Written by: Bob Colling
Major League Wrestling presents Rise of the Renegades
Date: 7/26/2003
From: Orlando, FL
Matches:
1.)Maximo Brothers defeated Jimmy Yang & Tony Mamaluke
2.)Josh Daniels defeated Richard J. Criado
3.)Da Hit Squad fought Ekmo & Samu to a no contest
4.)Steve Williams defeated MLW Global Tag Team Champion CW Anderson
5.)Homicide defeated Jerry Lynn
6.)MLW Global Tag Team Champion Simon Diamond defeated The Sandman
7.)Mikey Whipwreck defeated Sabu
8.)Richard J Criado defeated Nosawa
9.)CM Punk & Michael Shane defeated Norman Smiley & Raven
10.)Terry Funk defeated Abdullah the Butcher in a bounty match
11.)MLW World Champion Steve Corino defeated Mike Awesome
12.)Steve Williams & The Sandman defeated MLW Global Tag Team Champions CW Anderson & Simon Diamond
Angle Advancements/Notes:
1. This is an open challenge issued by the Maximo Brothers. It has been answered by an interesting team of Jimmy Yang and Tony Mamaluke. Yang and Joel kick off the contest. Yang sends Joel to the floor with a dropkick but is yanked to the floor. Joel is dropkicked off the top to the floor and Yang takes him out with a twisting dive over the top onto the floor! Mamaluke enters and continues the offense by locking in an arm bar. Joel hits a overhead belly to belly suplex and tags out to Jose. Jose drops Tony with a big kick and both men end up on the floor thanks to Yang clotheslining Jose to the floor. Joel takes everyone out with a moonsault on the floor! A double bulldog on Mamaluke. A double team chin lock and a Boston Crab by the Maximo Brothers. Tony sends Jose into the middle turnbuckle and ring post shoulder first. Yang returns to the match with a few shoulder blocks. Yang delivers a spinning heel kick. Yang follows up with a vertical suplex for a two count. Mamaluke gets a near fall after a hammerlock suplex Tony drives Jose down with an arm breaker but Joel makes the save with a kick to Mamaluke. Yang chokes Jose over the top with a head scissors. Yang attempts a top rope power bomb but Jose counters with a hurricanrana. Joel gets the tag and cleans house with a series of strikes. Mamaluke is double teamed as they hit a moonsault/neck breaker combo! Yang is sent to the floor. Mamaluke catches Jose in midair and hit a power slam for a two count. Yang comes off the top to hit a double clothesline. Tony plants Joel with a brain buster! Mamaluke is kicked on the top and the Maximo Brothers hit the Spanish Fly to win the match! (***. A few sloppy spots during the match, but it was a nicely done fast pace match that all four men did a fairly good job with. It’s funny to think that the Maximo’s were a hot commodity but then within a year their star fizzled on the independents.)
2. Two relative unknowns to the fans are up next and they are already crapping on the match it seems like. Criado tried to do some wrestling but messed up a little bit. The fans are chanting boring as they just don’t care for these guys. Richard bails to the floor and Daniels takes him out with a suicide dive! “You still suck” chants for Daniels. Josh kicks the middle rope to low blow Criado as he entered the ring. Criado comes back with a tilt a whirl back breaker and a leg drop for a two count. Daniels gets a two count after a northern lights suplex. Richard sends Daniels head first into the top turnbuckle and spikes him with a nice brain buster! Josh fights back but Richard hits a sit out scoop slam for a two count! Richard misses a splash in the corner and Josh hits a dragon suplex out of the corner for the win. (*1/2. The fans didn’t give these guys a shot and it made me hope the match ended quicker than it did. A few decent spots throughout the match, but I don’t think this should have been booked on here, or at least cut the length of it.)
3. Mack and Maff attack Samu and Ekmo before the bell and all four men begin to brawl. Maff sends Ekmo into the corner but is met with a clothesline. Mack nails Samu with a clothesline off the apron on the floor. Ekmo uses a chair on Maff. Maff avoids Ekmo on the floor and he crashes through a table set up on the floor. Manu is splashed by both men in the corner. Ekmo comes back to super kick Maff. Ekmo is driven down to the canvas with a double team suplex. Mack frog splashes Ekmo while Maff had a figure four on Ekmo. Manu tried to clothesline the referee but missed. Ekmo catches Mack and hits a swinging side slam, though they botched the spot previous to that. Samu and Ekmo butt splash their opponents in the corner, too. The referee is tossed to the floor. Samu performs a modified bronco buster on Maff. This match comes to an end without a referee. They continue to brawl but are being pulled apart by several officials and security. Well, that was kind of lame.
4. Anderson attacks Williams as soon as he rolls into the ring. Williams sends CW to the floor after a couple of jabs to the jaw. Williams takes CW out with a cross body to the floor! Steve tosses CW into a table on the floor, which doesn’t break. CW returns the favor by tossing Williams onto the table. Williams tosses CW over the railing and into the crowd. Williams smashes a chair into CW’s head. CW kicks the chair into Steve’s face to regain control of the fight. Anderson smashes the chair against Steve’s arm which was up against the ring post. Steve drops Anderson with a clothesline on the apron. CW is focusing his offense on Steve’s injured arm. CW kicks a charging Williams in the face and nearly wins. Steve jabs CW a few more times. Anderson avoids a splash in the corner to hit a back suplex. Williams runs over Anderson with a clothesline. Williams hits a few football tackles as well. Anderson stops him with a super kick but can’t keep Dr. Death down long enough. Williams hits a slam but CW’s legs knock the referee out. Here comes Simon Diamond to super kick Williams but that doesn’t help get the three. Sandman chases Diamond to the backstage area. Dr. Death wins the match with a backdrop driver. (*1/4. I didn’t enjoy this one at all. Their styles just didn’t seem to work together all that well and it hurt their match a great deal.)
5. Jerry Lynn is with the Sinister Minister playing up his new heel role with the company. Lynn talks about having to wrestle Paul London last time but he couldn’t make it because of his father. Lynn notes that London has now sold his soul to the WWE so he won’t be wrestling him tonight either. Lynn could smell the fear in London. Lynn doesn’t know who is opponent is out for the evening. Out comes Homicide!
6. Lynn quickly goes to work with several strikes but Homicide comes back with a series of arm drags and a head scissors! Homicide lands on his feet on a monkey flip attempt but neither man is able to get any long lasting offense at this point. Homicide punches Lynn to the floor but Lynn is able to drop Homicide throat first across the guard railing after catching Homicide on a baseball slide attempt. Lynn slams Homicide face first into a steel chair on the floor. Lynn slams Homicide face first into the ring bell, as well. Homicide hits a middle rope dropkick and a clothesline in the corner followed by a running knee in the corner. Lynn comes back with a running ace crusher out of the corner for a two count only. Lynn catapults Homicide throat first across the bottom rope. Lynn has been focusing his attack on Homicide’s jaw. Lynn counters a back breaker with one of his own. Jerry drops Homicide with a clothesline after a jaw breaker. Homicide fights back with a t-bone suplex after a few clotheslines for a near fall. Lynn misses a low blow and is soon dropkicked by Homicide sending Jerry to the floor. Homicide takes Lynn out with a somersault suicide dive on the floor! Homicide plants Lynn with a tornado DDT off the top but can’t get a three count. Lynn attempted a springboard power bomb but Homicide hung on. Lynn hits a running power bomb after a low blow thanks to Sinister getting on the apron but Homicide kicks out at two. Homicide is driven down with a swinging side slam but Lynn can’t get a three count! Lynn plants Homicide with a TKO but Homicide just manages to pop his shoulder up! Homicide botches a counter of the tombstone and the fans let him know about it. Homicide can’t hit the Cop Killa and instead nails Lynn with a big boot for a two count. Sinister holds Homicide on the top rope and allows Lynn to recover. Jerry goes for and hits a top rope hurricanrana but Homicide rolls through to pin Lynn! (**3/4. A good match between these two. The offense centered around Homicide’s jaw wasn’t all that bad and it was refreshing for the point of attack to be on a unique body part. Kind of surprised that Lynn lost here since he has a new persona and you’d think he would get some momentum with the attitude change.)
7. Diamond says that he took Sandman’s cane and hid it from him because he knows that Sandman can’t beat him without it. Diamond ducks a clothesline to hit Sandman with a super kick. Simon continues to work over Sandman in the corner with several strikes. Simon is tossed to the floor by Sandman. Sandman chops Diamond several times and that’s all for the outside the ring stuff so far. Sandman hangs Simon across the top rope and hits a top rope leg drop! Sandman also hits a top rope hurricanrana! CW Anderson comes in with the referee distracted to super kick Sandman. Simon covers but can’t get a three count. Diamond gets the win with a reverse DDT. (*. Well, that wasn’t anything special.)
8. Sabu gets the early advantage with right hands and a clothesline on Whipwreck. Sabu follows up with a springboard spin kick before locking in a camel clutch. Sinister Minister attacks Alfonso on the floor and that allows Whipwreck to attack Sabu with a kick to get the cheap advantage. Mikey sends Sabu to the floor and places him on a table. Sabu yanks Whipwreck face first across the apron and smashes a chair in his face. Sabu goes up top but Sinister shoves Sabu off to the ring. Whipwreck nearly wins after a top rope clothesline. A table is brought into the ring and Mikey crotches Sabu on it briefly. Sabu plants Mikey with a DDT and sets the table up. Sabu heads to the top rope but Mikey moves and put Alfonso on the table. Sabu leaps off and leg drops Alfonso through the table! Whipwreck hits the Whippersnapper and nearly wins! Sabu goes back to the camel clutch but Mikey doesn’t give up as Sinister gets on the apron and tosses a fireball into Sabu’s face as the referee was distracted. Whipwreck nails Sabu with a chair and smashes his arm with the chair too. Sabu’s arm is trapped in a chair and Whipwreck smashes the chair. Whipwreck covers and wins the match. (**. I’d imagine this was done to set up the final blow off between these two. The attack was nicely done and it’s a huge win for Whipwreck in MLW. The match was decent for what it was, but the angle development was the bigger story here.)
9. Criado comes out to cut a promo saying he came to MLW to prove he is the best they have ever seen. He ends up issuing an open challenge. That challenge is answered by Nosawa. Nosawa delivers a low blow and a kick to knock Criado down to the canvas. Richard is being dominated early on here. Richard hits the sit out scoop slam and wins the match. That was basically the only move he hit. (DUD. This must be an attempt to push a local guy. The match was far to quick and unimportant to get a rating from me.)
10. Punk and Raven start the tag match with Punk avoiding Raven and just tags out to Shane. Smiley tags in as well so that was just a tease, I guess. Smiley clotheslines Shane a few times and delivers a scoop slam. Smiley ducks a wild slap from Francine and goes the Big Wiggle to her! Shane comes back and attacks Smiley. Smiley catches Shane on a body scissors and does the Big Wiggle. Punk avoids the Big Wiggle and is clotheslined over the top to the floor by Raven! Punk and Raven go at it in the ring with Raven jabbing Punk several times and delivers a series of kicks in the corner. Raven hits a bulldog on Punk and a clothesline on Shane. Smiley enters to clothesline Punk to the floor. Shane kicks Smiley in the midsection and gets control of the bout. Norman catches Shane on a cross body attempt and slams him down to the mat. Smiley hits a double under hook slam. Francine grabs Smiley’s leg and that allows Shane to deliver a kick. Punk gets a two count after a vertical suplex and knocks Raven off the apron. Smiley is driven to the canvas with a double vertical suplex. Shane knee lifts Smiley as he comes off the ropes to maintain the advantage. Punk gets a near fall after a back breaker on Norman. Raven gets the tag but the referee was distracted. Punk hits a double under hook back breaker as well. Shane comes off the middle rope to hit an elbow drop for a two count. Punk accidentally hits Shane after leaping off the ropes as Norman moved. It was supposed to be a hurricanrana but it was botched. Raven gets the hot tag and cleans house with right hands. Raven hits a running clothesline and a knee lift. Raven gets a chair and drop toe holds Shane onto the chair! The same happens to Punk. Smiley and Shane go to the floor after a clothesline. Raven plans Punk with a DDT but Francine breaks up the cover. GI Ho, the manager of Smiley, enters and they have a cat fight! Michael Shane super kicks GI Ho! Smiley checks on her but she is out cold. Shane enters with a chair and hits Norman with it a few times. Shane misses Raven and hits the top rope. Raven gets powder in the eyes from Punk and Punk wins after hitting a DDT on Raven! (**1/2. Actually a decent tag match between these two teams. This match did a great job promoting the singles matches at the next event. Punk beating Raven and Shane super kicking Norman’s woman. A job well done with this.) After the match, GI Ho flashes the crowd but not the camera.
11. MLW World Champion Steve Corino comes out and tells Terry Funk that he hates Funk the most out of everyone. Corino thinks Funk is what is wrong with the wrestling world. Mainly because Funk should have retired many years ago. Corino says that Funk whores himself out for the fans. Corino says he will wrestle Funk instead of Butcher, apparently. Funk heads to the floor but Butcher attacks from behind.
12. Butcher rams Funk head first into a table on the floor. I’m sure this will be just be punches and weapons. Butcher is using a broken bottle to bust Funk wide open. Butcher uses the bottle on Funk’s arm as well. Funk goes to the floor and it’s as if Butcher didn’t want to leave the ring, or couldn’t because of his weight. So, Funk tosses a few chairs into the ring and slides back in. Butcher just continues to use the broken bottle on Funk. Funk grabs a fork and digs it into Butcher’s forehead. They get nice camera shots so you can see it really going in. Funk tries to get a spinning toe hold on Butcher, but Abdullah forks him to get out of it. Butcher drops an elbow on Funk and gets a two count. Funk wins the match with a cross body. (DUD. Seriously, this was just awful. There was a lot of blood but these two are way too old and limited for this to be interesting. I hope I don’t have to watch Butcher ever again.)
13. This match between Corino and Awesome is announced as the main event, so something must happen to cause the real final match. Awesome quickly attacks Corino before the bell and splashes the champ in the corner a few times. Corino ducks a clothesline but Awesome hits a release German suplex and clotheslines Corino over the top to the floor. Awesome sends Corino into the guard railing but Corino backdrops Awesome into the crowd. Corino sends Awesome into the ring post shoulder first. Awesome hits a slingshot shoulder block from the apron. Corino runs into a clothesline from the challenger. Corino dropkicks Awesome’s right knee and that’s the focus of his offense. Corino grabs a chair and smashes it over Mike’s head. Awesome is met with another chair shot. Awesome cuts Corino off on the top rope and hits a superplex and gets a near fall. Corino avoids a chair shot with a kick but Awesome manages to smash the chair over Steve’s head three times. Awesome heads to the top with the chair and nails the champ with the chair again. Awesome goes for and hits a sit down power bomb. Awesome goes to the top rope and hits a big splash but can’t get the three count. Awesome slides a table into the ring. Awesome sets a table up in the corner, actually he has set up two tables in opposite corners. Corino gets out of a power bomb and Awesome accidentally clotheslines the referee. Corino drops Awesome with a super kick. Awesome manages to power bomb Corino through a table in the corner anyway. Awesome goes for it a second time and hits it through the second table! Awesome goes for the cover and referee begins the count but Corino manages to kick out at two. Corino apparently nails Awesome with a roll of quarters but Awesome kicks out at two! Corino waves for his buddies to come out and sure enough CW Anderson and Simon Diamond help Corino beat up Awesome. Terry Funk comes out with a trash can and cleans house with it. Funk hits Awesome with a chair on accident and Corino gets the pin as Funk is beaten up. (*1/4. You know, the people didn’t like that finish. Especially considering the punishment Corino went through and then wins it after a simple chair shot to Awesome makes Awesome look rather foolish and weak.) After the match, the Extreme Horsemen hangs Funk over the top rope until Sandman and Steve Williams enter the ring to make the save. Sandman challenges the tag champs to a match right now. Diamond likes a handicap match better. The fans want to see it as Sandman baseball slides Corino and the match starts.
14. Sandman is double teamed by Corino and Diamond. Joey Styles says if Sandman and Williams lose they will leave MLW forever. I didn’t hear that in the promo at all. CW drives Williams down to the canvas with a spine buster! A triple super kick to Sandman! Funk returns to the ring and hits all three of the heels with Stunners! Sandman hits Diamond with a senton splash off the top to win the match. (NR. Not much of a match. Makes sense they did this since they need a tag title match at the next event.)
15. Funk and Corino and brawling by the entrance way with Funk nailing Corino with anything he can grab. Sandman and Williams are playing to the crowd as they are happy to have earned a title shot next month. That’s it.
Final Thoughts:
Well, that was a really long show mainly because they treat these shows as their television taping as well. So, that’s at least three television shows right here. Anyway, the show is more of a set up for the next months show, which I have been looking forward to a lot. There were a couple of good matches here but for the most part, the action wasn’t good enough to recommend this one. So, MLW Rise of the Renegades gets a thumbs down from me.
Thanks for reading.