Retro Reunion on October 19th, 2013
Opening Match: Paul London and Jordan Lennox vs. Pete Dunne and Mark Andrews
London was a last-minute addition but certainly helps the “Retro Reunion” concept. Dunne and Lennox begin with some chain wrestling. Team UK start working over Lennox’s left arm. Lennox is really showing some great mat wrestling here. London double stomps Dunne’s arm and takes out Andrews with a springboard moonsault. Lennox and London show some off some double team maneuvers. Lennox snaps off a satellite headscissors on Dunne. Andrews blind tags into the match and connects with a tiger feint kick on Lennox. Team UK isolate him until he connects with a clothesline on Andrews and makes the tag. London connects with a spin kick on Dunne followed by a leg lariat. Andrews catches London with a gamengiri but he recovers with a dropsault on Dunne. Andrews lands a standing corkscrew splash onto London. Team UK hit a springboard dropkick-german suplex combination on London for a nearfall. Lennox and London connect with stereo superkicks on Andrews. London lands a shooting star press onto Andrews for the win at 10:07. This was an energetic opener that certainly made good use of the special guests. Lennox looked great in the ring and he undoubtedly proved that he belonged in the ring with the likes of London. I can’t recall a better opener in IWC over the past year of shows. ***¼
Dalton Castle comes out and expresses his anger towards Team Big League. He apologizes to the IWC fans for not winning the world title. Castle promises to defeat his hand-picked opponent tonight and assures everyone that he will defeat John McChesney during their next meeting. Castle informs McChesney that his opponent tonight will be fellow Team Big League member Bobby Fish!
Match #2: RJ City vs. Bobby Shields
Shields with short hair looks eerily like BJ Whitmer. City holds onto a side headlock before getting caught by a dropkick. Shields snaps off a few armdrags. City side-steps another armdrag and kicks Shields in the head. City drapes him across the top rope and takes control. Shields comes back with a flying crossbody but City immediately cuts him off with a neckbreaker. Shields connects with a corner yakuza kick and hits a falcon arrow. City blocks a charge and tries a rollup with his feet on the ropes for a two count. Shields hits a jawbreaker but City applies Good Night Everybody for the victory at 8:24. This was a smartly-wrestled match that really highlighted City’s strengths. City claiming that he’s putting the entertainment back into professional wrestling yet using a sleeper hold as a finisher is brilliant. The match centered around that hold, as Shields tried his best to avoid it. When City was finally able to lock in the sleeper, he won the match. Both men showed real promise and I wouldn’t mind seeing Shields back in IWC. **¾
After the match, Zema Ion appears on the screen and reveals that he’s not in California for Bound for Glory – he’s here! City turns around and sees Ion in the ring. City immediately runs to the back. Ion announces that he will face City at Winner Takes All in December. Tonight, however, Ion will be wrestling Facade for the Super Indy Title.
Match #3: Jimmy Vegas vs. HD Cannon
They aggressively lockup. Cannon hits a spinebuster and kicks Vegas to the floor. Justin Idol distracts his own student, allowing Vegas to take over. Cannon fights back during a strike exchange but runs into a huge spear from Vegas. Vegas follows with a half nelson slam and an olympic slam. Vegas reigns down punches and refuses to stop. The referee disqualifies him at 6:21. Cannon may have gotten injured at some point during the match. The action was just okay before the finish, as this feud seems to be in limbo. *¾
Justin LaBar comes out for a live Chairshot Reality segment. He calls out Norm Connors, which typically isn’t a good move. Connors makes his entrance to a song entitled “Shut Up,” which is fantastic. LaBar argues that he had nothing to do with Shane Taylor’s appearance at the last show since he was not in the building. Connors says that he saw talent in Team Big League and wanted to see how they fared without any interference. He says the only member of Team Big League that has kept in touch with him is Jimmy Nutts. Connors tells LaBar that he’ll never take Team Big League away from him. Chuck Roberts interrupts and yells at both men. Roberts tells Connors that he has one more chance to earn his trust. John McChesney comes out in protest of having to wrestle Bobby Fish tonight. McChesney informs everyone that Dalton Castle will wrestle Dennis Gregory tonight. The segment ends with Connors telling Roberts that he can trust him.
Match #4: IWC Super Indy Title: Facade © vs. Shiima Xion
We’re back to Shiima Xion instead of Zema Ion tonight either because tonight is Retro Reunion or he’s done with TNA. Xion gets the better of a few opening exchanges. Facade matrixes to avoid a clothesline and connects with a spin kick. Xion avoids an early Dreadlock attempt. Facade snaps off an armdrag out of the corner and kicks Xion off the apron. Xion stops him from diving but runs into another spin kick. Xion trips Facade in the corner and takes control. Facade fights back with a springboard spin kick. Xion blocks a charge but eats a springboard gamengiri. Facade hits an STO and connects with multiple kicks. Xion hits a chinbreaker but Facade responds with a backbreaker. They battle up top. Facade walks the ropes but misses a dropkick. Xion connects with a superkick and synchs in a crossface. Facade reaches the ropes. He kicks Xion off the apron once again and follows out with a double-jump dive. In the ring, Facade walks the ropes and connects with a dropkick. Xion flips out of the Arashikage Driver and sneaks in a rollup for a nearfall. They tease finishers and Xion hits From Lust to Dust for a two count. Facade avoids a 450 splash and applies the Dreadlock. Xion counters into a cross armbreaker. Facade is able to get his feet across the bottom rope. Xion pulls him back into the center of the ring and synchs in a crossface to become the new Super Indy Champion at 15:19. These two have been in IWC together for quite some time and had solid chemistry as a result. Xion was able to match the flashiness of Facade’s offense so it appeared as though the match came down to who had the better mat wrestling game. I thought this contest put the Super Indy Title in the spotlight, which doesn’t always happen on bigger shows. The prospect of Xion as champion excites me much more than Facade and Xion also has a plethora of fresh matchups moving forward. ***½
RJ City tries to attack Xion after the match but Facade stops him. Xion celebrates with his new title.
Match #5: IWC Tag Team Titles: Jimmy Nutts and Joseph Brooks © vs. Flip Kendrick and Louis Lyndon
Nutts retreats to the ropes to escape an early flurry from Lyndon. Lyndon hurricanranas Nutts, who quickly tags out. Brooks receives a hurricanrana as well and eats a spin kick. Kendrick lands a slingshot splash onto Brooks. He dropkicks Nutts and lands a standing flipping senton. Brooks low bridges Lyndon to the floor and rams him into the ringpost. Team Big League isolate him. Kendrick tags into the match with a springboard crossbody on Brooks and follows with a springboard dropkick. Lyndon knees Nutts to the floor follows out with a moonsault. Kendrick hits a springboard sliced bread on Brooks for a nearfall. Brooks tries to rollup Kendrick while holding onto the ropes but the referee stops him. Brooks fights off a tornado DDT from Kendrick and rolls him up while holding his tights. Team Big League retain their titles at 10:14. Nutts appears to have injured his ankle and is down for awhile after the match. Aeroform showcased their impressive offense while Team Big League provided them with a solid base. Although Brooks cheating to win fits with the current storyline, I’m getting the sense that the crowd is growing tired of these finishes. **½
Match #6: Dalton Castle vs. Dennis Gregory
If Castle wins, he will receive a title shot against John McChesney at Winner Takes All. Castle grounds Gregory before hitting a double underhook suplex. He lands a series of splashes. Gregory avoids a charge and Castle falls to the floor. Castle swings through an irish whip and snaps off a hurricanrana on the floor. He tries to suplex Gregory over the top rope, but Gregory rolls through and trips Castle on the apron. Gregory takes control, working over the midsection. Castle powers out of a cobra clutch and rams Gregory into the turnbuckles. Both men are down. Castle connects with a series of clotheslines and hits a pumphandle suplex for a nearfall. Castle follows with a dead-lift german suplex for another two count. Gregory counters a second with a quick rollup to no avail. Castle hits a sit-out slam and follows with two more german suplexes for the win at 9:46. I think people underestimate Gregory all of the time. He’s still extremely capable of delivering solid matches and this was a great example of that. He did his best to slow down Castle and it truly felt as though Castle had to earn his title shot. I really enjoyed this contest for what it was. **¾
Match #7: Shane Taylor vs. Chest Flexor, Brian McDowell, Andrew Palace, and Corey Futuristic
Taylor powerslams Futuristic to eliminate him. Taylor spinebusters Palace onto Flexor to eliminate Palace. Taylor splashes Flexor to send him packing. Taylor and McDowell trade forearms. McDowell avoids a corner splash and grabs a pumpkin out of his bowling ball bag. He starts freaking out over the missing bowling ball. Taylor hits him with the pumpkin and connects with a lariat for the victory at 4:02. How is anyone supposed to take Flexor’s group seriously? That’s a shame, especially because McDowell and Palace have shown real promise in the ring.
Match #8: John McChesney vs. Bobby Fish
If McChesney wins, Norm Connors will choose the stipulation for the McChesney/Castle match at Winner Takes All. They hug each other before Fish tries a quick rollup to no avail. McChesney seems absolutely beside himself over the whole situation. Fish doesn’t break a submission until the four count and McChesney takes offense. They trade control of a side headlock. Fish strikes first with a dropkick. He tries a few quick pin attempts and snaps off a hurricanrana. Fish hits a back suplex and grounds McChesney with a headlock. McChesney creates an opening with a basement dropkick and goes to work on Fish’s left knee. After some time, Fish returns the favor by working over McChesney’s left knee. He lays in a kick with his good leg. Fish hits an exploder into the turnbuckles. McChesney recovers with a sharpshooter but Fish is able to reach the bottom rope. Fish goes up top but Shane Taylor appears at ringside. McChesney sneaks in a rollup with his feet on the ropes for the win at 16:53. The action was fine and well-executed, but the more interesting part of the match was the dynamic between both men. Ever since Fish shook Ray Rowe’s hand, McChesney has felt uncomfortable with him in Team Big League and they did a good job of getting that point across here. Unfortunately, I thought they had another five or so minutes left in them when the finish occurred, but they had a nice outing here that left plenty of room for a rematch. It’s still a bit disturbing that McChesney just cannot win a match cleanly. ***
Norm Connors comes out to question the interference. Dalton Castle runs through the crowd and hits a dead-lift german suplex on McChesney. Connors informs Castle that at Winner Takes All, he will be the special guest referee. He also claims that anyone who interferes will be fired on the spot. Castle ends the show with the IWC World Heavyweight Title in his grasp.
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