Violence is the Answer 2013 on December 7th, 2013 in Ybor City, Florida
Opening Match: David Starr vs. Josh Hess
Mister Saint Laurent is back at ringside scouting Starr. Laurent claims that he will soon have control of the FIP World Heavyweight Title. Lenny Leonard once again calls Hess “John Hess.” If this is a running joke that started before this weekend, someone let me know. Starr lays in a few chops in the corner and military presses Hess to the floor. Starr takes over in the ring until Hess hits a rolling neckbreaker to zero crowd response. Starr quickly responds with a roaring elbow for the win at 5:03. I was much less confused watching Hess this time knowing that I need not take him seriously. Starr looked solid this weekend, although I’m curious to see how he fares against stronger competition. *
Match #2: Jon and Trey Williams vs. Eddie Graves and Teddy Stigma
The Washington Bullets attempt to work over Graves’ left arm but he fights them off. The man has been scouting. Stigma runs into an armdrag from Trey. Some miscommunication by Graves and Stigma allow the Bullets to connect with stereo bicycle kicks. They follow with some double team offense on Stigma. Graves interjects himself and starts working over Jon. Jon creates some space with a chinbreaker on Graves and makes the tag. Trey hits a leg-liner on Stigma and stomps Graves into the canvas. Jon lawn darts Graves into a corner kick from Trey. Graves hits Sole Food on Jon followed by an assisted neckbreaker. Jon hits a backcracker on Stigma and Trey follows with an ace crusher for the victory at 12:22. Though Graves and Stigma functioned well in the six-man tag team match on the last show, it seemed like the Bullets were having a difficult time working with them in this match. As a result, twelve minutes felt way too long for what they were going for here. At the very least, the right team won and I hope to see the Bullets on future FIP shows. *½
Graves and Stigma attack the Bullets after the match. Graves tells everyone that they’re done playing nice and its time to get serious.
Match #3: Earl Cooter vs. Maxwell Chicago
Chicago lectures Cooter before the match on how to take wrestling seriously. Cooter attacks from behind but receives an eye poke for his troubles. Chicago hits a seated senton and successfully kips up after a few tries. Cooter comes off the middle rope with a lariat and takes control. Chicago comes back with a series of neckbreakers. Cooter rolls through a small package and hits a backbreaker. He misses a moonsault and Chicago hits another neckbreaker. Chicago calls for a new move and hits a springboard stunner for a nearfall. Cooter answers with a bulldog and brings a chair into the ring. While the referee is down, Cooter throws the chair into Chicago’s hands and falls down. The referee sees Chicago with the chair and disqualifies him at 9:04. It’s entirely possible that I’m just not familiar enough with Cooter’s character but I certainly didn’t expect that finish. The match was just fine until the finish and this show needs something of substance to wake up the crowd. *½
Match #4: Jesus de Leon vs. Lince Dorado
They battle over a knucklelock. Dorado snaps off an armdrag and Leon retreats to the floor. Back in, both men attempt dropkicks at the same time and find themselves at a stalemate. Dorado connects with a leg lariat and causes Leon to dropkick Saso Rivera at ringside. Dorado lands a springboard crossbody but Rivera interferes once again. This allows Leon to connect with a superkick. He takes control until Dorado avoids an asai moonsault and snaps off a hurricanrana. Dorado tries a dive to the floor but Rivera catches him and rams him into the ringpost. Rivera accidentally runs into Pinkie Sanchez, who is at the bar drinking. Sanchez attacks Rivera as the referee throws the match out at 9:45. Much like the main event last night, I question why this match lasted so long if the end result was going to be a no contest leading into a tag team match. This was the first two-thirds of a solid contest and there’s really nothing more to say. **
Match #5: Jesus de Leon and Saso Rivera vs. Lince Dorado and Pinkie Sanchez
Leon and Rivera attack before the opening bell. Rivera uses his size advantage to take over. Sanchez is isolated until he catches Rivera with a pele kick and makes the tag. Dorado connects with a missile dropkick on Rivera and a handspring back elbow on Leon. He follows with a flying crossbody onto Leon and hits a michinoku driver. Dorado lands a shooting star press onto Leon for a nearfall. Rivera body slams both of his opponents at the same time. Leon walks on Rivera’s shoulders to splash Dorado for a nearfall. Leon adds a basement superkick but Dorado won’t stay down. Sanchez missile dropkicks Leon. He works together with Dorado to superplex Rivera. Dorado lands a plancha onto Leon. Sanchez comes off the top with a flying double stomp on Rivera for the win at 8:19. I can’t help but think a Dorado/Leon full length singles match would have been preferable to the two rushed matches that we received. There’s also the concern that similar booking happened last night and you don’t want no contests to become prevalent in the promotion. **¼
Match #6: Jonny Vandal vs. Latin Dragon
Dragon snaps off a hurricanrana and lands a dive to the floor. In the ring, Vandal blocks a headscissors and connects with a yakuza kick. He takes control until Dragon fights back with a flying crossbody. Dragon attempts a standing moonsault but completely misses Vandal. Vandal hits a german suplex and connects with a boot. Dragon responds with a michinoku driver and both men are down. Vandal hits a powerbomb and connects with a superkick. They battle up top and Dragon knocks Vandal to the canvas. Trina Michaels knocks Dragon off the top rope and Vandal covers for the victory at 7:03. Vandal needed help on the last show to defeat Maxwell Chicago and it seems like he can’t pick up a win cleanly. The finish, and the entire match to a certain extent, fell flat with the crowd. All Trina did was grab onto Dragon’s foot and that was somehow able to give Vandal the win. This was probably not as successful of a showcase as they wanted. *¾
Match #7: FIP World Tag Team Titles: Roderick Strong and Rich Swann © vs. Caleb Konley and Andrew Everett
Swann brings the most energy to this show thus far with his entrance. The champions have separate entrances. Konley and Swann trade armdrags to start. Everett snaps off a hurricanrana on Strong and connects with a dropkick. Strong catches Everett with a backbreaker and just hurls him into the turnbuckles. Multiple chops ensue. The champions work over Everett. Strong and Swann get into a disagreement at one point, causing Strong to take out his frustrations on Everett by hurling him across the apron. Everett blocks rolling thunder from Swann with knees and makes the tag. Konley isolates Swann until he creates an opening with a hurricanrana and tags out. Strong hits a powerslam on Everett and then belly to belly suplexes Konley onto his partner. Konley back drops Swann to the floor onto Strong and then follows out with a moonsault. Everett adds a fosbury flop. In the ring, Everett connects with a missile dropkick on Strong and Konley hits a tornado DDT. Swann reenters the ring with a handspring ace crusher on Konley. Swann superkicks Konley into a gutbuster from Strong. Konley catches Swann during a dive attempt and hits a samoan drop. Strong connects with the Sick Kick on Konley and hits an orange crush backbreaker on Everett. Swann lands a frog splash onto Everett and the champions retain their titles at 17:23. This was certainly a solid match but it most likely would have benefited from being held in front of a more electric crowd. Strong and Swann are enjoyable to watch as a team and I really like the dynamic of Swann being enthusiastic about the team while Strong is completely self-interested. It was important that Konley and Everett were able to have a good match here and they should undoubtedly move forward as a team in DGUSA and EVOLVE. Again, this contest was worthwhile but not the show-stealer that this card needed. ***¼
Match #8: Leva Bates vs. Su Yung
Yung tries to sweep Bates’ legs out to no avail. Bates connects with a double stomp and hits an inverted DDT out of the corner. She comes off the apron with a seated senton. In the ring, Yung traps her in a pendulum and connects with a corner dropkick. Bates fights back with a series of strikes and hits a pedigree. Bates connects with a shotgun dropkick and follows with double knees. Yung responds with a samoan drop but gets trapped in a dragon sleeper in the ropes. Bates connects with a flying double stomp and hits a sunset bomb for a nearfall. Bates adds a basement superkick for the win at 9:06. I thought Bates looked really good in the ring and tried her best to get the crowd invested in the match. Once again, though, these SHINE showcase matches don’t have much net effect on generating interest for the promotion. **
Larry Dallas comes out after the match to berate Bates. Los Ben Dejos make the save, leading to…
Match #9: Street Fight: Eddie Cruz and Jay Rios vs. Harlem and Lance Bravado
Both teams start brawling into the crowd. Larry Dallas is actually dressed in his street fight clothes and helps the Bravados. A table is setup at ringside. The Bravados remain in control until Leva Bates turns on Dallas and knocks him onto a piece of the barricade. She dives onto the Bravados. Cruz punts Harlem in the head and drops a ladder across his back. Lance saves his brother and Harlem hits a ladder-assisted senton onto Los Ben Dejos. Harlem follows with a dive to the floor. The Bravados setup a pyramid of chairs in the ring. Dallas is bleeding from the forehead at ringside. Cruz places Harlem onto the chairs, climbs a ladder, and splashes him. Lance powerbombs Cruz onto a chair. Rios catches Lance with a springboard ace crusher onto a chair. Harlem hits a michinoku driver on Rios onto a propped ladder. Rios responds with a springboard 450 splash. Dallas pulls the referee out of the ring and distracts Los Ben Dejos long enough for Harlem to take over with chair shots. He pours thumbtacks across the canvas. Bates runs into the ring but Dallas cuts her off. She hits Dallas with a chair and sends him into the thumbtacks. Lance lariats Bates and dead-lift german suplexes Cruz. He follows with a TKO onto a garbage can for a nearfall. Rios sends Harlem through a ringside table with a flying double stomp. In the ring, Rios catches Lance with double knees. Lance sends Rios into a ladder and hits rolling german suplexes, with the final one into a ladder. Cruz clears the ring with a garbage can. Los Ben Dejos hit Lance with repeated garbage can shots. Los Ben Dejos connect with stereo coast-to-coast dropkicks for the victory at 19:53. I wasn’t really feeling this match early on, as I thought they were relying too heavily on using the weapons available to them. However, the finishing stretch grounded the action nicely as they focused more on setting up bigger spots and having actual exchanges. Overall, this was a solid weapons-based brawl. Although it’s nothing you haven’t seen before, I think it was a satisfying way to end this feud especially given the interactions among the various managers. It seems like these two teams have decent chemistry together, so I wouldn’t be opposed (and it would make sense) if Los Ben Dejos received a shot at the Open the United Gate Titles. ***¼
Eddie Graves and Teddy Stigma attack Los Ben Dejos after the match. Stigma lays out Bates with a yakuza kick. Trina Michaels aligns herself with Graves and Stigma. Cruz vows to get revenge on Graves and Stigma.
Overall: Violence is the Answer saw a pretty significant drop in quality from In Full Force. Obviously, not having Trent Baretta on the show hurt, but I think the difference primarily comes down to In Full Force using the roster in a better way. The first six matches on this show left a lot to be desired, but two of them could have been combined to form a six-man tag team match and if Leon/Dorado was left as a singles match, Sanchez could have been used elsewhere on the card. While the two main events come through, I don’t think that’s enough to constitute a recommendation. Thus, if you’re going to check out FIP from this weekend, I would recommend In Full Force. However, it’s worth noting that the storylines they setup this weekend are simplistic enough and are moving in an interesting direction, so that’s something to look forward to during the next set of shows.