With one year under their belt and the growing pains out of the way, Squared Circle Wrestling embarked on their second year of existence. Their first year saw them run seven shows from April to December. In 2007, they would double their shows by holding fourteen shows over the year. They didn’t even wait to make a splash in 2007. Here is how 2CW’s second year unfolded.
NWA-TNA Involvement
No, there wasn’t an invasion of any kind but rather several Total-Non Stop Wrestling wrestlers would make their debuts for 2CW. The first two shows saw the NWA-TNA World Heavyweight Champion appear in Syracuse and Rochester, respectively. Abyss squared off against rival Spike Dudley in the main event of both events. Dudley came up short in coming away with the gold, but provided some decent hardcore brawls. Abyss hasn’t returned to 2CW as of December 2014.
At 2CW Green With Envy in March, NWA-TNA X-Division Champion Chris Sabin made his debut successfully defending his championship against Isys Ephex. The match further solidified Ephex as one of 2CW’s better in-ring competitors.
The debuts seemed to happen on a nearly monthly basis as top TNA star Samoa Joe competed for 2CW on a few instances. His first match for the company was against up and comer Eddie Edwards on April 28th, an event named Living on the Edge. The match is sample size of what Edwards would later accomplish in wrestling.
Joe would return to 2CW in November for their Unfinished Business double shot weekend. On night one, Joe defeated Slyck Wagner Brown in the main event. The following night, Joe teamed with Brown to defeat 2CW Heavyweight Champion Dizzie and Isys Ephex. You may be wondering how the heavyweight championship came about since 2CW hadn’t develop one in their first year. Well, let me explain.
2CW Heavyweight Championship
With eleven shows under their, well, belt, 2CW introduced their first championship. The 2CW Heavyweight Championship was introduced on April 27th with a two night tournament taking place. Twelve wrestlers competed in the tournament. The twelve men were Loca Vida, Gory Wallace, Dizzie, JD Love, Jason Axe, Spike Dudley, Eddie Edwards, CW Anderson, Ajax820, Isys Ephex, Zaquary Springate III, and Slyck Wagner Brown.
Ajax, Isys Ephex, Zaquary Springate and Slyck Wagner Brown had byes to the second round. CW Anderson lost in the first round to Eddie Edwards in his 2CW debut.
The finals of the tournament took place on April 28th in a ladder match which saw Dizzie surprisingly win the 2CW Heavyweight Championship defeating crowd favorite Slyck Wagner Brown.
Dizzie, who prior to 2CW had not achieved much in the singles ranks, become the first ever champion and promptly turned heel by attacking Slyck after the match. However, Slyck got the better of the champion and laid Dizzie out with a power bomb.
With the newfound attitude and gold around his waist, Dizzie embarked on his first reign as champion. He would successfully defend the championship against former friend Ajax820 at 2CW’s debut show in Binghamton on June 8th. He would defeat Zaquary Springate III at Shakedown II on June 23rd with help from Slyck Wagner Brown. It seemed that if Brown was going to win the belt, he wanted to take it from Dizzie.
The interference would set up a three way dance on July 21st, which saw Dizzie retain the gold. Slyck would get his first singles match for the championship on August 10th, but came up short in his attempt.
Eddie Edwards, a seemingly hidden gem on the independents, impressed throughout the year and got a couple of chances at the belt. His first opportunity was on September 21st, the first night of the Back 2 Back weekend. Edwards tried his best but Dizzie’s trend of sneaking off with the belt continued.
The following night, Dizzie met his toughest and most experienced challenger to date when he wrestled Jerry Lynn on September 22nd. Lynn hit his trademark moves, but the former ECW World Champion couldn’t put Dizzie away to add more gold to his list.
That same night, Eddie Edwards won a battle royal to get a shot on November 9th at Unfinished Business night one. Once again, Dizzie retained the championship. Dizzie would finish the year defending the belt against Slyck and Eddie at Hot Action On A Cold December Night on December 29th. Controversy surrounded the match and thus the championship was declared vacant. 2CW would enter the new year without a champion. Would Dizzie reclaim his gold in a rematch? Slyck finally finish his chase? Or would Eddie Edwards pickup the biggest win of his career to that point?
Eddie Edwards/Isys Ephex Matches
It’s a feud that would go be on and off up to present day. Isys Ephex and Eddie Edwards started their feud in 2007 with several competitive matches that often stole the show. They traded wins quite often, so I might as well make a list to make it a little easier to follow.
Eddie Edwards – 1/13/2007
Isys Ephex – 2/23/2007
At Shakedown II on June 23rd, they wrestled to a draw and Ephex declined to go an extra five minutes, which seemed to be a turning point in the feud as Edwards really wanted to get his hands on Ephex. They wrestled to a double count-out on July 21st, and Ephex again declined to go extra minutes.
They were supposed to seemingly end the feud on September 22nd with a no time limit, no rules match but Ephex replaced himself with Antonio Thomas. They wouldn’t square off again in 2007, but their paths would cross again.
There series of matches were a nice addition to the cards as they often provided thrilling matches and for me, showed that Ephex could wrestle the fast pace style. As a result, fans would eventually begin to get behind the once hated man. But, that development is for a later time.
Gordy Wallace/Springate Feud continued
The blood feud between the arrogant British man and the blue collar country boy continued into 2007. They had a lumberjack match and bull rope match on the 1/12-1/13 shows with Springate winning the first and Wallace getting a victory on night two.
A fans bring the weapons match occurred on the February 23rd, which saw Springate prevail. The feud would come to an end when Gordy won an I Quit match on the 3/17 show.
Springate would venture off into the championship scene while Gordy would go in a different direction.
Jason Axe/Spike Dudley Feud, Dudley & Gordy heel turn, Dudley face turn
Much like the Ephex/Edwards feud, the feud between Jason Axe and Spike Dudley would go on for several years off and on. If you recall, at the end of 2006 Axe believed he was a main event wrestler and wouldn’t settle for opening matches. Though, for the first two shows of 2007 he competed in the opening matches.
Anyway, the feud with Spike Dudley began on 2/23. Axe would get the biggest win of his career by pinning Dudley after a fisherman driver onto a chair. The victory would just lead to Axe being more and more obnoxious. Axe won again on 3/17 by count-out.
They would square off in the 2CW Heavyweight Championship tournament. Axe once again won as the referee stopped the bout due to Spike appearing to suffer an injury after an Acid Drop. Dudley would get some measure of revenge the following night as he caused a distraction to allow Axe to get eliminated from the tournament.
The heated feud would boil over in a loser leaves 2CW match on 6/8. To the shock of many, Jason Axe defeated Spike Dudley to cause Dudley’s leave from 2CW… forever.
Forever as in it lasted all of a month. After a match against Gordy Wallace, Jason Axe attacked his opponent until Spike Dudley came out. Spike shocked fans by joining Axe in the beating. Spike joined what would soon be known as the Axes of Evil.
Axe and Dudley would go onto feud with All Money Is Legal. They’d lose to AMIL on the 8/10 show but would get a victory on 9/21. Their faction would become complete with the addition of Gordy Wallace on the 9/22 show, though the new faction would lose their first match against AMIL and Steve Mckenzie.
The stable couldn’t get a victory as they would continue a trend of losing on 11/9 and 11/10. The second date was a tables match that saw AMIL beat Axe and Gordy. They would meet again in a tag match with Spike and Gordy losing. After the match, Gordy and Axe turned on Spike and kicked him out of the Axes of Evil, but also effectively firing Spike from 2CW.
With the “deadweight” gone from the Axes of Evil, would 2008 be the year of the “Main Event” Jason Axe?
Loca Vida/JD Love Feud
Throughout the year Loca Vida and JD Love would trade victories with neither man overwhelming the other. On 7/21 they had an infamous Pooh on the Pole match, which was won by Vida. The match is still talked about today.
Their feud also featured a flag match on 8/10. The feud came to an on the 12/29 show when Vida won a mask vs. hair match. Following the match, Brodie Lee, Hellcat and Jimmy Olsen from NWA Upstate attacked both men. This would lead to an angle that lasted all of 2008.
Springate/Ajax
A feud between Zaquary Springate II and Ajax820 started on the 8/10 show. Ajax, a significantly smaller wrestler, got an upset on Springate. Springate would get a win on 9/21, but would be talked into having a career vs. hair match the following night. Springate was made fun of by the ring announcer and ended up shaving the announcers head after a brief beating.
Ajax would retain his career in 2CW by defeating Springate and shaving his head. Their feud would come to an end at the 12/29 show where Ajax was able to win a tables, ladders and chairs brawl.
Other Happenings:
– A few former ECW wrestlers made their debut for 2CW. CW Anderson made his debut in April for the 2CW Heavyweight Championship tournament as noted earlier. Jerry Lynn made his debut in June, losing to Slyck Wagner Brown.
Former WWE Heartthrob Antonio “The Promise” Thomas made his 2CW debut on 6/8. Thomas would go onto have several matches that would show he was more than capable of putting on good matches.
– John Walters also made his debut for 2CW on 3/17 putting on a spectacular match with Eddie Edwards. Walters would have other memorable matches with Slyck Wagner Brown and Isys Ephex. Prior to arriving to 2CW, Walters had success in ROH having won the ROH Pure Championship.
– Delirious made his 2CW debut on 9/21 defeating Loca Vida.
– 2 Cold Scorpio made his return to 2CW on 9/21 to continue his rivalry with Slyck Wagner Brown. Brown was unsuccessful previously on two attempts to beat Scorpio in 2006. However, in 2007 Brown managed to get a victory over Scorpio to essentially end their rivalry.
– Brodie Lee (Luke Harper) and Colin Olsen (Delaney) made their 2CW debuts on 9/21 losing to Isys Ephex and JD Love.
– Jimmy Olsen made his debut on 11/9 in a tag match teaming with Colin Olsen to beat the Wyld Stallions.
– Portia Perez made her debut for 2CW on 1/13 and would become the resident 2CW female wrestler taking on all major names in the female ranks. Most of 2007 saw her trade wins with Nikki Roxx.
Notable Matches:
Isys Ephex vs. Slyck Wagner Brown – 1/12/1007
Abyss vs. Spike Dudley – 1/12/2007
John Walters vs. Eddie Edwards – 3/17/2007
Chris Sabin vs. Isys Ephex – 3/17/2007
Slyck Wagner Brown vs. Loca Vida – 4/27/2007
Isys Ephex vs. John Walters – 4/28/2007
All Money Is Legal vs. Killer Steves – 4/28/2007
John Walters vs. Isys Ephex – 6/8/2007
Slyck Wagner Brown vs. Jerry Lynn 6/23/2007
Antonio Thomas vs. Eddie Edwards 9/22/2007
John Walters vs. Slyck Wagner Brown 9/22/2007
Bryan Danielson vs. Isys Ephex. vs. John Walters vs. Antonio Thomas 11/9/2007
Samoa Joe vs. Slyck Wagner Brown 11/9/2007
Bryan Danielson vs. Eddie Edwards 11/10/2007
Bob’s Thoughts:
A vast improvement from 2006 as 2CW brought in a lot of good workers to provide better action. With the addition of Walters, Thomas and Edwards the crop of guys the company has to use moving forward is quite promising.
The feud between Axe and Dudley didn’t exactly bring great matches, but it was an effective way to rise Axe up the ranks getting wins over a veteran like Spike Dudley. The heel turn by Spike was nicely done, but I think Spike was at a point where fans wanted to cheer for the guy who was always seen as an underdog, hence the face turn at the end of the year.
Dizzie winning the championship was a shocker to me. Slyck Wagner Brown was leaps and bounds better than Dizzie in every aspect, but sometimes you have to take risks. Dizzie didn’t have many great matches, but he did generate crowd heat, which is always important. The chase by Slyck was one of the more interesting things 2CW had going on, as well.
2008 would see a heated feud between 2CW and another promotion in the New York area, NWA Upstate.
If you have any memories of 2CW during this time, feel free to share your memories below!
For more information head to their website, http://www.2cwwrestling.com
Thanks for reading.