July 14th, 2018
Opening Match: Shane Taylor vs. Jaxon Argos and RC Dupree
Argos and Dupree made Bruce Prichard (the special guest general manager) angry, so he put them in a handicapped match against Taylor. Given Taylor’s long history in IWC, he is someone to be feared in this promotion so the booking worked well enough. The action itself wasn’t too inspiring, if only because Argos and Dupree never even hinted at developing a coherent strategy for defeating Taylor. Taylor ran through the offense you would expect (samoan drop-fallaway slam combination) and the crowd mildly applauded. This felt like a showcase for Taylor which he did not need at the cost of setting Argos and Dupree back a step. Taylor won in 9:02 with a middle-rope splash. **
Match #2: Gory vs. Ophidian
Ophidian dove onto Gory during his entrance, setting the tone for what ended up being a great exhibition between two wrestlers who are likely stringing together quite the series of matches across a few promotions. They never let the action become too cute in that all of the unique and innovative exchanges were punctuated by someone hitting an impactful move aimed at winning the match. There’s a moment where the referee has to consider stopping the match due to the amount of punishment Ophidian was inflicting. The matchup ended up coming down to Ophidian’s viciousness versus Gory’s resilience and Gory won out after a final spurt of desperation offense. This felt like a war and certainly a pairing that should be revisited down the line. Gory won in 15:03 with Trepidation. ***½
Match #3: Katie Arquette vs. Honey Badger
This match felt like a collection of moves and Honey Badger seemed awkward in the ring. Arquette is certainly capable of having good matches (see her cage match against LuFisto a year ago), but IWC has a lack of depth in the women’s division right now, especially given that Britt Baker is not on every show anymore. The division needs an anchor and there is not a lack of options for that role out there. You just don’t want matches like this one to be representative of the entire division. Arquette won in 5:22 with a spear. ½*
Match #4: Street Fight: Jack Pollock vs. Justin Plummer
Plummer owns IWC but after Pollock went after his wife a few months ago, he decided to take matters into his own hands. If Pollock lost this match, his career was over. There was obviously a lot of preparation that went into this match and it was really well laid out. As a general rule, I dislike the promoter being too involved as a character, but he put on a realistic yet gutsy performance here. Pollock was an absolute professional as well and added a lot to the proceedings. Commentary also did an excellent job of essentially calling this match under duress, not wanting to witness what would happen to Plummer.
Look, this is probably a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence for Plummer and he made it count. They used the stipulation wisely and setup the match with an engaging angle. Pollock should 100% be winning the IWC World Heavyweight Title next month. Pollock won in 18:16 with a mafia kick. ***
Match #5: Keith Haught and Dan Hooven vs. The Cogar Brothers (Atticus and Otis Cogar) (w/ Remy Lavey)
This was fine in that they stuck to the narrative of Lavey sending the Cogar Brothers to do his dirty work because he is afraid of Haught. The actual in-ring action felt flat and this is what you think of when contemplating the typical post-intermission match. Despite being likeable, I’m unsure how exciting Haught or Hooven could be in the ring. The Cogar Brothers, on the other hand, I’d be interested in seeing against more capable teams. The Cogar Brothers won in 6:24 when they hit Haught with brass knuckles. *½
Match #6: Rey Bucanero vs. Sam Adonis
Insofar as there was a CMLL showcase happening at an IWC show, this was cool. However, it’s difficult to watch the lucha that was happening with Ophidian and Gory and not notice how much slower and plodding this match was by comparison. Look, Bucanero is 43 years old and he still moves fairly well in the ring, so more power to him. I just think the fact that this contest happened had more value than the actual in-ring work. Adonis won in 11:23 after kind of hitting a shooting star press. *¾
Match #7: IWC High Stakes Title: Dog Collar Match: Marshall Gambino © vs. Ginger (w/ Chest Flexor)
Ginger is Flexor’s manager and not an active member of the roster. This match consisted of Gambino being outsmarted by Ginger until the collars just came off. Flexor’s faction ran out and attacked Gambino, so the referee threw the match out. This felt completely pointless and was remarkably the second stipulation match on this show involving a non-wrestler. The match was ruled a no contest at 3:51. DUD
Match #8: IWC World Heavyweight Title and IWC Tag Team Titles: Team LaBar (Wardlow, Dennis Jackson, and Chris LeRusso) © vs. Andrew Place and The Mane Event (Duke Davis and Ganon Jones, Jr.)
These six never managed to establish the energetic atmosphere that you would want in a match where your main singles title and tag titles are simultaneously on the line. The match quickly settled into heat segments and the crowd faded rather easily as not much of note was happening. The action broke down eventually and Palace looked to have pinned LeRusso, but then Bruce Prichard turned heel and declared that Palace was not the legal man. That’s not the kind of stuff you want to pull in the main event. It just establishes a precedent where the fans can now not trust match outcomes, even when titles are on the line. This was largely an overbooked mess that never had the chance to get off the ground. Team LaBar retained their titles at 16:21. *½
-Show Grade: C-
–You Need to See:
–You’d Enjoy Watching: Ophidian/Gory, Pollock/Plummer
–You Should Avoid: Gambino/Ginger