No Excuses 2012 on October 20th, 2012. Your hosts are Joe Dombrowski and J. Worthington Farnsworth.
Opening Match: Will Calrissian vs. Mike Rayne
Rayne snaps off an armdrag and connects with a dropkick. Calrissian retreats to the floor but gets slingshot back into the ring. Calrissian sneaks in a cheap shot in the corner and hits a fisherman neckbreaker. He takes control until Rayne fires back with a lariat. Rayne lands a flying crossbody for a nearfall. Calrissian ducks another lariat and attempts a gory slam to no avail. Rayne hits the Doppler Effect for the win at 7:06. This was a decent opener that played off of the issue between these two to add to the action. Rayne might need a bit more polish, but he certainly has all of the tools to become a major player in IWC. **½
Match #2: Chest Flexor vs. Justin Idol
If Idol loses, he will be gone from IWC forever and John McChesney will be given a shot at the IWC World Heavyweight Title. Flexor attacks from behind and immediately targets Idol’s injured back. Flexor hits a series of body slams and connects with a double axe handle from the apron. Idol gets sent back-first into the barricade and Flexor rams him into the apron. In the ring, Idol hits a backbreaker and connects with a series of strikes. Flexor regains the advantage with a backbreaker of his own. Idol blocks a charge with a basement dropkick and connects with a running knee strike. He lands a split-legged moonsault out of the corner for a nearfall. Idol hits a back suplex and goes up top. Ginger climbs onto the apron and distracts him. Flexor back drops Idol to the canvas. Idol responds with a go 2 sleep variant for the victory at 6:37. They made the most out of their seven minutes and this was most likely the best singles outing I’ve ever seen from Flexor. He found creative ways to work over Idol’s back, but Idol came away looking strong in the end to prepare himself for the rest of Team Big League. **¾
Match #3: IWC Tag Team Titles: Dennis Gregory, Jimmy Vegas, and Super Hentai © vs. Matt Segaris, Bronco McBride, and David Dimera
The Founding Fathers are invoking the Freebird rule with the titles, so this six-man tag makes a little sense. The champions dress up as presidents during their entrance because they can. They attack before the opening bell. The Blue Collar Slaughterhouse come back with some triple teaming on Gregory. Vegas interjects himself from the apron, allowing Gregory to spear McBride. The Founding Fathers isolate him until he hits a double DDT and makes the tag. Hentai lands a kick-flip dive to the floor but hits his head off the back of the ring steps. You can hear the thud. Dimera rolls up Gregory for a nearfall. Vegas and Gregory hit a superkick-full nelson slam combination on Dimera. Gregory superkicks McBride and Segaris while he’s at it. Hentai hits a superplex on Dimera. Gregory adds a running knee strike and the Founding Fathers retain their titles at 9:04. It’s definitely time to take the Blue Collar Slaughterhouse out of the title picture for awhile. They received numerous title shots against the One Nighters and none of the matches were anything special. The tag team division in IWC is at a loss for teams right now, but I think the Founding Fathers could do well with the titles given the right opponents. **¼
Match #4: Brian McDowell vs. Keith Haught
Haught hits a body slam and drops a knee. McDowell clubbers away at him and takes over with a suplex. They collide on crossbody attempts and fall to the canvas. Haught hits a back suplex but runs into a side slam. McDowell charges into a knockout kick. Haught lands a top-rope slash for the win at 5:52. The crowd could not care less about this match. Even Haught’s constant dancing couldn’t garner much of a reaction. After seeing how good of an impression other newcomers have made over the past few months, this was disappointing. *½
Match #5: IWC Super Indy Title: Sami Callihan © vs. Facade vs. Rich Swann
Facade and Swann have a dance-off before the match and Callihan looks completely disinterested. Callihan charges at the opening bell with a bicycle kick on Swann and viciously throws Facade into the ropes. Swann snaps off a hurricanrana on Callihan. Facade catches Swann with a springboard moonsault. Callihan and Facade trade yakuza kicks. Callihan hits a death valley driver and uses the ropes to land a splash. He lariats Facade off the apron and lands a dive to the floor. Swann dives off the apron and onto Callihan. All three men are down at ringside. Facade sneaks back into the ring and lands a dive of his own. They do a tower of doom spot in the corner, with Facade coming out for the better. He hits a stunner out of the corner on Callihan. Facade hits an STO on Callihan, causing him to DDT Swann. Callihan superkicks Facade’s left leg and splashes it. He applies the Stretch Muffler. Swann rolls up Callihan for a nearfall and connects with a roundhouse kick. Facade throws Swann to the floor but runs into a bicycle kick from Callihan. Callihan applies a rear-naked choke. Facade turns the hold into a rollup and applies the Dreadlock to become the new Super Indy Champion at 9:50. These three packed a lot of action into ten minutes, making the match feel like an actual three-way by incorporating multi-man spots. The booking confuses me, as Facade has been on a losing streak since Gory defeated him at Caged Fury. He was the last person I’d expect to win the Super Indy Title, but we’ll see how everything develops from here. ***
Callihan attacks Facade after the match and leaves him laying.
Match #6: James Nutter vs. Aiden Veil
If Nutter wins, he’ll receive an IWC contract. Veil foregoes his entrance and charges the ring. They exchange punches on the canvas. Nutter attempts a cross armbreaker to no avail. They avoid each other’s strikes and Nutter gets sent to the floor. Veil comes off the apron with a flying knee strike. Nutter rams Veil shoulder-first into the ringpost. He takes control in the ring until Veil fights back with a leg lariat. Veil hits a rolling neckbreaker. Nutter drives him shoulder-first into the ringpost once again. Veil connects with a superkick out of nowhere. He kind of lands a moonsault for the victory at 6:33. To be honest, I was hoping for a lot more from this match. They’ve had a great little feud that made Veil relevant in IWC and I thought that this would be their stage to showcase their in-ring chemistry together. I’m also unsure about the result, as Nutter has been on a roll and it’d be a shame if he didn’t keep making constant appearances for IWC. This was a well-wrestled match for the time given but not much more. **¼
Match #7: John McChesney and Bobby Fish vs. HD Cannon and Michael Tarver
Team Big League take their time getting into the ring. Cannon repeatedly takes down McChesney with shoulder tackles. Fish peppers Cannon with kicks and controls on the mat. Fish connects with a dropkick and Team Big League isolate Cannon. Fish actually throws Cannon into his corner and tells him to tag out. Tarver gives Fish some problems, though. Tarver connects with a few punches and delivers a devastating knee strike. Cannon reenters the match but McChesney interjects himself from the apron to give Team Big League the advantage once again. Cannon is worked over while Tarver has conniptions on the apron. He hits a spinebuster on Fish and makes the tag. Tarver connects with a discus forearm on McChesney and adds a knockout punch for the win at 13:45. This was a lot of fun for the live crowd, but I think some of that was lost in translation to the DVD. Fish complemented McChesney perfectly and I’d love to see him become an IWC regular. I don’t know if there are any plans for Tarver to return, but he looked dominant here, almost at a cost to Team Big League. The structure of the match worked well with the live crowd, but it didn’t lend itself to a particularly exciting contest. **½
Match #8: IWC World Heavyweight Title: Logan Shulo © vs. Dalton Castle
They shake hands before the opening bell. They exchange control on the mat then both attempt finishers to no avail. Castle snaps off a hurricanrana and takes the action back to the mat. Shulo connects with a mafia kick and hits a suplex. Castle backs him into the corner and does not provide a clean break. Castle comes off the top with a double axe handle but Shulo punches him in the midsection. Shulo blocks a missile dropkick and catapults Castle to the floor. Castle reenters the ring and sends Shulo to the floor this time. Shulo blocks Castle’s swing-around hurricanrana and takes control in the ring. Castle hits an overhead suplex and gains the advantage. He stretches Shulo on the mat with various submissions. Castle misses a charge and falls victim to a german suplex. Both men are down. Castle misses another charge and falls to the outside. Shulo connects with a nasty kick from the apron. Back in, Castle finds himself in the tree of woe and Shulo connects with a flying double stomp. Castle hits a sit-out slam and follows with a dead-lift german suplex for a nearfall. He applies a camel clutch, but Shulo inadvertently sends him into the referee. Castle goes up top but John McChesney runs out and hits him with a shoe. Shulo hurricanranas Castle to the canvas. Castle escapes a powerbomb and tries a quick pin attempt for a two count. Shulo connects with a boot and hits his spinning powerbomb to retain his title at 22:35. Both men have been having solid matches this year, but this main event truly showcased their abilities. I wasn’t confident that they would receive a lot of time, but twenty-two minutes was perfect. Castle wanted to test Shulo’s ground game and would often lose control down the stretch when he became too eager and deviated from his strategy. McChesney’s interference didn’t lead directly to the finish and they actually created an awesome nearfall from it. Hopefully we receive some explanation for his motives. I’m thrilled that this match turned out as well as it did and I hope that longer main events become the norm for IWC. ***¾
Castle hands the belt to Shulo, showing no hard feelings. Facade comes out and stares down Shulo. They will meet at Winner Takes All with both the World Heavyweight and Super Indy titles on the line.
As always, check out the latest edition of IWC Aftershock hosted by Justin Plummer:
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