Written by: Bob Colling
Pro Pain Pro Wrestling presents 2nd Anniversary Show
Date: 2/21/2004
From: Philadelphia, PA
Opening Contest: Rob Eckos vs. Derek Wylde: Early on, Wylde controls the match with a heel kick and backdrop. Wylde body scissors Eckos from the apron to send Rob over the top to the floor. Wylde takes Eckos out with a twisting dive over the top to the floor, which was a nice visual. Eckos fights back with a neck breaker over the top rope from the apron and taunts the fans before getting a one count on the cover. Wylde stops Eckos with a kick to the head before leaping off the top but Eckos got his knees up to counter a senton attempt. Eckos keeps control with a swinging neck breaker. Wylde pulls Eckos down from the apron and hits a springboard spinning heel kick. Wylde hits a wheelbarrow bulldog on Eckos for a two count. Eckos counters a second attempt of the move hitting a side Russian leg sweep. Wylde leaps off the middle rope but Eckos nails Derek with a super kick in midair for a two count. Wylde hits a dangerous looking sit-out flipping power bomb to get the win. (**. There were a few dull spots, but Wylde hit several good looking high spots that made for this to not be a complete waste of time.)
Joey Matthews comes out to the ring and says he has been overlooked for far too long. The microphone they are using isn’t very good. Matthews puts over various names he has beaten in 3PW which includes Low Ki and AJ Styles in recent months. He is making it evident that he needs to beat Jerry Lynn tonight. 3PW Heavyweight Champion Raven, who is also the commissioner, comes out to confront Matthews. Raven says he never liked Joey Matthews because Joey’s girlfriend Alexis Laree should have been with him in TNA. Raven makes the match between Joey Matthews and Jerry Lynn and a three way match involving Sabu because Roadkill couldn’t make the show and was originally supposed to wrestle Sabu on the show. Matthews tells Raven that he is going to win the three way match and next month he will win the 3PW Heavyweight Championship. This feud between Raven and Matthews feels like it has come out of nowhere.
Second Contest: Slyck Wagner Brown vs. Mike Kruel: They start off with some mat wrestling based action reversing holds causing neither man to get the advantage for a significant amount of time. Kruel looks for an arm bar but Brown counters with a Stretch Muffler. They’ve done a good job with the counters to keep it entertaining and interesting. Kruel arm drags Brown several times and delivers a clothesline to maintain control. Brown comes off the ropes and is met with a backdrop giving Kruel a near fall. Kruel scoop slams Brown and heads to the top but April Hunter gets involved only to be knocked off the apron. Brown catches Kruel in midair managing to hit a power slam for a two count. Brown works over the back with a tilt a whirl back breaker. Kruel counters a suplex attempt leg sweeping Brown down to the canvas. Kruel runs into a big boot but takes Brown over with an overhead belly to belly suplex.
Kruel hits a Samoan Driver on Brown but gets a near fall. Kruel takes Brown over with another suplex and an exploder suplex. Kruel works over Brown in the corner with several strikes but Brown stops Mike with a low blow. April Hunter enters again and hits a middle rope flipping neck breaker, but Brown only gets a two count on the cover. Brown puts Kruel on the top turnbuckle but is shoved off the middle rope. Brown distracts the referee to allow Hunter to crotch Kruel on the top rope. Brown recovers and hits the Appreciation Bomb for the win. (***. A good match here as the early stuff didn’t drag too long and was kept entertaining. Their styles meshed very well together and I hope that due to the constant interference from Hunter that there will be a rematch between these two in 3PW.)
Third Contest: Roderick Strong vs. Mikey Batts for the vacant NWA Florida X-Division Championship: Batts head scissors Strong to the floor and takes Strong out with a dive over the top to the floor. Batts tosses Strong into the guard railing before returning to the ring. Batts hits a leg lariat but Strong powers out at two on the cover. Strong stops Batts with a couple of back breakers before tossing Mikey into the corner. Batts nearly wins with a rollup out of a power bomb attempt but Strong delivers a big yakuza kick to maintain control of the bout. Batts hits an awkward wheelbarrow stunner and follows up with a super kick for a two count. Strong hits two back breakers again and hits a t-bone suplex into the corner for a near fall. Batts plants Strong with a wheelbarrow bulldog and a springboard cross body for a two count. Batts springboards off the middle rope to kick Strong followed by a tornado DDT. Batts hits a sunset flip power bomb but Strong powers out at two. Roderick works over Batts with several chops as Mikey is bleeding from the nose at this point. Mikey hits a standing hurricanrana for a near fall. Strong has Batts over his shoulder to hit another back breaker and that’s good enough for a three. (***. A good bout between these two guys as they kept a fast pace throughout and they won over a crowd they’d not normally compete in front of. I don’t believe either man would appear in 3PW again.)
Fourth Contest: Damian Adams vs. Ruckus: They start off with some basic mat wrestling to start which doesn’t go over with the crowd. Neither man can get the advantage after dropkicks and they have a second standoff in the match. Ruckus hits a backflip head scissors followed by a handspring spinning kick and plays to the crowd. Adams gets on the microphone and apparently lets out some frustration and turns heel. Adams hits an overhead belly to belly suplex after Ruckus came off the top rope. Ruckus delivers a backflip kick to drop Adams to the canvas. They go to the floor to brawl for a few moments where Adams is sent into the guard railing back first. Ruckus hits a cartwheel moonsault on the concrete floor. Ruckus goes under the ring to grab a table and sets it up on the floor. Adams rolls off the table and crotches Ruckus on the top rope. Damian hits a belly to back suplex but Ruckus kicks out at two. Ruckus hits a spinning clothesline to regain control of the bout.
Adams blocks a cartwheel elbow in the corner with a kick to the back. Adams scoop slams Ruckus and goes under the ring get a second table. Damian hits three vertical suplexs to keep Ruckus on the ground. Adams heads to the top rope but can’t hit a frog splash as Ruckus rolled out of the way. Ruckus backdrops Adams followed by a few forearm shots. Adams comes off the ropes to spear Ruckus managing a near fall. They are battling each other on the middle rope with tables on both sides. They end up falling off the ropes and both men crash through tables, and the fans didn’t like that spot. This one ends in a double count-out. After the match, Blue Meanie and some other officials check on both men. (*1/2. The finish was not done very well as you could see the direction they were going in from a mile away. Ruckus was alright here but Adams just isn’t doing much for me and his apparent heel turn felt random and fans didn’t seem to care much about it.)
Fifth Contest: Jack Victory & Rockin’ Rebel vs. CJ O’Doyle & Blue Meanie: There is no way I can sit here and watch a seventeen minute Blue Meanie match. O’Doyle accidentally hit Meanie with a clothesline and Victory pins Meanie after an elbow drop. Uh, after the match two referees hit stunners on Rebel and Victory to get a victory as well. I’m not sure what the point of that was.
Sixth Contest: Matt Striker vs. Monsta Mack: Striker is acting like Randy Savage this time around in 3PW. Talia (Velvet Sky) is acting like Miss Elizabeth. This is mainly a comedy match as per usual with Striker in 3PW. Mack tosses Striker with an overhand belly to belly suplex. Striker fights back with a series of clotheslines. Striker continues with a swinging neck breaker and begins to act like Honkytonk Man. Mack drives Striker down to the mat gut first with a suplex. Mack misses a top rope frog splash and Striker gets a second wind. Striker hits a back stabber and heads to the top hitting an elbow drop for the win. (*. Striker is a funny guy but the action here was not good.)
Seventh Contest: 3PW Heavyweight Champion Raven vs. Gary Wolfe in a dog collar match: Wolfe has the early advantage striking Raven several times. Raven low blows Wolfe with the dog collar and rakes the eyes of Wolfe with the collar. Raven whips Wolfe with the collar a few times and goes for the DDT but Wolfe rams Raven into the corner. Wolfe takes Raven over with a snap suplex for a two count. They go to the floor where Raven hits a side Russian leg sweep against the guard railing a couple of times. Raven sends Wolfe into the steel pole by the entrance way. Wolfe hits Raven with a trash can as they battle towards the stage. Wolfe drops Raven after a couple of chair shots. Wolfe kicks Raven out of a chair and they are both bleeding at this point. They battle back to ringside where Wolfe whacks Raven with another chair. Wolfe puts Raven on a table and leaps off the apron to elbow drop Raven through the table. Wolfe plants Raven with a DDT on a steel chair in the ring. Raven low blows Wolfe and Jack Victory enters the ring to double team the challenger. Wolfe fights back to knock both men down. Wolfe big boots Raven out of a chair and big boots Victory. Raven works over Wolfe in the corner with stomps and strikes. Raven stops Wolfe with a drop toe hold onto a chair face first. Raven drop toe holds Wolfe onto two chairs but only manages a two count. Raven gets a table from under the ring and stomps Wolfe several times. Raven sets up a table in the corner but Wolfe counters an Irish whip and hits a Death Valley Driver but Jack Victory pulls the referee out of the ring. Victory enters the ring and spears Wolfe through the table in the corner. The referee returns to the ring and counts the three for Raven to retain. (*. A lackluster brawl and nobody cared about Wolfe challenging here. He didn’t come across like a serious threat whatsoever. It was clunky and slow. There wasn’t a good flow. Just a bad title match.)
Main Event: Joey Matthews vs. Jerry Lynn vs. Sabu in a number one contenders match: Matthews dropkicks Sabu and Lynn as they were doing some mat wrestling. Matthews is backdropped by both men followed by Lynn and Sabu having a standoff. Lynn and Matthews yank on the arms and legs of Sabu but that doesn’t last long. A three way sleeper hold spot, which is expected and doesn’t get a pop is done. Lynn leaps off the middle rope to axe handle Matthews. Matthews tries to get pins on both men but only manages a two count. Matthews drops Lynn with a vertical suplex but only gets a near fall. Sabu works over Matthews in the corner with several strikes. Lynn clotheslines Sabu in the corner and stomps away on his rival. Lynn leg drops Matthews throat first across the middle rope. Lynn hits a slingshot splash from the apron and gets a near fall on Matthews. Sabu has a camel clutch on Matthews but Lynn comes over to put an abdominal stretch on Sabu briefly.
Sabu hits a triple jump heel kick on Matthews but is caught by Lynn in the corner who hits a back suplex for a two count. Lynn tosses Matthews into the crowd. Sabu takes both men out with a triple jump dive over the railing into the crowd. Lynn plants Sabu with a DDT onto a steel chair. Matthews tosses Lynn into the ring to continue the match. Matthews leaps off the top to hit Lynn with a clothesline but only manages a two count. Lynn baseball slides Sabu into the guard railing and Lynn clotheslines Matthews onto a table. Sabu stops Lynn on the top rope hitting a hurricanrana off the top to the canvas. Sabu leg drops a chair onto Lynn’s face. Joey slides a table into the ring. Lynn counters a tornado DDT attempt by Sabu with a northern lights suplex for a two count. Matthews drops Sabu with neck breaker for a two count. Lynn slams Joey off the top and over the table which Sabu was laying on. Sabu hits an arm breaker on Matthews and puts Joey on the table. Lynn hits a cross body taking Sabu out but only gets a near fall. Lynn catches Matthews in the corner and hits the TKO for a two count. Lynn hits a backpack driver but Sabu powers out at two.
Lynn looks for the cradle pilediver but Sabu prevents that with a springboard heel kick off the chair. Matthews hits Lynn with a stunner. Sabu turns around and is met with a steel chair shot. Joey counters a cradle piledriver but Lynn counters through a rollup and hits the cradle piledriver for a two count as Sabu made the save. Sabu hits a springboard moonsault on Matthews but Joey kicks out at two. Sabu hits a springboard moonsault on Lynn but Jerry kicks out at two. Sabu hits an Arabian face buster off the top onto Lynn through the table. Matthews enters and pins Lynn to win the match and is the number one contender. (*1/2. There wasn’t any sense of flow to this and they didn’t really do anything to keep me invested in the action. I like Joey Matthews but there isn’t a desire to see him go for the title. He is a heel and he is chasing after another heel. The fans have no reason to get behind Matthews whatsoever. They wanted Sabu to win, so that just kind of dooms Joey moving forward.)
Raven comes into the ring as he had promised to show respect to Matthews. This whole main event was predictable. Raven plants Matthews with a DDT. That was not a shocking development.
Final Thoughts:
The shows for 3PW continue to get a little harder to watch. There are matches in this company that should be great or at least good but they don’t live up to the expectations. There were two good matches but one of them involved guys that wouldn’t return to the company. I’m pretty sure the shows in the second half of 2004 are far, far better, but that also leads to the demise of 3PW. This is NOT recommended.
Thanks for reading.