IWC: Super Indy XI Review

Super Indy XI on June 23rd, 2012

Opening Match: First Round: Gory vs. Matt Justice
Justice immediately lands a dive to the floor and connects with a springboard lariat back in the ring. He follows with a springboard leg drop and a diving knee strike. Gory escapes a delayed vertical suplex and hits a chinbreaker. He finds success with a crossbody and takes control. Justice comes back with a powerslam and a rocker dropper. He shrugs off a lungblower and catapults Gory into the middle turnbuckle. Justice hits a jackhammer for a nearfall. They battle on the middle rope and Justice gets pushed to the canvas. Gory locks in Pestilence for the win at 8:48. These two worked well together and kept the action at a faster pace than in their previous matches. Justice received a chance to showcase his offense and seemed particularly motivated for Super Indy. Pestilence is the perfect finisher for Gory, who does a great job pulling off his methodical, brooding character. **½

Match #2: First Round: Pepper Parks vs. Facade
Facade will be attempting to walk away from this tournament still champion. Cherry Bomb accompanies Parks to the ring. Facade lands a springboard moonsault and kicks Parks off the apron. Facade attempts a dropkick through the ropes and inadvertently levels Cherry Bomb. The crowd instantly turns on him for a minute as staff members check on her. Parks suddenly gets a bit more intense and lays in a series of strikes. Facade responds with a spin kick and a missile dropkick. He hits a guillotine leg drop along with a springboard bulldog. Facade finds knees on an arabian moonsault and falls victim to a backcracker. Parks catches him with a vicious knee strike and hits a bucklebomb. He adds a twisting fisherman buster for a nearfall. Parks comes off the top rope with a neckbreaker for a two count. Facade knees out of a brainbuster and connects with a springboard kick. He punts Parks in the chest. Facade applies the Dreadlock for the victory at 10:43. Parks made an appearance at an IWC show last year, but for whatever reason he had a much more memorable performance here. He proved to be a solid base for Facade to showcase his high-risk offense. Facade, to his credit, was more crisp than usual and they had a nice little match. I also liked the added intensity that came from Facade inadvertently dropkicking Cherry Bomb. ***

Match #3: First Round: Chuck Taylor vs. Aiden Veil
Veil was originally supposed to wrestle Davey Richards until car troubles stopped him and Kyle O’Reilly from making it to the show. So I guess he has to settle for Chuck Taylor. Taylor grabs one of Veil’s drumsticks and puts it into his tights. Veil grabs one as well and a drumstick battle ensues. Veil lands a standing moonsault and connects with double knees. Taylor irish whips him hard into the corner and takes control with a series of powerslams. Taylor even pulls out his super-slow slingshot senton. Veil immediately comes back with a dropkick and a leg lariat. Taylor responds with Sole Food but gets caught by an enzuigiri. Veil hits a rolling neckbreaker. Taylor answers with a uranagi but misses a moonsault from the middle rope. Taylor recovers with a half crab for the win at 6:27. This was a good introduction of Taylor to the IWC crowd and they quickly took to him. Veil received more offense than I expected and seems to be coming along nicely in the ring. **¼

Match #4: First Round: Rickey Shane Page vs. Sami Callihan
Callihan charges at the bell but Page stomps him into the canvas. Callihan tries a powerslam but can’t pull it off. Page hits a backbreaker. The action goes to the floor where Callihan connects with a bicycle kick. Page throws him back-first across the apron and takes over in the ring. Callihan fights back with a lariat. He attempts a saito suplex but Page falls on top of him. Callihan connects with two facewash kicks. Page blocks a third one with a lariat and lays in a facewash knee strike. Callihan avoids a swantan and hits a saito suplex for a nearfall. They exchange strikes and Page back drops Callihan into a kick. Callihan catches Page with a superkick to his left leg. Callihan synchs in the stretch muffler for the victory at 9:17. I’m pretty sure that this was the first time these two ever battled in a straight singles contest and they didn’t disappoint. Both Callihan and Page know how to execute this type of match and most of the entertainment value came from watching these two interact. I think they could have a better match with more time, but that’s the breaks with a one-night tournament. ***

Match #5: Super Hentai vs. Dennis Gregory vs. Dalton Castle vs. Ray Rowe vs. Chest Flexor
The winner will become the #1 contender for the IWC World Heavyweight Title. Hentai and Gregory seem to be on the same page, especially since they’re both wearing Founding Father shirts. Before the match, Chuck Roberts reveals that Flexor was the masked man that interfered in matches on behalf of Jimmy DeMarco and John McChesney this year. Everyone corners Flexor and the poor guy just gets beat up for a minute. He rolls to the outside after a dead-lift german suplex from Rowe. Hentai snaps off a headscissors on Castle but falls victim to an overhead suplex. Gregory comes to Hentai’s aid and they work over Castle. Rowe enters the match but gets caught by a superkick from Gregory. Rowe responds with an exploder. Hentai goes up top but Rowe runs the ropes and german suplexes him to the canvas. Flexor rolls back into the ring and Rowe saito suplexes him. Rowe hits Death Rowe on Castle. He then powerbombs Flexor onto Castle. Gregory spears Rowe and himself out of the ring. Flexor inadvertently covers Castle for the win at 7:10. Oh boy. While the finish was cute, I cannot believe that Flexor won this match. There might not be any harm in giving Flexor a one-off title shot, but on the biggest show of the year IWC could have crowned a legitimate #1 contender and they decided to go this route. The action felt too rushed to mean anything and the finish totally deflated the crowd. **

Castle and Rowe almost come to blows after the match. Castle takes out his frustrations on Flexor with a spinning gourdbuster.

Match #6: Semifinal Round: Gory vs. Facade
This match actually begins during intermission, when they start brawling at Facade’s merchandise table. They fight off staff members and eventually make their way towards ringside. Facade connects with a series of kicks and lands a dive from the top rope to the floor. In the ring, Facade snaps off a headscissors. Gory dodges a guillotine leg drop but gets tripped on the apron. Facade attempts a springboard moonsault but Gory dropkicks him in midair. Gory takes control until Facade avoids a crossbody, sending Gory to the outside. Back in, Facade connects with a series of kicks. Gory hits the QAS out of nowhere for a nearfall. Facade retreats to the apron. Gory handsprings onto Facade’s shoulders and hurricanranas him to the floor. Facade barely beats a countout. He blocks Pestilence but falls victim to Trepidation for a nearfall. Gory applies Pestilence but Facade turns the hold into a rollup for the victory at 14:24. These two have been waiting to have a match like this one for quite some time. The brawling during intermission immediately set the atmosphere and they proceeded to deliver a terrific contest that took advantage of their familiarity with each other. Facade understandably receives a lot of flack for the lack of fluidity in his offense, but he’s been on point so far tonight. I find Gory to be severely underrated and I think this match would open a lot of eyes. Great stuff here and this feud doesn’t look to be over yet. ***½

Gory attacks Facade’s left leg with a chair after the match. He then lays out Facade with a belt shot. Gory fights off staff members and continues to attack the left leg. He leaves as Facade is helped to the back.

Match #7: Semifinal Round: Chuck Taylor vs. Sami Callihan
Taylor brings a sign into the ring and leg drops it. Callihan connects with a bicycle kick and shoves part of the sign into Taylor’s mouth. Taylor keeps the sign in his mouth longer than he needs to because he’s awesome. The action goes to the floor where Callihan rams Taylor into the apron and shoves him into the front row. Taylor tries to bring a chair (which he stole from a kid) back into the ring to no avail. He sneaks in a dropkick to the left leg and takes over. Taylor blocks a dive from Callihan and proceeds to hug a fat kid in the front row. Tremendous. Callihan comes back with a chokeslam and rolling german suplexes. They trade strikes and Taylor hits a uranagi. He goes to the middle rope but Callihan superkicks his left leg. Callihan lands a top rope splash onto the left leg and locks in the stretch muffler for the win at 9:51. This felt like the first two-thirds of a great match. The comedy early on was highly entertaining and it looked like they were settling into the finishing stretch before the abrupt submission finish. However, I’m glad that Callihan has used the stretch muffler to finish his matches tonight as it adds intrigue to the finals with Facade’s injured leg. **¾

Match #8: IWC Tag Team Titles: Bobby Beverly and Nicki Valentino © vs. Bronco McBride and Matt Segaris
The Blue Collar Slaughterhouse hip toss the One Nighters. Segaris powerslams Valentino and McBride adds a splash. Beverly interjects himself from the apron and boots McBride. The One Nighters isolate him until he hits a samoan drop on Valentino and makes the tag. Segaris spinebusters Beverly and hits a blue thunder bomb on Valentino. Beverly armdrags Segaris into the turnbuckles. Valentino accidentally takes out Beverly with a dive. McBride lands a moonsault to the floor onto the One Nighters. Back in, Beverly enzuigiris McBride into a german suplex from Valentino. Valentino covers and the One Nighters retain their titles at 7:47 despite McBride’s foot being on the bottom rope. It looks like these two teams are going to wrestle each other AGAIN. I think we’re reaching the point where the One Nighters need to face anyone but the BCS. It’s not like the matches are bad and there’s sensible reasons for the rematches to keep happening, but none of the matches are really doing anything for the IWC Tag Team Titles or for the division itself. **½

Match #9: IWC World Heavyweight Title: Logan Shulo © vs. John McChesney
Shulo snaps off a few armdrags. Marshall Gambino tries to distract him from ringside to no avail. Shulo lands a dive to the floor onto Marshall. McChesney responds with a dive of his own onto Shulo. Marshall attacks Shulo behind the referee’s back and McChesney takes control in the ring with a northern lights suplex. Shulo comes back by leaping to the top rope and hitting a superplex. Both men are down. Shulo hits a fireman’s carry backbreaker and connects with a double stomp. McChesney answers with a TKO and a superkick for a nearfall. He goes up top but Shulo crotches him on the top rope. Shulo connects with a flying double stomp. He follows with his electric chair sit-out powerbomb. Marshall pulls the referee out of the ring and punches him. Cherry Bomb runs into the ring and low blows Shulo. Pepper Parks follows with a chair shot. Shulo falls to the outside. The referee recovers and counts out Shulo, giving McChesney the win at 11:04. The match was fine but I want to rant for a bit and don’t want this to become long-winded. So the match was fine. However, this makes it three consecutive times that the World Heavyweight Title match at Super Indy has ended in either a disqualification or a countout. I understand that the attention is on the tournament, but if you want to showcase your world title on the biggest show of the year, do it right. The fact that unclean finishes constantly happen at Super Indy is becoming laughable and predictable. McChesney has been doing the same exact character for the past few years and quite frankly it’s becoming a bit tiring. I’m all for Shulo being champion, but he needs a legitimate win and this was a great opportunity for him to get it. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen. **

Marshall and Parks attack Shulo after the match. The new Team Big League pose in the ring. McChesney steals the title and declares himself the new champion. Chuck Roberts tells them that they aren’t welcome at the next show.

Match #10: Final Round: IWC Super Indy Title: Facade © vs. Sami Callihan
This is a rematch from Super Indy VIII, where Callihan came out on the winning end. Callihan charges at the opening bell with a bicycle kick. He slams Facade’s legs into the turnbuckles and works over the left leg. Callihan hits a shinbreaker onto the apron and throws Facade into the guardrail. He rams Facade’s left leg into the ringpost and bicycle kicks it. Callihan connects with two facewash kicks. Facade matrixes to avoid a clothesline on his good leg and connects with an enzuigiri. Callihan traps him in the stretch muffler but Facade counters into a rollup for a nearfall. Facade connects with a superkick and hits a german suplex. He can’t keep the bridge and clutches his leg. Facade connects with a springboard spin kick. He hits a michinoku driver. Callihan reverses an arabian moonsault attempt into a german suplex. He splashes Facade’s left leg and reapplies the stretch muffler. Facade is able to reach the ropes. Callihan hits a powerbomb and follows with a sit-out powerbomb. Callihan goes back to the stretch muffler. Facade reaches the bottom rope once again. He connects with a series of kicks and synchs in the Dreadlock. Callihan reverses into a rear-naked choke. Facade turns the hold into a pin attempt for a two count. Callihan connects with a bicycle kick and uses the ropes to splash the left leg. Callihan reapplies the stretch muffler to win Super Indy XI and become the new Super Indy Champion at 13:35. I appreciate tournaments that use earlier rounds to setup a final match with a clear story and that was the case here. A bad leg takes away so much of Facade’s offense and Callihan was cerebral in his attack. I was nervous for Facade’s comeback, as I wasn’t sure how he was going to sell his left leg. However, Facade worked hard to make sure his offense didn’t involve his injured limb and this show as a whole has given me some newfound faith in him. Callihan appearing in IWC on a consistent basis is great news and I cannot wait to see what he does with his Super Indy Title reign. ***¼

Callihan offers Facade a rematch any time that he wants one. Facade yells into the microphone that he never tapped out. Facade puts the belt across Callihan’s shoulders and they hug. Chuck Roberts congratulates Callihan and informs Facade that he’s going to wrestle Gory in a steel cage at Caged Fury in August.

Overall: Super Indy XI was an interesting show. On one hand, the tournament itself came through in a huge way despite Davey Richards and Kyle O’Reilly missing the show. The tournament matches featured some great in-ring action along with fun matchups and personalities. Facade in particular had a noteworthy run as this might have been the best I’ve ever seen him. On the other hand, the non-tournament matches left me frustrated and instead of contributing to the show, they took away from it. However, it looks as though the good outweighs the bad with Super Indy XI and the show earns a recommendation for an entertaining tournament that told an intriguing story throughout the rounds.

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