suplex. He goes to climb the cage but Joseph Brooks runs out to stop him. Norm Connors and Jimmy Nutts come out to scold Brooks for interfering. Castle tries to climb the other side but Brooks runs around to stop him again. McChesney climbs out of the cage to retain his title at 14:11.
Where to begin? This could have been one of the most important matches in IWC history. It was built as the star from Norm Connors’ era of IWC (McChesney) versus the man who has broken out under Chuck Roberts’ current era of IWC (Castle). There were so many interesting things that could have happened here. I thought there might be a double turn, where McChesney gets sick of Connors taking credit for his group while Castle reaches his boiling point concerning his failure to win the world title. When Connors claimed earlier in the night that there would be no interference, I thought that this would be McChesney’s time to step up as someone who was now above having to utilize Team Big League’s interference. What we received was the same old booking from McChesney’s title reign and a relatively short main event on one of the biggest shows of the year. Not to mention that Team Big League interfered after the crowd was promised no interference. I’m sure this all leads to something; perhaps Connors gets upset at Brooks and leaves Team Big League. But I’m tired of everything leading to something and I want some kind of payoff. I can’t help but see this match as a failed opportunity. The worst part? Dalton Castle, the most unique wrestler I’ve seen in years, has been absolutely neutered and now garners very little reaction from the crowd, which I thought was impossible. I apologize for the rant, but I wanted to give those that don’t necessarily follow IWC thoroughly a chance to see where my thoughts were on the big picture. **½
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