Written by: Bob Colling
IWA-MS presents Morris Mayhem
Date: 3/2/2002
From: Morris, IL
Opening Contest: Billy Joe Eaton vs. Danny Dominon: Early on, Dominon has wrist control on Eaton until there’s a rope break as Eaton gets to the ropes quickly. Dominon gets the advantage in a test of strength and stomps on Eaton’s fingers. Eaton and his manager collide heads on the floor thanks to Dominon. Dominon gets tripped by Eaton’s manager. Eaton misses a splash in the corner and Dominon keeps control with a side headlock. Eaton plants Dominon with a powerbomb for a two count. Dominon almost wins with a rollup and Eaton delivers a clothesline. Eaton nails Dominon with a low blow. Dominon hits a top rope twisting crossvbody for a two count. Eaton comes back with a suplex for a near fall. Eaton dumps Dominon through the ropes to the floor where Eaton’s manager delivers a cheap shot with his stick. They trade chops on the floor before returning to the ring where Eaton uses the ropes for a two count. Eaton slams Dominon and signals to the crowd for a dive. Eaton hits a top rope moonsault, but Dominon kicks out at two. Dominon picks Eaton up for a powerbomb and spins around before dropping Eaton to the mat for a near fall as Eaton’s manager pulled the referee out. Dominon hits a forearm smash, but the referee is still on the floor. Dominon misses a top rope elbow drop. Eaton gets the stick while the referee is still distracted. Dominon’s female manager comes in and gets kicked. She takes Eaton down with a head scissors. Dominon is put on top and wins the match. (*. Needless to say, the finish was rather stupid. They didn’t do anything all that exciting and wasn’t a productive opener. One positive was for Eaton’s manager, who is decent at getting some heat, but that’s about it.)
Chuck E. Smooth is promoted as being Britney Spears boyfriend and comes out to her “Hit Me Baby” song. Of course, the fans give him crap for that.
Second Contest: Chuck E. Smooth vs. Dysfunction: Smooth goes to the floor early on to argue with fans and Dysfunction gets control with a snap suplex in the ring. Smooth boots Dysfunction and comes out of the corner with a neckbreaker for a two count, which he did in the 69 position. Smooth drives Dysfunction down with a running face buster out of the corner. Smooth gets another near fall after a rolling neck snap. Dysfunction holds onto the middle rope to avoid a hurricanrana and nearly wins following a middle rope dropkick. Dysfunction connects with a springboard moonsault for a two count. Dysfunction gets another near fall after a Falcon Arrow. Smooth crotches Dysfunction in the corner and puts him in the tree of woe delivering more strikes. Smooth plants Dysfunction with a cutter for a near fall. Dysfunction catches Smooth and has him over his shoulders before sitting down. Dysfunction plants Smooth with a reverse DDT. Smooth hits a modified pedigree and wins the match. (*1/2. It wasn’t too bad, at least compared to the opener. Smooth seems like a heat magnet and a character that the fanbase would just crucify on a regular basis.)
Sherri Martel is managing Vic Capri. I was shocked to see her on this show.
Third Contest: Chris Hero vs. Vic Capri: Early on, Capri has control working over Hero’s left arm for several moments. Hero switches to a front face lock and a top wrist lock. Capri keeps a headlock on Hero but gets arm dragged. Capri arm drags Hero and ducks a clothesline before hitting a head scissors. Hero monkey flips Capri and they both attempt dropkicks before doing kip ups for a standoff. Hero stomps on Capri’s hands to get out of a test of strength. Sherri checks on Capri’s hands to make sure he’s okay. Capri chokes Hero over the middle rope. Sherri slaps Hero while the referee is distracted. Capri tries for a Slice Bread, but Hero counters and takes Capri over with a suplex for a near fall. Hero clotheslines Capri followed by a dropkick for a near fall. Hero puts Capri in a unique submission hold, but Capri is able to fight out of the hold. Apparently, ten minutes have gone by in the match. Hero takes Capri over with a backdrop and Capri goes to the floor to regroup. Hero baseball slides Capri into the guard railing ribs first. Hero leaps off the top but misses Capri and hits the railing chest first. Capri takes Hero over with a northern lights suplex a few times. Capri has Hero on his shoulders and hits a Cradle Shock for a two count.
Capri stops Hero with a leg sweep for a two count. Hero catches Capri on a top rope crossbody attempt and hits a swinging side slam. They begin to trade forearm strikes as fifteen minutes have passed in the match. Hero knocks Capri down to the mat with a forearm blow. Hero has a straight jacket on Capri, but can’t pick him up. Capri takes Hero over with a suplex. Hero hits a reverse jawbreaker and a side Russian leg sweep for a near fall. Hero drives Capri down with a sit down powerbomb for a near fall. Capri hooks Hero for a swinging neckbreaker, but Hero loses his footing. Capri picks Hero up and drops him head first down to the mat. Capri goes to the top rope hitting a springboard knee drop and a twisting senton! Capri tries for a top rope moonsault, but Hero got his knees up. Hero nails Capri with a Hero’s Welcome, but Sherri pulls the referee out. That leads to Hero’s female manager coming over and brawling with Sherri. Sherri knocks her out with strikes, though. Capri low blows Hero from behind and spikes Hero with a DDT. Capri comes off the top to hit a twisting splash for a near fall. Hero crotches Capri on the top rope and there’s one minute left. Capri is able to hit a middle rope Slice Bread, but Hero’s manager pulls the referee out and there’s another brawl with Sherri decking her again. Sherri knocks the referee out, too. The referee has awarded the match to Capri? Apparently so. The referee says he made the three count before he was pulled out. (**. Well, I’m not sure what the hell they were trying to accomplish with that finish. Hero was sloppy here and hurt the match various times with miscommunications or slipping. Capri is an enjoyable worker who has some good offensive moves. I’d like to see Capri in the ring with someone closer to his style.)
Prior to the next match, Todd Morton cuts a promo insulting the high school football team saying they are first losers since they came in second place. Also, I was bummed that Nate Webb didn’t do his full entrance that he would become famous for. He has the “Dirtbag” song, but doesn’t walk around for the whole song.
Fourth Contest: Todd Morton vs. Nate Webb: Morton decides to stall on the floor and confront various fans in the front row. Fans are throwing things into the ring as Morton is getting some good heat. Webb tries for a rollup and gets a quick two count. The announcer says that five minutes has gone by and they are just now starting to actually wrestle. Webb hits a somersault splash in the corner but misses a second attempt and is stuck in a tree of woe. Morton steps on Webb’s groin briefly. Webb nails Morton with a spinning heel kick and a snap suplex. Webb misses a twisting 450 splash attempt. Morton drives Webb down with a swinging neckbreaker. Morton delivers a low blow to Webb as the referee was distracted. They trade chops, but Morton counters a sunset flip by catching Webb upside down and slamming him down to the mat. Morton kicks out of a sunset flip and clotheslines Webb. Morton spikes Webb with a brainbuster for a two count. Morton argues with a fan, who proceeds to jump the railing and remains at ringside. He appears to be a coach for the football team. Morton gets tripped by the coach and then brings him to the apron. Morton gets decked and Webb wins the match with a rollup. (1/2*. I think I have to give credit to Morton for really putting in the work to get some heel heat and got a big pop for when Webb got the win. The action was mostly boring, but the angle behind it was executed well.)
Fifth Contest: Brad Bradley vs. Eric Priest: Early on, Bradley works over Priest arm but Priest comes back and delivers a kick to Brad’s back. Bradley does the same after Priest decides to play to the crowd. Priest stops Bradley with a boot in the corner and a belly to belly suplex. Bradley overhand chops Priest a few times and drops him to the mat for a near fall. Bradley delivers a spinning forearm strike in the corner a running big boot to send Priest over the top to the floor. Priest hits a reverse face buster for a two count. Bradley powerbombs Priest into the corner and drops Priest with a clothesline. Bradley lifts Priest over his shoulder, but Priest hits a neckbreaker and wins the match. (*1/4. They are just two green guys looking to fill time and the finish felt rather abrupt.)
Sixth Contest: Colt Cabana vs. Dino Bambino: They trade a few pin attempts within the first minute of the match. Cabana dumps Bambino over the top to the floor with a back suplex, though Dino was probably supposed to land on the apron. Cabana nails Dino with a springboard forearm and Dino lands face first onto the guard railing. Bambino slides a chair into the ring and has one of his own. They are going to have a dueling chairs segment. Colt blocks a chair shot and trips Dino only to get a chair kicked into his face. Dino boots Cabana coming off the ropes, but Colt drops Bambino with a big boot of his own. They both jump off the chairs and they collide on stereo crossbody attempts. Cabana catches Bambino coming off the top rope and spikes him with a DDT but only gets a two count. Cabana tries for a springboard and Dino kicks his feet out from under him. Dino leg drops Colt over the middle rope for a two count. They trade chops in the corner until Dino counters a running powerslam with a leg drop/reverse DDT combo for a near fall. Dino has Colt over his shoulder and plants Cabana with a DDT. Bambino decides to go into the crowd and grabs a table. Bambino sets the table up on the floor and places Cabana onto it. Bambino leaps off the top to take Cabana out with a shooting star press through the table!
Cabana gets his boot on the bottom rope to break the pin attempt. Cabana comes off the ropes to hit a dropkick to Dino’s left knee. Cabana twists Dino’s leg but Bambino reaches the ropes quickly. Cabana focuses his attack on the left leg with a dragon screw leg whip. Bambino kicks Colt to the mat. Cabana nearly wins after Bambino’s leg gives out on an attempted slam. Bambino hits a reverse hurricanrana onto two chairs, but Dino mostly landed on that head first. Dino tries to come off the top rope, but his leg gives out. Cabana hits a top rope suplex and locks in a reverse Cloverleaf and gets a submission. (**. That was a weird match. It started off with no story whatsoever, and then after the insane shooting star press to the floor they decided to do a leg injury story. That was just a bizarre structure to the match. I was kind of rooting for Dino to win the match, but it was decent anyway.)
Seventh Contest: IWA-MS Lightweight Heavyweight Champion Ace Steel vs. Rey Misterio Jr.: Mistero takes Steel down to the mat and works over the left leg, but Steel is able to counter and does the same to Mistero’s knee. Rey counters and tries to get a leg submission but Steel is too strong. Mistero nearly wins with a rollup and elbows Steel as he’s on the ropes. Mistero arm drags Steel and keeps control on the mat. Mistero forearms Steel a few times but Steel connects with a tilt a whirl backbreaker. Steel knees Mistero on the back and continues to work over Mistero with chops. Mistero head scissors Steel to the floor and fakes out a dive preferring to play to the crowd instead. Steel decides to walk backstage but then runs back into the ring, rather hilariously. Mistero dropkicks Steel on the knee and beats on him with strikes. Steel counters a head scissors attempt with a side slam for a two count. Steel lifts Mistero into the air and drops him gut first onto the mat. Steel kicks Mistero to the floor. Steel sends Mistero chest first into the corner followed by a clothesline for a two count. Steel comes off the middle rope to dropkick a seated Mistero.
Steel keeps Mistero on the mat with a sleeper hold and uses the ropes for leverage. Mistero nearly wins with a rollup and gets nailed by a clothesline. Steel lays over the top rope and it’s announced that five minutes remain in the time limit. Steel tosses Mistero under the bottom rope and Rey hits the floor. Steel takes Mistero out with a suicide dive. Steel gets crotched on the top rope and Mistero hits a top rope hurricanrana for a two count. Steel counters with a pin attempt for a near fall. Mistero forearms Steel from the apron but gets dropkicked in midair on a crossbody attempt. Steel nearly wins the match. Steel has Mistero in a Torture Rack and plants Mistero with a swinging neckbreaker for a near fall. Steel puts Mistero in the tree of woe and delivers a few boots. Steel nails Mistero with a running baseball slide dropkick. Mistero avoids a spear in the corner and proceeds to hit a baseball slide to Steels’ groin. Mistero also hits the bronco buster and a split legged moonsault for a two count. They both come off the ropes and collide attempting clotheslines. Steel puts Mistero on the top turnbuckle delivers a strike. Mistero shoves Steel away but Steel recovers and eventually hits a forward roll off the top rope, but only gets a two count as time expires. The fans want five more minutes and so does Rey. Rey would settle for two minutes, actually. Steel declines saying that Mistero will need to sign another contract.
Rey calls Steel a chicken shit and Steel gets frustrated. Steel returns to the match and Rey hammers away on Steel. Mistero takes Steel down to the mat and pummels him, but Steel rolls out and leaves the ring. (***. It was a solid match overall and I really enjoyed Steel. Ace performed really well as a heel and his antics were fun. Mistero didn’t do anything earth shattering and hit his usual spots. Easily the best thing on the show to this point.)
Eddie Guerrero bumps into Rey Mistero on the aisle way and proceeds to beat him up. Guerrero dumps Mistero over the top to the floor and Rey is holding his knee.
Eighth Contest: IWA-MS Heavyweight Champion Eddie Guerrero vs. CM Punk: Punk arrives and clotheslines Guerrero a few times. Punk chops Guerrero in the corner followed by a running knee strike and a springboard dropkick for a two count. Guerrero battles back with a hip toss but Punk takes Guerrero over with a standing hurricanrana and a running dropkick in the corner. Punk tells Eddie that he thinks the fans believe that Guerrero sucks. Guerrero and Punk trade strikes in the corner. Guerrero stops Punk with an atomic drop and several strikes in the corner. Guerrero nails Punk with a heel kick and an uppercut. Punk tries for a springboard crossbody but he lands on Guerrero’s knee instead. Guerrero plants Punk with a brainbuster. Punk nearly wins with a rollup and Guerrero stops him with a clothesline. Guerrero gets a sleeper hold on Punk. Punk briefly gets a sleeper on Eddie until Guerrero drops down for a jawbreaker. Guerrero drives Punk down with a back suplex and a slingshot senton for a two count. Guerrero works over the left leg of Punk for a few moments. Punk stops Guerrero with a pumphandle slam. Guerrero knocks Punk down to the mat to regain control of the match.
Guerrero has kept Punk on the mat working over his left knee. Punk tosses Guerrero with an overhead suplex. Punk has Guerrero on his shoulders and slams Eddie before hitting a split legged moonsault for a two count. Guerrero hits a fallaway slam for a near fall. Guerrero has Punk in the Gory Special, but Punk gets out of it and is met with a clothesline. Punk DDTs Guerrero and they are both laid out as ten minutes has gone by. They begin to trade strikes until Guerrero knocks Punk to the mat. Guerrero hits a top rope hurricanrana on Punk for a two count. Guerrero works over Punk’s left arm. Guerrero taunts the fans and continues to beat on Punk in the corner with strikes. Punk slips coming off the ropes for a springboard and crashes to the mat. Guerrero nearly wins following a powerbomb and locks in a chin lock. Guerrero grabs a chair from the floor but the referee takes it away. Guerrero tosses Punk with a German suplex. Punk fights back with right hands and a backdrop. Punk scoop slams Guerrero and a right hand for a two count. Punk continues with a vertical suplex but Guerrero cuts Punk off on the to rope. Guerrero brings Punk back down to the mat with a vertical suplex. Eddie grabs a chair from a fan and returns to the ring. Rey Mistero Jr. comes out and prevents Eddie from using the chair. Punk is able to hit a reverse DDT onto the chair and pins Guerrero. (**1/2. Punk was kind of sloppy at times and that hurt the presentation of the match. The cheap finish with the chair was done to likely protect Guerrero, but he’s not ever coming back to IWA-MS. It’s truly an incredible difference of what a star in Guerrero looks like compared to almost everyone else on the show.) After the match, Punk tells the camera he doesn’t deserve this and that Eddie Guerrero is the man. Mistero has the steel chair and threatens to hit Guerrero with it. Guerrero is able to escape the area.
Main Event: Bad Breed (Axl & Ian Rotten) vs. Cash Flo & Corporal Robinson vs. Mitch Page & Rollin’ Hard for the vacant IWA-MS Tag Team Championships: I’m honestly shocked that this is the main event on this show. I mean, Eddie Guerrero and Rey Mistero are on the show and they feel the need to end it with this match.
All six guys start brawling before the ring introductions are even finished. Guys are sent into the guard railings and Robinson is already bleeding and I couldn’t tell you how. I mean, Axl had an open wound coming to the ring in the first place. Ian brought a plastic bat with tacks on it into the match and it got whacked over his head. Needless to say, Ian has a bunch of tacks in his head. It shouldn’t come as any surprise when I say that everyone involved in the match is bleeding. Ian doesn’t hide his blade at all. For some reason the referee stops Ian from using a chair. He must be completely unaware as to what is going on. Ian powerbombs the referee over the top onto a table on the floor, but the table doesn’t break. Ian plants a woman with a Rikishi Driver and she seems to be out of it and is holding her neck. Axl has the referee and powerbombs him through the table. Ian and Flo trade several shots on the floor. Hard goes to tje top rope, but Flo and Ian slam him through a table on the floor. Ian decides to hit everyone with a barbed wire bat. Axl leg drops the barbed wire bat onto Page and win the match and titles. (1/2*. I mean, it’s just a bunch of hardcore wrestling and likely exactly what the live crowd wanted to see. I’ll admit that it is often times oddly entertaining to watch.) After the match, they literally all embrace and act like they just changed the world or something. Ian thanks various people for allowing them to be there. I doubt they’ll be back there.
Final Thoughts:
Rey/Steel was the best match and Eddie/Punk was a decent match. Aside from those matches, it felt like the match was full of green wrestlers trying to get better at working matches in front of a live crowd. I can’t recommend the show in full. This is honestly one of the few IWA-MS shows I watched that had more than 20 people in the crowd.
Thanks for reading.